,."^.. 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 \^m m 
 
 ^ lis llll|^ 
 
 1.8 
 
 
 1.25 1.4 
 
 1= 
 
 
 ^ 6" _ 
 
 
 ► 
 
 VI 
 
 Va 
 
 / 
 
 
 #^ 
 
 /J. 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 33 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 
 
 (716) 873-4503 
 

 fi^ «?. 
 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICIVIH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 d 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 Couverture endommagde 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul6e 
 
 I I Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes gdographiques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Reli6 avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge intdrieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes 
 lore d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas 6t6 fi'mies. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires suppl6menta!res; 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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 une 
 modification dans la methods normale de filmage 
 sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. 
 
 I I Coloured pages/ 
 
 / 
 
 □ 
 
 v/ 
 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagdes 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages lestaurdes et/ou pellicul^es 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages ditach^es 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 I I Quality of print varies/ 
 
 Quaiitd indgale de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary material/ 
 Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire 
 
 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 6t6 film6es A nouveau de fa^on d 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 to 
 
 Tl 
 
 P< 
 of 
 fil 
 
 Oi 
 b( 
 th 
 sii 
 ol 
 fil 
 sii 
 
 Ol 
 
 Tl 
 sf 
 Tl 
 w 
 
 M 
 di 
 er 
 b( 
 ri\ 
 re 
 m 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqui ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks 
 to the generosity of: 
 
 National Library of Canada 
 
 L'exempiaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la 
 g6n»rosit6 de: 
 
 Sibiioth&sutt natlonale du Canada 
 
 The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettetd de l'exempiaire filmd. et er 
 conformity avec les conditions du contra . de 
 filmage. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated 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. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol ^^- (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en 
 papier est imprimte sont fiim^s en commen^ant 
 par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la 
 derniire page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont film6s en commen^ant par la 
 premidre ,page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par 
 la derniire page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbols —^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le 
 symbols V signifie "FIN". 
 
 
 IVIaps, 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 to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre 
 film6s A des taux de reduction diffdrents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre 
 reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir 
 de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, 
 et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la mdthode. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 32X 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
< 
 
 H 
 H 
 O 
 
 in 
 O 
 
 M 
 P 
 
 M 
 
 H 
 
 M 
 P4 
 
1 FEW WORDS 
 
 ^'M 
 
 r 
 
 < 
 < 
 
 H 
 H 
 O 
 
 in 
 O 
 
 H 
 P 
 
 M 
 P 
 
 H 
 •-) 
 
 P5 
 <l 
 
 ) 
 
 ON 
 
 C A NAD A 
 
 By A CANADIAN, 
 
 1ST I. 
 

 
 . . ■: ■■ .i^-' ' ■ ■■■' ■■-■ ■-,■ -". 
 
 lit 
 
 
 ,- ., ^/ ■■"'"-■'I 
 
 
 r/^. 
 
^ 
 
 '"^Tl 
 
 7: 
 
 i." 
 
 A FEW WORDS 
 
 ON 
 
 C AN AD A. 
 
 -V/\/\/\i Vj\jXy\-r\.r*._/^/ 
 
 * rs r\ r\ /y r\ r\ /\v^.^ 
 
 BY A CANADIAN. 
 
 v/%^^/\y\y\ 
 
 /V/ v/\» 
 
 ^ttaboa antr Q^oronto : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BT IIUNTEB, ROSE AND CO. 
 
 1871. 
 
fcscd 
 
 Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in 
 the year 1871, by Hunter, Rose A Co., in the Office 
 of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
A FEW WORDS ON CANADA. 
 
 mada, in 
 ihe Office 
 
 Now that Canada has fairly entered upon the 
 discharge of the difficult and important task she 
 has undertaken, of consolidating and centralizing 
 the powers hitherto administered by many local 
 governments in British North America, it be- 
 comes necessary to assume responsibilities of 
 considerable magnitude, compared with those 
 which hitherto devolved on the respective Pro- 
 vinces, now happily joined in confederation. It 
 will therefore not be amiss to consider what the 
 country has been in the past, what it is at pre- 
 sent, and wh«it it may be in the future j at the 
 same time keeping in mind that the martial 
 spirit inherited from our fathers, and the remem- 
 brance of their victories and glorious achieve- 
 ments in the past, have enabled their sons to 
 drive back the Fenian hordes who lately molested 
 us J and that will, under Providence, and with 
 proper foresight and provision on the part of 
 Parliament, give us and our sons the same mea- 
 sure of success against our enemies in the future. 
 
 Only lately, the scattered Provinces of which 
 the Dominion is composed were groping their 
 way alone, each jealous of its own rights and of 
 eaeh other, apparently ignoring the fact, that 
 
4 
 
 
 from geographical and other considerations, their 
 interests as British Americans were identical. 
 The course of events, ever onward, has however, 
 imperceptibly impelled us forward, and now 
 Canada is rapidly emerging from the petty jea- 
 lousies of Provincial sectionalism, and is fast 
 reaching to the status of an important power. 
 
 New subjects have been opened up for consi- 
 deration, new measures have in consequence be- 
 come necessary. The local requirements of a 
 single Province, sink into insignificance when 
 compared with those of the larger Dominion. 
 Statesmen who from this time forth become the 
 leaders of public opinion in Canada must there- 
 fore be the exponents of a policy wider in its 
 range thiin wo^ald be suitable for merely local 
 requirements. 
 
 The provision in the Union Act. giving each 
 Province the control of its local affairs, has been 
 beneficial in its results, and has been the means 
 of more surely cementing the feelings of the 
 whole people, than any other course which could 
 have been devised. 
 
 The confederation of five Provinces has been 
 consummated in peace and harmony. No money 
 has been spent in fighting, no blood has been 
 shed in anger, and there is no reason to doubt, 
 that the three Provinces necessary to complete 
 the confederation of British North America into 
 a great Dominion, extending from the Atlantic 
 on the East, to the Pacific on the West, will 
 become applicants for admission within a brief 
 
period. The only battle we are now fighting is 
 on the part of men accustomed to the use of the 
 axe, the plough, the pick and the shovel, in 
 bringing surplus land into cultivation, opening 
 up rich mines, and in making roads, railways 
 and canals, to facilitate communication and 
 take surplus productions to market. But to 
 enable us to protect these great interests in cases 
 of necessity, and make us self-reliant as a people, 
 there should undoubtedly be continually trained 
 up to a knowledge of the use of arms, and side 
 by side with those men who are developing the 
 natural resources of the country, those who will 
 make the protection of our hearths and homes 
 a first consideration. 
 
 Canada is not likely to take the path in an 
 aggressive warfare, and her interests are involved 
 in keeping peaceful relations with her neigh- 
 bours ; but having been granted the rights and 
 privileges of free government, there cannot be a 
 doubt that those rights and privileges are worth 
 defending to the full extent of the resources of 
 the Dominion^ in both men and money. 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle tells us in his des- 
 patch to the Governor General, under date of 
 Dec. 20th, 1862 : 
 
 " The main security against aggression which 
 Canada enjoys as a portion of the British Em- 
 pire is the fact known to all the world, that war 
 with Canada means war with England ; not in 
 Canada only, but upon every sea, and upon the 
 shores, wherever situated, of the aggressive 
 
i 
 
 i 
 
 power itself. It does not therefore follow, that 
 this country can consent or afford to maintain 
 an unlimited number of troops in Canada, at her 
 own cost, even in time of war, much less in t ime 
 of peace ; and it remains true, that the defence 
 of Canadian territory must depend mainly upon 
 the Canadian people itself" 
 
 The question of defence does not, therefore, 
 rest upon the fact, that Canada has only a 
 population of 4,000,000; but upon that of 
 Canada's 4,000,000, the 32,000,000 in Great 
 Britain, with the most powerful fleet that floats 
 upon the ocean, and the actual as well as the 
 moral support of the British Empire in every 
 part of the world. 
 
 When the time shall come for the completion 
 of necessary territorial acquisitions, and the 
 whole of the British North American Provinces 
 are joined into one Dominion, Canada will be a 
 power having resources of no mean order. Her 
 unrivalled inland navigation and water powers ; 
 her fisheries, shipping, mining, manufacturing 
 and railway interests; her arable lands and 
 forests of timber, with a hardy, industrious, fru- 
 gal, and loyal population, are sufficient warrants 
 for material progress and prosperity, equal to 
 anything'^heretofore known on this continent. It 
 is not therefore doing too much to express the 
 hope, that Parliament may have the wisdom to 
 grasp the situation of affairs, and by wise and 
 enlightened legislation induce a tide of immiglra- 
 tion to flow into the several Provinces, and at 
 
 ■ ,-ft. 
 
oUow, that 
 I maintain 
 ada, at her 
 3SS in t ime 
 he defence 
 ainly upon 
 
 therefore, 
 I as only a 
 I that of 
 ) in Great 
 that floats 
 rell as the 
 re in every 
 
 completion 
 L and the 
 L Provinces 
 I will be a 
 •der. Her 
 ,er powers ; 
 lufacturing 
 lands and 
 trious, fru- 
 it warrants 
 ^, equal to 
 itinent. It 
 jxpress the 
 wisdom to 
 J wise and 
 f immigta- 
 ces, and at 
 
 
 the same time cause a development of all the 
 resources within its reach. 
 
 Not many years ago, we thought it of vital 
 importance that our commercial relations with 
 the United States should be extensive and per- 
 manent. The Imperial Government, at our 
 request, entered into a treaty on the part of 
 Canada, for a reciprocal trade in agricultural 
 productions with the United States. That treaty 
 went into operation and was mutually benefivial 
 in its results during the eleven years of its exist- 
 ence. The United States, however, expr'^ssed 
 its belief that the advantage was on the pur t of 
 Canada, and so, when the period stipulated for 
 expired, tl at Government abrogated the treaty. 
 
 It is unnecessary to give figures, shewing the 
 extent of the trade which had thus been created. 
 It will, perhaps, suffice to say, that the treaty 
 was of undoubted advantage to both the United 
 States and to Canada. The great extent of con- 
 terminous frontier, 3,000 miles in length, and 
 the difficulty and expense attending the sending 
 of produce to distant markets, was considerably 
 lessened by a direct exchange of commodities 
 across the lines; both parties being benefited, 
 and both receiving what they required from the 
 growth and produce of each country, at first 
 hands, and at the least possible cost in money. 
 
 Previously, we had obtained, and still retain, 
 the privilege of receiving and sending merchan- 
 dise and agricultural productions through the 
 United States in bond ; the same privilege being 
 

 
 8 
 
 granted by Canada to the United States. This 
 agreement enabled those portions of the United 
 States in the West, to have a choice of routes to and 
 from the Atlantic seaboard, and has given us the 
 same privilege, with Portland as our winter port. 
 The President of the United States, for reasons 
 set forth in his recent message, asks Congress to 
 give him power to suspend the bonding system ; 
 We may therefore, without impropriety consider 
 the position we occupied before the adoption of 
 the reciprocity treaty, the effect the treaty and 
 its abrogation had upon us, and the gain which 
 will surely result to the people of Canada within 
 a brief period, if the bonding system is suspend«d. 
 Up to a recent period so great was our appa- 
 rent wish to inculcate in the minds of the rising 
 generation the great destiny which awaited our 
 neighbors in the United States, that we actually 
 permitted the general use of school books, at 
 least seven -tenths of the contents of which re- 
 ferred to the United States, their history, their 
 glory and great resources — England and British 
 North America being so dwarfed that five or 
 six pages sufficed to record all that was said res- 
 pecting them. Under these circumstances it is 
 surprising that our British feeling has not 
 been undermined. Nothing but the honest con- 
 viction that we had equal advantages and 
 were living under the very best form of go- 
 vernment that could be devised, has saved to 
 the country those who were in Canada, and edu- 
 eated in the English common schools more than 
 
 J 
 
9 
 
 •tates. This 
 ' the United 
 routes to and 
 J given us the 
 ■ winter port. 
 3, for reasons 
 } Congress to 
 ding system : 
 iety consider 
 ! adoption of 
 e treaty and 
 le gain which 
 anada within 
 is suspended, 
 ras our appa- 
 of the rising 
 L awaited our 
 t we actually 
 Lool books, at 
 of which re- 
 history, their 
 1 and British 
 that five or 
 was said res- 
 istances it is 
 ng has not 
 e honest con- 
 vantages and 
 form of go- 
 has saved to 
 ada, and edu- 
 }ls more than 
 
 twenty years ago. A better and surer system 
 
 now in operation, under which national school 
 
 )oks will be chiefly used. It is, therefore, fair 
 
 suppose that having commenced at the foun- 
 
 lation in the matter of national education, we 
 
 re comparatively safe. 
 
 There are now 4,598 school sections in On- 
 tario, in which common schools are maintain- 
 ed, and at which 432,430 scholars attended 
 during 1869. Of these schools, 4,131 were 
 lupported by a tax on property, and personal at- 
 tendance was free. 
 
 ^ In Quebec, 3,913 common schools were main- 
 tained during 1868, and at which 212,838 
 icholars attended. These schools wore support- 
 id by an assessment on property, to the extent 
 If $291,964, and by monthly lees paid by the 
 icholars, $452,868. 
 
 iWhen the reciprocity treaty went into opera- 
 on, we had no leading lines of railway, nor 
 Iiiitable steamships by which our surplus pro- 
 uctions could be sent quickly and cheaply to 
 larket. Want of lighthouses on the lower St, 
 lawrence made insurances dear, and the Cana- 
 lifn route so dangerous, that difficulty was 
 [perienced in getting capital invested in suit- 
 tt)le steamship lines for communication with 
 lurope. The result was, that all the established 
 5ean lines sent their steamers to New York, 
 rom whence the various inland transportation 
 >mpanies successfully competed with us. A 
 ^e portion of Canadian imports and exports 
 
10 
 
 therefore centred in New York, for distribution 
 in bond to ports of destination. This being the 
 case, it was natural that a considerable trade 
 should be otherwise diverted from legitimate 
 Canadian channels, to the great benefit of mer- 
 chants and transportation companies within the 
 United States; gradually our facilities had 
 been improved, so that when the reciprocity 
 treaty was abrogated by the United States, we 
 had reached a point of self dependence that 
 carried us safely through. 
 
 The impetus given, has not only enabled us 
 to carry our own produce to the markets of Eu- 
 rope, but to enter into successful competition 
 with routes through the United States, for the 
 western carrying trade. In 1853, only four 
 ocean steamers, registering 2,000 tons in all, 
 came up the St. Lawrence from aea ; in 1861 
 these arrivals increased to 38, with a register of 
 51,000 tons, and during 1868 to 93, with a re- 
 gister of 97,000 tons. The Montreal Ocean 
 Line has 21 of these magnificent ocean steamers 
 in commission, of which the mail steamers make 
 average passages from Quebec to Liverpool in 9 J 
 days, and the average return from Liverpool to 
 Quebec in 10^ days. This line is fully up to the 
 times in speed and comfort, and is capable of 
 expansion to any reasonable extent. The other 
 competing and auxiliary lines are making consi- 
 derable headway, and now, through the erection 
 of light houses and the placing of beacons and 
 buoys, the navigation of the lower St. Lawrence i 
 
11 
 
 distribution 
 'his being the 
 derable trade 
 )m legitimate 
 inefit of mer- 
 ies within the 
 facilities had 
 le reciprocity 
 ed States, we 
 )endence that 
 
 ily enabled us 
 aarkets of Bu- 
 ll competition 
 5tates, for the 
 53, only four 
 tons in all, 
 
 aea ; in 1861 
 th a register of 
 
 93, with a re- 
 [ontreal Ocean 
 ocean steamers 
 steamers make 
 Liiverpool in 9J 
 n Liverpool to 
 fully up to the 
 [ is capable of 
 nt. The other 
 I making consi- 
 igh the erection 
 )f beacons and 
 ir St. Lawrence 
 
 Is not considered any more difficult or hazardous 
 
 khan that of the ocean itself. 
 We have good reason to think that the United 
 
 Itates have all along treated us unfairly, first in 
 
 >reaking off commercial relations and placing 
 
 mdue restrictions on navigation and trade ; and, 
 jcondly, in the encouragement given to* the 
 
 fenian organization, through their leading poli- 
 
 Ipcians and newspapers, causing us a direct ex- 
 
 mditure of many millions of dollars in money, 
 
 id the loss of many loyal Canadians, whose 
 
 Ives we valued dearly. All has apparently been 
 Jone that could be done, to force us into the 
 Relief that our safety could only be secured by 
 IJpming under the wings of the great eagle. The 
 Result has however been, that each tightening of 
 le cord has tended to bind the Provinces, and 
 cement the people more closely together, and 
 
 ias given us the self-reliance necessary in laying 
 le foundation for that national greatness to 
 
 rhich we shall surely attain. 
 While we deplore the loss of life which has 
 jsulted to us from these actions on the part of 
 ir neighbors in the United States, we cannot 
 
 fut express the hope that a better state of feel- 
 ig on their part may be brought about, and that 
 
 ^0 occasion will arise for misunderstanding in the 
 Lture. There is room for two great nations on 
 ds continent ; and if Canadians remain true to 
 lemselves and to each other, there will be no 
 jason, so far as they are concerned, why these 
 ro nations should not grow up side by side, in 
 
- 
 
 12 
 
 harmony and good brotherhood. If such a desi- 
 rable result is to be attained, the policy of the 
 United States towards us must be changed, from | 
 that of direct commercial hostility to that which 
 shall at least carry on its face expressions of 
 national friendship and good will. 
 
 With the addition of each Province new and 
 varied interests are springing up, which require 
 attention ; these must be acted on as promptly 
 as possible, having in view the interests of Can- 
 ada as a whole. We cannot tell what may or 
 may not please our neighbours across our south- 
 ern border, but we should know in which way 
 our own interests can best be served. We are 
 not likely to do anything knowingly against the 
 interests of the United States, that we should 
 not do, and are disposed to act towards them as 
 under similar circumstances we should wish them 
 to act towards us ; and, in this spirit, there can 
 be no doubt that if we had a Canadian agent in 
 Washington, who would watch the course of 
 events from our point of view, and act in con- 
 cert with England's representative there, an un- 
 derstanding might be arrived at which would 
 ripen into a policy carrying with it extensive 
 trade relations, profitable alike to both Canada 
 and the United States. Perhaps the time has 
 arrived for some such arrangement to be entered 
 into ; if so, th<) subject should have proper con- 
 sideration. In the mean time we cannot delay 
 for a single year the development of our resour- 
 ces, waiting for a something to be brought about, 
 
13 
 
 f such a desi- 
 policy of the 
 hanged, from 
 to that which 
 sxpressions of 
 
 dnce new and 
 svhich require 
 
 as promptly 
 erests of Can- 
 what may or 
 )ss our south- 
 in which way 
 '^ed. We are 
 ly against the 
 at we should 
 ^ards them as 
 iild wish them 
 irit, there can 
 dian agent in 
 the course of 
 i act in con- 
 there, an un- 
 which would 
 
 it extensive 
 hoth Canada 
 the time has 
 to be entered 
 re proper con- 
 ! cannot delay 
 }f our resour- 
 rought about; 
 
 hich may never be acted on. Canadian states- 
 en must therefore continue to act in the way 
 ey think most advantageous to the Canadian 
 terests committed to their charge. 
 The United States are doing what they can 
 bring about a settlement of the so-called 
 lahama claims, and will, as usual, try to get a 
 Bon's share. It is reported that their new 
 fciinister to England expresses an opinion, that 
 oney alone will not satisfy the people of the 
 nited States, that in addition they should have 
 e St. Lawrence opened to them, and their 
 ermen be permitted to enjoy equal rights 
 %ith us in our own fisheries. We have good 
 leason to know that in a majority of the trea- 
 jBes made between England and the United 
 tates, the substantial advantages, so far at least 
 Canada has been afi^ected, have been secured 
 §n the side of the United States. We want no 
 tetter illustration of this than our southern 
 l^oundary line, " crooked as a ram's horn," now 
 $ source of trouble to us, and one of the prin- 
 lipal reasons why the bonding system between 
 Ihe two countries became necessary. There 
 ^ust hereafter be no hesitation on our part in 
 Insisting, that Canadian interests have equal 
 Consideration with imperial interests in all mat- 
 Ts affecting Canada, which are made the subject 
 r settlement by treaty between England and 
 e United States. 
 
 The natural outlet ot the Western States is 
 ow and will continue to be through the St. 
 
1 
 
 
 14 
 
 Lawrence. The traffic we are likely to get from g 
 this source will, in addition to our own increas- | 
 ing trade, tax the capacity of existing canals to f 
 the utmost, and the day is not distant when this ] 
 line of communication must be deepened and f 
 enlarged. 
 
 The Hon. William Hamilton Merritt, the 
 able, zealous, and indefatigable friend of Canada, 
 who aided so largely in building up our magni- 
 ficent line of canals, and helped to foster and 
 encourage our trade relations everywhere, was 
 actually laughed at when he proposed a Cana- 
 dian monthly line of ocean steamships to Eng- 
 land, and yet when a commencement was made 
 in the face of difficulties of consid arable magni- 
 tude, it was wonderful how easily we fell into 
 line when a semi-monthly and then a weekly 
 line was organized. Previous to the death of 
 that eminent statesman, his energies were cen- 
 tered in the origination of plans for supporting 
 a daily ocean line from the St. Lawrence, 
 in summer, and from Halifax in winter ; and 
 had he been spared to us a few years longer, his 
 indomitable courage and facility of perception in 
 matters of this kind, would have been the means 
 of hastening the accomplishment of that, which 
 is now a matter of absolute necessity, and which 
 will perhaps, within the next or following year 
 become a reality. What Mr. Merritt wanted to 
 secure, as a first step towards carrying out the 
 daily service, was an inland line of Canadian pro- 
 pellerSi sufficient in number, and under one man- 
 
 •^■■-x^r^irtamm^^fffn^m0'?^mm 
 
 ■g CwJ-i yaMagtaadi 
 
15 
 
 ely to get from 
 • own increas- 
 iting canals to 
 tantwhen this 
 deepened and 
 
 Merritt, the 
 nd of Canada, 
 ip our magni- 
 to foster and 
 srywhere, was 
 posed a Cana- 
 ships to Eng- 
 lent was made 
 i arable magni- 
 Y we fell into 
 ;hen a weekly 
 3 the death of 
 ^ies were cen- 
 br supporting 
 It. Lawrence, 
 1 winter ; and 
 ars longer, his 
 f perception in 
 )een the means 
 of that, which 
 ity, and ^hich 
 following year 
 ritt wanted to 
 rying out the 
 Canadian pro- 
 inder one man- 
 
 cement, so that large quantities of freight 
 
 mid be certainly and speedily conveyed from 
 
 ie several lake ports during the season of in- 
 
 id navigntion, and brought together at Mon- 
 
 jal for export. But the necessary propellers 
 
 [11 soon be secured through other agencies, 
 
 fd the doi^y line to Europe will thus become a 
 
 ality. All honor to the man who projected such 
 
 ffline, and to him who carries it into effect. 
 
 We are now building an Intercolonial Railway 
 
 Halifax, a road to Manitoba, and will perhaps 
 
 compelled to build a canal at Sault Ste. 
 
 On completion of these lines of commu- 
 
 arie. 
 
 [Cation, we shall be as completely independent, 
 mercially, as it is possible for us to be. If 
 e United States does not then want a part of 
 r carrying trade, for that is all the bonding 
 stem will amount to, we shall be quite capable 
 doing it ourselves, and shall have Canadian 
 lantic ports for both summer and winter use. 
 This route to and from the sea will without 
 ubt be placed at the disposal of bii ippers in 
 e United States lor trant.port purposes east and 
 Ijlest, on terms which will be equaPy beneficial 
 || them anJ. profitable to u \ We wish to live 
 terms of good fellowship with our neighbors 
 ross the border, but if their fishermen will 
 al our fish, in spite of treaty regulations to 
 e contrary, we are not to be blamed if a stray 
 ssel gets confi&cateJ now and then. We shrtli 
 pe for a mutual forbearance and respect for 
 h others* rightb and piejudlces. Any i/fay, 
 
 
1" 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 1 
 
 i 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 i * i 
 
 ] 
 
 iH 
 
 ! 1 
 
 16 
 
 the institutions of Canada are Canadian and 
 British, and her people are thoroughly in earnest 
 in bringing about a confederation of all the Pro 
 vinces, sensible of the fact that a great future if 
 in store for the Dominion. 
 
 In 1853 our revenue from all sources amount- 
 ed to only $5,300,000 ; in 1861 it had in 
 creased to $7,300,000, and in 1869 to $14,- 
 500,000. In 1853 our credit stood fair, but 
 we had to pay a good round interest for all the 
 money we borrowed, and our bonds did not 
 reach that price to which their real value en 
 titled them. This state of affairs continued 
 through all the intervening years up to the period 
 of confederation. Now, however, we have an 
 inscribed six per cent Dominion stock mostlj 
 held by Canadians, and its value is 110 gold in 
 the open market, while our ordinary six pei 
 cent, bonds are quoted in England at 106. 
 
 We have in our surplus lands a sure guaran 
 tee for all the funds necessary to complete ou: 
 railway and canal system, and to aid in dc 
 veloping the varied resources of our vast ter 
 ritory, without material addition to our deb 
 payable in London. Canadians have confidenc( 
 in the stability of their institutions, as eviden 
 ced in the rapidity with which stock offered ii 
 Canada has been taken up. Deposits in th( 
 Government Post Office Savings Banks bearing 
 interest at four and five per cent, are increasin 
 and if the public works now considered nece 
 sary are pushed forward, the ability of C 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
Canadian and 
 ughlyin earnest 
 
 of all the Pro- 
 I great future k 
 
 sources amount 
 61 it had in- 
 1869 to $14,. 
 stood fair, but 
 Brest for all the 
 ' bonds did not 
 ' real value en- 
 ffairs continued 
 up to the period 
 rer, we have ar 
 >n stock most!) 
 le is 110 gold in 
 irdinary six pei 
 land at 106. 
 Is a sure guar an 
 to complete ou: 
 i to aid in de 
 of our vast ter 
 on to our debi 
 have conJ&denc( 
 tions, as eviden 
 stock offered in 
 Deposits in the 
 ;s Banks bearing 
 b. are increasing., 
 onsidered neces 
 ability of Cana- 
 
 17 
 
 ns to advance money will be so largely in- 
 
 ased, that the Government could, without 
 
 y extraordinary effort, and perhaps without 
 
 ejudice to present banking interests, make a 
 
 rket for a considerable sum in legal tender 
 
 tes, to be used as a circulating medium, and 
 
 which no interest need be paid. 
 
 The debt of the Dominion is stated at $24 
 
 head of the population, but as nearly all this 
 
 s been ipcurred in the construction of public 
 
 rks, the result is not startling. So long as we 
 
 ve such an immense security at our back, in 
 
 ds and works of utility, and provision is made 
 
 the interest and sinking fund, our credit should 
 
 o^tinue to be undoubted, even if the present 
 
 dcj)t wero considerably increaped by aiding in the 
 
 OQpistruction of the Pacific Railway and other 
 
 tessary public works. The money would go at 
 e into circulation, and in addition to affording 
 niBcessary facilities foi transport and inter-com- 
 iftUnication, would stimulate trade, increase 
 settlement on the public lands, and aid very 
 liilgely in developing the resources of the 
 country. 
 
 .The measure of prosperity Canada may reach 
 
 lM the near future, can hardly be estimated by 
 
 most visionary enthusiast. Besides th« 
 
 id development which is sure to take place 
 
 the older Provinces in the East, the vast re- 
 
 n we have in the North- West, will become, 
 
 thin a brief period, the happy home of mil- 
 
 ns of pushing and indastrio]is settlers. Our 
 
 2 
 
i ! 
 
 ? 
 
 
 i 
 
 18 
 
 own steady progress in the past, may be taken 
 as an indication of what that increased rate ol 
 progress will be in the future, stimulated as it 
 will be by the responsibilities of local adminis- 
 tration, and the ambition for future greatness. 
 We have emerged as it were from the chrysalis 
 state, and are now prepared for any reasonable 
 amount of development. 
 
 Every mile of railway constructed, evcrj 
 schooner, propeller, and steamboat for use on 
 the inland lakes and rivers, and every steamshij 
 for ocean trade, added to the present number 
 increases to that extent our resources for main 
 taining a friendly competition . for the carrying 
 trade of the Western States and Canada, anJ 
 will afford necessary facilities for inter-commu 
 nication and transport, in time of trouble, if thai 
 time should ever come. 
 
 The present isolation of our territories in the 
 North-West must be overcome, we must not h 
 dependent upon a foreign country, even althougl: 
 that country be a friendly one, for means ol 
 communication between the different portion 
 of our territory. The passing whim of neithe 
 President nor Senate of the United State 
 should be allowed to bar the passage whic 
 must always remain open for unrestricted inter 
 course between Canadians East and West. Tb 
 present route to Manitoba through Minnesota 
 must not be the only one for winter use. Th 
 communication through Canadian territory mus 
 be opened up, and that communication must I 
 
 
19 
 
 such a character as to cause it to be the best, 
 ,e cheapest, and most direct route to and from 
 e North- West, the year round. 
 The valley of the Saskatchewan, stretching 
 tward from the Rocky Mountains to Lake 
 innipeg, will without doubt have its attrac- 
 ns, hardy pioneers leading the way will 
 m a nucleus for extensive settlement. The 
 duce of great Provinces, sure to be created 
 m present undeveloped regions, will require 
 ilities beyond anything the St. Lawrence 
 te or a direct railway to Montreal can afford, 
 e must, therefore, in addition to such routes, 
 or the carrying look forward to the certainty, that a commercial 
 id Canada, anS p^rt for Atlantic traffic will be found at the 
 )r inter-commu D^puth of the Nelson River, for part of the im- 
 
 may be taken 
 3reased rate of 
 Emulated as it 
 
 local adminis- 
 iture greatness, 
 n the chrysalis 
 
 any reasonable 
 
 tructed, ever} 
 oat for use oe 
 every steamship i 
 resent number 
 Urces for main 
 
 f trouble, if thai 
 
 territories in ih ^ 
 
 we must not h 
 
 y, even althougl: 
 
 ,e, for means ol 
 
 ifferent portions 
 
 whim of neithei 
 
 United Statei 
 
 s passage whicl 
 
 nrestricted inter 
 
 and West. Tb 
 
 ough Minnesota,! 
 
 Y inter use. Thi' 
 
 an territory musi 
 
 nication must ¥i 
 
 ts and exports of the North- West, and that 
 
 route connecting the Assiniboine and Red 
 ver of the North, through Lake Winnipeg 
 th fche Saskatchewan coming from the West, 
 id with the Nelson River which flows into 
 
 dson'sBay, must be rapidly improved, having 
 B end in view. 
 For military reasons the opening up of these 
 
 ns of communication become matters of ne- 
 sity. We cannot, and should not allow a 
 
 on to exist for such an impediment as was 
 ced in our way by the United States, in clos- 
 
 their canal at Sault Ste. Marie last spring* 
 ere must not be any doubt in the future as 
 our right to pass Sault Ste. Marie with troops, 
 
 t any time it became necessary to seud troops 
 
I I 
 
 20 
 
 that way. Our only safe course is to construct 
 a canal at that point ; to complete the road from 
 Thunder Bay to Fort Garry ; to hasten the con- 
 struction of our Intercolonial Railway north of 
 Lake Superior ; and to lend a helping hand in 
 improving the route westward, from Hudson 
 Bay by way of the Nelson River and Lake 
 Winnipeg, as a military necessity. 
 
 If we arc in earnest in our desire to cement 
 the destinies of all these Provinces, and to deve- 
 lop the resources within our grasp, there is 
 room for a Dominion policy, which will require 
 the united energies of the foremost and best 
 statesmen Canada can produce, to carry out. 
 
 The construction of Railways through the 
 great prairie districts in the Western States, has 
 as a rule been made in advance of settlement. 
 The State has aided in the construction of trunk 
 lines by grants of land and a bonus in money, 
 per mile constructed. To make the land grants 
 available, the railway companies have through 
 the maintenance of emigration agencies in the 
 ^Id country at their own expense, secured im- 
 migrants who became purchasers of and settlers 
 upon the lands, thus aiding in constructing the 
 railway and afterwards* in forwarding the pro- 
 duce of their industry to market, aflfording am- 
 ple trafl&c for the line. It is, therefore, fair to 
 suppose that the same measure of success which 
 has attended the construction of such railways 
 in the United States will also, under similar cir- 
 
 IHUp 
 
 'glMIW i M 
 
21 
 
 cumstances, result to us in the constr * tion of 
 the Canada Pacific Railway. 
 
 The great advantages resulting to the State 
 from following this course, are, first, the rapid 
 settlement and development of the country, and 
 second, the contribution in acres of land and 
 dollars in money in aid of construction, can be 
 calculated with certainty before the work is un- 
 dertaken. 
 
 Mr. Alfred Waddington, the zealous advo- 
 cate fo;* the constru:*tion of a Pacific Railway, 
 having expended mu:;h time and money in pre- 
 liminary explorations, says : 
 
 " The ' Canada Pacific Railway* presents 
 the shortest line of route between Europe and 
 Asia, whilst it passes over the most favorable 
 ground in the world for a railroad. The grades 
 and curves are easier, the altitudes infinitely 
 less, the climate more temperate than on any of 
 the other routes across the American continent, 
 and the line is nearly free from snow, thus enab- 
 ling it to be worked with regularity, rapidity 
 and economy. Timber, ballast, and water car- 
 riage in every direction furnish the greatest fa- 
 cilities of construction ; coal is abundant both 
 at the termini and along the road, and the 
 country traversed offers a succession of fertile 
 lands and water communication unrivalled in 
 North America, and presenting such induce- 
 ments to settlers as Canada has hitherto never 
 had to offer. These will soon create a local or 
 way traffic, which, added to that of the treasures 
 
 
 
 
 1, 
 
 -.-Hi' 
 
 am 
 
mr 
 
 ijlii 
 
 1 
 
 
 iii'i 
 
 22 
 
 from the East, tlie general through traffic, and 
 the many other advantages of the route, will 
 make the ' Canada Pacific Railway' beyond 
 a doubt the best paying line across the American 
 continent. 
 
 '• Settlement and civilization will follow the 
 road step by step, as fast as it advances, and its 
 results acquire more and more importance, till 
 it would be difficult to gay what amount of po- 
 pulation the opening up of such an extensive 
 and fertile territory, aided by all these advan- 
 tages, may attract ;— at the end of a couple of 
 years, probably not less than ten or twelve thou- 
 sand settlers annually. In the adjoining State 
 of Minnesota, the population has increased, in 
 the last eighteen years from 5,000 to 500,000 ; 
 and on the ' Illinois Central,' the sale of lands 
 more than paid the cost of the road. 
 
 ''On the north side of Lake Superior, at Nee- 
 pigon Bay, close to which the proposed route 
 passes, traces of valuable copper and silver ore 
 are abundant, and are believed to extend through 
 the hills that form the divide between that point 
 and Winipeg river. In the plain of the Sas- 
 katchewan, beds of coal crop out on the projec- 
 ted line of road, near the Touchwood Hills, 400 
 miles west of Fort Garry, and again 400 miles 
 miles further west, near Long Lake, in long. 
 113^. These will become invaluable, both for 
 the use of the railroad and of the future inhabi- 
 tants of the plain, where wood is scarce. In 
 British Columbia, the road traverses the cele- 
 
23 
 
 brated Bald Mountains, which are known to be 
 rich in gold, silver, copper and lead ores ; and 
 here the construction of the railway will no 
 doubt lead to important discoveries." 
 
 The location of the route of the proposed Par 
 cific Railway has not been decided on, and al- 
 though that must depend entirely upon the 
 result of practical surveys yet to be made, and 
 the public interests to be served by the construc- 
 tion of the Railway, we may, for purposes of 
 estimate, give the distances, as stated by Mr. 
 Waddington, as follow: — *' From the junction 
 of the Mattawan and the Ottawa (the proposed 
 starting point), to the summit of the Yellow 
 Head Pass (limit of British Columbia), at 
 2,062 miles, and from the summit of the Yel- 
 low Head Pass to Waddington Harbour, at the 
 head of Bute Inlet, at 445 miles, or say 2,507 
 miles in all." » 
 
 Following the practice which has resulted so 
 satisfactorily in the construction of railways, 
 and populating the Western JStates, we may 
 readily estimate the extent of aid required from 
 Canada towards the construction of the Pacific 
 road as follows: 2,507 miles, at say 12,000 
 acres per mile, equal to 30,084,000 acres of land, 
 and a bonus of $10,000 per mile, equal to 
 $25,070,000 in money. 
 
 Of land we have an abundance, which will 
 only become valuable after a railway is con- 
 structed. The grant of land can 'therefore be 
 easily settled, and if it be made in alternate 
 
 If 
 
 I If 
 
 ■'■:1 
 
 
HiiiiMl 
 
 24 
 
 blocks along the line, the remainder will have a 
 greater cash value to us after the railway is 
 constructed, than the whole now has without a 
 railway. The aid in money will be more 
 difficult ; but, if the matter is taken in hand in 
 earnest, the way to the money will no doubt be 
 as easily found. It must also be kept in mind, 
 that the Hudson Bay Company should bear its 
 proportion of the grant in lands and money, if 
 that company is to participate in the increased 
 value of lands, in the districts hereafter to be 
 opened for settlement. 
 
 In p^ace, this and the other great public works 
 are necessary for purposes of inter-communication 
 and transport between the several Provinces ; 
 while in war they would be indispensable requi- 
 sites to successful defence. 
 
 After the war of the revolution the United 
 States commeaced their career with nearly the 
 same population we now have. That country had, 
 however, been drenched in blood, a heavy war 
 debt rolled up, continental money, after the war, 
 absolutely worthless, and they had no railways, 
 no telegraphs, nor ocean or inland steamships. 
 Under what different auspices do we stand. 
 Friendly with the Imperial Government, the 
 whole power of the Empire at our back, a mo- 
 derate debt incurred in the construction of I 
 works of utility, and with peace, contentment 
 and undoubted prosperity apparent everywhere. 
 If confederation has been the means through 
 which all these materials for a great future! 
 
\ 
 
 25 
 
 have a 
 .way is 
 thout a 
 B more 
 hand in 
 :)ubt be 
 n mind, 
 bear its 
 
 Loney, if 
 icreased 
 jr to be 
 
 lie works 
 inication 
 :ovince3 ; 
 )le requi- 
 
 e United 
 early the 
 ntry had, 
 eavy war 
 • the war, 
 railways, 
 eamships. 
 ve stand, 
 iient, the 
 ick, a mo- 
 ■uction of 
 ntentment 
 rery where. 
 s through i 
 eat future 1 
 
 have been secured, and the country is not 
 hampered with the future payment of large 
 sums of money, except for works of utility, re- 
 presenting indebtedness incurred, we are able to 
 present an united front, and favorable compa- 
 rison with our neighbors across the line, and 
 nothing should be allowed to stand in the way 
 of the enjoyment of a season of prosperity un- 
 exampled in the annals of modern civilization. 
 We have a fair field before us, and should be 
 prep-^^ed to enjoy these benefits by grasping the 
 situ, on, by a masterly policy turning all these 
 advantages to account, and thus cause Canada 
 to be respected as a power soon to occupy a pro- 
 minent position on this continent. 
 
 The British Colonist^ British Columbia, of 
 the 16th November, 1870, says, '' the terms 
 of confederation have been endorsed at the re- 
 cent selection of councillors, the colony has 
 spoken as with the voice of one man in favour 
 of union with Canada, and that on the first of 
 July next the union will, without doubt, be 
 proclaimed." 
 
 The day is, therefore, not far distant when, 
 through completion nf confederation, our Inter- 
 colonial Railway must be pushed westward to 
 the Pacific. "When that day arrives then, with 
 Quebec, St. John, and Halifax as our sea ports 
 for the Atlantic, and Victoria in British Colum- 
 bia as our port for the Pacific, we shall by 
 means of our steamship lines on the Atlantic, 
 have quick and uninterrupted communication 
 
 \y 
 
 I' 
 
 W' 
 
 
 w 
 
 ^ 
 
26 
 
 with Europe through each year ; while in the 
 We»t, with Victoria as our coaling station, and 
 the route 1,000 miles shorter to Japan and 
 China, we shall be in a position to undertake a 
 commercial rivalry with our friends in the 
 United States, for at least a part of the carrying 
 trade of the world. 
 
 Having these prospects before us, and relying 
 upon our own good faith and intentions, it hurts 
 our national pride to believe that politicians in 
 the United States, who enjoy the reputation of 
 statoHmen, should for one moment think it pos- 
 sible that the destiny of Canada is ever likely to 
 be linked politically with that of the United 
 States. International trade on terms mutually 
 beneficinl arc desirable and would be agreed to 
 on our part, but beyond that our desires do not 
 load us across our southern borders. Rice, 
 cotton, and sugar cane cannot be profitably 
 grown in Canada, but we have in other respects 
 such a climate and lands as enable us to pro- 
 duce all the necessaries of life. And a race of 
 hardy, persevering, pushing business men are 
 growing up here, that will equal any on the con- 
 tinent of America, and who will prove fully able 
 to grapple with all the difficulties incident to a 
 competition, which from appearances must be 
 maintained for the present, with a commercial 
 Chinese wall between us and the United States. 
 Canadians may not be able to carry their trade 
 over this» but they will undoubtedly find a pro- 
 fitable market for their surplus productions, and 
 
27 
 
 employment for their capital in other direc- 
 tions. 
 
 While we do not object to the people of the 
 United States arrogating to themselves the title 
 of '^ Americans," which they claim exclusively as 
 of right, we should take care to impress on our 
 emigrant agents abroad, the fact that Canada is 
 also a part of America, and that while we are 
 proud of being called Canadians, we are also 
 Americans. The impressi u on the minds of 
 many of the poorer class in Europe who desire 
 to emigrate, that America means only the United 
 States, and that New York is the only port 
 through which America may be reached, must 
 be counteracted by correct information. 
 
 The sad experiences of our neighbors in the 
 United States with the Indians on their vast 
 plains, should afford us an illustration of the 
 folly of neglecting those marks of courtesy in 
 our intercourse with the various tribes, which 
 we use in every day life with each other ; and 
 the absurdity of permitting federal agents to 
 disregard solemn treaties, made in good faith 
 between contracting parties, even although those 
 contracting on one side be aboriginal. 
 
 The various tribes of Indians along the route 
 of our projected Pacific Railway, and through- 
 out the North- Western territories to be opened 
 for settlement, must be kept in good humour, 
 and be made our friends before surveys for the 
 railway are undertaken. Overtures must be 
 made, and our desires and intentions clearly ez- 
 
 m 
 
 I- -ii 
 
28 
 
 illlfi^ 
 
 m': ■ 
 
 pressed. The pipe of peace should be smoked 
 around the council fire at every board, and every 
 legitimate means be taken to shew these abori- 
 ginal tribes our honesty of purpose, and ability 
 to carry out such treaties as we may make. 
 
 The Indians within our territory have hereto- 
 fore been kept our friends and faithful allies, 
 there can therefore be no reason to suppose, that 
 now new territory has been added, we shall ex- 
 perience any new or additional trouble in treat- 
 ing with the aboriginal tribes we may find there. 
 We wish these Indians no harm, but as the ne- 
 cessities of Canada require the occupation, by a 
 white population, of portions of the new. terri- 
 tory, we must keep in mind the fact, that if 
 hunting iirounds now affordins: an ample subsis- 
 tence, are to be curtailed or interfered with, we 
 are in duty bound to shew the several tribes 
 another means through which their simple wants 
 may be supplied. 
 
 The maintenance in Manitoba of a reliable 
 contingent of well-drilled and effective regular 
 soldiers, until the active militia to be raised in 
 that Province is organized and trained, must be 
 considered one of the necessities of the times. 
 No doubt, the disbandment with a view to set- 
 tlement, of men now stationed there, would give 
 a military tone to the population, and enable the 
 Government to rely upon a certain number of 
 trained men for service at any time ; but the 
 newness of the territory, the comparative freedom 
 from restraint hitherto experienced by the peo- 
 
 i: ' 
 
29 
 
 pie, under the lax administration of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, will require (ime to bring about 
 that state of governmental control apparent in 
 the older Provinces. In addition, the proximity 
 of powerful tribes of Indians, f^ome of them 
 warlike in their tendencies, and the probability 
 that large bodies of laboring men will be engaged 
 in constructing railways and other public w^orks, 
 makes it imperative to keep at hand such a force 
 as may seem adequate to secure the administra- 
 tion of law, and the maintenance of order. 
 
 For these reasons it does not seem likely that 
 a local police force, ample though it would prove 
 for purely police purposes, will be sufficient to 
 give that decided appearance of stability, so 
 absolutely necessary to the peaceful carrying out 
 of the improvements in Manitoba and adjoining 
 territories, which the completion of confederation 
 will render absolutely necessary and indispens- 
 able. 
 
 With all these elements for attaining to great- 
 ness and prosperity before us, we cannot forget 
 the responsibilities which will naturally devolve 
 upon Canada, as part of that Empire whose 
 glories in the past are recorded in every clime, 
 and under whose protection we are permitted to 
 enjoy self-government, and to work out a great 
 future for ourselves as Canadians and subjects 
 of Her Majesty. 
 
 The evident desire implied in the present 
 policy of England, that Canada should place 
 herself in a position to provide for her own in- 
 
 h 
 
 i: 
 
 .; i 
 
 ii 
 '4- 
 
 Hi. 
 
 ml 
 
 mm 
 
 .1' 
 
 
 •Ifh 
 
 Vi _ 
 
 J'J't 
 
30 
 
 iniii 
 
 lit!! 
 
 iiil|l 
 
 ternal police regulations, in time of peace, and 
 assist in her defence in time of war, therefore, 
 gives to the organization of the militia a new claim 
 for careful consideration and attention, and im- 
 poses an obligation on every man interestedln the 
 welfare of the country to render such aid as 
 may be necessary to bring that system to the 
 highest state of perfection possible, keeping in 
 view the capabilities of the people, and the re- 
 sources of the country which may be annually 
 devoted to this end. 
 
 It is apparent that we should avail ourselves 
 of the experiences of older countries, and adopt, 
 from time to time, such improvements in the 
 detail of organization as may seem necessary to 
 enable us to keep pace with the times. " Fore- 
 sight and forethought are the cheap defence of 
 nations. To know what to do ani how to do 
 it, at the right time, to provide beforehand 
 where provision is necessary y to be forearmed 
 for expensive contingencies , will cost little and 
 may economize muchJ^ 
 
 The state of war now existing between Prus- 
 sia and France, has been taken advantage of by 
 governments in Europe, and by that of the 
 United States of America, in sending trained 
 experts to watch the progress of events, and to 
 report all matters of detail by which their army 
 organization may be improved. The result of 
 this is already apparent in the many excellent 
 articles which have appeared in English period- 
 icals; and, as from one of these some useful les- 
 
81 
 
 sons may be taken by Canada, a few extracts 
 relating to the organization of the armies of 
 Prussia and France may prove interesting, 
 and possibly aid us in perfecting our own militia 
 system. The article in question, '' Ihe French 
 avd German armies and thn campoiqn in 
 France^* supposed to be written by Colonel P. 
 L. MacDougall, was published in the October 
 number o^ i\ie Londrm Quarterly Review ^ 1870. 
 The writer handles his subject in a masterly 
 manner, points out most forcibly many defects 
 in the organization of the English army, based 
 upon results of the war in France, and makes 
 suggestions for improvement which should have 
 great weight in the proper quarter. It is only 
 now intended to make such extracts as may have 
 direct application to the subject of organization 
 in Canada, the research necessary to collate these 
 details for the Review is therefore credited to 
 the proper source. The Review says : 
 
 '' General Trochu, in his philosophical pam- 
 phlet on the French army has the following re- 
 marks : 
 
 ' Armies, like all machines destined to pro- 
 duce powerful effects, form a composite engine 
 which works by means of a motive poioer and of 
 a mechanism, 
 
 ' The motive power of an army in this sense 
 is a force entirely moral in its operation. It is 
 composed of the elevated sentiments of peoples ; 
 national pride, love of country, a jealous regard 
 for its honor and interests ; and of the great 
 
 m 
 
 ^m 
 
 m 
 
m 
 
 ■I 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 principle of armies ; the spirit of devotion, of 
 self-sacrifice and of discipline. 
 
 * The mechanism of an army is a force purely 
 material. It is composed of the numerous and 
 diversified wheels, for the successful operation of 
 which the most essential condition is that they 
 shall work in harmony. 
 
 ' The principal force of certain armies lies in 
 the strength of the motive power ; the principal 
 force of certain others consists in the perfection 
 of the m cell a ?? ism . 
 
 ' Any army which should unite in an equal 
 degree these two elements of superiority would 
 be infinitely formidable in war.' " 
 
 '' In this pregnant quotation," the Revieio says, 
 " are summed up the causes of the wonderful suc- 
 cess of the Prussian army ; it was greatly supe- 
 rior, both in motive power and in mechanism to 
 that of its antagonist." 
 
 The foundation of the territorial organization 
 of the military forces of Prussia, which is one 
 of the main causes of her success ; was laid by 
 the father of Frederick the Great. In 1733 he 
 decreed the division of the territories into can- 
 tons, to each of which was allotted a regiment, to 
 be maintained at its effective strength from the 
 cantonal population ; on all of whom, with the 
 exception of the nobles, military service was 
 made compulsory. Frederick the Great extended 
 and improved this system, by allotting to each 
 district the supply of arms and stores necessary 
 to enable its brigade or division to take the field 
 
 )i 
 
33 
 
 fully equipped and ready to march on the mere 
 order to mobilize. ^ 
 
 In 1815 the Landwehr was organized terri- 
 torially in brigades, each Landwehr brigade 
 being joined to a brigade of the line, and toge- 
 ther forming one division of the army for service 
 in the field. 
 
 For the Landwehr, or reserve forces, a body 
 of instructed officers has been provided by re- 
 gulations so pregnant with wisdom and affording 
 such an excellent example for our imitation that 
 they merit some detail. Conscription is univer- 
 sal, but all young men of the educated classes, 
 who are able to provide the means of their own 
 equipment and maintenance and to produce cer- 
 tificate of conduct and attainments from school 
 or college, are allowed to serve for one year in 
 the different light infantry or rifle corps. When 
 the yo'^ng cadet or einjahrn/er, as he is called, 
 joinf^ the corps to which he has chosen to be 
 attached, he is posted to a company, after which 
 his attendance is rigidly exacted at drills and 
 parades, but except when on military duty, his 
 time is at his own disposal. The military en- 
 thusiasm of 1813 has so far survived that it has 
 long been regarded as part of the education of 
 the son of every manufacturer, proprietor, pro- 
 fessional man, even of every prosperous shop 
 keeper, to spend one of the years between his 
 seventeenth and twentieth birthdays in passing 
 through this volunteer course. Such of these 
 cadets as do not aspire above the average level 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 i'i 
 
 
 1; 
 
 
 ¥■*■ 
 
 i# 
 
I 
 
 k 
 
 i 
 
 34 
 
 return to their homes, with the prospect of 
 takinj^ their places in the ranks of the conscrip- 
 tion in their turn ; hut any cadet who desires it 
 may, by special aptitude obtain a certificate of 
 qualification, entitling him to the first vacancy 
 as sergeant, and in due course to a commission, 
 in the Landwehr battalion of his particular 
 district. 
 
 The organization of the Prussian or North 
 German army, as it now exists, is generally as 
 follows : — The population numbers about thirty 
 millions. The nilmber of recruits annually 
 raised by conscription is 100,000 ; or one to 
 every 300 of the population. The age of con- 
 scription is 20. The period of military service 
 is twelve years, divided into three portions of 
 three, four, and five years respectively ; three 
 years being passed by the recruit with the co- 
 lours of a regular regiment; the next four years 
 in the regimental reserve ; and the final period 
 of five years in the Landwehr or militia of his 
 district, after which he is enro;lod in the Land- 
 sturm, or service for home defenc in case of in- 
 vasion. All men who attain {)»<? age of conscrip- 
 tion in any one year, and are not drawn for the 
 army, are exempt from military service except 
 in case of war. The regiments of the regular 
 army during peace, are, on the breaking out of 
 war, raised to double their number by recalling an 
 equal number of men from the reserve ; and 
 each reserve man so recalled returns not merely 
 to the same battalion, but even to the very same 
 
35 
 
 •company in T^hich he had passed the first three 
 years of his military life. 
 
 All officers of the Prussian line have to pass 
 six months in the ranks. For two thirds of 
 them this a probation, at the end of which they 
 have to satisfy a standing committee of the 
 corps to which they seek admission, not only as 
 to professional attainments, but also io parentage 
 and means. The remaining third have received 
 their appointments direct from the different 
 cadet schools, and may be considered, therefore, 
 to be nominated by the King. 
 
 The North German armies are in the highest 
 state of efficiency that can be reached, by scien- 
 tific preparation for war, by concentration, by 
 compact discipline, and by forethought. 
 
 The instruction of officers and men is carried 
 out in camps formed in the different districts, 
 where the troops assembled learn as much of 
 the business of war as it is possible to learn in 
 peace. Major Goodenough, R. A., who wit- 
 nessed the manoeuvres of the Rhine camp ia 
 1868, writes, " The great peculiarity which 
 gives such % superiority to their system of field 
 manoeuvres lies in the character of reality which 
 is given to the whole of the operations ; in my 
 opinion, our manoeuvres are too much in the 
 line of a gigantic field day : and those of the 
 French fail in interest from the laborious detail 
 of their plan. The Prussians, on the other 
 hand, place two opposing forces in the field, give 
 them a stragetical plan of operations, and then 
 
 i> 
 
 ■i 
 
 ,1 
 
 1' iff 
 i. 
 
 
 
36 
 
 !ii 
 
 leave the two commanders to plan their own tac- 
 tical movements, the troops work every day over 
 fresh unknown ground, and so the interest never 
 flags. 
 
 To sum up, the Review says, the Prussian 
 army, by means of its organization, and of the 
 perfection of its departments of supply, was al- 
 ways ready for war ; and the officers and sol- 
 diers, by the intelligent instruction imparted by 
 the yearly field manoeuvres, learnt as much of the 
 business of war as it is possible to learn in peace. 
 
 Turning now to the organization of the army 
 of France, the Review says ; 
 
 The organization which had been given to the 
 French army by Louvois lasted with no mate- 
 rial changes until 1793. Previous to that date 
 enlistment was voluntary, commissions were ob- 
 jects of sale and purchase, and the army was 
 officered exclusively by nobles. The revolution 
 republicanized both the nation and the army, 
 merit was recognized as the sole qualification 
 for an officer's commission, and every conscript 
 carried a marshall's baton in his knapsack. The 
 enthusiasm thus created in the rank and file, 
 when directed by the genius of Napoleon, . car- 
 ried the French Eagles into nearly every capital 
 in Europe. But victory is the indispensible con- 
 dition of the success of such a constitution. Un- 
 der reverses which try the confidence of the sol- 
 dier in his superiors, discipline under such a 
 aystem must surely break down. Since the res- 
 toration of Louis XVIII. the French army has 
 
37 
 
 l}een officered on a mixed system of promotion 
 from the ranks and of direct appointments from 
 the military school, the former class constituting 
 one third of the whole. Promotion is determin- 
 ed by selection or nominally by merit— a prac- 
 tice obviously open to dangerous abuses. Whe- 
 ther it be a result of this system or not, the fact 
 remains, on the testimony of General Trochu, 
 that whereas English soldiers, when allied with 
 the French, showed all the military marks of 
 respect to French officers, the latter found it 
 extremely difficult to obtain any such marks 
 from the soldiers of their own army. 
 
 The conscription was not established in 
 France by law until 1798 ; and the statute, 
 which placed the whole population at the dispo- 
 sal of the state, as each generation completes its 
 twentieth year, preceded the supremacy of the 
 man who was to make so tremendous a use of it. 
 The proceeds of the annual conscription, fixed 
 at 40,000 men in 1818, was raised to 80,000 
 under Louis Phillip. Under the second Empire 
 it has never been less than 100,000 men, and 
 during the Italian and Crimean Wars it was 
 140,000. The efficacy of the conscription 
 was, however, materially lessened by the system 
 of " exonerations," which permitted drafted men 
 to commute their personal service for a money 
 payment ; so that in times of danger the men 
 who were urgently needed were represented by 
 the unsatisfactory substitute of a bank note in 
 the Treasury. 
 
 •. .. 1 k 
 
 m 
 
 :^1> 
 
 II 
 

 
 88 
 
 The result was that, in the Crimean and 
 Italian Wars, France could only place and main- 
 tain in the field one army, not much exceeding 
 one fourth of her effective strength on paper. 
 The system of " exonerations" was accordingly 
 abandoned in 1868, since which date drafted 
 men must either give personal service or pro- 
 vide an efficient substitute. 
 
 The reorganization of the French army, 
 effected under Marshal Neil's administration in 
 1868, is as follows : 
 
 The number of recruits raised annually by 
 conscription is 100,000, giving a proportion of 
 about one in every 370 of population. The 
 period of military service is fixed at nine years, 
 of which ^ue years are passed with the regimen- 
 tal colours, and the remaining /t>wr years in a 
 general reserve, called the second reserve. There 
 is no territorial connection between the army 
 and any particular districts ; also none between 
 the regular regiments and the reserve men who 
 have passed through them. The age of con- 
 scription is twenty-one, and all men attaining to 
 that age in any one year, who may not have 
 been among the 100,000 drawn for the army, 
 are enrolled in the Garde Nationale Mobile, in 
 which they continue ^ye years. These remain 
 at their homes, and the only militaiy duty re- 
 quired of them by the law in ordinary times is 
 the performance of fifteen drills in each year, 
 with the proviso that no drill shall take them 
 from their homes for more than one night. This 
 
89 
 
 part of the law, however, has never been en- 
 forced, as the present war has found the Garde 
 Mobile totally untrained. In time of war the 
 Garde Mobile are to be employed in garrison 
 duty, in guarding communications, or in fur- 
 nishing reinforcements to the field army. 
 
 Of the 100,000 recruits drawn yearly for the 
 army, 70,000 are at once drafted into the ranks, 
 while the remaining 30,000 are enrolled in the 
 first reserve^ in which they continue for nine 
 years, no military service being exacted during 
 peace, except that they shall be drilled during 
 five months in each of the first two years. At 
 the conclusion )f the nine years they are dis- 
 charged. These are the men, as implied by the 
 title of the first reserve, who are first taken to 
 complete the regular regiments to their proper 
 strength at the commencement of a war. 
 
 The 70,000 drafted into the ranks, after 
 completing ^6'e years' service, are enrolled in the 
 second reserve, and continue therein for four 
 years ; after which they are held to have fulfilled 
 their military obligations, and are finally dis- 
 charged. 
 
 In contrasting the comparative preparedness 
 for war of the French and Prussian systems, 
 General Trochu eulogises that territorial organi- 
 zation of the latter, by means of which the dif- 
 ferent corps, divisions, and brigades, with their 
 proper material, field equipment, and staff, are 
 constantly and permanently acting together, and 
 with their proper reinforcements in reserve, are 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 «:i./i 
 
 1.1. 
 
40 
 
 maintained always in a condition to take the 
 field on the order to mobilize. Such a system 
 givas advantages of all kinds in the preparation 
 o/ MJir, which can thus be carried on without 
 throwing the country and the army into a state 
 of violent agitation by sudden and exceptional 
 efforts, which have the serious evil of disclosing 
 beforehand intentions it is o^ vital importance to 
 conceal to the last moment. 
 
 In his remarks on the lutendence, General 
 Trochu says : — 
 
 *' II faut, pour etre bon forgeron, avoir forg6 
 toute sa vie." To be a good administrator, one 
 should have passed his whole life in the study 
 and practice of business. 
 
 He therefore considers it a serious error that 
 the heads of the Intendence, the regulators of 
 existence of the French armies in the field, 
 should be superannuated generals ; and that all 
 their subordinate functionaries, having passed 
 great part of their lives as ofticers or sub-officers 
 of the army, can have no knowledge of the ope- 
 rations of trade by which alone supply can ad- 
 just itself to demand. During the Italian cam- 
 paign of 1859, the troops were often without 
 bread in one of the richest corn producing coun- 
 tries in Europe. Biscuit was equally deficient. 
 In the Crimea the Intendence broke down so 
 completely that recourse was obliged to be had 
 to a great commercial house at Marseilles, which 
 thenceforth successfully supplied the wants of 
 the army. 
 
41 
 
 It is perhaps superfluous to make such copious 
 extracts relating to the systems of Prussia and 
 France ; but, as we can only estimate the degree 
 of excellence of our own system, when comparing 
 it with that of older and more advanced nations, 
 taking into that consideration the difference 
 between these countries as regards their require- 
 ments for defensive organization, and the cir- 
 cumstances of the people, it is perhaps well that 
 the opportunity for making such comparisons is 
 afforded us from time to time. 
 
 Our organization is in many respects unlike 
 either of the two systems referred to, but ap- 
 proaches nearer to that of the Prussian than of 
 the French, and, as far as we have gone, the 
 provisions of the law are, no doubt, more in 
 accord with the spirit of our institutions, and 
 the circumstances of our people, than either of 
 these systems would prove, if adopted pure and 
 simple, but there are many points of detail in 
 which we are wanting, and it becomes our duty 
 to take advantage of the knowledge placed with- 
 in our reach, let it come from whatever source 
 it may. 
 
 It may be well, under all the circumstances, 
 for such an ambitious country as Prussia is, to 
 insist upon a lengthened period of drill, and an 
 almost universal training of the young men of 
 the country, but then, she has a population of 
 30,000,000, and is, in our sense of the word, 
 without an extended territory in proportion to 
 that population ; in consequence, labour is cheap 
 
 '■i ii' 
 
 i « 
 
 
I % 
 
 42 
 
 '■I ''' 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 and abundant. But in Canada, with a popula- 
 tion of only 4,000,000, and a desire only to 
 guard the rights she is permitted to enjoy, the 
 case is different. Her territory is considerable 
 in extent, her population is sparse and the win- 
 ters long, which requires as a necessary conse- 
 quence, the concentration of a considerable por- 
 tion of the agricultural operations of the year 
 within those months c* ^nng which drill can 
 only be successfully earned on in camps ; the 
 result is, that duriig that portion of the year 
 there is an extra demanu for agricultural labour 
 at high rates. Besides this, the fact of our 
 having such an abundance of uncultivated land 
 for sale at low prices, and in many instances, it 
 is actually given away to actual settlers, tends to 
 give the labour of able bodied militia men a com- 
 mercial value in the eyes of the people. As by 
 settling on these lands, and without extraordinary 
 effort, any industrious man can in a few years 
 make a comfortable home and independence for 
 himself, he helps to make work in the rural dis- 
 tricts more plentiful, and labor of all kinds more 
 difficult to manage. It turns out, therefore, 
 that a necessity prevails for every eligible mili- 
 tia man to have some occupation or calling, and 
 it matters not what that occupation or calling 
 may be ; the more important it is, the greater the 
 necessity for his becoming, through personal 
 knowledge of all the details, able to rely upon 
 his own head and hands, for persevering industry 
 to carry him safely through. The man of 
 
43 
 
 capital, equally with the man of more moderate 
 means, has ample occupation, and hence the 
 difficulty arises as to the exact extent the indus- 
 try of the country can be diverted from these 
 pursuits, for purposes of drill and training. 
 
 This difficulty has not resulted in inconven- 
 ience as yet, for the reason that Canadians have 
 not forgotten the traditions of their fathers, and 
 the new blood infused, has not lessened the mar- 
 tial spirit of the people. A considerable portion 
 of the population is naturally inclined to the 
 profession of arms, and it is not surprising that 
 Canada has utilized this element by accepting 
 voluntary oiFers to serve in her army, instead of 
 drawing indiscriminately by ballot from the 
 ranks of the reserve. 
 
 By selecting those portions of the year within 
 which the men composing the rural corps can 
 best be spared from their industrial pursuits, 
 much has been effected in the way of drill. The 
 days intervening between the spring work and 
 hay harvest, before and after the grain harvest, 
 and after the fall seed has been put in, are the 
 brief periods best suited for this purpose, and 
 the few days thus to be spent in camp, can be, 
 and is, to a great extent, looked forward to, as a 
 season of comparative relaxation from the more 
 laborious occupations incident to agricultural 
 pursuits in Canada. 
 
 The active Militia, as now organized, is made 
 up entirely of men who have voluntarily joined 
 the force, so that no necessity has yet arisen to 
 
 i : 
 
 m 
 
 [4 !« 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 .■If , 
 
44 
 
 1 
 
 ;' f 
 
 ';1| 
 
 make use of the ballot in providing reliefs to 
 take the place of those who have completed their 
 periods of service from time to time. It is 
 therefore evident that the military spirit of the 
 people is fully equal to the requirements of the 
 law as regards primary organization and drill, 
 and it is fair to suppose that, should the neces- 
 sity for a more extended period of continuous 
 annual drill be acknowledged by Parliament, the 
 same spirit of patriotism which has animated the 
 men in bringing the organization to its present 
 development, will tend to keep the ranks filled 
 by voluntary enrolment. 
 
 The Reserve Militia is, however, the back- 
 bone of the organization, as additional men, re- 
 quired to fill the ranks of and to supplement the 
 present activ^e force, must in cases of necessity 
 be drawn from the reserve. The necessary ma- 
 chinery to enable this to be effectively done, is 
 therefore kept in working order from time to 
 time. 
 
 The different stages of progress in organization 
 may be stated briefly as follows : After the war 
 of 1812-15 the militia was in a quiescent state, 
 the population was sparse and limited in number. 
 The country new and undeveloped, demanded the 
 concentration of the energies of the people in 
 other pursuits. The rebellion of 1837-8 attract- 
 ed attention for a time, but being crushed, no 
 steps were taken towards permanent organization 
 until 1846, but then the money resources of the 
 country were not considered sufficient to warrant 
 
45 
 
 men, re- 
 
 expenditure, and very little was done, prior to 
 1856. Then, a small active force was organized, 
 and the strength added to from time to time, 
 until 1861, when the war of the rebellion in the 
 United States, and the seizure of the steamer 
 Trmt, having Messrs. Mason and Slidell on 
 board, awakened us to the necessities of the 
 times, and found us with an active force num- 
 bering not more than 12,000, and with a militia 
 in other respects entirely untrained. The Im- 
 perial Government, impressed with the urgency 
 of the situation, and the want of preparation for 
 defensive measures in Canada, took active and 
 effective steps to indicate to us the duties free 
 government imposed. 
 
 Quoting the words used by the Duke of New- 
 castle in his despatch to Lord Monck, under 
 date, 21st August, 1862: 
 
 " The growing importance of the Colony, and 
 its attachment to free institutions, make it every 
 day more essential that it should possess in it- 
 self, that without which free institutions cannot 
 be secure — adequate means of self-defence. The 
 adequacy of those means is materially influenced 
 by the peculiar position of the country. Its ex- 
 tent of frontier is such that it can be safe only 
 when its population capable of bearing arms, is 
 ready and competent to fight. That the popu- 
 lation is ready, no one will venture to doubt j 
 that it cannot be competent, is no less certain, 
 until it has received that organization, and 
 acquired that habit of discipline, which consti- 
 
 11 .ii 
 
46 
 
 ill i it 
 
 tute the difference between a trained force and 
 an armed mob. 
 
 *' The main dependence of such a country 
 must be upon its own people. The irregular 
 forces which can be formed from the population, 
 know the passes of the woods, are well acquainted 
 with the country, its roads, its rivers, its defiles ; 
 and for defensive warfare (for aggression they 
 will never be wanted), would be far more avail- 
 able than regular soldiers. 
 
 *' It is in time of peace that preliminary mea- 
 sures of defence should be perfected, so that in 
 the event of war they may be found so far ready 
 as to ensure that an enemy shall not obtain a 
 footing in the country, before aid is forthcoming 
 from other portions of the Empire." 
 
 In 1863 additions were made to the strength 
 of the active force under an improved organiza- 
 tion, so that in 1866, when the Fenians made 
 their first attempt to cross our border, we had 
 made such progress as to enable us to place men 
 in the field, who, although defective as regards 
 equipment, had courage and discipline to carry 
 them safely through, and adverting to the effec- 
 tiveness of the force as then organized, the Ad- 
 jutant General, (Colonel MacDougall,) in his 
 report on the state of the militia for 1866, says: 
 
 "On his first arrival in Canada the Adjutant 
 General was disposed to undervalue the impor- 
 tance of the existing Volunteer Force. 
 
 "Experience has convinced him that both as 
 regards material and spirit, and also as regards 
 
47 
 
 Fnri 
 
 proficiency in drill, acquired under great disad- 
 vantages, that force is of great value. 
 
 '^ A more severe test of the efficiency of the Vo- 
 lunteer system for defence could not have been 
 applied than that which was furnished by the 
 circumstances of last winter, and in no respect 
 has it been found wanting, but on the contrary, 
 fully equal to the calls made upon it. 
 
 *' During the past autumn and winter an uneasy 
 feeling was naturally produced along the whole 
 of the frontier bordering on the United States by 
 the preparations and threatened incursions of 
 the Fenians, which was not allayed by the mea- 
 sures adopted by the Government in November 
 of placing 500 Volunteers on service at Wind- 
 sor, Sarnia, Niagara, and Prescott. 
 
 *' In these circumstances all the Local Volun- 
 teer Corps along the frontier line showed an ex- 
 cellent spirit, and the alacrity with which they 
 turned out spontaneously to defend the lives and 
 properties of their fellow citizens at those points 
 most exposed to anticipated raids, when those 
 raids appeared imminent, is worthy of the high- 
 est commendation. 
 
 " On the 7th March, 1866, the Adjutant Ge- 
 neral, on his way from Ottawa to Montreal, re- 
 ceived at Kemptville, at four o'clock p.m., a te- 
 legraphic message from the Honorable the Min- 
 ister of Militia, as follows : 
 * Message. 
 
 ' Ottawa, March 7th, 1866. 
 ' To Colonel McDougall. 
 
 ' Call out ten thousand (10,000) men of Vo- 
 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 
 M 
 I 
 
 
 
48 
 
 i^ 
 
 I lit 
 
 '1 
 III 
 
 I 
 
 fit 
 
 
 lunteer Force. Send me by telegraph names of 
 Corps. They must be out in twenty-four (24) 
 hours, and for three (3) weeks and whatever 
 further time may be required. Telegraph direct 
 this evening from Prescott to Brigade Majors 
 and Ofl&cers commanding such Corps as you 
 think most desirable to be in readiness to move 
 on your orders to morrow. 
 
 ' (Signed), J.ohn A. Macdonald.* 
 
 " By making use of the Post Ofl&ce van, the 
 Adjutant General was enabled, in the course 
 of the journey to despatch messages and 
 letters to the Militia StaiF Officers of the several 
 districts, prescribing the quota to be furnished 
 in each district. On the arrival of the train in 
 Montreal at midnight, answers were received 
 from all the districts announcing that arrange- 
 ments were in progress ; and by 4 o'clock p.m., 
 on the following day (8th), it was reported to 
 the Adjutant General that the total number of 
 10,000 men were assembled at their respective 
 head-quarters, waiting further orders. 
 
 ^' By the afternoon of Saturday, the 10th, that 
 distribution was effected without mistake and 
 without accident ; which, considering the great 
 distances and the scattered nature of the Volun- 
 teer Force in the country parts, reflects great 
 credit on the zeal and alacrity of the Staff Offi- 
 cers of the different districts, and on the spirit 
 and loyalty of the men composing the force. 
 
 * The country too is greatly indebted to the 
 Managers of the different railroads for their in- 
 
nr 
 
 49 
 
 valuable hearty co operation, which could alone 
 have enabled the Military Authorities satisfac- 
 torily to carry out their plans, and the prompt- 
 ness with which every service was executed, and 
 the entire absence of casualty, speak volumes for 
 the efficient management of the lines. 
 
 " It is quite certain that in place of the 10,000 
 men called for, 30,000 could have been muster- 
 ed within 48 hours ; and indeed when the Re- 
 turns were received a few days after of the 
 strength of the Companies on service, it was 
 found that the number called for by the Gover- 
 nor General had been exceeded by 4,000 men ; 
 and that in place of 10,000 men, there were ac- 
 tually 14,000 doing duty with the Service Force. 
 
 '^ This excess was occasioned by the fact that 
 the Staff Officers, in view of the limited time al- 
 allowed for the muster of the force, were obliged 
 to call out the different Companies at their actual 
 strength ; but the eagerness to share in the de- 
 fcBfce of the country was such that the Com- 
 panies were increased to their full strength by 
 men coming to join from distances which could 
 not bo anticipated. There were many instances 
 of Volunteers coming in from distant parts of 
 the United States, having given up lucrative 
 employment at the call of the duty which they 
 owned to Canada. 
 
 " The Fenians would indeed have proved the 
 
 invaluable, though involuntary benefactors of 
 
 Canada, if the only experience derived from 
 
 their foolish proceedings had been ihe proofs of 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
50 
 
 i'::l 
 
 li 
 
 warm attachment exhibited by Canadians uni- 
 versally for the land of their birth or adoption. 
 But the benefits conferred by the * Brother- 
 hood' do not stop here. By uniting all classes, 
 and by the opportunity afforded of testing the 
 military organization, they have given to the 
 Province a proud consciousness of strength, and 
 have been the means of obtaining for it, in 
 England in particular, and before the world at 
 large, that status and consideration as a great 
 people, to which by the magnitude of its re- 
 sources and by the spirit and intelligence of 
 its population, it is justly entitled." 
 
 The corps under Major General Lindsay's 
 observation, elicited from that officer the follow- 
 ing remarks, in his report made at the time : 
 
 " In March and June the Volunteer force was 
 suddenly called out for active service, on account 
 of threatened Fenian incursions. These calls 
 were obeyed with such alacrity, that the enrolled 
 men literally sprung to arms on their services 
 being required by their country. 
 
 "The latter emergency took place at a period 
 where the greater part of the members of the 
 I orce were exposed to much inconvenience and 
 personal loss. They cheerfully left their agri- 
 cultural and commercial pursuits, and at once 
 responded to the demand of duty to the 
 state. 
 
 "I now proceed to call attention to some defi- 
 ciencies in organization as they appeared to me 
 during the recent emergency, with a view of 
 
51 
 
 ns uni- 
 ioption. 
 Jrother- 
 
 classes, 
 ting the 
 
 to the 
 rth, and 
 ►r it, in 
 ?^orld at 
 , a great 
 r its re- 
 rence of 
 
 iindsay's 
 
 le foUow- 
 
 time : 
 
 force was 
 account 
 
 ese calls 
 enrolled 
 services 
 
 a period 
 •s of the 
 lence and 
 leir agri- 
 , at once 
 J to the 
 
 some defi- 
 red to me 
 I view of 
 
 more complete arrangements in the event of the 
 force being again called into the field. 
 
 "COMMISSARIAT. 
 
 "On both occasions when the Volunteer Mili- 
 tia Force has been called out, troops have been 
 sent to occupy certain stations at very short 
 notice, and on arrival they are billeted and make 
 their own arrangements for their subsistence. 
 This is, no doubt, the simplest mode of action, 
 as well as the most convenient, and, as long as 
 the force is small, no difl&culty occurs. But it 
 is evident that if a large force is suddenly thrown 
 on a locality unprepared for their reception, 
 danger exists of the troops being without suffi- 
 cient food— and this actually occurred at Hun- 
 tingdon, although 1 thought it my duty to issue 
 an order to officers commanding corps to the 
 effect that they were responsible for the arrange- 
 ments for certain commissariat supplies for their 
 men; yet I think it desirable that upon any 
 future occasion when the force is called out that 
 a Commissariat Staff should be at once formed. 
 An officer at head quarters of a district should, 
 for the period of service, be responsible for 
 making any necessary preparations at the loca- 
 lities to which troops are ordered, and with 
 whom officers commanding should communicate. 
 If the militia authorities think it would be more 
 satisfactory, there is no obstacle to the commis- 
 sariat of the regular army furnishing supplies 
 when the volunteer force is at a station where 
 
Wl 
 
 62 
 
 :u 
 
 f ,« 
 
 '1| 
 
 there are regular troops ; but at other stations 
 this cannot be done. 
 
 <* MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
 
 " On the force being placed on active employ- 
 ment, it would be desirable to have a medical 
 officer attached to the head quarters of the Mili- 
 tia Department, who would be responsible for 
 arrangement in communicating with the Inspec- 
 tor General and principal Purveyor of Her 
 Majesty's forces, and who would carry out the 
 necessary measures for the due provision of the 
 probable requirements of the troops at each 
 station." 
 
 In closing his report, Major General Lindsay 
 adds : 
 
 *' The general conduct of the Volunteer force 
 has been excellent. There have been very few 
 court martials for so large a force, and wherever 
 they have been, I have reason to believe they 
 have secured the good will of the inhabitants of 
 the locality in which they have been stationed. 
 
 " I have only to add that the Volunteer force 
 have proved themselves loyal and enthusiastic in 
 the defence of their country. They have shown 
 the obedience so necessary in soldiers. They 
 have exhibited fortitude and cheerfulness in the 
 discomfort and difficulties of camp life, outpost 
 duty, patrolling, &c." 
 
 In June, 1866 the Fenian force actually 
 crossed the border at Fort Erie, but their recep- 
 tion (now a matter of historical record,) was 
 J3uch as caused them to follow quickly in the 
 
53 
 
 footsteps of all who had in previous years, made 
 attempts at aggressive warfare on Canadian soil. 
 
 Referring to the state of the force in 1867, 
 the Adjutant-General in his report for that year, 
 says : 
 
 " The experience acquired during the last two 
 years and nine months of the working of the 
 Volunteer system, has convinced the Adjutant 
 Creneral tha^ of the several weak points which 
 are inherent in an organization which is neither 
 altogether civil nor altogether military, that 
 which is most opposed to its success, is the feel- 
 ing entertained by the men that their military 
 service subjects them to a burthen of expense 
 and inconvenience, which is not shared by other 
 classes of the community. A volunteer contri- 
 butes in the same proportion with those other 
 classes towards the expense of the military 
 establishments of the country, but he gives his 
 personal service in addition. In peaceful times, 
 this personal service, under the system hitherto 
 pursued, is as little onerous as possible. But it 
 is far otherwise when, owing to any emergency, 
 the volunteer is placed on active service for a 
 continuous period. The pay he receives in re- 
 turn for his continuous service is, without doubt 
 in most cases, a very inadequate compensation 
 for the loss of his usual employment|. It is an 
 axiom which few will dispute, that all citizens 
 should contribute equally in proportion to their 
 powers, towards the burthens imposed for the 
 defence of their country ; and those who do not 
 
 \l 
 
 h 
 
 y i 
 
E'i 
 
 54 
 
 I 
 
 i; 
 
 I 
 
 
 contribute their personal service should be forced 
 to compensate for thoir exemption by a money 
 payment. The State has a right to require that 
 every citizen should make some sacrifice of his 
 ease and comfort towards the object of providing 
 for the common defence ; and the volunteer or 
 militia man may equitably be required to give 
 his personal service whf , but not unless, the 
 other classes of the community are compelled to 
 make a pecuniary sacrifice from which the vol- 
 unteer or militiaman is exempt. And the only 
 sound basis on which, in a country like Canada, 
 any successful system of compulsory Militia ser- 
 vice can be erected is the practical recognition of 
 the principle, that every man not actually con- 
 tributing his personal service during any one 
 year, should pay a tax in money which should 
 bear some proportion to the property for which 
 the military force of the country is to aiFord 
 protection. Without the practical recognition 
 of this principle it is impossible that the com- 
 pulsory militia service of the country can ever 
 be cheerfully performed by those on whom it is 
 imposed." 
 
 " As a preparative against any further emer- 
 gency requiring the volunteer force to take the 
 field, the whole force was, in the autumn of 1866, 
 told off in field brigades and garrisons of posts, 
 and an arrangement for combining in the most 
 useful manner the action of that force with that 
 of the regular troops was made by the Lieuten- 
 ant General Commanding. 
 
55 
 
 Of these field brigades, three were formed in 
 Western Canada, four in Eastern Canada. The 
 component corps and brigade staff were detailed, 
 and the points of assembly fixed. 
 
 The Staff officers are provided with a list of 
 the stores which are required to enable each 
 brigade to take the field, and will draw them 
 from the storekeepers, who have orders to issue 
 them on the shortest notice. 
 
 Similarly, the Commissariat officer of each 
 brigade is prepared to provide the necessary 
 transport to enable it to move at the shortest 
 notice. 
 
 Those volunteer corps which do not form part 
 ot the above moveable columns are formed into 
 brigades by districts, of which each will have its 
 Volunteer Commandant and Brigade Major. 
 These corps will be employed in garrison duty, 
 in guarding frontier towns and villages, and im- 
 portant points on the lines of canal or railroad 
 communication. The duties of the Commandant 
 and Brigade Mai or will be to organize a system 
 of look-out parties and patrols suited to the loca- 
 lities ; and to visit constantly all the posts within 
 their respective Brigade districts. 
 
 The adoption of these measures enables Cana- 
 dians to laugh at the grandiloquent plans of the 
 Fenians for the invasion of their territory. One 
 or more of the field brigades above described 
 could be assembled with certainty at any point 
 threatened by an enemy having any pretence 
 to military organization before that enemy could 
 
 
 
66 
 
 reach the same point; and supposing the 
 Fenians to be able to bring up to any point 
 on the frontier 5,000 men at one time with any 
 semblance of military array, which is a gratuitous 
 and even preposterous supposition, any such 
 force opposed to one of the field brigades above 
 described, would be like a child in the hands of 
 a giant. 
 
 Since the confederation of the several Pro- 
 vinces, a new militia law has been brought into 
 operation, and under its provisions the whole 
 force has been reorganized ; many defects which 
 had been found to exist under previous organ- 
 izations were removed, and the system made 
 uniform for the whole Dominion. 
 
 The present organization of the army of Ca- 
 nada is, therefore, briefly as follows. The po- 
 pulation numbers about 4,000,000. Of these 
 the number liable to ^rve in the Militia is about 
 675,000, and divided into four classes, consists 
 of all the male inhabitants of the age of 18 years 
 and upwards, and under 60 — not exempted or 
 disqualified by law, aind being British subjects 
 by birth or naturalization. 
 
 1st class, ages 18 to 30, unmarried men or 
 widowers without children. 
 
 2nd class, ages 30 to 45, unmarried men, or 
 widowers without children. 
 
 3rd class, ages 18 to 45, married men or 
 widowers with children. 
 
 4th class, 45 to 60. 
 
 The following persons only, between the ages 
 
57 
 
 of 18 zud 60 years, are exempt from enrolment, 
 and from actual service at any time : 
 
 The Judges of all the Courts of Law or 
 Equity in the Dominion of Canada. 
 
 The clergy and ministers of all religious de- 
 nominations ; 
 
 The professors in any college or university 
 and all teachers in religious orders ; 
 
 The warden, keepers and guards of the peni- 
 tentiaries, and the oflBcers, keepers and guards 
 of all public Lunatic Asylums ; 
 
 Persons disabled by bodily infirmity ; 
 
 The only son of a widow, being her only 
 support ; 
 
 And the following, though enrolled, shall be 
 exempt from actual service, at any time, except 
 in case of war, invasion or insurrection ; 
 
 Half-pay and retired officers of her Majesty's 
 army or navy ; 
 
 Seafaring men and sailors actually employed 
 in their calling ; 
 
 Pilots and apprentice pilots (fering the season 
 of navigation ; 
 
 Masters of public and common schools ac- 
 tually engaged in teaching. 
 
 The enrolment is held to be an embodiment 
 of all the militiamen enrolled, and renders them 
 liable to serve unless exempt by law. 
 
 In order that the enrolment of the militia 
 may be correctly taken from time to time^ and 
 the organization perfected for easy communica- 
 tion and command^ the whole country is di- 
 
 if 
 
 I- 
 
58 
 
 \i 
 
 i. 
 ■ > ' ill 
 
 11 
 
 vided into Military Districts, subdivided into 
 Brigade Divisions, again into Regimental Divi- 
 sions, and, lastly, into Company Divisions ; each 
 regimental division has appointed to it one Lieut. 
 Colonel and two Majors, and each company di- 
 vision one Captain and two sub-officers of reserve 
 Militia, who must be residents therein. The 
 Captain is charged with the duty of keeping at 
 all times a correct roll of the whole of the militia 
 within his division, and, when called upon, is 
 required to furnish for active service such num- 
 bers of men, either as volunteers, or through the 
 operation of the ballot, as may be necessary to 
 make good his proportion of any quota required 
 from the regimental division, of which his com- 
 pany division forms a part. 
 
 To interfere as little as possible with ordinary 
 routine, the limits of these regimental and com- 
 pany divisions are made, as nearly as practicable, 
 idehtical with the limits of the territorial divi- 
 sions, for electoral and municipal purposes, and 
 through this means the men are not called upon 
 to remember any other territorial divisions for 
 militia purposes than those within which they, 
 or those representing the property within the 
 company division, exercise their elective fran- 
 •chise. 
 
 The officers of the Reserve Militia being ap- 
 pointed solely for purposes of enrolment and bd- 
 lot, their being resident within their respective 
 divisions, which is insisted on, will enable them 
 to become personally acquainted with the men 
 
59 
 
 liable for service, and tend to secure fairness ia 
 all the details of the ballot whenever the neces- 
 sity for supplementing the active force through 
 that means may arise. 
 
 To the several regimental divisions grouped 
 into a brigade division, a Brigade Major is at* 
 tached, and for the brigade divisions which com- 
 prise a military district, a Deputy Adjutant-Ge- 
 neral is appointed, who will reside within the 
 district, and who has the local command of the 
 militia in his district, while the Adjutant-Gene- 
 ral, who resides at headquarters, Ottawa, is 
 charged under the orders of Her Majesty with 
 the militiry command and discipline of the mi- 
 litia in Canada. 
 
 The active or that portion of the militia to be 
 annually drilled is 40,000, a number slightly ex- 
 ceeding one in every 100 of the present population; 
 the actual strength is, however, upwards of 
 42,500, or equal to 1 in 16 of all the men liable 
 to service. The men are raised in the several 
 regimental divisions in proportion to the strength 
 of the enrolled militia constituting the reserve 
 in each ; the period of service for purposes of 
 drill in time of peace is three years, and the 
 men who have thus completed such a period of 
 drill are permitted to return to the reserve, and 
 are not liable to be again taken for drill and 
 training, until all the other men in the same com- 
 pany division have volunteered or been ballotted 
 to serve. In case of war every man is liable to 
 serve or furnish an approved substitute. 
 
60 
 
 The active force is armed with breech-loading 
 rifles, and has suitable equipment for service in 
 the field. The present force has been raised 
 by voluntary enrolment, and although the men 
 are governed by very stringent regulations when 
 under arms, they are found to be tractable and 
 apt, and no serious breaches of discipline have 
 taken place. The readiness with which all the 
 corps turned out along on extended line of fron- 
 tier, when ordered' on service at the time of the 
 Fenian raid in 1870, and the rapidity with 
 which the corps were concentrated at the several 
 points where an attack might be expected, shews 
 that Canada has an effective force, composed of 
 men on whom the greatest reliance can be placed, 
 who are able to maintain order in the country, 
 and form an ample contingent to repel any 
 Fenian attack, which may be made hereafter on 
 any part of the Dominion. 
 
 On the 24th May, 1870, it became known 
 that the Fenians were concentrating in the ter- 
 ritory of the United States with mischievous in- 
 tent on Canada. Accordingly a portion of the 
 active militia was called out to prevent these 
 misguided men from obtaining a foothold on 
 Canadian Territory. On the 27th May com- 
 manding officers reported that 13,540 officers 
 and men of the active militia had mustered at 
 the several posts in their respective districts, 
 and were under arms, ready for service along 
 the St. Clair, Detroit, Niagara, St. Lawrence, 
 and Eastern Townships frontiers^ In the mean 
 
61 
 
 time the Fenians had been repulsed at Eccles 
 Hill, on the Missisquoi frontier, on the 25th, 
 and again at Holbrook's, on the Huntingdon 
 frontier, on the 27th. These attempts frustrated 
 the enemy became so demoralized, that the de- 
 monstrations originally intended to be made at 
 other points, were abandoned, and so the raids 
 of 1870, ended in utter disaster to the Fenians. 
 
 Although only a small number of our men 
 participated in the actual conflict, and that 
 number deservedly carried off the honors, the 
 same spirit and determination to resist which 
 was manifested at Eccles Hill and Holbrookes 
 was apparent everywhere ; and had any similar 
 invasion been made, it would have been repulsed 
 with equal promptitude and certainty at any 
 point along the five hundred miles of frontier 
 which at the time appeared to be threatened. 
 
 There can be no doubt, that if previous to the 
 war now existing, France had had such a terri- 
 torial organization as that now in operation in 
 Canada, she would have occupied a very different 
 position. The rapidity with which she could 
 have brought her population into service where 
 needed, would have kept the Prussians out of 
 France, or at least have rendered their advance 
 a much more hazardous and tedious undertaking 
 than the march to Paris proved to be. 
 
 The establishment of Military Schools at con- 
 venient centres in the several Districts, in con- 
 nection with Regiments of the Regular Army, 
 had placed; and continues to place the means for 
 
 
62 
 
 instruction within the reach of the Officers. The 
 numbers (over 5,000) who have attended these 
 schools, shews that the advantages afforded have 
 been properly appreciated, and the result has 
 been such as to enable the formation of corps 
 everywhere. Even in the remote localities where, 
 until military schools had been opened, many of 
 the young men had never seen a regular soldier, 
 the country can now boast of corps of active 
 militia, ably commanded and provided with com- 
 petent instructors. In addition to those who are 
 now officers, very many young men have passed 
 the allotted period of three months in these 
 schools, who, although they hold certificates and 
 have not yet obtained commissions in the active 
 force, remain available, and are candidates for 
 such whenever vacancies occur, or the opportu- 
 nities for their appointment may arise. ^ 
 
 The system of military instruction which was 
 introduced and successfully carried on prior to 
 1865 in the Normal Schools, most of the col- 
 leges, and in many of the grammar and common 
 schools of the country, has proved so beneficial 
 in its results, that direct encouragement and 
 support should not only be continued, but the 
 system should be so extended as to embrace all 
 public schools within its provisions. No^' 
 can tend more to frame the future men o ue 
 Dominion, physically and mentally, in habits of 
 discipline, than making military acquirements 
 a ^ndamental portion of the early education of 
 youth. A reasonable amount of military in- 
 struction, when the recipients are young, is far 
 
68 
 
 . The 
 
 these 
 Ihave 
 It has 
 
 corps 
 sphere, 
 any of 
 oldier, 
 
 active 
 li com- 
 ho are 
 passed 
 
 these 
 bes and 
 
 active 
 tes for 
 )portu- 
 
 eh was 
 ►rior to 
 lie col- 
 jmmon 
 aeficial 
 at and 
 3ut the 
 race all 
 
 ue 
 abiitt of 
 rements 
 ition of 
 ary in- 
 ;, is far 
 
 less liable to be forgotten, than that which is 
 imparted to adults. Besides this, as the scholars 
 attending these schools are drawn from every 
 class of society in the several communities in 
 which they live, and where they are having im- 
 parted to them an education, superior or other- 
 wise, in proportion to their means, inclination 
 and position, — fitting them for employment in 
 the several professions and duties of life — the 
 acquisition of military drill and discipline, and 
 the muscular development incident to such 
 instruction, would have a vast and beneficial 
 effect, as regards the future, in the event of any 
 contingency arising which might require their 
 employment for defensive purposes, in any part 
 of the Dominion. 
 
 The army of Canada is a purely popular one, 
 the men in it comprising 1 in 16 of all those 
 eligible for militia service, and residing as they 
 do, in their civil capacities, in every city, town, 
 and hamlet within the country, where they take 
 part in every work that tends to the prosperity 
 of the several communities in which they live, 
 necessarily causes the material interests of the 
 army and people to be identical. 
 
 The system now in operation for concentrat- 
 ing reserves of stores in each of the military dis- 
 ^-ricts, whereby the arming and equipping of the 
 active militia can be carried on with ease, expe- 
 dition and effect, has worked well, but the re- 
 serves are not at present of suf&cient magnitude 
 to provide for any great accessions to the force, 
 nor to make good deficiencies which are likely to 
 
64 
 
 1 
 1, 
 
 .1; 
 
 IS' 
 
 '-■ft 
 i.-i ,■ 
 
 I' 
 f. 
 
 ;*i' 
 
 tf^i 
 
 occur through fair wear and tear in the early 
 future. 
 
 To meet the circumstances of the country, 
 more particularly the sparsely settled districts, 
 and, ahove all, to interfere as little as possible 
 with the industrial pursuits of the people, the 
 primary organization of the active militia has 
 been effected in the rural parts by the formation 
 of companies, acting at first independently of 
 each other, and when firmly established, grouped 
 into Battalions for annual drill in camp, at Bat- 
 talion Head Quarters, and finally, as illustrated 
 during the present yeai, in the more advanced 
 districts throughout the country, by the assem- 
 bly, under the direction of the Adjutant-General, 
 (Colonel Robertson-Ross), of the majority of 
 the corps in Brigade camps, and the force con- 
 sisting of cavalry, artillery and infantry thus 
 brought together at each camp, drilled and acted 
 in concert as a Brigade, rations furnished under 
 contract, and officers and men lodged in tents. 
 
 It will therefore be seen that we have the ter- 
 ritorial organization, and the necessary machinery 
 through which the men in the reserve can be 
 brought into service, either by voluntary enrol- 
 ment, or through the operation of the ballot, 
 whenever that course may become necessary, but 
 we are yet wanting in the provision for that 
 extended period of drill, which is necessary, 
 before these men can be made effective sol- 
 diers : the authorized drills have, however, been 
 utilized to the fullest extent In these camps ; 
 corps thus concentrated for drill, undergo the 
 
65 
 
 I early 
 
 untry, 
 jtricts, 
 Dssible 
 ie, the 
 bia has 
 [nation 
 tly of 
 rouped 
 it Bat- 
 strated 
 vanced 
 assem- 
 eneral, 
 rity of 
 56 con- 
 y vhhus 
 i acted 
 I un*3er 
 tents. 
 ;he ter- 
 jhinery 
 can be 
 r enrol- 
 ballot, 
 ry, but 
 )r that 
 pessary, 
 ive sol- 
 jr, been 
 2amps ; 
 rgo the 
 
 same duties they would h^ called on to per- 
 form in actual service. Drill by brigades in 
 camps has therefore resulted in good to both 
 ofl&cers and men, and the staff and commanders 
 of corps have had opportunities for that practice, 
 necessary to make their commands effective* 
 
 There are reasons, no doubt, why the system 
 of voluntary service bears more heavily upon 
 some portions of the country than upon others, 
 the most important is, that in many instances 
 in the newly settled districts, the first organiza- 
 tion of a. Volunteer company absorbs the whole 
 of the volunteer element for the time being, 
 within a radius of miles from the company head 
 quarters, so that when the period of three years, 
 for which these men volunteered to serve, ex- 
 pires, other men cannot be found within a con- 
 venient distance who will volunteer to fill vacan- 
 cies, the consequence is that in order to main- 
 tain these company organizations many old 
 volunteers continue to serve in the ranks, for 
 even four, five or six years. 
 
 The authorized strength of the active militia 
 in each Regimental Division being fixed, and 
 the number of companies allociated, it follows 
 that in these thinly settled districts there will 
 always be a difficulty in keeping up a continu- 
 ous company organization by voluntary enrol- 
 ment, there would, howcverj be no such difficul- 
 ty if company head quarters were changed from 
 place to place, as the period of service of each 
 set of men expired from time to time, but then 
 distance from the places of residence of the pre- 
 
 6 
 
66 
 
 
 ■'I 
 
 M h 
 
 
 S 
 
 4 
 
 ■si 
 
 sent officers, to the new head quarters would be 
 such an obstacle as to prevent many from taking 
 that active personal interest in the company, in- 
 dispensable to secure efficiency, and would result 
 in an absolute necessity for cancelling commis- 
 sions and the appointment of other officers, who 
 would qualify themselves and undertake the 
 duty. Under existing regulations, if the old 
 officers had served the necessary period to en- 
 title them to retain rank, they would of course 
 do so, but where the whole period has not been 
 completed, even although an officer had passed 
 through a military school and obtained a certi- 
 ficate of qualification, he would necessarily be 
 deprived of rank, but if three years service had 
 been completed he would be entitled to count it 
 as the three years he is liable to serve in his 
 turn as a militiaman. 
 
 These difficulties are understood, and will al- 
 ways be felt in maintaining the organization of 
 a purely volunteer force in any country situated 
 as Canada is. The remedy suggested by some 
 of the officers is, that in all cases where a volun- 
 teer company now organized cannot be kept up 
 to its full nominal strength by voluntary enrol- 
 ment, that the officers be authorized to ballot 
 from the reserve for the number of men neces- 
 sary to complete from time to time. It is ap- 
 parent that this course would, under the present 
 system, only complicate matters, and would fail 
 to accomplish the desired result* 
 
 The present system makes provision for the 
 issue of arms, accoutrements and clothing to 
 
67 
 
 Battalions in the cities and larger towns, and to 
 companies in the other portions of the country, 
 the commanding ofiBicer in each case being held 
 responsible. They are required to keep the 
 arms and accoutrements in armories, but are 
 permitted to allow each man to take his uniform 
 clothing to his own house, for care and safe 
 keeping. Such a system could only be applica- 
 ble to a purely volunteer force, where each man 
 joins from love of the service, and in consequence 
 may be expected to take an interest in the care 
 of the articles placed under his charge, but as 
 soon as individual service becomes compulsory, 
 then the emulation, which under other circum- 
 stances incites the volunteer, will doubtless 
 cease to be apparent in ranks filled by conscrip- 
 tion. Whenever the time shall come for a 
 change as regards the rural corps, from a purely 
 voluntary to a compulsory service, then this 
 diflficulty must be met, by the erection of Batta- 
 lion armories in each Regimental Division for 
 the reception of arms, accoutrements, clothing 
 and other necessary eqv^ment, for issue only 
 when required from time to time, for use during 
 the periods of continuous drill. 
 
 In the mean time as trained officers will al- 
 ways form a most desirable element in reserve, 
 for employment in such an army as Canada will 
 no doubt continue to maintain, there should be 
 no serious objection against permitting such 
 qualified officers as have served three years in 
 any corps, whose head quarters it may be neces- 
 sary to remove to another part of any Regimen- 
 
68 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 tal Division, to retire retaining their rank with 
 a view to further service, whenever an opportu- 
 nity or the necessity for their being so employed 
 may arise. If this course were pursued, no in- 
 justice would be done to these officers, and the 
 inhabitants of those portions of the country 
 most iFavorable to maintaining their quota of ac- 
 tive service men, by voluntary enrolment, would 
 be afforded the necessary opportunity for so doing. 
 So long as an active force can be satisfactorily 
 maintained by purely voluntary enrolment, there 
 can be no doubt that such a force is the one 
 best suited for a country situated as Canada is. 
 The facility of movement, and ease with which 
 a volunteer force can be warned for duty, and 
 turned out for service, makes it peculiarly suited 
 to meet emergencies, such as have arisen during 
 the last few years, along our extended frontier. 
 Besides this, the material of which such a force 
 is necessarily composed, is better than could pos- 
 sibly result from conscription, and compulsory 
 service in that sense. There is however no 
 doubt that when any great emergency has to be 
 met, the ballot is the only means through which 
 the necessary number of men can be satisfac- 
 torily raised. Perhaps, within a brief period, 
 the cities and more thickly populated rural dis- 
 tricts will have reached that point when the 
 ballot will prove the most satisfactory means of 
 supplying their respective quotas ; but that 
 must remain a question to be solved by circum- 
 stances as they arise. So long as the number of 
 men to be furnished each year is fixed, and each 
 
69 
 
 regimental division is required to furnish its 
 quota, the decision as to whether the force is to 
 be raised by voluntary enrolment or by ballot 
 rests with the militia themselves, and so long as 
 this remains the case there is no doubt that the 
 result will prove which mode is most satisfactory, 
 and best suited to the requirements of the 
 different localities in which the men reside. 
 
 The organization of the Landwehr in Prussia 
 is in advance of the system which prevails in 
 Canada, as under that organization all the men 
 who have served their periods in the active force 
 are classed. Here when a man passes from the 
 active, he goes at once into the general reserve, 
 and although the knowledge he has acquired 
 remains with him, and will become available in 
 cases of necessity, we have no separate system 
 under which these men are classed and ofl&cered 
 to form a first reserve ; on the contrary we exempt 
 from further drill, all those men who have so 
 served in the active force, until all the other 
 eligible man in the reserve have been taken in 
 their turn. While the active force absorbs such 
 a considerable proportion of the population, per- 
 haps we are as advanced in this provision as the 
 circumstances of the country will permit ; but 
 when the country becomes more advanced in 
 population and wealth, and such a system as the 
 Prussian Landwehr represents, can be adopted 
 in Canada, the separate organization of men 
 who have served in the active force, as a first 
 reserve, will prove a most formidable addition to 
 the strength of our army. 
 
ilj; 
 I k 
 
 h , 
 
 TO 
 
 While every man has a duty to perform in 
 the matter of defence, and he owes it to himself 
 and to those around him, that that duty be per- 
 formed in such a way, as to aid in bringing the 
 organization of the army to the highest state of 
 perfection, consistent with the time and means 
 at his disposal ; the Government owes it to the 
 loyal men who will fill the ranks of that army, 
 that seasonable and efficient steps be taken to 
 provide reserves of arms, stores and ammunition, 
 and to organize, and train a sufficient staff in 
 time of peace, to facilitate the concentration of 
 the effective strength of the Dominion in time 
 of need, and to provide transport, food and all 
 the other necessary supplies, requisite to ensure 
 success in every department. 
 
 The staff need not necessarily be large, but it 
 should be sufficient, to provide heads for each 
 branch, and the necessary assistants to prepare 
 and keep the various parts of the machinery in 
 working order, so that by use, while the annual 
 drills are going on in time ot peace, no difficulty 
 may be experienced in making the most effective 
 use of all the men and means at the disposal of 
 the Government, whenever an actual necessity 
 for their use in war may arise. 
 
 Each Province added to the Dominion neces- 
 sarily adds to the labour of the working staff at 
 Head Quarters, for the reason that the militia in 
 that Province must be enrolled, and the strength 
 of the active force increased by the organization of 
 additional corps, in proportion to the extent of the 
 population in the additional territory embraced ; 
 
•iri 
 
 distances from Head Quarters become great, and 
 oflScers residing there cannot be expected to 
 know the local requirements of the new force so 
 organized, nor the means of local supply as fully 
 as they would if the extent of the country was 
 within narrower limits, and matters of detail 
 came within personal observation. The addi- 
 tion of territory, therefore, while it increases the 
 importance of the Dominion, from a political 
 point of view, necessarily adds to the labor and 
 responsibilities of administration. Matters 
 which, under the smaller organization, came 
 within the personal observation of officers at 
 Head Quarters, were comparatively within their 
 grasp, but when distance renders such personal 
 supervision impossible, a necessity arises for the 
 appointment of local officers, who being resi- 
 dent within the diflPerent districts, can correctly 
 carry out the regulations and orders promulga- 
 ted through their chiefs from time to time, and 
 requires the subdivision of work under different 
 heads, so that each branch may have proper su- 
 pervision, and all details be promptly acted on 
 where prompt action is necessary. 
 
 So long as the regular troops remained in the 
 country, we had the right to make use of the Im- 
 perial staff in perfecting our organization for de- 
 fence, and the knowledge, that in 'all cases of 
 emergency the militia would act as an auxiliary 
 force in conjunction with regular troops, enabled 
 us to rely upon the Imperial authorities keeping 
 an effective surplus staff, and reserves of stores. 
 Through this means, Canada has had the maxi- 
 
72 
 
 I 
 
 
 mum of benefit while bringing her little army 
 into its present effective state, at a minimum 
 cost to the country. The removal of the troops 
 with the working staff and reserves of stores, 
 therefore, places us in a new position. The 
 sooner we realize that position, and take mea- 
 sures to make good the defects which that re- 
 moval may make apparent in our organization, 
 the sooner we shall feel that safety, and utilize 
 that strength so necessary to give stability to 
 the institutions of the great Dominion we are 
 now engaged in building up. 
 
 The question of making adequate provision 
 for defence is therefore of paramount importance, 
 and now that the regular troops are withdrawn, 
 and the responsibility of defending the frontier 
 from Fenian attack is as a necessary consequence 
 to devolve upon our own people, the active mili- 
 tia as now organized becomes the advance guard 
 in the army of the Dominion, and the men com- 
 posing that force being the first liable for such 
 duty must be looked upon as our standing army 
 and defenders fur the time being. That that 
 army is animated with patriotic desires and the 
 best possible spirit, there can be no doubt ; that 
 it is ready for duty whenever and wherever 
 required, is equally certain. It is therefore not 
 doing too much to express the hope th it Parlia- 
 ment will show its appreciation of that spirit 
 and readiness for duty, when deciding upon the 
 degree of perfection the force is to attain, and 
 the extent it will be sustained in so doing. 
 
e army 
 inimum 
 3 troops 
 ' stores, 
 I. The 
 :e mea- 
 ihat re- 
 lizatioD, 
 i utilize 
 t)ility to 
 we are 
 
 Drovision 
 3ortance, 
 bhdrawn, 
 frontier 
 sequence 
 Live mili- 
 ice guard 
 oaen com- 
 for such 
 ing army 
 rhat that 
 3 and the 
 ubt; that 
 wherever 
 jrefore not 
 lit Parlia- 
 hat spirit 
 r upon the 
 ittain, and 
 )ing.