IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // {/ < <;' :/- :/. y ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 25 lii 12.8 lis IIIIIM 1.8 1.4 IIIIII.6 V] <^ /a 7 e^. ''^ ;> '/ # ??^ 1? &?- iV CIHM/ICMH Microfiche CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. . n m Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pfa jfis d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reiiure serr^ (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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Thi,> following diagrams illustrate the method: .'.'exemplaire 1\\m6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de I'dtablissement prdteur suivant : La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul cliche sont film6es d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m^thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 3 N NC ^'^ i ,s> - DOMINION ELECTION. CAMPAIGN OF 1886. Hon. Eiward 6 lake's Speeck -'v ':■'.'■ r/ .;,t, ,'_ISro. 14, (First ^Series). i< -d' i-i 1 ■;.'■ North -West Affairs. Neglect, Delay, • p' d ■ . Mismanagement. Race and : : Creed Cries. j '- »¥> ^ ■•= .*'-.l ''" ,. NOTE.— See Inside Cover for List of Mr. Blake's Speeches in first Series. Apply to W. T. R. Preston, Reform Club, Toronto, for Copies of tliese Speecb.es. ^or0ttta: HUNTER, ROSE & CO., PRINTERS. 1886. LIST OF SPEECHES IN THIS SERIES. No. 2.- No. 3.- No. 4.- No. 5. -I No. 6.— N«. 7.— i ' '' ■ I': ■■ ' No. 8.- No. I.— (London) I Genftral Review of Situation. Riel Quettion. (Owen Sound)-. North- West Maladministration. Riel. -(Beaverton) : Indepen'lence of Parliament The Boodle Brig^ade. (Chesley) : Public Finances— Taxation and Deficits— Farmers. -(SiMcuE) : Federal and Provincial Rights— Ontario— Nova Scotia. (GuELPH)— Elections near.— Tory Dodges- Nova Scotia. (Owen Sound) : Princip!.^ of Liberalism— Duty of the Leader. (Welland)— Policy of the Party— Functions of an Opposition. (Oakwood)— Sir J. Macdonald on Functions of an Opposition. £xfracU—(GuJiLVH) : Home Rule for Ireland. (Berlin): Firebrand Tory attempts to excite Germans. (Galt & Orangeville) .• Indian Starvation Policy. (Pembroke) : Maladministration felt at Cut Knife Hill. Extructi — (Kendall) : Business Methods required in Public AiTairs — Degradation of Parliament— A few Boodlers. (Hampton); Civil Service Reform. , , (Galt) : Burden of Public Debt. -, ' . (Orangeville) : Burden of Public Debt. '_ (Belleville); Burden of Public Debt — The Interest on Debt. (Oakwood): Burden of Public Debt— Our Public Expen- diture. -(Newcastle) : Canadian Paci)ic Railroad Matters. (LisTowEL): Canadian Pacific Railroad Matters— The last Sacri- fice ef $10,000,000 Collapse of Tory " Boom " Policy. (St. Thomas) : North-West Lands. (Huntsville) : R.R. Policy— Sir John's Subsidies to "Guinea-Pig" Directors — Assisted Immigration and Railway Frauds. (Parry Sound): Railway Policy of Liberals. ' ■'■[, (Orangeville) : Railway Policy of Liberals. ■ (Brantford) : The Kansas Slander. (Listowel) : The Sea of Mountains. -(WiNGHAM) : Blake's Tribute to Mackenzie. \ (Stayner); Blake's Tribute to Sir Richard Cartwright (Brantfokd) : Blake's Tribute to Paterson— Duty of Young Men. — (Welland) : Liberal Party, Creeds and Classes. (Orillia): Leaders and Newspapers— The "Mail'" Crusade. — (AYLkER) : Prohibition and Politics. ^ . ■. , , , . — (Toronto): Interests of Labour— The Tariff. •, i . }^ ':&■ (Welland): To Knights of Labour. ' ; \,., , ":. .^ .'■:.. (Belleville): Legislation for Labour. ''/ .' \ , '. '' . \. (Deseronto) : Workingmen and Parties. ' jV iV . , •- , (Hamilton): Workingmen and Parties. ~ ' ' ' ': ' . ' '_" Na 13. — (Hamilton) : Provincial Issues— The Religious Cry— Liberals and Catholics. No. 14. -(LisbsAY) : North-West Affairs — Neglect, Delay and Misman- agement—Race and Creed Cries. No. 9.- No. 10 No. II. No. la. and lan- ADMINISTRATION OF THE NORTH-WEST. 'i' CAUSES OF THE REBELLION. '\Had there been no neglect, there would have been no re- bellion ; if no rebellion, no arrest ; if no arrest, no ' .^ trial ; if no trial; no condemnation ; if no condemnation, no execution." r'iv; : j; Hon. Edward Blake closed his speech at Lindsay with a sum- mary of some phases of the North- West question. He said : I turn to the North-West. I wish to call your attention to the condition of that country when the present Government assumed office in the fall of 1878, and to their responsibility in this regard then and since. I think it is impossible to conceive, I am certain it is impossible to point to, a condition of things elsewhere, invol- ving on the part of those entrusted with government, a responsi- bility so heavy, a duty so imperative, a necessity so absolute, for the exhibition of the great virtues of statesmanship— foresight, breadth of view, tact, justice, generosity, faithfulness, wisdom, prudence, energy, liberality, promptitude, and activity, as existed at this epoch in respect of the administration of North- West affairs. That is a grave statement. How do I make it good 1 I refer you first to the ^'■. ^' ;.'■;■ -''!-••-':• : ■ ■ -'■■ ■'",■• ^^ .Vr,' ^ , .;^ CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE TBRRITORY, './• I,, r, :v •. , »\.' iv' A- ■ -.,■:;■'' "?> and the character of its rule. The region was an enormous expanse, almost all unsettled, but, so far as it was settled, inhabited by dif- ferent races. It was to be ruled for a time, Tiot through representa- tive institutions, the great British safety-valve against wrong, and security for good government, hnt, of necessity, paternally, autocratically, in effect despotically. Now, I need not tell you that on this continent, across whose wide expanse the very winds of heaven seem to waft from one ocean to the other the breath of freedom, the democratic air, it is with difficulty that men can be found long patient, or even tolerant of paternal, or autocratic, or despotic rule ; and therefore, thoge entrusted with that rule are hound to exercise redoubled vigilance, to avoid all possible cause (14) 898 of complaint, to exhibit the practical blessings of their regime, to make their yoke easy and their burden light, at the least and lowest to beware of and to eschew neglect, delay, misman- agement, and mistakes. (Oheei's.) Then there was the con- dition of distance. That vast territory, stretching for thou- sands of miles towards the north and west of the continent, was, even at its nearest practicable eastern point, o » er a thou- sand miles from Ottawa, whence it was to be governed. It was thus to be governed by letters and telegrams, through agents and subordinates. This element of DISTANCE VERY MUCH ENHANCED THK DIFFICULTIES, and correspondingly enlarged the reaponaibilitiea of government They knew the resultant dangers, and were boundto exercise all the greater care, promptitude and energy, in order to overcome them. Then consider the magnitude of the task. What was its character ? Upon the development of this enormous country Can- ada had, under the auspices of this Government, staked to a very great extent her national and also her financial future. They told us to hope, to expect, to believe, that under their lead we should exhibit to the world at large the spectacle of this nation in the east building itself up as a nation of the centre and the west as well. They told us to hope, to expect, to believe ; they boasted vain- gloriously, as though they were taking off", rather than put- ting on, their armour, that, enlightened by the traditions and en- riched by the experiences of the past, both in the Old World and the New, of Europe, of Australia, as well as of North America^ they, with their unsurpassed gifts of statesmanship, would set an example, and give an instance, such as had never been seen in the wide world before, of rapid, wise and orderly development. We were to have a better system of survey, a better system of settlement, a better system of emigration, a better system of ter- ritonal government, a better management of Indians, than had been witnessed elsewhere. Again, we were to have a finer system of railway development than had ever before been known. And the Government called upon the toilers of Old Canada, they called upon our neighbours to the south, they called most loudly upon the labouring masses of our British Isles, and of continental Europe, to move forward, to settle upon and develop, to their own advantage, and to ours, the great area to which they pointed of free and fer- tile land. " Make new homes here," they said. " Build your houses and your barns ; cultivate your fields ; by your labour draw forth the resources of the soil ; take the benefits we offer, secure that you will enjoy these great advantages. We offer you a ready, easy, speedy, sure and certain road to advancement, progress and (14) ' '• 399 prosperity, beyond what you can gain elsewhere. We offer you peace, order, right, justice, and security, under the Britisii flag and the British system." Then, as to our financial future. We were called on by our rulei-s, in the furthc.ance of their North- West policy, to stake day by day, and year by year, very largely, age, fer- OlTil FINANCIAL FUTUUC. Millions upon millions each year were being expended under their system of development. Enormous sums for Mounted Volice, Indians, immigration, surveys, territorial government and administration, were being paid, as they are being paid, year after year, out of the taxes of the East. An^ beyond all these, scores of millions more were being paid, in part taken out of the taxes, and in part raised by mortgaging our future, involv- ing heavy yearly interest payments, for the construction of the great railway, whose chief object, as its main justification, was the development of the North- West. Near ninety millions of capital expenditure, and about seven millions of yearly charge, may represent the drain on us for these various expenditures. Am I not right then in saying, that having regard both to our national future and to our financial outlook, we were putting at stake, in reference to the North- West, more, far more, than in any otJier single object, I might almost say than in all other objects combined ? Now, have I not made good, even without going further, the statement that no question coming within the range of executive action can be likened, in respect of the urgent and imminent character of the duty and responsibility it imposed upon the Government, to this question of the management of the North- West i (Cheers.) But I go much further. There was yet much more. We must consider the character of the sparse, yet divided Populations, their tempers, their conditions, and the previous un- appy incidents in the history of the Canadian connection with the North- West, incidents which had rendered the task of govern- ment more difficult, but also indicated the dangers, and pointed out the path of safety. The populations may be divided into, at any rate, TH51EE DISTINCT CLASSES — the Indians, the Half-breeds, and the white settlers. As to the Indian, consider his condition. For uncounted ages he and his ancestors had roamed and hunted over those vast southern prairies and northern hills and forests ; had voyaged upon and fished in those great lakes and rivers ; had carried on their per- {)etual feuds and warfare, had lived the lords of the land. In ater days, it is true, there were scattered over the region, in (14) /■ %■-■ 400 possession of a few frt^sts, a few whiter, servants of the Hud- eon's Bay Co., who did not pretend to dominate the Indian, or to interfere with his lordship, whose presence was thought a ben- efit, as giving the Indian a market, some employment, and some of the white man's goods ; while leaving him Htill, in effect, mon- arch of all he surveyed. But after 1809 all began to change. The white man intruded in increasing numbers ; the Indian found the white asserting his claim to govern the country, to control and occupy the lands. The Indian was CALLED ON TO SURllENDER THK SOIL, ' and to accept stipulated payments and limited reserves, in lieu ' of his former unbounded enjoyment. On these reserves he was to be pent, he was to be put under the control of white agents, •, officers and instructors. He saw the choicest spots, the well- known places, taken up by the whites. He saw the old things passing away. And he saw in their most odious form — he saw and suffered from some of the degradations and barbarisms of civilization. Drink and immorality infested his lodge, and vice and crime and disease, as too often happens under like cir- cumstances, marked the earlier steps of the white man's advance over the inferior race. Alas, that it should be so ! But, being so, you will see that, naturally and inevitably (the Indian being a man), thei-e was engendered a temper of unrest, suspicion, jeal- ousy and aversion, a condition alternating between hope and de- spair, a consuming desire on the part of many to re-establish the old regime, and at any rate to preveilt the further encroachment of the whites. And, unhappily, just at this time, appeared an- other unfortunate factor. The sorest calamity that can befall our poor, frail humanity, overshadowed and impended upon the In-">' dian — ''... jj > ;:' THE PLAGDfi OF FAMINE. Just at this time, with miraculous rapidity, almost as in a dream, almost as in a night, ttie buffalo vanished — the buffalo which had supplied to the Indian in large measure his food, his cloth- ing, aye, even the covering of his lodge, and his very fuel — the buffalo vanished, and vanished largely, owing to the reckless slaughter induced by the advent of the whites. And so starva- tion was added to all his other misfortunes. Such was the state of these wild and savage tribes, proud and hereditary warriors, who thought themselves abased, humbled, despoiled, degraded, demoralized, defiled, starved, and doomed to destruction by the white. Then, let me ask you whether the management of the Indian did not imperatively demand, in the interests of (14) 401 justice and humanity, and also in the interests of true policy, the highest measure of vigilance, promptness, prudence, foresight, and liberality, on the part of the rulei-s of Cfanada ? (Loud ap- plause.) Dul not it imperativeli/ dema7id that the very best men, the tnen heat awited/or the task, and these alone, should he diosen to conduct Indian affairs, to act as intermediaries, as Indian super- intendents, agents, farm instructoi-s, to do the business to be done with the Indians ? (Cheers.) Was that a place for political hacks — for ignorant men, for arbitrary men, lov unsuitab!" men, for men not adequate to the delicate and difficult duty of dealing with an inferior and savage, but still a Jealous and high-strung, and also a suspicious and hostile people? (Cheers.) Not so! (Loud applause.) I say it was the prime and imperative, the absolute, duty of the Government to take into consideration nothing but the question. "WHO fS THE BEST MAN? .%r_; le la- ke Id. it lof in making the Indian appointments. (Renewed applause.) And, having made them, it was their duty to watch them constantly, and to deal with failure, unfitness, neglect, unfaithfulness, immorality, arbitrary conduct, with promptness and firmness. Does this de- scribe their conduct ? No ! You have heard the voice of those best qualified to speak raised a hundred times in condemnation, be- cause the conduct of the Government was so far removed from this. (Cheers.) Now, I cannot pause longer on this element. I turn to the next element of the population — THE HALF-7iREEDS, By the common consent of every man in that region whose experience and ability render his opinion valuable, it was of the last consequence that the Government should, in view of the difficulties to be encountered in managing the Indians, keep the Half-breed population on the side of Canada — on the side of the Government. Why ? Because the Half-breed having in him a strain of Indian blood, there was thus a tie of friendship and kinship and confidenc ". between him and the Indian — an invalu- able bond. He had also an influence over the Indian, due to his strain of white blood, and to his acquisition of some portion of our civilization and education, and to his more or less intimate connection with the white. So the Half-breed was the means sent to us, as it seemed, in the order of Providence, by which we might hope most peacefully, with the least chance of disturbance, with the least disadvantage, with the minimum of risk and loss which the situation would admit, to intervene between the Indian (14) 402 and ourselvefl, to oii'ect the nccoHsarily ditlicult and painful transition from the old ordor of thinj/s to tlie new, to lead the Indian most successfully into the path of HubinisHioa to his des- tiny, and to accomplish the tran(|uil sottloinont of the Nortli- "Wcst. 1 lierefore it was an ohject of the h'ujhest policy to secure to Canada the friendship, the conjidcnce, the power, and. the influence of the Ha' f breed. (Cheers.) Now, God forbid that I should for an instant put the claims (tf justice and equity below those of policy and expediency. I do not do so. Justice comes first in importance. (Cheers.) I have mentioned policy first only in order oi time, from the natuial sequence of thought in passing from the Indian to the Half-b.eed problem ; but I sav that second only to the imperative claims of juHtice and equity were the claims of policy and expediency in this regard. (Cheirs.) And, mark you, it was not only a question whether by wise manage- ment we should secure the benefit of this influence for good, but there was the danger, THE PllKSaiNQ DANGER, that by mismanagement we should turn the possible power for good into a power for evil. Because if the Half-breed were to be set against instead of on our side, if his sympathies were to be opposed to instead of in favour of Canada, that influence and control which he had over the Indian would probably be used to create difficul I y and to arouse hostility, and this, unhapi)ily, with much greater ea'-e than it could be used in the promotion of peace and friendship ; for, as I have shown you, the natural impulse of the Indian was towards hate, and resistance, and war, rather than towards love, and submission, and peace ; and so the task of the agitator would he easier than that of the tranquilizer. I have, then, established that the obvious and imperative duty of the Government with reference to the Half-breeds was, on grounds of the highest expediency and policy, apart from eqinty and justice, to be liberal and geneious, f)rompt and vigilant, conciliatory and active, and so to win them to our side. (Loud cheers.) Well, now, 1 come to the question of THE CLAIMS OF THE HALF-BllEEDS. I cannot even touch them all ; I will deal briefly with one only. There are other and very serious matters of complaint besides. You know that there is a dark blot upon Ca'.iadian Noith- West history, of earlier date than the deep stain of 1 885. You know that there was a rising in the North- West in 1869, largely due to the rash and precipitate steps which were taken by the then Government in their surveys of the territory without proper intimation to the 114) sai bai of pot the wh 403 only. You jtory, I there rash ^ment to the Inhahitants a.s to their future, and in their deflpatch of a Govern- ment U) take possession of tlio land and to rule over the people, without the propor precautions of previous explanations and iinderstandings and assurances as to the r^tjime which was to be estahlished, and the security thereunder for the possessions and liberties of the inhabitc-tits. The rising was followed by a wise though late effort to conciliate the people, and to do what should have been done before. A negotiation took place between Sir John Macdonald's Government and the inhabitants, ending in an arrangement which was ratified by Parliament at the instance of that Government. Among their demands in this negotiation a claim was set up by the Half-breeds based upon this ground : They saiil, the Biitish and the Canadian people have always recognized in the Indians a certain equitablo claim, as lords of the territory of whlcli the whites were about to take possession, to consideration, a claim wliich has resulted in the Indian treaties. We, they said, are of Indian blood, and along with the Indians enjoy and posess the territory. As such, we claim ^ .i , j" A R'GHT TO CONSIDEllVTION, > in respect of the region at large, apart from the claims of some of us to our individual holdings, which are to be, and which were, dealt with independently. Now, this Half-breed claim, known as the Half-breed claim for the extinguishment of THE Indian title, was conceded by the Government of Canada ; it was conceded by the Parliament of Canada ; it formed one of the bases in the settlement of the North- West, and a large area of land was set apart to be distributed amongst these Half-breeds by means of scrip in satisfaction of that claim. At that time we were dealing only with that part of the territory embraced within the original limits of Manitoba. No Half-breeds outside of these limits were being dealt with ; there had been no late intrusion of the whites on them ; they were, as were the Indians of those parts, as yet undisturbed ; their condition was practically un- changed at the moment ; they took no part in the rising ; nor were they concerned in the settlement. It was only the east of the territory that was under disposition. But I need not point out to you that their claim, when the occasion should arise, was precisely the same as that of their brethren in the east. As I said when this rebellion broke out, justice is the same on the hanJcs of the Saskatchewan and the Qa'Appelle as on the hanks of the lied River and the Assiniboine — (cheers) — and it was im- possible, it was utterly impossible, to deny to the Half-breed in the rest of the territory the recognition of a right similar to that which had been conceded to his brother in th? east. It was (14) 404 ' founded on the same principle precisely ; and, even had it been disputable once, it had ceased to be disputable in the west once it had been yielded in the east. It was, or ought to have been, IN PRINCIPLE A SETTLED QUESTION. How could we deny to a part what we had granted to the rest? (Cheers.) For a time, while their condition rtmained . unchanged, the claim was not assorted by the western Half- breeds ; but about 1878, the white man having begun to in- - trude upon the western portion of the territory, and the buffalo having largely diminished, the conditions changed. At once star- vation, and the white intruder, stared the western Half-breeds in the face. They grew anxious as to their future, even as to their existence ; they saw that they must make up their minds to a new order of things, and they desired the recognition of their rights in the soil, and of their right to live. They looked to the •. claims and concessions to their brethren in the east. They as- serted the same rights. They called for the same concessions And I think you will agree with me that THEY HAD JUSTICE AND REASON ON IHEIR SIDE. (Cheers.) Some of them petitioned the lately established North- West Council for redress. The North- West Council, by resolution, strongly urged that the matter should receive the early and earnest attention of the Gov- ernment ; and represented that in view of the Manitoba grants there would undoubtedly be general dissatisfaction among the Half-breeds of the Territories unless they received some like con- sideration ; and they recommended grants with certain conditions to prevent improvident alienation, conditions which they thought would be beneficial to the Half-breeds. These documents reached Ottawa in the fall of 1878, and it de- volved on Sir John Macdonald to take up the question. I am heartily glad to be able to say that HIS EARLTER COURSE a-i. .'' should receive your approval. He acted promptly and judiciously. He obtained the report of his chief otiicer,Col. Dennis. That officer repoiled that the claims should be disposed of with the least pos- sible delay ; that some uneasiness was felt by the Half-breeds in consequence of no steps having been already taken towards recog- nition of their demands ; that they had a claim to favourable con- sideration ; that to satisfy them would place the whole of that element in sympathy with the Government in dealing with the (14 405 plain tribes of Indians, and that thus we would attract to our aide a moral power which, in the critical relations of the various tribes of Indians towards each other and towards the Government, would prove of the greatest value to the Dominion. Col. Dennis also reported that the state of affairs in relation to the Indians and Half-breeds called for the serious consideration of the Government in view of additional probable computations 'Owing to the presence of Indian refugees from the States; aud he added that further measures should be adopted to cultivate and maintain relations with the Indians and Half-breeds calculated to attach them to us, and to convince them that the Government was desirous of fulfilling its obligations to them with the utmost good faith. He then proposed a plan for the issue of non-negotiable scrip to the Half-breeds, and for considerable aids of various kinds ; and he recommended that a plan should be devised w . a view to legislation during the coming session. The next step taken by the Government was also prompt a judicious. They consulted great dignitaries of the Terntorie The replies were in the same sense. The Archbishop's answer showed that the Half-bi'eeds had a rht de- am jly. icer )08- in lOg- :on- that the CLAIM TO FAVOURABLE CONSIDERATION ; that great uneasiness was felt by them in consequence of no steps having been yet taken in their behalf; that a liberal policy on the part of the Government would attract to its side a moral and physical power which, in the critical relations of the various Indian tribes towards each other and towards the Govern- ment, would prove of the greatest value to the Dominion ; that on the other band, the Half-breed element, if dissatisfied would he- come a standing menace to peace and prosperity ; that the state of affairs touching the Indians and Half-breeds called for the se- rious consideration of the Government ; that measures should be adopted to cultivate relations with the Half-breeds calculated to ' V attach them to us ; that the formidable Indian question had not yet arisen amongst us, owing largely to the influence of the Half- breeds ; that the disappearance of the buffalo, and the extension of settlement in the Indian country, were preparing difficulties which _ > might, he Ijoped, be avoided, but which would otherwise involve /, V such terrible and expensive results that it was a duty to do every- ■' thing possible to prevent such misfortune; that the result would depend in a great measure on the treatment of the Half-breeds . that, friendly disposed, they would mightily contribute to the' maintenance of peace, while, dissatisfied, they might render settle- ment difficult, or almost impossible. He added that (14) 406 THB HALF-BREEDS WERE A HIGHLY SENSITIVE RACE, keenly resenting injury or insult. He pointed out the import- ance of making appointments of the very best character, and in some cases of Half-breeds ; he suggested a scheme of settlement embracing conditions as to the non-alienability of the grants ; and he concluded by declaiing that it was desirable that the Half- breed question should be decided without any further delay ; that the required legislation should be passed at the coming session; and that the diflSculties would no doubt increase with delay. Now, at that time, had the advice of early settlement been taken, it might, perhaps, have been possible to apply, in principle, such conditions as were proposed, or some restrictions ; it might have been possible, in the then more compliant and better temper of the Half-breeds, before they were stung to exasperation by long neglect, to have dealt with them in that way, and to have preserved and secured their ^ood-will ; but the absolutely essential conditions for the accomplibhment of this were promptness, dili- gence, and tact. Every month's delay increased the difficulty. All then pointed to the need of speed ; and the Government seemed to realize, for a moment, this vital fact. They decided to settle the claim ; they decided to settle it at once ; they looked into their powers ; they found they had not, under the law, power to settle it executively ; and so they took their fourth step. They came down to Parliament in the Session of 1879, and asked us to clothe them with FULL POWER AND AUTHORITY to settle this claim. Parliament gave them that authority in the words they chose; gave them full power to make such grants of land and on such conditions as they thought expedient to the Half- breeds of the Territories, in satisfaction of their claim, for the extinguishment of the Indian title. That Act was assented to on the 17th of May, 1879. And this closes the first period of their action. I have shown you that the claim was pressed on them, that they investigated it, that they obtained reports on it ; that its justice, its urgency, its importance were demonstrated ; that they decided that it should be settled, that tl ey determined to settle it executively themselves; that they a^: Led Parliament to invest them with full power, and so to clothe them with full responsibil- ity for its settlement, that Parliament did so ; and thus at the prorogation of 1879 I leave them. And here, Mr. Chairman, my (14) m di w. 407 ind Ithe on leir that its |liey it rest Ibil- the WORDS OF COMMENDATION MUST END, and my worda of condemnation must begin. Sir, from that hour to which I have brought you, to wit, from that 17th da}'^ of May, 1879, all through 1879, 1880, '81, '82, '83, '84, and into the winter of 1885, the Oovernment took not one single step, did not one single act, made not one single move towards the settlement of that claim. (Cheers.) It stood, so far as they were concerned, in the winter of 1885 as it stood in the spring of l879. (Cheers.) And I maintain that, if I had not one word more to say, I have by these words made a strong, a conclusive case for the condemna- tion of the Government. (Great applause.) I ask you how it is possible to defend or excuse men who, having obtained this power and undertaken these dutief', did, during these many long years, literally, absolutely, emphatically nothing at all towards the use of that power and the discharge of that duty ? (Cheers.) Do you suppose it was because the people did not clamour? Do you suppose it was because they after a while gave up disheart- ened, thinking that their voices could not reach Ottawa and that they must perforce cease their requests for justice ? •That would, were it the fact, be a poor excuse indeed by powerful guardians for the long neglect of poor and weak and distant wards ! It would be a poor excuse by judges and rulers for the delay, which is the denial of justice ! (Cheers.) But EVEN THAT POOR EXCUSE IS WANTING ! the people did not cease ! they did not for years lose heart and hope ! they petitioned stil!, they assembled still, they appealed still, they applied to the local magnates, they wrote, they sent deputations, they did all that men could do to obtain their rights. Local authorities added the weight of their words ; the white settlers joined in the demand ; the North-West Council spoke once and again, and pressed the question as demanding the early and earnest attention of the Government. The time, if there ever were a time, for conditions of non-aliena- tion, passed away; the state of things changed, the discontent grew, the demand became fixed and formulated for like treatment as the Half-breeds of Manitoba,and its concession in this form was pressed on the Government by everyone in the North-West, including the Council. But all in vain! The Government was deaf; the Govern- ment was blind ; the Government was dumb ; indeed for all they did in this matter the Government might as well have been dead ! Nay better ! for had they been dead, I do not believe another baker's dozen of Tories could have been found to succeed them who would have been as deaf, and dumb, and blind, and dead as (14) 408 they ; (cheers and laughter) and Canada might have been saved the blow, the dreadful blow, which they caused, if they did not actually inflict upon their country ! (Cheers.) ^^•' ^ At length, in June 1884, after five years of total, of absolute inaction in this pressing matter, occurred an event so marked that it might have made the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the blind to see, nay, might almost have waked the dead — (applause) — for then it happened that these poor people, despairing at last of reacnmg otherwise the ears ot their rulers at Ottawa, sent a dep- utation on foot to tramp the prairies, cross the rivers, and pene- trate the forests, 700 long miles into Montana, to find, and to coun- sel with their old chief and leader, Louis Kiel. They reached him ; they invited his help; he agreed to return in their company, to lead his people in an agitation for the rights which they had so long asked in vain ; he returned on this demand, on this errand, in these relations to his kinsmen ; and he was triumphantly and en- thusiastically received by a large assembly of the half-breeds on the banks of the Saskatchewan ; and all these ominous and por- tentous facts were known to the Government. (Cheers.) Now what at this juncture was the relation of Louis Riel to the dis- turbed populations of the North- West ? That is a most important* question to be answered, when you are measuring the situation and awarding its due responsibility to the Government. For I ask you, having answered that question, to decide, as I believe you will unhesitatingly decide, I ask not you Liberals o:ily, but the most compassionate, the most faithful Tory, the blindest, the most party ridden Tory here, to decide — (even if he can find, what I cannot find, in the loving kindness of his nature, in the softness of his heart, some, I will not say justification, I will not say ex- cuse, but some palliation for that five long years of inaction) — yet I ask you all, with absolute confidence, to agree with me, that for the inaction after June, 1884, there is, "Ander heaven, no palliation rvhatever. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) What was the relation of Kiel to those amongst whom he came ? I will not give you my own comparisons — I will give you those of the First Minister him- self, used in reply to me in Parliament (Cheers.) He said that Kiel was ^- .;;': ■.■■: .. ^ v : ^i;,vr a^ . '.*'=^'Vv,».r V THE EL MAHDI OF THE METIS the El Mahd — you know him — the Arabian priest, and prophet, and usurping chief, who excited in the breasts of the wild tribes of the desert such s* convinced belief in his supernatural powers, such a devoted euid fanatic affection to his person, such a des- perate fidelity to his cause, that at his bidding, ill-armed and undisciplined as they were, they flung their naked bodies in (14) 409 > V lat ret 1011 im- Ithe luch les- md in ferocious fight against the better drilled and more numerous forces of their lawful sovereign, the Khedive ; nay, they hurled those naked bodies once and again against the serried ranks of the British battalions ; and boldly encountered at once all the old British valour, and all the modern dreadful appliances of war ; and the sands of Africa were wet with brave English blood, and English wives and mothers wept bitter tears, for the deeds done, under these influences, by the wild followers of El Mahdi ! (Cheers.) He said that Riel was the La Rochejacquelein of the Metis — La Rochejacquelien, the young French noble, who, when all France almost beside had submitted to the Republic, raised again the white flag of the legitimate monarchy, roused the peaceful peasantry of remote La Vendee, led them in success- ful attack against strong placSs held by the forces of the Republic, and by virtue of the spirit he infused, the confidence they reposed, the affection and fealty they bore towards their feudal chief, kept at bay for a while thft great armies of the State (Cheers.) He said he was THE Charles Stuart, the Pretender, the leader of the lost cause of the Half-breeds ! " Bonnie Prince Charlie, the King o' the Hieland hearts," who, after the lowlands of Scotland, after all England, after all Ireland, had submitted to the new rule, yet raised the clans ; marched into Edinburgh ; held court at Holy- rood; made a descent on England itself; and, when pressed back into the North, fought with his irregular and ill-equipped liege- men in unequal, but obstinate and glorious, and sometimes suc- cessful conflict with the disciplined troops of the new dynasty ! (Cheers.) The Stuart, who found and proved for the hundredth time the stern valour and the enthusiastic love of his Highland followers — who found and proved it, not only in the fleeting hour of victory, but in the dark season of distress ; when, with broken fortunes, and a lost cause, with thirty thousand pounds offered for his head, and death assigned as the penalty for his harbourer, he was safely guarded, and loved, and cherished, and sheltered by his clansmen in the caves and glens and bothies of the Highlands, as safe as if he had been in command in the centre of a British square ! (Loud cheers.) Yes ! they scorned the base reward, they contemned the dreadful penalty ; they kept him safe, and at length helped him to escape to other climes, to wait for the better days that never came. (Loud cheers.) ' *'■ ' ■'' - ■-. '-^ - '•'■ I SUCH WERE THE MEN to whom the First Minister compared Riel, in his relation to the Metis. And, such being his relation, I ask you was not his com- ing an ominous and portentous event ? (Loud cheers.) He came, with all that power and influence over that ill-educated, half- 410 civilized, impulsive, yot proud and sensitive people, living their lonely lives in ithat far land ; he came amongst them at their request, he who had led the Half-breeds of thv east in 'G9, and had achieved for them a trea'y and the recognition of the'.r rights; he came to lead his kinsmen of the west in the path by which they wore, tm they hoped, to obtain theii- rights as well ! Had the Government been diligent before, they should have been roused by this to further zeal ! But he came after Jive years of absolute lethargy on the part of the Oovernment, when they knew that they had not been diligent, and when, therefore, they had a double duty to repair, in the time God gave them still, the con- sequences of their sloth ! (Cheers.) Surely, surely, such a coming should have made the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb to s|ieak ; surely it miglit have lilmost waked the dead ! (Loud cheers.) But, you may say to me, why should there be alarm ? These were, after nil, but a feeble folk ; there were in the whole of that vast territory, scattered over its thou- sands of miles, less than five thousand of them, men, women, and children from the little infant in arms to the old grandfather tottering towards his grave — they were but a feeble folk — why should the Government be alarmed ? That again is a poor excuse — the voice of conscience should have alarmed them. The record of duty neglected, of justice denied, should have shamed them into action. (Cheers.) Fear should not have been the onlj' impulse to- wards the performance of their duty. But remember, though the Half-breeds were few, the settlers also were few and unprotected ; and even 4 or 5,000 of such a population as the Half-breeds could inflict much damage. And remember too that p-.'' THEY WERE NOT ALONE. ..h ;s^*fv There were also their Indian kinsmen. (Hear, hear.) These numbered many thousands ; they were trained warriors, and un- happily their condition was largely that of discontent, jealousy, hostility, semi-starvation and desperation. They would have been more than human if they had not felt hostile to us, though well and wisely managed and — I am sorry to say — they were not managed well or wisely. (Loud cheers.) I need not describe their condition in my own words. Let me state it in the words OF the Prime Minister, when we charged him with so conducting affairs as to prjvoke dissatisfaction. He said speaking sometimes of the Indians and sometimes of the Metis, whom he seemed to confound together, that we had no right to expect that we would be so successful in governing the country in peace and quiet as we had been ; that the country was occupied by savages or semi-savages, by men then driven to desperation, through the (14) 411 [n- len lOt (be Ids \es to lid et lor he disappearance of the buffalo ; tliat hungry men were desperate, starving men were ready to grasp at any tiling, ready to charge those in power with being the cause of their starvation ; that when Louis Riel wa« sent for that summer, he was sent for by these poor people, suffering from hunger ; and that Louis Kiel listened too readily to the invitation of the poor starvin;? people, the Metis in the neighbourhood of Duck Lake. Thus you will see he knew the condition, and that there was great danger of an Indian rising ; indeed there liad been armed resistance to the authorities and open insubordination during the season ; and it was obvious that peril was in the air. But if a rising was to be apprehended, even under good government, I leave you to imagine what the chances were un,iMi^^' » ; '' tf. Surely then, at any rate, the Government should have acted ! (CheeT.s.) Ttere were in the Territories that summer several Ministers, among them Sir Hector Langevin, who met the Half-breeds at Qii'Appelle, received the complaint, agreed in its reasonableness, and pronused the attention of his colleagues. He was there at the request of Sir John Macdoriald, to spy out the grievances. This one he learned, but he forgot the le.sson ; no record is to be found of his pressing the matter at Ottawa, and nothing was done. (Cheers.) Mr. Burgess, the Dej)uty Minister of the Interior, was there that summer ; he knew of the grievances ; but nothing was done. Other Ministers were there ; but nothing was done. >/ IT WAS NOT FOR WANT OF WARNING. •• •'. U' ■ I The North-West Council felt that the danger was imminent and in July passed a resolution, that it recognised absolutely the justice of the claims ot the Metis, so far as concerned the grants of land which they demanded. The resolution was telegraphed to Sir J ohn Macdonald, as first Minister, and also acting Minister of the Interior. Sir John telegraphed in reply, that the Minister of the Interior on his return from Europe, " would take into his serious consi- deration " (loud laughter), the questions relating to the Half - breeda ; and he did nothing at all. (14) 412 The Ministor of tho Interior waa in England, ho was there on important business — on business of the State, deeply affecting the public welfare — he was there — he was there — getting knighted. (Roars of laughter.) He returned later, honoured by his Sov- ereign, who honoured Canada in his person ; decorated for his great public services ; standing, if that were possible, a step higher in the general estimation ; ready, we may presume, at last to dis- pose of the public business which he was paid and sworn to settle. Whether ho considered this matter at all, whether he considered it seriously, I cannot tell — but this I know that unhappily nothing was done ; it is still the same sad and incomprehensible story of absolute inaction. (Cheers.) No one did anything. Was it for lack of still more pressure ? No. Bishop Grandin wrote a letter to Sir H. Langevin, pointing out the grievances, the disturbed condition, the danger of delay, the importance of action, and imploring redress. He might as well Have implored the dead ! (Cheers.) Bishop Grandin wrote a like letter to Sir John Maedonald, in still greater detail — he might as well have implored the dead! (Renewed cheers.) These letters are so damaging, that though repeatedly called for, and sometimes promised, the Government has not dar§d to bring them doivn, and lay iliem before you. - •! They are in the mass of concealed and suppressed papers, which these criminals hold in the public vaults, dreading the condemna- tion which their production would ensure ! (Cheers.) I have made many efforts to get you these papers ; I have laboured long and hard to secUre for you the knowledge which is your due ; but .;i. £• i,lV ONLY THE CORNER OF THE VEIL HAS BEEN LIFTED; only afraction of the rnassof incriminating papers^has beendragged out of their reluctant hands ; the rest they hold ; and the task of obtaining them has, I believe, passed out of my hands. It has fallen into yours ; you must perform it at the polls. (Cheers.) Send men to Parliament who will force the production of these further ma- terials for a judgment, and then, and not until then, will you ob- tain thpm. (Loud cheers.) Therewere letters and telegrams from various important quarters; there were newspaper accounts too. But therewere other warnings. There were great meetings at various points, some of Metis, and some of whites, speeches were made, resolutions were passed, the agitation increased, redress of the grievances, recognition of the claims was loudly called for. There were private meetings too, (H) t 'I ■ t '■'V * ., ■ a « a w le^ fr F( m 413 more Uangerou.s than the public ones — the wliole district wan in an obviously feverish and excited state. No man knew what was going to happen, or how soon ; every man thought that the Gov- ernment should act at once and redress the grievance. But nothing was done. (Cheers.) Yet 1 do not tell you that the Government was .stone deaf, or quite blind, or whollv dumb. There did penetrate those dull ears some faint echo of the clam- ours rising on the banks of the Saskatchewan ! There did pierce those dim eyes some flickering glimmer of the lurid light reflected from the waters of that mighty stream ! There did come at last some confu.sed and imperfect utterance from those long-sealed lips ! But, alas, the ears did not hear aright, the eyes did not see true, and the lips spake not the fitting words ! (Cheer.s.) Mr. Chairman, there are two great and fundamental duties of tJovernments, a primary and a secondary duty. The primary duty, the most blessed and happy, the most God- like duty, that which nearest approaches, at a distance, however infinite and awful, the divine attributes, is the duty of faithfully doing full justice, of ^ : - . •:'*** jd lof jn sn PROMPTLY REDRESSING ALL GRIEVANCES, of dealing in a broad and generous and merciful and liberal spirit with the claims of the poor and weak and humble and distressed. (Cheers.) The secondary duty, a stern and painful duty, a duty which in these later and happier days seldom, thank God, or never, arises, unless the first has been shamefully neglected, is, if unhappily the public peace be broken, the puolic order disturbed, the public authority defied, firmly and effectually to restore peace, to re- establish order, to vindicate authority. »i' There would have been no need in the North-Wept for the per- formance of that duty but for the shameful neglect of our rulers as to the other. (Cheers.) But they did apprehend danger — they did fear a rising — they did move, though in a bungling and foolisn way, towards the discharge of the duty of .'»uppression. •'.>.■. i'i WHAT WAS THEIR FIRST SIGN OF LIFE. ;a. id le le »o, was their first sign of life 1 \ ?_. In July they sent Col. Houghton to the Saskatchewan to col- lect the arms of the old volunteer companies, to remove them from the district, and to put them in a place of safety. Why ? For fear they might be seized by insurgents, and the muzzles might be pointed against the wrong breasts. Col. Houghton reported to Sir A, Caron on the danger of a ris- 14) 4U ing, the condition of discontent and agitation, the need of prompt inea.sureH of redress. His report is suppressed — they dare not bring it down ; but the fact is as I have stated. Yet nothing towards redress was done ! And this other sign of life they gave : — » Thev obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company the post of Carlton, which was within " striking distance," as soldiers say, of the centre of the agitation ; and this post they occupied with Mounted Police, so as to be ready to strike the blow, and to sup- press the insurrection, when it should come. Thus I show you that they — even they — had grasped the idea of danger and were preparing for the resort to force. But while they took these steps, ill-advised and inadequate as they were, in the discharge of their duty to restore the peace by arms, they were yet blind and deaf and dumb as to the evidences of that first and highest duty of preserving the peace by doing jus» tice and dispensing equity, removing grievance and redressing wrong, and so taking away the weapons of the agitator, the rea- sons for revolt. They made ready to suppress, they did nothing to prevent ! (Cheers.) And so all through June, July, August, September, October, November, December, and into January ; all through those long months of summer, fall, winter — for now the crisis nears.now we come to count by months, noty ears — all through those invaluable months still allowed them for redress, they did in this regard literally and absolutely nothing. (Renewed applause.) Now was the accepted time, now was the eleventh hour, still the lamp held out to burn ; the time was passing, the lamp was flicker- ing; all called for action but nothing was done I (Cheers.) There they reclined in their luxurious couches, there they transacted their political intrigues, there they concocted their plans for enjoyment of the sweets of office and the partition of the public treasure and estate, but they were wholly indifferent to the call of duty. They remind me of Tennyson's description of the old gods — ■ they seemed ,,.,,„. " to lire and lie reclined On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind ; For they lie beside their nectar, »nd the bolts are hurled Far below them in the valleys, and the clonds are lightly curled Round their golden houses, girdled with the gleaming world ; Where they smile in secret, looking over wasted lands, Clanging fights, and flaming towns, and sinking ships, and praying hands. But they smile, they find a music centred in a doleful song Steaming up, a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong. Like a tale of little meaning, though the words are strong ; Chaunted from an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil, Store the seed and reap the harvest with enduring toil ; Till they perish and they suffer." (Applause.) Such seemed to be the demeanour of the Government. (14) 415 (Benewed applause.) Through all these long raonthsi the agita- tion grew, and the rcmonstrancoH douhtlcRH increnMed, and at length — at length — the MinistcrH awnke. They woke in January, they woke late, they woke but for an instant ; and then they took a stej) — a step on which they now rely for defence. No 8t<'p then taken could atone for their previous neglect. (Cheers.) But ' WHAT WAS THIS FAMOUS STEP ? At the very end of January, 1885, they decided that, with a view to settle these claims equitably, three men should be appointercod declarations which prove the case. They have this long time been engaged in getting whitewashing papers from the Half-breeds ; they have demeaned themselves by sending their powerful agents to these poor people, some wounded in battle, some imprisoned under the law,some exiles from their country,all ruined, starving, and despair- ing, dreading they know not what further honors, uncertain of their future, doubtful of amnesty, doubtful of their poor holdings, absolutely dependent on the good-will of the Government, feeling it \ntal to gain that good-will, and taught that the easiest road to it was to say what the Government wished should be said as to the rebellion ; they have sent their agents to get papers from these poor Half-breeds. (Cheers.) I do not attach tho greatest weight to acquittals of the Government, to condemnations of Riel, vo excuses for themselves put forth by the Half-breeds on this pressure, and at this instance ; at any rate so far as their sen- timents are such as their rulers require at their hands. (Cheers.) (14) 418 But I do say that when, even in statements so obtained and so put forward, you find PROOFS OF THE GUILT OF GOVERNMENT, that evidence is of the highest value. (Loud cheers.) And I fin 1 that in a fresh batch of declarations, published by the Mail, at the instance of Government the other day, and said to come from twenty-four of tlie principal insurgents, about one half of them declare that this grievance of the neglect to make the grants for extinguishment of the Indian title was their ground for rising; extinguishment of the Indian title was their ground for rising ; not that all of them had personal claims ; but this wrong to their people was their ground. (Ciieers.) But I need not waste time in arguing it. I can prove it out of the adversary's mouth. Mr White, the Minister of the Interior, before he saw the fatal effect of his statement, in his futile efforts to rebut the charge of delay, declared Oil several platforms that the action of the Oovernment, in ordering the numhexing of the Half-breeds, had actually precipi- tated the rebellion. So far from their delay having caused it, their action hastened it. How ? Because, said he, Louis Kiel, when he heard that at last the Government was about to take steps towards redress, raised the people some weeks before he had intended, knowing that if, even at that twelfth hour, the people should learn that the Government was really moving towards redres><, they would refuse to rise, he would lose his power to move them, his game would be spoiled. And, that bein;,' so ; it being so, that, even then, those hearts so sick with hope deferred, those spirits so angered by neglect and delay, those wills so controlled and excited by the influence of Riel, would all be calmed and soothed by the news, the joyful news, of a step towards justice — it being so, that this joyful news would even then have prevented a rising, I ask you how can the Government escape condemnation for having left unhealed for years this festering sore, for having delayed for years that redress, which they now admit would have rendered impossible a rising, which " would have spoiled the game ? " (Loud and prolonged applause.) If by action even then, known tp the people, if by doing, even then, the justice which a little later they were compelled to grant, the rising would have become impossible, the staff of the agitator would have broken in his hands, his power for evil would have ceased HOW SHALL THE MINISTERS ESCAPE the judgment of an indignant people for their and years of absolute inaction ? (Great cheering.) 14) long months I have 419 re I lbs Ive told these men to their faces on the floors of Parliament that I hold them responsible before God and man for every dollv of the five millions of our lavished treasure ; for every drop *of blood shed, whether on the field or on the scaftold ; for every pang of suffering, sorrow, or anxiety borne by the lone settler in the North-West, his wife, and children, or by us his kinsmen in the east ; for the stain on the fair name of Canada, tarnished by two rebellions -w ithin fifteen years, both due to mis- government ; for the check to the prosperity of Canada, injuied, deeply injured, by the North-West troubles ! (Thunders of ap- plause.) For all this 1 hold them responsible, and ask you to condemn them by your votes ! (Renewed applause.) Well, the rebellion broke out ; and no man oould tell how far the flame might spread, or what might be the end. The duty of public men then was to take steps to restore order, and provide security. That duty devolved on the Government whose neglect had caused the rising ; but none the less was it the part of the Opposition to assist, to aid them by our counsel, to strengthen their hands in the task, to spur them forward in the work ; and we performed our part. (Cheers.) We gave them all the money, and munitions, and men they asked for ; we suspended, at their request, wholesome rules, though the need resulted from their neglect ; we did all that men could do to promote the restoration of peace, even by the stern means of war. (Renewed cheers.) We were charged, nevertheless, most unjustly and ungenerously charged, with creat- ing and fostering and sympathizing with the rebellion. It was the old game of the robber, running down the street, crying out " stop thiet." (Cheers and laughter.) Why, they would almost persuade you that the volunteer force was a Tory institution, not manned or favoured by the Reformers ! (Cheers.) And indeed they did their best, by the appointments of commanding officers and otherwise, to use the force and the war to the profit of the Tories. (Cheers.) But, sir, the Reformers have always sympa- thized with the volunteers ; our effort has been to secure greater consideration for the rank and file ; we felt for them, we cheered them, we encouraged them, we did all men could do to lessen the toils and dangers of our brave defenders. (Loud cheers.) And we sympathized with them all the more because we felt that th^y, whose appropriate duty was to risk their lives in defence of Can- ada against foreign foes, were called on to endure toils and wounds and death in a struggle against Canadian citizens, on Canadian soil, due to Canadian misgovernment. (Loud cheers.) We knew what their feelings must naturally be, and we sl"^, and rejoiced to see, how 420 NOBLY THEY DID THEIR HARD DUTY. (Loud cheers.) We not sympathize with the volunteers ! Wiiy, iir their ranks are to be found to-day, I venture ^o affirm, the full pro- portion of Reformers ; there you would find our political friends, our personal friends, our sons, our brothers, our kinsmen, our con- nexions. (Cheers.) Take the case of the humble individual who speaks to you. Of the Ontario Law Society, of which I have the honour to be head, twenty-one members served in the Queen's Own and the Royal Grenadiers in the North- West. Out of the twenty-one, seven, one-third of the whole, were out of my office. (Cheers.) Of the commissioned officers in the Grenadiers on North- West service, one was from ray office ; of those in the Queen's Own no less than four, one-fifth of the whole number on the strength, were from my office. Not only did seven men go out of my office, ^ • TWO WENT OUT OF MY OWN HOME. (Loud cheers.) Let them point to any other case in Canada like this, before they ask you to believe that we Reformers could be so unnatural as not to feel and show the deepest anxiety to quell the rebellion, and the deepest sympathy with our gallant volunteers ! (Cheers.) Our wives and daughters helped at home, and did all that women could to diminish the hardships of the men abroad, and of the dear ones they had left behind. (Cheers.) And yet we are to be told by these Tory monopolizers of loyalty, and public spirit, and patriotism, and sympathy, that we fostered the rebellion, and wished success to those who rose, and wounds and death to our own people ! (Tremendous cheers.) But you understand the ob- ject ; it is by any means, however vile, to avert your judgment on themselves ; and for that they resort to these base attacks on us. (Cheers.) The rebellion over, the time came for judging our rulers for their conduct. They have used every means to prevent that tiial. As I have told you they have suppressed the papers. As 1 have told you, they have cast the blame on us. They have repeatedly cast it on the white settlers. But they determined to make a supreme effort to cast it wholly on Riel, not only to his condemnation, but also, and that is a very different thing, to their own exoneration. Order restored, they put the law in force, they proceeded to the trial, the conviction, the sentence, and the execution of Riel. And they have since pro- claimed that their actions in that regard is the question to be tried — that, they say is the great issue ! (Cheers and laughter.) I cannot to-night discuss that question. You know my views. I (H) ^21 ike ! SO ,he I lat of be lul nd ur b- nt ' on ng ns ed e rs. on ry ey n, o- be I I am ready to maintain them ; and I believe they are such as his- tory will record as sound, I did not, and do not believe, that according to the settled principles of the administration of criminal justice, the Government in that respect did its duty. But whether I be right, or they, on that question, matters not one whit as to your verdict on the true issue, their responsibility for the rebellion. (Loud cheers.) I have never denied that there was treason on the banks of the Saskatchewan, amongst those half civilized, illiterate, misguided, but also much abused people. There wjis treason under the law. Nor have I ever contended that the circumstances afforded even a moral justification for a resort to arms, whatever palliation may exist by reason of their ill-treatment. But I tell you that treason tyas not confined to the hanks of the Saskat- chewan. (Cheers.) There was treason on the hanks of the Ottawa as well. (Loud and prolonged applause.) There was trea- son there, not amongst poor, half-savage, uneducated, misled men, stung to madness by contempt, neglect, and the long denial of jus- tice, starving and desperate, led astray, if you plense, by agitators ; THERE WAS TREASON AT OTTAWA against the Queen's majesty, against the Canadian people, on the part of men in the highest place, men of the widest knowledge, men of the largest experience, men living at ease upon the people's taxes in order that they might do the people's work ! (Loud (Jheers.) I charge it on the pledged councillors of the Queen, on the men who wear her honours, on the men solemnly sworn so to advise Her Majesty, so to conduct the public affairs, as that her people should be well and wisely ruled, that justice should be done, that harmony tnd peace should mark her happy reign — I charge it on these men that they un- pardonably violated that solemn oath, that they wantonly neg- lected their prime duty, that they left just claims unheeded for long years, that they gave the opportunity for rebellion, and so tarnished their sovereign's honour and betrayed their country's welfare ! (Tremendous cheering. Voices, " We will turn them out ! ") Aye, turn them out ! I have told them that in older and sterner days men far higher placed than they, peers of the British realm, have been attainted at the bar of the House of Lords, have stood in peril of life and limb, of freedom and estate, have been dishonoured and disgraced, and declared incapable of ever serving the Crown again ; for neglects of duty, and betrayals of trust, and violations of obligation far less Hagrant ! (Cheers.) I have told them that our modern and milder age provides for crimes like theirs no adequate punishment; that their only punishment will be the people's 'withdrawal of the power, they (14) -rr 422, have abused 1 (Tremendous cheering.) Thus far only you can go. This only you can do. And this, IF YOU ARE WORTHY OF YOUR FREED JM. this you will surely do ! (A chorus of voices, " We will ! " and thunders of applause.) But they have their plea. They plead, as an ample expiation ft)r all their blunders and all their crimes, they plead the blood of Louis Riel ! Let me recall to you a sequence of events. Had there been no neglect, there would leave been no rebellion ; if no rebellion, no arrest ; if no arrest, no trial; if no trial, no condemnation ; if no condemnation, no execution ! (Loud cheers.) They, therefore, who are responsible for the first are responsible for every link in that fatal chain ! (Renewed cheering.) And yet they tell you, " Because in the last event we have done our duty, be- cause we have executed the man who headed the rebellion, you are not merely to sanction that last act, you are to do far more, you are to cast the mantle of oblivion over all our prior crimes, you are to give us that mercy and favourable consideraation which we denied, you are to welcome us as innocent and wor- thy men, whose sins have been all washed white in the blood of Louis Riel." (Loud and prolonged applause.) But EVEN THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH. An effort has been made for more than a yeai* past to divide Canadians on lines of race and creed, to the expected gain of the Tory party For more than a year the fires of race hate, the fires of creed hate, have been assiduously fed and blown ; and it has been proclaimed that the dividing lines must be found in origin and faith. In the fall of '85 we were told that the French and the Catholics were about to unite in solid column against the Government because of the execution of Riel ; and that it was the bouuden duty of us, English-speaking Protestants, to unite in solid column to oppose the Catholics and French. I shall not easily de- spair of my country ; but if aught could fill me with despair as to its future, it would be such a situation as was described. That • would, indeed, leave but little to hope for in the land we love. (Cheers.) We could not prosper or grow on such conditions ; we must inevitably wither and die. (Renewed cheers.) Then, if this would be the deadliest blow to Canada, what is the measure of their guilt who invented the situation, in order to provoke it into existence ? (Cheers) It was not the real situation. In January, '80, at London, I explained the truth. / pointed out that there was no such union of French and Catholics, as pretended ; I pointed out that the Government was in no danger whatever on wide n of hate, and ,d in encla tthe ,s the solid y de- as to That love, we If this ire of into |uary, there \d; I \er on 423 tJie question as pretended. Knowing, as I do, something of the po- litical map of Canada — (cheers) — I declared not merely that the French and Catholics would be divided, but that the Liberals them- selves, THE OPPOSITION WOULD BK DIVIDED. 1 declared that on this question, as one involving the adminis- tration of justice, and also as one into which an eflfort had been made to introduce issues of race and creed, I would see that the Liberal party should take no party line, should main- tain no party connection, should act and vote entirely regard- less of party, as each man, after hearing the evidence and argument, should for himself, guided by his own conscience decide to be right and just. (Cheers.) And the events verified my predictions ; the French were divided ; the Liberals were di- vided ; the Government obtained a large majority ; and then, for- sooth, the Tories turned round and saul, " How disappointed Mr. Blake must feel that he did not beat the Government on this Kiel question." (Cheers and laughter.) Of course, I was very much disappointed that my predictions had come true, while all theirs were jalsified. (Laughter.) But they had their reasons for the cry, and in one shape or another they have kept it up ever since. You find them declaring next that the Local Government of Que- bec would be swept out of existence at the polls ; and exciting Protestant alarm at such a result. And now they say that the Local Government has been sustained. (Laughter.) Then j-ju find them saying that French Quebec would go solidly against the Dominion Government at the polls ; and exciting the English speaking Protestants of all the Provinces to band together in revenge. And now some of them say the Ottawa Government will have a majority of Quebec. (Laughter.) Then you find a persistent attempt made to create odium in the minds of the Eng- lish Protestants against the religious institutions of Quebec, in- stitutions within her exclusive control, and with which we have no more right to meddle than they have with ours. (Cheers.) Then you find % ; ^^7: :v , ; ;- -^•' > ?';::; : - \ " ' - A CaUSADE AGAINST THE FRENCH as dominating over the English speaking Protestants of that Province, and a call to all Protestants everywhere to do some- thing forcible, I know not what, for the relief of their brethren ; once again, a thing beyond our control, a thing impossible to be achieved, sa'^e at the expense of the Confederation, impossible, even so, to be achieved. ( Tremendous applause.) What we in Ontario value most in Confederation is our uncontrolled power to manage our local affairs — our measure of Home Rule. (Cheers.) (14) 424 We, cannot take that power from Quebec without surrendering it ourselves. (Renewed cheers.) The charter of our liberties is a common charter ; it grants to all, it guards for all. Hold it as a sacred thing ! Do not rashly propose to surrender to Ottawa any liberty yon now enjoy uncontrolled ! (Cheei*s.) The very agitation is dangerous — dangerous to that minority in whose professed interest it is started. Others are like our- selves; ill-disposed to yield to threat or force what wo might gladly concede to kindly representation. I tell you, as I have said elsewhere, that this is our best, our only way of helping minorities elsewhere ; this, and the influence of a good example, shown by ourselves in our treatment of the minorities of race and the minorities of creed amongst ourselves. (Great applause.) But that is not what these champioiLs propose ! Their further programme is one of JEALOUSY AND SUSPICION, HOSTILITY AND RESTRICTION, towards our own Ontario minorities, against whom for the last many months they have been endeavouring to arouse the latent bigotry and intolerance which they hope still subsists within our breasts. I trust in God that they will fail ! (Cheers.) I trust that we Liberal Protestants will hold firm to the doctrines of civil and religious liberty, of equal rights, of fair play, tolerance, and liber- ality from the strong towards the weak. (Great cheers.) So may we speak trumpet- tongued, if need there be, for minorities elsewhere ! So may we truly hope to help the weak of other Provinces, should they need our aid ! I hope that the people of my native Province will rise to the occasion ; that they will give on the 28th of De- cember a decisive verdict on the tendered issues ; and I believe that such a verdict will be the precursor of a righteous judgment to be soon delivered against the Government at Ottawa — (cheers) — A JUDGMENT ALL THE MORH SEVERE, A PUNISHMENT ALL THE GREATER, BECAUSE OF THE SHAMEFUL EFFORTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE TO AVERT THE JUST DOOM OF THE OFFENDERS, EVEN BY THE RUIN OF THE STATE THEY RULE. (Thunders of applause.) HHWW I