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 Mons^ of Commons Betiate$ 
 
 FOURTH SESSION-SEVENTH PARLIAMENT 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. WILFRED LAURIER, M.R 
 
 ox 
 
 THE BUDGET 
 
 OTTAW\, THURSDAY, 12th APRIL, 1894 
 
 Mr. LAU&IBR. Mr. Rv 'a^sr, I do not rise 
 OD this occasion with tht hope nor even with 
 the intention of affording anything new to 
 the discussion which has talien place in this 
 House for some two weeks past. My object 
 Is simply to review the arguments which luire 
 been offered from this side of the House 
 against the policy of the Government, and in 
 :his respect, perhaps I might rest content 
 with the effort of an hon. gentleman who 
 does not belong to the Opposition (Mr. Mc- 
 Carthy), who, in what I consider oiio of the 
 most remarkable speeches ever delivered in 
 Parliament since I have been here, has ex- 
 posed what Is, perhaps, the fullest, the most 
 detailed and the most comprehensive arraign- 
 ment of the policy which has been piursued 
 by the (Jovemment for the last fifteen years. 
 With regard to the debaite so far as it has 
 gone up to the present moment, I may be al- 
 lowed to remark, that to the extent that it 
 has been participated in by members and 
 supporters of tlie (Government, It has been 
 charaoterlstio that one and all have expressed 
 their unbounded satisfaction with the proposed 
 amendments to the tariff. It may not be 
 uncharitable to suppose, and perhaps to say, 
 that, If there had been no amendments what- 
 ever, the satisfaction of the supporters of the 
 
 Government would have been just the same, 
 because all their arguments — we have all 
 heard them--were In support of the tariff as 
 It existed and as if It had not been amended 
 at all. At all events, there is this satisfac- 
 tion *, and to the members of Her Majesty's 
 loyal Opposition it is a satisfaction which 
 might be termed pride: that at last, after many 
 efforts and many assaults, the Government 
 have been forced to capitulate, forced to 
 come down from their position of hide-bound 
 protection, forced to yield to the determined 
 protests and remonstrances of a long- 
 outraged people. Whether the amend- 
 ments proposed to the tai-iff, whether the 
 concessions offered by the Grovernment, are 
 sufficient or insufficient to meet the just ex- 
 pectations of the people, is the question which 
 at present Is the Issue before this House and 
 before the country. Whether the measujre of 
 relief offered by the Government, If Indeed I 
 may use such a dignified expression as 
 " measure of relief "—Is adequate or not ade- 
 quate. Is a question which may be held to de- 
 pend very largely upon the views entertained 
 by those who offered it as to the necessity of 
 any reform at all ; and, judged by that rule, 
 it must be found upon examination that the 
 measure presented by the Government is 
 
stamped with the atamp of inadequacy and 
 Insufficiency. Why, Sir, it is within the 
 recollection of evei-y one here, that tlie wholj 
 of the speech of my friend the Finance 
 Minister, wherein he introduced his amend- 
 ments to the tariff, was in favour of the 
 proposition that there was no necessity, and 
 no need for any reform at all. He told us 
 that the formation of the tailff was perfect 
 in itself, that this country was enjoying 
 an unbounded measure of prosperity, and 
 that tfhis was all duo to the principle under- 
 lying the tariff, that is to say, the principle 
 of protection. For three hours, at least, the 
 hon. gentleman piled up facts upon facts 
 with the object of making us believe that 
 the country is prosperous ; for three 
 hours, at least, he wrestled, desperately 
 wrestled, with facts and logic, with the same 
 end In view. Why, Sir, you heard the hon. 
 gentleman driven to the expedient of giving 
 it as an evidence of prosperity, that dmring 
 the last fifteen years which the country has 
 been under a pi'otective regime, the finances 
 of the country balancea year after year by 
 surpluses which now aggregate t)ie enormous 
 sum of $20,000,000. This fact, which I do 
 not hesitate to say to the hon. gentleman. Is 
 nothing short of a disgrace and a shame for 
 the Administration, was treated by him as a 
 boast. I assert that such a condition of 
 things Is a shame and a disgrace to any Gov- 
 ernment. In England the aim and the pur- 
 pose of the Chancellor of the Exchequer is 
 so to calculate the expense and the expendi- 
 ture as to make them balance evenly, and 
 the reputation of the Chancellor of the Ex- 
 clhequer would be lost for ever if, year after 
 year, his calculations were found to be 
 wrong. If, Instead of having just the rev- 
 enue which is wanted to meet the expendl- 
 tm*e, it was found that there was such a dis- 
 crepancy in his calculations as exists In Can- 
 ada, the reputation of the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer would; I repeat, be lost for ever, 
 unless he were able to show that the discrep- 
 ancy arose from a sudden disturbance In the 
 condition of business. What Is the truth 
 about these surpluses ? Twenty millions of 
 dollars, says the Finance Minister. The truth 
 is, that these surpluses represent $20,000,000 
 of unjust taxation, which have been wrung 
 by the Government from the consumers of 
 he country ; twenty millions of dollars which 
 would have been left in the pockets of the 
 people for the piu*pose of their own business, 
 for instance, to be applied to the redemption 
 of the mortgages with which the country has 
 been plastered during that term of years. 
 What Is the truth about these surpluses ? If 
 it is an evidence of prosperity that we should 
 have surpluses, why. In the name of common 
 sense, is the hon. gentleman to-day proposing 
 a reduction of duty, which places him, as he 
 says himself, in the face of a deficit ? The 
 truth Is, that if the hon. gentleman is now re- 
 ducing the duty, it is because the people have 
 seen the true inwardness of these surpluses ; 
 it is because the people are in earnest ,; it is 
 
 because they are determine<l to be relieved of 
 a system of taxation which Indeed produces 
 surpluses in the pockets of the Government. 
 Init which takes millions of money out of 
 their own pockets. But, Sir, even while my 
 hon. friend was indulging In these loud 
 boastings, which constituted— and I say it 
 without offence — the main part of his speecli ; 
 even at the moment while he was exhibiting 
 for the admiring gaze of his friends tliese 
 glowing pictures of prosperity, it was evident 
 that his vision was haunted by a pursuing 
 shadow. Even at the moment wliile he was 
 making use of liis exti'avagant language in en- ' 
 comiums of the National Policy, the thought 
 must have struck him, that It was, after all, a 
 singular thing that one million of Canadians 
 had deserted this land of plenty. The thought 
 must have struck him, because he paused In 
 his laudatory refrain to notice that fact. He 
 tried to explain it away anyhow or some- 
 how, and the explanation whicli he gives, I 
 commend to both friend and foe ; I commend 
 it, not on accotmt of Its novelty, because there 
 was no novelty in it. We have often heard 
 it before ; we have heard It since. The expla- 
 nation was that If, after all, one million of 
 Canadians have ileserted this land of plenty, 
 this prosperous country of om-s, it was not 
 because their native land, wliich God had 
 made fertile, bad been made barren for 
 them by a vicious policy ; it was because the 
 Grits were decrying the country. But, Mr- 
 Speaker, I submit that If the Grits have 
 been decrying the country for the -last fif- 
 teen years, the Tories have not been mute 
 dogs by any means. They were extolling 
 the Naitional Policy to the skies. And yet, 
 in spite of all their assertions, the people 
 rather believed the Grits, who were decry- 
 ing the country, than the Tories, who were 
 proclaiming the country to be prosperous. 
 If I notice an argument of this kind, it is 
 not for the pm-pose of giving any answer 
 to it. It is simply to notice the great com- 
 pliment paid by my hon. friend to the policy 
 of the Liberal party. If my hon. friend 
 and his friends beside him are sincere, if 
 they believe that the country was as pros- 
 perous as they say it was, and if they be- 
 lieve at the same time, that, prosperous as 
 the country was, the people believed the 
 Grits who said it was not prosperous, what 
 a tribute that is to the hold that the Liberal 
 party have upon the people of this country. 
 Why, Sir, I do not wonder that the hon. 
 gentlemen opposite trembled in their boots 
 ast the Idea of the fate that would come to 
 them if only we could meet them at the 
 polls on fair terms, free from the gags of the 
 Geri'ymander Act, and the gags of the 
 Franchise Act, with the people in such a 
 position as to be able to give their opinions 
 at the polls as they have them in their minds 
 and hearts. Let me come to the speech of 
 my hon. friend, after this digression. There 
 was but one logical conclusion to that 
 speech ; it was to maintain in its en- 
 tirety the National Policy, which had 
 
 i 
 

 • ^ k. r 
 
 done 80 much, as ray hou. friend claimed, 
 to pi'omote the prosperity of the country. 
 And yet, strange to say, after having ex- 
 tolled for three lioiu's the National Policy 
 and the principle of protection, my hon. 
 friend concluded by announcing that the 
 Government had determined to lay sacri- 
 legious hands upon that sacred ark; though. 
 It Is true, my hon. friend proceeded at once 
 to give an excuse for such a sacrilege. The 
 excu.so was that since 1878 the conditions 
 of trade had somewhat changed, and it 
 was to meet tlie new conditions now exist- 
 ing that the amendments were offered. But, 
 Sir, I am within the judgment of every 
 man in this House when I assert that in 
 not a single instance, so far as any par- 
 ticular item was concerned, did he say any- 
 thing which would support his contention 
 that the change was necessitated by the 
 altei-ed conditions of. trade. No, Sir ; that 
 is not the true spirit whicli has moved my 
 hon. friend in making these changes. It 
 w^as not because he was convinced that the 
 conditions of trade had changed ; but, as 
 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 wisdom, the fear of the people may be the 
 beginning of some wisdom on the pai't of 
 my hon. friend. It was simply because he 
 had the fear of the people before his eyes 
 that he determined to do something to 
 alleviate their discontent. But, Sir, my hon. 
 friend was between fear and fear— fear 
 of the peojjle on the one side, and fear of 
 the monopolists on the other side. Tossed 
 to and fro by those two conflicting inflnences, 
 thrown on one side and then on the other 
 — on one side to reduce the tariff, and on 
 the other side to maintain and even in- 
 crease it — between those two conflicting in- 
 fluences my hon. friend was not able to 
 come to a decision to propose a substantial 
 measure. He simply proposes a mei-e per- 
 functory measm-e, in which there Is not 
 enough to disturb, but not enough ^to afllord 
 to the people the measure of relief which 
 they had reason to expect at the hands of 
 the Government. But, Sir, I suppose it will 
 be said by hon. gentlemen on the other 
 side, what else are we to expect from the 
 Opposition ? We could not expect that they 
 would be satisfied ; and they are naturally 
 playing their own role in expressing their 
 dissatisfaction. I will presume, for the mo- 
 ment, Mr. Speaker,— though, perhaps I shall 
 not be pardoned for taking such a liberty— 
 to speak not as a member of the Opposition, 
 but I will endeavom" to place myself in the 
 position of those who, in 1878, were of 
 opinion that a change was necessary, and 
 that i)rotection should be ^ven a trial. 
 Placing myself in that position, I say that 
 if there were, in 1878, reasons for trying 
 the system of protection, there are now 
 overwhelming reasons why the policy then 
 adopted should be abolished— not changed 
 or altered, more or less partially, but abol- 
 ished in toto, and the principle thereof 
 wholly rooted out of the tariff. My hon. 
 friend, in the course of his speech, stated 
 
 i that the conditions of trade had changed 
 ; since a878 ; but, so far as 1 remember, he 
 specified no such conditions in his comments 
 I on the alterations. But I will point out an 
 I alteration which has taken place since 1878 
 ^ in the trade and production of the country 
 j —an alter.itlon of the gi'eatest consequence, 
 I which, in my judgment at least, is nothing 
 I short of an absolute revolution in the history 
 I of political economy. I refer to the enor- 
 I mous decline which 1ms taken place In the 
 \ price of wheat, and In the price of all cereals 
 i and agricultural products, since 1878. In 
 1878, and for some time afterwards, the 
 price of wheat was about ii!1.20 a bushel. 
 Of course, there were fluctuations and 
 variations, the price being sometimes above 
 and sometimes beJow that flgiu*e, but never 
 ! very far from it. What is the price of 
 wheat to-day ? About 55 cents a bushel. 
 There have been jumps up and down, but 
 from year to year the price has shown 
 a steady decline until It has reached that 
 low figuie. Nor is it certain that it has 
 yet touched bottom, though there may be 
 reason to suppose that for some years to 
 come the present value will remain the 
 standard value. Now, before I proceed any 
 fm-ther I must remind the hon. gentlemen 
 on the other side that one of their objects 
 in adopting the protective system in 1878 
 was to Increase the price •f wheat, and 
 the price of cereals generally. It was con- 
 tended at that time that the cultivation of 
 wheat was not profitable, even at the price 
 which then ruled ; and it was their boast 
 that by the adoption of protection the price 
 would be increased to the producers. It 
 Is true, Mr. Speaker, that hon. gentlemen 
 opposite have chosen to forget that page of 
 history ; but, if they forget it, it only proves 
 that, apart from their other falliu*es, they 
 are afllicted also with a very deficient mem- 
 ory ; and you will find a deficiency of mem- 
 ory, even in quarters where you might least 
 expect it. There is my hon. friend from 
 West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin) whose bril- 
 liant gifts we all admire. It is sad to re- 
 flect that those eminent gifts of his are 
 marred by an absolute want of memory. 
 The hon. gentleman looks at me with aston- 
 ishment. I was no less astonished when I 
 read the other day in the Montreal ' Star,' 
 an interview with him, in the com-se of 
 which he makes use of the following 
 language :— 
 
 In that year we never did what Sir Richard Cart- 
 wriglit on Friday night accused us of doing — say 
 that by duties we could raise the price of wheat in 
 a depressed market. 
 
 Wliy, it is true that In 1878 my hon. friend 
 from Western Assiniboia (Mr. Davln) was 
 not a member of this House, but he was 
 then, as he is to-day, a distinguished mem- 
 ber of his party. He defended its caUse with 
 pen and tongue ; he defended it in the press 
 and on the hustings. He was even a candl- 
 
 i date, though an unfortunate one, in 1878. 
 
 1 The position the hon. gentleman then took 
 
he has since forgotten. He nas forgotten 
 the arguments which, I will not say Le made 
 use of, but which certainly he must have 
 heard In the mouths of his friends. Has 
 he forgotten that at that time it was pre- 
 dicted—probably by himself-thait if we had 
 a protective system, the land would he dot- 
 ted with tall chimneys, there would be labour 
 for the sons and daughters of Canada, and 
 not only that, but for the large Immigration 
 which would pour into our land from abroad ? 
 And t' .t the increase of labour would bo 
 mand un lnci*efl8ed production of food, and 
 that the price of wheat would be incroaaed 
 axjcordingly. If my hon. friend has forgotten 
 these arguments, I must conclude that, as it 
 is natural to man to readily believe what 
 he desires, it may be natural for him also 
 to forget what is unpleasant. AVhy, Sir, I 
 had the curiosity some few days ago to look 
 over the debates which took place at that 
 time, and I found a speech delivered then 
 by a gentleman who represented one of the 
 Hurons (Mr. Farrow), who repeated the 
 story told year after year in 1876, 1877 and 
 1878, that the price of wheat would be in- 
 creased by protection and dimlnislied by 
 free trade. And this sentence I found in one 
 of his speeches : 
 
 The following figures would sliow the relative 
 prines obtained under protection and fiee trade. 
 From 1849 to 1S61 — !i free inide period compara- 
 tively — the farmer obtained .§1.20 per bushel for 
 his wheat ; from !S()2 to 1874, a period under pro- 
 tection, he got an average of .§1.37 Jter bushel. "H 
 
 "Hiat was given as an evidence that if we 
 had protection, the price of wheat would be 
 increased. Well, shortly after the adoption 
 of the National Policy, the price of wheat 
 jaiaped from $1.20 to $1.40 per bushel. In 
 those days Mr. Rufus Stephenson repre- 
 sented the county of Kent, but has been taken 
 since to his reward— and in saying that, do 
 not imagine that I say he has been taken to 
 another world. On the contrary, he has re- 
 ceived the reward which very often awaits 
 a good supporter of th.. Government. He 
 has been provided with a good berth iu the 
 Civil SeiTlce. But Mr. Stephenson, finding 
 that the price of wheat liad Jumped from 
 $1.20 to $1.40, gave that as an evidence that 
 tlie National Policy had increased the price. 
 And in one famous speech which he delivered 
 in the province of Ontario, looking back to 
 what he had predicted and at the exlsnini; 
 facts, he imagined that he had been more u 
 prophet than he intended, more of a political 
 economist than he supposed ; and in a mo- 
 ment of exultant triumph, he exclaimed : I 
 am going to vote for the Govwnment which 
 has brought up the price of wheat' to $1.40. 
 Now, If Mr. Stephenson had not been taken 
 to his re,«vard, if he were still a member of 
 this House, with a parity of knowledge he 
 would have to say : I am going to vote 
 a^inst the Government which has lowered 
 llie price of wheat to 55 cents. I doubt very 
 iDuoh that he wotild do so. Perhaps, like 
 
 the hon. member for As.siniboia (Mr. Davin), 
 ; he would rather take refugo against his 
 fonner record In the vacuum of his memory. 
 ' But what is the cause of thia decline la the 
 price of wheat ? In the days of old, when 
 I Imperial Pome had a population of four mil- 
 lion souls, when it held sway over tlie whole 
 : then known unlvense, when It was not only 
 I the political, but the commercial centre of 
 ' the world, It drew Its food supply from the 
 t lands washed by the basin of the Minllter- 
 I ranean, from Spain, Egypt, Sicily and even 
 that part of Africa now known as Timisia 
 and Algeria— lands which have long ago 
 ceased to be wheat-growing countries. In 
 the present day, England Is the great com- 
 mercial centre of the world, and llk(^ Rome 
 she cannot produce wheat enough for her 
 own consumption. She has to import It from 
 abroad, and for many years, apart from 
 what she got from her own territory, what 
 she wanted was obtained from tlie continent 
 of North America. But of late years, with 
 the facilities of transportation, to these for- 
 mer sources of supply have been added 
 others— chiefly the vast plains of southern 
 Russia, the numerous valleys of India, and 
 even the valley of the Plata River in South 
 America. Now, having so many sources to 
 draw from, It is not perhaps surprising that 
 wheat should have reached in England a 
 lower price than at any period Imown to 
 history. And at last we have the acknow- 
 ledgment— we had it even yesterday from 
 the hon. member for Centre Toronto (Mr. 
 Cockbum)— that the price of wheat In Can- 
 ada is regulated by the demand in England. 
 How often have I heard that proposition 
 contested in the days of old by the advocates 
 of the National Policy ? How often have I 
 heard it stated that the Government would 
 not be flies on the wheel, but would by their 
 policy, increase the price of wheat to the 
 consumers. Now, at last they are forced 
 to acknoy^ledge that all their pretensions 
 were pretensions only, that it Is not in their 
 power to increase the price of wheat, that 
 the price is regulated by the demand in the 
 English market. What is true of wheat is also 
 tnie of all other agricultural products, with 
 the exception, perhaps, of cheese and butter. 
 What is the conclusion we must arrive at ? 
 It la this, that to-day the price of wheat and 
 other cereals h;is been decreased to tlie far- 
 mer almost one-half, and that his profit has 
 been decreased to one-half what it was in 
 1878. Such being the case with regard to 
 tlie position of the farmer, his income being 
 diminished by more than one-half, how is it 
 with what he has to buy ? Hon. gentlemen 
 opposite are strong i'l denial, but they will 
 not longer deny, that the primary object of 
 protection was to increase the price of 
 commodities— to increase the profits to the 
 manufacturers on the articles tlie farmer has 
 to buy. It is true that the farmer was pro- 
 mised that he would be recouped, even if he 
 had to pay a little more for his commodities, 
 by the Increased price of wheat. But such 
 has not been the case, the tariff has not in- 
 
 <i .^k « 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
■ '*-••.'-■ •r,-,, ^ f?^ iT.'T^'^'^'' " 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
 oroasGtl the price of wheat and other cereals, 
 because Canada produces a surplus of agi"i- 
 cultural prodttcts, and the price Is regulated 
 by the Eaf^llsh market. Xot so, however, with 
 manufactured goods. Though I admit that 
 the price of manufactured goods, even la 
 tills country, must be the price in England, 
 still to this muBt always be added the cost 
 of trauspoi'tatlon, which Is imavoidable, and 
 the amount of duty which Is avoidable. 
 
 Mr. FOSTER. All avoidable ? 
 
 ^Iv. LAURIER. Yes, when it is ralsml, as 
 you gentlemen are raising it, not for revenue, 
 but simply to favour special Interests. 
 
 &£r. FOSTER. Then It is not all avoidable. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. But a protection tariff 
 is avoidable. Cf course there Is a limit, 
 and that Is the neot^ssity of the revenue. 
 That, however, is not the limit set by the 
 hon. gentleman. But we are told also that 
 the prices of manx^factured goods are being 
 decreased. I have no hesitation in ad- 
 mitting that the prices of manufactured 
 jioods have decreased ; but, even ?_ the 
 lines in which they have most decreased, 
 the cost of transportation and the amount of 
 the duty cause them to be, as I have stated, 
 from 30 to 40 per cent more than the price 
 of these goods In England. Now, Sir, If the 
 tariff had operated the same all round; if 
 it had affected the prices of agi-lcultural 
 products and manufacturing products alike; 
 If It had either increased or decreased the 
 prices of both, the position of the farmer 
 would be better than it Is. But, It Is not 
 so, as I have ah'eady said. The produce of 
 the farmer has been driven to the lowest 
 point, but what he has to buy Is sold to 
 him at an Increased price as compared with 
 the price In England. What Is the lesson to 
 be deduced from this state of things. It is 
 this: (and this Is the proposition we rely 
 upon on this side of the House) as the price 
 of agricultural products has been reduced 
 to the lowest point, it should be the aim 
 of the tariff to reduce the prices of manu- 
 factured goods also to the lowest point. The 
 farmer is bound by his circumstances to 
 sell In the freest and cheapest market; so 
 also ought he to be privileged to buy In 
 the cheapest market consistent only with 
 the Imposition of such duties as are neces- 
 sary for raising the revenue of the country. 
 That Is the proposition on which we stand, 
 and it Is a proposition perfectly fair, per- 
 fectly just, perfectly equitable— so fair, so 
 just, so reasonable and so equitable, that 
 the Government dare not attack It openly. 
 And yet they cannot adopt it. Why? Be- 
 cause they are chained and yoked to a sys- 
 tem which is the reverse of just and fair 
 and equitable. Why, Sir, I will take the 
 policy of my hon. friend the Minister of 
 Finance as set forth by himself. He. said 
 there were three methods of raising revenue: 
 
 _^Oue is to have simple fi-c<; trade, iiiuler whicli 
 you have no oustoms imposts at ail. the revenue 
 
 iieeeHS.iiy foi [tlie ct>uiitry lieing raLseil by direct 
 taxntiiiii. 
 
 We had supi)osed up to the time the hon. 
 gentleman spoke that this was the English 
 system. We supposed this upon the author- 
 ity of Sir Robert Peel. Richard Oolxlen. 
 Bright and Gladstone. But, my hon. friend 
 says, all these authorities are in error, that 
 they have not free trade In England— that 
 they have what he calls a revenue tariSf. 
 I shall not discuss that with my hon. friend. 
 I shall accept the opinion of the English 
 people that they have free ti'ade. But, 
 whatever system they have In England, 
 whether It Is free trade or revenue tariff, 
 my hon. friend and the Government will 
 have none of It. And why? They give us 
 reasons. One of their reasons Is that Eng- 
 land Is going down all the time under such 
 a system. The hon. Minister of Marine and 
 Finance gave his reasons. I hope his opin- 
 ions are not shared by all the gentlemen on 
 the other side, but. If they agree with him, 
 I do not wonder that they say we should 
 not imitate the example of England. He 
 gave his reasons In plain language. He toM. 
 us that the British nation under free trade 
 Is no longer able to compete with the civil- 
 ized nations of Europe, but that she is driven 
 to spend raillions upon her army and her 
 navy in order to force her trade upon un- 
 willing savages in the uncivilized countries 
 of the world. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Oh, oh. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. Yes ; here is the language 
 used by the hon. gentleman : 
 
 Driven from the eivilizod markets of tlie world, 
 steadily and every year finding tlieir output to those 
 markets decreasing, tlicy spend millions on their 
 navy, and millions on tlieir army, to force then- 
 wares, and tlieir goods, and tlieir merchandise, into 
 the uncivilized markets of tlie world. 
 
 Sir, I never yet heard the fair name of the 
 great nation so slandered and insulted. At 
 least I never heard the name of England 
 so insulted by a man of English blood. The 
 charge was not new to me; I had read it in 
 the pages of continental pamphleteers; but 
 I am stu'e we were not prepared to hear it 
 from the mouth of a man of English blood. 
 And such a man! A Conservatiye; a Tory; a 
 member of the Imperial Federation League; 
 a member of the Canadian Privy Council; 
 an aspirant, perhaps, to the British Privy 
 Council; a K.C.M.G.. and a preacher of loy- 
 alty in season and out of season ! And is 
 this really the estimate of hon. gentlemen 
 on the othar side, is this really what they 
 believe to be the commercial condition of 
 England? Po they really believe, as stated 
 by the hon. Mlruster, that England is no 
 longer able to hold her own with the civilized 
 nations of the earth? Do they believe that 
 the soldiers and the sailors of England, 
 whose banners bear the proud inscriptions of 
 Malplaquet and Ramilles, Aboukh* and Tra- 
 
falgar, the Noldiers who once met the steel 
 of the mo8t fainuuin troops of the v/orld, 
 under the greatest general of modern times, 
 perhaps the Toatoat general of all times, are 
 now employed in forcing upon helploss l)ar- 
 barlaus the wares and products of Sbeflield 
 and Mnnctiuster. It is a slander. There was a 
 time indeLHl when England, then having a higli 
 tariff, found closoil against her trade, by the 
 power of Napoleon, the hai'bours of France, 
 Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland, and even of 
 a part of Germany. These harbours she 
 opened by the strength Of her arms. And 
 the hon. gentleman would tell us now tliat 
 the great nation whose motto in the modern 
 world seems to have been borrowed from that 
 of the ancient Romans— "Debellare suporbos" 
 — nmst retire before the competition of other 
 nations and use her army and her navy to 
 force an undosirod trade upon helpless 
 savages and inferior races. I say that to- 
 day England is armed to fight the liostile 
 tariffs of Europe. She has a weapon more 
 potent by far than tlie weapons of her most 
 valiant warriors. That weapon Is the prin- 
 ciple of freedom of trade, which enables her 
 to manufacture at a cheaper rate than any 
 nation In the world, and to overcome all 
 the diiSculties tliat are placed in her way. 
 The hon. gentleman spoke of Prince Bis- 
 marck and said that Bismarck, having the 
 choice between the English system and the 
 American system, chose the American sys- 
 tem of protection. So he did, and a great 
 service he rendered to his counti'y In doing 
 •so ! Look at Germany to-day, torn by the 
 factions of Socialism, which Is the direct 
 outcome of protection. It Is true, I admit, 
 that some industries In England have 
 at times been injured by the hostility 
 of foreign tarlflfe. But the Injury aimed at 
 England redounded with ten-fold force upon 
 the nations which inflicted it. You have 
 spoken of Bismarck. Yes; we have greater 
 Blsmarcks and smaller Blsraarcks in this 
 world. Prince Bismarck wanted to create 
 for Germany a national Industry, a special 
 Industry, that of beet-root sugar. He com- 
 menced to do what was done by gentlemen 
 opposite— he placed an enormous customs 
 duty on foreign sugar; and. not satisfied 
 with that, he Induced the German Parlia- 
 ment to vote considerable export boimtles 
 upon German sugar. And thus, one day, 
 the English market was flooded with Ger- 
 man sugar, which was sold there at a price 
 lower than the English refiners could pro- 
 duce It for. There wa.s naturally some 
 commotion among the English refiners. They 
 went to see the Government and represented 
 that It was impossible for them to compete 
 with the German refiners, fed as these were 
 by boimtles. If the Government In England 
 had been composed of the school of 
 hon. gentlemen opposite they would have 
 said: What! German sugar coming to Eng- 
 land! Englishmen are too patriotic to eat 
 German sugar. England for the English- 
 men! We will have none of It! But they 
 
 said nothing of the kind. On the contrary. 
 ' they said: Well, if the German Government 
 is willing to tax the (Jerman people in order 
 to supply the British people with sugar at a 
 dumper rate than it can bo produced for 
 Ijerc, we cannot see that it Is a very great 
 injury to the English people. If the Ger- 
 innns are foolisli enough to prefer such an 
 arrangement, why should we complain? 
 The refiners were not daunted. Tljey pur- 
 chased all the German sugar that was in tho 
 market, they converte<l it into Jam, into 
 jelly and Into preserves, wlilch they sent 
 back to the Germans at an increased profit; 
 and it has been proved that there were 
 nu)re people employed In England in pro- 
 ducing jams, jelly and preserves than there 
 had been in refining sugar. The hon. gen- 
 tleman tells us that he wants neither a 
 revenue tariff nor a free trade policy, but 
 that he wants a protective tariff. Let me 
 again quote his language : 
 
 The other ami third luetliotl is tiie protective 
 tiiri6F, l)y which yon select a certain list of articles 
 and y)lace upon them certain rates of impost with 
 a \ iew to raiding a certain amount of money for tiie 
 services of the co\intry, but nmro especially with 
 this view, that whilst you raise the amount of 
 money that is necessary for the country, you sliall 
 stimulate the <levelopment of the resources of tiie 
 country, you shall nuike ito industrial life liroad 
 and diversitieil, and progressive. 
 
 Sir, this sounds very well, and as a mere 
 assemblage of words It can hardly be ex- 
 celled. If the object of the hon. gentleman 
 Is to develop the Industries of the country 
 by a policy which will give favour to no 
 one and which will hinder no one, I am 
 with him with all my heart, but that is 
 not the policy of the hon. gentleman. He 
 wants to develop the industries of the coun- 
 try, but In what way? By Increasing the 
 cost of commodities, by compelling tlie peo- 
 ple to purchase at a higher price at home 
 than they could obtain the same goods 
 elsewhere. Well, I admit that with such 
 a system he might develop special indus- 
 tries, but I assert that he will stlfie the 
 growth of the country. What has been 
 the experience of oiu* north-west country? 
 Surely no one will pretend that Manitoba 
 and the North-west Territories have realized 
 that amount of prosperity which was expect- 
 ed for them at one time. It was expected 
 that In the year 1894 Manitoba and the 
 North-west Territories would have a popula- 
 tion of 600,000 souls at least, and you know 
 what a beggarly number were found there at 
 the last census. More than that, you have 
 developed the east at the expense of the 
 west. Why Is It that the growth of that 
 country has been stunted? It Is simply be- 
 cause In order to favom: certain industries 
 In the east you have prevented the people 
 In that country from acquiring their goods 
 at as cheap a rate as they could get them 
 under a freer system of trade. But there 
 Is another objection to the system of the 
 
hon. gentleman, and perhaps a more serious 
 objection In a certain way. One of the 
 most serious objections to the protective sys- 
 tem followed by the hon. gentleman is this: 
 that It Induces the investmont of capital in 
 industries wliich are not congenial to the 
 soil, whicli cannot stand by themselves, 
 which have to be sripported at all times 
 out of the taxes of the people. I can 
 point out to the hon. gentleman a number 
 of instances of that kind ; T will only take 
 one or two. Take, for instance, the coal 
 oil Industry. Coal oil is taxed in this ooim- 1 
 try 7Vi cents a gallon. Last year we im- 1 
 ported $430,000 worth, and we paid just as i 
 much In duty as the value of the goods, that 
 Is to say, we paid a duty of 100 per cent. ; 
 Well, as a revenue tariff, this would be out- 
 rageous; in fact, If the duty were decreased ! 
 by one-half or two-thirds, we would have i 
 more revenue than we have now on coal j 
 oil. This Is not, therefore, a revenue tarifl". 
 It has been Imposed altogether for protection, i 
 and for nothing else. Even yet, though ; 
 there is a duty of 100 per cent on that } 
 article, that Is not all. Other obstacles j 
 have been put In the way of the Importation i 
 of coal oil, amounting to as much, perhaps, i 
 as the present tariff. It is calculated upon | 
 good authority, that the protection afforded 
 to coal oil Is 200 per cent, at least. Well, 
 Sir, It is a fact well kno^vn, that Canadian 
 oil cannot be produced as cheaply as Am- 
 erican oil. But what has been the effect 
 of all this? Why, that by the protection 
 which has been given against foreign oil, 
 you have Induced the Investment in the oil 
 regions of a million dollars In capital, and 
 now It Is said that you cannot remove that 
 protection because that capital will be wiped 
 out. That may be true, but If It be true 
 that Canadian coal oil cannot maintain itself 
 against American competition without pro- 
 tection, I say it Is all the more an. evidence 
 of the pernicious effect of a protective sys- 
 tem; the pernicious effect is this, that you 
 cannot remdve the protection without, to 
 some extent, endangering a large portion of 
 the capital of the country. Well, I admit 
 that is always a gi-ave Issue, and a thing 
 which has to be carefully considered. I 
 am clear upon one thing, and that is that 
 such protection, such taxation as this. Is 
 unjust; but, at the same time, I am also free 
 to say that, though the tariff in this respect 
 has to be reformed, it has to be reformed 
 cautiously, so as to effect the minimum of 
 injury, and, if possible, no injm'y at all. I 
 would not be the man to say, much as I 
 deprecate the protective system, much as I 
 believe It to be injurious to the well-being 
 of the country— I would not be the man to 
 say that It should be wiped out at one fell 
 swoop. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. I am surprised at these 
 exclamations. I say that protection should 
 not be removed at one fell swoop ; but the 
 
 difference between the hon. gentleman and 
 myself Is that they are not prepared to re- 
 move it even at a gradual swoop. I would 
 have no fault to find with these amendments 
 to the tariff so far as they go ; I would 
 have no fault to Ilnd if the Government 
 did not toll us that they are going to main- 
 tain the principle of protection. If they 
 were proposing gradually to remove -or 
 abolish the principle of protection, I 
 would be wltli tliem, but that Is not 
 their policy. As the hon. member for West 
 Assiniboia (Mr. Davln) knows very well, this 
 is not a system of scientific protection, it is 
 protection without any science In it at all. 
 Vvhat I say about coal oil I also say about 
 the Iron duty. How many years Is It now? 
 Six or seven years, since the Iron duties were 
 remodelled, remodelled to be Increased by 50, 
 60 and sometimes 100 per cent. Now, with 
 what object ? With the object of develop- 
 ing in this country the manufacture of pig 
 iron and of bar Iron. No one has forgotten, 
 I am sure, the great floiirlsh of trumpets 
 with whloh those duties were heralded into 
 the world; no one has forgotten, I am sure, 
 the language of Sir John A. Macdonald and 
 Sir Charles Tapper on that occasion. We 
 know how Sir Charles Tupper rolled flgm'es 
 off his tongue, but he never rolled them off 
 as he did on that occasion. Why, we almost 
 heard the roar of the smelting fui-naces, we 
 almost smelt the smoke of the charcoal that 
 was to be used In them. There were to be 
 200,000 men employed in that industry. Well, 
 after six or seven years, what has been the 
 result? The same company who received 
 that amount of protection are again com- 
 ing to the Government, and, like Oliver 
 Twist, they are asking for more. It has 
 only whetted their appetite. If you in- 
 crease the tariff, as I hope it will not be In- 
 creased, the consequence will be that in a 
 few days, in a lew years, you will have 
 more capital invested In this industry, and 
 you will not be able to remove that protection, 
 because they will come here and say: Don't 
 touch us ; if you do, you will wipe away all 
 the capital we invested in these industries. 
 Now, I want to prevent these consequences 
 to om-selves. I say that a system is false 
 which can produce such results as these. 
 But that is not all. There is something 
 worse than all that in a protective tariff. 
 We charge upon the protective tariff— and no 
 one knows it better than the hon. the Minis- 
 ter of Finance— that It Is base and degrading. 
 Under such a system the Government de- 
 liver themselves into the hands of masters 
 who are stronger than they, and who hold 
 them fast in submission ; and whenever 
 the Government moke, some attempt at re- 
 bellion, Immediately their masters take them 
 by the throat and force them back into bond- 
 age; and then when they have been forced 
 back into bondage, covered with confusion 
 and shame, they wotild have the 
 people believe that their attempts at 
 freedom were not genuine, not sin- 
 
8 
 
 ^ 
 
 core, but mere "clorlwil crroi-H." Cleri- 
 cal «>rror. forHooth V I tell the hon. 
 guntlcniiin that the country rn'os throiiKli the 
 pbrnao. uiitl will not ucoept tiio bus*' ix- 
 plnnntlon and tlie fri.'tleHs huinllintlon. Cleri- 
 cal error I Wuh It a clerical cr^jr wlilrli lii- 
 dncod tho hon. ^eutlcman Hume iVw tlays 
 ago to reduce the duty on denuKTiitlc wajfous 
 from !15 per cent to 2.') per cent V 'I'hat re- 
 duction In tho duty waH pn>i)oHed in a iiii»- 
 ment, not of weakneHS, but of fairness ; but 
 Immediately he lienrd the eraek of the min- 
 isterial whip over hfS head the riiiance Min- 
 ister was forced Into the humiliating c(»ndl- 
 tlon of condnjr hack and placiu); a«aln on 
 the farmers' HhoiUders the duty which he 
 Intended to remove. WaH It a clerical error 
 also In regard to teu, I want to know, or 
 what Is It ? The hon. jjentlenmn the other 
 day brotJKht down his tariff respiK'ting tea 
 in such a ndld and xmobtruslve manner that 
 no one uotlcetl the departure from the old 
 policy. For the last twenty years tea and 
 co£Fee have been fi-ee, with the exception 
 that when Imported from tho UnJtetl States 
 they have been subject to a duty of 10 per 
 cent, and from the manner In which the 
 hon. gentleman made the announcement I, 
 for my part, supnose<l he was re-enactlnj,' 
 the old policy without any chanpe. ,But 
 what are the facts ? As the tariff Is now 
 constituted, It Is Intended to levy a tax uf 
 10 per cent on the tea and coffee which 
 oom^s from Eu};land. For what object, 
 1 want to know ? According to the figures 
 of last year's importations, such a duty col< 
 lected on tea and coffee would yield a re- 
 venue of over $140,000. Is that the object, 
 or is it not ? We have been told by some of 
 the ministerial organs that the object is not 
 to levy a duty on tea coming from England, 
 but that the object is simply to build up a 
 trade with the east, to import om* tea direct 
 from Ghlna and Japan. I want to know, I 
 ask the Finance Minister, or any man in 
 his senses, what object can we in th^s coun- 
 try have In destroying an industi'y only to 
 build up another, to prevent a man from 
 bringing in tea from England and compel 
 him to buy it in China or Japan. What ob- 
 ject can we have In compelling our tea to 
 be purchased in the east or rather the west. 
 I very much suspect that there is a nigger 
 in the fence, and that he will be discoveretl. 
 The Finance Minister has taken some pride, 
 and I do not blame him, for he has been 
 showered with compliments, for having re- 
 moved specific duties. I do not think, how- 
 ever, he deserves all of them. I confess 
 that the hon. gentleman has removed the 
 most iniquitous duties, the infamous duties 
 upon woollen and cotton goods ; but the 
 hon. gentleman has still left in the tariff 
 that iniquity called a specific duty. He has, 
 moreover, introduced in the tariff some of 
 specific duties, which he passed over very 
 gently, but which I suspect will press with 
 tb.e greatest weight on the consuming class. 
 ITiere was a duty on syrup last year of 1% 
 cents per gallon on the lower grade, which 
 
 Is worth 10 centH a gnllon. this duty amount- 
 1 Ing to ahotit l'» i>er cent. N«)W the duty on 
 Hyrup Is placed at Vj a cent \h;v pound, not 
 per gallon. I want to know what Is the 
 rtMiHOii that has induced the (Jovernmmt lo 
 chaime till' specUlc duty from gallon to 
 potuul V What is concealed underneath V In 
 a gallon there are 14 pounds, and at % a 
 ! cent per pound the duty will bo equal t«i 
 ' 7 cents |)er gallon, and on syrup worth 10 
 cents per gallon this will be equivalent to 
 a duty of 70 per cent, which the poon-r 
 classes of tho consumers will have to pay. 
 i So I say that though we are removing a good 
 Ideal of the anomaly connected with the 
 ; specific duties, yet there Is a great deal yet 
 to be removed, and which I ho|)e will be re- 
 moved before we have concluded the re- 
 vision of this tariff. But I am aakeil per- 
 haps, what is your own policy on all these 
 matters, what Is the policy of the Liberal 
 party ? The policy of the lilberal party Is 
 not ft'c(? trado absolutely, as In England, I 
 am sorry to say. This Is the Ideal, this Is 
 the goal which we will reach some day. u 
 long time perhaps, but towards which we 
 are turning our eyes and are directed at the 
 present time. Itut while we must for a giKul 
 many years still continue to levy revenue 
 by customs duties, I say even at this moment 
 while levying duties fi-om customs. It Is pos- 
 sible to do so upon the principle of free- 
 dom of trade. I challenge, we challenge, 
 as completely and absolutely false and vic- 
 ious, the prlncii)le adopted by hon. gentle- 
 men opposite, that duties should be levied, 
 not for revenue, but simply to favour special 
 Interests. Om- policy is to levy duties, not 
 for special interests, but for the general good 
 of the community. I say this, that under 
 such a tariff even mantifactm*ers will have 
 a better field than under the present .system. 
 "\\'Tien manufacturers know tiiat duties are 
 Imposed for revenue and are not therefore 
 raised oh revenue at the caprice of tiie Gov- 
 ernment, and are not liable to be removed 
 from one day to another, they will have a sta- 
 bility In business which they have not un- 
 der the policy pm-sued to-day. Take, for 
 example, the agricultural Implement manu- 
 facturer. He has his protective duty ; he 
 knows what it is. He knows what the cost 
 of production will be, but a man comes to 
 the Finance Minister and says : Mr. Fin- 
 ance Minister, I want to establish a special 
 industry, to develop a great trade, and 1 de- 
 sire to have a duty on a certain article. We 
 all know the ordinary phrases used. I will 
 employ so many hands, give increased em- 
 ployment, develop the resources of the coun- 
 try. The result may be that the duty is 
 increased, and 40, 50, or 100 industries are 
 thereby placed in Jeopardy, When we have 
 a tariff for revenue only there will be, as 
 I have said, a security which does not exist 
 at the present moment under the policy of 
 the hon, gentlemen opposite, I desire to re- 
 fer for a short time to the hon. member for 
 West AsslniboUi (Mr, Davin), who the oiber 
 day in his speech fired a shot at me, by 
 

 i)MHi>rtlux Unit utice upon ii tinio aH a yoiuiK 
 iniiu I hud iH'en a i)rote(!tl(>nlHt. Well, I niu 
 iilwnyM uverMo to (lIsfUHHluK my owu persoutil 
 oplnlous or my |)(>rMoiml iiffiilrH on thu Hour 
 of riirllunu'iit, but I havo too much roHpcct 
 for the word8 of tlie hon. nicmbi'r not to 
 KlTo nil niiHWor to which ho In t'lititliHl ut 
 uiy hitiuls. Let mo suy ut once th:it I iiin 
 Bomcwhiit Hui'prlHed to hcu tlie hon. Kenlle- 
 iniin iu hl8 prc'Bent position. Only a few 
 numtliH uKo my hon. friend announced to 
 thu world that be wnti entering Into a cini- 
 Hude In favour of tariff reform, his objeet 
 beluK to Hecuro sclentlllo protection. IIus he 
 found it ? The hon. Kcntlcman did not tell 
 us HO the other day, ho foimd protection, but 
 uo science In chauging the tariff. The hon. 
 Keutleman only shows after uU tliat a man 
 may be great In learning In certain direc- 
 tions, Imt his heart may fall him when he 
 comes to curry out his projects. The hon. 
 gentleman also shows that a man may be 
 good at preaching and poor at practising. 
 He Is the Teter the Hermit of the new 
 crusade. Peter the Hermit aroused the whole 
 of Western Europe against the east, and 
 raised an army to accompany him to rescue 
 the holy sopulchre. But he weakened before 
 he reached the goal. After leaving the con- 
 fines of Europe, when his army was In 
 straightened circumstances, and suffering 
 from famine, he lost his head, he grew faint 
 at heart, and deserted the camp and sought 
 a hiding-place. The crusaders followed him 
 and brought him back to camp, and made 
 him swear not to desert the cause he had 
 preached. Shall we not bring the hon, gen- 
 tleman back into camp and make him swear 
 he will not again offend V I am afraid, how- 
 ever, we shall have to perform the duty 
 without him. The hon. gentleman has made 
 the charge against me, that in my young 
 days I was a protectionist, a charge as to 
 which I have to offer neither denial, nor 
 defence, nor justification. If it be a crime 
 as you advance in life to think and reflect, 
 and by thought and reflection to review the 
 ideas of younger age, and to substitute for the 
 Inexperienced views of youth the more calm 
 and more deliberate opinions of mature a'j;e, 
 I have to plead guilty of many crimes of that 
 kind ; because apart fi'om political economy 
 many are the subjects as to which I do not 
 hold now the views which I held twenty-flve 
 yea re ago ; and if I had to commence ray 
 career anew, In the light of the experience 
 which I have acquired many I hope are the 
 mistakes I would avoid. I have to say to 
 my hon. friend from West Asslnibola (Mr. 
 Davin), that if In this respect he has beeJi 
 more fortunate than I have been, I do not 
 envy his good fortune at all, but I hold that 
 I have not grown older in vain, and that I 
 am wiser to-day than I was twenty-flve years 
 ago. If I wanted to Justify myself there 
 are the moat illustrious names of the world 
 that would come to my lips : the name of 
 Robert Peel, the name of Gladstone, and 
 what more could I want. But, Sir, 1 do not 
 stand upon this ground at all. I stand upon 
 
 w L 2 
 
 the gnnmd of principle and the condition of 
 tlie eoiuitry. What in It that Is wanto«l to-<lay 
 111 Canada to develop Oanada as she ought 
 to l)t> develiiprd ? It h iiojiulaiion and 
 nothing elHc. Then* liav(> Iteen a Herlen of 
 letters published In the Ijoiuloti 'Times,' 
 which perhaps members (»f this House have 
 all H(H.'n, but ther(> Is u H(«ntenc(> to which I 
 shall specially call their attention. Speaking 
 of Canada It says : 
 
 Hor u(iuiim)(<nt for intorniil dovcloptncnt U ox- 
 culluiit, lint I thu greati'Mt wiiiit tthu liiut in luck rtf 
 population. 
 
 Population is our greatest lack ; what we 
 want Is population. And, Sir. when I con- 
 sider that once I was a protectlunlst In ray 
 younger days, and when 1 coiislder that 
 during a decade from 1871 to 18SI under n 
 revenue tariff the incrwise of population In 
 Canada was 1.3 per cent, and that during the 
 decade from 1881 to 18))l undc'r u protective 
 tariff, this increase of population fell down 
 from 13 to per cent ; I also remember the 
 fatuous words of Victor Hugo, when he said : 
 The absurd man Is ho who never chang<?s ; 
 and I leave it to gentlemen on the other sliie 
 of the I f ouse to remain, protectionist In the 
 fsice of these facts. 
 
 Mr. DAVIN. My hon. friend has not met 
 my charge. 
 
 Mr. DEVLIN. Your charge is discharged. 
 
 Mr. LAURn<]R. Mr, Speaker, the hon. 
 gentleman also stated that in 1872 
 
 Mr. .DAVIN. Mr. Speaker, may I rise to 
 onler ? 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Order. 
 
 Mr. DAVTN. I am In perfect order. Tlio 
 hon. gentleman professed to state a charge 
 that I made against him. If he will permit 
 me to say so— of course it was unintentional 
 on his part—he has not stated ray charge, 
 and I think it is in perfect order that I 
 should say what the charge was, ITie charge 
 was not that in the course of twenty years 
 he changed his mind ; but that a few years 
 after proclaiming himself a protectionist ami 
 in favour of a number of other thlu'-^s, he 
 went into Mr, Mackenzie's Government and 
 was as silent as that desk. 
 
 Mr. LANDERKIN. It would bi> a ble8.««ed 
 thing if you could got into some place like 
 that. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. Well, Sir, I am sorry to 
 say that there Is not anything more to the 
 charge as amended, than as it was preferred 
 before. The hon. gentleman (Air. Davin) 
 stated that in 1872, the Liberals of liower 
 Canada while they were assembled in Mont- 
 real laid down a platform and adopted as a 
 basis of that platform the policy of protec- 
 tion. I deny the charge in toto. I deny the 
 charge wholly. I am sure my hon. friend 
 has nrtt gone into the records. He must have 
 it from the pickings of newspapers in Lower 
 
10 
 
 Oanada, but be never found it amon^' the 
 real faots. On ihe oonti'ai7, the Liberals of 
 the district of Quebec bave always been in 
 favour of free trade, and as far back as 
 1847 the Liberal Association, which at that 
 time wns presided over by a gentleman who 
 left an honoured name among us, Hon. 
 B6n6 Garou, afterwards Lieutenant tJovei-- 
 nor of Quebec, issued a manifesto in whlcii 
 I read this : 
 
 What tli^ firmnew and wifidom of tiie Liberal 
 party liave accomplished wi.,h regard to these 
 matters, as well as tlie adinissinn of the respon- 
 sibility of the executive advisers, must he for all 
 L'ljerals an indication of what they will be able to 
 achieve through a more active organization and a 
 more vigorous expression of public opinion in 
 favour of these reforms now required by the pre- 
 sent condition of affairs. 
 
 And the third article of the maulfeeto was 
 this: 
 
 Free trade with all the world and the free navi- 
 gation of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 This manifesto was issued by the Liberals 
 of Quebec, who were of the school of Mr. 
 Lafontaine. I am free to admit that in the 
 district of Montraal the ideas of Mr. Papl- 
 neau prevailed, and there was a marked 
 tendency In favour of protection, and In so 
 far as I am concerned, I admit that I have 
 been brought up in the school of Mr. Papl- 
 neau, but time and again for twenty years 
 at least I have declared in Lower Oanada 
 that I was a disciple of Mr. Lafontalue. 
 Why should I not hear the whole truth as 
 to this. The hon. gentleman (Mr. Davln) ac- 
 cuses me of having changed my views upon 
 protection. He said a moment ago that 1 
 wi.>te protection in the newspaper 'Le De- 
 f rieheur.' I never wr. ; a word about pro- 
 tection In 'Le Defrioneur,' but I made :« 
 speech once, I remember, in 1871 in the L - 
 glslature of Quebec. That was the only 
 speech which I ever made upon that ques- 
 tion in which I brought up the views held 
 by Mr. Paplneau and wLlch I had derived 
 from him ; and I am surprised, I must say, 
 that the loyaJ gentlemen who support the 
 Government should reproach me for not now 
 holding the views which I held then. Sir, 
 it Is a well-known fact in Lower Canada, 
 and to those who know anything of the 
 history of Canada : that Mr. Paplneau. 
 prior to the rebellion of 1837, laid down as 
 his doctrine that we should buy nothing from 
 England. And when I spoke in the Legis- 
 lature of Quebec, coming flush with youth 
 and victory, I stated that at that time there 
 was as much reason to adhere to the policy 
 of Mr. Paplneau as in the yt«ar 1837. But, 
 Mr. Speaker, what did I find ? When I went 
 to th: ff.cts I found that Mi-. Paplneau had 
 
 not introduced that doctrine for any reason 
 of political economy, but simply for political 
 reasons to fight the British Oovernment and 
 to force them to give us that protection for 
 our liberties which we required, or else to 
 force the country into independence. Shall 
 I read the resolution moved at the famous 
 meeting held on the 7th of May, 1837 ; a re- 
 solution which was not moved by a French- 
 man, but by an Englishman, Dr. Wilfred 
 Nelson. It was as follows :— 
 
 That the measure of Lord John Rur-iftcll, which 
 takes away from the Asaembly all conti'4)l over tliis 
 revenue, is a flagrant violation of all the rights 
 granted to Lower Canada by the capitulation and 
 the trt ! ty. 
 
 That he Government which can adopt such 
 violent measures and thus destroy right, by force 
 and violence, is a contemptible Government un- 
 worthy of respect and even of allegiance. 
 
 That the people of Lower Canada will refrain as 
 much as possible from the consumption of imported 
 articles, and will make use of products manufac- 
 tured in the country so as to deprive the Govern- 
 ment of the revenue which it is its hope to obtain 
 by collecting the duties imposed on foreign goods. 
 
 Now, Sir, that was a political object as I 
 said, and not an object of political economy, 
 and now that we have obtained all the Uber- 
 tles which we were striving for then, I 
 leave it to gentlemen on the other side of 
 the House to pursue the policy of buying 
 nothing from England, a policy which to-day 
 they are pursuing with a vengeance. Hlrher- 
 to their policy has been, not to buy any- 
 thing from England ; and their defence h is 
 been : that they applied this policy only 
 to such goods as we p'-oduced In this coun- 
 try In order to force their production hei'e. 
 But to-day they have gone a step further, 
 and when they tax tea, it Is not for the 
 purpose of promoting the growth of that 
 article. This is the defence which I have 
 to make on that point. Now, Sir, I have 
 only this more to say : Speaking here in 
 the maturity of my years and in the maturity 
 of my convictions, formed, as I hope, by 
 deep reflection and thought, I say this— and 
 in sayhig it I am voicing the sentiments 
 of all the Liberals in this coimtry— that what- 
 ever may be our future relations with Eng- 
 land—whether wo remain as we are to-day, 
 or whether the bond between us becomes 
 closer or looser— it shall always be our aim 
 and pm-pose to cultivate and maintain and 
 promote, not only the most friendly senti- 
 ments, but also the most ample business re- 
 lations with the great nation which, not- 
 withstanding all that may be said by hon. 
 gentlemen opposite to the contrary, is to-day 
 by all odds the foremost commercial power 
 that the world has ever seen.