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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte ure empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dcrnidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — •- signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trnp grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film^ d partir de r.unyle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la m^thode. rrata o DBlure, 1 d 3 32X fM 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 The PROPOSED BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN CONFEDERATION: WHY IT SHOULD NOT BE IMPOSED UPON THE COLONIES BY IMPERIAL LEGISLATION. BY EDWARD GOFP PENNY, Editor of the Montreal IlernU. montrJ HERALD STEAM PnE>.S, 51 t GifcfjEAT ST. JAMES STREET 181 Introduction. the interests engaoed in the project ok confederation —conseqrent diffi- culties in the way of opposition to it — and these a reason for careful consideration of such objections as may be presented. The Confederation of the British North American Colonies, of \v)iich it is proposed, in the course of this pamphlet, to examine the character and value, is not simpl}- a political measure. In close connection with, and dependence upon it, are two other schemes of a quasi economic character, which we are told are, though for widely different reasons, equally essential to the sucrc:-;s of the " new nation- ality," which it has been officially stated is to be formed. These two additions to the main design consist of the creation of a railway through a part of Lower Canada, the whole of New Brunswick, and probably a part of Nova Scotia, for the purpose of linking the Canadian, or rather the Grand Trunk Railway system, with the port of Halifax, and the purchase by the Canadian Government of the territo- rial rights, and rights of other kinds, which are supposed to belong to the Hudson Bay Company, in that enormous tract which lies between Canada and the Pacific Ocean, North of (he United States boundary, with the exception of the Russian possessions. These enterprizes involve an expenditure variously estimated in of ficial quarters at ;^4,ooo,ooo to ;^5,ooo,ooo sterling, and likely, according to ordi- nary experience in such matters, to exceed that amount by fifty to one hundred ]5er cent. These sums it is proposed to borrow upon security to be granted by the British Ciovernment in aid of the Colonial credit. The details required to complete the whole of this grandiose conception are mentioned here in order to help the reader to understand some of tlie difficulties under which the opponents of Confederation labour in endeavouring to secure a hearing for their objections. In Canada, with which the writer of these pages is chiefly acquainted, the whole Government patronage has been thrown into the scale to induce adhesion to the plan. This is a very powerful element of strength, and that it has been used without hesitation may be learned from the Hict that a Minister of the Crown, in his place in Parliament, was forced to read a circular which he had addressed to every newspaper in Upper Canada, offering (iovernment business to all wiio would lend their support to the Ministe.ial policy. This was in one department only. The coalition of the party leaders has, moreover, absorbed all the instruments and organs ot opposition, which cannot be suddenly replaced. But to this must be added the in.'luence exerted by the Grand Trunk Railway Com- pany with its branches, controlling some thirteen hundred miles of road, having large establishments in almost every town throughout the country, employing a great deal of professional talent, and dealing largely with traders in numerous branr.bes of commerce. The President of this railroad recently stated, in an ad- dress to the proprietors, at an annual meeting i London, that he expected to com- M plete an arrangement with the Government of the new Confederation, in virtue of which the Company was to invest no capital, but was to contract for the working of the Intercolonial road, a distance of some 300 miles. It is not intended to impute to the gentlemen connected with this enterprise any motive inconsistent with a desire to promote the welfare of the country, as they understand it ; but it must be seen that they have a very natural leaning to a project which is so calculated to ad- vance their interest and influence. Now, when the controversy is transferred from the Colonies to the Mother Country, what are the conditions under which a verdict has to be obtained ? On the one hand, the advocates of the measure have at their disposal the means of suggestion and exposition furnished by the official correspon- dence with the Colonial Office, carried on without publicity, and aided by the personal and official representations of a Governor General, who, however little am- bitious he niay be, can hardly fixil to desire to add something in the nature of an achievement to the ordinarily dull routine of a Colonial Viceroyalty. They have the public funds to insure the publication of their views ; to pay for voyages to England and residence there ; official prestige and introduction to men of influence in the Legislature and in the haute comrr^erre. Then comes the co-operation of all who in various ways, in England, are interested in the various kinds of investments created out of the expenditure in Canada of many millions upon the Grand Trunk Railway, and who are taught to expect an advance in the value of their property as a result of this political change ; and next, of many proprietors of the Hudson Bay Company, who, if their territory is to be bought by the Confedera- tion, will be sought by a wholesale customer for that kind of property — wild land — which is being given away by retail all over the unsettled parts of the Continent. The President of the Grand Trunk Company is largely interested in the new Hudson Bay Company, and was one of the negotiators of the sale from the old Company. He has a seat in Parliament. The President of the Hudson Bay Company is an Ex-Governor General of Canada, and of course intimately ac- quainted with Colonial Office circles ; and the Financial Agents of the Province^ the two powerful Banking Houses of the Barings and Glyns, largely concerned in the Grand Trunk Railroad, and the negotiators of all our loans, have each several connections in the House of Commons. On the other hand, any objections have to be made by persons enjoying no authoritative position, to give effect to their representations ; and if they desire to employ the most powerful method, that of personal intercourse and explanations, they must do so at the cost of voyages borne by themselves, and at the risk of being regarded as impertinent iiitruders. It is but too plain, then, that any opinion contrary to that which has such powerful of- ficial and personal backing must be heavily overweighted. Nevertheless, the writer of this pamphlet, believing that the Confederation of the B. N. A. Colonies is certain to produce great evils, has not thought it right to permit the cause to go by default. He therefore proposes to show the reasons which, to his mind, exist against it, from the standing point of a Canadian objector ; and the difficulties which lie in the way of a fair hearing have been enumerated, by way of bespeaking the earnest attention of those who are asked to take upon them arbitrarily the disposition for all time of half a continent already inhabited by more than three millions of human beings. After all, it is upon his own judgment, when he shall have taken care to form it, and not upon the suggestion of any other authority, that the man who thinks he has a right to deal with such subjects should wield the power which he possesses. Chapter I. CONSTITUTIONAL VICES OF THE PROCEEDINGS WHICH RESULTED IN THE ADOPTION BY A COALITION CANADIAN MINISTRY OF THE POLICY OF CONFEDERATION — THE CONSTITUTION PLACED IN ABEYANCE SINCE THE COALITION WAS FORMED. The writer assumes on the part of his readers an acquaintance with the prin- ciples and forms of the British Constitution, and a love for freedom as it exists under the guarantees afforded by that frame of government ; and he therefore be- lieves that one powerful reason against any sanetion to this scheme of Colonial Confederation is to be found in the circumstances in which it was adopted two years ago as a measure of practical policy. On the 14th June, 1864, a vote to the following effect was carried by a majority of two in the Canailian Parliament, the subject matter complained of being only one of a series of malfeasances, most of them involving more or less of malversation and corruption, which had been charged upon the Ministry by the Opposition in general, but especially by the leader of the Upper Canada portion of the C)pposition, Mr. Brown, the proprietor and editor of the Toronto Globe: " That an humble address be presented to His Excellency the Governor "General, representing that in June, 1859, an advance of $100,000 was made " from the public chest without the autiiority of Parliament, for the redemj)- '• tion of Bonds for a like amount of the City of Montreal, which Bonds were re- •' deemable by the Grand Trunk Railway Company; that by tiie terms of the " Order in Council of the ist June, 1859, the Receiver General was authorized to " redeem the said Bonds on account of the City of Montreal, and to hold the same " till the amount so advanced ($100,000), with interest at six percent, be repaid to " the Government by the City of Montreal, subject to the cond-tion that the said " City do immediately levy the necessary rate to meet xheir indebtedness under the " Municipal Loan Fund Act, and that the amount so advanced be repaid within '' three months ; that the City of Montreal having fulfilled the condition of paying " its indebtedness under the Municipal Toan Fund Act, the Bonds in question "were delivered by the Receiver General to the City Treasurer on the 13th Sep- " tember, 1859, whereby all claim against the City of Montreal was relinquished ; " that under the instructions of the then Minister of Finance, conveyed in a letter '• dated London, 28th December, 1859, addressed to Mr. Reiffenstcin, of the Re- " ceiver General's Department, the amount of the said advance wa-^ transferred to '• the debit of ihe Financial Agents of the Province in I>ondon, who deny that they " ever consented to become liable therefor ; and that, in view of the facts above " recited, tiiis House would be failing in its duty if it did not express its disappro- "bation of an unauthorii:ed advance of a large amount of public money, and of the " subsequent departure from the conditions of the Order in Council under which " the advance was made." Now, if our constitutional proceedings are anything more than an ignoble farce, this vote ought to have led to the punishment of the Ministry thus declared to be guilty by its ejectment from office — at least that ought to have been the ob- ject of those who voted in the majority ; for this was not the case of a difference of opinion upon policy, wiiich might be met by a modification of the personal compo- sition of the Governnniit, carrying with it a modification of measures. The cen- sure attacked the official integrity of the men against whom it was directed, and yet the Ministerial crisis which it brought about was disposed of by an arrange- ment for a coalition made between the condemned Ministry and a large part of those who had ju condemned them for a misuse of their position. It was the ne- cessity of some common policy, for a combination of men who had belbre differed about everything which caused the invention of Confederation as a practical and urgent mcasur:-. It in:iy be said, tliat, though Kngland docs not love coalitions, such arrangements are familiar as parts of her constitutional history, and that an appeal against them can hardly be successful in her Parliament. But those of us who object to the Imperial sanction of this plot do not make the appeal. That comes from the men who ask the Imperial Clovernment to give authority and permanence to an immoral combination. Ix-t this Coalition and its policy be dealt with by the people of C!anada, and we shall t.ideavour to deal with it as we think it deserves ; or, faib'ng in that, we shall submit to the popular will. Only we ask that England, which does not love coalitions, will not permit her power to be invoked in an extraordinary manner to give stability to that which she justly detests for herself, and which must be hateful wherever honesty of purpose gives strength and motion to the machinery of Constitutional (iovernment. It has been just stated that the erection of the E. N. A. Confederation as a practical and immediate policy was invented for the purpose of giving some colour of public spirit to what was really only a personal bargain. The writer does not, however, seek to disguise from the reader that this statement may be met with denials supported by something like facts in rebuttal. P^.vtracts expressing opinions favourable to a L'nion of the B. N. A. Colonics may be made from writings of an official character, some dating far back, and some from the hands of a member of the prcNcnt Coalition ; and there may be room for difference of opinion as to the precise degree of importance which should be attached to these more or less .speculative utterances. Hut the writer relies upon these facts — that no earnest Parliamentary effort had ever been made in Canada to bring about this Union in a ly form, and that it had been condemned down to the very moment before it was adopted by the leading parties to the negotiation for the Coalition, which adopted it as its raison d'etre. This part of tj-ie subject will be treated hereafter in another connection, and proof of the tbregoing assertion will then be made. At present it is only necessary to make the statement. In the meantime, it is of interest to show how this combination, begun in such a manner as to defeat the great prin- ciple of Ministerial accountability to Parliament, has, from that moment to this, operated to keep in abeyance all the checks which a powerful Parliamentary minority imposes on a small offic-al majority. I shall illustrate this by three or four inci- dents of the last two sessions of Parliament. The Grand Trunk Railway Company had previously to the Coalition long been pressing the Government for an increase in the subsidy granted them in compensation for postal services, and it was be- lieved in some quarters, and represented by the organs, written and vocal, of the Opposition that the so-called Conservatives were only restrained from endeavour- ing to grant this increase by the fear of defeat. The so-called Liberals had been in office for a short tim3 in 1862 and 1863, and in their Ministry were Messrs. Howland and AVilliam MacDougall. During their period of oflTice the demand ibr an increase of subsidy was repeated, and reported upon by their Postmaster General, perhaps the ablest equity lawyer in the country, now Vice Chancellor for Upper Canada, who treated the whole subject with the same comprehensive, ana- lytical and logical labour that he would have employed upon a suit before the Court. His report was adopted by his colleagues, including Messrs. Howland and MacDougall, and the Company's application was refused, except as to an insig- nificant concession. Durinjj this time thert weru whispers, however, of a coalition. insig- \lition. and the Hon. Geo. Brown, writing against such an arrangement, and showing its dangers, averred that the first evil would be tiie granting of this augmented subsidy. In the Confederation-Coalition Ministry the so-called Liberals were Messrs. Hrown, Howland and MacDougall, and, according to the prediction of the former gentleman, one of the first things they did was to give the increased -iibsidy demandeil-by the pov.ciful railway interest. 'I'he Upper Canadian liboral opposi- tion had, for years, protested, among other things, against what are called secta- rian grants — grants, that is, to Colleges or other institutions under the control of religious sects. Tiiis was another of the evils which Mr. IJrown prophecied would be augmented by a Ccalition ; ar.d, accordingly, no sooner did he, with his two " liberal " colleagues, join the Conservatives, than two new Colleges, belonging respectively to the Churches of Rome and England, were placed upon the es- timates. The Cvrand Trunk Company, during two or three Sessions of Parlianient pre- ceding the Coalition, had endeavc ured to obtain powers to amalgamate their line with the Buffalo and IJrantford Railway ; and, though the divisions on this ]}ill were not absolutely identical with the lines of political parties, it may be said, with practical accuracy, that the Ministerialists were ready to give what the Railway Company desired, whde the (Opposition feared to create a commercial monopoly and to consolidaio a power which was already felt to be too great for freedom. The three liberal members of the Confederation-Coalition had always voted against this amalgamation, and cue of them, Mr. W. MacDougall, in a powerful speech, had characterized tlie project as "dangerous to the civil and religious liberties of the country." But, as a member of the Confederation Covernment, Mr. MacDougall has e.xerted himself to carry this amalgamation, and it has been carried accordingly, by several changes brought about in the votes of members of the party of which he is an official leader. Lastly, Messrs. Howland, MacDougall and Ferguson Blair were all members of the Reform Ministry already spoken of, which had a short term of ofl^icc, during the years 1862 and 1863. In that capacity they advised Lord Monck to deprive of office three gentlemen, all old public servants, in highly respect- able positions, one of them in the very first social rank in the countrj', on charges of embezzlement, after a r/uasi judicial enquiry, conducted in the terms of an Act of Parliament. On the resignation by Mr. Brown in the Coalition Ministry, Mr. Ferguson Blair took his place, and, being once more the colleague of Messrs. MacDougall and Howland, the three advised Lord Monck, or approved of the advice given to His Lordship, to reinstate those officers whom they liad before declared to be guilty of malversation ; and this without any sort of enquiry or process tending to reverse the conclusions at which they had previously arrived.* These things are not mentioned as fiicts in which the Teople or Legislature of Englantl ough : to have Tiny interest ; nor to show that wrong lias been done by the action of the Coalition Government ; but to point out that the first and neces- sary consequence of the Confederation policy has been to suspend the Constitu- tion, as the accomplishment of the project in the way now .solicited in England will be to destroy it. ♦Two of tbesi; reiiistatcii otficials were conccrnc'; -'esign from the begin- ning and throughout. Chapter TT. ■ J THK ENACTMENT ASKED IRoM THE I.MPEKIAL PARLIAMENT AN ENCROACHMENT ON THE POWER or SELF-GOVERNMENT AI.READV, RECOlJNIZED AS EXI.STINC lU THE COLONIES. This unconstitutionality is, however, most broadly discerned when we take a comprehensive view of tlie mode in which it is proposed legislatively to consummate the scheme, and in order to take such a view it is necessary to say a word or two on the existing Canadian constitution. This in so far as it is other than the prescriptive and inherent right of Pritisli subjects to carrj- their liberties and constitution wherever they go — a doctrine which admits of certain limitations, but which nevertheless must always be remembered, as it underlies the whole theory of colonial self-government — is to be found in the Imperial Act for Re- I frt i I: W uiiiting the two Caiiadas. passed in I840. This law will be found if examined to have been from the first almost wholly an enabling act. Its great utility was to indicate the geographical limits within which the powers it granted w.-re to be exercised, and to set up the first frame work of the legishti.-e machinery. But that bein;j- done, it committed to the people of Canada the entire disposal of the!, own dest'iiies, almost or quite as freely as that power is enjoyed by their fellow- subjects in Englcwid — a power extending not merely to the making of laws by the niachineiy thus provided ; but a'so to alterations of a constitutional character in that machinery, such as the people of England may make at their pleasure, which of course does not imply any faculty of dissolving the tie of allegiance. There can be no doubt that the intention of the English statesmen by whom that act was passed was to give die Colony self-government in tlie broadest sense which can be conceived of ronsistently with the one condition just mentioned, and, though not without a .short struggle under the Governor Generalship of Lord Metcalf, that complete selt-government upon the British model was speedily established. For some twenty years, since then, and up to the time when the project of Confeder- ation become a piece of party politics, no one in Canada has thought of complain- ing of it or abolishing it. The Imperial authorities have in fact respected our powers to an extent almost inconsistent with any idea of colonial dependence, by sanctioning tariff iiills passed with an avowed intention of affording protection against imported goods, to a large extent of British manufacture. And upon an occasion when the action of the Imperial Parliament was invoked for a particular purpose, the reply indicated in a marked manner a desire to avoid all interference with our legislation. In order to prevent supposed danger to certain portions of the population of United Canada trom constitutional changes, there was a re- striction in the Imperial Act of 1840 — almost the only one — upon the power granted to the three Canadian estates to legislate at their pleasure. Tiiis restriction was die condition which required a two-thirds vote of both Houses, in order to render valid certc in changes in the constitution of the legislative bodies. A two-thirds vote war- obtained to enlarge and otherwise alter ihe representation in the House of Assembly ; but when it was des.red to make the Legisl- ive Council elective, and an address was agreed upon praying the Imperial Parliament to enact a law for that purpose, the response from England came n the shape of a repeal of that chouse of the Act for Re-uniting the Canadas, which required a two-thirds vote. 'J'lius the power of the Canatlian Legislature was recognized to deal with all constitutional questions, as the Biit.sn Par'ianient may do ; legisl iting upon them itself and by a simple majority ; and the Council \^'as made elecMv.' ac- cordingly by a Canadian statute. It will hereafter be contended that this is the proper precedent to be followed at present ; but the object now is to show what has been the spirit and practice of the Colonial Government of the Mother Country, since she declared that she had acknowledged in the Colonies the powers f self-govern- ment The Act for Re -uniting the Canadas — amended as already mentioned — will be lound, if we assume the word Parliament in a British country to havf a definite meaning, to recognize in the Parliament of Canada all the powers of its great his- torical prototype. 'Ihe functions of the two branches resident in the country are icl til n auses, in bodies, oiitation fjisl- ive iament hapc of VI i red a izcd to isl iting nv2 ac- s is the hat lias y, since ;;cjvern- — will definite :at his- try are i identical — those of the other branch is only different in order to meet the case of the Crown having to act through a distant attorney. The Coalition Ministr}', in its first phar.e, did not make the Confederation of the Colonies the leading feature of its policy. In the written statement of its in- tentions submitted to Parliament the basis was stated to be the making of certain constitutional changes in Canada, Confederation being 6rily a future and possible contingency. This is its own statement : — " The Govcrnme.it are prepared to pledge themselves to bring in a measure next session for the purpose of nmioving the existing difficulties, by introducing the Federal principle into Canada, coupled with such provisions as will permit the Maritime Provinces and the North West Territory to be incorporated in the same system of government." It will thus be seen that what has since been done is nut what was then promised, and that what was promised has not been fulfilled. However, a delega- tion of jVIinisters of the Crown soon after proceeded to Charlottetown. At that place a conference had been called of delegates from three of the Maritinie Provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island — to consider the pro- ])rietv of a union of those Colo.iies -- not a Federal union modified from the Ameri- can pattern, but a legislative union upon the recognized British model. The Ca- nadian delegates were not invited to the Conference ; but they went, and if they did nothing else, <^hey, \visely or unwisely, aided to prevent the accomplisliment of this real union of a group of ( 'olonies geographically contiguous and otherwise in close relation to each other, \othing, however, was agreed upon at that time. Subse- quently, anotlier Conference was called at Quebec by the Governor General of Canada, and thi.s i)ody, utterly unknown to the Constitution, having no authority from any one, consisting, so far as Canada was concerned, wholly of Ministers of the Crov.-n, but, as respects the other Colonies, of men appointed at the mere pleasure of the respective Go\ crnments, set to work, and in about fourteen days of , actual work turned out a Cciistitutioii which was for all time to govern the English race on half a continent I It is not intended to impute extreme importance to the single fact that this bod\- had no more legal or constitutional authority than any other self-elected men, who, in a given country, should frame a code of laws, intended, wlien oxice passed, to deprive the people's representatives of the power of legisla- ting upon a number of subjects previously under their individual control, and should ask the Legislature to destroy its own powers by adopting dieir per- formance. But the circumstance is worthy to be considered in connection with this fact : that the sittings of the Conference were secret, so that the people of the countries for whose benefit it professed to be labouring neither knew what was being done nor the reasons for which it was done. Even when the Constitution had been thus framed and r.greed to, it was some months before it was made known to the people concerned except by newspaper publications, said to be sur reptitious, and later by copies of the Constitution, marked " private and confiden- tial," which were addres.sed to members of the Legislature. These things, even together, would be of little consequence if the proposed pict o of legislation had been a mere draft, submitted in the usual way to Parliament, and then pub- licly discussec' and voted upon at the three reading.s, and in Committee. But this fundamental lav for a vast territory was really enacted wh^n it was drafted in 12 III lii: sccresy and haste, by self-chosen legislators, we know not with what, or whether with any of the forms usual in deliberative assemblies. When the bill came before the body supposed to be the representatives of the Canadian people, that body was told that they might taik about it as much as they pleased, and indeed the House was moved into a sort of Committee of the Whole, with the Speaker in the Chai.. But the clauses were not allowed to be put separately, and the Ministry announced that they would employ their majority to prevent any amendment whatever. Such was the farce in virtue of which it has been alleged that the Parliament of a free people has given its assent to a large curtailment of rights, of which some have always been boasted of as inherent in the race, and some have been specially se- cured by legislative enactment. But let us now go farther and ask wlntlier even if a Ministry had introduced this constit'Uion or those parts of it which relates to Canada upon its responsibility and had invited the two powers to pass it with the ordinary forms, the House would have had any right — we will not say power — to comply ? Whether the Ministry who Bought thus to abridge the power of the people would not h-ive been in other times fairly open to impeachment. The most rabid assertor of the power of ati existing Parliament will hardly pre- tend, whatever might be done by those two br;inclies of the Constitution who speak for themselves, that the House of Connuons which .'iT}.y '>ijin or that the nl fOll- 0(1 — can II effect uont.s (if t(i it lor that the ••opre- w.s tlioy tof the Tho nbor of subjects chiefly of tho latter chvss. It is supposed that the readers of this pamphlet are in possession of this document, and, therefore, it is not deemed necessary to recite the wIkiIc or evci parts of it here. It is proper however, to point out that not one of its seventy-two articles, which the British Parliament is asked to enact, on all of wiiieh the Canadian Parliament can now legislate as it jileascs, can be hereafter reformed, or changed by any Canadian authority. Wo are to have a ciuirtcr octroye by a superior authority, in place of a statute enabling us to exercise recognized inherent rights ; to this superior authority wc must revert whenever we desire ameliorations; and the natural obstacles to reform which are to be found everywhere, will, in our case, be indefinitely augmented by tho interjec- tion of an appeal to an authority on the European side of the Atlantic,* moved by influences occult to us, after we shall have gained tlie battle at home. Let it be observed that tlie possibility of such clianges being desired is hardly problematical. They are required, from time to time, in all States, most of all in new countries, where the centres of population and influence are rapidly shifting. It has been shown that, during the quarter of century since 1840, two very important alterations have been made in the form of the Colonial Legislature, one of them, moreover, involving a change in the Imperial Act; and those who are acquainted with our [lolitics are aware that an immense majority of tho people of Upper Canada have been earnestly clamour- ing {'or a still more important change, which would give them a share in tlu represen- tation proportioned to their population, instead of the mere equ ility with Lower Canada winch they now possess. Contests will, of course, arise again upoi points of a similar nature, and the Quebec Constitutiim seems to have boon framed, in one most important particular, with an especiui intent of giving ri^e tothem,iMid of prever*ingany satisfactory adjustment. This particular — the only one to which special I'llusion will bo made — is tl c Constitution of the Legislative Council. Under the Imperial Act for reuni- ting the two Canadas, this Council continued for about ten years to be nominated by the Crown, not without frequent c implaints, which, at last, led to its being changed for an Elective body. The Quebec Constitution reverses this decision of the people and of their legal represci'tativcs, at the behest of the few men who framed it, without u single petition ever having been presented asking for a return to the old .system. By what right ? Who has authorized either House of Parliamant to take away this iuqiortant power from the I'eople, especially, who has authorized one of these bodi(!S, elected for a teru\ of years, to ask the Imperial I'arliamant to convert into a life tenure that which is now temporary and lependent on the will of their constituents? In revolutionary tinu-s we have heard of long Parliaments, and of elected assemblies • The conduct of the Colonial Oftiec on the seat of government question is n good cxamph? of wliat is meant iiciT. 'I'lie .Motlicf Cmiiitrv hail not the sli>;iitest intiirst in the ideality wlifi'i' tlic ('aiiiidian I'.ulianuiit sliouliluKsmilili' ; Imt it cdnsi'ntrd — lilincllyno ilmilit — to servo the intercKl of a Canadian iiaity, wliicli, liaviiii; tlic liiity (if governing at tlit: tiuic, f.'inid flic e.\ei-(iKt! of that duty on this iiiiint execcdiugly cinluiiiassiiig. 'I'hc Kiitlsh (idveiauiK lit, tluir- fort', accepted the olHci' thus dctcncd to it, and iiiohalily, acting upon suggestions, df which till' people df ( aiiada knew notliing, selected tlic place which diit of the tivc coiuiielitdrs would have stdod either Idurth or lilt h on any vote in the Canadian Parliament. In cdii-icipieiice, alidUt S4,iaiil,0(io have hceu laid (Uit in beautiful huildinuN in one of the sniallcht and the remotest^if our cities; and at tlii! so ealleil scat of g(;veriinieiit neither the (iovcrnor (i( n- eial nor the tiovcrnincnt have sat one moment longer than they were ohiiged to do hy tlu? ineetingdf I'lvrlianiciit at that place. The nK'etiiigs of Council have h '('11 since held chi;'tly in Hotels at Qiichee and Montreal, and a nam who lias to transact business with a Aliiiistcr of the Crown may have to go all over the Province to tind him. 14 voting themselves en permanence:, but never before was it heard of, that under a con- stitutional regime, an Elective Legislature should, on their own motion, deprive tlie electors of their powers, and declare themselves to be in office for life. It is hardly necessary to ask whether a British Legislature will give effect, and permanence, beyond the possibility of reform, to such iiii usurpation. It may however, be incjuired whether after all the people luivj not virtually if tacitly given their consent. As the writer has no object but truth, he is ready to ac- knowledge that a large part (jf them have apparently — perhaps really done so. But no one ought to take that for granted until the subject has been discussed and the decision given in the usual and only way. That v.'hatever aciiuiescenee there is, is regarded by the friends of the measure as doubtful and temporary ma^ be fairly assumed from their unwillingness to allow delay, or any appeal to the popular judgment in a matter, which for its own sake requires no special haste, and, being for all time, seems worthy of a lew months deliberation for its orderly completion. The true cxpianalion is, in the judgment of the writer, that, so far as the people have consented, it has been as a woman, whose advisers have been bribed, consents to sign away her property ; or as a man who has been drugged consents to be robbed. A people cannot moreover express itself without organs, and the coup d'etat, by which the leaders in Parliament agreed iu a few hours to regard as a supreme good tiiat which down to that time they had refused seriously to consider, or considering had condemned, enlisted in the con- spiracy against the people almost all the I'arliamcntary and literary ability of the country, especially of Upper Canada. But it is the Luper'al Parliament which has now to act, and it may fairly be asked of that body, whether, even if the people of Canada, frori any cause, are willing, like the poor spiv" ted freenrn of the middle ages, to sell themselves to a sujierior, the British (Jovernment will accept the power of coercion, and the duty of protection implied in the change of relationship. The word coercion is used advisedly, because fio.u the moment the British Government shall have legis- lated for us, it will have assumed ex necessitate, as every legislator assumes, the attitude of standing by its own acts and resisting the repeal of its decrees. Tims, any move- ment in Canada against the Imperial enactment, must take the .shape more or less pro- nounced of a movement against the Imperial Legislators, though the party seeking the change may have no hostile leoUng whatever. History is there to show us the conse- (|uence of such a state of things in th" long years of dreary political warfare termini'ting iu armed strife between a C.inadian party of Beform, and a Canadian party of conser- vati(m backed by the Colonial Office in Downing Street, which had not in reality the slightest interest in the dispute. We know the result. Why repeat so disagreeable an experience ? Chapter III. I J'HE INTERNAL OBJECTIONS TO THE QUEBEC CONSTITUTION — CONFLICT OF POWERS IRRICSPONSIBL/. AUTHORITV CONFERRED ON ONE BRANCH OF THE LEGISLA- TURE — F1N.\NCIAL EVILS OF THE .SCHEME. The object of these pages has been to .show that there exists ii') right in 'the E.xecutive or Legislature of Canada to ask the Imperial Parliament to override our liberty of legislating for ourselves, by enacting the Quebec Constitution ; and that the rcfjuest cannot be complied with without a palpable encroachment on Colonial rights, some of them recognized as iidi^rent by the Mother Country for more than a 15 liii'ting IWERS PISLA- II ;tlie our that loniul liaii a (juartcr of a century ; others, like the power of choosing the Legislative Council, more recently enacted by solemn act of our Legislature, assented to by the Qncen in regular course of law. It is now proposed to examine thf projeit on its own merits; and, in this ])Mrt of the in(,uiry. it is necessary, first of all, to sweep away erronc us ideas evolved from llie plausible but deceptive titles with which the Confederation of the B. N. A. Provinces lias been decorated. It has been called a Union, a Consolidation, an Amalgamation, and so forth — all suggestive of a gain of strength by concentra tion, whereas, in truth, as to four-fifths of the population alTi'cted, it will neither bo a unnn. nor a concentration, but a disunion and diffusion of powers. Tiie populati.jn of the two ('ani'.das is at present nciirly three millions, that of all the other Provinces some 750,000 or 850,000. The proposition which has sought favour under the name of Union is that Canada, now governed upon the British system as an integral country, shall be broken into two, in order to be thereafter wired together again like the bones of a skeleton, with three superfluous members, with which she has no more natural connec- tion than existed between the parts of Mr. Venus' " miscellaneous," or than would have been created if that artist had chosen to hook two or three additional limbs on to a single specimen. The idea in accordance with which this new tie is to be constructed is the American one of a league of States once sovereign, ane cannot be violated without mischief. Such persons will contemptuously regard as mere theory all that has been said of popular rights, and of the inconsistencies in the rules by which it is proposed to work the tro- verumeut of the new Confederation. Let us, therelbro, look at what may surely be re- garded as practical ciTects. Incidentally it ha-: been shown that one of these is to create in the new State conflicting authorities, and almost necessarily quarrels, of nmre *ln 1840 the Ciinntlian Government of the day loiuid it neccBBHry to add several members to the Council m order to hold the posititin wbieJi they derived from the conlideneo of the Lower House. f6 or leas virulence, possibly rising to theheij^ht of civil war, as wchavc seen in an adjoining country, where, nevertheless, the powers of the State and Federul Governments have been carefully distinguished. That is a practical consideration of a grave nature. But again — the breaking up of the present Government of Canada, involves the expense as well as the cnibarrassnient of three Governments, one, it is true, to be enjoyed in common with the other Provinces, in placeof that which has been hitherto found quite adequate to all the legislative and administrative functions which we have, or which we can have when united, so long as our international relations and their eonse(|uences are under tiie control of trans- Atlantic authority. It was for internatioiuil purposes that the Federal Constitution was adopted in the United States. We have no international re- lations, and, therefore, we are not creating a Federal Government because that is found requisite for the fulfilment of duties now neglected ; but are, on the contrary, setting out a show of functions as an excu.se for that worst of extravagancies — two supernumerary Governments. The pecuniary burden of this multiplication of useless functionaries, is not to bo measured by the salaries and endowments which those - actually in office will receive. The great canker of Society on this continent — the, perhap.s, necessary drawback on the institutions we enjoy — is tlie struggle of a multitude of candidates for political and official positions, by which, in the absence of property or other industry, they may live, as other men do, by their professions. Of course there are politicians to whom this remark does not apply, and there are more who, though they end by regarding the possession of place and salary, or a position which facilitates jobbing, as the one thing to be obtained, no matter at what expense of cha'aeier, began life with genuine zeal, perhaps enthu- siasm, for what they esteemed to be the right. However, that may be, we see in the C ilonies and in the United States alike, because the structuie of Society is nearly the same in both, that every Legislative body becomes the natural birth place of a crowd of adventurers, who, in some way or other get their livinjj from the public — many of them by means far more mischievous than the drawing of salaries witliout rendering corresponding service. But even this source of increased and useless expenditure is trifling compared to the burdens which we are to assume in the shape of the two enterprizes to which allu- sion has already been made. The people of Canada, at the cost of sacrifices which have weighed heavily upon their financial position, have constructed two lines of communica- tion from one end of their country to the other. One of these is formed by a series of Canals, and by the deepening of Lake St. Peter, a vast work of under water dredging, by which access to Montreal is obtained for ships of 20 feet draft, instead of the small ves- sels to which her trade was formerly confined. The other is by the Grand Trunk Railway, wliich, though nominally built by a Joint Stock Company, required and obtained enor- mous ',rants of money from the public. No mentioa is made of other Railways, because, though all received certain assistance from the public, some of them, especially the Great Western, are able to meet all liabilities. Now, having effected all these in)prove- raents at their own expense, and at the cost of incurring great permanent burdens and heavy taxation, the Quebec Constitution pledges the people of Canada to begin over again, to build a railroad through a country in which they have no direct, and as it will hereafter be shown only the faintest contingent interest, and to pay certainly four fifths, probably, as the movement of population proceeds, eight or nine tenths, of the en- tire cost. In addition to tiiat it pledges the Confederation to the acquisition of the North West Territory, which, when bought can be reached directly from Canada nly 19 in adjoining ments have ature. But ! exi)onse as in connuon te adequate vc can liave ; under tiie th(( Federal ational re- ise that is e contrary, raviigancies iltiplication ndownients ociety on e enjoy — positions, ;, as other eniarlc does osscssion of e obtained, laps cntliu- sec in tlie nearly the a crowd many of renderin"; nipared to hich allu- lich have Jinniunica- i series of edging, by small ves- Ilaihvay, ned enor- , because, iially the improve- rdens and )egin over and as it Liinly four of the en- on of the Duda only by a difficult and circuitous route through northern latitudes, round the head of Lake Superior. This, in order to utilize the country, will involve the construction of n\ore rail- ways, having to compete with those running into the same region over the easier routes, and throu-ih the milder climates, which are to be found between the head waters of the Mississippi and the lied River country.* This property, moreover, which wo are to purchase at the cost of .some £1,000,000 sterling, can only be rendered available by im- migration, and every ses.sion of our Provincial Parliament sees committees appointed and motions made to contrive ways by which we may get immigrants diverted from the United States, which is now the favourite place of settlement, in order to clear the Ian i which we at present pxis.sess. These immigrants in the United States obtain eijrhty acres of land at their own option, with larger grants for wife and children, for a settle- ment fee of $5 per eighty acres, and in Canada we have partially adopted the policy of gratuitotis grants, so that it seems to the ardina jnind anything but a wise policy to purchase territory for a large sum — which will after rdl be only a small part of the cost compared with that of building roads and organizing a Government — only to compete for settlers of which we cannot even now procure enough, with a country which gives away its wild lands for nothing. Another very serious object' -^n for Canadians, and one which should weigh heavily with British legislators who «. .pect us to bear our fair part in the defence of our own territory, is the unfair and overwhelming military burden, which this Confedera- tion, if it really means anything, will impose upon us. All that we can be asked to do is to defend our own territory, and even that only in part, because nations, no more than individuals, can be held to the impossible, and three millions cannot fight thirty across an open frontier. What then is to be expected if, in addition to our own weak- ness, we charge ourselves with the infinitely greater weakness of New Brunswick, with a population to man its frontier, not much exceeding twice the population of Montreal — if also we pretend to hold the long line of wilderness between Lake Superior and the Pacific ? Suppose we blindly or presumptuously offer things so preposterous, is it wise for the mother country to delude herself with the belief that wc shall ever fulfill our engagc- gagcmcnts, or that an attempt could be made by any Provincial Government to enforce their fulfilment without giving rise to the most profound discontent? In the opinion of the writer the acceptance of thjse responsibilities is the undertaking of a pecuniary load which can result in nothing but Provincial bankruptcy, possibly after years of dis- content, which will hi directed naturally agiinst the Imperial Government, if it legis- lates for us, instead of leaving us to legislate for ourselves. Chapter IV. USELESSNES.S OF THE PLAN FOR ITS PROPOSED OBJECTS. If these are good grounds of objection to the proposed arrangement, it secnis to be not less true that the supposed advantages turn out to be illusory when they aru examined. Passing by vapouring about the pleasure and pride of living in a great country, and creating vast careers for those gentlemen who from time to time turn up, as Colonial politicians, the advantages are mainly described under two heads. It is said that Confederacy will enlarge the trade between the Colonies; and will increase their strength to resist an enemy — in other words the United States. The writer does • It is just now unnounci'd in the (Miifago papers that a Company ot EugiiiiU capitalists liiiH undertaken to build a railway from St. I'aul to Lake Superior. 20 III not affect to (locry tho advantaajcH of tho romoval of fiscal restrictions botwoon noigh- bouring (roiiiiuunitios, and is quite ready to avow that usually tho destruction of thcso barriers augments conuncrciul intu'rcour^o to an extent much greater than would appear likely from any roasotiable calculation made b^'foro hand. But he bjlicvos that any such reasonable calculatiim would j^ivc promisj of a very trifling result in tho case of the Colonics which it is proposed to confederate, first of all bacausa there are already no duties between them upon unmanui'acturod articles of natural produce, such as are tho leading objects of their surplus j):'oductioa and export ; next because from the identity in the cliaraclcrs of their people, and of the latitudes in which they reside, it is unlikely that tliere will ever be that great diversity of product which is the foundation of a very large interchange of commodities. It is true that Nova Scotia produces coal which Canada dojs not and which she consumes, and that Canada produces flour which tlie Lower Provincv^s do not on aii extended .scale, butof which they of course require large (juantities. Yet lliongh these articles arc eminently proper for transport by water, though we have an admirable summer navigation, and though there are no inter-colonial duties upon tlu -e articles, no considerable trade has grown up in them. Fiscal restraints being removed, as they have been entirely for many years ^uoaii these articles between the C ilo.iies and the United Stitos, the coursj of trade liius been determined by perfectly n.itural circumstances to lie between the Lower Pro- vinces and tho American seaboard on the one hand ; and between Canada and tho United States on the other. "'= Tiiis is not the place for a disquisition on a suljject so wide as the cause of this cff-L-t ; but the facts are plain and the reasons for them not diflicult to state. The wrilT has never heard any deliuito method pointed out by which this condition of things cni 1)'. greatly changed— he does not .speak of vague assertions — except by an artificial .-y ;u of duties encouraging the trade between the parts of tho Confederacy, by shutting out the trade with other parts of the world. Tiie Literco- lonial Railway, if built, will of course do soai.^hing, because railways will make traffic for themselves; but this one goes through a couiilry so thinly s.ittled, and so little inviting to settlers that it cannot be expected to do much in the dircL'tion of way tralhe, while as to through traffic it is impossible to believe that it will go that way unless a war shall absolutely close the other route. A'^ery natural misapprehension exists on this subject among persons not intimately acquainted with the country, who conclude that because the Colonies adjoin each other, a roail through them must bo direct, and th:;t by the United States a roundabout road. This is not so; a glance at tho map will show that for a shipping port in the winter in connection with 3Iontreal, Portland is far more eligibly situated than St. John or Halifax, and that if it be regarded as an objeet with passengers to shorten the sea voyage by emb irking at either of the latter ports, tlicy will have from Montreal or the Eichmond station of the Grand Trunk a shorter route by the present Grand Trunk lload v/'a Portland than by the Intercolonial line, while they will travel in a lower latitude, a thing of the utmost importance in our climate in the winter time. It may be said that we want a railway terminus that cannot be closed by the Americans; but it seems to the writer that com- nl 1| T bl * 111 1804 all tho Maritime rioviiuis. iUioniin;,' to ofiicial ll'gtuos inilili.slu'd in the Report of thu Biniril of Trade of Mdiitreiil iimoiuited, — ;;.\(>orts and imports — to a valuo of ?44,T2',),- GOl. Of this amount only $l,;ii)(J,,")4G ri'iircsiaits tlie tiiuK' with I'uuada, wliilu ,Sl3,OIO,03ti rc- jn-escnts tho trade witli the United States. As to Canada, while her trade with the other rrovinees is thus shown to have amonnt.,'d to a value of only Sl,;!04,r)4(;, her tvudc with tho United States iu that year was $30,501,443, out of a grand total of $74,908,y21). 31 of tlio iitoreo- ;iffic for inviting fliile as :;ir sli.'ill subject jucauso by the low that ir more 't with •y will •onto by line, lortaiico railway at com- ' Report '■i-i,12'.),- ),ir.M rc- le olhor lith till) nicrciikl uiiJertaklng must, to bo suoyaartful, proo.iaJ on ocouomical not polilicnl trroumls. BesidtiH there is no uii-tloi;y, iis .sour? Hiippt)s,), b.~.twoi!n tho Reciprocity Treaty ami tho Auierieuii boiuliii;^ .systu.a aiiJ ri>;ht ol' w.iy to Ctiiadian-t through American territory. Wu Houj;lit the Urst oarnostly ami long in a oonoo^sioii ; tho AuiericinH e.-itablisheil tlic bonding systum for tho purposj of attracting our trade to their ports; and as a matter of history they solicited us, not we them, to build tho railro.id whijh oonnects Montreal an I Quebec with Portland, for the obvious purpose of m iklng that city a seaport fur our territory. They are never likely to ab;)lish a sy.steiu in tlie continuance of which they not only have, but know that thoy have, a vast interest. In tiujo of war we of courirhaps the crowning advantage to be derived from this so-called Uaiou of the i'roviiices. But military strenglli cjnsists in one of four tilings — geographical situation ; unity of cum- niand, and consetjuent action; tho number of men; the amount of money. Itis plain that Coafeder.ition will not mass geographically the Colonies, whose real w-vikness — whatever that may be — consists in their bjing stretched along the frontier of a State ten times more populous than thoy. It is equally plain that (jlreat Britain, being the Suzerain, the arbitei of peace and war, and the power wliicli, disguise it as we will, must supplement in c.ise of war all thy deficiencies of the Colonies, siie will, as she ought, appoint the superior officers in all or any of the arnucs which may be set on foot, and will dictate the military policy to be adopted. Confederation can- not alter that; and lastly, how can it make either more men or more money than will bj produced by tho development of the Colonies under the siui])ler and less expensive system which now prevails, with which the people have expressed no nure discontent than c-cists in all frc3 States where there is a movement party wliieh does not at oncagain its object, and under which a largo and steady shire of prosperity has been cxporionced. Here again tiie writer has heard much declamation; but he never yet i'ounil any one who could give a definite accjourit of the proc3ss by whieli the anticipited bonelit was to accrue, or of the figures in which the probable benefit could be represented ; and lest it should be suppojcJ that he is one of those eccentric parsons who diffin* from all the World, and that he alleges objections which occur to no one but himself, it may hz well to add here, not only thit he asks n) acjjptince of his coiiclusioiis but such as fairly flow from his reasons, but tliat diwu to the very imiujiit before the onoctersof the scheme determined to become unanimous, they had disagreed upon every public tnpie but this one, and on that had agreed that Confederation and its cjojomitants were either absolutely mischievous, cr at all events not opportune. From this statement, ss perhaps, I ou^ht to except Mr. Gait. That gentlemin hri'l som yotrs previously found reason suddenly to leave the so-called iiboral party and to ac::ipt the post of Finance Minister under the Conservatives. He m ido a speech on the 03cision, sottin;^ forth that his object in this j^rcat s lerifica of parsonal foelinj; was to carry the Con- federation of the Provinces, which no one hul previously hoard of in ParliaiinMit, and no one heard of again. His new eoUcaj^ues by no means conscMited to adopt the idea for which he had consented to leave old friends and accept the burden of office, and no one voted with him on the groat object of his ambition. Po,s.sibly he may still have secretly cherished its worship. Hat officially he must b? held to have fjiven up the hope of accomplishinjj; it. A few days bcif )rii cveryho ly coalesced a report had come down from a Committee appointed to inquire what could b ! done to cure the constitutional grievance of the Upper Canada representation baing too small for its proportion of population. On that Committee the flovcrnmcnt was represented by Mr. J no. A. MacDonald, and this question of Confederation being on^ among the remedies spoken of as po.ssible, Mr. MacDonald voted steadily against even considering it as a possible remedy. That must bo taken us the latest autl\ority on Ministerial views before they were changed by an adverse vote. The Opposition, though of course there were shades of difference which could not exist between the men actually com- posing the Ministry, were yet fairly enough represented by iMr. Geo. Brown. He did not treat the subject quite so cavalierly as Mr. MacDonald, but all that the Comniitteo under his leadership did was to agree to consider it on some subsequent occasion. By way of showing what he had previously thought of it, various expressions of his opinion, from his writings in the G/ol>e and elsewhere, are thrown into a foot-noto be- low. Most of his objections have baen already elaborated in the foregoing pages ;* but it will be remarked, among other things, that he especially shows the futility of be- lieving that Confederation would give to Upper C mada more political power th; enjoyed a ma- •The following; i.s n Ktati'UK-nt from the Glohi' of tho 24th Octoln'v last — Mr. Brown having (jtmrrelled with tlie Coalition and loft it — roKpwtin}; tho opinion of Mr. Atty.-Cti'ii. MacDonald down totho lust inoracnt heforu headoptcd Mr. Biowti iis a collfnyuc, mid with tliat gcntk'mun invonted a policy, nuw to both of thcni : — " Wo should like to knew when it was discovered " that Mr. John A. MacDonald, was untitled to so nuicli credit in connec/ion with a Rc/orm fhr " jvhich Reformers have been strui/i/ling fur Jifteen i/ccm ni/diiinl the bitter hostiliti/ of Mr. MacDonald " and his part;/. • ♦ ♦ • Who has forgotten that Mr. Joim A. MacDonald voted against " tlie appointment of the Constitutional Committee of 1804, tlie Connnittec whose labours led " to the final triumph of the ttcforni i)oliey ? Who has forgotten that as a member of that " Committee Mr. MacDonald oi)pose(l a Federal Union such as we tire about to get to the bust • ' — refusing to sign the report of the Committee — a report which foveshadowecl the jjolicy of " the Coalition." So far for the views of Mr. MacDonald, which, of course, expressed by his votes on su li a Committee as the one spoken of, were the official views of the Ministry of which he was the leading member. As to the fifteen years for which the Heforn; i)arty with Mr. IJrowu for their head, contended for this so called Ueform, take the following excerpts fi-oni Mr. ISrown's writings iia the Globe. Hero is something on the measure financially : '• Moreover, the elfect of " ft Union with the Maritime Provinces would be that instead of (me sucker being fastened on " the rich udder of Upper Canada therg would be throe or perha[)8 four ; a compact of loss ad- I A'i A jority of ;lio reproneiitatives from Uh own iwutioii in Parlittinnnt. It is quite plain that Hunli a Council, npjxtinted, moreover, on the Hanio footinfr of equality hitherto com- plained of, will render perfectly nui^atory the increased representation wh'nh Tpper Canada is {<• have in the Assembly, based upon its superior population. Second, tho facts that while Mr. Hrown represented it as an injustice that Hpper Canada, which, he said, paid much more than half tlio revenue of United Canada, hud only un equal voice in its disposal, and only a half share of its expenditure, he has, by way of remedying that evil, undertaken to make a railway, in which Canada, especially I'ppcr Canada, has slij^ht concern, at an expense of four or five million sterling; ; that of tlii.i road Canada will pay four fifths of the cost, Upper Canada, of courflc, according? to hia stateaients, much more than the half of that sum ; and that the Canadian share of that outliiy will add above 25 per cent, to a public debt which we have already found it ditViciilt to carry. If there are constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower Canada now, what will there bo when Mr. Brown himself, or some other agitator, shalj plicy which for twenty-five years lias secured perfect contentment in tl e Colonies, and has prevented the slightest approach to a con- iiict between them and the .Mother (Jountry. Let them remember that whenever they legislate upon a request from this side of the Atlantic, they necessarily, under our sys- teiii of party Govcrmncnt, legislate for the convenience and support of a party. Let them, therefore, follow the precedent set in the case of the change effected in the ConstiJ tution of the Legislative Council, which h 's been already quoted, and which was the mere practice of the avowed principle that the Colonies are to enjoy self gcvornment. No one here will object to an enabling Act, to permit the Colonies to ratify by their own legislation any agreement come to by negotiators, properly commissioned, provided the ratification shall take place after delays and discussions for eliciting public opiaion, and with those forms which are usual in British Legislatures. Those of us who think Confederation unwise will of course continue to think so ; but they will be perfectly " vuncud sections of tlie eomitry, fur tlic uxpeiidituro of public moufy on local objects, not at " uU usol'ul in tho West, would soon be struck uj) and carried into operation ; and (he French " CamiJians sldndiny in the centre in a comi.act body, will rule more firmly than ever." Hero is sonicthing on tho subject of tho Itailwuy, in coniiidoring a proposition afterwards abandoiud, that it tihould bo built liy a joint coutributimi for which United Canada should be ussoKHoil tho twelfths instead of four lifths, as by the present arrangement : — " The Hchuinu "of the Uovornment for the construt tion of tho Intercolonial Railway opens an account " which never will bo dosed. Every storm cf snow in the inhospitable regions below lliviere " du Loup will lay a new burden on the people of Upper Canada. Tlie tax payers will watch " tho passenger tiavol and the freight trattic with tho livoliost inti rest, as indicating the ex- " tout of tho demands upon them for the year. I'he road will be run with a perfect con$ciousnes> " on the part of its managers, that there is a prompt payment behind. • • • • It was bad " enough when they consented that Canada should pay five twelfths of the expenditure on thu '' road, when in fact it will not receive one twelfth of tho benefit; but it was infinitely worse " to involve tho Provinces in a scheme for running a railway as well as aiding in its construc- " tion. Who can fail to see the hand of the Grand Trunk in this ? " " Tlioy are putting forward tho construction of this Railway as a measure of defence which " it cannot properly bo considered. " It is a dream of many persons in Nova Scotia that this Halifax and Quebec Railway will " draw to their harbour the trade of the West ; but it is a dream and nothing more. No pas- " sengcr, or shipper of freight will ever think of going, or sending to Hali£ax when he can find I 24 ready to accept the consequences of the lunn of Government under which they live. But if tlie Imperial l*arliaincnt shall doteiMuiae to falsify all its past profe?'- sions, .'Hid to revert to a state of things whicli was formerly ibuud pernicious, it has a plain duty to perform, and that is to make itself t!ioro\'ghly accnuiiiitcd with the suhjeet matter with which it lias to deal. Surely the creation ot a frame c lovcrnment for the va.st territory of British North America ami the miliii'Ms who arc U) people it, is a thin^ which is worthy of some inquiry and delibera .m — in- quiry and deliberation of mi ori;rinal kind, not that which merely demands and accoptf- the opinion of others. ]jet Parliament, which will not legislate on the Cattle l*l:iv;uo, or a Water supply hill ibi a small town, without first ini[uiring into tlu> circumstar.ccs by Committee, at least .show that it considers its fellow-snbjeots thronglinut Hril.isli Nrlii America worthy of an ec^uil degree of labour and forethought. ,, i..,: " ^shipping at (Jucbcc or Portland. ]t is said tliu sliorloiiiif: of tlu' .Sea voynfjo is a ^I'lat olijoct '• with tnivillcrs, but anyone wlio lias travel led 70(i niilos liy railway will, .sayiiij; iiolliin;:ol'tli<' '' i'X|)i;u.st-'s, ;^roatly jird'or tlr' iiroioiiniUiou of a voyagi' lor a tiny. .Vs lo frcii;lit tlu' tliiiif^ is " not to be; spokt'li of. " Tluav is a ri tVi'sliins coolness in the demand that Ctinad;' sliidi pay for the eonstriu tioii '•Ufa road whieh is professedly desijviied to draw away ihu trade Iroin its gnat estiiarv. \V<- " have been luiildiii;;' up the navijxatiou of the St. Lawrenee at iiunieiis,' e.xpeiise, and have had " very ha"d worU t(> io reeently as July 1S(U it is said : — '• The presence of the Marltjnie Proviiues in thi' Union weiild not irive lis a shilliiii; of '• their money for the payment of thee.xpensesofoiir loei'.l },'oveiniu eiit, nor would their aliseiiee " add one shilliiif^' to our local outlay. IJut it is to be re-oliueti'd that the e.vpense of the lart;er '• eoiifederatioii would be j^'reater than that o'' the siuallei. It is said that by a (,'oiifederatuin •' of tlij v.diol, we should have n/u'e than three nnllions of peoph' wl would eoiitribute to the '■expenses of the federation of the Canadas ; we reply that the j;reater expense in ilu; foriiiir '■ ease, would ijune make up the dilVeieiiee. In the explanations submitted ti> I'arliami'iit, moreover, as to the intentions of the Coali- tion Ministiy, and the nef;i)tiatiiuis whieh led to tliiiii, wi; liiiel the followin.y; statement : " Mr. lirown asked w hat the Governiiunt proposed as 11 remedy for the iujustiee eompliuiieel " of by Upper Canada, and as a settlement of the se'etional tremble. Mr. Maeliouald and .Mr. "Gait rei)lied that their remedy was a Fvde'ial Unie)n of all tlu' 1!. X. A. i'roviuees. hieal " matte'rs beini; eomniitted to h)eal bodie^s, and matte'is eoniinein te> all to a ne'in ral hxislatuie> '■ tondituteel on the well undersroe)d prineiples of a F.deral tiimrnnu'iit. Mr. Ihown re'ioin- " ed that this woulel iieit be- a'c.'iitable; to tiie p'jophi of l'p))er Canada as a renu'dy Ibr existinjf " evils ; that he lielieve'd thai, the fide'ration of all the' i'roviiie'e's ouuht b> eoiue. and would '• foi'ie ere long ; litit it had iu)t lieeii theiroughly eeaisidered by the' peoiile', ,/;;,/ ici-re it othi'ni-iae, " there were se) many pe.rtiis tei be consulted that its aeloi)tie)n was iniee'riain aiiel re'inole'." Jn explanation of these extraets, some of whie h may see'in to eontliet in seinu; degree with the s'.almient that the jioliey of C(>iilederat'on had never been diseiissid as a praitieal measure in Parliament, it may lie well to explain that most of them were printed during the short period in i8()2 v.\a\ ISfJ?, wlu'ii gentleineii of Mr. Ihowns parly held oUiee. They en- tered into negotiations respecting V,n' railway, whieh tliey afterwards abandoue'd because! they were; found to be unpalatalde' to llu'ir friends, annmg eithers to Mr. lirown. Anil in tlie course of the opiiositimi which that gentkniaii made to the railway policy he chose to as- sume', Witliout any evidence, that the construction of the railway was to lead to Con- federation. ■ * '■ ch they livj. past profe- '■ pernicious. ■ ac(|.uaiiitcd cation ul ci the )iiilii(wis crai.^jii — iii- and acc'jplH i) I'l:it',UJ, (II- iistaijc( .s by ilisli N r!!! .Ui'iiit oljjoct i>tliiii,Cot'tlio tlif thiiif.- is i'' IHiU it is K'ii' aljsciici' >1' till' larger nt'iMlcratioii ilmtc (o tliu ill*; loriner ■ tlie Coali- tc'iiient : — ■"iiiplaiiicd I"n reioiii- '1' e.\is(iiiy- nil! v/oiild ' ".'/('/vr/.vc, lunlc." r^no \vit]» I'laitical liiriri,!;- tliu 'J'li>y ,11- >l liicau.se "I'l in tile lose to as- I to Coil-