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The Petition of the Inhabitants of Nova Scotia Humbly Siieweth : That the Province of Nova Scotia is one of the oldest Colonies of Great Britain, ai. i one of the nearest to the Mother Country. That when the American Revolution separated thirteen English Colonies from the Crown, Nova Scotia stood tru'j to her allegiance, and furnished a home for the Loyalists who sacrificed their property and their prospects in the American States' for the sake of British connection. That, ever since, during the political agitations which have disturbed this Continent,— especially during the War of 1812, and the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-8,— Nova Scotia has been steadfast in her loyalty ; and that when the neighbouring Province of New Brun.^wick was menaced from the American side in 1839. the Legislature of Nova Scotia unanimously placed the whole revenues and resources of the country at the disposal of the Lieutenant-Governor for the defence of tlie British flag upon the frontier. That this people have discharged, in other respects, the duties of British subjects to the satisfaction of the Crown. They have sent representatives to the Provincial Parliament since 1758, for a quarter of a century have enjoyed Responsible Government in as full and ample a measure as have their fellow-subjects in the most favoured parts of the Empire, and have preserved from degcnerary and abuse their Constitutional rights and free institutions. That the people of this Province, from their Maritime position, have developed the pursuits of Shipbuilding, Navigation, Commerce, and Fishing, into prosperous activity. Their agricultural resources are rich and varied, while the vast mineral wealth which underlies the whole area of the country is a special guarantee of its future prosperity under favourable political conditions. The gold mines of Nova Scotia, without rising to the character of dazzling lotteries to attract a promiscuous or disorderly population from abroad, have proved steadily remunerative f> a regular department of native industry, and a profitable investment for foreig capital. The great iron mines, already discovered, give earnest, in connection with its coal fields, of manufacturing capabili- ties not inferior to those of any counlry of similar extent. It has the thickest coal seams in the world, and their area is extensive, afi'ording fairground for the presumption, that for the purposes of peace or way Nova Scotia's continued connection with Great Britain would prove of mutual ad van age. Possessed of these resources, the people desire closer relations with the Mother Country, in order to be able to enjoy more largely the benefits, as well as share more fullv the responsibilities, of the Empire ; and already the Province has enrolled 60,000 cflaeient Militia and Volunteers to assist m the maintenance of British power on this Continent, and sends to sea 440,000 tons of shipping, built and owned within the Province, bearing the flag of England, and manned bv more than 20,000 seamen. That Nova Scotia has no controversies with the Mother Country, the other Provinces, or with the population of the neighboring United States ; and highly prizes the privileges, so long enjoyed, of regulating her ov/n Tariffs, and conduc- ting trade, but lightly burthened, with the British Islands and Colonies in all parts of the worldjand with Foreign Countries. That the people of Nova Scotia are prepared to entertain any propositions by which (preserving to them the Institutions they now have, and the privileges they enjoy.) greater facilities tor commercial and social intercourse with other States and Provinces may be secured, and they are willing, whenever their own coasts and harbors are safe, to aid Her Majesty's forces to preserve from aggres- sion the Provinces in the rear. I5ut they view with profound distrust and apprehension schemes, recently propounded, by which it is proposed to transfer to the peojile of Canada the control of the "^Government, Legislation/and Revenues, ot this loyal and happy Province, and they venture respectfully^ to crave from your honorable Htuse justice and protection. That the Province of Canada lies as far from Nova Scotia as Austria docs from England, and there exists no reason why a people who live at such a distance, with whom we have but little commerce, who have invested no capital in our country, who are unable to protect it, and are themselves shut off from ocean navigation by frost for iiyc months of the year, should coritroi car Legislation and Government. ^ That in 1864 the Government of Nova Scotia, without any authority from the Legislature, and without any vidence of the consent of the people, sent delegates to Canada to arrange in secret conference at Quebec a political union between the various Provinces, That these delegates concealed the result of their conforence from the people until it became incidentally made public in another Province, and that, to this hour, they have never unfolded portions of the Scheme, having the most essential relation to the peculiar interests and local government of Nova Scotia subsequent to Confederation. That the Selieme, when at last made public, was received with great dissatisfaction in Nova Scotia, that the opposition to it has been constantly on the increase, and has been intensified by the conduct of the government and the delegates, who now propose to call in the aid of Your Honourable House, to assist them to overthrow, by an arbitrary exercise of power, free Institutions enjoyed for a centiiry, and never abused. That the objections of the people to the proposed Confederation Scheme affect not merely minor local details but the radical principles of the plan. The people cannot recognize the necessity for clu;nge in their present tranquil, pros- porou^and free condition. They cannot believe that the proposed Confederation with t/ie distant Co'oiiy of Canada will prove of any practical benefit, either for defence or trade ; while, from the past history rf that country, its sectional troubles, and its eccentric political managoincnt and financial embarrassments, they have groat reason to fear that Confederation would be *^o them a most dis- astrous change, retarding their ])rogress, and rendering their prolonged connec- tion with the Crown precarious if not imposhible. Foruiing, as she does now, a portion of the Empire, Xova Scotia is already Confederated with fifty other Stati's and Provinces, enjoys free trade with two himdred and fifty millions of people, living under one flag, and owning the authority of one Sovereign. She has no desire to part witii her self-control, or to narrow her commercial privileges by placing herself uuiler the dominion of a sister Colony, with an exposed frontier, frost-bound for a third of the year, and with no Navy to defend the Maritime Provinces when her ])ort3 are open. The Scheme of Government framed at (Quebec is unlike any other that History .shows to have been successful. It secures neither the consolidation, dignity and independent power of Monarchy, nor the checks and guards which ensure to the smaller states self-<i;overnnient, and controllina- influence over the Fedei'al authorities, in the neighboring Kcpublic. By adctpting the Federal principUe sectionalism in the five Provinces is perpetuated ; by the timid and imperrec/^ moile in which that principle is ap|»lie.l, the p(M)plo, whose minds have been unsettled by this crude experiment, may bo tlriven tt) draw contrasts, and nourish aspirations of which adventurous and powerful neighbors will not be slow to take advantage ; and the people (jf Nova Sctotia have no desire to peril the integrity of the Empi;e, with the blessings tluw now enjoy, or to try now experiments, which may complicate foreign relations, and yet add no real strength to the Provinces it is jiroposed to combine. The ])eople object also to the financial arrangements ;i-< especially burthen- some and unfair tct tliis Province. IT ing long enjoyed the control and benefitted by the expenditure of their own revenues, they cannot approve a scheme that will wrest tlie greater part of these from their hands, to keep up costly and ciimljl-rous Feder.il machinery, and to meet the liabilities of Canada. For many years the commercial policy of Nova Scotia has been essentially different from tiiat of Canada. The latter country, ))artly from necessity arising out of financial embarrassments, and ])arlly as an indirect premium on her own manufactures, has adopted a tariff varying from 20 to 30 per cent, on imported goods. Alniost surroundedyas Nova Scotia is by the ocean, her people are favour- ably situated for enjoying free commercial intercourse with every section of the British Empire, and witii those foroign ountrieS open to her commerce by the enlightened [)olicy of the Parent State ; of this privilege she has availed hersLdf, by imitating, as far as lo(\'il circumstances would permit, the liberal and free trade policy of the Mother Country — ten ))er cent, being the advalorem duty collected under the Nova Scotia tariff on goods imported into the Province. Tlie proposed sitheme of union will give Canada, by ln'r large preponderance in the Legislature, the power to shape the taritt' for the whole Confederacy accord- ing to her inland ideas and necessities, so as to levy the same onerous duties on British goods imparted into Nova Scotia as are now exacted by Canada. That since the Confederation scheme has been announced, there have been special parliamentary elections in three out of the eighteen counties of this Province, and in all three it has been condemned at the polls. / That in I860 the scheme was condemned at nearly every public meeting hold by the delegates to discuss it, and numerous petitions against it.s adoption were presented to the Provincial Parliament, and only one in its favor, until the leader of the {government declared the mea.su re to be " impracticable". That at the opening of the late Session no reference to Confederation was made in the speech of the Lieutenant Governor, and down to a late period the people of Xova Scoti.i were led to believe that the scheme had been abandoned. A Resolution was introduced toward the close of the t^cst^ion, clothing the (iov- crnment with power to apjioint Delegates, who, in connection with Delegates from the other Provinces, are to frame a scheme of Government, to which it is proposed to ask the sanction of your Honorable Ilouhse before it has been .sub- mitted to the Legislature that it may a.inihilate, or to the people, whose legal and constitutional rights and powers'^it may transfer or circumscribe. The undersigned, menaced by a measure that may be revolution- ary/repose implicit confidence in the protection of the Imperial Parliament. T\dy deny the authm-ity of their own Legislature, invested with limited powers for a definite term, to deprive them of rights earned by their ancestry by the most pt.'nful sacrifices, wisely exercised* and never abused. for more than a century, and which they had no legitimate authority to aliennte or break down. They believe that any scheme of Government, framed by a Committee of Delegates and forced upon the Provinces without their revision or ai)proval, would generate wide'spread dissatisfaction among a loyal and contented people ; who will not fail to reilect, that no change can be made in the constitution of any of the neighboring States which has not first been approved by the electors ; and that important measures, alfecting Imperial policy or institutions, are rarely attempted till they have been submitted for acceptance or rejection by the people whose interests they are to affect. Your petitioners therefore pray that Your Right Honorable House will be pleased to defer all action in fa\our of Confederation in the Imperial Parlia- ment until the people of Nova Scotia shall have exercised and enjoyed their Constitutional privilege to express their opinions at the polls, or that Your Honorable House may be pleased to direct that a Special Committee shall sfeftH inquire into alfthe features of the proposed scheme ot Confederation, as it is likely to affect the several Provinces in their relations to each other and to the Mother Country ; or that the people of Nova Scotia be permitted to appear by counsel at the Bar of Your Honorable House to defend their interests and Institutions. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c. >/