^^"t^ 
 
 ^7^ ^ 
 
 ^ ▼^.u. ^s' r 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET {MT-3) 
 
 I 
 
 // 
 
 ^/ 
 
 ^.<^\ 
 
 > 
 
 >* 
 
 < <i 
 
 
 
 fc 
 
 K. 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 L£128 
 
 [50 "^^ 
 
 2.5 
 2.2 
 
 I -^ IIIIIM 
 
 HlUit 
 
 IL25 i 1.4 
 
 MM 
 
 6" 
 
 1.6 
 
 
 /a 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 '/ 
 
 /A 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 V 
 
 iV 
 
 k 
 
 ^^ 
 
 \ 
 
 :\ 
 
 
 
 

 * 
 
 ^^^,V^^i 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
 ^ 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of tMs 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 n 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 
 Couverture endommagde 
 
 □ Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul6e 
 
 Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 I I Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes g^ographiques en couleur 
 
 □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 I — I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Reli6 avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re liure serrde peut causer do I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge int6rieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas 6t6 filmies. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires suppldmentaires; 
 
 L'Institut a microfilmd le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage 
 sont indiquds ci-dessous. 
 
 I I Coloured pages/ 
 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 □ Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagdes 
 
 I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 
 D 
 
 Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul^es 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxe( 
 Pages d6colordes, tachet^es ou piqu6es 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages ddtachdes 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of prir 
 
 Quality indgale de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary materii 
 Comprend du matdriei suppldmentaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 r~71 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 
 I I Pages detached/ 
 
 ["71 Showthrough/ 
 
 I I Quality of print varies/ 
 
 I I Includes supplementary material/ 
 
 I — I Only edition available/ 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, 
 etc., ont 6td filmdes d nouveau de fagon d 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est filmi au taux de rMuction indiqu6 ci-de^/sous. 
 
 10X 
 
 14X 
 
 18X 
 
 22X 
 
 26X 
 
 30X 
 
 y 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
The copy filmed here hes been reproduced thenks 
 to the generosity of: 
 
 Lalcehead University 
 Tliunder Bay 
 
 The imeges eppeering here ere the best quality 
 possible considering the condition end legibility 
 of the original copy and in Iceeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 L'exemplaire fiimi fut reproduit grAce d la 
 ginirositi de: 
 
 Lakeliead Univeisity 
 Thunder Bay 
 
 Les images suivantes ont M r^produites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu d3 la condition et 
 de la nettet* de l'exemplaire filmi, et en 
 f onformitA avec les conditions du contrat da 
 filmage. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 Les exemplaires originaux djnt la couverture en 
 papier est imprimie sont filmAs en commengant 
 par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la 
 dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la 
 premiere page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par 
 la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol ^»> (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Un dee symboles suivants apparaitra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microfiche, seion le 
 cas: le symbole — -^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbols Y signifie "FIN ". 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc.. may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre 
 filmds & des taux de reduction diffirents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre 
 reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir 
 de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche i droits, 
 et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre 
 d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la mithode. 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
^?o) 
 
 $iou$e of Commons debates 
 
 FOURTH SESSION -SIXTH PARLIAMENT. 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. EDWARD BLAKE, M.P., 
 
 ON THE 
 
 JESUITS' ESTATES ACT. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, 30th APKIL, 1890. 
 
 Mr. BLAKE. I cannot say, Mr. Speaker, that 
 it was any source of gratification to me to le.irn 
 that such a motion was to l)e made iis that which is 
 now attracting the attention of the House, nor am I 
 certain, that any good results will flow from a re- 
 newal of the discussion upon the Jesuit (juestion. 
 In the observations I am about to make, altliough 
 as hon. members will perceive, I am obliged to 
 differ from some of the views which have just been 
 expressed by the hon. Minister of Justice ; and I 
 dare say also, to differ from some of the views of 
 gentlemen with wliom I usually act ; I do not 
 desire to say a single word, in a sense which might 
 aggravate any feeling of bitterness which may 
 exist throughout this country with reference to 
 this subject. I have felt from the beginning, 
 that the question should be treated by those on 
 cither side who take opposing views, in a spirit, 
 which I am sorry to say luis not animated a great 
 many of those wlu) have acted on the lines of tlie 
 non. member for North Norfolk (Mr. C^harlton). 
 I have felt that it was a question which was preg- 
 nant with grave and important issues, and I do 
 not deny in the slightest degree, the right, and 
 even the duty, of those who feel as tliis gen- 
 tleman did, to raise and to agitate it ; I believe, 
 however, that it should have been raised and 
 agitated in a diflf'erent tone and in a different 
 si)irit from that which many of them ha\'e evinced, 
 ir any good results -were to ensue ; nay, rather, 
 if great calamities were to be averted. The ques- 
 tions which are immediately before us do not, 
 I think, justify any severe motion of censure on 
 the (lovernment, nor do I think the motion of the 
 hon. member for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) is 
 to be considered as such a motion of censure, but 
 ratheras an expression of opinion adversi; to tlie view 
 which the (iovernment adopted in tliis matter. 
 Although I do not think the circumstances would 
 justify a severe motion of censure, yet there are 
 questions of higli consequence involved, upon 
 which there well may be differences of opinion, 
 both upon an important constitutional point 
 which the hon. Minister of Justice has advanced 
 to-night — as he advanced it before in some of the 
 State papers which he has produced upon this sub- 
 
 V?<^X^ 
 
 ject — and also upon a point which is certainlj' dis- 
 putable, but I think, also, of greater practical im- 
 portance. That is the (iiiestion of political exiiedi- 
 eney, in the high and proper sense of that term, tlie 
 ((uestioii of policy, wliicli is at issue between the 
 hon. member for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) on 
 the one hand, and the Administration on the other. 
 Now with reference to the constitutional point. 
 I am unable for my part to accede to the full 
 extent, to the argument made by the hon. Mii<ister 
 of Justice, as to the effect of the action of the Exe- 
 cutive during the currency of the twelve months 
 within which the power of disallowance may be 
 exercised, or to his view that this power cannot, 
 after a declaration of a contrary opinion, be exer- 
 cised during the twelve months with reference to a 
 Provincial statute. The hon. Minister of Justice does 
 not indeed deny that what he calls the bare power 
 of disallowance continues. It would, I think, be 
 absolutely impossible to affirm that that power liad 
 been blotted out. The law gives tlie power to the 
 Executive to disallow at any time within twelve 
 months from the receipt of the authentic announce- 
 ment of the sti'uUte, and the power is therefore ex- 
 ercisible, at any period short of the expiry of the 
 twelve ■ onths. There is no power whatever to allow 
 a statute. The I'rovincial statute derives its force 
 and vitality from the assent of the Lieutenant 
 (iovernor of the Province. It is, if in the power 
 of the Province, valid, operative and living from 
 the hour of that assent, and it requires no other 
 allowance in order to give it operation. There 
 is no right in the Executive of Canada to assume 
 to allow it at all. The right of the Executive 
 of Canada is purely of a destructive order : it 
 can destroy, but it (-annot give validity ; it can 
 obliterate by exercising the power of disallow- 
 ance, but it cannot vitalise by its approval. If 
 tliat be so, and if the Constitutional Act awards 
 to the Executive an authority to exercise their 
 jiower up to the expiration of the twelve months, 
 no prior expression of opinion on the part of 
 the Executive, however positive, as to the valid- 
 ity of the Act, as to its expeiliency, as to its being 
 such as ought not be disallowed, can alwplii|o1v take 
 away all right and authority to dijjiifow wiOfWthe 
 
 PROPERTY 
 OF 
 
 LAKEflEAO 
 ^UNIVERSITY, 
 
twelve months wliich the law ami the eonstitixtion 
 give. Sir, 8apj)oL,e (luring a meeting of Parliament, 
 while the people's rep.-"""" Natives are here assem- 
 bled, the twelve months not having yet expired, 
 that a motion is placed in your hands, Mr. Speaker, 
 or on the Notice paper, for an Address to His Ex- 
 cellency paying liim to disallow a particular local 
 statute ; and suppose that during the debate, or be- 
 fore i,ho notice is reached, the Executive, anticipat- 
 ing the period of or the termination of the debate, 
 should exercise their rjght to pass pn Order in 
 Council declaring that in their opinion the Act ought 
 to be left to its operation ; could such a course as 
 that thwart, annul or affect the power of Parliament 
 to express its opinion by Address, requesting His 
 Excellency to exercise his power to disallow ? Why, 
 the very circumstance that there are twelve 
 months within which this power can be exercised, 
 and that there must be, according to the law, a 
 session of Parliament withiii twelve months, 
 secures always to tliis Parliament its right, if it 
 chooses, to intervene effectively in these matters. 
 The Parliament of the country has a power not 
 merely to approve and to condemn, but it has also 
 a more important power with reference to every 
 political and executive act — it has a power to 
 advise. An approval may be gratifying to some, a 
 condemnation may be gratifying to otliers, but 
 neither the approval nor the condemnation of an 
 accomplished act serves any purpose save that of 
 criticism. The power of advice is the great power 
 of Parliament, a power to be exercised with re- 
 serve, but to be maintained in efficiency ; and to 
 preserve effectively that power, it is necessary that 
 we should deem that it has not passed beyond the 
 domain of Parliament to advise within the twelve 
 months, no matter what the Plxecutiv^e may do, 
 whatever action in the opinion of Parliament, 
 the interest of the country requires. It is of 
 very little use for Parliament to say to 
 Ministers, who have decided that they tliink 
 an Act ought to be allowed : " Gentlemen, we think 
 you are wrong ; we condemn you ; we censure you. " 
 Are we to be told that if the twelve months still 
 remain unexpired, we may condenm the Adminis- 
 tration, forsooth, but the Act must remain opera- 
 tive ; that we cannot make our advice effective ; 
 that we cannot take a step which will cause that 
 to be done which the great council of the country 
 decides in the interest of the country ought to be 
 done ? The power of Parliament itself would be 
 thwarted by the proposition of the hon. Minister 
 of Justice. I admit that there may be cases in 
 which a great local convenience may be demon- 
 strated to exist in favor of an earlier expression of 
 opinion on the part of the executive as to the 
 character of a local act ; tliere may be such cases 
 of public convenience as distinguished from party 
 convenience. I have known a good many curious 
 things to happen in connection with this question 
 of disallowance. I have known a case in which, 
 from motives of party convenience, a Lieutenant 
 Governor held back a Provincial Act for months — 
 aye, I believe for years — just in order that its fate 
 might be left in doubt, it being inconvenient 
 for the Federal Executive at tlie moment to deal 
 with it as it intended ultimately to dea' with it. 
 I have known, on the other hand, a case — I was 
 myself an actor, I may say a victim, in it^in 
 which while a motion was on the Order paper for 
 an address to His Excellency, for strong reasons 
 
 assigned, praying tluit he would not exercise the 
 power of dis-illovance with reference to a Provin- 
 cial statute, that motion being, for some little time, 
 delayed by the exigency of otiier business, a day or 
 two before it was reached, the Executive acted and 
 disallowed tlie statute ; and when I rose, instead of' 
 making my motion, I had to say; " This motion 
 luis been anticipated by the Executive doing in 
 tlie interval, between the time the notice was 
 placed on tlie paper and the time when it 
 could come on, the act which I proposed wo should 
 pray His Excellency should not be done ; and, 
 tlierefore, I have no motion to make. " S') I sjiy 
 we have seen strange tricks played with reference 
 to the exercise and non-exercise of tliis power of 
 disallowance, for the purpose of party conveni- 
 ence. ]}ut I admit that jmblic, as distinct from 
 party convenience, may indicate that early action 
 is important ; and where it does ; and when the 
 Executive takes the re8ponsil)ility of coming to 
 a conclusion in advance of the expiration of the 
 time, I admit that tlie utility of coining to such a 
 conclusion would be greatly weakened if it were 
 understood that after all the conclusion meant just 
 nothing at all — if it were understood that the ex- . 
 ercise of the power of the Executive after that time, 
 within the twelve months, should be absolutely free, 
 should be deemed proper, otherwise than under 
 very exceptional ciioumst.',nces. But I hold tliat 
 the hand of the Executive is not so absolutely 
 bound, but that the occurrence of some exceptional 
 circumstances, the development of some new state 
 of facts, the creation of some new ilescription 
 of policy, a change of the administration, per- 
 chance, with all its effect upon the politics of the 
 country, should entitle the Executive, under special 
 circumstances, to execute tlie duty and power of 
 disallowance for which the constitution gives 
 twelve months, at any time within that period. 
 The power remains. In this particular case. Sir, 
 the decision was reached at a very early time, 
 absolutely and relatively. The hon. gentleman has 
 said, that in looking over the records of the past 
 twenty-three years, he finds some twenty cases in 
 which the power was exercised earlier. As com- 
 pared with the total number of cases in which 
 the decision of the Executive has been reached, 
 twenty cases are almost an iniinitesinial propor- 
 tion. In this case, I think it would have been 
 wiser to liave deferred the decision. I agree that 
 that is a question on which opinions may differ. 
 But my own opinion was, as it is now, that it 
 would have been wiser to have deferred, at any 
 rate not to have anticipated it. The first mutter- 
 ings of the storm were even then audible ; 
 the Lodges were even then moving ; some peti- 
 tions had been sent in ; other petitions were cir- 
 culating ; the public ferment had commenced and 
 was increasing ; and Parliament was about assemb- 
 ling ; when the acticm was taken. It was possibly 
 taken in the hope that such decisive action, as it 
 is now 8t,ated to be, would quell the incipient agi- 
 tation ; that the Government supporters, at any 
 rate, throughout the country, would no longer, 
 seeing the matter was decided, press their objec- 
 tions ; and that many people would say, to quote a 
 homely proverb, "it is no use crying over 
 spilt milk." If that were the idea, it turned 
 out to be a very mistaken idea, because it 
 was not the conception of the pepple at 
 large that within the period of twelve mouths 
 
tho 
 
 this decision was final or fatal. It was their con- 
 ception that circumstances niiglit still he brought 
 forward which wouhl render it ])roper for the 
 Executive lo take, and at any rate for Parliament 
 to advise, that action which the Executive had, so 
 far, tliought fit not to take. I thought, then, and 
 I think now, that it would have been the wiser 
 course to have waited, and to have allowed the 
 subject to be ventilated more fully and freely be- 
 fore taking action. The ventilation has taken 
 place, notwithstanding the action ; and it has 
 taken placeall the more violently for the attemi)ted 
 re])re-tsion ; and in a way and at a time which nave 
 greatly coinplicated the difficulties of the country. 
 So much with reference to that point, and to the 
 various positions which appear to be taken by the 
 hon. Minister of Justice upon it. Without attempt- 
 ing a criticism in detail of tliose papers of his, to 
 which I iuive referred, Imaypoint out one blemish in 
 the hon. gentleman's statement, which, I think, he 
 himself will concede exists, in that part in which 
 he is adverting to this point, and is accunudating 
 objections which he conceives to exist to tlie pro- 
 position that the right of disallowance may be ex- 
 ereis' i after the announcement that the Act is 
 thought unobjectionable. He says, that on that 
 assiunption even the Supply Hill of a Province 
 could not be safely acted on until the expiration of 
 the year, by which time the supplies Wfuild 
 have lapsed. The hon. Minister of Justice foi'got 
 for the moment that the effect of disallowance is 
 only to annul the Act from the time of the disallow- 
 ance, and not from an hoxjr earlier, and that what- 
 •ver may have be(!n done under the Act up to that 
 time is well done. He forgot that moneys can be 
 paid under a Supply liill with peiiect safety up to 
 the hour of disallowance, and that tlicre is not 
 the slightest difficulty in acting upon a Supply 
 liill, even although in every case the Administra- 
 tion of the Dominion were to determine that tliey 
 would never pronounce upon a Ir.cal Act luitil the 
 expiration of the twelve months, c.d were then to 
 disallow the Supply Bill ; and I will prove the 
 case to you. In an early year in the Puvinceof 
 Ontario, a Supply Bill was passed >v\iich contained 
 one objectionable provision, invo^'ing tlie payment 
 of a permanent extra allowance to the judges of 
 the Superior Court of Ontario, of some thousands 
 in all. The hon. the Minister, of Justice of that 
 day, the present First Minister, decided that that 
 provision was so objectionable that it nnist go, 
 The then Attorney General of Ontario, a toler- 
 ably firm, not to say an obstinate man, as the 
 First Minister knows, decided that it shoidd 
 not go by his consent. What did the Minister 
 of Justice of that day do ? He stayed his hand; 
 he allowed all the supplies to be paid ; he waited 
 . until after the lapse of the twelve months, of 
 which the Minister of Justice of this day speaks ; 
 and when all the supplies had been paid, the 
 Act remaining vali(l all that time, then he 
 disallowed it. And that clause which contained 
 the provision for the payment of judges in future 
 years, went with the rest of the Act. But the 
 payments were all made, and well made ; and the 
 trifling inconvenience w'.iich the Minister of Justice 
 of this day suggests would arise, is found by 
 practical experience to have no existence what- 
 ever. The hon. gentleman suggested that we are 
 to suppose the case of an Act autliorising the bor- 
 owing of njoney. I say if there is an Act authoris- 
 
 ing the borrowing of money, and if money is 
 borrowed under that Act, an<l if, after that borrow- 
 ing has taken place, the Act is disallowed, wliat 
 had been done under it remains valid. Tlie Kirst 
 Minister shakes his head, but it is ])crfectly plain 
 I am right. Su))i)f ^e a Provincial Act, authorising 
 a loan, suppose the bonds of the l*rovincc given for 
 it and the money received, will anybody seriously 
 ct)ntend that the act of the Minister of Justice and 
 the Privy ('ouncilof the Dominion, occurring later, 
 annulling tliis Act, woidd render the loan void ? 
 
 It would destroy tlie 
 
 Sir JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 security. 
 
 Mr. BLAKE. No ; the security is in existence ; 
 it is made ; it has passed ; it is issued ; and I 
 deny that the disallowance of the Actw(ml<l destroy 
 the security. I admit, however, that if there be an 
 Act authorisin'r the constructi(jn of public works, 
 of which, as i- a'most all cases, cnly a part can be 
 accomplished witliin the time, the disallowance of 
 the Act would theoretically cause inconvenience, as 
 people might be averse to inidertake such contracts, 
 not being (juitc sure whether they woidd be allowed 
 tofinish tlie work. But such inconveniences are more 
 theoretical than practical ; for, in the vast bulk of 
 cases in which there is provincial legislation, there 
 never is any (jucstion, or risk, or doubt, about dis- 
 allowance at all. It is <<nly in view of excepticnuil 
 cases that the doubt and difficulty — the sluulow of 
 doubt — as to disallowance at all exists. In the 
 great and increasing bulk of cases, and I hope and 
 trust the nund)er and proportion will swell more 
 and more as the years go by, an Act, when passed 
 ijy a I'rovincial Legislature is and will be felt to be 
 at once as sound and free from attack by the act of 
 the Executive of the Dominion as if the twelve 
 months had elapsed. Therefore, I maintain that 
 the power of disallowance remains ; and may, if the 
 good of thiscountrj' renuires that it should be exer- 
 cised, be exercised at any time witliin the period of 
 twelve months, and that no jiremature determina- 
 tion of the Executive, as to what they think is 
 right or politic, can alisolutely divest them or 
 their successors, or the Parliament of the country 
 from the obligation and the power to do right, 
 until the jieriod given by the statute ffir action has 
 expired. These conditions, I conceive, existed on the 
 present occasion, a;.d it was (juite competent to this 
 Parliament to rexiew the decision of the Executive, 
 and to come to a conclusion, one way or the other, 
 as to whether this Act should orsliould not be dis- 
 allowed, notwithstanding the Order in ("ouncil. 
 I aver that this Parliament retains within the 
 twelve months that power, even after the Exe- 
 cutive has acted ; but I agree that it is a power to be 
 exercised only under exceptional circumstances. 
 As to the princii)les upon which the power of dis- 
 allowance should be exercised, with reference to 
 statutes which are n/tra riri'i, on the ground 
 that they are n/fra rires, I stated my views only 
 the other day, and I pointed out that, although the 
 cases might be rare, cases there were in which it 
 was agreed that nlfra rives Acts might properly be 
 disallowed on that ground, and I have thought 
 always that this statute came within that category, 
 and that, if n/fra riren, it sho\ild have been disal- 
 lowed. I do not enter on the constitutional objec- 
 tions which have been taken to the statute in times 
 past, and which have, to some extent, been re- 
 peated to-day by my hon. friend from North Nor- 
 
folk (Mr. C'luu'ltoii). Indt'od, after his frank 
 statciiKiiit, ])i!rliai)8 iiot highly c()iiij)liiiH'ntai'y to 
 tliiH ('liaiiil)fi', that tlicre were not to he founil 
 in it twenty men who eoulil deeide reasonahly well 
 whether the statute was constitutional or not, I 
 came to the conclusion tiiat it would lie of very 
 little use to argue this (juestion, and I came to this 
 other conclusion, I must admit, that wliatcvcr else 
 my lion, friend might have established, oi' failed in 
 cstahlisliing, he had satisfactorily ))i'oved this at any 
 rate, that he was not one of the twenty. I say that I 
 do not enter into these constitutional objections, of 
 which, one was the (juestionwhether theActoH'cnded 
 against the OSrd section of the Hriti.sh North 
 Amei'ica .\et — an objection Svhich I thought not well 
 founded, and which, if any weight attac'lied to it at 
 any time, has been, as the lion. Minister of Justice 
 has said, solved. I thought, and still think, that 
 the other objections were cijually unfounded. If 
 I had thought diircrently, I certainly would have 
 voted diil'erently from the way in which 1 voted 
 last Session ; but, thinking as I did, and as I do, 
 that the Act was intra rircs of the Legislature, 
 I would, under like circumstances, repeat the 
 vote I gave last Session, I gave that vote in the 
 belief tliat it was a sound vote in defence of the 
 Canadian constitution, and in defence of Pro- 
 vincial rights and liberties, a vote which in my 
 opinion was eminently safe and beneficial for all 
 the Provinces, and especially safe and beneficial 
 for, however unpopular it might be amongst, my 
 own fellow-countrymen of the Province of Ontario. 
 Hut, while this was and is my opinion, I also 
 thought, before that Session closed, that there 
 ought to have been, under the circiim.stanccs, an 
 cflf'ort made to refer to judicial authoi'ities the 
 decision of these legal points. I did not believe it 
 was well that we should, in the conditions of this 
 question as they existe<l during that Session, and as 
 they became more obviously a])pan-entas the Session 
 went on, assume to conclude this (jucstion finally by 
 our own judgments. I referred the other day — 
 and, I admit, with reference, with obvious refer- 
 ence, to those very ccmditions — to that state of pub- 
 lie opinion and to those agitati(ms which, in my judg- 
 ment, would render it highly proper and expedient 
 to refer legal (juestions of this kind to a judicial 
 tribunal. Those conditions, I believed then, 
 and I believe now, existed in this case. As I 
 stated the other day, it is not necessarily decisive 
 against such a reference that the Executive or the 
 Parliament, or both, should be of the opinion that 
 the law is intra riren, and tiiat they should even have 
 decided, that pending the reference, they will 
 treat it as intra virKn. I'liat state of things does 
 not at all necessarily preclude you from adopting 
 the view that it miglit be wise, and politic, and 
 expedient, and in the public interest to obtain a 
 judicial solution of the legal (|uestion. I think that is 
 very obvious ; and I conceive that it is not necessary 
 now to do more than to refer to certain precedents 
 wliick have occurred. In the New Brunswick 
 school question, what was the course pursued ? 
 The Executive decided that the New JJrunswick 
 school law was infi'a vires of the New Brunswick 
 Legislature. This Parliament decided, by a very 
 large majority, that it was intra riren of that 
 Legislature. In that case, then, you found the 
 Executive and the I'arlianient both declaring that 
 it was iiifi'a fires, and both declining to exer- 
 cise the power of disallowance ; but at the 
 
 same time, you found the Legishiture deciding, 
 and the Executive concurring, in the decision to 
 olitain tho view of high judicial a.ithorities as 
 to whether that Act was intra rires or iiJtra riri's, 
 I read, the other day, the views expressed by lion, 
 gentlemen opjiosite, then in otiicc, though the 
 decision was arrived at aniler a moti<m of my hon. 
 friend from East York (Mr. Mackenzie), as to the 
 piopriety of referring that (picstion to the .Judicial 
 (/'ommittce of the Privy Council or the law ollicers. 
 At that time, I need hardly say there was no 
 Supreme Court. Then, again, in the case of the 
 Li((Uor License Act, there was an Act passed by 
 this Parliament under the aus])ices of gentlemen 
 opposite. The Executive believed it to lie a legal 
 Act ; the House believed it to be a legal Act ; and 
 expressed that view by large majorities. The 
 House supported the Executive in the view that it 
 Vins a wise and beneficial as well as valid Act. Yet 
 the Executive proniote<l at the instance of the House 
 a measure to refer that A ;t, which was believed 
 both by the Executive and the Hou.se to be legal, to 
 the judieialauthority to ascertain whether it was legal 
 or no. So I prove by these two cases, by the ])rac- 
 tice and the views of lion, gentlemen ojiposite, that 
 it does not follow that, because the Executive be- 
 lieves thelaw to be intra rirts, and the House, follow- 
 ing the lead of the Executive, believes it to l)e intra 
 rirrs, and because both act nieanwhile on that view, 
 you are j)recluded, if the j)ublic interest in any 
 view re(|uires it, from seeking further light, 
 either to settle the question or to quiet public 
 apfirchensions. No doubt the machinery at that 
 time provided was inadecjuate and the results 
 were less satisf.ictory than they might have 
 been, but even tlien, as in the case of last 
 Session, tlu; machinery might have been improved, 
 and, even though the machinery was unimproved, 
 it was betttr than nothing, and good results for the 
 immediate ijuestions were obtained in the public 
 interests — excellent practical results in the New 
 Brunswick schoo' case and also in the liquor license 
 case. If such a decision had been obtained in this 
 matter, I believe it would have been generally ac- 
 cepted, and an agitating (piestio.i in some of its 
 most agitating elements would have been so far 
 settled. Therefore I deem it by no means incon- 
 sistent with my expression, if not by voice yet by 
 vote last Session, contemporaneously with the 
 expression of other hon. gentlemen which was con- 
 curred in by me, that this Act was intra vires of 
 the Legislature which passed it, to say that I 
 thought, as I did think, that we held ourselves free, 
 if the circumstances of the case required it, to seek 
 and obtain that further light to which I have 
 referred. And so liolding, it was, further, my view, 
 last Session, that it was our public duty, as far as 
 possible, to elimimate from this controversy the 
 legal questions, and to provide for their disposition 
 in some way by legal authorities ; and it was my 
 opinion that, as in the New Brunswick school case, 
 and I may add the Liquor License case, the Govern- 
 ment might well, at the instance of the Legislature, 
 assent to and promote legislation or parliamentary 
 provision which would have secured that result. 
 Uiuler these circunist!' 'ces, having been unable, 
 owing to circumstances, to take part in the debate, 
 and having been obliged to leave my place here, it 
 became more and more clear to my mind that a 
 great public good would flow from the adoption of 
 that course by this Parliament ; and in the hope 
 
thai if. iiiij^iit bo donu at tlic iiiMlanco of the Execu- 
 tive i>f the ilay, and having; rej^ard to tlio N|)ecial 
 (ni'cuiiiHtaiiceH of tlie t:ase, I thoiiglit that I was not 
 iniduly takinj; a lilmrty wlien, (hiring last Session, 
 1 made a eoniinunii'ation to a leading geiitlenian on 
 tlie other side of the Ffonse, anil to a leailing 
 gentleman on this side of the Koiise. On tlie '2()th 
 Ajii'il, 1S,S!), 1 took the liliei'ty of telegra])hing to a 
 leading gtnitleman opj)osite in these terms : 
 
 " Allow nio to KiiRgoat that the jxihlic interest would bo 
 promoted by parliamentary provision for early ret'erenco 
 to hiKhest available antliorities, of validity of Jesuits' 
 Estates Act. Easily accomplished by arrangement. I 
 
 have not coinmnnioatod to any one. Please let seo 
 
 this immediately." 
 
 1 telegraphed to a leading gentleman on this side 
 of tlie House, and wrote to Turn later on the same 
 day as follows : — 
 
 " It has for some time boon prcs.sing itself more and 
 raoro upon my mind that some of those who aro ongaged 
 in tlio tomuntation of the present agitation are taking an 
 undue advuntago by their plan of presenting, as a main 
 elomentof the di.'icussion, their views of the legal ques- 
 tions on the validity of this legislation. They intlamo 
 the public mind in various ways ; and they invite that 
 tribunal so highly inllamed, and at the same time so im- 
 perfectly informed on the legal issues, to adopt their 
 opinions on the latter, and to reach conclusions on tho 
 whole subject largely based on those opinions. In the 
 case of the New Brunswick School Act we recognised tho 
 strong feeling and the deep interest of a substantial 
 minority of the population as a reason for goverminital 
 and parliamentary action towards obtaining an authori- 
 tative settlement of tlie legal question. In the case 
 of tho Temperance Act wo did the same thing, and 
 there aro other precedents. I tliink we might now act 
 with great public advantage on the same lines. Had 
 the complaniants invited sueli action by a motion, 
 I, for one, would have supported it. They have now 
 had every opportunity to invite it ; it has become 
 plain that they do not intend to do so, 15nt their 
 inaetion does not disentitle us to act so as to atl'ord re- 
 lief to the public anxiety they aro creating; nor does it 
 relieve us of our responsibility. There is a special reason 
 for early and unusual action m the shortness of tlie time 
 now remaining before the term for possible disallowance ; 
 though this is not a governing consideration. The aim 
 should be to got tho decisicm, upon nrgunicnt,of the Judi- 
 cial Committee. I know there are difficulties ; but I think, 
 that the representations of the Government, based upon 
 parliamentary action, may over-rule them. At any rate 
 the eftbrt will be useful, Should it fail, there remain 
 tho Supremo Court and tho Imperial Law Officers. I 
 cannot seo any harm that can result from an honest at- 
 tempt to procure a speedy solution of the legal questions ; 
 I see ^reat harm to result from tho continuance of tho 
 situation with these questions unsolved. There is no 
 impropriety in our calling for an authoritative solution, 
 even though we have opinions of our own. The Govern- 
 ment acted on this view in the New Brunswick School 
 case. Assuming the sinceritjf of all the agitators (iind I 
 believe many of them to be sincere) they will all be glad 
 that this question should be put in a train for easy 
 and rapid solution ; though some of them may be sorry 
 that they did not propose tho plan, and may accordingly 
 decry it. My only object is to contribute, if in tho least 
 deproo I can, towards the settlement of questions, whoso 
 agitation, in the temper and spirit now shown in many 
 quarters, seem to mo most lamentable. There are diffi- 
 culties, great enough in our future, difficulties which wc 
 must meet, not shirk. But they demand treatment in a 
 very different spirit from that now frequently evinced, if 
 a. fortunate solution is to be reached. For the moment, 
 it seems to me, the best we can do for our country is to 
 grapple with that part of the present problem, capable of 
 solution by the machinery wo can set in motion. I do 
 not apprehend that tho great body of the Roman Catho- 
 lics, remembering how we acted in the ease of tho New 
 Brunswick school law, would be so unjust as to decline 
 acquiescence in the present proposal. But even in the 
 face of opposition from that Quarter, I would earnestly 
 urge its adoption, in the confident expectation that second 
 thoughts would reconcile them to it; and in tho belief, 
 that whether they think so or not, it is for tho general 
 advantage." 
 
 That was the view which I took leave to state in 
 the only way which was open to me at that time, a 
 
 view, I may add, which I have ever since enter- 
 tained, and which I believe siibse(|ueiit events have 
 rendered more clearly evident to be the tine one. 
 Now, the Minister of dustice has adverted to a 
 sjiecialty attending the application which was made 
 by a [irivate individual, 1 think (iraliam by name, 
 for a reference to the Supreme Court, a specialty 
 in respect of which 1 conceive that the; Minister 
 of .justice was entitled to Hpeak--that it was a jiro- 
 positioii to refer the ((uestioii to the Supreme Court 
 after the jieriod fii' di.sallowance had expired. 1 
 consider that tlio point of tinu! may make a very 
 .siiiious ditJereiice between an earlier and a later pro- 
 position. There are also some other observations 
 made by the Minister of .fustice with reference to 
 that jiarticular proposition from which I do not jiro- 
 pose to dissent. I uo not understand this motion to 
 1)0, ii/ certainly does not read as being, based ujiou 
 the (juestion of Mr. (Jraham's ajiplication ; it is a 
 general statement as to what, in tin; opinion of this 
 House, the (tovernment should have done. In my 
 o])iiiion, as you will have just learned by what I 
 have read, they slnnihl luivc; done even more than 
 what thin motion calls for. I think, as a (|Uestion 
 of political exjxidieiicy in the true .sense of that 
 term, as a (luestion of policy, it would have been 
 well to invite the Hou.so to take action in the way 
 of seconding, and facilitating, and eU'ectuating the 
 reference, in the way, as I put it last Session, 
 of making parliamentary j)rovisioii for such refer- 
 ence. Having failed to do that, the next best 
 thing, in my o]>inion, was to have rciferred it to 
 the Supreme Court, and in referring it to the 
 Supreme (Jourt, in the circumstaiice.M in which 
 the country was placed, and for the piii'[;osc of 
 obtaining further light within the period renuiiii- 
 ing for disallowance, 1 believe they would have 
 done well, though I think they would have done 
 still better to have adopted the parliamentary 
 course to which I have referred. The lion, gen- 
 tleman has adverted to a report of mine upon 
 an application from New Urnnswick with refei'ence 
 to a local Act, in which the })roposition was from 
 the authorities of New Brunswick, that we should 
 use this particular power to obtain an opinion frcnn 
 the Supreme Court as to the validity of that Act, 
 not at all with reference to the question of disallow- 
 ance, nor for any purpose of the Federal Kxecutive 
 at all, but in order» to obtain a short and easy cut 
 to a decision, by the appellate court, of a (|ues- 
 tion perfectly easy of solution in the ordinary way. 
 So far from the Civses lieing parallel in any respect, 
 they differ in almost every respect. I ha,\'e stated 
 the character and object of that New Brunswick 
 application. But as to this case now in hand, I 
 have pointed out to you that during last Session, 
 and after last Session, the reference of which I 
 speak might have been made by the Executive, of 
 its own motion, or at the instance of ]*arliament, 
 for the purpose to wdiicli I have referred, for the 
 purpose of enlightening them as to the course they 
 should take. And as to the possibilities of there 
 being an easy and rapid mode of obtaining a judicial 
 decision on the case in hand, the Minister of Justice 
 confined his observations, as far as I could gather 
 his argument, to the question of the validity of the 
 Jesuits' Incorporation Act and did not touch the 
 other questions which are suggested. He said 
 that as to that Act there was a method ; that the 
 Attorney General of the Province of Quebec might 
 have been called on to deal with that question, 
 
« 
 
 and that tho Hnciety of JesuR itnelf in a lihol Huit, 
 while it did not riiitiu tho (jueHtion uh to itH iucor- 
 ])oi'atir)n, wiiH yet resisted hy the defendimt who 
 did nuHe it. Hy this time I oelieve, within a (hiy 
 or two, we have had the first decision of a single 
 judge in tlie court of first instance on some ])i'e- 
 liminary stage of the trial of that «ase ; and the 
 decision is in favor of the incorporation ; hut the 
 end is not yet ; and after all that has been done, 
 and all the time which has elansed, the other (jues- 
 tions which have been raised, oe their weight what 
 you jilense, remain untouched by that decision and 
 nicapable, so far as I can see, by any easy process 
 certainly, and not by any process at all that I am 
 aware of, «)f being ever touched. There are several 
 classcH of cases in which provincial legislation 
 may be xdtra virex, and in wliich it is difficult or 
 impossible to prescribe a mode by which the (lues- 
 tion can be tried in the courts, and I believe 
 some of these questions are of that description. 
 Then the hon. Minister of Justice says, tiuit the 
 application to the law officers of tlie Orown has 
 been improperly criticised. I think the phrase 
 wliich the hon. mendier for Noith Norfolk (Mr. 
 (Jharlton) used was not justified by anything I 
 have heard ; I do not understand very well the 
 relevancy of the phiuse clandestine on which the 
 hon. Minister anunadverted. I suppose all that 
 was really meant was, that there should have been 
 a puldic announcement of the fact that this refer- 
 ence was being maile, which, I agree, would pro))- 
 al)ly have l)cen better. I think it would have been 
 l)etter not to have made any mystery about it ; but 
 if the word clandestine is applied in any invidious 
 sense, I am not disposed to concur in that applica- 
 tion. ]Jut, I want to call your attention, Mr. 
 Speaker, to the ground up(ni which the Minister of 
 i] ustice himself says, that it was well and wisely done 
 to get tliat legal advice of the law officers, to which 
 he attaches such high importance, on this (jnes- 
 tion. What was that ground ? It was the state of 
 public feeling, and it was on that account that it was 
 thought important to fortify the P]xecutive by an 
 opinimi. I agree. But, I argue, also, that this 
 very con<lition existed during the Session, and it 
 existed after the Session, cand that its existence is 
 the justification for the proposition that the public 
 interests required the Executive itself to act, to 
 act early, and to act by a reference whicli I think 
 would have been more proper and more valuable 
 than the reference which was made to the law 
 officers. I do not well understand the attitude 
 which the hon. gentleman assumed upon two points 
 in this connection : first, with respect to this same 
 application to the law officers ; second, with respect 
 to the reply of His Excellency to the deputation 
 which he met. I am quite aware that the Governor 
 (Jeneral of (^anada occupies a sort of double posi- 
 tion, and that there are certain conceivable cases 
 in which it may be alleged, perhaps, that he is act- 
 ing as an Imperial officer, and that his advisers, 
 the Queen's I'rivy Council for Canada, have no 
 responsibility for such acts. It may be so. I 
 liecline to enter into a definition of those occasions. 
 I hold it to be the duty of any representative of 
 the Canadian people to narrow to the utmost pos- 
 sible extent the classes of cases to wliich the prin- 
 ciples of responsible government shall not be held 
 to apply, and I will only add that I perceive no 
 circumstances whatever existing in this instance 
 which should induce us to abandon for one moment 
 
 this day, the development of the principle of 
 ish (Constitutional ( Joverninent. 1 ake the ace 
 
 tho fullest application of tho principles of roBpoii- 
 sible government to the action to which I refer. 
 I am not condemning the action. I only say that 
 it is an action in resnect of which the Ministers 
 cannot constitutionally siielter theniHolves under 
 any suggestion tiiat they are otherwise than abso- 
 lutely and fully respoiiHible for it, and we speak of 
 it as their action, because we insist it must be 
 advised by them. So witli respect to the address 
 of His Excellency in reply to the deputation. I 
 maintain that no formal words, such as those 
 used by the hon. Minister, "of course I assume 
 all the responsibility that constitutionally devolves 
 upon ine," answer the exigencies of the occasion. 
 There is a real responsibility, there is more than 
 the formal and technical responsibility implied by 
 the hon. gentleman, and hon. gentlemen opposite 
 would have been deserting their <luty, if they had 
 done otherwise than advise His Excellency as to 
 the answer which he slumld give to that deputa- 
 tion, and they aro deserting their duty to-ilay if 
 they ask us to treat that answer in every word and 
 letter of it as anything else than an answer given 
 under their advice. It is not necessary to trace at 
 
 i Brit- 
 accounts 
 
 of what happened in the course of the reign of the 
 last William ; take the interviews that took place 
 even with peers ; take the answers to addresses on 
 much more innocent and less important questions 
 on which the monarch expressed with some free- 
 dom his opinion, and you see that even at that 
 stage of the develojiment of the principles of re- 
 sponsible and constitutional government, the First 
 Minister of the day felt bound to renumstrate with 
 the sovereign, ami jioint out to him that he must 
 have power to advise, and that without his advice 
 such observations must not be made. The First 
 Minister felt tliat h.c v aS responsible. So I say 
 that this answer, which I v.m not for the moment 
 criticising, is, in no formal or technical sense, but 
 must fje taken to have l)een really and substantially 
 given under the advice of theMinisters of theCrown. 
 This action then has been taken under that advice, 
 and so taken, this action, which recognises on 
 the part of Ministers the existence of that con- 
 dition of puldic opinion to which I have adverted, 
 it recognises the importance and propriety of tak- 
 ing notice of that condition of put)lic opinion, and 
 of fortifying the Executive by the assistance of 
 dispassionate aid and advice as to the legal ques- 
 tion. The hon. gentloitian says the law officers 
 have been treated by the hon. member for North 
 Norfolk with some degree of disparagement. The 
 law officers are law officers, and it will not be 
 pretended that they are always of the same calibre. 
 I am afraid that I would fall under the condemna- 
 tion of the Minister of Justice, and tliat he would 
 treat me as a very old offender, as one whom he 
 would subject to the severer penalties to which 
 habitual offenders are regularly exposed, in this 
 regard. Not that I deny for an instant the up- 
 rightness, the honor and the transcendent ability 
 of many, of almost all those who have filled the 
 high positions of Attorney General and Solicitor 
 CJeneral of England. As a rule they win that 
 position by force of merit and they hold it by force 
 of merit, and those who hold first places at the 
 English bar, and who fight their battles in the 
 face of day with tlie most eminent advocates in 
 that country and in the halls of Parliament as well. 
 
nniHt ho, iiH a rulu, inun of ^ruat weight and mark. 
 But wliat I Hay iH tliia, that thvno ai'u 1)UHy men iih 
 well ; aiul that it in not thoir regular liusineHM to 
 Ret judieially at all ; tliat they are txilitical peruon- 
 agea ; that their oniuions expresHeii on theHO oeea- 
 BioUH are not entitled to tlio name weight an the 
 opinionu of ji'<lgeH ; and I add tliat oueii luiH been 
 the experieneeof the hon. gentleman opinmite when 
 it Huited him to seek the advice of the law otHcei-H, 
 and that han not been very Heldom. I eould go 
 over IV long head roll of easea, if it were not pi'etty 
 late in the Seuuion and in the evening, in which 
 tiie right hon. gentleman found it convenient to 
 Bliunt off a ditlicult (luestion by Hcnding over to the 
 law otticers and gettnig their opinion, and Home of 
 tho8o opinions have been placarded as great autho- 
 rities when it suited him to do so, while other 
 opinions were obtained from lime to time to which 
 he paid less regard and gave less prominence. I 
 say that of the three possible sources to whicli we 
 might apply, the law otticers are umjuestionably 
 tiio third. I hold that the Judicial Committee of 
 the I'rivy 0)uneil and the Supreme Court both 
 stand in rank of suitability tor that purpose 
 higher than the law otticers. Tliat is enough for 
 nie. I do not condemn the application to the law 
 officers, but I mii'ntain it would have been more 
 exjicdient and more in the interests of the country 
 to have applied to the Supreme Court. Now, the 
 Minister of Justice has declared that these views 
 are in fact old High Tory views, and I suppose 
 that was rather based once again upon tlie idea 
 that we are being called upon to vote something in 
 the nature of condemnation of the Executive, for not 
 complying with Mr. Graham's application. The 
 hon. gentleman brought into the arena the court of 
 high eonunission and the old ecclesiastical courts, 
 and he told us of these extraordinary tribunals, 
 with inciuisitorial powers created by the supposed 
 prerogative of the Crown in eai'lier and more evil 
 days, denounced for years, found to be productive 
 of great abuses, in the end wiped away from 
 the institutions of the land by an indignant Par- 
 liament, which prohibited their re-erection by 
 prerogative — though, of course, tliat Parliament 
 which had annulled them, could of itself have re- 
 
 erected them. The hon. gi^ntleman told us that 
 tiiose who Hii|)ported this motion were advocating 
 tin; doing something of the same sort, as I he erection 
 of these courts. What was the niiscliief of tlicse 
 courts ? It was their coercive jurisdiction. They 
 were unusual tribunals, out of the ordinary coui'se 
 of the law, by wliich the subject was to be vexed 
 an<l aggravated, ly winch he was to be har- 
 assed in person and in estate, and that was tlie 
 main objection to them. Ihit tiie proposal which 
 is made to-day is of another character. The hon. 
 gentleman objected to this projiosal at one time 
 just because it was not coercive. He said tiie de- 
 cisiim does not bind and you cannot make it bind- 
 ing, and, therefore, you should not get it at all ; so 
 that first of all he objects because it does not bind, 
 and then he says it is like the court of high com- 
 mission which was bad, because it did bind. No, 
 Sir, the object in this ease was not to vex and ag- 
 giavate the subject. Tiie object was, 1 think, a 
 worthy object ; it was to relieve the apprehension 
 of the subject, by the opinicm of an authoritative 
 tribunal upon a legal tjuestioii ; ujion which Iciuite 
 agree a great majority of this House took a 
 different view from that of the hon. member for 
 North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton). We, of the 
 majority, thought, as I believe we think still, tliat 
 the objections which were taken to this Act were 
 objections which would not be found to weigh in 
 the balance. We thouglit they were c)bjections 
 which would not be maintained in tlie courts. But 
 some of us at any rate — of whom I have shown 
 you that I was one — thought, even during hist 
 Session, that the circumstances of the case were 
 such, that we ought not to set up our judgments 
 as absolutely conclusive upon this question ; but 
 that we might well resort to higher, to purer, to 
 calmer, and to clearer light for a decision, whicii if 
 given in the way we expected it would be given, 
 would settle the (juestion, so far as the agitators 
 and those wlioiii they were seeking tf> agitate were 
 concerned ; and whicii, if given in tlie other way, 
 would furnish a just foundation for the exercise 
 of that power of disallowance for which those 
 agitators called. , 
 
 OTTAWA : Printed by Brown Chamberlin, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.