y7 ^^r'': 
 
 f^i^\^ , 
 
 c 
 
 COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET 
 
 TO 
 
 SIR CHARLES TUPPER, 
 
 AT THE . 
 
 HALIFAX HOTEL, 
 THURSDAY, JUNE 14th, 1883. 
 
 The complimentary banquet tendered by 
 the personal and political friends of Sir 
 Charles Tapper resident in this city came 
 oflF in the Halifax Hotel, as announced, on 
 the evening of the 14th June, The large 
 and handsome dining hall of the "Halifax" 
 was beautifully decorated for the occasion 
 with fligs, flowers, and transparencifs,— a 
 handsome portrait of Sir Charles occupying 
 a prominent position. 
 
 The following gentlemen were present : 
 
 Sir Charle* Tupper 
 
 Sir A T ii& t 
 
 Ho 1 iSenalor McParlane 
 
 Hon Senator ' linori 
 
 Bon Senator McKay 
 
 M H Kiche. . M V 
 
 M B Daly, M P 
 
 D U Wood worth M P 
 
 J M<-I»()u,'.ll, M P 
 
 C H Tuppe , W P 
 
 H N Paint., M P 
 
 D vicN Parker. M L C 
 
 A C Hull, M P P 
 
 R H >okiii, AI P P 
 
 C J T wuHhenil, M P P 
 
 J F Stairs. E q 
 
 8t phii'i T >l>in. Esq 
 
 J J nrenitier. Esq 
 
 AllUon Smith, E^q 
 
 Major Otiitt al Laurie 
 
 LWut Col Stewart 
 
 M.iyor Kifts.'r 
 
 Ren rdjr .1 N Ritchie 
 
 Aid Bryan 
 
 Aid McLHilan 
 
 Aid l< A Smith 
 
 4ld He<8lien 
 
 Ud "tolnto-h 
 
 PEKv-nny, E<q 
 
 VJ StiiiB, E<q 
 
 (8 Maclt-a >, Esq 
 
 Iok Sde>0 ', E-q 
 
 tas A Moren £<«] 
 
 11 P Bl>ck. B-q 
 
 lohn D u'l, E«q 
 
 Ichn Putth, E-q 
 Orf len. E-q 
 DVCtiipnian Esq 
 N Freeman. Esq 
 A Ritchie, E!<q 
 Miford F> mining, Esq 
 
 tt W tsh. E q 
 •>hn White E'q 
 1 Walker, Eaq 
 
 Oeof Morrow, Esq 
 Joseph Kaye, Esq 
 
 Patt rson, Esq 
 
 J T VVylde, E-q 
 Leon r Symonds, Esq 
 Walter AUis n Esq 
 Alpiri Grant Esq 
 Dr »Vi k«ire 
 Dr Tr nanian 
 Dr DdWolf 
 
 D'lncan, Wadd W, Esq 
 John C tu^ey, Esq 
 Alfred '^hitman, Esq 
 Mark Cn-rv. K^q 
 Wiley Siiith E-q. 
 Donild Ktit*', Esq 
 Geo WisweM, Esq 
 J A Shaw, E-q 
 Jas R Liithgow. Esq 
 John Forbes, Ksq 
 Donald O Keith. Esq 
 J L Archibald, Eiq 
 Dr. E C ay 
 A W H .rn. E-q 
 Geo E Frankiyn, Esq 
 Prof C F Eraser 
 J M DeWo.f E q 
 
 Jor 'an. Esq 
 
 S M B-ookfleld. Ej | 
 Oei E Mo. ton. E-q 
 J C P Fiaz.'e, Esq 
 A K Blit;h. Eiq 
 J W Marvin. Esq 
 B (i Gray. Esq 
 R L Korden, Esq 
 Wni Chisholm, Etq 
 H H HliKh, Esq 
 Prof f^harU'S M cdonald 
 S A * hite. Esq 
 N K Biirelow, E q 
 J Y Payzant. E-^q 
 J Kvt, ilBon. Esq 
 C F V<«e, E>'q 
 Dr W C Delauey 
 
 John Sfarr E'q 
 C F DeWolf, E-q 
 J C O and, Eiq 
 *^ S Si ni lids Esq 
 W J Cnuman Esq 
 
 I A Chipinan. Esq 
 R R Seeton, Esq 
 Michael Walsli, Esq 
 J P • rsons, E q 
 
 E J L irdly, E-q 
 W K AiiKwin, Kiq 
 
 II .it .Miici|.)i.ai,i, ti-q 
 •lame S nimonds. Esq 
 I J {* ewa t. E«q 
 
 C «, UeWulf, Esq 
 
 O G Dustan, Ecq 
 Wm Gossip, Esq 
 G A Mackiiiz^c, 
 J t) Mackintosh, ^en} 
 E D Kin^. Esq 
 T W Chcsl y. Esq 
 
 Dixon. Ksij 
 
 C C Chapman, E q 
 Alireii Putnam, E2sq 
 Chas Putnam, E^ 
 Wm McDoiiuall, Bnq 
 G M Greer, Eaq 
 B Russc II, Esq 
 J W DeWolf, Es^ 
 
 Mr. John F. Stairs, Presidtnt of th« 
 Halifax Liberal-Conservative Association, 
 occupied the chair, with Sir Charles Tupper 
 on his right and Sir A. T. Gait on his left. 
 Mr. T. E. Kenny occupied the Vice's chair 
 with Mr. C. H. Tupper on his right and 
 Mr. Sanfdrd Fleming, C. B. on his left 
 
 The following is the 
 
 3VI E TT TJ. 
 
 POTAGES. 
 Green Turtle. Clear a la RoyaL 
 
 P0I3S0NS. 
 Boiled Freeh Silmon, Lobster Sauce. 
 
 Filet of Haddock, a la maitra d'hot«l. 
 ENTREES. 
 
 Petit PattPB aux huitreg. 
 
 Cottiptte d'Aifneau auxpetite< pola. 
 
 Sweet Breads, Larded aux ChampigTioaft. 
 TimbUeof Macatom. 
 
 RELEVES. 
 
 Roast Sirloin of Beef. 
 
 Roast Turkey, Cra'.berry Bause. 
 
 Roast Saddle of Mutron, Red Currant Jell/. 
 
 Boiled Turkey, "AStC' Sauce. 
 
 Boiled Uam and Ton. ue. ' 
 
 ROTS. 
 
 Youns' Sprini; Chicken (Roa>ted)L 
 
 Prairie Hens. Wild Ducks. Grous*. 
 
 Chicken Ma.vonaise. Lotwter Balada. 
 
 Green Lettuce Salads. Tomatoes, Cucumberv, cto. 
 
 VEGETABLES. 
 
 Mished P tatovs. New Green Peas AsparagOK 
 
 Spinach. Lettuce. 8w«et Ooro. 
 
 Tomatoes. Squash. Turnips, eto 
 
 
(2) 
 
 ENTREMENT8. 
 
 EngliBh Plim Puddint;, Wine Sauce. 
 
 MeriiigiieH a la rr< me. 
 
 Sandwich P-ttry. Tartlis Mince Pies. 
 
 Washii'K'Oii Pie*. Italian CreomR. Apple Tarts, 
 
 Cliarlotte Ru se. Jelly uux Madeira. 
 
 RELEVE8 DK K0T8 
 
 GiAckers. Cheese. Padi he». 
 
 Brown Bread and Vaniiia Ice Creams. 
 
 Fre»h Strawherrie* and Cream, 
 
 DESSERT. 
 
 Oranrcs. Apples. Grapes Bananas. 
 PrinijB. Kiirs. haisins. Katifle" FinKfers. 
 
 GiiiiterNuts Ron-Hois. Cocoa Nut l*rops. 
 Biscuils. Csndiid Fruit, Frei cli Crtams. 
 fresuived Ginger. Prenerved Peachei". Pine Apples. 
 Almonda. Ulivep. Pyramid Cakes. 
 Astortid Bir cults, etc. 
 COFFhE. 
 HINES. 
 AmoniiHado Sherry. 
 , Godard Bros, nauteine. 
 
 Johanne>berirer (H( ck). 
 L. 1. Kxtra Dry Champ une. 
 fi. fc E Pdrriers ••Cai>lnet." 
 , Chateau ) aflte Claret. 
 Ohateaa Leovile Claret. 
 Ext>a Port. 
 Liqueurs —Quraco, brand v. Maraschino. Cherry 
 Brandy, Ber.cdictine. 
 
 About 10.30 the chairnian rose to pro- 
 pose the first toast of the evening, but 
 before doing so read the following letters 
 vhioh had been received in response to 
 invitations to be present : 
 
 Faou Sir John A. Macdonald. 
 
 Stadacona Hall, Ottawa 
 
 .Sir Jrhn Macdonald great y rcRrcts that hi 
 official enufagements deprive him < f the Kreat 
 
 £l-asureot accuptin^f the kind invitation of the 
 iberal-0- •ifer\'ative8 0f the Coui.ty ot Halifux and 
 Of being present at di served couipliment they are 
 about to puy to his fiiend and colleague, Sir Charles 
 Tu pe , on the I4th inntaut. 
 atb June, 1U88. 
 
 u )bF Hon. Sir Hbctor Lanoevin. 
 
 Str Hector Langevin regrets that in consequence 
 of his pre)-ence bein^ requ red in Ottawc next 
 week, he will bo depri> ed uf the honor of htiinv: 
 pre-ent atthe banqnit to be given by the Liboial- 
 Conservatives of the Countv of Halifax, on the 
 14th ot Ju!i . in honor of th < honorable Sir charles 
 7upper. Mr Hictor I anuevin regrets his inability 
 the more when having to decline the invitation of 
 the liibe'al Conservatives of Halifax on this parti- 
 cular occasion, as he would have wished (specially 
 to i-hew hid appreciation of the good servients 
 rendered bv SV' Charlts Tupper and of the talent 
 and eloquence which have placeu him in the promiu- 
 eiit position he now ho ds. 
 
 Ottawa, 8 h June, 1S83. 
 
 From Sib Lbom.ird Tulbt. 
 
 Ottawa, June 7, 1883. 
 Mr Dbak Sir,— 
 
 I am Juit In receipt of the invitUion from the 
 " Li nrai irwervatives of th Ontnty of Halifax " 
 to att' nd the dinner to be given to my esteem* d 
 oolleajiniu onthe 14th. I sincerely regret tiiat my 
 arrangements are such, prtpurat^ry tu my leaving 
 for Engla'd on the leth thai I can not do inysulf 
 ihu pleaauro of being uiib jrou on that interesting 
 occasion^ It can not be otherwise, than one of 
 4eep intereat to all pnaent, 
 
 Youra taithfvllT, 
 
 U. L. TlLLKT. 
 
 lb fohn F. Sraiaa, FB<i., 
 
 iQtainnan otOooxnittco. 
 
 Hiddwak, N & 
 
 From Hon. J. A. CiiAPLiAtr. 
 
 (TeU'grnm.) 
 
 Please accept my thanks for your invitation tc 
 ottfiid the banqnit oiTend to your ^reat. patiiot Sir 
 Charier. Tu|iper. and iiiwteep regret i.t i e nc pre- 
 vented fr» ni oil iiig U this ininrnht tin i f estt cm 
 nd affection lor ont' v\huni Caned • bus Mich treat 
 reai-on to be pro' d of \ tiur faith'iil hvi]t\ o t nave 
 him stetiith; his name v'ivts )0U iLilory. U nor 
 to'you for having horn ie<' him. 
 
 (Sit'd.) J A ClIAPLBAU. 
 
 The chairnian stated that similar letters 
 had been received from Hon. Rlr. Mc 
 Phcrson, Sir Alexander Campbell and 
 other members of the cabinet. 
 
 The chairman then gave the following 
 toasts which were duly honored : — 
 
 •'The Queen." 
 
 "The Piince and Princess of Wales, the 
 Princeso Louise and other members of the 
 Roynl Fitiiiily.'. 
 
 "The Governor-General.' 
 
 ' The Lieut. -Goxernor." 
 
 Mr. Stairs then said it became his duty 
 to introduce the guest of the evening, Sir 
 Charles Tnpper. In doing so he observed 
 chat nothing he could say at all this even- 
 ing conld add to the interest of the present 
 occasion, nor couM any words ot his pre- 
 sent the services thut hart hecn renrlered 
 by Sir Charles Tupper to the Province of 
 Nova "cotia and Dominion of Canada more 
 prominently before this assembly than they 
 were at present. At this late hour of the 
 evening, much as he would have liked to 
 do so at an earlier hour,he did not feel that 
 it would be right to take up the time in re 
 ferring particularly, as he would otherwise 
 have desired to do, to some of the things 
 which hid been achieved for this city by 
 theettoitsof their honored guest. As he 
 knew, however, that the assemblage was 
 waiting impatiently to hear fiom Sir 
 Charles he would refrain from any extend- 
 ed observations, but he would simply say 
 in passing that it behoved us now to recall 
 particularly what had been done for Hali- 
 fax and Uartmonth also. A good many 
 friends from Dartmouth were present this 
 evening, and as he had been living in thnt 
 place for some time, and was interested ia 
 its progress and prosperity, he took great 
 pleasure in referring tn what had been ac- 
 complished in the interest of the town by 
 the efforts of their guest. He would ask 
 the company to drink the health of 
 Sir Charles Tupper. 
 
 The toast was drunk with great enthusi- 
 asm, and Sir Charles on rising to respond 
 was for some minutes prevented from 
 speaking by continued rounds of ap- 
 plause. 
 
 He spoke as follows : — 
 
 Mr^ Chairman, Mr. Vice.and gentlemen. 
 No wordH that I can command would enable 
 me adequately to fcx press the ddep 
 emotion excited by the grand banquet anq 
 
(3) 
 
 ovation which you have tendered me on 
 the present occa^tion. I find myself hur 
 rounded liy members of the ISenate of 
 Canada, by a number of the leading re- 
 
 greseiitatives in the House of Coinmons of 
 anada, by a number of gentlemen who 
 adorn tiie Legislative Council of the 
 V rovince of Nova Scotia, and by several 
 gentli-nuii who are ornaments of the Legis- 
 lative Assembly of this Province. But in 
 addition tothati find myself inthe presence 
 of the merchant p inces of Halifax. I tiud 
 myself in the presence of ihe representa- 
 tives of the great industries that now 
 adorn your city. 1 find myself in the 
 presence of the representatives of the 
 great fishing interests of the Provirce. 
 1 find myself in the presence of the great 
 agricultural interests of the Province. 
 I find myself in the presence of gentlemen 
 who by their energy and enterprise have 
 shown tlie world that Halifax 
 is not to be behind in taking advantage 
 of the present fiscal policy of the 
 Dominion of Caniida and rearing up great 
 industries that are to benefib your peo- 
 ple. (Cheers.) I find myself in the presence, 
 of those who have taken a prominent and 
 leading part in rendering the city of 
 Halifax what it ought to be, not only the 
 great West India port of this country, but 
 the sea'- of the great sugar refining iu- 
 duftry of Canada, whicti in connection 
 with the great cotton industry which 
 you have established here and the other 
 industries which are prosecuted with such 
 vigor an I enterprise, are of vital impor- 
 tance to the progress and prosperity of the 
 country. I find myself burrounded by 
 gentlemen who, by their ene'-gy 
 and enterpiise, by their readiness to 
 devote their capital to this purpose 
 are prepared to make Halifax and Nova 
 Scotia «hat they should be — one of the 
 most important centres of the commerce 
 and industries o thia Dominion. Under 
 these circumstances, no language I can use 
 would adequately express what I feel 
 when you have taken so much trouble, on 
 this occasion, to greet me with so splendid 
 an ovation as the present. And, sir, [ 
 must not forget, while regretting that it 
 has not been in the power of my colleagues 
 to accept your kind hospitality, I must 
 not forget to express the gratification 
 which I feel in finding my old friend, ^^ir 
 A. T. Gait, mv distinguished pre- 
 dseaiSOt. iu ^.Hp. tji gh office that 1 
 ' Tmve _the honor to hold — th ^ of Hig^ i 
 (Jommlssibner in London^ coming down 
 ~ here a^ great personal inconvenience to do 
 Die honor on this occasion. All I can say 
 is that on a somewhat similar occasion not 
 very long ago it gave me great pleasure in 
 the city of Montreal t o represent the Gov: 
 arnq |]ent of which I am^a member 
 
 lemPer wnen a 
 
 ot the ci izens oi tflkt great 
 
 centre met to do honor to Sir 
 
 about to assume the im- 
 
 large body 
 
 commercial 
 
 A. T. Gait when 
 
 portant position of High Commissioner in 
 
 London. On the present occasion I du not 
 intend to make a political speech. Thi; lasft 
 time I had the honor of addressing a Hali- 
 fax audience I think I trespassed greatly 
 upon your patience with a speech of four 
 hours duration extending into the morning, 
 on the great political questions of the day. 
 Bi.fc I hope you will adow me this time to 
 make a few observations of a somewha t p>T- 
 sonal characte r, rather than to refer to Those 
 gre^t political questions in which we are all 
 interested and with which you are all fam- 
 iliar. I arn carried ba^k by this grand 
 banquet which you have tendered me, to 
 my first entry in Ha li^«)i]^ i n a politii i'.'il t-har. 
 actcr . ^i ore than twenty-eight years ago 
 'when engaged in the duties of 
 a large ami lucrative practice in my 
 profession in my native county, my hon, 
 friend who now sits by my sine, the Hon, 
 Senator Mc Karlane and his colleague. Sen. 
 Dickie came into my study with a request 
 that 1 would stand for my county. They 
 said that a writ had been issued tor a gene- 
 ral election (the election of 1855) and that 
 if we wit'hed to carry the county againsl 
 the great head of the great Liberal par.ty 
 ol thatHgy r the l ate lame nted. H on. Jose^ 
 Howe, It was necessary that I should como 
 torw an! as one of the candidates for the 
 repiiseutatiou of the county, which tliea 
 had two representatives My objection, of 
 course, was very great. I knew to how un- 
 certain a sea I was about to commit my- 
 self, and how seriously it was 
 likely to interfere with my own 
 personal advancement. When thty 
 said, however, that unless I would 
 consent to offer my services the election 
 would be cai ried by default and that no 
 effort would be made, and that it wha not 
 believed that under any oth^r circumstance 
 the county could be carried, I was com- 
 pelled reluctantly t o consent. It wns not 
 be-jause I took a very deep interest in 
 politics. The question was w ith me a per- 
 sonal question, I was a personal and inti- 
 mate friend of one of the greatest and best 
 have ever known , the \»tf H<m. 
 ge Johnsto n, (cheers) and my 
 desnc to sustain him was the motive which 
 induced me to consent to become a can di 
 date. The result of course, you know. My 
 hon, colleague and myself were elected 
 as representatives in the Conservative iu 
 teie-t of the CouTity of Cumberland, My 
 opponent, Mr, Howe, on his return to 
 Halifi.x was greeted with a good many 
 inquiries as to who this youngdoctor waf 
 who had taken hipseatfi^omhimirtheCounty 
 of Cumberland, and with his characteristio; 
 frankness and his disposition to <io jn(>re 
 than j ustice to an opponent, he told tiiem" 
 that (ftfly would soon find out that 
 he bad been defeated t}y t he leader 
 Tft ' ' BRA T/onservative part yT WTTen^ 
 'ttie party assembled, my hon. colleaguo 
 and myself were summoned to meet our 
 friends who had been elected, an^ it was 
 not a very large number that cam \ to the 
 
 men I 
 
 JuJge*^ 
 
 ^(^ 
 
 ^- 
 
T 
 
 (♦) 
 
 firont when thefight was over. We met 
 In a liidgiiig lioutte, close by where 
 ihe l<|tu Mr. Thome was lodging. 
 Ill tliodc lodgings we met, and, all 
 lold, out of some tittytwu niembcra 
 ibat uoin|)08ed the House of Assembly, 
 we coiuited bixteen. The party had been 
 cut to pieces and the only redeennng 
 feature abuut the situation, if such it 
 mif^lit be calle<l,— a gnat many people 
 ta.lied it anything else but a redteming 
 featuie — «U8 the return of my lion, col- 
 league and myself for the county of Cum- 
 hei laud and the defeat of the great leader 
 <#f the great Li')eral party. VVcll, sir, on 
 4hi>t occiision, as I believe is usual on such 
 Occasions, the different niember.>< from vari- 
 ous sections of the country endeavored to 
 Recount lis best tliey could for the disaster 
 that hail overtaken the part y. " When 
 i}<fy hiid tolil their experience my lion. 
 'Ikd lid Judge Johnstone called upon me to 
 
 Sue mv opinion. I ventured with the 
 •I r 
 presumjitum or y< uth 
 
 to tell them that 
 
 the y Nvere exactly in the position in which 
 any party that had p'lrs ue'l the course 
 
 "\ W l'iicli 
 
 1le\ ha<i pursued miuht expect to 
 it-n.jl ^ I said that 1 believed the de 
 
 in the Pro- 
 
 TTat of the Conservative i»arty 
 ^i/t..^flfm9 Tiiice was owing to ilie fact that f hey w^re 
 
 wrong in principle and that the practice 
 
 thiit tney had pursued was fatal tothesu'- 
 
 y #1 Si of the partj*. I said, you have unfor- 
 
 /^y^^Ii-r ' t""" ely adopted a policy that renders it 
 
 L^»^#MrT<<^| ^j^^^ sii)le for a Roman < atholic to i'C a 
 
 ( ^■ii< rvaliye . If you aim at controlling 
 
 till' Governm'int ot this country you must 
 
 t ft form, and at once, that radical eiror into 
 
 W'lu li you have fa lien i and must adopt 
 
 till- liriad and statesmanlike policy thatmen 
 
 Bi u.st tami on a common plat jWifl '" pwlj- 
 
 iT > niteiiy regardless of the religions jaith 
 
 i^ Tilcli they profes s. (Cheers). I ventured 
 
 to tell them that 1 differed 
 
 ^•^ 
 
 another great 
 Hud f'hat was 
 
 from 
 fundamental" 
 
 them on 
 
 anH ^ fundamental~([uestion ^ 
 the railway policy . I vru-' 
 turetl to tell them that I believed that the 
 l^|lg^f^t)iili> y propounded by M r. Howe was a true 
 »ii.l simii'i policy — that of constructing 
 Ktilways by the Government in the position 
 ill w ;u<:ii tliey were placed— and that it 
 ^ iis iibsoliiiely necessary to change front 
 
 trr^Vtanfin to tha trn»S5tlg " ^Iso i A good 
 
 f 
 
 ,^ 
 
 ^\ 
 
 j: 
 
 many of my ft iends on that occasion who 
 knew that Mr. Johnstone, with all his 
 amiitbh- qualities, had pretty strong opin- 
 ions of his own, exE£P^£i ^'""^ explosion 
 from the feinarts which L In&d 
 Teniureil to make. They were 
 
 t great deal astonished when that ven- 
 erable gentleman told them he was afraid 
 theie was t lo much triith in what Dr,. 
 TTip n^r iiiiit sa^d . Pe adaed mat it was 
 too late iu life for him, ho was too old to 
 change bimt-elf, and he said he thought 
 the best thin^ they could do to| gi ve 
 •tt hTgnche to Ur. iupper. L,el mm re- 
 
 ICM^^^ 
 
 Co 
 lii 
 (Cixeers ) 
 
 s nut ine UoDDervativS party, and try 
 
 liHud aid see what he could do with it. 
 
 From that hour to this— from 
 
 that hour, before I had ever taken a seat 
 in the Legislature of tiie Provim-e, I have 
 had the honor to be the leader of the 
 (;onservative party of Nova Scotia. 
 The Legislature met, and i placed 
 myself in communicntiim with the 
 members. I ai ranged an on- 
 
 slaught upon our opponents, and at the 
 close of a heated and vigorous debate which 
 I had the honor to lead, we divided, not 
 with sixteen but with twenty two, on 
 our side, and among those twenty -two 
 gentlemen who voted with me was the 
 brother of the late Bishop of Aricliat who 
 resigned his seat in the Governmenr and 
 voted with me. Another gentleman "as 
 Mr. McKeagney, the late lamented gen- 
 tleman who died a jiulge in Winnipeg. 
 Another who did not vote with me but 
 whose letter from his dvinu bed was read 
 in the House, was Mr. McLeod, a iloman 
 C.itholic member who tendered his 
 resignation and declared that if he 
 were able to tender his vote it should 
 be with me. I need not tell you that 
 this produced a new con lition of things. 
 I need not tell you that w hen the Legisla- 
 tbre met in the ensuing session. Judge 
 Joliustone made a motion of want of confi- 
 dence which was carried, and the ( 'onser- 
 vative party combined with our former op- 
 ponent , but then allies, the lioman Catho - 
 lic members to a very large extent iu this 
 Province, were placed in power, and a 
 givernment was formed. When that 
 event took place my friend then Mr. 
 Johnstone, asked me to accept the high 
 and important office of Provincial Secre- 
 luiy. I i-old him that it would not 
 answer my purpose, that the only object I 
 had in entering the Legislature at all was to 
 see him restored to power, and iliat object 
 accomplished I should only be too glad to 
 be relieved from any kind of official duty, 
 and enabled to devote my time and at- 
 tention to the prof est ion in which I wa* 
 engaged. His reply was that if I refused 
 to accept the office of Provincial Secretary 
 he would not attempt to form an adminis- 
 tration; and under these circumstances I 
 abandoned my professional position in the 
 County of Cumberland, committed myself 
 to the uncertain sea of politics and iook 
 • ffice as Provincial Secretary of this pro- 
 vince. I need not tell you that I am not 
 a very idle man, and the adminihtration of 
 which I form a part generally find some 
 work to do. The burning question of that 
 r1ay, a burning question in a double sense . • 
 waj the'cOal question. It was a tact thai y • 
 at tliat day flo'JNova Scotian could dig ft *''P^<^# 
 poumLof coal oii hjs propert y, no person ^iJ 
 ^K'^BtL"' "^s*; "Qr f>oration iiTTLondon coulJ 
 ^ouyli fl, pounQ of coal i n the wide domain* 
 of Noyf^ % 9tia,. 'The'queHtinii had pvp.itpri 
 a good deal of interest not only in this 
 province but elsewhere. Judge Johnstone 
 was the Solicito;* of the General Mining 
 Association, and had been their defender 
 down . \\i that period. He resigned that 
 
(5) 
 
 ofRce and we brought forward resolutions 
 to provi.le for a delegation to ileal with 
 thi- rnattpr, and witli my own hand 1 ad- 
 dn'saed a letter to tlie present (iovernor 
 Archibald, then one of tlie leading men, as 
 he has long been one of the loading iulmi of 
 this province, (uhters) iiaking him to jciin 
 in this great and important mission with 
 Mr. lolmstone as a delegate to dea! with 
 that question of tlie niines and Tninerals (it 
 this province. Yon Tcnow tlie result. 
 They were enabled to make an arrange- 
 ment wliicii wat carried successfully 
 through the Legislature in the 8es>ion of 
 I8r)8; and in consecpience of that arrange- 
 ment you know the x'igor and vitality that 
 were thrown into the development of the 
 mines and minerals of this province, and 
 the inestimable boon conferred upon tiie 
 people of Nova Scotia by the settlement oi 
 that (luestion. Another ^reat reform 
 seemed to demand attention at the hands 
 of the Legislaturt-, ai.d we unhesitatingly 
 and fearlessly gri pled with it, becaUhC 1 
 have no hesitation in telling you that 
 never as a public man, whether I was 
 right or wrong — I hope that 1 was gener- 
 ally right, perhaps I was sometimes v/rong 
 — but whenever I came to a conclusion 
 aince I have entered public life, that a 
 reform was needeib that a change was re- 
 quired, I addressed myself to the woik 
 unhesitatingly without reference to the 
 consequence, and without inquiring what 
 might he the result to myself or ny party. 
 I fearlessly and faithfully to the be«t of 
 my knowledge and ability grappled witli 
 the question. At th it time the represen- 
 tation of this province was of the most 
 anamolous character. The small county 
 of Hants returned five representatives, be- 
 tween county and township lepiesen- 
 tatives, while the g<eat county of Cape 
 Bieton, of nearly clouble the population, 
 returned only two m mbers to the Legis- 
 lature of the province. It was utterly iin- 
 OShibl e that any iiing like re-pon.-ible 
 government— anything like a fair manly 
 independent expression of the public 
 opinion of this cnnntry could be given 
 when the r^'presentati()n was in that con 
 dition,— whena handful of a little over a 
 hundred electors in a small townshi|» could 
 return a member and had as pwtent a voice 
 as one-half the county of Halifax or 
 something approaching that. We 
 turned oiir attention to that 
 ubjrtct and bmni^ht in a representation bill 
 which was gre itK denounced b our cip^i « 
 nents, wnd, I dare say, some who art 
 present will not have forgotten the diaijrain- 
 flhowing the monstrmn manner in which we 
 w> re cutting up di.strii.ts and alt<>.ritig the 
 bnnndirjes of the vaiious enunties of thif 
 Province. Yet I am proud t' know 
 that the settlement of th honndari s < f 
 th^ Virions districtn thronsrhout the Pro 
 viiicn of Nova Scotia st.tndH to d.iy as w^ 
 fixed it in 1858, and th it althonj^h our nppo 
 Dents have had uncontrolled power to chani/e 
 those boundaries, they have not questioned 
 
 the fairness, justice and wisdom of that inn%- 
 sure which wo phiced upon Ihesitttu'e bonk. 
 1 am not (luiie cer. aiii iliat it was as beneti» 
 cial to u^ as it was to tlif 
 Country. I am not quite certain but 
 ihil we shi'Uld have rei.i.iined ;n poA/af 
 but t'T the piissa^e of that measure. Uut 
 :'fter haviiii; passed it weVsent lo ihe C' untry, 
 and in the general eU'Stmn we cuuif our, in 
 soiU' Ihiiig like two of u iiiinontN . Want of 
 c mtidi-nce in our AdiiiiniHtratioii was cair' d 
 and our opponents came back lo i'o»ver. 
 Well, sir, 1 met my fate on tliat <cca>'ion ni 
 becomes those who commit theins.-lves to V\9 
 uncertainties if politic, with -dl the phiio< i- 
 phy I could command. The next mood ig 
 I ten'i»fred my professional services to t iS 
 people of Halitax, only loo glad to lie able rm 
 return to my pr.ifesslim again. And when I 
 loiikaiouiid lhi.^ f< st ve board and h> e s« 
 many friends to whon. I owe so much for ili^ 
 in inly and independent assis ai ce whick 
 they utfordi'd me, I shall n.ver target lno» 
 on that occasion they rallied to my sujipirt. 
 I was s on placed in a- independent a pos tio 
 as I ever w,is m, in m.v Ij o. (Clieeis). I 
 can not nmke you understand— no pi rson w h# 
 haj not devottd himself as 1 have done toili« 
 profession to which 1 iiave the honor lo •;■ 
 long — can undirstand, the severe wrench it 
 gives to a man. treated as I was by th* 
 proessional men, by my prctessional biethriB 
 without di-itinction, in m one en<l i f ili« 
 County to the other, — the severe wrench £ 
 say, to sever such a connection a- that. ff 
 possiiile it is a stronger one than that uhch 
 connects a public man with the trnat 
 body of political supporters to wh' ni h* 
 owes so much. While in the <iiscliari<» 
 '•f my profesniiinal duties, I was not alto- 
 i;ether inle as a po itician, and during ths 
 four years we were out of power we made it 
 tolerably hot tor our opponents ii< the coun- 
 try and parliament. The result was th4 
 wtien it came to th'- general election of IStJJ 
 « e swept the count'-y Irom end to end, M» 
 friend, Mr. J'hn.-tone, and iiiysf)^ 
 ai d my Colleague t)y my s'de (.St-nator 
 VIcFarlatie) cane back to p iwer sU9- 
 tnined by twenty-five m u m.j'iitjr 
 ill a House of fifty-five nieinbers, 
 which, I think, you will admit, Wiis quit« 
 larue enont{ii, and perhaps a little loo 1. ,!>;«, 
 [ felt, however, that the countiy having 
 p aced us in that position, demanded ^olne- 
 thint; at our hands, and I felt that nothing 
 Would he rooredi^c^editable to a governm,-iit 
 th m to he>itate todtal with su li qnestionj 
 IS they felt tney were enabled t> ue.il with 
 by the great inaiority with which they b;id 
 tieen returned to power. I may say however 
 that when we met in an adj ininii lioilil ng; 
 which I then occupied an a pnvjte reside) c\ 
 'o form an administration, my fiiend, >ir. 
 Johnstone with liisch tracteristic niagnaniia- 
 i'y refuse) in the most peremptory manner 
 to becoine leader •>' the administiation. \\% 
 stated that from the hour I entered piit^li* 
 life, — from that time the hext and 
 tiurden of the day had been borne bj 
 myself. That altliout^h he would be nn st 
 happy to co-otierate with ine in eve y pos^i- 
 hle way, at h's time of lite it w.»s utterly 
 impossible to undertake to disclmteth© 
 duties such a"* T had performed, and he " oidd 
 not consent to become the leader of th* 
 Admiuidtration, when the succees of tb# 
 
pnrty, as hn utatod, was entirely due to my- 
 self. My reply was that unlt-i-.'* ho would 
 •cc''|) ilio piriition of I'riinti Minihter nini 
 loiiii an Adiiiinistr.ition, 1 wiul I hav<' 
 uiiithiii^' to (III with it, Hiid would not »'Vi'ii 
 hi'Ci'iiii* ii iii<'iiib»-r of any government. Un- 
 der tlio-e circiiKmtanRBM hn was of couiNe 
 Compfllfd to iidopb that courHo, and y 'U ii'u 
 know that flurini^ tho fimt yt^.s.-ion of th.il 
 leuiHliitnrH I brnuu'ht fcrwatil an Equity 
 Jii KB Hill.— a bill which chiinR d- tin- 
 con-iitiiiii>M .if our courts by iirovidiiip an 
 Kquiiy Jiiil^e. That intiaHurr, like our 
 Kt-prsscntHMon mcasuie, wa^ dpnounced by 
 our oppi>ni>ntH as pergonal jpt^inlation, and 
 ^iis reirjiided U8 an iinpioper act. It wa» 
 ■Hid tliiit no matter of how hii^h a standing 
 and cliaractir any gen lenian might be no 
 legislarii.n i-hou'd be adopted for lt>e pur o>t' 
 of giviiig liim a judical ])nKiticin I endeav- 
 ored to su-tain that meafUio in tho best way 
 I Could, and it; is no little fource of pri'fe 
 »i'd gratiHc.ttion fir mo to know iha' 
 ahiiin;?!! the cunstitu ion and re-or^aniza- 
 tion of the courts and the adniinistrution ol 
 
 Justice ie>t« with he Local Lejji-- 
 ature, and although our opponent,!- 
 have lieen in offiite and have had uncon 
 trolled piiwer in office for many years since, 
 that Kqnity bill stands to day. And not 
 only h'lS it remained as a feature of tho con- 
 ftimtinn of .mr courts in this country but it 
 has been copiet in the Province of N.-w 
 Brunswick. With the confidence ol 
 HMD of all classeH and all purtie.^ 
 Judt;e Jiihnstone took that elevated 
 
 (>oriitiiin, and down to the tinte when 
 >i..< laiiimr health appeared to render it 
 nt cessaiy f. r liim to retire, no man of a<iy 
 consiiieration in the politics of this country 
 felt I hat iitlier than the best service had be-in 
 perfo'Uied t., the country, when he was elev 
 p d ' ' iiathigh and distinguished position. 
 (Cheers) 
 
 Toe next question that seemed to 
 cliuiand at the hands of tho government t<> 
 be I romp ly and vigorously dealt w tti was 
 the question of educ>itiot). The condition ol 
 eiluea'ion in this Province was not such a'- 
 t" be I'll iked upon with pride and satisfaction 
 ty any lovei of his countiy. \V>i lonkeil 
 ■ broad at Canada, then united Canad.i, 
 wheie iny hon. and distinguished friend, Sir 
 A. T. Gait has played so impnitanta part, 
 »nd we found that our educational system 
 was one that was utterly inferior, and that if 
 the Province of Nova Scotia was to hold its 
 place in the ini»illectual race and maintain 
 Its proper position as a portion of British 
 Korth Aine'-ica, it was absolutely necessary 
 to reform the legislation in reference to the 
 i|ue8tion of education, I brought forward on 
 thnt ooe-asion us you all know a mea.sure 
 which I was told by my friends — and my fies 
 did not disagree toit, would provemy political 
 death knell. And although many reg>irded 
 the movement with favor, still it was felt that 
 to aiiopt a free school system in this 
 country, and to support the schools by direct 
 tu.>(ati<'n ill H country where direct taxation 
 bad been hitherto unknown, would bo the 
 death knell of any administration that con 
 Mnted to Buoh a course. I was not dismayed. 
 I frankly confesx to you that when I brought 
 forward that measure and (.ubmitted it to t he 
 Legislature, I had no doubt whatever that at 
 Ihe first opportunity that the peopleobtained, 
 
 (6) 
 
 1. 
 
 . and tho arimlnistrati n of which I formed 
 a jtart, would be dismissed from power. Hut 
 I believed that the inoiiHiire su'iii.iited was 
 uurih inoro than the administraiion,— was 
 wmtli inoiu than tho Coiiservalivo uirty in 
 til 8 'joU' try, and that the t m<» wo.d ' come, 
 and h. it at no distant day, when, however 
 unpopular at theonti-et, it w uci b > accepted 
 
 IIS Ol f tho greatest niea>ui-es to a.lv.incrt 
 
 the prosperity and pioifress ot this Province 
 ihat had ever iieen mlnnitted o >ho Legi>ia 
 'lire, and I li ft tho result to the soher re* 
 fl'ctiiJti />f the country upon iliia nioa.«\ir« 
 u hii.'h I lound it my duty to biing forwinxl. 
 Till'. Act was placed upon tho siatut- b n k, 
 iiiid r ani proud to know that never was a 
 measure placed Upon the statute b 'ok, im- 
 piovedasit was in the sulisiquent session, 
 iliiit gave greater s'lti ftctimi to tho 
 .ivervvholiiiing masi of tho peoilo ot Ihiii 
 cotint'y Nev» r w;is a iu<«;isuie p.is-ed 
 by any Legislo'ure that rec- ived lii^'her 
 ei.ciinium- than ih t education d measure 
 lipiiii w liich wo stiik'-d oor e.xistenco and 
 wlii<! we carried. (Cheers.) 
 
 Then camo the great qinsliou of Con- 
 iedtratii'ii. I had concerted a measure for 
 the union of tho M.>iritiiiie Provinces. 1 had 
 fflt at iho outset Imw inqiortaiit it was 
 that the piovitices of which British North 
 \m rica was conip.'sed, sli' uld form a 
 111111^(1 wliol . I was invited in 18(50, when 
 n Opposition, to hcluiebtf'ire the M. ctiaiocs' 
 III tiiute ill 8t. John, and 1 chose tor my 
 -ubject the p.ilitical condition of British 
 North America. On that occasion I 
 iiointed out what appeared to me ttieglaiing 
 defects which existed in our position 
 
 I pro|)osod f. r lhe^e provinces a Federal 
 
 Union such as now exists. I pointed this 
 out as being tho onl> feasiole and practi- 
 cal lo plan of removing iiiese defects and 
 difficulties and placing the government of 
 this country upon a proper toundaiion I 
 did not believe then ih t the time had 
 come when it was jiossible to adopt such a 
 measure. I believed thtit there were ditfi 
 culties lying in tho way that woiikl remier 
 such a Confederation impossible fir some 
 time to come, but I iielieved that oun of .he 
 best steps towards it would be the union of 
 the Maritime Provinces; and I concened 
 with the governments of Piinco Koward 
 Island and New liruuswick the passage of 
 a joint resolution for a c..nforence 
 at Charlottf"t.ovvn in relation to that 
 question. Well, the {xilii.ics of Canada, 
 as my hon. friend Sir A. T. Gait well knows 
 — anrl no person is better arquaiiittd with 
 the matter, t<>i he was a prime mover 
 in 1858— presented very great and serioug 
 difficulties, and Sir J. A. Macdi ^ald brought 
 forward and propounded in that Parliament 
 iho project if a cot federa'e union o( all these 
 Province-i.to hare all th i ditferontProvincesot 
 British North America united t'gether. 
 Taking advantage of tho conlerence which 
 we had called at Chirlottetov.n, these gen- 
 tlemen sailed down upon us, and one fine 
 morning thoy came in upon our conference 
 and asked u>» if we would allow them to pre- 
 sent a broader scheme than th^t whif;h 
 engaged our attention. I need not toll you 
 that when a gtintlenian of the great ability 
 and p'ausibilitv of my hon. friend Sir A. T. 
 Gait his an opportunity to state a cane, ha 
 states It iu such a manner as to make it ex<r 
 
(7) 
 
 treranly attractive, and when we had hoard 
 Sir John A. iVlacdonrtld, the lale Hon. 
 GnorKH Brown, Sir (iaorKO Cartit^r, and Sir 
 A. T. Galr, we came to ihn conchHion that 
 it wa« our duty, as pu'-lic men, to jjive the 
 fullest and fairent con^iiier.ition to tlie (^rcat 
 qu 'stion, not merely of the nnion of the 
 NIaritimo Piovincep. but of a unite i British 
 North America. Ttien wo adjou^^^'d the 
 omterence and camo away, and 1 think it 
 wa8 in thin mom that I had the htinor to 
 receive thete K^ntlemen as our guests. 
 It was in this ro m that the 
 H<m. Ge "rare Brown made t*tat abln 
 and exhaustive speech, which is not forv^otten 
 tothirt day, in favor of a confederate uni'n 
 of the Provinoein. It Was in this r.tom that 
 my hon. fri«nd Sir A. T. G kit doaliin? with 
 the f?reat tiiiancial questions connected with 
 that threat measure attract«id and riveted the 
 attention of all hearers, and led us one and all 
 t believe that the time had come and was 
 propitious to giving the fairest find fu'lest 
 consideration to that measure. You are as 
 familiar with the variou-t hteps in the pro 
 f?res8 of that question as lam myself You 
 kno'V that we wont to Qutbfc and after some 
 three or four weeks of careful deliberation 
 propounded a scheme for the union of Brit 
 ish North America which substantiallv is 
 the cousti; jtion of the ountry today. It is 
 true it received some modificaticm at a subse 
 quHiit period at a conference at Woftminister 
 Palace Hot"l in London, but the ctistitution 
 of the country today is substantially that 
 which, after thr*^e or nmr weeks of deliber 
 ation, the public men of the various provnces 
 of this c luntry devised at the then seat of 
 the government of Canada, in the ohi his- 
 toric city ot Quebsc. T need not weary you 
 or detain you to-night by referring to the long 
 anil arduous struggle we had with that 
 measure, — the hostility with which it was 
 m 't, and the difficulties I encoui;lered on 
 Coming bick here, and the imposni- 
 bility of carrying the measure 
 either in the Province of N'fW 
 Brunswick or >ova Scotia. But I may say 
 this tliat such were the inherent merits i-f the 
 scheme that the longer the co')l,dispassi<)nate, 
 Rolid men of the country looked at it,the bet- 
 ter they were preparod to e' tertiin it, and at 
 no distant period, in 18G6, the measure was 
 carried by a two-thirds vote of ttto House of 
 Assembly and a two-thirds vot3 of the Legis- 
 lative'Council, after the conference in London 
 matured and agreed upon a scheire. I will 
 not detain you by refdrring to the fact that 
 we were not unmindful of the material pro 
 gress of the province in the n.eantime. In 
 the fi at speech which I ever made on the 
 floor of the House of Ass-mbly I committed 
 myself, and so far as I was able the party 
 with which I wa« connected, to the 
 
 gihcy propo nded by the late Mr. 
 owe of carrying out the constructiim of the 
 railways of this Province as governa;ent 
 works, au(J on every occasion, wli aher as a 
 delegate in England or in the Legisla ure of 
 this country, I advocated the pushing of that 
 work to a conclusion. When the Govern- 
 ment, of which [ was a memtier, was called to 
 power, I think there were nine mile of rail- 
 way in operation in NovaScotia, from here to 
 Bedford. Before I resigned the position of 
 leader of the. Government in 1867 I had car- 
 ried the railroad to the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
 
 on the one hand, and h id provioion made for it» 
 extension to the waters of th" Bay of V'undf 
 at Annapolis on the other. Under the Con- 
 federation arrangement we had further pro- 
 viiied for the exteiiB'on of th line to the ad- 
 joining Province of New Brunswick connect- 
 ing us with the rest of Cana'la and the United 
 States of Am'^rica. As I stated before, w« 
 addressed ourselves vigonmsly and an>pliati* 
 cally to that which I iielieve was absolutely 
 demanded in the best interests of thisc»iin* 
 try. It has been said at tiii.es ihat I made a 
 mistake in not obtaining th^) >>ervic s of thai 
 threat and eloquent man, — the most eloquHni 
 Nova Scotian that ever ad rned • ur Prov- 
 inces—the late Joseph Howe. (Clieers.) I 
 am able to relieve myself of criticism upon 
 thu point by stating that he was th« 
 first man whose assistance I sought. 
 Although he had been defeated, and was noi 
 then in the Legislature of his country, I 
 recogniz 'd iiim as a great leader, a man at 
 great atiility, whatever position he might 
 occupy, and as such 1 invited him frxnkly 
 to come in with us and join hands, as iiaj 
 been done by the statesmen of the oliier 
 Provinc of Canada, in relntion to that Kreat 
 measure. Unfortunately, I believe for Nova 
 Scotia, Mr. H..we did not c<»ncur in the 
 scheme we had propounded and the view* 
 we had adopted, and, as you know, when ha 
 differed he differed with his whole might. 
 And he became the great leader of th«i tfieat 
 and powerful party— too srreat and powerlul 
 for us to cope with tor a ifood while — in the 
 Province of Nova Scotia I had the good 
 fortune, however, to secure the able und 
 ready co-operation of my triend and old poli- 
 tical opponent, the le.vder of the Oppisiti n 
 in the Province of Nova Scotia, the pre.senfc 
 Lieutenant-Governor, Hon. Mr. Archibald. 
 (Cheers.) From the hour that he joined 
 hands with me, and came to the one -.ision, 
 in common with mysell, thvt tl e c >inmon 
 interest of the country demaii'ied that we 
 ► hould unite in endeavoring to promote the 
 welfare of the country — rroin that hour hq 
 was my steady, unwavering, uncompromising 
 supporter. I am glad to be able to bear 
 ti-stimony, not only to the ability and 
 zeilwith which he labored in co.jqnctioir 
 with the late Judge McCully, but I ana 
 happy also to bear ev denun to the fact that ia 
 the high positi n of the Governorship ol thi« 
 country, — a position that he now fills a >d half 
 filled with great acceptance, he has dinoharged 
 with most signal ability and fairness tba 
 duties o a constitutional Governor. (Cheersju 
 AS I said before we met with a oheCv ix\ th©- 
 measure of confederation, but were at last 
 enabled by the changed opinion of the mem- 
 bers of the House to carr the measure, an4 
 I am glad to be able to stand here and feel 
 that notwithstanding all the opposition tha^ 
 was encountered, the time came wtien even 
 Mr. Howe felt that it was his duty as .» 
 statesman and patriot to change the attitu(|^ 
 which he had as umed, and take ho|,d of 4 
 measure to assist in working out the cimsti<h 
 uti m in the interests of our ommon country. 
 It has been said chat the seductive p«>wers 
 which I exercised were ton much for that 
 eminent man, and that on the occasion of vug 
 visit to London he was indoced to desert thi 
 
 ilf. 1 
 
 party to which he had committed himsnli 
 nave no hesitation in saying to, you in 
 candor that a more unfounded statement ' 
 
(«) 
 
 B«vcr made. Thp Hon. St A T Calt d. - 
 dined to g.i to K/.Kluiid on tlir grontid that 
 the antf/onm... b^twetn M.. H.,we uiul 
 iny«lt uouid le f«tul to i|,e 
 •ccoinplifhn.H I of hny uood. The Lein- 
 Unireof NoviiScoii,, jii.d ^ nt u <lel.ifHi*i..n 
 «Uh Mr. Howeiit Uh hrad for ih« i,iiiu..8h 
 «tf end«avo,i,i^ to hr.ak up the Ui.i.>n I 
 
 IIf'il<'r'l.'"*"li,"'* y'" ""*•' *^'^" ' ^''"'' "»r i )Ht, 
 to I8fabMr. Howe addrt-Hhed a pamphlet of ■ 
 mch Biymd at.iliiy to every inenil,er ..f the 
 HouKUof ConiaionHhnd ihe H,m>-e of Lordn 
 M to exiite Kreat aliuni on Iho part of the 
 IrieiidB of Confederation. L<ir-i Carnarvon 
 •ent for me and told me of the great in, it. a 
 Jlon pr<Kliued by the pamphlet and asked me 
 to addresH ni>Helf Ht once to giviig in ni 
 •DbWer. I did a;) to the tient of my abilitv, 
 •nd I am heppy to nay that it relieved agood 
 fleal of the anxiety that had been felt in con- 
 
 f **Vu/"»1 ' ^'- ""**''^''' Puhlicatinn. When 
 in 1808 he was sent back to London to «, t a 
 roy„l co-iimia-i n to inqnire into the woik- 
 iiigof i\.nf..deration Willi a view to break- 
 ing up ti e Union if he could, I was ele- 
 vated by t ho government of Canada to go 
 there for the purpose of giving intoin.ati. n 
 to the Imperial Gov.rnment, and in so f .r as 
 
 S08B ble to prevent any damage being in 
 icted upon the intere«tK of the Union bv 
 Mr. Howe. The fir.t thing J did on my 
 arrival W.18 t(. leave my card for the Hon". 
 J' t-eph Howe. The next morninfi' he walked 
 into my parlor at the Westminster Palace 
 .Motel and greeted me with the remaik that 
 be could not say h was ^lad to ^.-e 
 tto, but said he "you are liere, and 
 1 Buppo«6 we must make the bewtof it." We 
 «at down and dincusaed the question as it 
 waa worthy of being discussed tiy two men 
 representing conscientiou.sly what they l.e- 
 lieved to be tie best interests of the 
 country, but holding diametrically opposite 
 news of the situation I can Vav that if 
 «very word said between us on that, or on 
 any other occasion, was published in to 
 morrow morning's newspapeis.you would not 
 hnd a word refl cting upon the honor, ch»i- 
 acter, or integrity at the Hon. J.,seph Howe 
 cr myself. (Great cheering ) He felt, as 
 no man could fail to feel, the momentous 
 toportance of the occasion. I said to him at, 
 once. You have c-me here on a mi^^sion 
 with a view of obst.ucting Confederation, 
 and J know too well that you will do all that, 
 man can do to accomplish the object f<.r 
 which you are sent here. But I sai.l you 
 r Ju ^"^**®^ An overwhelming maJMritv 
 of the Commons, and a still larger majuritv 
 Of the Lords, will r<.gative your proposal. 
 You will be defeated, and nothing will be ac 
 Complished by your mission. The time will 
 .come when vou will Lave to lace tt.e ques- 
 ti<m what policy you are going to pnrM,e that 
 .l«notg<.ingto be fatal to the Pr..vince ol 
 Wova Scotia m which you feel so stn.ng an 
 Interest. And when that time comes you will 
 and that the conviction will force itself upon 
 you that the only thinir you can do, entrusted 
 with the confidence of the people of Nr.va 
 ^cotia as yru have been, will be to devote 
 your great, talents in assisting to woik out a 
 •ohenie that will exi.st in spite of you, and to 
 w<.rk It out in a way that will be most bene- 
 Bcial to Nova Scotia.-or if you prefer to say 
 it,— m a way that «»rill be least injurious to 
 
 th. r.op>, ., ,™r =^;'""",ju: rar„,'5K;„- 
 
 that time comes, as crmie it will, 
 and wh;n y-.u give your great talents 
 to assi,t the gov,-rntnei>t of this counl.iy 
 npreseiitinj, as y,.u do a great m joriiy of 
 he people of Nova S( otia ;for > , u u i.l .. in. m 
 b.r that aft..r a har.l ami biti. r s-tiugl- I 
 ► uceeded lu getting back to Parliaineut 
 -lUiout one support, r on ih« riKl.t, or 
 . antaunitoil phalanx siipp.rtii.g Mr. 
 H..we--und.r these ciicinnslanc s sVi.d I 
 with the e-ireme resp ,i,«ib,|,iy which the 
 conhdeiice ol the co.iotiy has i|.,ust u(.oa 
 yon, every h-ut's r.flecli- n will ior.e v.u 
 t' tluironclusKm thai theie is no c.mse 
 o|.en (oy.ul.ut to come f...ward wi hiho 
 wetgfit ..f p„«er and influ nee ot ihe 
 tniiied reiiesentatir.n of the Provi, ce of 
 i>i' va hc..tia, to assist in woikini: out 
 I i.SH in8iituii.,ns in such a way as to m.,ke 
 the b-st ol them." J knew the mui; I 
 knew hit pai.iotic 8entinlent^. I k' ew 
 hiMi t.o well „ot to know thnt vhen the 
 nme c.me when it was dear that his h-s- 
 tUity would do n^.tl.i.g lut ii,ju.H his 
 country he w ,uld sacrihce hiuiselt. if need 
 h, rather than do anything o pr.judice 
 lheIntere^t«of the Pr. vii.f-e. (Ch^nr, ) A 
 paptr that ..light to be u very high autl.op. 
 ity has r.ceni.ly deciai.d that I am a 
 veiy meicenary pobticiaii; that I am 
 cairnd away by an io>ane ambition 
 to secure p.,sition tor myself, and w(.rst. of all 
 mttney lor n.ys It. I do n..t think my p.st 
 histoiy warrants th.t staten ent. When I 
 h.at ent red public life I sacrificed as in-ie- 
 j>endent a position as any man in Nova Sctia 
 could -leMre to hold. I had a profe^Ninn of 
 which I was pr,,ud, and a large and lucrative 
 practice. 1 had every cinfori that my 
 mtcrests and thoseof my lamiiy r.qitir.-d, 
 but I did not hesitate when 1 felt it was for 
 the Kood ., my country to forego all that, and 
 to commit m« self as I have already said, to 
 the uncHtrin sea of politics. Again, when 
 0.|nf. deration was canie.l, as you all kn..w, 
 I na<l an otheial and professional income 
 greater then .he amount then ei.j.yed by the 
 Premier of C.nada. So far as mercenary 
 c .i.sideratini.H were concerned, I would have 
 lo(.l<edto inyown ioteresis by refusing ta 
 enter pub m life When the first Adminia 
 t.a i..n of Canada was formed by Sir John A. 
 Macdonald, my hon. fiien.l be.Mde me knowa 
 what difhcuities had to be encount. red in the 
 tirmationof that (i„verniiient. These diffi- 
 culties were solved by myself. It waa 
 not a Conservative Administration. 
 It was a combinatmn of the two gi eat poli- 
 tical parties, and I said to Sir Jnhn Mac- 
 donald the so uimn of y.ur difficulties is for 
 me to wi hdraw any claim to the position 
 y..u have off. red me, and to a^k n y lion, 
 riend 1) V rev Mc ^.ee to do the same, «n.l I 
 will make r..om for an Irish R.,man Catho- 
 l.o, f th-s Province. Mr. Kenny, now Sir 
 Kdward, to..k my place, and I do mit thirk 
 tnat ac'ion stamped me as a very mercenary 
 or an over ambitious politician. I was onlV 
 too proud to be able to solve the difficulty ia 
 that way and to go back and fight single • 
 hande.l f..r my county, ontent if I i;..uld 
 obtain an honorable p<,8ition as a repre^enta 
 
 TT ^f ".J o"^ 5"""/y >" *he Parllam.nt of 
 United Canada, there to assist these gentle- 
 men in woikinj? out the constitution and car 
 KL"LTl/^r «'-!»L™^-«"'-- 'ievised in 
 
(9) 
 
 Well gpntlemen, wlipn Mr. Archibald whh 
 deffH'f-'l will" WU8 thun Secretary of jstatf, 
 amJ Mr. K-niiy wan jolt wiihimi- a ci>U«'Hhiip, 
 my lion. friHinl Sir Alexai'dor kixiwH ihiit I 
 wuH ill II |)'i-<itiii!i lifiiiK ttie lender <>f a P'tily, 
 a very coiiHolidu'ed party at that tune, i 
 party of one, — tlmt I waH quite eiitillud to 
 becKiiiH a collru^iie of Mr. Kenny at the 
 Council H'larl l^ut I b-Iiuvcd iheru wn8 a 
 f^re iter Hiid iiioie i pnrtaiit Hervicti that I 
 Ci>uid render to the Union, and [ anked Sir 
 John A. M'cdoiiald to letain the vacancy 
 thuH made hy the re-iunution tf Mr. Archi 
 bald M« .Sec et;iiy of State untd the men 
 whom NoVit 8c ill. I had elected and k^iven hbr 
 cnnfi leiice ti', phould Helect. a man to till the 
 
 Eoxitioii. ! told Mr Howe that v*hen the 
 our hliould C'liie in which ho would feel 
 coiiipelled a« I telt as-^ured the hour would 
 C<nne in winch he would feel com 
 pelled to ^ive hix servioen to tlie axniHt- 
 anco of the government, he would 
 tin<l ine jiistas d 'Vot>-d a dupportor hh he had 
 touiKl mo a vi^.irous opponeii*. I 8<tid I 
 wi uld be Content to remain in piivate life 
 'or ever if the result would l»e to obi.Hin p'-ace 
 and BitiHraction in our coutitry and to unite 
 all partiCH in working out this threat quextiori 
 of the confedeiation of Canndi. Ax you 
 ktiow, the time did come when Mr. Howe 
 acci pted the position of PreHi>lent of t e 
 Council, and came to the county 
 of H.intH for reelection, and thi re is 
 nothing; in my pul>l c life of which 
 I feel prouder in looking back over a long 
 retronpect of twenty eiiiht yearn than when 
 nine hundred of the stalwart CoiiH^rvHtive 
 yeoininry oi i hat county who had ttpent 
 their lives in opposing Jimeph Howe went 
 up to poll lh> ir votes in his support a« 
 President of the ('ouncil. (Cheers ) And 
 I may say more,— bec.iuse you see that T 
 am in aconiniunicativo mood to-id»<ht and 
 disposed to let you int th-^ aecrets of the 
 past. I Went to see Mr. Ht we the day 
 before the election, when he was shattered 
 by severe illu'-ss an dismayed by the hos- 
 tility of very many old friends, I found 
 him very much broken and apprehensive 
 of the resul . I said, "Mr. Howe, you are 
 mistalien. you are not going to be aefeated; 
 you are going to be elected. But I tell 
 you this: Suppose you should be defeated 
 don't do anything rash. Do not resign I 
 have arranged with my old colleague, Mr. 
 MacFarlane. that if you are defeated in the 
 county of Hants I will resign my seat the 
 next day and you shall he return- 
 ed for Cumberland by acclamation. 
 (Chfers ) He said, "of course that is im- 
 possible, I could not do that." I said, 
 "you can, because I will tell you what 1 
 will do. Mr. Pineo is an much alone in 
 the Losal House as I am in the 
 House of Commons of Canada, He 
 will resign and I will go back into the 
 Local House, and see if I cannot strai^.'hten 
 matters out there a little." (Cheers.) I 
 think you will agree with me that Mr. 
 Howe could have had no more faithful 
 supporter than I was on that occasion. 
 The time came eventuall.v when the 
 appointment of Sir Ed-vard Kenny as Ad- 
 ministrator of the government, made a va- 
 cancy again in the cabinet, and I was in- 
 vited to become the oUeague of Joseph 
 Howe. And I will say this, baying sat at 
 
 that C mncil Board, that although wo had 
 differed stronifly in former yeais, no two men 
 Hvnr acted with more hearty, cordial, and 
 friendly no operation in evfry thing derigned 
 to promote the welfare and prosperity of the 
 C'untry than Mr. Howe and mxnelf. WIiho 
 a vacancy afterwards occurreri in the office 
 ( f Lieutenant (iovern« r Mr. Howe w.ts fedile 
 and hnken in health. 1 hid ati iniioession 
 that he had long looked upon thu high' st oh- 
 j' ct. I f hi- a nbition as being iho Lieu'eniint 
 (iovernor of thi-< Province. WIen Sir 
 •John aiiked me what was to be done in ruspicfc 
 to this office, I said "I am voitnf tc a-k you 
 to tender that office to the Hon. .Jo.st-pli Howe. 
 I Mm ill hopes that the air of liii naiive I'rov 
 ince will resto e his health which is a i^ood 
 deal sha tered, as you know, and I lielieve it 
 will be ^r.ititying to himself." M\ colU-Ht^nes 
 were only too happy to adopt the snugesiion, 
 and no one lamented more deep y lliiiii I did 
 the brief tenure that he eiijoycd of that eie» 
 vated and dignified tmsition Up 'U the di-iith 
 of Mr. Howe the office wastencfereii to Ju<lt;e 
 John>tone who hail tl'cn retired from the 
 Bench, and was in the h< uth ol KnifUi d 
 f'T his health, we would then have Ind in 
 this C'luitiy the nniarkahle occurrenca 
 of having two Lieutenant Govi rnois ia 
 -uccewsion who had been for twenty years 
 in the bitterest possible antiponi>ii>; and I 
 claim that as one ot the results of the union of 
 the provinces. It is with no sinail ineHsuie 
 of pride and gratification that 1 ref. r to the 
 past, that ha' ing gone forward in relation lo 
 these gren',. questions with all the vikior and 
 ability thut God has given me, laithfully 
 fear'essly and energetically, carr>ii'g out 
 what I believed the best interests of ihe 
 Country demanded, it is with no litt'e prii^e 
 and gratificiti n that I eftr to i he tact 
 that almost every man who occupi d a 
 prominent position in the preui. Liberal 
 party of Nova ^cotia in ttiis piovince, 
 alnmst every man has become my p liiical 
 aid personal friend. The hon ^Viliua 
 Annand now, now in Lonaon, is, I tlnnk, 
 the solitary exception, and I believe 
 ihat » very friendly feeling ex I' ts bei ween 
 us at the present moment As 1 have said, 
 with reference to the others, the time came 
 when every mm of mark, every leading man 
 of the Liberal party was in perfect a curd 
 of opini('n with myself. It is no small souice 
 of pleasure, and it is (me of t e evidences of 
 the effect of what Confederation has done 
 for this country in elevating ii.s out of that 
 small groove, that narrow and bitter antuo- 
 nism which formerly prevailed. I spoke a 
 moment ago of the Conservative party and 
 of my having been the leader of the 
 Conservative party. I wa-( iidst.-iken. Fiom 
 that hour when the public men of this couiw 
 try joined hands on that great question 
 nnd w re found upon the same 
 side, it became the great Lih^-rsd 
 Conservative pa^ty, and it is the Liberal- 
 Conservative pirty to-day, because, while 
 Conservative <n the highest and best sense of 
 the ' ord, and espedally in that most im- 
 portant of all senses, of maintaining in an 
 undeviating and unflinching manner the 
 connection between thes" Provinces and the 
 B itish Crown, (Cheers.) there is no 
 m-asuro of reform, nothing tor the extension 
 of popular control no measure to give scope 
 and field to the various populations uuw flow* 
 
(10) 
 
 inpr in i. tlin ountry, no mnniaurn that the 
 bfst itH' itwt* t'f the masses deuiiind at th^ 
 liHiifls (if (le jjovpriiinBnt, that this Liberal 
 C 'HH- rviitive party have n)t urappled wirh 
 an<l carrieil t,« a successful is ue. So cm- 
 j»l»-t«lv have tliey c irried out, eveiy p'-actic- 
 ftlile rHfi.i'ii, thir, my hiin. friend Mr. Hlake, 
 after h «vini/ ({■•Jie into Mr. Mackeiizin's gov- 
 enanett, n-rind. hecause he di<i int propose 
 to hMldiiL' to M r«form (government that could 
 find iiiitliiiijj t> 'ef.irm. (Ciieers and laugh* 
 tei.) It WM>» nor, Mr. Mack' nzie'H fault; it 
 va- his iiiL-foriune. The reforms lia 1 all 
 I etn made. He would have been only t>o 
 hai py to find some reform to deal with 
 Mr Hlfike afterwards went bick into the 
 (fovenmnr, I u^. down to this time he has 
 nf ver rut'uei'ded in discovering any practical 
 »nii prHCiio.ble reform that he cou d invite 
 Pal li imeiit to de.ii with and ciiiiy to a sue 
 ceshfiil c mcfusinn. I may therotoro claim 
 that the Liberal-Conservative party em^ 
 boiiieH n.pt, only the rank »nd file of the 
 Ooii-< rv,«tive party, but the besf, and most 
 Independent and intelligent men from the 
 till k" ot oiir <i|iponents, spread w dely over 
 this country. 
 
 Yon ;iie aware that I held thn position for 
 «om>' tim • if Minister i.f Inland Rnvenue 1 
 was first Presideiitof tlieCounciltheii Minister 
 of Inland Revenue. I left my mark there. 
 Some (if yon I dare say have heard of a 
 weiiihts and measures law which was not a 
 very popular measure 1 had the honor of 
 taking that, down and getting parliament to 
 place it on the statute bonk, and I have the 
 proud sati- faction to know that there never 
 was a ineiHure placed on the statute book that 
 was m> ire imperatively demanded in the in 
 terests of the masi-es of the country than that 
 measure f. r the reguhttion of weights and 
 ineasnies. It has resulted in the poor man 
 all over this com try obtaining justice in the 
 transMciions between man and man tha! 
 could have been attained by no other mea uro, 
 a«ii alihongh it encountered no 1 ttle unpop 
 ulaiity when first enacted, th'^' more carefully 
 and wisely it is considered the more useful 
 and valuitble it is felt to be, and although 
 after it was placed on the statute book our 
 opponents locked at it and criticized it a good 
 deal they newer ventured to take it off 
 the statute book. I was then Miiii>ter of 
 Customs as you are aware and I have the 
 gr«'ific(tii.n of knowing that while Minister 
 ofOiiitoms, I submitted to parliament and 
 had place*! upon the statute book a Maine 
 law ciiverin? a wider range of country than 
 any law of the kind that ever was enacted 
 bt'fore or perhaps ever will be again so long 
 Us grass grows and water runs. I ap- 
 plied a prohibitory liquor law to the 
 Whole NorthvWt^st Territories, and so sue 
 oe»>'ful was that measuie that when it was ! 
 decided to take a section of the North West 
 Territories in o th« Province of Manitoba to 
 which the prohibitory liquor law did not ap- 
 ply, the people objected unless a provision 
 was incorporated for maintaining that law. 
 Ilgive you that as an evidence of the popu- 
 larity of the measure. 
 
 Then, as y(m knonr, one fine 
 aft^rnoin in 73 we came to gnef, I do 
 not intend to detain you very long with that 
 •abject becsuse it is not a pleasingone by any 
 means We fell in a good cause, whether 
 the means adopted to work oat that cause 
 
 were perfectly unexceptionable I will not 
 stop to (liKCii s. [iut our object, WHS. haviog 
 Mcquired the Norih-VVes Terriio le.-. and 
 British Columbia, and having united the 
 wholeoi British America, to make it a real 
 and iTucMcal union as well as a union on 
 paper. Tfie only way was by the coiisinic- 
 lion of the most giKantic wi rk iKttt ever 
 tour millions of people undeitook. 1 am i-afe 
 in sayii g that. We dirt undertake it aiid it 
 proved a little ti o mnch for us It was 
 somt^thing like a vessel that was sailing up 
 Honldii B.ty on one occasion. It wasseen to be 
 vawing about and flying in the wind, and 
 the ciptain <if a steamer that was passing 
 'houi^ht there must baa mutiny on hourd. 
 Hh bore down and hailed her *viih a spaak- 
 ing iiumpet when the usu.ilsalii ation pished. 
 S'lip alloy, where are you bou'id? who owno 
 you. When thi question CHin ' who com 
 inands you? The captain replied; '''A'ell 
 I titidertook her, but, by j ive, sht is toi» 
 much for ine." (Laugtiter ) Wo „iidertook 
 to construct the Pacific Railway, but i 
 proved a little too much f -r us, and we 
 fell in the undertaking Tiie couitiy was 
 greatly excited and our opiionents c*ine 
 into power with one of the most over- 
 whelming majorities ever witnessed in this 
 country. On that occasion a great many 
 people who jump at conclusions cair;H to 
 the conclusion that Sir John A. .Mac- 
 donald had fallen, never to -" <e ag:<in. I 
 m ly say that w,t8 a sentimenr. of which he 
 himself largely partook. He stated to me 
 his belief that it was absolutely necessary in 
 the interests of the creat Liberal-t 'o ser- 
 vative party that it should be reconstructed 
 under a new leader. Now the "Giobe" 
 says I am a wildly ambitious man and a 
 mercenary politician. I was not so wild'y 
 ambitio'ia as to further, as I might naturally 
 have been ►xpectedto do, the deterniina» 
 tion of Sir John A. Macdtmald to retire. 
 But he had operated upon me vr-ry much 
 as old Judge Johnston hiid done. He 
 had m ignetized me, and made me feel that 
 there was a stronger than political, — a p-^r- 
 sonal interest in the man, and that per- 
 sonal magnetism was the great powi r thut 
 interested and controlled me. 1 told nun 
 that if he refused to ba the leader of the 
 Liberal-Conservative party, I would refuse 
 to have anything to do with it, and would 
 aband m the whole thing. Having taken 
 that stand on that oc:-asion, and Sir John 
 having most reluctantly consented to 
 r. main at the head of the party, I went to 
 work, and I dare say you know through the 
 columns of i.he press that I was not par* 
 ticul »rly idle. I went back to my pro- 
 fession in Ottawa and subsequently in 
 Toronto, but while attending to my profes- 
 i<iim as well as I could, I found opportunity 
 to go hither and thither on very important 
 missions dealing with consitunncies. North 
 Renfrew was opened, and Mr Mackenzie wa» 
 to have meetings. The people tele,<raphed to 
 me to ask if I would meet him. Af er a 
 three days duel, and a very pleasant duel, 
 although the blows were struck ftom the 
 shoulder as I dtre say you know I am accus- 
 tomed to strike, our m vn wan returned, — 
 Peter White. The consti uency «)f Toronto 
 tvhich had bi>en carried by a majority of five 
 htindred by Judge Mo-s, was, on his elevation 
 to the Bench, thrown open, and I was invitod 
 
(11) 
 
 to p(i tlif ro nnd although T had not the 
 
 EletiMirf 1() hieei my npponeiit, bucitiiHe Mr. 
 Iiikei'id nil", leHpoiid to thH iiivitiitimi to 
 di-ciiiii.s iii,iit»"i'<« tttce to face on a |tlat'iiiiii in 
 T<ii'<>ii<i>, <lie i-> KU t »'HH that Mr. Uohinsun 
 waM ilecltd by ii large uifljifity. \ whs 
 •"ay i!i'Wii at Urtrvar'i Ci'l ''gf, when inj' 
 Bon w h i-i H »t, this table to-ii'glit hud mnt 
 with ail accident ntui had alf^ r"keri. I 
 wt'iit li.iwM til liring him home when a lele- 
 griiiii c nil-- tlrat my presenci' was c.illeil for to 
 noet^i. nil mliHrx of the AdKiiiii.stration who 
 WfiH c iiivi.s ill;; S'liiih Oiitiri'i atrxinHt the 
 Hon. Mr. (lib IS I u'ot my |t:itieiit Hhipped 
 K8 CMrtfiiily as I cmild on bnanl a htertiner 
 ■lid t'l' Iv my buk tracks, and at the i-nd of 
 th'- liatilH wt' weie v ctorio s. 1 paid a little 
 vi-it to l>it.'l>y. a-i I dare say ymi all kimw, on 
 a Hi>inet liat, >imilar occasinn, and we a ho ^ot 
 a«op|iiirier till M". 1 believe I aUn paid a 
 vi-it t.ii I lie c'cv of Halifax, and al- 
 t)voiit/h wf liid not siKceFd in mist- 
 inK Mr. Junes frmn the seat, I believe 
 ■ Ve )i,vod 1 i^ iiajfTiiy )t< m td i ut a 
 tb' HHniid lo SI lilt' two hmidrtd, mid it was a 
 ir.iiral Victuiy al tiouth not an acluil one, 
 aiid it ^'avf the keynote to enable us to go 
 to th*- piMiple a few months afti-rwards and 
 caiiy t>Ao-ihids of the constitueiides of 
 Niiva Sci'lia We >ipent our time very 
 agii-iabiy during thnse yearn ot uppos tii.n. 
 Many I eo|iie tlnnk it is a dreadful thiint t" 
 b miliH c 'Id !-liade8 of op oiilion. but I 
 ne\ei' ei j yed any periorl nii'ie than the 
 foiiryjir- I sp,'nt in Oiipositiim in Niva 
 Siiii 'a and tile tiie years in Ottawa Tncre 
 is inoreH ii .w romn in oppMsitinn, more sc ipn 
 for auti'ii tlijiti y. u have under the i> strain's 
 of an a lniiiii.>tratii)n Sir Francis Hincks 
 had le'irn.i from piibliclif-t and Sir Lennard 
 Tilley Ii id tiikrtii the governnrsliiii nf New 
 Brill. sAick, and i>n my imperfect head 
 devuh'nl th" very difficult task of de.iling 
 wiih ttif fi laini d questions in p.irliament. 
 at)d as I had til .'issume thiiH>> duties under 
 th • leu'inie of Sir Richard Cart.wrigh' 
 ai- Finance ,\[ii,i«ter, ymi will appreciate the 
 ditficiilii's lit the piisition. {fjiUu"tnr) I 
 dM ilinliest I c uld and we endeavoured to 
 givH MS bf'iol. an account of ouiHelves as 
 piissihle. Anniher great question with 
 which Wr- had to ileal in opposition was the 
 
 ?ii-siio'iof tliHCinadian Pacific R.iilway. 
 t (iHndveil on ine to di^^chart;e the duties nf 
 oriiic upon this q lestion under Mr. Mac 
 kenzins retr ne, iiid although I am proud to 
 say that. wliHnevir he did anything that was 
 eni'led 'i> .-iip^virt [ gave him my hearty 
 as^istai c", it di'l not often occur it is tr e 
 but wliHiiHvci his iimp.isals were such as to 
 cninmend tlii'iiisHlves to my jndgm'nf I 
 
 fave li<in the best support in my power, 
 n deiding with the financial position, we 
 prop iiinled a sch'-me, and pledged ournelvps 
 thai if we w re returned to power we <vould 
 makn a ladital change in the fi-cil poll y of 
 the c>iinir\, hiid I believe onr <ipponents 
 ad I i'. tiiar. ive k'-pt .xir word, Wecarrie(J<iut 
 oui proin ses lo I he letter, perh i s a little 
 wiri'. We c lino back, as you know, bv the >-&t 
 (HI an ov. -'aheliniii)^ majority of ttieelectnrs of 
 Canada r-in end to end. A coiiiph-te revo- 
 Itttimi li.id taken place in the public senti- 
 meiit, an ' we ih-n addressed ourselveB, as 
 \^'.t n'l- o nil), to this great question, f will 
 not discuss »h it que>tion tn-nixht Ynu know 
 the rexiiii. You cannot look east, weat, north 
 
 cr south in the city t -day without seeing the 
 nioiiuinentH, in the growing and lising iiii:ua> 
 tiios of the city, which prove the wisiii n of 
 the National Policy. T think 1 am sale in 
 saying that no country ever prosp-ro I in so 
 threat and marvellous adegree as mi- c uiitry 
 has nndf r the policy to which 1 a Indr. I 
 was entrusted with the impm ant otiice of 
 Vlinister "f P'-'^'ic Works, ami iniiooueed a 
 eh.inge in the man.'igeinent of th'' Inieicolo 
 niai Railway, upon which I do not 
 intend to say much, as you are 
 all familiar with what occurred. Wtien 
 our government came into power in 1878 vou 
 know th.tt the year's deficit on tiie Intercoli 
 onial amounted to abou three qiiaiteis of a 
 million and that the average delict between 
 expenditure and ri. venue on the liiterooloiiial 
 
 aiiway was something like half a nidlion per 
 annum. 1 am (.mud to be able to s ly that 
 notwithstaiuiing that the tr.ide and business 
 oi that road huve expanded beyond the ex- 
 pectations of the most santfuine Iriend of the 
 liiterooloiiikl railw.vv, we hive be-n embled 
 to balance the ace uiitand to show a balance 
 last year of snnje ninethou-and dollars on the 
 right side of tlu ledger instead of iialf a mil- 
 lion on the wrong sidi , and I have no 
 hesitation in sayin..' that at the close ol this 
 fiscal yeat we will find that we have main- 
 tained, if we have not bet'e ed our position, 
 although the trattic has increased to the » x 
 tent of no le?8 during the pist year *han 
 $400,000. Tliis ro.,d has accomplished nmre 
 lor t e country than any pei^on »vei con 
 ceived it could acct.mplish and it has accomp- 
 lished it without anything beiiiK cliars;eable 
 tor the operation of the road. I have no 
 hesitation in sayini; that just 
 
 as I maintained when I first 
 I'litered public life that h w.is perfectly 
 safe for the province to construct ro ids 
 although they did not pay a ci-nt over woi k • 
 iiiK expenses, because the trad and business 
 
 if the country would expand and give you 
 more revenue than you would be chaiged for 
 the int' rest on the cost, so in rela'ion to the 
 Intercolonial Railway, although it does not 
 p.iv the country directly, im person Ci*n 
 estimate the importance to this country of 
 drawing; together its vari' us iiidiistrieH ex>< 
 of panding and developing the buiiness of the 
 country as hiw been donethioii^tt the agency 
 the Intercolonial Railway, and, as 1 haves(«id 
 bpforp, without any charge for the o|jeration 
 of the load. 
 
 in relation t ' the Canadian P cific Rail- 
 way we reverted to our original policy. 
 That was that the road si ould be constructed 
 by a company, aided by a grant of land and 
 money, We felt however that the Mhole 
 project had become so ci inpltttely dis- 
 credited during the five years regi e of 
 our opponents that it wna abolutely 
 useless to ask any company or individual 
 to invest a dollar in such a w<irk,— that 
 the first tf ing to do inust be to proceed 
 with it as a government work, to irrapple 
 with the most difficult and iitiportan sections 
 of the line, and show that wu intended to 
 have it c<implet d from end t end and 
 steadily cirried (.it an a Canadian railway. 
 The result was that although our opponents 
 were very incredulous contenoin that a 
 hundred million acres of land would do 
 nothing, although they were utterly in* 
 srodulous, wo went steadily forward uutB 
 
(12) 
 
 th") mo4t emm<4nt capitalists of our own i 
 country, as well as oi-lier countri^'s, were 
 COM viiic-)(l that It WM ri'itoiily itracticabl'', 
 bu ttiat with the gvoAt, North-Wosc to ba 
 df v^lo|Jed, it was a perfectly xafe and 
 aoiiiiil uiiii'^rtrikiiu; and hivin^j; placed th it 
 work ill i.h->.t, pos'iioii we were enabled to 
 arr tn/e for tiie c •nstnictio of that roa I 
 upon turuM that I hive no hesitation in 
 saviniT, althoui^h everytlnng m changed now, 
 a1thout;h the proxreHs that has been 
 in.ide h;k4 tii^en en irmou-i additional Vdlue 
 to the Jairis, there is no fair-mindi'd 
 m vn. —no man who is not b'indr^d with pirii 
 zan^nip that does not know th.it niif of the 
 gre itH.st and be.st thinf^s ever ac oinplinhed in 
 the interestsof ' lanadawan tliecoritractfortne 
 C'>tiitruc'.i>>n of the Oana<iian PaciSc Kailwuy- 
 ^Chjrrs. Ni project ever took a more com- 
 pb'te holu upon he pubic tnnid and senti 
 nit^nt than that gii^antic work noon the basis 
 up m which ir is no v placed. By that woik 
 the position of Ca ada has l>een changed to 
 an extHiit of which it would have bnen im- 
 possible for any pers in to ti ive ilream-^d fnui- 
 or hvrt yeirs a>('. The position that the 
 Country h is ob airied, the stan linii; a'iroad 
 that it h.i3 secured, tiianks to the able and 
 eloqu *nt niauner in which o ir government 
 has l>-3Hn represeni.ed by my h.'in. iriend ISir 
 Alex mder (lalt, the posilioii that e occupy 
 in the mind of the Imp-^rial (^ ivernm^'nt, and 
 in relati'in to 'hnpressof the Mother Oouiitry, 
 and ni the esiimation of i.'ie mist int»ll,t;ent 
 people of that cm try is just as diff rent 
 to-(iay as could possibly be conceived 
 frmn the pocitiun in which we stood a few 
 yea's ago. 
 
 Now I do not intend to detain you 
 at any lengih in relation to the contro- 
 ver-iies th it h-ive arisen in connection 
 with the CanadiiU P.iciKc Railway. But 
 Ij may say this that as this is the first 
 tim-t thar. a Minister of the CroWH 
 has had ih>^ opportunity of addresiiing a 
 large represent. iiive a seiiibly like this, lean 
 hardly sit do>vn wit,hout a passing reference 
 to a new scmdal known as the section B 
 BCimlal. Ir, would perhaps be more appro^ 
 priat« It I were to call it thn new sl-inder. 
 Nithing perhaps has occurred in this cor.n'ry 
 thit has demonstrated more fully and 
 Completely the f>illy of any p trtioii of the 
 puttlic press of the country our.rdging pubdc 
 opinio) than the reception with which this 
 slander has been met. Wtiy is it that 
 broadcist over this int.e|ii>;ent count.'v, a 
 cmntry filled with a body of as intelligent 
 tn n as are to be found in any portio'i of the 
 civiliz 'd W'irtd, a c luntvv where there is as 
 hi/h-toned a "Htiriment of pui)lic moralitv as 
 is to >e found in any uominunity in the civi- 
 liz-til world, wliy is that cha ges m;Mle in this 
 8|X!cifio in inner with all these details have 
 simply amuse 1 tli^ p ople? VVhy is it that 
 there is little criticism and no excitement? If 
 these charges were true, if miy iiiie of you 
 
 f gentlemen - eieve 1 that this slander pub- 
 ished in the cilumns of the Toronto "Globe" 
 ncwsptper had a scintilla of truth vou 
 Would not be here to-mgh'. to do me honor, — 
 no man of you would be here. I resimct you 
 too much to believe that a single in <n would 
 be sitting here dolni; honor to a Minister of 
 he (jrown in C uiada if you believed there 
 was the sliirhest shad >w of truth in this vile 
 slander. (Cheers). Why is it tha thi« gmi^ 
 
 org in of a gre" i pnlitical pirl.v is treated 
 with this ovf r>vhelmning unutt.eriilile c>n' 
 temp', from one end of this coun ry to the 
 other? I will tell you why. It is because 
 they have systematically outraged the om- 
 IV III sense and intelligence ot this c nniry 
 ntil they rtre powerless to injiire mivbody, 
 I say with deep regret that a s romrer illustra- 
 tion c >uld not and cannot occur to provu that 
 it is ini,)i)ssible f ir anything to be inorn in- 
 ju ioiH to a political party than lor the liine 
 to com ( when the utterances of its leaiera 
 and Its press are trea^^d wi.li dis'oelief 
 and contempt. I say, sir, tlMt the very 
 found iti'in of our system is a wisp and 
 watch'iil, and vigorous opp isi ion, and I svy 
 th-it it is only by theoppii.> tion pnr-uing that 
 course that they are entitled to i he resiioot or 
 conKdenco of any pe.rson. ^Vhy is it that 
 neither Edward Klake nor Alexander \l,i,C- 
 kenzie, nor any min in the ranks behind 
 them, h IS been found to endorse diiriin; the 
 I "St five years one ol those lyiiitf i-ldiiders of 
 he "Globe?' Because they know cmi woll, 
 E witrd Blike knows ton well, and .Mr. 
 Mackenzie knows too w.-ll that it would be 
 atal to their position >o lead 'is ol a great 
 pirry, weie they for a iinnneii' to commit 
 themselves to statements they vereumiliie to 
 -ustain ; that the inoiiient they g'Ve a 
 shadow of countenance to statements that 
 they knew to be without foiindati ii it would 
 oiilv bring down contempt upon iheir 
 heads when they should liave tie stroi g- 
 ' est and nio-t perfect case to pre- 
 sent. Therefore they are too wise, even 
 if they viere not also to ' high-minded, inde- 
 pendent and honorable, as I belirve th'-iii to 
 be, lo lend the weight of their n.imes to uny 
 of the miserable slanders that have b-en 
 iiivent.'d and circulated hv cert^tin sections 
 of their party press. Now, what are the 
 facts ill reference to the socilled secnon B. 
 scandal? When we came into powir we 
 found that a hundred and euhtyfive mi'es of 
 theThunier Bay section of the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway were not undHr contract. 
 Mr. .Mackenzie had placed a Immlied and 
 twelve miles eastfrom Red R'ver, imil a hun- 
 dred and twelve miles west from Tnunder 
 Bav, under contrac*^^, and there w s a gap of 
 a hundroil »nil eighty-five miles of difficult 
 and impassable country lying betwteii, and 
 the whole money expended on the two 
 portions under contract and in course of 
 construction was uttet-ly useless until this 
 gap was filled up and comp'e ed. Tiat wan 
 the po-iiion. Mr. Mack nzie had had snrf 
 veyors for a considerable leiigih of 
 time on these 18.5 miles. Now, what was 
 the first thinur we did? We put under 
 contract those 185 miles that were abs'lnte- 
 ly essential in order to make this expenditure 
 worth anything at all. Tliere weie no 
 inh ibitaiits from one end ot the line to 
 the o h"r, — nothing but a fe Indiana 
 to b:' found, and the only way to reach 
 the fertile shores of Red River, and 
 connect os with the great North-West 
 ihrou/h Canadian territorv was by the con- 
 strue ion of this gap which we, therefore, 
 c insid jred lo be of the most vital iinportance 
 to the progress of the o untry. Tenders for 
 the Construction of the road dine in and 
 what did I do with them? Did I touch th >se 
 tenders? No I passed them intothe handi< of 
 Mr. Trudeau, my Deputy Miui;:)ter, » 
 
(13) 
 
 man of high character and stantlinir, 
 and of lib'ral prnclivir.ies it ia Raid. All I 
 can siv iM that I liave found him a man of 
 great .ibilitv mid untarnished honor, upon 
 who.-e fi'leliiy iind iiitfgiity I can rely with 
 thrt utiuosr, confidoiice. I placed thpin in his 
 han(i-<, ttiid in thw handti of iSauford Fleming, 
 who I nm hiippv to «ee sitting at this fe tiYe 
 boa.d ti)-iiiglii,(Ciiefr .) — a gentleman who to- 
 day — ^111(1 Irtiy It leirlesHlvandunhesitttingly 
 wh'> to-day eiij lyn liie unqu:»lified conlideiice 
 of *.he (loveiiiinent of Canada, and is 
 esteemed a man of the greatest ability ^nd 
 the III ist Htfiling integrity by every man 
 whoi-e opinion is worth anything from end 
 to end I f the Doinininn. The tenders weie 
 pluRB(l in hi8 haiid-i and in the hands of 
 his msi-tant., vlr. Mircus Smith, wi ii in-* 
 BtiUfti.iii- to report. They reported that 
 Morse & Co were unequal to the work; 
 that AiKirews, Jones * Co., so far as they 
 cou'ii learn, wer-i entirely unequal to the 
 work; that the first available tender they 
 came to was that of Fraser, Grant a 
 Pitblido — the firit men that they believeU 
 were able to deal with such a contract at 
 all. VVhit (lid I do? Suppose I had taken 
 their advict? They recommended to the 
 Goveriiuient to pans over Morse & Co , and 
 Andrnws. Jones & Co., and trive the c >n- 
 tract til Friser, (Jrint & Pitblado. We did 
 not tiik'! tlifir iidvice. We said it was quite 
 tru •■ Hint it w;is of the highest importance 
 to pus^ tht* w.irk with vigor, but. we said, j 
 we tiave lid p;ed a test of the bona jides oi 
 tenders and of the ability of those 
 who make them. We have said that 
 if they deposit a certain sum of money 
 that sliows ih ir bona fides and that if when 
 called upon thev depo it five per cent, f the 
 gro ■( amount of tlio contract that shows their 
 abil ty, Wh had fixed the test and thertiforo 
 we disrefrirded what we knew to be p rfectly 
 sound advice and we said to them, ))Ui;up the 
 m( ney. They c u'd not put up five per cent. 
 — nor neper cent. We said to Andrews, 
 Jinies & Co , who declared that they had the 
 money ready, put p your money and if you 
 do BO within so matiy days you shall have the 
 contract. Now why did wo limit '^' an to a 
 very short period? Because I tia Mr. 
 Fl>-min^f'.-< written statement that to lose a 
 weeK would probably result in the loss of a 
 ye:ir, tliMt just at that time if we did not 
 make a contract and let them eet in their sup- 
 plies before the trost came out they could not 
 att.e pt to proceed for twelve months We 
 gave them more lir.ie and at the end of that 
 time they c uld not p'lt up the money. They 
 had eigiit days and at the end of eight 
 days they had not put up the money but 
 they got .\[orse * Co.. whose tender had been 
 passed over, to put up a part of it. 
 liut they were unable to put up the money. 
 Under these circnmstances we cal ed upon 
 FranerGrint & Pitblado who within three 
 days deposited the $200,000. 'I he cimtract 
 is now practically finished and cars are 
 running daily over this track built, in the 
 face of gigantic tliflRculties, and yet to this 
 hour fr-ui that hour I have b^en abused 
 beciiu-*e, as it is alleged, I pas ed over lower 
 tenrlers in order to give my friends that 
 contriict. Now those contractors were no 
 more mv friends than they are vours, Mr 
 Chairman. Fraser, I knew slightly. I 
 barely knew him by aigbt. I bad never 
 
 fi'ceiv»d tba slightest favour in the world 
 from him althoug^i I nnder-it lo ! th »t he was 
 a Conservative. Gran^, I did not know by 
 sight. I had met hi in but once. And 
 Pitblado I onl.y knew as a very violent 
 political opponent and a man u ho had d me 
 all he could a.l his life o keep me out of 
 power. Y«t for five lon»f years ttie "Globe" 
 has rung the changes up^m ' my friends." 
 Fraser, tirant & Pitblado; and y>u can 
 understand what sort of a cause it is that a 
 great paper must have when it stoops to the 
 retailing for five years of that which it knows 
 to be one of the most lying slanders. Why 
 do they call these men my iriends? For the 
 purpose of m iking it appear that I ussisted 
 to get this contract. u»'. fairly into their hands. 
 Yet they repeat this slander notwithstanding 
 the fsct that Sanford Fleming in his report 
 stated tnat they were the on y 
 men d wn to their tender that 
 could begin to grapple with that woik. 
 They associated with themselves Manning, 
 McDonalti & C >., ar.d I was very g ad they 
 did so. This w:is a cotitract. of lonr millions 
 of dollars, and whi h, in addition to putting 
 tip two hundred housand dollar'',r< quired that 
 they should command a half million of moiiey 
 at once to enable them to do anything at all 
 upon this work. And, sir, there never was,— 
 it would be impos-nble for ai y public man or 
 an.y Minister of the Crow.i ever to tiike 
 greater care and pain* for the protection of 
 the public interest than we did. They said 
 they had associated Mannini?, MclJimald & 
 Company with them. I knew McDonald 
 was aKood contractor, and that Mannint; was 
 a man of wealth, and I was very glad to hear 
 that they had entered into this arrantement. 
 We grave them the contract. Now what ones 
 the "Globe" say? It says that Sir Charles 
 Tupper, who would iiot trive Andrews, Jones 
 & Company a few days morw to put up the 
 money, could Rive Fraser, Giant & Piibaldo 
 three weeks to sijn the cotitract. Why, sir, 
 they know perfectly wtll tlni' Mr Mackenzie 
 let scores of contracts rem in unsigned 
 for a much longer erii d, and men went to 
 work the moment they were told that they 
 shtmld have the contract, and in many cases 
 the contract was not siij-ned f.r cm nths 
 flfterwsrds, until it had be^m to a large 
 extent pertormed. They kn> w that the only 
 important thing was to settle the contract, 
 and capital would be at work at once, and 
 that the sitrnaUire had no'liin^to do with 
 the matter, except as a mere for ■ alitv. The 
 contract was p>acticaily iinule he moment 
 the deposit was in our liands, and we did not 
 (five tti'-m one moment more than Andiews, 
 Jtinesft; Co got to puf up the money. Vet 
 for four years the '"(ilobe'' has rung the 
 changps as to ciTiuptio and favoritism in 
 regard to this matter! I hve no hesitation 
 in savin? that, after twenty-eiyht years of 
 public life, in which I hav« striven with all 
 the power that God has given n e to make a 
 character and r putaiion for n yelf 1 would 
 stake my whole charncter upon ihe htting of 
 tliese two contracts, under an exsmination by 
 the most eminent tn^dnceis nrd the ablest 
 business men that can be f> un<t. ((>reat 
 cheering.) Well, sir, they say that thesa 
 people have been assisted, that the govern- 
 ratiit have reoonped them, that w« oiitained 
 from them Isrge sums of m >n y for election 
 purposes. Now, 1 ought to know something 
 
(14) 
 
 about that; the tiioney all goes thrnmtb iny 
 hands that t'lny re eive, and ( know that 
 they never rect ived a dollar that whm nr<t 
 C^riifiri'l to by Spiifiird FlmninK or Collinj?- 
 woixl Schrbilirr, and I believe that tho:«b 
 who knixv these gentlemen know very veil 
 thiit yi'U cannot get very much money 
 through titlic-r of tiiem without enrnirig it 
 (Cher rri and laughter) They ne.vr received 
 one HJiixle. dollar that wa ii<>t receivid upon 
 the ce'*,iHcae of the Chief Eigineer that the 
 mon V wax earner! under the c >ntra"t. I5ut 
 it is said that the engineer was leniovtid,, 
 Well, when I was m Kngland Jennings wan 
 tmiisferred in Bri'i-h Cohmibia, that in 
 qnite true. The i-niitract rs ciiiiilained of 
 the engineer and I never had the good for- 
 tune to get through a coutract yet without 
 some griiinhling against the engineers. I 
 believe it is a chronic mood on the part of 
 the (onti»icl(rp in enrJeavorin to advance 
 their interestB to say that the engineers have 
 dealt uiifairlv with 'hem. My Iriend Mr. 
 Flentiii) , with the best intentions in the 
 world, x'lth the view of accomplishing the 
 saving ot a lart^e amount of public money, 
 knowing I hat the^e two contracts run over 
 this 185 miles through a most dithcult coun 
 try and believinur th^t it would be poKgib!e to 
 improve the siirv^ys and effect a large sav- 
 ing of money, wr-'te a letter to Jeiinini/ii, the 
 enginenr of one section, and to Mr. Caddy, 
 the engineer of another section to say thai 
 he would guarantee to them that they Khould 
 receive a percentagp, — I forget how much, a 
 small percentage— upon all the money they 
 would save by the improvement of the line 
 What was the resiih? We tock the position 
 that by a careful re-location on the ground 
 by a htaff of ei gineers a large nuio nt of 
 money could be saved. This was done, and I 
 have no hesitation in naying that a thing 
 that was never heard of before was accon.- 
 plished in Canada,— that we completed these 
 two contracts with a million and one-half of 
 dollars in the treasury under the amount at 
 wiich the work was contracted! I believe 
 that the work was greatly stimulated by the 
 exert i ns m<>de and letters writtten by 
 Mr. Fleming. He wrote them without nry 
 knowledge; the government did not know 
 that he had wri ten them. Hs was himse'f 
 alone rel'pon^ible, and wa<( prompted by the 
 deep interest that he took in the work, and it 
 was only when he severed his connecti n with 
 the government that the letters were placed 
 in my hands, and I c died upon the govern- 
 nient to » ssiime the responsribility. The con 
 tractors then c imp ained, and said that the 
 en ineer was doing them a gross injustice, 
 and that the reason he did it was that le had 
 an absolute d rect monetary intere'<t in the 
 ncatter. They said, you are reducing the 
 work that we were entitled to perfortn over a 
 m llion dollars, and we are not getting fair 
 play, but Mr. Jennings was not transferred 
 on that account, tie was not transferred till 
 the time came when Mr. Caddy, who was a 
 bigh-mindid, able and honorable man, was 
 appointed to take charge of both sections, — 
 the work having been su far advanced that 
 one enginefr could attend to both sections. 
 Then p question arose with refe ence 
 to measurements. They claimed that 
 an injustice had resulted from the 
 meapurement". Mr. Schreiber said, " I will 
 tike pains to aaoertaia whether the meaBure» 
 
 m^^nts are correct or not.'' ^e heiit two 
 geutleiiiHii of high standing and cliaiMCi.i r, 
 M''. Bell and Mr. Donkiii for tliH purp isu rif 
 having mot coiiciu-nive evidence i i his 
 possession as to the actual am iiiiit • f woik 
 (lone by the contractofs. When wo made 
 thi^e exertions fur the piipose ot ueiting 
 the lowl open a year or t-vo nooner than we 
 etherMiMU could, by chan^iiig the cliaiacter 
 of the work the cuntraciorH claiiiie<l it 
 was an injustice to them, aiid the govrTniin'iit 
 ag>°eed tha when the work w.ts ciuipleted it 
 .should b'l left to an indeptiiuleiit artiiiiatloo 
 to say what was right between iiiitn ami immii. 
 Were these facts > oncenh'd in any way? 
 No; on the floor of Pariiiiment I stated 
 them. I told Mr. Blake that, tiie c<>n!r.ict<'rs 
 had complainrd of the nlea^urelnellt^, and 
 we had agreed t> take the work our. ot the 
 hands o< the Contractors for the purpoi-e of 
 giving the people of Canad.t. the Oviflit of 
 the use of that road this suiiiui' r. Wlieu I 
 tell you of the enormous liile of tr.ivel ai.<l 
 traffic that is pouring into the North-West, 
 and that we c.mld get in lix thiys troio 
 Toronto to VVinni[)eg freight th.it c luld 
 nut go around via 8t. Paul, in six 
 weeks, you can understaml wh.at it 
 is for the p ople of ihe Koii.h West 
 and for the people of Canada to liavti that 
 road open. The only way of having it 
 open this year was the c ur.se wo p'.i.tii'''d. 
 That was to settle with the contract. ir.s. F r 
 this r.tason: Thty could not run the, road 
 after the first of July asthe.ir conir.ict ter» 
 minate'i, and it was impns.-'ihle wittioiit 
 destruction of life and property to have 
 one company constiuctii g the road, and 
 another operating it. I said, we uid iak« 
 this road out of your haii is and piy voii 
 for it, an! pass it over t the C.iii idian 
 Pacific Riiiv,,iy and settle with them. Tin sa 
 facts were stated, and appro ed of liy VI r. 
 Blake and eveiy member ot the House of 
 Commons, because every man could see that 
 the road was taken, not in t>ie interest if 
 any individual or company, liiii-. in the in- 
 tetest of t* o Country itself. What was the 
 KrstHtp? I said: Give me a statement of 
 the terms upon which you are williMir ^o 
 settle with me for the three hundied 
 thousand that remains. They rixjiiiied 
 that they should be paid fifteen per cent. 
 on Aiat amount. I said wh)? lliey sai I, 
 because of tlie money that we have expended 
 in the preparation t ' perf rm ih it wo k tor 
 which we n >w get nothing. We put in 
 steam shovels, and established works to put 
 us in a position in which we c mid iii..ka 
 mone.v; hitherto we have been losing inonev, 
 now we have reached a point at which it is 
 Otwsiole to make a profit. I d* not pret ml 
 to judge of a question of that kind, i huid> 
 ed it to the Chief Engineer ami told hiia 
 to make me a report. Tney required us to 
 come in and take the rolliig stck off their 
 han'ts. I said, we will not d.iit;you mu t 
 sell that yourself for what it u wor h; 1 will 
 only oeal with you in regard to the contract 
 that I have made. Mr. Schreiber eporled 
 that they were entitled to the fifteen per 
 cent, on their work, bui'. that it ouuht to 
 come off < f the Pacifio Railway C' mpany 
 into whose hands the werk was givi n. I 
 said, send for Mr. Van Home who was con- 
 nected wit ! the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 Company. I said to bim, "there are tb« 
 
(15) 
 
 terms which my Chief^engineer oays are fair 
 terms, —that is*, to ay fifteen pit cnnt. <•" 
 tliM w< rk that remains to be done." Mr. 
 V.in linrn admitted thai the a rai gKi.icnt 
 wax a fair and nasmiahle one, and that they 
 Fhould (ill it, and th« Canadian Pdcific Kail 
 way Company puichased the rohiiiK atnck 
 of ilieir own inotinn. It wan a thinK^it^h 
 winch we had noiliing to do. There i« thn 
 whole statement; and out of that transiC- 
 tion, Ht:iled f.iirly in the presence of 
 Mr. lilike, Hnd approved of by every mem 
 ber ot liie fluUMe of Commoii«, the^e lying 
 Rcandiils h ive been concocted, bec.iUHe they 
 thoUKht I had gone out of the country; that 
 I WIS b-yoiid thH'r reach and would not b' 
 on the spot to give them their ariH>vei'. 
 
 Thmi for the purpose of showing that 
 I was willing to rob the country^ in 
 the int> rests of Fraser & '"o., they 
 said I had forced Whitehead into partner" 
 ship with them and then taken the 
 w.iik into the hands of the eovernment. 
 Tnii Ts not only not true, but it happens to 
 be the reverse 'of truth. Whitehead entered 
 into .i deed of c i-partnership with Kr.tser 
 and (rrant. They brought d -wn the deed of 
 CO' partnership to me at Oo uwa to ratiiy, I 
 refused, and snid you cannot go into partner 
 ship at all, OHicause we cannot; recognise any 
 person ATiih Whitehead, since wo have one 
 hundred thousand dollars security for the 
 exeuvion of thn contract, and if we allow 
 him to take in a pirtner it will vitiate t* e 
 security. They therefore made the contract 
 without my knowledge, and I refused to 
 raiily it. But in the meantime they had 
 advanced Whitehead twenty five thousand 
 dollars. Mr. L nh was the U,;puty Minister 
 of Justice, Mr. Blake's former partner, now 
 in Mr. Bl -ke's office, whom Mr. Blake will 
 say IS not only an able lawy r, but as high- 
 minded a man as lives in Canada. Ji.very 
 dollar wa^ paid by Mr. Lash because I did 
 not have anything to do with it, since I 
 said t was a legal question. 
 The proceeds of Mr. Whitehead'^* plant 
 were put in Mr. Lash's hands, and he 
 disposed of the money Every dollar 
 that J*\a8er & Grant got they got from Mr. 
 L ish as Deputy Mini^ter of Justice; ana it is 
 out of such material at that that this paper 
 ventures to manufacture that statement. 
 Now, what about the monc^ forthe eleetionij? 
 It would not be at all surpiising if Mr. Man- 
 ning, who is a wealthy man, ccmtiihtited to 
 the • lections. I believe that it is the OntHrio 
 elections they allude to. Mr. Shies, before he 
 went into mtracling at all. Was a wholesale 
 grocer in I oronto, one of the most aciive and 
 energetic members of the part; to be found 
 in the Dominion. Mr. Macdooald was a 
 Gonsi^rvative, and it would not be at all etir- 
 prising if they ron ributed; but I say his 
 op nly and above board, in the presHnoi^ of 
 this company, whence I suppose my words 
 will be carried on the wings of the press to 
 every corner of the D miinion of Canada: I 
 am not aware *<i their having contributed 
 a single dol ar for party purposes. I 
 have been Minister of Publio Works and 
 Minister of Riiways and Canals since 
 1878, and I say that from the hour 
 I entered ofGca down to this hour, if 
 tbey will show asing'e inetance in which I 
 ever {wrsonally enefited myself, or ever 
 received one dollar for my party from any 
 
 c mtractor, T will consent ^o he driven with 
 disgrace out of public liie. I kne <. this, that 
 from the h^ur 1 bhould accept a contnbution 
 for party purposes from a contractor, diro<;tly 
 or indirectly, I should be his Muvo ill^teaLi 
 of his master, and from the hour when I 
 entered upon the duties of these offices I 
 never had a traiiHacliou with a coin actor, 
 and never exchanged a word that i would 
 not have been glad to have Mr. 
 Mackenzie on the one side of ma 
 and Mr. B)».ke on the other. 
 When year af er year for long ybars 
 this paper and other port ions nf heir 
 press had filled the country with lying slan- 
 ders in reference to the Canadiif Pacifio 
 Bailway, the Government uppointtd a 
 Royal Commission, and that K ^yal Commis- 
 sion sat and examined every person that they 
 had any reason to suppose had any connection 
 with any contract. 1 appeared beiom that 
 Koyal Cominissi(m and gave ray sworn tesii- 
 moiiy. hvery contractor was put up >n the 
 stand and was jsked whether there was an/ 
 interest on the part of the Government, or 
 any member of it, in connection wnli ihe 
 contract hat he had. Eveiy perMtn they 
 ct.uld get hold of was called bnforo the Coiii'< 
 mission, and instead of sustaining one jot or 
 tittle ot the lying slanders, there in that re- 
 port oi the volumes of t 'dence taken b fore 
 the Royal Commission, v ,a will find ihat al- 
 ter examining anybof*/ and eveiybody who 
 could be buppored to be cognizaiiu of any 
 facts bearing upon the inquiry, sit far from 
 thi re being one word of truth or one 
 particle of fotmdatiun for those ^lHndera it 
 was the very reverse. So complete wm ih-i 
 refutation that no man in Parliament was 
 found to endorse (me of their 'landers, and 
 is there any stronger evidence iliau that 
 leaders of the Lit>eral party should allow 
 these thiiikfs to go unchallenged assuming 
 them to be true? is there any man who doe.-i 
 not know that if Mr. Blake or Mr. Mackenzie 
 could establi h any of those charges it would 
 Le the greatest thing for theins. Ives that 
 C'lull possibly be done. It has never been 
 attempted on thefl lor of the U'lUse. I li.ive 
 ag.tin and at;ain told those gentlemen that I was 
 ready for the mst exhaustive examination hy 
 a comuiitteof ihemselves,(m sworn testimony, 
 buotothis hour there has never been a man 
 found within the walls of Parliament to 
 endorse one of those slanders. And what is 
 i the consequence ? That the "Globe" news 
 ' paper to day, that should be a powei in the 
 land, whioh as the organ of a great party, 
 should have immense power throughout this 
 conntiy, as is powerles-s to deal with any real 
 act of wnmg or injustice, as it is possible for 
 a j lurnal to be. Any man in this country 
 may do anything he chooses in the conduct of 
 his politic il life, and they are powe<les8 
 to bring him to the bar of public op ni')n, 
 becauae they have outraged that I'ublio 
 opinion so long t^y gross and m^li^nant 
 fal^eho >d, that no person pays the sliKhtert 
 attention to anything they say. (Cheers) 
 When the examination upon the C. P. 
 R. Commission was going on the 
 * 'Globe" hinted that if the Com- 
 missioners would call upon this man or 
 summon that man befare them, they would 
 be able to learn something about the Miatier. 
 I cut the paragraph out and I asked the 
 Commis ion to call every man that had been 
 
(16) 
 
 named. They did so, and instead of being 
 able to Hiiatiiin the chiirHfe, they them^elveu 
 adin tted r.tmt there was no ground for them. 
 Thfii the Secretary of the Commission wrote 
 to the "Globe," Ffqaesting them, if they 
 ciinltl, lo name some person who would 
 givH «vi leiice to substantiate he cliari^es 
 that had bemi m ide. They said th^-y did 
 not knovv anything about it, that thav had 
 heard these thin s mentioned, but had no 
 per.si ?i il knowledife ef them. I hope, there- 
 for^, ihir. you will excuse me from dealing; 
 any fur, tier wth Kuc'i mitters, bun it was 
 impiii4>ible tor me to sit down withou dea'ii g 
 at siiiue lena^tti with a matter of sucii 
 vital importance to the reputation and 
 char.icttr lit i,he pubic men of this countrv. 
 1 iiKiy r>ay tiiat I have endeavored through- 
 out tliii c>iir.-»e of mj publ o life to ijive s>-uie 
 eviiieiicH tl) it I was not wildly ambitions or a 
 niHrooiiary p)liticiaa as the "Globe" has 
 Call-d me. Ln.t me allude tn one or two 
 further nistancrts that do not exactly beir 
 out that characi'r When I declined to go 
 into I he ciliiiit^t Sir John, Sir Alexander and 
 their C'lleiigues very kindly offHrel me the 
 po.sitioii ot Chiiiniian <:; the Inteicolonial 
 KuKviiy O.'iiiiiiiissi'in, which would havw en- 
 abled uie to occupy my seat in parliament 
 and would hivej^iven me $-1000 a year. The 
 offi :e was sut)-eqiieiitly conferred upon Mr. 
 Walsh. 1 tliaiiked them very much for th'^ir 
 kiudiiesd but Slid that until the confidence of 
 thH people of Nova Scotia was restored I 
 would not accept any offi e or position in the 
 country, and 1 never did. I did not take the 
 posiiiou • f Pre-i(ieiit of the Council and mem- 
 ber of the C iiiiiiet unti a majority of the. 
 members trom the Pro\ince came tome and 
 asked me to do so as the greatest favor I could 
 do ihein Hiid the greatest benefit I could con- 
 fer upon the province. My present position 
 I think d les ii )t oear out the charge that I 
 have b''eii excessively mercenary. I have 
 Dot sp .ro') myself or my heabh in th-^ exert- 
 ions of pub 10 life. In 1881 the strain of 
 course was very great in parliament when 
 tlie Pacific Railway measure was carried. 
 Mr. Blake a very able and powerful man 
 adopted during the recess of par lament, the 
 policy of making a direct appeal to the people 
 and of course I was obliged to follow him. I 
 was obliged at a very inclement seas n to 
 address great audiences in London, in Tor- 
 onto and subsequently in Montreal. I be- 
 lieve the exertions tnat I was compelled to 
 make outside of parliament, as well as 
 inside, did a good deal to settle the 
 public mind in reference to that great and 
 important question. But I found myself at 
 the close of the session in a very bad state of 
 health. 1 went to England to consult there 
 the most eminent pbysici ns, uho told me 
 that I must choose between having my lile 
 very greanly shortened and having to relax 
 mv Hppl'cation to my parliamentary duties. 
 When therefore, Sir Alexander Gait wrote to 
 Sir John Macdonald to say that he wished to 
 resign the hiith office he he d, that it was 
 not in his power owing to private reasons 
 
 Sersonal to himself, to remain, I said to Sir 
 ohn that I thcm^ht. that if I wan oblit;ed to 
 leave psrliament, I could find a field of 
 usefulness in the discharge of the duties of 
 than otlicc which would not involve the 
 necessity of ray retiring altogether fr-m 
 public life. I need not say that the very 
 
 thought of severing my connection with my 
 conslituenc tttat had for twenty-eight years 
 O'tntinuously elected me a representative, and 
 had stood by me through evil and (?ood rejiort, 
 both in and out of power, caused me the 
 severest possible pang. (Cheers.) I deoj^ly 
 regret that the illness of my wife has Iliads it 
 impossible for me to visit my c unty to the 
 extent that I had contemplated. Sir John at 
 once sail to me, t> at wtiile he woul t part 
 " iili me as a m mber of tl.e Cak>inet with 
 theiireatest regret, of conr-^e I know that any 
 position in the service of the country was at 
 my dispo.sal, and that he would only be too 
 happy to meet my wibhes. He desired Sir 
 Alexander however, to retain oflice for a 
 longer period, but the longest period that we 
 could induce him to remain in that ])osition 
 was down to t e first of this month. 
 It was then arrang d and expecned 
 that I would leave oarliamentary life for 
 a time at alt events, and seek in 
 a change of air and abseiicd from parliament- 
 Hry duties a restoration to health. I may 
 say that this matter lik<?all slate secrets, 
 leaked out, and the c un'ry became v ry 
 much agitated. The very kir.d notices that 
 appeared in the Conservative press without 
 a s'gle exception from oneeniii of the country 
 to the other, and the strong feeling that 
 existed on the part of the nn'mbers support- 
 ing t e government both in thrt Se.iate and 
 in the House of Commons and especially 
 among the membeis from my own province 
 all operated very strongly upon my mind, 
 and having been enab ed to ab- 
 sent myself from the House of Commons 
 thnnigh the kindness of Mr. Mckenzie, who 
 very obligingly paired off with me at the 
 commenc ment, as neither of 'us wms very 
 well, so thit we both went home while our 
 colleagues were fighting the buttlt s into the 
 small hours beyond the twi', — I found my 
 health very much better. With my returnring 
 health Sir Jo n said thoy all reganied my 
 absence as so serious, they hoped I would 
 not conclude to sever niy coiiritciion with the 
 cabinet and parliament, bu would go to 
 London aud enjoy there iho benefit of 
 changing air and be enabled to come back 
 and take my seat by his side duiimrthe 
 next session of parliament. (Cheers.) I am 
 t;lad to say that tbere was not a 3olleai;ne, 
 at the council board, that there wa.& not a 
 member of the Houseuf Cor.Miions or a mem- 
 ber of the Senate from any of the priivinces of 
 of this wide Dominion, supporting us, but 
 joined in that desire, and I believe I am safe 
 111 saying that not only the gentlemen who 
 are doing me this great honor to-night, but 
 the great mass of the people of Nova Siotia, 
 irresi)ective of P«»ty, joined in 
 
 the sentiment and desired that I should 
 be enabled to retain my position. I 
 know that many of my stroniest political 
 opp ments, gentlemen who would fetl it their 
 duty if there was a general election to do all 
 they could to restore their party to power 
 have said in the most open and unqualified 
 way that while the Conservative party is in 
 power they wish to see me in the position I 
 occupy. It is a very proud position for me 
 to occupy to feel that I have been enabled by 
 a zealous course of doing all that was in my 
 power for the interests of mv country to 
 stand to>d ty in the confide ice and I 
 belidve in the Affections of the people uf this 
 
(17) 
 
 country t^n in any prjvious period of my 
 life. If anything woul i disooura.e the orxana 
 of the Ooposition in the dissemination of 
 their malignant inventions I should think 
 thst the futility of the'r efforts would do 
 so. Had I beer so very mercenary as this 
 onrao represent a, I would hardly have pre- 
 ferred to doubL my duties at $7000 
 instctad of taking my prede- 
 cessors position at $14,000. My 
 position as a member of Parliament 
 prevents me from touching one dollar 
 of the $10,000 of halary whinh the 
 Commissioner m London receives, as against 
 the $7000. which is the salary of a Cabinet 
 Minister. So that in electing to do double 
 work at the salary of $7000 when I miarht 
 have discharged the duties of only one office 
 and taken $14,000, I have hardly sustained 
 that extremely mercenary character that this 
 paper gives me credit for. (Cheers.) In 
 assuming the duties of my office I am afraid 
 that Sir Alex, Gait, whom I have too long 
 kept youfrom listening to tonight, has by the 
 manner in which he has discharged the duties 
 of his office made it a very difficult one for 
 any successor to occupy. I feel that I 
 shall be placed at a very great disadvantage 
 and I do not hesitate to say, m a 1 sincerity, 
 that when I kno " that I have to meet the 
 same men whom his LriKiant talents and 
 great reputation have impressed with the 
 idea of the qualities of a H'gh Commissioner, 
 I feel the greatest diffidence Iv entering upon 
 the duties of such an office. I .'m p;oing to 
 do, however, all that lies iu my po v( ■ in the 
 > interest of my country, and I trus'; that my 
 'health may be so far re-established as to 
 enalaleme to take my department a^^ain and 
 join my colleagues in the administration of 
 public affairs. Let me say, in closing, that 
 nothing in the long course of public life has 
 given me greater pleasure than to have such 
 evidences as I possess this evening of the 
 sympathy and support of my fellow-country- 
 men. Nothing could lead me to feel so strongly 
 that one might well give health.and life itself, 
 in the interest of his country, and feel that 
 he was amply repaid by the kind and gener- 
 ous sympathy of his suppor ers and of the 
 people whom he had endeavored to serve. 
 I confeab that I am an ambitious man. I 
 do uoL confesss to being a mercenary man. 
 A certain amount of money is very necessary 
 to people's comfort, as you know. I have not 
 felt disposed to speak to you about my 
 private affairs, but in strict confidence with 
 aperso al friend, I did make a statement 
 in Ottawa. I was rather astonished after 
 wards to find a couple of columns in the 
 "Mail" detailing all the converaation, but as 
 it has leaked out there, I may again 
 refer to the matter. Driven 
 from pillar to post, unable to sus- 
 tain their charfres agaibst me 
 by evidence, the organs of the opposition 
 have been accustomed to say that one thing 
 «t all events is very certain, that is, that Dr. 
 Tupper entered public life a very poor man, 
 and that he is now a very rich man. Well, 
 sir, my answer is that both statements are 
 false. I never was a more independent man 
 in my life than on the day I accepted the of- 
 fice of Provincial Secretary. The best 
 fair of horses that I ever owned 
 then sold, and I have never 
 been atle to provide a pair since, except 
 
 when I was out of office. Nor am I now a 
 very rich man. I would not. if 
 I went out of office to morrovr, be able to 
 continue to live in the modest and economical 
 manner in which I have been accustomed to 
 live without going back to my proiession. I 
 stated the truth to the correspondent of the 
 "Muil." But I do coufesa to being an am- 
 bitious man. I was never ambitious 
 of place or power; but I have an ambition. 
 My great ambition from the hour I ent red 
 public life to this day has been to do some- 
 fVi'rig t*^p«^ »"y chilHrpin would be able to 
 point to as showing the value of my having 
 lived before them. (Cheers.) My ambition 
 is a great ambition. It has been an ambibion 
 to do something great for my country, to see 
 something great accomplished for my 
 country. And my ambition has been 
 abundantly gratified. Had my efforts 
 been tenfold greater, had my loss of health 
 been tenfold greater I would have been 
 abundantly repaid in seeing the country of 
 which I am an humble citizen ris- 
 ing, not only gradually and steadily 
 but latterly with rapid strides to a 
 position of which eve>y patriotic Canadian 
 may be justly proud. I say, sir, that the 
 only ambition I ever had was t) achieve 
 something for my country, and to sen it gra- 
 dually rising lo a pu^iiioi; of which every 
 Canadian may be justly proud. I thank you 
 heartily for this banquet. I shall never for- 
 get the kind and generous manner in which I 
 have been received by this large, influential 
 and repi'ticicub.*..Vo ooJty, uut only of the 
 citizens of Halifax, but of many gentlemen 
 from all sections of the Province. 
 
 The hon. K^entleinaa closed amid deafening 
 applause, the whole assemblage rising and 
 giving three cheers, which were repeated with 
 great enthusiasm. 
 
 The Chairman then with a few introduc- 
 tory remarks, proposed the toast of the 
 Dominirn, coupling it with the name of 
 Sir A. V. Gait, late High Commissioner of 
 the Dominion to London. Sir A. T. Gait 
 on rising to respond was received with 
 cheers. 
 
 He said, that at this late hour it would 
 be perfectly impossible to attempt to do 
 justice to the «^'>''°t of the Dominion of 
 Canada. There was no place in the whole 
 Dominion where he would rather respond 
 than in the city ot Halifax, which was 
 associated in his mind with the early stops 
 to which Sir Charles Tupper had alKided 
 for the formation of a federal union. The 
 eloquent speech which had just been de- 
 livered, was as it were, an epitome of the 
 progress of Confederation itself. It did 
 not require the eloquent defence which Sir 
 Charles had made of his public 
 career to establish his reputation for 
 zeal, ability and integrity in the discharge 
 of his public duties. Not only as to Sir 
 Charles, but as to the public men of this 
 country generally, on either side of politics, 
 he was prepared to deny that a well- 
 authenticated case of corruption had ever 
 been made out against any one' of them, 
 and he thought that the purity of our 
 political life was one of the best ^arantees 
 of the permanence and proepenty of the 
 
( 
 
 iV 
 
 Dominion. Addressing liimaelf to tho re- 
 lations between Canada and the mother 
 country, he explained that in the matter of 
 commercial treaties, a s\il)ject which had 
 lieen agitated somewhat of late in the 
 parliament of Canada, the freedom of the 
 Dominior. of Canada was practically ab- 
 solute. Thisaubjeot had been brought up 
 in the legislature of the Dominion by Mr. 
 Blake and it had been alleged that we 
 were in an inferior position as regarded our 
 power to negotiate with foreign countries. 
 The Governor-Goneral in one of his part- 
 ing addresses had stated in very distinct 
 terms that Canada did possess these 
 powers, and he wished to take this oppor- 
 tunity, wuicii was tlie first opportunity 
 since he had returned to corroborate 
 that statement of His Excellency. As a 
 matter of legality a treaty had to be 
 made between the sovereign executives 
 of any two countries. The Queen of 
 England, the P]mperor of Germany or the 
 President of France must be parties to 
 treaties. But thi« was a m^re question' 
 of form. The question of absolute interest 
 was whether the right was accorded to us 
 to decide the poiuts upon which we were 
 willing to agree with a foreign country. 
 And he w as prepared to say that ih that 
 respent every possible concession had been 
 made by Her Majesty's Government. No 
 difficulty had ever been raised by them 
 with regard to the terms upon which Ca 
 Jiada desired to enter into any negotiations 
 with France or ony other country. They 
 did not pretend to exercise any control 
 over the terms upon which the government 
 of Canada had instructed him to negotiate 
 He felt that it was entirely too late to 
 reter at any length to matters on the 
 other sifle of tliu water, and he must con- 
 fess that the eloquent speech of Sir 
 Charles Tupper had driven out of his mind 
 what he had intended to say, but he felt 
 that they should congratulate themselves 
 on the fact tiiat Sir Charles Tupper, after 
 having for twenty-eight years occupied a 
 position of the greatest public usefulness 
 and service to the cmmtry, had bc-en able 
 to undertake the daties of representing 
 this country abroarl. He deeply regretted, 
 as all present must equally regret, 
 that one of the reasons assigned for 
 taking this step was failing health, and he 
 was sure they would all unite in a prayer 
 that the effect of the change upon his 
 health would be its speedy and complete 
 restoration. (Hoar, hoar). He was quite 
 sure that the hope Sir Charles had held out 
 that with renewed health he would resume 
 his political duties in this country would be 
 an immense gratification to his political 
 and personal friends. At the same time 
 having a knowledge of the work there was 
 to do on the other side he must confess that 
 he thought , it would be a very se- 
 rious loss to the interests of Canada 
 a he should carry out that intention. 
 
 It was a matttr of great importance that 
 Canada should be represented in England 
 now by a man of the calibre of Sir Charles. 
 At this moment Canada was bettor known 
 In England than «ver before. She was 
 better appreciated by the puV)lic men of 
 England and better noticed by the press, 
 and there was a large movement in f^vor 
 of emigration to thiscountry. Its securities 
 stood liigher tlian ever before. Indeed, 
 they stood third in the whole list. The 
 United Kingdom stood firht, the United 
 States second and Canada third. Under 
 such circumstances it was desirable that the 
 interests of the country should be in the 
 hands of an able man like our friend Sir 
 Charles Tujiper. They all foU, they knew 
 from his past history, that where difficulties 
 occurred he had always been able and ready 
 to meet them. He was not afraid to face 
 responsibilities and the position of commis- 
 sioner was (Occasionally one of vast repnnsi- 
 bilHies, and it was highly necessary to have 
 a judicious and able man representiug the 
 interests of this county. Therefore al- 
 tliough they would all unite mnst co'-dfaUy 
 and heartily in the hope that Sir Charles' 
 health should be restored, he hoped that 
 the intention ha had expressed of returning 
 at an es^rly date to the Dominion 
 would not be carried out. But 
 whether he should return or rem in 
 he was entitled to the gratitude of 
 the people of this province and of the whole 
 Dominion for the great services that he had 
 rendered to the country. He had ' been 
 assailed with slanders f'om time to ti ' e 
 which he hardly thought it was necessary 
 for him to refute as they were not believed 
 by the country. In conclusion hei would 
 express a wish for Sir Charles speedy 
 restoration to health, a most successful 
 termina ion to his labor on the other aide, 
 and if it shouldbehis determination to return, 
 no one would welcome hiiu more heaillly 
 and cordially on returning to this country 
 than himself. (Cheers.) 
 
 Sir Charles Tupper then proposed the' 
 health of the Chairman, and in doing so 
 spoke in the mos highly 6omplimentary 
 terms of the political ability, the soundness 
 of judgment and the undeviating intei^rity 
 that had given him a strong hold upon the 
 good opinion of the couctry. He p.l'.uded par- 
 ticularly to the services that the Chairman nad 
 rendered in connection with the projec*/ 
 to extend railway connection to the Tov.n 
 oj Dartmouth, for which he announced 
 that a contract between the town and the 
 government had just recently been signed 
 for the construction of that work. 
 
 Mr. Stairs expressed his hearty thanks 
 for the hearty manner in which the toast 
 had been proposed and received. Nothine 
 that, he could say just now would interest 
 the assembly further than to remark that 
 he had always taken and would continue to 
 take the deepest public interest in the 
 questions that could be discussed in this 
 city »nd county of Halifax or Province 
 of Nova Scotia. He had done What he 
 could to forward the construction of the 
 railway into Dartmouth, and aided by the 
 help of Sir Charles T'upper, and by the 8ug» 
 gestions n^ade to which he had alluded, by 
 
• and Mr. lA.rclnljal(l7 1^ M)rtli(5 I )iiinini.n> 
 that the !n\ttoiklia<l been Hon. Senator: 
 
 I'ottingwr 
 to know tb 
 
 Ii 
 
 n and Local ParlianicntiJ^' ^ 
 
 .._,._.,,,,,.„.....„,. „.,,.„ «..„...»„.„_..„,, „,^u„ Senators McFarlane an i Alnioji 
 
 *v Mjroiight t(t^cli a i)ositi()n,tli!it"t)it>\jiid was reup nded on balialf of thrf Senate, and 1%. 
 »:fc.K*«l^*'"N4j-;rf;fl|l£Hlefced .»Jk3l»^o«y da4 jl}%iJ^%lw>rth,^48q.. •J^IvU>M!'-"''9''>v^'»t' 
 Tie wa.^ ([U te snn that it would bccif aHproiiF and iSlT IT. Daly, K-'^ff., rtn-'nrha'f. »)rHi« 
 ' "' to lialifax as to^'Uartnioutli. They House of Commons. A. C. BelljiJiHq,, M. 
 1(1 tlikinselvfs that it was just Vw irreat I !'• I'-i respendod on Ij^halfVJ (» Local 
 ^--^'-*' '=^--- ■- ^ ' ■ -^"- Leci-^.«fc.> . w ^ ,.' T\>V V. 
 
 The i)ress wa« tfien proposed by the 
 
 ^hainnanand reHpni1^|ed to by J. J. StAw-ari* 
 
 which tiVs proceemmw wcra^brouuirt tii\ 
 
 lii-'k\om \iy *fche Wjfil5>1)f W^'F^S 
 
 I (^uoon. . 
 
 utility 
 
 %^C9(1 1. ._..., , „..„„.„ „„,,...,„.-, ^..v.». 
 
 '"■* fcwUl^MitaKe t<* Kalifax to be crtynecl^d «»ith 
 I>artmontli as for I)irtuiout|i to bo c\mected 
 with Hali ax. • . > 
 
 wltli a. nKigtJic^Hy expreitsl 
 
 toaJ 
 
 <Coiicluc^in^( witli a ni(>8t licaVty I'xpre? 
 of thanitH for the mahn^fti wnlch*the ( 
 
 '/fe* th« 
 
 » > * 
 
 >V\ »A 
 
 V. 
 
 ^x\^ 
 
 i 
 
 ?i\ 
 
 mi I 
 

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