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Laa imagaa auivantaa ont it* raprodultaa avac la plua grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattatA da i'axamplaira fiimA, at w* eonf ormit* avac laa conditiona du contrat da filmaga. Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat imprimAa aont fllmAa an comman^nt par la pramiar plat at an tarminant aoit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una ampralnta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatiwtion, soit par la sacond plat, aalon la caa. Toua laa autraa axamplairaa originaux aont filmAa an oommanpant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta dimpraaaion ou dllluatration at an tarminant par la damlAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Tha iaat racordad frama on aach microflcha shall contain tha aymbol -»«»> (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha aymbol ▼ (moaning "END"), whichavar appiiaa. Un daa symbolaa sulvanta apparattra aur la damlAra imaga da chaqua microflcha, salon la caa: la symbda -^ signifia "A SUIVRE", la aymboia ▼ aignifia "FIN". Mapa, plataa, charta, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction rrJoa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly included in ona axpoaura ara filmad beginning in tha uppar iaft hand comar, iaft to right and top to bottom, ac many framaa aa required. The following diagrama iiluatrata the method: Laa cartea, planchea, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAe A dee taux do rAduction diff Arenta. Loraqua la document eat trap grand pour Atre roproduit en un soul clichA, il eet fiimA A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, do geuche A droite, et do haut en bee, en prenant la nombre d'imagee nAceesaira. Lee diagrammea sulvanta iiluatrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 .^'J»f^.'V K AttSuSLj^kt^i^ ^mm*K *-« .^ii**' » / «K^-sts•*'f^/ti>, LETTERS ON THE PBESENT STATE 01* NEWFOUNDLAND, AND ON €ONFEDERATIO]V. iSi/. John's, Newfoundland* 1869. ■ii /•' -" i ,/ A^ \.h. PREFACR. i\) > to THS BDITOB OF THK NEWFOUXDLANDEBr Sir,— Having heard of an intention, on tlio i»a?t of others, to publish the following^ Letters iu Pam- phlet form, I think it/ well to pilfeiiliace them with a few explanatory remarks : ; , These letters were not written with a View to publication iu their present form, nor with the' wish or expectation of exciting discussion ot evoking praise or censure^ They are merely the views of a private person, on a question of vital interest to the commu- nity to which he belongs. They were not intended as a series to bp fitted and linked together by sequence of argument. Their continuation was determined in a great measure by outward causes — comments and re- marks made upon them — that led on tliie writer from one production to another without any spe-' cial attention to order or arrangement. Nevertheless it will be seen that one general argument pervades them, giving them sufficient nnity to convey the opinions, and partially eftect the object of the writer — the argument of con- trast between our present hopeless iiositiou and our prospects under Confederation. The writer has made no pretence of entering into questions of detail, in which he is unskilled, or of ineetitig narrow objections for which hie has no taste, but has endeavoured to place a broad ques- tion upon a broad basis— -and to test it by principle;^ and fiiots, wbose troth, at least, no one can gain- say. From all thifi three things are explained that have subjected the letters to reprobation in some quarters. They are anonf/maus — they are in- covnplete—they contain nothing new. They are anonymous, because intended to be considered for the sake of truth, not for the sake of their author ; and because it is well known that the bare mention of a name is often the death-blow to calm discussion and the signal for recrimina^ tion and insult. TJte Utters are incomplete^ because not intended to be complete, and avowedly dealing with but one part of a large question. They contain nothing new, probably because there is nothing new under the sun— and one of the surest signs of fallacy and instability is new- ness. Jo conclude, the writer advocates Union, be- cause he hopes it will eventually benefit this country, in which he is as much interested as any one on earth. Confederation cannot affect him personally, or supply one wish of his not already gratified, so that he is truly and literaK ly what he signs himself, AN OUTSIDJIR. Febraary, X8«>9. 1 i^ t^. LETTER Xo. I. ^ ■• ^9r ' M i ■ n to the bditou op the nbwfoundlandek* Sib,— Tho argument of your late Editorials is un- doubtedly conclusive. Jt i» based upon tho state- ment o^ tho Ghatnber of Oonnnerce as to tho co- existence of imnieose wealth with immense de<^- titution in this couutrv, and must conviuco th(^ impartial mind, that, in our trafle, the con'litioii of dependence of the fisherman on his merchant roust be unfair and the system of remuneration for labor defective. Comparatively speaking, nothing of tho profits of his produce goes to the producer, and in re- compense for labor which loads his employer with wealth, he receives a wage so inadequate that, in the majority of cases, he is unprovided with the bare necessaries of life for a irreat portion of the year, and is thrown for support upon tho lunds of the Government. Tho substance of your statement might bo put tersely, thus: 1st. — ^The produce of the fisherman '^s labor amounts in value to (me million and a half pounds, 2nd. — ^The condition of the fisherman who pro- duces that immense value, is a condition of al- most absolute and universal destitution. 3rd. — Therefore, the system that begets this la- mentable result is a rotten and perverse system, and calls for reform and redress. In answer to this line of argument " a Merchant* in your paper of to-day says that the circumstan- ces of the country and the precarious nature of its trade, justify the system pursued by the supplier, -mjum "charges am not beyond a fair profit un> e c16r all the ciroumstances" and ' whose " riRk: ought to bo charged for above cash prices." Thi» means, I siip])ose, .(s^intse it is intended as a con- tradiction to you,) that it is just and right tbat say 50,()00 por8ons*vWlia produce for a few other Xxn-soiis tlie value of one million and a lialf pounds, should live in a state of perpetual destitution; and that the weight that sinks them down to that titate and keeps them there, is only the gentle pressure of " charges not beyond a fair i)rofit" and of *' risks that ou^httobe charged something abovo cash prices." Oan " AMerclrant ""himself, looking even from his own point of view, thinkiugonly in accordance with the foregone conclusionsof self interest, con h« believe that the just and moderate regard to his own profit is a suiHdent cause to pi'oduce and to justify the misery that oppresses^ two-thirds ot our population? Yet such is he direct conclusion to wiiich his statements lead, if hu intends his remarks about "charges " and " risks" as a con- tradiction to what you advance. But suppose he means these only as an expla- nation of the difficulties with- which his class liave to contend, and as a sort of excuse for an apparently severe system of trade; then his whole letter is wide of the question at issue, and isnomore an answer to the great fact of univer- sal poverty in the midst of wealth, than if it had never bfeen written. No one wants- explanation or excuse for the just rule of elevating prices for goods in proportion to the risk they are- exposed to — every one admits the propriety of that — there is question afhweso^ raising the price of good^, , ^nd 80 depressing i^e^ cowWtion of the fisherman?, that he emerges &om bts dealings a ruined pauper, while the^ mepcbant probably leaves the country a wealthy man^ and hands over a still prospering house to some mereantilts^ ^i^det, who iji his tvixn. " chaTge»,a,:fair profiti','" i 4 ^IT'-* •1- i rcDd the flsborrcan feols another foot oti his should dfti', uihI gets a new pusli downwards to the abyss, if lio hm not already met the bottom. A^aln tlif merchant says that in spite of " profitable cliiir^ft's" and " risks" paid for, " above cash prices" " the trade is not a paying one." Hero a'>^'ain he reduces tlie large question ot our social couilition to a mere point of class interest, and thi:; statement, whether trae or not, has no moro to do with contradicting' or explaining the fact of universal pauperism amidst immense wealth, titan if it were an algebraic equation. But if the trade does not pay the merchant, whom does it pay ? It certainly does not pay the starving fisher- man; and if it pays neither fisherman nor mer- chant, then where do the million and a- half ]>ouuds go ? Here we »ve again at the point. Theieisno nse ingoing round and round that clear statement of our exports and weaving upon it, to conceal it, a web of irrelevant seiuarks; and "a merchant'' api>earstc> perceive this at last, for towards the end of liM letter he advises you "to look to something beyond the Customs' re- turns to know how merchants are getting on.*' First, we remark iti this piece ot counsel the pre- valence of the same spirit that would narrow all discussion of our social sta'.e to the limits of "a merchant's" own thoughts. H« can'^t conceive for an instant that we can desire to know aught else except " how merchants are getting on," or that there are any other persons in the country whose interests are to be considered in the slight- est degree; and this spirit, as usual, again keeps him wide of the question at issue— for lie forgets tliat he is writing a letter to answer a forcible Btiitemeut and complaint othow thepe&pU are get- ting on.- But to consider his counsel as it stands, cer- tsiinly we admit that *• Customs' returns" will luit lead u& iutu tko KQCi'^t gt all the merchant's.. s dealings or all his ways and means of " getting on." But they will teach us what and how much be exports, and that is all wo want to know at present, and they do teach us that he has expor- ted, the past season, produce to the value of one million and a half pounds. Uere again is tho awkward fact flying in the face of all " a mer- chant's" statement about " charges not above a fair profit," " risks that should be charged above cash prices," " trade that does not pay," &c. It is indeed a sad necessity that has for its re- sults universal destitution on the one side, and on the other the transfer of the whole wealth of the country into other lands, while this remains unimproved and exhausted. Any system of things is better th this. It is certainly time to try something ut.., and that something must be a radical change, a thorough transition of things ; no cata))lasm will cure a broken down constitution, it must be renewed by change of sustenance, change of climate, change of 'employment ; and it is a thorough renovii- tiou like this that alone will raise this country from its deadly languor. Whether Confederation will effect it, and how, is a subject well worthy of study — that it would be a change of the radical sort there is no doubt, and 1 think it would not be difficult to shew it would be just the change we require. . This is a subject that ought to be followed up, and I have BO doubt that pursuing the line of argument you have entered uptm, you will develop it more fully in future editorials. I will probably address you again upon it myself. AN OUTSIDER- JsTovember 3, 1868^ l''iin -• tt y;,f ; / ^■i LETTER No. II. i I f t T6 the EDITOB of the KEWFOUNDLANIXEir. SlE,— In my last letter I dwelt upoii one ot the great evils that afflict this country ; the greatest of alt, in fact, because the parent of all onr other mis- fortunes — general destitution in the midst of an active and profitable industry. From this spring directly, as from a poisoned fount, the diseases that contaminate our whole social system. Po- verty has become amongst us an institution, an industry, so to speak ; and it paralyses all ener- gies, pervades all branches of business, substi- tutes degrading dependence for the wholesome freedom of honest toil, and drags down the peo- ple into the slough of indolence and vice. I think I have shewn that this condition of things ought not to exist amongst uh, that the means are produced in the country — produced b\' the very victims of distress — ^that might, under fair distribution, not merely alleviate but entire- ly remove the miseries that press upon us. Wliatever may be said ot the indolence and im- providence ot the people cannot possibly account for our wide-spread destitution, since facts pro- claim that the imperfect efforts of tha Fisher- man's industry alone produce what would be more than sufficient for his wants, while there re- mains, besides, the produce of cultivated land, limited but by no means insignificant, and the various earnings ol tradesmen, seamen» and laborers. But there is amongst us a system of trade that renders comfort and independence impossible to the majority of the people. Be it admitted, to avoid offence» that no class 10 Ar iuUividnal is at present tlio author of this sys- tem that impoverishes the country. Suppose that we are all, merchants and fishermen, swept away by a wild current we cannot control — a current that may land some safe and unhurt, or even bear them onward to greater prosperity, but which WMst hurry the mass to destruction^ AVhat then ? Is the system any the better for that ? Is it not on the contrary the more deplo- rable because it is irremediable, the more clamor- ous for change because the more productive of ruin? No matter who caused or who supported it, we can no longer exist under it, and as we have no remedy at home, must look for one abroad. There are many who say that we ought to try domestic reform before applying to stran- gers, but they forget that any change, proceed- ing from ourselves, among ourselves, is simi)ly impossible. They forget that the ills that oppress lis have outgrown and overpowered us, bound us- hand and toot, and that the only agency tha^' could rid us of this oppression is the very same that has produced and will, if permitted. per[)o- tuate it. Is it not proved beyond question that the whole fabric of our i)resent sj'Stem, in all its parts, social, mercantile, and political, is totter- ing to ruin ? As a body politic, we are on the eve of beggary, and fairly at the mercy of a few capitalists. As a body mercantile, we are in ar state of decadence ; we have no really healthful mercantile prosperity, no quick and generous circulation of the life-blood of trade. As a body social, we need not open our eyes, we are con- strained to close them upon the position we hold. And all this is the result of a tree and untrara-- melled use of our own wisdom, of our own ener- gies, of our ov n resources. Why thei do so many amongst us blindly persist in rejecting even the discussion of a change ? We must have a change, be it what it T \ 4t i^ mmmmm 9BBWi 11 ^ ^ tf tnay — even the terrible alternative of Confederal tion! The consideration of union witli more prosperous and progressive provinces bas now reached that point of necessity for us, that we liave no longer tp d|scus3 the reasons for rejecting, but must turn our attention to the weighty rear sons for adopting it. If notliing could be advan- ced in favour of Confederation, we ought to run the risk of accepting it, we ought to take our chance with it, as the drowning man takes his chance even on the desolate reef or wild ocean solitude that Providence throws in his way, rather than encounter the horrors of certain des^ truction amid the waters. But Confederation will not merely afford us a chance of security — it will secure us absolutely and entirely and im- mediately against some of the greatest calamities that afflict us-— while it holds out a fair pro- mise of the removal of aW by that gradual pro- cess that gives stability to every reform. This is what I shall endeavour to show in future com- munications. If for the present I deal only with a general view of our existing condition, as com- pared with our prospects under Confederation, it is for the purpose of introducing the question fairly, judging of it in its broadest bearings, and iissertiug a principle which, once proved and admitted, will open the way for discussions of detail. AN OUTSIDEE, Kovernber 14, 1868, LETTER No. III. TO THE EDITOR OF TlIE XEWFOUNDLANDER. 8m, — When a question arises that affects the future of a new country, the wisdom of age is not tlie only nor the chief li^ht for the guidance of upin- ion^ and the lessons of experience alone are not the safest channels of instruction. " Laudautnr temporis acti," " give glory to the things of the past," is the generally accepted dogma of the ex- perienced. It is based upon a feeling not only blameless but even creditable to that hun:au nature whence it springs — the feeling of enthu- siastic respect for persons, things, scenes and sys- tems, that have accompanied one's whole career, and been associated with whatever good one has admired in the past and loves to recall in the pre- sent. As a feeling, then, this enthusiasm for things past cannot be reprobated, while as a guide for the future it cannot be accepted. If it were once received as the standard rule for nation- al OP even individual development, what pro- gress could be expected, what wholesome change could be effected, what uselul enterprize under- taken? If we admit, as a principle, that things were a greaJ; deal better long ago than they aie now, or even may be under any change of system, the inexorable conclusion presents itself directljs that we had therefore better return to the past as soon as possible, dwell in the past as long as possible, and never be enticed from it by any consideration whatever. This conclusion we cannot accept, neither, therefore, can we accept the theory which would urge it upon us. Giving to experience its due weight, as a mo- tive of judgment, it should be the moderator, in* .. • I t 4- 13 tleed, l)ut not the opponeut of legitimate progfess^ The aspirations of a young people should not be checked by the venerable tradition of a past era» We require for the proper discussion of a great political change not so much the matured wisdom •of age as the hardy and aspiring hopes and enei^ ;gies of youtk '« «'•'**'»••» Let the dead past bury its dead, Act, act, in the living present, Hearts within, and God o'er head. The whole argument of Anti-Unionists Is now ?in appeal to the past, and repudiation of change from a past system, for the simple reason that that system is a time-hon oredone. This is apparent from the question put with an air of triumphant defiance by the advocates of the old system of things, " What one single substantial benefit is Kew- foundland to receive from Confederation?" That question has been answered, that gauntlet taken up. Here I only allude to it as a proof that they «idhere to a^n old system simply because it is old $ for if they cannot see what benefits may accrue to us from Confederation, how then can they prefer the old system to it ? Preference supposes comparison between two positive goods, and •choice of one before the other, but our adversaries prefer without comparing. They not only put all the weight in one scale of the balance of judg- ment, but they remove the other scale altogether, and ignore its existence — a system of weighing which, whether applied to things material or in- tellectual, can never produce an equitable re- sult. If the advocates of Confederation can show no good reason for joining it, how is it that its op- ponents can sum up /or them^ and publish as their s^ so many real and imaginary ones! How is it moreover that the very objections they make to u the measure ftiTDisli often excellent reasons for adopting it? They set up arguments for Con- federation as onewould set up nine-pins, for the pleasure and triumph of bowling them down. One of them, they say. is that the people are now RO wretched here that any change would be for the better. Yes, that is really one argument, and supported by the testimony of the Chamber of Commerce as to the productiveness of a trade sucked dry by monopolism ; it is a very good ar- gument, and has not yet been bowled down, nor will not easily. A second argument of ours is (they say) that Canadians and their capital would come to the Colony, &c. I am not disposed to admit that this is an argiunent with the Unionists — at least they do not prefer it as a principal one. They cannot tell whether Canadians will come here or not, if Union be effected. They know they will come if they find it their interest to do so, and that they will be far more likely under Confederation to examine, and more competent to decide, whe- ther their advent here would be a source of profit to them or not, than they can be at present. Cer- tainly in our present state of imbecility and pau- perism it is to be hoped that Canadians may not anticipate the wishes of Confederates here, and make themselves witnesses of our pitiable mise- ry. Unionists do not exactly expect Canadians to come here, any more than Americans or any other enterprising people ; the country will be as open to capitalists of any nation after Confede- ration as it is now, and doubtless better prepa- red for their visits. AVhat we stand in need of is, not Canadians, but Canada itself; which means a .strong and solvent Government, protection for iTnde, association with prosperous provinces, a <*iicap participation of all the means of subsistence we require, an opening for tho middle classes, ivii<] i) suilieleiu'y for tlW) poor. We can have ir t 15 '- these from Canada without ever seeing the face of a Canadian, so it is hardly fair to put the ar- gument about ''Canadian Capitalists," in the se- cond place on the list of Unionist arguments. The Unionists* third argument is " that union is strength." If that is their argument it is a very ancient and respectable one, nicely illustra- ted in iEsop^s fables by the. allegory of the bun- dle of sticks. We must admit that the union in the fable was a strong union only because it was a union of separate strengths : if, instead of sticks, the members of that union had been ''ropes of sand," then indeed they were no stronger when united than when separate, but it remains to be proved that Confederation would be a union of " ropes of sand," and not of sticks. To prove this it is not sufficient to assert (even with truth) that there can be no " natural iKond'* between us and Canada — ^because the union that jiroduces strength is not always a " natural bond," it is often a purely accidental one» often a political one, oftener than all a mechani- cal one, as in the very case of the bundle of stieks» whose natnre it was not to unite, so that in point of fact they had to be forcibly tied toge- ther. Eut it is not true that there is no " natural bond" between us and Canada. If we give the word " natural" the only meaning it can have in this discussion, the bond of our union with Canada would be " natural." 1st. Geographi- cally—our relative positions on the map shew that a union between us would look natural enough. 2ndly., it would be natural, socially descending, as our population do, chiefly from the same stock, using mainly the same language, and having the same form of Government and insti- tutions. 3rdly., it would be " natural" politically, for it would give us a firm position, and unmis- ' takable national identity before foreign nations, IG sectire ns consideration from them — and at home* utilize those relative conditions of supply and demand that exist between us. I simply deny therefore the statement that there could be no " natural bond" betweea us and Canada. This statement is not corroborated by showing that our trade with Great Britain or the States is far greater than our trad© with Canada. B© It so* May not our trade with those countries, be as. great as ever after Confederation) ? If the natur ral course of our trade is with the States, oi Eng- land, who is going to int^fere with that course ? Who is going to turn its channel forcibly into another direction ? Trade, when free, will always, have its own way, but the more competition it meets with, and the more rival attractions that are- presented to it, the more diversified and vigorous will be its course, and it will shower greater bene- fits upon those who embark in it. la case of Confederation, Canada probabfy will not dlraw our trade from the shores it seeks at present, but it certainly will open up a new market for it, without attempting to close the old ones except by the action of fair competition. But m^' letter grows long and I must leserve^ fuiither remarks tUl Tuesday. Yours, 4^c. AN OUTSIDER. Pecember 4, X868.. '~y-' -'.i •-^^? / XETTER No. IT. .r to the editor op the kewfotutdlandetl. Sib,— Notbiug can exceed the lofty ridicule where- ^ith anti-Unionists treat the argument that Con- federation would unite us with a great country and make us sharers with its prosperity. They think it foolish, if not disloyal, because, say they, we are already united with the greatest Empire inthewodd, and what greater happiness could we wish or hope for on earth ? Unfortunately for them, this argument of theirs has little weight with a people whose fathers or themselves have 'traversed the hroad Atlantic to found for them- vselves new homes, new institutions, and, if neces- sary, new Governments too. We do not form a >part of England, we are a part of America, and our natural connexion is with the great continent that gathers us as it were to her breast. Eng- land herself feels this. Oifted, as she always has been, with statesmen who look forward as well as back, she sees the day not far distant when these provinces woiild rush into Union with the neighbouring continent as if drawn by the law of attraction. Her part is to systematize, to direct, to wield, if you will, to her own inter- ests, an event which would otherwise take place without her intervention, and perhaps be consum- mated to her discredit ; so that the Iblly and dis- loyalty of those who favor a Union ol those Pro- vinces is simply the folFy and disloyalty of Eng- land herself and of her statesmen. England at present has her eyes, and her hand, unusually wide open. She perceives that we have not pro- gressed under her rule as well as we ought, and 18 fhe inpinorj' of some Tcry few awkward obstacles that she herself opposed to our progress stirs up in her perhaps a sense of justice and clemency- Nations, however, like individuals, seldom forget what is profitalile wTien doing what appears mag- nanimous. And there cannot be the slightest doubt that whatever generous policy England may pursue here or at home, she will not suffer herself to lose by it. But whether for justice or policy, or both combined, it is England's will that these provinces Confederate. So there is nn end of objurgations about the £[>lly And dis- loyalty cast in the t«eth of Unionists. I have neither time nor patience now, nor could I fairly demand space, to deal at length with all the trivialities that have been set up as arguments of Unionists to be sumnmrily bowled down by their opponents. With regard to the good prospects Confederation would hold out to our youth, I imagine they have been alluded to as an advice more than as an argument— an advice lor the youth of this country to take a part in life's stniggle, such as they cannot have here — an advice such as the poet of the young Bepublic ijives in his nobte "psalm," — In the world^s wide field of battle, In the iMvouac of life. Be not like dumb-driven cattle. Be a hero in the strife. And it is a well-known fswjt that such of our youth as have joined in thai: strife in Canada, in the States, and elsewhere, when thrown upon their metal, and removed from the " lotus eat- ing" influences that characterize this unhappy country, have earned honor and independence. In Confederation they would have at least equal facilities for accomplishing the same end, with the further advantage of working at home, for any part of the Dominion would be their own coun- try. ■■■'' .;;.-i>^ oit'-^/-^ tg I'he Bailroail project is not a ronfoHerafioTi '.if'lieme at all. If it be accomplislicd, it will be a 'benefit to the world at large, not to Catiacla :alone. Tn fine, without wasting more time upon the views Anti-XJn'oniSts cboose to take of the argu- ments for Confederation, or answering objections "that have been refuted over and over again, I pause to admire, betore I finish this letter, the cool assurance wherewith they set themselves up as art)iters of public opinion and protectors ol l)opular rights. Let me ask on what plea do they assume tliis dignified position ? Is it because wilfully Ignoring the evils that beset us, blind to the spirit of indolence and the total absence of enterprise and industry begotten of our present system, they stimulate the people against a change l)y appeals made only to the passions xind never to the judgment? Does this conrtitute their title to the position of leaders ot the people ? They tell the people that under Con'federation they will be taxed, but they never point out the benefits that result to a people from £air and le- gitimate taxation. They never open their eyes to the more grievous burden tha^ now oppresses them — a burden cast upon them not by a power- ful Government whose interests are theirs, but by the self-constituted autocrats of trade. They tell the people that under Confederation they will be banded as soldiers to jwotect the Domin- ion frontier, but they never tell them that the military profession is more honorable than the profession of idle beggary, and that military dis- cipline is Uetter for soul and body than the list- less liberalism of the street corners and public- liouse. There are hundreds of young men para- ding our streets in idleness who had better be trained to the honorable duty of defending an •honourable flag, if such a fate were really in store ttbrlhem. In fact so ruthlessly dishonest aro 1 "flioso " Loaders'" efforts after popular suffrage that the burden of their advice to the people is simply this, — that they must uever suffer, any change that involves discipIiQe or labor , — that they must insist on living as a nation of ^children, to be fed with a spoon — and when grown up, to be exhibited as walking gentlemen or « that Newfoundlanders should be subjected to any yoke, 'even such as the freest people on earth endure and cherish. If the advice of those leaders of opinion avail, then parents who see their children ;go to ruin from idleness; Ministers of Ju^ice who lind crime multiplied and intensified through de- licate consideration for the feelingsoftb<^ guilty ; Legislators who behold a statute book replete 'With edicts that have become impracticable:; Economists who deplore extravagant waste of wholesome food -that would support five times our population;--4ill these should band them- :selves together, and tell the people the 1 essons of truth ! tdU them te remain as they are, that the rigour of taxation, &?c., will disturb that delight- ful abandon^ and check that diarming license that have hitherto ):aised tbem to so liigh a positioa in the eyes of the world, and been so productive < of comfort, happiness, and morality ^t home ! ! Tell the people this, and you will easily enlist popular prejudice in your favor; but will yon, or those whom you sway, represent the true interests •of the country ? Yet those who sj)eak and write in this style are forsootb the only advocates of right, and revel in that intolerance that truth •alone can justify I But the people will yet learn the truth — ^the froth engendered in the popular mind by the agi- tation of the passions is but an eftervescence — immediately beneath lies the cool substantial element of reason and judgment. The froth will 21 subsfdo from its own weakness, and the current of common sense be seen pursuing its calm way- all the time, urged l)y Us own instincts to a true and proper outlet. In a future letter I shall complete the general argument for a change of system, and in due tirao: eome to the discussion of particulars. AN OUTSmER. December 6th, 186&. LETTER No. V. to thf editor op the newp0t7ndla"ndkft. Sir.— The miserable conditioii of thiia country, pro- duced by a bad system of trade, of politics, or of both combined, demands a speedy remedy ere to- tal ruin sets in. I have not seen in any of the ar- guments used against Confederation, or in any of the apologies made in favor of our i>resent sys- tem, the shadow of a denial of this fact. So the question is reduced to this, where are we to And the wished for remedy? AVe must find it at home, or find it abroad. There is no medium. No one* a" yet has attempted to prove that anything can or will be done hero to lighten our burdens and promote our prosperity. To talk of the unex- I)lored and perhaps valuable resources of the country, is folly. With a nearly bankrupt Go- vernment and a pauperized population, we aro no nearer to prosperity amid our riches ( if they exist) than Tantalus was to solace and refresh- ment amid cool waters and fragrant fruits, " ever at hand but never to be enjoyed." It is an axiom, applicable to every order of things, that the same causes, acting under the same circum- stances, will always produce the same effects. The axiom is singularly i^alized in our pre- sent condition, and prophetic of our future prospects if a radical change be not admit- ted. If our political system has produced our distress, without being changed it will continue to produce it. The same mast be said of our trade system; the same of both combined; for there is no power in this country to hinder or d'.rect the operation of those causes, and there never will be ^;hile we remain isolated and irresponsible. There . i wmmmsmm 23 can, therefore, be no fairer or niore complete an- swer to the question, " What substantial benefit can we derive from Confederation," than the retort, " What substantial benefit can we derive from our present system?" Anti-Unionists are bound to prove against Confederation, be- cause their system has been tried and found wan- ting, and Confederation has not. If they are in possession in point of fact, they are not so in point of right and reason. If we can find a remedy, a real practical one, for our ills at home^ let some one come forward and point it out- The man who cannot do so has no right to oppose a change, even if that change be Confederation it- self. The question of Confederation will ^e proposed to the people, but let it be proposed fairly and dispassionately. Whoever would influence them against a change, is bound in honour and truth to point out to them a pathway from the laby- rinth of miseries that encircles and deludes them. But, unfortunately, such has been the degra- ding influence of a system of things that some would fain preserve and perpetuate, that to a moiety of the people it were vain to appeal on any subject involving intellectual effort, The divine spark of reason is almost extinguished in others. The strain upon the purely animal in- stincts, the protracted struggle for mere exist- ence, have dulled the higher faculties of the soul, and left many of them barely in appearance men. Who is there amongus that has not met with such representatives of misery ? Day by day they pre- sent themselves to our charity, hungry, worn by a long journey on foot from some distant out- harbor, they have merely ideas and language sufiicient to ask for bread. Address them on any topic, counsel them to energy and industry, your 24 lessons are responded to "by a vacant stare, yonr efforts to wake even a sense of shame met with the patience of abject indifference. There is a German legend that tells how Frankenstein, a philosopher, having worked him- self into the belief that man was gifted with the creative power, addressed himself to the task of producing a human being. Accordingly he modelled out of clay a figure with face and limbs corresponding to those of man, and by some mystery of transcendentalism, proper only to German philosophy, he inspired ic with life. He had arrived at the object of his ambition. He had become a creator, but, lo ! the thing he had called into life was a hideous monster. Day and night it haunted him. Endowed with the power of motion, it was destitute of voice and language. Stolid and staring it followed him from scene to scene; in vain he sought the haunts of pleasure and dissipation^ — in the moment of his wildest forgetfulness the loathed creature appeared be- fore him> and the light of its cold clammy eyes struck terror into his soul; go where he would, the thing was his companion, his monitor, his spirit's master, though its most abject slave; it acknowledged his domination, but instead of that unspeakable love and worshij) which do homage to a creator, its every gesture and attitude be- spoke hatred and rage against the author of its existence. The creature became destroyer, and the philosopher perished miserably from terror inspired by the work of his own hands. In a social light it is such a creature that our system has con- jured up amongst us. Nay, even physically and intellectually the poverty-stricken portion of our IJopulation is fast assimilating itself to the crea- ture of the legend, and asserts the same entire but thankless dependence on those whom it looks upon as the authors of a miserable existence. This portion of the community we have not only 25 "■ to provide for, but to think for. 'Twer© a mock* •ery to ask them what they think of Confedera- tion. 'Twere a cnielty to advise them to oppose it. Of those who are not reduced to a state quite so degraded, the greater part are destitute and miserable. Little they know who sit by their firesides, or take observations from a win- dow in Water Street, of the swift decay that . prostrates them like straw before the sickle of the reaper. Seldom they behold those rotten tenements, that a yearns wind and damp at most will sweep unheeded to the earth ; and where will bo their occupants ¥ The greater number in comfort at last in the grave — the rest wander- ers in more prosperous lands, and adding their inite of daily toil to the activity that makes na- tions great. This is too truly our condition, and to procure the necessary remedy requires not alone the exercise of intelligence but of humani- ty. The question of Confederation is for us not a merely political question-^it is first of all a question of charity ; and it i% not alone the right, but the duty, of any one who thinks the Union of these Provinces will benefit this coun- try, to speak his convictions* This country is in a state of premature decay, and in its own institutions it contains no reme- dy for the evil, therefore some change is necessa- ry, some infusion of vital power from without. This much all must admit— but will Confedera- tion be the proper cluinge. and provide the pro- per remedy ? I think there can be no doubt of it. It is not in the nature of things that such a con- dition as ours should be allowed to continue, when superior intelligence and SMperior resour- ces are brought to bear upon it. Our miserable state would, if known, enlist the sympathies and the aid of the stranger— how nuich more so of 1ho.se whose own best interest would be the ad- vancement of our people. 2G It h not imkhown to History that peoples Lave been crushed and doomed to wretchedness l)y rulers whose duty and interest it was to pro- tect and encourage them, but that is the history of I the past — the history of feudal arrogance or of bloody conquest, and it applies not to coali- tions voluntarily formed on the basis of reason and for the common weal without any dire dis- crepancies of religion, race, customs or institu- tions. And even where such discrepancies exist, the spirit of the present age is to unite and har- monize them, if possible; If not, to suffer and conciliate. Though European coalitions must diiferfrom* those formed on this side of the Atlantic, having more old and deep-rooted dijQttculties to contend with, yet even there the genius of the age pre-» vails^ If unions commence there in conquest, they are succeeded at once, or as soon as possible, by a common participation of the benefits of free* dom and civilization between victors and van^ quished. It is not pretended that Prussia will ])ersecute the North German Provinces ; Austria gives free institutions to Hungary, and in fact so. all powerful is the instinct of justice, peace, and progress, at the present day, that England is ready to lay the axe to the very root of her constitu- tion rather than behold it heavy with the fruit of oppression and iu justice. Jt is idle to talk of jjciial laws, extermination, or '^bleached bones," at the present day. Such things Jire not possible any where, least of all in tliese new regions, where freedom seems indigenous, and where the only danger is that it may luxuriate into rank- ness. We have here before our eyes the model of the great Western Republic; and though there may be difference of opinion regarding her insti- tutions and their stability, — one thing is certain, that she regards every portion of her vast terri^ torv as liev very self, and with a zealous and ini- 27 partial hand extends her protection and bonnty and civilizing influences to the remotest regions of her empire. The form of its Government will slightly differ — ^but upon this great model Confe- deration will be established ; — it could not other- wise exist or prosper. To prove that in point of fact Canada intends to govern upon liberal and progressive principles, to initiate a rule totally different from the an- cient systems of conquest and spoliation, it is sufficient to know that the very first clause in her programme proclaims to all dependencies freedom of religion, of education, of trade; but upon these and upon other practical benefits that must result to us from Union, I shall address you hereafter' ''i"^f-^'> /'M- '•■ hf'?rj?'.. ' AN- OUTSIDER.- December 28th, 18C8. 'ftif^il^ "mU , •dmjiK> tmUiii intitr - ..: .,; ■; - . ■ : 'it i>oo)4 ii]'!ot :«;afja v.i iiiia lint Ilo '.q ') r.iii ,.i..j; ^ {.-^ii-- ,.*.ii;.i., ; ■.ifivl ' • ■ . . . :■ ., \: III; . ' .■ ii i«; \'' iV}'\U''i'K> 'In "ifrn;!?' "fit li LETTER No. VI. to the editor op the nbwpoundlaxdbk. Sib,— The object of all Ooverament is the common weal. The Government that produces it is a good one, no matter what its form ; and the Govern- ment that fails to produce it is a Government only in name. Again, the object of trade is to distribute the material goods of life among peo- ples, and the trade that does not effect this is a monopoly, a usury ; what you will, but not a trade. If, therefore, you find that in any country there is neither that law/ order, uor civilization that constitute and confirm the common weal, nor that general participation of life's goods that produces comfort and independence, you may conclude at once that the system of Government and the trade system of that countiy are defec- tive ; and if after a long trial and much effort they fail still to bring forth good fruit, you may pre- sume, without rashness, that they are rotten to the core and must be supplanted by other systems more productive of i)rosperity. In a few letters you have been good enough to insert for me, I have applied these theories to the present state of the country, and have pro- ved, I think, that our system will not stand the test by which alone the' good qualities of things can be judged. It has not borne good fruit ; it cannot bear good fruit ; therefore, it is an evil system, and ought to be eradicated. The only way of avoiding this conclusion, is, by throwing the blame of ourmiseries,not on the Government, not on the trade system, but upon the people themselves. This plan has been tried. It has •- r 4 f 2!l, I)oen asserted and insisten upon, tliat tlie negli- gence, improvidence, and laziness of the people are the sole and adequate causes of their own distress — that with a lich produce and a free and too liberal-handed Government, they ought to prosper, and if they do not^ it is their own fault. I take exception to this line of reasoning on more points than one, and shall shew that even on the supposition that national indolence were the direct cause of national decay, the i)eople do not deserve the blame of it. Firstly, then, supposing indolence to be quite a general defect, a national trait ; is it a cause or an effect of our sad condition ? It is a cause un- doubtedly of preserving and intensifying our ills, but it is far more an effect of a system that has made the i)eople what they are, that has schooled them into dependence,' and trained them up to rely upon anything else rather than their own in- dustry and niauliness for support. It is but a near-sighted mind that, scanning our social state, cannot extend its view to the real horizon of our miseries. He is a too sanguine searcher who can cry "Eureka," when but one and the least difficult section of his problem has been solved. If the people's indolence is the cause of this decline,what is the cause of the indolence itself ? Race ? cer- tainly not. Climate ? Much less. Pursuits, in- nate perversity, physical or mental degeneracy ? None of these. It is the system that rules them — the necessity that enslaves them ; that is the chief cause of this listlessness, and, therefore, the chief cause ot all the evil effects that some would attribute to indolence alone. Again, in point of fact, is it true that indolence is a general ornatural failing of our people ? I do not believe it ; the nature of their occupations, and the absence of employment for manufacturers and tradesmen, render their toil, indeed, desultory; but in the only labor that the circumstances of ^ - 1 this coiintry a^ present adaiit^ tlfjBjr, w neitljier imlttleut nor ioe^cpert. ',.,. f »,..'! f V." ] Jj<«?t us retur/i, tben, to tlie true cause of our /jeuevjU d^cay, an iucui'ably bad system ot goy^ emment and trade- This system must be chan- ged. A truly radical change is now proponed— a Union; with the otl^^r Provinces ot B. N. Ameri- ca under one central and powerful government, Avhich will posses*, both the will and the means of correcting all abuses throughout its dominion, of awalviiig activity and encouraging progress among its subject populations. No one oan pretend to fitat« categorically the whole natuve and extent of benefits to be derived; from any such great change, for these depend upon the action of causes new to experience, subject to accident, anil controlled by influences liidden in the futuve. The greatest statesmen of England cannot telU for instance^ the exact and . entire good results that will accrue to the Em- pire th)ra Church disestablishment. In deciding in favor of one of these great changes it is suffi-' clent to know that its natural tendency is good, and progressive, and that some positive and im- mediate good results will follow from it. In small localities the argument for or against a change are usually reduced to a discussion of practical results, and the general principle is seldom agi- tated ', so ii has been here on the question of Confederation. I will leave to more tutored hands the array of figures, the exposition of miuute details, that may be necessary to coni' l)lete the argument in tavor of Confederation, and with necessary brevity touch upon some of the leadiDg points at issue. „,..,„.., OUR LAND. Hlit J Are the people aware, when they are told that " the Canadians" intend to take their land— that they have comparatively no land to give up to ! 1 h M tliem ? For tlie most valuable part of tlie conn- try, nearly all of it that gives indications of min- eral wealth, is alneady taken, not by a govern- ment that would utilize it— but by a few indivi- duals, who, with perhaps one exception, have neither eapital nor intelligence enough to turn it to account for themselves or any one else. If we have Confederation, I hope one of the very first acts of the Dominion Government will be directed towards resetting our thousands and hundredfi of thousands of acres from the greedy grasp which retains them, and opening thrift up to reaA 'Capitalists and real explorevs. A« tbings are now, the people may obtain pos- session of the fens and mflrslies of the Interior — but that is all ; it is certain that the Dominion Government would not expose the valuable lands of this or any other provinee imdier its sway to be scrambled tor promiscuously as they ace now^ If our lands are worth anything, Canada would soon discover it, and her own as well as our in- terests would teach her to distribute them judi- ciously. I «amiot now complete the review of the general good results of Oonfederatioo, but will reserve for a future and final letter further remarks aipon the land question, trade, taxation, ^c, viinder the Canadian Government. AN OUTSIDER. %5th January, 1868. t t .»•» LETTER No. VII. to the editor of the newfoundlaiideb. Sir,— The object of my letters to you was to shew the necessity of a ehange in the condition of this country, and in asserting this necessity I am at variance with no one who has fairly considered or discussed onr position. At another season the question might well be asked, What change can be devised that would benefit us ? Have we not tried everything, fxom Imperial legislation to Be- fiponsible Government ? Upon this latter have we not rung all possible cJianges, proved all pos- sible combinations of parties, without other resnlt than persistent decline in the scale of prosperity 1 Has not each successive grade of our descent been clearly defined by the introduction of some new, or the modification of some old Government? And has not all that we have done but proved our inability to do anything useful ? All this is the sad but inexorable truth ; and if in the pre- sent crisis we had to confine our prospects of a favourable change to our own energies and re- sources, the lessons of the past, casting their sha- dows upon the future, might well induce us to despair. But a change has been proposed be- yond our anticipations, above our counsels, new to our ideas and experiences — a change that opens up for us a future great in its proportions and brilliant in its aspect, beyond all we could have conceived — ^that future may share the uncer- tainty of all that is to come, but it is free from gloomy delusions of the past. The future thus jiroposed to us is Union with the British North American Provinces. I •33 Tlie question of Oonfoderatioii, as n))p1ie(1 to US, resists, of its own strength andweight, nil at- tempts at absolute rejection; it forces us to the point of determining how to accept it with the best grace and the most profit. The intelligence of the community has loDg since grasped this con- clusion, and with the exception of a few who deal in ominous warnings while the people hunger for solid argument, a few who wish the people to foresee their fate after the fashion of the simple shepherd Melibseus, in the croaking of some raven from a hollow oak, — " Soepe bsec sinistra prsedixit cava ab ilice cornix." All others are prepared to accept Confederation on rational terms. So the state of the question as at present jHroposed to the country is simply this; as we must have a change, and as Oonfode' ration is proposed to us, what good or harm is it likely to do us. I have thus condensed the general argument of former letters in order to keep the question clear and connectedly before your readers ' minds: now I will attempt to answer the qu«&tion »f Hie coutitrjfj taking up the thread of the discussion where I left off. OUB ]>AKD9* I stated in my last letter that our lands (mean- Ing the most valuable portion of them) no longer belong to us as a people. They have been ap- propriated at a nominal price, or at no price at all, bjandividuais amongst us who can never, in all, human probability, turn them to tlie slightest account. The proof of this statement may be found in the archives of the Golonial Building. Without questioning the legal rights, nnder ex- istitig enactments, of those persons to the lands they have appropriated, we must feel that those lands, now virtually lost to the p'eople, would, in ' iU the IummIs oC an intellii^out mid vveaUhy Govern^ incut, bcconiu .sources of employment an/(l pros- ])erity to ns. If the day should ever come (and it is fust coming) when this country shall be pro- nounced by the world a region endowed by Pro- vidence with riches of His own making — if, while the seas refuse their tribute, and poverty reigns supreme, we might still look forward with hope to a time when our mother earth shall open up her bosom to supply ourcravings, we could then have pride in the future and comfoit in the present, even if left to ourselves. But while the people are beggared, the Goverrinont shackled, the lan country the better for her- self; and unless ber legislators and her people set to work to force from lier soil all they require for food, and oomjure up somehow fleecy herds and busy factories to supply them with clothing, un- less they can do this (and I admit it were better than Confederation or any thing dse) all bluster about independence and our liberties is simply ridiculous. The second fact that shews bow our trade would improve under Union is 4rawn from the visit of a (Canadian Commission to the Brazils and West Indies a few years ago. We were not represented on that commission, though its ob- ject, as shown by the very report of the Cana- dians, was incomparably more important to us than to any Province of North America. Magnifi- cent concessions were made by the Southern Em- pire and Colonies to Canada, brilliant prospects of trade were opened up, concessions and pros- pects tliat would since have more largely bene- fited Newfoundland, whose name made such a figure in the report, if she had been Canada or a part of Canada, as she will become by Confedera- tion. I have no time to refer accurately to/the report, but it is in the hands of most of our lead- ing citizens, and it proves that Canada is pre- pared to exert intelligence and expend money (wliat we could not do) for the eneourageuicnt anil extension of her mercantile interests. *. •37 TAXATION. Tbe greatest cry raised against Oonfedemtion —the only one tliat really alarms the peo)[>le, — is the cry of taxation. 1% is assumed by Auti« ^Unionists that by Confederation Canada is to capture tis somehow as a slave, bin'd ub hand and foot, and finally turn us out to work and starve, for her benefit ; we xtre not to have the tights and privileges of children of the household, but only the contempt and ill-tiieatment of the me^ nial ; in fact we are not to have even the advan* tages which the sleek mastiff promised to the meagre wolf in the fable; we are to be chained up and lose our liberty, but not to becbme any. more tjomfortable than when scouring hun^ grily our native wastes. This proposition being fairly assumed, as a political postulate, it requires of course no proof, yet it admits of illustration, for the benefit of the simple, and the great illus- tration of the forthcoming tyranny of Canada is the certainty that she will tax us^ The question to put before the people is not whether Canada will impose taxes on us, but whether she will over-tax us, or give us no equivalent for taxa- tion. If anti-Unionfsts can prove this latter, their alarm is at once justified, but they do not attempt to do so. There can be no proper state of society, no equitable social contract, without taxation — if people wish to enter society, to be subject to its Government, protected by its laws in life, property, trade, and general rights, they are bound to pay tax€s to the Government that rules them, just as much as they are bound to l)ay for the bread and clothing they purchase in the shops. If any.man wishes to avoid the obli- gation of paying taxes, let him at once reduce himself to that state of solitude supposed to exist before society had been formed, that savage state described by the poet, •' Cum primis Irrupserunt animalia terris, i mutum ©t turpe pecus," &c. ^ 58 tr.-^ People must be taxed all the world over, and no rational man ever yet argued against taxation — it is only tlie abuse of taxation that can be condemned, and it la hard to understand from what bccult spurce anti-unionists have become in-^ formed that Canada intends to oveibuiden these Provinces. Weki^pw for certaiu that Confedera- tion will remove some of the most galling, taxes we now labor under. Under Confederation none of our provisions can be taxed, and the now usual phenomenon of a 30s. barf el of flour becom- ing suddenly, as if by magic, worth 60s. , will cease to amaze us for the future. The only taxa- tion Canada could possibly impose on ns,! (sup- posing even she taxes our expprts, which I do not believe,) will tail upon those who can most easily bear it, and the poor man need have no DUEAD Oir THIS BUGBEAB. . Your space and my own leisure will not perinit me to enter more deeply upon this and many other interesting questions connected with the subject of this letter. I had intended a s^€icial article on Beligion and Education under the Dominion Government, but relinquish the- idea until time may be afforded me to meditate suflS- eiently on so serious a topic. I will only remark that both Education and Religion are free and flourishing^ in Canada, -^he large towns are sup- plied with colleges and schools that have pro- duced eminent men in every branch of learning, and attracted youth even fiirom countries where educational establishments are of the highest or- der. It is generally admitted that education is more solid, if less extended, in Canada than in the States of America ; and a government that has encouraged so successfully at home this chief element of civilization, cannot fail to pro- mote it hereafter in every portion of its Domi- nion. As to Beligion, in Canada it is free^ aTjd Beligion wants nothing more than that* • The Canadian Catholic Church is a noble one, and J' w n^^ I ■: iS a c •^I* 5d X ^'^. *twere a glory to bo conndCied with it and share the honour of its name and virtues. T have now finished all I have to say about Confederation. 1 have written on conviction, and if I have not communicated that conviction to others, I have at least pleaded imperfectly but honestly a cause full of import to this country, a country whose very miseries make it interesting even to the stranger, while it has stronger claims on the interest and aifi'ection of its children. Viewing the great Union proposed to us in itself, independently of questions of tariff, taxation, &c., we are sensible of a sort of instinct that urges us to adopt it. Twenty thousand pounds more or less will not make Newfoundland more or less than she is till she drifts into the current of civi- lisation and industry. Confederation is not a financial question; it is a social one;: — ours is a disease that money, instead of curing, will only aggravate, as experience has proved ; we want those things that gold can never buy, industry, self-dependence, assimilation with the active races that surround us; and these can only be conferred by union with them, union of rule, union of symx>athies, and union of interests. AN OUTSIDEK. Jan. 30, 1869. t a