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C b t s fl o T si T M di ei b( rij re m This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 71 26X 30X 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada L'exemplaire fiimd fut reproduit grSce d la g6n6rosit6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and le(n your duty in selecting men to represent you, particularly in the House of Commons, and that is the abso- lute necessity of sending men who will work harmoniously for the interest of the country. Tfyou send discordant elements, they will prove a soured of weakness instead of strength. Be t^ue, therefore, to the best interests of JTova Scotia, and send the men who have prominently cssisted in laying the keel, and building the noble vessel that now floats on her native element ; — and with bouyant hope, and a cheerful spirit, man her with a crew who have faith in her strength, and capabilities, and who are therefore, certain to guide her in safety through the dangers of the main. But should you act otherwise and return a considerable number of men hostile to union, and who are deter- mined to fight a factious battle against the established order of things, then each of you may well say with Coriolanas : — " My soul aches To know, wlien two authorities are up, Neither Supreme, how soon confusion May enter 'twixt the gap of both." IS THE UNION HOMOGENEOUS. But we are told by a anti-confederate writer who has attempted to reply to the pamphlet, Confederation considered on its merits, that the union elements are not homogeneous — that they are as repellant to each other as were those of Belgium and Holland, and that hence united, harmonious action cannot be expected. If the serio-comic effort of Mr. -Howe at Dartmouth amused, this illustration of the bad working of confederations astonished me. Before referring to Belgium, I' may state that on reading the first sentence of the very modest preface of the reply in question, I fondly thought I had at last arrived at a literary dpot where the balmy zephyrs of anti-confetl urate mid- summer would cool my heated brow — where in fact, the voice of the anti-con- tederato turtle might be heard ! "In the following pages," says the writer referred to, "the question of confederation is discussed on its merits, in a spirit divested of all partizanship, and free from those feelings of personal antagonism, and strong party bias that have so deeply tinged much that has appeared in the Newspaper press on both sides of the question." But the three additional sentences of which the preface consists present the deeply tinged bias in flam- ing colours, and as the reader goes on he finds the bias so strong th?t ere the literary bowl of our unprejudiced friend performs its journey, it will have described a complete circle ! As evidence of the eminent charitableness, and' controversial gentleness by which the pamphlet is pervaded I give the follow- ing :—" carried as it was — (the Confederation Bill) — through the Imperial Prrliament by misrepresentation most foul — forced as it is upon us without oujr consent, it may be our true policy, if not our duty even now to give the confederation scheme a fair trial, to examine and enquire if there is any good in it, and so amend and improve the measure, it that l^e possible, as to make it applicable to the people of this country." These utterances shew t})at the turtle is a snapping one. ^:, . Well, let us get back to Belgium. I submit that a more unfortanate ez- T ii:! 16 ample could not havo been produced for the author's purpose. From its geographical position that country was for a long period, anterior to the peace of 1816, the battle ground of Europe. It has at successive periods been bandied about by the great continental powers of Europe from one State to another. To Holland, Belgium was united for fifteen years — that is from the conclusion of the last great Continental war till 1830, when she became an independent State — advancing ever since in a glorious career of prosperity. The union of the phlegmatic Dutchman with the lively Belgian was not a natural union. The two paoples were as' alien as the Muscovite is to the French, or the French to the English. Belgium was at one time in the possession ot Austria, at another of France. The inhabitants previous to 1815 were kept in a con- stant state of fermentation, and the subsequent union with Holland was not as 1 have stated, a natural one. Hence no argument against the confedera- tion of the British North American Provinces can be based on the history of Belgium. ANOTHER RARE PAMPHLETEER. But here comes a letter to the Electors of Nova Scotia by an Aca- dian. This production displays bad taste, bad composition, profound ignorance and a good deal of harmless venom. For the amusement of the reader I will give one sentence from this curjous production. " Such then," he writes, '' is a fair view of what confederation will do for us — it is the creature of Canadian faction — it will paralyze industry, and cramp our resources — it was conceived in the womb of Canadian fac- tion — it will load us with a heavy debt from which we never can or will get any benefit— -it destroys our self government — it renders us liable at any moment to be finally swallowed up by the United! States." Surely there is no one in the Province of Nova Scotia capable of swallowing rubbish like that. Should the United States gobble up Nova Scotia, they will find it hard of digestion, for it may proVe like that small auimal that leaps down the crocodile's throat as its sleeps on the banks of the Nile, and afterwards at its leasure knaws a tunnel through the monster's car- - case, emerging safely into daylight—leaving Mr. Crocodile snapping his jaws, and flapping his tail in the agonies of death I THE HIGHEST MODERN CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. M. I. WILKINS, ESQ., Q. C. But here comes the most pretentious, as well as the most spirited and voluminous pamphlet of the three. It is rfeally refreshing to leave the phlegmatic periods of the other two au hors, and to have the mind re- freshed by the lively, though somewhat confused sentences, and the im- agination stimulated by the comical pictures presented by Mj*. Martin I. wilkins, Q. C, as set forth in '* 'Qonfederation examined in the light of reason, and common sense." Now it would be unmanly to attack under the name I have, assumed a gentleman who has not scrupled to publish his own ; — and I can assure Mr. Wilkins that my sole motive in not fol- lowing his examplie is the circumstance that it would carry no weight. Mr. Wilkins is of a different opimon as to the talismanio influence of his '^t Bin I 17 ited and avc the lind re- the im- artin I. light of c under publish not fol- weight, je Of his own, and no one can find fault with the good use ho hag endeavoured to put it to.- Mr. Wilkins refers at the outset to the alle<^cd cold reception with which the delegate! met on their arrival in Halifax. My reply is that they were greeted, not by boisterous roughs, of whom there are always a few ready to cheer anything or anybody, but by " troops of friends" — intelligent and devoted. He also says " that the delegates had no part in the preparation of the scheme of Confederation which was manufac- tured in Canada — that the whole plot was contrived in Canada, and that the Nova Scotian delegates are not entitled to the unenviable merit of the least participation in its composition ;" and he adds with great polite- ness, " that it is but charity to suppose that they had not even sense to understand it !" Now is there an elector who believes that Mr. Wilkins has stated the truth ? Any one who knows the hia'iory of the Union knows also that the very opposite of what he says is the trutli • — and I would ask to what degree of credence are the subsequent statements of Mr. Wilkins entitled, seeing he has blackened the very first page of his brochure with what he and you know to be false ia every particular? He sneeringly names the author whose solid pamphlet he criticises, Lazarus. I might, with equal propriety, call Mr. Wilkins, Dives. ♦Lazarus was one of the most eminent Chrir'ians of whom we have an account in the Divine Record, whilst Dives, ah i ugh as great and pos- sibly a richer man than Mr. Wilkins, was quite ti. reverse. My limits will not admit of an elaborate refutation of all the extraor- dinary statements and arguments with which the pamphlet before me abounds. I will therefore confine myself to the consideration of a few of his wild assertions, and reckless and baseless deductions. That " Confederation is not Union " is the proposition which Mr. Wilkins at the outset endeavors to prove. Now I have turned up Dr. Johnson's dictionary, who, although an insignificant lexicographer and authority compared with Mr. Wilkins, yet, in whom the learned as well as the unlearned world has faith, and he defines the term " close alliance, union." Confederrtion is Union, says every lexicographer. " Let the people well consid.r the nature of Confederation — Confederation and Union are not the same, but vastly dissimilar," screams Mr. Wilkins. I leave him and the dictionaries to settle the point ! He next directs at- tention to the United States, which he afiirms " are not the United States !" Here we have a country that has prospered in point of rapidity beyond any other of which history furnishes an example — into which there wa3 in 1865 alone an immigration of 147,258 — which has granted for works of internal improvement and schools 130,875 acres of land — for agricultural and mechanical colleges 1,284,000 acres — the value of whose imports, according to the Director of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, as set forth in his report published in Washington in June, 1866, was $437,640,354 — whose customf/ duties amounted in the same year to $179,046,657; — that is the country to which Mr. Wilkins triumphantly points as one proving to demonstration what miserable re- sults flow from Confederation or Union ! 2 18 if ';Im i^ I 11!, ■' ' i I li;,^ lljllir MORE ABOUT THE UNION BETWEEN ENGLAND ANB SCOTLAND. He then appeals to the Union of England and Scotland, and on tliis part of the subject evinces ignorance so profound, that if a prize were offered for the greatest display of depth in that undesirable element he assuredly would win it. " What," says Mr. W., " was the nature of the connection between England and Scotland when all these evils smote the prosperity of the two States? They had the same Sovereign, but distinct Legislatures. They had a Federal Union. It was Confederation, there- fore, to which they owed all these calamities. While Confederation existed between them they were miserable and unprogressive. They united, and became happy and prosperous nations; and what was the nature of their union ? A Legislative Union — the two nations became one." Never, I venture to say, was there so great a quantity of his- torical nonsense compressed within so limited a space. Shades of Robertson, Hume, and Macaulay, what say ye to this discovery of Mr. Wilkins? England and Scotland, as every schqol-boy knows, were never federally united. When the Scottish King ascended the English throne he simply made London his place of residence, and did not in any way interfere with the Scottish Parliament. He was King of both Eng- land and Scotland — each having its own legislature, whose respective laws, as passed in the respective legislatures, received .the sanction of •^m the King. I ask Mr. Wilkins if Scotland had any representatives in the English Parliament when James, after the death of Elizaheth, ascended the British throne ? None. Wherein, then, did the said Confederation con- sist ? It is not to be found in either the history of England or Scot- land. It is simply a figment of Mr. Wilkins's too fertile imagination. Scotland stood before the Union in nearly the same relation to England, as Nova Scotia before Confederation stood to Britain. It was only when the Union of 1707 was consummated, that Scotland was entitted to send representatives to the British Parliament. But Mr. Wilkins attributes certain calamities to his imaginary anterior Confederation of England and Scotland. Now I defy him to produce one historian, or any writer of greater or smaller eminence than himself, who ex- presses the same opinion. Scotland and England, before the Union, or rather before the ascension to the English throne of the Scottish monarch, were almost constantly at war. After the Union prosperity dawned upon both. Not one writer, whose opinion is worth a straw, can be produced who does not acknowledge that the unexampled prosperity, with which Providence has been pleased to bless the United Kingdom, has been ;. inainly owing, under His guidance, to the Legislative IJnipn under one Sovereign. But Mr. Wilkinsi although he would have u« believe that in candour :| ' he is a paragon, lets out a very amusing sec^'et in the quotation on which f I am commenting. He coolly tells us " that England and Scotland united, '. and became happy and prosperous natioi^ ;" and what wag the nature of| their Union ? "A Legislative Union," replies this Nova Scotian Solon.| Well done, Wilkins ! — the electors will thank you for that confession : it is the best bit of your literary bantling. And why will not these Pro-j %^ ^ . 19 D AND nd on tills prize were element he iture of the 3 smote the but distinct ,tion, there- infederatiou ive. They lat was the )ns became itity of his- Shades of rery of Mr. aows, were the English I not in any f both Eng- e respective sanction of atives in the th, ascended leration con- md or Scot- magination. to Eijgland, mly when the tiled to send ns attributes of England istorian, or f, who ex- the Union, ;ish monarch, iawned upon be produced , with which ^ m, has been on under one it in candour ion on which : jtland united, | the;n^ture of J cotian Solon. 5 jonfession : it| tot these Pro-^ vinccs be equally happy and prosperous ? No, exclaims Wilkins — for this is a Federal Union f Not so fast : Scotland sent a few members to the British Parliament — Novp, Scotia sends nineteen to Ottawa. As the Scottish ipembers represented, under a Legislative Union, their country in London, so will Nova Scotians represent, under a Federal Union, this Province in the House of Commons. Mr. Wilkins pants for a complete Legislative Union. He has got what is near if, and may have it alto- gether by and by. " The word Union," he says, " expresses everything that is lovely — Confederation all that is hatefiil." Indeed ! What a ponderous blockhead old Johnson was to confound the two, so as to make them one ! What is in a name ? says the poet — " a rose would smell as sweet by any other name," and so does Union, although called Confede- ration ! MR. WILKINS A PROTECTIONIST — A SHOWER OF PORK ANB POULTRY. But Mr. Wilkins is a protectionist. " Let us have Confederation," he says, "with the free trade it establishes, and our farmers will be driven out of their own markets by the pork, beef, cheese, butter, poultry, and other productions of Canadian agriculture." So here is an indict- ment preferred by Mr. Wilkins against Mr. Tupper iand his colleagues, for bringing down upon us in rich and abundant profusion all the good things which are necessary to make our stomachs comfortable ! Tead the good news ye merchants who have large families and heavy expenses — ^ye tradesmen who desire cheap food for your wives and children-;— ye laborers who rejoice in a good dinner when you can get it, HOW WILL OUR FARMERS FARE I But what of the farmers ? Are they destined to be ruined ? The very reverse. They will benefit to a greater extent by Contederation .than any other portion of the community ; and why? Because, being proprietors and not tenants, they will reap all the beirefit consequent upon tjie advance in the value of their land. Confederation and the inter-colonial railway will be the means of bringing people to Nova Scotia, and an influx o^ people is that of which the Province is most in need, ai;id ^thout Which it can never become a great country. The States are at present absorbing the stream that flows towards this conti- nent. FroTp 1851 till 1865 inclusive, 8^142,648 people have emigrated from the United Kingdom. Of tliat'number, 2,044,826 havo settled in the United States, whilst British North America has only received of the |iost„ 311,529, or ten per ceWt of the aggregate. Thus the United Siajtesh^ve absorbed, duHilg fifteen years, sixty-five per cent of the en- ^te^mi^ation. Nowj under Confederation, measnres.wilLbe tf^ken to enquiry into this anomalous state of things^ To farmers I would say that t^id prices which they will obtain for' tlieir produce will be inupro- pol-tipn 'to'the d'Qmhnd, 6r ill other Wofds, to the number of fthe c©QSum- 20 era. Confederation and the intor>colonial railway, I repeat, will bring population, and land will advance proportionately in value. ! M The cry of alarm that Mr. Howe and others are now raising for po- litical purposes^ is preciecly the same cry that was set up in Britain when the duty on the importation of foreign corn was abolished. Then it was most confidently predicted that there would bo such an influx of grain as to ruin the British farmer. What has been the result ? Farm rents have greatly advanced, which would not be the case if prices were low. Are prices low now ? Why, wo have seen flour selling below the half of its present price. I'i I ill! I 'I illil!>. MR. WILKINS AFFECTING TERROR. But Wilkins, with a cool rascality — I am sorry I cannot adopt a sofler terra — deserving of the severest reprobation, says, " no farmer of Canada can ever be required to march to our aid, while our farmer must hold himself in readiness to be ordered up to Canada frontier, which has always been, and ever must be, the point of attack. Confederation, therefore, will give the Canadians a noble army of fifty thousand brave Nova Seotians, which they will no doubt make a liberal use of, while no Canadian will bd required to shed his blood for Nova Scotia." The writer insults the intelligence of the farmers of Nova Scotia, in retailing falsehoods of that stamp. As well might he try to convince the inhabi- tants of John O'Groat, in Scotland, that they must fight for the lives of London Cockneys. IMEr. Wilkins is afraid of being gobbled up bodily, and thinking that the farmers of Nova Scotia are as great cowards as himself, he appeals to their fears, and would make them believe that tliey are to constitute so many human targets for the Yankees to shoot at ! MR. WILKINS IS FLOUNDERING. But, if possible, a rarer bit of literature than any I have yet produced as a specimen of the quality of Mr. Wilkins' facts, and the cogency of his reasoning, remains in store for the reader. Hear Mr. Wilkins : " The act then, confers on Canada the right of taxing Nova Scotia. Represen- tation means having membf;rs appointed by themselves in the legislature, and that of course includes both branches. Would Ireland or Scotland be represented in the British Parliament if she only sent .members to the House of Commons, and none to the House of Lords ? Then, Nova Scotia, which has no representatives, except false and shan^ ones, in the Senate, is not represented in the Canadian Parliament, and therefore cannot be taxed by that body. There is no principle of constitutional law, more clearly defined, than that taxes, being the gift of the people, no British subjects can he tmced by any legislature in which they are not reprefii«ilted. We, not being represented in the Imperial legislature, cannot bo taxed by them 4 they cannot authorize any other body to tax us. If the Imperial legieilature cannot tax us themselves, they cannot make a Legislature in Canada, to tiuc us, without an act of our own legislature authorizing them to do so." These sentiments ought to im- •W Bi li HI will bring ing for po- rittiiu when ?hen it was of gi'ain as Farm routs were low. the half of ot adopt a ) farmer of irmer must , which has ifederation, sand brave )f, while no )tia." The in retailing the inhabi- ,he lives of up bodily, cowards as vre that they hoot at ! et produced ;ency of his as u The Represen- legislature, >r Scotland ibers to the hen, Nova ines, in the i therefore nstitutional the people, hey are u6t legislature, sdy to tax ley cannot our own ght to im- mortalize Wilkins. The act does not confer on Canada the power to tax Nova Scotia. The act confers that power on the House of Conmons. Is there a man in Britain who would ailirm that in the British House of Commons, where Scotland has only fifty-throe members, in a House of 658 representatives, that England or Ireland is empowered to tax Scot- land? But we are told " no British subjects can be taxed by any legis- lature, in which they are not represented." There is an argument for universal suffrage, and one for Stuart Mills' female scheme I The qualification — I mean the lowest qualification — of a voter in Scotland, is the payment of an annual rent of fifty dollars. How many hundred thousand are there who pay no such sum, but yet are taxed. Mr. Wil- kins desires to make the readers of his pamphlet believe that there are no points ot constitutional or legislative resemblance between the House of Lords in London, and the Senate in Ottawa ; — and here I would re- mark that it was an admirable stroke of policy on the part of the dele- gates of the Maritime Provinces to have secured a number of Senators equal to that of Ontario and Quebec, respectively. Let us see how the case stands, and endeavor to estimate the amount of force,, by which Mr. Wilkins' rare reasoning is distinguished ; at the .same time ascertaining whether he is entitled to that depth of knowledge, superiority of judg- ment, and quickness of perception, as compared with the Statesmen of England, and the Delegates, which his novel statement of aastimed facts, and ratiocination imply. Sixteen Scottish representative Peers, are elected every new Parlia- ment, and sent to the British Upper House, and twenty-eiglit, who are elected for life are sent from Ireland. But the people do not elect these Peers: "^/leysit, in the language of Stephen, (page 90,) as represen- tatives of the whole body of the Scottish nobility ;" — but, as Mr. Wilkins must know, it is one of the prerogatives of Royalty, to create Peers, selected from any rank in life. Such creations frequently take place, as for example, in the case of T. B. Macaulay the eminent historian. But although the Scottish and Irish representative Peers represent the nobil- ity of each country, yet they also as a portion of the legislators of the country represent its interests. Her Majesty creates Senators for the Dominion Parliament by summoning them to take their places as such. The twenty-fourth clause of the Act says: — "The Governor General shall from time to time, in the Queen's name, by instrument under the great seal of Canada, summon qualified persons to the Senate ; and subject to the provisions of this Act, every person so summoned shall become, and be a mejnber of the Senate, and Sienator.*' Yet Mr. Wilkins coolly tells the people of Nova Scotia, that Senators appointed by Majesty itself are " Sham Senators." Surely Mr. Wilkins cannot be so ignorant as not to know that for which a school boy would be castigated by his mas- ter for not knowing, that the act of Her Majesty's duly accredited repre- sentative, becomes, with her seal and authority, de facto and de jure — her own act. Thick must be the cranium of him who can persuade himself of the contrary, and shameless the effrontery of the man, who, knowing it, deliberately states and writes the contrary. a^ HL MR., HOWE ON U. S. STATESMANSHIP— IMMIGRATION. It strikeH me that even many of iht friondft of Union undervalue tLe bene- fits to be derived from the railway by judicious legislation, directed to the dif- fusion of information in Europe respecting the roHOurces of the Province, and the advantages which it presents to intending eniigrantn. In machinery, con- ^ structed by the ablest statesmen in the United States, lies the secret of th©. , continual flow of emigrants to that conntry ; and to the almost total absence, hitherto, in Canada and the Maritime Provinces, of a similar organization, is attributable the mere driblets that find their way to these splendid countries. The Hon. Joseph Howe has put the case strongly in addressing Earl Grey in 1851:— " The national Government of the United States early saw the value and importance of immigration. They bought up Imlian laiids, extended their a6knowlcdged frontiers, by purchase or successful diplomacy, sur- veyed their territory, and prepared for colonization. The States, or public associations within -them, borrowed millions from England, opened roads, laid off lots, and advertised them in every part of Europe by every fiiir and often unfair means of puffing and cxaggeiation. The General Government skilfully seconded, or rather suggested, this policy. — They framed constitutions suited to those new settlements ; invested them with modified forms Of self government from the moment that the most simple materials for organization were accumulated." These are Striking facts, from which the new Dominion ought to derive important lesson^.' Mr. Howe subsequently adds, in language peculiarly ap- propriate, in the present crisis : — " The struggle is over, and we now haye the leisure and the moans to de- vote to the great questions of cplcmization and internal improvement — to ex- amine our external relations with the rest of the empire and with the rest of the world— to consult with our British brethren on the imperfect state of those relations, and of the btst approprifition that can be made of th6ir surplus labour, and of our surplus land, for pur mutual advantage, that the poor may be fed, the waste places filled up, and this great empire strengthened and pre- served." MR. HOWE ON COLONIZATION. But we request the Hon, Mr. Howe, and the advocates of isolation, to listen to thehon. gentleman once more, as he gives utterance to l^entiments as opposite to those he is now enunciating as the poles. Ileferring, in addressing W. H. Keating, Esq., Deputy Provincial Secretary, to the guarantee of money, by the BritisUi Government, for the construction of the line to Quebec, he says :-- ' •' You will also observe that the Provincial Govornments are left free to fliake the most they can of the lands through which the Railroads are to pass. My present impression is that, by making a judicious use of these. Coloniza- tion may be caryied on extensively in connection with the Railroads, so that as many people may be added to the population of each Province as will swell its annual consumption and revenue beyond the charges which may be .issumed for the construction of the lines. If this can be done, and I boUcvo it may, we may strengthen the Provinces, and pera'anontly advance and im- prove them, adding to their wealth and population, flanking the Railway linos with thousands of industrious people — and giving the Provinces, in a few years, an elevation whicli we are all anxious they should attain." EARL GREY'S OPINION. " By opening new districts for settlement," said his lordship, in rddress- ing Lord Elgin, *' and by the demand for labor which wouUl b<) created during the progress of the work, the projected railway cannot fail to increase the wealth and population of these Provinces, while by affording a rapid and easy communication between them, it will enable them to afford to each other far greater support and assistance than they now can, in any difficulty or danger to which they may be exposed." MR. WILKINS, VS, MR. HOWE AND LORD ELGIN. " You have railways enough" — " the schemers have made it," the inter- colonial lino, '* a part of their plan of Confed oration, to enable tliem to have access to your markets," e-xclaims Mi. Wilkine. Speaking of the Canadians, he adds, "the more insurmountable the obstacles to our closer intercourse with them the bettor !" I confess my inability to reply to ravings of "that description. I feel precisely, in dealing wiih Mr. Wilkins, as if, in defiance of the evidence of the sense of sight, a person were pertinaciously to insist upon black being white, or green being yellow. Mr. Wilkins should become a hermit. He is an advocate for no roads, no railways, no communication beyond the comparatively narrow limits of the Province, and is so brimful of conceit that there is ao room left for the entrance of intelligence. MR. WILKINS' SOUNDINGS AND SOARINGS. Mr. Wilkins complained of the Editor of the Eastern Chronicle not beujg able to comprehend his effusion. There is certainly no ground for the complaint, for Mr. Wilkins' cogitations reach depths which his own sounding line — long as it is — cannot fathom ; and his ideas soar to a height, to the hAr tainment of which one would require to be provided with an ass, similar to that on which Mahomet rose to the seventh heavens ; — and as animala of that species, with the Requisite ascending powers, are by no means easily found, we cannot divine any method by which the feat can be safely '^erfoimed, otherwise than by mounting Mr. Wilkins himself ! A CONTRAST— TWO AUTHORS. I question whether, within the domain of literature, any two productions can be found that contrast in style and matter more strikingly than " Con- federation Considered on its Merits" and "Confederation as Examined in the Light of Reason and Common Sense." In the one case we have a clear, able, unimpasaioned statement of facts, addressed to the intellect of the eleo- tors, with reasonable deductions drawn therefrom. In the other, a brochure, somewhat like the Hibernian's gun, that bad neither lock, stock, nor barrel — having no beginning, middle, or end — being a collection of the literary small wares in which the anti-confederate press so largely deals. I| !!il MR. HOWE AT TRURO— CONTRAST BETWEEN HIS CONDUCT &. THAT OF BRITISH STATESMEN. No one can read Mr. Howe's speech at Truro without .a sensation of pain. Its tone and matter indicate a conv. tion of his advocating prin- ciples of which both his conscience and judgment do not approve. He commences in a style of bitter levity, unbecoming a gentleman who lays claim to the designation and status of a statesman. That he is now in direct antagonism to his former self is not denied, even by his most ardent and devoted followers. It is clear that a man may change his views without inconsistency, but when such change takes place, he is bound, if he be a pub; ■ c man, manfully to state the considerations by which he has been influenced. Thus Sir Robert Peel, as the leader of a great party, after defending the policy of protecting the British farmer's interests by imposing a duty on imported corn, saw reason to entertain and net on opinions in diametrical opposition, to those which he had advocated for many years, and of which his followers — the Conservative party — were still firm and uncompromising defenders. How did he act ? lie ap- peared in the House of Commons, like a brave and honest man, and ably and manfully set forth in order the grounds on which, by a regart! to the dictates of reason and conscience, as well as to the interests cf his country, he was prepared to unite with the free-traders; and he lived, despite the most v'.rulent opposition he experienced from his former poli- tical friends, with whom he hac^ acted since his youth, to carry the very measure against which his talents had been so long direoted. At this critical period Lord John Russell stood in a somewhat similar position, in relation to Sir Robert Peel, that Mr. Howe has recently oc- cupied in relation to Mr. Tupper ; but how did Russell act ? Why, although Peel had hurled him froin the Premiership for his adherence to a free-trade policy, instead of ofi'ering a factious opposition, and calling upon his party to punish " the traitors," he boldly supported him; and thus the impost on corn was for ever repealed. Russell's Sacri^oe of place and power, at the shrine of the country's interests, has made his name honored. Would that Mr. Howe had followed so noble an ex- ample ! But Mr. Howe now condemns Contoderation, sneers at the Inter- colonial Railway, and, feeling the humiliating position which he occupies, affects to treat the electors as if it were too great condescension, on his part, to state any solid, or valid reason, for the erratic and reprehensible course he is pursuing. Let him take the Railway Corr .pcndencc, laid before the Legislature in the Session of 1851, and read his able and manly letters to Earl Grey, in which he advocates the construction of a line to Quebec, in a manner that at once commanded the respect, and so S5 HIS far secured the co-operation of the Homo Govcrnmeat. But now that the guarantee of three millions has been secured, and the railway is to bo built, he speaks in terms of the utmost contempt of the >enefit8 that are to accrue to Nova Scotia by its completion. If the electors of Nova Scotia do their duty, he will find he has been dealing rather too exten- sively in hrutum fulmen — harmless thunder. Mr. Howe, at Truro, said : ^' If Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox were to be raised from their graves, and were agked if the Parliament of England had a right to sell the country to France, and a right to diofranchise our whole people, what would they say ? England has been referred to. When did any English statesman rise in his place and propose to put Eng- land in the power of a foreign country ?" Here he assumes, if the parallel has any meaning, that the Umte'l Provinces are now in the same condi- tion as if England were united to France. No w< nder that a smile of derision should have played on the countenances Df his hearers as he uttered these words. The idea that a closer union between contiguous portions of the same Empire, under the same gracious Sovereign, is to be regarded as in its nature similar to the union referred to, is so absurd that the bare mention of it was nothing short of an insult to the common sense of his hearers. T^hat a gullible people must Mr. Howe regard the intelligent electors of Colchester", when he retails in their presence the very quintessence of bunkum ; — but when the day of election comes he will find they have taken his measure. " What is the difference," he said, " between Union and Confedera- tion ? My advice to everybody, is to keep out of either." Now, electors, what is to be thought of the man who has for years been preaching either the one or the other, and yet has now the cool effrontery to insinuate that he had acted the hypocrite formerly, and deceived you? What is the practical inference ? The former statesman is merged in the present stump orator, who will descend still lower unless his better nature lead him once more to be himself again. Inter- mpies, on his nsible e, laid le and of a Eind so THE FRENCH CANADIANS— HOMOGENEOUS OBJECTIONS ! But, perhaps, Mr. Howe's reason for instituting a comparison be tween a union of England with France, and the union of Nova Scotia with Canada, is the circumstance that there are in the latter country about 800,000 persons of French origin. Upon this fact all the anti-con- federate writers have founded the assertion that the population of the United Provinces is not homogeneous. Now, I presume, I am not far wrong in saying, that there is only one of French descent to every four of British extraction. Let us, then, consider for a moment the points of difference in regard to the principles of increase and dissemination, by which the two races are respectively distinguished, and thus approximate to a just estimate of the future relative number of French and English, by which British North America is destined to be peopled. M. Jules Simon has recently produced a work on the French race, in which interesting facts are exhibited. Whilst the English and German 20 i.ir iii ii races are not only multiplying fast, but spreaditig over the whole earth, the French are increasing but very little, and not colonizing at all. The- French are not an emigrating people. England, in fifty years, has • doubled her population at home, and has at the same time been peopling America, Australia, New Zealand, &c. The increase in the population of France during the same period has only been thirty percent., in the absence of any emi -Ration. It i^ a still more remarkable, as well as melancholy fact, thp^ in 1864' and 1855 the deaths in Fiance exceeded the births, and ♦hat largely. Yet France is double the area of Great Britain, and has a poJ)ulation of 37,000,000-^that of Britain being only 80,000,000. ■ I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions from tbeSe interesting facts. Do they not take the pith and power out cf the " homogeneous " arguments of the anti-confederate authoj*8'?' "' .AMNEXATION TO THE UNITED STATES. You must have observed that some of the flaming organs of disunion' as well as its frantic oratorical advocater, occasionally endeavor to tickle your fancy by delicate allusions to the delight* of annexation to the United States, rather th^u confederation with Canada, lou will there- fore, I presume, not regard it as unDecoming that I should present to such of you as may not have devoted attention to the subject certain facta, based upon recently issued official returns, which will show you at a glance the extent to which you avouM be taxed were you to share the fate of the States, as compared with your condition as now happily con- nected with your Sister Provinces. What, then, according to the official report published by the Director of the Bureau of Statistics at Washing- ton in January last, is the annual taxation per head in that great country? Eleven dollars, forty-six cents, in gold. And what is the amount of taxation in Canada, calculated on this same principle ? Three dollars, 86 cents. And whilst, on the same high authority, the national debt, per head, in the States, is 674.28, that of Canada is only 820.50. But I will here introduce a view of the comparative taxation* and debt in diflferent countries — that relatinf to the States being furnished by Commissioner Wells, and that relating to the Provinces by the Secretary of the Board of Trade and Commercial Exchange Association in Montreal, in his ex- cellent Report for 1866, issued in April last :— • Taxation, per cftpita. United States $11.46 gold. Great Britain.... 10.92 " J? ranee. .. , «« ^j^-« »,*.^ . « . ..-^ .i. «. .^ • • • i *%) i Belgium... -k. I, .....J... 6.59 '* Prussia...;,,..!...... 5.49 " Austria. J l..'.r.. 6.27 " Canada 3.86 " Newfoundland 3.49 " New Brunswick 3.24 " Nova Scotia , 3 . 10 " Prince Edward Island 2 . 00 '♦ Holland 0.67 " National debt, per capita.. $74.28 125 . 00 63.00 26.00 12.00 45.00 20.50 6.90 20.91 15.60 2 . 79 121 . 00 earth, I. The irs, has •eopling >ulation , in the w6ll as xoeeded f Great ing only erestmg neous " isunion' to tickle to the II there- esent to t certain V you at dare the lily con- e official bashing- country? taxation !6 cents, head, in ^ill here diflferent nissioner le Board n hi3 ex- debt, ita.. 28 30 50 OO OO 00 60 90 91 60 79 00 27 The most lynx-eyed disunionist can make very little capital out of the difference of the debt of Canada as compared with that of Nova Scotia. As a great country Canada is bound to put forth extra eflforts for the development of her resources, hut I venture to say that no intelligeat man can regard the comparatively trifling debt of Canada, when brought forward as an a,rgument against a great and glorious union, and as viewed in relation to her rapid advance in improvement, in any other light than sheer trifling with a great subject. , Oh ! but the Canadians are not improving ! They are stagnant, thick-headed, unenterprising people ! Here is evidence to the contrary. At the end of the fiscal year 1865 the total value of all Canadian imports was $44,620;469. What wad it in the following year, 1866 ? $53,802,- 310. The duty collected in the former year was 5,633,378, — in the latter, $7,330,725. The total value of exports from Canada in 1865 was $42,481,157. What was it in 1866 ? $56,328,380 ! What a miserable advance roars Mr. Howe ? What a trifling difference bellows Mr. Annand ! Very ! very ! screams Mr. Wilkins. These facts ought to seal the lips of the disunionist orators, and blow all the anti-confederate literary tapers out ! The truth is, that Novi. dcotia has had the best of the bargain. The Oanadifiu newspaper press has not failed to discover it, but wi? must ol^ject to all a pQsteriore complaints ! , It ia now OMr interest, in a peculiar sense, to see our big sister, Canada, prospering, but we owe it to ourselves, as we have the good luck to be situated at her portals, to make arriving immigrants aware of the- good th'ngs w# can also offer ! Well, how do wages range in the States as compared with Canada ? That question can be easily and satisfactorily answered; but I can only at present say that the Hon. Isaac Newton, Commissioner of the Agri- cultural-Bureau at W'ashington, says that the mean rate of wages paid to agricultural laborers in the States is $19.53 (with board) per month, in Nova Scotia currency. Now, from reports from the Canadian Bureau of Agriculture and Statistics, we learn that the average in Canada ^s $19.35 in Nova Scotia currency — which is eighteen cents less. But extra taxation and dearer living make more than sad havoc of the differ- ence, — but I must not here enlarge on the tempting theme. ABE TVE TO BE SEPARATED FROM BBITAIN? It has been boldly asserted that it is the wish of the mother country to sever the present connection with her North American colonies, as evidenced in her satisfaction in having Confederation effected. No statement can be more intensely false. Who can point to a solitary instance, in the history of Great Britain, where she has desired any such severance from any of her numerous colonies ? A great change has been recently effected in the sentiments of the public men of Britain, both as to the extent to which she is justified in interfering with the disputes of Foreign States, and as to the relation in which she stands to her colonies. In the iormer case a policy of non-interference, where British interests ■p 28 are not directly concerned, is advocated— a policy which, had it been acted upon, in regard to pot a few continental quarrels, would have saved the country much blood and treasure. In regard to the colonies, there is a disposition, not to coerce them, in any circumstances, in the maintenance of their relation to the mother country, so that if a desire be manifested either to become independent, or incorporated with other States, no obstruction shall be thrown in thfi way. Britain is justly proud of her colonies, and if any power, or combination of powers, should dare^to attempt to wrest one of them from her, (so long as the colonies desire to continue their connection with the mother country, ) the whole re- sources of the Empire would be directed against such a consummation. And such are not only the sentiments of the leading statesmen and legis- lators of Great Britain, but as every one knows, who peruses the exponents of public opinion in England, those of the entire people. m |ii;;F!!l vmt' IN CONCLUSION. Electors, — You would do well to follow the advice of the anti-unionist, who signs himself " One of the Pfeople," on whose pamphlet I have offered a few remarks, and who concludes in the following words—" above all the first duty of the electors of Nova Scotia is to choose both for the Domin- ion Parliament and the Local Legislature, tried, and trusty men — men incapable of betraying their dearest interests, men who, whether absent or present, will never forget their obligations to the people, and the in- terests committed to their charge" — very good ; but these are not the men who have proved obstructives to progress, who, like the honorable Joseph Howe, are going about the country, like so many viragoes, with dishevelled hair, and rueful countenances, pouring forth the loudest lamentations for the fate of a country which they know is about to emerge from a comparatively chrysalis condition, and advance another stage towards its high destiny — not the men who were formerly the most strenuous, and apparently sincere advocates for union, ^ut who, hunger- ing apd thirsting for place, and power, and seeing others more bold, energetic, and able, marching onward to accomplish a great wo:'k, took counsel together, like so many political Ahithophels, setting themselves I say, are against the interests of their country, and their kind ;— these, not the men for the exigencies of the hour. Who are the men, then ? ' They are the men whose recent deeds proclaim their competency— who within the comparatively brief space of four years, have infused life and energy into the important department of agriculture — importing splendid cattle and sheep — who have brought the finances of the country from a low to a highly prosperous condition — who have spread abroad the fame of Nova Scotia, by sending specimens of her productions to the world's fair in London and Paris — who have added fifty two miles to the railway communication of the Province— who have actually inaugurated its extension to Annapolis— who proceed- ed to London, and induced the astute and cautious Statesmen, of the greatest country in the world, to guarantee three million pounds sterling for the construction of that work, which will, when completed, be the -1 ^ it been jld have colonies, s, in the a desire th other is justly s, should colonies rhole re- amation. nd legis-'; uses the 3. list, who »ffered a ^e all the Domin- jn — men r absent the in- not the Dnorable es, with loudest ibout to another he most hunger- •e bold, •k, took mselves lay, are it deeds jpace of ment of ight the lition — Bcimens 10 have vince— )roceed- of the sterling be the means of opening a large proportion of this great and fertile continent to human occupancy, and human industry — the men who, in accordance with the universal sentiment of the British people, as well as the intelli- gence of their native land, have consummated a union between three sister Provinces, from which the most signal benefits shall flow, and upon which, if any one in defiance of Provincial and British law, should at- tempt to lay ruthless bauds, he will deserve to be branded with the stig- ma of public reprobation and contempt — the men who, to crown all, have laid the country under a deep debt of gratitude by giving it an educational sciierae, which is the glory of Nova Scotia — its beneficent ramifications extending to the extremities of the Province — a scheme, in the schools connected with which, the children of the poorest can obtain the greatest boon which their parents, or the State can confer upon them ; — the men, I say who have thus risked popularity and place, and have merged political feeling in the interests of Nova Scotia, are the men who ought to be, and shall be her representatives. Then, hurrah ! for the union candidates ; and when the day of battle comes, carry every one of them triumphantly, and with an overwhelming majority, to the head of the poll. I close in the 'eloquent language of the great and good John Milton — whose prose, in the elements of beauty, power, and sublimity, is almost equal to his poetry — who, in referring to another Dominion, would seem as if he had intended, with a prophetic apprehension of coming events, to include also that of Canada : " Methinks I see in my laind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks ; — methinks I see her as an eagle renewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam, purging and ujisealing her long abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance, while timorous and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms." I have the honor to be. Gentlemen^ Your obedient, humble servant, A COSMOPOLITAN. Halifax, N. S., July 19, 1867.