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 OI'LAAVA,, 
 
 ON TUESDAY, MABOH I8th, 1889. 
 
 OTTAWA: 
 PnlNTKU »0a rHfi:'Q,VEEN's"PKlNTEB A COMPXK0LI;TKB OV STATtONBKlT. 
 
 A. 8EKKCAI., SaporiDtendenfcof Prlntlnf. 
 1889. 
 
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 MR. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 COCKBURN, M.R, 
 
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 OH 
 
 UNRESTRICTED RECIPROCITY, 
 
 DILIVKKBO IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 OTTA.TV-A., 
 
 ON TUESDAY, MABCH 19th, 1889, 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN. In view of the fact that it has been 
 mrraDged that this debate shoald close this evening, and 
 also in view of the fact that this debate has already been 
 protracted lO a considerable length and a namber of gentle- 
 men desire to speak on the subject, the observations which 
 I have to m£ke will be as brief as possible. I had not 
 intended to deal with any statistic^ on this occasion, as I 
 think we roust all agree that the House has been fairly 
 'flooded with figures a.nd statistics, and we have had a supply 
 of them usque ad nauseam; but, in view of the extraordinary 
 •statements of the hon, member who preceded me, the 
 hon. member for South Huron (Mr. McMillan), I think it 
 is necessary that I should call atteation to some of the 
 miHstatemonts contained in bis address. He starts out by 
 etating that he is a farmer, and that ho represents the farmer, 
 and has the farmer's interests at heart. Ho poses as the 
 iiepreBentative of the agricultural interests, and he tells us 
 that his heart is fairly wrung — when he sees the farmers, not 
 indeed actually begging from door to door, but in the miser- 
 able plight to which they are reduced. I am not a farmer, 
 ' bat I have enough sympathy with the farmers of Canada 
 to unite with them in the feeling of woe depicted by the 
 hon. gentleman if the position to which they have been 
 
 1^ 
 
' reduced lABnch as ho states; bat I shall endeavor to show 
 the hon. gentleman that some of the statements ho has 
 addaced as to tbo miserable condition of the farming popu- 
 lation exist only in his own fervid imagination. I think, 
 in viov7 of the hon. gentleman's position in the agricaltaral 
 commnnity, he should have been more careful in the state* 
 ments he has made in regard to the cocdition of the farmers. 
 I can imagine that, it he warmed up as he did the other 
 evening in this House, before the agricultural audiences 
 which he has been in the habit of addressing, the honest 
 farmers must have left tho meeting under the imprecision 
 that they were indeed a badly-treated people, though they 
 had DO idea before that that they wero sofTering in thiUi 
 way. Alter Huoh a speech as that of the hon. gentle- 
 man, they must have found that they were under a load of 
 burdens, grievious to be borne, and that they were 
 suffering, to an extent, which they never understood 
 before. As long as the hon. gentleman contented him- 
 self with the old stale arguments of blue ruin and agri- 
 cultural depression, I was contented to leave him alone, 
 bat when he descended to particulars, I felt it necoBsary to 
 say something in answer to him. He tells us that not every 
 well-to-do farmer, but " every ordinary farmer" pays to-d^ 
 $29.50 per annum in duty on agrioaltural implements. Sfe 
 says that he went to tbo Experimental Farm at Ottawa to 
 ascertain the prices paid for the implements, and he went 
 to the Auditor General's Report and got the prices there, so 
 that they must be correct. He gives us the duty on two 
 ploughs, two harrows, cultivator, gang-plougb, bob-sleigh, 
 drill, scutHer, roller, and so forth. Thetie, he says, are Uie 
 ordinary requisites of the ordinary farmer, and he finds thai 
 on these implements, the farmer pays a duty of $295. H« 
 gives ten years for the life of these implements, and adds 
 f 3 a year for the duty on the article of twine, thus making 
 the total duty $32.50 a year. I think, last year, it waa 
 allowed by both parties in this House that the number ot 
 farmers in this country was between 600,000 and 650,000. 
 If I take the number of farmers at 600,000, and multiply 
 $32.50 by that number, I find that the duty paid by the 
 ibrmers each year on agricultural implements is no leas 
 than $19,500,000. The whole revenue from Customs is only 
 some $22,000,000. God be thanked that our farmers are so 
 very wealthy, that in these items alone, they oan pay 
 nearly the total amount of the Customs duties of the whoki 
 Dominion. Not content with that, the hon. gentlemtaii 
 aays that the annual duty on clothing and groceries of 
 ordinary farmers is still more. Let us see then what thia 
 
poor, downtroddon farmer has to pay on his olothiog aod 
 groconeB. Wo find thut the duty on clothes for a family of 
 five perecns, an bo 8ayH, amounts to S39 ; on a barrel of 
 Bogar, 8S.5a ; coal oil, 10 gullons, $1.24 ; rice, oorn, starch, 
 spice, soda aud ruisins, 8'i ; and »o on, »o that $54 84 duty 
 upoD clothing and ^rneeries for the hoine, and $32.50 on 
 implcmertH, amount to 883.::{4 du> ini; the year, according^ 
 to his statement. When 1 multiply that by the number of 
 fyrmorH, I firid a total of 850,000,000. Under these circam- 
 St mccH I cull on ^he bon. gentleman to impeach ibe Minis- 
 t« I" of Customs, t call OQ him to impeach the Minister of 
 Finance, uiid to demand what tboy have done with the 
 surplus 82 ;$,()( 0,000 which have been paid by the ngricul- 
 tarists of this country. Can it bo that wo have here in the 
 Ooneervative party a body of men, whoso Minister of 
 Finance haH been able to wring the vast Hum of 82rj,000.00O 
 from the horny-handei Hons ot toil and dispose ot it withoat 
 the knowledge of any one? It is ])Ohsible that there may 
 bo some hucret explanation of this, and f would call on the 
 hon. member for North Wolliogton (M!r. MoMulion), for 
 once in hit> life lo boar above the minutiee of details in which 
 he revels and endeavor to solve this mystery. Then tbere 
 is ihe qnetitiou of the balance of trade. The bon. gentleman 
 from North Wellington (Mr. Mo Mullen) tells a « there i:) a 
 balance of irado, as determined by the exports and impo^ti^ 
 against u^ for the period 1^81 to 1888 of no less than 8l6ti,- 
 420,104. Now, if the country has been able to sudor this 
 «appo8ed loss of Sl6(i,0u0,000 in eight years and stih stand 
 in too proud posiuon it occupies to-day, all I have to nay is 
 that we have the gtande^t and the mo^it woodertui Govern- 
 meut that ever directed u country's afiairs. Can it bo that 
 these 828,000,000, to which 1 leferred to a moment ago, wero 
 surreptitiously fcent over in gold to help to offset this won- 
 derful balance of trudo, w-hiuh the hon. member for North 
 Wellioglou cannot understand. The bon. gentleman is still 
 away iu tbo backwoods of political science of over fifty 
 years ago and wants to saitlo the accounts of the country 
 on the principle of the simple balar::o of exports and im- 
 ports. My lion. friend from South Huron (Mr. McMillan) 
 then says: Look at twine. The farmer pays $3 a year duty 
 on twine. I turned up the Blue Books lleport Trade and 
 Commerce, and I found t^'nes of all kinds paid a daty of 
 $15,904 14, or ^ cents , 2;.rmor. 1 take these tiuO,000 
 farmers and credit each with 8 1 apiece, and I get $i.€00,000, 
 or more than enough to pay ouc-bixth of Uttti annual interest 
 of the national debu Xb<^n he oomos to sugar, and he asks. 
 Why should not the farmer sweeten his poor cap of tea with 
 
• little so^ar ? Will we refa^e him that comfort, or will we- 
 deny that the poor lone widow, after a day's hard labor, is 
 entitled to pat in her cnp of tea a solitary mornol of sugar. 
 I find the daty paid on sugar to be |(3,433,i)33, but my hoD. 
 friond sayH every farmer pays $8.50 per annum duties, so 
 that the farmers pay 85,100,000. Again must I call on the 
 Minister of Finance to answer what he has done with this 
 Borplas balance of $l,ti66»666 which has been paid by the 
 poor farmer. 
 
 Sir BICHARD CAKTWEIGHT. He has handed it to 
 the refiners. 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN. Then 1 come to coal oil. What is 
 the daty on coal oil ? I find the dutjj collected was $325,- 
 666, bat we have 600,000 farmei's, all gushing with patriot- 
 ism, who, the hon. gentleman said, are paying a duty of $1.24 
 apiece per annam, or 9744,000, thus giving as a sarplas 
 oi $4 18,344. Why, in these three articles alone, of twine^ 
 ■agar, and coal oil, there is a sarplas of 83,870,107. Under 
 those ciroumstances, Mr. Speaker, what id the ase of oar 
 analysing statements of that kind any longer ? They may 
 do for the backwoods constituencies of hon. gentlemen op- 
 posite. They may do for people who have been duped by 
 their false statements, bat they will not do to bring ap 
 before a house like this, where we have the means at oar 
 disposal for refuting sach statements. Bat I ha7e.n0 doabt. 
 despite the flat contradictions these statuments have re- 
 ceived, and received from aalborities which cannot be gain^- 
 Baid, the same old stories will be repeated again and again 
 as if they had never been nailea on the floor of this House. 
 Then the hon. gentleman says, Look ut the exports for 
 IS^^S to the United States of $37,300,000, and of only 
 $33,600,000 to Great Britain, showing an excess in favor of 
 the United States of $3,700,000. Why, within a moment 
 after these words had pased from his lips he told us that 
 the exports to the United States in 1888 were, not $37,- 
 000,000, bat $42,572,065, and that those to Great Britain 
 were not $33,600,000 but $40,084, 'J64, and ho told us this 
 because he wanted to prove a different story. He told us 
 that in 1878 cur exports to the United States were $25,- 
 245,000, and in 1888, $42,572,000, showing an increase of 
 $17,327,000, or an increase of 76 per cent., while juHt be- 
 fore that our exports to the United States were $37,000,000 
 in 1888, or $6,000,000 less than his last statement. Bu^ what 
 do $5,000,000 matter to a man like this ? His great agricul- 
 tural soul soars far above tigures — millions or billions are 
 alike to him, H© told us that in 1878 wo exported to Great 
 
Britain $46,000,000, and in 1888, $40,000,000, showing a de* 
 urease of $6,000,000, or 15 per cent, and this, he ^ays. 
 proves conclusivoly that the United States is our natural 
 market and that our trade with thdt country is incrca»inf^« 
 1 thought it right to examine one or two points in eonneo> 
 tion with the United States being our natural market. The 
 bon. gentleman took up the items of hidcn and wool, and 
 I thought it best to find out what was ihe reHl Mtuto of thd 
 trade with rufcrence to thc^e itomH. 1 hold in my hand a 
 letter from one of the largest dealers in the Domiii on, a 
 man whose word, I think, will be taken by bon. gcuilomen 
 opposite, inasmuch as he has always been a oonHtaot sup- 
 porter of thoir policy and a steady onomy of the present 
 Government 1 refer to Mr. John Hallam, of Toronto. 
 He says: '" ^ • " • ■'' ' . • '■'•:, 
 
 " Now allow me to elate, that we do not import oae single ponnd o^ 
 wool which ia tho produce of the United ^^tHtes. It is quite clear that 
 the United States is not entitled to this part of the trale, as all the 
 wool ia grown in other countries and shipped to the United Htatesia 
 bond, then bouf^bt hv our v^oalers and Tnaaufactuiers rrnni wool mer- 
 chants in boston, New York and Philadelphia In ihesM cities iheT6 
 are a number of very Urge wool concerns, whi<:h import Ur^ely fi-oia 
 Africa, aouth America, tinglanl and Australia; they sell what th^y 
 can to their own merchantc, aiid then o Her the balance to Oaoadiaa 
 dealers and rnauutacturer'). 
 
 '• Under ihe h»Hd of Hides and Skins the fignrea from United States 
 «re aUo misleadiug; seren-tenths, if not more, of all the bides imported 
 into thia country are South America ht-^ck and nre usaHlly bought ia 
 Boston or New York, and are sold by the pound, except sheepskins with 
 wool on, which are usually sold by the piece, but we impoit very few 
 sheepskiud iu this country, and wbea we do they Are not the produce of 
 the United fjtates but of Africa, Australia, Buenos Ayrcs, or Monte 
 Video." 
 
 We must thus credit, not to tho trade of tho United States, 
 but to tho trade witih foreign » oontrios in those two items 
 alone of hides and wool, no iesn a bum than 8l.7»3,00ft. 
 In the matter of lumber alone I am credibly infjrmed 
 that we ship by the United States, through Boston, from 
 60,000,000 to 70,000,00u feet of spruce for the South 
 American market. Kence hon. gentlemen opposite will 
 understand, perhaps, the reason why the policy has 
 been brought forward by the Government to subsidise 
 steamship "linea to foster thnt foreign trade which we 
 see has already assumed so large proportions. 1 may 
 tell my hon. friend from South Huron (Mr. McMillan), 
 with reforeoce to the farming population, that I tind from 
 returns just made that, in 1868, Canada exported to the 
 United States (Jl per cent of her farm produce, and ig Great 
 Britain J4i per cent. But 20 years later tho exact reverse 
 took place, because we then shipped in 1887 to the United 
 
8tal«B only 35 per cent., and to Great firitain 60 per cent. 
 In fact, if anyone will look at the tables which have btson 
 prepared by Mr. Johnson, he will find that the trade in 
 larm produce daring the last 20 yoors is htoadily increaf<ing 
 with Groat Britain, and steadily docroaning with the United 
 States. 0»r friends tell us, Look at the United States, look at 
 the State of New York. Well, I live in Ontario, but 
 I know the Stale of New York, and I find that the 
 official returns given by the Stato authorities of New York 
 show that three^foorths of thei 'irms are under mortgage, 
 that l-.'O, or 76,000 farmers j> . hopelessly in debt, that 
 the decrease in land value in ten years from 18*70 to 1880 was 
 nearly as much as our whole national debt, or 9316,000,000 ; 
 whereas the increase in land values in Ontario in four years 
 from 1882 was $66,750,000. 1 find by the Ontario btatistios 
 of the total value of real estate, that the mortgages held by 
 the Land Companies amount to 8*^0,400,000, or only 6J 
 per cent, of the actual value of the property, or consider- 
 ably lets than one-half of the value of the farm irapioments 
 and live stock alone. Then in New York Stato, with a 
 population of 5,000,000, equal to that of the Dominion, 
 there are, say, 1,000,000 w»geearners, who pay per 
 head $20 per year, or 4 per cant, on the enormous 
 «um of $500,000,000, for the euppoit of paupers. This 
 is the report given Mr. Ford of the CJongrertsional In- 
 vestigat on Committee. In fact, we are told to look to 
 the United States for everythiuf. lam afraid that our 
 friends, in looking to the United btates, are simply looking 
 to a matter of dollars and centn; they are confounding 
 a plutocracy with an ariL^tocracy— a plutoomcy that will be, 
 and has already become a curse to that coutitry ; a pluto* 
 cracy whose names arb not emblazoned in the glorious re- 
 cords of its country, but whose names aie written in the 
 defalcations and crimes of the police and other courts; a 
 plutocracy whose names have never been associated with 
 struggles for their country's liberties, but simply with 
 struggles for its boodle j a plutocracy whose names are 
 oonnected with no efforts to bioaden the liberties of iho 
 people, who have never wrung from any Parliament a 
 Magna Charta, but whose whole contest seems to have been 
 for railway charters; a plutocracy which seeks to become 
 master of every industry, which seeks to control the price 
 of even the bread of the people, of the sugar that sweetens 
 their tea, of the very light that lights them on their 
 way, and which seeks to control the very coffins in 
 which they are to lie. Why, Sir, look at that plutocracy, 
 and you will find none of the kind relations that exist in 
 
Ibis conntry between landlord and tenant, or that exist in 
 <Jroal Britain between landlord nnd tenant; and you will 
 find that they ignore all political duties, Hneec at th'Ho who 
 attempt bonestly to discharge thorn, and in their offrontory 
 they have even gone so far as almoHt to drive the 
 people of the United Status inlo what wc can only call 
 one vast system of comrnanism. But I wish to speak more 
 particularly with reference to the resolution brought for- 
 ward by thohon. mombor for South Oxford (Sir Kichard 
 Oartwright). The resolution roads : 
 
 ** That in the preseot condition of affairs, and In Tie<v of the recent 
 •ctioa ot the House of Reprenentativea of the United States it is 
 «xpedieut that stepj should bH tftkeD to ascertain on what terun and cun- 
 ditionn arranKcmonts can be eifected with thu United iStatea, tor the 
 purpoBQ of lecuring full and unrestricted reciprocltv of trade there- 
 with." 
 
 He here alleges two distinct grounds on which he ba^os his 
 motion ; first, the present condition of affairs, »nd second, 
 the recent action of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States. Let us briefly examine these. I 
 am iroo to confess that, nttttr the clear and lucid 
 statement of the hon. the Minister of Finance, and 
 the ab'e addresses of those who followed in his support, I 
 an ^ a loss to see why, in the present condition of affairs, 
 we i^..onld bo justified in reversing the policy under which, 
 during the last ten years, Canada has prospered to so unex- 
 ampled a degree. I can only regret that during the last 
 throe consouutive Sessions so much valuable time has been 
 wasted in the reiteration of arguments and statements, 
 which, again and again, have receive! their omphatio con- 
 demnation from the electors at the polls. The constant 
 and increasing efforts on the part of the Opposition to 
 effect the most radical changes in our comraeicial and 
 political relations, naturally tend to frighten capital. 
 Capital, gentlemen, is always shy, and is ready to take 
 flight at the least alarm. A more flash of the oloctrio wires, 
 a mere mote on the political horizon, may, in a fow hours, 
 or a few minutes, effact the transfor of millions of capital 
 from here to New York or to London. S jch being the 
 case, I ask why it is that, year after year, wo are asked to 
 make these radical changes in the conditions under which 
 it is able to protect it^iolf. I feel that unless wo have a 
 time of rest, unless we feel that we are to have for years to 
 come the same beneficent policy pursued that has produced 
 Buch good effects during the last ten years, we shall ex- 
 perience troubles that we little calculate on now. If any 
 person really and impartially debires to ascertain the pre- 
 
8 
 
 n 
 
 sent oonditioD of affairs, 1 can refer him to a tribanal, com- 
 poRed of the keenest, the shrewdeHt, the best informed men 
 to be found in the world, to men who have no direct or im- 
 mediate interest in Canada, to men to whom Canada is 
 merely a commercial or financial asset, who look upon 
 all these matters witi^ a cold and calculating eye, 
 whose busiDess it is to become thoroughly acquainted with 
 the internal and external resources of every country in 
 the world — need I tell you that I refer to the capitalists 
 of Europe, to the men constituiinff the Royal Exchange, or 
 the Stock Exchange at London. These men, whe'" asked by 
 Canada for a loan of 4 million dollars, tendered uer 12 mil* 
 Hods, and they oflferod the money at a less rate of interest 
 than they ever offered money to any other Prcrinoe, the 
 lowest rate, either comparatively or positively, at which k 
 loan has ever been effected by a colony. Sir, I am perfectly 
 willing, apart from all political fiquabbles, to pin my faitk 
 to the calm and steady belief of those men who back their 
 belief by the offer of 12 million dollars. As to the recent 
 action of the House of Representatives, let ns see, first, 
 what that action really wat<, and socoDdly, why it should 
 become expedient that stops should be taken to ascer- 
 tain "on what terms and conditions arrangements can 
 be effected with the United States for the purpose of secur- 
 ing full and unrestricted reciprocity" with them. 1 may, 
 in passing, state that a^Hion of a similar character to the 
 joint resolution of Mr. Hitt, of Illinois, was taken over a 
 century ago, and that the following offer was incorporated 
 as article XI of the Federation of the thirteen states, in the 
 year 1777, and has been standing since that time. The 
 following i:i the offer : — 
 
 " Canada acceding to this confederation and joining in the measare 
 of the Uniifld States, shall be admitted into and entitled to all the ad- 
 TantHgea of this union, but no other colony except on agreement of 
 nine states ; nnd in the address drawn up in French to the inbiibitanta 
 of Canada— who then stood loyally by the Grown of Qreat rtritain, as 
 they were ever since (Mr. Dickinson says), 'Your Province is th» 
 only link wanting to complete the bright and strong chain of anion.' '* 
 
 In reply to the address drawn up in French at the time they 
 stated they wore I'^yal to the Crown of old England, as they 
 have remained over since, and as 1 am persuaded they willre* 
 main. These were the events of 1777, and the offer as stated 
 is still open to hon. gentlemen opposite. I must say that 
 I prefer the open, oownright honesty of such an offer 
 as this to the underhand attempt to entrap Canada into 
 negotiations with the United States under false pretences. 
 Perhaps the word " false " may appear to be a strong teritt 
 
and it may be an parliamentary; but lot me read the wordlei 
 of the joint resolution of Mr. Hitt, and then ton. gentle* 
 •men will see whether I am justified or not in using suoh 
 a term. The joint resolution ia in these terms: 
 
 " Resolved by the Senate and House of Repreeentatirt^s of the United 
 States cf America in Congress asBi-mblcd, that whenever it shall be 
 duly certi(i:^d to the President of tbe United States thattbe Govercitnent 
 of the Doaiiaion of Canada has declared a desire to e^^abbsh commercial 
 'Union with the United States, having a uniform revenue taritt, like 
 internal duties to be collected, and like import daticd to be imposed on 
 articiea bronsht into either country tiom other nations, with no duties 
 on trade between the United 8tatei and Canada, he eball appoint three 
 oomm.Bsionera to meet those who may be likewise debignated to repre- 
 sent the Government of Canada, to prepare a plan for the aHsimilation 
 of import duties and internal revenue tsx«s of the two countries, and 
 an equitable division of receipts, in a commercial union ; and Haid com- 
 miseioners shall report to the President, who ehall lay the report before 
 Congress." ., ; 
 
 Mr. Speaker, there is not a word here about that hybrid 
 moDstroaity, unrestricted reciprocity. Let me read also Mr. 
 flitt's own explanation of commercial union, as given by 
 him only a fortnight ago when speaking lo the resolution. 
 Ho said : 
 
 " What is commercial union with Canada ? It means, as set oat ia 
 this resolntion, the adoption by both countries of precisely the game 
 tariff of duties, or taxes to be levied upon goods coming from abroad, 
 abolishing altogether cur lire of custom houses on the north by which 
 we ooliect tariff duties on goods coming from Canada, abolisbihg their 
 custom bouses along the same line by which they collect duties npon 
 goods we Bend into Canada, aud leaving intercourse as unrestricted be- 
 tween this country and Canada as it is between the States. The line 
 of custom-houses would follow the sea and include both countries. 
 The internal-revenue systems of taxes on liquois and tobacco in the 
 two countries would also have to be made unitorm in both countriea. 
 The proceeds ot taxation thus collected would be equitably divided, 
 and the fairest way would seem to be in proportion to populatioa." 
 
 And then further on he sayd : 
 
 " Undoubtedly they (the Canadians) in being subjected to the same 
 tariff r^ith as, would in all fairnees be consulted as to its provisious; 
 bat we, sixty millions, would in all fairness generally have the prevail- 
 ing voice in determining what the rates should be. The particular 
 methods in which questioni of detail should be treated need not now be 
 -discussed." 
 
 No, Mr. Speaker, I think they had better not. We had bet- 
 ter first be inveigled into the net and then we shall feel, in 
 all its force, the "prevailing voice of the people " who, in 
 "all fairness," have overreached usinalmo^it every transao- 
 . tion, who cheated us by false maps oat of the State of 
 Maine, dishonestly pock<ated millions of dollars in connection 
 with the Alabama award, and who recently applauded the 
 iniamouB throat oi the Bietaliation Bill by a President wha 
 
■PH" 
 
 had, only a few days before, declared publicly that Canada 
 liad done everything that was fair, jost and honorable. This 
 Bill of Mr. Hitt calls for commercial union, not for unro- 
 stricted reciprocity; that is a mongrel which no self- 
 respecting citizen of the United States would for a moment 
 tolerate. Well do 1 recollect, Sir, during ray recent pleasant 
 visit to Washington, when casually introducing this resolution 
 into an assembly of gentlemen there, I was asked ; " Do you 
 imagine we are such fools as to keep a back door three thou- 
 sand miles long open to you to flood us with British goods?" 
 I said : *' Gentlemen, no doubt we shall be able to arrange 
 everything honorably, so as to protect you against an on- 
 slanght of British and foreign goods." They looked at me. 
 There was first a look of inquiry, and then a look of pity 
 «tole over their faces, and I could read the impressions pass- 
 ing through their minds: " Poor fellow, there is something 
 wrong with his head." The hon. member for North Nor- 
 folk (Mr. Charlton), in defending his friend the hon. 
 member for South Oxford (Su' Richard Cartwright) against 
 the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, said : 
 
 " It is not commercial uuion that is advocated by my hon. friend, it 
 is not commercial union that ia asked for by this resolution, but un- 
 leatricted reciprocity, and unrestricted reciprocity would leave in our 
 handa the entire control of our own tariff, except in bo far as relating to 
 imports and exports between thia country and the United States. 
 They " 
 
 That ift to say, Messrs. Hitt and Butterworth. 
 
 "" are truly patriotic in their efforta to promote the intei 
 
 only of the United States, but the interests of the Anglo-Saxon 
 wealtha upon the eonlinent of North America." 
 
 Now, if it is unrestricted reciprocity with entire control 
 of our own tariflF, with the preceding modifications, and 
 not comnnercial union, that the hon. member for South 
 Oxford (Sir Richard Cartwright) desires, why does he 
 base his motion on the recent action of Mr. Hitt, and of 
 the United States Congress, when Mr. Hitt emphati- 
 cally tells him that nil the Custom houses in the north 
 would be abolished, that the Custom houses would follow 
 the sea and include both countries. It suggests to my mind 
 a little incident that occurred in this Chamber this morning, 
 laf^ked the member for West Toronto, if he bad a copy of 
 the Toronto directory at hand. He replied, he had not. 
 .An Irishman, sitting at his right hand turned round and, 
 with that wit for which his countrymen are famous, offered 
 me a copy of the Quebec directory, asking if that would not 
 flnit. I think the two cases are very much on a par. One 
 party asks for commercial union and the other offers unro- 
 
 interests, not 
 common- 
 
Ft 
 
 Btrictod reciprocity with the United States* The hon» 
 member for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton), in the course of 
 his address, also said : 
 
 *' The feeling in the United Stales, I aaw it erinced in Washin|B;toa 
 when I visited there, is an unmistakeable desire on the partot American 
 public men to CBltivate friendly relations with Canada, to imprees upon 
 Canadians who visit their capital, their desire to treat us fairly and in 
 m friendly spirit, and to show that they are ready to enter into a reci- 
 procity treaty on a fair and equitable basis. There can be no doubt we 
 can get it it we desire it, and the asseition that we cannot get it is not 
 borne out by the facts." 
 
 I appeal to you, Mr. Speaker, if the terms of Mr. Hitt'a 
 resolution and the explanations I have read to this Hoase 
 are such as to confirm the statement of the hon; member 
 for North Norfolk (Mr. Charlton) that the United States 
 are ready for a reciprocity treaty, however great we may 
 acknowledge to bo their kindne^^ and hospitality to 
 Canadians visiting their capital. But, happily, we are 
 not loft to decide this question Bololy by the words of the 
 joint resolution and the subsequent explanation of Mr. Hitt ; 
 we have the public declarations of Senator Sherman, the 
 leader of the Republican party in the Senate, to this effect, 
 that if we wish to trade with the people of the United 
 States on e»^ual terms, we must join them politically and 
 bear all their burdens as citizens of the United StSi s; and 
 that no uncertain sound may be given out in this matter, a 
 few Dconths ago, while addretming his constituents in Maine, 
 the present able Secretary of State — the actual head of 
 60,000,000 of people— paid : 
 
 '* you pay yonr taxes in Maine ; you pay yonr taxes in the United 
 States ; you yield obedience ; you owe alle^^iance ; you observe the 
 laws, you liv9 under the flag. You stand ready to fi|;ht for the national 
 union, as you have already fought. Beyond i he frontier, across that 
 river, our neighbors choose another Governmejit, another ailpgiance. 
 They are subjects of Queen Victoria, they are loyal to Hor Majesty. 
 They live under a foreign flag. They do exactly as they have a right to 
 do. I neither dispute their right nor envy their situation. It is their 
 right to choose for themselves, as it is our right to choose for ourselves. 
 But 1 am opposed, teetotally opposed, to giving the Oanadiaus the senti- 
 mental satisfaction of waving the British flag, paying British taxes, and 
 the actual cash renmoeration of American markets. (Great applause.) 
 They cannot have both at the same time. If they come with us they 
 can have what we have, but it is an absolute wrong against the rights 
 of American citizens that millions of men who owe the Coited States 
 no allegiance, and who have no part nor lot with u?, who are not of us, 
 but choose to be foreign to us ; it is an absolute wrong for a Demo- 
 cratic congress to say that ttiey shall have exactly the same share in 
 our markets and the same privileges of trade under our flag that we 
 have." 
 
 We have seen within the last few weeks in the large daily 
 Journals spread broadcast over the land, from New York, 
 
I « 
 
 Chicago and other large centres, maps in which our fair 
 Dominion is parcelled oat as so many states, and I have had 
 aent to me to-day a large priiit from one of tte New York 
 papers in which the glorious old flag of England is repre- 
 sented as being trampled under foot and the flag of the 
 stars and stripes has, forsooth, been hoisted. Here yon see 
 on one side stand the nee of Wrloa and other raombem 
 of the Royal family, wniieon the other side ftaiid President 
 Harrison, VicoPresident Morton, and the other members of 
 the Cabinet. This and similar representations on the part 
 of the American papers are simply attempts to familiarise 
 their readers with the annexation of our great Dominion. 
 I a^k hon. gentlemen opposite if they are prepared to 
 pay their taxes to the United States ? To whom do they 
 owe their allegiance ? Who>ie laws do they observe? Un- 
 der which flag do they live ? They have taken the oath to 
 be loyal to our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, and I 
 ask, in the name of common sense, if loyalty can lead to 
 language such as we have beaid from hon. members on the 
 oppOiiio side of this Houee ? I fay if a man is truly loyal 
 Uijd should find that his words are unfairly construed into 
 such a shape as to bo considered dii^ioyal to England 
 by sixty millions of people in America, it is time for 
 him to alter his course, and try to observe the oath whioh 
 he took at the Table before he was allowed to occupy a seat 
 in the House. I ask such men, are you subjects of the 
 Queen ? Are you loyal to Her Majesty ? Do you wih-h to 
 live under the old Bnlish flag ? Or do you wish to register 
 yourselves under the stars and siripeei? Already have yoa 
 done too much to lead people to think tuat you wish to 
 pursue that oouree? Come out like men, and say in ft 
 straightforward way, as Mr. Blaine said, that when yott 
 go in for unrestricted reciprocity you go in for annexation 
 to the United States. One would think the declaration of 
 Mr. Blaine explicit enough to sot at rest all hopes of our 
 having unrestricted reciprocity with the United States, 
 anlesa wo deserted the British flag for the stars and stripetif 
 and so we are treated by the member for North Norfolk (Mr, 
 Charlton) to a picture of the easy conquest of Canada, as 
 follows : — 
 
 "In ca.e ofwar with the United States, England would bft utterly 
 unable to place au armed force upon the frontier beiweca thase two 
 countries, a(l«-q'iate to the defence ot Oanada. Th^United States, with 
 DO greater ex^rtioa than was put forth in the rebellion of 1861 to 1864, 
 could place in the field an army of 3,000,000 men. and it is folly to talk 
 of England beinf; able to copo with such a rorce, in British Nortk 
 Amenca, eo for from her base uf operations." 
 
13 
 
 Mr. Speaker, my recent vieit to Washington led me to very 
 different onnoloHions from those of my friend. I know we 
 shall never get unrestricted reciprocity, bat 1 know also 
 that the people of the United States will never knowingly 
 provoke us to war, or wantonly commence war upon us, 
 and that for very good reasons. The Republican and 
 Democratic parties are so very nearly equal in numerical 
 strength that they cannot afford to pursue a policy leading 
 to ttio forcible annexation of Canada, for, in that event, 
 their action would serve to consolidate Canada, and when 
 it entered the Union, under the .title of eight or nine 
 new states, these new states would, for some time, at least 
 BO long as they smarted under the sense of defeat, vote for 
 the opposite or Democratic ticket. Indeed, they would 
 temporarily hold the balance of power between the con- 
 flicting parties, and for similar reasons we may rest assured 
 that the Democratic party will not, with their eyes open, 
 force ua into the arms of the Bepublican party. We may, 
 therefore, bear with equanimity the hon, member's threat 
 of the invasion of Canada by 3,000,000 of stalwart Yankees. 
 The United States know too well what has been the cost to 
 Germany of the forcible annexation of Alsace-Lorraine ; to 
 .England, of Ireland; and to Biiseia, of Poland ;. and we 
 have ample proofs in the manner in which they recon- 
 stracted the youthern States after the surrender of General 
 Lee that they do not wish to hold any territory Rnlject to 
 conquest. If ever Canada becomes part of the Union, it 
 will do so by its owa free will and consent. I can only say 
 that 1 sincerely hope that I, for one, shall never live to see 
 that day, and I hope, Sir, also that I am exprelSsing the not 
 unchariinble hope that gentlemen on either side of the 
 House Will never live to see it cither. It is said by hon, 
 gentlemen opposite that England will not object to our 
 forming a commercial treaty with the United States. Why,, 
 Sir, what does such a treaty involve ? It involves a common 
 tariff; it involves a common commercial law and a common 
 court of appeal for the interpretation of that commercial 
 law; it involves a power behind to enforce the decisions of 
 that court; it involves, I almcst think, power on the part 
 of Canada to make peace with a nation at war with England. 
 And what id England to do? England the mother from 
 whose loins we have sprung ; the mother of arts and civil- 
 isation ; the mother who has nursed us so tonterly in our 
 infancy, who has stood by us in many a hard battle. What 
 is she to receive ? She is to be treated as a foreign power ; 
 she is to assume all the responsibilities of a parent; she is 
 to guarantee us from invasion, to protect our trade, and to 
 
11 
 
 -aBHure ns at the samd time all the rights and pri7ileges of 
 British citizjDship} and yet Bbo iH not to utter a word of 
 control or even of remonstrance. Why, the whole proposi- 
 tion of commercial union is simply too absurd, unless politi- 
 cal union is to accompany or fallow U in the near future. 
 In short, Sir, the United States cannot grant oh uireslrioted 
 reciprocity, as such action will be in direct violation of tho 
 iiuraerouH commQU^i'al treaties that country has already 
 made with Ic reign nations under the moBt-favored-aatioa 
 clause, lion, gentlemen opposite will tell me that that 
 matters not, that the United btatcs would trample under 
 foot those treaties and obligations. Well, Sir, [ tell yoa 
 that if the United States uro prepared to break ib-^ir word 
 with a foreign power, if they are prepared to trample their 
 honor in the dust, we are not prepared to associate our- 
 selves with them. But finally, Mr. Speaker, Canada is not 
 for sale. We love our country dearly, fc>ir; we are proud 
 of its past, we are hopeful of its future ; and come weal or 
 come woe, wo are determined, with God's help, to work 
 put our own destiny, and wo refuse — aye, indignantly, 
 «cornfully refuse — to exchange tho proud title of citizen of 
 the great British Empire for that of any other nationality 
 •under heaven. 
 
 A. SE>fECAL, Superintendent of Priating. 
 
 jil 
 
 ft