Edited Text
âi
a an
Poss
coniition, will perceive that it naturally divides itself
into four great centres of political power and radiating
intelligence. The Maritime Provinces, surrounded by
seat three of them insular, with unchangeable
pr ans ng with open pein rich fisheries, abundance
"coal, & kota; pulation, and within a week's
gail of the Britivh ateâ form the first division; and
the Ashburton âTreaty, which nearly severed them from
Caomda, defines its outlines and proportions, âThese
Provinces wow govern themselves, tnd do it well, and
Canada bas no more right to, ceutrol or mterfere with
them than she has to control thy Windward Islands or
Vamaica. âThese-Provinces aye develaped commercial
enterprise and maritime capabilities with marvellous
rapidity. ThrĂ©e of them âcan be held wlule Great
Britain keeps the sex. Newfoundland and Prince Ed-
ward Island are surrounded by it, and the narrow
isthmus of fourteen miles which connects Nova Scotia
withâ the maipland van be easily fortified, and can be'
entiladed by guobvate on either side. But what jy more,
these Provinces can belp Great Britain to preserye her
ascendancy of the qovin, While far-seeing Members
of the House of Commons are inquiring into the causes
which dirainish thy number of her sailors and inÂąrease
the difficulty of manning her fleet, is it not strange that
the great nursery for seamen, which our Maritime Pros
viracea present, should be entirely overlooked, and that
dippant writers should desire to teach 6f 000: hardy sea-
tarmg people to turn their backs upon England and fix
their thoughts upon Ottawa ; and should deliberately pro-
pose to disgust them by breaking down their institutions
and subjecting them to the arbitrary control of an inland
opulation, frogen up nearly half the year, and who are
incapable of protecting thei by either land or sea?
Referring to the Statistics of Trade and Commerce, it
will be found that Nova Scotia employs 19,637 Mariners
andâ Fishermen; Newfoundland, 38,578, and Prince Ed-
ward Island, 2,153. Nova Scotia alone owns 400,000
tons of Shipping.
Here are Colonies withinâ seven daysâ steaming of
these shores, tloatiog the flag of England over # noble
mercantile marine, and training 60,000 seamen and fish-| yf
ermen to defend it, and yet the House of Commons 18
to be asked to allow some gentlemen in Ottawa to draw
these people away from the ocean, which, for their own
and the general security of the Empire, they are requir.
ed to protect, that their hearts thay be broken and their
lives wasted on interminable frontiers incapable of de-
tence. Parliament, it is hoped, will think twice about
|Minnesota and Montana, secure of a large participa- tions.
jtion in their growing trade, will rejoice in their prosper: |
ity, and gladly establish with them the same sound one ie ou "to pilot-us off and then bid us good bye.â
mercial intercourse which now makes Massachusetts and} âTben certain persons in the Manufacturing towns had
Nova Scotia, Maine and New Brunswick, almost ofe;|been disgusted with the high duties which Canada bad
though nowhere, perhaps, are love of country, and loy-}imposed on British productions. They were angry, and
alty to the institutions the populations prefer, more dis-|did not stay to reflect that if Canada were in error, the
tinetly marked, Maritime Provinces ought not to be punished for her
âThe Provinces on the Pacific side of the Rocky Moun-/fault, seeing that they eo never followed her example.
tains form the fourth great natural division of British|British manufactures are admitted jnto them all, under
America, âThey are full of resources, and with a heal-|light revenue duties, âThey all have an interest in fos-
thy climate, coal in abundance, gold mines, rich fisheries, |tering equitable commercial relations with the whole
âThese people thought that Confederation meant
separation, and were disposed, like Moore's French
fine timber, and a fertile soil, they must prosper with|Hmpire, and with foreign countries, far transcending
any kind of good m emunt. They will remain Bri- me | interest they may bave in the consumption of three
millions of people in a mere inland country, which their
tisk so long as England van keep the sea. âhey have
no natural connection with Canada, or the Rocky Moun-
arutegeens omens i rn the âvaulting ambitionâ of
certain people about Ottawa easily overleaps a couple . : teagan
of Roem. miles of wilderness we raage of Sisuneaiaee to the Canadians they were doing a palpable injustice to
and would disregard the natural outlines of Creation|themselves, and to the colonists besides, Up to this
with an audacity which in Europe would be denounced hour it is doubtful whether a Canadian can be found who
as a wilful temptation of Providence. Fortunately their|4Âź% invested a pound in Nova Scotia, cleared a farm,
vane is not equal to their ambition; and the Pacific|b„ilt a ship, opened a mine, or expended sixpence in
ârovinces, like all the others, will be left to govern|the defenee of the country. âThe expenses of its early
themselves within the orbits assigned to them by British|Âą?!onization, and of its protection, have been paid by
interests and Imperial regulations, until the period ar- Kngland; and from this country, and not from Canada,
vives for a general break up, when the British Provinces |°#âąÂą the emigrants, the capital and the credit, which
and the American States on the Pacific will perhaps from time to time have stimulated its enterprise, and
unite and form one great English community, preserving quickened its industry. Why, then, should Nova Sco-
friendly relations, it is to be hoped, with 1p nations|(Âź take blankets, broad cloth, crockery ware, or cutler
from which they sprung, rs pong: oy, ya ve Yor ie a gran pangâ
Turning agajn to the Mariti i _| ancashire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire? an yet this
lintio aun cord. ud oe Markie 5 Se an. Gan Ae is just what these cunning Canadians are at; and, strange
able allies that these Islands have, whenever (and may to say, the Free Traders of England, who abhor discrim-
the time be very rewaote) they co er oo 7 grest inating duties, and will not permit any of the Colonies
naval war. France knows the value of the North At-|;° PO Shem, oven Sor thelr oe Bi yantage, fre Qaiee-
lantic as a training school for seamen, and for three hun- ly permitting one British colcay to swing four others out
dred years yhe has cultivated it with a persistent and en-
of the fiscal system and com.mon obligations of the Em-
lightened vational policy, Even after her hold upon the
pire, that they may monopvlise their consumption, and
continent was severed by the fall of Louisburg and Que- discriminate against the manuiscturing :adustry of Eng-
bec, she stipulated for the occupancy of St. Pierre and
land and in favor of thelr own,
iduelon, and tor certain rights of fishery upon Again, after a struggle of unexampled energy and
Weyt coast of Newfoundland, "ies pea Bh May duration, the Corn Laws of England were abolished.
in dounties, and a rigid system of enrollment, she has|/" the wisdom of that policy, at the present moment,
ow built up on two barren islands a prosperous mer-|PÂąrbaps all parties in this country concur; and the Am-
cantile community, Without raising the legal question erican Commissioners, appointed by the Secretary of the
of exclusive occupancy she âmaintains, by the irequent|ZTeasury to revise the revenue system of the United
visits of ber men-of-war, and by the passive resistance
States, acknowledge its soundness wien they say, that to
of numbers, something like an âascendancy on what is|S\„Ÿ the producer his food free of duty is to give him
vessels cannot approach for nearly half the year.
But the English manufacturers did not stay to reflect
that by handing over nearly a million of good customers
this proposition, and of the scheme for lauuehing âaloalied + , W whi +4}, (she benefit of the most subtle form of protection which
ro : 4 ; S\called ** the French sliore,â while the Banks swarm with . P
oon â Rae ay sea of troubles for the glori-|hur fishing craft whose bultows stretch forâ many hund- | be devised. He would be a bold wnan who would
Canada forms the second division of Lritish America,
inorder of seq © as we ascend fiom the Atlantic. It
is a fine country, with great natnral resources, and may
develop iato some such nation as Poland or Hungary.
Ilemmed in by icy barriers at the North, and by u
owerful Nation on the South, shut out trom deep sea
navigation (or nearly half the year, with two nationalities
to reconcile, and no Coal, who will predict for her a very
brilliant destiny, at least, for many yeara to coine? âThe
best she can do is to be quiet, unobtrusive, thrifty, pro-
voking no cnmities, and not making herself disagreeable
to. her avighbors, or increasing the hazards which ber
defence involves, by any preniature aspirations to be-
come a nation, for which status at present she is totally
mgrone-
detween Canada and the Rocky Mountains, and
divided from her by a belt of comparatively sterile coun-
try, lies a magnificent region, which is a standing re-
proach to the British Government, and a blot upon our
civilization. The Republicans have shown their appre-
ciation of the value of this territory by providing, in
General Banksâ Bill, that it shall be organized at once
into two Territories, and one into two States of
the Union. What has England ever done with it?
While the Government of the United States has, within
the past half century, formed out of their great West
one noble State after another, which have ama, the
zranaries of Europe, the Government of England, hav-
ing & West, of great extent and fertility, have done no-
thing national or statesman-like with it, but have allowed
it to be locked up as a hunsing ground, for the exclusive
venefit of & Fur Company, whe, monopolizing the con-
sumption of Indian tribes reduced to a state of subjec-
tion akin to slavery, haye maintained to this hour, in the
face of the free ideas and advancing civiljzation of Eu-
rope and America, a job so gigantic that men stand
A ast, when they contrast the napermes wilderness
ich these persons have got to show with the noble
States, populous cities and waving cornfields, on the
other side of the line. :
Two or three years ago, when attention wag sternly
called to the condition of this country, there was &
movement among the dry bones about Fenchurch street,
and we heard of roads to be opened, telegraphs to be
built, and colonization to be promoted. But what was
done? The stock was watered, and some ÂŁ1,500,000
added to the nompal capital of the Company, by which
some persons made and others probably lost a large
sum, of money ; some telegraph wire was sent out which
rusts in the wilderness, and there the matter endedâthe
few active spirits within the Company, who already svc
the advancing wave of public. indignation which is to
syreap away their monopoly, and desire to people the
land, being controlled. by those who are determined to
dÂą nothing but kill wild animals and make enormous
polite out of poor Indians,
The Canadian remedy for ali this is characteristic of
the country. Some of her public men say this territory
belongs to us because our fathers hunted in it long since,
but this plea would but confirm the Indianâs title who
hunted in it long before, or the Hudson's Bay Com-
panyâs title, who have been hunting in it ever since.
This plea is untenable, and though often challenged by
the Company, the Canadians have shrank from attempt-
ing to make it good in any Court of Justice or before
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Failing
to establish a title, the Canadians at one time proposed
to buy the Company out, with the consent and under
the guarantee of the British Government, and to annex
the country to Canada. Fortunately, this policy also
failed for two good .reasonsâthat the Canadians had no
money, and that the parties could: not agree about the
rice. So far, the country has been saved for wiser and
beatée purposes than to be transferred from one descrip-
tion of thraldom to another. If it is to be ruled and
governed by a distant authority, it does not much mat-
ter whether the seat of government is in London or in
Ottawa. If the oven | is not to be treated as nation-
al property and the ao it containg as British subjects,
then let it remain as a hunting barry till the people
of Minnesota and Montana break in and take it from us,
which they will do, if it is not speedily organized.
Above all things, do not let it be annexed to Canada,
to weaken that Province by another thousand miles of
frontier, and to multiplyâ her perplexities an hundred
fold. Fancy a country in Europe as large as England,
France and Prussia, with only eight people to the square
mile, and a debt of $25 per head, wanting to purchase
another country as large as Russia, and then guage if
you can the measure of scorn and ridicule with which
the proposition would be received.
- Now, what ought to be done with this noble country ?
What, if we remember right, Lord Lytton proposed âto
do with it long sinee. It should be organized and opened
for occupation without delay. There are 10,000 le
in the settlements around Selkirk, many of them intelli-
blic spirited and ex . A Govern
sod Cduncil, âresponsible to the Colonist Office aaal'tiot
to
a)
i , and the Queen's
as a protection to the
spirit of development which would be at once evolved.
Let axple boundaries be â to the new Province,
and freedom of trade and settlement be at once
tablished, the Governor being _ whenever it
contains 100,000 inhabitants, to call a Representative As-
sembly, and allow the people to govern themselves. Lf
t mensures are. there will be mere life, im-
iri
infused into this country in a
ie Hydsonâs Bay Company have in-|
eit than ten years, Sel-
eg ype its own revenues
as
stand up in the English Parliament and move to impose
a duty on the importation of flour. Yet the Parliament
of Canada, at the suggestion of Mr, Galt, has just im-
posed a duty of half a dollar per barrel upon flour,
nominally to punish the Americans for impositions
pag absurd, hut in reality to quietly establish a Corn
Law for the benefit of Canada at the expense of the
Maritime Provinces. Those Provinces, having a large
portion of their population employed in lumbering,
wining, ship building, and navigation, annually import
800,000 barrels of tlour more than they produce. âThey
pay for this with fish, lumber, coal, gypsum, grindstones,
reds of miles. By these means France employs every
summer 10,000 men on the Banks and shores of New-
foundland: this is the naval reserve which makes her
formidable upon the ocean, Looking to the apparent
decline in the number and efficiency of seamen in these
Islunds which some Members of âParliament have re-
cently pointed out, she would indeed be formidable had
not our noble Provinces in the North Atlantle, with-
out bounties or encouragement of any kind, develop-
ed maritime capabilities that excite ** our special won-
der,â and out of all proportion to any interest, strange
to say, which the subject has ever excited in the Mo- P ,
ther Country. In the event of a war with France,|Âźââą, *hips, and other exports, for which they find a
either Novaâ Scotia with her 20,000, or Newfoundland |âą4rket abroad, a very small proportion of the whole
with her 38,000 bardy seamen, would, if furnished with|being purchased by the Canadians; and yot, if the
un-boats, sweep these 10,000 Frenchmen off the ocean|people of England do not stamp the policy with in-
in @ single summer, and thea come home to guard the/dignant reprobation, and protect the Maritime Pros
coasts of England till the war was over. And yet we vinces from these retrograde politicians in the rear
are asked to break down the institutions which have fos- tl ill bably be taxed , b f $400 i
tered this naval reserve, and animated it with a spirit of ott Bhagat erg. nba cag toe Braga pines Y
loyalty and devotion not co be surpassed on the coasts 000 a year, whics tax must fall upon our shipwrights
of Hampshire or of Sussex, hatever the colonists/@04 our freights before we can send a versel to
feel, this is a question of vital Imperial policy; and|Eugland, and increase the cost of living to our fish-
when Her Majesty's Ministers are asked to transfer the/ermen, gallantly making their way, by hardihood
poresareent of ome 60,000 mariners from England to/and thrift, against the unfair competition produced
ha â â = â or it i 3 - te to/by the bounties of the United States and France.
m she open harbors that our! hese questions have uever been understood over
iron-clads can enter at all seasons of the year,
icy region hundreds of miles above tide ne a Horde here, but they shall be ; aud when they are, there
sible by our nayy in summer, and in winter sealed by|i8 vot & manofactarer, a free trader, or a sound
frost, the question should be answered by the Cabinet|thinking lover of fair play, iu either of the three
with a firmness commensurate with its magnitude and|kingdoms, who will not interfere to protect the
importance. Maritime Provinces from this Canadiau Cora Law.
_ But is there any necessity for a hasty and unwise de-| Unfortunately, there is a third class of persons in
cision of this question? ' Ndne whatever. If judicious-| England, not fart wth perhaps, who, paiufully in-
ly treated in this country itâ would have settled itself! rerested in the throes and eccentricities of Canada,
longsinee. What are the facts? In 1862 a Conference hia linad an & hi .
was held at Quebec to discuss various topics of interco-|â"° too much inclined to favor anything which may
lonial interest, and at that Conference, representatives
ve calculated to restore her to financial soundness
from the Governments of Nova Scotia and New Brans-/8ud give buoyaucy to stocks fearfully depreciated.
wick being present with the whole Canadian Cabinet, it
i ' Meetings are annually held in London at which a
was decided unanimously, in presence of the great diffi-|body of very worthy persons, who have invested
culties which beset the question of Colonial Union, that
agen âothe pop ok ee ÂŁ10,000,000 or ÂŁ15,000,000 iu certain enterprises
Gt allowed oe pote
. â the very interesting question of how they can get
In 1864 a Conference was held at Charlottetown to|,) i ; : â :
consider the smaller and much less complicated question their wR 9 back â Judging by she ahare lat,
of a Legislative Union of the Maritime Provinces only, this is still an interesting question ; and it is to be
If permitted to continue and close their deliberations, |feared that, despairiog of reliet from other quarters,
withoat intrusion, that Conference would probably have|it is sometimes assumed that if the productive
simplified the commercial and financial arrangements of revenues of the Maritime Provinces oon be flung
theseâ Provinces, though it is not at all probable thatlinto the empty treasury of Canada, in which, for
they would have consented to give up the independent|i.4 years, there has been but one surplus, and bai
overnments and legislatures under which they had so if Ka B Pi hG ld th P h â fi
ae lived and prospered in harmony and good neigh-|'! te British Government would throw three or four
borhood, In an evil hour certam Canadian gentlemen millions into tho country, for any object aud at
appeared upon the scene, and from that time to the pre-/auybody's expeuse, their prospect of dividends
â British America has been thrown into admired|might be impreved. There are high-minded men,
isorder, connected with those orgauizations, too discrimina-
It appears that the antagonism of races, of dual lead-|ting and too just to be swayed by such considera-
erships and double majorities, already described, had/tions ; but there are probably others suffering from
about ae une scape & deadlock of Werte ten-|that sicknees of the heart which hope deferred pro-
acity. Dissolutions and reconstructions been tried, fos
and still the Ilouse was nearly divided, and the rival duces â ae gladly a we pepe mat
politicians were at their witâs end. Neither would give|"i2Âą% that have had nothing to do with their dis-
way, or yield anything for the good of tho country, but|/#Ppointments and their sufferiugs, pay the penalty of
at Vast they bethought them that the Maritime Provinces|their own want of foresight. But this would be most
wight be used as make weights to relieve their embar-junfair. Those Provinces have honestly borrowed,
rassments, When Ilerod and Pilate coalesced there was|ou the credit of their general revenues, all the
money required for their public works. They pay
a sacrifice, and Hen Mr. er er Mr. Brown, after
vars of personal bitterness and malignant vituperation, : :
aapehten to clasp hands, it was with the sideistandlin ~ mneeene pone A half ar and just as
that the Lower Provinces, which had nothing to do with|{@8t 8 capital accumulates, sceking permanent
their disputes, were to be sacrificed to illustrate their|investment, their Bonds are purchased by their own
reconciliation, But we are avenged. Swift retribution|people, and will speedily disappear from the English
~ men tore mhnee Po ooae oe Pacman at: market, ualess there be some financial blungering
rown was wedged out of the Cabinet last winter, and|{f, hich it {s hoped th be ded b
now, yA | gored that oe apap compelled = sclinaes aumadia ed cadaniganiion Srerers Na:
resign by a new manifestation of the religious rivalr , 1
andâ national antagonisms which are the peculise prc aâ a or ~ Gentlemen yo 8 oe
ments of discord in that unquiet region. bers of the last Administration are of course com-
The coalition once formed, no time was lost in carry prope wt regnoa Mbnvne Pe fs fy 5m fn 4
, . ie âlare not too old to unlearn errors, or so unpatriotic
ing out the policy apen whieh le vas. harem Dengaes as to persist in a line of policy that ean no longer be
t to Charlottetown, and the quiet Conf â :
gving oh there oad broken top. A new one, ou larger defended ; and that they will not lightly value the
scale, was itiitiated under the auspices of the Governor |pledged faith of England to loyal and devoted com-
General at Quebec. After three weeks of light labor/munities, who have done no wrong; nor, in the face
and ** exhaustive festivities,â what is called âthe Que-|of such petitions as have been sent here from Nova
bec Schemeâ of Confederation was produced. So far,/Seotia and Newfoundland, attempt to sacrifice those
the Imperial Government had nothing to do with the â â
porting in accepting this new poy. Mes of Confedera- Provinees at bap et of roe party
tion, growing out of nothimg but the policical necessities without regard to the forms which in all free
of a single Province, and before it hud been ratified by |countries protect from rash innovation the Institu-
the Legislatares or people of any of the others, they|tions which the people value.
seo ed ee âsledâ core best cg rome But, it may be asked, do not the Maritime Pro-
Oe roe e a ccufetonte. Tho Prete at Pactiqnat'|vinces desire this Union? and, if the question in-
ity of the Conference. âThe Press and Parliament, |â, ; ve) 4
yer § publio men of England, knowing little of the ques-/âldes the Quebec Scheme of Confederation, it is
tion, and perhaps caring less, were also for a time mis-\#000 answered, Every one of them rejected it with
led by the action of the Government, and by the plausible|a unanimity and decision not to be misunderstood,
statements ef some of the Canadian Miniotors, who|In Prince Edward Island, both branches of the
rushed over here to forestall public opinion. It is time| Legislature being elective, but five members could be
that all aes aan or aa The Me valine ae got to vote for it. In Newfoundland it was con-
itime Provinces has never been presented to the Farlia-| donned by the people at the polls. In Nova Scotia
ve ab cn» halos sony the Cnneding aes nied the leader of the Government was compelled to come
everâ in relation to the great interests which should|dowa to the House and declare it â impracticable ;â
easly influence its dessicn, the good faith of the|and in New Brunswick the electors, animated by the
Crown, and the dignity and security of the Empire. instinct of self preservation, rushed to the polls,
There were in this country two or three classes of wept the delegates aside, and trampled it under
repared to receive this sition with special|theie feet. Here the matter would have rested,
vor. re were fret, the See Colonial school of/had all the Provinces been treated with the justice
iticians, who demre to pollard the British oakâwho!and impartiality to which they were entitled.
Weve sas F mould be richer, stronger, * "It is the pride and boast of Englishmen that in
py i a wp ag te Russie, the Weather pure Courts the humblest persons aud the
: . if the other half of thy/âą0St exalted stand on an equal footing. A Judge
ed tol drut about into/als were to influence the verdict. Between Corpo:
rate Bodies in this country the rigid rule of strict
jean Continent were quietly bapded over to the Would-be disgraced and. a aoe: ghrp if the
eg Ai and if ine of le who now|Humber of acres or the rank or tion of individu-
w
U
ne
pola! lance
don cannot oppress York, or Manchester Oldham,
and hence it is that while every manâs per-
sonal rights are secure, every muus Corporate
rivileges, till laches, corruption, or ebuse works
loefeltube, are respected, If asked to-morrow what
it is that binds this Empire together by bands
stronger than ironclads, the prompt auawer would
be the all-pervading reliance of the ppople every
where upon the pledged faith of the Crown, and on
the justice and impartiality of the Imperial Parlia-
meat. When franchises were conferred upon the
people of the Maritime Proviaces and Legislatures
given to them, these could only be yieldad up by
voluntary consent, or be forfeited by misconduct.
When self-government was conceded, it could never
afterwards be withdrawn, unless upoa ample proof
elicited by legal forms or deliberate Parliamentary
enquiry, that it had been grossly abused. Even the
Colonial legislators themselves, intrusted for a definite
time, with limited powers and sacred |trusts, could
not strip the people of their rights withqut their own
conseat, or transter to others the power of legisla-
tion, any more than the aldermen of Uandon could
annihilate the constitution which limits their sphere
of action, or than the common councill)rs of Bath
could transfer the government of that eit)to Bristol.
If these rules guard securely every petty Corporation
in the kingdom, surely they should be agplied with
equai stringency to the protection of greatProvinces,
exercising in due subordination te Imperial puthority,
and with all loyalty and affection to they Mother
Country, the high powers of legislation anf internal
self government, Until the people of Novy Scotia,
Prince Edward Island and Newtoundland, ffeit, b
corruption, or abuse, the privileges confe
voluntarily relinquish them, they cannot be replaimed
by the Crown or swept away by Parliament
breach of faith; nor can they be transfer
the local legislatures, any more than an estate):
transferred by âTrustees whose powers are lingjted in
the Deed by which the trust has been created.
Unfortunately these plain principles of le
struction and constitutional law have, in de
the Maritime Provinces, been strangel
When all the parties to: the Quebec scheme of ©
federation found that they had made .an Âą,
blunder, they should have abandoned the -
left the Provinces in peace; and above all,
ernment of England should have withdrawn frqn a
controversy, into which, for no Imperial a ashas
been clearly proved, they had been artfully dravn.
They should have held the scales even and treated all
Her Majestyâs subjects in British America alike. his
was not done. âThe policy, long after it had been @n-
demned by public opinion, was not, as it should
been, abandoned ; but, inspired by Canadian influen@s,
a system of Imperial pressure was brought to bear ujon
the Maritime Provinces for the first time in tlgir
history, which has roused a very indignant pene.
âYhus countenanced in this country all boundares
were oversteppud by certain parties on the other si
Governors became partizans. In one Province, whle
the Fenians were upon the frontier, the Cabinet
wedged out of office, the House dissolved, and
who oF me ulation precipitated into the turmoil of
general election just when every man should have
ogre | shoulder to shoulder; and, what was wo
one half of an entirely loyal population were taught p
brand the other haf as disloyal, and permitted
threaten them with the loss of the Queenâs favor an
protection, if they did not accept Confederation, an
forswear the opinions which only a year before, left
their unbiassed judgments, they had expressed. © Th
_
in another Province, and the result is that two out
anew Convention, to be held in England, to be com-,
sed of an equal number of delegates trom all the
rovinces, (Upper and Lower Canada to count as ~~
who are to frame a new scheme of Union, which it js
fondly hoped the Cabinet will sanction and the Imperial
Parliament adopt before it has been submitted to t)
Legislatures whose powers it is to transfer, or tot
electors whose rights and revenues it is proposed th
summarily to sweep away. Two * bodies of Del
rates,â as the papers inform us, came over here fro
pe Brunswick and Nova Scotia a month ago. The
were twelve in number, and it is presumed that they
have been puzzled to know what to dowith themselves,
disciplined soldiers of the Republic.
from would 5 be
Admiralty and the Horse
suppose that they could be furnished, who ia to pay
for them? If the people of England, then let there be
an end of this buncombe about a new nationality, and
of pretensions utferly irreconcileable with the resistless
logic that must decide this question, If the
England are to defend those Provinces with
force of the Empire, then let them think well of what
th they are about, for by disturbing old currents of
*|thought, and multiplying the difficulties of the Con-
servative element in the United States, sorely
at all times by the turbulent and a
increasing the hazards of a war ten-fold. âThe attitude
of the British Provinces on the American Continent is
wt this moment one eminently pe
But let this Guy of a ** New N
which other people are to pay for and are expected to
protect, and every young fellow who has hada taste of
the license of camp lite in the United States will be
sorely tempted to have a fling at it. Let the Provinces
resume their accustomed role of peaceful development
as outlying portions of a great empire with which the
then disturb
diplomatic recognitions of three parts of a Century,
and without a war, causelessly
â|which neither the civilized world nor the great
God of Battles can be expected to smile, Let us
then fling into the fire the
fuectured at Quebec, and
probably be consi
and then we shall begin to breathe freely
+!can set about adjusting the one or two q
remain as causes of nwtional irritation, and may look
forward to peace for « century, with industrial
developement, on 4 scale so vast as
between the two great branches of the
sible thenceforward and for ever.
same arts were practised with ludicrous exaggeration] yg
the four were induced to pass a resolution, authorizing) provinces not one of the Delegates will ever admit that
any such thing
with these people is a large country, defen
Great Britain.
the Intercolonial Railroad ; ÂŁ2,000,000 to buy up the
Hudson Bay Company's Territory; ÂŁ3,000,000 for
fortifications along the line of the St. Lawrenco; to
provide gui-boats for the lakes; and that by and bye,
when money is plenty and John Bull in a marvellous
good humour, an advance of ÂŁ5,000,000 to deepen and
enlarge Canals may be reasonably ex
unsophistica\ed Confederate mind, in
this is pretty nearly what Confederation means; but as
to assuming the duties of a nationâselecting a kingâ
se : icc... |
ye a ial j invari „ -|comprize a territory of 4,000,000 of e miles, â{
jand impartial justice is invariably preserved. Lou on a Guu take vet ab mech. All Buttes wus be
family of nations, is smaller by ninety-two thousand
square miles, When all the absorptions and recon.
structions arising ont of Prussia's great success are
made, there will still remain at least sixteen Sove
States in Europe, on a territory smaller than that whic
these aspiring political speculators at Ottawa seek to
couirol, The **dimensionsâ of the new nation will
certainly be sufficiently imposing, vory nearly realigin
Sam Silck's comprehensive phrase of * all out dooraÂź
When we survey it, with one human being standing on
every squave mile, its stren in proportion to iis
dimensions can be rightly estimated,
The Northern States, with 24,000,000 of people, »
great exertions and at enormous cost were at inst abhe
to put into the field a million of soldiers, With
4,000,000 of people this âfresh Power,â A exertions
of the same character, after expending nioney in the
like proportion, may be able to equip and pay an army
of 166,000, and should the troops be extended alon
the land frontier facing the United States, they will ba
only 87 yards apart, and may occasionally catch Âą
glimpse of each other where tte country is not thickly
wooded, It massed on seyernl points they would
certainly not be much more than a niatch for the 200,000
men who marched past the White House at Wash\u
in May, 1865, and who numbered about fifth of the
Let us now look at the new nation from the naval
int of view. It has to defend a coast line on the
orth Atlantic of about five thousand miles, with a
long seaboard on the Pacific side, It has to guard the
shores of the great lakes, and it has no navy. Bug it
may be said that Great Britain is to defend the coasts
and the lakes, and to throw in an odd half million of
troops to make the land defences perfect. Is she
indeed? Where the ships and the men are to come
uzzling questions at the
wuards just now; but let us
.
the whole
sso
ressive, Pi are
aceful and sedative,
ationalityâ be set up,
United States ean:ot afford to
quarrel. She cannot
them without
a violation of tho
rovoked, and on
râconstitucion, manu.
Geastene Bank's Bill will
ed to the flames immediately after ;
nga, an
8 that
make war
ly impos-
It is strange that in the Quebec resolutions Lord
onck can find no warrant for using the term â New
ationality.â It is strange also that in the Maritime
is to be created. âThe prevailin, â
hat she is to furnish ÂŁ4,000,000 for
ted, To the
1 the Provinces,
and Lord Carnarvon quite as much puzzled to kno ; > : : bila
what to do with them, seeing that Newfoundland an Tastee and bevpteg oro Belge i-g Pox a
Prince Edward Island have refused to take part in thel foreign affairs, there is not one man in five hun vat}
Conference ; and that the Canadians, busy with sectional}
national, and religious disputes, as usual, have as yet
had nobody to spare, and do not, x is said, propose to
send over their contingent âtill October. If all the
Colonies were to be represented by equal numbers
there would be just thirty-six of these Delegates here,
costing a pretty round sum of money, und doing what
might more iene ag be done at home. It is im-
possible to tell what the Colonial Secretary may say to
these gentlemen when they all assembie, but if he
were to say this, he would probably be sustained by
enlightened public opinicâą ; ** Gentlemen, it is unfair
for you to come here ana attempt to mix the Govern-
ment and Parliament of England up in your disputes,
You possess ample powers to mature a scheme of gov-
ernment. Go home and bold your Conference in some
public hall, where the people to be affected by your
decision can hear your. debates and be influenced by
hal arguments. If you can agree u a plan of
nion publish it for three months and then dissolve
your Legislatures. If the people accept it the Parlia-
ment of Eogland, unless controlled by Imperial âpolicy,
and interests, will probably ratify their decision, but,
as the people may_not, it would be unfair to compro-
mise me, as you did Mr, Cardwell, by feting me to
ledge myself to a measure, which, until it is ratified
»y the suffrages of those it is to affect, must obvious!
be toocrude and inimature to require serious attention,â
All this might be said, with great truth aad propriety,
and capt | ought to complain if the Secretary of State
were to add, that it was very inconvenjent to have both
the Crown Officers of Nova seutia on âpleasure trips in
England at the same time, that there was: barely a
â in either Colony to surround the Governor of
ova Scotia and New Brunswick at the present
momentâthat, as the Fenians threatened a second
visit to the Provinces this autumn more serious than
the last, it might be as wellfor them all to hurry home
and look to their defences,
This subject might be discussed more at ea ek and
might be placed in many ludicrors points of view. It
is a serious one, however, and it has been treated
seriously, What the people of Nova Scotia think of
the mission to this country may be gathered from the
addresses to the Queen passed in eight of the most
populous and wealthy counties, and by their petitions
to the House of Commons. What the people of New-
foundiand think of it may be gathered from their
petitions to both Houses, while the opinions of the
people of Prince Edward Island are expressed in their
resolutions adopted last April.
But it is said, in the case of Nova Scotia, petitions
cannot contravene a resolution of the Legisiature. No,
provided it be such a resolution as, uninstructed by the
electors, the Legislature had a right to pass. In this
case it strikes at the Constitution of the Country which
the representatives were chosen to guard and not to
violate ; and besides, the present House are upon
a ae â by ee A tie Hight an not,
according to tish wu A tto any reso-
lution at all, Dartiamest t this coun Fy io faVeriatly
Nova Seotia should and would have n,
prerogative been exercised with firmness _im-
partiality. However, the law dissolves out.â âont
next May, and we shal) not have long t& wait for an
eable expression of the opinions of so
By the last Lord Monckâs speech on ng the
Engiand.
Lordshi
Session of the Canadian Parliament seg
Referring to the reece nee gs ne
of which you
digsolved when a new franchiseâis adopted, he get .
who the slightest idea of assuming any such re-
ponsibilities, or of committing himself to any such
xpenditure,
| The people of England have been made to believe
these Confederates mean the very reverse of what
they intend, but the time for mystification and self-
lusion has gone by. Before a single step is taken
td disturb the existing order of things, tet us know
at we are to have in stead, If we are to be Colonies,
Great Britain is to protect and defend us, then let
usput on no airs, and create no divided allegianco or
au ma If we are to be a nation, then let us set
ut serious work we are assuming with a full
sense of its perilous obligations. We cannot pos. to
mate a nation without a King, or a President residing
within our territory, armed with executive powers,
nartowed and restrained by no external force, and
responsible for the conduct of our Foreign Affairs.
These are the first simple but indispensable elements
of mtional life. We could not stagger on two years
without them; nay the first Session of the Confederate
Legislature would not have closed before aye
results of the false step we are asked to take would be
apparent, and the Colonial sehen A would be in-
forned that he might withdraw his Viceroy, ac the
Fordgn Secretary that we had sent our own Minister
to \ ngton.
If when all this were done, ** twero well done,â
then those who are for dismembering the Empire might
exelam, ââtwere well it were done quickly,â and
those wlio are not might still accept the new responsi-~
bilities in consideration of the somewhat questionable
in e of dignity arising from the fact, that thenee-
forwatd they would be called citizens and not subjects.
It British America, organized into .a nation, could
stand plone, free to cherish and to meg a her
hereditary attachment to these Islands, and if the
Parliament of Great Britain, with the consent of the
Crown) after full review of the interests of the Empire,
were to absolve us from our allegiance, we t
rful spirits set about the task, however un-
imposed. We havo
nee or two of success in our
eae d 1
se an remature
attempted tite with a nt
favour tĂ©nâ years ago, when the United States
the aspect of a great industrial community, in
to wal Ber whom we pawl cnenger mn A om
every irritating: question, and w ng arm
num rey thousand'men. But now tho whole
chequer-board has changed. âThe United States have
suddenly become a great Military and Naval Power.
When the Union is reconstructed and the Southern
States are brought within the fold, there will be
a million and # half of disciplined soldiers and a
powerful navy for Lord Monckâs new nationality to
confront; and what-is moro, the. Reciprocity Treaty
has expired, the Alabama claims aro unsettled, and a
million of Fenians have sprang up to give an ve
, and to hang like a war
y organizing the whole
y by standing upon long owns rights, by
cn ogy and moderation, peace may eae sow
rev
.
y commercial arrangements may i
gthened ; but any » to p map ox ae
constructs rival Contederacy, too espe a Colony
and too weak for a Nation, will but increase our
difficulties an hundred-fold. When once organized,
even if every man in the Province wasa Âą
party, it must be obvious that tho New
not stand alone; and it is
.
ion
deseribes itas ** ew nationali
form a part, and the dimensions of which will enti
it to a fresh place amongst the Powerâ of the w
If [ remember t this is the second or third time
this phrase has been used by Lord Monck, acting
course under the advice of hiy Canadian Ministers.
The âdimensionsâ of the ânew nationality â
+A vo
yore Bees be
people of nd wosilel expent to be relieved
the ve canetltag and burthen of its defence. In
wing power of
ve with the U
ition as & separ
and if this fuse
either the Ne
one of two
certainly be forhiiduble (nvagh, secing that it is ta
in a war with Englan|
„ a
gs happen, ' w National
a an
Poss
coniition, will perceive that it naturally divides itself
into four great centres of political power and radiating
intelligence. The Maritime Provinces, surrounded by
seat three of them insular, with unchangeable
pr ans ng with open pein rich fisheries, abundance
"coal, & kota; pulation, and within a week's
gail of the Britivh ateâ form the first division; and
the Ashburton âTreaty, which nearly severed them from
Caomda, defines its outlines and proportions, âThese
Provinces wow govern themselves, tnd do it well, and
Canada bas no more right to, ceutrol or mterfere with
them than she has to control thy Windward Islands or
Vamaica. âThese-Provinces aye develaped commercial
enterprise and maritime capabilities with marvellous
rapidity. ThrĂ©e of them âcan be held wlule Great
Britain keeps the sex. Newfoundland and Prince Ed-
ward Island are surrounded by it, and the narrow
isthmus of fourteen miles which connects Nova Scotia
withâ the maipland van be easily fortified, and can be'
entiladed by guobvate on either side. But what jy more,
these Provinces can belp Great Britain to preserye her
ascendancy of the qovin, While far-seeing Members
of the House of Commons are inquiring into the causes
which dirainish thy number of her sailors and inÂąrease
the difficulty of manning her fleet, is it not strange that
the great nursery for seamen, which our Maritime Pros
viracea present, should be entirely overlooked, and that
dippant writers should desire to teach 6f 000: hardy sea-
tarmg people to turn their backs upon England and fix
their thoughts upon Ottawa ; and should deliberately pro-
pose to disgust them by breaking down their institutions
and subjecting them to the arbitrary control of an inland
opulation, frogen up nearly half the year, and who are
incapable of protecting thei by either land or sea?
Referring to the Statistics of Trade and Commerce, it
will be found that Nova Scotia employs 19,637 Mariners
andâ Fishermen; Newfoundland, 38,578, and Prince Ed-
ward Island, 2,153. Nova Scotia alone owns 400,000
tons of Shipping.
Here are Colonies withinâ seven daysâ steaming of
these shores, tloatiog the flag of England over # noble
mercantile marine, and training 60,000 seamen and fish-| yf
ermen to defend it, and yet the House of Commons 18
to be asked to allow some gentlemen in Ottawa to draw
these people away from the ocean, which, for their own
and the general security of the Empire, they are requir.
ed to protect, that their hearts thay be broken and their
lives wasted on interminable frontiers incapable of de-
tence. Parliament, it is hoped, will think twice about
|Minnesota and Montana, secure of a large participa- tions.
jtion in their growing trade, will rejoice in their prosper: |
ity, and gladly establish with them the same sound one ie ou "to pilot-us off and then bid us good bye.â
mercial intercourse which now makes Massachusetts and} âTben certain persons in the Manufacturing towns had
Nova Scotia, Maine and New Brunswick, almost ofe;|been disgusted with the high duties which Canada bad
though nowhere, perhaps, are love of country, and loy-}imposed on British productions. They were angry, and
alty to the institutions the populations prefer, more dis-|did not stay to reflect that if Canada were in error, the
tinetly marked, Maritime Provinces ought not to be punished for her
âThe Provinces on the Pacific side of the Rocky Moun-/fault, seeing that they eo never followed her example.
tains form the fourth great natural division of British|British manufactures are admitted jnto them all, under
America, âThey are full of resources, and with a heal-|light revenue duties, âThey all have an interest in fos-
thy climate, coal in abundance, gold mines, rich fisheries, |tering equitable commercial relations with the whole
âThese people thought that Confederation meant
separation, and were disposed, like Moore's French
fine timber, and a fertile soil, they must prosper with|Hmpire, and with foreign countries, far transcending
any kind of good m emunt. They will remain Bri- me | interest they may bave in the consumption of three
millions of people in a mere inland country, which their
tisk so long as England van keep the sea. âhey have
no natural connection with Canada, or the Rocky Moun-
arutegeens omens i rn the âvaulting ambitionâ of
certain people about Ottawa easily overleaps a couple . : teagan
of Roem. miles of wilderness we raage of Sisuneaiaee to the Canadians they were doing a palpable injustice to
and would disregard the natural outlines of Creation|themselves, and to the colonists besides, Up to this
with an audacity which in Europe would be denounced hour it is doubtful whether a Canadian can be found who
as a wilful temptation of Providence. Fortunately their|4Âź% invested a pound in Nova Scotia, cleared a farm,
vane is not equal to their ambition; and the Pacific|b„ilt a ship, opened a mine, or expended sixpence in
ârovinces, like all the others, will be left to govern|the defenee of the country. âThe expenses of its early
themselves within the orbits assigned to them by British|Âą?!onization, and of its protection, have been paid by
interests and Imperial regulations, until the period ar- Kngland; and from this country, and not from Canada,
vives for a general break up, when the British Provinces |°#âąÂą the emigrants, the capital and the credit, which
and the American States on the Pacific will perhaps from time to time have stimulated its enterprise, and
unite and form one great English community, preserving quickened its industry. Why, then, should Nova Sco-
friendly relations, it is to be hoped, with 1p nations|(Âź take blankets, broad cloth, crockery ware, or cutler
from which they sprung, rs pong: oy, ya ve Yor ie a gran pangâ
Turning agajn to the Mariti i _| ancashire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire? an yet this
lintio aun cord. ud oe Markie 5 Se an. Gan Ae is just what these cunning Canadians are at; and, strange
able allies that these Islands have, whenever (and may to say, the Free Traders of England, who abhor discrim-
the time be very rewaote) they co er oo 7 grest inating duties, and will not permit any of the Colonies
naval war. France knows the value of the North At-|;° PO Shem, oven Sor thelr oe Bi yantage, fre Qaiee-
lantic as a training school for seamen, and for three hun- ly permitting one British colcay to swing four others out
dred years yhe has cultivated it with a persistent and en-
of the fiscal system and com.mon obligations of the Em-
lightened vational policy, Even after her hold upon the
pire, that they may monopvlise their consumption, and
continent was severed by the fall of Louisburg and Que- discriminate against the manuiscturing :adustry of Eng-
bec, she stipulated for the occupancy of St. Pierre and
land and in favor of thelr own,
iduelon, and tor certain rights of fishery upon Again, after a struggle of unexampled energy and
Weyt coast of Newfoundland, "ies pea Bh May duration, the Corn Laws of England were abolished.
in dounties, and a rigid system of enrollment, she has|/" the wisdom of that policy, at the present moment,
ow built up on two barren islands a prosperous mer-|PÂąrbaps all parties in this country concur; and the Am-
cantile community, Without raising the legal question erican Commissioners, appointed by the Secretary of the
of exclusive occupancy she âmaintains, by the irequent|ZTeasury to revise the revenue system of the United
visits of ber men-of-war, and by the passive resistance
States, acknowledge its soundness wien they say, that to
of numbers, something like an âascendancy on what is|S\„Ÿ the producer his food free of duty is to give him
vessels cannot approach for nearly half the year.
But the English manufacturers did not stay to reflect
that by handing over nearly a million of good customers
this proposition, and of the scheme for lauuehing âaloalied + , W whi +4}, (she benefit of the most subtle form of protection which
ro : 4 ; S\called ** the French sliore,â while the Banks swarm with . P
oon â Rae ay sea of troubles for the glori-|hur fishing craft whose bultows stretch forâ many hund- | be devised. He would be a bold wnan who would
Canada forms the second division of Lritish America,
inorder of seq © as we ascend fiom the Atlantic. It
is a fine country, with great natnral resources, and may
develop iato some such nation as Poland or Hungary.
Ilemmed in by icy barriers at the North, and by u
owerful Nation on the South, shut out trom deep sea
navigation (or nearly half the year, with two nationalities
to reconcile, and no Coal, who will predict for her a very
brilliant destiny, at least, for many yeara to coine? âThe
best she can do is to be quiet, unobtrusive, thrifty, pro-
voking no cnmities, and not making herself disagreeable
to. her avighbors, or increasing the hazards which ber
defence involves, by any preniature aspirations to be-
come a nation, for which status at present she is totally
mgrone-
detween Canada and the Rocky Mountains, and
divided from her by a belt of comparatively sterile coun-
try, lies a magnificent region, which is a standing re-
proach to the British Government, and a blot upon our
civilization. The Republicans have shown their appre-
ciation of the value of this territory by providing, in
General Banksâ Bill, that it shall be organized at once
into two Territories, and one into two States of
the Union. What has England ever done with it?
While the Government of the United States has, within
the past half century, formed out of their great West
one noble State after another, which have ama, the
zranaries of Europe, the Government of England, hav-
ing & West, of great extent and fertility, have done no-
thing national or statesman-like with it, but have allowed
it to be locked up as a hunsing ground, for the exclusive
venefit of & Fur Company, whe, monopolizing the con-
sumption of Indian tribes reduced to a state of subjec-
tion akin to slavery, haye maintained to this hour, in the
face of the free ideas and advancing civiljzation of Eu-
rope and America, a job so gigantic that men stand
A ast, when they contrast the napermes wilderness
ich these persons have got to show with the noble
States, populous cities and waving cornfields, on the
other side of the line. :
Two or three years ago, when attention wag sternly
called to the condition of this country, there was &
movement among the dry bones about Fenchurch street,
and we heard of roads to be opened, telegraphs to be
built, and colonization to be promoted. But what was
done? The stock was watered, and some ÂŁ1,500,000
added to the nompal capital of the Company, by which
some persons made and others probably lost a large
sum, of money ; some telegraph wire was sent out which
rusts in the wilderness, and there the matter endedâthe
few active spirits within the Company, who already svc
the advancing wave of public. indignation which is to
syreap away their monopoly, and desire to people the
land, being controlled. by those who are determined to
dÂą nothing but kill wild animals and make enormous
polite out of poor Indians,
The Canadian remedy for ali this is characteristic of
the country. Some of her public men say this territory
belongs to us because our fathers hunted in it long since,
but this plea would but confirm the Indianâs title who
hunted in it long before, or the Hudson's Bay Com-
panyâs title, who have been hunting in it ever since.
This plea is untenable, and though often challenged by
the Company, the Canadians have shrank from attempt-
ing to make it good in any Court of Justice or before
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Failing
to establish a title, the Canadians at one time proposed
to buy the Company out, with the consent and under
the guarantee of the British Government, and to annex
the country to Canada. Fortunately, this policy also
failed for two good .reasonsâthat the Canadians had no
money, and that the parties could: not agree about the
rice. So far, the country has been saved for wiser and
beatée purposes than to be transferred from one descrip-
tion of thraldom to another. If it is to be ruled and
governed by a distant authority, it does not much mat-
ter whether the seat of government is in London or in
Ottawa. If the oven | is not to be treated as nation-
al property and the ao it containg as British subjects,
then let it remain as a hunting barry till the people
of Minnesota and Montana break in and take it from us,
which they will do, if it is not speedily organized.
Above all things, do not let it be annexed to Canada,
to weaken that Province by another thousand miles of
frontier, and to multiplyâ her perplexities an hundred
fold. Fancy a country in Europe as large as England,
France and Prussia, with only eight people to the square
mile, and a debt of $25 per head, wanting to purchase
another country as large as Russia, and then guage if
you can the measure of scorn and ridicule with which
the proposition would be received.
- Now, what ought to be done with this noble country ?
What, if we remember right, Lord Lytton proposed âto
do with it long sinee. It should be organized and opened
for occupation without delay. There are 10,000 le
in the settlements around Selkirk, many of them intelli-
blic spirited and ex . A Govern
sod Cduncil, âresponsible to the Colonist Office aaal'tiot
to
a)
i , and the Queen's
as a protection to the
spirit of development which would be at once evolved.
Let axple boundaries be â to the new Province,
and freedom of trade and settlement be at once
tablished, the Governor being _ whenever it
contains 100,000 inhabitants, to call a Representative As-
sembly, and allow the people to govern themselves. Lf
t mensures are. there will be mere life, im-
iri
infused into this country in a
ie Hydsonâs Bay Company have in-|
eit than ten years, Sel-
eg ype its own revenues
as
stand up in the English Parliament and move to impose
a duty on the importation of flour. Yet the Parliament
of Canada, at the suggestion of Mr, Galt, has just im-
posed a duty of half a dollar per barrel upon flour,
nominally to punish the Americans for impositions
pag absurd, hut in reality to quietly establish a Corn
Law for the benefit of Canada at the expense of the
Maritime Provinces. Those Provinces, having a large
portion of their population employed in lumbering,
wining, ship building, and navigation, annually import
800,000 barrels of tlour more than they produce. âThey
pay for this with fish, lumber, coal, gypsum, grindstones,
reds of miles. By these means France employs every
summer 10,000 men on the Banks and shores of New-
foundland: this is the naval reserve which makes her
formidable upon the ocean, Looking to the apparent
decline in the number and efficiency of seamen in these
Islunds which some Members of âParliament have re-
cently pointed out, she would indeed be formidable had
not our noble Provinces in the North Atlantle, with-
out bounties or encouragement of any kind, develop-
ed maritime capabilities that excite ** our special won-
der,â and out of all proportion to any interest, strange
to say, which the subject has ever excited in the Mo- P ,
ther Country. In the event of a war with France,|Âźââą, *hips, and other exports, for which they find a
either Novaâ Scotia with her 20,000, or Newfoundland |âą4rket abroad, a very small proportion of the whole
with her 38,000 bardy seamen, would, if furnished with|being purchased by the Canadians; and yot, if the
un-boats, sweep these 10,000 Frenchmen off the ocean|people of England do not stamp the policy with in-
in @ single summer, and thea come home to guard the/dignant reprobation, and protect the Maritime Pros
coasts of England till the war was over. And yet we vinces from these retrograde politicians in the rear
are asked to break down the institutions which have fos- tl ill bably be taxed , b f $400 i
tered this naval reserve, and animated it with a spirit of ott Bhagat erg. nba cag toe Braga pines Y
loyalty and devotion not co be surpassed on the coasts 000 a year, whics tax must fall upon our shipwrights
of Hampshire or of Sussex, hatever the colonists/@04 our freights before we can send a versel to
feel, this is a question of vital Imperial policy; and|Eugland, and increase the cost of living to our fish-
when Her Majesty's Ministers are asked to transfer the/ermen, gallantly making their way, by hardihood
poresareent of ome 60,000 mariners from England to/and thrift, against the unfair competition produced
ha â â = â or it i 3 - te to/by the bounties of the United States and France.
m she open harbors that our! hese questions have uever been understood over
iron-clads can enter at all seasons of the year,
icy region hundreds of miles above tide ne a Horde here, but they shall be ; aud when they are, there
sible by our nayy in summer, and in winter sealed by|i8 vot & manofactarer, a free trader, or a sound
frost, the question should be answered by the Cabinet|thinking lover of fair play, iu either of the three
with a firmness commensurate with its magnitude and|kingdoms, who will not interfere to protect the
importance. Maritime Provinces from this Canadiau Cora Law.
_ But is there any necessity for a hasty and unwise de-| Unfortunately, there is a third class of persons in
cision of this question? ' Ndne whatever. If judicious-| England, not fart wth perhaps, who, paiufully in-
ly treated in this country itâ would have settled itself! rerested in the throes and eccentricities of Canada,
longsinee. What are the facts? In 1862 a Conference hia linad an & hi .
was held at Quebec to discuss various topics of interco-|â"° too much inclined to favor anything which may
lonial interest, and at that Conference, representatives
ve calculated to restore her to financial soundness
from the Governments of Nova Scotia and New Brans-/8ud give buoyaucy to stocks fearfully depreciated.
wick being present with the whole Canadian Cabinet, it
i ' Meetings are annually held in London at which a
was decided unanimously, in presence of the great diffi-|body of very worthy persons, who have invested
culties which beset the question of Colonial Union, that
agen âothe pop ok ee ÂŁ10,000,000 or ÂŁ15,000,000 iu certain enterprises
Gt allowed oe pote
. â the very interesting question of how they can get
In 1864 a Conference was held at Charlottetown to|,) i ; : â :
consider the smaller and much less complicated question their wR 9 back â Judging by she ahare lat,
of a Legislative Union of the Maritime Provinces only, this is still an interesting question ; and it is to be
If permitted to continue and close their deliberations, |feared that, despairiog of reliet from other quarters,
withoat intrusion, that Conference would probably have|it is sometimes assumed that if the productive
simplified the commercial and financial arrangements of revenues of the Maritime Provinces oon be flung
theseâ Provinces, though it is not at all probable thatlinto the empty treasury of Canada, in which, for
they would have consented to give up the independent|i.4 years, there has been but one surplus, and bai
overnments and legislatures under which they had so if Ka B Pi hG ld th P h â fi
ae lived and prospered in harmony and good neigh-|'! te British Government would throw three or four
borhood, In an evil hour certam Canadian gentlemen millions into tho country, for any object aud at
appeared upon the scene, and from that time to the pre-/auybody's expeuse, their prospect of dividends
â British America has been thrown into admired|might be impreved. There are high-minded men,
isorder, connected with those orgauizations, too discrimina-
It appears that the antagonism of races, of dual lead-|ting and too just to be swayed by such considera-
erships and double majorities, already described, had/tions ; but there are probably others suffering from
about ae une scape & deadlock of Werte ten-|that sicknees of the heart which hope deferred pro-
acity. Dissolutions and reconstructions been tried, fos
and still the Ilouse was nearly divided, and the rival duces â ae gladly a we pepe mat
politicians were at their witâs end. Neither would give|"i2Âą% that have had nothing to do with their dis-
way, or yield anything for the good of tho country, but|/#Ppointments and their sufferiugs, pay the penalty of
at Vast they bethought them that the Maritime Provinces|their own want of foresight. But this would be most
wight be used as make weights to relieve their embar-junfair. Those Provinces have honestly borrowed,
rassments, When Ilerod and Pilate coalesced there was|ou the credit of their general revenues, all the
money required for their public works. They pay
a sacrifice, and Hen Mr. er er Mr. Brown, after
vars of personal bitterness and malignant vituperation, : :
aapehten to clasp hands, it was with the sideistandlin ~ mneeene pone A half ar and just as
that the Lower Provinces, which had nothing to do with|{@8t 8 capital accumulates, sceking permanent
their disputes, were to be sacrificed to illustrate their|investment, their Bonds are purchased by their own
reconciliation, But we are avenged. Swift retribution|people, and will speedily disappear from the English
~ men tore mhnee Po ooae oe Pacman at: market, ualess there be some financial blungering
rown was wedged out of the Cabinet last winter, and|{f, hich it {s hoped th be ded b
now, yA | gored that oe apap compelled = sclinaes aumadia ed cadaniganiion Srerers Na:
resign by a new manifestation of the religious rivalr , 1
andâ national antagonisms which are the peculise prc aâ a or ~ Gentlemen yo 8 oe
ments of discord in that unquiet region. bers of the last Administration are of course com-
The coalition once formed, no time was lost in carry prope wt regnoa Mbnvne Pe fs fy 5m fn 4
, . ie âlare not too old to unlearn errors, or so unpatriotic
ing out the policy apen whieh le vas. harem Dengaes as to persist in a line of policy that ean no longer be
t to Charlottetown, and the quiet Conf â :
gving oh there oad broken top. A new one, ou larger defended ; and that they will not lightly value the
scale, was itiitiated under the auspices of the Governor |pledged faith of England to loyal and devoted com-
General at Quebec. After three weeks of light labor/munities, who have done no wrong; nor, in the face
and ** exhaustive festivities,â what is called âthe Que-|of such petitions as have been sent here from Nova
bec Schemeâ of Confederation was produced. So far,/Seotia and Newfoundland, attempt to sacrifice those
the Imperial Government had nothing to do with the â â
porting in accepting this new poy. Mes of Confedera- Provinees at bap et of roe party
tion, growing out of nothimg but the policical necessities without regard to the forms which in all free
of a single Province, and before it hud been ratified by |countries protect from rash innovation the Institu-
the Legislatares or people of any of the others, they|tions which the people value.
seo ed ee âsledâ core best cg rome But, it may be asked, do not the Maritime Pro-
Oe roe e a ccufetonte. Tho Prete at Pactiqnat'|vinces desire this Union? and, if the question in-
ity of the Conference. âThe Press and Parliament, |â, ; ve) 4
yer § publio men of England, knowing little of the ques-/âldes the Quebec Scheme of Confederation, it is
tion, and perhaps caring less, were also for a time mis-\#000 answered, Every one of them rejected it with
led by the action of the Government, and by the plausible|a unanimity and decision not to be misunderstood,
statements ef some of the Canadian Miniotors, who|In Prince Edward Island, both branches of the
rushed over here to forestall public opinion. It is time| Legislature being elective, but five members could be
that all aes aan or aa The Me valine ae got to vote for it. In Newfoundland it was con-
itime Provinces has never been presented to the Farlia-| donned by the people at the polls. In Nova Scotia
ve ab cn» halos sony the Cnneding aes nied the leader of the Government was compelled to come
everâ in relation to the great interests which should|dowa to the House and declare it â impracticable ;â
easly influence its dessicn, the good faith of the|and in New Brunswick the electors, animated by the
Crown, and the dignity and security of the Empire. instinct of self preservation, rushed to the polls,
There were in this country two or three classes of wept the delegates aside, and trampled it under
repared to receive this sition with special|theie feet. Here the matter would have rested,
vor. re were fret, the See Colonial school of/had all the Provinces been treated with the justice
iticians, who demre to pollard the British oakâwho!and impartiality to which they were entitled.
Weve sas F mould be richer, stronger, * "It is the pride and boast of Englishmen that in
py i a wp ag te Russie, the Weather pure Courts the humblest persons aud the
: . if the other half of thy/âą0St exalted stand on an equal footing. A Judge
ed tol drut about into/als were to influence the verdict. Between Corpo:
rate Bodies in this country the rigid rule of strict
jean Continent were quietly bapded over to the Would-be disgraced and. a aoe: ghrp if the
eg Ai and if ine of le who now|Humber of acres or the rank or tion of individu-
w
U
ne
pola! lance
don cannot oppress York, or Manchester Oldham,
and hence it is that while every manâs per-
sonal rights are secure, every muus Corporate
rivileges, till laches, corruption, or ebuse works
loefeltube, are respected, If asked to-morrow what
it is that binds this Empire together by bands
stronger than ironclads, the prompt auawer would
be the all-pervading reliance of the ppople every
where upon the pledged faith of the Crown, and on
the justice and impartiality of the Imperial Parlia-
meat. When franchises were conferred upon the
people of the Maritime Proviaces and Legislatures
given to them, these could only be yieldad up by
voluntary consent, or be forfeited by misconduct.
When self-government was conceded, it could never
afterwards be withdrawn, unless upoa ample proof
elicited by legal forms or deliberate Parliamentary
enquiry, that it had been grossly abused. Even the
Colonial legislators themselves, intrusted for a definite
time, with limited powers and sacred |trusts, could
not strip the people of their rights withqut their own
conseat, or transter to others the power of legisla-
tion, any more than the aldermen of Uandon could
annihilate the constitution which limits their sphere
of action, or than the common councill)rs of Bath
could transfer the government of that eit)to Bristol.
If these rules guard securely every petty Corporation
in the kingdom, surely they should be agplied with
equai stringency to the protection of greatProvinces,
exercising in due subordination te Imperial puthority,
and with all loyalty and affection to they Mother
Country, the high powers of legislation anf internal
self government, Until the people of Novy Scotia,
Prince Edward Island and Newtoundland, ffeit, b
corruption, or abuse, the privileges confe
voluntarily relinquish them, they cannot be replaimed
by the Crown or swept away by Parliament
breach of faith; nor can they be transfer
the local legislatures, any more than an estate):
transferred by âTrustees whose powers are lingjted in
the Deed by which the trust has been created.
Unfortunately these plain principles of le
struction and constitutional law have, in de
the Maritime Provinces, been strangel
When all the parties to: the Quebec scheme of ©
federation found that they had made .an Âą,
blunder, they should have abandoned the -
left the Provinces in peace; and above all,
ernment of England should have withdrawn frqn a
controversy, into which, for no Imperial a ashas
been clearly proved, they had been artfully dravn.
They should have held the scales even and treated all
Her Majestyâs subjects in British America alike. his
was not done. âThe policy, long after it had been @n-
demned by public opinion, was not, as it should
been, abandoned ; but, inspired by Canadian influen@s,
a system of Imperial pressure was brought to bear ujon
the Maritime Provinces for the first time in tlgir
history, which has roused a very indignant pene.
âYhus countenanced in this country all boundares
were oversteppud by certain parties on the other si
Governors became partizans. In one Province, whle
the Fenians were upon the frontier, the Cabinet
wedged out of office, the House dissolved, and
who oF me ulation precipitated into the turmoil of
general election just when every man should have
ogre | shoulder to shoulder; and, what was wo
one half of an entirely loyal population were taught p
brand the other haf as disloyal, and permitted
threaten them with the loss of the Queenâs favor an
protection, if they did not accept Confederation, an
forswear the opinions which only a year before, left
their unbiassed judgments, they had expressed. © Th
_
in another Province, and the result is that two out
anew Convention, to be held in England, to be com-,
sed of an equal number of delegates trom all the
rovinces, (Upper and Lower Canada to count as ~~
who are to frame a new scheme of Union, which it js
fondly hoped the Cabinet will sanction and the Imperial
Parliament adopt before it has been submitted to t)
Legislatures whose powers it is to transfer, or tot
electors whose rights and revenues it is proposed th
summarily to sweep away. Two * bodies of Del
rates,â as the papers inform us, came over here fro
pe Brunswick and Nova Scotia a month ago. The
were twelve in number, and it is presumed that they
have been puzzled to know what to dowith themselves,
disciplined soldiers of the Republic.
from would 5 be
Admiralty and the Horse
suppose that they could be furnished, who ia to pay
for them? If the people of England, then let there be
an end of this buncombe about a new nationality, and
of pretensions utferly irreconcileable with the resistless
logic that must decide this question, If the
England are to defend those Provinces with
force of the Empire, then let them think well of what
th they are about, for by disturbing old currents of
*|thought, and multiplying the difficulties of the Con-
servative element in the United States, sorely
at all times by the turbulent and a
increasing the hazards of a war ten-fold. âThe attitude
of the British Provinces on the American Continent is
wt this moment one eminently pe
But let this Guy of a ** New N
which other people are to pay for and are expected to
protect, and every young fellow who has hada taste of
the license of camp lite in the United States will be
sorely tempted to have a fling at it. Let the Provinces
resume their accustomed role of peaceful development
as outlying portions of a great empire with which the
then disturb
diplomatic recognitions of three parts of a Century,
and without a war, causelessly
â|which neither the civilized world nor the great
God of Battles can be expected to smile, Let us
then fling into the fire the
fuectured at Quebec, and
probably be consi
and then we shall begin to breathe freely
+!can set about adjusting the one or two q
remain as causes of nwtional irritation, and may look
forward to peace for « century, with industrial
developement, on 4 scale so vast as
between the two great branches of the
sible thenceforward and for ever.
same arts were practised with ludicrous exaggeration] yg
the four were induced to pass a resolution, authorizing) provinces not one of the Delegates will ever admit that
any such thing
with these people is a large country, defen
Great Britain.
the Intercolonial Railroad ; ÂŁ2,000,000 to buy up the
Hudson Bay Company's Territory; ÂŁ3,000,000 for
fortifications along the line of the St. Lawrenco; to
provide gui-boats for the lakes; and that by and bye,
when money is plenty and John Bull in a marvellous
good humour, an advance of ÂŁ5,000,000 to deepen and
enlarge Canals may be reasonably ex
unsophistica\ed Confederate mind, in
this is pretty nearly what Confederation means; but as
to assuming the duties of a nationâselecting a kingâ
se : icc... |
ye a ial j invari „ -|comprize a territory of 4,000,000 of e miles, â{
jand impartial justice is invariably preserved. Lou on a Guu take vet ab mech. All Buttes wus be
family of nations, is smaller by ninety-two thousand
square miles, When all the absorptions and recon.
structions arising ont of Prussia's great success are
made, there will still remain at least sixteen Sove
States in Europe, on a territory smaller than that whic
these aspiring political speculators at Ottawa seek to
couirol, The **dimensionsâ of the new nation will
certainly be sufficiently imposing, vory nearly realigin
Sam Silck's comprehensive phrase of * all out dooraÂź
When we survey it, with one human being standing on
every squave mile, its stren in proportion to iis
dimensions can be rightly estimated,
The Northern States, with 24,000,000 of people, »
great exertions and at enormous cost were at inst abhe
to put into the field a million of soldiers, With
4,000,000 of people this âfresh Power,â A exertions
of the same character, after expending nioney in the
like proportion, may be able to equip and pay an army
of 166,000, and should the troops be extended alon
the land frontier facing the United States, they will ba
only 87 yards apart, and may occasionally catch Âą
glimpse of each other where tte country is not thickly
wooded, It massed on seyernl points they would
certainly not be much more than a niatch for the 200,000
men who marched past the White House at Wash\u
in May, 1865, and who numbered about fifth of the
Let us now look at the new nation from the naval
int of view. It has to defend a coast line on the
orth Atlantic of about five thousand miles, with a
long seaboard on the Pacific side, It has to guard the
shores of the great lakes, and it has no navy. Bug it
may be said that Great Britain is to defend the coasts
and the lakes, and to throw in an odd half million of
troops to make the land defences perfect. Is she
indeed? Where the ships and the men are to come
uzzling questions at the
wuards just now; but let us
.
the whole
sso
ressive, Pi are
aceful and sedative,
ationalityâ be set up,
United States ean:ot afford to
quarrel. She cannot
them without
a violation of tho
rovoked, and on
râconstitucion, manu.
Geastene Bank's Bill will
ed to the flames immediately after ;
nga, an
8 that
make war
ly impos-
It is strange that in the Quebec resolutions Lord
onck can find no warrant for using the term â New
ationality.â It is strange also that in the Maritime
is to be created. âThe prevailin, â
hat she is to furnish ÂŁ4,000,000 for
ted, To the
1 the Provinces,
and Lord Carnarvon quite as much puzzled to kno ; > : : bila
what to do with them, seeing that Newfoundland an Tastee and bevpteg oro Belge i-g Pox a
Prince Edward Island have refused to take part in thel foreign affairs, there is not one man in five hun vat}
Conference ; and that the Canadians, busy with sectional}
national, and religious disputes, as usual, have as yet
had nobody to spare, and do not, x is said, propose to
send over their contingent âtill October. If all the
Colonies were to be represented by equal numbers
there would be just thirty-six of these Delegates here,
costing a pretty round sum of money, und doing what
might more iene ag be done at home. It is im-
possible to tell what the Colonial Secretary may say to
these gentlemen when they all assembie, but if he
were to say this, he would probably be sustained by
enlightened public opinicâą ; ** Gentlemen, it is unfair
for you to come here ana attempt to mix the Govern-
ment and Parliament of England up in your disputes,
You possess ample powers to mature a scheme of gov-
ernment. Go home and bold your Conference in some
public hall, where the people to be affected by your
decision can hear your. debates and be influenced by
hal arguments. If you can agree u a plan of
nion publish it for three months and then dissolve
your Legislatures. If the people accept it the Parlia-
ment of Eogland, unless controlled by Imperial âpolicy,
and interests, will probably ratify their decision, but,
as the people may_not, it would be unfair to compro-
mise me, as you did Mr, Cardwell, by feting me to
ledge myself to a measure, which, until it is ratified
»y the suffrages of those it is to affect, must obvious!
be toocrude and inimature to require serious attention,â
All this might be said, with great truth aad propriety,
and capt | ought to complain if the Secretary of State
were to add, that it was very inconvenjent to have both
the Crown Officers of Nova seutia on âpleasure trips in
England at the same time, that there was: barely a
â in either Colony to surround the Governor of
ova Scotia and New Brunswick at the present
momentâthat, as the Fenians threatened a second
visit to the Provinces this autumn more serious than
the last, it might be as wellfor them all to hurry home
and look to their defences,
This subject might be discussed more at ea ek and
might be placed in many ludicrors points of view. It
is a serious one, however, and it has been treated
seriously, What the people of Nova Scotia think of
the mission to this country may be gathered from the
addresses to the Queen passed in eight of the most
populous and wealthy counties, and by their petitions
to the House of Commons. What the people of New-
foundiand think of it may be gathered from their
petitions to both Houses, while the opinions of the
people of Prince Edward Island are expressed in their
resolutions adopted last April.
But it is said, in the case of Nova Scotia, petitions
cannot contravene a resolution of the Legisiature. No,
provided it be such a resolution as, uninstructed by the
electors, the Legislature had a right to pass. In this
case it strikes at the Constitution of the Country which
the representatives were chosen to guard and not to
violate ; and besides, the present House are upon
a ae â by ee A tie Hight an not,
according to tish wu A tto any reso-
lution at all, Dartiamest t this coun Fy io faVeriatly
Nova Seotia should and would have n,
prerogative been exercised with firmness _im-
partiality. However, the law dissolves out.â âont
next May, and we shal) not have long t& wait for an
eable expression of the opinions of so
By the last Lord Monckâs speech on ng the
Engiand.
Lordshi
Session of the Canadian Parliament seg
Referring to the reece nee gs ne
of which you
digsolved when a new franchiseâis adopted, he get .
who the slightest idea of assuming any such re-
ponsibilities, or of committing himself to any such
xpenditure,
| The people of England have been made to believe
these Confederates mean the very reverse of what
they intend, but the time for mystification and self-
lusion has gone by. Before a single step is taken
td disturb the existing order of things, tet us know
at we are to have in stead, If we are to be Colonies,
Great Britain is to protect and defend us, then let
usput on no airs, and create no divided allegianco or
au ma If we are to be a nation, then let us set
ut serious work we are assuming with a full
sense of its perilous obligations. We cannot pos. to
mate a nation without a King, or a President residing
within our territory, armed with executive powers,
nartowed and restrained by no external force, and
responsible for the conduct of our Foreign Affairs.
These are the first simple but indispensable elements
of mtional life. We could not stagger on two years
without them; nay the first Session of the Confederate
Legislature would not have closed before aye
results of the false step we are asked to take would be
apparent, and the Colonial sehen A would be in-
forned that he might withdraw his Viceroy, ac the
Fordgn Secretary that we had sent our own Minister
to \ ngton.
If when all this were done, ** twero well done,â
then those who are for dismembering the Empire might
exelam, ââtwere well it were done quickly,â and
those wlio are not might still accept the new responsi-~
bilities in consideration of the somewhat questionable
in e of dignity arising from the fact, that thenee-
forwatd they would be called citizens and not subjects.
It British America, organized into .a nation, could
stand plone, free to cherish and to meg a her
hereditary attachment to these Islands, and if the
Parliament of Great Britain, with the consent of the
Crown) after full review of the interests of the Empire,
were to absolve us from our allegiance, we t
rful spirits set about the task, however un-
imposed. We havo
nee or two of success in our
eae d 1
se an remature
attempted tite with a nt
favour tĂ©nâ years ago, when the United States
the aspect of a great industrial community, in
to wal Ber whom we pawl cnenger mn A om
every irritating: question, and w ng arm
num rey thousand'men. But now tho whole
chequer-board has changed. âThe United States have
suddenly become a great Military and Naval Power.
When the Union is reconstructed and the Southern
States are brought within the fold, there will be
a million and # half of disciplined soldiers and a
powerful navy for Lord Monckâs new nationality to
confront; and what-is moro, the. Reciprocity Treaty
has expired, the Alabama claims aro unsettled, and a
million of Fenians have sprang up to give an ve
, and to hang like a war
y organizing the whole
y by standing upon long owns rights, by
cn ogy and moderation, peace may eae sow
rev
.
y commercial arrangements may i
gthened ; but any » to p map ox ae
constructs rival Contederacy, too espe a Colony
and too weak for a Nation, will but increase our
difficulties an hundred-fold. When once organized,
even if every man in the Province wasa Âą
party, it must be obvious that tho New
not stand alone; and it is
.
ion
deseribes itas ** ew nationali
form a part, and the dimensions of which will enti
it to a fresh place amongst the Powerâ of the w
If [ remember t this is the second or third time
this phrase has been used by Lord Monck, acting
course under the advice of hiy Canadian Ministers.
The âdimensionsâ of the ânew nationality â
+A vo
yore Bees be
people of nd wosilel expent to be relieved
the ve canetltag and burthen of its defence. In
wing power of
ve with the U
ition as & separ
and if this fuse
either the Ne
one of two
certainly be forhiiduble (nvagh, secing that it is ta
in a war with Englan|
„ a
gs happen, ' w National