t ` ’

_. ._ .V`,'s

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25.4927 _ V. , I . ,_ g _ g i THE QHARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN; p g g if V i p g p pggmpztnlaj

The bond so established will grow stronger. Playing

illi

ldd that I never knew of an instance in which an oliicial or civi

treacherously, wantonly or corruptly betrayed a Govern-

secret to an Opposition newspaper directly or indirectly. But there were not cases of inadvertence and indiscretion, some- leading to 'important disclosures, I' would not affirm. "I`wenty»five- years ago I was the resident correspondent of

Toronto Globe at Ottawa. The late Mr. George Kingsmill held like position for The Mail. We were' always friendly, and I

many pleasant memories of him. He had what sportsmen call the inside track for political news, and it was no easy

to keep approximately even with him. It had been a tradition both parties that important news from .thc Government or the

should,be first disclosed to the public through the supporting the Government of the day. Sir john was Premier and Minister of the Interior. The Globe,

utdcr Mr. Gordon Brown’s editorial management, was vigorotrsly hostile to him. ` .

And those were the days of frequent and radical changes in

the land regulations of the Northwest. The influx of settlers con- sequent upon the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway gave

public -interest to matters affecting the lands and their set-

tlement. My immediate predecessor in T/lc Globelr service at Ot- tawa, Mr. J. T. Hawke, now of the Molwlan Transcript, had clev-

captured the first batch-of these changes and all their import- features had appeared simultaneously in The Globe and The

“There will be other important changes soon,”

said on handing the work over to mc,_ “hut

I fear you cannot get them.” V I resolved to try, however, and so found myself at the very outset playing at cross purposes

Sir John Macdonald’s own department. ‘The officials to whom

l applied for information were courteous but rcticent, and would tell me nothing. lt seemed useless to apply to Sir, john himself, The Globe being so hostile and hc so busy, and I did not make the venture. _ .

'At length I learned positively from an outside source that

the changes had been made, from which it followed as a matter ofcourse that-the amended regulations or a full synopsis of them would be forwarded that night to The Mail. That was a busy night for the correspondent. I knew the existing regulations well, and also had advance`lrl1iiu/ledffiitzi/eral of the changes sought for. As to what had been done, beyond some scraps of information, I did not know, but at the last moment, in the most casual way, I learned that the more importantlchanges sought for had ‘been conceded. On this, with some guessing as to the minor points, the despatch was made up and forwarded. It was fairly full, and turned out to be entirely accurate so far as it went.

The Mail people did not like this, and on going up town

the following morning, I learned that the fact had been wired from Toronto to Ottawa that The Globe had again got the purport of the land regulations simultaneously with the Government organ. I could not forbear calling :itthe Lands Department to enjoy my small triumph and found not a little perturbation there. I learned that an investigation was being made as to the leakage, that Str john was angry, and that half a dozen theories, all of which were wide of the mark, were afloat as- to how the news was obtained.

But for what was to follow this story would not be worth

telling, and would never have been told in print. Some months later the land regulations were again changed, and of course would be sent first to T/llc Mail, as usual. Butivcry special care was taken this time that the news should be exclusive to that jour~ nal. I went ‘at once to the Lands Oliice, applied to Mr. Lindsay Russell for thc particulars of the changes which had been made. Ile was courteous, ‘even jocular, but much more inclined to criti- cise newspaper men’s methods than to give me any information. He would not admit, neither would he deny, that the changes had been made. Putting on as bold a front as possible, I assured him that I knew the changes had been made; that any newspaper applying had a right to the news, and that peace was better than war. But, of course, if he would not 'give the required informa- tion, The .Globe had beaten the department twice already, and could do it again. Bluff was, however, equally as ineffective as persuasion. He assured mo' that he could guess pretty well how the news had been obtained, before, and that this time the best ef- forts of The Globe corresppndent would fail. Feeling sure that he did not know and could .not guess how previous news had 'been unearthed, I offered him the chance of making three guesses with the promise to admit the fact if he conjectured rightly. His guess. vs were (ingenious, but pertainly wrong in every case.

‘As he`woul|l notgive up the information, and plans former-

ly successful were _not again available, I resolved to appeal to Sir John Macdonald hit-r,1_self,,a`1t,liough very conscious tharhe would be under very strong incentives to refuse me. ,I felt that he was fair- inded; I knew thathe, was generous andfree from petty vintiirtiveness..., The conversa'tion/_that ,followed between Mr. Rus- sell and myself was about as.,fof_lows:, - . »

“Is Sir John in the department ?f’, *

“No ; hols at Stadollona Hall." . p -

"Wlll._`you give me a messenger to take a note to him P” "Yes, But do you expecthlm to reply to your note after

all the ’ ° , , . , ‘ _ _ '

o ` til `

episodes just past?"

humblest citizen of Canada as a nght to ask

f the highest in the land on .public lfatrs, and expect answer." V

it and aee!”'\ ' " " ‘

written. I did my best on it. and the ~m¢c_- I remained at the department till nine-

wlmh me. ~I 'thought my,

gn answer had beell

I 5 4 l ’ I - ' . . _ . ' T _ . t

~ , jly' "5 °_f5°"°° hem!! *ll !ll¢ following words: g land was very serious in referring to iti- “You seem to know,” he from a journal favorable to the public man whose ‘speech was re-

f. ' ' Th, . ` _ ' ` ` ' ` “ ' ' " _ ' , ’ c' r ' servic was limited and icostl , and

e amended land regulations will not be given to any said, that the census figures will be given out tomorrow I will corded ’l`he tel g aph e y

t"¢W5PaP¢l ln advance of their publication in the canada Gascllellle quite candid with you;your information is correct that far. We vcry nlttch less of th: parliamentary' reports was sent to

_._.__.___.._,_._.,:,_|. |.,_,~ it ,, __ _ _ (¢,_,,,¢j,,u,¢ 'Nm , 8) . “ '*’i‘*“' °m°"°“’- fare giving-the news to only a few of the papers friendly to thc-.the press over the wires than now. Press messages from

mimster whom it is desi,-able to czflgivate or to see from “mel .'l_`he.eficct of this was, of course, that both the Governmentl Government. I .should like 'very much to oblige you persomtllv,lUll=lwll 10 Sl- _l0|lll and llllllfllx COSI Ullc Cell! ll Wofd f0l' fffllli ,,m¢_ The correspondent should alsoknow the private secre-E‘"“l OPl>05lll0ll lournals would have the news at the same tlme,l but I fear I would not be warranted in giving it to 'I`he Globe", lllli>‘Sl0ll. llllll llle llCW5P“PCl`S WCW lC5S al-llc 10 Pay f01' lfxlinded

of the several ministem They can usually give information; which was all we asked for. Another effect was to strengthen al But Mr. Pope was willing to hear such argument as I mighti reports than they are today, especially at such rates.

lg many matters, not of a private or political nature, which thcl Cmalll I-‘l>'¢l'2ll C‘vrespondent’s growing admiration for the old Con-lpresent, and he had a number of formidable objections to urge inl

may desire to learn. _ ' ‘ l*°"’“'¥"e “hielfal-l~ , lreply. It was true, he admitted, that the news was in no way po-lwords all outline of some field night in the Commons in whlfll

50 much premised, |et it be added ‘hat in the Com-se of ,mmyl I I hlld not yet niet Sir Alexander Campbell to speak with him, litical ; equally true that the census was taken for the information (.`anada’s greatest men discussed the-\vciglny questions of the

some things may .be wld even to an Opposition co,._labout affair-s, when circumstances combined and suggested a callfof all the people and at the cost of all, and they might be consid-l time. These telegrams were of necessity condensed to the last

which he may be required to withhold from his news-,l 5°lg°im\'3l°-’\fllls Macdonnell, of the House of Commons, one rlayi cred t_o be all entitled to the news at the same time. ‘But that' lilllil, illld when they allptfllfcd ill llrilll. llflfl' bcillg Solllcwllilt alll-

or not to make use of ,mm Z, specmed time_ It Wm betpleasantly mentioned that on the previous evening at a oliiciallwas not quite the way things work out under party govermnentiplitied by the night editor, thc result was sometimes amusing, and

for him to keep his trust sacredjyyn such' mattefsvltlinner at Rideau llall, he had heard Sir Leonard Tilley in convcr»lLiberal goverilments, as well as Conservative governnientngavciat other times almost tragic. The names would often go wrong,

establish a bgnd of wnfidence bglween his gnfql-mam al1<]lS1lll0ll with Sir Alexander Campbell pay a perhaps unintentional some preference to their friends, and in the long run the account for the rank and file of the Ontario and Quebec members were

' \"”“Pll""’»`"l, l_0 T/‘C 5/000'# correspondent. What did he say?§ would be pretty fairly balanced. Moreover, those of the electol'='*1lllll0SI 115 lllll<ll0Wll lll lllé Mflfllllllc ll¢WSll€1[>@l 095695 35 Ure 'he

ll-(grille as a gentleman among gentlemen, he will in the long runluohv" laughlngly- "lle Sllllllly said you were a very dangerousfwbo were so unfortunate as to be in opposition, could always buyi names of the members of the Parliament of the Australian'Com-

u more reliable news, and be_ less often misled than if heflllllnli' The next day at the telegraph office I was told that Sirland read a newspaper supporting the Government if they desired,Ill0llW€illlll today. Ill the eastern newspapers, especially, letters

to less reputable meth0d5_ Speaking from some expe,-;_l Alexander Campbell had been inquiring what th-e new Globe man; to get early pews of the more important doings at Ottawa. §>'llplJlClll€lll€d Ol' !00l\' lllc l1l2lC€ Of thc lll”€S@llt full t€lfgl'f!lllllC FC-

as a special correspondent at Ottawa in years past, I ought tol WHS like, and that he had been told in reply, “Why, Sir Alexander,~ The interview was of some length and my final appeal was ports, while pen portraits of the leading Canadian statcsmen anti-

limlly Y¢5lel‘¢laY I sa\v ou borro\v his encil at this counter to write-'to his euerosit ,coupled with`thc suggestion that it might _be thefClll=llCll Ill? llfc-lllltf llliltc lJlClLll'€S \\'lllCll llllve SlllCc made lhfll'

. I remember well trying to condense into one or two hundred

Y P l; y

|21 lllCSSage." ’I`lus had indeed occurred as stated. Moreover, the more popular course to treat the matter in a broad and niagunni-l faces familiar in every household. There were many letter writ-

andcr replied very frankly and promptly that in this case he would give nic what l had asked for, although he might not always be

the new agreement. In this case, if I remember rightly, the news .not being applied for by the tlovermnent papers, first appeared ex- clusively in thc leading Opposition daily.

failed; The secret was in very few hands, and those who kncwi it and were not ministers, were supposed to be sworn to secrecy.t iFour of us formed a partnership to earn the reward by each under- taking to ascertain if possible the population of his own Province. By close watch and careful inquiry it was at length learned that the figures had been summed up and would that night be sent to the Conservative press. We had so far accomplished nothing and lwere destined to fail. I did, however, succeed in getting at thel population of New Brunswick. Going over to the Customs De- partment to see the Minister, I casually met him in the corridor. He paused a moment to speak a few words, and I mentioned that it was regrettable the population of our own Province was so dis- appointing. _ V t

“How plisappointing?" he asked quickly. ‘ I

~“Gl \Mr. Title -275,ooo!"

heckin himself he added, “lint you must not use that"“ And itl

that the census of 1881 was nearing completion. Months before, all sorts of plans had been laid to get early or exclusive informa- tion in regard~ thereto, but all these plans were destined to fail. The best I had hoped for was to get the figures for The Globe at the same time they were given out to the newspapers support- ing the Government. And so one day the information was secret-, ly gained that the census was completed as to population and that the main features would be given out the following night to a, few only of the ministerial journals. I promptly applied to Dru Taché, the Deputy Minister, who declined to inform fue whether the tabulation was completed or about to be given to the pres to give me any infomation in regard to it. The Minister of Ag- riculture, llon. John Henry Pope, was not in his 0l’5Cc at lllC time; it was not known when he would be in. Hlld I WHS ffllll very positively that it would be quite useless to apply to him. This was disappointing, indeed. Then for a time there was a rapid ex- change of tclegrams between Ottawa and Toronto, Ol Wllldl _*ll* following are specimens: Ottawa to Toronto: “Census coming out, 'but can’t get it.” Toronto to Ottawa: “Must have it pt what- over cost l” ` i

There was much more by way of explanations and reasons

for things on' the one hand and of insistence on the other hand. If only I could see Mr. Pope! I knew him quite well, and he had always been kind and 'considerate in news matters, sometimcs testing me with, "Now, if I tell you this,_you are sure you will not use it till I give you leave?" This is sometimes a hard test.~ and the correspondent may be severely tempted to break faith, but. woe betide him if he does! I had certain-ly kept faith with Mr. Pope. He was astute, shrewd, genial, with a dry homo together with his tall figure, reminded me of Abraham L ncoln. He was, `m,oreover,- a trusted lieutenant of Sir John Macdonald, uid was from tim'e` to-_time acting minister of other departmentslx thsnhli own when the responsible head was absent or a tempor-

had occurred. _ » , _

_ _. , .. h . “oo

` "aut an his office during the after

him. He

fecting all the people of Canada, and done on behalf of all, whether give the census to The Globe, in addition to the other newspapers, a < Conservative or_ Liberal, and it would seem they were all entitlediof which he had a list. “Give him what he wants," he added, andl tlllcllolli Olllol' D8 COSIHOS. “l0l'@f Of lllv llfllV€l'S¢"; big- bllfly

news had come that day of a new postal convention made ‘betweenl mous spirit. Mr. Pope admitted that there might be something ini CTS lll lllf PYCSS gf1l|€l"y- F0 H1050 l\'0lll 0lll2‘~l'l0 and Ql1Cl>@C»lh¢ Canada and the United States. It was surely now time to calllthis view of the case, but they had to consider their friends, andlnewly arrived Maritime Province statesmcn sat unconsciously for upon Sir Alexander Campbell. lwhat would the scores of. Conservative newspapers, which wouldltheir pen portrpits. 'l`he)Mnritime men in the gallery in their

My card was sent in, and I was at once adniittedj He rc-, not get the news say, when they found it had been given to an‘ turn sketched the Ontario and Quebec notables. lt was a sort of

,ccivcd me courtcously, but was apparently on his guard. At first; Opposition paper? ln the end he conceded to my request, making! general introduction all around. he would neither admit nor deny that a new postal agreement hodfmention that since the beginning of my correspondence, The Globe* And Wllffll llle f0\ll “CW m@ll fl‘0lll llle lJl'¢€7~Y l"`“ll`l°S Came been concluded, but cautiously inquired, “If it were so, why shouldihad treated him and the department fairly. When 1 had thanked in 1871, and the six members from beyond the Great [)i'z/ide, the lgive the news to The Globe?" This gave all 0PP0l'fUlllfY *U 3"§“°lhi’" as best I Could he 'ang ‘he be" fm' DT- Tlwhé. the Deputy- letter-writers had also to introduce them to newspaper readers.

the matter briefly. setting forth that the treaty was something af-iMinister, and told him in rt few wards that he had decided to They were indeed objects of no small degree of curiosity. D011'

ll A. bnnth and john L. Schultz, destined later for titular dis-

De M' ` ’»` Bunste and long-haired, picturesque "l`lionison, of Carrboo, served

gled surprise and special favor, Dr. Taché handed me the precious;

to learn of it at the same time. There was something more saidlthcn, drawing on his gloves, went out. In the puty- mister 1”. in reference to his well-known courtesy and fairness. Sir Alex-lroom, with a shrug of his shoulders that spoke volumes of min-ins subjects of much more or less lurid description. They had

come so far, by the ctrcurtotts routes of those days, that to some

sheets of figures prepared for traiisnussion to the most favgred-of then' number the nnlcagc exceeded the indemnity. liven one

illllii I0 do S0 ill lllc future. Ile rang his bell, the Deputy-Ministm-,l class of newspapers. lol the Ontario members, Simpson, of Algotna, was forced to travel

- - - - » .. . _ ' . . . . _ ~ , , _ _ d

Ml Griffin. Cf-llllc ill and was instructed to give me the purport of A little later I had wired jubilantly to Toronto: I liavefhundrcds of miles on snowshoes to reach a point vtherc lic coul

got the census!" and in reply had received from the managing find tht; means of conveyance by team. These far~wc-sterncrs editor the too fluttering mqcqage, “You lmvc won fame at rr came not only from a far country, but from a thinly srttled onc.

| _ . I lgtrokey' Bm alas’ how easily lllings go wrong! The next morn-`,'l`l\cre were few voters, indeed, beyond the Great Lakes, in 187|.

The census of Canada, both in 187| and 138|, as wcllasi ing's Globe, which contained the census figures, contained also ai l\lanitoba's first four members, at their election, polled an aggregate

Slllvv tl10Scd2lyS, has been a subject of great interest to the readingl paragraph, apparently based on one of my earlier telegrams, blatn-lof only 1,008 votes. Of the first six members from llritish Col-

public for several reasons. Our vast territorial area sparse set-ling the Minister for having refused the information he had so nlnbia two were returned by acclamation, and the four who went

tlenicnts, and the rather' dhappointing growth of population inigcncrously given. This was, of course, promptly corrected in the' to the polls received altogether but 497 votes, not one of them get-.

the earlier decades, ctnuribtttctl to cause this anxious concern. next issue, with due credit given to Mr. Pope and lioiioralilelllllg 200- Colllfllst llllS Wllll lllC |3St 0lCCil0ll t0 lllll 0llllll0llS lil

\\/innipcg when Mr Iiolc was returned with the support of 4 308

The youu nation, like a 'oun bo ', was ierhais over-anxious to` rllfl€fldS lllildc. ~ I 1 - - - »

g 5 l§ ) I l , p t _ _ ,_

grow up quickly. 'This very gradual growtlr will in the and bear: There were special correspondents at Ottawa other than my-l votes, wlule his unsuccessful opponent had more than 4,000. lo

l f C f d ' h lo bt had moral read again one of those forty-year-old letters from Ottana is to

. » It would be, perhaps, within the mark to say that when thel Dominion was formed, no daily newspaper within its borders had; a circulation of 15,000 copies. When ‘Thomas D’Arcy McGee; prepared his lecture on The Mental Ouljit of the New Domi1u'ou,l recalling the number of colleges, institutions of learning and news-: papers with which the country was equipped, there were but fewl more than a score of daily newspapers in British America. Of these Ontario°possessed twelve and Quebec eight. Daily news-l papers in the Maritime Provinces, excepting a few spasmodic and

fruit for good. In the meantime, the unsettled West has been self in the eary years o on e eration, w o no < u , - .settled with British and Canadian people, carrying with them the: varied and eventful expcri_cllC<‘S, closer touch with the great meniF€€ P0ff“*Y€‘l m3"Y Stately and Commandmg EEUYCS -“"5 50”” *haf

la\vs and institutions of a liritish community in advance of anyiof the time. afld “him made fewer faiiures and ihcml' S\lCCcSS lllfllilfl Clmllcngcd “lf°"f'°ll ffm" fhell' °fld’lY and gf°f“§‘lU¢'3l’P@i"'

l llb l l 'n lar e s aking,

`large and uncontrollable infiux of foreign elements. A solid Brit-| that interesting field, but they have not told their story. l\fuch,llllCC Ol' lllilllllcl'-‘~€llll0llg tlelll il `ll' .l0 lll 00ml g 5 H

-ish-Canadian foundation has been laid from Sydnev to Vancouver.l is known to the few and now gray-haired survivors of that httleswlllllf great mell Sl1PP0l'l¢fl llllll Oll ills! flgllf and left. and

` f filldl f tbnheso

This was important. . lband that may never be told, and much is already covered in the Slalwarl and C0llSlJlCl1011S mell 0 l10l€ C UC l'0l'l 6 C fl'

Let me drop back for n moment to the census of 1871. its shadows that tenderly wrap those who have gone from life’s ac-:'p`o`__Slte.l _~ __

.was a census of four Provinces only, but at thetitne the work of; tivities. Possibly the loss may yet .be felt, and when the Dominionl 15 it true phat in both journalism and politics the bigger

‘tabulation was completed there was great interest to learn the re-I shall come to celebrate its' centennial sixty years hence, it may bel Canada produces 5ma|1e,.me,,? We would all be reluctant to Con. sult, and at prominent Opposition paper had then privately offered' matter for regret that too little was committed to paper even tn‘ fess it were it trué; and it is not "ue, but them was undoubtedly $500 for first exclusive and accurate figures showing the Provincia1lthe‘ way of such s-:cmingly trivial reminiscences of the Fathers and 3 larger Share of Camdais really great men an the mst Federal totals.. Under this stimulus a number of the young newspaper mcni their times as are here set down. yparjinmmt than are in that body today “fc have ,,,umpgcd gm,

,attending at Ottawa made persistent effort to get the figures. hut. when Big Men were in Journansm ggrcat railway men, our mine owners, our cotton kings, our coal

` _ . .

barons, our steel magnates, our captains of industry and merchant princes, our patent medicine nabobs, our bankers, financiers, in- surance managcrs, land speculators, our charter-mongers and con- tractors, and these callings have absorbed a host of our shrewdcsr and ablest men. At Confederation, statcraft was viewed as our greatest calling, and though Ministers served annually for $5,000 and Members and Senators for $600, a seat in the Commons or Senate counted for more; relatively, than they do today, and at- tracted mcn of foremost ability, as they do not always now. Business is at present bigger than politics and millionaires are

l¢mP°l"'=“'Y V¢m‘~"¢5» may be Silld to date from C0“f¢d¢\'3ll0“f Of; multiplying in the land. Who was there in all Canada whose pri~ to owe their existence to the Confederation movement. Hut itil vate fo,-tune was expressed in seven figures in 1867? the first seven years after the union, the number of dailies inl 50 ,here “mc great mm, and ,.,c“, men) md grunt and new Canada had d0Ubl€<l» fll¢'Mi"'lll‘“¢ Pl'0"l“°°5 lJ°l“8 S“l’l’ll°d Wlllllqucstions as well, to furnish subjects for the pens of thc gallery fight ln ’874» T0d“Y lhc daily “¢W5l’3l’el'5 of Cilllilllil ““"‘l’°‘"|scrihcs and the editors at home in those days. -There were three

li Y

“You are quite wrong,” he said-"z85.S')-1-" Tflcn quickly. over one hundred. while their aggregate circulation has dotlbtlesslgcncmj @lcCl;O,,s in the f,,-_gt _,,L.,,,.,,_yc,,,. l,cr;,,,]y 5c,.cSSi0,, mmI,,,,,t

lll<-`f¢€\5¢d Mil"-`"f0l'-l Since 1367- :in Nova Scotia and rebellion in thc Northwest, occasional l"cnian

the Confederation era. In Ontario, George Brown, William Mc-

Dougall, _lohn Cameron, james Beatty and Thomas White th/lr.; White was first of the Hamilton Spectator and afterwards of the

Montreal Gazelle) have since had no successors of greater ability, and few equals as editorial writers. In Quebec, Edward Goff Penny, D'/\rcy McGee and John Dougall wielded trcnchant pens in English journalism, to say nothing of many vigorous writers in the Frenchlanguagc. Nova Scotia had her William Annand, M. McDonald, and a galaxy of younger journalists in Wiilliam S. Tieldin (now Minister of Finance), john- G (afterwards Sir

< g _ . . _ t

5, or john) Bourinot, George johnson, Martin J. Griliin and others.l

New Brunswick, with john Livingston, William Elder and Timo- thy Warren Anglin, as editors of her leading papers, and a number of younger men since of some note, under their tutelage, was en- joying the golden age of newspaper activity in that Province; while in Princp Edward Island, Edward Whelan, David Laird and Henry Lawson wielded the editorial pen with skill and ability. A number of those I have named figured at one time or another in the Federal or Provincial Parliaments, or Legislatures or Cabinets, of the sixties and seventies of last century. The list is far from complete, but it may be doubted whether the larger number of editorialwriters in Canada today embraces so many names of em- inence and distinction in the profession. Newspapers have been greatly enlarged and improved in many ways, while relatively the status of the leader-writer has declined. There is much less of the alle-m_an power in journalism throughout America today than in the active days of Horace Greeley, Joseph Howe and George

Brown.

ur that, At Confederation the leading journals of Canada were alll

strongly partisan, the independent newspaper had hardly yet come into beiugt The leading journals of `Ontsrio and Quebec confined their parliamentary reports .mainly to the sayings and doings of their party leaders and favorites. Political opponents were report- ed. if at all, with marked breiity. There was no Howard in

n, and those dsyc and the scrap-book 'reports in the Parliament Lhrary

C ` S' Y e ' ' ' . was not used for publication, but if we had been able to get the But Canadian journalism at the date of the union, desjiitcimids, the purchase of the vast Hudsonts Bay »I~c,,,i,0,}., the Carp. figures for Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, the information the litnited number and circulation of newspapers as coniparechgng om of me 5,-St new province therein, thc l,,i,,g{ng in of pm. would in all probability have been/sent to the newspaper offering with the present time, was it great power in the land. At' tiulish Columbia and prince ];dWm-d jslmd’ pw |,{,,d{,,g_,0g,.t|,C,. of

the reward. Capturing news by surprise is, however, an old trick. period since have Elhcrc l;e;n tlporc; fprcpfug writers orlmtpt of lwrderi the Whole pfafnrk with bands of Steel by the Imc,.C0|0,,;,,1 ,md ,hc

It was ten years later, under similar conditions ot secrecy, influence at the e itoria es s o tie eating journa s tiau turing

Canadian Pacific railways,.the organization of the federal ser- vices, the making of one Canadian tariff to replace the differing provincial schedules, the abolition of dual representation. the bringing in of the ballot, the settling of the serious quarrels with our neighbors to the south. Over these and other great questions our statesmen debated and deliberated as serious men who were conscious that they were laying the foundations of a great State And their ability and carnestness lent a dignity to Parliament

which it scarcely possesses today_ ~

There was, on the other hand, a strong note of provincialism

among the members from the different Provinces, which made it difficult to fuse the various elements that were brought together. and even to enforce party discipline. This cropped up strongly when the first tariff was brought in and sent some of the New Brunswick supporters of the Government almost into revolt. That a bread-tax and further taxes on our West India trade would be imposed by the Canadians if once they got us in their power, had been zealously proclaimed by all the anti-Confederatcs in the -Mari- time Provinces and as earnestly denied by those who supported the Union movement. To the dismay of the ‘Maritime Unionists, a duty on flour and increased duties on sugar and molasses was now proposed. 'They were loud in their protests. How could they justify such an outrage to their constituents? 'And yet, al- most before they could realize it, the odious taxes were being rail- roaded through the House in concurrence on the report of the Committee of Ways and Means. Charles Fisher, a former Pre- mier and Attomey-General, seconded by his brother-in-law, Charles Connell, hastily scrawled an amendment to refer back to the com- mittee with instructions to strike out the duty orrfiour and reduce the duties on tea, sugar, molasses "and several other articles." That was all he had time to write before the evil would be con- summated. In an instant the yeas and nays were called. “Charles Fisher and ‘several other members’ will stand up,” cheered Sir John, with mocking-reference to Fisher'a loosely wordgdtfewlu. tion. Some very angry New Brunswick members rosefo their rea wizlmhcrc from Nm sean, my to be wmtcit b it um.

sity business in- advancelwhich afford the best record- of the speeches, were each clipped, ‘ V wgwmh M ”,,,°_)i ` 7

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