Document Information

Date: 1866-07-21
By: Montreal Herald
Citation: “AFFAIRS AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT” Montreal Herald (21 July, 1866)
Other formats: TBA

AFFAIRS AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. (From our own Correspondent.) OTTAWA, July 18.

The work of the session is advancing at a pretty rapid rate, though the business for which it was specially called—the completion of the Confederation scheme—has received but little attention as yet. We are in fact in what may be called the last of the session, and yet this subject, for whose consideration the meeting of Parliament was deferred to an unusual and extremely inconvenient season, can only be said to be just before the House, and nothing more. No one expected, however, that the redistribution of the seats would be announced until the tariff was well advanced, lest any dissatisfaction might give rise to opposition to the Ministerial, and especially the financial programme. This is just what took place. The local constitutions were withheld until a late day, and in the same way other important measures are now being kept back from the House, in the expectation no doubt that they may be pushed through at the last moment without attracting that attention or consideration which they might have done at an earlier stage of the session, The education bill, for instance, which has been so long promised, and in respect of which trouble is anticipated in some quarters, is not yet before the House. So with the bill respecting the election of members to the legislature. It has been introduced, and that is all we know of it up to this late day. It is clear to see that no government ever treated their supporters and the House generally, with so much contempt as the ” strong government,” which is existing on the breath of life it extracted from the unfortunate member for South Oxford. It was plain from words dropped by Mr. MacKenzie during the debate on Mr. McGiverin’s motion, that those members by whose support the government have been enabled to keep office, were never once consulted on any point respecting their local government or the re-distribution of seats. Yet these members tamely submit to everything, and yield their votes to the support of a Coalition which has utterly ignored the pledges upon which it was formed, and which will most undoubtedly throw overboard these same men who now give it life, in the manner in which their leader has already been thrown over, when they can no longer be made of any use. Of this, however, they may be assured, that the period of repentance will arrive and that very shortly, when they will be as anxious to get rid of the great panacea which is to cure all their ills, as they are eager now to secure it. The expenses of the new mode of legislation will be simply enormous Already are we told that the public buildings at Toronto are to be put in a state of repair for occupation. Count up the cost of this, the cost of all the other extra paraphernalia of legislation which will be required, and all the additional departmental expenses and we may easily see in the future increased debt, increased taxation and increased dissatisfaction throughout the whole country. To return to what is more particularly engaging attention at the present time, the events which have occurred since my letter of Saturday last, have fully justified the anticipations then indulged in of a very marked change in the policy of the Finance Minister. Of his great “European System” nought remains, not even the shadow thereof. In most essential points has the tariff been altered at the suggestions of various interests before the matter was ever discussed in the House. The tobacco duties were increased by some fifty per cent., farming implements were taken out of the free list and subjected to a heavy protection, the nominal protection was taken off iron, to the probable destruction of rolling-mill interests, and other important changes were made, which left no further demonstration necessary to exhibit the crudeness of the scheme at first submitted to the House. Mr. Rymal very correctly said that had no doubt if the farmers had sent deputations to besiege the Finance Minister, as the manufacturers had done, concessions would also have been made in their favour. Those who have obtained concessions may thank Mr. McGiverin for the opportunity which the delay caused by his motion afforded them of making their representations to the Finance Minister. Mr. Rose made an effort on behalf of the iron interests; but he could not have expected it to meet with any success after his vote the other night, and his declared perfect confidence in the gentlemen on the Treasury Benches. They saw that they had nothing to fear from him, that his opposition was merely to keep up appearances, and of course they felt themselves relieved from paying any further attention to what he had to argue. It is quite within the bounds of probability that a general election may take place before Confederation can yet be accomplished, and if so it may give rise to developments, in respect of which certain members, and those for Montreal not the least, may be somewhat concerned.

The tariff has been put through Committee of Ways and Means, the supplementary estimates have to be subjected to the same process, and the concurrence has to be taken on both; the local constitutions have to be discussed, and several bills promised by the Government have still to be considered. Yet with this amount of work before us, there seems to be a feeling that the session will be brought to a close next week, though some say the 8th or 10th of August. With the thermometer ranging from 88 to 100 in the shade, no one can blame members greatly for desiring to escape from the hot-bed in which they are here confined. Although there is a great fan at work somewhere in the lower regions, to force cold air into the Assembly room, it is almost suffocating, especially in the evening, when the heat, more particularly in the galleries, resembles that of a furnace. There is no escape from the heated air, the ventilating apparatus not being completed, and this, together with the fact of the ceiling being of glass, accounts for the intolerable suffering of all doomed to spend the dog days in this palatial purgatory.