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Date: 1867-11-11
By: Canada (Parliament)
Citation: Canada, House of Commons Debates, 1st Parl, 1st Sess, 1867 at 23-33.
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DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS

On motion of Sir John A. Macdonald, the House resumed the order of the day for the consideration of the address in reply to His Excellency’s Speech from the Throne. The question being upon the first paragraph of the address.

Joseph Howe [Hants] stated that he thought it right to explain, that as the House would have a full opportunity of discussing the various clauses of the address, and every member who chose could state his views upon them, he would not move an amendment to the address as he intended to have done.

John A. Macdonald [Kingston]—The honourable gentleman will have every opportunity of discussing every paragraph of the address, so that no amendment is necessary.

Edward Blake [Durham West] resumed the debate. He quite concurred with the opening remarks of the member for Hants, in regard to the important nature of the work which the Government promised to lay before the House for its performance. The programme was one of a very extensive character, for several months past, Ministers had been engaged preparing these measures, and it was understood they were now ready for submission to the House. Ministers had asked the House and country to be judged upon those measures, and therefore he (Mr. Blake) presumed they were anxious that the trial should take place with as little delay as possible. He felt it doubly important now that the House should not be delayed in proceeding with those important measures upon which not only were the Government to be tried and judged, but the prosperity of the country and the fortunes of the new Dominion depended. But the circumstances un- der which the House met, as well as the circumstances connected with the recent elections, and with the great party to which he had the honour to belong, called for some remark before proceeding to those measures, and although he did not propose to move an amendment to the address, still it had been thought fit not to allow those circumstances to pass without some comment on the floor of this House. The remarks he would have to address to the House would be as short as the subject would permit, and he was sure he would receive that indulgence which British deliberative assemblages always accorded to a young member, and of which at that moment he felt seriously in need. (Hear, hear). In order, then, to look at the circumstances under which recent elections took place, it was necessary to go back a short time in the history of the country, and especially to the period of the formation of the Coalition, prior to the accomplishment of Confederation. In consequence of the impossibility of continuing the Government of the country by either of the two parties-Conservative and Reform—which had always prevailed, and which under whatever names disguised, would always prevail in any country constitutionally governed-in consequence of their being unable to carry on the Government in the ordinary way, an alliance was come to between the parties of a temporary character and for a certain definite purpose. Both parties thus came together for a time, and agreed upon a mode of solving the constitutional difficulties under which the country had laboured and which had brought the Government almost to an end. It was understood at that time, clearly and distinctly, that the questions which might otherwise have been agitated in the House—questions under which party issues might have been raised -questions likely to excite party feelings once more-questions which could only properly be debated and decided, as those on his side of the house contended, by a house properly organized and composed of the two parties-that all such questions should be placed in abeyance, and that the House should devote itself to a settlement of the constitutional question. It was not sup-

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posed—it was not contemplated-it was not suggested, at any rate publicly, whatever were the views privately held by the parties to that compact-that either of the two parties should lose its distinctive character, or that we would find ourselves upon the carrying out of that measure in a position which would require no reorganization of parties, as questions might arise leading to a difference of opinion in men’s minds. It was not, at any rate, asserted at that time that the two parties should be dissolved, and that parties should arise afterwards only in consequence of the diversity of opinion in men’s minds as to questions that might come up for consideration The best proof that the alliance was not to dissolve parties was to be found in the facts connected with two elections which took place soon after its formation, and when appeals on behalf of the two parties were made to the constituents interested. The present Commissioner of Public Works, on appealing to his constituents for re-election, was opposed, and successfully opposed, by a Conservative; and in North Wentworth, a Conservative and Reformer went to the polls as such. The election of the former was urged by the Minister of Justice because he was “his candidate”. These things showed that at that period the idea had not been mooted that there was an end of party by reason of the temporary alliance; or that parties would not revert to their original state as soon as the object of the alliance should be accomplished. When the object of that alliance was finally accomplished, the Minister of Justice was authorized to forrn a Cabinet for the Dominion, and he made proposals, the result of which was, that the Government was formed, composed partly of Conservatives and partly of Reformers. As he (Mr. Blake) understood it, the view in which that arrangement was made was this-it was conceded that the Reformers had a preponderance in Ontario, and so they were given three out of five seats to the Cabinet from that Province, and as to the whole Dominion, it was held that parties were tolerably evenly balanced; and so the Cabinet was pretty evenly balanced in its political character. They were balanced by six Reformers being taken in as Ministers, and six Conservatives, with one gentleman who, having been Conservative at one time, and at one time Reformer, was regarded as being peculiarly fitted for the position of umpire-(laughter)-to decide between the rights and wrongs of the Cabinet so composed. Hon. Senator Kenny fitted that very high and distinguished position. (Laughter). When they heard this in Ontario, the Reform party was in a position to carry a majority in the Local House, and at any rate a very strong delegation in this. They heard it from those gentlemen in the Cabinet to whom it was supposed the interests of the Reform party was particularly committed. They were told by ‘the Commissioner of Public Works that the Reform cause and Reform party had passed away and was dead-that a new era of peace and good feeling had arisen, and that we were no longer to look back upon dead issues of the past. And then the doctrine was announced that parties were to be formed, not with regard to past differences, but as questions arose upon which men’s minds would naturally differ, and that as there was now no great question agitating the country, there was no longer any necessity for party. They were told by the honourable gentlemen who had formerly represented their party, that they were no longer to regard the past, that party distractions were to be buried in oblivion, and that with the inauguration of the new Dominion, we would all commence anew with clean slates. They were told that this was the best course for the interests of the Reform party itself; for otherwise, it would be in a minority in the Councils of the country, and the Minister of Justice would form a Government of Conservatives exclusively, and have Reformers in Opposition. They were also told that partyism was a mistake, that the country was tired of political contention, and had enough of it, and that there should now be conciliation, peace and harmony on both sides. The doctrine was laid down that the best men should be selected irrespective of party, and that to be a party man was something discreditable. Everyone who professed to adhere to strong party views was denounced as an extreme man, but at the same time, a most strenuous and unscrupulous fight was carried on by those advocates of harmony, peace and con- ciliation. Those who opposed the Coalition were set down as most unreasonable men. There was something in the Government, it was said, to suit every taste-if it was a taste that could be pleased by a composition of that description. They were told moreover that, if they went into Opposition, they must necessarily ally themselves with the member for Hants (Hon. Mr. Howe) and his followers; that they would thereby ally themselves with annexationists, disloyal men and rebels-men who were coming here to plot against and destroy the constitution. Those slanders against his honourable friends from Nova

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Scotia, they had to meet as best they could; and they stated further that they could only act with those gentlemen if they found them disposed, as he believed that they to discharge their duty in working out the constitution fairly on the floor of this House. Further, they were met by the argument that the administration should not be condemned beforehand-that they ought to be judged by their actions. He and his friends had met this by saying they had known a good many of them for a long time, that they had known a good deal of their actions, and had for many years groaned under the fruits of those actions. They were met by the Minister of Public Works (Mr. McDougall) and they had ventured to suggest to that gentleman that he himself had educated the country to such a point with reference to the misdeeds of those gentlemen opposite, that he would find it very difficult to unteach those lessons in the course of one election. They pointed out that by his whole course of action for a long series of years he had condemned in a vigorous manner the conduct of the men for whom he now asked a fair trial; the honourable gentleman’s answer was that in those days party spirit ran high, that he was anxious to show that the Opposition party were wrong, but that he had since found out that the devil after all was not so black as he was painted, and that in fact, if diabolical at all, he was only a diabolical good fellow. (Laughter). He for one was not convinced by the Minister of Public Works; he could not see what guarantee there was for his judgment being more sound now than it was before. On the contrary, it was just possible that his eyes were somewhat blinded by the circumstances in which he now found himself, and that his former judgment was the one to be relied upon. Then, in the western part of the Dominion, the Minister of Justice, Sir John A. Macdonald, was perambulating the land, and in those perambulations he was not alone. He was accompanied by a shadow, tall and thin -as a shadow ought to be-which followed his every footstep, re-echoed his every word, applauded his every sentiment. The two men who for twenty years had sat on opposite sides of the House-whose opposition had not ceased even during the temporary truce while Confederation was in progress-were now allied. The long feud of the clan McDonald had come to an. end. The premier of Ontario had submitted to his chief the premier of Canada, and an alliance offensive and defensive had been formed between the major and minor potentates to sweep the elections in Ontario for the benefit of the big and the little coalitions. One of the first fruits of that alliance was the conversion of the Honourable member for South Brant. Having commented on the suddenness of that conversion and on other curious combinations that occurred during the election, such as the visit of Mr. McDougall and Mr. M. C. Cameron to Durham, to oppose himself (Mr. Blake), he went on to say that the tactics to which he had referred, the mode in which the elections were conducted, the order in which they were arranged, and the pressure and influence brought to bear on them, had resulted no doubt in triumph-not of the Minister of Public Works and his friends, but-of the Minister of Justice, because the men who sat in the House as supporters of the Government from the Province of Ontario, sat here as supporters of the Minister of Justice, and not by any means as supporters of the Minister of Public Works, who he did not believe, had one follower in this whole House. Gentlemen opposite had achieved a triumph, but not without inflicting a most serious blow on the political morality of the country. As the result of the strange proceedings witnessed during the late elections, we saw a good deal of confusion now in this House. It had been customary to see the chief benches on his side of the House reserved for the Opposition; but, on this occasion, we found the members for Cornwall and South Brant sitting among those to whom they had been opposed at the election. It was difficult under these circumstances to know who was Ministerial and who Opposition. He hoped to learn from the lips of these gentlemen themselves what was their position-that he and his honourable friends near him might know whether they were surrounded by friends or foes. (Hear, hear). The Government met the House in different circumstances from those under which the elections took place. Two members of it had resigned their offices. The gentleman who had resigned the office of Minister of Finance and held that position almost continually for many years. The honourable gentleman during that period had led the country along a course which was sometimes Protection and sometimes Free Trade, and in which there appeared to be but one element of consistency, namely, that it involved an increase of our expenditure and of our debt, until at last, like some will-of-the-wisp which had led us into a quagmire, the honourable gentleman left us in the very worst spot of it to flounder out of it as best we could. As regarded the immediate cause of

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the Finance Minister’s resignation, he would not pretend to hold the Finance Minister responsible for having conspired to bring about the destruction of the Commercial Bank, but what he did say was this, that that honourable gentleman was unquestionably responsible for the passage of the Act which rendered it not only possible but probable that such an event might happen, giving one banking institution an interest at variance with the interests of other banking institutions and the power more or less to effect their rule, this had inevitably led to the view that there was no longer that security which we formerly had in the fact of all being to a considerable extent involved in the fate of each, so that there would necessarily be concerted action, and forbearance, and assistance on the part of all the other institutions towards the one which happened to be temporarily embarrassed. The late minister of finance was directly responsible for the passage of the Act which changed that state of things, but not he alone. It was one of the fruits of the late Coalition, but for that Coalition the Government would not have felt itself so strong as to venture to force through the Act without allowing that time for debate which would have allowed the feeling of the country to have been elicited. The Government hoped that by giving up the minister of finance as an expiatory sacrifice they would propitiate the country, but every man of them was as responsible for it as the minister of finance himself.

George-Étienne Cartier [Montreal East]—Hear, hear.

Mr. Blake said the Minister of Militia was not afraid of the responsibility, as the feeling was not so strong in that portion of the Dominion from which lie came; but when members of the Government, representing Ontario, did not contradict, but acquiesce in the statement of the Minister of Finance, that he had lost confidence of the people of that portion of the Dominion because of late events it necessarily followed that the people of Ontario had lost confidence in more than him-they had lost all confidence in the Ministers who are responsible for that measure. Mr. Blake went on to show the injurious nature of the bank of issue scheme of last session, and the inexpediency of such legislation when it would necessarily be one of the first duties of the Confederated Parliament to have a uniform currency system for the whole Dominion. He hoped that very soon the Act of last session would be set aside, and the best scheme for the whole Dominion be introduced and acted upon without delay. He proceeded to point out that the Government had a good opportunity of showing the people that they were not to continue a system of prodigality and extravagance, by reducing the number of Cabinet officers from 13 to 11. He then referred to the promise of a measure as to elections. He trusted it would contain a provision that the elections should be held on one day, and the same day throughout the Dominion. Under the present system the greatest facilities were given for corrupting the constituencies. Unfortunately, election cor- ruption was increasing at every election and it appeared as if the time would soon come when it would be almost impossible to obtain a seat in this flouse without spending large sums of money in debauching the electors. The militia scheme, he hoped, would be well considered. The House should not vote large sums of money, for a system of defence without seeing where to it tended and where to it would grow. An exhaustive investigation of the whole subject should precede legislation, so that we might adopt as complete a system of defence as the circumstances of the country would admit. He then referred to the position of Nova Scotia. He did not think that the Imperial Government would consent to release Nova Scotia from the Union-at all events until they had given it a fair trial, and he hoped his friends from that section would make the best of the situation and join in working the constitution faithfully. So long as it existed for the good of the whole Dominion, he hoped nothing would occur which would lead us to seek a change in our constitution. There could be no greater evil in a country than having an unstable, unsettled system of government. Stability was to be hoped for and prayed for. And, though he had been accused at the election of being disloyal, of being a disunion candidate, because of the ground he then assumed, he believed there was on the floor of the House no truer, though no more humble, friend of the constitution than himself. (Cheers).

Richard Cartwright [Lennox] said he had listened with satisfaction to his honourable friend, whom they would always find, so long as lie continued a member of the House, a worthy friend or worthy foe. This Union, in its present state, can only be spoken of as an experiment, and much the largest part of the work remains yet to be done. We in Ontario and Quebec have been much better acquaint-

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ed with the inhabitants and constitution of neighbouring States than with our kindred subjects in the Maritime Provinces. Until the Intercolonial Railway is constructed, we must pass through a foreign and possibly hostile country, to reach a seaport during a portion of the year. Therefore the task before us is great, and it will require all the energy and skill that Canada can produce to overcome their difficulties and bring this great project to a successful issue. Our whole position is changed, having emerged from dependent Provinces into the semi-independent position of a new Dominion. In future we will have to take a wider view of the position we hold in relation to the British Empire, than we have done. A great majority of leading men will stand by us provided we do our duty by them. This country presents a very vulnerable point of attack, and the British Government have been put to considerable expense in providing our own defence. We therefore have double to do for we have to discharge our duties as citizens of Canada, and as citizens of the British Empire. It is utterly impossible for us to stand alone without the protection of the Mother country, and on the other hand the British Empire could not maintain the sovereignty of the seas if this country was severed from the British Crown and entered into an alliance with the United States. Privateers could then run from the harbour of Halifax to the British Isles in a week, and destroy their commerce. The commerce is a matter of necessity, and the people of England, for without it, one-half of the present people could not be supported, neither could they retain one-tenth part of their wealth and influence in the Councils of the world. Therefore, while it is our duty as subjects of the British Empire to do all we can to maintain our connection with this Empire, we do not come before Great Britain as supplicants, but as fully adequate to render a recompense for all we ask of them. He then referred to the Territory of the Hudson’s Bay Co. and said it would afford a great deal of satisfaction to the people of Ontario, that the territory was thrown open to immigration. The next question the Government would have to take up, was Reciprocity with the United States. It was fortunate that the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty took place at the time it did, for the blow aimed at us by the people of the United States recoiled upon their own heads; but now that the American war was over, they should take advantage of the present opportunity to renew that Treaty, because it might be more difficult to do so at some future time. There is an allusion made in the address to protection for native industry. In a young country like ours, maintenance of a certain amount of duty, without violating any principles of free trade, is best. Where any taxes have been imposed to encourage native manufactures, the abrogation of these taxes should not be made suddenly, but they should be made after a term of years, or reduced gradually. He referred to the Commercial Bank and said it was impossible to see how the Currency Act of last session could affect the Commercial Bank or the Bank of Upper Canada in the way its provisions were to go into operations. In regard to the act of Union, he could say to his friends from Nova Scotia that it was utterly impossible to abrogate it. Therefore, they should devote their talents to amend any of its provisions which they considered unjust. There should be no disunion at this time, when they required a strong and powerful government to carry out great ends.

Alexander Morris [Lanark South] spoke of the superior advantage we could now have in negotiating a Reciprocity Treaty with the United States, com- pared with the advantages we possessed when separate provinces; and said we would inevitably obtain better terms than we otherwise could have done. Hereafter, the British Government instead of having to deal with separate Provinces, would deal with one central power. They could now have one tariff framed to meet the wants of every section of the Dominion. He could not enumerate the advantages to be derived from the union better than to quote from a speech delivered by his honourable friend from Hants, Mr. Howe, in 1849. Mr. Morris then read portions of that speech which detailed the advantages to be derived from union, and said he was sorry to hear his honourable friend the other night speak of there being a packed majority in this House. He would ask who packed the majority? They came here as free representatives of a free people anxiously desiring to do their best for the interest of the whole union. There was plenty of work for them to do—they must consolidate and bind the Provinces of the Dominion into one harmonious whole and make this union an institution that will secure for their children’s children the blessing of a free government. The first paragraph of the Address was then adopted, and second read, when—

Albert Smith [Westmorland], regretted that Government had not prepared a speech that would not have been distasteful or insulting to those who entertained views different from

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them. However, having fought the battle he was now willing to lay down arms, accept the situation, and lend his assistance to make the new constitution successful. (Cheers). He came here unpledged, but was willing to give it a fair trial, and would judge the Ministry on their merits, irrespective of party. He was happy to see a disposition in the House to treat the Lower Provinces with fairness. All they asked was fair play. He thought it premature to join in congratulations on this measure, and exceedingly unbecoming for Government to ask them to join in congratulations who had been so opposed to it. But now it was passed, all should unite to consolidate the constitution and make it work successfully. He objected to the manner in which Confederation had been carried. No organic change should take place in the constitution of any country without the approbation of the people. He regretted very much the retirement of Mr. Galt, of whose financial abilities he had a high opinion, and was happy to find he (Mr. Galt) would give the Government his support. The Government ought to take advantage of his retirement to reduce the number of departments, and thus reduce they expenditure. In conclusion, he was highly gratified at the courteous manner in which the members from the Lower Provinces had been received. Any measures the Government might bring up, which are for the best interests of the Dominion, he would support.

Stewart Campbell [Guysborough], said he never rose to speak under greater embarrassment. Though a member of the Bar and the Legislature of his own Province, yet he stood overpowered with an amount of awe, mingled with respect, not because he feared to give utterance to his views, but because appearing as the representative of a constituency which had honoured him with confidence unsurpassed for unanimity, he came here to vindicate their interests. After further prefatory remarks the speaker proceeded to refer to his own position in relation to Confederation. In the Legislature of Nova Scotia he had maintained an attitude of hostility to Confederation, and in justice to himself he would explain the grounds of opposition. It was well known to his own Province, and to some extent here, that his hostility was mainly based upon the manner in which the scheme was pressed upon the people. He had not canvassed-his constituency was aware of his acts; he was elected by acclamation. He told them from the hustings that as the power in which he owed obedience had decreed the new Constitution, it would be his duty to go to Parliament and endeavour to extract the benefit and attack the evils of the change. He must declare his hostility to any attempt at repeal. He had accepted the situation. He believed that success in the attempt to secure repeal would be fraught with much greater danger than its failure (hear, hear). He regretted that his honourable friend beside him (Hon. Mr. Howe) had taken an opposite course. He would rejoice if his (Howe’s) powerful voice had been with him in making the best of the existing situation. He (C.) should take the course which his own judgment had dictated, however much he regretted differing from his friends. He should look favourably and hopefully to the future under a wise and economical administration. He should therefore refrain from any hostile criticism on the subjects embraced in the address, and in taking this course, he felt that he was justified by his sense of what was right, and was prepared to stand by his decision (prolonged applause.)

It being six o’clock, the Speaker left the Chair.

AFTER RECESS

Alfred Savary [Digby], said this was the first time he had appeared in a Legislative Assembly, and came here unwillingly, because the people of that Province had been forced into Union. He and his friends did not come here to discuss Confederation, that must be fought, and had been fought elsewhere. Because elements of discord existed in Canada, weakening the old Constitution was no reason the Constitution of Nova Scotia, which had worked well, should be subverted. He argued that the present Constitution, while pretending to be of a Federal nature, was open to all the objections of a Legislative Union, and complained of the extended powers of the Dominion Legislature. In the Province of Nova Scotia they had a banking system, and none of their banks had failed. Here it was different, and was admitted on all hands that the measure of last Session had caused failure, and his Province would be subjected to the same disaster. The tendency of this Constitution was to absorb all the power. He would not so much have objected to interferences in national affairs, but most of their domestic matters were invaded. Nova Scotia was prepared to all its duties of defence, and every other, but he felt the interests of that Province would weigh but little in this Assembly, because of its small representation. They could not congratulate His Excellency, because of the adoption of a Constitution con-

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taining elements of discord which they felt would be disastrous. The majority in favour of the scheme in some of the Provinces was because the people felt that opposition was hopeless against the Imperial Act. A discussion had commenced which would never end until it was repealed or amended. Canada and the Home Government had been grossly deceived as to the sentiment of the people of Nova Scotia, and he was astonished that any man should endeavour to keep up the delusion in the face of eighteen representatives against it. He showed that Nova Scotia had not been in the habit of sweeping changes, but on this question it was sweeping. Public meetings had been held in Nova Scotia in which Union with Canada was condemned. Had the question been mooted in the Lieutenant Governor’s speech, as large a petition as that sent to the Imperial Government would have been presented to the Parliament of Nova Scotia. That petition contained the names of 40,000 of the adult population of that Province. It had not been pretended that there were that number of voters. He was elected to this House because he and his friends were averse to this union, and he would do all in his power to place Nova Scotia in that position. What right had the Member for Cumberland to speak of the sentiments of the people of Nova Scotia. He would not compare him to the last rose of summer, but as one whom the lightning of popular indignation had left standing there a blasted trunk alone—(laughter)—one who had betrayed his countrymen. He appreciated the kindness of the Canadians in giving advice. In order to avert a Ministerial difficulty he would advise the Ministry to appoint the honourable member for Guysborough (Mr. Campbell) as Secretary for State. He (Savary) and his friends would protect the interests of their constituents as far as they were able, and that was in opposition to the scheme.

Mr. W. H. Chipman said the people of Nova Scotia were in a state of mourning and sor- row in consequence of the passage of the scheme. The first time the people of Nova Scotia had a chance they condemned the measure, and how could His Excellency ask her representatives for their congratulations. The resolution passed in the Nova Scotia Legislature embraced all the Maritime Provinces, and when Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island were left out those resolutions were of no effect. The Imperial Government had been deceived by the honourable member for Cumberland, and Mr. Watkin. He then read a sort of proclamation denouncing the Antis as Annexationists and Fenians, which created considerable amusement. He would do all he could to secure repeal.

William Chipman [Kings] said, it was to be expected that the honourable members from Nova Scotia would take the earliest opportunity of placing before the House their views, their position and the wrongs they fancied their Province had sustained, and it was equally to be expected that their statements would receive from the members of this House the utmost attention and consideration, and so it has been, but as it was now apparent that it was not intended on their part to submit any substantive proposition for the solution of their difficulties; nay even as it was apparent from the statement made by several of those gentlemen, that they were now seeking redress by. an appeal to the Imperial Government, it might, perhaps, be as well for the House to go from the consideration of mere sectional matters to those important questions affecting the interest and welfare of the whole people, submitted in the Speech from the Throne-questions which ought to be approached with a calmness which rises above all personal considerations, and with a breadth of view which goes beyond all sectional interests. Within his limited knowledge of history no instance had ever occurred where the Executive Head of a Government had ever placed before the representatives of a free Parliament assembled, questions so varied and so important, and under circumstances so peculiar. But before going into the consideration of these questions he wished to be permitted to express his full concurrence in the regret of the honourable member from Cumberland by his side that the honourable member from Hants (Mr. Howe) was not in a position to give his services to his whole country, instead of to a part of it. That he who had been one of the first and ablest advocates of Union should now be the opponent of that great measure. That the position of those two honourable gentlemen, the member for Cumberland and the member for Hants, had brought before his mind two graphic pictures with a vividness and a force he had never before realized. When he had heard the honourable member from Hants describing with his well-known power and eloquence, the wrongs and insults he conceived his Province had sustained in the mode by which this Union had been there brought about. When he pointed to the fact that the late elections throughout that

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Province, had conclusively proved the indignant sense of injury which his people felt. When he charged all this upon the honourable member from Cumberland, and when he (Mr. Gray) turned and looked at his honourable friend by his side, and saw him there the sole survivor of his shattered ‘band, not a single man from his own Province with him, and when he rose and answered the honourable member from Hants with words of defiance, he (Mr. G.) could not help recalling that splendid passage in the second Aeneid, where the Prince of Troy, himself the sole survivor of his shattered band—his comrades slain—his hopes destroyed, the city of his pride in flames, in the last madness of despair exclaims:

Arma viri ferte Arma
Vocat lux ultima victos
Reddite me Danais…
Nunquam omnes hodie moriemur inulti

And his honourable friend, on his left, was not unavenged. As he heard him answering the honourable member from Hants-charge by charge-reading from that honourable gentleman’s own speeches passages of glowing power and beauty, in which he had himself described the advantages of Union. When he saw the honourable member from Hants shrinking under the infliction, and shading his brow with his hand as if to screen the vision of the past from the vision of the present, he could not help thinking there was another picture before them. Where a great man who had been the victor of a hundred fights—had at length succumbed to a power he could not control—there sat

The desolater desolate
The victor overthrown,
The arbiter of others fate,
A supplicant for his own…

And it was with deep regret he saw it. The honourable gentleman residing on these inland waters did not understand the feeling with which the men who came f rom the Maritime Provinces, where the wild sea waves beat an everlasting requiem on their shores, regarded the honourable gentleman from Hants. They looked back to the struggle of his early life, when almost unaided and alone he contended in his own Province against fearful odds, for the rights and liberties we now enjoy, when the hand of power was laid with iron grasp upon the people-when the very debates of the public assemblies were held with closed doors—when exclusiveness and favoritism governed the country—and justice to the masses was unknown. Sir, they believe that to him-more than to any other now living man-they owe the constitutional liberties of British America. But on the questions now before them, he differed with the honourable member. The honourable member had objected to that passage in the speech which referred to our “new nationality,” but if there was one passage in it more than another with which he fully and cordially concurred, it was that passage. Here was the representative of the Sovereign pointing out to us, the path of greatness, of power; that we were no longer Colonists; that we must prepare ourselves to take our place amid the nations of the earth; to be the masters of our own destinies; to control and guide our own footsteps; not torn from the Motherland like the thirteen Colonies of old, with bleeding trunk and severed limb, but going forth in the full power and strength of a vigorous manhood with a parent’s blessing on our head. But there was one thing that we wanted, which the people would demand, which this Parliament ought to foster and create. If the recollections of his school-boy days were right, there was a myth amid the classic legends of the past, that on one occasion a statuary formed a figure of such faultless mould that he fell in love with the work of his own hands, and poured forth his soul in adoration of his own creation, but when in the impassioned frenzy of the moment he clasped the figure to his arms, the cold marble gave back naught but an icy chill. There was no blood, there was no life, there was no heart there. And so it was with us, we had a noble constitution. Its foundations were laid broad and deep upon the common law of England-upon the broad basis of equal, civil, and religious rights. No privileged class; no wronged and trampled race marred the symmetry of its fair proportions. Every man from the highest to the lowest could stand forth in the presence of the majesty of the law upright and self respected. Its superstructure had been reared with a due regard to all those precedents which the history of the Mother Country proved were the best guarantees for stability and freedom in the Government of a country, but still there was something wanted. We wanted a national spirit; a national pride; a national heart. We wanted that every man who belonged to this country-never mind whence he came or where his birth place, should feel that his interests, his hopes, his all, were identified with this country. That he must share in its adversities and trials as well as in its prosperity. That it was not a place to come and make a few pounds, and then go off to other lands, but that it was the first and

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last place to which his affection, his devotion, his attachments should be turned,

“That go where’er he may, where’er his footsteps roam,
This spot’s his country, and this land his home.”

That to be a Canadian, not in its former limited sense, but in the sense of the new Dominion, was to belong to a country of which any man might be proud. This national sentiment must be fostered, must be encouraged. He was an Englishman in every fibre of his frame, and every pulsation of his heart. He loved England still, but lie loved Canada more. (Hear, hear.) And this must be so with all, who wish to be true to this country. Such were the sentiments he gathered from the expression in the speech from the Throne, and with it he most cordially concurred. But arising out of this position, and springing from it were new duties and new responsibilities. We cannot expect to have al the advantages of freedom, without assuming its burdens, and prominent among them was the question of our defence. It would not perhaps be correct to enter fully into the discussion of this question, until the Government had submitted the plans they proposed to the House, but as it had been talked of a great deal, and discussed very generally in the papers, it might not be out of the way to make a few observations. It had been said that very large sums of money were to be expended on permanent fortifications on the subject of such defences; public opinion, during the last ten or twelve years had undergone some changes. The real defences of Sebastopol on the land side which kept the whole French and English armies before them for some fifteen months, were in a good measure improvised by the genius of Todleben in a few short weeks. In 1814, the defence of New Orleans was made by hastily throwing together a number of bales of cotton, and yet the most splendid fellows of the Peninsula, men who have sealed the ramparts of San Sebastian and stormed the walls of Badajos, who from Talavera to Toulouse had carried the colours of their regiments in triumph on every field, went down before those cotton bales like grass before the mower’s scythe. The defences of Richmond which kept Grant with his 300,000 men before them for months, and would perhaps have remained untaken to this day, but for Sherman’s march across the country were nothing but temporary ramparts hastily thrown up, and which probably ere this have again been levelled by the farmer’s plough. It may be that in some positions permanent defences to some extent may be necessary, but in this respect he fully concurred with the opinions expressed by the member from Durham, that such expenses ought only to be incurred after the most thorough consideration. The Minister who un- dertook to spend a million or a million and a half of pounds, raised out of the revenues and taxes of the people of this country, at such a time as this, when we had no reason to dread anything, assumed a fearful responsibility. He himself believed that the best defences of any country would be found in the attachment of the people to its institutions-in the confidence, they had in the administration of its laws, and in the judicious management of its finances. Beyond these, its best defences con- sisted in moveable fortifications. Arm and drill, and organize the young men of the country-pay them well, and he belleved when the necessity arose, willing hearts and hands, ably led, would constitute a more available defence than permanent fortifications which might entail enormous cost upon the country (hear, hear). But he found it discussed as if it was only contemplated to defend Montreal and that portion of the country above. All of the Dominion below seemed entirely ignored. He fancied from what he had heard and read since being here that many people in Ontario conceived that New Brunswick was composed solely of Mr. Tilley and a few oysters, and that Nova Scotia was occupied by Mr. Howe and a codfish. (Laughter.) He hoped before the Parliament rose they would be of a different opinion. Another question to come before the House was the Intercolonial Railroad. He had heard a good deal about the route which should be chosen, but that great work must be placed where the interests of the country most required it, and not where it would simply serve the purpose of a section. (Hear, hear.) The fifteen millions of dollars to be expended on that great work for which the whole country would become responsible, and which the whole country would have to pay, should be expended on that route, which would best serve the general interests of the whole Dominion, as they could not have the Intercolonial Railway running to every man’s door, or make its construction subservient to petty local claims. He then referred to the subject of retrenchment, which had been alluded to by honourable members. He believed no word in the English language had been put to more unworthy uses than the word “economy.” Economy had been made the packhorse of every politician, and had rarely indeed been rigidly practiced. The gentlemen on the Treasury benches used it to keep themselves in office, and the Opposition used

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it for the sake of getting there (laughter). His honourable colleague from New Brunswick, the Minister of Customs, and himself, had been in Parliament together some seventeen years, and until the question of Confederation came up had been opposed to each other. He had often heard that honourable gentleman eulogise this splendid animal—see he would say—his small and well pointed ears-look at his full clear eyes, and see what withers—what broad loins for strength—and then look at his hocks and his pasterns, why Fanny Elster couldn’t show such heels—hasn’t he a slashing trot—and what a lope in his canter—isn’t he a splendid animal? And when he says to his honourable friend, “Well then, why don’t you mount and ride?” What was his answer? “So I would but be kicks.”—(laughter)—and so it always was. He would like to ask the honourable gentleman, the Member for Cornwall, who was sitting over in what might be called the Temple of Janus, but which in this Augustan age of Canadian politics was shut for the first time, whose occupant generally had one eye looking at the opposition behind, and the other peering over into the Government pasture, whether be had ever known a Canadian politician use this animal except as a hack. The fact was, the public had lost all confidence in the word. What the people did want was justice to public servants—a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work—pay your public men what their abilities, their integrity, and their industry would command in the other pursuits of life. You want the first men for that public service, let your compensation be such as would secure them, but get rid of the drones that hang around the public departments. Burke had laid it down somewhere—

that the statesman who based the foundation of his country’s greatness on the possession of extraordinary virtues, would find its superstructure raised in extravagance and corruption.

We must legislate for men as we find them, liable to temptation, to folly—with faults and vices. We can’t expect them to be angels. The honourable member from Hants referred to the Governor-General’s salary as being far larger than that of the President of the United States, but was it now well known that while the salary was only $24,000 a year nominally, it was actually $100,000. What was the picture presented in the United States at this very moment? The wife of the late President offering for sale the most costly articles, and stating over her own handwriting in the public prints, that those presents had been given by the supporters of the Administration, and others, to obtain places of emolument, and profit and contracts for themselves or the members of their families, or friends. Better give the Governor-General twice the salary than see the public offices of the country bartered and sold by his household or his ministers in such shameless corruption. Such a system demoralises the whole country. Far better to pay your public men well-exact a rigid discharge of their duties, discountenance corruption, and preserve the character of the country. He trusted that in the consideration of all these questions, they would be regarded in the light of a broad, ample and generous patriotism, that they would approach them with such a spirit. A lofty patriotism rising above all sectional interests and all personal considerations, would be like the serpent raised by the Jewish lawgiver in the wilderness, not only the emblem of your country’s wisdom, but the emblem of your country’s salvation. Look upon that and live, act upon this, and be saved. He trusted, moreover, the Government would bring down those measures with the least possible delay in order that those people at a distance, who were represented by the honourable members from the Maritime Provinces, might have the opportunity of considering them. They had no fear of the result: no apprehension that injustice would be done them by their fellow-countrymen of Canada. They had come here in the fullest confidence that their interests were safe, and be trusted and believed that in their deliberations in this House they would receive at the hands of the representatives in the Canadian Provinces liberal, generous, and hearty assistance. (Applause.) And we believe that the honourable member for Hants (Mr. Howe) after having discharged his duty in protesting against the manner in which the Union had been accomplished, would be found one of the firmest pillars of the Dominion. (Cheers.)

Alfred Jones [Halifax] said if there had not been a statement that there would be no amendments, be would have simply recorded his vote. He came here in obedience to an Imperial statute, and would support good measures and oppose bad, without regard to either party in the House. He was not aware that there was an American or Fenian sympathiser in Nova Scotia, and yet because his party had endeavoured in a constitutional manner to oppose the Union, they had been charged with disloyalty by the honourable member for Cumberland. He remembered the time when the whole revenue has been placed at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief for the defence of Canada if needed.

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He complained that only one man in the Senate represented the feeling of the people of Nova Scotia. The old loyalists were satisfied to remain a part of the British Empire, and now they were told that they would form part of a new Kingdom. His Province would not shrink from its duty in a military point of view, but he warned the House and Government not to adopt any ill-advised measures which might cripple our finances for all time. They would show the Imperial Government that the views of the Antis were the views of the people of Nova Scotia, and they had a right to demand a reconsideration of the Union scheme.

William Croke [Richmond], coincided with his honourable friend from Hants, and the other Antis from Nova Scotia. He complained of the high tariff of Canada, and annual deficits, for which there was little to show, while the debt of Nova Scotia was for valuable public works. He thought, however, the act might be so changed as to meet the approval of Nova Scotia. In any steps towards that end he would lend his assistance.

The House adjourned at 11.25.