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Date: 1866-10-08
By: John A. Macdonald, Joseph Pope
Citation: Letter from John A. Macdonald to Samuel Tilley (8 October 1866) in Joseph Pope, Memoirs of The Right Honourable Sir John A Macdonald, Vol. I, (Ottawa: J. Durie & Son, 1894) at 305-309.
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Ottawa, October 8, 1866.

My DEAR TILLEY,

Galt sent me, some six weeks ago, the enclosed letter, which I did not then send you, as I fancied from his state of feeling that its tone would not be conciliatory. As, however, I now propose writing you on the subject of Canada’s conduct with respect to Federation, I may as well enclose the letter to you, as showing Galt’s view of the matter.

We Canadians think that Canada is the only province that carried out its engagements with respect to the Union. It was agreed at Quebec that the resolutions then agreed to should be submitted by the several Governments to their respective Legislatures at the then next session, and, if possible, carried en bloc and without alteration, lest any change should create the necessity for a new conference. Canada carried the resolutions in Parliament according to promise. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick did not pass them, and their Governments did not even attempt to pass them. I do not mention this by way of charge against the Maritime Provinces, but simply as showing that the compact was broken, not by us but by you. The failure in the Maritime Provinces caused Canada the greatest embarrassment. It perilled the existence of the Government, and what was of more consequence, it raised the hopes of the American or annexation party; it discouraged the loyalists, and it shook the faith of the English people in the permanence of the connection with Great Britain. To cure this, we were obliged to send a delegation to England, and happily succeeded in keeping the question alive there. When we submitted the resolutions to our Parliament, we were of course obliged to pledge ourselves in pursuance of one of the stipulations contained in them to submit the scheme for the local Governments of Upper and Lower Canada at another session. The meeting of that session was delayed in accordance with your views, to enable the Government of New Brunswick to make another appeal to the people.

Had we met early in the year and before your elections, the greatest embarrassment and your probable defeat at the polls would have ensued. We should have been pressed by the Opposition to declare whether we adhered to the Quebec resolutions or not. Had we answered in the affirmative, you would have been defeated, as you were never in a position to go to the polls on those resolutions. Had we replied in the negative, and stated that it was an open question, and that the resolutions were liable to alteration, Lower Canada would have arisen as one man, and good-bye to Federation. We, therefore, postponed the meeting of Parliament until you had an opportunity of following the example of Nova Scotia, and passing a general resolution and address without any embarrassment from debates, etc., in our Legislature. This policy proved successful. When our Parliament met, it had three things to do, which brooked no delay and must precede any delegation to England. It had to provide for—

1st. The settlement of the local constitutions.

2nd. The defence of the country, which had already been invaded, and was threatened with a repetition of hostile attacks. This involved a series of military and preventive measures.

3rd. The re-adjustment of our financial system, and the provision for a floating debt of seven millions, which, in the state of the money market in England, could no longer be renewed. We had further to provide for a million and a half expended on our militia, and for some two millions which were voted for future defence, and this in addition to our own ordinary expenditure. We had made great progress in our legislation on these subjects when Messrs. Tupper and Archibald arrived here. They pressed our early departure for England, and we felt that the public business was in such a position that we might safely agree to sail on the 21st of July. Scarcely had those gentlemen left Canada when Lord Monck received letters from Mr. Cardwell, stating that there was no chance of a Bill being passed in the then session of the Imperial Parliament, and this was followed by the news of the defeat of the Ministry. Lord Monck lost no time in informing Mr. Gordon and Sir Fenwick Williams that Canada could not send a delegation on the 21st, and begging that the delegates from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick should not sail. In answer to a telegram from Tupper I said that Lord Monck could not go, and would not allow any of his Ministers to go to England. Lord Monck felt that he ought to wait for further instructions from the new Colonial Secretary, and that, after Mr. Cardwell’s letter, it was useless to go to England and waste our time there until next January or February, when Parliament would meet. The delegations from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, therefore, went at their own risk and after full notice that they would not be joined by a deputation from Canada. Since our Legislature rose we have been obliged to be perpetually on the watch. Again and again have the Fenians made preparations and combinations for attacks on Canada. We have been obliged to increase largely our Militia force, and to extemporize a provincial navy. Lord Monck, under the circumstances, would not have been justified in abandoning his post or allowing his principal advisers to leave Canada, unless for some great purpose. Now, I do not see what purpose would have been gained by his or our going to England after the English Parliament rose. Even had we sailed on the 21st of July, I do not believe that Confederation could have been carried. The settlement of the terms of the Bill is not the work of a day it must take weeks of anxious and constant labour. The measure would have been easily drafted had the Quebec resolutions been carried, but we are all at sea and obliged to commence de novo.

Let us now consider the state of things as they are. In the first place, we think it of great consequence that Lord Monck should be in England during our deliberations. Canada is bound by the address to the Queen praying her to submit a measure to Parliament based on the Quebec resolutions. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick require modifications of that scheme. How are we to arrive at a satisfactory solution of the difficulty? Only, I think, through Lord Monck. He thoroughly understands the question, has been completely behind the scenes, and knows and can appreciate the points of difference between the several provinces. The Imperial Government is not entirely free to act as it pleases, as, in Her Majesty’s answer, or rather the Colonial Secretary’s despatch in answer to our address, Canada was informed that they (the Imperial Government) would be ready to submit a measure to Parliament embodying our resolutions. Mr. Cardwell in his despatch alluded to one or two points which he thought might be amended, but he made no objection to the scheme on account of those points. He merely suggested them as worthy of reconsideration. The Imperial Government cannot, therefore, without the consent of Canada, act entirely as if it were a new case. In this state of affairs it is that Lord Monck’s presence will be especially valuable. He will be the solvent and the intermediary between the paramount power and the Provinces. Again, it appears to us to be important that the Bill should not be finally settled until just before the meeting of the British Parliament. The measure must be carried per saltum, and no echo of it must reverberate through the British provinces until it becomes law. If the delegation had been complete in England, and they had prepared the measure in August last, it would have been impossible to keep its provisions secret until next January. There will be few important clauses in the measure that will not offend some interest or individual, and its publication would excite a new and fierce agitation on this side of the Atlantic. Even Canada, which has hitherto been nearly a unit on the subject of Confederation, would be stirred to its depths if any material alterations were made. The Act once passed and beyond remedy the people would soon learn to be reconciled to it.

As you have been informed, it is our intention to sail (D.V.) on 7th of November for England. We hope to find you all in good health and spirits, ready to tackle to the work, and in no degree enervated by the dissipations of London.

Pray pardon my long yarn, but ‘I had no time to make it shorter.’

With best regards to all your party, and to Tupper and his,

Believe me, my dear Tilley,
Very faithfully yours,
JOHN A. MACDONALD.