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Date: 1866-10-29
By: Montreal Herald
Citation: “Reasons in Favour of Confederation Promises Connected Therewith” Montreal Herald (29 October 1866).
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HOW ASSENT TO CONFEDERATION IS TO BE BOUGHT.—The manner in which it is proposed to secure the passage of the measure, in spite of the deliberate opposition of the People concerned by a purchase of their votes, is exhibited by a piece of news which has just reached us from Prince Edward’s Island. It appears in a paper which, although a strong advocate of Confederation, declared only a few days ago that there was not a constituency in the island before which any candidate would venture to advocate an acceptance of any form of union with the other Colonies; but here is the heading of a leading article in this same journal, the Islander of Charlottetown:

CONFEDERATION.

Important information received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

$800,000

TO BE GIVEN TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, IN ORDER THAT THE LEASEHOLD TENURES MAY BE EXTINGUISHED.

GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY for all TENANTS,

and for those who are now in arrears to the Government, for lands purchased upon the Worrel, Selkirk and other Estates.

The English newspapers have recently been full of the scandals of elections, in which it was shown that candidates took down large sums of money with which to bribe the voters, but we do not remember that the evidence before any one of the recent Parliamentary Committees exhibited so bare-faced an example of corruption, as this advertisement openly announcing, as a piece of “glorious news,” that the consciences and opinions of the electors are to be bought up. This is a degradation which has not yet been reached in England; but which seems to be swallowed with the utmost avidity by the Colonial mind, or at least by a part of it. The editorial article which follows this infamous heading, informs us that the delegates now representing Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with the view of doing away with the objections heretofore entertained by the island against Confederacy, have unanimously resolved to advocate the proposition that the Confederation should, in addition to the terms offered by the Quebec report, give the island $800,000, for the purpose of extinguishing the leasehold tenures. It further affirms that this resolution was handed to the Earl of Carnarvon, and by His Lordship transmitted to the Governor General; and also that a copy was sent by the Colonial Minister to the Lieutenant Governor of the island and by His Excellency laid before the Executive Council. The Council thereupon, we are informed, being, as the rascally voters of Yarmouth or Totnes would call it, thus “tinned” or “sugared,” felt it their duty to advise His Excellency that the question of sending delegates to England, with authority “to agree, on behalf of this island, to “be embraced by the provisions of the act “of Confederation, was one which they “were prepared to entertain.” The article farther intimates that a session of Parliament and, if necessary, an election, will speedily be held, at both of which it will be hinted that the “dark man” or the “man in the moon”—no there we are wrong, for in this case there is to be not even these flimsy pretexts of the deference which hypocrisy pays to virtue—but some man of high official rank will pay cash for every serviceable vote alike of members of Parliament and electors. We make some extracts from this unblushing invitation to corruption, begging our readers at the same time to notice the manner in which the “Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars” is put in capital letters, to make the bait as alluring as possible.

Should the Island enter the Confederacy, upon the terms now proposed, its Government would receive a free gift in cash of EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS to be expended for the benefit of the tenantry. This would ensure the purchase of all the leased lands in the Island—free the tenants from all arrears of rent and allow them to possess their lands in freehold, at prices in no case exceeding ten shillings an acre, and in many cases at two or three shillings an acre—and would enable the Government to forgive the greater part, probably the whole of the arrears due by the poorer tenants on the Worrel, Selkirk and other Estates, hitherto purchased from the proprietors. At present the scarcity of money is universally felt in the island. We shall shortly be called upon to pay an instalment of upwards of thirty thousands, for the Cunard Estates, after which, about forty thousand pounds will remain due. The sending this money out of the island will be severely felt by the mercantile community. The results from bringing eight hundred thousand dollars into the Island, would be very different.

We believe there is not a proprietor in the Island whose lands may not be obtained by the Government, and we see no difficulty in securing the tenantry that, if they avail themselves of the opportunity now presented to them, and voluntarily enter the Confederation—of which sooner or later they must form a part—they will get their lands at prices in no case exceeding ten shillings an acre, in many cases as low as two or three shillings. The acceptance of the offer now made, and the appropriation of the eight hundred thousand dollars, should not be a party question. Both political parties should unite.

We may observe that the sum which would be at the disposal of the Government, would enable them to return a per centage to all persons who have purchased lands, under the Government, and paid for them in full. This would be but justice to all so circumstanced. The recent offer made to the Island is mainly due to the opposition which has been so generally made to the terms of the Quebec Conference. This consideration should satisfy those who have hitherto opposed Confederation. The people, however, should bear in mind that any attempt to drive a harder bargain might prove disastrous.

When all that is set forth above is done, it may be interesting to inquire where the money is to come from for reducing the price which is to be, or has been paid, for every farm in Canada, to the rate of 3s. per acre; and we suppose every house to the price of £100, so as to put our people on an equality with the Islanders. Truly, the calves of which Mr. Brown spoke as being certain after any union with the Lower Provinces to exhaust the vitality of the Canadian cow, are beginning to pull pretty vigorously. Four millions for the Intercolonial Railroad, and the Hudson Bay Territory; eight hundred thousand dollars for giving every inhabitant of Prince Edward Island a farm for a song; an additional sum, of which we know not the amount, for buying up the opposition in Newfoundland—in all, five, and perhaps six, millions of pounds. Of this not one shilling will be spent in Canada, except among the politicians here who require “tinning” or “sugared,” and will take the “tin” or “sugar” in some occult way out of the monies ostensibly devoted to expenditure elsewhere; and yet three fourths of the whole charge, that being our proportion of population to the population of the whole Confederacy, will fall on Canadian shoulders. We acknowledge, however, that this view of the pecuniary question does not affect us so much as the unabashed avowal of a belief in the venality of our Colonial population thus made by gentlemen who affect to represent two British North American Colonies. We do not know what the people of Prince Edward Island will do; but we do trust that this open offer of wholesale bribery will meet with a due rebuke from a class in England who profess to be gentlemen and to detest corrupt electoral practices. Every one in this country knows by what sinister influences support has been obtained in the Continental Colonies for the Confederation scheme. But these influences have been so well covered that those who respect themselves have been unwilling to speak plainly of them from fear that they might fail in adducing tangible proof. No one can now fail to understand the spirit in which the whole movement has been worked—that is, at all events, an advantage for the honest side of the controversy.