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Date: 1864-11-12
By: The Montreal Herald
Citation: “The Globe on Mr. Dorion’s Letter”, The Montreal Herald (12 November, 1864)
Other formats: TBA

THE GLOBE ON MR. DORION’S LETTER.

—The Globe prints a fair and manly criticism on Mr. Dorion’s address to his constituents. Admitting the unexceptionable manner in which Mr. Dorion has discussed the project, and regretting the opposition of a man confessedly “so able and liberal minded,” our Western contemporary replies to many of the points raised by Mr. Dorion, chiefly by endeavouring to show that the inconveniences indicated by that gentleman are not so great as he has supposed—especially denying that Upper Canada would have accepted as a finality, under the present system, any smaller number of representatives in proportion to her population than she is now to obtain. But the last paragraph seems to sum up the whole argument in a nutshell—that the present project is not the best; but is the only means which could be obtained for doing justice to Upper Canada in the representation of the country. “The position of affairs,” says the Globe, “is just this: Constitutional reform must come in some form or other. We in Upper Canada were long anxious to get it within the Canadian Union as it is. We have freely assented to the scheme of confederation as reaching the same end, in a manner more acceptable to Lower Canada. If Mr. Dorion thinks he would prefer to give Representation by Population pure and simple, let him set to work to convince his countrymen that such a concession would be less dangerous, and there will be no room for cavil at his course. But he can hardly afford, in justice to himself, and in recollection of his own frequent admissions that this constitutional question must in some way be settled, to take simply negative ground in the matter.”

We believe that is the complexion to which it must come at last. We have for years been urging our readers, French and English, to concede the Upper Canadian demand for fair play under our representative system, which is nothing at all, if the numbers of delegates is not proportioned to the numbers which they represent—if the District of Gaspe is to exert in the Government the same influence as the District of Montreal. We foresaw long ago that in some shape Upper Canada must ultimately obtain what righteously belonged to her, and certainly without pretending to predict any such arrangement as the projected Confederation, we held that refusals and postponements could only lead to evil to ourselves. We still think that both French and English in Lower Canada, whether regarding them, as in some respects they are, separately, or, as in other respects they also are, jointly interested, would be better off under the old union, with a fair addition to the Upper Canadian share of the representation than they will be under a union where one in return for being absolutely swamped itself, will have the melancholy satisfaction, if it pleases to do so, of swamping the other. But we cannot blame the Upper Canadians if they rejoice in a bargain by which they gain more than they ever hoped for in the next quarter of a century; nor can we have any hesitation in saying that if justice cannot be done in any other way, the present plan must be accepted.