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Date: 1864-10-15
By: The Economist
Citation: “The Progress of the Scheme for the Federation of Canada,” The Economist (15 October 1864).
Other formats: Not yet available.

THE PROGRESS OF THE SCHEME FOR THE FEDERATION OF CANADA.

THE arrangements for the federation of the British American colonies appear to advance with a rapidity unusual in such projects. No less than four possible obstacles of the first magnitude would seem to have been already removed. In the first place, the British Government has assented in principle to the change, and Lord Monck has invited delegates from all five colonies to meet at Montreal and discuss the modus operandi of transformation,—a step he would not have taken unless secure of a general support at home. Secondly, it seems clear that a majority of the voters in the two Canadas highly approve the project, are induced to waive minor differences to retain the Cartier-Brown Ministry in power, and are, with an exception to be hereafter mentioned, ready to leave their leaders the necessary carte blanche for the arrangement of details. Thirdly, Mr Brown, in a speech to be hereafter adverted to, intimates pretty distinctly that he and his colleague, representing the Anglo-Saxon and French elements respectively have arrived at a conclusion on some important details the new organisation—that is, we presume, on the respective rights of the nation and the provinces, though, unfortunately, he gives us no hint of the principles at which they have arrived. And, lastly, there is, to judge from a report before us, no reason to fear any serious opposition from the three colonies—Nova Scotia, Prince Edward’s Island, and Newfoundland. We confess that we thought the first hitch of the many which must arise before the project is completed would be found here, that the seabord provinces would have been afraid of the indebtedness and consequent taxation of the Canadas. Mr Brown, however, has pointed out that all the colonies are in this matter pretty much in the same boat, the gain to the commerce of the smaller colonies from the freedom of internal trade will be considerable, and the intercourse among the delegates appears to have been of the most cordial kind. At a great dinner given in Halifax, on 19th September, to all the delegates, no single speaker arose to protest against the design, nor can we, after a careful perusal of the speeches, trace any strong undercurrent of hostile feeling. All seem willing, if the details can be arranged, to accept the principle, and it is as yet the principle only which demands acceptance.

The speakers at this dinner, all of them men of local eminence, evidently understood the impulse which will act most strongly with the colonial populations. The impulse is the desire now manifesting itself in so many quarters of the world for aggregation, the wish to belong to a great and powerful community able to defend itself, and able also to exert a powerful influence on the progress of the world. The populations addressed obviously wish to rise from mere colonists into citizens of a considerable nation and are willing, if that end can but be obtained, to sacrifice a good many local prejudices, and even some local advantages. The speeches made at the delegate’s dinner are all intended to show that the Federation will be sufficiently powerful, and the statements made upon that point are some of them very noteworthy, Mr Brown, for example, pointed out that the five colonies contained already 3,700,000 people, that is a greater population than Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland, Hanover, or Greece, while the increase by immigration was so rapid that in two or three years they would be more populous than Sweden, Belgium, or Bavaria, and in ten years contain perhaps eight million of souls. It is to be observed that throughout the discussion a rapid increase of population was counted upon not as a probability, or a hope, or even a calculation, but a certainty so surely ascertained as to be a fitting datum for political thought. The notion that the rate of increase may slacken, or that Acadia—the probable name of the new nation—may increase imperceptibly, like Sweden with its vast territory, or Holland with its confined limits, has never entered the Canadian imagination. Throughout their history the population of the Canadas always has increased, and its statesmen accept the fact as if it were a mere law of nature, something independent of circumstances either in America or Europe. This population will even now wield very considerable resources. Its territory is practically endless, and Mr Brown evidently expects that it will eat out or buy out or kick out the Hudson’s Bay Company, and spread itself away to the Far West till it reaches the Pacific,—a goodly slice of the habitable world, one-third more perhaps, excluding the Polar Region, than the United States. It has moreover a revenue of thirteen millions of dollars, or nearly three millions sterling, taxation not yet quite reaching the poorer continental average of 1 l per head, and its exports amount to 26,000 000 l a vear while the annual outturn of agricultural produce, exclusive of mines, fisheries, manufactures, and all other sources of wealth is officially estimated at 30,000,000 l, or an average of at least 50 l per house. Good land twice the quantity of that in tillage is already in private hands, and there is the wilderness with its endless capabilities still at the disposal of the local Governments. Mr Brown, moreover, estimates the defensive force of the new State in considerable figures. There are, he says, 500,000 able-bodied men in the colonies between 20 and 45 years of age, and it is calculated that all between 20 and 30, or nearly 250,000, could be trained as volunteers, accustomed to the use of arms, and turned out in the day of need. Besides these, the Colonies possess a source of strength not given to many States, namely, a body of sailors and fishermen equal to half the whole maritime conscription of France, and greater than that of Italy. The numbers are—

The mercantile navy too is very considerable. Mr Brown confesses himself unable to state the numbers, which he estimated in a former speech at very high figures, but he proves that the Colonies built in 1863 230,130 tons of shipping, and with so very large a body of experienced sailors and fishermen, and such boundless supplies of timber, the creation of a fleet is a mere matter of money and time. The nation would, therefore, begin its career with resources sufficient to inspire self-respect, capable of indefinite extension, and sufficiently applied to justify England in extending her protection, at all events until the new State had grown powerful enough to render annexation against her will all but hopeless.

There is no doubt that in all these statements the best side of the picture is turned outwards, that it is the interest of all who promote federation to cultivate to the utmost the sentiment of national pride. The revenue, for example, when, not expressed in dollars, is but small, and it is besides loaded with serious obligations, while the country does not appear as yet prepared for any serious addition to its burdens. In war, money 1s power, and a State with only three millions a year would have great difficulty in keeping 100,000 men even temporarily in the field, particularly over a territory so extended. The fleet, too, is for the same reason in the future and it has yet to be proved that the Canadas can or will, when attacked, defend themselves as the South have done upon a paper currency of very uncertain value. Considerable deductions, too, must be made from the mere number of volunteers the difficulty of transport thinning their ranks almost as effectually as disease. Still the materials of future power obviously exist, and the leaders in the movement are plainly determined to stretch them to the utmost, to move steadily towards one clear idea—the conversion of British North America into a nationality, dependent or independent. Dependent, say all the speech-makers, with zealous unanimity,—Mr. Cartier, for example, assuming that the Viceroy will certainly be a Royal Prince,—but we are not quite certain the extra and, so to speak, ostentatious display of loyalty was not intended to remove objections which might have been entertained at home. At all events, the feeling expressed towards Great Britain was of the most friendly kind, and the only little cloud in the sky appears to be a sentiment popular among the French Canadians. They are inclined, it is said, to ask for very extensive State rights, hoping, through their aid, to develop a strictly French civilisation upon the American continent. There is no objection to that design, if it can be made consistent with the greater one, but it is useless for the colonies to amalgamate themselves while providing for ultimate disruption, and the mother country will scarcely consent to assist in the creation of a Federation which would make rebellion easy, yet allow the Provincial Governments to embarrass her by their separate action. There must be if the countries are to remain attached, a final authority somewhere, and it can only rest with Her Majesty’s representative and the Parliament by which he will be immediately