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House of Commons, 27 February 1889, Canadian Confederation with Alberta and Saskatchewan

348 COMMONS DEBATES. FEBRUARY 27,

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES.

Mr. DAVIN moved for:
Copies of all memorials addressed to the Government by the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories which sat recently at Regina.
He said : In making this motion I desire to occupy the time of the House for a few moments, and that the House listen, not to my words, but to the voice of what, without a figure of speech, may be properly called a New World. It has been opened up by you, and it is under your charge. It is some six years since that greater Canada was opened up by a railway, a railway which not merely opens up that great territory, but constitutes a highway for the world. It is a railway which will always be connected with the name of the right hon. gentleman, and had he nothing else upon which his fame might rest, that railway would secure his memory. It is a railway that realises the dreams of great and enthusiastic men. Lachine, near Montreal, marks the object of one, and the English Franklin aimed at doing, and gave his life in trying to do, what this great work has accomplished for the world. Now, Sir, six years ago I witnessed the opening of the first North-West Council, not the first North-West Council held in the Territory, but the first held at Regina. That council was crude, but in the succeeding years it did good work and laid the foundation of our educational and municipal systems, and our criminal and civil jurisprudence. At that time Brandon, which is now a flourishing city, whence we get one of our ablest members of this House, the hon. member for Selkirk (Mr. Daly)—at that time Brandon was crude, and I remember that my hon. friend welcomed us to a test club. 1889. COMMONS DEBATES. 349 Earlier than that time, a little over six years ago, Calgary had no existence-it was merely Fort Calgary; Medicine Hat had no existence, Moose Jaw had no existence, and none of the flourishing little towns that stretch across the prairie now, had any existence. The prairie itself was practically virgin of the plough. Now it produces millions of bushels of grain, and we exported such quantities of grain the year before last, as to almost embarrass the Canadian Pacific Railway. Not only so, but coal mines have come into existence, sawmills, flour mills, cheese factories, dairies. Ranching and horse raising are carried on to a very large extent, and the day is at hand when we shall have smelting and reducing works there, and there is no reason why, at this moment, we should not have tanneries flourishing in Regina, Moose Jaw and Calgary. Every year at Calgary you have 10,000 hides, and 3,000 sheep-skins, so tanning could be carried forward successfully. The council has, within a short time, owing to the action of Parliament last year, grown into a Legislative Assembly. That Assembly sat last year, and I am only echoing the language of persons who visited it from the east, when it was in session, in stating that that Assembly need not fear comparison with any Provincial Assembly in the Dominion in the personnel of its members, in their intelligence, and in the zeal with which they give themselves to legislation. During that time the Minister of Interior presided over the destinies of that country, and took a deep interest in its welfare, and it is due to him to say, that the educational progress we have made has been largely due to the great interest he took in education in the Territories. I ask without fear the attention of members of this House for that portion of the Dominion, because I think this House is now sensible that in that vast and fertile region we have the solution of the difficulty in the way of Canada becoming one day, however distant, a self- contained nation. As regards the settlers who are in that prairie region, I will say this for them, that there are not in the whole Empire men more calculated by reason of their intelligence, morality and business qualities to lay the foundations of a great and prosperous community. They are all energetic, most of them are reading men, some are cultured men, and there is no doubt whatever, that the free and independent hearing which characterises the men in the North-West is due in part, possibly wholly, to their free surroundings. It may be that even the associations of the North-West have some influence on them. The associations connected with the North-West are of the most inspiring kind, for though a new land, it is a land which has historical associations of which people can never read or think of without enthusiasm. Some 150 years ago Pierre Gauthier de Varennes traversed those very regions, and Forts Du Pas, Fort du Grands Rapide, at the Rapids of the Saskatchewan, Fort La Corne, and other places familiar to North-West travellers, are among their footmarks that are living yet. That prairie region alone contains 123,000 square miles, reaching up from the arid plateau of the Missouri to the forests of the Saskatchewan and stretching away from Manitoba to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. That whole region maybe described as one vast wheat mine. There can be no doubt in the mind of any man who knows that country that it is destined to be the great wheat-producing region of the future. My hon. friends from Hamilton visited the country last year. Both of them went north and south and saw what sort of a country was there. The correspondent of the Empire, Professor Dawson, visited the country, and probably some hon. members have read his letters about the country; but my hon. friends from Hamilton, with visitors from Ontario, at an earlier period, saw with wonder the extraordinary crops produced. It is not merely, as I have already stated, a wheat-producing country. We have farmers in every part of the North-West who are also engaged in stock raising. If you go north of Regina or Moose Jaw, you will find farmers who came in there without $100, as they will tell you, owning herds with nearly their whole homestead cultivated. In the Qu'Apelle valley you will find several herds increasing at an a most mathematical ratio every year, and horse ranching south of Regina is most successful. I have here a pamphlet just issued by the Regina board of trade. I will not trouble the House with the details contained in this pamphlet.
Mr. MITCHELL. Read it.
Mr. DAVIN. I will not read it, even though that desire be expressed by the Third Party without a single dissenting voice, but I will give the House some idea of the character of the pamphlet. On page 13, there is the testimony of Rebert Green, who came to the country without very much money, and who is now a prosperous man. He says:
"This year (1888) I had eighty acres cropped as follows: Wheat— 29 acres, yielding 30 bushels per acre, which will grade No. 1. Oats— 48 acres, yielding 60 bushels per acre, first-class quality and weighing 42 lbs. per bushel. Potatoes (Early Rose) —3 acres, yielding 350 bushels per acre. The binding of the grain averaged 3 lbs. of binding twine per acre. I have also a garden consisting of one acre of land on which I raised cabbages, cauliflower, turnips, beets, mangolds, &c., which for size and quality may be equalled but not excelled in any agricultural district in the world."
Then there is the testimony of Charles Martin to the same effect. Then there is the testimony of Walter Simpson, who spoke in a like manner. Adam Traynor, who spoke in a similar strain, said:
"I broke 100 acres here in 1888 with a gang plow drawn by four to seven oxen, the dryest season we have had since the place was settled and backsat 70 acres of the same, besides doing what other work I had to do. Cool days I broke 3 1/2 acres per day, but my average during the month of June was about 3 acres per day in backsetting about seven to eight inches deep with six to seven oxen, I averaged about 2 1/2 acres per day, on half mile furrows. I have my homestead all broke but about three-quarters of an acre where my house and granary stand, and nearly finished backsetting."
He goes on to give like testimony to the fruitfulness of the soil. J. W. Reynolds, eighteen miles north of Regina, advises young men to go to the country. He says:
"Yes; I like the country, climate good, health ditto; going to have school house right on my farm; Regina and Long Lake Railway runs across corner of my land. Have oxen, ten head of cattle, farm implements, good farm house. Just thrashed, wheat gone over thirty bushels to the acre, No. 1 hard at that, and no frost. I think this is the country for good practical farmers, would like to see every half section taken up, and have no hesitation in advising energetic young men to come here.
Neil Martin gives similar testimony. Then we have the testimony of a Crofter, Donald McFayden, a hardy Scotch. man of 57 years, who makes the following statement:
"I came to the Regina district on July 15th, 1887. I am located on Section 34, Township 20, Range 19. I have a wife and five children; built a good log house 19x15 last year; put in ten acres this spring on breaking; it is a beautiful crop. We have a good school house and a Scotch minister in our midst. When I landed in the country from Scotland I had no money. I like the country well, have good health, and I can in good conscience advise all in my native country who are not doing well to come to this country. All the Crofters in this section are doing well and like the country very much."
James Bole tells us :
"This year, 1888, I had 105 acres under crop (eighty acres wheat, twenty oats and five barley, potatoes and rye). The wheat on new land yielded thirty-five bushels to the acre, and took four lbs. of binding twine per acre. The oats were the finest I ever saw, standing nearly five feet high all over the field, and yielded eighty bushels to the acre,—this was fourteen acres on old land, part of which was cropped three years and part five years in succession. I had six acres of oats harrowed in on stubble without ploughing. This is a style of farming I do not approve of, but the spring was very late and I thought I would try it and grow green fodder if nothing else, but to my surprise it came on as thick and looked as well as any of the crop in the district; the field is not yet thrashed, but I feel confident the six acres will yield 500 bushels. Mr. Ira Morgan, president of the Ontario Agricultural and Arts Association, who saw this field while standing, and Mr. McDonald, editor Mark Lane Express, who saw it in the sheaf, can testify to the correctness of this statement. My wheat this year grades No. 1 hard, and I have already sold 800 bushels to Regina dealers from $1.06 to $1.11 per bushel.
" At the present time I have seven horses and a small start in thoroughbred cattle; seven hogs ready for pork by Christmas, a binder, 350 COMMONS DEBATES. FEBRUARY 27, sulky plough, two hand ploughs, two waggons, sleighs, harness, a small house, comfortable stable, good well of water, and everything else necessary, all of which are paid for or at least provided for, and will have at least a thousand dollars additional to further improve the farm, enlarge the house and stables, and provide comforts which pioneer days did not afford.
"Considering that I am now past 60 years of age, and that I started without capital (having lost my farm in Ontario by endorsing and subsequent business failure), I think I can with clear conscience advise every man of sober habits and a determination to succeed to come to this country. Farming is pleasant, and to every man who knows his business and attends to it, is profitable. No forests to cut down, no draining, no taxes, as nature has given us good roads, everything man could desire is here for the man who desires to use them."
John McIntyre, a brother of Mr. Duncan McIntyre, who has a very large farm, gives similar testimony. Thomas Barton, an Englishman whose farm I have visited myself, corroborates this. Mr. Barton's farm is certainly one of the most interesting places that one could visit, because it is a piece of England transferred to the wilds of the west. He has a cottage buried in flowers, and it is hard, when sitting in his parlor and looking at the wealth of flowers around you, to realise that you are in a cottage which was raised there five or six years ago when all was a wilderness around. Mr. Barton says:
"This year I invested in a threshing machine, and for the past month have been threshing in the district, and I can testify to the great productiveness of the soil. Have just got through at Mr. Henry Fisher's farm, where we threshed over 8,000 bushels of grain. Wheat is yielding all the way from 22 to 42 bushels to the acre, and oats from 50 to 90, and in a few cases, on my own farm, for example, over 100. I find Regina a good market for all kinds of farm produce, grain, butter, eggs, pork, and fat cattle always find ready sale. As to how I like the country, I say first-class. If a man works hard, and is a good manager, he wil get rich quicker farming than in any other country in the world that I know anything about. All branches of farming can be carried on, dairying, cattle raising, wheat growing. Large areas of land can be put under cultivation in a short time, and there is plenty of pasture to start as big a herd of cattle as a man likes. Don't think I have any more to say, unless I might add that this appears to me to be the right country for good, hard working men, who are hung in the old country from hand to mouth. To all such I say, sell all you have and come out here and start over again. If you are not a practical farmer, you will soon learn, if you are willing to learn and willing to work. Hoping, gentlemen, you will succeed in getting us more neighbors."
So, Sir, I could mention case after case. There is a gentleman here at present, Mr. Carss, who was a Carleton farmer well-known in this district, and he is now one of the most successful men in the whole North-West. He has a large herd, farms extensively, and has probably made some $20,000 in the North-West. He is here at the present moment, speaking to his friends in Carleton and giving them some idea of the Land of Promise where he himself has succeeded so well. A moment ago I spoke about the schools in the North-West, and I shall now refer to them again. This House will be glad to know that in that new region opened up six years ago we have 167 schools at the present time; the teachers are carefully examined, they have to have certificates just as your teachers have here; and as I have visited many of the schools I can bear testimony to their great efficiency. I would like to impress on the Government, and especially on the Minister of the Interior, that I really think a step might be taken further in the matter of education and something done in the way of having a high school at some central place. The children that went to our ordinary schools six years ago have now grown beyond the teachers, and we ought to have a high school for them. I spoke to you a moment ago about that Assembly which has charge of so important a part of our interests. It has very wide powers now and it is gliding into responsible government. That Assembly passed a number of memorials which it desired should be brought before this House. I do not intend to occupy your time at any great length, and I will rapidly describe what those memorials are. The first relates to a subject which need not be impressed upon any hon. member: it is the necessity of opening up as rapidly as possible the Saskatchewan district by railway communication. I believe the Government have done their part in this matter and that we shall soon have a railway opening up the Saskatchewan territory. It is a district of the North-West which is, if anything, more attractive than even our prairies along the line, because it is varied with hill and forest and stream, and the House will easily understand what an attractive place for immigration it will be when a railway gives facilities for the ingress of immigrants and for the egress of the crops and products which they grow. Of course, at the present moment there is no encouragement to settlers to grow crops, because, if they grow them, they have no market within reach. The next memorial relates to what are called the loyal half-breeds. I do not know much about the subject myself, but my hon. friend from Saskatchewan (Mr. Macdowall) will be better acquainted with the particulars. It is contended that there were some loyal half-breeds who suffered losses, and, notwithstanding their loyalty, their losses have not been recouped. The Assembly now pray that His Excellency will be authorised to have such steps taken as will cause a reconsideration of the whole subject of the claims of half-breeds for losses during the rebellion, with a view to compensate those who proved themselves to have been loyal, with such amounts as may be shown to be equal to their losses. The next memorial relates to providing seed grain for any person in a part of the North-West Territories whose crops may have failed. In the district with which I am connected there have been no failures whatever, and I am not aware of any failure in crops along the line. But I suppose there must have been failure in some districts, or this resolution would not have been passed by the Assembly. I come now to a resolution which deals with a burning question in the North- West, that is the liquor question. Ever since I went in there that question has created great restlessness, and I think myself it has created unreasonable restlessness when we remember that no man went into the territory without knowing that it was a prohibitory territory. Every man that went there knew that prohibition obtained, and as I have often said to some of my friends who grumbled very loudly on this subject, it was one on which they had no right to grumble about, because they knew it was a prohibitory territory when they went in there. Notwithstanding this, however, the question has created a great deal of feeling. The settlers somehow seem to think it hard that they had to ask a permit from anyone, and I have heard men, because they were refused a permit, talk as though they had good grounds for flat rebellion. I will say this in passing: The hon. gentleman who is Minister of Interior, and who had the administering of that permit system, had one of the most difficult tasks to perform that any man could undertake. No one course would please everybody, and to do one's duty in refusing a permit to men who ought not to get it was sure to make enemies. I always sympathised with the hon. gentleman in the difficult task he had to perform in dealing with that permit system. Now, here is the position at present. The four per cent. beer has been admitted wholesale by a special permit. It is not strong enough for some people, and it is too strong for others; the consequence is that there is a great desire to have this question settled, both on the part of those in favor of high license and on the part of those strictly temperance people who would like to see prohibition established, even unqualified by permit. There is a great deal to be said in favor of settling this question rapidly. In the first place, we can grow in the North-West the finest barley that ever rewarded farmer's toil, and beer and whiskey are both brought in from outside. Over 7,000 gallons of whiskey was brought in last year by permit, yielding a revenue of over 83,000 from permits; and yet the amount of whiskey brought in contraband from Montana Colonel Herchmer will tell you, is simply incalculable. Parties bring it in, cache it two miles from the town, and on moonlight nights 1889. COMMONS DEBATES. 351 go out and bring it in in small quantities. In this way a large amount of money is being sent out of the territory, while beer is being brought in and drunk which we could manufacture there. Again, we had manufacturies of what is called Moose Jaw beer, a kind of beer made from hops, without malt in it. The four per cent. beer coming from Winnipeg has shut all these up. Mr. Allen, the son of a Toronto brewer, had $10.000 or $12,000 invested in a brewery at Moose Jaw, and this man has been ruined by this four per cent. beer coming in. Now, what is to be done? There is a great desire on the part of many people for a plebiscite, but a plebiscite is not known to the British constitution, and it might be a doubtful way of settling this matter. Let me tell you that Mr. Bliss, who is at the head of one of the temperance organisations, visited the North- West last summer, and stop at Medicine Hat, Calgary, and other places; and after returning to Winnipeg he issued a pronunciamento in which he said that it was of vital importance that the liquor question should be settled in the North-West Territory, and that the morals of the community required that it should be settled—how? By prohibition? No, but by high license. This Mr. Bliss will, no doubt, be known to my hon. friend from Norfolk. The Legislative Assembly proposed themselves to take the opinion of the people on the subject, and to pay the cost of doing so out of their own funds; but the judges whom they consulted told them that would be ultra vires. Then they passed this resolution :
"That, in the opinion of this Assembly, a vote of the Territories on the question of license vs. prohibition should immediately be taken.
"That in the event of provision for the taking of such vote not being made by the Dominion authorities at the next Session of the Dominion Parliament, it is the opinion of this assembly that powers similar to those enjoyed by provisions under the British North American Act in respect to the liquor question should forthwith be granted."
Of course, if the power were granted before they could legislate, one of two things should be done. They should not be allowed to use the power until after their term expired and they went to the country, or a dissolution should take place, in order that they might go to the country, and have the question decided at the polls. That would, no doubt, be a constitutional course; and, as we have practically manhood suffrage in the Territories, such a vote would effect the same purpose as a plebiscite. The next resolution deals With a matter of the greatest possible moment to the Territories, immigration, and makes suggestions:
"Your Committee would further recommend that a sum of $5,000 be voted from the general revenue fund of the Territories, and that this House, by every means at its disposal, press upon the Dominion Government the advisability of granting us the sum of $10,000; both of said sums to be used for immigration purposes. With such sums at the disposal of this House, your Committee are of the opinion that greater results would be had, both to the Dominion as a whole, and to these Territories in particular, than can be had by the expenditure of a like sum under the general immigration schemes of the Dominion. We would suggest that two permanent officials, selected by this House, be located in Great Britain; also that four agents be appointed by this House, one being from each of the Dominion electoral districts, who shall be located for a period of three months at four of the principal points in Eastern Canada and the United States, as, say, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto and Chicago. We would further suggest that several pamphlets be prepared, giving a full description of the various localities suitable for settlement within these vast Territories, believing, as we do, that it is impossible in a single pamphlet to do justice to the varied natural resources of our Territories. We would report that we have made an estimate of the probable cost of the scheme. We propose, as follows :—

Salaries.

Two permanent officials in Great Britain, at $100 per month, each ................. .... ......... ........... $3,400
Four men located in Eastern Canada and Chicago, three months, at $100 per month............... ...... 1,200

Travelling Expenses.

Two oflicials in Great Britain, at $5 per day, each... 3,600
Four agents in Eastern Canada, at $5 per day, each.. 1,800
Office expenses ... .... ... ...... ................................... ...... ... 2,000
Preparing and printing pamphlets ........ ........ ....... 4,000
Total ................................................................................... $15,000
The Government will perceive that they propose to give out of their own revenue $5,000, if $10,000 is given for the same purpose by the Dominion. Now, Sir, I cannot help thinking that greater benefits would result if the Local Government had to deal with this matter, and not the Dominion. The Department of Agriculture will necessarily deal very generally with the question of immigration; but if we had local agents controlled by the Advisory Board in Regina, their action would be focussed in certain channels, and the immigrants' attention would be directed, not to the North-West in a vague way, but to particular parts of the North-West having special attractions, and they would be put on board the train at Halifax and sent on to these destinations. The next resolution relates to half-breeds:
"The Assembly recommends that granting of scrip to half-breeds of Manitoba and the North-West Territories be extended to such half- breed heads of families and their children who, on the 15th day of July, 1870, were resident of non-ceded territory, and who have since moved to either Manitoba or the North-West Territories."
"The Assembly would further recommend that half-breeds residing in the North-West Territories on the 20th April, 1885, who were otherwise entitled to scrip, but who failed to comply with the conditions of the Order in Council of the 20th April, 1885, be granted scrip notwithstanding such Order in Council. As under the Half-breed Commission of the 20th of March, 1885, the Indian title, in so far as the half-breeds are concerned, only extends to those born prior to the 15th July, 1870, and as a number have been born to parents coming under the said commision of 1885, who, in the opinion of this Assembly, have equal rights to those already dealt with, this Assembly would draw the attention of the Dominion Government to the fact and urge that steps be taken to finally end all half-breed claims. This Assembly would also urge the appointment of judges of the North-West Territories as permanent commissioners, to adjust and investigate halt-breed claims, as the system of the flying commission is very unsatisfactory to the people and unnecessarily expensive to the Government."
Now, I would state this argument to the House. Under the Manitoba Act of 1870, 1,400,000 acres of land were set apart for half-breed children. These did not extend outside of Manitoba. Therefore, the primitive contract made between the Government and the half-breeds did not extend outside of Manitoba, or to any other half-breeds or bands of half-breeds. We acknowledge the Indian title in the half-breed; we acknowledge that he has the Indian title. When we come to extinguish the Indian title with a band of Indians, what do we do? We make a treaty with them. We do not insist that Treaty six shall do for what we afterwards call Treaty seven. We do not insist that a treaty with the Blackfeet will do for a treaty with the Crees, but we act, as do sensible men in ordinary life; we deal frankly with the persons with whom we have to deal, in regard to the interests they control. Those half-breeds in the North- West were not in Manitoba at the time the Manitoba Act was passed, and the arrangement made to extinguish the Indian title in Manitoba. As we took no steps—and it was our fault that we took none—to extinguish the title in 1870 of the half-breeds in the North- West, and did nothing in 1885, how can we say to the half-breeds in the North-West in 1885: Now, we are going to deal with you as though on had been dealt with already in 1870 in Manitoba. Iy could never see the reason which would justify that position being taken, and I am perfectly certain the matter has only to be brought to the attention of Parliament and the Government to lead them to do what is statesmanlike and proper—to lead them to deal with the half-breeds to-day who were not in Manitoba and were not dealt with at that time, on the looting of the present, and on the same principle on which was based the settlement with the half-breeds in Manitoba, and give to the children that exist today what was given to the children in 1870. As a fact, the name of every half-breed child born in the country, up to the 20th April, 1885, is on record in the Department of the Interior, so that it is not necessary to do more than look into the affidavits. Then comes the third resolution in regard to the question of scrip :
352 COMMONS DEBATES. FEBRUARY 27,
"That the Dominion Government be requested to grant scrip to all those acting during the North-West rebellion as scouts under the Police Act."
I am happy to state that this matter of scrip, which has so often occupied our attention, is on the way to be satisfactorily settled by the Government. The next resolution relates to a body of men which is a credit to Canada. No Canadian visits the North-West without feeling proud of the Mounted Police. We have had English general officers visiting the North-West, and they looked with envy on that body of 1,100 men, each one of whom would be a model for a statue. These men who took part in putting down the rebellion, fought, when they had the opportunity, as gallantly as did the volunteers. They endured hardship, they did everything they had an opportunity of doing, and all they complain of is that they did not get more opportunity; and if they had had more opportunity, I believe we might have brought the rebellion to a close more rapidly and not less gloriously. Many of these policemen endured hardships, and it is no new thing for them to endure hardships. Their whole life, especially in the winter, is one of continuous strain, and there is no soldier's life as trying as the life of the Mounted Police, in the winter, up in the North-West. The Assembly passed this resolution:
"We would beg leave, respectfully, to point out that in great measure the services of this force were insufficiently appreciated in Canada, that the arguments advanced against their receiving such awards are, in our opinion, to a great extent, fallacious, and that we are confident such a bestowal will be hailed throughout the North-West as a satisfaction, and as an act of justice."
What they ask for is the same award of scrip as has been conferred on other corps, but I can tell you that many of the mounted police have told me they cared very little for scrip, but that certainly, as they had borne the brunt and heat of the day as well as others, they would like to have it; but they should also have a medal. Then comes a resolution with regard to the main trails. I do not expect to be able to clear up the mystery of the main trails and to enlighten Parliament on this recondite subject. The trails are from Macleod to Calgary, from Calgary to Edmonton and Athabasca Landing, from Swift Current to Battleford, and from Qu'Appelle to Prince Albert. These trails will require for some time to be kept in good order, and the Assembly reports:
"The condition of some of these trails at certain seasons of the year has proved to be dangerous to life and property, and communication between the different settlements made most difficult and supplies not only rendered much dearer but in fact almost impossible to obtain. Such a condition of affairs is a most important element in retarding settlement and the proper development of the Territories, and as the funds at the disposal of the Territorial Government are insufficient to make the necessary improvements and we consider the Dominion Government especially interested in those trails, we would therefore urge that the Dominion Government appropriate a special sum to be expended on the following trails: From Macleod to Calgary. From Calgary to Edmonton and Athabasca Landing. From Swift Current to Battleford. From Qu'Appelle to Prince Albert."
Now I come to a great question in the North-West. The resolution is very long but very important, which the council has passed, and I will ask the attention of hon. members while I read. It is as follows:—That it is desirable, in the interest of the settlers and of the settlement in the Territories, that the time of payment for pre-emption in arrears should be extended five years from the 1st of January, 1889, without interest, and on condition that homesteaders remain on and continuously cultivate their homesteads during that period:
"That it would be only just to those who entered the lands in the Territories, during the operation of the Act permitting second homesteading, that the right to second homesteading should in all cases be extended to them, provided they have continuously cultivated their first homesteads.
"That in the year 1885 a regulation was in force whereby persons entering for cancelled lands could secure only eighty acres or a homestead and eighty acres as a pre-emption, and as this regulation was acknowledged to be unwise and unjust by its withdrawal, settlers in such a disadvantageous position should be allowed the some rights and privileges as other bonafide settlers, by being granted a full quarter section as a homestead."
The Assembly does not seem to be aware that in 1887 the late Minister of the Interior did away with the eighty acre homesteads and the eighty acre pre-emptions. What they do pray for, and what many contend should be done, is that those who have got the eighty acres homestead, and the eighty acres pre-emption, and have paid for the eighty acres pre-emption, should have the money returned, but since 1887 there have been no eighty acre pre-emptions or homesteads, the smallest being 160 acres.
"That, whereas in the years 1884, 1885 and 1886 persons entering for lands that had been cancelled, were charged, in addition to an extra fee for inspection, besides value for improvements that had been made, also an additional price for pre-emptions, varying from 25 cents to $1 per acre, which additional price was demanded at the time of making entry;
"And, whereas there was no good reason, in the greater value of such lande, for the additional charge per acre;
"Therefore, the prices of such pre-emptions should be reduced to the prices charged for uncancelled lands in the same districts; and moneys paid thereon should be applied to the payment of such pre-emptions at the said reduced price.
"That, whereas it has been proved that, for the success of the settler, it is necessary for him to engage in both grain and stock raising, and it has been demonstrated that for this purpose the settler requires not less than 320 acres of land;
"And whereas from the fact that many settlers have been unable to pay for their pre-emptions, it has been shown that the prices for pre- emptions have been placed at too high a figure, thus practically depriving many homesteaders of the benefit of pre-emptions, which are essential for success in mixed farming;
"That, in cases where pre-emptions have been cancelled during the past three years, because settlers were unable to pay for the same, these lands should not he held open for homesteading until the whole matter regarding pre-emptions has been further considered.
"Therefore, it is advisable that the prices of pre-emptions be reduced to the following figures, viz.: For lands within twenty miles of an operated railway, two dollars per acre, and for lands at a greater distance from an operated railway, one dollar per acre.
"That, in the interests of the Territories, specially of the prairie districts, it is desirable that every possible encouragement should be given to tree-culture;
"Therefore, it is desirable that arrangements should be made, whereby tree planting, with continued and successful cultivation, should be permitted to stand in the place of grain cultivation, acre for acre, as fulfilment of homestead duties;
"That, in paying for pro-eruption, tree planting be allowed to count at the rate of five cents for each tree planted by the settlers and found growing on their homestead or pre-emption for two years next preceding such payment.
"That the present system of having odd-numbered sections withdrawn for homesteadin is pernicious; that it is an injury to settlers, inasmuch as, preventing close settlement, it throws additional burdens on them for carrying on schools and for necessary improvements.
"Above all, because the settlement of the land is of more value, and will bring more revenue into the Treasury, than the possible sale of lands thus withheld from settlement will, and because the throwing open or these sections for homesteading would be further inducement for emigrants to come to these Territories, seeing they would then be able to enjoy the advantages of close neighborhood to other settlers.
"That should it be found necessary in future to withhold public lands from homesteading for railway purposes, it would be well to provide that alternate quarter-sections be granted instead of alternate sections.
"Therefore, it is advisable that arrangements be made, where possible, to throw open all odd-numbered sections for homesteading, seeing that this would he in the true interests of the Territories, and also therefore of the Dominion.
"That, as the large portion of the Dominion lands is in the Territories, it is most desirable, in the interest of the settler, the Territories and the Dominion, that a Dominion Land Board should be established at some central and convenient point in the Territories.
"That His Honor the Lieutenant Governor will be pleased to transmit a memorial embodying this report so the proper authorities at Ottawa, for the consideration of His Excellency the Governor General in Council."
I have troubled the House with reading this long document to them, but it is so important, and deals with matters which are so important for the settlers, that I may be excused. Remember, it is the voice of an Assembly elected by a suffrage practically extending to every man over twenty-one years of age in the North-West erritories, and, as you have really the administration of our affairs in your hands, it is only right and proper that I should bring the views of these people before you. One of the main questions dealt[...]
354 COMMONS DEBATES. FEBRUARY 27,
[...]policy, and I condemned it as a bad policy. But I say that the act of its being a bad policy does not always relieve you from your obligation that you entered into, which obligation you must carry out,even though it is under a bad policy. Now, Sir, it is not a good thing to drink champagne, for instance. If you drink enough of it, and drink it often enough, it will tear your liver to pieces. But if a man who is fond of champagne were to order some from Mr. Bate, and then, when Mr. Bate sent the bill, he were to sit down and write to him and say: "Dear Sir, drinking champagne is a mistake; it is bad for the liver; it is not conductive to general health; I have given up drinking champagne and as a matter of principle I won't pay your bill." Why, what would Mr. Bate say to him? He would say, "You are under obligation to pay. and I will hold you to it." Well, I will not trouble the House with the letters, but I have letters here from a number of these men who say they came in here having before their eyes pamphlets in which this very North-West Act of 1883 was quoted; they came in here with that promise of a second homestead playing on their wills, and what did they find? Why, they had scarcely fulfilled the conditions for getting a second homestead―three years it takes; on the 25th of May the clause was put in and it requires three years to perfect the conditions to get a second homestead; and on the 2nd June, 1886, the second homestead was done away with. They, of course, point out what a very unjust thing it is. You see how irritating it is to those who came in, in 1884, 1885 and 1886. The men who came in from the 25th May, 1883, or before, up to the 2nd June, 1884, could go, owing to the change that my hon. friend the late Minister of Interior made, and get a second homestead. The principle has been acknowledged. But men who came in in 1885 and 1886, with this same Act on the statute-book, cannot get a second homestead, because, as I tell you, the amendment that I was able to effect in 1887 only went the one year. Last year I did not bring it up, for a lamentable reason—because we had lost the man who had been such an ornament to this House. It may be said—I know that arguments of this kind are sometimes used—that this was permissive. I will say this for the late Minister, that he never attempted to press that objection; but I will call the attention of the Minister of Interior to the argument on that head. The 37th clause of the Dominion Lands Act, 1883, reads as follows:—
" Any person who has obtained a homestead patent after two years' residence, or a certificate countersigned by the Commissioner of Dominion Lands, as in the next receding clause mentioned, with the additional statement that there as been three years' residence, may obtain another homestead and pre-emption entry."
Of course it would be quite unworthy of a Government to rest anything on that word " may" ; but if anybody attempted to do so, what have we? We have that declared by the statute to be a right, so that any difficulty on that head is entirely removed. If we look at section 2, chapter 54 of the Revised Statutes, we find that pre-emption entry means:
"The entering on the books of a local agent for a preferential claim to acquire by purchase, in connection with the homestead, and on becoming entitled to the patent for the homestead, a quarter section, or part of a quarter section of land adjorning such homestead; and existing pr-emption right means the right of obtaining, and right to such quarter section"
If we turn to section 3, what do we find? It is declared with regard to pre-emptions:
" And further, such person shall forfeit his homestead and pre-emption right."
So that in one part of the Act, in regard to a matter where it is said he may obtain pre-emption, we have it declared that that is a right. But mark the language of section 43:
" No person who has obtained a homestead patent or a certificate countersigned by the Commissioner of Dominion Lands or a member of the Dominion Lands Board, as in the next preceding clause mentioned, shall be entitled to obtain another homestead entry; but nothing contained in this clause shall take away the right of any person who, before the 2nd day of June, 1886, had received such certificate or recommendation for a patent."
So that the Act of 1886, in so many words, declares that it was taking away, not a possibility of getting a second homestead at the discretion of the Minister, but taking away a right which it acknowledges in express terms. It is hardly necessary to take up the time of the House with the second branch of the second homestead question, because the Minister can deal with that administratively. But I will say this, as I have pointed out before, that I can see no advantage and no magic in the six-mile limit, and I pointed out, when I had the honor of an interview with the Minister of Interior when I first came down, that one of the best settlers north of Pense, Joseph Young, who has cultivated every acre of his homestead and pre-emption cultivatable, has next to him a cancelled homestead, but he cannot enter on it. It would be a very desirable thing for him if he could do so, for he has two stalwart sons and a family, and he is one of our best farmers. He came into the country with nothing and he is a well-to-do man to-day, and in no year, not even in 1886, did he fail to have a crop; he has had a crop every year, but he is a thoroughpaced farmer and is a first-rate man. He cannot, however, homestead that cancelled homestead adjoining his own, and what is the use of his going away? He is forty-five years old and does not want to go away six miles. But that, I repeat, is a matter which can be dealt with administratively, and so I will not trouble the House further with it beyond calling attention to a petition I have here which was presented to the Minister. It was sent to him by a large number of agricultural societies, urging this question of second homesteading, and also urging that time be give for payment of pre-emptions. I will say this, as I said to the farmers, that I think there is no need of their being very anxious about their being allowed time. So far as my experience of the department goes, no bona fide farmer has ever been pressed for his pre-emption payment if he could show that he was going along in a bona-fide manner. I have always found that Mr. Smith, and the department here, the moment they were satisfied that the man was a bona fide settler, were willing to agree to any reasonable representations made, provided the matter was all right. So I never felt nervous in regard to that matter. I will only add this further, that the farmers around Moose Jaw and elsewhere are very anxious they should be given five years in which to pay for their pre-emptions. I will make a further comment on this resolution, because there is one clause in it with which I do not agree. It reads:
"Should it be found necessary in the future to withhold public lands from homesteading for railway purposes, it should be provided that alternate quarter sections be granted instead of alternate sections."
In the same resolution it is stated:
" It has been proved that for the success of the settler it is necessary for him to engage in both stock raising and grain. and it has been demonstrated that for this purpose a settler requires not less than 320 acres."
So one part of the resolution is, inadvertently, contrary to the other. In one part it says that 320 acres are necessary, and in another part it states that alternate quarter sections should be given to the railway. I have here a long communication that I received this morning from the agricultural society of Moose Jaw, referring to this part of the resolution and strongly condemning it, strongly emphasising this view, that they require to summer fallow, to go into mixed farming, and that farmers cannot raise crops profitably in the North-West unless they summer fallow. Part of the land has to be fallowed this year while crops are raised on another part, and crops should be grown this year on land which was summer fallowed last year. If you do not adopt that you will not farm successfully, and 1889. COMMONS DEBATES. 355 that is the way Mr. Young, to whom I referred a moment ago, farms. I want to say one word about the last part of that resolution, which asks for the establishment of a Dominion Lands Office in the Territories. This, I think, is a very important matter, and I may point out that the right hon. gentleman, in his report of 1882, declares it necessary to establish in the North-West a land board. However, when it was decided to establish this land board, instead of placing it in the North-West it was established at Winnipeg, in Manitoba. I think it would be a very wise thing to do what the Legislative Assembly suggests, and to move that land board to the North-West. At the present moment you are getting an enormous revenue from the North-West. This year I see gladly, by the report of the Minister of Interior, the revenue of the Department of the Interior is $540, 605. No doubt some of that comes from Manitoba, but the main portion of it undoubtedly comes from the North- West Territory, and as the principal business of the land board will be done in the North-West Territory, I believe that if it were established at Regina, instead of at Winnipeg, it would be a great improvement. The last resolution of these gentlemen deals with the question of responsible government. It says:
"That there is no permanent responsible body whose business it is to prepare legislation for the consideration of this Assembly, and in consequence its legislative functions cannot be satisfactorily performed. For instance, the Assembly has had to present an humble address to His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, praying that he may be pleased to appoint a Committee to draft during the recess certain measures deemed advisable by the Assembly; measures which it should be the duty of Legislative Government to submit. That on these and other accounts the Assembly believes the present system to be unsatisfactory. That, therefore, the Assembly recommends to His Excellency the Governor General in Council that full responsible government should be given to the Territories with the other powers, in addition to those already possessed by the Assembly."
And a further resolution:
"That the amount annually voted by the Dominion Parliament for the expenses of government, &c., in the North-West Territories, should be given in the form of a definite grant instead of a rate which lapses at the end of the fiscal year for which it is voted;
"That the said grant should be placed at the disposal and subject to the vote of the North-West Legislative Assembly;
"That although the North-West Territories have not been admitted into Confederation as a Province, yet they consider that the fact of their paying taxes to the Federal Treasury, under the same laws, rules and regulations and provisions as the people of other parts of Canada, and having been called upon to exercise the functions of local self- government by the Parliament of Canada, they are entitled to receive a return on the amount paid by them into the Federal Treasury of a sum similar to that received by the various Provinces comprising the Canadian Confederation;
"That they consider that a greater proportion of taxation per head is paid by the people of the North-West Territories than by the people of any other part of Canada;
"That the cost of administrating the Government of the North-West Territories is much larger in proportion to the population than in any other part of Canada by reason of the greater area and more widely scattered settlements;
"That the maintenance and improvement of main trails in the Territories should be the subject at special consideration at the hands of the Federal Parliament;
"That inasmuch as the lands, timber and minerals of the North-West Territories are held for sale by the Federal Government, which deprives the North-West Government of any revenue from these sources, and the Provinces of Confederation, with the exception of Manitoba, having revenues from said sources;
"Therefore your committee are strongly of opinion that a largely increased grant should be given to the North-West Territories for expenses of North- West Government, construction of roads and bridges, the improvement of main trails, and other public improvements."
The House wlll be glad to know, sir, that the Advisory Board has worked wonderfully well. Although I do not think any more than do those gentlemen, or the members of the Assembly, that that board is as effective a machine of government as complete responsible government would be, yet, Sir, I had an opportunity of observing the chamber during its session and I will say this, that the Advisory Board and the admirable manner in which Governor Royal fell in with the idea of making it a sliding scale to responsible government worked admir ably and gave a new character altogether to the assembly as compared with the council. In the North-West Council, as my friend the Minister of Interior will remember, they discussed matters more like men in committee, but with the Advisory Board they at once fell in with the parliamentary practice, and the intelligence displayed by the gentlemen who are now members of that assembly and the capacity which they showed in their conduct of the proceedings, are fraught with the best promise for the future of that country. I wish to call the attention of the House for one moment to what might be called our claims on the Federal Government. Many gentlemen in this House and elsewhere think that we are always asking for something, and that we are, in fact, asking for too much. They think we are unreasonable in the North-West, while the fact is that we are entitled to a great deal more than we get.
Mr. SCRIVER. You are astonished at your own moderation.
Mr. DAVIN. My friend on the right says " we are astonished at our own moderation," and I have no objection to accept his language. The old council of 1887 petitioned for responsible government and the memorial set forth: That by the census of 1885 the population of the North- West Territories was 28,000, larger by 11,000 than that of Manitoba when she was admitted into Confederation. The population has much increased since that census, as evidenced from the new electoral districts erected. Manitoba was erected into a Province in 1870, and as we see in 33 Vic., cap. 3, sec. 25, she received $30,000 in support of government, 80 cents per head of the population, which was estimated at 17,000, and the salaries of the Lieutenant Governor, judges, charges in respect to customs, postal, fisheries, militia, geological, penitentiary department, and so on, were all paid by the Federal Treasury. In 1882, according to 45 Vic., cap. 5, when the population of Manitoba, according to the census of 1881, was 69,954, that Province was allowed 80 cents or head on 150,000 souls, indemnity for want of public lands of 845,000; and in 1870, because the Province was not in debt, 5 er cent. on $472,000, making altogether $238,000. By 48-49 Vic, cap. 50, she got swamp lands and 150,000 acres for a university and the indemnity for want of public lands increased to $100,000. Now I ask the attention of the House to this argument. It is an argument of proportion, such an argument as we all have made when learning the rule of three at school. If Manitoba, in 1882, with a census pupulation of 65,954, was allowed 80 cents a head on a population of 150,000, then the North-West, four years after, it was declared by the census of 1885, to have a population of 28,000, must be entitled to 80 cents a head on about 80,000 people. But take the ratio adopted after one year, and we are entitled to 80 cents a head on 70,000, or 856,000; for government, 850,000; and for want of our public lands, 815,000. Then, if Manitoba with a population of 17,000, not having any debt, was entitled to 5 per cent. on 8472,000, the North-West Territories, with a census population of 28,000, would be entitled to 5 per cent. on $774,000, or 838,700; and as we have more land than Manitoba, our gross revenue should amount to $239,700. We should also have 150,000 acres of land for a university, and money for our own lunatic asylum, as well as Manitoba. Now, Sir, the tone taken towards that western country is a tone which I believe will not be often taken in this House after hon. gentlemen come to see what its claims are; because at the present minute we must regard that western country as composed of Manitoba, the North-West Territories and British Columbia, all west of the great lakes; and what do you find? If you compare the amount that western country pays in customs duties with the amount paid by an old Province like Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, you 356 COMMONS DEBATES. FEBRUARY 27, will find that it pays more; and the paper which was put into my hands a few days ago by the Inland Revenue Department shows that we drink a great deal more beer per head west of the great lakes, and pay a great deal more of inland revenue than the two Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick put together.
An hon. MEMBER. It is a bad sign.
Mr. DAVIN. It may be a bad sign, but it shows that the people there are a very prosperous people, and can afford to spend a good deal of money on the four articles of beer, wine, tobacco and whiskey. I find also that the banking business done, taking into account discounts, the amount of capital invested, and all the details of banking, shows well for the western country. Now, my right hon. friend, in reply to a question, told me a few days ago that he did not intend to bring in a Bill this year giving full responsible government to the Territories; but, in passing, I wish to say that when that Bill is brought in, or probably it might be done now, a large portion of territory should be given to the Local Government to be used by it for subsidizing branch lines of railway. I am not fond, as this House knows of drawing comparisons with what is done in the United States; but I may state that when they organise a territory in the United States, they pay out of the Federal treasury all the expenses that we do, they give the territories the school lands and the swamp lands, as we have done in the case of Manitoba; but they do more than that. When Minnesota, Wyoming, Dakota and Montana were organised, each of these Territories got a large extent of territory for subsidising branch lines. Minnesota, with 83,000 square miles (Assiniboia has 93,000 square miles), received land for subsidising 1,800 miles of railway, and with the swamps, started in possession of one-third of the Territory. What does that policy enable these Territories to do? It gives them, while young, that nutriment and vital force, without which anything young cannot thrive. As the right hon. the Prime Minister is now acting Minister of Railways, I should like to call his attention to this fact. At this hour the Government of Minnesota receives an income of $600,000 a year, 3 per cent. on the gross earnings of the lines of railway that it chartered and subsidised since 1849, when it was organised. But it may be said: " Ah, but those Territories were very populous. Not at all. In 1849, when Minnesota was organised, it had only a population of 6,000, and the aggregate population of all the four Territories at the respective dates of their organisation did not equal by five or six thousand the population of the North-West to day. That is a point which I submit as well worthy of the consideration of the Government, because I think we may err on the side of keeping the strings too much in our hands here at Ottawa, and not giving sufficient scope for the young giant, for which I plead here to-day, to develop his limbs. Now, it will be said to us, no doubt, you have got the Mounted Police. So we have, and we are very glad to have them; but elsewhere you have batteries, militia, and military schools, and we pay for those just as well as you pay for the Mounted Police; and before you know where you are, I believe in the next five years, you will find we shall have a population in those Territories which will be subscribing to your military schools, and batteries, and militia just as much as you are subscribing to the North West Mounted Police. And remember that in any case the cost of defence would fall on the Federal Government; so that you cannot fairly make anything of our having the Mounted Police. The feeling amongst the people, and especially amongst the members of this assembly, who now represent the people, is in favor of full responsible government. Now, I am not going to use the rhetorical language we sometimes hear in this House, and which I always regret to hear, used by men who should speak with the balance and restraint of statesmen.
Mr. McCARTHY. Hear, hear.
Mr. DAVIN. My hon. friend from Simcoe says "hear, hear," but if he was rightly reported in a speech that he made not far from here, he himself fell into this same rhetorical exaggeration. We sometimes hear it said in this House, that we are not free unless we have the right to make our own treaties. My hon. friend was reported as having said that we were not free unless we were represented in the Imperial Parliament, and took up our full share of Imperial responsibility. Of course when the noun "freedom" or the adjective "free" is used in this manner, it is used in a purely rhetorical sense and not in the broad signifcation, in which constitutional writers use it. When people speak properly of being free, what they mean is that their liberty cannot be interfered with, without their being tried before their peers, that they are not taxed without representation. The various ingredients of civil liberty that we are familiar with, we have in the North-West, but I do not think we have all the advantages that you have here. We suffer there from some disabilities that you do not suffer from, but I regard our position as a free and liberal condition. Every man can there speak the thing he will. I believe the North-West Territories will develop at a rapid rate. I see by the report of the Minister of Interior that a far larger number of homesteads were taken up last year than the year before. In 1886, 294,960 acres in homesteads were taken up; in 1887, 319,500; in 1888, 420,333. From that you see the progressive rate of increase at which homesteads have been taken up. Now, with the crop we had last year and the report of that crop going all over the world—for we have had visits from men from every part of the world—I believe you will find that next year, instead of 420,000 acres being taken up, that number will be greatly increased. I believe that certainly 700,000 or 800,000 acres in homesteads will be taken up, and the increase will go on at the same rate. There are many documents to which I might refer to show the progress made by the North-West. I have not said one word about what the committee of Senator Schultz, now Lieutenant Governor, showed we possessed in the Mackenzie River Basin; and in the present report of the Interior Department, I see that Mr. Burgess refers in glowing terms to the Yukon River district. Take the report of two years back in which there is an account given of the Yukon River, and you will find that men make as much as $500 a day mining gold in that district. They have made $300 and $350, and some $500 in one day. I do not say that happened as a general thing, but still it shows the value of that region. In the North-West Territories we have a large area of prairie land, most fertile and most abundant in its yield; we have gold, iron, coal, all the fruits of the earth, the forest, and the finest cattle raising country in the world. I say that there is the place that the means will be found to make this country a great and contented nation. I always regret when, in regard to this country, anything like sectional feeling, arising from race or religion or from any other source, is developed; and it is a great consolation to me to know that up in the North-West, we are freer than in any other part of Canada from those prejudices of race and religion which are really more inimical to our progress than anything else. I desire to see this great Canada of ours peopled with French, English, Scotch, Irish, Germans—and in the North-West we have Germans whose settlements are perfect wonders as evidences of what can be done by thrift and energy—I desire to see all these elements moulded into one nation. What I hope to see and what we ought to aim at—French, English, Irish and Scotch—and it will come some day, is to have a United 1889. COMMONS DEBATES. 357 Canada with a Canadian race inhabiting it, and I should like very much to say a few words especially to my   French Canadian friends about the North West.
Some hon. MEMBERS: En français.
Mr.DAVIN. If the House will bear with me, since some of my French Canadian friends desire it, I will say a few words to them in their language, though I do so with a great deal of diffidence.
Je prétends, M. l'Orateur, qu'il est du devoir des Ecossais, des Irlandais, des Français et des Anglais de se fusionner pour former ici une race canadienne. Nous formerons ainsi une race plus grande que celle des Allemands, plus grande que celle des Celtes, plus grande que celle des Anglo-Saxons ; une race qui réunira au jugement, à l'abnégation, à la discipline, à la sincérité du Saxon, la vivacité d'esprit, le goût des arts, le génie, l'ardeur, la puissance créatrice du Celte. J'espère que nous verrons cette race se développer en grandeur héroïque et recevoir du Nord-Ouest une inspiration de pouvoirs magnifiques.
Je me bornerai à dire en ce moment aux Canadiens- Français d'imiter l'exemple de leurs pères dont les faits et gestes dans le passé au Nord-Ouest sont dignes d'une admiration spéciale. Connaissons-nous nous-mêmes, rendons-nous compte de notre position, et prenons les moyens de fonder ici une nation canadienne. Et, M. l'Orateur, lorsque viendra le jour où nous aurons dans le Nord-Ouest une population plus considérable que dans les provinces d'Ontario et de Québec, lorsque le Nord-Ouest comptera au delà de 10,000,000 d'habitants, nous pourrons braver les contempteurs, les insulteurs et les intrigants, et peut-être adresser aux Wiman et autres les mots magnifiques qui s'échappent de l'âme du Cid quand il apprend que Chimène peut devenir 1e prix de sa valeur :—
"Est-i1 quelqu'ennemi qu'à présent je ne dompte ? Paraissez Navarrois, Macres et Castillans, Et tout ce que l'Espagne a nourri de vaillants. Unissez-vous ensemble, et faites une armée, Pour combattre ma main de la sorte animée. Joignez tous vos efforts contre un espoir si doux ; Pour en venir à bout, c'est trop peu que de vous."
What I have been saying in French, I can repeat in English in a word or two. I was emphasising the fact, that we should make ourselves here a patriotic people, and that instead of trying to emphasise the angles of difference that divide us, we should try to pare away the angles, so that by-and-by we might become one Canadian peeple, because we have the finest country in the world, and, when we have a larger population, with sentiments such as I have indicated pervading them, there is no power in the world that could affect us, but we could stand four square against all the blasts that blow. That is the best free translation that I can give of the magnificent words that Corneille puts in the mouth of the Cid.
Mr. CHARLTON. I will endeavor to say a few words on this subject before six o'clock. I am very much pleased that the member for West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin) has brought up the question of the proper policy to be pursued by the Government in regard to the settlement of our vast domain in the North-West.
Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD There will probably be an interesting discussion on this subject, and, as it cannot go on after six o'clock, I would suggest that it had better stand over.
It being Six o'clock, the Speaker left the Chair.

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Canada. House of Commons Debates, 1875-1949. Provided by the Library of Parliament.

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