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Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly, 7 May 1867, Nova Scotia Confederation with Canada.

DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 130
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MONDAY, April 15.
OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 143
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THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY.
Hon. PRO. SEC'Y. introduced an Act to amend the Act incorporating the St. Lawrence and Bay of Fundy Company; its object is to prevent the Company interfering or coming into conflict with the Inter-Colonial Railway.
Mr. S. CAMPBELL—Will the railway come as far as the borders of Nova. Scotia?
Hon. PRO. SEC'Y.—I suppose that the hon. member's enquiry was made in jest, but I would remark that his question may become one of very serious consideration. If his friends could secure a majority opposed to Union and pledged to obstruct it, the parties under whose control the construction would be might question the propriety of extending the road beyond the borders of New Brunswick. If a large obstructionist party could be got together with a prospect of detaching Nova Scotia from the Union, there is no knowing what effect it might have on the building of the road. Those opposed to Union after failing to defeat the Railway project by representing that the debt would be repudiated and that the road would not pay grease for the wheels, may yet succeed in getting up such hostility as will prevent the city from obtaining the benefits of the line. If the road be built to Halifax it will be because those with whom the hon. gentleman is acting were powerless to prevent what every Nova Scotian regards as the greatest boon that his country can enjoy.
Mr. S. CAMPBELL— The hon. gentleman has attributed to me a desire to obstruct the interests of the country in this particular, but I think that the charge is not justified by my action in the House. My remark, however, in reference to this bill was not without meaning, for the delegates have not taken care as they should have done, that the road should be commenced at both ends. Again, only three millions are guaranteed, and as this sum would be insufficient, I ventured to doubt that the road would reach the point of communication referred to.
Hon. PRO. SEC.—I understand the hon. member then to repudiate the action of the people's delegates,—if he does not do so he is responsible for their acts. Those gentlemen laid upon the table of the Imperial Parliament a declaration drawing attention to the fact that all the money which Mr. Howe had asked for was three millions, and that this was all that the Imperial Government were pledged to. They thus endeavored to prevent our getting another shilling beyond the three millions. If they had been believed, the credit of British America would have been destroyed, and their determined and avowed policy was to oppose the construction of a single mile of railway. When the hon. member for Guysboro' heard his friend acknowledge the truth of these charges on the floor of the House, and when he continues in co-operation with the hon. member for East Halifax, I ask if he does not place upon his own shoulders the responsibility of endeavoring to obstruct the work. I was glad when I heard him (Mr. Campbell) declare that the Union having become a fixed fact, he was prepared to give his best energies to carry out the new system, and to obtain all the advantages that could be obtained for the country. That declaration was creditable to the heart and to the head of the hon. gentleman, because every intelligent man knows that the people would turn their backs with scorn and indignation upon the men who would shrink from taking such a position as the interests of the Province demand. But when the press advocating that gentleman's views has repudiated those doctrines, and has declared that so far from endeavoring to make the change beneficial to Nova Scotia their object is to obstruct and destroy and defeat the advantages which the country might expect, whatever his views upon the question of Confederation, every man actuated by a spirit of manly patriotism must act upon the view enunciated by the hon. member for Guysboro'. But that gentleman's associates have proclaimed that instead of seeking an onward course for Nova Scotia their only motto is obstruction. The hon. gentleman's sentiments having been thus repudiated, he must come out from the company of his associates or must take the responsibility of standing in the company of men whose only aim is to impede the country's progress. Am I not right, then, in saying that under certain circumstances there is a possibility of the railway stopping at our borders? But I believe that when the true position of these gentlemen is placed before the intelligent constituencies of the country; when they are called upon to choose between the friends of union who will be prepared to combine in making the union as largely beneficial to the country as possible and their opponents who are opposed to everything like progress, there is not a constituency but will turn their backs with contempt upon the men who being unable to carry out their individual opinions are prepared to trample underfoot the prosperity of the country. The men who crossed the water as the people's delegates, the hon. member knows have defamed and libelled the fair credit of the country, giving the lie to all their past lives, and stating that the railway which they had held out as the highest boon would not pay grease for its engines, and were compelled to admit that they urged the British Government to spend their money in iron-clads and everything but in giving to the Province that position which God and nature intended she should occupy. And in what position are these gentlemen to-day? Is it the position of myself and my colleagues who having fought the battle through and accomplished the great union, are prepared to commit their fame and future fortune to the hands of the free electors of Nova DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 144 Scotia? The only man amongst the people's delegates who had a seat in this Assembly has shrunk from the averted faces of his countrymen, knowing the doom that must fall upon him. Instead of appealing to the constituency that hitherto supported him, he has sent his emissaries abroad to see if in some outlying county a seat cannot be obtained for him in any Parliament. I ask the hon. member for Guysoro' if he does not think it would be wise for him to take a note of that? I ask the men throughout the country who are opposed to union if they do not think it a significant fact that the man who controls a portion of the press enunciating anti-Union sentiments is at present like Japhet in search of a father, and if they think it would be well for them now to respond to the call of the men who, having done all they could to trample down the credit of the country, are now reduced to the position which I have described? With the messengers which the hon. member for East Halifax has sent out coming back to him without being able to find a place on which he can rest his foot, I ask the hon. member for Guysborough if he does not think it would be wise for him to come back to the patriotic stand which he took in declaring that he would endeavour to work out the new system for the benefit of the country? I have little fear as to the result of the contest which is approaching, for I believe that the people will not look for men belonging to one party or the other, but will elect the men who regardless of the past are prepared to obtain all possible advantages for the country.
Mr. MCLELAN-I have been much amused at some of the remarks of the Prov. Sec., and especially at the remark he made in reference to the hon. member for East Halifax not being able to find a constituency. I am surprised that the hon gentleman should make such an observation, after the issue of the Colonist on last Saturday, which shows him to be in that very position. The Prov. Sec. has been driven from the constituency in which his daily life and the motives which have actuated him are best understood. His own messengers have not yet came back to tell him whether a place for his foot can be found or not. He says that we are arrayed to obstruct the progress of the country, but will he put his finger upon one advantage that is to flow from union. The only benefit which they promise is the construction of the Intercolonial railroad, and the hon. member for Guysboro, and those who concur with him, are therefore in a position to enquire whether for that work we are not to pay more than it is worth,—whether we are not to be taxed to an extent that would be sufficient to build the whole road. Surely if these are the facts it would have been better to forego the railroad on such hard terms. Is the member for Guysboro' wrong when he says that the delegates failed to secure to us that one benefit on which the friends of union relied on so much? Any one who compares Mr. Fleming's estimate with the amount guaranteed will see that sufficient care has not been taken to ensure the building of the road through this province. They failed in discharging the trust which they undertook, and in condemning their want of attention we are not to be met by the charge of obstructing the progress of the country.
Mr. TOBIN—It is a very singular that fact the men who have been obstructing the passage of the Imperial Act—doing all that men could do to prevent the consummation of union—are now the most desirous to go to Ottawa. I find that there is an election card out for this city, containing four names of the most determined opponents of union. I know something about the retirement from this constituency of the hon. Provincial Secretary. If he had wished it, I know he could have beaten every Anti-Unionist who might have the hardihood to run against him. I have conversed with highly intelligent men, from East and West—with professional men, clergymen, and others of weight and influence —and my conviction is that there is not a shadow of a doubt that all such persons are in favour of union. I say to the Union party: Wait, have patience for a days, for there will be candidates in the field worthy of your support, —men who will reflect credit upon the constituency of this metropolitan county. The game is not up yet, but will be fought to the bitter end by men of tried value and of ability. I am convinced that there are in this city four Unionists to one Anti-Unionist. An unfair advantage has been taken of the fact that the Provincial Secretary has retired, and it is said that he did so for want of support. Never would an election have been more easily won, if he had run it. If he felt it his duty to go back to his own county, that is his own affair, but I believe he could have won an easy victory in Halifax. Don't let gentlemen believe that this struggle has even yet commenced. I regret the more that the Provincial Secretary retired, because at the moment he did so a requisition was about being handed him with some 1600 of the best names in this city and county. Let me here take an opportunity of stating that there will be a public meeting held in this city, a few days hence and every part of the county will be asked to send their delegates. Then there will be given a full expression of the public opinion of this county, and candidates worthy of support will be nominated to represent the constituency in Ottawa and in the Local Legislature.
Hon. PROV. SEC.—I thank the hon member (Mr. McLelan) for having afforded me this opportunity of giving some explanations on the subject to which he has referred. As my hon. friend (Mr. Tobin) has intimated, some gentlemen will soon find, to use a homely phrase, that they have hallooed before they were out of the wood. I came into this Legislature, it is well known, in conjunction with my hon friend, Mr. McFarlane. We have been long allied as members of the same Government. In order to discharge the important duties of the position to which my country has called me, I was obliged to remove from Cumberland, and have since lived in this city, whilst my hon friend re OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 145 mained a resident of his native county. I need not say that I have felt the strong claims he has to continue to represent the county where he lives in the United Parliament. I was, therefore, in a manner, bound to wave any claim I might have to that constituency in his favor and seek a seat elsewhere. But there was another reason which operated both upon my honorable friend and myself, and that was, that the position I had taken in reference to the Union and other measures would make it easy for me to find a constituency outside of my own county. The hon. member for North Colchester lives close enough to Cumberland to know that every attempt to find a man either in or out of the county to come forward as an anti-Union candidate, has failed. Deputation after deputation has gone to gentlemen in this city, and there has not been a man found—and I do not believe one will be found—who will dare to go to the hustings to test the feeling of the people either with myself or any other Unionist. If there is such a man I shall be proud to meet him, and I am convinced that I do not misjudge my own constituents when I say that they will give such an account of themselves as will prove that they fully appreciate the character and tendency of the anti- Union policy. I may also tell the hon. gentleman that his party have gone again and again to one of the most influential men of the county who lives here, and he has refused to come out, because he is unwilling to take a position hostile to a movement which must do so much for the county of Cumberland. When I waived my claim to the county in favor of my hon. friend, I did so—and gentlemen of both parties are aware of the fact—with the knowledge that the men who had always supported me were ready to return me more triumphantly than ever before. But that is not all. I was returned at the last election by acclamation, by my own party; but I can now go into the county and rally to my support not merely the friends who have always sustained me, but men who opposed me, in former times. From Wallace to Parrsboro' such men are ready to give me the most enthusiastic support. Yet in the face of facts like these, persons have dared to send the libel throughout this country that I was in doubts of being elected for the county I have so long represented. Under such circumstances I was asked if I would allow myself to be put into nomination for the county of Halifax. I said if there was a battle to be fought anywhere, I was prepared to fight it; if the friends of Union required my services, they were at their disposal. At a few hours' notice a meeting was held at the house of Dr. Parker—such a meeting as never before assembled in this city at the house of any gentleman,—it was not only large in numbers, but powerful in respect to the influence and wealth it represented. More than that, it embraced gentlemen representing every shade of political opinion, creed, and class. No man could hear the names of these gentlemen without feeling that the moment they supported a candidate for this city, his election was sure. When not only the great bulk of the Conservative party but the most able and intelligent supporters of the Liberal party are arrayed, as they are now, in support of Union, can any one doubt the result in this city and country? I felt that it would be very questionable if there was a contest here at all. When I retired, it was not because I feared the result— for that was certain—but it was because I felt that the moment the county that had always so nobly sustained me required my services, it was my duty to respond. I have heard the names of some gentlemen mentioned as likely to run on the anti-Union ticket, but I feel that such parties, situated as they are, would hardly venture to go to the polls at all. In a few days the people of the county will be asked to support Union candidates, not nominated in a private office, but at a meeting of the electors. Then will be put before the constituency such a platform as they can support. I feel that the people will respond as they should; that they will not permit any obstructionists to impede the progress of a great measure which is to open up a new career of prosperity to this country. It has been said, time and again, by the opponents of Union that we could hardly get men to go to Ottawa; for it was too far off, or to go to the local parliament,—so contemptible would it become under Union. What do we see to-day? No sooner is the measure of Union accomplished than we see that the men who are most anxious to go to Ottawa and to the local legislature as well are the men who have been opposing Union. Hitherto no merchant could be obtained, except my hon. friend, to run for this city, whilst Nova Scotia was isolated and a separate province. Now we see four bankers taken in tow by Captain Balcam, and rushing to Ottawa and the local legislature.
Mr. TOBIN.—Hardly four bankers,—not more than two.
Hon. PROV. SEC.—As respects the Intercolonial Railway, let me say that it did not depend upon the Imperial guarantee at all. Canada is able to build it without the assistance of the Maritime Provinces. Her bonds before this Union was effected were selling in the market higher than those of either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. If the Imperial Parliament had refused to guarantee a single dollar the Intercolonial Railway would have been built as rapidly as it was possible to carry it on. By having the money loaned at four per cent., of course, it is obvious that a great advantage is gained.
Mr. ANNAND—I feel it due to make a few remarks after the allusions made to me by the Provincial Secretary. I imagined when I came here this afternoon that I was in the Assembly, but as the speeches proceeded I almost began to doubt that fact and to imagine that these addresses were being made to the constituents outside. I do not wonder that the Provincial Secretary ventured upon the broad and glaring mis-statement that the anti-Union ticket for Halifax county included four bankers, for this is characteristic of his general accuracy. But I am not aware that it is such a great offence to DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 146 be a merchant or a banker,—I believe that the hon. member for Halifax who has spoken is himself a banker—and I am inclined to think that the selection of four merchants and a gentleman from the shore to represent the constituency of Halifax will be proved by the result to be a respectable and taking nomination. We have been told that the friends of Confederation will carry the county four to one. We were only afraid this morning that our candidates would have no opposition, and I am relieved to hear the hon. member for West Halifax say that there will be opposition, and that the game is not up yet. I have a strong desire to see that gentleman upon the hustings, and I sincerely regret that the Provincial Secretary has retired from the contest, for I should like to see him face the constituency of Halifax, where it has been said that the Union sentiment prevailed more strongly than in any other place. The men who formerly supported Confederation in this city feel that they cannot rally to the support of these gentlemen who have deprived them of the privileges of freemen. I was amused to hear him speak the other day as one of the sovereign people. What right has he to speak here in that capacity? The sovereign people have been denied the right to speak, and the measure of Union has been forced on them contrary to their well known sentiments. They were almost told in terms that they were not intelligent enough to decide the question, and are now appealed to by the very men who considered them so besotted and ignorant that the measure should be passed over their heads.— The hon. gentleman seemed surprised that the anti-Unionists should aspire to a seat at Ottawa. They will go there as the Nova Scotian party, not to be mixed up with the politics of Canada, to commit themselves to the support of either party, or to identify themselves with Canadian factions, but to be there to watch over the interests of Nova Scotia and to throw themselves into any scale in which they may secure the best advantages for their country. The House has been told that I shrank from offering myself to a constituency; it is well known that four years ago I decided upon the course which I have taken, and when I returned from England, and before I learned the result of the exertions of the delegates, I visited my constituency and gave those who supported me to understand, as I had previously given my family to understand, that it was not my intention again to offer. When asked if I would serve in the Dominion Parliament, I answered no. When asked if I would serve in the Local Parliament, I answered no, and when asked if I would continue in this House provided no change were made, my answer was "no; I have had twenty-five years' public service, and you had better select a younger man for the work." When the Union measure passed, and the time came for consultation, I was pressed urgently to allow myself to be put in nomination by leading Conservatives and Liberals. I still firmly refused, and will continue to do so unless a nineteenth member of the Nova Scotia Party is wanted to go to Ottawa. The Prov. Sec. spoke in glowing terms about the offers of support which were made to him; we know how he has been canvassing the city and the rebuffs he received from quarters where he expected the opposite treatment. He thought that he could bring to his support his old friends and perhaps that the old Conservative cry could he raised, but he found that not only he, but his friend, Mr. Tobin, had worn out their public reputation, and then it became convenient that his colleague in the representation of Cumberland should make way on the plea that the local interests of that county woul be better represented by the Provincial Secretary. What have the local interests of Cumberland to do with the matter? I thought these gentlemen prided themselves on rising above local feeling, and considered such matters as lunatic asylums, ferries, roads and bridges were beneath their notice. But under cover of this plea the hon gentleman shrinks from facing the constituency of Halifax. He has said that no one was prepared to contest Cumberland with him, but I can tell him that he is mistaken. I would ask him what to day is the feeling in Parrsboro, Malagash, Wallace, and other populous districts of Cumberland? That part of the county will have to be revolutionized before it will support a union candidate, and I pledge my word that the hon gentlemen will have opposition. We have been treated this afternoon to more declamation on the subject of the Intercolonial Railway. I repeat now, as solemnly as I made the statement before, that for a railway which may or may not be beneficial I should be very sorry to give up the privileges of the country, its free government, its right of self-taxation, its right to appropriate its own revenues and to place it under a load of taxation from another province. I would have been recreant to my duty to the people if I did not for the sake of destroying a scheme fatal to their interests, use every effort to impede one of its essential parts. I only hope that the road will be built, but if Canada alone is able to build it, as has been asserted, why did she not step forward years ago. We might have had it in 1851 or 1862 only for the bad faith of the Canadian Government. If Canada could borrow the necessary money, how was it that she was struggling within a year to borrow at eight per cent.? True, her bonds have gone up in the market, and well they might, in view of the fact that she is about to get the control of the more prosperous revenues of the Maritime Provinces. Deprive Canada of the revenues which she will get from us, and her bonds will go down again, not perhaps to the same point as before, because it must be borne in mind that the bonds of all the Colonies of the Empire rose simultaneously when money became plentiful and cheap in the market of the world. It can be clearly shown that the money to be drawn out of the treasury, and out of the people by Confederation, would under a Canadian tariff in a few years more than pay the entire cost of the railway. Assuming the cost to be three millions, and that that sum were borrowed at four per cent.,—our revenues would enable us to OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 147 build the road to Riviere du Loup, and for this work we are asked to give up treasure that would cover the country with railroads, and to reduce ourselves to the position of accepting a paltry pittance in the shape of a subsidy from Canada. The three millions guaranteed are not likely to build the road, and if it is to be commenced as the Canadian papers state, at Riviere du Loup, what is to become of the Nova Scotia end? It was proclaimed by Mr. Tilley all through New Brunswick that St. John was to be the terminus, and this three millions may be just sufficient to connect with St. John.
Hon. ATTY. GENERAL:—I ask if there can be any stronger inducement to the people of this country to give a favourable consideration to their position than the very argument that the three millions guaranteed will only be sufficient to establish the terminus at St. John. I ask the people what position Nova Scotia would have been in if Canada and New Brunswick had formed the union without us and built the road to St. John. If the member for East Halifax and his colleagues had succeeded they would have deprived the people of this country of the benefit of having the terminus located among them, and the trade of Halifax and of the western part of the Province would have been drawn to St. John. So obvious is the truth of this argument that in England the exclamation was repeatedly heard, " what are the people of the city of Halifax thinking of? That a man among them should oppose union is something miraculous, for the road is going to build up their city till it will be second to none on the continent." When therefore the hon. member shows his anxiety that the privileges of Halifax should be preserved and that security should have been obtained that the terminus should be here I feel that his anxiety on these points would have been more useful and appropriate if displayed in England. He has told us that we did not procure money enough, but does it lie with him to say that? What was the conduct of some of the people's delegates in England even after the union bill passed? They tried to induce the people there to believe that Nova Scotians were not loyal, that we would soon be annexed to the United States and that the debt would be repudiated. What would have been the conduct of any patriot under the circumstances? Would it not be to say, " I represent the true interests of Nova Scotia, its people are opposed to Confederation and I am bound to take every legitimate means to oppose it, but having failed my next course is to use every means to obtain for the country the railway as cheaply as possible?" That is the stand that any patriotic man would have taken but I say and can substantiate my statement that up to the last moment, when the guarantee bill was awaiting its passage, the gentlemen who professed to represent the people of Nova Scotia left no stone unturned to destroy the good opinion of the people of England in these Colonies and to lead them to believe that we would pay neither interest nor principal of the loan. They used every effort to prevent the passage of the bill and if they had succeeded, what position would we have been in? We would have had to build the road by a loan at six per cent. Under the present arrangement in thirty-seven years the debt will be paid off, and in the meantime we are only to pay five per cent., four per cent. for interest and one per cent. as a sinking fund, but without the guarantee, we must have paid six per cent. and would have had the principle to pay after that.
These, then, are the patriots who now come forward and tell us we did not obtain enough, when we got all we did in opposition to their most strenuous exertions. Their position is that of a counsel who, after the verdict is given against him, taunts the opposite parties with not getting more. They have suddenly become very solicitous that the interests of Nova Scotia will not be looked after. They voted in favor of a bill by which £50,000 a year was to be laid as a tax on the people of this country for the railroad, and when they applied to the British Government they only asked three millions. I ask the people of this country, if three millions is all we could obtain, and if we had difficulty in getting that, who are to blame but the member for East Halifax and his colleagues, who went across the water to oppose us? Suppose they had never gone, how different would have been the position of the delegates; as it is, we obtained what we asked for, but how much more confidently could we have asked a larger sum under the circumstances. They took pains to inform the British Government that three millions was all that had been promised, and that a delegate some years ago agreed to take that sum and build the road. The British Government, after this intimation, felt disinclined to give the guarantee unless we would say that the amount would be sufficient to complete the work. Of course we had to ask to be relieved from that condition, and we asked for all that we could reasonably ask, and for all that Mr. Howe had asked. In answer to the complaint that no provision had been made for the work being begun at both ends, I ask where was the provision in the bill that these gentlemen passed some years ago? If they were so careful of the interests of the country, why did they not provide, in the measure which they passed by a party vote, that the work should be commenced at Truro? If they did not consider any such provision necessary, I ask with what face he can get up and complain of our not doing what they thought was unnecessary? For all time to come, therefore, when any complaint is made of our not procuring a larger guarantee, we will be in a position to say—" Go to these gentlemen who professed to represent the people, and ask them." If they had not been there, no complaint could have been made.
Mr. MCLELAN.—The hon. gentleman has made this important admission—that the delegates only asked for three millions, and he says that this was the sum asked for in 1862. In 1862 it was supposed that that sum would build the entire road, but recent surveys have demonstrated the impossibility of that, and there is therefore an important distinction between the position of the delegates and their predecessors. In view of the fact that such a sum had been shown insufficient, the delegates were in duty bound to have asked for a larger guaranty. The terms which they secured were not so advantageous as the terms obtained in 1862, for then we were allowed a breathing space before commencing to form the sink DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 148 ing fund; but we are now bound to commence paying off the debt immediately. As to the assertion that St. John would have been made the terminus if Nova Scotia had not gone into the Union, it is plain that that city would not have been the terminus unless it was considered capable of supplying the wants of Canada; and when we see Mr. Fleming estimating the cost of the road to St. John at fifteen million dollars, and we see exactly that sum provided, the fair inference is that St. John is to be the terminus.
As to the conditions of the guarantee, we are in about the same position as we were under the terms of 1862; for the stipulation then was that the act should not go into operation unless the proposal for a sinking fund was ratified by the Canadian Parliament, and we know that that Parliament repudiated the arrangement. Mr. Adderley said, in reference to the terms agreed upon by the delegates, that the guarantee would not be given unless the Confederate Parliament assented to the formation of a sinking fund. It was said by the Provincial Secretary that under certain circumstances we might have lost the benefit of the road, and have failed in getting connection with Moncton; but we know that New Brunswick has already contracted for the building of the road to the Nova Scotia border. Our increase of revenue last year was about $184,000—more than enough to pay the interest for the Pictou extension—and with such prosperity we could easily have connected with New Brunswick. But supposing the Intercolonial line is built, does any one suppose that cargoes would be brought over here and shipped at Halifax, when an open port could be had at St. John, or within thirty-seven miles of the place where the road will be tapped? I am convinced that the much talked of prosperity which is promised to accrue to Halifax is all imagination, and that no part of Nova Scotia will suffer so much from Confederation as this city. I fear that this city will decline and diminish under the burthens that will be placed upon it and that the " dead march in Saul" will ere long be appropriate to its condition.
HON. FIN. SEC.—One advantage is possessed by hon. gentlemen opposite—that being gifted with vivid imaginations, they do not shrink from placing before the people as facts the results which their fancy depicts. On this side of the House we have some desire to be consistent, because we feel that the common sense of the country demands consistency in the arguments and public conduct of its representatives. The hon. member who has just spoken has followed in the footsteps of the people's delegates, and used the arguments of the men who have endeavored to thwart and prevent the accomplishment of a work which for twenty-five years was the watchword of his party. The policy of constructing that road was the policy sustained by his father and the men whom he supported. The work was held forth by his party as the only thing that would give to this country its proper position in relation to the commerce of British America— the only mode of'expanding our resources and makin our Provmce the most desirable country in world. That was the position of these gentlemen, until, to suit another purpose, they had the hardihood to propound doctrines which totally differed from the teachings of their lifetime. What wonder was it that Mr. Lowe and other leading commercial men of the day in England declared that the road would not only not be a paying investment, but that it would be ruinous to the colonies, when they were being indoctrinated for months with the news which these gentlemen now enunciate?
The house adjourned.
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Source:

Nova Scotia. The Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly. Halifax: Croshill and Bourinot, 1864-1867. Digitized by Canadiana.

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