Several other hon. members expressed
themselves in favor of the motion,
which was carried.
The House then went into Committee
on a Bill to facilitate the construction of
a Railway to Fredericton, which was
agreed to.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
ADJOURNED DEBATE ON MR. FISHER'S
AMENDMENT.
MR. LINDSAY. As the hon. member
from the County of Albert (Mr. McCle
lan) is not in his place, I will make a few
remarks, but I will not occupy much
time. The people take a great interest in
this question, for they attend here anxious
to know what is going on. I am pleased
to see them, for I think it is the duty of
the constituency to keep their eye on the
Government, and to see that the men who
come here to represent them do not misrepresent them. I think that public men
are public property, and we have a right
to refer to their public acts as long as we
do not misrepresent them. When a question was asked a few days ago about the
defence of the Province, I stated there
was something in common between Antis
and Fenians. The Attorney General
thought I insinuated that the Anti-
Confederate member of the Legislature
sympathized with the Fenians. I did not
mean any such thing. I will call attention to why I consider Antic and Fenains
agree. I will read an extract from the
New York
Irish People, a
Fenian organ,
dated Feb. 17, which refers to the Reciprocity Treaty, and gives a reason why
the American Government should not negotiate a treaty :
"Another reason which should have its
weight with every well-wisher of America is this? Why should be negotiate
a treaty with the very men who are to-day concocting the plan of a Confederation of
the
British Colonies, in order to erect a barrier against the expansion of the American nation, to transplant
a viceeregal
court nroth of us, where the admirers
and the flatterers of the aristocratic regime may go and parage their pretentious
individuality? No, let there be no treaty whatever!"
That was to prevent the Confederate
Union that would raise a barrier to the
further extension of the American Government. Another paper takes the same
view of it :
"It will
be dangerous to given encouragement, even temporarilty, to
the inter-Colonial feeling which certain influential men,
both in Britain and in Canada, are
doing
all in their power to cultivate. The suspension of reciprocal trade will be a cogent argument with the Canadians
in
favor of the building of the inter Colonial
Railway, WHICH EVERY INHABITANT OF
NEW ENGLAND SHOULD SEEK TO PREVENT
BY ALL PROPER MEANS, and which, with
the continuance of reciprocity, and the
prosecution of the international line,
will, in our opinion, never be built.
Closely allied to his is the political Confederation of the Provinces, which can
never be brought to pass unless an unfriendly policy on the part of the United
States shall force them, for their
mutual
protection and prosperity, into a closer
compact and alliance than now exists."
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. 39
I said that the Fenians sympathised
with the Antis, and not that the Antis
sympathised with the Fenians. The Attorney General then jumped up in a great
rage and said, "I see the hon. gentleman
is opposed to the Government." I made
those remarks not with an reference to
anything brought before the House. He
said I was not worthy of a place in the
Legislature. I thought it would be very
convenient for the hon. member to keep
me out until this question was disposed
of. Something was said about our being
in the mud. It reminds me of the allusion made last year, comparing the Government
to Nebuchadezzar's image,
which was made of iron, clay, brass,
gold and silber. If reports are true,
the silver is gone and the gold with it.
Some say the clay is gone too. I should
think it was, as I see here a large quantity of brass, or perhaps it was meant that
the clay and brass had been mixed together and converted into mud. I do
not know what to call my hon. friend,
whether to call him President of the
Council, or Attorney General, or Leader
of the Government, or Plenipotentiary
extraordinary. I do not know who
is the Leader of the Government
It was said that the hon. member
for St. John, (Mr. Wilmot) in connection with the Hon Mr. Smith,
were appointed to form a Government.
The hon. Chief Commissioner said his
Excellency called upon him. I do not
know whether he is the leader, or
whether he brings up the rear. He
quoted from the Litany. My mind
would lead me to quote from the general confession. "They have done the
things they ought not to have done, and
left undone the things they ought to have
done," and we have no confidence in them
I have heard it intimated outside that
they have one office promised to two or
three members, and they have some offices up stairs which they keep as bait
for their supporters. Then again, they
intimidate some by saying, if they vote
against the Government there will be a
dissolution and they will have to go
back to their constituents. In any thing
that concerns the interests of the Province, or the rights of the people, I should
have no hesitation in going back to my
constituents. I will now call attention
to things that ought not to have been
done. He has allowed His Excellency
to draw the same amount of slary that
his predecessors did, and for which he
condemned them. He says that is paid
back ; that is not the question. The
question is, has he a right to draw it?
If he had a right to draw it, had has a
right to keep it. My hon friend agrees
with me on that, we voted on the same
side on the resolution which was carried
in 1864. I will read the resolution :
"Resolved, As the opinion of this
Committee that the amount the Lieuten
and Governor is entitled to receive, as
salary, is ÂŁ3461 10s. 8d per annun,
and the Solicitor General and Provinvial
Secretary ÂŁ230 15s. 4d each," and further
"Resolved, That the amount paid beyond these sums were improperly paid,
and without sufficient authority."
Yeas—Kerr, Willis on, Vail, Costigan, McClelan, Skinner, Smith, McPhelim, Scovil,
Ferris, Lindsay, Anglin, W. J. Gilbert, S. H. Gilbert, Cud-
lip, Gilmur, Boyd.
He has thus allowed His Excellency
to do what he thought was wrong in
his predecessor's office. Another thing
he ought not to have done was, withholding the despatches sent out here for
the information of the Legislature. Mr.
Lindsay then read a despatch dated the
12th of April, which he said should have
been received here the 26th of April,
and which contained information of importance respecting military defence
and Confederation, that should have
been laid before the Legislature at that
time assembled, but which was not laid
before them at all. The next thing they
ought not to have done was, they should
not have written that despatch, dated
July 12th, which was insulting to Her
Majesty's Government, and which was
signed by the immortal seven and as
the President of the Council has endorsed it, he, with the late Attorney
General, will make the immortal nine.
The President of the Council said the
despatch justified them in using such
language as they did. He then read
the despatch dated June 24th, 1865, to
which the other was an answer, and said
he could see nothing in it to justify them
in returning such an answer, and continued : the President of the Council
said, he only knew of two persons, out
side of Parliament, who knew any thing
about the scheme. I cannot suppose
that when the British Parliament, consisting of six hunfred and fifty-six members,
were acquainted with this scheme,
no one outside would know anything
about it. It was said, if we went into
Confederation we would have to provide a navy. An Act passed this Legislature a few
days ago to provide one or
two vesseles for defence. Here is a navy
which we have to provide alone. If we
went into Confederation we would only
have one-thirteenth part to pay, and but
few vessels would be wanted. We have
been taken care of for seventy-five years,
and we should begin to try to do something for ourselves, and it should not be
thought an insult for Her Majesty's
Ministers to refer to it. and I do not
think the people of the country consider
it so. It has been said that union is not
strength. Who can beieve that uniting
these Colonies would weaken them.
The only thing I know of that will be
weakened by uniting is rum and water.
The Times says, that by refusing to
unite together we showa want of loyalty, and this Government says in the Minute of
Council : "When a wish is expressed by Her Majesty's Government,
it will be received with that federence
which is due to suggestions emanating
from so high a source, and will be considered with an anzious desire to meet
the views of Her Majesty's advisers ;
but if such views should unfortunately
not coincide with the views of those on
whom alone the responsibility of action
in the Province fallsm the Committee
feel assured that Her Majesty's Government will expect and desire that the Go
vernment of this Province should act
according to their own convictions of
right." They will act according to their
own convictions ; but when a foe invades the country they will send a despatch as
quick as possible to England,
and ask them to send soldiers and ships
to protect men who claim the right to
do as they like, when Her Majesty suggests that we should unite under one
Government. The Government tell us
how loyal they are. Loyalty does not
consists in lip service, but in obedience.
A refractory man is not a good subject
to an country.
Mr. Lindsay then read the reply of the
Colonial Secretary to those immortal
nine, and continued. This reply was
just as much as to say : I cannot believe the loyal men of New Brunswick
endorse the views expressed by those
immortal nine. These are things they
ought not to have done. I will now
speak of things they ought to have left
undone I believe when a man is paid
$2400 a year to fill an office, he should
attend to his duties and not have to
make excuses for sins of omission. It
is the old story—Adam left the blame
on his wife and his wife left it on the
devil. (Laughter.) The President of
the Council says the late Attorney General ought to have known the Export
Duty law was to expire. Another says
the Provincial Secretary ought to have
known it. Another, that Fisher found
it out and should have told them, and
another that the late Provincial Secretary ought to have told his predecessor
of it. They thus acknowledge that they
are not fit to attend to the business, for
they tried till they got a man out of office, and then found fault because he
did not do the work for them. The people complain they cannot find a member
of the Government at Fredericton, there
were so many pleasure excursions. Two
of them off to England to tell Her Majesty's Government what they knew before ; but,
in order to say they had done
something for the ÂŁ800 they received,
they made an arrangement for the Railway in Westmorland The Attorney
General made it under a Bill which he
had done all he could to defeat when it
was before the House. The Commissioner of the Board of Works, and my
hon. friend from St. John (Mr. Anglin)
went to Canada. I do not know whether
they went voluntarily or whether they
were paid for it. (
Mr. Anglin —I paid
my own expenses as I always do.) That
is all very well. Suppose I went to
your House and said I believe you are a
humbug, and a bankrupt, and I don't
want to have any thing to do with you ;
we would have a social time would we
not? It was in this spirit they went to
Canada ; they said we did not want a
closer union with you, for we believe
you are bankrupt, and are trying to take
advantage of us. What a fraternal
meeting that must have been. Then
they had another pleasure excursion to
the United States. My hon. friend (Mr.
Wilmot) was one of the immortal nine.
It is said, "evil communications corrupt
good manners" He was led to do
something he ought not to have done,
but, I believe, if my friend repents he
has a right to expect mercy, and if som-
other of my hon. friends would come
round in the same way we would have
mercy for them. The hon Attorney
General stated here last Session that he
was sorry that his hon. friend (Mr.
Fisher) who was one of the delegates
who went to Quebec, was not on the
floors of the House, so that he could confront him ; but not he has his wish,
he is not satisfied. He says that when a
division was taken upon the question
abolishing the office of Postmaster General, there were thirty for it and nine
against it. That was because, when a
question came up, they got up the rallying
cry, that every man who was elected a
Confederate was violating his principle
40 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866.
if he did not vote with the Government
A cry is now raised, that is they vote
against the Government the House will
be dissolved. I never was into a Government, and do not care about going in,
neither do I care much about having a
seat in the Legislature. When I was
first requested to offer, some person said
I would not get three hundred votes, but
the event proved he was wrong, and if
the House was dissolved to-morrow, I am
ready to run again, so they need not
think dissolving the House will have
much effect with me. There is another
thing ought not to have been done—that
is, speculating in land. I consider that
the greatest sin the Government have
been guilty of. I believe no greater evil
can be inflicted upon a community than
allowing one man to monopolize that lands
of the country. I will quote a report of
the Earl of Durham, who was at that
time Governor General of British North
America. At the 159h page of his
report he says :—
"In Upper Canada, a very small proportion—perhaps less than a tenth—of
the land thus granted has been even occupied by settlers, much less reclaimed and
cultivated. In Lower Canada, with the
exception of a few townships bordering
on the American frontier, which have
been comparatively well settled, in despite
of the proprietors by American squatters
it may be said that nineteen-twentieths of
these grants are still unsettled, and in a
perfectly wild state."
"No other result could have been expected in the case of those classes of
grantees whose station would preclude
them from settling on the wilderness, and
whose means would enable them to avoid
exertion for giving immediate value to
their grants ; and, unfortunately, the
land which was intended for persons of
a poorer order, who might be expected to
improve it by their labor, has, for the
most part, fallen into the hands of land
jobbers of the class just mentioned, who
have never thought of settling in person,
and who retain the land in its present
wild state, speculating upon its acquiring
value at some distant day when the demand for land shall have increased
through the increase of population."
This coincides with my own views in
this matter. I am opposed to any Government who will allow men to purchase
large blocks of land, which the poor man
has to go through and make roads, as
this interferes with the prosperity of the
country. Why should a poor man be
compelled to make roads through another
man's property ; that land having been
obtained for two shilings, and kept
until it is worth four dollars an acre,
in consequence of the settlements around
it. It had been said here that when they
received from timber licences. I contend
the country would be a gainer if no man
got land without the principle of actual
settlement being attached to it, for it has
been calculated that every settler is worth
three dollars a year to the revenues of
the country. This and the late Government blame each other in regard to this,
but I do not care who is in the Government, I should blame them for this,
(
Hon. Mr. Smith.—Which Government
was most to blame) All the late Government did was to order the survey.
(
Mr. Wetmore.—Was the money paid.)
The ex-Surveyor General said it was not
said. Why did the Government come to
the conclusion that the Intercolonial
Railroad was given up, when the survey
was made only ten months ago? If there
was any reason why the public lands
should be sold to others than actual
settlers, notice should have been given to
the Deputies. I know that men made
application for land in my County, and
could not get it. I believe in equal
rights for all. It was not right that a few
men should have been informed of what
was going on, and the rest kept in ignorance. There was five thousand acres
purchased in fictitious names, and then
the resolution was rescinded, and he got
ten thousand more ; previous to this he
got a three year license to cut the lumber on it, and if any one else had bought
it he could cut all the lumber off of it.
Then again they said, by doing away
with the political character of the Postmaster General, they would make a great
saving. If the political head of the department was abolished, would not the
chief business be done in St. John? It
was said Mr. Howe would be the General, but it was hinted outside that a
gentleman in St. John had the promise
of an office to be called Post Office Inspector. He would have the salary and
pickings, without the privilege of having
"General" attached to his name. This
was the saving that was to ve effected by
doing away with the political head of the
department, and to carry their measure,
they got up their rallying cry of Confederation. I was almost discouraged, but I
believed that "he is thrice armed who
has his quarrel just." I am glad there
are some hon. gentlement now who will
look after the interests of the coutnry and
not be drummed up with the cry of Confederation anfd anti-Confederation.
In regard to the appoinment og Judges,
my hon. friend referred to what Judge
Wilmot had said and done, and how he
had voted, thus admitting the truth of
the charge brought against them that they
had made politics their rule for their appointments on the Bench. I do not believe
in Judges interfering in the
political
questions which are before the country.
They should arise far above that ; but this
was a question whether we were going to
maintain out connection with the mother
country or not. Confederation in a question that has occupied the minds of men
for sixty-five years. Judge Wilmot held
those views when on the floors of this
House, and he is a credit to the country
which gave him birth, and I contend it
was unfair to pass over him and appoint
a junior Judge to the office. I do not
know much about the gentleman who has
been said that they might have found a person qualified without going to Insurance
Offices. He was appointed on political
grounds, which is a principle they have
carried down to the offcials on the railway, and I don't know how much further
they would have carried it, if His Excellency had not interfered. It had been
said that they are going to change their
base, and take another course on Confederation. If that is the case, it is not
right
for me to say anything, for they may come
round al right. I think by what is foreshadowed in the Speech, that they are going
to get up another delegation and have
another pleasure excursion, for the Attorney General says he is willing to go for
some Scheme. He said when we advocated a Scheme of Union, that we were
"political schemers" and "conspirators."
Now they are going to get up a political scheme, but I do not know whether
they are going to "conspirit" or not. They
c? a man that was going to carry out
the wishes of his Sovereign a "conspirator." I heard it stated on good authority,
and I need not go off the floors of this
Legislature to prove it, that the Chief
Commissioner, on being asked whether he had read the Minate of Council,
said he was sorry it did not go further,
that they had not made use of stronger
language, using an expression I am ashamed to repeat. These are the loyal
men, and we are the conspirators.
My hon. friend (Mr. Wilmot) said in
Canada, that he was not opposed to a
union, but he was not satisfied with the
Quebec Scheme. Mr. George Brown
said there were some things in the scheme
they did not like either, they would
meet him half way in considering a
union, for they did not wish to take
any unfair advantages of their fellow-
colonists. I am in favor of a union and
I do not see how any British subject
can be opposed to it, but to agree upon a
scheme of union, we must all make some
concessions or we will never agree to any
terms. My hon. friend (Co'. Boyd) made a
speech in Canada in favor of union. (Col.
Boyd, not in favor of the Quebec Scheme.)
I did not say it was, but I heard him speak
strongly in favor of a union ; but he is one
of those men who believe nothing good
can come out of Nazareth, and that a man
must belong to certian families of he will
not be fit for office. I believe in freedom
and equal rights for all. There are a great
many things in the scheme which are complained of in Canada and it is doubtful, if
we get a new scheme, whether we would
come off as well as we did before. They
complain that New Brunswick is to get
$63,000 a year for ten years. (
Mr. Need -
ham,—That is contingent, that unless we
run into debt to the extent of $7,000,000
we were not to get it.) If we built our
railroads under the Subsidy Act, our debt
would soon reach that amount, and Canada does not come in with a debt equal to
ours, if we take the population of Canada
into consideration. We would have more
money for local purpose than we have
now, and have the Inter-Colonial Railway
and Western Extension built besides. In
a time of war we could come to the assistance of each other and would not
require half the number of troops that we
do now in our isolated position.
DR. THOMPSON said he had taken
no notes, and would, therefore, make but
a short speech. At the last election two-
thirds of the poeple in this Province declared they were opposed to Confederation.
It has been said that, by signing
this Minute of Council, the Government
have insulted Her Majesty's Ministers.
He did not believe that, and he had
as great a respect for the United
Kingdom as any other man in the Province. At the same time, he did not like
to bow in slavish obedience to whatever set of men was put in as rulers
of that country, and if he has his say, the
present rulers would not be sustained in
their position very long. Since the great
man (Lord Palmerston), who was at the
head of the Government, is gone, they
have scarcely a man fit to retain office.
In regard to Confederation, it is not going to benefit us, for we would have to
be at the espence of keeping up two Legislatures, besdies this great Parliament.
If they must unite together, they had
better unite under one Legislature, which
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. 41
could
attend to their local business without their being at so much expense. He
could not see how members of this House
could be so shame-faced as to attempt
to do any thing of that kind. Some of
them would never have had a chance to
come to this House if they had not been
anti Confederate, and why then should
they turn traitors to the trust reposed in
them ; in his opinion, it would be wrong
and unjustifiable to do so. We have
been here eighty years and the country
has improved. We have got along very
well, and all we ask is to be let alone.
He believed that an affectionate feeling
for the Mother Country was true Confederation. It is said here, that they
should enter into Confederation as a
means of defence, but he considered
that the money required for keeping up
this great Parliament would be a means
of defence in itself. It has been said
that under Confederation, if an attack
was made we could send our troops
from one point to another. We can do
that now. Did we not pass a resolution
for putting all the available resources
of the country in the hands of the Government, and could we not pass a resolution
to move all our available forces
in or out of the Province, if we considered it best to fight upon a foreign
land. He was satisfied to see the Governor appointed by the Crown. If he was
appointed by the Government of Canada, in a short time there would not be a
drop of loyalty left. If had been said
that the Government had left things undone, they had allowed a law to expire
without being aware of it. This House,
in former times, would have taken care
of that, because a Committee of the
House used to be appointed to see if
any Bills were going to expire ; therefore, the onus is as much on us as it is
on them. A Bill has been passed to remedy the omission, which was caused
by the difficulties the present Government had to contend with, and the short
time which they had for entering into
details, as they ought to have done it
they had more time. The result of the
charges made against them is, that they
have stopped things from being done that
other parties wanted done. In regard to
the appointment of Judges, he did not
think they could have made better appointments. The Chief Justice is a pious
and just man, and man of high legal
knowledge ; he has stood high as a man,
and that is saying everything that is required. He could not see that it was
unfair to appoint Judge Ritchie to the
office of Chief Justice. He had a high
respect for Judge Wilmot, who was a
man of great legal knowledge, but then
if a person has a political bias, and the
hon. gentlemen of the Opposition had the
power of the Government, they would not
appoint him. It was not human nature
to do so, and it was not his nature. He
then referred to Judge Weldon, whom he
said was the oldest barrister in the Province, with the exception of Mr. Saunders,
and they did not overstep the eldest person and put in a younger. He was a man
of their own political opinion, and they
should appoint him to office as well as
any one else.
For the purpose of keeping up loyalty,
a small colony was better than a great
one, because they would have a British
Governor, who would be a tie between
them and the mother country. But in a
large colony, if everything does not please
them, they will say we are not going to
submit to this, and they do not feel that
loyalty that a smaller colony does. This
confederation scheme cannot benefit our
trade. We have not a single article we
can send to Canada. The fishermen in
Charlotte County say they can send their
fish there, but they have far more fisheries on the Canadian shore than we have
in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We
cannot take deals and boards there, we
have no manufactures to send there, for
we cannot manufacture our own bread.
We cannot compete with them, they can
get bread cheap, and can get labor for
almost nothing. They say we have more
coal here then they have in Canada, but
coal is much cheaper there than it is here.
We would soon have all our offices
filled
with the employees of the Canadian
Government, while we would have to pay
three times the taxes in proportion to our
numbers for the French scarcely consume any dutiable articles, the very sugar
they use they produce from the maple.
Then, as regards the prosperty of some
parts of Canada ; the people are going
from the town of Hamilton by shiploads,
you can get a house there by paying the
taxes. If they had the control of us,
they would tax us until we could not stand
it. It would not be like a bad law passed
this year and repealed the next, but we
would be fixed there where we could not
hope to get a reprieve. We would be
worse than the slaves, for they have a
hope of getting something done for them,
while we would have none. If they could
enter into some fair principle of union,
such as was entered into between England, Scotland and Ireland, which was
not the question of the day or a year, but
here we had a scheme brought forward
of which we knew nothing, and we were
expected to pass it at once. He condemned the act but not the persons who
made it, and he though they could have
free trade with the other colonies if they
wished it without going into confederation. This Quebec Scheme was framed
upon the spur of the moment, and they only
had a few days to consider it. It was not
like the union between Ireland and
England, for Ireland was an integral part
of the kingdom, and if we could have any
thing approximating to a like union, it
would be to have at some future time one
or two members to go home as our representatives in the British Parliament ;
in former times we could not have this,
but now we could go over there in ten
days, being one-quarter of the time it
used to take the members to come from
the nroth of Scotland by land. He would
strongly suggest the propriety of every
colony having a representative in the
British Parliament. He did not think
representation by population was altogether fair. A County with varied interests required
a larger representation.
The city of St. John of the County of
Charlotte required a larger representation
than the interior Counties. The question
now was, whether they should remove the
Government or let them live a little
longer. His opinion was they had better
let them live a little longer. (
A member
—How long do you go for.) That would
depend upon their behavior, but he
thought they should not condemn them
so soon. We should give them an opportunity to forsake their sins of commission and
omission, and allow them to go
on and show that their conduct in the
future will be such as will gratify the
persons who now oppose them. We
ought to have faith, hope and charity.
He had faith to believe they would do
better. Where is the Government that
has not been overhauled, more particularly since the establishment of responsible
and departmental Government. He
had made up his mind to go for the
address as it stood. Let the Government
live and breathe, and see wherein they
have done wrong and do so no more, so
that when difficulties assail us, they may
carry out the views of the Legislature.
MR. FRASER said he would make a
few remarks, but had made no arrangements, and was not going to reply to any
member. Certain charges had been made
against the Government, but he believed
those charges were mere sham. The
real question was Confederation. Of this
there could be no doubt. Why, then, did
they not move the amendment on a paragraph that would test it. If they were
going to agitate the country, let them
do it in a fair, open, manly, straightforward way, and not try it upon the question
of Fenianism, or any other ism. He would
ask the hon. mover of the amendment, if
he did not believe, when he struck out
that part which he feared would offend
the United States, that he could not get
the votes upon it. (
Mr. Fisher,—I made
it one of the grounds of my complaint
against the Government.) He should not
have struck it out. He could quote authority from the Speaker of the House of Commons.
(
Mr. Fisher,—That was a different
case. In this I was not obliged to give
notice
at all.) Very well, he would not say any
thing more in reference to that. He did
not wish to make any personal attack.
His hon. friend and him agreed as well
as any men in the country, but in matters
of a political nature he had a right to
take his side ; and his hon. friend could
take his. He did not intend to make an
attack upon him. He would merely advance some arguments which could go for
what they were worth. He charged the
Opposition with intending to get up a religious discussion in the House, by attacking
the Government. Why did not they
attack them on the clause relating to
Confederation?
MR. FISHER.—I thought this was
the most assailable point. I was not disposed to raise a question on Confederation.
A vote of want of confidence was
outside of that question.
MR. FRASER.—Why did you withdraw the latter part of the amendment?
MR. FISHER.—I withdrew it for the
reason I stated at the time. I said I intended to make that part of my charge
against them, and I did so.
MR. FRASER said his hon. friend and
the House had assisted the Government
in defending the country. If the Government come in and do not satisfy us that
they have defended the country, it will be
our duty to vote against them. We are
put down as traitors. He never was opposed to the abstract principle of a union of
the Colonies. He had taken the first section of the scheme, and said he would go
for that, and that was the only section in
the scheme that was carried unanimously. One of the charges brought against
the Government is, that dispatched were
withheld. He would tell them that a
system had been pursued of publishing
those dispatches in the neighboring colonies, before the English mail arrived
here. He thought the people of New
42 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866.
Brunswick were the best judges of whether Confederation was for their interest
or not. It was not for the people of Canada or the people of England, to tell
them what was for their interest, but
they would give due consideration to
anything emanating from the Colonial
Office. We are told that "union is
strength." No one desies that ; but a
union, to be strong, must have no discordant elements. In the abstract, he was in
favor of union ; but if he disapproved of
the grounds they went on, he would fight
against it through thick and thin. He had
heard them talk about loyalty. He could
say that some of his ancestors had shed
their blood under General Wolfe, at the
taking of Quebec ; and if the time now
came for a fight, and they got him in a
corner, he would be found giving a kick
for a kick, and a blow for a blow. The
next charge brought against them was
the President of the Council wished to
remove the seat of Government. He
then referred to the Journals of 1858 to
show who voted for the removal of the
seat of Government at the time.
MR. MCMILLAN said he had never,
here or elsewhere, given as a reason for
a vote of want of confidence, that they
wished to remove the seat of Government.
A charge was made against the mover of
the amendment, that he had charged the
President of the Council who doing away
with the Post Office Department, was a
first step towards the removal of the seat
of Government. I said I stated last year
in my place, when the subject was under
consideration, that it was a first step towards doing away with Departmental and
Responsible Government. I did not give
a reason that I would go against the Government because I opposed them upon
that last year.
MR. FRASER said it was put forward
in the County of York as a canvass
against Mr. Pickard, that he was a supporter of Mr. Smith, who was going to
remove the seat of Government. The
hon. mover of the amendment had stated
that he never stirred from his office, but
he had canvassers who went through the
country.
MR. FISHER.—There never was a
man went through the country by my
directions.
MR. FRASER then slated that in one
of the settlements of the County a gentleman, who was an ex-member of great
ability and ingenuity, told the inhabitants
in language that conveyed to their minds
the impression that Mr. Smith intended to
remove the Seat of Government. Another chrage is that they failed to discover
that the Export Duty Law had expired ;
all he would say in regard to this was,
that it was the duty of the out-going Government to communicate to an in-coming
one every thing that concerns the interests of the people or the business of the
country. This was done in England. If
the out-going Government knew of it,
they should have told it, and if
they did not know it, they were
? in the duty. Shortly af
[?]here last
session, he had
[?]a rumour
outside that the revenue
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?] They should not condemn the Government for that, for the money was all
in the Treasury now. They must consi-
der the peculiar situation of the Government. They were running all those elections
in the month of March, and had
many difficulties to contend with. Another ground of complaint is : they have
been guilty of land jabbing. He thought
if they had twenty such land jabbers as
Mr. Gibson, the people of York would
not complain, and he did not think the
people fo the Spruce County of Restigouche would complain either. The late
Government undertook to seel Mr. Gob-
son 15,000 acres of land without conditions of actual settlement attached. Five
thousand acres of this, Mr. Lindsay says,
was applied for under ficticious names.
He (Mr. Fraser) said they were all bona
fide
names
for land in one man's name, and another
man gets the land, is it not using fictitious names?
MR. FRASER —The whole lumbering
business is done in that way. If the hon.
member for Kent was to go to St. John
to purchase molasses, and went to his
friends and said, if I go and buy it, the
dealer will take advantage of me, but if
you go, he will not know who is buying
it. They say the late Government did
not undertake to sell the land. They ordered a survery, and when a man gets an
order to survey, he believes the Government is going to bring that land to sale.
The debate was then adjourned until
to-morrow at 11 o'clock.
MR. NEEDHAM called the attention
of the House to a report in the
Morning
Telegraph
of a speech made by him, in
which this passage appears : "He states
he was not surprised at the view taken
by that 'great big toady.' Dr. Thompson,
but it was no use for him 'or any other
man' to try to stop the progress of every
great political principle." He did not
want to be misrepresented, for he did not
make use of the words "great big toady," nor the words that follow either. He
believed it was not a misprint, but a misrepresentation. He spoke this in the
hearing of their paid reporter, in order
that he should notice that he gave this a
flat contradiction.
House adjourned until 10 A. M. to-morrow.
T. P. D.
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