42 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866.
THURSDAY, MARCH 22.
The House, moved by
Mr. Anglin, went
into Committee of the Whole (
Mr. Scovil
in the Chair) on a Bill for the purpose of
winding up the affaird of the Caledonia
Mining and Manufacturing Company.
Bill passed without discussion or amendment.
At eleven the adjourned debate on the
amendment to the 4th paragraph in the
address, was taken up.
MR. FRASER resumed his speech
from yesterday afternoon. He said that
there was the charged of which the House
was
[?] Government
and it was a very delicate subject
[?]
[?]
Province, to, torch
[?]
Judicial
[?]
afraid
[?]
would give his opinion plainly and he
felt bound to say that the Government
could not have appointed Judge Wilmot
to the position of Chief Justice and done
justice to themselves. The hon. member
of York (Mr. Fisher) said that there was
no great political excitement at the time
Judge Wilmot addressed the Grand Jury
in Fredericton on the subject of Confederation. He wished to show that the polical
excitement was running very high at
the time. The coutnry was agitated on
the question of the Quebec Scheme. Mr.
Fisher himself, who was the first who began the discussion, he spoken in Carleton
; he was followed by his friend Mr.
Needham. Mr. Tilley and Mr. Gray
not long afterwards repeatedly addressed
crowded audiences in the Mechanics Institute, St. John, and in Carleton. The
excitement throughout the country was,
there could be no doubt, running high. A
keen political contest was looked forward
to, for it was pretty well understood that
the Governor was going to dissolve the
House. It was amidst all this excitement that Judge Wilmot addressed the
Grand Jury in Fredericton. His hon.
colleague (Mr. Fisher) said that it was a
common practice for Judges in their addresses to speak on the topice of the day,
and he had pointed to a precedent in the
case of the late Chief Justice Parker.
But there was a great difference between
Judge Parker addressing a Jury on a
School Law, and that of Judge Wilmot
speaking with all the judicial authority of
the Bench on a question affecting the very
constitution of the coutnry. He denied
his right to throw himself into the political excitement of the time, and his saying
that he would, in case it was necessary to carry the Scheme of Confederation, resign
his seat up on the Bench and
contest the County of York, was sufficient
to condemn him in his mind. Further
than that, Judge Wilmot voted against
the Government of the day. If he (Judge
W. chose to mix himself up with the politics of the day, he must as men i nthe
humbler situations of public trust, take the
consequences : considering his position,
he was bound to preserve a dignified
silence.
Mr. Fraser then proceeded to speak on
the charge against the Government for
not fillinf up the office of Auditor General, and referred to the late Auditor General,
a gentleman who was well known to
be a great financier, but equally well
known for several years before his death
to be incapable to discharge the duties of
his offie. He was not pleased, he confessed, that the Government had filled up
that office before this time, but was he to
turn round, because they had not done so,
and oppose them, and help probably to
being in a Government that would inflict
the Quebec Scheme upon the country. But
he would say that as far as the business
of the Audit Office was concerned, he had
no fault to find with the Government. He
never knew the public accounts to be presented in such a clear, plain, mercantile
manner as they had been this year. With
regard to the Solicitor Generalship. As
far as he himself was consulted in the
Crown business, he had given good advice, that is, in Crown judgment,
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?] the Government had not made the
appointment, particularly if the pay of
the gentlemen employed did not exceed
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. 43
the salary of the Solicitor General. Mr.
Fraser then went on to show that the
crown law expenses under the late Government were not confined to the salaries
of its officers; he took up the public
accounts of 1862 and proved that the late
Government, when they had a Solicitor
General employed gentlemen to conduct the business—quoting a case where Mr. Charles
Fisher had been paid $187 for attending
to the criminal business in Carleton.
Mr. Fraser then referred at length to
the course Mr. Fisher had taken
during
the election of York, and
denounced his attack on Mr. Hatheway as cruel and
unkind.
Mr. Fuller had attacked every one of the
three gentlemen who represented York,
and who had been returned by large majorities over himself, and all, he believed.
for the express purpose of raising himself
at their expense.
Mr.
Fraser then proceeded to say the
mover of the amendment, Mr. Fisher, had
made a grave charge a against the Government in reference to Minute of
Council.
He had called it an insulting
document,
and said that any one who would answer
a courteous letter in the spirit of that paper, he would call a low fellow. He
could not agree with Mr. Fisher,
he
said, and he did not fear boldly to express
his opinion. There was no insult to that
dispatch to Her Majesty's Secretary of
State. He thought that the gentlemen
who signed that Minute had taken
a bold
and independent stand. Could Mr Fisher say that they had no right to differ
with Mr. Cardwell on a matter of policy
so nearly affecting their
interests ?
Would he say that Her Majesty's
Ministers could not be approached with remonstrance ? that they were never censured
for their policy in the Imperial
Parliament? What, he would like to know,
did Earl Derby state, the other
day, in
reference to Mr. Cardwell and
his Colonial policy? Mr. Cardwell was, like any
other man, liable to error and mistakes of
judgment, and open to censure. While
he had the highest respect for the Queen's
Secretary of State, he thought,
on the
question of Confederation, he had a right
to his opinion, and that he had
the better
judgment of what would be best for the
country. Mr. Fisher had displayed a
new-born reverence for dispatches, but
what did he say in 1854? Why, that the
Government should not he governed by
dispatches from Downing Street, but
Mr. Fisher only cared for dispatches
when it suited him. The Government
had been charged with neglecting
the defence of the country. He had no hesitation in saying that it had been
the hon.
member of Carleton (Mr. Connell) who
had raised the alarm about the
unprotected state of the frontier. He
did not
wonder at the alarm in Carleton, and
that
weak women and children should
be
frightened; but he believed it was got
up that some political purpose
might be
served. He had not the slightest
doubt
that the Government would look after
the
defences of the country, if for no other
reason than that their own lives
and properties were at stake. Mr. Fisher had
referred to the coat of the delegation
to
England, and said that the money
had
been absolutely wasted. But be thought
that delegation had done good. By it
Mr. Cardwell got some
information
as to the feeling
in this Province regarding the Quebec Scheme, that might be
useful ro him. With regard to the question of Confederation, he was not, he
would say, opposed to the
abstract prin
ciple of union, but he would never
consent
that the Quebec Scheme should be
inflicted upon the country. He would go
down
with the ship first, and he would never
consent to any scheme unless it was first
submitted to the people.
Mr.
Fraser quoted from the Canadian
News, to the effect that it was said the
British Government were going to appoint Hon. Mr. Tiller Governor of British
Columbia and Vancouver's Island—a report that the
News hoped was not
true,
for Mr. Tilley had yet good work
to do,
and in doing it he would serve
the British Government and the Colonies. What
was that good work, he would like to ask?
Was it not to work up the scheme and
have it forced upon the Province? Mr.
Tilley, in doing this, might be serving
the interests of the Imperial
Government,
but was he serving the interests of the
Province? He believed the British Government were deceived as to the unanimity of
feeling in favor of the scheme. They
were told that men of all political parties
wished to carry it out. But, he
would
ask, who represented the Opposition of
this Province at the Quebec Conference?
The Hon. J. H Gray. Did he represent
the Opposition? No. Did Hon. E. B.
Chandler, one of the greatest politicians
this country had produced—did he represent the Opposition? No. Somehow
he was generally found supporting the
Government of the day. Did his
hon.
colleague Mr. Fisher represent the Opposition? No. He would tell his
colleague, when the Tilley Government
turned him, they turned him out. But
it was no less true that, after
he was
turned out, he invariably gave that Government his support. When the
British
Government were told that men of all
parties supported the scheme, he maintained they were told what was
not true.
He would refer to another delegation.
the delegation to Washington with reference to the Reciprocity Treaty. (Here
Mr. Fraser quoting from an American
paper, referred to a debate that had taken
place at some meeting in Washington, at
which Mr. Merrill & Co. on the-American
side and the Hon. Messrs. Galt,
A.J Smith
and Henry, delegates of the Provinces,
were present, and showed that the Hon.
A. J. Smith was reported as arguing
strongly in maintenance of the
right of
lumbermen to raft their lumber down the
head waters of the St. John.) Should
they say, after this, that the
Hon. A. J.
Smith, who, it had been said, was hostile
to this section of the country, was the
man who was going to sacrifice interests of the people on the St. John River?
Or would it be said that the delegation
to Washington was useless when, though
the treaty was abrogated, that
right was
not lost? A great deal had been said
about the cost of delegations.
How
much he would like to know, did the
delegation of Mr. Fisher and the
Hon. J.
Robertson cast the Province ? ÂŁ350,000.
because the country lost that sum
when
they bought out Jackson & Co. He heard
that his hon. colleague kept back the
contract, and it was a singular thing that
memorandum attached to it, in which
Jackson & Co. professed willingness to
build the Railway upon concession of
time, could not be found. (
Mr. Fisher
derided this.) The contract was kept
back. He would refer to his hon. friend
Mr. Kerr, if that was not the fact.
Mr. KERR did remember that the
contract was missing at the time, and that
it was never seen till after the debate on
the question was closed. The Attorney
General (Mr. Fisher) said that it had
been mislaid in a pigeon-hole of some
desk in the Provincial Secretary's office.
MR. FISHER —It was a singular thing
that the original contract was never
produced during the debate. But there
was a duplicate of it. It was also a singular thing that., after the debate,
the
original contract should have turned up
in the Secretary's office. He would rather be called a liar to his face than to
have these insinuations thrown out. His
colleague (Hr. Fraser) would find the
whole words of the original
contract in
the Journals of 1856, page 52,
with the,
memorandum.
MR. FRASER —If his hon. colleague
would show, he would withdraw
his assertion. (Here
Mr. Fisher
produced the
Journals, and showed the copy of the contract, and pointed out that the memorandum
for extension of time was in the body
of the agreement.) Mr. Fraser,—But it
was a distinct memorandum. He had
heard the present Judge Allen
make the
statement on the hustings. With reference to the cost of the
delegation of Hon.
A.J. Smith and J. Allen. it had been
said that it cost ÂŁ800. Then, he
said, the
delegation of his hon. colleague (Mr.
Fisher) cost ÂŁ350,000; for who could
say, if they had not been bought
out, if
they had got an extension, that
Jackson
& Co., the wealthiest
railway contractors
in England, who had built a
railway in
the Crimea and made a present of
it to
the British Government, were men
not
able to build the Railway? But, apart
from this view of the case, it
was
said that the delegation of
Fisher and
Robertson cost ÂŁ900. One thing
more
he would touch upon. An
observation of
the hon. member (Mr. Fisher) had fallen
on his ears and given him a great surrise, when he said that the troops of Her Majesty
would not be sent to the
borders of the Province because they
would desert. Were they not sent
two
or three years ago? And when th e disturbance on the Railway took place, sent
to the border, and had they
heard of one
desertion? lt came with a very
bad grace
from him (Mr. Fisher) to cast
this slur
upon Her Majesty's groups. (
Mr. Fisher
denied that what he had said could bear
the interpretation Mr. Fraser had put upon
it.) That slur that had been thrown upon Her Majesty's troops he would throw
back as a slur upon the hon. member.
MR MCCLELAN referred to his
friendly relations with the members of
the present Government, had a high regard for each separately, but they had
lost their individuality, and as a political combination he (Mr. McC.) hoped their
policies would be confounded, and their fantastic and knavish tricks frustrated.
Contrasted their coasted strength of
last Session with their acknowledged
weakness of this.
Delegations
extravagant and useless.
Burial of Confederation, and its
resuscitation now.
The Government acknowledge guilt
on the Export Duty. Count, and throw
themselves on the mercy of the
court. They are unwilling witnesses on their
own trial;—refuse the records, and,
therefore, have all the advantages Defeated in Legislative Council, but refuse to
rescind Address for fear of consequences.
The Press and the platform—the ele 44 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. ments of progress—ought not to be denounced by the Government. If
their
deeds were not evil they should not fear
the light of free discussion.
The Government unable to fill up the
offices; the people refuse to endorse
their policy, and unable, also to dismiss officials after attempting to do so.
His Excellency very properly holds his
imbecile advisers in check.
The York election—a fair criterion of
public feeling all over the Province.
Replied to Fraser and Hatheway, as to
the influences at work in York which
caused return of Fraser.
The
Government to blame on the
Governor's salary question. The Private Secretary continues to receive full
amount, and the principle of drawing
on the Province for the larger amounts,
so strongly condemned by the Freeman,
still continues.
The delay
in calling the House, unwise, especially this year, when important laws had expired.
Tilley and
Fisher should not be blamed for not
coming earlier to their rescue. Such
an act of kindness could scarcely be expected.
Gibson's land ought not to have been
brought to sale till a formal notice of
rescinding the former order had been
published. The Surveyor General, last
Session, stated that the Government
had not then concluded as to this matter. Now they say, the order lapsed
when the Inter-colonial Railroad Act
expired. Five thousand acres of the
land surveyed for Gibson advertised in
name of other parties. The public deceived. Twenty-seven acres granted
at the head of Nashwaak River, which
commands the business of St. Mary's
Lake, which was not offered at public
sale at all, said to have been given to
make up for some deficiency.
The Attorney General cannot blame
the Opposition Press for furnishing timely information of the Fenian conspiracy ;
he is not the greatest alarmist himself
on this subject. We are not asked for
concord and harmony in view of this
emergency. The Attorney General
finds "emergencies" sufficient to enable
him to get the loaves and fishes; but
such appeals are too transparent.
The famous Minute of Council, undignified, untruthful and insulting.
The Judges appointments condemned.
The claims of Wilmot unjustifiably overlooked. The despotic conduct of these
men in the exercise of "a little brief
authority" cannot be sustained by the
people.
The Attorney General's present Confederation policy examined, and the
"checks," or "equivalents," which he
proposes for representation by population alluded to.
The "Dorchester Scheme" vs. "Quebec
Scheme" contrasted.
The inconsistencies of Attorney General and Chief Commissioner of Works,
the best illustrations of professional politicians. "Everything by turns and
nothing long."
The former objections to Union removed, and the manifest tendency of
the times, illustrated by a reference to
concurrent events.
"Something must be done quickly"
or the present unpopular Government
will ruin the Province, "politically,
commercially and financially." The
ship of state, with its mutinous crew
will soon be wrecked, involving the loss
of the peoples' best and dearest interests, unless placed in charge of another
captain and more reliable men.
[
Mr. McClelan addressed the House
for about three hours; but owing to our
unfortunate misunderstanding about
reporting, we are unable to furnish more
of this speech than some of the leading
points.]
Hon. MR. GILMOUR said he was
pleased to hear his hon. friend, Mr.
McClelan say that if the Government
were all right on the question of Confederation, he would not feel bound to
vote against them on any of the minor
charges which had been preferred at
this time. He thanked his hon. friend
for the complimentary allusion which
had been made to him; personally they
had been on the most intimate terms for
ten years, and had, until the last election, acted together in politics, and if
there was any circumstances which he
regretted, it was that his hon. friend
and himself differed in reference to Confederation. There was no member with
whom he should be more pleased to be
associated than with him. He should
not trespass long upon the time of the
House, for he was quite sure that he
could not make a speech which could
for any length of time be interesting.
The Government, of which he was a
member, were not upon their trial. He
had listened to the charges and denunciations which had been made without any
feelings of alarm or fear: first, because he
knew that he had endeavored to do his
duty, and that it had been done in such
a manner that the public interest had
been carefully guarded, and whatever
the result of the vote might be, it could
make little difference to him personally,
for he valued the honorable position
which he held only because it was an
evidence of the confidence of the people ; he was not in need of its emoluments, he
was not a all in love with its responsibilities. One would suppose that
some of the Opposition in the House,
and many more out of it, imagined that
the Government had done some great
injustice to the late Government ; such
was not the case ; in the words of the
famous Memorandum of Council, the
late Government were parties to the
Quebec Scheme ; they submitted it to
the people in their own way and at their
own time, and it was rejected, and in
rejecting it they rejected its advocates.
The present Government had no concerted action during the elections; each
discussed the question in its own way,
and he should trust fairly and honorably; and no matter how highly the services of
the late Government had been
valued, the most of them had been defeated, and their services had been dispensed
with. If any injustices had been
done to them, they had to blame their own constituencies and not this
Government. He had no apology to make
to the late Government or any member
of it; he never wronged them either
individually or collectively, and neither
was he under any obligation to them ;
he thought if the accounts were balanced, they would be largely indebted to
him, so far as political favors were concerned. It was true, as the Attorney
General had stated, that most of the
members of the present Government
Â
were called hastily and unexpectedly
to seat in the Executive Council,
and a generous public would not expect new men to be just so ready in
all duties of an Executive as men
who had been for years directing the
affairs of the Province; but while they
had not their experience, neither had
they learned the art of mystifying and humbugging the people.
Without any wish to operate upon
the sympathies of hon. members or the
people generally, he would refer for a
few minutes to some of the influences
which had been used against the Government. First, he alluded to the
press, the most of which had been not
only in favor of Confederation, but in
direct opposition to the Government.
He was aware that some portion of the
religious press had been devoted to advocating Confederation, but other portions of
it had exerted all their influence against the Government, and
had not hesitated to scatter through
society "firebrands, arrows and death."
He was not one of those who
would, if he could exclude the discussion of important political questions
from religious journals, but they should
be expected, from their high and holy
calling, to urge a calm and dispassionate consideration of any important matter, and
to endeavor to operate upon
men's reason and judgment, and upon
the better part of human nature, but
some of them, he regretted to say, had
pursued an entirely different course.
He had no disposition to say anything
disrespectful, and should leave them to
their own reflections, which he was sure,
in their calm moments, must punish
them more than anything which could
be said of them; but there were some
honorable exceptions. The secular
Press had pursued a course of opposition unprecedented in the history of this
or any other Province, and if the "liars
have their place," he pitied the men who
had prompted and published such base
and calumnious falsehoods. They had
learned the art of lying and misrepresentation to perfection, and would be
entitled to a first class certificate for
those qualifications. They had acted
upon the principle of throwing dirt in
hopes that some might stick; they had
endeavored to give a false coloring to
the most plausible acts of the Government
and the papers had teemed with one
continued strain of personal abuse,
slander and misrepresentation, and
when such characters call a man a fool
the public are to understand him to be
an honest man, and one who will endeavor to do his duty. Their humor
means scandal and falsehood. Patriot--
one who wants to humbug the people
and get into office. Promises-mean
nothing. Rogue and rascal-means a
man of a different political party from
themselves ; in fact, the public should understand them, to get at the truth, to
say. Such papers had been spread,
broad-cast over the land, at whose expense he was not prepared to say, but
he could say, that none of the public
money had been used since the present
Government came into power, to subsidize the Press. In connection with a
portion of the Press there had been employed an organized band of sneaks,
who had no taste for anything that was
decent or good, who would see nothing
to please in the most lovely landscape
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. 45
but if
they could only see something
filthy and decayed they were
sure to
stick their bill into it. And such was
the character of the miserable band who
had so industriously endeavored to poison the public mind by base and dishonest means,
and some men who hold
their heads high, and present a friendly appearance, had encouraged it;
but "a man may smile, and smile, and
be a villain." He had borne their personal abuse and slander for twelve
months, and was now going to free his
mind, and as he cared little personally
for political distinction, he should speak
without reserve his honest conviction,
let it cut where it would.
Their political opponents, with some
honorable exceptions, had pretended to
look upon the Government with contempt.
This was a quality seldom seen in a
gentleman, it was most prominent in the
lower order of men. Gentlemen, although superior in education and in position, seldom
looked with contempt upon
those, who in reality were their inferiors; but there was a class of men who
became intoxicated with their own supposed greatness and superiority, having
excessive vanity, who in order to gratify
a low principle, treated with contempt
men who were quite their equals, this
quality increased as you descended in the
scale of manhood, and was very prominent
in the negro character, and he had been
informed that in the South the slaves
looked upon and treated with contempt
not only those of their own class who
might not be just equal with them in the
social scale, but even the white men who
were free and in every respect their
superiors. And in animals it is the
same. Writers who had studied their
habits said, that the lion and the horse
were never known to have been influenced
by any such disposition, while the ass and
the meaner beasts were strongly influenced by that principle. He had been
amused to see with what contempt some
of the very meanest specimens of humanity pretended to look upon the present Government.
A great many of the
public officials, from the judge upon the
bench down to the humblest employee
upon the railroad, had been opposed to
the Government, and, with some honorable exceptions, they had been industriously endeavoring
to defeat them. It had
not been the policy of the Government to
remove from office their opponents and
replace them with their friends, but acts
of kindness and forbearance in too many
cases had been met with base ingratitude.
Personally he had, since his first entrance into public life, been opposed to
removals, except where the public interests require it. He had never been
disposed to use any brief authority or
power which might have been entrusted
to him in any unkind or ungenerous way,
and for pursuing that course he had suffered to some extent with the extreme
men of the Liberal party, and now, he
believed, that he was likely to suffer from
the extreme men of the Conservative
party, but so far he had had courage
enough in that respect to do what he
thought was right, but there was a point
beyond which forbearance ceased to be a
virtue.
Having now dwelt long enough upon
general matters, he would allude to a
few of the charges which had been urged
against this Government; and as all of
them had been so ably answered by
speakers who had preceded him, it was
not necessary that he should dwell long
upon any of them.
Mr. Fisher charged the Government with having called the House together on the 8th of March
instead of
the 14th of February. This House was
prorogued on the 8th day of June last,
and was called together on the 8th of
March, covering a recess of only nine
months, when formerly twelve months
was the time between the sessions; and
what interest had suffered in consequence
of this delay of three weeks from the
usual time? He knew of none. Had any
constituency or any hon. member been
put to inconvenience in consequence of
it? He knew of none. Perhaps his hon.
friend, Mr. Fisher, fancied the session
might be a few days shorter in consequence of it, or that some of the large
stock of poultry he had said in might not
keep during the long days of March. The
charge was unworthy of any further notice, he was satisfied the House and the
country would so view it.
The next charge preferred by Mr.
Fisher was, that an Auditor General had
not been appointed, and that he was
satisfied there were thousands of accounts in that office not checked at this
day. Now he was sure that the duties of
that office had never, since its first formation, been better and more efficiently
done than they had been the last year,
and he denied the assertion that such a
number of accounts remained in that
office unchecked. The last quarter, or
rather the first quarter of the fiscal year
1866, might not be yet entirely checked,
because after the close of the fiscal year,
a good deal of time was required to prepare the report for the Legislature, and
then as there were only two persons in
the office a few accounts may not be
examined immediately on their receipt,
but as soon as the report was completed,
Mr. Johnson at once attended to that
duty; but he (Hon. Mr. Gillmer) would
inform the hon. member for York, Mr.
Fisher, if there were any accounts in the
Audit Office unchecked, when they were
neglected, it was when there was an
Auditor General and three clerks in that
office, at an expense of six or seven hundred pounds more than it was now, and
when Mr. Fisher was in the Government
also, that was the time, and not since the
office of Auditor General had been vacant,
that the public interests had been neglected, and this he thought could be fully
substantiated. There was no fear of the
public interest suffering in that department when Mr. Johnson had charge; he
was a most efficient and faithful official.
Up to 1854 there had been only a partial audit of the public accounts. At that
time the political necessities of Mr. Fisher
and his friends, together with the consideration for an old public servant, caused
the Government to appoint Mr. Partelow, and he remembered that his hon.
colleague (Col. Boyd) and himself agreed
at the time that ÂŁ100 per annum
was
sufficient salary for that official. But it
was also very convenient to have a financier so competent to give information and
advice convenient to the Government ;
but it was well known that for four years
before his death he was entirely unfit to
discharge the duties of the office, and
that the whole duties devoted on Mr.
Johnson. Mr. Fisher told them that the
Constitution had been violated in not filling up the office. Why did not the late
Government fill it up? Three or four
months elapsed between the death of Mr.
Partelow and their resignation. The
reason was, that so many of them wanted
it that they could not agree, and they
concluded not to fill it until after the election. He thought, if they could not
agree to give it to one of their own number, there was more than one gentleman
who had given them a generous support
for ten years, who would have accepted
it and would have discharged its duties
well. He would not charge them with
having violated the Constitution in not
filling it up, but he thought they were
unmindful of their old friends. Gratitude
in old politicians was a rare commodity.
He thought the Opposition would fail to
convince either a majority of the House or
the public that the Government deserved
censure for not appointing an Auditor
General, when they knew and understood
that the duties of that Department had
been done as well, certainly and some
persons thought better, than they ever
were before, and at an expense some
$2000 less than formerly. Mr. Fisher
said the Minute of Council was an
insult to the Queen. He did not so understand it, and he was sure it was not so
intended and he was not afraid to allow an
intelligent public to pronounce on it. He
thought there could not in the history of
New Brunswick, be found a memorandum
of Council, in answer to any dispatch
from the British Government, that was
more respectful, and at the same time
more determined to maintain the rights
which belonged to them under the Constitution. His hon. friend (Mr. Fisher)
thought it a great offence to beg to differ
from the Colonial Secretary in a matter
which affected out best interests; but he
did not think it any offence to the Queen's
represenative to call his advisers "thimble riggers," traitors, hypocrites, &c.
Such language to men on this side of the
water was considered by him quite right,
but to dare to differ from Mr. Caldwell,
in the most respectful manner, was a
crime of the deepest dye. Such arrant
nonsense was unworthy the least consideration. He was proud of that dispatch.
Another charge was, that the Government had not made proper provision for
the defence of the country; that the
money which was to be expended during
the sumer for militia purposes, should
have been expended on the frontier before now. What would the hon. member
have said if the Government had expended
$30,000 to $40,000 up to the present
time for militia purposes. Had they done
so, he thought they would justify have deserved censure, for until very recently,
the Government was not aware of any
danger that would have justified such as
expenditure; and he was sure the people,
of the frontier Countries, who were most
exposed, had not yet been so much alarmed that they would have justified the
large expenditure that would have done
no good. He charged the Government
with vascillation and hypocrisy, and with
having pursued a sinuous course. If
there was a man in the world who deserved to be styled a crooked disciple, it
was Mr. Fisher. Politically, he was
known as a dodger. There appeared to
be a constitutional predisposition to do
everything by a sort of side-winded
round-about way. He was really the best
illustration of the Irishman's gun, that
would shoot round a corner, that he had
ever seen. He hastened to a part of his
speech on declaration day in York, that
such frequent reference had been made to
during this Session. At that time he
46 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866.
wrote a letter to a friend, a copy of which
he read as part of his speech:
Dominion day in Fredericton was
[?] forenoon
There were
[?] more than two hundred
and
[?] men in the Temperance Hall to
listen to Mr. Fisher's speech. Surrounded as he was by a packed audience, for
very few of Mr. Pickard's friends were
present, he was very bold and very loyal
if his own assertions are proof of either.
I could not have believed that Mr. Fisher
would have indulged in so much self-
glorification, and personal abuse of others.
John Pickard, he said, was a good fellow,
and had always supports him until the
last election, and he (Mr. Fisher) was
sorry he had got into such bad company
now. (Mr. Pickard is a young man, but
rather too old to be caught by the hollow-
hearted compliments of Charles Fisher.)
He would still continue to be a good
fellow, in Mr. Fisher's opinion, was he to
spend his money for him, and adopt all
his opinions. but Mr. Pickard is a man
who thinks for himself, and is known,
both by his opponents and supporters, to
be an honorable man ; and Mr. Pickard
knows, also, that these professional politicians are dangerous men, seeking, generally,
to elevate themselves at the expense of the public, and in too many
instances, at the sacrifice of truth and
honor.
Mr. Fisher stated that he had
been urged by requisitions from all parts
of the country to come forward at this
election—the people stating, in
their letters, that they had been deceived at the
last election, and that they now wanted a
chance to reverse what they had done;
and they had now shown most nobly that
they were in favor of British institutions
and of a great British North American
nationality. He repeatedly stated that
this election was tested upon the question
of Confederation. That, and that alone,
was the issue. (If there were any anti-
Confederates present, who had voted for
him, they must have felt exceedingly annoyed for having been thus shamefully
deceived, and must have most heartily
despised the man who could practice such
deception, and it will no doubt be remembered by many, should he again appear
before them.) He read from the
Freeman
what he called Anglin the Dictator's
challenge to the noblemen at York, which
they had accepted, and the result would
speak for itself. He had beaten them by
a majority of seven hundred (meaning the
Catholics) many of the best of whom, he
said, had voted for him. He accepted
the challenge much as a coward would,
who, sheltering himself behind some fortification, would shoot his adversary, and
then come forth to boast of his pluck and
manliness. He repeatedly called Anglin
a traitor, said over and over again that
there was not a drop of British blood in
his veins, and, as an offset, said that
the
blood which coursed through his veins had
descended from the true old Loyalists.
These sentiments, which were several
times repeated, invariably called forth
hearty cheers. He was very sever on
the Government; said they got into
power by practising lies and deception,
but that the voice from York had sounded
their speedy downfall. (it occurred to
me that he knew full well that when the
members of the present Government were
elected, Mr. Tilley and his colleague
were then in power,
they appealed to the
people—the dear people in whom Mr.
Fisher
has such an abiding confidence
and the electors throughout the Province
returned the men who compose the present Government to represent them. He
(Mr. Fisher) several times said that Anglin the traitor was the leading genius of
the Government; that he held them in
the hollow of his hand, and could rule
them as he pleased. but he was most
surprised that men like R. D Wilmot
and W. H. Odell could be influenced to
sign a document, so full of disloyalty to
the Queen and British Government, as
that Memorandum of Council signed by
seven of the Council and sent to Mr.
Cardwell. It had been written by Anglin,
the traitor, over night, and signed by the
rest after dinner. These declarations
seemed to please the most part of the audience very much. It could hardly have
occurred to them that Mr. Fisher could
not possibly know who wrote it, or when
it was signed. Had they thought of this,
they would have agreed with me that he
was a most unscrupulous man for making
such a declaration.
He talked a great deal of nonsense
about Fleming's Report, and the Inter-
Colonial Road, which was soon to traverse
the whole length of the County of York
and the Province. It occurred to me,
while listening to him, that it would be
rather unfortunate for some politicians
should that Road be built, as it could not
be so conveniently used for different
local canvasses as it could now. The report is remarkable for accommodating
a great number of politicians, who can
place the Road just where it will secure
the most votes. He strutted with great
dignity upon the platform, and completely snuffed the audience with his lip loyalty,
all of which was loudly cheered. He
would occasionally give the men of York
credit for some loyalty, but reserved
much the largest share for himself. His
audience did not appear to discover
the emptiness of such an exhibition.
He was very personal in referring to the
Representatives of York, and referred to
some of them in a very insulting manner.
He hinted something in reference to
Judge Allen's going on the bench, which
I could not understand; he said the business of York had been neglected by
them, and about the time the House
closed, Allen, Fraser and Hatheway were
engaged in figuring how to sustain a
miserable Government, while Billy Need-
ham was drunk and very boastingly, and
I think foolishly, said that he had more
stake in the country than the three of
them put together, he had not much
money, and could not, therefore, spend
much in elections. And as to their
morality, look at George L. Hatheway
and W. H. Needham. Lord help the
country if they were the standard; men
who had not the least regard for the
scared and holy ties of matrimony, notoriously unfaithful to every obligation of
that kind; then he went into a great deal
of twaddle about marriage ties, sacredness
of home, regard for religion and virtue,
and recommended his devoted friends to
go home peaceably and return to their
workshop and their counting-house, and
that at the general election, WHICH
WOULD COME SOON, he with three others,
who he would not name would carry
York with an increased majority.
It was quite apparent in a large part of
his speech that he had endeavored to excite their prejudices, which every true and
good man should seek to allay. He could,
in conclusion, with truth had said, I
have endeavored to deceive the people in
reference to the matter of Confederation,
both in my card and my speech on Nomination Day. I treated that matter so ingeniously,
that in the event of a defeat, I
could have said that Confederation was
not the question, but should I be elected,
I can claim it a great victory for Confederation. I have been informed that the
questions was put to Mr. Fisher by some
anti-Confederate: "Is this to be a test
of Confederation?" and he answered them
IT IS NOT! With that declaration they
voted for him. He could say, I have attempted to make the electors of York believe
that the men in power intended to
remove the Seat of Government, and in
other ways fo great injustice to York
County. I know that I have not the least
foundation for this in truth, but it answered my purpose for the time being, and I
did it. I know that there has been no
effort made to remove the Seat of Government since 1858, when I was a member of
the Government with Smith, Tiller, Watters, Brown, Johnson and Steves, all of
whom were favorable to the removal.
Knowing this, I remained in the Government with them UNTIL THEY PUT ME OUT.
I know also that there are three members of the present Government at the
head of three important public departments, with twenty-four hundred dollars a
years each, that these gentlemen all reside
in York County, having their business,
their property, and their interest there,
and I know full well that the Government
would not under those circumstances, even
if they wished, attempt a removal of the
Seat of Government. YES, I know this
well; but I was untruthful enough to state
to the electors of York that there was
great danger, and that it was necessary
that I should be returned in order to prevent it. I know very well that nearly
every official in the Provincial Offices in
Fredericton are fill by the inhabitants
of York County. I know that they are
all paid from the public Treasury, and
that persons in other parts of the Province are just as much entitled to them as
the men of York. Yet I endeavored to
make the people believe that the Government was disposed to do injustice to her.
I know that the thirty thousand dollars
appropriated for Militia purposes, was expended in York, which was a great benefit
to the people there. I know that others
had to contribute this money, and that we
got the benefit of its expenditure; yet I
tried to make the people believe that the
Government was hostile to her interests.
I have charged the members of the Government with being tools in the hands of
T. W. Anglin, and that they were all a
disloyal set together, when I knew that
Anglin had no more influence than the
other members, as is shown by the difference of opinion on Western Extension;
yet it answered my dishonest purpose to
say that they were all dictated to by him.
I said that Anglin wrote the famous Memorandum of Council over night, and
that it was signed by six of his colleagues
after dinner, when I knew nothing about
who wrote it. I have said repeatedly
that the Memorandum was full of disloyalty to the Queen and British Government; yet
I did not attempt to point out
the paragraphs that contained disloyal
sentiments. I know that the whole document is strictly in accordance with
the principles of Responsible Government, and claims only the rights which
are due to us under the Constitution.
I know that I opposed Downing Street
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1866. 47
dictation,
when it suited my purpose, and
that I am willing none to be dictated to from
the same quarter ;—and I know
that I was
about as honest in the one case as I
am in the other; they both answered
my purposes as a politician, and he
could truthfully have said what matters
is how much social hate and discord I
produce, or how much untruthfulness I
am guilty of, if I can only succeed in
defeating the Government, for I shall
then be elevated to their position. Opposition means to oppose, right or wrong,
at least in my case. Yes! I know these
things, but who on earth could doubt my
piety, my truthfulness and my loyalty, that
heard me at the close of my speech recommend peace and good will. I fixed
the whole matter by throwing over all
misrepresentations, this hypocritical mantle of deception, and this quotation will
give you a good description of his appearance at the close:
"Then richer grown in gilts and grace,
With every rite complies,
And deeper lengthens down his face,
And higher rolls his eyes."
The debate was then adjourned until
eleven to-morrow,
Hon. Mr. Gillmor to
resume.
The House was then adjourned until
to-morrow at nine.
A.A.
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