3
THE NEWFOUNDLANER.
FRIDAY, February 6,
The House met at 3 o'clock, pursuant to adjourn ment.
Mr. GLEN complained that his speech of Wednesday fast bad not been properly reposed. Talking
of the poor relief he had said that he did not find so
much
[?] with the Proclamation as with the speech
of his Excellency, whcih it was known was
[?] speech
of
[?]
been given. Surely the Executive were aware, that
such was not the case, that a great portion of the
people could not provide themselves with subsistence
for the coming winter. They were completely destitute until the fish came—numbers
had to go without food to catch fish for their daily food. It was
cruel to say that these men should provide, for the
coming winter. How could they do it? That part
of the speech was heartless. Most of these had no
seed potatoes and had to live on their neighbors.
He had also mentioned a circumstance which occurred in the East Indies and it was
not reported.
There was a famine there and those who perished
numbered by thousands. A telegram was sent to
the Imperial Government. The Secretary for India
immediately replied, authorising the use of the public funds to any amount for that
they should not
permit any British subject to starve. The merchants
subscribed £10,000 and telegraphed that that money
could be used and more if required. Not only was
that sum provided for, but seed for the rice crop was
distributed for the next year, and men were employed to bring water from a long way
off, so that no
second failure should happen. That was a paternal
Government and he wanted to contrast it with ours,
which was going to allow the people to starve. The
Imperial Government would, he (Mr. G.) felt sure,
be much annoyed if any people here were allowed
to perish. With the Imperial Government whites
were as good as black, and he believed the people
who were starving in India were blacks. None of
this had been reported, while the hon. and learned
member for Brigus was reported at such length that
every one was afraid to read it.
Messrs. Hogsett, Talbot, and Renouf also complained that their speeches were neither
fully nor
correctly reported.
HON. A. SHEA.—From the conduct of hon members opposite, a stranger visiting this. Assembly
would have considerable difficulty in ariving at the
conclusion that it was convened for the transaction
of important public business. The last two hours
have been frittered away with the most puerile
miserable feelings as to the reports and the Reporters.
Were hon gentlemen so uncertain of their status in
the opinion of the public that they had only to rely
upon the clap-trap denunciations, of the reports,
which session after session they had been uttering?
Surely hon gentlemen whose position was no strong
as theirs, could very well afford even to allow their
remarks to go unreported. For his hon (Mr S) part
he would be willing to make a bargain with hon
gentlemen, if the Reporters would only agree to
publish every word of what hon members opposite
said, he would be quite content that the Government
should go unreported. The character of the Opposition would then speak for itself,
and the public
would say these gentlemen constitute the Opposition
and in Opposition they should be left. It appeared
then that the leadership of the Opposition had been
changed, and he had to congratulate the Opposition
on the announcement lately made by the hon
member Mr. Glen,that they were now a united body,
that they had discarded the hon member Mr Hogsett;
they had found him doubtless an able and an energetic leader, a very ene, getic leader,
but he was the
Jonah of the lot, and they had discovered that it was
necessary to throw him overboard. Well, they had
east the hon. member overboard,and he (hon Mr.S)
did not dispute their discretion. For the last four
years they bad the repatation of being rather unharmonious, and the causes of this
discord he hon (A.
S) would endeavour to trace. Some two years ago
ths hon member (Mr Hogsett) discovered that
something not very creditable was said of him in
one of the Halifax papers.
MR. HOGSETT—Yes, and you wrote it. You
are a scoundrel. You always were a scoundrel.
The hon. the SPEAKER—So long as I have the
privilege of maintaining order in this House, I shall
not allow expressions such as this to pass unmarked
by my disapproval, and if there be any approach to a
repetition of them I shall certainly take the chair and
use such means as are at the disposal of the House to
prevent the recurrence of unseeuly language or to
punish it.
Hon. A. SHEA—It is an extraordinary fact that
those persons who are most free with insolent observations cannot bear the have the
pickled rod applied
to their bare backs, wriggling and twisting and
burning, they exhibit a most uneasy consciousness of
their punishment. To proceed. The hon, gentleman want to Halifax to vindicate his
reputation, but
before going he called upon him (hon. A Shea) for a
note of recominendation. He (hon. A Shea) was not
very anxious to give the hon. member a note, for
there in a certain class of persons whom one does not
care to recommend; but he did not want to refuse
and he gave the hon. member a note of that kind
which a man gives when he would rather let it alone
On the faith of that note, and one from the hon.
Attorney General, the hon. member got into good
company with which he beeane so enamoured that
though he had left here a violent Anti Confederate,
in one short fortnight he returned a rabid Confederate and denounced his party. The
hon. member
was impatient of any delay in the matter of Confederation and even in Halifax he had
pledged his
word that as leader of the opposition he would have
the whole matter arranged and delegates would be
forthwith despatched to the convention then about
to sit in Loudon. After that the hon. member
had a travelling fit, and in his absence
a great many ugly things were said of him by his
friends. When he returned, we had what is popularly termed "wigs on the green." He
came in in a
temper; he said ugly things of his friends, we had
very disgracelul scenes nearly every day, and the
propinquity of the parties suggested the necessity of
the police. For that session the hoa gentleman was
adrift, and no approach to union was made. This
time the hon member was the scape-goat, that was
episode No. 1 illustrative of the exceeding harmony
of this united party. The next year the hon. member Mr. Parsons was the scapegoat.
They discovered,
he thought that they discovered that that hon. gentleman had been "raising the wind"
somewhere,
and it was just about the time that the hon and gallant
Major was scouting that military appointment of his,
and in fact they were all hunting together. As the
story goes the hon member. Mr Parsons doubled
them all; what he got they did not know, but they
strongly suspected that it was some of the stuff with
which people buy butter. They said that he had used
his share and be should not hunt with them again.
They made things very uncomfortable for him and,
his desk was actually put up with a broom upon it
and a label "For Sale." Ultimately, this came to
an end, and this was episode No. 2 in the harmony
of the party. The fact is, that though they are so
few in number, this eterual itching for something
which is got on that side of the House, makes them
all so jealous that they are determined that not one
shall get before another. The real understanding
between them is, in effect,not even as good as it looks
At the present time they are threatening, vengeance
npon some one else; and this is the harmouious
party headed by the hon member Mr Glen. The
hon and veutrable geutleman had undertaken an
onerous duty, and it his tenure of office depended
upon the preservation of order anong his party, he
[?] (Mr S) heard that it would soon be given up in
disgust. We have listened in vain for the reasons
and circumstances which led to the dethronement of
the former leader.
He could now refer to the Speech of the hon.
member, Mr. Renouf, delivered last evening, a
speech which had been very properly characterised by the hon. Member for Carbonear,
Mr.
Rorke, as one containing merely a rehash of all
the old utterances to which we had been listening for the past four years. It was
made up of
his staple topics, topics, which with him never
die out, and without which he would be utterly
unable to make a speech. All knew what these
topics were; the Amalgamated Government,
Confederation, the hon. Receiver General and
himself, (hon. Mr. S.) the late Chairman of
the Board of Works, Mr. Casey, occasionally
because he was an absent man, came in for a
share of vituperative abuse. Now suppose the
Government and those connected with it deserved all the abuse which the abundant vocabulary
of the hon. member heaped upon them; suppose all the charges which he had made were
perfectly true, suppose that we were all of that
abandoned character which he describes, how
does all that affect the question under consideration One would imagine that after
having
spent four years in abusing us, without strengthening or elevating his own party in
the eyes of
the public, and without injury to the Government, the hon. member would have made
an
effort to produce something original. Why did
he not consult his colleague, and ask him to
suggest something to make a strong impression?
But no, it was the old story of the blind horse
tarning the mill, and the effusions of the hon.
member were so nauseating that they only serveed to put hon. gentlemen on this side
of the
Honse asleep. Certainly there were some
allowances to be made for the feelings of
irritation under which hon. gentlemen opposite
aboured. They had now been in opposition
eight or nine years; and four years ago, when
the question of Confederation came before the
country, they had great hopes of doing something
for themselves. They fell in with the strong
and popular side. They took the flowing tide,
and year after year expected to see the Government make some false step, by which
they would
walk into office. They thought that the goal
time was near at hand, that the promised land
was in view, when they would be called upon to
enjoy the exquisite delight of seeing the hon.
member. Mr. Hogsett, once more Attorney General, and once more the protector of ther
rights
and liberties. Things, however, were looking
gloomy with them of late. The feeling that existed so strong two or three years ago
had undergone a complete change. The tide was slackening, and from present appearances,
they feared
that the grand objects to which they had been looking forward were not likely to be
effected. They saw
that public opinion was not what it had been;
that Confederation was not now the dreaded
bugbear it had becn considered. Lately, in tile
district of Harbor Grace, the supposed stronghold
of the Anti-Confederates, an important election
had taken place, an election that had resulted in
the return to this House of a gentleman pledged to
support Confederation. This was indeed a deathblow to the hopes of hon. members opposite.
They were now desirous of doing away with tile
effect of that election, and say it turned on different causes, that the hon. member.
Mr. Godden,
never published his views of Confederation in his
Address. Well, there was an old stager on the
other side, who knew very well how the pulse of
the district beat, an artful clever tellow, who knew
well how to manipulate the people. Wn at was
his course? In his Address he spoke of every
subject but Confederation; because he had before
committed himself to an opinin, upon it, and haul
he again referred to the question he would have
ruined his prospects. If he had believed that the
Electors of that district were opposed to Confederation, would he not have made use
of it? Under
all these circumstances, then, we were justified in
regarding the result of this election as a deliberate
expression of opinion upon the subject of Confederation by the people of the district
of Harbor
Grace. Besides all this, we had the testimony of
the hon. member for Carbonear, Mr. Rorke, who
was always consistent upon, this question. That
election also proved that the people of that district were satisfied with the manner
in which the
affairs of the Colony had been managed by the
present Government, that they desired to see Confederation settled, and the Opposition
kept; here
they were, in the minority, where they were harmless, and where, for ttie benefit
of the country,
they should remain. They say, with the Government, of all political imposters keep
as clear of
the roaring patriots, of those who roar their flatulent rhetoric, day atter day, and
whose only
desire is to place themselves in positions of emolument, Now what were we called upon
to consider in the question before us? He would not
contine himself merely to the paragraph before
the chair, but would refer also to the one which
had been adopted last evening. The question of
the condition of the poor necessarily raised another. How was that conditiou to be
relieved,
and what was the remedy? The doctrine of the
Government was, that there was at present no
substantial relief to be tound within ourselves,
that that relief must come from an agency outside,
who had the power and the means of doing for us
what we could not do for ourselves. We may be
as capable as any men to conduct our own affairs,
but the power to do so no longer remained with us.
It was not a question, whether we were willing or
able, but whether we had the power to effect any
benefit for the country as we are. This, then,
was the doctrine upon which the Government
took its stand. What we were laboring under
now was want of employment for the people. If
the labouring population had means of employment, we would not have, them now starving
about our streets. Additional, means of employment, then, was what was needed. The
merchants
here were not disposed to exteud their trade, but,
on the contrary, were very much curtailing it.
That was of course their own business, and they
had a perfect right to do what they liked. The
supply last year had been a very meagre one, and
this year it would be less. Under these circumstances the proposition of saving £25,000
of our
Civil Expenditure, however likable in itself,
would be useless as a means of restoring the
country to prosperity. It was idle to think that it
would have any effect. It was certainly wise and proper that we should make all the
reduction that was
possible and consistent [?] discharge
of the public service. But the proposal as it
stood was easily comprehended. If such ever
were done, the opposition, if they got into
power, would bring back the present existing
state of things, so that their assumed patriotism
has not likely, in this instance, to decieve anyone. Were hon. members [?] enough to [?] be
lieve that such a flimsy pretext would effect the
purpose they had in view? Look on the [?]
dition of the operative population, last spring.
Hundreds of them could not obtain employment
or supplies, and had to stow themselves away
in Labrador vessels, to endeavour to earn a
precarious subsistence. What prospect, then,
was before us this spring? And what means
were at our disposal to free the streets from the
starving and wretched creatures that would fill
them? If then, we can do no good for them
ourselves, if we could find no employment for
them, it is surely wise to seek assistance from
those who are able to give it; and this was the
course which the Government proposed to
adopt. As we were likely to have a repetition
of the state of things, which existed last spring,
and as we were unable to obtain among ourselves employment for the people, we
thought it advisable to put ourselves in communication with the Authorities in Canada
and
obtain employment for our men on the Railway
works that are progressing there. He (hon. Mr.
S.) was happy to say that the efforts to effect
this had been successful, and in the spring he would
be prepared to enter into an agreement with and
hire eight hundred men for this purpose. They
would all be hired by, written agreement, and
their wages would be paid thoughly, and one half
could be received by their wives and families here.
They would be taken to Canada in a steamer, and
at the end of the season would be sent back to
their homes if they desired it. He would, then,
leave it to the public to say what the effect of this
would be. This, them, was what the Government
had been doing while the opposition were roaring.
Take eight hundred men out of St. John's, and it
would give employment to all those who remained.
However, the opposition might think lightly of it,
he (hon. Mr. S.) would tell them that when he
said he would be prepared to give employment to
800 men, the public would believe him. He was
satisfied to leave the matter to the good judgement of the people, and was assured
it would take
more than the sneers of the opposition to affect so
good an arragenment. He perfectly agreed with
those who said that it was a misfortune that we
should be obliged to send them away, but surely
that was better than keeping them here to to starve,
and their absence would be the means of letting
others get reasonable wages for their services.
This, then, is a part of what we have been
doing, and this is what we meant by
what opposition call selling the country by Confederation. Here the hon. member referred
to
a letter read by the hon. member, Mr. Renouf,
and which he stated had come from Ottawa,
adressing the people of Newfoundland not to
come there for employment. He drew atteation
to what he called the clumsy way in waich the
hon. member, Mr. Renouf, sought to effect his
purpose, and pointed out that portion of it which
stated that Emigrants were daily arriving from
Europe, as a contradiction the position which
the hon. member endeavoured to sustain.
There was an idea abroad that it was the interest of the merehants to keep down the
price of
labor. He (hon. Mr. S.) did not agree with
that, or that such could be the interest of any
class. If the people were not kept employed,
all the interests which depended on the laborer
must share his circumstances. There was no
more sure sign of the state of any country that
the condition of its laboring classes [?] might
appear badly that the men should go as away
but he (hon. Mr. S.) doubted if the men themselves would think so, or if they would
place
faith in those who endeavored to persuade them
to that offset. He hoped improved prospects
in this country would enable them to return.
No force would be used; they could go or stay,
just at it pleased them to do, The House had
been treated to great dissertations on pauper
relief, and on this paragraph in the address.
He (hon. Mr. S.) really found it difficult to
comprehend the views of hon. members opposite. On the first day of the session the
Government, Proclamation was highly commanded by them, the only exception taken
being that the Government should have provided seed potatoes. He (hon. Mr. S.) hardly
ever knew of any benefit being derived from
the issue of seed potatoes, and he had no faith in
such a course, for the seed potatoes were, in
most cases, either eaten, or never reached those
for whom they were intended. However, last
spring, the Government, in deference with wishes
of the House, were prepared to issus them, and
entered into correspondence with parties in the
other Provinces, in order to ascertain terms, &c.
They found the prices asked were enormous,
about 11s per barrel at the place of shipment,
and one fourth of them might be unfit for use
on arrival here. No unqualified guarantee to
issue had been given by the Government, but
only an intimation that if they could do so they
would; and if it had been practicable, on reasonable conditions, it would have been
done. The
finances of the country were in such a condition
that they could not make the necessary advances, and they felt that, under the circumstances,
they should abandon the idea. Was
no one to be thougut of but those who had land?
What do hon. members opposite propose to do
for the fishermen? Their claims were equally
good, yet hon. members did not propose that
one shilling should be provided for them.
Those who had land ought to be in a position to
provide their own seed potatoes, and be independent of such aid from the Government.
The effect of the Government's refusal to buy
was that the seed patotous came down for sale,
and as the Government was not in the market,
every industrious man was enabled to obtaian
seed potatoes at a reasonable rate. Every
barrel that came was put in the ground. The
Government could have done no more. They
might have given them to differeut people, but
that was all. No more would have been planted. Year after year the Government had
been
taunted with this poor relief. They would
now give a trial to its suppression. They meant
to abide by the Proclamation to its fullest extent. It was called for. It might be
[?] and
severe to some, but it was a measure of common
justice and fair ply to the country at large.
The system of pauper relief was over a quarter
of a century old, so that on that score there was
4
THE NEWFOUNDLANDER.
very little room for recrimination. All were
equally to blame. The attempt of any one to
escape his share of the responsibility was mean
and cowardly, and could not escape detection, for
the facts were before the House. He (hon.
Mr. S.) merely disclaimed the right of any hon.
member to lay the blame to one side or the other.
The dodge of denial had been tried last year also,
and so frequently and loudly that he (hon. Mr.
S.) would have believed it iſ he had not proof to
the contrary,and he had on that occasion to produce to hon. members opposite their
own writing
and convicted them of mistatement, and showed
that they had begged of the Government to
issue Poor Relief, and that on their representation relief bad been issued. There
had been
an attempt at some round about way of communication, but the Government refused to
recogmise any thing but direct communication. Yet
though hon. members must have known that
the Government were in possession of these communications, they disclaim all responsibility
and
attack the Government. He (hon. Mr. S.)
would have the public to judge of men who
could thus deny their own acts. Last year was
a tolerable good specimen of preceding years,
and showed the result of the pressure brought to
bear as the Government. He held in his hand
a statement of the expenditure of relief to able
bodied poor in the year 1868. (Here the hon.
mambers read from the statement the amount
received by each district.) It would appear
that with the exception of Fortune Bay, there
was, in proportion to population, but little
difference between any one district and another,
St. John's having, as usual, the lion's share. Hon.
members opposite said they were not responsible, that they did not force the Government
to
this expenditure. If they knew, as they did,
that the expenditure was going on, and that it
was not required, why not come to the Government and tell thein so, and request them
to stop
it? They did not do so, but allowed the expenditure to go on, and by their silence,
at
least, became rapponsible. How idle it was of
them to endeavor by misrepresentation and
denial of their hand writing, to escape their
responsibility, or fasten on others the odium of
poor relief. Was not the amount for Harbor
Main expended with the concurence and on the
repre[?], from time to time, made by the
numbers of that district? Then of that expenditure was not warranted by circumstances,
these hon. members were recreant to their duty,
in not asking that it should be stopped. He
(hon. Mr. S.) did not mean to say that the facts
did not bear out the expenditure, but seeing
that the members had the supervision of it,
they should not attempt to escape their responsibility. The circumstances counected
with
the system of poor reliaf, last year, brought
most men to think that an attempt to put it
down should be made. With that intention
the Proclamation was issued, and generally
approved of. The old system tended to bring
all down to one dead level, aud leave the country without an independent middle class.—
Symptoms of a desire to give up the Proclamation were now becoming apparent.
Hon. Mr. SHEA.—Yes, and no where else. The
hon. leader of the Opposition, Mr. Glen, called it
inhuman, and proclaimed his intention of using all
means to induce the Government to abandon it,
and he is supported by hon. members opposite.
Hon. Mr. SHEA.—You cheered him when he
made his statement. The attempt is now made to
induce the Government to abandon their position
on this matter. Were there not others in the
country who had a duty to discharge towards the
poor as well as the Government? In no other
country was the relief of the poor thrown on the
Government. The system had been over 25 years
in existence, and no doubt the somewhat abrupt
termination of it would bring suffering to many.
In such a state of things it became incumbent on
all to lend a helping hand to the distressed. He
was sorry to see that as yet the people of St.
John's did not come up to the mark, and did not
appear to appreciate the terrible crisis in which
the country is placed. This would bring them to
the necessity of considering whether they should
not by Statute compel all to contribute according
to their means. He (hon. Mr. S.) agreed with
the hon. member for Ferryland in the hope that
no man would be allowed to starve, but foresaw
great difficulties if the question of Poor Relief was
opened again. The old abuses would be revived,
for it is a thing which contains within itself all the
slements and temptations to abuse. He thought
it would be matter of great regret if, from pressure
of circumstances, the Government should be compelled to yield. The Community had their
duty to perform, and it was to be regretted that
they were without a law to compel all to assist
the poor. He knew there would be many and
great difficulties in the way of carrying out the
Provisions of such a law, and in adjusting tne due
proportions of assessments, but it was impossible
for the Government any longer to undertake the
duty of keeping the paupers. There were three
months of hard suffering, difficulty and privation
before them, and he hoped all would do their duty
and contribute to tide the people over it. He did
not think they would again see such a period of
suffering, and if these months were over, he
believed the prospects of the country would be
found much improved. One consequence of our
isolation was that in this crisis we had to depend
on our own resources, as we had no legitimate
claim on any other people. If we were united to
the Dominion, we could make an appeal to the
people there. When the Nova Scotia fisheries
failed, last year, and great distress cousequently
prevailed amongst the fishermen, they were not
left to ask for relief, but the Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec and the corporations
of different cities, forwarded £10,000 to relieve them.
That was a practical proof of the benefit of Union.
They had a claim, and they were recognised,
and funds were sent them, until the Committees
of distribution telegraphed that no more was required. No doubt some would call that
a bribe;
but call it what you will, would not such relief
be welcome here now? We want means of
assisting our people, but we have now no right
and it would be of great damage to us to go to
Canada in
formus paupers. The Government
was expected to do all, and to be responsible for
all. No matter what went wrong, The Government
was expected to to do all, and to be responsible for
all. No matter wehat went wrong, the Government were to blame, and the responsibility
was
to be cast on their shoulders. Such was the
logic of hon. gentlemen opposite. Let us
examine the question. What connection was
there between the acts of the Government and
the causes out of which pauperism arose? It
arose in a great degree from the decline of the
seal fishery. Some years ago 120 vessels, taking about 5,000 men, used to sail from
St.
John's to that fishery. There was not a man
who did not, on an average, represent four other
persons. There was a substantial benefit to the
people, for not only were those who went provided for, but those who remained at home
were
furnished with the means of getting through the
severest part of the year. That fishery has
declined, and thus a large amount of poverty
was brought on the people. He doubted if
1,000 men would be employed out of St. John's
this year, and thus at least 20,000 paople would
be left unprovided for. Now in what way were
the Government responsible for that? What
had they to do with the decline of and short
outfit for the seal fishery? The Government
were prepared to bear the full weight of that
responsibility which properly attached to them,
but not that which grew out of a state of things
over which they had no control. What had the
Government to do with the failure of the potatoe crop? This had been for the past
twenty
years a great blight on the industry of the people. It was attributable to causes
which the
most scientific enquiries, conducted by the ablest
men, have failed to explain, and when laid at
the door of the Government, it is done in the
utter recklessuess of party warfare. For the
last five years the price of food had been high.
In what way was the Government responsible
for that? They were no more responsible for
the high prices of former years, than they were
for the present low prices. Here then were
three substautial causes of the decline of the
prosperity of the country, and over none of them
could it be said that the Government had any
control. They were completely outside the
functions of Government, and it was strange
that in an Assembly of rational men it should
be necessary to make such
[?], owing to
the misrepresentation of party warfare. But
so it is the reckless statements of hon. gentlemen
opposite forced the Government to replies which
would not be thought of anywhere else. Do
not the public acts of the Government furnish
hon. members with matter for comment and
attack? It would appear not. The Government were fully prepared to bear the onus of
its
acts and its policy, and hon. members opposite,
who boast so much of their political attainments,
should meet them on these grounds, and not take
up such miserable rags of argument as they do day
after day. When he said that even the hon. member, Mr. Hogsett, himself a man fit
for anything,
could not bave succeeded beter than the Government, he felt that it was the highest
compliment
which the Government could pay themselves. Only
consider the aptitude for business which the hon.
member possessed. Why, he had actually built a
dredge boat, a feat which one might venture to say
was never before performed by an Attorney General
in a British Colony. A man who could talk law and
logic, and had actually the ability to build a dredge
boat. Nay, more, he had managed the affairs of
the Board of Works. The accounts got into a mess.
The hon. member came down to put things straight,
and the straight measure he put upon them has
never since been taken out of them. The then
Receiver General, Mr. Glen, thought that his old
fashioned ideas of book-keeping were correct, but
the hon. member differed from him, and a row ensued, through which the hon. member
was thrown
out, just as he had lately been expelled from his
leadership. But setting aside all these things, a
much more important matter demanded our attention, the irrepressible question of Confederation.
His Excellency says that it is high time for us to
take some action in this matter. It is high time
that the present condition of the people should be
replaced by some more wholesome state of things.
The very stones call aloud for a change. It is
asked, with reckless hardihood, what evidences for
such a change exist? The evidences are everywhere.
Go through Water Street, and note the unoccupied
buildings, from one end of it to another. He (hon.
Mr. S.) was never wedded to Confederatian alone
as a means of escape from our difficulties. He was
prepared to receive any feasible proposition which
might be brought forward for that purpose. No
feasible proposal had ever been suggested by the
opponents of Confederation. However prosperous
we might be, we have not in ourselves that inherent
force which would enable us to urge on these measures which could conduce to our prosperity.
Everybody feels that a stand still policy will no
longer
avail. The question has never been argued on fair
ground. In this Assembly there is a party prepared to deal with the question as never
they were
before prepared. There is a majority prepared or
carry it, and was it to be supposed that these gentlemen would assumue this position
if they were ignorant of the state of public feeling, especially with the
impending certainty of having soon to render an
account of their stewardship? What stronger evidence of a most important change in
public opinions?
In St. John's the change is notorious. Even in the
Commerical Room, where formerly the subject could
not be rationally discussed the large majority now
upheld the question, and by none was it violently
opposed. Doubtless there was a change, and that
too founded on a basis which it is impossible to believe can be at any future time
disturbed. Why
has this change taken place? The minds of those
who were formerly hostile to the scheme were
impressed with sensations of fear that their operations in trade would be injuriously
affected. These
sensations have been removed; they have been
made to give way before stronger and sterner
reasons, the condition of the people of the country.
The fisheries are falling off, population is dwinding
away, trade of every kind has become depressed.
These men had seen that the continuance of the
preseat system means the continuance of those
disorders under which we have ground, and they
would not be men of ordinary intelligence did they
hesitate to adopt that change. The Government
then should determine to act in accordance with the
public feeling. They felt that the time was ripe
for action, that arrangements of the most favourable
charactar could now be made and they would
be untrue to their trusts did they not take steps to
bring the matter before this House for consideration.
He confessed that he and his hon. friend the Attorney General felt proud of the position
which upon
this question they had taken. Four years ago they
were met with a storm of reprobation. Every
description of misrepresentation was put
forward to poison the minds of the people.
A feeling of terror was arroused in the minds of the
people, specially of the women, (and we know how
powerful their influence is,) that if Confederation
were accomplished thier sons and husbands
would be compelled to go to Canada to
fight and to die. These tricks however
have been all played out. There spectres and
hobgoblins have had their time, but they have been
killed out by the light of reason and common sense.
Was not pride under such circumstances excusable?
His hon friend and himself had stood up defiantly in
the face of public opinion. They felt that the day
would come when the question would force its acceptance upon us. They believed that
it was in accordance with the progressive feelings of the present day.
They had been no weathercocks; they had no shifts
to explain. They did not run a tilt against public
feeling, and seek to force it. They had been content to wait the turn of the tide,
well assured that in
due time turn it must.
[Here the hon. member requested the indulgence
of the House for a few minutes and retired. A
short time after he sent a message informing the
House that he [?], and did not purpose continuing his observations this evening.]
Mr. HOGSETT—Certainly the Government have
played the trick of a monkey. They have put forward their best gun as the exponent
of their policy,
and in supporting that policy he has attacked in the
most Billingsgate language every hon. member on
this side of the House. The hon. gentleman has
appealed to the condition of the country. He Says
our trade is languishing, the labouring population is
fast leaving the country, and he gives that as a reason why we should ally ourselves
with the Dominion
of Canada. Supposing that we are in that condition is it policy to disclose our cards
and say, "Take
us, for God's sake, and make us soldiers, or what you
will?" Under such circumstances what terms could
we expect? He (Mr. H.) had heard for the first
time the doctrine that the remedy for a country's
misfortune is the exportation of its inhabitants.
Newfoundland has within herself capacities for the
support of 3,000,000 people, but because the Government are incapable of stimulating
the people
in the right direction, we must forsooth go to
Canada, and the great remedy is that 800 persons
will be employed by the Canadian Government upon
the railroad. Hundreds of poor Irishmen, driven
from their homes, have died upon the railroads of
America from physical exhaustion, and have in
many cases left their children to fill paupers' graves,
He (Mr. H.) warned the people to pause before
leaving their homes and families and committing
themselves to the tender mercies of the Canadian
Dominion and of Mr. Sandford Fleming, the Canadian contractor. Export them! Not a
ship that
leaves our shores that does not carry away the pride
of Newfoundland, not a single measure was adopted to stop that emigration. The people
are tired
of struggling against the inactivity of the Government, and, from day to day they
are leaving our
shores, while the Government pocketing the public
money don't move their little fingers to show how
the condition of the people may be ameliorated.
There was once a Castlereagh, and the last act he
ever did, was to cut his own throat, and if the hon
member Mr Shea, were to out his own throat,
Newfoundland would be benefited, and its liberties
preserved. He (Mr H) had years ago been called
upon by Mr Shea and Mr Little to sustain the policy
of their Government; at Placentia for 9 years he had
represented that district, and glad were Mr Kent
and Mr Shea to send for George James Hogsett, the
humble outcast, to support their policy. When the
contest between Mr. Shea and the present sir Hugh
W Hoyles took place at
[?], he (Mr H) was
asked to go there to work up the election. He did
go there; his own expenses amounted to £80, and so
deeply ingrained is pauperism in the family, that
this big bullaboo could not pay his election expenses,
and the outcast had to pay £110 for his return. He
(Mr H) did not pretend to be a saint, for if he did
so he would not be believed, but he could conscientiously, say that from the day when
he had first
given his adhesion to the liberal cause he had been
faithful to it. What were the terms upon which
this amalgamated Government was formed, they
were that the Receiver General should have office
at £300 a year, the hon member Mr Shaa, a seat in
the Executive, and his brother the
other of Financial
Secretary. They had deluded the people of Placentia
and St. Mary's, and in order to fix the hon member
Mr Barron, they gave him the Secretaryship of the
Water Company, at £200 a year. These then were
the men who stood up and attacked us, who thro' good
report and evil report had remained firm and true to
out principles. But what was their plea? Why
that there must no longer be any sectarian differences,
and yet ever since the hon Attorney General
has had the appointment of every office under
the Government, since this amalgamated Government had been formed there had not been
one
single Roman Catholic appointed to any office of
emolument. Why, even the Bench had been filled
with class men, as well as co-religionists. Well!
these traitors would be a blow-away at the bustings.
There they would receive the punishments of traitors.
The Roman Catholic constituents of this Colony
numbering 50,000 were not to be sacrificed for the
Sheas or the Kents. But when the hon Attorney
General fancied that these traitors expressed the
feelings and views of the Roman Catholic community,
he never made a greater mistake in his life, and he
would find out that mistake at the next election. He
(Mr H) cared not for olfice. He did not require a
silk gown of a Judge's wig, to sustain his position at
the Bar. He could uneet his opponents there as well
as here, aud when the Government put forward such
a man to attack him (Mr H ) the last of his race,
they would find that a man who relied ou honesty
and a straightforward course has God for his help.
and if he has he does not want the devil. Poor paltry insignificant ours, the dregs
of society, the curse
of your own county and ours! Men like you sold
the fairest country under Heaven, and when you die,
and try to make up your account with God Almighty, do you think he will listen to
you. And yet you
put forward such a bully to malign us. He (Mr H)
had been walking the streets for his principles, and
God Almighty had given him bread. And yet this
man comes forward to disgorge his vile vituperation
against us. Does he say a word about the rotten
meal that he sold to his (Mr. B.) district and
which was so bad that the pigs could not eat it.
If ever a family role to the devil with the public chest
on their backs it was the Receiver General, the hon.
A. Shea, and that, elegant, nice young man the
Editor of the
Newfoundlander. He would assure
the hon. Attorney General that he was mistaken it
be fancied that such men would, at the next general
election be returned as the exponeuts of the views on
the Roman Catholic population. With regard to
other hon. members opposite this side of the House
was prepared to meet them in fair debate, but when,
such men were put forward we would denounce
then as long as we were able to do so.
The Committee then rose, reported progress, and
asked leave to at again on Monday next.
House then adjourned till Monday.
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