Hon. Mr. Howe others of great danger to the country. I, for one,
as most of you all know, had no Part in framing this Confederation
measure; it was not for a time acceptable to me, but having come here and
having accepted it, I feel that my hon. friends from Shefford and Sherbrooke
would act more wisely if, instead of making the great interests of this
Confederacy a party question, they were to endeavour to combine upon some
policy that would have for its object the success of this experiment,
in the only way it seems to be practicable, (cheers). Now, sir, something
has been said of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. I would say to the
hon. gentlemen opposite, if they want Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland to enter the Confederacy, is it likely they will come in
when they see that in questions of this magnitude we cannot sink our
party feelings, and cannot consider it as a question touching our
commercial relations with other nations. If my hon. friend therefore would be
content to look at this question merely as one touching our commercial
relations, in order to secure the success of this great experiment of
Confederation, I think it would be much more wise than the
course they have taken. Now, Mr. Speaker, I feel I have treated the subject at
greater length than I intended, and have thrown out observations which
occurred to me during the course of this debate, and I can only say that as
the matter has been made a party question by the hon. members for
Sherbrooke and Shefford, they can hardly expect that we can allow
it to give him a party triumph, (hear, hear). My hon. friend does not
suppose we are quite so soft as to allow him to choose the ground upon
which to fight a party fight, and therefore the result will prove that the hon.
member for Shefford will have no other choice but to accept the
consequences of the course he has taken.
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