DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1865. 111
WEDNESDAY, May 31.Â
Mr. BOYD.—I thought this subject had
been so well ventilated that we should
never hear any more about it, but since
the matter has been brought in I suppose
it has been considered necessary. The
first thing I heard of this Union
question
was the appointment of delegates
to confer at Prince Edward Island, on a Legislative Union of the Maritime Provinces.
It seems they went there and commenced
their deliberations, but some gentlemen
from Canada came down.
pooh-poohed at
the idea of such a Scheme, proposed a
larger Union, to embrace all the Provinces, and that was the last of
their mission.
Next we find them going off to
Canada
without any power from this Legislature,
or any other. They met, but it was
impossible to find out what they were doing ;
after a time they returned, yet nothing
was known as to their proceedings. This
attempt at secrecy roused the
public feeling, and the press clamoured for information. At last it all came out by
a paper
in Prince Edward Island publishing the
whole Scheme. When I read it first I
was somewhat favourably impressed
by it,
but as I read on and came to the Section
which provided that the Governor General
should have the appointment of the Governors of the Lower Provinces, I said at
once, then the last link that binds us to
England will be broken. I went on further and found that New Brunswick
was
to be represented in the General Parliament by only fifteen members and I then
felt that we should be swamped by Upper
Canada. The fact was Canada found herself overwhelmed with debt and wanted to
get the support of these Provinces to relieve her, and so we were to be bought
and sold for eighty cents a head. Our
people had been content with their position, and if they ever desired a change, it
was that we might enter into a Union of
the Lower Provinces. Then came
the
disolution of the House a a time when
the people were little prepared for it, and
for the first time in the history
of the Province we find men who had occupied the
highest position in the Government
stumping the country to carry their
Scheme. But they could not make the Â
112 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1865.
people believe
the story they told, and
the result was that every one of
then
were rejected at the elections. I do
not
intend to go further into the subject. I
simply make these remarks as an opening,
as it will be taken up and treated
on by
abler men than myself.
Mr. MCMILLAN. —The hon. mover of
these resolutions should expound
his
views. and lay before the House the reasons for the position he takes,
so that hon.
members who are opposed to him
may
have an opportunity of replying to his remarks.
Mr. CUDLIP —If this subject were being debated in the whole House
with the
Speaker in the chair, this would be the
right way to proceed,
but in Committee
every hon. member should be at liberty to
speak freely. I have no objection to ex
pound the reasons why I brought in this
resolution, but I am weary of
talking on
this Scheme, but I have had so much of it
to do for the last six months. I find that
the Duke of Newcastle in a despatch to
Earl Mulgrave, dated the 6th July. 1862,
says as to the authority of the
delegates
that " it should emanate in the first instance from the Province, and
should be
concurred in by all of them which it
would affect. " Here it is
directly laid
down that the people should take the lead
in any measure of this kind ;
yet we know
that the delegates not only
conferred on
the subject of Union, but adopted a
Scheme of which the people knew nothing. The resolution passed by this House
in 1861 was
on a matter of the Union of
the three Lower Provinces, and
had no
reference
whatever to a Union with Canada. I might go into the Scheme
and
show thus it carried out it would have
proved most disastrous to the interests
of this Province, but that has
been so well
ventilated that it is not necessary, and the
country has decided on it. But I want
another delegation appointed that
we may
put ourselves right before the
British Government, and that they may confer
on
all points that tend to the welfare of this
Province. If it is wanted to put
the resolution down, the House can do
it, but I
think it is necessary that the question
should be taken up and hon.
members can
oppose it by any arguments they
choose
to bring.
Hon. Mr.
MCMILLAN.—The hon. member for St. John (Mr. Cudlip) has avoided
touching upon the three points of his resolution, namely
that Confederation would
prove disastrous to this
country, politically, financially, and commercially.
He has
given no reasons for the ground
he has
taken in the resolution. He says the
country has pronounced against it, and
the vote of this House will doubtless decide against it; then I would ask, why put
the country to the expense of sending
gentlemen home merely to tell England
the wishes of the people of this Province
?
These were ascertained
by the late elections. and are well known in England,
without sending home a special delegation to tell them of it. The hon. mover
has declined to sustain the three positions
he assumes.
Mr.
MCMILLAN.—Yes, that is a very
logical idea. The hon. President of th
Council calls on me to prove a negative.
I will, however, answer a few of
th
grounds taken. The hon. member for
Victoria (Mr. Costigan) says with
regard
to this Union, " there is no strength in
it."
No strength in it ! Union is not strength
then,—a proposition contrary to what I
have always heard He says, " there
would
be rebellion in the country if the
Scheme had been carried." This I consider to be the highest
compliment which
could possibly be paid to the Confederates.
He says in effect that if there had been a
majority for the Scheme, the
minority
would have rebelled. The friends of
Confederation did not succeed, they were
found to be in a minority, and yet they
proved to be as loyal as those
who
succeeded in crushing the measure
by a
large majority. I say this is a
high compliment to pay to these who were charged
with
wishing to dissolve the ties that
bind
us to the glorious mother country. He
says, " the elections were hurried on, and
that we relied on the ignorance of the
people to carry it through." This is an
argument that to my mind will
cut both
ways. I believe that a great many
voted
against Confederation because
they failed
to understand the benefits
that would
follow from it ; but the anti-Confederate
leaders threw up that great bug-bear
taxation.
Mr. MCMILLAN. —The hon. member
says hear, hear but he
knows such was
the case, and he used this very
argument.
On' the same ground all the great Schemes
that ever came up, have been attacked,
but in the end the people have seen their
mistake, as I have no doubt they
yet will
on this question. Then the hon.
member
says we were " going to be swamped, only
fifteen members from New Brunswick and
so many from Canada." He seems
to
forget what matters were to come
before
the General Government to be discussed.
What is it that makes dissention and discussion ; is it not the matters
that are of
a local character? But there
the question
of tariffs and general trade could have
caused no such dissention. And then
supposing
difficulties did arise what would
affect us would in a like manner affect
Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island,
and Lower Canada, and these together
would wield greater influence than
could
be brought to bear against
them. See
how it has been in Canada, although divisions have taken place there, the parties
were so equal that a few members were
always able to sustain or overthrow a
Government. And how shall it be said
that Upper Canada,
with h ? r eighty-two
members will swamp us, when we
are
backed by 112 on all discussions
of general character which alone can be brought
up. And then it has been said that Upper Canada is increasing very rapidly in
population. Well, will they not have to
contribute in proportion to their populalation, and then the less
per capita shall
we have to pay. These are all local view
of the matter, but in a question of this
kind, we should rise above such petty,
narrow views, and look at the advantages
that would accrue from our being a
large,
united and free people. Next the hon.
member for Victoria said that
there was
no certainty or guarantee whatever that
the Railway would be built. But
this
was provided for in the Scheme,
and sanctioned by the Imperial Government.
He
then said that Canada would go on with
canals and public works and we should
have to pay for them. I am not
prepared
to endorse such a proposition, for with a
population ten times that of
ours. I do not
think it at all likely they will
be willing
to tax themselves $10 for the purpose of
getting $1 from us. Then as to
the Railway through our Province ; it
would go
through the entire length,
and of the $16,000,000—entire cost—some $9,000,000 would be spent in this Province.
The Railway would run some 220
miles,
opening up and increasing the value of
our Crown Lands at least four fold for all
time to come for our own particular benefit. Another point made is that our population
would not increase. This is certainly new to me ; what is it that brings
people to a country, is it not that trade is
flourishing ? And would it not
give
an
impetus to trade to have the barriers that
exist in other countries broken down ?
And it would become a matter of indifference whether goods were made in Montreal,
or Toronto or St. John, as the maxim
would be to " buy in the cheapest market
and sell in the dearest." The hon. member for York (Mr. Needham) says
we
were to be sold for $201,000. He eviddextly
has forgotten that the General
Government would have assumed
a large
amount of our liabilities. There was
| Interest on
our assumed debts |
$407,000 |
| Our share I.C. Railroad
on population, |
52.000 |
| On proportion
of Militia, |
70,000 |
| Cost
and Protection of
the Revenue, |
41,000 |
| Salary of Judges, |
28,000 |
| Post Office deficiency, |
25,000 |
| Geological survey, |
5,000 |
| Master of Rolls, |
3,200 |
| Indians, |
1,200 |
| Unforseen expenses, |
2,000 |
| Subsidy at 80 cents, |
201,600 |
| Our share of steam navigation, |
20,000 |
| Subsidy
extra for ten
years, |
63,000 $925,000 |
| Whilst we put in our
average revenue for
three years, |
785,589 |
| Leaving |
$139,411 |
which we get over and above the Railroad, Free Trade and all the advantages to arise
from them.
Now supposing
Western Extension were
built according to our Facility Bill , and
the Intercolonial according to the laws
now on our Statute Book, with the Civil
List and all the expenses of the
local Government, we should require a revenue
of $l, l38,340. Whilst it is only $785, 589.
We should therefore get out of
the Confederacy according to our own
lav? $352,751 more than we contribute. How then
can it be said that we were to be sold for
$201,000 ? Another objection raised by
the hon. member for York (Mr.Needham)
and that is, that we should be bound by
any arrangement Canada should choose
to enter into ; but this same
argument
was used in Canada with regard to New
Brunswick. The 67 b Section of the
Scheme however is general in the application. I have asked the hon. mover to
substantiate the three positions he assumes, but he has declined to do so. I
have attempted to show that in a financial
point of view we should have been placed in a better position, and I
cannot understand how a political body
such as we
should be would injure the little Province
of New Brunswick. Is it imagined
that
New Brunswick, with her House of forty
members, eclipses in importance
the 194
members of a united Confederacy ? Would
not the larger body be
regarded as of
more importance, and wield a greater influence, and be of more weight in the eyes
of the Mother Country and the Imperial
Parliament than we are now ? Politically we should be placed is a far better position,
and commercially we should also
be benefitted. Would it injure us that all
the imaginary lines and Custom
House
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1865. 113
barriers between the Provinces should be
removed, that we should be enabled to
extend our trade, and enlarge our enterprise? If we have manufactures in the
country is it not for our benefit
that they
should be extended? Will it hurt us to
have plenty of customers ? We have manufactures in this country, and all we need
is that we should have a large market and
more field for our enterprise.
Why did
we agree to the Reciprocity Treaty with
the United States? Was it not to get a
wider field of operations ? And if we,
with a population of 250,000, can sustain
manufactories, could we not do it much
better if we were 4,000,000 ? How then
can it be that we should be ruined commercially, by this Union ? And now for
the resolutions themselves. The
third
clause of the preamble says " Whereas,
the loyalty and attachment of the people
of this Province to the Throne
and Goverment of Great Britain cannot justly be
impunged, &c." Now this is a
most extraordinary proposition and one
that I cannot understand. It reminds me of
a saying of the hon. President of the Council,
that for a man to be always speaking of
his honesty looks as though there was
some cause to doubt it. This
very talk
about our loyalty tends to cast a doubt on
it. Satisfy the British
Government !
Conciliate the British Government! What
for ? Because we are Antis? Is this
why we grant a sum of $30,000 for our
militia, and again are called on to pay for
delegates to go home to tell the people of
England what they know as well as
we
do ? But I will go on " And whereas,
in the
exercise of the right of internal self-government enjoyed by this Province, its
people are entitled to deliberate
and decide upon all questions affecting
their
own local interests in such
manner as to
them may seem best calculated to promote their prosperity and welfare, &c."
What evidence in there before the House
that the British Government intend to deprive us of Responsible Government, or
self-government ? for this is the only inference that can be drawn from this pagraph.
Mr. CUDLIP,—I
will just explain. It
was contemplated to carry out the Union
of the Colonies by chicanery, by
o joling.
by deception, and by bribery in
high
places, the same as it was in Ireland when
she was united to England. But the people of this Province were too wide awake
for them, and decided against
their plotings.
Mr. MCMILLAN.—The hon. member
says the country has decided against
Confederation, and now I ask him to justify
the grounds on which he asks the House
to send delegates home. If any thing
more is necessary why not shew by an
Address to Her Majesty, or by sending
home a copy of the public
Journals what
has been the result,. After admitting that
the vote of this House will be, to ask for
delegates to he appointed, appears to me
to be a very childish thing. The hon.
member for Charlotte (Mr. Boyd)
says he
is in favour of a Union of the
Maritime
Provinces. I would ask him what advantages will this give us that the large
one would not confer?
Mr.
MCMILLAN.—If it is an advantage
to get into connection with 300,000 or
400,000, would not the advantages be still
greater if we were to join ourselves to
3,000,000 or 4,000,000? It has been stated that the delegates had no right to
meet in Conference on a Union with the
other Colonies, when it is well known
that by a despatch from the Imperial Government to the Governor of Nova Scotia on
this question, power was
given
to the Governor General to call
them together for this very
purpose.
Mr. Cardwell also says in his despatch
to the Lieut. Governor, " with the
sanction of the Crown. &c.,
they assembled." But apart from all this I dissent from this objection on general
principles. I believe that men should
meet
together to confer upon subjects
pertaining to the welfare of the
whole of the Provinces. A great deal
has been said about the manner in which
the delegation was carried on ;
it is said
they had champagne, and a jolly
time of
it, and yet those who condemned the meeting of these delegates, want now to send
other delegates home to go
through the
same. But Mr. Cardwell's eulogy on the
men who composed that delegation, and
the manner in which they carried on their
proceedings is quite sufficient
justification
of the course pursued. What does
he say ? " Animated by the warmest sentiments of loyalty and devotion to their
Sovereign, earnestly desirous to secure
for their posterity throughout
all future
time, the advantages which they enjoy as
subjects of the British Crown ; steadfastly attached to the institutions under which
they live, they have conducted
their deliberations with patient sagacity, and have
arrived at unanimous conclusions on questions involving many difficulties,
and calculated under less favorable auspices to
have given rise to many differences of
opinion." Such an event is in the highest
degree honorable to those who have taken
part in these deliberations. It must
inspire confidence in the men by
whose
judgment and temper this result has been
attained. Another ground taken by my
hon. friend from Charlotte (Mr. Boyd.)
was that our own men should not be appointed to the Governor's chair. What! I
would ask, is not the hon. President of the
Council able to fill that position ? I say
that we have men who are able not only
to fill the office, but who are able to teach
the Governors who are sent out to us, so
that they go home better and wiser men
than when they came out. But apart
from this there are objects that should
animate us with a spirit of progress.
What is the cry of England? " Free trade,
free trade with the world," and this should
be our motto, not as I said the other day,
to build a china wall around us and crop us
up in our little egg shell, and call all outside
of us barbarians. This is not the principle
of the day ; this should not be our policy,
but to enter into an alliance that will enable us to have free trade with our neighbours
; and this Union of the Provinces,
I maintain, would be commercially the
best step we could take. I have already
gone into the figures and shown that
financially we should have been much better off, and I shall not now take up any
more of the time of the House, but hold
myself ready to answer any thing that
may be brought up as the debate proceeds.
Hon.
Mr. ANGLIN.—The hon. ex-Surveyor General has worked himself
up
into a fervor on this subject, which I confess I do not experience. I feel an apathy
and coldness on this question., for so much
has been said and heard upon it that all
must be tired of it. The hon. member in
all his long speech has brought out nothing new—nothing but what has been refuted
a thousand times. Last Session
this House appointed delegates to confer
as to the feasibility of a Union of the
Lower Provinces. They met at Charlottetown, and although ostensibly deliberating
a few days they did nothing but wait for
the Canadian delegates to propose another Union. It is evident from the whole
proceedings that they all went there prepared to go into the larger Scheme. The
Canadians came down in a steamer, and
then commenced a round of festivities
which ended by giving to us a Scheme by
which our rights and revenues were to be
bartered away for ever. In the meantime we find a most insignificant body in
St. John—the Chamber of Commerceinsignificant in numbers and
influencewe find them set to work by some secret
influence, inviting not any Commercial
body like themselves, but the whole of
the Legislature of Canada, on their own
responsibility, to pay us a visit. We
know that when the invitation reached
Canada the Legislature was in the last
throes of dissolution. After awhile the
matter was renewed, and some of the
members of the new House came down.
They were received with that hospitality
and kindly treatment which strangers always receive in St. John, and at
a dinner
given in their honor at Stubbs' Hotel,
although I did not wish to speak, I was
called on, and in a most guarded manner
told them that they need not imagine
from the demonstrations of the people,
that they were all in favor of a Union
with Canada. The delegates, if such they
may be called, for they only claim to
have acted on a despatch which had been
received from the Imperial Government
some years before, when they returned
from Canada soon let us know that falsehood and misrepresentation were the engines
to be used in this country to forward the Scheme. We were at first told
that the people were not to he informed as to what had been done, till the Scheme
had been sent to England, and come out
again ; it would have been a breach of
etiquette to let the people, who were most
interested, know anything about it till it
had been laid before the Imperial Cabinet ; and there is no doubt at
all but that
it was intended to withhold all particulars
till the House met, and then to force it
through before time could be given for
the people or their representatives to
think on the matter. A gentleman who
has done much for Confederation asked
the Provincial Secretary whether
they
intended to submit it to the people, or to
push it through
the House, and he replied
that it had not yet been decided. Rumour said that the question did come up in the
Council, and that Mr. McMillan the then hon. Surveyor General was the
only one who said it ought to be submitted. They then determined at once to
dissolve the House. and have a new election. I think it is hardly fair
for those
who then forced an election on the country, and made the people travel
for miles
through snow and mud to hear them expound their pet Scheme, to charge their
failure on the ignorance of the people, especially as they did all they could to enlighten
them. Then the statements that
were put forth by the different delegates
were most contradictory. One of
them in
Carleton County told the people that the
Intercolonial Railroad was to come down
past Woodstock, and another over at the
North Shore made a very different statement, intimating it would come
by their
doors. One said it would pass down the
West Side of the River St. John, and
another that it would take the Central
route for the especial benefit King's.
And even in St. John the two delegates
on the same platform could not agree in
114 DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1865.
their
statements. As manager of one of
the City papers, I had to follow them day
after day, and it was a very onerous duty,
in all their wanderings and contradictory
statements. They told the people that
all the benefit was to be ours, and Canada was going to confer the greatest boons
of us. But it so happened that about
that time Mr. Galt, the Finance Minister
of Canada, addressed some of his people
on the subject, and it was published in
pamphlet form. By mere accident
I obtained a copy, and there I found
Mr. Galt
making the very same statement, namely,
that Canada was to get all the
benefit,
and he was right, whilst our delegates
were wrong. Our tariffs were to be as-
simulated, and we were to become one
great nation with liberty to trade from the
Atlantic to Lake Huron. I will now go
into a short statement which, altho' I have
not the exact figures before me,
are sufficiently near to prove the inaccuracies of
the statement made by the hon.
member
from Restigouche. In 1863 Canada
had
a debt of over a million of dollars. We
were to have a great Legislature
of 194
members, and all its operations were to
be carried on without any more expense
than at present. The number of
members increased from 41 to 194—a
hovel
exchanged for a palace—a great British
North American Nationalty—and all at
the same expense as now. Then there
was the eighty cents a head. Now this
is a paltry sum to us, but I find
that to
the Canadians it would be more then their
expenditure by about a million of dollars.
This added to the debt makes $2 000,000.
This amount would have to be made up
in excess of our own revenues.
In addition to this there was to be a
largely increased expense for militia. The whole
Provinces were to be armed and put in a
complete state of defence at a
cost of $1,000,000. This was the sum put
forth in
Canada. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
as the cost of putting us in a
complete
state to defend ourselves
against the United States, and it only met with
deserved
ridicule. Then there was our revenue
another milllion, and that makes
$4,000,000, without providing for their
extended
works, canals, &c., which
were as much
a part of the Scheme as anything else.
And yet in view of all this we had gentlemen who came before the public and stated
that our expenditure was to bo reduced. The taxation was to be lowered
from $3 to $2
75 ; I am happy to say that
our people refused to be
humbugged by
such a statement. This was one
of the
misrepresentations. Mr. Galt took the
same ground, and it was doubtless prepared by him. He told the Canadians
that the Canadian tariff would be enough
to meet all the expenses, that we should
have to bear 2? per cent more, and Nova
Scotia 7? per cent more. There the
Canadian tariff was to be lowered to 17?
per cent, and thus all was to be assimulated. The hon. ex-Surveyor General did
not take into consideration what the effect
of the increase of our tariff would be.
Why it would give us an increase of duty
on tea, excise duties, and the stamp
act.
Applying the tariff of Canada to ours we
should have to pay $250,000. The hon.
Mr. Tilley tried to controvert
my statement when I made it, and he stated that
it was only $211,000. With a tariff of
twenty per cent in Canada they pay less
per head than we do. We went into
an
account of the dutiable articles, and it was
said that we use more than they do. It
was said, why look here, the
people of Canada useless
sugar than.we do ; but if they
had gone a
little
further they
would
have
seen that in molasses we use nine gallons
to their one. This was the style of the
misrepresentations. Since 1863 the Canadians have had to impose a much higher
tariff, and yet in spite of all, their deficit
is larger than ever before. This was the
people we were asked to unite with to become prosperous. The hon. member says
that they were to assume the interest of
our debt, but then they were also to take
all our revenues except our Crown Lands.
They too were to take the liability of all
our Railway works under the Facility
Bill, and well they might, for they never
imagined it would amount to anything.
and knew that nothing would ever have
been paid. With regard to the eighty
cents a head, it is well known that increase as we may, we could never get any
more. The hon. gentleman argues that
we can't have the Railway without Confederation, when I have shown that we
should have had about $80,000 more for
public works without it than we could get
in it.
Mr. McMILLAN.—Did
not Mr.
Tilley
show that the difference in duty
on spirits,
and the duty on ship's
materials, would
equal
the amount he named ?
Hon.
Mr. ANGLIN.—He did try to cut
it down in his own peculiar way. He
tried to show that we would gain
some
tried to show that we would gain some
$100,000 by assimilating our tariff to the
Canadian free list.
Mr. MCMILLAN.—Taking
the importation of 1863 in each Province, the
average
in Canada is 11 per cent., and here it is
a
little over 10 per cent.
Hon. Mr. ANGLIN —But the right
way
is to take up the separate articles,
and
show that even $1,000 will be saved. much.
The hon. member, in speaking of the
Post Office savings, said nothing about
the tax on papers and stamps on newspapers. The statement that we should
not have the Canadian tariff is
perfectly
absurd, and I could show it in half an
hour if it were necessary. We were told
that we were to be relieved from a number of things, as if we were some pauper
on bended knee
supplicating the assistance of some
wealthy neighbor. But first
they were to relieve us of our revenue,
and then to pay these various sums, while
they made a nice little commission out of
the operation. Then one of the prettiest
little dodges of the Scheme was, that
Canada would very obligingly and kindly
give on $63,000 for ten years. PRO-VID-ED
that we spent a certain sum on
Western .
Extension, which the very sagely and
wisely believed would never be paid.
Even in
their own statements the $63,000
soon faded out, and was not put forward
again. The Upper Canadians have
strong
proclivities towards annexation, because
they do their business with the
United
States, and would rather send
their produce to their markets than to England.
Politically, we should have to start
in this
Scheme with fifteen members in a House
of 194. Our increase is somewhat greater than in Lower Canada, but so little
that many years must elapse before we
should get any increase of
members.
Nova Scotia does
not increase quite as
fast as Lower Canada, and so she would
gradually lose, while Prince
Edward
Island would soon dwindle down to
one ;
while Canada West
would increase so
rapidly that in twenty-five years the number would be equal, it not
superior, to all
the rest. The interest
of what is now
called Central Canada—and which it. is
probable will become a province of itself
—is
identical with that of Canada
West,
and would go with them in any matter
affecting them. Montreal
is the natural
centre of trade, and that is in direct communication with Portland. Then, conflicting
with that port on the one hand
and with Halifax on the other, what a
contemptible position we should be in.
Talk about our fifteen members being
able to do anything ; they could do just
nothing at all. See how it is in Canada now. The difficulties existing there
were no doubt the bottom of the whole
Scheme, they hoping that these difficulties
would be forgot in a larger Union ; and
when Mr. Brown crossed the floors of the
House and joined with Mr. Cartier, he
did it to bring about a great political
change, and that was to crush out the
spirit of Lower Canada. This much for
the financial and political points ; now
for the commercial aspect. I know that
one of the greatest difficulties we had to
combat in St. John was the argument
that the markets of all Canada would be
open to our manufacturers. The parties
who were manipulating this affair got up
a manifesto of the manufacturers, which
was not prepared by a manufacturer, and
by dint of getting it sent round by some
dry goods clerks in the rain, they managed to get ninety-one names to it. Of
those on the list some were bakers, who
it was presumed, would be able to get
their wheat down from Canada, manufacture into hot rolls, and send them back to
Canada for sale.—tombstone makers. (a
rather equivocal interest,)—house carpenters, one was a lumber dealer, who surveys
and looks after logs on the river St.
John ; one was a mason, and one whose
name was down twice, in all ninety-one
men. So this argument did not avail
much. Mr. Lawrence delivered one of
the most able lectures on the subject, and
quite clearly showed the absurdity of
people imagining that the Canadiens were
such fools and dolts that they could neither
make anything, nor imitate anything. I
think many of the people have seen their
delusion, and I am not willing to admit
with my hon friend that Confederation is
gaining ground. Why, I am told that
Canadian iron and other wares sell at
Little Falls at lower prices than they can
be go from St. John. My colleague (Mr.
Cudlip) has handed me a comparative list
of manufactures in Canada in the years
1863 and 1864 :—
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF MANUFACTURES IN CANADA IN 1863 AND 1864.
|
1863. |
Increase in 1861. |
Total. |
| Carding and Fulling Mills, |
62 |
8 |
70 |
| Woollen Factories, |
82 |
45 |
127 |
| Distilleries, |
49 |
3 |
52 |
| Fanneries, |
264 |
184 |
448 |
| Axe & Edge Tool Factories, |
9 |
3 |
12 |
| Cabinet Ware Factories, |
131 |
14 |
145 |
| Carriage and Waggon Factories, |
165 |
54 |
219 |
| Pail Factories, |
10 |
7 |
17 |
| Comb do., |
2 |
|
|
| Soap & Candle Factories, |
16 |
1 |
17 |
| Rake Factories, |
4 |
2 |
6 |
| Paper Mills, |
5 |
3 |
8 |
| Nail Factories, |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Boot & Shoe Factories, |
38 |
12 |
50 |
| Cotton Factories, |
5 |
1 |
6 |
| Match Factoreis, |
8 |
2 |
10 |
| Sash Factories, |
22 |
|
|
| Broom Factories, |
7 |
|
|
| Rope Factories, |
5 |
|
|
| Agricultural Implements, |
38 |
|
|
| Harness Factories, |
16 |
|
|
| Hay Mills, |
4 |
|
|
DEBATES OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FOR 1865. 115
Thus in
manufactures we shall have
little chance with them. But this is but
one phase of the commercial
view. I
have heard lectures on this subject, and
as I have heard them talk about
free
trade with Canada, I have asked
myself
are these people such fools as
not to
know that if Canada wants to get
coal
from Pictou they are free to do it as
they can possibly be. People forget
that there is perfect free trade between
us and Canada. This cry about free
trade is not the reason why Confederation is wanted, but an hon.
member of
the Canadian Legislature has
explained
the whole matter, when he alleged as
one of the advantages of Union
to Canada, that they would be able to say to the
States, we will not only close
the St.
Lawrence against you, but
prevent you
from sending down your flour and beef
and pork to St. John, and the other
ports of the Lower Provinces, unless
you come to our terms. Are we thus
to be made the cats-paw for Canada?
are we to be mere make-weights
between Canada and the United States?
Are we to have all these articles shut
out from us just that Canada may make
us consume her corn and pork at
immensely higher prices? Great
Britain
makes treaties with the United States,
but she always asks our opinion
about
them, and whether they will affect us.
When the Reciprocity Treaty was signed. Parliament was called
together to
deliberate on it, but here we are to have
no voice all. Just think of our 15
men standing up among the 194 ; suppose they all stand together for their
rights, and against a great wrong, I
think I hear the Canadians saying,
" you came into this great union
of your
own free will, you have reaped the
ad-
advantages of the alliance, and
now when
difficulties come you must bear
them or
do the best you can." It is said that
union is strength, and we had it illustrated in different ways down in St. John
at the last elections, but I think we already have a union that is strong enough
;
we are united to Great Britain, and I do
not think they desire to sever the
band
that unites us. Look at the map
and
see how New Brunswick and Canada
run up round the State of Maine
like an
ox bow ; for some distance the strip of
land is not more than twenty miles
wide,
and is the bond that binds us to Canada,
a link that an American troop of
dragoons could snap in a day ; and to defend that place or any other there would
be no more difficulty in turning
out an
available force at the request
of Great
Britain, than by a command from Ottawa. One remark about the delegation
to England ; all delegations in the past
have been subject to ridicule, and I suppose that others
will be, but my hon.
friend is the first of his party who I have
heard admit, for one moment, that the
country has decided on the question
of
Confederation finally and conclusively.
Mr. MCMILLAN.—I
said the resolution
say the country has
decided on it.
Hon. Mr. ANGLIN —Do
you deny that
the question is decided on conclusively?
Mr. MCMILLAN.—I simply said that
the resolution states that the
country has
decided on it.
Hon. Mr. ANGLIN.—Well,
if there is
to be quibbling let it pass. The
Times,
a paper not easy to control, states that
in this Province there was only a majority of 455 against Confederation.
We, Mr. Chairman, could not get such
a statement inserted, and much
less
could we get it made the basis of a
lead
ing article, yet influences are at work
to bring this about, and the
Saturday
Review reiterates the same falsehood and
calumny ; when in the County of York
alone there are over 900 majority
against
it. Does this mean nothing? Is it not
done for some sinister purpose? When
I see Mr. Cartier stating at Fishmonger's
Hall that they had come to induce the
people of England to carry out that
scheme, I think it is time we did something to counteract such scheming and
falsehood. The
Times says again,
that
these gentlemen from Canada went
down to Halifax and were received by
every demonstration of respect,
and
that several influential
gentlemen from
New Brunswick were also there to receive them. I say that is false. When
I see Mr. Cartier, after interview
with
Lord Palmerston, stating that
all is going on well, think it is time we
were
heard in Downing Street too. I do not
wish to say that the feeling or desire to
coerce us into this scheme is felt by any
in this House, but when I hear
an honorable member say that Confederation
is gaining ground, and that it may be
carried in six months ; and when
I hear
another gentleman in the other
branch
say that the reason why Confederation
failed was on account of the sins
of the
late Government, and was never properly tested ; I say, when hear this, I
warn these hon. gentlemen that
they are
playing into the hands of the greatest
conspirators against the prosperity and
happiness of this Province.
House adjourned till to-morrow morning a 9 o'clock.
J. M.
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