Canada under British Rule, Sir John George Bourinot [phonics reader .txt] 📗
- Author: Sir John George Bourinot
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to occupy a more prominent place in Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was passed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics. Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr. James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in 1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of the public domain had been given by the British government more than a hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway.
The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864. Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and making it an active partner in the material, political, and social progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed by considerations of European policy.
SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900.
On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In 1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October, 1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion. His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters "were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to choose between their conscience and their party."
The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861, and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until 1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the representatives of the people. His administration remained in office until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875, pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred, materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the course of succeeding years a system of local government was established in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the senate and house of commons.
As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871 and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various classes have been provided for their instruction. They are systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to support themselves.
The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish public nominations and property qualification for members of the house of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many counties of the several provinces; but
In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr. James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in 1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of the public domain had been given by the British government more than a hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway.
The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864. Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and making it an active partner in the material, political, and social progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed by considerations of European policy.
SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900.
On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In 1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October, 1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion. His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters "were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to choose between their conscience and their party."
The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861, and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until 1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the representatives of the people. His administration remained in office until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875, pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred, materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the course of succeeding years a system of local government was established in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the senate and house of commons.
As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871 and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various classes have been provided for their instruction. They are systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to support themselves.
The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish public nominations and property qualification for members of the house of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many counties of the several provinces; but
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