THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY.
When LaFontaine resigned the premiership the ministry was dissolved
and it was necessary for the governor-general to choose his successor.
After the retirement of Baldwin, Hincks and his colleagues from Upper
Canada were induced to remain in the cabinet and the latter became the
leader in that province. He was endowed with great natural shrewdness,
was deeply versed in financial and commercial matters, had a complete
comprehension of the material conditions of the province, and
recognized the necessity of rapid railway construction if the people
were to hold their own against the competition of their very energetic
neighbours to the south. His ideas of trade, we can well believe,
recommended themselves to Lord Elgin, who saw in him the very man he
needed to help him in his favourite scheme of bringing about
reciprocity with the United States. At the same time he was now the
most prominent man in the Liberal party so long led by Baldwin and
LaFontaine, and the governor-general very properly called upon him to
reconstruct the ministry. He assumed the responsibility and formed the
government known in the political history of Canada as the
Hincks-Morin ministry; but before we consider its _personnel_ and
review its measures, it is necessary to recall the condition of
political parties at the time it came into power.
During the years Baldwin and LaFontaine were in office, the politics
of the province were in the process of changes which eventually led to
important results in the state of parties. The _Parti Rouge_ was
formed in Lower Canada out of the extreme democratic element of the
people by Papineau, who, throughout his parliamentary career since his
return from exile, showed the most determined opposition to
LaFontaine, whose measures were always distinguished by a spirit of
conservatism, decidedly congenial to the dominant classes in French
Canada where the civil and religious institutions of the country had
much to fear from the promulgation of republican principles.
The new party was composed chiefly of young Frenchmen, then in the
first stage of their political growth--notably A.A. Dorion, J.B.E.
Dorion (_l'enfant terrible_), R. Doutre, Dessaules, Labrèche, Viger,
and Laflamme; L.H. Holton, and a very few men of British descent were
also associated with the party from its commencement. Its organ was
_L'Avenir_ of Montreal, in which were constantly appearing violent
diatribes and fervid appeals to national prejudice, always peculiar to
French Canadian journalism. It commenced with a programme in which it
advocated universal suffrage, the abolition of property qualification
for members of the legislature, the repeal of the union, the abolition
of tithes, a republican form of government, and even, in a moment of
extreme political aberration, annexation to the United States. It was
a feeble imitation of the red republicanism of the French revolution,
and gave positive evidences of the inspiration of the hero of the
fight at St. Denis in 1837. Its platform was pervaded not only by
hatred of British institutions, but with contempt for the clergy and
religion generally. Its revolutionary principles were at once
repudiated by the great mass of French Canadians and for years it had
but a feeble existence. It was only when its leading spirits
reconstructed their platform and struck out its most objectionable
planks, that it became something of a factor in practical Canadian
politics. In 1851 it was still insignificant numerically in the
legislature, and could not affect the fortunes of the Liberal party in
Lower Canada then distinguished by the ability of A.N. Morin, P.J.O.
Chauveau, R.E. Caron, E.P. Taché, and L.P. Drummond. The recognized
leader of this dominant party was Morin, whose versatile knowledge,
lucidity of style, and charm of manner gave him much strength in
parliament. His influence, however, as I have already said, was too
often weakened by an absence of energy and of the power to lead at
national or political crises.
Parties in Upper Canada also showed the signs of change. The old Tory
party had been gradually modifying its opinions under the influence of
responsible government, which showed its wisest members that ideas
that prevailed before the union had no place under the new,
progressive order of things. This party, nominally led by Sir Allan
MacNab, that staunch old loyalist, now called itself Conservative, and
was quite ready, in fact anxious, to forget the part it took in
connection with the rebellion-losses legislation, and to win that
support in French Canada without which it could not expect to obtain
office. The ablest man in its councils was already John Alexander
Macdonald, whose political sagacity and keenness to seize political
advantages for the advancement of his party, were giving him the lead
among the Conservatives. The Liberals had shown signs of
disintegration ever since the formation of the "Clear Grits," whose
most conspicuous members were Peter Perry, the founder of the Liberal
party in Upper Canada before the union; William McDougall, an eloquent
young lawyer and journalist; Malcolm Cameron, who had been assistant
commissioner of public works in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government; Dr.
John Rolph, one of the leaders of the movement that ended in the
rebellion of 1837; Caleb Hopkins, a western farmer of considerable
energy and natural ability; David Christie, a well-known
agriculturist; and John Leslie, the proprietor of the Toronto
_Examiner_, the chief organ of the new party. It was organized as a
remonstrance against what many men in the old Liberal party regarded
as the inertness of their leaders to carry out changes considered
necessary in the political interests of the country. Its very name was
a proof that its leaders believed there should be no reservation in
the opinion held by their party--that there must be no alloy or
foreign metal in their political coinage, but it must be clear Grit.
Its platform embraced many of the cardinal principles of the original
Reform or Liberal party, but it also advocated such radical changes as
the application of the elective principle to all classes of officials
(including the governor-general), universal suffrage, vote by ballot,
biennial parliaments, the abolition of the courts of chancery and
common pleas, free trade and direct taxation.
The Toronto _Globe_, which was for a short time the principal exponent
of ministerial views, declared that many of the doctrines enunciated
by the Clear Grits "embody the whole difference between a republican
form of government and the limited monarchy of Great Britain." _The
Globe_ was edited by George Brown, a Scotsman by birth, who came with
his father in his youth to the western province and entered into
journalism, in which he attained eventually signal success by his
great intellectual force and tenacity of purpose. His support of the
LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry gradually dropped from a moderate
enthusiasm to a positive coolness, from its failure to carry out the
principles urged by _The Globe_--especially the secularization of the
clergy reserves. Then he commenced to raise the cry of French
domination and to attack the religion and special institutions of
French Canada with such virulence that at last he became "a
governmental impossibility," so far as the influence of that province
was concerned. He supported the Clear Grits in the end, and became
their recognized leader when they gathered to themselves all the
discontented and radical elements of the Liberal party which had for
some years been gradually splitting into fragments. The power of the
Clear Grits was first shown in 1851, when William Lyon Mackenzie
succeeded in obtaining a majority of Reformers in support of his
motion for the abolition of the court of chancery, and forced the
retirement of Baldwin, whose conservatism had gradually brought him
into antagonism with the extremists of his old party.
Although relatively small in numbers in 1851, the Clear Grits had the
ability to do much mischief, and Hincks at once recognized the
expediency of making concessions to their leaders before they
demoralized or ruined the Liberal party in the west. Accordingly, he
invited Dr. Rolph and Malcolm Cameron to take positions in the new
ministry. They consented on condition that the secularization of the
clergy reserves would be a part of the ministerial policy. Hincks then
presented the following names to the governor-general:
Upper Canada.--Hon. F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. W.B.
Richards, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. Malcolm
Cameron, president of the executive council; Hon. John
Rolph, commissioner of crown lands; Hon. James Morris,
postmaster-general.
Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, provincial secretary, Hon. L.P.
Drummond, attorney-general of Lower Canada; Hon. John Young,
commissioner of public works; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of
legislative council; Hon. E.P. Taché, receiver-general.
Later, Mr. Chauveau and Mr. John Ross were appointed
solicitors-general for Lower and Upper Canada, without seats in the
cabinet.
Parliament was dissolved in November, when it had completed its
constitutional term of four years, and the result of the elections was
the triumph of the new ministry. It obtained a large majority in Lower
Canada, and only a feeble support in Upper Canada. The most notable
acquisition to parliament was George Brown, who had been defeated
previously in a bye-election of the same year by William Lyon
Mackenzie, chiefly on account of his being most obnoxious to the Roman
Catholic voters. He was assuming to be the Protestant champion in
journalism, and had made a violent attack on the Roman Catholic faith
on the occasion of the appointment of Cardinal Wiseman as Archbishop
of Westminster, an act denounced by extreme Protestants throughout the
British empire as an unconstitutional and dangerous interference by
the Pope with the dearest rights of Protestant England. As soon as
Brown entered the legislature he defined his political position by
declaring that, while he saw much to condemn in the formation of the
ministry and was dissatisfied with Hincks's explanations, he preferred
giving it for the time being his support rather than seeing the
government handed over to the Conservatives. As a matter of fact, he
soon became the most dangerous adversary that the government had to
meet. His style of speaking--full of facts and bitterness--and his
control of an ably conducted and widely circulated newspaper made him
a force in and out of parliament. His aim was obviously to break up
the new ministry, and possibly to ensure the formation of some new
combination in which his own ambition might be satisfied. As we shall
shortly see, his schemes failed chiefly through the more skilful
strategy of the man who was always his rival--his successful
rival--John A. Macdonald.
During its existence the Hincks-Morin ministry was distinguished by
its energetic policy for the promotion of railway, maritime and
commercial enterprises. It took the first steps to stimulate the
establishment of a line of Atlantic steamers by the offer of a
considerable subsidy for the carriage of mails between Canada and
Great Britain. The first contract was made with a Liverpool firm,
McKean, McLarty & Co., but the service was not satisfactorily
performed, owing, probably--according to Hincks--to the war with
Russia, and it was necessary to make a new arrangement with the
Messrs. Allan, which has continued, with some modification, until the
present time.
The negotiations for the construction of an intercolonial railway
having failed for the reasons previously stated, (p. 100), Hincks made
successful applications to English capitalists for the construction of
the great road always known as the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It
obtained a charter authorizing it to consolidate the lines from Quebec
to Richmond, from Quebec to Rivière du Loup, and from Toronto to
Montreal, which had received a guarantee of $3,000 a mile in
accordance with the law passed in 1851. It also had power to build the
Victoria bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, and lease the
American line to Portland. By 1860, this great national highway was
completed from Rivière du Loup on the lower St. Lawrence as far as
Sarnia and Windsor on the western lakes. Its early history was
notorious for much jobbery, and the English shareholders lost the
greater part of the money which they invested in this Canadian
undertaking.[13] It cost the province from first to last upwards of
$16,000,000 but it was, on the whole, money expended in the interests
of the country, whose internal development would have been very
greatly retarded in the absence of rapid means of transit between east
and west. The government also gave liberal aid to the Great Western
Railway, which extended from the Niagara river to Hamilton, London and
Windsor, and to the Northern road, which extended north from Toronto,
both of which, many years later, became parts of the Grand Trunk
system.
In accordance with its general progressive policy, the Hincks-Morin
ministry passed through the legislature an act empowering
municipalities in Upper Canada, after the observance of certain
formalities, to borrow money for the building of railways by the issue
of municipal debentures guaranteed by the provincial government. Under
this law a number of municipalities borrowed large sums to assist
railways and involved themselves so heavily in debt that the province
was ultimately obliged to come to their assistance and assume their
obligations. For years after the passage of this measure, Lower Canada
received the same privileges, but the people of that province were
never carried away by the enthusiasm of the west and never burdened
themselves with debts which they were unable to pay. The law, however,
gave a decided impulse at the outset to railway enterprise in Upper
Canada, and would have been a positive public advantage had it been
carried out with some degree of caution.
The government established a department of agriculture to which were
given control of the taking of a decennial census, the encouragement
of immigration, the collection of agricultural and other statistics,
the establishment of model farms and agricultural schools, the holding
of annual exhibitions and fairs, and other matters calculated to
encourage the cultivation of the soil in both sections of the
province. Malcolm Cameron became its first minister in connection with
his nominal duties as president of the executive council--a position
which he had accepted only on condition that it was accompanied by
some more active connection with the administration of public affairs.
For three sessions the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry had made vain
efforts to pass a law increasing the representation of the two
provinces to one hundred and thirty or sixty-five members for each
section. As already stated the Union Act required that such a measure
should receive a majority of two-thirds in each branch of the
legislature. It would have become law on two occasions had it not been
for the factious opposition of Papineau, whose one vote would have
given the majority constitutionally necessary. When it was again
presented in 1853 by Mr. Morin, it received the bitter opposition of
Mr. Brown, who was now formulating the doctrine of representation by
population which afterwards became so important a factor in provincial
politics that it divided west from east, and made government
practically impossible until a federal union of the British North
American provinces was brought about as the only feasible solution of
the serious political and sectional difficulties under which Canada
was suffering. A number of prominent Conservatives, including Mr. John
A. Macdonald, were also unfavourable to the measure on the ground that
the population of Upper Canada, which was steadily increasing over
that of Lower Canada, should be equitably considered in any
readjustment of the provincial representation. The French Canadians,
who had been forced to come into the union hi 1841 with the same
representation as Upper Canada with its much smaller population, were
now unwilling to disturb the equality originally fixed while agreeing
to an increase in the number of representatives from each section.
The bill, which became law in 1853, was entirely in harmony with
the views entertained by Lord Elgin when he first took office as
governor-general of Canada. In 1847 he gave his opinion to the
colonial secretary that "the comparatively small number of members
of which the popular bodies who determine the fate of provincial
administrations" consisted was "unfavourable to the existence of a
high order of principle and feeling among official personages." When a
defection of two or three individuals from a majority of ten or so put
an administration in peril, "the perpetual patchwork and trafficking
to secure this vote and that (not to mention other evils) so engrosses
the time and thoughts of ministers that they have not leisure for
matters of greater moment" He clearly saw into the methods by which
his first unstable ministry, which had its origin in Lord Metcalfe's
time, was alone able to keep its feeble majority. "It must be
remembered," he wrote in 1847, "that it is only of late that the
popular assemblies in this part of the world have acquired the right
of determining who shall govern them--of insisting, as we phrase it,
that the administration of affairs shall be conducted by persons
enjoying their confidence. It is not wonderful that a privilege of
this kind should be exercised at first with some degree of
recklessness, and that while no great principles of policy are at
stake, methods of a more questionable character for winning and
retaining the confidence of these arbiters of destiny should be
resorted to."
While the Hincks government was in office, the Canadian legislature
received power from the imperial authorities--as I shall show
later--to settle the question of the clergy reserves on condition that
protection should be given to those members of the clergy who had been
beneficiaries under the Constitutional Act of 1791. A measure was
passed for the settlement of the seigniorial tenure question on an
equitable basis, but it was defeated in the legislative council by a
large majority amongst which we see the names of several seigneurs
directly interested in the measure. It was not fully discussed in that
chamber on the ground that members from Upper Canada had not had a
sufficient opportunity of studying the details of the proposed
settlement and of coming to a just conclusion as to its merits. The
action of the council under these circumstances was severely
criticized, and gave a stimulus to the movement that had been steadily
going on for years among radical reformers of both provinces in favour
of an elective body.
The result was that in 1854 the British parliament repealed the
clauses of the Union Act of 1840 with respect to the upper House, and
gave full power to the Canadian legislature to make such changes as it
might deem expedient--another concession to the principle of local
self-government. It was not, however, until 1856, that the legislature
passed a bill giving effect to the intentions of the imperial law, and
the first elections were held for the council. Lord Elgin was always
favourable to this constitutional change. "The position of the second
chamber of our body politic"--I quote from a despatch of March,
1853--"is at present wholly unsatisfactory. The principle of election
must be introduced in order to give to it the influence which it ought
to possess, and that principle must be so applied as to admit of the
working of parliamentary government (which I for one am certainly not
prepared to abandon for the American system) with two elective
chambers... When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on
this improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to
our constitution, and a greater strength." Lord Elgin's view was
adopted and the change was made.
It is interesting to note that so distinguished a statesman as Lord
Derby, who had been colonial secretary in a previous administration,
had only gloomy forebodings of the effects of this elective system
applied to the upper House. He believed that the dream that he had of
seeing the colonies form eventually "a monarchical government,
presided over by one nearly and closely allied to the present royal
family," would be proved quite illusory by the legislation in
question. "Nothing," he added, "like a free and regulated monarchy
could exist for a single moment under such a constitution as that
which is now proposed for Canada. From the moment that you pass this
constitution, the progress must be rapidly towards republicanism, if
anything could be more really republican than this bill." As a matter
of fact a very few years later than the utterance of these gloomy
words, Canada and the other provinces of British North America entered
into a confederation "with a constitution similar in principle to that
of the United Kingdom"--to quote words in the preamble of the Act of
Union--and with a parliament of which the House of Commons is alone
elective. More than that, Lord Derby's dream has been in a measure
realized and Canada has seen at the head of her executive a
governor-general--the present Duke of Argyle--"nearly and closely
allied to the present royal family" of England, by his marriage to the
Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who
accompanied her husband to Ottawa.
One remarkable feature of the Imperial Act dealing with this question
of the council, was the introduction of a clause which gave authority
to a mere majority of the members of the two Houses of the legislature
to increase the representation, and consequently removed that
safeguard to French Canada which required a two-thirds vote in each
branch. As the legislature had never passed an address or otherwise
expressed itself in favour of such an amendment of the Union Act,
there was always a mystery as to the way it was brought about. Georges
Étienne Cartier always declared that Papineau was indirectly
responsible for this imperial legislation. As already stated, the
leader of the Rouges had voted against the bill increasing the
representation, and had declaimed like others against the injustice
which the clause in the Union Act had originally done to French
Canada. "This fact," said Cartier, "was known in England, and when
leave was given to elect legislative councillors, the amendment
complained of was made at the same time. It may be said then, that if
Papineau had not systematically opposed the increase of
representation, the change in question would have never been thought
of in England." Hincks, however, was attacked by the French Canadian
historian, Garneau, for having suggested the amendment while in
England in 1854. This, however, he denied most emphatically in a
pamphlet which he wrote at a later time when he was no longer in
public life. He placed the responsibility on John Boulton, who called
himself an independent Liberal and who was in England at the same time
as Hincks, and probably got the ear of the colonial secretary or one
of his subordinates in the colonial office, and induced him to
introduce the amendment which passed without notice in a House where
very little attention was given, as a rule, to purely colonial
questions.
In 1853 Lord Elgin visited England, where he received unqualified
praise for his able administration of Canadian affairs. It was on this
occasion that Mr. Buchanan, then minister of the United States in
London, and afterwards a president of the Republic, paid this tribute
to the governor-general at a public dinner given in his honour.
"Lord Elgin," he said, "has solved one of the most difficult problems
of statesmanship. He has been able, successfully and satisfactorily,
to administer, amidst many difficulties, a colonial government over a
free people. This is an easy task where the commands of a despot are
law to his obedient servants, but not so in a colony where the people
feel that they possess the rights and privileges of native-born
Britons. Under his enlightened government, Her Majesty's North
American provinces have realized the blessings of a wise, prudent and
prosperous administration, and we of the neighbouring nation, though
jealous of our rights, have reason to be abundantly satisfied with his
just and friendly conduct towards ourselves. He has known how to
reconcile his devotion to Her Majesty's service with a proper regard
to the rights and interests of a kindred and neighbouring people.
Would to heaven we had such governors-general in all the European
colonies in the vicinity of the United States!"
On his return from England Lord Elgin made a visit to Washington and
succeeded in negotiating the reciprocity treaty which he had always at
heart. It was not, however, until a change of government occurred in
Canada, that the legislature was able to give its ratification to this
important measure. This subject is of such importance that it will be
fully considered in a separate chapter on the relations between Canada
and the United States during Lord Elgin's term of office.
In 1854 the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal were
deeply excited by the lectures of a former monk, Father Gavazzi, who
had become a Protestant and professed to expose the errors of the
faith to which he once belonged. Much rioting took place in both
cities, and blood was shed in Montreal, where the troops, which had
been called out, suddenly fired on the mob. Mr. Wilson, the mayor, who
was a Roman Catholic, was accused of having given the order to fire,
but he always denied the charge, and Hincks, in his "Reminiscences,"
expresses his conviction that he was not responsible. He was persuaded
that "the firing was quite accidental, one man having discharged his
piece from misapprehension, and others having followed his example
until the officers threw themselves in front, and struck up the
firelocks." Be this as it may, the Clear Grits in the West promptly
made use of this incident to attack the government on the ground that
it had failed to make a full investigation into the circumstances of
the riot. As a matter of fact, according to Hincks, the government did
take immediate steps to call the attention of the military commandant
to the matter, and the result was a court of inquiry which ended in
the removal of the regiment--then only a few days in Canada--to
Bermuda for having shown "a want of discipline." Brown inveighed very
bitterly against Hincks and his colleagues, as subject to Roman
Catholic domination in French Canada, and found this unfortunate
affair extremely useful in his systematic efforts to destroy the
government, to which at no time had he been at all favourable.
Several changes took place during 1853 in the _personnel_ of the
ministry, which met parliament on June 13th, with the following
members holding portfolios:
Hon. Messrs. Hincks, premier and inspector-general; John
Ross, formerly solicitor-general west in place of Richards,
elevated to the bench, attorney-general for Upper Canada;
James Morris, president of the legislative council, in place
of Mr. Caron, now a judge; John Rolph, president of the
executive council; Malcolm Cameron, postmaster-general; A.N.
Morin, commissioner of crown lands; L.P. Drummond,
attorney-general for Lower Canada; Mr. Chauveau, formerly
solicitor east, provincial secretary; J. Chabot,
commissioner of public works in place of John Young,
resigned on account of differences on commercial questions;
and E.P. Taché, receiver-general. Dunbar Ross became
solicitor-general east, and Joseph C. Morrison,
solicitor-general west.
The government had decided to have a short session, pass a few
necessary measures and then appeal to the country. The secularization
of the reserves, and the question of the seigniorial tenure were not
to be taken up until the people had given an expression of opinion as
to the ministerial policy generally. As soon as the legislature met,
Cauchon, already prominent in public life, proposed an amendment to
the address, expressing regret that the government had no intention
"to submit immediately a measure to settle the question of the
seigniorial tenure." Then Sicotte, who had not long before declined to
enter the ministry, moved to add the words "and one for the
secularization of the clergy reserves." These two amendments were
carried by a majority of thirteen in a total division of seventy-one
votes. While the French Liberals continued to support Morin, all the
Upper Canadian opponents of the government, Conservatives and Clear
Grits, united with a number of Hincks's former supporters and Rouges
in Lower Canada to bring about this ministerial defeat. The government
accordingly was obliged either to resign or ask the governor-general
for a dissolution. It concluded to adhere to its original
determination, and go at once to the country. The governor-general
consented to prorogue the legislature with a view to an immediate
appeal to the electors. When the Usher of the Black Rod appeared at
the door of the assembly chamber, to ask the attendance of the Commons
in the legislative council, a scene of great excitement occurred.
William Lyon Mackenzie made one of his vituperative attacks on the
government, and was followed by John A. Macdonald, who declared its
course to be most unconstitutional. When at last the messenger from
the governor-general was admitted by order of the speaker, the House
proceeded to the council chamber, where members were electrified by
another extraordinary incident. The speaker of the assembly was John
Sandfield Macdonald, an able Scotch Canadian, in whose character
there was a spirit of vindictiveness, which always asserted itself
when he received a positive or fancied injury. He had been a
solicitor-general of Upper Canada in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government,
and had never forgiven Hincks for not having promoted him to the
attorney-generalship, instead of W.B. Richards, afterwards an eminent
judge of the old province of Canada, and first chief justice of
the Supreme Court of the Dominion. Hincks had offered him the
commissionership of crown lands in the ministry, but he refused to
accept any office except the one on which his ambition was fixed.
Subsequently, however, he was induced by his friends to take the
speakership of the legislative assembly, but he had never forgiven
what he considered a slight at the hands of the prime minister in
1851. Accordingly, when he appeared at the Bar of the Council in 1853,
he made an attempt to pay off this old score. As soon as he had made
his bow to the governor-general seated on the throne, Macdonald
proceeded to read the following speech, which had been carefully
prepared for the occasion in the two languages:
"May it please your Excellency: It has been the immemorial
custom of the speaker of the Commons' House of Parliament to
communicate to the throne the general result of the
deliberations of the assembly upon the principal objects
which have employed the attention of parliament during the
period of their labours. It is not now part of my duty thus
to address your Excellency, inasmuch as there has been no
act passed or judgment of parliament obtained since we were
honoured by your Excellency's announcement of the cause of
summoning of parliament by your gracious speech from the
throne. The passing of an act through its several stages,
according to the law and custom of parliament (solemnly
declared applicable to the parliamentary proceedings of this
province, by a decision of the legislative assembly of
1841), is held to be necessary to constitute a session of
parliament. This we have been unable to accomplish, owing to
the command which your Excellency has laid upon us to meet
you this day for the purpose of prorogation. At the same
time I feel called upon to assure your Excellency, on the
part of Her Majesty's faithful Commons, that it is not from
any want of respect to yourself, or to the August personage
whom you represent in these provinces, that no answer has
been returned by the legislative assembly to your gracious
speech from the throne."
It is said by those who were present on this interesting occasion that
His Excellency was the most astonished person in the council chamber.
Mr. Fennings Taylor, the deputy clerk with a seat at the table, tells
us in a sketch of Macdonald that Lord Elgin's face clearly marked
"deep displeasure and annoyance when listening to the speaker's
address," and that he gave "a motion of angry impatience when he found
himself obliged to listen to the repetition in French of the reproof
which had evidently galled him in English." This incident was in some
respects without parallel in Canadian parliamentary history. There was
a practice, now obsolete in Canada as in England, for the speaker, on
presenting the supply or appropriation bill to the governor-general
for the royal assent, to deliver a short address directing attention
to the principal measures passed during the session about to be
closed.[14] This practice grew up in days when there were no
responsible ministers who would be the only constitutional channel of
communication between the Crown and the assembly. The speaker was
privileged, and could be instructed as "the mouth-piece" of the House,
to lay before the representative of the Sovereign an expression of
opinion on urgent questions of the day. On this occasion Mr. Macdonald
was influenced entirely by personal spite, and made an unwarrantable
use of an old custom which was never intended, and could not be
constitutionally used, to insult the representative of the Crown, even
by inference. Mr. Macdonald was not even correct in his interpretation
of the constitution, when he positively declared that an act was
necessary to constitute a session. The Crown makes a session by
summoning and opening parliament, and it is always a royal prerogative
to prorogue or dissolve it at its pleasure even before a single act
has passed the two Houses. Such a scene could never have occurred with
the better understanding of the duties of the speaker and of the
responsibilities of ministers advising the Crown that has grown up
under a more thorough study of the practice and usages of parliament,
and of the principles of responsible government. This little political
episode is now chiefly interesting as giving an insight into one phase
of the character of a public man, who afterwards won a high position
in the parliamentary and political life of Canada before and after the
confederation of 1867, not by the display of a high order of
statesmanship, but by the exercise of his tenacity of purpose, and by
reason of his reputation for a spiteful disposition which made him
feared by friend and foe.
Immediately after the prorogation, parliament was dissolved and the
Hincks-Morin ministry presented itself to the people, who were now
called upon to elect a larger number of representatives under the act
passed in 1853. Of the constitutionality of the course pursued by the
government in this political crisis, there can now be no doubt. In the
first place it was fully entitled to demand a public judgment on its
general policy, especially in view of the fact, within the knowledge
of all persons, that the opposition in the assembly was composed of
discordant elements, only temporarily brought together by the hope of
breaking up the government. In the next place it felt that it could
not be justified by sound constitutional usage in asking a parliament
in which the people were now imperfectly represented, to settle
definitely such important questions as the clergy reserves and the
seigniorial tenure. Lord Elgin had himself no doubt of the necessity
for obtaining a clear verdict from the people by means of "the more
perfect system of representation" provided by law. In the debate on
the Representation Bill in 1853, John A. Macdonald did not hesitate to
state emphatically that the House should be governed by English
precedents in the position in which it would soon be placed by the
passage of this measure. "Look," he said, "at the Reform Bill in
England. That was passed by a parliament that had been elected only
one year before, and the moment it was passed, Lord John Russell
affirmed that the House could not continue after it had declared that
the country was not properly represented. How can we legislate on the
clergy reserves until another House is elected, if this bill passes? A
great question like this cannot be left to be decided by a mere
accidental majority. We can legislate upon no great question after we
have ourselves declared that we do not represent the country. Do these
gentlemen opposite mean to say that they will legislate on a question
affecting the rights of people yet unborn, with the fag-end of a
parliament dishonoured by its own confessions of incapacity?" Hincks
in his "Reminiscences," printed more than three decades later than
this ministerial crisis, still adhered to the opinion that the
government was fully justified by established precedent in appealing
to the country before disposing summarily of the important questions
then agitating the people. Both Lord Elgin and Sir John A.
Macdonald--to give the latter the title he afterwards received from
the Crown--assuredly set forth the correct constitutional practice
under the peculiar circumstances in which both government and
legislature were placed by the legislation increasing the
representation of the people.
The elections took place in July and August of 1854, for in those
times there was no system of simultaneous polling on one day, but
elections were held on such days and as long as the necessities of
party demanded.[15] The result was, on the whole, adverse to the
government. While it still retained a majority in French Canada, its
opponents returned in greater strength, and Morin himself was defeated
in Terrebonne, though happily for the interests of his party he was
elected by acclamation at the same time in Chicoutimi. In Upper Canada
the ministry did not obtain half the vote of the sixty-five
representatives now elected to the legislature by that province. This
vote was distributed as follows: Ministerial, 30; Conservatives, 22;
Clear Grits, 7; and Independents, 6. Malcolm Cameron was beaten in
Lambton, but Hincks was elected by two constituencies. One auspicious
result of this election was the disappearance of Papineau from public
life. He retired to his pretty chateau on the banks of the Ottawa, and
the world soon forgot the man who had once been so prominent a figure
in Canadian politics. His graces of manner and conversation continued
for years to charm his friends in that placid evening of his life so
very different from those stormy days when his eloquence was a menace
to British institutions and British connection. Before his death, he
saw Lower Canada elevated to an independent and influential position
in the confederation of British North America which it could never
have reached as that _Nation Canadienne_ which he had once vainly
hoped to see established in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
The Rouges, of whom Papineau had been leader, came back in good form
and numbered nineteen members. Antoine A. Dorion, Holton, and other
able men in the ranks of this once republican party, had become wise
and adopted opinions which no longer offended the national and
religious susceptibilities of their race, although they continued to
show for years their radical tendencies which prevented them from ever
obtaining a firm hold of public opinion in a practically Conservative
province, and becoming dominant in the public councils for any length
of time.
The fifth parliament of the province of Canada was opened by Lord
Elgin on February 5th, 1854, and the ministry was defeated immediately
on the vote for the speakership, to which Mr. Sicotte--a dignified
cultured man, at a later time a judge--was elected. On this occasion
Hincks resorted to a piece of strategy which enabled him to punish
John Sandfield Macdonald for the insult he had levelled at the
governor-general and his advisers at the close of the previous
parliament. The government's candidate was Georges Étienne Cartier,
who was first elected in 1849 and who had already become conspicuous
in the politics of his province. Sicotte was the choice of the
Opposition in Lower Canada, and while there was no belief among the
politicians that he could be elected, there was an understanding among
the Conservatives and Clear Grits that an effort should be made in his
behalf, and in case of its failure, then the whole strength of the
opponents of the ministry should be so directed as to ensure the
election of Mr. Macdonald, who was sure to get a good Reform vote from
the Upper Canadian representatives. These names were duly proposed in
order, and Cartier was defeated by a large majority. When the clerk at
the table had called for a vote for Sicotte, the number who stood up
in his favour was quite insignificant, but before the Nays were taken,
Hincks arose quickly and asked that his name be recorded with the
Yeas. All the ministerialists followed the prime minister and voted
for Sicotte, who was consequently chosen speaker by a majority of
thirty-five. But all that Hincks gained by such clever tactics was the
humiliation for the moment of an irascible Scotch Canadian politician.
The vote itself had no political significance whatever, and the
government was forced to resign on September 8th. The vote in favour
of Cartier had shown that the ministry was in a minority of twelve in
Upper Canada, and if Hincks had any doubt of his political weakness it
was at once dispelled on September 7th when the House refused to grant
to the government a short delay of twenty-four hours for the purpose
of considering a question of privilege which had been raised by the
Opposition. On this occasion, Dr. Rolph, who had been quite restless
in the government for some tune, voted against his colleagues and gave
conclusive evidence that Hincks was deserted by the majority of the
Reform party in his own province, and could no longer bring that
support to the French Canadian ministerialists which would enable them
to administer public affairs.
The resignation of the Hincks-Morin ministry begins a new epoch in the
political annals of Canada. From that time dates the disruption of the
old Liberal party which had governed the country so successfully since
1848, and the formation of a powerful combination which was made up of
the moderate elements of that party and of the Conservatives, which
afterwards became known as the Liberal-Conservative party. This new
party practically controlled public affairs for over three decades
until the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, to whose inspiration it
largely owed its birth. With that remarkable capacity for adapting
himself to political conditions, which was one of the secrets of his
strength as a party leader, he saw in 1854 that the time had come for
forming an alliance with those moderate Liberals in the two provinces
who, it was quite clear, had no possible affinity with the Clear
Grits, who were not only small in numbers, but especially obnoxious to
the French Canadians, as a people on account of the intemperate
attacks made by Mr. Brown in the Toronto _Globe_ on their revered
institutions.
The representatives who supported the late ministry were still in
larger numbers than any other party or faction in the House, and it
was obvious that no government could exist without their support. Sir
Allan MacNab, who was the oldest parliamentarian, and the leader of
the Conservatives--a small but compact party--was then invited by the
governor-general to assist him by his advice, during a crisis when it
was evident to the veriest political tyro that the state of parties in
the assembly rendered it very difficult to form a stable government
unless a man could be found ready to lay aside all old feelings of
personal and political rivalry and prejudice and unite all factions on
a common platform for the public advantage. All the political
conditions, happily, were favourable for a combination on a basis of
conciliation and compromise. The old Liberals in French Canada under
the influence of LaFontaine and Morin had been steadily inclining to
Conservatism with the secure establishment of responsible government
and the growth of the conviction that the integrity of the cherished
institutions of their ancient province could be best assured by moving
slowly (_festina lente_), and not by constant efforts to make radical
changes in the body politic. The Liberals, of whom Hincks was leader,
were also very distrustful of Brown, and clearly saw that he could
have no strength whatever in a province where French Canada must have
a guarantee that its language, religion, and civil law, were safe in
the hands of any government that might at any time be formed. The
wisest men among the Conservatives also felt that the time had arrived
for adopting a new policy since the old questions which had once
evoked their opposition had been at last settled by the voice of the
people, and could no longer constitutionally or wisely be made matters
of continued agitation in or out of parliament. "The question that
arose in the minds of the old Liberals," as it was said many years
later by Thomas White, an able journalist and politician,[16]
"was this: shall we hand over the government of this country
to the men who, calling themselves Liberals, have broken up
the Liberal party by the declaration of extravagant views,
by the enunciation of principles far more radical and
reckless than any we are prepared to accept, and by a
restless ambition which we cannot approve? Or shall we not
rather unite with the Conservatives who have gone to the
country declaring, in reference to the great questions which
then agitated it, that if the decision at the polls was
against them, they would no longer offer resistance to their
settlement, but would, on the contrary, assist in such
solution of them as would forever remove them from the
sphere of public or political agitation."
With both Liberals and Conservatives holding such views, it was easy
enough for John A. Macdonald to convince even Sir Allan MacNab that
the time had come for forgetting the past as much as possible, and
constituting a strong government from the moderate elements of the old
parties which had served their turn and now required to be remodelled
on a wider basis of common interests. Sir Allan MacNab recognized the
necessity of bringing his own views into harmony with those of the
younger men of his party who were determined not to allow such an
opportunity for forming a powerful ministry to pass by. The political
situation, indeed, was one calculated to appeal to both the vanity and
self-interest of the veteran statesman, and he accordingly assumed the
responsibility of forming an administration. He communicated
immediately with Morin and his colleagues in Lower Canada, and when he
received a favourable reply from them, his next step was to make
arrangements, if possible, with the Liberals of Upper Canada. Hincks
was only too happy to have an opportunity of resenting the opposition
he had met with from Brown and the extreme Reformers of the western
province, and opened negotiations with his old supporters on the
conditions that the new ministry would take immediate steps for the
secularization of the clergy reserves, and the settlement of the
seigniorial tenure, and that two members of the administration would
be taken from his own followers. The negotiations were successfully
closed on this basis of agreement, and on September 11th the following
ministers were duly sworn into office:
Upper Canada.--Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, president of the
executive council and minister of agriculture; Hon. John A.
Macdonald, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. W. Cayley,
inspector-general; Hon. R. Spence, postmaster-general; Hon.
John Ross, president of the legislative council.
Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, commissioner of crown lands;
Hon. L.P. Drummond, attorney-general for Lower Canada; Hon.
P.J.O. Chauveau, provincial secretary; Hon. E.P. Taché,
receiver-general; Hon. J. Chabot, commissioner of public
works.
The new cabinet contained four Conservatives, and six members of the
old ministry. Henry Smith, a Conservative, became solicitor-general
for Upper Canada, and Dunbar Ross continued in the same office for
Lower Canada, but neither of them had seats in the cabinet. The
Liberal-Conservative party, organized under such circumstances was
attacked with great bitterness by the leaders of the discordant
factions, who were greatly disappointed at the success of the
combination formed through the skilful management of Messrs. J.A.
Macdonald, Hineks and Morin.
The coalition was described as "an unholy alliance" of men who had
entirely abandoned their principles. But an impartial historian must
record the opinion that the coalition was perfectly justified by
existing political conditions, that had it not taken place, a stable
government would in all probability have been for some time
impossible, and that the time had come for the reconstruction of
parties with a broad generous policy which would ignore issues at last
dead, and be more in harmony with modern requirements. It might with
some reason be called a coalition when the reconstruction of parties
was going on, but it was really a successful movement for the
annihilation of old parties and issues, and for the formation on their
ruins of a new party which could gather to itself the best materials
available for the effective conduct of public affairs on the patriotic
platform of the union of the two races, of equal rights to all classes
and creeds, and of the avoidance of purely sectional questions
calculated to disturb the union of 1841.
The new government at once obtained the support of a large majority of
the representatives from each section of the province, and was
sustained by the public opinion of the country at large. During the
session of 1854 measures were passed for the secularization of the
reserves, the removal of the seigniorial tenure, and for the
ratification of the reciprocity treaty with the United States. As I
have only been able so far in this historical narrative to refer in a
very cursory manner to these very important questions, I propose now
to give in the following chapter a succinct review of their history
from the time they first came into prominence down to their settlement
at the close of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada.