Administration of George Heriot--Extension of postal service in
Upper Canada--Irritating restrictions imposed by general post
office--Disputes with the administrator of the colony.
George Heriot, who succeeded Finlay, had been a clerk in the board of
ordinance for many years before his appointment as deputy postmaster
general. He was a man of some literary ability, his history of Canada
which was published in 1801 being a high-priced item in catalogues of
Americana. Of Heriot's zeal and intelligence the general post office had
no reason to complain, but he had a sensitive self-esteem, which was a
most unfortunate possession as matters then stood.
Ordinarily, personal characteristics such as these would call for no
mention, but the relations between the post office and the provincial
authorities at this time were so difficult that the utmost tact on the
part of the deputy postmaster general would scarcely gain more than a
tolerable success. The position of the deputy postmaster general towards
the governor and the legislatures was peculiar.
As an official of the general post office in London, he was subject to
the orders of the postmaster general and to no other authority whatever.
Neither the governors nor the legislatures had the least right to give
him instructions. Although the postal service was indispensable to the
conduct of the official and commercial transactions of the colony, and
its maintenance in a state of efficiency a matter of first importance to
the colony, the power of the colonial authorities went no further than
the submission of their views and desires to the postmaster general or
to his deputy in Canada.
To a community jealous of its rights of self-government, the situation
was irritating enough, but the natural annoyance might have been largely
relieved by an appreciative regard, on the part of the post office, for
the wants of the rapidly increasing settlements. This, however, was the
last trait the post office was likely to show at this period.
The post office was subordinate to the treasury, a relationship it
never permitted itself to disregard. The deputy postmaster general was
under strict injunctions not to enter upon any scheme for the extension
or improvement of the postal service, unless he was fully satisfied that
the resulting expense would be covered by the augmented revenue. Each
application for improvement in the service was dealt with from this
standpoint.
The fact that the service in any part of the country was very profitable
to the post office was held to be no justification for applying any
portion of the profits to make up the deficiencies of revenue in
districts less favourably situated. On one occasion, where the needs in
some new districts in course of settlement appeared to Heriot to demand
special consideration, he directed that for a time the whole of the
surplus revenue from Upper Canada should be applied to extensions and
improvements. When his action was reported to the postmaster general, it
was promptly disavowed, and he was compelled to cancel the arrangements
he had made.[155]
A policy of this kind was ill-adapted to colonies, which were steadily
expanding by the implanting of small, widely-separated communities, and
the man on whom devolved the duty of carrying on a postal service under
these conditions had no easy task. Finlay had certain advantages as a
member of the legislative council which Heriot did not enjoy, and
moreover his difficulties were not so great.
It was only after Finlay had ceased to be deputy postmaster general that
the settlements in Upper Canada began to insist on a regular postal
service; and in cases where demands were made upon him which his
instructions forbade him to grant, he could always depend on the good
will of his associates in the council to relieve him from unreasonable
pressure. As superintendent of post houses, his influence with the
_maitres de poste_ enabled him to keep the cost of their services on the
main routes at a low figure.
Although Finlay's connection with the post office was terminated under
disagreeable circumstances, no attempt was made to deprive him of his
provincial appointments, which he held until his death at the end of
1801. Heriot then lost no time in applying to be appointed to the
vacancy in the legislative council, and to the superintendency of post
houses. He was successful in neither case.
Heriot was uniformly unfortunate in his relations with the governors of
the colony. His self-assertiveness irritated those who were accustomed
to look for nothing but deference from the persons about them. Heriot
seems to have accepted the decision as respects the council as final.
But he made a strong effort to force the hand of lieutenant governor
Milnes with regard to the post houses. He appealed to the postmaster
general in England, who made representations to the colonial office in
the matter.
The post office had already begun to feel the inconvenience of
separating the control of the _maitres de poste_ from the office of the
deputy postmaster general, as these officials declined to continue to
carry the mail couriers on terms more favourable than those granted to
the ordinary travelling public.
The colonial office was inclined to the post office view on the subject,
but the lieutenant governor was firm in maintaining the position he had
taken. The _maitres de poste_, he stated, were habitants who possessed,
each of them, a small property which rendered them quite independent.
Their service, which was to carry passengers on the king's road, was an
onerous one, and the advances in the price of the articles of life,
coupled with the fact that their exclusive privilege was systematically
disregarded, made them reluctant to take the appointments.
Men of this kind, Milnes declared, required management as they would not
submit to coercion. Finlay through his personal influence with the
_maitres de poste_ had managed to obtain the conveyance of the mails at
sixpence a league, which was only half the charge made to the public for
the same service. For some time before his death, Finlay had difficulty
in inducing the _maitres de poste_ to continue this favourable
arrangement, and on his death they refused to work under it any longer.
The _maitres de poste_ had the full sympathy of the lieutenant governor
who saw no reason for the discrimination in favour of the post office.
Although he endeavoured to obtain a favourable arrangement for the mail
couriers, he considered it would be most impolitic on the part of the
post office to insist on continuing to occupy their position of
advantage.
But valuable as the post house system was in the early period of the
country's growth, it soon had to yield to a higher class of travelling
facility. As travel in the colony increased the two-wheeled _caleches_
drawn by a single horse and barely holding two persons would no longer
do. The changes at the post houses, every hour or little more, with the
long delays while the horses were secured and harnessed, were very
wearisome. Before Heriot's term expired, stage coaches had been placed
on the principal roads.
In leaving the old system and its ways, it will be interesting to record
the impressions of Hugh Gray, an English gentleman, who travelled from
Quebec to Montreal in 1806.[156] The mode of travel, he said, would not
bear comparison with that in England, and the inns were very far from
clean, but he found many things to lighten the hardships of travel in
Canada. If, leaving England aside, he compared the accommodations in
Canada with those in Spain, Portugal, or even in parts of France, he
found the balance in favour of Canada.
The politeness and consideration Gray received at the inns in Canada
offset many inconveniences. Often on the continent, after a day of
fatiguing travel, sometimes wet and hungry, he was obliged to carry his
own luggage into the inn at which he had arrived and see, himself, that
it was put in a place of safety. But in Canada he was charmed with the
politeness and urbanity with which he was welcomed at every inn:
"Voulez-vous bien, Monsieur, avoir la complaisance d'entrer; voila une
chaise, Monsieur, asseyez vous, s'il vous plait."
"If they had the thing you wanted," continued Gray, "it was given to you
with a good grace; if they had not they would tell you so in such a tone
and manner as to show they were sorry for it." "Je n'en ai point. J'en
suis mortifie." "You saw it was their poverty that refused you, not
their will. Then if there was no inn to be had, you were never at a loss
for shelter. There was not a farmer, shopkeeper, nay, nor even a
_seigneur_ or country gentleman who, on being civilly applied to for
accommodation, would not give you the best in the house and every
accommodation in his power."
The determination of the lieutenant governor to hold Heriot at arm's
length, and allow him no part in the local government was unfortunate,
as it prevented the mutual understanding between the colonial
authorities and the post office which must have been beneficial to both.
Heriot made several later efforts to secure the control of the _maitres
de poste_, but always without success.
The principal feature of Heriot's administration was the establishment
of a regular mail service to the settlements in Upper Canada. The single
opportunity for the exchange of correspondence afforded by the post
office authorities during the many months when navigation was closed was
absurdly inadequate to the needs of the rapidly increasing province.
The courier set out from Montreal in January of each year, travelling on
foot or snow-shoes with his mail bag slung over his shoulder. He did
very well when he covered eighteen miles a day. The journey to Niagara,
with the return to Montreal, was not accomplished until spring was
approaching, three months later.
The lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, General Hunter, was anxious to
improve the communication in that province, and opened correspondence
with Heriot on the subject.[157] Heriot laid the lieutenant governor's
proposition before the postmaster general with his warm commendation. He
pointed out that the rapid increase in the population, the salubrity of
the climate, and the fertility of the soil, all encouraged the belief
that Upper Canada would soon become one of the first of the British
settlements in North America.
General Hunter, Heriot also reminded the postmaster general, had in
course of construction a road from the bay of Quinte to York, which in a
few months would allow of easy travel by any of the common conveyances
of the country. More, his excellency when informed of the views held by
the post office on proposals involving expenditure, readily undertook
that the province should make up any deficiency arising from the
carrying of his schemes into execution.
This was the first considerable proposition submitted by Heriot since
his appointment, and the postmaster general made it the occasion of an
admonition as to the considerations Heriot should have in mind in
dealing with a proposition of that kind. He sent extracts of letters
addressed to Finlay on the question of establishing new posts, pointing
out that they served to show that unless any new proposition had for its
object both the public convenience and the interests of the revenue, it
was not to be encouraged.
The system of posts, the postmaster general went on to say, might be
made, comparatively speaking, as perfect in Canada as in Great Britain,
but the question was, would the board as a board of revenue be justified
in so doing when the amount of the revenue was so trifling. However, he
directed Heriot to report fully on the several aspects of the lieutenant
governor's proposition, not overlooking the general's offer of
indemnification in the event of the postage not amounting to sufficient
to defray the expense.
The lieutenant governor having repeated his assurance that any
insufficiency in the revenue to meet the additional expense would be
made up from the provincial treasury, Heriot set about improving the
service--but cautiously. At that time he contented himself with
providing monthly instead of yearly trips to Upper Canada during the
winter. In summer he continued to depend on the occasional trips of the
_bateaux_ on the river and the king's ships on the lake.
In order to assist Heriot, who had some difficulty in procuring the
services of suitable couriers for the winter trips, the lieutenant
governor directed the commandants at Kingston and York to place trusty
soldiers at the disposal of the post office.
There were few letters carried during this period except for the public
departments, and they found it less expensive to employ a messenger of
their own to visit the several posts and take the bulky accounts and
vouchers which constituted the greater part of their correspondence,
than to utilize the services of the post office. When it was pointed out
to the lieutenant governor that by his failure to employ the post
office, he was setting a bad example to the inhabitants who used every
means to evade the postmaster general's monopoly, the lieutenant
governor agreed to have the correspondence from the outposts carried by
the mail couriers.
The territory served by the regular post office did not extend beyond
Niagara. But at Amherstburg, the western end of lake Erie, and over two
hundred miles beyond Niagara, there were a military post and the
beginnings of a settlement, which it was desirable to provide with the
means of communication.
During his visit to Niagara in 1801, Heriot devised a plan[158] for this
purpose, which appears to have contained all the advantages of a regular
postal service, with the charges so much less than the ordinary postage
rates as to give the people of the district cause to regret the advent
of the regular postmaster and mail courier.
Heriot proposed that the postmaster of Amherstburg should receive
letters for despatch, and, from time to time as one of the vessels on
the lake happened to be going to fort Erie, at the eastern end of the
lake, make up a bag, seal it with the official seal, and deliver it to
the captain of the vessel.
At fort Erie the bag was to be placed on one of the flat-bottomed
_bateaux_, which traded between that village and Chippewa and the
Niagara river. Between Chippewa, Queenstown and Niagara, on the Niagara
portage, there were stage coaches running, and the bag was taken to
Niagara by this means. If the letters were intended for places beyond
Niagara, they were put into the regular post office at that point.
This arrangement was quite as safe and expeditious as the postal service
between Niagara and Kingston, and yet the charges were very much less
than if the letters had been carried the same distance within the
authorized system. The ordinary postage on a letter from Amherstburg to
fort Erie by land would be tenpence. Heriot did not consider that he
could properly charge more than twopence a letter. From fort Erie to
Niagara the postage would have been fourpence, which was the rate Heriot
proposed to charge.
The question will arise, in what regard this scheme differed from the
ordinary postal arrangements, the charges for which were fixed by
statute. The point of difference lay simply in this, that Heriot did not
propose to administer the oath of office to the courier, who effected
the transportation of the mails from Amherstburg to Niagara. There would
be none but trustworthy men employed to look after the mails, and the
couriers were under effective supervision in the fact that the
postmaster in making up the mail enclosed with it a certificate as to
the number of letters in it, which the receiving postmaster verified
before the courier was paid for his services.
Heriot's scheme, then, was identical with the ordinary arrangements in
all respects but one, and that one was purely formal. Heriot's scruples
would lead one to suspect a desire to show how excessive the ordinary
charges were.
There was no change in the arrangements for the postal service in Upper
Canada until 1810, though before that date there had been some agitation
for improvements. In 1808, the legislative assembly requested that a
regular service be established through the year, instead of monthly
trips during the winter merely.
Further representations were made on the insufficiency of the existing
service, and in 1810 Heriot provided fortnightly trips throughout the
year between Montreal and Kingston, but owing to the badness of the road
beyond Kingston, he was unable to give a regular service to York except
in the winter. During this period, however, the trips between Kingston
and York were made fortnightly.
Efficient roadmaking throughout Canada was attended with many
difficulties, owing to the great stretches of land which were in the
hands either of the crown or held as clergy reserves or which were held
by speculators. These absentee holders were not bound by the obligation
which lay on the residents to make and maintain good roads through their
property, and consequently, even where roads were made by the government
through the province, they soon fell into disrepair in those districts,
where there were no resident owners to keep them up.
General Hunter in 1800 and 1801 had a road made from Kingston to York,
and then on to Ancaster, near Hamilton, where it connected with the road
to Niagara, but at their best such roads were little more than bridle
paths through the woods. In the autumn of 1811 Heriot yielded another
step and placed couriers fortnightly on the road from Kingston to
Niagara by way of York. He also arranged for a courier to go to
Amherstburg or Sandwich as often as commercial requirements demanded it.
Heriot at this time took a step which drew upon him the sharp attention
of the home authorities. He directed the postmaster at York to hold the
surplus revenue from the western part of the province instead of sending
it to Quebec for transmission to England, and to apply it to improving
the arrangements in that section of the province.
The secretary of the general post office expressed a doubt as to whether
the whole of the revenue should have been applied towards improving the
service, and intimated that approval of his action should be held for
the postmaster general. Shortly after, Heriot was informed that his
action had not been approved, and that it would be necessary to cancel
his instructions to the postmaster of York.[159]
This incident fairly illustrates how far Heriot's hands were tied by
orders from home, and how little he deserved the censures so freely
meted out to him for his unwillingness to provide the country with a
system of communication adequate to its requirements. In yielding to any
extent to the reasonable demands of the provincial authorities, he was
courting disapproval and even reprimand from his superiors.
But in spite of the determination of the postmaster general that no
expenditure should be made for postal service, which did not promise an
immediate return equal to or greater than the outlay, the country was
growing too rapidly to permit of any great delay in providing increased
facilities for correspondence. While the post office held on to the
monopoly in letter carrying, it had to make some sort of provision for
doing the work itself.
In 1815, when peace had been concluded with the United States, Sir
Gordon Drummond, the commander of the forces, and administrator of
Canada, directed Heriot to arrange for two trips a week between Montreal
and Kingston, Heriot invited tenders for this service, and was dismayed
to find that the lowest offer was for L3276, an amount double the
anticipated revenues.
With his instructions from the postmaster general before him, an outlay
of that magnitude was not to be thought of, but Heriot did go the length
of authorizing weekly trips over the whole route between Montreal and
Niagara and arranged for fortnightly trips to Amherstburg from Dundas, a
village on the grand route between York and Niagara.[160] The mails were
carried between Montreal and Kingston by coach; between Kingston and
Niagara on horseback or by sleigh; and between Dundas and the
settlements at the western end of lake Erie on foot.
In reporting these arrangements to the postmaster general, Heriot
explained that, with the close of the war, military expresses had been
discontinued, and it became necessary to provide additional
accommodation to the commissariat and other military departments, but
the increased postage more than covered the expense incurred.
In March 1816 the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada pressed for
further improvements in order to facilitate communication between the
several courts of justice and every part of the province, so that
notices might be sent to jurors and others having business with the
courts.[161] In concluding his letter to the general post office
recommending the application of the lieutenant governor, Heriot added
that there was a strong desire on the part of influential people in
Upper Canada that there should be a deputy postmaster general for that
province, as well as one for Lower Canada.
Heriot favoured the idea and recommended William Allan, postmaster of
York for the position. The postmaster general, however, disapproved of
the proposal of an independent deputy for Upper Canada. He agreed with
Heriot that there would be advantages in having an official residing in
Upper Canada with a wider authority than that ordinarily exercised by a
mere postmaster, but thought that the postmaster of York might without
change of title be made to answer all the requirements of an assistant
to the deputy postmaster general.
Before leaving the service in Upper Canada, an incident should be
mentioned, showing the difficulties military men stationed far from a
post office had in corresponding with Great Britain. At the end of the
campaign of 1813 in the Niagara peninsula, the officers of the right
division, which was quartered at Stoney Creek, presented a memorial to
the governor general laying before him their hard case, and praying for
relief.[162] They desired to write to their friends and relatives at
home, but could not do so, owing to the post office regulation which
required that all letters sent to Great Britain should have the postage
paid on them as far as Halifax.
The sea postage did not require to be paid, as that could be collected
from the person receiving the letter, but unless the letter was fully
paid to Halifax, it was detained and returned to the writer. As the
nearest post office in operation was York, nearly fifty miles away, and
as they had no acquaintance there or at Montreal or Quebec, who might
pay the postage for them, they were without the means of relieving the
anxiety of their parents, wives and others who could not learn whether
they were alive or not. They asked that a bag be made up monthly, as
Lord Wellington did from Portugal, and sent free of expense to the
Horseguards in London, from which place the letters might be carried to
the post office for delivery.
The postal service in Lower Canada and eastward underwent no change from
the time of Heriot's accession to office until the war of 1812. As in
1800, the couriers between Montreal and Quebec still left each place on
Monday and Thursday mornings, and meeting at Three Rivers, exchanged
their mails, and returned, reaching their points of departure two days
later. The mails between Quebec and Fredericton continued to be
exchanged fortnightly in summer, and monthly in winter, and between
Fredericton and St. John, and St. John and Halifax, there were weekly
exchanges as in Finlay's time.
Lower Canada still found its principal outlet to Great Britain in the
weekly mail carried between Montreal and one of the towns of the United
States near the Canadian boundary. In 1810, the place of exchange of
mails between Lower Canada and Boston and New York was Swanton, a small
town in Vermont.
But, though the service arrangements remained unchanged, they by no
means escaped criticism. In 1810, Sir James Craig, the governor general,
complained of the slowness of the communication with the United States
and with the Maritime provinces.[163] Letters from New York seldom
reached Quebec in less than fifteen or sixteen days, and it usually
took a month for the courier to travel from Halifax to Quebec.
For the course of the post from New York, the governor was not disposed
to blame Heriot entirely, as he knew the connections from New York to
Swanton to be faulty, but he thought that, by a little exertion, Heriot
could do much to remedy the defects. As for the movement of the couriers
between Quebec and Halifax, the governor had been informed by certain
London merchants that the journey could be made in six days. He would
not insist on a speed equal to that, but sixteen or seventeen days ought
to be easily within the capacity of the couriers.
Dealing with the Quebec-Halifax complaint first, Heriot was aware that
the journey from Halifax to Quebec had been made in six days, but as the
distance was six hundred and thirty-three miles, three hundred and
sixty-eight of which could not be travelled by horse and carriage, he
regarded the trip as an extraordinary performance. The circumstances,
however, were unusually favourable. The weather was at its best, and no
expense was spared to make the journey as rapidly as possible.
But it was useless, Heriot insisted, to compare speed of that kind with
that which was within the power of a courier who had to carry a load
sometimes weighing two hundred pounds on his back, for a distance of
forty miles, after having rowed and poled up rivers and across lakes for
two hundred miles. If the contractor was able to disregard
considerations of expense, and employ as many couriers as could be done
with advantage, much time might doubtless be saved.
Heriot was sure there were no grounds for believing that there would be
any material increase in the revenue as the result of such expenditure.
The commerce between the Canadas and the Maritime provinces was so
trifling that it was all carried on by three or four small coasting
vessels. Indeed, were it not for the correspondence between the military
establishments, it would be better to drop regular trips between Quebec
and Halifax, as the British mails could be carried much more cheaply and
with greater celerity by expresses.
The connection with New York offered matter for criticism, but Heriot
could not be reproached for remissness in this regard. He had proposed
to the authorities at Washington that his couriers should carry the
mails all the way between Montreal and New York, offering to pay the
United States just as if their couriers had done the service within
their territory, but the United States department would not entertain
the proposition. He had also endeavoured, without success, to have the
British mails landed at Boston during the winter months, instead of at
New York. If this could have been accomplished, there would have been a
considerable saving in the time required for the delivery of the British
mails at Montreal and Quebec.
The war of 1812 had noticeable effects on the postal service. The mails
passing between Quebec and Halifax had to be safeguarded against attack
on the part of hostile parties from across the border and against
privateers, who infested the lower waters of the St. John river and the
bay of Fundy.
From the time the courier on his way eastward left the shores of the St.
Lawrence, he was in danger of surprise. The portage between the St.
Lawrence and lake Temiscouata was wild and uninhabited, and it would
have been an easy matter for the enemy to waylay the courier if he
travelled unprotected. When he reached the St. John river his course lay
along the United States border. Indeed a considerable part of his route
lay in territory which was afterwards adjudged by the Ashburton treaty
to belong to the United States.
Heriot facilitated the couriers' journey over the portage by placing
twenty-two old soldiers with their families at intervals on the route.
They were supplied with arms, ammunition and rations, as the country was
so mountainous, sterile and inhospitable, that no man could derive a
subsistence from the soil. The couriers on entering the portage were,
also, accompanied by an escort of two soldiers, who travelled with them
as far as the Madawaska settlement. From that point downwards, the local
captains of militia had orders to render all needful assistance and
protection to the couriers.
At Fredericton an entire change was made in the route. The route had
till then followed the course of the St. John river to the city of St.
John, from which place the couriers were taken across the bay of Fundy
to Annapolis, in a small sloop. In order to avoid the chances of capture
on the water stretches or in the bay, the couriers were sent across the
country through the centre of the province to Cumberland, as Amherst was
then called, and thence on to Halifax.
This arrangement left St. John unprovided with connection with either
Quebec or Halifax, but it was brought into the scheme by a separate
courier who met the couriers on the main route at Sussexvale. The travel
on the new route was at first very bad, but the lieutenant governors of
the two Maritime provinces, who were interested in the success of the
scheme, promised to do their best to induce their assemblies to put the
roads in good condition.
In changing the route from Fredericton to Halifax, and requiring the
couriers to travel inland, instead of along the waterways, the deputy
postmaster general was taking a measure in the direction of safety, but
those who had a particular interest in the transmission of their
correspondence intact could not look without concern at the exposure of
the mails on the long stretch between the foot of lake Temiscouata and
Fredericton.
The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and the admiral of the Halifax
station were both uneasy at the possibility of their despatches being
intercepted by the Americans, and grasped eagerly at a suggestion thrown
out that the courier from Halifax should not go to Fredericton at all,
but on leaving Amherst should pursue a north-westerly course till he
reached the Matapedia river at the western end of the bay of Chaleurs.
From this point, the route would lie across the bottom of the Gaspe
peninsula to the St. Lawrence near Metis.
The suggested route encountered the strong opposition of Heriot.[164]
"The heights of the interior," he declared, "are more elevated than
those towards the sea, and some of them with snow on their summits which
remain undissolved from one year to the other. The land between the
mountains is probably intersected by rugged defiles, by swamps and by
deep and impracticable gullies. A region so inhospitable and desolate as
from its interior aspect, and its latitude as this may without
exaggeration be conceived to be, can scarcely be visited by savages.
Suppose a road were cut through this rugged desert, it would not be
possible to find any person who would settle there, and no courier could
proceed on foot for a journey of some hundred miles, through a difficult
and dreary waste alike destitute of shelter and of the prospect of
assistance."
Heriot's conviction was that the present route was the only possible
one, and if the enemy threatened to cut off communications, it might be
necessary to establish two additional military posts, one at the head of
the Madawaska settlement, the other between Grand Falls and Presqu'
Isle.
A blockhouse at each point, with a non-commissioned officer, a few
privates and two savages attached, would in Heriot's opinion afford
sufficient protection. The enemy would scarcely incur the trouble and
expense of marching one or two hundred men from an immense distance to
take or destroy these forts with the precarious and doubtful prospect of
interrupting a courier, to whom the nature of the country presented a
variety of means of eluding their utmost vigilance.
The idea of establishing a route between Nova Scotia and the St.
Lawrence, which would follow the northern shore of New Brunswick, was
not carried into effect at once, but as will be seen it occupied
attention from time to time and was eventually realized.
The war affected the postal service in Lower Canada to the extent of
causing the conveyance of the mails between Montreal and Quebec to be
increased from twice a week to daily.[165] Sir George Prevost having
pointed out to Heriot the necessity for more frequent communication on
account of the war, the latter expressed his willingness to increase the
trips, but stipulated that the men employed in the service should not be
subject to enlistment as it was very difficult to secure trustworthy
men.
The governor agreed, and directed the colonels of militia that they were
to impose no military duties on post office employees. On the conclusion
of the war, the couriers' trips were reduced from six to five weekly, at
which frequency they remained for many years.
The last year of Heriot's administration was marked by a disagreeable
quarrel with Sir Gordon Drummond,[166] who was administrator of Canada
on Prevost's retirement. In the beginning of 1815, the legislature of
Upper Canada adopted an address pointing out that the postal
arrangements were very defective, and expressing the opinion that the
revenue from Upper Canada was ample to meet the additional expense
necessary to put the service on a satisfactory footing. If an efficient
service were provided, and it turned out that they were wrong in their
anticipation of increased revenues, they were prepared to pay higher
rates of postage.
Herein lay a difficulty for the postmaster general. The postal charges
in Canada were the same as those in Great Britain, and were collected by
the authority of the same act of parliament. The postmaster general was
not free from doubts as to the legality of the proceedings of the post
office in taking postage in Canada, and he did not wish to raise the
question by the enactment of a special act for Canada. He intimated to
Heriot his disinclination to bring the question into prominence in
Canada, and asked Heriot to give his mind to the proposition for an
improvement in the service.
About the time the letter from the postmaster general containing this
instruction reached Heriot, Drummond himself wrote to Heriot, drawing
attention to the shortcomings in the service, expressing his conviction
that the necessary improvements would lead to enhanced revenues, and
concluding with an intimation that unless he were provided with adequate
facilities for communicating with that part of his command which was in
Upper Canada, he would be obliged to restore military expresses.
Sir Gordon Drummond's services to Canada during the war were such as to
entitle him to an honourable place in the memory of Canadians, but he
did not appear at his best in his controversy with Heriot. He exhibited
too much of that arbitrariness and impatience with other people's views
which is commonly observed among military chiefs.
Heriot replied promptly to the governor's letter, stating that he had
invited tenders for a semi-weekly service between Montreal and Kingston,
and that the offers he received were quite beyond any possible revenue
to be derived from the service. He had, however, accelerated the
existing service by having the couriers travel on horseback, the horses
being changed at convenient distances along the route.
As regards the service beyond York, Heriot directed the postmaster of
York to arrange for a regular weekly courier to Niagara, and to set
about securing a postmaster at Amherstburg to replace the former
incumbent, who had resigned. Heriot wound up his letter by stating that
he would have been particularly gratified if he had the power to meet
his excellency's wishes in every point, but expressed his regret that
his instructions obliged him to act on principles of economy.
The letter was courteously expressed, and showed an evident desire to go
as far as his instructions would allow, in meeting the governor's
wishes. But Drummond was not satisfied. His wrath rose at the appearance
of opposition. In repeating his views that increased revenue would
follow upon improvements in the service, he declared that the existing
arrangements were slovenly and uncertain, and, in the opinion of
merchants, insecure. Moreover, he did not believe that Heriot's
instructions were intended to be injurious to the interests of Upper
Canada.
Drummond then most unreasonably found fault with Heriot for leaving to
Allan the duty of attending to the requirements of Niagara and
Amherstburg, when his excellency had ordered Heriot to give the matter
his personal attention. Heriot's time was very fully occupied at Quebec
with the ordinary duties of his office, a fact of which Drummond could
not have been ignorant; and to order him to leave these duties, and make
a journey to the western end of the province, involving a travel of
scarcely less than twelve hundred miles, to do a piece of work which any
subordinate in the district could do equally well, argued either an
indifference as regards the daily calls upon Heriot's time, or a
determination to annoy him, either of which was discreditable to the
governor general.
Heriot was steadily respectful, however, but maintained that with the
powers entrusted to him it was impossible to meet Drummond's views. He
cited the incident of 1812, when his recommendation that the whole of
the revenue from Upper Canada should be expended on extensions and
improvements had been disapproved, and the arrangements founded upon
these suggestions had to be cancelled. As for his employment of Allan to
secure a postmaster at Amherstburg, Allan knew the district while he
himself did not, and in his circumstances he was compelled to rely upon
his officials as he did in the west and at Halifax.
The whole of the case was laid by Heriot before the postmaster general.
His situation, he declared, was very disagreeable, as people seemed to
imagine that he had carte blanche as to the disposal of the post office
revenue. Every governor on coming to Canada assailed Heriot with his
particular scheme for improvement. Prevost, who had come from the
governorship of Nova Scotia, insisted on a large expenditure on the
service in that province. Drummond, whose interests lay in Upper Canada,
was peremptory in regard to the claims of that part of the country. The
consequence of all this was correspondence always lengthy and frequently
unpleasant.
What Heriot desired to know was whether his conduct was approved or
condemned by his superiors. The official silence left him in uncertainty
and suspense. Heriot concluded by asking to be relieved of the office
and to be allowed some remuneration for past services.
After a short lull, trouble broke out afresh, and this time Drummond
managed to put Heriot clearly in the wrong. A very sharp letter from the
governor drew from Heriot the reply that the deputy postmaster general
in Canada was governed by several acts of parliament, and by
instructions from the general post office, and he was not subject to
any orders, but through the secretary of the post office. He would,
however, afford every necessary information when applied to in the mode
of solicitation or request.
This was not the tone to take in addressing the chief executive in the
colony; and the governor promptly laid the whole matter before the
colonial secretary, condemning Heriot for his incapacity,
insubordination and insolence, and declaring that nothing but the fear
of embarrassing the accounts prevented him from instantly suspending
Heriot. He urged his dismissal.
A fortnight later Drummond reported further grievances. Indeed, Heriot
seems now to have cast prudence as well as respect for the governor's
office to the winds. The governor had demanded to see the postmaster
general's instructions to Heriot, and it was not until the demand had
been twice repeated that Heriot saw fit to obey.
Among those instructions was one directing the deputy postmaster general
to keep the orders of the postmaster general and the table of rates in
his office, for his own guidance, and for the satisfaction of all
persons desiring to see them. This Drummond insisted on reading as a
direction to the deputy postmaster general to make all his
communications from the postmaster general public, and he dilates on the
disrespect of Heriot in withholding from the governor what he is under
orders to disclose to the first comer.
All this is, of course, manifestly disingenuous, and does not impose on
Heriot's superiors in the general post office. The secretary of the
general post office in discussing Drummond's complaints, has words of
commendation for Heriot's zeal and alacrity. He always considered Heriot
a judicious, active and efficient officer. Governors, he affirmed, too
commonly entertain the idea that the whole revenue of the post office
should be devoted to extending the communications. Whatever view might
be held as to the principle, Heriot at all events was precluded by his
instructions from acting upon it without the express authority of the
postmaster general.
While Heriot had, beyond question, given ample grounds for irritation on
Drummond's part, it should be remembered, in dealing with the demand for
Heriot's dismissal, Drummond was told that he had been sixteen years in
the service, and had on many occasions received the thanks of the board.
It might be sufficient to enjoin upon Heriot a more respectful attitude
towards the governor, and consult with him as to the extension of
communications, and the interests of the revenue.
The postmaster general concurred in the secretary's views. But the
quarrel was now past mending, and when after repeated requests to be
relieved, Heriot declared that no motive of interest or advantage could
induce him to stay in the service longer than was necessary to appoint
his successor, the postmaster general decided to accept his resignation.
FOOTNOTES:
[155] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.
[156] Hugh Gray, _Letters from Canada_, London, 1809.
[157] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, pp. 1-16.
[158] _Can. Arch._, C. 283, p. 42.
[159] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.
[160] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 172.
[161] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
[162] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 114.
[163] _Ibid._, Q. 115, pp. 112, 113 and 121.
[164] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
[165] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 105.
[166] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.