The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime
provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception
given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances.
Up to this point the narrative since the American Revolution has been
confined to Upper and Lower Canada. The Maritime provinces have been
mentioned only in so far as it was necessary to describe the means by
which the Canadas maintained communication with Great Britain. It is now
time to relate the events connected with the beginnings of the inland
posts in the Maritime provinces.
The post office in Halifax was the first opened in the provinces now of
the dominion of Canada. It was established as part of the general scheme
for closer and more regular communications between the colonies and the
mother country which was set on foot as a consequence of the general
alarm which seized the British colonies after the annihilation of
Braddock's army by the French and Indians at fort Duquesne.
With the placing of a direct line of packets on the route between
Falmouth and New York for the conveyance of mails and despatches a post
office was demanded at Halifax, in order that Nova Scotia might
participate with the other colonies in the benefits of the new service.
When in 1755 the post office was opened at Halifax, the English
settlements in the Maritime provinces were very recent and very few. The
city was founded but six years before, for the purpose of providing a
military and naval station; and in the year following, the capital of
the province was transferred thither from Annapolis.
In 1751 the only other settlement attached to the British interest at
this time was commenced. A number of Germans, attracted by the
advertising of the British government, arrived at Halifax. After a short
stay most of them re-embarked, and sailing along the southern shore
reached Malagash harbour, where they laid the foundation of the town of
Lunenburg. The settlement was augmented by further arrivals in the two
following years, and in 1753 its population numbered slightly over
1600. In 1755 the total population in the two settlements of Halifax and
Lunenburg was about 5000, and these comprehended all that could be
regarded as British subjects.
Few additions were made to the population within the next few years,
though the government made a strong effort to re-people the districts
from which the Acadians had just been expelled. The only other new
settlement founded in the Maritime provinces until the French power in
America was broken by the capture of Louisburg and of Quebec, was at
Windsor, where a group from New England entered upon the lands from
which their former possessors had been removed.
With the passing of the danger of molestation by the French, there was
an active movement into the provinces for a few years. The beginnings of
settlements were laid all along the Annapolis valley from Windsor to
Annapolis; also at several points on the south shore between Halifax and
Liverpool, and at the western extremity of the province in the present
county of Yarmouth. Little groups established themselves at Truro and
Amherst, and on the adjacent lands of New Brunswick, at Sackville and
Hopewell.
On the St. John river, a trading village was laid out in 1762 at
Portland, now part of the city of St. John; and in 1763 an important
agricultural community was formed farther up the river, at Maugerville,
a few miles below Fredericton. In 1767 a census was taken of the
province, and the total population was found to be over 13,000. Of these
1200 were in the territory afterwards forming part of the province of
New Brunswick, and there were 500 in Prince Edward Island. The remaining
number were in Nova Scotia proper. The first movement of immigration had
now spent itself, and it was not until after the revolting colonies had
gained their independence that any great accession was made to the
population.
The incoming of the Loyalists was an event of the first magnitude for
the Maritime provinces. During the years 1783 and 1784, the population
increased to threefold what it was when the migration from the revolted
American colonies began. They took up lands in all parts of the
provinces. Eighteen hundred householders made homes for themselves in
and about Annapolis, while Digby, which until that time was quite
unsettled, leaped into the position of a village with a population of
1300.
Nearly all the settlements formed at this period had within them the
elements of permanence, and they became the foundations of the towns,
villages and farming communities which cover the Maritime provinces.
Until the arrival of the Loyalists, there were practically no
inhabitants east of Halifax and Colchester counties. Pictou was not
entirely unoccupied, as a small group from Pennsylvania and Maryland had
come into the district in 1765, who were joined by a few Highland Scotch
families in 1773. But the total number was insignificant, and the two
counties to the eastward, Antigonishe and Guysboro, were still
practically in a state of nature. They were settled later by Scotchmen
who came to Pictou and Prince Edward Island.
New Brunswick benefited to a relatively greater extent than Nova Scotia
by the Loyalist movement. At the close of the war, the number of English
colonists in this province did not exceed 2500. These were scattered in
small groups on Passamaquoddy bay, on the St. John river, and on the
Chignecto bay and Petitcodiac river at the eastern end of the province.
By 1787, when the Loyalists had settled themselves, there was a
continuous line of settlements along the bay of Fundy from the United
States boundary at the St. Croix river to St. John harbour, and with
longer intervals onward to the eastern limits of the province. On the
St. John river and tributaries over 9000 people were settled. The cities
of St. John and Fredericton, and the towns of St. Stephen and St.
Andrews sprang into existence during this period.
On the north and east coasts of New Brunswick permanent settlement had
begun, the people being mostly Acadians. There were small Scotch fishing
settlements on the Miramichi and the Restigouche rivers.
Communication among these settlements was carried on mostly by water.
Fishing vessels ran constantly between Halifax and the harbours and
coves on the seaboard. The settlements on the bay of Fundy and the St.
John river were brought into connection with Halifax by way of Windsor,
which lies near the mouth of the Avon, one of the tributaries of the bay
of Fundy.
Between Windsor and Halifax a road had been built by the Acadians
shortly after Halifax was founded, to enable them to carry their cattle
and produce to the new and promising market. The inland settlements
along the Annapolis valley had the advantage of an ancient road, made by
the Acadians running from Pisiquid, as Windsor was first called, to the
Annapolis basin.
The Loyalists and disbanded soldiers settled in the provinces found
themselves not ill-supplied with facilities for communicating with one
another, but the means of corresponding with the mother country left
much to be desired. On the establishment of the packet service between
Falmouth and New York in 1755, the mails for Halifax brought out by the
packets were sent from New York to Boston, the postmaster of which town
was instructed to send them to Halifax by the first suitable war or
merchant vessel that offered.
Until the war broke out, there were numerous opportunities for sending
the mails to Halifax. The trade returns for 1759 show that during six
months of that year one hundred and forty-eight vessels entered Halifax
harbour, much the greater proportion of which were from New York or
Boston. But with the outbreak of the war, communication with the
revolted colonies was carried on at great risks, and the naval and
military authorities at Halifax made bitter complaint of the delays to
their correspondence with the home government.
With the restoration of peace, an immediate demand was made for a direct
packet line to Halifax, and there seemed every likelihood at the time
that the line would be established. Lord North wrote to the lieutenant
governor of Nova Scotia in August 1783[225] that Halifax would doubtless
increase in importance in becoming the rendezvous of the fleet, and that
he was asking the postmaster general to put on a monthly packet to
Halifax.
But other views prevailed. In November, the postmaster general
re-established the packet service to New York, and as there were not
sufficient vessels available for a separate line to Halifax, the
settlements in the Maritime provinces had to depend on the New York
service for their correspondence with the mother country. The British
post office maintained a packet agent at New York, whose duty it was to
take over the despatches and mails brought by the packets for the
British colonies, and send them forward by the first opportunity.
The difficulties Finlay found in maintaining correspondence between
Canada and Great Britain by way of the New York packets have been
related. The Nova Scotia post office had no less difficulty. There were
few British vessels running between Halifax and the ports of the United
States, and consequently the delays to the correspondence were often
intolerable. The complaints of the officials and of the merchants in
Halifax were incessant.
A memorial was presented to the government in 1785 by the merchants of
Halifax, pointing out the great injury to their trade from the faulty
arrangements. Lieutenant governor Parr, in forwarding the memorial,
expressed his entire concurrence in its terms, and added that the mails
which left England by the November packet did not reach Halifax until
the 11th of April following.
But fortunately Canada was now adding an insistent voice in support of
the demand of the Maritime provinces. Before peace was declared, the
governors of Canada and Nova Scotia were canvassing the possibilities of
facilitating communication between their provinces. Despatch couriers
passed between Quebec, fort Howe and Halifax, and efforts were made to
overcome the obstacles to travel, particularly on the portage between
the St. Lawrence and lake Temiscouata.
The results had not been specially encouraging, but the determination of
the Americans to exact the last farthing that could be got out of the
exchanges between Canada and Great Britain, which passed over their
territory, and their unwillingness to assist in expediting the exchanges
in any way, compelled the Canadian government to keep before it the
question of the connections by way of Halifax.
In 1785 the legislative council of Quebec discussed the question.
Finlay, who besides being deputy postmaster general, was a member of the
legislative council, impressed on his colleagues the necessity of
liberating Canada from its dependence on the United States in its
correspondence with the mother country. The refusal of the postmaster
general of the United States to allow Canadian couriers to travel to New
York, although there was no regular exchange between New York and any
United States post office on the road to Canada, led to delays and
exorbitant charges, which were unendurable.
Finlay urged as a first step that Canada should make a passable road as
far as the New Brunswick border, believing that the home government
would see that the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia would
provide the facilities for travel within those provinces. Dorchester,
the governor general, who had taken much interest in the question, sent
Finlay in 1787 to make a survey of a route from Quebec to Halifax, and
to arrange for couriers to pass monthly between the two places. The
British government gave its approval to his efforts to establish a
connection between the British provinces, and on its part, arranged
that, commencing in March 1788, the packets which ran between Falmouth
and New York should call at Halifax during the eight months from March
to November of each year.[226]
The call of the packets at Halifax, and the exchange of the mails
between Great Britain and Canada at that port marked the commencement of
the inland services in the Maritime provinces. Post offices were opened
at the important points on the route between Halifax and Quebec.
The couriers passed through Fredericton and St. John in New Brunswick,
and Digby, Annapolis, Horton (now Wolfville) and Windsor in Nova
Scotia.[227] St. John post office was opened in 1784, the office of
postmaster and king's printer being combined. The courier between St.
John and Fredericton travelled over his route fortnightly, and a service
of the same frequency was maintained on the route in Nova Scotia.
In order that the post office should have the advantage of conveying the
military despatches between the posts on the route, the expresses which
had been employed in this duty were suppressed, much to the distaste of
the military authorities, who would henceforward have to pay the very
high postal charges on their letters.
These charges were prohibitive for all but very urgent letters. A letter
consisting of a single sheet cost twelve cents to carry it from St. John
to Fredericton if it weighed less than an ounce. If it weighed over an
ounce the charge was quadrupled. The following are the rates charged by
the postmaster at Halifax to the several post offices in Nova Scotia: to
Windsor fourpence; to Horton sevenpence, and to Annapolis and Digby
ninepence.
At the risk of repetition, the reader is reminded that these charges are
for letters consisting each of a single sheet, weighing less than one
ounce, and that in case the letters should weigh above an ounce, the
rates given were multiplied by four, as a letter weighing over an ounce
was regarded as equal to four letters.
The postage from Fredericton to London, England, was sixty-four cents
for a single letter. As one glances over the long newsy letters in the
published correspondence of the time, he is persuaded that those letters
did not pass through the post office. The lately published Winslow
correspondence[228] is full of such letters, but they let us into the
secret of how they came to be sent.
Leading Loyalists, men who had given up their comforts and taken on
themselves the severest hardships for the sake of the old connections,
thought no more than the merest rebels of evading the postal laws, and
sending their letters by any convenient means that presented themselves.
Ward Chipman, the solicitor general of New Brunswick, in writing to
Edward Winslow in London, tells him that he would write more freely if
it were not for the enormous expense, but he would tax the good will of
every person he could hear of, who was going to England. No person was
allowed to go on a journey, long or short, without a pocketful of
letters entrusted to him by his friends, unless he were unusually
disobliging. When he reached his destination, he either delivered the
letters in person, or posted them in the local post office, whence they
were delivered at a penny apiece.
The service as established in 1788 was carried on unchanged until the
war of 1812 made certain alterations in the routes necessary to secure
the safe conveyance of the mails. The presence of American privateers in
the bay of Fundy rendered the passage of the packets between St. John
and Digby hazardous. The course down the St. John river and across the
bay to Digby was, therefore, temporarily abandoned.[229]
The courier with the mails from Quebec did not continue the river route
farther south than Fredericton. At that point he turned inland, taking a
road which led to the juncture with the old Westmoreland road which ran
from St. John to fort Cumberland, on the eastern boundary of New
Brunswick. The road from fort Cumberland was continued on through Truro
to Halifax.
For a short period before the war and during its course, the deputy
postmaster general was under steady pressure on the part of the
provincial governors to extend the means of communication throughout the
province of Nova Scotia.[230] Population was increasing rapidly--the
census of 1817 gave it as 82,373--and settlement was well distributed
over all parts of the province.
The governors for their part were anxious to have the means of
corresponding easily with the militia, who were organized in every
county. The deputy postmaster general was in a position of considerable
embarrassment. His orders from the home office as respects the
expenditure of the postal revenue were as explicit as those under which
Heriot was struggling in Canada. He won through his difficulties,
however, with more success than attended Heriot's efforts, although he
did nothing that Heriot did not do, to meet the two incompatible
demands of the post office, on the one side, that he should establish no
routes which did not pay expenses, and of the local administration on
the other, that he should extend the service wherever it seemed
desirable to the governor.
Howe brought a little more tact than Heriot seemed capable of, in
dealing with the provincial authorities. He laid the commands which had
been impressed on him by the secretary of the general post office before
the legislature, and obtained the assistance of that body in maintaining
routes, which did not provide sufficient postage to cover their
expenses. On his part he engaged, in disregard of the injunctions of the
secretary, to allow all the sums which were collected on a route to be
applied to paying the postmasters and mail couriers as far as these sums
would go, the legislature undertaking to make up the deficiencies.
In April 1817,[231] Howe made a comprehensive report of the mail
services in operation at that date, together with the arrangements for
their maintenance.
There were two principal routes in the province. The first in local
importance was that through the western counties from Halifax to Digby
and thence by packet to St. John. The section between Halifax and Digby
cost L348 a year, of which the legislature paid L200. The packet service
across the bay was maintained by the legislatures of the two provinces.
The settlements beyond Digby as far as Yarmouth and on to Shelburne,
were served by a courier who received L130 from the legislature, and all
the postage on letters going to the settlements, which amounted to L65 a
year.
The second leading route was that between Halifax and Fredericton by way
of Truro. This route, which was begun in 1812, was discontinued at the
close of the war. It had been found so advantageous, however, that it
was re-established in the beginning of 1817, as the permanent route
between Quebec and Halifax.
From Truro, a courier travelled through the eastern counties to Pictou
and Antigonishe. This was a district which Howe regarded with much
satisfaction. He wrote that the large immigration from Scotland and
other parts of Great Britain had increased the number of settlements and
thrown open the resources of this part of the province to that extent,
that the revenue of the eastern districts would soon surpass that from
those in the west.
Antigonishe collected the letters from all the eastern harbours and
settlements, and although the post office had been open for only about
nine months, the results, as Howe conceived them, were very encouraging.
The expenses of the courier at this period far outran the revenues, and
accordingly the legislature made a contribution of L130. The remainder
of the shortage was made up partly by postages and partly by private
subscriptions.
Howe, the deputy postmaster general, set forth the favourable aspects of
the service with an eagerness that betokened nervousness, and indeed
there was some reason for this feeling. When his statement reached
England, the secretary at once drew the attention of the postmaster
general to the fact that, while Howe had done extremely well, his
actions in appropriating the revenue to any specific object and in
establishing new routes and making new contracts without first receiving
departmental sanction were inconsistent with the principles which
governed the post office.
But it was something that, while Heriot's official zeal was embroiling
him with the governor general of Canada, Howe was managing to secure the
good will of the lieutenant governor of his province, and his
compromises with post office principles were passed over with a slight
warning. Howe retired in 1818 on account of old age, and was succeeded
by his son, John Howe, junior.
The postal service of New Brunswick did not advance with equal step with
that of Nova Scotia. Until 1820 there was no progress made in improving
the system, except that the conveyance between St. John and Fredericton
had been increased from fortnightly to weekly.
The first district off the established lines to manifest a desire for
postal accommodation was that on the Miramichi river.[232] There were
two flourishing settlements on the river--Chatham and Newcastle--largely
engaged in lumbering and fishing, and some means for the exchange of
letters was a necessity.
For some years before 1820 a courier travelled between these settlements
and Fredericton along the course of the Nashwaak river. He was paid
partly by a subsidy from the legislature of New Brunswick, and partly by
private subscription. Those who did not subscribe to the courier, might
or might not receive their letters. It depended on the caprice of the
courier. If he chose to deliver them, he exacted a payment of eleven or
twelve pence for each letter. This arrangement was far from
satisfactory, as the following illustration will show.
In February 1824, a brig from Aberdeen reached Halifax, bringing a mail,
which contained sixty letters for the Miramichi settlements. These
letters were forwarded to Fredericton by the first courier. It happened
that among the persons to whom the letters were addressed were a number
who were not subscribers, and the courier refused to take the letters
for these persons with him.
The consequence was that the letters had to be returned to Halifax, to
take the chance of the first vessel that might happen to be sailing in
that direction. To guard against any similar mishap in future, Howe left
the letters for the Miramichi districts with the captains who had
brought them over, and allowed them to arrange for their onward
transmission.
The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick urged the establishment of a
regular post office on the Miramichi. The trade of the district was of
considerable proportions. In 1823, four hundred and eight square-rigged
vessels from the United Kingdom loaded on the Miramichi. There was some
bargaining between the deputy postmaster general and the lieutenant
governor. The expense of the courier would be heavy, and the revenue
from it would not be large.
Howe proposed that the postages from the route be devoted to its
maintenance, and the balance be made up by the legislature. Howe does
not seem to have had his usual success in these negotiations, for the
governor declined to deal with him, insisting on corresponding directly
with the postmaster general in England. This caused some delay, and it
was not until 1825 that the post office was sanctioned.
The year 1825 was a notable one in the history of the New Brunswick post
office. In that year several important offices were opened. Howe, in his
report to the postmaster general, gives an interesting account of his
trip in establishing these offices.[233] He took a vessel from St. John
to Dorchester, where he opened an office; thence to Baie Verte, from
which point he sailed to Miramichi and to Richibucto. Returning to
Dorchester he travelled to Sussexvale.
Howe appointed postmasters at all these places. On arriving at St. John,
he was met by the request of the lieutenant governor to open an office
at St. Stephen. He finished up his tour by visiting Gagetown and
Kingston where offices were opened.
The very considerable enlargement of the system in New Brunswick gave
much satisfaction to the lieutenant governor. But as usual the deputy
postmaster general received a douche of criticism from the secretary of
the post office, who could not bear to sanction an extension of the
service which did not turn in something to the treasury. Howe had,
indeed, been careful that the post office should not be even a temporary
loser by his arrangements. He had gone no further than to apply the
postages collected at the new offices to pay the postmasters and
couriers, as far as these sums would go. The postmaster general took a
larger view of Howe's activities, and expressed his gratification at
what had been accomplished.
It was during this period that Cape Breton was brought within the postal
system of the Maritime provinces. This island, which had been the scene
of great exploits during the French and English wars, had not begun to
come under permanent settlement until after the close of the American
revolution. After the fall of Louisburg, in 1758, the island was
attached to Nova Scotia, and remained a part of that province until
1784, when it was erected into a separate government.
The first lieutenant governor of Cape Breton, Major Desbarres, in
casting about for a suitable site for his capital, had the advantage of
an intimate knowledge of the coast line of the island, acquired during a
series of surveys of the coasts and harbours of the Maritime provinces.
Contrary to what might have been expected, he turned away from
Louisburg, and placed his capital in a town which he established at the
head of the southern arm of Spanish river. Desbarres called the town
Sydney, in honour of Lord Sydney, the secretary of state for the
colonies.
After an inglorious career of thirty-six years, notable only for the
perpetual strife which reigned among the administrative officials,
during which the domestic affairs of the colony were almost entirely
neglected, the colony of Cape Breton was re-annexed to Nova Scotia in
1820.
The growth of population during this period was slow. In 1774 there were
1241 people on the island, including some roving bands of Indians. On
the west coast, about Arichat and Petit de Grat, there were 405 persons,
all French. About St. Peters there was a mixed English and French
population numbering 186; and on the east coast in a line running north
and south of Louisburg there were tiny settlements containing in all 420
persons, nearly all English.
So little progress had been made during the last quarter of the
eighteenth century, that at the end of 1801 the population was only
2531, of whom 801 were in the Sydney district, and 192 in and about
Louisburg. The remainder were strung along the west coast from Arichat
to Margaree harbour.
The increase on the west coast was due to a number of Highland Scotch
immigrants, who reached Cape Breton by way of Pictou, and took up land
between the Gut of Canso and Margaree harbour. In 1802, the Scotch
movement into Cape Breton began to assume considerable proportions. A
ship bringing 300 settlers into Sydney, was followed by others year
after year, until, at the date when Cape Breton again became part of
Nova Scotia, the population had reached between eight and nine thousand,
most of whom were Highland Scotch. The district about Arichat remained
French.
There was a post office in Cape Breton as early as 1801. It was at
Sydney, with A. C. Dodd as postmaster.[234] Dodd was a man of prominence
on the island, being a member of the legislative council and afterwards
chief justice. He held the postmastership until 1812, when he was
succeeded by Philip Eley, who was in office in 1817, when the lieutenant
governor, General Ainslie, pointed out to the home government the
necessity of improving the communications between the island and Great
Britain.
The exchange of correspondence was slow and uncertain. The Cape Breton
mails were exchanged by the Halifax packet, but it was usual for two
months to elapse between the arrival of the letters from England and the
first opportunity of replying to them. Half the delay, Ainslie thought,
might be avoided, if the packets on their homeward voyages would lie off
the harbour of Louisburg for an hour or two to enable a small boat to
reach the packet.
The commanders in port at Falmouth were consulted, and gave it as their
opinion that the fogs and currents, which prevailed about Louisburg
would make it inadvisable to attempt to land the mails there, and the
proposition was rejected. In the winter of 1817, an overland
communication was opened between Sydney and Halifax, an Indian carrying
the mails between the two places once a month during the winter.[235]
When the annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia took place in 1820,
the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Sir James Kempt, managed to
obtain a weekly mail between Sydney and Halifax.[236]
The earliest period in which we find a postal service in operation in
Prince Edward Island is 1801.[237] John Ross is mentioned as postmaster
of the island in that year. He was succeeded by Benjamin Chappell, in
whose hands and in those of his family, the postmastership remained for
over forty years.
The connections with the mainland and the mother country were maintained
for some years by such vessels as happened to visit the island. The
postal service of the island was within the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia.
It was not, however, until 1816, that the deputy postmaster general made
any mention of the island service in his reports to the general post
office in London.
Howe then informed the postmaster general[238] that when Lord Selkirk
was in Nova Scotia some years before, that nobleman urged upon him the
necessity of a courier service to Pictou, and thence to Prince Edward
Island by packet. This service was established in 1816, and an
arrangement was made with the island government, by which the postage
was to be applied as far as it would go to maintain the packet and pay
the postmaster's salary, and the government would make up the balance.
There were no accounts between the island post office and the general
post office. The postmaster simply presented to the deputy postmaster
general periodical statements of the postages collected, and his
expenses, together with a receipt for the deficiency which was paid by
the government. This arrangement had the immense advantage that from the
very first the island service was in the hands of the local government,
which carried on the post office with no more than a formal reference to
the general post office. The postage on a single letter from
Charlottetown to Halifax was eightpence.
The communication between the Maritime provinces and the mother country
was the subject of some discussion. Halifax was determined to retain,
and extend the utility of the packet service at all costs. Owing to the
greatness of the charges, and the long delays, the Canadian merchants
made but little use of the Halifax packets, but had their letters sent
by way of New York.
The merchants of New Brunswick insisted on the same privilege. The
provincial government established two courier services between St. John
and Fredericton, and St. Andrews on the United States boundary, and the
United States post office arranged to have the British mails for New
Brunswick conveyed by its couriers to Robbinstown, a point in Maine a
short distance from St. Andrews.
Against this Nova Scotia protested. John Howe, the elder, came out of
his retirement in 1820, and made a strong plea for an exclusive packet
service between England and Halifax, the vessel to remain at Halifax for
one week before returning. He would have the public despatches for New
York and Bermuda brought to Halifax, and from that place forwarded to
their destination by one of the war vessels in the harbour or by a
packet kept for the purpose.
Buchanan, the British consul at New York, urged the opposite view, that
all the British mails for the colonies should be sent by way of New
York. Dalhousie, who was lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia, at the time
supported Howe's view, and matters remained as they were.
The question of newspaper postage was agitated in the Maritime
provinces, as well as in the provinces of Canada. Indeed it would be
inconceivable that publishers anywhere could be satisfied with the
arrangements then in operation. But, most curiously, when the question
came before the house of assembly in Nova Scotia, the sympathies of that
body ran, not with the publishers, but with the deputy postmaster
general.
In 1830, Edmund Ward, a printer, who published a newspaper in
Fredericton, petitioned the legislature to be relieved of the charges
for the conveyance of his paper. The post office committee of the house
of assembly in Nova Scotia took the application into their
consideration.
The committee reported[239] to the house that, having examined the
imperial acts, they were of opinion that it was no part of the duty of
the deputy postmaster general to receive, or transmit by post,
newspapers printed in the colonies, or coming from abroad except from
Great Britain. They found, moreover, that the secretary of the general
post office in London, under this view of the case, had for a long time
made a charge for each paper sent to the colonies by packet, the
proceeds from which he retained to his own use.
It also appeared that about sixty years before that date (that is about
1770), the deputy postmaster general made a charge of two shillings and
sixpence per annum on each newspaper forwarded to country subscribers by
post, which was acquiesced in by all the publishers at that time.
The committee believed, therefore, that the deputy postmaster general
was fully justified in the charges he made, but they were much in
favour of having newspapers transmitted free. In accordance with this
idea, the committee suggested that the assembly should take on itself
the charges due for the conveyance of newspapers. They found that there
were seventeen hundred newspapers of local origin distributed by post
each week, and three hundred British or foreign newspapers. The assembly
did not act on this suggestion.
Though the deputy postmaster general was fortunate enough to have the
support of the legislature in his contention with the publishers, his
position was by no means free from criticism. Indeed, there were certain
features in his case, which were peculiarly exasperating to the
publishers.
Howe was not only deputy postmaster general, but was king's printer, and
had in his hands the whole of the provincial printing. He was also
interested either directly or through his family in most of the
newspapers published in Nova Scotia.
_The Nova Scotian_, _The Journal_, _The Acadian_ and _The Royal
Gazette_, were all controlled by the Howe family, and it appeared in the
examination that all these newspapers were distributed by the post
office free of postage. There were two other newspapers published in
Halifax--_The Acadian Recorder_ and _The Free Press_--and the publishers
felt, not unnaturally, that in being compelled to pay two shillings and
sixpence for each copy transmitted by post, while their rivals had the
benefit of distribution by the post office free of charge, they were
being subjected to an unjust and injurious discrimination.
The publishers of _The Recorder_ and of _The Free Press_ presented a
petition to the king, asking that they, also, might be relieved from the
burden of paying postage on their newspapers.[240] Just as their claim
appeared to be, it had no support from the authorities in the colony.
The lieutenant governor in sending the petition to the colonial office,
took occasion to speak of the high character of Howe and of his father,
the preceding deputy postmaster general, and to express his opinion that
the small fee collected on newspapers could not be regarded as an
extravagant compensation for the trouble the deputy postmaster general
had in the matter.
The case of the publishers came before the postmaster general in 1834.
Freeling, the secretary, then reminded him that there was no urgency in
the matter, as they were engaged at the time in adjusting the relations
between the colonial governments and the post office, and if the
provincial legislatures accepted the settlement proposed by the home
government, the question of newspaper postage would be satisfactorily
disposed of.
In the meantime, the petition was easily answered. The practice, argued
the secretary, was not illegal as it was founded on an act of parliament
empowering the postmaster general to give to certain of his officers the
right to distribute newspapers by post. This right had been in existence
since the first establishment of a post office and of a newspaper in the
colony. Consequently the petitioners, in entering upon the business of
publishing a newspaper, must have been aware of the charges to which the
publishers would be liable.
The imperial bill of 1834, together with the draft bill prepared by the
post office for the acceptance of the provinces reached the lieutenant
governors of the provinces in January 1835. The object of the plans, it
will be remembered, was in effect to have the stamp of legality placed
on the existing arrangements, by obtaining for them the sanction of the
several provincial legislatures.
On the adoption by the legislatures of the several bills, which were
identical in form, the postmaster general would relinquish the powers he
had until that time exercised over the revenues of the provincial
system, and allow the surplus, if any should arise, to be distributed
among the provinces, leaving it also with them to make up the deficit in
case the expenditure exceeded the revenue.
The proposals of the postmaster general were received characteristically
by the different provinces. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had no fault
to find with the existing arrangements. So far from objecting to the
irregular emoluments of the deputy postmaster general for the Maritime
provinces, they recommended, when the question arose, that his
emoluments be increased. Whenever the lieutenant governor or the
legislature of either of the provinces desired the extension of the
postal system into sparsely settled and unremunerative districts, the
local governments without demur took the deficiencies on themselves, and
did not ask why the profits from the more populous districts were not
devoted to meeting these shortages.
When the imperial scheme for settling the difficulties of the colonial
postal system was laid before the legislatures of the Maritime
provinces, it found them quite unprepared to discuss it. Until then,
they had apparently not realized that any such difficulties existed. The
thirteen years controversy between the British post office and the
assemblies in Upper and Lower Canada appears to have excited no
attention in the lower provinces. When the proposition from the British
post office was submitted to the assembly in New Brunswick, it was put
aside until the following session, and then, as it appeared not to suit
the views of the assembly, it was dropped.
In Nova Scotia, the subject received more consideration. The draft bill
was referred to a committee of the legislature, which went thoroughly
into its merits. The committee were of opinion[241] that, if modified in
certain respects, the bill would be well adapted to accomplish the
object in view. In their view the bill should not be a permanent one,
but should be renewable every three years, in order that any defects,
which experience might disclose, could be remedied.
It also seemed advisable to the committee that the chief administrative
officer in the province should be selected, not by the postmaster
general, but by the governor of the province, who would be more
conversant with the character and abilities of persons qualified to
discharge the duties of the office.
As the legislatures of Canada and New Brunswick had declined to adopt
the bill, the committee would not recommend that any bill should be
adopted that session. The only point to which they invited the attention
of His Majesty's government was the salary of the deputy postmaster
general, which was not only inadequate, but would not bear comparison
with the emoluments of the deputy in the other provinces.
The Nova Scotian assembly did not, however, rest at this point. Though
they had acquiesced quite contentedly in the arrangements made by Howe,
the deputy postmaster general, and had shown no disposition to join the
Canadas in their agitation, the implied admission of the home government
that the surplus post office revenues belonged of right to the colonies,
put a different face on the subject.
The post office committee called the deputy postmaster general before
them, and on going over the accounts with his assistance, they
discovered that there was a considerable amount remitted annually to
England, as profit from their inland posts, and satisfied themselves
that if this amount were retained by the deputy postmaster general, and
devoted to paying for the unremunerative services, the sum contributed
by the province for the maintenance of these services would be much
reduced, if not wiped out altogether.
The legislature, thereupon, with a boldness which seemed to betoken
ignorance of the course of events in Canada, resolved to take over the
control of the provincial post office. A bill for that purpose was
adopted in 1838,[242] and received the assent of the lieutenant
governor. By it, the deputy postmaster general was directed to pay into
the provincial treasury any surplus revenue, and the legislature on its
part undertook to make good any deficiency, if such should arise.
The position of matters as regards the inland service of Nova Scotia was
complicated by the geographical situation of the province with reference
to the other provinces. The British packets, by which mails were
exchanged between Great Britain and the North American colonies, landed
at Halifax, and it was essential that the conveyance of the mails across
Nova Scotia between Halifax and the inland provinces should be
maintained unimpeded.
The legislature recognized this fact, and agreed to provide for this
through service at its own cost, on condition that the British post
office should pay the salaries of the deputy postmaster general and his
staff at Halifax, from the revenues of the packet service.
The home government disallowed the Nova Scotia bill as being
inconsistent with the objects sought to be accomplished by the imperial
act of 1834. The aim of that act was to secure a uniform code of laws
for the regulation of the posts in British North America. Any partial
legislation would be unacceptable, and this was particularly the case
with legislation on the part of Nova Scotia, the key to British North
America. By obtaining control over the expenditure for the mail service
through the province, the legislature of Nova Scotia would have the
entire power over the postal communications with the interior, and they
might not only object to defray the expense of particular services, but
might interdict them altogether, as, in their opinion, unnecessary.
The colonial secretary added another consideration to this argument of
the postmaster general. One of the chief advantages which the government
hoped to derive from the mission of Lord Durham, who was then in Canada,
was that of devising some plan for the regulation of questions, which,
like that of post office communications, was the subject of common
interest to the colonies collectively.
The assembly showed some resentment at the rejection of their bill. The
despatch informing the governor that the measure had been disallowed,
also contained notice of the refusal of the home government to sanction
several other acts adopted by the Nova Scotia legislature. In the
resolution expressing regret that the measures in question had not been
allowed to go into operation, the assembly were careful to intimate
their confidence in the disposition of Her Majesty to meet the
reasonable expectations of the assembly, and attributed the several
disallowances to a want of correct information on the part of the home
government due to its not going to the proper sources therefor.
In order to remove the misunderstanding which the assembly conceived to
exist between themselves and the home government, William Young and
Herbert Huntingdon were sent as delegates to confer with the colonial
secretary on this and other subjects lying open. In London the delegates
were brought into communication with the treasury.[243]
As the chief objection to the Nova Scotia bill for the regulation of the
post office was that it would give the government of that province
control over the posts to the provinces in the interior, the delegates
lost no time in disclaiming any desire to exercise control over any but
their own inland service. They were willing that the great through lines
should remain within the jurisdiction of the postmaster general of Great
Britain, and that the provincial authority should be confined to the
management of the side or cross posts. This proposed dual control was,
of course, obviously impracticable, as the whole provincial service,
with its main lines and cross lines, was so blended together, that any
attempt to treat them as under two different administrations could not
fail to lead to unfortunate results.
The mission of the delegates was, however, far from fruitless. The fact
that the legislature had without complaint paid out considerable sums
each year for the maintenance of the service, appeared to the British
government to entitle Nova Scotia to liberal treatment, as these
payments would not have been demanded if the post office had understood
the matter.
The treasury, therefore, decided that so long as the revenue from the
inland post office was sufficient to meet the expenditure for the inland
communications, no demand for that purpose should be made upon the
provincial funds. Should, however, the legislature deem it advisable to
add to the lines of communication, the treasury would rely upon the
legislature to defray the expenses of such additional communications,
so far as these were not covered by the augmented postage receipts.
There was no more than justice in this decision, but the concessions of
the treasury did not stop at this point. It also intimated its
willingness to allow all the packet or ocean postage collected in the
colonies to remain at the disposal of the local government, whenever the
imperial act of 1834 should come into operation.
The British government did not desire to force the imperial act upon the
colonies, if, as appeared to be the case, there were valid objections to
it. It was prepared to consider any amendments which might be proposed
to meet those objections. The packet postage, it should be explained,
belonged entirely to the British government which provided and paid all
the expenses of the packet service, so that the offer to allow the local
governments to retain for their own use the packet postage they
collected, was a real concession.
FOOTNOTES:
[225] _C. O. Rec._ (_Can. Arch._), N.S., A. 103, p. 134.
[226] See p. 86.
[227] _Quebec Gazette_, December 13, 1787.
[228] _Winslow Papers_, 1776-1826 (printed under the auspices of the New
Brunswick Historical Society, 1901).
[229] Heriot to Howe, August 30, 1812 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).
[230] Howe to Freeling, June 20, 1816 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).
[231] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, April 4, III.
[232] Freeling to postmaster general, August 11, 1823, with enclosures
(_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.).
[233] Howe to Freeling, October 18, 1825 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, II.).
[234] _Quebec Almanac_, 1802, p. 71.
[235] Capt. Im Thurm to Freeling, April 5, 1819 (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O.
Transcripts, III.).
[236] Kempt to colonial office, March 26, 1821.
[237] _Quebec Almanac_, 1802, p. 71.
[238] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
[239] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1830, p. 717.
[240] Hay to Freeling, January 15, 1834, and accompanying papers (_Can.
Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV.).
[241] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1836, App. 73.
[242] _Journals of Assembly_, Nova Scotia, 1839, App. 8.
[243] Letters from Young and Huntingdon to Baring, June 21, 1839, and
accompanying papers (_Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, VIII.)