REFORM AND PROGRESS
The result of the election was the defeat of the government. Mr. Tilley
lost his seat for St. John city, and the Hon. James Brown, the
surveyor-general, was rejected by the county of Charlotte, so that two
of the principal members of the executive were not in their places when
the House was called together in July. The city of St. John, and the
city and county of St. John, sent a solid phalanx of six members opposed
to prohibition, and an Act repealing the prohibitory liquor law was
passed by a vote of thirty-eight to two. The new government which was
formed had for its principal members, the Hon. John H. Gray, who became
attorney-general; the Hon. John C. Allen, solicitor-general; the Hon. R.
D. Wilmot, provincial secretary; the Hon. John Montgomery,
surveyor-general, and the Hon. Francis McPhelim, postmaster-general. The
other members of the executive council were the Hon. Edward B. Chandler,
the Hon. Robert L. Hazen and the Hon. Charles McPherson.
When the House met in July, the Hon. Charles Simonds, of St. John, was
elected speaker, and it was soon discovered, after the liquor bill had
been disposed of, that the majority supporting the government was so
small as to make it impossible for them to accomplish any useful
legislation. When the legislature again met, in the early part of 1857,
it was seen that in a House of forty-one members twenty were arrayed
against the government, and the only way in which government business
could be done was by the casting vote of the speaker. This condition of
affairs speedily became intolerable, because it practically made
legislation impossible, but it was brought to an end by Mr. McMonagle,
one of the members for the county of Kings, withdrawing his support from
the government. Two courses only were now open to them, to tender their
resignations or advise the dissolution of the legislature, and they
chose the latter. The House of Assembly was dissolved by proclamation on
April 1st, 1857, and the writs for the election were made returnable on
May 16th.
{THE FISHER GOVERNMENT}
The excitement attending this second election was, if possible, even
greater than during the election of 1856, for the public mind had been
wrought up to a high state of tension by the proceedings in the House
and the numerous divisions in which the government was supported only by
the casting vote of the speaker. The result of the election was so
unfavourable to the Gray-Wilmot government that they at once tendered
their resignations to the lieutenant-governor, agreeing to hold office
only until their successors were appointed. The most bitter contest of
the election centred in the city of St. John, and it resulted in the
election of Mr. Tilley, with Mr. James A. Harding for his colleague, the
latter having changed his views in regard to the question at issue since
the previous election, when he was chosen as an opponent of the
government of which Tilley had been a member. When the Gray-Wilmot
government resigned, the lieutenant-governor sent for Mr. Fisher, and
entrusted to him the business of forming a new government. The
government thus formed comprised the Hons. James Brown, S. L. Tilley,
William Henry Steeves, John M. Johnson, Albert J. Smith, David Wark and
Charles Watters. The Hon. Charles Fisher became attorney-general, and,
resigning his seat, was reelected for the county of York prior to the
meeting of the legislature on June 24th, 1857. The session lasted only
until July 1st, being merely held for the purpose of disposing of the
necessary business. James A. Harding was elected speaker of the House,
and the legislation was confined to the passage of the supply bills, and
matters that were urgent. Tilley took no part in the legislation of this
session, for his seat immediately became vacant by his appointment as
provincial secretary. The other departments were filled by the
appointment of Mr. Brown to the office of surveyor-general; of Mr.
Charles Watters, to the office of solicitor-general, and of John M.
Johnson as postmaster-general.
The legislature met again on February 10th, 1858, and the speech from
the throne dealt mainly with the financial crisis, the Intercolonial
Railway, and the progress that was being made in the construction of the
line between St. John and Shediac as a part of what was termed the
European and North American Railway. The speech also referred to the
fact that the surplus civil list fund had been, by arrangement with the
British government made the previous year, placed at the disposal of the
House of Assembly. It was soon seen that the government was strong in
the House, the first test vote being that taken on the passage of the
address in reply to the speech from the throne. This came in the form of
an amendment, regretting that the arrangement in regard to the surplus
civil list fund had been acceded to without the consent of the House.
This amendment to the address received the support of only six members.
A return brought down at an early period in the session showed that the
revenue of the province for the fiscal year, ending October 31st, 1857,
amounted to $668,252 an increase of $86,528 over the previous year. Of
this sum upwards of $540,000 came from import duties and what were
termed railway impost, which was simply duties levied on imports for the
purpose of defraying the cost of the railways then building. The casual
and territorial revenue yielded only eighteen thousand pounds but the
export duties reached almost twenty thousand pounds.
{INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY}
The Intercolonial Railway still continued to engage the attention of the
legislature, and correspondence with the secretary of state, with the
government of Canada, and with the government of Nova Scotia, in regard
to this great work, was laid before the House soon after the session
opened. The government of New Brunswick consulted with the governments
of Canada and Nova Scotia as to what assistance should be given by the
imperial government towards the construction of the Intercolonial
Railway from Halifax to Quebec, in the form of a guarantee of interest.
The British government professed to feel a strong sense of the
importance of the object, but thought they would not be justified in
applying to parliament for the required guarantee, because the heavy
expenditures to which Great Britain had been subjected did not leave
them at liberty to pledge its revenue for the purpose of assisting in
the construction of public works of this description, however desirable
in themselves. The correspondence on the subject of the Intercolonial
Railway extended over a period of more than twenty years and grew to
enormous proportions, but it is safe to assert that this line of railway
would not have been constructed in the nineteenth century but for the
fact that it was undertaken by the Canadian Dominion as a work which had
to be built for the purpose of carrying out the terms of confederation
as set out in the British North America Act (section 145).
The railway to Shediac was finally completed and opened for traffic on
August 5th, 1860, its length being one hundred and eight miles. The
nineteen miles between Pointe du Chene and Moncton had been open as
early as August, 1857, and the nine miles from St. John to Rothesay, on
June 1st, 1858. The railway was opened from St. John to Hampton in June,
1859, and to Sussex in November of the same year. Although the people of
the province had abated something of their enthusiasm for railways by
the time the St. John and Shediac line was finished, still its opening
was a great event, because it was the commencement of a new era in
transportation and gave St. John access to the north shore, from which
it had previously been practically shut out. Goods could now be sent by
means of railway and steamer to Prince Edward Island, and to the New
Brunswick ports on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a community of interest
which did not exist before was thus created between the most remote
sections of the province.
The traffic receipts of the complete line were thought to be highly
satisfactory; the business for the first three months amounted to about
$45,000, and yielded a revenue of $18,000. This was a good showing and
gave promise of still better things for the future. It may be
interesting to state that in the last year that the railway was operated
by the government of the province, the gross receipts amounted to
$148,330, and the net receipts to $51,760. The gross and net revenue of
the road had shown a steady increase from the first, and although it had
been a costly public work the people of the province considered it a
good investment. It was only after it had passed into the hands of the
government of Canada, and become a part of the Intercolonial Railway,
that any colour was given to the accusation that it was an unprofitable
line. The railway from St. John to Shediac had always paid well, and
probably, if dissociated from its connecting lines, would at this day
pay three or four per cent, upon its original cost.
{THE BALLOT}
The legislation of the province between 1858 and 1861, although it
included many useful measures, evolved nothing that calls for particular
mention, with the exception of the law which provided for voting by
ballot. This was an innovation to which many were opposed, but which the
Liberal party very properly considered necessary to the protection of
the voter, who was liable to be coerced by his employer, or by those who
had financial relations with him. The ballot system introduced by the
government was quite imperfect and did not insure absolute secrecy,
because it did not provide for an official ballot such as is required in
the system of election which now prevails in connection with the choice
of members to our Canadian parliament. Yet it was a vast improvement on
open voting, not only because it gave the voter a certain degree of
protection, but also from the fact that it tended to promote order at
elections, and to do away with that riotous spirit which was
characteristic of the earlier contests in the province.
{UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK}
In 1859 an important step was taken for the reorganization of King's
College, which by an Act passed in that year, was changed into the
University of New Brunswick. There had always been a great deal of
dissatisfaction with the college in consequence of its denominational
character, and in 1854 an Act was passed empowering the
lieutenant-governor to appoint a commission to inquire into the state of
King's College, its management and utility, with a view to improving it.
The commissioners appointed were the Hon. John H. Gray, the Rev. Egerton
Ryerson, J. W. Dawson, the Hon. John S. Saunders and the Hon. James
Brown. The report, which was dated December 28th, 1854, was laid before
both branches of the legislature in 1855. In 1857 the college council
appointed a committee and prepared a draft of a bill which was laid
before the legislature. This, with a few slight alterations, was the
bill which was passed in 1859 for the establishment of the University of
New Brunswick, and in this bill were embodied the principal
recommendations of the commissioners appointed in 1854 to enquire into
the state of the college. This Act transferred to the University of New
Brunswick all the property of King's College and its endowment, and made
the university liable for the payment of the debts and the performance
of the contracts of King's College. It created a new governing body for
the college to be styled the senate, to be appointed by the governor in
council, and the president of the college was required to be a member of
that body and also to be a layman. It conferred upon the senate the
power of appointing the professors and other officers of the university,
except the president, and also the power of removing them from office,
subject to the approval of the governor in council. It also authorized
the senate to fix their salaries. It abolished the professorship of
theology and provided for the affiliation of other institutions with the
university, and also for a number of free scholars. This Act, which was
passed in April, 1859, was especially approved by Her Majesty in council
on January 25th, 1860. Thus a new era in the higher education of New
Brunswick was commenced, and a long step was taken towards making the
college more acceptable to the people of that province. Great hopes were
entertained at the time that this liberalizing of the constitution of
the college would lead to a large increase in the number of its
students, and a more general interest in its work, but, unfortunately,
as the sequel showed, these hopes were only partially realized.
During the spring of 1860 circumstances occurred which led to the
resignation of the postmaster-general, the Hon. Charles Connell. The
legislature having adopted the decimal system of currency in the place
of the pounds, shillings and pence which had been the currency of the
province since its foundation, Mr. Connell, in March, 1860, was
authorized to obtain a new set of postage stamps of the denominations
required for use in the postal service of the province. No person, at
that time, thought that a political crisis would arise out of this
order, but it appears that Mr. Connell, guided by the example of
presidents and postmasters-general of the United States, had made up his
mind that instead of the likeness of the queen, which had been upon all
the old postage stamps of the province, the five-cent stamp, the one
which would be most in use, should bear the impress of his own
countenance. Accordingly the Connell postage stamp, which is now one of
the rarest and most costly of all in the lists of collectors, was
procured and was ready to be used, when Mr. Connell's colleagues in the
government discovered what was going on and took steps to prevent the
new five-cent stamp from being issued. The correspondence on the
subject, which will be found in the journals of 1861, is curious and
interesting; it ended in the withdrawal of the objectionable stamps and
in the resignation of Mr. Connell, who complained that he had lost the
confidence of his colleagues, and in resigning, charged them with
neglecting the affairs of the province. Only a few of the Connell stamps
got into circulation, the remainder of the issue being destroyed. Mr.
Connell's place as postmaster-general was filled by the appointment of
James Steadman.
{RESIGNATION OF MR. FISHER}
In the early part of 1861 a very important event occurred in connection
with the government which produced a lasting effect on provincial
politics. Charges were made by a St. John Conservative paper, _The
Colonial Empire_, in which it was stated that members of the government
and certain Crown lands officials had been purchasing the most desirable
and valuable Crown lands of the province for speculative purposes, and
that in bringing these lands to sale the government regulations had been
violated and the public treasury had suffered. A committee of the House
was appointed to investigate these charges, and inquiry established the
fact that an official of the Crown lands department had purchased some
eight hundred acres. These lands were all bought at public sale, but in
the forms of application other names were used, which was a violation of
the rules of the department. A portion of the press at the time created
a widespread excitement upon this subject, and the services of the
official referred to were dispensed with. Some of the supporters of the
government also took such ground in reference to the attorney-general,
Mr. Fisher, that his retirement from the government became necessary,
the accusation against him being that he had negligently permitted some
improper sales of Crown lands to be made. It was felt at the time by
some that the penalty that was paid by the attorney-general was
excessive for the offence; but, under the excitement then existing, it
was the only course that could be taken to avoid the defeat of the
government. At the general election that followed a few months later,
Mr. Fisher was reelected for the county of York, and later on, after the
excitement had passed over, the delinquent Crown lands official was
reinstated. At the same election, that took place in 1861, the
government was handsomely sustained, after one of the warmest contests
that had ever taken place in New Brunswick. Probably the most effective
nomination speech ever made by Tilley, during his long political career,
was the one then delivered at the court-house, St. John, in his own
defence, and in the vindication of his government against the charges
made by the Opposition candidates and press.