THE MOVEMENT FOR MARITIME UNION
We now come down to an event of the greatest interest, in which Mr.
Tilley took part, and one of such vast and far-reaching importance that
it quite overshadows all the other events of his career. The
confederation of the Canadian provinces was, beyond all question, the
most notable colonial movement within the British empire since the
American Declaration of Independence. It changed at once the whole
character of the colonial relations which had subsisted with the mother
country, and substituted for a few weak and scattered colonies a
powerful Dominion, able to speak with a united voice, and stand as a
helpmeet to the nation from which most of its people had sprung. No man,
whatever his views as to the wisdom of that political union may have
been at the time, can now deny that it was timely and necessary, if the
colonies and the mother country were to preserve their connection with
each other. It is safe to say that, if confederation had not taken place
in 1867, British interests on this continent would have suffered, and
possibly some of the colonies would now have been a part of the United
States. The policy of separating the colonies from England, which has
been so much advocated by many leading public men in the great republic,
would have found free scope, and by balancing the interests of one
colony against those of another, promoting dissensions and favouring
those provinces which were disposed to a closer union with the United
States, something might have been done to weaken their connection with
the British empire, which is now the glory and the strength of the
Dominion of Canada.
The question of the union of the several colonies of British North
America was by no means a new one when it came up for final settlement.
It had been discussed at a very early period in the history of the
provinces, and indeed it was a question which it was quite natural to
discuss, for it seemed but reasonable that colonies of the same origin,
owing the same allegiance, inhabited by people who differed but little
from each other in any respect, and with many commercial interests in
common, should form a political union. No doubt it might have been
brought earlier to the front as a vital political question but for the
fact that the British government, which was most interested in promoting
the union of the colonies, took no step towards that end until almost
compelled by necessity to move in the matter. The colonial policy of
England, as represented by the colonial office and in the royal
instructions to colonial governors, has seldom been wise or far-seeing,
and the British colonies which now girdle the world, have been built up
mainly as the result of private enterprise; for the part taken by the
government has, in most cases, been merely to give official sanction to
what private individuals have already done, and to assist in protecting
British interests when they have become important, especially in new
regions of the world.
{CONFEDERATION FORESHADOWED}
When the Earl of Durham was sent out as governor-general of Canada after
the rebellion there in 1838, he suggested in his report that the union
of the colonies of British North America was one of the remedies which
ought to be resorted to for the pacification of Canada and the
reconstruction of its constitution. While a large proportion of the
people of the colonies looked with favour upon the idea of a political
union, there was in all of them a large body of objectors who were
steadily opposed to it. People of that kind are to be found in all
countries, and they have existed in all ages of the world's history.
They are the persons who see in every new movement a thousand
difficulties which cannot be surmounted. Their minds are constructed on
the principle of rejecting all new ideas, and clinging to old forms and
systems long after they have lost their vitality. They are a class who
look back for precedents for any step of a political character which it
is proposed to take, and who judge of everything by the standard of some
former age. They seem to forget that precedents must be created some
time or another, and that the present century has as good a right to
create precedents as any of its predecessors. To these people every
objection that could be urged against confederation was exaggerated and
magnified, and whenever any proposal was made which seemed to tend
towards the union of the colonies, their voices were heard upon the
other side. We need not doubt the honesty or loyalty of these objectors,
or consider that they were unfavourable either to British connection or
to the building up of the empire. It was merely their misfortune that
they were constitutionally adverse to change, and could not see any
merit in a political movement which involved the idea of novelty.
For some time the principal advocate of confederation in the Maritime
Provinces was the Hon. Joseph Howe, a man of such ability and force of
character that on a wider stage he might have risen to eminence, and
ranked amongst the world's great statesmen.[10] It is impossible indeed
not to regret that so great a man, one so imperial in his instincts and
views, should have been condemned to spend his life within the bounds of
one small province.
{ATTITUDE OF COLONIAL OFFICE}
The question of the political union of the British North American
provinces was brought up in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia in
1854, and then the leaders of both parties, the Hon. Mr. Johnson for the
Conservatives, and the Hon. Mr. Howe for the Liberals, united in
advocating the measure, and in depicting the advantage which would
accrue from it not only to Nova Scotia, but to every British province in
North America. In 1858 the question of confederation was discussed in
the parliament of Canada, and such a union was made a part of the policy
of the government; for Mr. A. T. Galt, on becoming a member of the
administration, insisted upon its being made a cabinet question, and Sir
Edmund Head, the governor-general, in his speech at the close of the
session, intimated that his government would take action in the matter
during the recess. Messrs. Cartier, Galt, and Ross, who were in England
representing the government of Canada, waited upon the colonial
secretary, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, asking the authority of the
imperial government for a meeting of representatives from each of the
colonies to take the question of union into consideration. The colonial
secretary informed the Canadian delegates, no doubt after consultation
with his colleagues, that the question of confederation was necessarily
one of an imperial character, and declined to authorize the meeting,
because no expression of sentiment on the subject had as yet been
received from any of the Maritime Provinces except Nova Scotia. The Earl
of Derby's government fell a few months after this declaration of its
policy in regard to the colonies, and was succeeded by the government of
Lord Palmerston, which was in office at the time when the negotiations
which resulted in the confederation of the colonies were commenced. At
first Lord Palmerston's government seems to have been no more favourable
to the union of the colonies than its predecessor; for in 1862 the Duke
of Newcastle, then colonial secretary, in a despatch to the
governor-general of Canada, after stating that Her Majesty's government
was not prepared to announce any definite policy on the question of
confederation, added that, "If a union, either partial or complete,
should hereafter be proposed, with the concurrence of all the provinces
to be united, I am sure that the matter would be weighed in this country
both by the public, by parliament and by Her Majesty's government, with
no other feeling than an anxiety to discern and promote any course which
might be the most conducive to the prosperity, strength and harmony of
all the British communities of North America." It must always be a
subject of astonishment that the British government for so many years
should have had no definite policy on a matter so momentous, and that
they should have sought to discourage, rather than otherwise, a project
which has been of such vast importance to the empire.
The first impulse in favour of confederation in the minds of the members
of Lord Palmerston's cabinet seems to have developed about the time when
it became evident that the result of the civil war in the United States
would be the defeat of the southern confederacy and the consolidation
of the power of the great republic in a more effectual union than that
which had existed before. No one who was not blind could fail to see
that this change of attitude on the part of the United States would
demand a corresponding change in the relations of the British colonies
towards each other; for from being a mere federation of states, so
loosely connected that secession was frequently threatened by states
both north and south, the United States, as the result of the war, had
become a nation with a strong central government, which had taken to
itself powers never contemplated by the constitution, and which added
immensely to its offensive and defensive strength.
{A MISSIONARY OF UNION}
In 1863, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a member of the Canadian cabinet and a man
of great eloquence and ability, visited St. John and delivered a lecture
in the Mechanics' Institute Hall on the subject of the union of the
colonies. His lecture was fully reported in the _Morning News_, a paper
then published in that city, and attracted wide attention because it
opened up a subject of the highest interest for the contemplation of the
people of the provinces. Shortly afterwards a series of articles on the
same subject, written by the author of this book, appeared in the
columns of the _Morning News_, and were widely read and quoted. These
articles followed closely the lines laid down for the union of the
colonies by the late Peter S. Hamilton, of Halifax, a writer of ability
whose articles on the subject were collected in pamphlet form and
extensively circulated. Thus in various ways the public mind was being
educated on the question of confederation, and the opinion that the
union of the British North American colonies was desirable was generally
accepted by all persons who gave any attention to the subject. It was
only when the matter came up in a practical form and as a distinct
proposition to be carried into effect, that the violent opposition which
was afterwards developed against confederation began to be shown.
An event occurred in the summer of 1864 which had its effect on the
question of confederation. Up to that time the people of Canada and New
Brunswick had been almost wholly unknown to each other, because the
difficulties of travelling between the two provinces were so great. Any
person who desired to reach Montreal at that time from St. John had to
take the international steamer to Portland, Me., and was then carried by
the Grand Trunk Railway to his destination. Quebec could be reached in
summer by the steamer from Pictou which called at Shediac, but in winter
the journey had to be made by the Grand Trunk Railway from Portland, the
only alternative route being the road by which the mails were carried
from Edmunston north to the St. Lawrence. Under these circumstances the
people of the Canadian provinces and of the Maritime Provinces had but
few opportunities of seeing each other, and the people of all the
provinces knew much more of their neighbours in the United States than
they did of their fellow-colonists. One result of the Hon. D'Arcy
McGee's visit in 1863 was an invitation by the city of St. John to the
legislature of Canada to visit the Maritime Provinces. The invitation
was accepted and a party of about one hundred, comprising members of the
legislature, newspaper men, and others, visited St. John in the
beginning of August, 1864. Their trip was extended to Fredericton, where
they were the guests of the government of New Brunswick, and to Halifax,
where they were the guests of that city and of the government of Nova
Scotia. This visit produced a good effect upon the public mind, and
enabled the Maritime people to see what kind of men their
fellow-colonists of Upper and Lower Canada were.
{POLITICAL CRISIS IN CANADA}
In the meantime a great crisis had arisen in the government of Canada,
which was the immediate cause of the active part which that province
took in the confederation movement. When Upper and Lower Canada were
united in 1841, it was arranged that the representation of each province
in the legislature should be equal. The arrangement at that time was
favourable to Upper Canada, which had a smaller population than Lower
Canada; but in the course of time, as the population of Upper Canada
increased faster than that of the lower province, the people of Upper
Canada felt that they had less representation than they were entitled
to, and this state of affairs led to the raising of the cry of
"Representation by Population" which was so often heard in that province
prior to the era of confederation. In 1864 Upper Canada had half a
million more people than Lower Canada, and yet was only entitled to the
same number of members in the legislature. Another serious difficulty,
which arose out of the union, was the necessity, which not long
afterwards began to be recognized, of the government having a majority
in the legislature from each section of the province. This, in time,
grew to be so great an evil that the successful government of Canada
became almost impossible, for the majority for the government in one
province might at any time be disturbed by some local feeling, and as a
consequence the government overthrown. To trace the history of the
difficulties which arose from this cause would be to recite twenty years
of the history of Canada; but it is only necessary to point out thus
plainly the reasons for the willingness of the people of Upper and Lower
Canada to resort to confederation as a means of getting rid of their
embarrassments.
{MACDONALD-BROWN COALITION}
In 1863, the Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald was leader of the government,
but he was compelled to resign when parliament met in the early part of
1864, and in March of that year a new administration under the
premiership of Sir E. P. Tache was formed. This new government
developed very little strength, and was defeated on June 14th by a vote
of fifty-eight to sixty, on a question relative to some transaction
connected with bonds of the city of Montreal. A deadlock had come, and
as it was evident that no new government which could be formed was
likely to command sufficient support, it became necessary to make some
new arrangements in regard to the system of administration. Immediately
after the defeat of the government, Mr. George Brown, leader of the
Opposition, spoke to several supporters of the administration strongly
urging that the present time should be availed of for the purpose of
settling forever the constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower
Canada, and assuring them that he was prepared to cooperate with the
existing or any other administration that would deal with the question
promptly and firmly, with a view to its final settlement. After much
negotiation Messrs. Brown, Mowat and McDougall, three prominent members
of the Reform party, agreed to enter the government for the purpose of
carrying out this policy based on a federal union of all the provinces.
{SCHEME OF MARITIME UNION}
Prior to this time there had been various efforts made by the government
of New Brunswick to enter into closer relations with Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island. Previous to the year 1861 a number of factories of
various kinds had been established in the Maritime Provinces, but the
limited market they then enjoyed prevented their extension and crippled
their operations. To remedy this, Mr. Tilley, with the approval of his
colleagues in the government, visited Nova Scotia and Prince Edward
Island and proposed to the governments of both provinces free admission
of their natural products and a uniform tariff on dutiable goods. In
Halifax he had a lengthy and satisfactory conference with Mr. Howe, then
leader of the government, and with Dr. Tupper, the leader of the
Opposition. Both gentlemen agreed that the proposed arrangements would
be in the interests of the three provinces, and Mr. Howe agreed to
submit the matter to his government with the view of legislative action
at the next session. Mr. Tilley then proceeded to Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island. At the conference held with the government there, his
proposal was not so favourably entertained, the objection being that the
existing tariff of Prince Edward Island was lower than the tariff of
either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, and sufficient for the financial
wants of the Island, and that the necessary advance would be imposing
taxation beyond their requirements. Notwithstanding the failure to
secure the cooperation of the Island government, it was decided that the
joint action of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick legislatures in the
direction named was desirable. When the Nova Scotia legislature met and
the public accounts were proposed, it was found that a reduction of
tariff was not practicable, and Howe informed Tilley that the scheme
would have to be postponed, "though in other respects desirable." But
the subject was not allowed to sleep, and in 1864 there was a renewal of
the movement for a union of the Maritime Provinces. At the session of
the New Brunswick legislature held that year, resolutions were passed
authorizing the government to enter into negotiations with Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island to hold a convention for the purpose of
carrying such a union into effect. Similar resolutions were carried in
the legislatures of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and the
convention thus authorized was appointed to meet at Charlottetown in the
month of September following.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] For a full account of Howe's views on confederation see the Hon. J.
W. Longley's _Joseph Howe_ in this series.