_"Uncertain Sounds"_
I may illustrate the consequences of vacillation and delay in the
vigorous government of the Hudson's Bay territory, and in all distant
parts of the Empire, by giving a verbatim copy of a Bill ordered to be
"printed and introduced" in July, 1866, into the "House of
Representatives" of the United States, at Washington, providing for
relieving the Queen of her sovereign rights in the British territories
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The only excuse--an excuse far
from valid for so monstrous a proposal--was that no one knew what the
British Government were inclined to do; and at Washington no one
believed that John Bull would "make a fight of it;" while everyone knew
that if a similar Bill, with the object of enabling the Southern States
to come under the dominion of the Queen, had been introduced into the
British House of Commons, the United States Ambassador "to the Court of
St. James'" would have been recalled--to begin with. The British
Ambassador took no notice, made no remonstrance; but the advent of Mr.
Disraeli to power discouraged such outrages, and led in the following
year to the passing of the Act for Confederation. In printing this
Bill, my object is to show the mischief, mischief which half-a-dozen
times in my lifetime has placed before my countrymen the alternative of
ignominious concessions or war between English-speaking people, of
"uncertain sounds." It is essential to continued peace, trade and
prosperity, that it should be known to all the world that the broad
lands between the two great oceans are an integral part of the Empire;
that they will never be parted with without a struggle, in which all
our forces will be amply used; and that either invasion, or the
insidious agitations which from time to time are hatched in the United
States with an eye to rebellion, will be put down by force.
Here is this insulting document printed verbatim. I challenge the
quotation of any similar outrage on the part of any civilized nation at
peace with the Empire attacked:--
"[Printer's No., 266.
"39TH CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION.
"H. R. 754.
"IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
"JULY 2, 1866.
"Read twice, referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered
to be printed.
"Mr. BANKS, on leave, introduced the following Bill:
"A BILL
"For the admission of the States of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada
East, and Canada West, and for the organization of the Territories of
Selkirk, Saskatchewan, and Columbia.
_"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the President
of the United States is hereby authorized and directed, whenever notice
shall be deposited in the Department of State that the Governments of
Great Britain and the Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island, Newfoundland, Canada, British Columbia, and Vancouver's
Island have accepted the proposition hereinafter made by the United
States, to publish by proclamation that, from the date thereof, the
States of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada East, and Canada West, and
the Territories of Selkirk, Saskatchewan, and Columbia, with limits and
rights as by this Act defined, are constituted and admitted as States
and Territories of the United States of America.
"SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That the following articles
are hereby proposed, and from the date of the proclamation of the
President of the United States shall take effect, as irrevocable
conditions of the admission of the States of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Canada East, and Canada West, and the future States of
Selkirk, Saskatchewan, and Columbia, to wit:
"ARTICLE I.
"All public lands not sold or granted; canals, public harbors, light-
houses, and piers; river and lake improvements, railway stocks,
mortgages, and other debts due by railway companies to the provinces;
custom-houses and post-offices, shall vest in the United States; but
all other public works and property shall belong to the State
governments respectively, hereby constituted, together with all sums
due from purchasers or lessees of lands, mines, or minerals at the time
of the union.
"ARTICLE II.
"In consideration of the public lands, works, and property vested as
aforesaid in the United States, the United States will assume and
discharge the funded debt and contingent liabilities of the late
provinces, at rates of interest not exceeding five per centum, to the
amount of eighty-five million seven hundred thousand dollars,
apportioned as follows: to Canada West, thirty-six million five hundred
thousand dollars; to Canada East, twenty-nine million dollars; to Nova
Scotia, eight million dollars; to New Brunswick, seven million dollars;
to Newfoundland, three million two hundred thousand dollars; and to
Prince Edward Island, two million dollars; and in further consideration
of the transfer by said provinces to the United States of the power to
levy import and export duties, the United States will make an annual
grant of one million six hundred and forty-six thousand dollars in aid
of local expenditures, to be apportioned as follows: To Canada West,
seven hundred thousand dollars; to Canada East, five hundred and fifty
thousand dollars; to Nova Scotia, one hundred and sixty-five thousand
dollars; to New Brunswick, one hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars;
to Newfoundland, sixty-five thousand dollars; to Prince Edward Island,
forty thousand dollars.
"ARTICLE III.
"For all purposes of State organization and representation in the
Congress of the United States, Newfoundland shall be part of Canada
East, and Prince Edward Island shall be part of Nova Scotia, except
that each shall always be a separate representative district, and
entitled to elect at least one member of the House of Representatives,
and except, also, that the municipal authorities of Newfoundland and
Prince Edward Island shall receive the indemnities agreed to be paid by
the United States in Article II.
"ARTICLE IV.
"Territorial divisions are established as follows:--(1) New Brunswick,
with its present limits; (2) Nova Scotia, with the addition of Prince
Edward Island; (3) Canada East, with the addition of Newfoundland and
all territory east of longitude eighty degrees and south of Hudson's
Strait; (4) Canada West, with the addition of territory south of
Hudson's Bay and between longitude eighty degrees and ninety degrees;
(5) Selkirk Territory, bounded east by longitude ninety degrees, south
by the late boundary of the United States, west by longitude one
hundred and five degrees, and north by the Arctic circle; (6)
Saskatchewan Territory, bounded east by longitude one hundred and five
degrees, south by latitude forty-nine degrees, west by the Rocky
Mountains, and north by latitude seventy degrees; (7) Columbia
Territory, including Vancouver's Island, and Queen Charlotte's Island,
and bounded east and north by the Rocky Mountains, south by latitude
forty-nine degrees, and west by the Pacific Ocean and Russian America.
But Congress reserves the right of changing the limits and subdividing
the areas of the western territories at discretion.
"ARTICLE V.
"Until the next decennial revision, representation in the House of
Representatives shall be as follows:--Canada West, twelve members;
Canada East, including Newfoundland, eleven members; New Brunswick, two
members; Nova Scotia, including Prince Edward Island, four members.
"ARTICLE VI.
"The Congress of the United States shall enact, in favour of the
proposed Territories of Selkirk, Saskatchewan, and Columbia, all the
provisions of the Act organizing the Territory of Montana, so far as
they can be made applicable.
"ARTICLE VII.
"The United States, by the construction of new canals, or the
enlargement of existing canals, and by the improvement of shoals, will
so aid the navigation of the Saint Lawrence river and the great lakes
that vessels of fifteen hundred tons burden shall pass from the Gulf of
Saint Lawrence to Lakes Superior and Michigan: _Provided_, That
the expenditure under this article shall not exceed fifty millions of
dollars.
"ARTICLE VIII.
"The United States will appropriate and pay to 'The European and North
American Railway Company of Maine' the sum of two millions of dollars
upon the construction of a continuous line of railroad from Bangor, in
Maine, to Saint John's, in New Brunswick: _Provided_, That said
'The European and North American Railway Company of Maine' shall
release the Government of the United States from all claims held by it
as assignee of the States of Maine and Massachusetts.
"ARTICLE IX.
"To aid the construction of a railway from Truro, in Nova Scotia, to
Riviere du Loup, in Canada East, and a railway from the city of Ottawa,
by way of Sault Ste. Marie, Bayfield, and Superior, in Wisconsin,
Pembina, and Fort Garry, on the Red River of the North, and the valley
of the North Saskatchewan river, to some point on the Pacific Ocean
north of latitude forty-nine degrees, the United States will grant
lands along the lines of said roads to the amount of twenty sections,
or twelve thousand eight hundred acres, per mile, to be selected and
sold in the manner prescribed in the Act to aid the construction of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, approved July two, eighteen hundred and
sixty-two, and Acts amendatory thereof; and in addition to said grants
of lands, the United States will further guarantee dividends of five
per centum upon the stock of the Company or Companies which may be
authorized by Congress to undertake the construction of said railways:
_Provided_, That such guarantee of stock shall not exceed the sum
of thirty thousand dollars per mile, and Congress shall regulate the
securities for advances on account thereof.
"ARTICLE X.
"The public lands in the late provinces, as far as practicable, shall
be surveyed according to the rectangular system of the General Land
Office of the United States; and in the Territories west of longitude
ninety degrees or the western boundary of Canada West, sections sixteen
and thirty-six shall be granted for the encouragement of schools; and
after the organization of the Territories into States, five per centum
of the net proceeds of sales of public lands shall be paid into their
treasuries as a fund for the improvement of roads and rivers.
"ARTICLE XI.
"The United States will pay ten millions of dollars to the Hudson Bay
Company in full discharge of all claims to territory or jurisdiction in
North America, whether founded on the charter of the Company or any
treaty, law, or usage.
"ARTICLE XII.
"It shall be devolved upon the Legislatures of New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Canada East, and Canada West, to conform the tenure of office
and the local institutions of said States to the Constitution and laws
of the United States, subject to revision by Congress.
"SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That if Prince Edward Island
and Newfoundland, or either of those provinces, shall decline union
with the United States, and the remaining provinces, with the consent
of Great Britain, shall accept the proposition of the United States,
the foregoing stipulations in favour of Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland, or either of them, will be omitted; but in all other
respects the United States will give full effect to the plan of union.
If Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
shall decline the proposition, but Canada, British Columbia, and
Vancouver Island shall, with the consent of Great Britain, accept the
same, the construction of a railway from Truro to Riviere du Loup, with
all stipulations relating to the maritime provinces, will form no part
of the proposed plan of union, but the same will be consummated in all
other respects. If Canada shall decline the proposition, then the
stipulations in regard to the Saint Lawrence canals and a railway from
Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie, with the Canadian clause of debt and
revenue indemnity, will be relinquished. If the plan of union shall
only be accepted in regard to the north western territory and the
Pacific Provinces, the United States will aid the construction, on the
terms named, of a railway from the western extremity of Lake Superior,
in the State of Minnesota, by way of Pembina, Fort Garry, and the
valley of the Saskatchewan, to the Pacific coast, north of latitude
forty-nine degrees, besides securing all the rights and privileges of
an American territory to the proposed territories of Selkirk,
Saskatchewan, and Columbia."
So much for an outrage of a character unheard of and unparalleled. It
was the result of "uncertain sounds;" of "duffer" government.
Let me give some illustrations. Before we began the, finally
successful, movement for the Intercolonial Railway, the confederation
of the Provinces of North America, and the final completion of a
railway binding the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific together, the
Right Hon. C. B. Adderley, M.P., wrote a "letter to the Right Hon. B.
Disraeli, M.P., on the present relations of England with the Colonies."
It was a skinflint document, and here are a couple of quotations:--
Page 57.--"I would have the Canadian Government, in the right time and
manner, informed that after a. certain date, unless war were going on,
they would have to provide for their own garrisons, as well as all
their requisite peace establishments, as they might deem fit; and that
they should be prepared to hold their own in case of foreign attack, at
least till the forces of the Empire could come to their aid."
Page 50.--"Let Canada, however, by all means look to England in the hour
of peril also; but if the sight of English red-coats, at all times, has
become a needful support of Canadian confidence, and English pay has
ceased to be resented as a symptom of dependence, we must bow humbly
under the conviction that Canada is no longer inhabited by men like
those who conquered her."
Then I must quote my revered friend, Mr. Cobden, who, addressing his
relative, Colonel Cole (at one time administrator of New Brunswick), on
the 20th March, 1865, only thirteen days before his ever-to-be-lamented
death, wrote about Canada: "We are two peoples to all intents and
purposes, and it is a perilous delusion to both parties to attempt to
keep up a sham connection and dependence, which will snap asunder if it
should ever be put to the strain of stem reality. It is all very well
for our cockney newspapers to talk of defending Canada at all hazards.
It would be just as possible for the United States to sustain Yorkshire
in a war with England as for us to enable Canada to contend against the
United States. It is simply an impossibility. We must not forget that
the only serious danger of a quarrel between these two neighbours
arises from the connection of Canada with this country. In my opinion
it is for the interest of both that we should, as speedily as possible,
sever the political thread by which we are, as communities, connected,
and leave the individuals on both sides to cultivate the relations of
commerce and friendly intercourse as with other nations." ... "There
is, I think, an inherent weakness in the parody of our old English
constitution, which is performed on the miniature scenes of the
Colonial capitals, with their speeches from the throne, votes of
confidence, appeals to the country, changes of ministry, &c., and all
about such trumpery issues that the game at last becomes ridiculous in
the eyes of both spectators and actors."
Speaking in the House of Commons on the second reading of the British
North America Bill, in 1867, Mr. Bright said: "Is this new State--or
this new nation, as I think Lord Monck described it--to be raised up
under the authority of an Act of Parliament--is everything to be done
for it? Is it intended to garrison its fortresses by English troops? At
present there are, I believe, in the Province 12,000 or 15,000 men.
There are persons in this country, and there are some also in the North
American Provinces, who are ill-natured enough to say that not a little
of the loyalty that is said to prevail in Canada has its price. I think
it is natural and reasonable to hope that there is in that country a
very strong attachment to this country. But if they are constantly to
be applying to us for guarantees for railways, and for fortresses, and
for works of defence; if everything is to be given to a nation
independent in everything except Lord Monck and his successors, and
except in the contributions we make for these public objects, then I
think it would be far better for them, and for us--cheaper for us, and
less demoralising for them--that they should become an independent
State, and maintain their own fortresses, fight their own cause, and
build up their own future, without relying upon us. And when we know,
as everybody knows, that the population of Canada, family for family,
is in a much better position as regards the comforts of home than
family for family are in the great bulk of the population of this
country--I say the time has come when it ought to be clearly understood
that the taxes of England are no longer to go across the ocean to
defray expenses of any kind within the confederation which is about to
be formed. The Right Honorable gentleman the Under-Secretary of the
Colonies (Mr. Adderley) has never been an advocate for great
expenditure in the Colonies by the Mother Country. On the contrary, he
has been one of the members of this House who have distinguished
themselves by what I will call an honest system to the Mother Country,
and what I believe is a wise system to the Colonies. But I think that
when a measure of this kind is being passed, having such stupendous
results upon the population of these great Colonies, we have a right to
ask that there should be some consideration for the Revenue and for the
taxpayers of this country."
In speaking on the Canada Railway Loan Bill in the House on the 28th
March, 1867, Mr. Gladstone, alluding to Canada, said: "We have carried
it to this point, that as far as regards the Administration, I believe
it may be said that the only officer appointed by the Colonial
Secretary is the Governor; and I believe there cannot be a doubt that
if it were the well-ascertained desire of the Colonies to have the
appointment of their own Governor, the Imperial Parliament would at
once make over to them that power."
I may, perhaps without presumption, here add two short speeches of mine
in the House of Commons: one, in reply to Mr. Bright in the discussion
on the Confederation, or British North America Bill, on the 28th
February, 1867; the other, in reply to Mr. Lowe, on the Canada Loan
Bill, on the 28th March, 1867.
Language affecting the relations between the Mother Country and the
Colonies, such as I have quoted, does infinite mischief--more mischief
than those who do not mix with the people can understand. It is as bad
in its consequences as the unfortunate policy of Mr. Gladstone: the
"Majuba Hill" policy.
[_Hansard, vol. 185, page 1187, Feb. 28, 1867._]
"Mr. Watkin said he fully concurred in the statement of the right hon.
gentleman (Sir John Pakington), that the House of Representatives and
the Senate of Nova Scotia had approved the scheme of Confederation. The
representative body approved it in 1861--not 1862, as the right hon.
gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty had stated.
"There was a general election in 1863, and the Prime Minister (Mr.
Tupper) went through the country preaching this Confederation of the
Provinces. It was brought under the notice of the electors at every
polling-booth, and at every hustings the issue was distinctly raised.
Well, after that general election, the plan of the Government was
sustained by an enormous majority in the House of Representatives, and
delegates were sent to the Conference to carry out the plan. If there
was any question on which the British North American Provinces not only
had enjoyed an opportunity of expressing, but had actually expressed,
opinion, it was on this very question of Confederation.
"Mention having been made of the name of Mr. Howe, whose acquaintance
he had the honour of possessing, he might state his own conviction that
a man of purer patriotism, or one who had rendered more able and
distinguished service to the Crown of this country, did not exist. He
remembered the speech delivered by Mr. Howe some years ago at Detroit
on the question of whether the Reciprocity Treaty should be continued
or not; and he believed it was in no small degree owing to that
remarkable speech--one of the most eloquent ever heard--that the
unanimous verdict in favour of continuing the treaty had been arrived
at. It was matter of surprise and regret to him that the valuable and
life-long services of Mr. Howe had not received recognition at the
hands of either the late or the present Government.
"The hon. member for Birmingham seemed dissatisfied with the phrase
used by Lord Monck respecting the establishment of a new nation. Now he
(Mr. Watkin) supported the Confederation, not as the establishment of a
new nation, but as the confirmation of an existing nation. It meant
this, that the people of the confederated colonies were to remain under
the British Crown--or it meant nothing. He joined issue with those who
said, 'Let the Colonies stand by themselves.' He dissented from the
view that they were to separate from the control of the British Crown
the territory of this enormous Confederation. But there was a vast
tract beyond Canada, extending to the Pacific; and the House should
bear in mind that more than half of North America was under British
dominion.
"Did the hon. member (Mr. Bright) think that it was best for
civilization and for public liberty that this half of the Continent
should be annexed to the United States? If that were the opinion of the
hon. gentleman, he did not think it was the opinion of that House.
Every man of common sense knew that these territories could not stand
by themselves; they must either be British or American--under the Crown
or under the Stars and Stripes. The hon. member for Birmingham (Mr.
Bright) might think that we should be the better for losing all
territorial connection with Canada; but he could not agree with that
doctrine. Extent and variety were amongst the elements of Imperial
greatness.
"Descending to the lowest and most material view of the subject, he did
not believe that, as a mere money question, the separation would be for
our interest.
"Take, again, the question of defence. Our North American possessions
had a coast line of 1,000 miles on the east, and 800 on the west, and
possessed some of the finest harbours on that Continent, and a
mercantile marine entitling it to the third rank among maritime
nations. The moment these advantages passed into the hands of the
United States, that country would become the greatest naval power in
the world. In preserving commercial relations with the United States,
the Canadian frontier line of 3,000 miles was likewise extremely
useful.
"As long as British power and enterprise extended along one side of
this boundary line, and as long as the tariff of extremely light duties
was kept up by us, and that imposed only for the purposes of revenue,
it would be impossible for the United States to pursue what might be
called a Japanese policy.
"If England, therefore, desired to maintain her trade, even apart from
other considerations, it was desirable for her to maintain her North
American possessions.
They had lately had to pass through a cotton famine, and they had been
taught the inconvenience of the prohibition of the export of cotton by
the American Government.
"A large proportion of the corn imported into this country was brought
from America, and in what state would England find herself if all the
food exports of North America were placed under the control of the
Government of Washington? If the frontier line became the sea coast,
what might be looked for then? Scarcely three years had elapsed since
Mr. Cobden declared that if there had not been a plentiful harvest in
America he did not know where food could have been procured for the
people of this country.
"Now, the corn-growing fields of Upper Canada alone ranked fifth in
point of productiveness. Did England not wish to preserve this vast
storehouse? Suppose that Canada belonged to America: in the event of a
quarrel with England there was nothing to prevent the United States
from declaring that not an ounce of food should leave its territories,
which would then extend from the Arctic regions to the Gulf of Mexico.
He had hoped that upon this Bill, not only both sides of the House, but
every section of the House, might have been found in unison.
"It was no use blinking the question. This would not be a decision
affecting Canada merely. We had sympathies alike with Australia and the
other Colonies. If it were seriously proposed that England should
denude herself of her possessions--give up India, Australia, North
America, and retire strictly within the confines of her own Islands, to
make herself happy there,--the same result might be brought about much
more easily by those who wished it. They might become citizens of some
small country like Holland, and realize their ideas of happiness in a
moment. But he hesitated to believe that the people of England did
really favour any such policy.
"If any one were to hoist the motto, 'Severance of the Colonies from
the Crown,' he did not believe that one per cent. of the people would
adopt it. He believed that the people of England felt a deep attachment
to their Empire, and that not a barren rock over which the flag of
England had ever waved would be abandoned by them without a cogent and
sufficient reason. Every argument used in support of the necessity of
giving up the Provinces, which lay within eight days of our own shores,
would apply with equal force in the case of Ireland, if the people of
the United States chose to demand possession.
"Was this country prepared to give up Gibraltar, Malta, Heligoland, all
its outlying stations, merely because some strong power took a fancy to
them? He did not believe that the people of England would ever act in
such a spirit.
"As to the argument of expense, if Canada chose to pick a quarrel on
her own account, clearly she ought to pay the bill; but if she were
involved in war on Imperial considerations, then he maintained that the
Imperial revenues might properly be resorted to.
"The British Empire was one and indivisible, or it was nothing. And
what was the principle upon which the United States acted? If any
portion of the territory of the Union was touched, were there one of
its citizens who would not be ready and forward to defend it? Should we
then be less determined to maintain intact the greatness and the glory
of the British Empire?
"He, for one, would not give up the opinion that Englishmen were
prepared to maintain, in its integrity, the greatness and glory of the
Empire; and that such a feeling would find a hearty response in that
House."
"CANADA RAILWAY LOAN.
"[_March_ 28, 1867.]
"In reply to Mr. Lowe and others, "Mr. Watkin said that, in following
the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Lowe), he felt very much as a quiet Roman
citizen must have done on passing the chief gladiator in the street--
inclined to pass over to the other side, and to have nothing to say to
him, for fear of the consequences.
"But some years ago he was requested by the late Duke of Newcastle to
make inquiries, which convinced him that the hobgoblin fears expressed
that night in regard to the construction of this 375 miles of railway
were unfounded.
"Let hon. members remember that Her Majesty's American dominions
extended over an area equal to one-eighth of the habitable globe. This
Railway gave us communication, not only with Canada and with 10,000
miles of American railways, but with the vast tract of British
territory extending across to the Pacific. The consequence of making
this Railway would be, that two days would be saved in going from
England to the northern continent of America, including the great corn-
growing district of the West.
"If the House had seen, as he had seen, the Canadian volunteers turn
out in bitter winter to repel a threatened invasion, without a red-coat
near them, they would think that the right hon. gentleman's taunts
might have been spared.
"The British Provinces had taxed themselves 360,000_l_. a-year for
the execution of these works, which Lord Durham had proposed in 1838,
with the object of binding together, by the means of physical
communication, the varied sections of the Queen's American dominions.
"The evidence of every military man, including Sir John Michell, the
present Commander-in-Chief in Canada, was that this Railway was
absolutely necessary for the military defence of the Colonies. It was,
however, to be defended not only on that ground, but upon the ground of
its great commercial advantages.
"There were now in the Government offices memorials from many of the
large towns in the three kingdoms, concurring in the commercial
necessity and advantages of the measure which the House was now asked
to agree to. Therefore, originating as it did with Lord Durham,--
sanctioned as it was by Lord Grey's proposals of 1851--adopted by the
late and present Governments,--demanded for purposes of defence, as
also for the more genial and generous objects of commerce and peace,--
he hoped the House would support the construction of the Railway by a
guarantee, which would not cost this country a shilling."
The motion for giving the guarantee was carried by 247 votes to 67--or
by a majority of 180.