On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in
the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first
ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The
circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In
1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the
Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably
the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other
under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of
Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the
preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an
amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in
view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made
large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts
were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the
governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of
commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered
by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed
chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take
evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of
the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October,
1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and
vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of
the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John
Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he
subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway
could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some
months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be
effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in
which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh
Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the
directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on
account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John
Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his
vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the
whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion.
His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as
his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters
"were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited
politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it
was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command
their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to
choose between their conscience and their party."
The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the
formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader
of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861,
and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until
1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to
Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his
originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great
decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive
style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible
honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly
welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the
country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the
representatives of the people. His administration remained in office
until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness
to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the
government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor
and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875,
pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was
necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the
North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under
the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary
dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the
privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred,
materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western
boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the
Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to
the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included
within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the
right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the
course of succeeding years a system of local government was established
in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the
senate and house of commons.
As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian
government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements
with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation
of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871
and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the
Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who
received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other
benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the
vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to
this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have
always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on
reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various
classes have been provided for their instruction. They are
systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and
instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the
interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is
especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of
guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the
government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most
satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades
the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to
support themselves.
The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of
appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish
public nominations and property qualification for members of the house
of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous
polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for
some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John
Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges
was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the
repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A
force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and
order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence
system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report
of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration
to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance
act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when
secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to
exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by
their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of
intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was
declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be
constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many
counties of the several provinces; but eventually it was found quite
impracticable to enforce the law, and the great majority of those
districts of Ontario and Quebec, which had been carried away for a time
on a great wave of moral reform to adopt the act, decided by an equally
large vote to repeal it. The agitation for the extension of this law
finally merged into a wide-spread movement among the temperance people
of the Dominion for the passage of a prohibitory liquor law by the
parliament of Canada. In 1898 the question was submitted to the electors
of the provinces and territories by the Laurier government. The result
was a majority of only 14,000 votes in favour of prohibition out of a
total vote of 543,049, polled throughout the Dominion. The province of
Quebec declared itself against the measure by an overwhelming vote. The
temperance people then demanded that the Dominion government should take
immediate action in accordance with this vote; but the prime minister
stated emphatically to the house of commons as soon as parliament opened
in March, 1899, "that the voice of the electorate, which has been
pronounced in favour of prohibition--only twenty-three per cent. of the
total electoral vote of the Dominion--is not such as to justify the
government in introducing a prohibitory law." In the premier's opinion
the government would not be justified in following such a course "unless
at least one-half of the electorate declared itself at the polls in its
favour." In the province of Manitoba, where the people have pronounced
themselves conclusively in favour of prohibition, the Macdonald
government are now moving to give effect to the popular wishes and
restrain the liquor traffic so far as it is possible to go under the
provisions of the British North America act of 1867 and the decisions of
the courts as to provincial powers.
For two years and even longer, after its coming into office, the
Mackenzie government was harassed by the persistent effort that was made
in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed
by Riel and his principal associates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel
had been elected by a Manitoba constituency in 1874 to the Dominion
house of commons and actually took the oath of allegiance in the clerk's
office, but he never attempted to sit, and was subsequently expelled as
a fugitive from criminal justice. Lepine was convicted of murder at
Winnipeg and sentenced to be hanged, when the governor-general, Lord
Dufferin, intervened and commuted the sentence to two years'
imprisonment, with the approval of the imperial authorities, to whom, as
an imperial officer entrusted with large responsibility in the exercise
of the prerogative of mercy, he had referred the whole question. Soon
afterwards the government yielded to the strong pressure from French
Canada and relieved the tension of the public situation by obtaining
from the representative of the crown an amnesty for all persons
concerned in the North-west troubles, with the exception of Riel and
Lepine, who were banished for five years, when they also were to be
pardoned. O'Donohue was not included, as his first offence had been
aggravated by his connection with the Fenian raid of 1871, but he was
allowed in 1877 the benefit of the amnesty. The action of Lord Dufferin
in pardoning Lepine and thereby relieving his ministers from all
responsibility in the matter was widely criticised, and no doubt had
much to do with bringing about an alteration in the terms of the
governor-general's commission and his instructions with respect to the
prerogative of mercy. Largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Blake,
who visited England for the purpose, in 1875, new commissions and
instructions have been issued to Lord Dufferin's successors, with a due
regard to the larger measure of constitutional freedom now possessed by
the Dominion of Canada. As respects the exercise of the prerogative of
mercy, the independent judgment of the governor-general may be exercised
in cases of imperial interest, but only after consultation with his
responsible advisers, while he is at liberty to yield to their judgment
in all cases of local concern.
One of the most important questions with which the Mackenzie government
was called upon to deal was the construction of the Canadian Pacific
railway. It was first proposed to utilise the "water-stretches" on the
route of the railroad, and in that way lessen its cost, but the scheme
was soon found to be impracticable. The people of British Columbia were
aggrieved at the delay in building the railway, and several efforts were
made to arrange the difficulty through the intervention of the Earl of
Carnarvon, colonial secretary of state, of the governor-general when he
visited the province in 1876, and of Mr., afterwards Sir, James Edgar,
who was authorised to treat with the provincial government on the
subject. At the instance of the secretary of state the government agreed
to build immediately a road from Esquimalt to Nanaimo on Vancouver
Island, to prosecute the surveys with vigour, and make arrangements for
the completion of the railway in 1890. Mr. Blake opposed these terms,
and in doing so no doubt represented the views of a large body of the
Liberal party, who believed that the government of Canada had in 1871
entered into the compact with British Columbia without sufficient
consideration of the gravity of the obligation they were incurring. The
commons, however, passed the Esquimalt and Nanaimo bill only to hear of
its rejection in the senate, where some Liberals united with the
Conservative majority to defeat it. When the surveys were all completed,
the government decided to build the railway as a public work; but by the
autumn of 1878, when Mr. Mackenzie was defeated at a general election,
only a few miles of the road had been completed, and the indignation of
British Columbia had become so deep that the legislature passed a
resolution for separation from the Dominion unless the terms of union
were soon fulfilled.
During the existence of the Mackenzie government there was much
depression in trade throughout the Dominion, and the public revenues
showed large deficits in consequence of the falling-off of imports. When
the elections took place in September, 1878, the people were called upon
to give their decision on a most important issue. With that astuteness
which always enabled him to gauge correctly the tendency of public
opinion, Sir John Macdonald recognised the fact that the people were
prepared to accept any new fiscal policy which promised to relieve the
country from the great depression which had too long hampered internal
and external trade. In the session of 1878 he brought forward a
resolution, declaring emphatically that the welfare of Canada required
"the adoption of a national policy which, by a judicious readjustment of
the tariff will benefit the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing
and other interests of the Dominion ... will retain in Canada thousands
of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search
of the employment denied them at home ... will restore prosperity to our
struggling industries now so sadly depressed ... will prevent Canada
from being made a sacrifice market ... will encourage and develop an
interprovincial trade ... and will procure eventually for this country a
reciprocity of trade with the United States." This ingenious resolution
was admirably calculated to captivate the public mind, though it was
defeated in the house of commons by a large majority. Mr. Mackenzie was
opposed to the principle of protection, and announced the determination
of the government to adhere to a revenue tariff instead of resorting to
any protectionist policy, which would, in his opinion, largely increase
the burdens of the people under the pretence of stimulating
manufactures. As a consequence of his unbending fidelity to the
principles of his life, Mr. Mackenzie was beaten at the general election
by an overwhelming majority. If he had possessed even a little of the
flexibility of his astute opponent he would have been more successful as
a leader of a party.
One of Lord Dufferin's last official acts in October, 1878, was to call
upon Sir John Macdonald to form a new administration on the resignation
of Mr. Mackenzie. The new governor-general, the Marquess of Lorne, and
the Princess Louise, arrived in Canada early in November and were
everywhere received with great enthusiasm. The new protective
policy--"the National Policy" as the Conservatives like best to name
it--was laid before parliament in the session of 1879, by Sir Leonard
Tilley, then finance minister; and though it has undergone some
important modifications since its introduction it has formed the basis
of the Canadian tariff for twenty years. The next important measure of
the government was the vigorous prosecution of the Canadian Pacific
railway. During the Mackenzie administration the work had made little
progress, and the people of British Columbia had become very indignant
at the failure to carry out the terms on which they had entered the
confederation. In the session of 1880-81 Sir Charles Tupper, minister of
railways, announced that the government had entered into a contract with
a company of capitalists to construct the railway from Montreal to
Burrard's Inlet. Parliament ratified the contract by a large majority
despite the vigorous opposition made by Mr. Blake, then leader of the
Liberal party, who had for years considered this part of the agreement
with British Columbia as extremely rash. Such remarkable energy was
brought to the construction of this imperial highway that it was
actually in operation at the end of five years after the commencement of
the work--only one-half of the time allowed in the charter for its
completion. The financial difficulties which the company had to
encounter in the progress of the work were very great, and they were
obliged in 1884 to obtain a large loan from the Dominion government. The
loan was secured on the company's property, and was paid off by 1887.
The political fortunes of the Conservative administration, in fact, were
indissolubly connected with the success of this national enterprise, and
from the moment when the company commenced the work Sir John Macdonald
never failed to give it his complete confidence and support.
One of the delicate questions which the Macdonald government was called
upon to settle soon after their coming into office was what is known as
"the Letellier affair." In March, 1878, the lieutenant-governor of the
province of Quebec, Mr. Letellier de Saint-Just, who had been previously
a member of the Mackenzie Liberal government, dismissed the Boucherville
Conservative ministry on the ground that they had taken steps in regard
to both administrative and legislative measures not only contrary to his
representations, but even without previously advising him of what they
proposed to do. At his request Mr., now Sir, Henry Joly de Lotbinière
formed a Liberal administration, which appealed to the country. The
result was that the two parties came back evenly balanced. The
Conservatives of the province were deeply irritated at this action of
the lieutenant-governor, and induced Sir John Macdonald, then leader of
the opposition, to make a motion in the house of commons, declaring Mr.
Letellier's conduct "unwise and subversive of the sound principles of
responsible government." This motion was made as an amendment on the
proposal to go into committee of supply, and under a peculiar usage of
the Canadian commons it was not permitted to move a second amendment at
this stage. Had such a course been regular, the Mackenzie government
would have proposed an amendment similar to that which was moved in the
senate, to the effect that it was inexpedient to offer any opinion on
the action of the lieutenant-governor of Quebec for the reason that "the
federal and provincial governments, each in its own sphere, enjoyed
responsible government equally, separately, and independently"--in
other words, that the wisest constitutional course to follow under the
circumstances was to allow each province to work out responsible
government without any undue interference on the part of the Dominion
government or parliament. As it happened, however, Mr. Mackenzie and his
colleagues had no alternative open to them but to vote down the motion
proposed in the commons; while in the Conservative senate the amendment,
which could not be submitted to the lower house under the rules, was
defeated, and the motion condemning the lieutenant-governor carried by a
large party vote.
In 1879, when the Macdonald government was in office, the matter was
again brought before the house of commons and the same motion of censure
that had been defeated in 1878 was introduced in the same way as before,
and carried by a majority of 85. The prime minister then informed Lord
Lorne that in the opinion of the government Mr. Letellier's "usefulness
was gone," and he recommended his removal from office; but the
governor-general was unwilling to agree hastily to such a dangerous
precedent as the removal of a lieutenant-governor, and as an imperial
officer he referred the whole matter to her Majesty's government for
their consideration and instructions. The colonial secretary did not
hesitate to state "that the lieutenant-governor of a province has an
indisputable right to dismiss his ministers if, from any cause, he feels
it incumbent to do so," but that, in deciding whether the conduct of a
lieutenant-governor merits removal from his office, as in the exercise
of other powers vested in him by the imperial state the governor-general
"must act by and with the advice of his ministers." After further
consideration of the subject, the Canadian government again recommended
the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and the governor-general had now no
alternative except to act on the advice of his responsible ministers. It
was unfortunate that the constitutional issue was obscured, from the
outset, by the political bitterness that was imported into it, and that
the procedure, followed in two sessions, of proposing an amendment,
condemnatory of the action of the lieutenant-governor, on the motion of
going into committee of supply, prevented the house from coming to a
decision squarely on the true constitutional issue--actually raised in
the senate in 1878--whether it was expedient for the parliament or
government of Canada to interfere in a matter of purely provincial
concern.
In 1891 another case of the dismissal of a ministry, having a majority
in the assembly, occurred in the province of Quebec, but the
intervention of parliament was not asked for the purpose of censuring
the lieutenant-governor for the exercise of his undoubted constitutional
power. It appears that, in 1891, the evidence taken before a committee
of the senate showed that gross irregularities had occurred in
connection with the disbursement of certain government subsidies which
had been voted by parliament for the construction of the Bay des
Chaleurs railway, and that members of the Quebec cabinet were
compromised in what was clearly a misappropriation of public money. In
view of these grave charges, Lieutenant-governor Angers forced his prime
minister, Mr. Honoré Mercier, to agree to the appointment of a royal
commission to hold an investigation into the transaction in question.
When the lieutenant-governor was in possession of the evidence taken
before this commission, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty
to relieve Mr. Mercier and his colleagues of their functions as
ministers "in order to protect the dignity of the crown and safeguard
the honour and interest of the province in danger." Mr. de Boucherville
was then called upon to form a ministry which would necessarily assume
full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the
circumstances, and after some delay the new ministry went to the country
and were sustained by a large majority. It is an interesting coincidence
that the lieutenant-governor who dismissed the Mercier government and
the prime minister who assumed full responsibility for the dismissal of
the Mercier administration, were respectively attorney-general and
premier in the cabinet who so deeply resented a similar action in 1878.
But Mr. Letellier was then dead--notoriously as a result of the mental
strain to which he had been subject in the constitutional crisis which
wrecked his political career--and it was left only for his friends to
feel that the whirligig of time brings its revenge even in political
affairs[5].
[5: Since this chapter was in type, the Dominion government have found
it necessary to dismiss Mr. McInnes from the lieutenant-governorship of
British Columbia, on the ground--as set forth in an order-in-council
--that "his official conduct had been subversive of the principles of
responsible government," and that his "usefulness was gone." While Mr.
McInnes acted as head of the executive at Victoria, the political
affairs of the province became chaotic. He dismissed ministries in the
most summary manner. When the people were at last appealed to at a
general election by Mr. Martin, his latest adviser, he was defeated by
an overwhelming majority, and the Ottawa government came to the
conclusion--to quote the order-in-council--"that the action of the
lieutenant-governor in dismissing his ministers has not been approved by
the people of British Columbia," and it was evident, "that the
government of the province cannot be successfully carried on in the
manner contemplated by the constitution under the administration of the
present incumbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed
from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir
Henri Joly de Lotbinière, who has had large experience in public affairs,
and is noted for his amiability and discretion.]
A very important controversy involving old issues arose in 1888 in
connection with an act passed by the Mercier government of Quebec for
the settlement of the Jesuits' estates, which, so long ago as 1800, had
fallen into the hands of the British government, on the death of the
last surviving member of the order in Canada, and had been, after some
delay, applied to the promotion of public instruction in the province of
Quebec. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church always contended that
the estates should have been vested in them "as the ordinaries of the
various dioceses in which this property was situated." After
confederation, the estates became the property of the government of
Quebec and were entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The
Jesuits in the meantime had become incorporated in the province, and
made, as well as the bishops, a claim to the estates. Eventually, to
settle the difficulty and strengthen himself with the ecclesiastics of
the province, Mr. Mercier astutely passed a bill through the
legislature, authorising the payment of $400,000 as compensation to the
Jesuits in lieu of all the lands held by them prior to the conquest and
subsequently confiscated by the crown. It was expressly set forth in the
preamble of the act--and it was this proposition which offended the
extreme Protestants--that the amount of compensation was to remain as a
special deposit until the Pope had made known his wishes respecting the
distribution. Some time later the Pope divided the money among the
Jesuits, the archbishops and bishops of the province, and Laval
University. The whole matter came before the Dominion house of commons
in 1888, when a resolution was proposed to the effect that the
government should have at once disallowed the act as beyond the power of
the legislature, because, among other reasons, "it recognizes the
usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, namely his Holiness the
Pope, to claim that his consent was necessary to dispose of and
appropriate the public funds of a province." The very large vote in
support of the action of the government-188 against 13-was chiefly
influenced by the conviction that, to quote the minute of council, "the
subject-matter of the act was one of provincial concern, only having
relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the
legislature of Quebec." The best authorities agree in the wisdom of not
interfering with provincial legislation except in cases where there is
an indisputable invasion of Dominion jurisdiction or where the vital
interests of Canada as a whole may imperatively call for such
interference.
In March, 1885, Canada was startled by the news that the half-breeds of
the Saskatchewan district in the North-west had risen in rebellion
against the authority of the Dominion government. It is difficult to
explain clearly the actual causes of an uprising which, in all
probability, would never have occurred had it not been for the fact that
Riel had been brought back from Montana by his countrymen to assist them
in obtaining a redress of certain grievances. This little insurrection
originated in the Roman Catholic mission of St. Laurent, situated
between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan River, and
contiguous to the British settlement of Prince Albert. Within the limits
of this mission there was a considerable number of half-breeds, who had
for the most part migrated from Manitoba after selling the "scrip[6]"
for lands generously granted to them after the restoration of order in
1870 to the Red River settlements. Government surveyors had been busily
engaged for some time in laying out the Saskatchewan country in order to
keep pace with the rapidly increasing settlement. When they came to the
mission of St. Laurent they were met with the same distrust that had
done so much harm in 1870. The half-breeds feared that the system of
square blocks followed by the surveyors would seriously interfere with
the location of the farms on which they had "squatted" in accordance
with the old French system of deep lots with a narrow frontage on the
banks of the rivers. The difficulties arising out of these diverse
systems of surveys caused a considerable delay in the issue of patents
for lands, and dissatisfied the settlers who were anxious to know what
land their titles covered. The half-breeds not only contended that their
surveys should be respected, but that they should be also allowed scrip
for two hundred and forty acres of land, as had been done in the case of
their compatriots in Manitoba. Many of the Saskatchewan settlers had
actually received this scrip before they left the province, but
nevertheless they hoped to obtain it once more from the government, and
to sell it with their usual improvidence to the first speculators who
offered them some ready money.
[6: A certificate from the government that a certain person is entitled
to receive a patent from the crown for a number of acres of the public
lands--a certificate legally transferable to another person by the
original holder.]
The delay of the government in issuing patents and scrip and the system
of surveys were no doubt the chief grievances which enabled Riel and
Dumont--the latter a resident of Batoche--to excite the half-breeds
against the Dominion authorities at Ottawa. When a commission was
actually appointed by the government in January, 1885, to allot scrip to
those who were entitled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually
ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his
associates. Riel believed for some time after his return in 1884 that he
could use the agitation among his easily deluded countrymen for his own
selfish purposes. It is an indisputable fact that he made an offer to
the Dominion government to leave the North-west if they would pay him a
considerable sum of money. When he found that there was no likelihood of
Sir John Macdonald repeating the mistake which he had made at the end of
the first rebellion, Riel steadily fomented the agitation among the
half-breeds, who were easily persuaded to believe that a repetition of
the disturbances of 1870 would obtain them a redress of any grievances
they might have. It is understood that one of the causes that aggravated
the agitation at its inception was the belief entertained by some white
settlers of Prince Albert that they could use the disaffection among the
half-breeds for the purpose of repeating the early history of Manitoba,
and forcing the Dominion government to establish a new province in the
Saskatchewan country, though its entire population at that time would
not have exceeded ten thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were
half-breeds. Riel for a time skilfully made these people believe that he
would be a ductile instrument in their hands, but when his own plans
were ripe for execution he assumed despotic control of the whole
movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his
half-breed associates were dominant, and the white conspirators of
Prince Albert were entirely ignored. The loyal people of Prince Albert,
who had always disapproved of the agitation, as well as the priests of
the mission, who had invariably advised their flock to use only peaceful
and constitutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at
defiance and insulted by Riel and his associates. The revolt broke out
on the 25th March, 1885, when the half-breeds took forcible possession
of the government stores, and made prisoners of some traders at Duck
Lake. A small force of Mounted Police under the command of
Superintendent Crozier was defeated near the same place by Dumont, and
the former only saved his men from destruction by a skilful retreat to
Fort Carleton. The half-breed leaders circulated the news of this
victory over the dreaded troops of the government among the Indian bands
of the Saskatchewan, a number of whom immediately went on the war-path.
Fort Carleton had to be given up by the mounted police, who retired to
Prince Albert, the key of the district. The town of Battleford was
besieged by the Indians, but they were successfully kept in check for
weeks until the place was relieved. Fort Pitt was evacuated by Inspector
Dickens, a son of the great novelist, who succeeded in taking his little
force of police into Battleford. Two French missionaries and several
white men were ruthlessly murdered at Frog Lake by a band of Crees, and
two women were dragged from the bodies of their husbands and carried
away to the camp of Big Bear. Happily for them some tender-hearted
half-breeds purchased them from the Indians and kept them in safety
until they were released at the close of the disturbances.
The heart of Canada was now deeply stirred and responded with great
heartiness to the call of the government for troops to restore order to
the distracted settlements. The minister of militia, Mr. Adolphe
Caron--afterwards knighted for his services on this trying
occasion--showed great energy in the management of his department.
Between four and five thousand men were soon on the march for the
territories under Major-General Middleton, the English officer then in
command of the Canadian militia. Happily for the rapid transport of the
troops the Canadian Pacific Railway was so far advanced that, with the
exception of 72 miles, it afforded a continuous line of communication
from Montreal to Qu'Appelle. The railway formed the base from which
three military expeditions could be despatched to the most important
points of the Saskatchewan country--one direct to Batoche, a second to
Battleford, and a third for a flank movement to Fort Edmonton, where a
descent could be made down the North Saskatchewan for the purpose of
recapturing Fort Pitt and attacking the rebellious Indians under Big
Bear. On the 24th of April General Middleton fought his first engagement
with the half-breeds, who were skilfully concealed in rifle pits in the
vicinity of Fish Creek, a small erratic tributary of the South
Saskatchewan. Dumont for the moment succeeded in checking the advance of
the Canadian forces, who fought with much bravery but were placed at a
great disadvantage on account of Middleton not having taken sufficient
precautions against a foe thoroughly acquainted with the country and
cunningly hidden. The Canadian troops were soon able to continue their
forward movement and won a decisive victory at Batoche, in which
Colonels Williams, Straubenzie, and Grasett notably distinguished
themselves. Riel was soon afterwards captured on the prairie, but Dumont
succeeded in crossing the frontier of the United States. While Middleton
was on his way to Batoche, Lieutenant-Colonel Otter of Toronto, an able
soldier who was, fifteen years later, detached for active service in
South Africa, was on the march for the relief of Battleford, and had on
the first of May an encounter with a large band of Indians under
Poundmaker on the banks of Cut Knife Creek, a small tributary of the
Battle River. Though Otter did not win a victory, he showed Poundmaker
the serious nature of the contest in which he was engaged against the
Canadian government, and soon afterwards, when the Cree chief heard of
the defeat of the half-breeds at Batoche, he surrendered
unconditionally. Another expedition under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Strange also relieved Fort Pitt; and Big Bear was
forced to fly into the swampy fastnesses of the prairie wilderness, but
was eventually captured near Fort Carleton by a force of Mounted Police.
This second rebellion of the half-breeds lasted about three months, and
cost the country upwards of five million dollars. Including the persons
murdered at Frog Lake, the loyal population of Canada lost thirty-six
valuable lives, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, a gallant
officer, and a member of the house of commons, who succumbed to a
serious illness brought on by his exposure on the prairie. The
casualties among the half-breeds were at least as large, if not greater.
Five Indian chiefs suffered the extreme penalty of the law, while
Poundmaker, Big Bear, and a number of others were imprisoned in the
territories for life or for a term of years, according to the gravity of
their complicity in the rebellion. Any hopes that Riel might have placed
in the active sympathy of the French Canadian people of Quebec were soon
dispelled. He was tried at Regina in July and sentenced to death,
although the able counsel allotted to him by the government exhausted
every available argument in his defence, even to the extent of setting
up a plea of insanity, which the prisoner himself deeply resented. The
most strenuous efforts were made by the French Canadians to force the
government to reprieve him, but Sir John Macdonald was satisfied that
the loyal sentiment of the great majority of the people of Canada
demanded imperatively that the law should be vindicated. The French
Canadian representatives in the cabinet, Langevin, Chapleau, and Caron,
resisted courageously the storm of obloquy which their determination to
support the prime minister raised against them; and Riel was duly
executed on the 16th November. For some time after his death attempts
were made to keep up the excitement which had so long existed in the
province of Quebec on the question. The Dominion government was
certainly weakened for a time in Quebec by its action in this matter,
while Mr. Honoré Mercier skilfully used the Riel agitation to obtain
control of the provincial government at the general election of 1886,
but only to fall five years later, under circumstances which must always
throw a shadow over the fame of a brilliant, but unsafe, political
leader (see p. 247). The attempt to make political capital out of the
matter in the Dominion parliament had no other result than to weaken the
influence in Ontario of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the opposition
since the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie in 1880. He was left without the
support of the majority of the Liberal representatives of the province
in the house of commons when he condemned the execution of Riel,
principally on the ground that he was insane--a conclusion not at all
justified by the report of the medical experts who had been chosen by
the government to examine the condemned man previous to the execution.
The energy with which this rebellion was repressed showed both the
half-breeds and the Indians of the west the power of the Ottawa
government. From that day to this order has prevailed in the western
country, and grievances have been redressed as far as possible. The
readiness with which the militia force of Canada rallied to the support
of the government was conclusive evidence of the deep national sentiment
that existed throughout the Dominion. In Ottawa, Port Hope, and Toronto
monuments have been raised in memory of the brave men who gave up their
lives for the Dominion, but probably the most touching memorial of this
unfortunate episode in Canadian history is the rude cairn of stone which
still stands among the wild flowers of the prairie in memory of the
gallant fellows who were mown down by the unerring rifle shots of the
half-breeds hidden in the ravines of Fish Creek.
In 1885 parliament passed a general franchise law for the Dominion in
place of the system--which had prevailed since 1867--of taking the
electoral lists of the several provinces as the lists for elections to
the house of commons. The opposition contested this measure with great
persistency, but Sir John Macdonald pressed it to a successful
conclusion, mainly on the ground that it was necessary in a country like
Canada, composed of such diverse elements, to have for the Dominion
uniformity of suffrage, based on a small property qualification, instead
of having diverse systems of franchise--in some provinces, universal
franchise, to which he and other Conservatives generally were strongly
opposed.
Between 1880 and 1894 Canada was called upon to mourn the loss of a
number of her ablest and brightest statesmen--one of them the most
notable in her political history. It was on a lovely May day of 1880
that the eminent journalist and politician, George Brown, died from the
effects of a bullet wound which he received at the hand of one Bennett,
a printer, who had been discharged by the _Globe_ for drunkenness and
incapacity. The Conservative party in 1888 suffered a great loss by the
sudden decease of Mr. Thomas White, minister of the interior in the
Macdonald ministry, who had been for the greater part of his life a
prominent journalist, and had succeeded in winning a conspicuous and
useful position in public affairs as a writer, speaker, and
administrator. Three years later, the Dominion was startled by the sad
announcement, on the 6th June, 1891, that the voice of the great prime
minister, Sir John Macdonald, who had so long controlled the affairs of
Canada, would never more be heard in that federal parliament of which he
had been one of the fathers. All classes of Canadians vied with one
another in paying a tribute of affection and respect to one who had been
in every sense a true Canadian. Men forgot for the moment his mistakes
and weaknesses, the mistakes of the politician and the weaknesses of
humanity, "only to remember"--to quote the eloquent tribute paid to him
by Mr. Laurier, then leader of the opposition--"that his actions always
displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resources, a
high level of intellectual conception, and above all, a far-reaching
vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the
whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's
advancement, and Canada's glory." His obsequies were the most stately
and solemn that were ever witnessed in the Dominion; his bust was
subsequently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral by the Earl
of Rosebery, when prime minister of England; noble monuments were raised
to his memory in the cities of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal;
and the Queen addressed a letter full of gracious sympathy to his widow
and conferred on her the dignity of a peeress of the United Kingdom
under the title of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's
gratitude "for the devoted and faithful services which he rendered for
so many years to his sovereign and his Dominion."
Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, stonemason, journalist, and prime minister,
died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily
creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable
spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition,
unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some
attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably
the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada
since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors
to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of
justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great
misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December,
1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone
at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of
England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his
services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted
with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid
expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they
were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His
remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and
interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of
a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now
the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the
cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in
office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles
Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in
England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the
Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached
the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense
impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued
ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display
remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only
as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province
of the Dominion.
During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin,
the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was
seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of
privileges and elections. This committee had been ordered by the house
of commons to inquire into charges made by Mr. Israel Tarte against
another member of the house, Mr. Thomas McGreevy, who was accused of
having used his influence as a commissioner of the Quebec harbour, a
government appointment, to obtain fraudulently from the department of
public works, presided over by Sir Hector for many years, large
government contracts in connection with the Quebec harbour and other
works. The report of the majority of the committee found Mr. McGreevy
guilty of fraudulent acts, and he was not only expelled from the house
but was subsequently imprisoned in the Ottawa common gaol after his
conviction on an indictment laid against him in the criminal court of
Ontario. With respect to the complicity of the minister of public works
in these frauds the committee reported that it was clear that, while the
conspiracy had been rendered effective by reason of the confidence which
Sir Hector Langevin placed in Mr. McGreevy and in the officers of the
department, yet the evidence did not justify them in concluding that Sir
Hector knew of the conspiracy or willingly lent himself to its objects.
A minority of the committee, on the other hand, took the opposite view
of the transactions, and claimed that the evidence showed the minister
to be cognisant of the facts of the letting of the contracts, and that
in certain specified cases he had been guilty of the violation of a
public trust by allowing frauds to be perpetrated. The report of the
majority was carried by a party vote, with the exception of two
Conservative members who voted with the minority. Sir Hector Langevin
had resigned his office in the government previous to the inquiry, and
though he continued in the house for the remainder of its constitutional
existence, he did not present himself for re-election in 1896 when
parliament was dissolved.
Unhappily it was not only in the department of public works that
irregularities were discovered. A number of officials in several
departments were proved before the committee of public accounts to have
been guilty of carelessness or positive misconduct in the discharge of
their duties, and the government was obliged, in the face of such
disclosures, to dismiss or otherwise punish several persons in whom they
had for years reposed too much confidence.
On the 20th and 21st of June, 1893, a convention of the most prominent
representative Liberals of the Dominion was held in the city of Ottawa;
and Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran premier of Ontario, was unanimously
called upon to preside over this important assemblage. Resolutions were
passed with great enthusiasm in support of tariff reform, a fair measure
of reciprocal trade with the United States, a sale of public lands only
to actual settlers upon reasonable terms of settlement, an honest and
economical administration of government, the right of the house of
commons to inquire into all matters of public expenditure and charges of
misconduct against ministers, the reform of the senate, the submission
of the question of prohibition to a vote of the people, and the repeal
of the Dominion franchise act passed in 1885, as well as of the measure
of 1892, altering the boundaries of the electoral districts and
readjusting the representation in the house of commons. This convention
may be considered the commencement of that vigorous political campaign,
which ended so successfully for the Liberal party in the general
election of 1896.
In the summer of 1894 there was held in the city of Ottawa a conference
of delegates from eight self-governing colonies in Australasia, South
Africa, and America, who assembled for the express purpose of discussing
questions which affected not merely their own peculiar interests, but
touched most nearly the unity and development of the empire at large The
imperial government was represented by the Earl of Jersey, who had been
a governor of one of the Australian colonies. After very full discussion
the conference passed resolutions in favour of the following measures:
(1) Imperial legislation enabling the dependencies of the empire to
enter into agreements of commercial reciprocity, including the power to
make differential tariffs with Great Britain or with one another. (2)
The removal of any restrictions in existing treaties between Great
Britain and any foreign power, which prevent such agreements of
commercial reciprocity. (3) A customs arrangement between Great Britain
and her colonies by which trade within the empire might be placed on a
more favourable footing than that which is carried on with foreign
countries. (4) Improved steamship communication between Canada,
Australasia, and Great Britain. (5) Telegraph communication by cable,
free from foreign control, between Canada and Australia. These various
resolutions were brought formally by the Earl of Jersey to the notice
of the imperial government, which expressed the opinion, through the
Marquess of Ripon, then secretary of state for the colonies, that the
"general economic results" of the preferential trade recommended by the
conference "would not be beneficial to the empire." Lord Ripon even
questioned the desirability of denouncing at that time the treaties with
Belgium and Germany--a subject which had engaged the attention of the
Canadian parliament in 1892, when the government, of which Sir John
Abbott was premier, passed an address to the Queen, requesting that
immediate steps be taken to free Canada from treaty restrictions
"incompatible with the rights and powers conferred by the British North
America act of 1867 for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the
Dominion." Any advantages which might be granted by Great Britain to
either Belgium or the German Zollverein under these particular treaties,
would also have to be extended to a number of other countries which had
what is called the "favoured nations clause" in treaties with England.
While these treaty stipulations with regard to import duties did not
prevent differential treatment by the United Kingdom in favour of
British colonies, or differential treatment by British colonies in
favour of each other, they did prevent differential treatment by British
colonies in favour of the United Kingdom. As we shall presently see,
when I come to review the commercial policy of the new Dominion
government three years later, the practical consequence of these
treaties was actually to force Canada to give for some months not only
to Germany and Belgium, but to a number of other countries, the same
commercial privileges which they extended in 1897 to the parent state.
Among the difficult questions, which have agitated the Dominion from
time to time and perplexed both Conservative and Liberal politicians,
are controversies connected with education. By the British North America
act of 1867 the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws
in relation to education, but at the same time protection is afforded
to denominational or dissentient schools by giving authority to the
Dominion government to disallow an act clearly infringing the rights or
privileges of a religious minority, or to obtain remedial legislation
from parliament itself according to the circumstances of the case. From
1871 until 1875 the government of the Dominion was pressed by petitions
from the Roman Catholic inhabitants of New Brunswick to disallow an act
passed by the provincial legislature in relation to common schools on
the ground that it was an infringement of certain rights which they
enjoyed as a religious body at the time of confederation. The question
not only came before the courts of New Brunswick and the Canadian house
of commons, but was also submitted to the judicial committee of the
imperial privy council; but only with the result of showing beyond
question that the objectionable legislation was clearly within the
jurisdiction of the legislature of New Brunswick, and could not be
constitutionally disallowed by the Dominion government on the ground
that it violated any right or privilege enjoyed by the Roman Catholics
at the time of union. A solution of the question was, however,
subsequently reached by an amicable arrangement between the Roman
Catholics and Protestants, which has ever since worked most
satisfactorily in that province.
The Manitoba school question, which agitated the country from 1890 until
1896, was one of great gravity on account of the issues involved. The
history of the case shows that, prior to the formation of Manitoba in
1870, there was not in the province any public system of education, but
the several religious denominations had established such schools as they
thought fit to maintain by means of funds voluntarily contributed by
members of their own communion. In 1871 the legislature of Manitoba
established an educational system distinctly denominational. In 1890
this law was repealed, and the legislature established a system of
strictly non-sectarian schools. The Roman Catholic minority of the
province was deeply aggrieved at what they considered a violation of the
rights and privileges which they enjoyed under the terms of union
adopted in 1870. The first subsection of the twenty-second section of
the act of 1870 set forth that the legislature of the province could not
pass any law with regard to schools which might "prejudicially affect
any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any
class of persons have, by law or practice, in the province at the time
of union." The dispute was brought before the courts of Canada, and
finally before the judicial committee of the privy council, which
decided that the legislation of 1890 was constitutional inasmuch as the
only right or privilege which the Roman Catholics then possessed "by law
or practice" was the right or privilege of establishing and maintaining
for the use of members of their own church such schools as they pleased.
The Roman Catholic minority then availed themselves of another provision
of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act, which allows an appeal
to the governor-in-council "from any act or decision of the legislature
of the province or of any provincial authority, affecting any right or
privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's
subjects in relation to education."
The ultimate result of this reference was a judgment of the judicial
committee to the effect that the appeal was well founded and that the
governor-in-council had jurisdiction in the premises, but the committee
added that "the particular course to be pursued must be determined by
the authorities to whom it has been committed by the statute." The third
subsection of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act--a
repetition of the provision of the British North America act with
respect to denominational schools in the old provinces--provides not
only for the action of the governor-in-council in case a remedy is not
supplied by the proper provincial authority for the removal of a
grievance on the part of a religious minority, but also for the making
of "remedial laws" by the parliament of Canada for the "due execution"
of the provision protecting denominational schools. In accordance with
this provision Sir Mackenzie Bowell's government passed an
order-in-council on the 21st March, 1895, calling upon the government of
Manitoba to take the necessary measures to restore to the Roman Catholic
minority such rights and privileges as were declared by the highest
court of the empire to have been taken away from them. The Manitoba
government not only refused to move in the matter but expressed its
determination "to resist unitedly by every constitutional means any such
attempt to interfere with their provincial autonomy." The result was the
introduction of a remedial bill by Mr. Dickey, minister of justice, in
the house of commons during the session of 1896; but it met from the
outset very determined opposition during the most protracted
sittings--one of them lasting continuously for a week--ever known in the
history of the Canadian or any other legislature of the empire. On
several divisions the bill was supported by majorities ranging from 24
to 18--several French members of the opposition having voted for it and
several Conservative Protestant members against its passage. The bill
was introduced on the 11th February, and the motion for its second
reading was made on the 3rd March, from which date it was debated
continuously until progress was reported from a committee of the whole
house on the 16th April, after the house had sat steadily from Monday
afternoon at 3 o'clock until 2 o'clock on the following Thursday
morning. It was then that Sir Charles Tupper, leader of the government
in the house, announced that no further attempt would be made to press
the bill that session. He stated that it was absolutely necessary to
vote money for the urgent requirements of the public service and pass
other important legislation during the single week that was left before
parliament would be dissolved by the efflux of time under the
constitutional law, which fixes the duration of the house of commons
"for five years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the
house and no longer."
In the general election of 1896 the Manitoba school question was an
issue of great importance. From the commencement to the close of the
controversy the opponents of denominational schools combined with the
supporters of provincial rights to defeat the government which had so
determinedly fought for what it considered to be the legal rights of the
Roman Catholic minority of Manitoba. It had looked confidently to the
support of the great majority of the French Canadians, but the result of
the elections was most disappointing to the Conservative party. Whilst
in the provinces, where the Protestants predominated, the Conservatives
held their own to a larger extent than had been expected even by their
sanguine friends, the French province gave a great majority to Mr.
Launer, whose popularity among his countrymen triumphed over all
influences, ecclesiastical and secular, that could be used in favour of
denominational schools in Manitoba.
The majority against Sir Charles Tupper was conclusive, and he did not
attempt to meet parliament as the head of a government. Before his
retirement from office, immediately after his defeat at the elections,
he had some difference of opinion with the governor-general, the Earl of
Aberdeen, who refused, in the exercise of his discretionary power, to
sanction certain appointments to the senate and the judicial bench,
which the prime minister justified by reference to English and Canadian
precedents under similar conditions--notably of 1878 when Mr. Mackenzie
resigned. Soon after the general election, and Lord Dufferin was
governor-general, Sir Charles Tupper considered the subject of
sufficient constitutional importance to bring it before the house of
commons, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then premier, defended the course of
the governor-general. The secretary of state for the colonies also
approved in general terms of the principles which, as the
governor-general explained in his despatches, had governed his action in
this delicate matter.
On Sir Charles Tapper's defeat at the elections, Mr. Laurier became
first minister of a Liberal administration, in which positions were
given to Sir Oliver Mowat, so long premier of Ontario, to Mr. Blair,
premier of New Brunswick, to Mr. Fielding, premier of Nova Scotia, and
eventually to Mr. Sifton, the astute attorney-general of Manitoba. Sir
Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davies--to give the latter the title
conferred on him in the Diamond Jubilee year--both of whom had been in
the foremost rank of the Liberal party for many years, also took office
in the new administration; but Mr. Mills, versed above most Canadian
public men in political and constitutional knowledge, was not brought in
until some time later, when Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran minister of
justice, was appointed to the lieutenant-governorship of Ontario. A
notable acquisition was Mr. Tarte, who had acquired much influence in
French Canada by his irrepressible energy, and who was placed over the
department of public works.
When the school question came to be discussed in 1897, during the first
session of the new parliament, the premier explained to the house that,
whilst he had always maintained "that the constitution of this country
gave to this parliament and government the right and power to interfere
with the school legislation of Manitoba, it was an extreme right and
reserved power to be exercised only when other means had been
exhausted." Believing then that "it was far better to obtain concessions
by negotiation than by coercion," he had, as soon as he came into
office, communicated with the Manitoba government on the subject, and
had "as a result succeeded in making arrangements which gave the French
Catholics of the province religious teaching in their schools and the
protection of their language," under the conditions set forth in a
statute expressly passed for the purpose by the legislature of
Manitoba[7]. The premier at the same time admitted that "the settlement
was not acceptable to certain dignitaries of the church to which he
belonged"; but subsequently the Pope published an encyclical advising
acceptance of the concessions made to the Manitoba Catholics, while
claiming at the same time that these concessions were inadequate, and
expressing the hope that full satisfaction would be obtained ere long
from the Manitoba government. Since the arrangement of this compromise,
no strenuous or effective effort has been made to revive the question as
an element of political significance in party contests. Even in Manitoba
itself, despite the defeat of the Greenway government, which was
responsible for the Manitoba school act of 1890, and the coming into
office of Mr. Hugh John Macdonald, the son of the great Conservative
leader, there has been no sign of the least intention to depart from the
legislation arranged by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1897 as, in his opinion,
the best possible compromise under the difficult conditions surrounding
a most embarrassing question.
[7: This statute provides that religious teaching by a Roman Catholic
priest, or other person duly authorised by him, shall take place at the
close of the hours devoted to secular instruction; that a Roman Catholic
teacher may be employed in every school in towns and cities where the
average attendance of Roman Catholic children is forty or upwards, and
in villages and rural districts where the attendance is twenty-five or
upwards; and that French as well as English shall be taught in any
school where ten pupils speak the French language.]
In the autumn of 1898 Canada bade farewell with many expressions of
regret to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, both of whom had won the affection and
respect of the Canadian people by their earnest efforts to support every
movement that might promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare
of the people. Lord Aberdeen was the seventh governor-general appointed
by the crown to administer public affairs since the union of the
provinces in 1867. Lord Monck, who had the honour of initiating
confederation, was succeeded by Sir John Young, who was afterwards
raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar--a just recognition of the
admirable discretion and dignity with which he discharged the duties of
his high position. His successor, the Earl of Dufferin, won the
affection of the Canadian people by his grace of demeanour, and his
Irish gift of eloquence, which he used in the spirit of the clever
diplomatist to flatter the people of the country to their heart's
content. The appointment of the Marquess of Lorne, now the Duke of
Argyll, gave to Canada the honour of the presence of a Princess of the
reigning family. He showed tact and discretion in some difficult
political situations that arose during his administration, and succeeded
above all his predecessors in stimulating the study of art, science and
literature within the Dominion. The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord
Stanley of Preston--both inheritors of historic names, trained in the
great school of English administration--also acquired the confidence and
respect of the Canadian people. On the conclusion of Lord Aberdeen's
term of office in 1898, he was succeeded by the Earl of Minto, who had
been military secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, when
governor-general, from the autumn of 1883 until the end of May, 1888,
and had also acted as chief of staff to General Middleton during the
North-west disturbances of 1885.
Since its coming into office, the Laurier administration has been called
upon to deal with many questions of Canadian as well as imperial
concern. One of its first measures--to refer first to those of Canadian
importance--was the repeal of the franchise act of 1885, which had been
found so expensive in its operation that the Conservative government had
for years taken no steps to prepare new electoral lists for the Dominion
under its own law, but had allowed elections to be held on old lists
which necessarily left out large numbers of persons entitled to vote. In
accordance with the policy to which they had always pledged themselves
as a party, the Liberal majority in parliament passed an act which
returned to the electoral lists of the provinces. An attempt was also
made in 1899 and 1900 to amend the redistribution acts of 1882 and 1892,
and to restore so far as practicable the old county lines which had been
deranged by those measures. The bill was noteworthy for the feature,
novel in Canada, of leaving to the determination of a judicial
commission the rearrangement of electoral divisions, but it was rejected
in the senate on the ground that the British North America act provides
only for the readjustment of the representation after the taking of each
Decennial census, and that it is "a violation of the spirit of the act"
to deal with the question until 1901, when the official figures of the
whole population will be before parliament. The government was also
called upon to arrange the details of a provisional government for the
great arctic region of the Yukon, where remarkable gold discoveries were
attracting a considerable population from all parts of the world. An
attempt to build a short railway to facilitate communication with that
wild and distant country was defeated in the senate by a large majority.
The department of the interior has had necessarily to encounter many
difficulties in the administration of the affairs of a country so many
thousand miles distant. These difficulties have formed the subject of
protracted debates in the house of commons and have led to involved
political controversies which it would not be possible to explain
satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter.
In accordance with the policy laid down in 1897 by Mr. Fielding, the
finance minister, when presenting the budget, the Laurier government has
not deemed it prudent to make such radical changes in the protective or
"National Policy" of the previous administration as might derange the
business conditions of the Dominion, which had come to depend so
intimately upon it in the course of seventeen years, but simply to amend
and simplify it in certain particulars which would remove causes of
friction between the importers and the customs authorities, and at the
same time make it, as they stated, less burdensome in its operation. The
question of reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States had
for some time been disappearing in the background and was no longer a
dominant feature of the commercial policy of the Liberal party as it had
been until 1891, when its leaders were prepared under existing
conditions to enter into the fullest trade arrangements possible with
the country to the south. The illiberality of the tariff of the United
States with respect to Canadian products had led the Canadian people to
look to new markets, and especially to those of Great Britain, with whom
they were desirous, under the influence of a steadily growing imperial
spirit, to have the closest commercial relations practicable.
Consequently the most important feature of the Laurier government's
policy, since 1897, has been the preference given to British products in
Canada--a preference which now allows a reduction in the tariff of
33-1/3 per cent. on British imports compared with foreign goods. In
their endeavour, however, to give a preference to British imports, the
government was met at the outset by difficulties arising from the
operation of the Belgian and German treaties; and after very full
consultation with the imperial government, and a reference of the legal
points involved to the imperial law officers of the crown, Canada was
obliged to admit Belgian and German goods on the same terms as the
imports of Great Britain, and also to concede similar advantages to
twenty-two foreign countries which were by treaty entitled to any
commercial privileges that Great Britain or her colonies might grant to
a third power. Happily for Canada at this juncture the colonial
secretary of state was Mr. Chamberlain, who was animated by aspirations
for the strengthening of the relations between the parent state and her
dependencies, and who immediately recognised the imperial significance
of the voluntary action of the Canadian government. The result was the
"denunciation" by the imperial authorities of the Belgian and German
treaties, which consequently came to an end on the 31st July, 1898.
Down to that date Canada was obliged to give to the other countries
mentioned the preference which she had intentionally given to Great
Britain alone, and at the same time to refund to importers the duties
which had been collected in the interval from the countries in question.
With the fall, however, of the Belgian and German treaties Canada was at
last free to model her tariff with regard to imperial as well as
Canadian interests. It was a fortunate coincidence that the government
should have adopted this policy at a time when the whole British empire
was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of her Majesty
Queen Victoria to the throne. In the magnificent demonstration of the
unity and development of the empire that took place in London in June,
1897, Canada was represented by her brilliant prime minister, who then
became the Right Honourable Sir W. Laurier, G.C.M.G., and took a
conspicuous place in the ceremonies that distinguished this memorable
episode in British and colonial history.
A few months later the relations between Canada and Great Britain were
further strengthened by the reduction of letter postage throughout the
empire--Australia excepted--largely through the instrumentality of Mr.
Mulock, Canadian postmaster-general. The Canadian government and
parliament also made urgent representations to the imperial authorities
in favour of the immediate construction of a Pacific cable; and it may
now be hoped that the pecuniary aid offered to this imperial enterprise
by the British, Australasian and Canadian governments will secure its
speedy accomplishment. I may add here that debates have taken place in
the Canadian house of commons for several sessions on the desirability
of obtaining preferential treatment in the British market for Canadian
products The Conservative party, led by Sir Charles Tupper, have
formulated their opinions in parliament by an emphatic declaration that
"no measure of preference, which falls short of the complete realisation
of such a policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." The
Laurier government admits the desirability of such mutual trade
preference, but at the same time it recognises the formidable
difficulties that lie in the way of its realisation so long as Great
Britain continues bound to free trade, and under these circumstances
declares it the more politic and generous course to continue giving a
special preference to British products with the hope that it may
eventually bring about a change in public opinion in the parent state
which will operate to the decided commercial or other advantage of the
dependency.
This chapter may appropriately close with a reference to the remarkable
evidences of attachment to the empire that have been given by the
Canadian people at the close of the nineteenth century. From the
mountains of the rich province washed by the Pacific Sea, from the
wheat-fields and ranches of the western prairies, from the valley of the
great lakes and the St. Lawrence where French and English Canadians
alike enjoy the blessings of British rule, from the banks of the St John
where the United Empire Loyalists first made their homes, from the
rugged coasts of Acadia and Cape Breton, from every part of the wide
Dominion men volunteered with joyous alacrity to fight in South Africa
in support of the unity of the empire. As I close these pages Canadians
are fighting side by side with men from the parent Isles, from
Australasia and from South Africa, and have shown that they are worthy
descendants of the men who performed such gallant deeds on the ever
memorable battlefields of Chateauguay, Chrystler's Farm, and Lundy's
Lane. Not the least noteworthy feature of this significant event in the
annals of Canada and the empire is the fact that a French Canadian
premier has had the good fortune to give full expression to the dominant
imperial sentiment of the people, and consequently to offer an
additional guarantee for the union of the two races and the security of
British interests on the continent of America.