PARLES

Recent Years. 545

increasing the Customs duties on unenumerated imports from 15 to 174 per cent. This afforded some slight increase in the revenue, but there was nevertheless à continued deficit, and no prospect of any adequate improvement was apparent. In order to carry on the public works in progress it repeatedly became necessary to procure loans in the English money market, As an inevitable result of such a state of affairs there was much poverty and gloomy dissatisfaction among the people. The Opposition erelong began to advocate the adoption of “a broad National Policy,” which, while affording protection to our manufacturing and agricultural interests, might also furnish a sufficient revenue for conducting the business of the country, and for proceeding with the important public works which had become absolutely necessary.* The advocates of this policy carefully abstained from any strict definition of its terms, but they claimed on its behalf that it was founded on the actual needs of the country, and not on any mere theories as to the relative advantages of Protection and Free Trade. Free Trade in the abstract, however, was advocated by no one, Mr. Mackenzie himself —who was theoretically an ardent Free Trader— admitting that a revenue tariff was necessary for Canada. The times were propitious for a new departure in fiscal matters. Business was everywhere in a very depressed condition, and in some districts was almost stagnant. The advocates of the new gospel of trade made liberal promises on its behalf, and the people, who were suffering from the hard times, and who cared very little for mere theories, lent a ready ear. The Government and its adherents treated the “ National Policy” as a mere party ruse, and though pressure was brought to bear upon them from many quarters, they declined to accede to the popular cry for an increased Customs tarif. During the campaign preceding the general elections of the 17th of September, 1878, the “N. P” was the great plank in the

* See Sir John Macdonald’s speech in the Commons on the 10th of March, 1876.

546 The Last Forty Years.

Opposition platform. It proved marvellously effective, and when the appointed day arrived Mr. Mackenzie’s Government were left in a hopeless minority.

The membership of that Government, during their term of office, had undergone numerous modifications, but the general policy had remained unchanged throughout. The country is indebted to them for much important legislation, and for many administrative reforms. The General Election Law of 1874 introduced vote by ballot and simultaneous elections, and abolished the property qualification for members. The Supreme Court Act of 1875 constituted a Supreme Court and Court of Exchequer, to have criminal and civil jurisdiction throughout the Dominion, and took away the right of appeal to England except in cases where Imperial interests are involved. An Act of the same year provided à Territorial Government for the North-West Territories independent of Manitoba, with a Lieutenant-Governor and a Council of five members, The Canada Temperance Act, the Homestead Exemption Act, the Public Accounts Audit Act—whereby the Auditor is placed beyond ministerial control—the Petition of Right Act, the Militia Act, and the Maritime Court Act are all measures of great practical utility for which, in addition to many others not enumerated, Canada is indebted to the unwearied industry and statesmanship of Mr. Mackenzies Administration. We also owe to them certain constitutional privileges of which no trace is to be found upon the statute-book. In the Imperial instructions issued to Lord Dufferin on the 22nd of May, 1872, his Excellency was advised that if in any case he should see sufficient cause to dissent from the opinion of the majority or the whole of his Privy Council, it should be competent for him to act “in opposition to such their opinion.*” Such a doctrine as this, though well enough suited to the condition of a Crown Colony, was not to be tolerated by Canadians

* See Sessional Papers of 1875, No. 29.

when left in

office, y had ) them rative ote by operty 5 coniminal ay the terests ritorial Maniembers.

ct, the ed be- Militia ractical berated, anship certain pon the Dufferin t if in opinion buld be nion.*” e connadians

Recent Years. 547

who had successfully fought a long and hard battle for Responsible Government, and to whom a constitution had been granted by the British North America Act. Mr. Mackenzie opened communications with the Colonial Office on the subject, contending that the Governor-General in Council and the Parliament of Canada should owe the same duties and responsibilities to the people of Canada that the Queen, her Ministers and Parliament owe to the English people in all matters relating to internal administration ; and that the powers of legislation conferred by the Act of 1867 could not and should not be fettered or impeded by any instructions from the Home Office to the Governor-General. It is due to Lord Dufferin to say that he coincided with Mr. Mackenzie’s views on this subject, and that he promoted them by personal communications to the Colonial Secretary. Mr. Mackenzie’s strong representations prevailed, and any one comparing the instructions issued to the present Governor-General * with those issued to Lord Dufferin and his predecessors will note a very distinct change in favour of Canadian constitutional liberty. Mr. Mackenzie’s Government also bestirred themselves to obtain the recognition by the mother country of Canada's right to be represented by Canadian diplomatists in negotiations with foreign countries, where the interests involved are exclusively or principally Canadian. In compliance with this recognized right the Hon. George Brown was in 1874 appointed as joint plenipotentiary with Sir Edward Thornton to negotiate a new commercial treaty with the Uniteu ates. The negotiation failed, but it was much that the principle of Canadian representation had been conceded. Again, in 1877, the Imperial Government desired to appoint an English diplomatist to represent Canadian interests on the Halifax

* See Sessional Papers of 1879, No. 14.

+In December, 1873, Mr. Brown had been appointed a member of the Senate of the Dominion.

548 The Last Forty Years

Fishery Commission. Mr. Mackenzie, however, insisted on the right of his own Government to appoint the Commissioner. His view was deferred to, and Sir Alexander Galt was named as Canada's representative. The result was that, for the first time in our history, British interests— which in this instance were identical with our own interests—were efficiently represented, and United States diplomacy was not exercised at our expense.*

At the Centennial Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876 the Canadian display won great and well-deserved admiration by reason of its exceeding richness and variety. The people coôperated heartily with the Government to ensure the success of the undertaking, and the splendid advertisement thereby obtained has led to the opening of fresh inarkets for our native products. The Exhibition necessarily brought the people of Canada and the United States into a better knowledge of each other, and thus indirectly tended to the improvement of international relations. The same year, 1876, was also signalized by the completion and opening of the Intercolonial Railway.

The electorate having emphatically pronounced against the policy of Mr. Mackenzie's Government, as already mentioned, on the 17th of September, 1878, that Government did not await the assembling of Parliament, but tendered their resignations on the 10th of October. Sir John Macdonald was then sent for by Lord Dufferin, who speedily formed a new Administration, composed of the following members :

The Right Hon. Sir J, A. Macdonald, Premier, and Minister of the Interior.

The Hon.S$, L. Tilley, Minister of Finance.

“°° Alexander Campbell, Receiver-General.

“ % H. L. Langevin, Postmaster-General, “4 J, C, Aikins, Secretary of State,

+ Ante, p. 513.

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Recent Years. 549

The Hon. Charles Tupper, Minister of Public Works,

J. H. Pope, Minister of Agriculture.

“°° John O'Connor, President of the Council.

James Macdonald, Minister of Justice.

[LL FR. Masson, Minister of Militia and Defence.

J. C. Pope, Minister of Marine and Fisheries.

Mackenzie Bowell, Minister of Customs.

6 LL F. G. Baby, Minister of Inland Revenue.

R. D. Wilmot (Speaker of the Senate), without portfolio.

In resigning the cares of office and resuming his old post of leader of the Opposition, Mr. Mackenzie took with him the respect of men of all shades of politics. His fall was due to hard times, and a misapprehension of the true state of public opinion. He was on all hands admitted to be a conscientious and just-minded man, who regarded politics not as a trade, but as a field for the exercise of statesmanship and true patriotism. His personal labours in connection with his own Department of Public Works were such as to seriously impair his health, and he has not yet entirely recovered from the unremitting strain to which his constitution was subjected during the five years of his Premiership. He continued to act as leader of the Opposition until the month of April 1880, when the Hon. Edward Blake succeeded him in that post,

The same month that witnessed the change of Government witnessed Lord Dufferin’s departure from Canada. He bade adieu to our shores on the 19th of October, 1878, taking with him the strongest assurances of the esteem and hearty goodwill of the Canadian people. No previous Governor had ever won so wide a popularity among us. His great tact, flowing courtesy and kindly nature had endeared him to people of all classes, and he might truly have boasted that he left behind him thousands of persons, each of whom regarded him in the light of a warm personal friend, His subsequent career has been watched by Canadians

550 The Last Forty Years.

with an interest such as was evoked by that of none of his predecessors, and his diplomatie successes at St. Petersburg and Constantinople have been contemplated by many of us with a feeling akin to pride. During the interregnum between his departure from Canada and the arrival of his successor the administration of public affairs was committed to the hands of General Sir Patrick Macdougall, Commander of the Forces. Our present Governor-General, the Marquis of Lorne, accompanied by his royal consort, landed at Halifax on the 25th of November. It is due to his Excellency to record the fact that he has thus far enacted a somewhat difficult rôle with a greater measure of success than could reasonably have been expected of him.

The membership of the Government formed under the leadership of Sir John Macdonald, in the autumn of 1878, has necessarily undergone many changes, but the Administration as a whole still remains at the head of affairs. A marked improvement in the state of trade may be said to have begun almost simultaneously with its accession to power, and this has been followed by an era of public confidence and prosperity unexampled in our history. During the session of 1879 the National Policy was carried into effect by the adoption of a strongly protective tarif, whereby increased duties were imposed upon nearly all articles of commerce. On certain staple commodities, such as cottons, woollens and sugars, a specific as well as an ad valorem duty was imposed, so that their cost was very materially increased. On many articles the duty was increased from 174 to 25, and in some cases to 35 per cent. and on ai! unenumerated goods the duty was placed at 20 per cent, instead of 174. The importation for several months prior to the 15th of March, 1879 (at which date the new tariff came into operation), was immense, insomuch that the local market was overstocked with many commodities throughout the rest of the year, The effect of the increased sugar duties was felt almost at once. Those imposed on cotton and woollen fabrics did not declare them-

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Recent Yea 3. 551

selves unmistakably for several months; but before the end of 1879 the effect of the new tariff was felt in all its branches. How far the country’s prosperity is iairly attributable to the adoption of the N. P. is a matter as to which vhere is wide diversity of opinion among opposing schools of politicians. Bounteous harvests at home, improved markets abroad, and various other factors altogether unconnected with legislation, have doubtless had a share in producing the improved state of affairs, but tle general public are more readily influenced by direct and obvious results than by remote and undemonstrated causes. The great facts remain: that under Mr. Mackenzic’s régime trade was depressed, money was scarce, poverty was rife and the prospect was gloomy; whereas under the present Administration business of all kinds is brisk, money is plentiful and easily obtained, poverty is comparatively unknown, and the outlook, commercially and otherwise, is decidedly hopeful. Such facts as these speak more eloquently to the public ear than any theories about Protection and Free Trade, the ebb and flow of commerce, or the variations of agriculture. At the general election held on the 20th of June, 1882, the electorate once more pronounced strongly in favour of Sir John Macdonald's Government, and, so far as can at present be judged, that Government seems destined to a long lease of life. The four years which have elapsed since they succeeded to power have been marked by many important events, conspicuous among which may be mentioned the adoption of the new tariff, the dismissai of Lieutenant-Governor Letellier, and the new contract for the construction of the Pacific Railway. During the same period many prominent Canadians who have figured in the foregoing narrative have passed away. The necrology includes the names of R, $S. M. Bouchette, L. $S. Morin, T. L. Terrill, E. B. Chandler, L. H. Holton, L. A. Wilmot, Luc Letellier, Christopher Dunkin, Charles Fisher, David Christie, George Brown and Egerton Ryerson. The immigration to the North-West has been unprecedentedly large, and has been followed

552 The Last Forty Years. ;

by a corresponding increase in the price of real estate there. A new census has been taken, from which it appears that the entire population of the Dominion is 4,324,810.* The construction of the Pacific Railway is proceeding at 2 rapid rate, and it would seem that the time is not far distant when Halifax and Victoria will be brought nearer to each ocher than Montreal and Kingston were in the early years of the present century.

- At the present time, then, Canada is enjoying a full share of prosperity. The outlook, though not unclouded, is far from discouraging. Questions such as that now pending with respect to the Ontario Boundary may from time to time give rise to internal disputes, but il there is no reason to anticipate that such disputes will prove impossible of adjustment. If it cannot be maintained that Confederation has accomplished all that was expected from it by its projectors, there is at any rate no doubt that it has been attended with highly beneficial results. It enabled us to tide over an embarrassing crisis in our history. It has been the means of developing our resources, and of stimulating our trade and manufactures. It has given birth

to impulses which have rapidly developed themseives into aspira- {l tions after a national existence. The new order of things had not been launched many years before a little party sprang into being having for its avowed object the fostering of à Canadian national spirit. It was chiefly composed of young men, all of whom were possessed of intelligence, learning, and general abilities far above the average It formulated no elaborate policy, and gave no hint of any severance of the connection with the mother country, but it advocated the consideration of Canadian interests in preference to all others, and adopted the significant motto of “Canada First” The character of its adherents gave it an importance to which it would not have been entit'ed by reason of

* Made up as follows : Ontario, 1,923,228 ; Quebec, 1,359,027 ; Nova Scotia, 440,572 ; New Brunswick, 321,233 ; Manitoba, 65,954; British Columbia, 49,459 ; Prince Edward Island, 108,891 ; the Territories, 56,446,

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