So It Was, And Is And Will
Be; And The Only Way To Prevent Aggression And War Was, Is, And
Will
be, to "put our foot down." Not to cherish the "peace-in-our-time"
policy, or to indulge in
The half-hearted language, to which I shall
have hereafter to allude - but to combine and strengthen the sections of
our Colonial Empire in the West - to give to their people a greater
Empire still, a nobler history, and a prouder lot: a lot to
last, because based upon institutions which have stood, and will
stand, the test of time and trouble. Unfortunately we have had a
"little England" party in our country. A Liberal Government,
immediately following the Act of Confederation, took every red-coat out
of the Dominion of Canada, shipped off, or sold, the very shot and
shell to any one, friend or foe, who chose to buy: and the few guns and
mortars Canada demanded were charged to her "in account" with the ruth
of the miser. If the Duke of Newcastle had been a member of that
Cabinet such a miserable policy never could have been put in force; but
he was dead. I venture to think that the whole people of
England, who knew of the transaction, were ashamed of it. Certainly, I
saw, a few years ago, that one member of the very Cabinet which did
this thing, repudiated the "little England" policy, as opposed to the
best traditions of the Liberal party.
The "little England" party of the past have tried, so far in vain, to
alienate these our fellow subjects. But, fortunately for the Empire,
while some in the mother country have been indifferent as to whether
the Provinces went or stayed, many in the Colonies have been earnest in
their desire to escape annexation to the States. The feeling of these
patriotic men was well described in December, 1862, by Lord
Shaftesbury, at a dinner given to Messrs. Howe, Tilley, Howland and
Sicotte, delegates from the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia. He said Canada addressed us in the affecting language of Ruth
- "Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to refrain from following after
thee" - and he asked, "Whether the world had ever seen such a spectacle
as great and growing nations, for such they were, with full and
unqualified power to act as they pleased, insisting on devoting their
honor, strength, and substance to the support of the common mother; and
not only to be called, but to be, sons." And Lord Shaftesbury asked,
"Whether any imperial ruler had ever preferred," as he said Canada had,
"love to dominion, and reverence to power."
Lord Shaftesbury's sentiments are, I believe, an echo of those of the
"great England" party; but, I repeat, "little England" sold the shot
and shell, nevertheless.
Whatever this man or that may claim to have done towards building up
Confederation, I, who was in good measure behind the scenes throughout,
repeat that to the late Duke of Newcastle the main credit of the
measure of 1867 was due. While failing health and the Duke's premature
decease left to Mr. Cardwell and Mr. W. E. Forster - and afterwards to
Lord Carnarvon and the Duke of Buckingham - the completion of the work
before the English Parliament, it was he who stood in the gap, and
formed and moulded, with a patience and persistence admirable to
behold, Cabinet opinion both in England and in the Provinces. At the
same time George Etienne Cartier, John A. Macdonald, and John Ross, in
Canada; Samuel L. Tilley, in New Brunswick, and, notably, Joseph Howe,
in Nova Scotia, stood together for Union like a wall of brass. And
these should ever be the most prominent amongst the honoured names of
the authors of an Union of the Provinces under the British Crown.
The works, I repeat, to be effected were - first, the physical union of
the Maritime Provinces with Canada by means of Intercolonial Railways;
and, second, to get out of the way of any unification, the heavy weight
and obstruction of the Hudson's Bay Company. The; latter was most
difficult, for abundant reasons.
This difficult work rested mainly on my shoulders.
It may be well here to place in contrast the condition of the Provinces
in 1861 and of the Confederation in 1886. In 1861 each of the five
Provinces had its separate Governor, Parliament, Executive, and system
of taxation. To all intents and purposes, and notwithstanding the
functions of the Governor-General and the unity flowing from the
control of the British Crown - these Provinces, isolated for want of the
means of rapid transit, were countries as separate in every relation of
business, or of the associations of life, as Belgium and Holland, or
Switzerland and Italy. The associations of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia were far more intimate with the United States than with Canada;
and the whole Maritime Provinces regulated their tariffs, as Canada did
in return, from no consideration of developing a trade with each other,
or with the Canadas, between whose territory and the ocean these
Provinces barred the way. Thus, isolated and divided, it could be no
matter of wonder if their separate political discussions narrowed
themselves into local, sectional, and selfish controversies; and if,
while each possessing in their Legislature men in abundance who
deserved the title of sagacious and able statesmen, brilliant orators,
far-sighted men of business, their debates often reminded the stranger
who listened to them of the squabbles of local town councils. Again,
the Great Republic across their borders, with its obvious future,
offered with open arms, and especially to the young and ambitious, a
noble field, not shut in by winter or divided by separate governments.
Thus the gravitation towards aggregation - which seems to be a condition
of the progress of modern states - a condition to be intensified as
space is diminished by modern discoveries in rapid transit - was, in the
case of the Provinces, rather towards the United States than towards
each other or the British Empire.
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