Canada under British Rule by Sir John George Bourinot (mobi ebook reader .txt) 📕

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,