Canada under British Rule 1760-1900 Part 9

Schultz, an able, determined man, afterwards lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. Riel imprisoned and insulted several of the loyal party who opposed him. At last he ruthlessly ordered the execution of one Thomas Scott, an Ontario man, who had defied him.

While these events were in progress, the Canadian government enlisted in the interests of law and order the services of Mr. Donald Smith, now Lord Strathcona, who had been long connected with the Hudson's Bay Company, and also of Archbishop Tache, of St. Boniface--the princ.i.p.al French settlement in the country--who returned from Rome to act as mediator between the Canadian authorities and his deluded flock.

Unhappily, before the Archbishop could reach Fort Garry, Scott had been murdered, and the Dominion government could not consider themselves bound by the terms they were ready to offer to the insurgents under a very different condition of things. The murder of Scott had clearly brought Riel and his a.s.sociates under the provisions of the criminal law; and public opinion in Ontario would not tolerate an amnesty, as was hastily promised by the Archbishop, in his zeal to bring the rebellion to an end. A force of 1200 regulars and volunteers was sent to the Red River towards the end of May, 1870, under the command of Colonel Wolseley, now a field-marshal and a peer of the realm. Riel fled across the frontier before the troops, after a tedious journey of three months from the day they left Toronto, reached Fort Garry. Peace was restored once more to the settlers of a.s.siniboia. The Canadian government had had several interviews with delegates from the discontented people of Red River, who had prepared what they called "a Bill of Rights," and it was therefore able intelligently to decide on the best form of governing the territories. The imperial government completed the formal transfer of the country to Canada, and the Canadian parliament in 1870 pa.s.sed an act to provide for the government of a new province of Manitoba.

Representation was given to the people in both houses of the Canadian parliament, and provision was made for a provincial government on the same basis that existed in the old provinces of the Dominion. The lieutenant-governor of the province was also, for the present, to govern the unorganised portion of the North-west with the a.s.sistance of a council of eleven persons. The first legislature of Manitoba was elected in the early part of 1871, and a provincial government was formed, with Mr. Albert Boyd as provincial secretary. The first lieutenant-governor was Sir Adams Archibald, the eminent Nova Scotian, who had been defeated in the elections of 1867. Mr. Macdougall had returned from the North-west frontier a deeply disappointed man, who would never admit that he had shown any undue haste in commencing the exercise of his powers as governor. Some years later he disappeared from active public life, after a career during which he had performed many useful services for Canada.

In another chapter on the relations between Canada and the United States I shall refer to the results of the international commission which met at Washington in 1870, to consider the Alabama difficulty, the fishery dispute, and other questions, the settlement of which could be no longer delayed. In 1870, while the Red River settlements were still in a troublous state, the Fenians made two attempts to invade the Eastern Townships, but they were easily repulsed and forced to cross the frontier. They were next heard of in 1871, when they attempted, under the leadership of the irrepressible O'Neil, who had also been engaged in 1870, and of O'Donohue, one of Riel's rebellious a.s.sociates, to make a raid into Manitoba by way of Pembina, but their prompt arrest by a company of United States troops was the inglorious conclusion of the last effort of a dying and worthless organisation to strike a blow at England through Canada.

The Dominion government was much embarra.s.sed for some years by the complications that arose from Riel's revolt and the murder of Scott. An agitation grew up in Ontario for the arrest of the murderers; and when Mr. Blake succeeded Mr. Sandfield Macdonald as leader of the Ontario government, a large reward was offered for the capture of Riel and such of his a.s.sociates as were still in the territories. On the other hand, Sir George Cartier and the French Canadians were in favour of an amnesty. The Macdonald ministry consequently found itself on the horns of a dilemma; and the political tension was only relieved for a time when Riel and Lepine left Manitoba, on receiving a considerable sum of money from Sir John Macdonald. Although this fact was not known until 1875, when a committee of the house of commons investigated the affairs of the North-west, there was a general impression after 1870 throughout Ontario--an impression which had much effect on the general election of 1872--that the government had no sincere desire to bring Riel and his a.s.sociates to justice.

In 1871 the Dominion welcomed into the union the great mountainous province of British Columbia, whose picturesque sh.o.r.es recall the memories of Cook, Vancouver and other maritime adventurers of the last century, and whose swift rivers are a.s.sociated with the exploits of Mackenzie, Thompson, Quesnel, Fraser and other daring men, who first saw the impetuous waters which rush through the canons of the great mountains of the province until at last they empty themselves into the Pacific Ocean. For many years Vancouver Island and the mainland, first known as New Caledonia, were under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company. Vancouver Island was nominally made a crown colony in 1849; that is, a colony without representative inst.i.tutions, in which the government is carried on by a governor and council, appointed by the crown. The official authority continued from 1851 practically in the hands of the company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, a man of signal ability, who was also the governor of the infant colony. In 1856 an a.s.sembly was called, despite the insignificant population of the island.

In 1858 New Caledonia was organised as a crown colony under the name of British Columbia, as a consequence of the gold discoveries which brought in many people. Sir James Douglas was also appointed governor of British Columbia, and continued in that position until 1864. In 1866, the colony was united with Vancouver Island under the general designation of British Columbia. When the province entered the confederation of Canada in 1871 it was governed by a lieutenant-governor appointed by the crown, a legislature composed of heads of the public departments and several elected members. With the entrance of this province, so famous now for its treasures of gold, coal and other minerals in illimitable quant.i.ties, must be a.s.sociated the name of Sir Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor under the auspices of the federation. The province did not come into the union with the same const.i.tution that was enjoyed by the other provinces, but it was expressly declared in the terms of union that "the government of the Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of responsible government when desired by the inhabitants of British Columbia."

Accordingly, soon after its admission, the province obtained a const.i.tution similar to that of other provinces: a lieutenant-governor, a responsible executive council and an elective a.s.sembly. Representation was given it in both houses of the Dominion parliament, and the members took their seats during the session of 1872. In addition to the payment of a considerable subsidy for provincial expenses, the Dominion government pledged itself to secure the construction of a railway within two years from the date of union to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada, to commence the work simultaneously at both ends of the line, and to complete it within ten years from the admission of the colony to the confederation.

In 1872 a general election was held in the Dominion, and while the government was generally sustained, it came back with a minority from Ontario. The Riel agitation, the Washington Treaty, and the undertaking to finish the Pacific railway in so short a time, were questions which weakened the ministry. The most encouraging feature of the elections was the complete defeat of the anti-unionists in Nova Scotia,--the prelude to their disappearance as a party--all the representatives, with the exception of one member, being pledged to support a government whose chief merit was its persistent effort to cement the union and extend it from ocean to ocean. Sir Francis Hincks, finance minister since 1870, was defeated in Ontario and Sir George Cartier in Montreal. Both these gentlemen found const.i.tuencies elsewhere, but Sir George Cartier never took his seat, as his health had been seriously impaired, and he died in England in 1873. The state gave a public funeral to this great French Canadian, always animated by a sincere desire to weld the two races together on principles of compromise and justice. Sir Francis Hincks also disappeared from public life in 1873, and died at Montreal in 1885 from an attack of malignant small-pox. The sad circ.u.mstances of his death forbade any public or even private display, and the man who filled so many important positions in the empire was carried to the grave with those precautions which are necessary in the case of those who fall victims to an infectious disease.

But while these two eminent men disappeared from the public life of Canada, two others began now to occupy a more prominent place in Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was pa.s.sed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics.

Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr.

James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in 1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of the public domain had been given by the British government more than a hundred years before. The const.i.tution of the executive authority and the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway.

The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864.

Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and making it an active partner in the material, political, and social progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence of the French sh.o.r.e question, which prejudicially affects the territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed by considerations of European policy.

SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900.

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 circ.u.mstances 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 t.i.tle 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 cla.s.ses 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 pa.s.sed 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 ca.n.a.ls 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 pa.s.sed 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 const.i.tutional 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 pa.s.sage 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 hara.s.sed by the persistent effort that was made in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed by Riel and his princ.i.p.al a.s.sociates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel had been elected by a Manitoba const.i.tuency 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 const.i.tutional 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, pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 Lotbiniere 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 const.i.tutional course to follow under the circ.u.mstances 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 inc.u.mbent 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tutional 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 a.s.sembly, 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 const.i.tutional 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 disburs.e.m.e.nt 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. Honore 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 a.s.sume full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the circ.u.mstances, 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 a.s.sumed 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 const.i.tutional 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 const.i.tution under the administration of the present inc.u.mbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sist 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 t.i.tles 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 ent.i.tled 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 ent.i.tled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his a.s.sociates. 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 repet.i.tion 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 a.s.sumed despotic control of the whole movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his half-breed a.s.sociates 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 const.i.tutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at defiance and insulted by Riel and his a.s.sociates. 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 d.i.c.kens, 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 succ.u.mbed 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. Honore 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 circ.u.mstances 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, princ.i.p.ally 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 pa.s.sed 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 cla.s.ses 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; n.o.ble 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 t.i.tle of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's grat.i.tude "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 const.i.tutional 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 a.s.semblage. Resolutions were pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sembled 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 pa.s.sed 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