NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE second session of the fifteenth Parliament of Lower Canada Was opened on the 27th. of October, with a speech of unusual length and interest, by the Earl of GOSFORD, the new Governor

and Chief Commissioner. The tone of' this address was the re- verse of that to which the Canadians have been accustomed. En-

treaty was substituted for reprimand, conciliation for defiance. It seems to be admitted by Lord GLENELG and his colleagues, that the time for bullying is gone by ; and that if the Canadas are to be retained in their allegiance to the King of Great Britain, the soothing system must be resorted to. From Lord GOSFORD'S speech we learn, that the Government at -home is willing to concede many points of minor importance, and

anxious to remove a multitude of grievances. Some of these may be more particularly stated, but in the first place it will be proper to quote some passages from the introductory part of the speech, illustrative of the conciliatory spirit Which pervades it. Lord GOSFORD begins by saying-

" It is in no ordinary circumstances that I meet you ;, and consequences of -vast importance depend on the impression you may receive from my words.

Dissensions have almost arrested the course of Government. The Supplies, required for carrying into execution the laws by which society is held together, have now for a considerable period been withheld. The most urgent and con-

flicting statements of ntinierous grievances by advirse parties have been borne 'to the Throne of his Majesty ; but accompanied with expressions of an appre- hension that the Ministers of the Crown might not have 'that practical and Local knowledge of the province which is necessary for the discernment of the

most appropriate remedies. • •

" I am sent amongst you, therefore, not only as your Governor, but as the head of a .Commission.upon which the task- is imposed of inquiring fully, and -upon the spot, into the complaints which have been made, and of offering to the King-and to the Councils by which the Throne is surrounded the deliberate

conclusions of the Commissioners

" As Governor, I will execute with alacrity, impartiality, and firmness, whatever I am competent to do of myself: as head of the Provincial Legisla- ture, I will zeahiusly cooperate With its other meMbers in the redress of every evil they may.find eceasion to correct : as Commissioner, oledge myself that 'II prompt, but careful examination, shall be made of those still weightier mat- ters which depend upon the highest powers of the empire ; and that Having, with the most anxious thought.and solemn deliberation, arrived at our conclusions, the Commissioners will state them with an earnestness of purpose calculated to give additional force;to the authority which they ought to derive from having been deemed wOrtliy of so grave a charge."

LoniGOSFORD proceeds to notice the complaint- that Canadians of French origin hive not their fair .share in the government of

the province, an undue proportion of offices of trust being in the hands of persons of British extraction.. Ott this point he declares, that his instructions enjoin upon him the strictest impartiality,

and that "fitness for the trust "-IS the -Criterion to which above all things he is bound to look. In future, also, all appointments to offices whose emoluments exceed d certain sum must receive

the public seal of the province in order to be valid. • Perhaps some of our readers may not be aware, that in Ca- nada, besides the !Hohse of 'Assembly elected by the inhabitants, 'and the Legislative Council appointed by the Crown, there is

-an -Executive Connell, " a local oligarchy, a vile bureaucracy, which, backed by the bureaucracy of the Colonial Office, carries 'every thing before it."* The Members of- this Council, which is intended to be analogous to the British Privy Council, are not tin- -frequently members also of the Legislative Council, Judges, She- riffs, Receivers-General, 'and Commissioners of Crown Lands.; all of them, includthg the Judges, removable at the pleaSure of the • Crown. Jobbing of :the very- worst description has been the con- sequence of this system ; and Lord GOSFORD expresses his deter- mination to put a stop to it. He says.7-. " I have formed the opinion that it is neither right nor consistent with the Wholesome separation and independence of the principal bodies of 'the Govern- . went, and with the dignity of their members, that out of -the limited number of Executive Councillors in this province, several should hold offices under the Legislative Council and House 'of Assembly."

The Chief Commissioner acknowledges, that inconvenience may

61 see Westinaister Review, No, 46; article " Affairs of Canada." have arisen from the neglect of the Government in furnishing accounts of expenditure and other documents required by the

House of Assembly, and promises that this ground of complaint shall be removed : at the same time, however, he guards himself against being held under an obligation to produce papers whose publicity would be injurious to the welfare of the province. Unnecessary delay in giving assent to bills passed by the Le- gislature. and answers to addresses to the King, is in future to be sedulously avoided ; the Judges are Out to be called on for extra- judicial opinions on matters which may afterwards come before them for decision ; improper interference in elections by Govern- ment employ6s will be marked by the Governor's utmost displea- sure ; there is to be a revision of the fees exacted in the public offices ; the expenses of suits in courts of justice are to be lessened ; and a bill for the adjustment of all claims relative to the clergy reserves is to be laid before the two Houses. This bill is the same as one which was lost, through misapprehension of the views of , Government ; but further explanations, and copies of Lord River's despatches in relation to the subject, are to be submitted to the Legislature. Only a portion of the revenues of Lower Canada have been under the control of the Assembly. The monies accruing from the Crown lands, fines and dues from seigneuries or townships, and from duties imposed by the British Parliament, are received and expended by the Executive Government without rendering any account to the Assembly ; whose power extends only over the revenue produced by the duties imposed by its own authority. .As the expenses of the Government could not be defrayed without these last-mentioned duties, the Assembly claimed and at length established the right of superintendence over the whole expendi- ture; but they could only appropriate the sums levied under their own acts. This is justly felt as a grievance ; and Lord GosFoan announces, that on certain conditions, not fully ex- plained, but indicated in another part of his speech, it is proposed to put the whole revenue of the province, from whatever source derived,.uuder the control of the Assembly'.

" I have received the commands of our most gracious Sovereign to acquaint you, 'that his Majesty is disposed to place under the control of the Representa- tives of the People all public monies payable to his Majesty, or to his officers in the "province, whether arising from taxes or from any other Canadian source • but that this cession cannot be made, except on conditions which must be maturely weigheil ; and that to arrange such conditions for your consideration, is one the principal objects of the coMmission with whin& it has pleased his Majesty to charge myself and my colleagues. ." Our inquiries into this subject shall be pursued with unceasing diligence, "anti the result shall be submitted with all practicable speed to his Majesty's Go4rnmeni; and I hope, in a session to be holden in the ensuing year, I shall be able to lay before you proposals for a satisfrztory and conclusive

arrangement." '• ' • •

Lord GOSFORD then'retninds the Assembly, that, owing to its refUsal of the Supplies,' the salaries of public officers are greatly in arrear, and thakmoney for other purposes is absolutely necessary ; and he therefore hopes that a vote will be passed to place at his disposal the requisite sums. As an inducement to the Assembly to comply with thiS request, he says- " Should you place the Government in this position, I am authorized to engage that noTart of the surplus proceeds of the Crown revenues which may accrue beyond the charges to which they are at present permanently liable, shall in the interval of the Commissioners' inquiry be applied to any purposes Whatever unless with your assent."

In order to carry on the GovernMent during. the failure of the Canadian revenue, money was taken from the Military chest : Lord GOSFORD hopes that this will be repaid; he almost begs for it- " As connected with the subject of arrears, I am further commanded to ask of you the repayment, to the military chest, of the sum advanced under the sanction of his Majesty's Government to meet the pressing exigencies of the public service. This advance was exclusively made from British funds,- for the purpose of avoiding any undue interference with the revenues falling under the control of the Assembly, and with a strong persuasion that it would not pre- judice the satisfactory adjustment of any of the questions at issue between his Majesty's Government and the House of. Assembly. However the measure may have been subsequently understood, such were the feelings with which it was adopteit - It is obvious that, this application doefi not call on you to grant the smallest amount more than would have been required if there had been no advance. His Majesty, therefore, hopes that an issue' made io reliance on the just and liberal feelings of the house. of Assembly, and designed for no other purpose than .tn prevent a'highly-inconvenient interruption of the general busi- ness of the province, will be cheerfully repaid." His Lordship announces, that the suit . issued by the Crown against the late Receiver-General has been brought to a con- clusion. This refers to the defalcation of Sir JOHN CALDWELL, which amounted to about 150,000/.•' and which arose under the system of preventing the Assembly' from examining the accounts of the Government officers.

Referring to the duties of the Commissioners, Lo IgiteSPhb' states, that the " first and most urgent" will be tl inktiOrt,„ with the utmost care, of a bill

. . . . "for giving up to the appropriatidn of the House of tie not proceeds of the hereditary revenue, and to prepare it in such be acceptable to the various authorities whose sanction it may require, or under whose cognizance it may come. In what form precisely this important con- cession may be finally made, it would now be out of place to discuss : but it will be necessary that two points should be secured,—first, that the manage- ment of the sources of that revenue of which the proceeds are to be appro- priated by the House of Assembly should be reserved to officers of the Crown, whose accounts will be open to the inspection of the Legislature of the pro- vince; secondly, that a provision should be made for the support of the Execu- tive Government and for the salaries of the Judges, by an adequate Civil List."

The Commissioners are not precluded from inquiring into " still graver matters "—the dissensions between the two Legislative bodies ; but Lord GOSFORD shrinks from this subject ; and the speech concludes with exhortations to forbearance and moderation, compliments to the virtue, industry, honesty, and loyalty of the Canadian population, and promises of support from England.

" To the Canadians, both of French and British origin, and of every class and description, I would say, consider the blessings you might enjoy, and the favoured situation in which, but for your own dissensions, you would find your. selves to be placed. The offspring of the two foremost nations of mankind, you hold a vast and beautiful country, a fertile soil, a healthy climate ; and the noblest river in the world makes your most remote city a port for ships of the sea. Your revenue is triple the amount of your expenditure for the ordinary purposes of Government ; you have no direct taxes, no public debt, no poor who require any other aid than the natural impulses of charity. If you extend your views beyond the land in which you dwell, you will find that you are joint inheritors of the splendid patrimony of the British empire ; which constitutes you, in the best sense of the term, citizens of the world, and gives you a home on every continent and in every ocean of the globe. There are two paths open to you, —by the one you may advance to the enjoyment of all the advantages which lie in prospect before you ; by the other, I will not say more than that you will stop short of these, and will engage yourselves and those who have no other object than your prosperity in darker and more difficult courses."

From the above abstract of this important state paper, it will be seen that nothing satisfactory to the Canadians is communicated on the two great questions which agitate the province. It remains to be seen on what conditions it is proposed to place the entire revenue of the country under the control of the Legislative bodies. In this country Parliament is the sole judge of what is or is not an adequate Civil List ; there is no appeal from the vote of the House of Commons. If any arrangement is made by which the power of annually voting the salaries of the officers of state is taken from the House of Assembly, the substantial authority of that body is swept away. The British House of Commons may cut clown the Army Estimates, or refuse to pass the Mutiny Bill : our Representatives have the control of a revenue of which the sum voted for the Civil List forms but a fraction ; but in Canada the chief reliance of the popular party is on the power of with- holding the salaries of officials. It is by the exercise of this privilege that they have forced from the British Government the concessions indicated in Lord GOSFORD'S speech ; and we are much mistaken if they will be deluded into resigning it, by the most smooth-spoken of Governors.

But the " question of questions" is, as we have seen, shirked altogether by Lord GOSFORD. There is not the slightest in- timation that the Legislative Council will be converted into an assembly elected by the Canadians themselves. Under a Governor of spirit and knowledge, the nomination of mem- bers of the Legislative Council will be actually made by the Crown, instead of by the bureaucracy ; and this would be an improvement ; but still the grand source of misgovernment and cause of dissatisfaction would remain. We find it stated in the article in the last Westminster Review, to which reference has already been made, that " in the course of nine sessions of the Colonial Parliament, the Upper House has thrown out one hundred and twenty-two bills, sent up to them by the Represen- tatives of the People ; and so damaged forty-seven more in prin- ciple and in detail, that the Commons could not, without dishonour to themselves and abandoning the cause of the People, accept them." This is the way hi which the system of Bureaucratical Legislation works in Canada.

It is vain to suppose that the Canadians will submit to the continuance of a practical grievance, so enormous and so glaring. They have only to cast their eyes across the American frontier to perceive how differently affairs are managed in the United States. They see both Houses of the Legislature elected by the American people. Why should they be saddled with a mimic House of Lords, by a foreign power? The North American Colonists now amount to a million and a half in number; and they feel too strong to be trifled with. The old French population has died off. The pre- sent inhabitants of Canada are either natives of the province, or emigrants from England. They are beginning to think and act like Englishmen ; and hence their demand for popular institu- tions. It is not, as has been falsely pretended, because they are actuated by French hatred and jealousy of England, that the Canadians refuse to submit to misrule; but because the true spirit of Englishmen is warm within them.

If Lord Gosroan's concessions had been proffered a few years ago, perhaps the Canadians might have been kept quiet in their allegiance to this country for half a century or more. But now there is reason for believing that the conciliatory policy has been adopted too late to answer the purpose of those who would reform by halves. The leaders of the popular party see that the means which enabled them to procure so much, will put more within their reack. 'It is not conceivable that they will be contented with a form of government less popular than that which is established in Jamaica or Barbadoes. Why should they ? The Tory journals put this fine speech into the mouth of our or King, on giving audience to Sir CHARLES GREY, the Second missioner, on the eve of his departure—" Whatever others tell you, Sir Charles, I tell you that Canada must not be lost." So be it. The British Parliament must not allow the Canadas to be lost to us by the obstinacy of either King or Ministers. True wisdom dictates that full and free justice should be done to the Colonies. The Government must be made acceptable to the people; and then there is no risk of revolt. Hitherto the House of Commons has refused to pay the necessary attention to the state of affairs in Canada; but their serious consideration can no longer be staved off. It is unfortunate that the Colonists should have committed their case to the agency of Mr. ROEBUCK. That gentleman has made himself so many enemies, and is so generally disliked, that any cause of which he is the leading advocate is too likely to suffer. His manner is petulant and offensive, when it is most particularly desirable that it should be calm, dignified, and conciliatory. He had a good case last session against Mr. RICE and Lord STANLEY; but, by his manner of stating it, he set the House against him and his clients. He has, as it were, pos- sessed himself of the Canadian question ; but it is to be hoped that some Members of real weight and influence will be induced to take it up; and not as an isolated case, but with an expanded regard to our Colonial policy generally. It is no longer fit that the interests of millions of British subjects should be confided to the unchecked mismanagement of the gentlemen of the Colonial Office.