TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE CANADA QUESTION MADE EASY.
THE mail from Canada now approaching our shores will bring intelligence that can hardly fail to revive the public interest and curiosity about Canadian affairs ; for in whatever state may be the measure of the Provincial Government for giving compensa- tion to persons injured during the rebellion in Lower Canada, the introduction of' this measure into the Provincial Parliament by the Executive has occasioned a state of things in the colony which must force the British public to acquire a knowledge of the whole case. At present, the case is very imperfectly understood here. Our immediate object is to furnish as complete an expo- sition of it as the space at our disposal will allow. Nearly twelve years ago, there were two rebellions in Canada. The colony was at that time divided into two Provinces, under perfectly distinct Governments. The two rebellions were simul- taneous, and so far alike that both were directed to the overthrow of the Imperial power of Britain; but in other respects, they were as distinct as the two local Governments against which they were immediately directed. They arose from different causes, and were actuated, so to speak, by different spirits. These differences sprang out of very marked differences in the circumstances of the two Provinces. The population of Upper Canada was exclu- sively English ; that is, composed of people speaking the English language, whether they were of English, Scotch, Irish, or Ame- rican extraction. In Upper Canada, there was no question of nationality or race. In Lower Canada, on the contrary, the great bulk of the people (nearly all of them, indeed, except in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, a district called the Eastern Townships, and a few other thinly-peopled townships where some English settlement had taken place) consisted of French Cana- dians; that is, people of French origin, speaking the French language, and as different in point of race or nationality from the small number of English colonists as are the inhabitants of Calais from those of Dover. Lord Durham's ample description of the antagonism of races in Lower Canada, and his representation that this was the cause of the rebellion in that Province, have never been contradicted, and may be taken as settled truths. In Lower Canada, the whole French population (the exceptions were so few as to be of no importance) sympathized with the actual rebels; and the actual outbreaks of rebellion were only put down by the Imperial army, with the aid of volunteers drawn from the small English population of the Province, which, with exceptions too insignificant for notice, took part in upholding the Imperial power. The rebellion in Lower Canada was a civil war of races as well as a rebellion against the Government; and in this war those who were rebels in act and at heart composed the great major- ity of the people, so that only a small minority sided with established authority. The rebellion, nevertheless, was effectually crushed ; some of the rebels were hanged and others transported by the verdict of military tribunals ; for, in consequence of the first out- break, the representative constitution was suspended, and a pure despotism substituted for ordinary law. In Upper Canada, on the contrary, although the Provincial Government was very generally unpopular, and those who were called Reformers constituted pro- bably a considerable majority of the people, it was only a very small minority that actually rebelled, or that ever contemplated rebellion, against the Imperial power. The actual outbreak of a small portion of this small minority created a general fever of loyalty in Upper Canada : the rebellion was crushed by the co- lonists themselves without the aid of Imperial troops ; some rebels were hanged and some transported, and the rest were driven into the United States. In this Province, the rebellion was not merely put down, but exterminated or obliterated : the whole colony soon after the rebellion was remarkable for its loyalty to the em- pire; and there was not the least occasion for suspending the Im- perial constitution. In Upper Canada, moreover, after the rebel- lion had been put down, some of the rebels who had fled to the United States, together with some American "sympathizers," invaded the Province ; and though this invasion was easily de- feated, it occasioned some damage to property : whereas Lower Canada was not invaded from a foreign country. We beg the reader to bear these distinctions in mind ; for the events now taking place in Canada have an intimate relation to them. In both Provinces, of course, damage was done to property by the warfare that took place in them. But here arises another and a most important distinction. In Upper Canada, the damage done to property by rebellion and invasion was felt., after the restoration of peace, only by people who had sided with the Government : the others had disappeared, having either emi- grated or shrunk into corners where they were happy if nobody talked about them or observed them. Loyalists who had suffered by the rebellion and invasion now claimed compensation for their losses ; and the Parliament of Upper Canada (still a distinct Province) passed an act by which 40,000/. was awarded to the sufferers. No provision, however, was made for raising the money. Down to this time, nobody had dreamt, or at any rate spoken, of compensation for rebellion losses in Lower Canada : the sufferers there were either actual rebels or persons belonging to the disaffected French majority, at that time in a state of po- litical slavery ; every power of Government being then in the hands of the English minority which had put down the rebellion with the aid of her Majesty's troops, and which had not suffered, but inflicted, losses of property during the struggle. But now
came an event which changed the whole aspect of things. The two Provinces were united under one Government, based on representation in Parliament. The Imperial power, moreover, adopted a new policy in Canada ; namely, that of deeming the local Parliament the only proper judge of local questions, and resolving to govern henceforth, as respects local matters, always in harmony with the representative body. It is necessary to ob- serve, further, that the existing laws of the two Provinces were not altered except by the establishment of this new constitutional system ; and that, of necessity, legislation in the Parliament of the United Province was often confined to one or other of the sections of the country which had been formerly Upper and Lower Canada. These two sections of the Province came to be called Canada West and Canada East, and were designated in provincial acts which applied to only one of them, as "the portion of the Province formerly called Upper or Lower Canada." Soon after the Union, the act of the Parliament of Upper Ca- nada for awarding 40,000/. to sufferers by the rebellion came be- fore the House of Assembly, and was altered so as to include losses not suffered by Loyalists, but inflicted by them on others ; that is, on persons who had belonged to the rebel party, but were now no longer afraid to ask for compensation for losses incurred at the hands of the military and volunteers. This " amendment" of the act was proposed by Mr. Baldwin, the leader of a party in Canada West which was supposed to have sympathized with the rebels there, and which was now in close and avowed alliance with the great French or rebel party in Canada East.
This alteration by the United Parliament of an Upper Canada act was the finest point of a wedge which has now split the whole colony into two factions as hostile to each other as were the French and English of Lower Canada in 1837: it passed without much opposition at the time, because the sufferers in Canada West were very anxious to get their money, because in practice nearly the whole of the money was sure to go to Loyalists, and because the admission of the principle of giving compensation for losses inflicted by Loyalists was not then deemed as important as it has since proved. Still, no provision was made for raising the 40,000/. Another important event now took place. The Bald- win-Lafontaine party, so called because Mr. Baldwin was the leader of a small Radical party in Canada West, whilst his ally, Mr. Lafontaine, beaded the great French party in Canada East, obtained a majority in the Assembly. It was in truth a French party ; the number of Canada West Members who followed Mr. Baldwin being only five. This party had hitherto been in Opposition under Lord Sydenham's administration of the go- vernment of United Canada. His successor, Sir Charles Begot, had now to determine, therefore, between resorting to the explod- ed system of carrying on the government with the support of a minority of the representative body, and forming a Provincial Ministry composed of the leaders of the majority. He adopted the latter course, and thus established what is called "responsible government." The result was a Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry. Whilst this Provincial Administration lasted, several attempts were made on behalf of the Canada-West claimants, to get the 40,0001.; but without success. The object of the claimants was to make the 40,000/. a charge on the general revenue of United Canada ; but to this the French party of Canada East, combined with Mr. Baldwin's small party in Canada West, strongly ob- jected. Since they had a majority in the Assembly, and really directed the Government, as the majority in the House of Com- mons really directs the British Government, they were of course successful in their opposition to the Canada-West claimants. In the course of the discussions that took place, the Government of Canada for the first time intimated that there were claims in Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) of compensation for rebellion losses. If, they urged, the claimants of Canada West be paid out of the general revenue of the Province, the claimants in Canada East may justly demand compensation out of the same fund. In- directly, or incidentally, the Government broached the question of compensation for losses principally inflicted by Loyalists and suffer- ed by rebels. The unwillingness of the English or Loyalist party throughout Canada to bring this question to a practical issue, seems to have been the reason why under the Lafontaine-Bald- win Ministry nothing further was done to satisfy the claims of the Loyalists in Canada West. Both parties were probably, as well they might be, afraid of the question. The Loyalists or English could not deny the abstract justice of giving compensa- tion in one section of the Province, if it were given in the other, out of funds raised by taxation of the whole colony. The French party, with its small number of allies in Canada West, was in power, and had then no mind to provoke such a storm as this question has since raised. Though in power, they were not so strong in power as they are now. The Ministry formed by Sir Charles Bagot contained at least one member, whose known prudence and caution may have had some influence on his colleagues, to whom power was .a novelty, and who, under the strange system of rule practised pi Canada before the rebellions, had necessarily passed their lives In learning to be incurable demagogues. We allude to Mr. Daly, who was Provincial Secretary of Lower Canada under Lord Durham and Lord Seaton, and Secretary of the United Province down to the last change of Ministry in Canada under Lord Elgin. It may also be doubted whether either Sir Charles Begot or Lord Metcalfe, who were Governors of Canada during the first Lafontaine Ministry, would have deemed the subject of compensation for rebellion losses in Lower Canada a purely local
question : they might not improbably have thought it as much an Imperial question as would be that of reversing the decisions of the military courts by which rebels were hanged at Montreal. They could hardly have failed to perceive, that a proposal for compensation for rebellion losses in Lower Canada by a Ministry of the French party, would probably revive the old war of races. It may be, therefore, that the first Lafontaine Ministry was un- able to moot this question practically, as the same men (with the exception of Mr. Daly, who quitted office on the formation of the present Lafontaine Ministry under Lord Elgin) have now mooted it.
The first Lafontaine Ministry, however, quarrelled with Lord Metcalfe and so threw themselves and their party out of power for nearly four years. Their successors, amongst whom was Mr. Daly, "appealed to the country," and were supported by a ma- jority of the representative body. This Ministry, of which the leaders were Mr. Daly for Canada East, and Mr. Draper (now a judge) for Canada West, contained two or three gentlemen of French origin and of the highest respectability ; but as they had differed with Mr. Lafontaine about his quarrel with Lord Met- calfe, and as Mr. Lafontaine is really the leader of the French- Canadian nation, they possessed no influence with the great ma- jority in Canada East, of their origin ; and the Daly-Draper Ministry was in fact English as distinguished from French. It represented the great mass of those who had resisted and put down rebellion in both of the former Provinces. This Ministry, therefore, Lord Metcalfe being Governor-General, naturally en- deavoured to provide the 40,000/. for Upper Canada losses. Lord Metcalfe, in whose nature it was to consider justice and sound policy one, concurred with them in admitting that, in abstract justice, compensation for rebellion losses was equally due in both sections of the Province ; and he could not fail to perceive that a measure of compensation for losses in Canada East, or French Canada, might be promoted by a Ministry of the English or Loyal party, without either exasperating the loyal or reviving the war of races. Under the circumstances, therefore, po- licy did not forbid what justice required. The Daly-Draper Ministry accordingly resolved to proceed with the rebel- lion claims in both sections of the Province. But they trod _gingerly upon ground which they knew to be like eggs in its 'liability to break under pressure. They charged the 40,000/. for Upper Canada, not on the consolidated revenues of the United Province, but on a special fund, (the Tavern-licence fund and the Marriage-licence fund,) which, as it arose mainly from taxation of people of English origin, was paid mainly by Canada West. As far as could be, a local fund was appropriated to the local pur- pose. By this means, Canada East was prevented from feeling itself unjustly called upon to satisfy claims due in Canada West only, and arising out of the Upper Canada rebellion. The Upper Canada claims were thus finally disposed of. At the same time, the Lower or French Canada claims were referred to a Commis- sion. The motion for entertaining these claims was made by a supporter of the Ministry, Mr. Scott, and seconded by the late Dr. Dunlop, an eminent Loyalist of Canada West. The proceed- ing, so managed, excited no serious dissatisfaction amongst the English of Canada generally, or even the Loyalists par excellence. The Commission thereupon appointed was only authorized to re- teive claims' not to adjudicate upon them in any way. After a while, the Commission applied to the Executive Government for instructions it wanted to know how it was to distinguish be- tween claims from actual rebels and from persons who had not ac- tually rebelled ; and it was then instructed to receive claims from everybody who had not been convicted of rebellion according to law. This further step, which authorized the reception at least of claims from persons who had notoriously shared in the rebel- lion, passed without exciting any serious dissatisfaction. If the Daly-Draper Ministry had lasted, and had continued to proceed with the matter thus slowly and cautiously, the rebellion claims of Lower Canada might probably have been disposed of without creating much disturbance. But now there occurred another change in the Government. Lord Metcalfe had gone home to die, and was succeeded by Lord Elgin; the Daly-Draper Minis- try, knowing that it had fallen into a minority in the Assembly, tried a general election, and was beaten ; and the Lafontaine- Baldwin party returned to power. The present Canadian Minis- try is deemed to be, and really is, notwithstanding an admixture of Daldwinites from Canada West, a French Ministry. The Go- vernment is in the hands of the old French or rebel party. This Ministry is unchecked, apparently, by the Governor-General, who seems to have thought the question of compensation for rebellion .losses a purely local matter, in which the Imperial Government has no concern : it therefore brings a bill into the House of Assem- bly, by which, if it should become law, compensation will be given to au who were not formally convicted of treason, and the amount of compensation will be a charge on the general consolidated re- venues of the Province. It happens that the general revenue of Canada, being chiefly raised by duties of import, is paid by the consumers of imported commodities. These are principally the English, as distinguished from the French inhabitants of the co- lony; which last, speaking generally, make their own clothes, sugar, and tobacco, and drink but little tea or wine. Thus the English or loyal colonists feel that they will have to pay princi- pally for compensation to people who were for the most part either actual rebels though not convicted, or rebels at heart, in 1837 and 1888. The two facts which have inflamed the English population of United Canada into a sort of madness are—first, that compen-
I tuition to rebels who are of French origin is proposed by a Go- vernment of the French and once rebel party; and secondly, that the intended compensation is to come mainly out of the pockets of the English and once anti-rebel population. There may be something too in the rough manner and crowing tone which the present Ministry of former demagogues has exhibited towards its opponents whilst urging on the measure by means of its large majority in the Assembly.
The question of giving compensation to rebels, like that of an amnesty after rebellion, is one of the nicest in the whole field of politics, and one that requires the most delicate handling in prac- tice. It is surely a question also, when it occurs in a colony, in which the Imperial Government has much concern, and ought to have the most influential voice; like the question of peace or war, it belongs as matter of right exclusively to the empire: it is eminently one of the few questions that can arise in a colony which are not left to the colonists by the strictest adoption of the principle of "responsible government for colonies." Lord Elgin appears to have treated it as a mere local question, leaving it to be handled by the local Administration as they pleased. They have handled it rashly and roughly and clumsily. Bad manage. ment of a subject which required the best possible management seems to have been the cause of all the mischief. We shall learn more about the effects by the next mail, and probably by many a mail yet to come.
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