November 18, 1867

JUSTICE PAY DISPUTE

Judges in Nova Scotia have refused their pay on the grounds that as of July 1, they are entitled to the same rate of pay as the Canadian judges, which is nearly twice their former salary of £700 to £800 per year. The New Brunswick judges are expected to soon join the protest.

TORONTO VOTERS STRICKEN FROM ROLLS

Some 1,937 voters in Toronto have been disenfranchised as a result of increasing the property qualification to $600.

St. John’s Ward sees the greatest decrease, with some 547 voters removed from the rolls, a reduction of nearly one-third. In that ward, whole streets have been removed from the rolls including Dummer and Renfrew among others. St. Patrick’s and St. David’s wards also see the voter rolls reduced by one-third.

The number of eligible voters is not final however, since in order to keep the franchise, one’s taxes must be paid in full by December 15.

LOCAL MINISTERS IN THE COMMONS

The Globe correspondent in Ottawa says that Hon. Luther Holton (Liberal, Châteauguay) intends to raise a question in the Commons that the eleven provincial cabinet ministers currently members of that chamber (three from Ontario; eight from Québec) are violating the Parliamentary Act by doing so. The question may be raised as early as today.

NOVA SCOTIA THANKSGIVING

The provincial government in Nova Scotia has fixed November 25 as a day of Thanksgiving.

VIEW OF THE QUEBEC GAZETTE

The Québec Gazette offers the following assessment of the proceedings of the House of Commons to date:

The House of Commons of the new Dominion has kept up the time-honoured custom — honoured in the late United Provinces of Canada, at least — of making a clean breast on the debate on the speech from the Throne. Not that the members have each man confessed his owns sins of the sins of his party, but the sins of his neighbour and of the party to which he is personally opposed.

November 16, 1867

ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEES

The Commons established two committees yesterday, on motions by the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The first, the committee to form rules and regulations for the government of the House consists of two members from Ontario (one minister and one opposition member), two members from Québec (one minister and one supporter of the government), one member from Nova Scotia (opposition), and one member from New Brunswick (government supporter).

The second committee, consisting of sixteen members, has been created to establish the members of the Standing Committees.

BANK OF MONTREAL’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOVERNMENT

On a motion from Luther Holton (Liberal, Châteauguay), the Commons has voted to request the tabling of all agreements and correspondence between the Government of the late Province of Canada and the Bank of Montreal relating to the 1866 banking act and the issuing of provincial notes. This follows on accusations by the Globe that the Government had transferred effective control of the banking system to Bank of Montreal.

ROYAL HONOURS

The Liberal papers have spent some time over the last several months making hay over the fact that the honours conferred upon Sir John A. Macdonald and Hon. George-Étienne Cartier upon the creation of the Dominion were of different ranks.

That mischief-making arrived in the Commons yesterday when the Liberal member for Centre Wellington, Thomas Parker, moved that any representations made to His Excellency on the matter be laid before the House.

A significant part of the Globe’s speculation was that the honours came following a request from John A., and that he also requested that Cartier and Galt be given the lower-rank honours.

The prime minister spoke against the motion, arguing that any representations made by the Governor-General to Her Majesty on the question of honours was done so in his capacity as an Imperial official and not in his Canadian role.

The ensuing debate split the parties, with Hon. Christopher Dunkin (Conservative, Brome), the Québec Treasurer, and government front-bencher, who said that the motion ought to pass.

To this, John A., said that the papers did not exist since the Canadian Government played no role in the honours, they had been conferred on the eve of the creation of the Dominion without notice, and he agreed that the honours given to his colleague was inadequate.

The motion was subsequently withdrawn.

WELLAND AND ST. LAWRENCE CANALS

Though important, Hon. William McDougall (Public Works) has said that the public finances do not permit the enlargement of the Welland and St. Lawrence Canals at present.

BILLS TO BE INTRODUCED

The following ministers have given notice of their intention to introduce legislation next week on the following matters:

• Sir John A. Macdonald (Prime Minister, Attorney General): a bill respecting the interpretation and construction of statutes and resolutions respecting the indemnity of members and the salaries of the Speakers of both Houses
• Hon. Hector Langevin (Secretary of State for Canada): a bill respecting his department
• Hon. William McDougall (Public Works): a bill respect the public works of the Dominion
• Hon. Samuel Tilley (Customs): a bill respecting his department

November 15, 1867

CABINET APPOINTMENTS COMING

The Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, stated in the Commons yesterday, in response to a question from Luther Holton (Liberal, Châteauguay), that he hoped to announce the names of the new Minister of Finance and Secretary of State for the Provinces within the coming one or two days.

THE RIOT IN KAMOURASKA

Readers will recall that the election in Kamouraska, Québec, was cancelled following a riot that saw the Returning Officer attacked and the writs stolen.

Notice has been given that a motion requesting the attendance of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery before the Commons on November 18, will be moved tomorrow. The Clerk will be asked to appear along with the return of the last election from the riding of Kamouraska along with the poll books and any other papers, letters, and documents relating to the election that he has received from the returning officer, Henri Garon.

As we await Mr. Garon’s official version of events we are left with the report of the Montreal Herald that the reason for the riot stemmed from the belief on the part of supporters of the Liberal candidate, Mr. C.A. Pelletier, that the Returning Officer was a partisan acting in favour of Hon. John Charles Chapais, the Conservative candidate and Minister of Agriculture.

It is alleged this is the reason that Mr. Garon had struck various parishes from the election proclamation, thus disenfranchising some 800 voters in areas believed to heavily favour the Liberal.

It is suggested that some plausible deniability might exist for the Returning Officer on that score if it were not also reported by his enemies in that riding that he, as reported by the Herald, “made his cow walk through the country with blue colours on its head and red on its tail, the latter being put on to insult the Liberal electors and their candidate.”

We anxiously await confirmation of this latter fact in the official reports.

M. Chapais, meanwhile, remains in the Cabinet without a seat in Parliament. There has been no discussion of his resignation.

COMMONS MATTERS

Following the conclusion of the debate on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne, several notices of motion were given by members:

• David Mills (Liberal, Bothwell), an enquiry of the Ministry on whether they intend to make appropriations to improve navigation on Rivers Thames and Sydenham
• Theodore Robitaille (Conservative, Bonaventure), for copies of reports and correspondence relating to the Intercolonial Railway since the Québec conference
• Albert Smith (Liberal, Westmoreland), an enquiry of the Ministry whether it was their intention to establish a Court of Repeal
• Alexander Sproat (Conservative, North Bruce), for returns of surveys and reports referring to harbours on the east coast of Lake Huron
• John White, (Liberal, Halton), for amount of tolls collected on Burlington Canal from April 1864 to July 1867 inclusive.

November 14, 1867

SENATE BUSINESS

The Senate met briefly at three o’clock yesterday afternoon.

Upon introduction by Hon. Alexander Campbell (Post Master General), An Act for the Regulation of the Postal Service was read for the first time. This is the first piece of legislation introduced in the Parliament.

The Senate established the following committees before adjourning at half-past three o’clock:

• Contingent Accounts Committee
• Standing Orders and Private Bills
• Banking, Commerce and Railways

COMMONS BUSINESS

Debate continued today on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne when the House met at three o’clock. The debate was largely confined once again to the benefits and demerits of Confederation and Nova Scotia’s participation in it.

As the hour approached midnight, the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, expressed the Government’s desire that the debate be brought to an end and that the House would continue to sit for a few more hours if there were members who still wished to speak. When Francis Jones (Conservative, North Leeds and Grenville) began his speech, the Prime Minister moved the House adjourn in order that Mr. Jones receive a fair hearing.

Dr. Thomas Parker (Liberal, Centre Wellington) made his debut in the Parliament, though he had sat in the Legislative Assembly for Canada, representing North Wellington. Mr. Parker’s participation is recorded as such:

Mr. Parker thought it better if this house were to follow the example of the English House of Commons and pass the Address without such a lengthy debate as had occurred on this occasion, and proceeded to speak of the benefits of Confederation, but at the expiration of a few moments becoming confused he apologized to the House saying he found his thoughts not under his control, and would be permission to continue on some other occasion.

The Trade Protective Association of Toronto, a coalition of shopkeepers formed last month, has had a petition read seeking an Act to fix the rate of discount for American silver coins.

November 13, 1867

DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED

The Privy Council has approved an Order-in-Council (1867-0127) commuting the death sentence of Sophie Boisclair that was due to be carried on November 20, 1867. Ms. Boisclair, convicted in March, along with Modiste Villebrun, of the murder of her husband, François-Xavier Jutras, will now remain imprisoned for the term of her natural life. It is believed that the cabinet has seen fit to make the commutation on the grounds that Ms. Boisclair is pregnant.

Boisclair and Modiste Villebrun had begun an affair with one another some time ago and wished to get married but the two were already married to others. Following the sudden death of M. Villebrun’s wife, he moved in with Ms. Boisclair and M. Jutras. Shortly after M. Jutras fell ill and, following an autopsy, was found to have been poisoned with strychnine.

M. Villbrun was hanged in May.

November 12, 1867

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Debate on the reply to the Speech from the Throne continued in the Commons yesterday with several members making their maiden speeches.

Edward Blake (Liberal, Durham West) was first to speak, spending much of his time discussing the coalition government and the strange-bedfellows it has created. The coalition triumph, Mr. Blake said, was a victory for John A. Macdonald and John A. Macdonald alone and, successful though he was, the political morality of the country had been upset. To that end he pointed to the fact that Hon. John S. Macdonald and Hon. E. B. Wood were sitting not he opposition benches in the Commons, despite having campaigned against the very men amongst whom they now sat. Blake’s comments suggest that Sandfield might not be the unanimous choice of opposition MPs to occupy the leadership.

In addition to Blake, several Nova Scotia MPs made their parliamentary debuts. Among them Stewart Campbell (Guysborough), seat mate of Joseph Howe, who said that he would use his opportunity in the Parliament to “endeavour to extract the benefit and extract the evils” of the Union. He regretted to have heard that Mr. Howe would continue to seek repeal of the Union.

Other Nova Scotia members, such as Alfred Savary (Digby) allowed that they said in Parliament unwillingly, forced into the position because the Imperial Government had been deceived by Dr. Charles Tupper as to the feelings of Nova Scotians regarding the Confederation project.

Meanwhile, the Privy Council approved a request from Nova Scotia’s Provincial Secretary for the release of an additional $15,000 in funds (1867-0126), required immediately by that province.

November 11, 1867

PARLIAMENTARY SALOON

The doors of the Parliamentary Saloon are to be closed following a resolution of the members late Friday evening. The decision has been hailed by the press, including the Ottawa Times which writes:

This resolution will not, of course, prevent the supply of such refreshments as may be necessary to sustain the bodily strength of Members during a protracted sitting when the requirements of public business might render it inconvenient for them to leave the precincts of Parliament; but it will have the effect of preventing strangers from distracting Members from their attendance in the House, to gossip, and perhaps, do something worse, down stairs.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S LEVEE

His Excellency Lord Monck, the Governor-General, will hold a levee at two o’clock in the afternoon on November 16 in his suite in the East Building of the Parliament Buildings.

Gentlemen attending are requested to bring two cards with their names legibly written or printed on them. One is to be given to the person appointed to receive them in the corridor. The other will be given to the Officer who will announce them to His Excellency.

Attendees are to enter by the door directly below the Governor-General’s Office and depart by the East door.

November 9, 1867

LEADERSHIP OF THE OPPOSITION

There had been some expectation prior to the meeting of the Parliament that the leadership of the opposition would be assumed by Joseph Howe, the leader of the Anti-Confederate forces in Nova Scotia. That has not come to pass.

In his maiden speech to Parliament, made last night, Mr. Howe (Hants) said the leadership of those who support Confederation must be assumed by one who supports Confederation. Given that during the recent election campaign, “no man in my country” took any position on the policies of the Government of Canada, he could not take a leadership position in the Commons. He has instead taken a seat half-way down the first row of the opposition benches.

For the time being at least, the seat directly across from the prime minister and, therefore, the de facto leadership of the opposition, is occupied by Hon. Sandfield Macdonald, the premier of Ontario. Sandfield’s taking up of this position is a curious one considering how much we have been told by the Globe and other Liberal papers that Sandfield’s administration in Ontario was a mere puppet of the Dominion government.

Alexander Mackenzie (Liberal, Lambton), meanwhile, appears to have assumed the leadership of the Ontario Liberal caucus in the House of Commons.

GALT’S RESIGNATION

Hon. Alexander Galt responded in the Commons yesterday to a request from Antoine Dorion (Liberal, Hochelaga) for an explanation of his resignation from the Cabinet.

Galt pointed to his personal interests and feelings as the reasons necessitating his resignation from the Cabinet. Without detailing his personal interests he said that, at least as far as the first session of the Parliament was concerned, it was necessary that he have control of his own time and affairs.

With respect to personal feeling, Galt said that the feeling in the press and the public in Ontario regarding his role in the bank crisis made it desirable he should step aside, despite his having been acquitted by the directors of the very bank he stands accused of harming. Galt said the he believed he would be acquitted in time but that time was best spent outside the Privy Council.

The Hamilton Times meanwhile, suggests that a heated argument took place amongst the Dominion ministers on Sunday evening and that Mr. Galt’s resignation followed on Monday morning.

November 8, 1867

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH

His Excellency Lord Monck, the Governor-General, delivered his Speech from the Throne yesterday afternoon, outlining the Government’s agenda for the coming first session of the Dominion Parliament.

In his speech, Lord Monck declared his own “deep feeling of gratification” at having played a role in the creation of the Dominion and stated that the foundation has been laid for “a new Nationality that I trust and believe will, ere long, extend its bounds from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.”

The government’s agenda is as follows:

• assimilation of the laws of the Provinces with respect to Currency, Customs, Excise, and Revenue;
• adoption of a uniform Postal System;
• legislation relating to the management and maintenance of the Public Works and Properties of the Dominion;
• developing a scheme for the organization of the Militia and defence of the Dominion;
• legislation relating to the administration of Indian affairs;
• uniform laws respecting Patents of Invention and Discovery;
• naturalization of Aliens;
• assimilation of the Criminal Law;
• assimilation of laws relating to Bankruptcy and Insolvency;
• legislation required to begin the construction of the Intercolonial Railroad will be introduced;
• consideration of territorial expansion to the West;
• consideration of the protection and development of Fisheries and Marine Interest;
• the definition of Parliamentary privileges; and
• the establishment of uniform election laws and the trial for Controverted Elections.

Finally, the expenditures since July 1 will be laid before the Commons for approval, along with the Estimates for this and next year.

Lord Monck closed his speech saying:

Your new nationality enters on its course backed by the moral support, the material aid, and the most ardent good wishes of the Mother Country. Within your own borders peace, security and prosperity prevail, and I fervently pray that your aspirations may be directed to such high and patriotic objects, and that you may be endowed with such a spirit of moderation and wisdom as will cause you to render the great work of Union which has been achieved, a blessing to yourselves and your posterity, and a fresh starting point in the moral, political and material advancement of the people of Canada.

After the speech was read in the Senate Chamber, it was read again in the Commons by the Hon. James Cockburn, Speaker, for the benefit of members there, following which the Prime Minister moved the speech be taken into consideration today.

The House meets this afternoon at three o’clock at which point Charles Fisher (Liberal, York, NB) will begin debate on the Governor-General’s speech by moving agreement with it. He will be seconded by a member from Québec. The debate in the Senate will be started by a senator from Ontario and seconded by a senator from Nova Scotia, thus ensuring that all four provinces are represented.

ROSE TO FINANCE

The Globe suggests that Hon. John Rose (Liberal-Conservative, Huntingdon) will be the choice to replace Hon. Alexander Galt at Finance.

Rose was earlier rumoured to be in line for the Speakership.

Rose, a lawyer, has ministerial experience in the late-Province of Canada but the fact that he oversaw the construction of the Parliament Buildings with their massive cost-overruns does not inspire a great deal of confidence.

If the appointment comes to pass, Rose will have to resign his Commons seat and stand in a by-election.

November 7, 1867

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT

His Excellency Lord Monck arrived at the Parliament Buildings at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, greater by a guard of honour and a nineteen-gun salute.

Prior to His Excellency’s arrival, fifty-eight senators, and 156 members of parliament were sworn in.

After His Excellency took his seat on the throne in the Senate Chamber, the Usher of the Black Rod proceeded to the House of Commons to summon the members to the bar of the Senate. Upon their arrival, the Speaker, Hon. Joseph Cauchon, announced that His Excellency would not declare the reasons for calling the members together until they had elected a Speaker but that he would announce the reasons at 3 o’clock on the following day (today).

The members of the Commons returned to their chamber where the prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald nominated Hon. James Cockburn (Conservative, Northumberland West) for the position of Speaker. The nomination was seconded by Hon. George-Étienne Cartier (Militia).

Mr. Cockburn’s nomination was objected to by Joseph Dufresne (Conservative, Montcalm) on the grounds that Mr. Cockburn could not speak French. To nominate someone for the position of Speaker who could not speak one of the official languages of the Dominion was an affront to the people of Lower Canada and a matter of national feeling. If, Mr. Dufresne said, the official documents of the Dominion should be printed in both languages, the principal ought to be extended to the position of the Speaker.

Mr. Cartier said that though Mr. Cockburn did not speak French he did understand it and was thus as equally qualified as Speakers in the previous Legislature.

Mr. Cockburn was then elected unanimously and conducted to the chair by the prime minister and minister of the militia.

The prime minister then gave notice to the House that a committee would be struck, comprising members of both sides and all regions, to examine the rules of the Parliament of the Province of Canada and the rules of the assemblies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and to recommend the rules to be followed by the new Parliament. In the meantime, however, the prime minister moved that the rules of the previous parliament be followed. The motion was adopted and the House adjourned.

November 6, 1867

GALT RESIGNS

Amidst the continuing controversy at the Commercial Bank and concerns over his handling of the banking file, Hon. Alexander Tilloch Galt (Finance) has resigned from the cabinet. Galt says that he is resigning for private and urgent reasons. He retains his seat in the Commons.

Hon. William Howland (Inland Revenue) will take over the Finance portfolio on an interim basis.

The Globe is skeptical that any real change to the government’s policy will result from the resignation. They believe Galt to be a sacrifice the government has had to make to quell growing public dissatisfaction with the handling of the Commercial Bank crisis but that government will continue to follow Galt’s policy.

News of the resignation comes on the day the new Parliament of Canada is to meet for the first time and is surely a black mark for the Government.

For a review of the Commercial Bank crisis, see here.

Meanwhile, Hon. Joseph Cauchon has been appointed Speaker of the Senate.

FUNERAL OF BISHOP STRACHAN

The late Bishop of Toronto, John Strachan, was laid to rest yesterday afternoon beneath the high altar at St. James Cathedral.

Both sides of King Street were lined with members of military and volunteers in an unbroken phalanx that stretched from the Bishop’s residence to the Cathedral.

The funeral procession was led by

• One mounted troop of the 13th Hussars
• Officers of the 10th Royals
• Officers of the Volunteer Artillery Battery and Foot Artillery
• Officers of the Grand Trunk Brigade
• Officer’s of the Queen’s Own
• Volunteer Staff Officers
• Regular Staff Officers
• St. George’s Society
• St. Andrew’s Society
• St. Patrick’s Society
• The city Police Force, Officers in rear
• The Members of City Council
• The City Officials
• Upper Canada Law Society
• Law Students
• Professors and Students of Victoria College
• Students of Upper Canada College
• Masters of Upper Canada College
• Masters and pupils of Normal School
• Faculty and Students of Toronto University
• Professors of Trinity College
• Graduates and under graduates of Trinity College
• Clergy of the Diocese
• The Dean of Toronto
• The Bishop and Messrs. Givins and Scadding, Chaplains

The hearse, drawn by four black horses, was accompanied by the Pall Bearers:

• His Honour, the Lieutenant-Governor, General Harry Stisted
• Ven. Archdeacon Palmer
• Dr. McCaul
• The Provost
• Chief Justice Draper
• Ven. Archdeadon Fuller
• The Mayor
• H. J. Boulton

The hearse was followed by Verger and Valet, mourners, and citizens on foot.

Along the procession route stores were closed and flags hung at half-mast.

November 5, 1867

DOMINION GOVERNMENT TO CHECK US EXPANSIONISM

A memo written by Sir Frederick Bruce just weeks before his death in Washington in September warns that the Western citizens of the United States have set their sites on the North West Territory and immediate action is required in order to prevent it falling into the hands of that nation.

The memo from Bruce, Her Majesty’s late representative to the United States, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, His Grace, the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, advises the Duke that if the territory, including the Saskatchewan River and the Red River Settlement “is not shortly occupied with settlers who can (illegible) its natural resources to account, it will be over-run by squatters rushing up from Montana with whom the Hudson Bay Company and the Canadian authorities will find it very difficult to deal.”

Bruce further warns that the Secretary of State for the United States, William Seward is strongly in favour of American expansionism.

Upon Buckingham and Chandos’s request to our Governor-General, His Excellency Lord Monck, Hon. William McDougall (Public Works) will move a motion “For the incorporation of Rupert’s Land, and the Northwestern Territory, with Canada”. The motion will be moved on November 11, 1867. The resolution is copied above (1867-0107).

SIR BRUCE’S ASSESSMENT OF THE DOMINION ELECTION CAMPAIGN

In his memo to Buckingham and Chandos, Sir Bruce offers a scathing indictment of the recent election campaign in this country. In discussing whether or not the Dominion government can be successful in populating the west and inducing the Pacific colonies to join Confederation, Sir Bruce warns that even if those question are settled

there remains the grave question yet to be settled — whether the Union of the Atlantic Provinces is going to work. There is not, thus far, in the progress of the Confederation scheme, the slightest indication that the different sectional interests in Canada are any nearer being reconciled than they were before Confederation was spoken of.

There is a political contest now in progress there of a more bitter kind than anything we remember to have read of — all turning upon some petty local or personal issue. There is no policy laid before the people. There are no measures to be voted for, or against. There is simply the old contemptible fight for the spoils, aggravated, apparently, by the groupie of the Provinces into one pot of political communion.

A Dominion government after that fashion will not attract lesser or greater communities. It will have hard work, we fear, to hold together even with the powerful supply of British (illegible), imported for the building of new garrisons and other great public works.

GOVERNMENT MATTERS

A roundup of recent Orders-in-Council:

• $1000 has been laid aside (1867-0110) for the construction of a sidewalk on the viaduct of the Union Suspension Bridge in Ottawa to alleviate the great danger and inconvenience incurred by pedestrians crossing the bridge.
• The Dominion government has extended $15,000 on the subsidy account to Nova Scotia (1867-0117) for that province to pay sums coming due for roads and other services. The province had asked for $30,000.
• His Honour, Sir Narcisse Fortunât Belleau, the Lieutenant-Governor of Québec, has resigned his seat in the Senate of Canada (1867-0119). Hon. Joseph Cauchon has been appointed in his stead and will represent the Stadacona Division. The resignation and appointment appear to indicate the correctness of rumours that M. Cauchon will be appointed Speaker of the Senate.

November 4, 1867

PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES POSTPONED

The first meetings of the Legislative Assemblies of Ontario and Québec have been further postponed.

The Québec Assembly is now scheduled to meet on November 29. The Ontario Assembly has been delayed to December 13.

Both assemblies had been scheduled to meet today.

ALGOMA ELECTION TO BE PROTESTED

As Macdonell Wemyss Simpson (Conservative, Algoma), arrives in Ottawa to take his seat in the House of Commons there are renewed rumours that his election is to be protested over the disenfranchising of the Indians in that district.

November 2, 1867

CONSCRIPTION IF NECESSARY

Legislation regarding the Militia has been prepared and printed and is in the hands of the minister, Hon. George-Étienne Cartier.

If passed, the bill seeks to establish the methods by which the militia ranks will be filled. Districts that supply their quota of volunteers will have no further requests made upon them. Conscription will be used in districts where the quota is not met.

It is believed that the call for volunteers will yield a militia of some 50,000 men.

The bill has not been discussed by the Privy Council and is not expected to be introduced before the holidays.

CONFIDENCE IN ROYAL CANADIAN BANK

Following an attempt by the Bank of Montreal to discredit the Royal Canadian Bank, the Ontario government has opened an account at that institution, providing it a much needed vote of confidence in the eyes of depositors.

REVOLVING DOOR IN NEW BRUNSWICK

Since Confederation, New Brunswick has seen so many of its public men appointed to the Senate, elected to the House of Commons, and appointed to the local Cabinet, that several elections have been held over the last few weeks in nearly every county in the province to restore the stock in the provincial legislature.

One consequence of this is that approximately one-third of the current members of the Legislative Assembly are new to public life. In the cabinet of Premier Wetmore, only Hon. John McAdam (Public Works) has any executive experience, and that of only a few months.

Such widespread inexperience poses special difficulties for the province as it begins to organize itself within the Dominion. In addition to having to put out the still smoldering anti-Confederationist fires, the fresh ministers will have to contend with the jealousies of their backbench colleagues, all of whom are at risk of thinking they are just as qualified to advise Her Majesty as those currently doing so.

November 1, 1867

BANK MEETING WITH GOVERNMENT

The representatives of the Ontario banks, Senator Hon. Donald McDonald (Liberal), Hon. John Hillyard Cameron, MP (Conservative, Peel), Mr. Thomas C. Street, MP (Conservative, Welland), and Mr. Thomas N. Gibbs, MP (Liberal-Conservative, Ontario South), met yesterday with the Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Minister of Finance Hon. Alexander Galt, and Minister of Inland Revenue, Hon. William Howland.

The banks asked that the Bank of Montreal be required to redeem legal tenders at their places of issue and that they only be permitted to demand settlement of their balances from the other banks at the places where it redeems provincial notes.

The requests come on word that the Bank of Montreal is now charging a one percent premium to accept the bills of the Ontario banks if those bills were issued in Ontario.

The ministers agreed to discuss the matter with the full cabinet.

CANADIAN LUMBER TRADE

While there has been no further news on the rumoured export duty on Québec lumber, the Quebec Gazette reports that no fewer than 50,000 men are employed in the lumber industry in this country.

15,000 in the forest, 10,000 in the manufacture, 17,000 seamen on 1,200 vessels, carrying 700,000 tons to Europe, and another 8,000 on inland waters.

October 31, 1867

BANKS TO MEET WITH GOVERNMENT

Owing to a missed connection between the Grand Trunk and the Ottawa and Prescott railroads, the bank deputation did not reach Ottawa yesterday in time for the scheduled meeting with the Government. The meeting is now scheduled for this morning.

The deputation representing the banks consists of Senator Hon. Donald McDonald (Liberal), Hon. John Hillyard Cameron, MP (Conservative, Peel), Mr. Thomas C. Street, MP (Conservative, Welland), and Mr. Thomas N. Gibbs, MP (Liberal-Conservative, Ontario South).

The parliamentarians are expected to protest the degree of power the Bank of Montreal wields over the banking in dusty in the Dominion.

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT

Much pageantry is expected with the opening of Parliament next week. Women will be admitted to Senate Chamber for the Speech from the Throne. They will be expected to appear in full evening costume. Cabinet ministers are expected in court dress. Members of the Commons may dress as they wish.

October 30, 1867

CABINET DIFFICULTIES

The cabinet difficulties, first reported yesterday, continue with rumours now that the prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald has threatened to resign lest the cabinet fail to agree to his course of action.

COMMERCIAL BANK SHAREHOLDERS MEETING

The shareholders of the Commercial Bank of resolved that the bank should seek to continue its operations either through a merger with another bank of by making an application to Parliament.

ONTARIO BANKS TO MEET WITH GOVERNMENT

Representatives of the Ontario banks are expected in Ottawa today to meet with the cabinet for a discussion of fiscal policy.

POWER OF THE PRIESTS

The Globe observes that a movement is afoot in Québec to reduce the temporal power of the priests. Led by the paper the Pays its success is so far limited but it hopes that in time the priests will be reduced to their appropriate sphere of influence.

AMERICAN THANKSGIVING

The President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, has issued a proclamation declaring Thursday, November 28, “a day of national thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty Ruler of nations, with whom are dominion and fear, and who makes peace in His high places, restring and refraining from secular labour, and let us reverently and devoutly give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the mercies and blessings with which He has crowned the now closing year. The Hamilton Evening Times asks when Lord Monck will issue a similar proclamation for Canada.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND CONFEDERATION

A meeting was held recently in Newfoundland to discuss the pros and cons of joining Confederation. It is reported to have been a peaceful discussion and is accompanied by news that the colony of Victoria and Vancouver Island has submitted an application to join the Union.

October 29, 1867

CABINET REVOLT SAID TO BE BREWING

The cabinet has been meeting for the past several days, including Sunday, to discuss the the financial difficulties occasioned by the collapse of the Commercial Bank.

The Government is hoping to calm anxiousness about the soundness of the remaining Dominion banks. They have committed to accepting the notes of all banks (save the the Commercial and Upper Canada), offering a vote of confidence that none of the banks are at risk of the Commercial’s fate. At the same time, there is some discussion that the Commercial may soon reopen its doors. An informal meeting is being held in Montreal today that may offer a solution to that bank’s difficulties.

Despite this, the Globe reports that several members of the cabinet are upset with the way Hon. Alexander Galt is handling the govenrment’s financial policies. Some are said to be so upset that they are considering resigning.

October 28, 1867

BANK OF MONTREAL CONTROLS BANKING INDUSTRY

For all intents and purposes, the Bank of Montreal, and specifically its general manager, Edward King, controls the banking industry in this country. This is not hyperbole but is in fact owing to an agreement that exists between the Dominion government and the Bank of Montreal that requires the Bank to approve any aid the Government might wish to provide to banks.

This concession to Mr. King of the control of the banking industry was granted by Hon. William Howland, now the Minister of Inland Revenue, but formerly the Minister of Finance for the Province of Canada as a condition of the Bank of Montreal becoming the issuer Government notes.

In light of this, the refusal of the Government to provide the Commercial with the $500,000 in aid in had first sought and failed to obtain from the Bank of Montreal is suspect.

With respect to the Bank of Montreal proposal that the Ontario banks provide the Commercial with aid, the Globe wonders why the Montreal Bank, which, as the sole government bank is essentially a Government institution, should be putting the onus of aid on private banks.

The Globe answers its own question when it describes the details of the plan, that the Bank of Montreal offered to provide the Ontario banks with the funds it would not provide directly to the Commercial Bank. The reason for this, the paper speculates, is because the Bank of Montreal actually orchestrated the Commercial’s collapse and saw this aid proposal as an opportunity to sink a few more rivals at the same time. It was the recognition of this danger that led the Ontario banks to refuse this proposal.

How did the Bank of Montreal orchestrate the collapse of the Commercial Bank? According to the Globe the first run on that bank in September began when one of the Montreal Bank’s agencies in Ontario, on instruction from the head office, redeemed all of the Commercial paper it held.

The Globe concludes:

The aid (to the Commercial) was refused because the Bank of Montreal has been placed by the Government in a position which causes it to benefit by the sudden downfall of other banks. Every failures increases the resources of the Bank of Montreal. A very large portion of the circulation of the Commercial will be replaced by Government greenbacks, which give the Bank of Montreal a profit. A large portion of the deposits of the Commercial will go to the Montreal Bank; for is it not the Government bank, and how can it fall? Whatever the other banks lose the Montreal bank gains, and it is the Government which has put it in that position.

STATEMENT FROM THE PRIME MINISTER

The following statement was issued two nights ago by the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald:

The Government will continue to receive notes of all chartered banks, except the Commercial Bank of Kingston, and the Bank of Upper Canada.

The statement is intended to quell rumours that the Government will only accept its own notes and provides a much needed vote of confidence in the Dominion’s banks.

WHAT IS THE CABINET DISCUSSING?

The Minister of Finance, Hon. Alexander Galt, and the Minister of Militia, Hon. George-Étienne Cartier arrived in Ottawa from Montreal yesterday (Sunday) morning by special train. That afternoon the cabinet held a special meeting, the subject matter of which is unknown but the suddenness of the meeting and it’s being held on a Sunday afternoon led many in the city to believe that a Fenian raid had begun, reports the Globe.

REFORM OF MONTREAL CITY FINANCES SOUGHT

A movement is afoot for some new method of managing the finances of the City of Montreal owing to the fact that the city’s revenues now exceed New Brunswick’s and are greater than all of Canada’s prior to the Union. Details on how to reform the finances are not yet on offer.

October 26, 1867

NOVA SCOTIA MEMBERS TO TAKE COMMONS SEATS

The Anti-Confederate members of parliament from Nova Scotia have resolved to take their seats in the House of Commons when the Parliament meets in November. The decision was made by a vote of the members and their colleagues in the provincial assembly at the recent caucus meeting in Halifax, the result of which was thirty-three in favour and twenty-three opposed.

RAIL BETWEEN OTTAWA AND TORONTO

The Ottawa and Prescott Railroad will begin running three passengers trains a day between Ottawa and Toronto beginning on November 4th. Trains will arrive in Ottawa from Toronto by 9:30 pm. Return trains from Ottawa to Toronto will depart at 10:00 pm, arriving in Toronto by 1:00 pm the following day.

MACDONALD RETURNS FROM OTTAWA

The prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald has returned to Ottawa after an emergency trip to Montreal to meet with the Finance Minister, Hon. Alexander Galt. Galt remains in Montreal.

BANK RUNS TO CONCLUDE IN A FEW DAYS

The Globe reports that runs on the banks in Toronto have continued but shall be exhausted within a few days. They write:

The business community, it is hardly necessary to say, are perfectly steady and support the banks with all their influence. The applicants for gold are labourers, the least intelligent farmers, and ladies, who dear creatures, are quite certain that the end of the world — financially — has arrived. There is no use reasoning with these people. Let them have their gold and they will speedily bring it back.

NEW GAOL IN STRATFORD

The Guelph Mercury reports that plans to construct a new gaol in Stratford is moving ahead and a request for tenders is to be issued shortly for the construction to be completed by the end of next year at a cost of between $30,000 and $40,000.

TROUBLE IN RED RIVER

A report from the Red River, originally published in the Montreal Gazette and reproduced by the Globe describes a land without law, where the governor of the land, the Hudson’s Bay Company, professes an inability to protect the settlers, and appears interested in looking solely after its own interests. All the while, the settlers are denied both representation and the vote.

The correspondent pleads for the protection of two or three Companies of the Canadian Rifles, fearing that the settlement shall soon be over run by the Sioux, who are making common cause with their former enemies, the Saultaux and Bungays. The writer reports that their cattle are killed daily and they are unable to retaliate lest it provoke a massacre.

The settlers dare not interfere — that is the fact; their lives and property are in danger, and they are compelled to satisfy the insolent demands of the Indians to keep pace for a time, anxiously awaiting the result of any action the Confederate Parliament of British North America may take for their relief at the approaching session.

TOWNSHIP OF BETSIAMITES

The Province of Québec has created the township of Betsiatmites. The township is in the district of Saguenay and is bounded on the north-east by the Betsiamites River, on the south-west by the proposed township De La Tour; on the south-east by the St. Lawrence River, and on the north-west by the Crown Lands.

Two weeks prior to the creation of the township, the Cabinet approved $500 in aid for the Indians here, living, in the government’s words in “great destitution”.

SANDFIELD MACDONALD TO HAVE PORTRAIT DONE

The Ottawa Times reproduces correspondence between John MacDonnell of Cornwall and the premier of Ontario and Cornwall native, Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald. MacDonnell had been delegated by a group of Macdonald’s friends to seek the premier’s willingness to sit for a full length portrait, to hang in the Cornwall Court House. The premier has accepted the offer.

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE PROVINCES

It was earlier reported that Dr. Charles Tupper, the lone supporter of Confederation from Nova Scotia in the House of Commons, has declined the position of Secretary of State for the Provinces. The Montreal Daily News suggests that the reason Tupper declined the post was out of a desire to respect the verdict of the elections in that province, feeling his appointment would be a demonstration of indifference. He is said to have suggested the prime minister offer the position to Joseph Howe instead and is believed to have returned to Halifax to make the offer.

The Halifax Citizen scoffs that the notion that Dr. Tupper would refuse “any place with a salary of six cents, — not to speak of six thousand dollars” as “the best joke of the season”. They suggest instead that the offer was never made to Tupper, though it may in fact be made to Howe. Though, they say, that it is being discussed openly in the press “shows how destitute the public men of Canada are, not only of the first principles of statesmanship, but of the first principles of political honesty.”

The Citizen says that only one reply can be forthcoming to such an offer until Nova Scotia has a fair hearing of its case for the repeal of Confederation before the government and Parliament of Great Britain.