July 24, 1867

MEETING OF CANDIDATES IN CARLETON PLACE

On Thursday, July 18, 1867, Hon. William McDougall (Public Works) and his Reform rival for the riding of North Lanark, Kenneth Mackenzie, met in the drill shed in Carleton Place in front of some 100 spectators for the purpose of making speeches. Though the meeting had been called and arranged by supporters of McDougall, Mackenzie was in attendance and given the floor following McDougall on a motion by Mr. Dickson of Pakenham.

The meeting was extensively reported across five columns by The Globe, devoting the vast majority of the coverage to Mackenzie’s speech. Macdougall, reported the paper, spent the bulk of his speech on attacks on George Brown, that paper’s founder, and Reform candidate in the Ontario South constituency.

The attacks got the attention of Mr. Mackenzie delivered a withering response that produced great laughter at the minister’s expense.

It is plain that the hon. gentleman is oppressed with night mare every night, and starts out his disturbed sleep with George Brown’s hand at his throat. He opens his eyes in the morning, and horror, the spectre of George Brown is in the corner of his bedroom. He dines with John A., and while the champagne sparkles so invitingly, there between the glasses is the head of the dreadful George Brown. Was it consistent with the dignity of a Minister of the Crown to come and do nothing more than show the people of the North Riding how he is haunted day and night by George Brown. (Mackenzie) submitted that if Mr. McDougall was powerless to rid himself of his terrible imagination, he ought at least refrain from exposing his weakness and tiring out sensible people. To charges that Mackenzie was following Brown’s orders in attending the meeting, the Reformer said he had a mind of his own and was following the Brown policy because he believed it to be right. Mackenzie said he took no pleasure in opposing McDougall, a man he had defended on earlier occasions but who, in letting Mackenzie down, had forced Mackenzie into putting his name forward for the North Lanark seat.

NEW BRUNSWICK GOVERNMENT CLINGING TO OFFICE

Despite a spate of Dominion appointments, the executive of the new province remains in office. With the exception of Hon. Samuel Tilley, the Dominion Minister of Customs, who last week resigned his position as Provincial Secretary, the remaining executive members in the province have kept their offices. This includes Hon. Peter Mitchell, premier of the province, who is a colleague of Mr. Tilley in the Dominion cabinet, responsible for Marine and Fisheries.

Other members of the New Brunswick executive remaining in office are:

• Hon. Abner Reid McClelan, Commissioner of the Board of Works. He was called to the Senate in May.
• Hon. Robert Duncan Wilmot, minister without portfolio. He has been called to the Senate by Royal Proclamation.
• Hon. Edward Williston, solicitor-general. He was appointed judge of the County Court in June.
• Hon. Charles Fisher, attorney-general. He has put forward his name to stand for the House of Commons in the constituency of York (New Brunswick).
• Hon. Charles Connell, surveyor general. He is a candidate for the Dominion Parliament in the constituency of Carleton, New Brunswick.

NOVA SCOTIA ELECTION NEWS

A report suggests that nine of the eighteen House of Commons constituencies in the province are still in search of a candidate to carry the Government banner.

JACKSON WITHDRAWS

George Jackson has withdrawn from the race for the House of Commons in the Ontario constituency of South Grey. Jackson, once a Liberal, had been set to stand for office as a member of the prime minister’s party. In a letter to the electors of the riding, Jackson cites continued opposition to the Grey and Simcoe railway, and his unwillingness to continue the fight as an election issue, as his reason for his resignation.

GLOBE COPS TO FAKE NEWS

In reply to a complaint from R. M. Allen, a candidate in East Toronto, who said that The Globe’s favourable comparison of Allen to James Beaty, another candidate in the riding, will result in a loss of support, the paper writes:

We shall regret exceedingly if anything we have said or done damages Mr. Allen’s prospects, but we do not see exactly how we can remedy the error. There are a great many mischiefs in this world more easily done than undone, and this is one of them. We can only promise ‘not to do so anymore.’

DEATH OF JUDGE HARRISON

Hon. Samuel Bealey Harrison, Judge of the Country Court for the Count of York passed away yesterday, the cause being heart disease.

Born to John and Mary in Manchester, England, on March 4, 1802, Judge Harrison moved to Upper Canada in 1837, where he built Bronte’s first saw mill. Judge Harrison, known for his legal career in England was pressed to enter public life, becoming leader of the government in the Legislative Assembly of Canada in 1841, a position he held until 1844.

Among Harrison’s legislative initiatives was the Common Schools bill, creating a system of public schools in Canada East and West, and the District Councils Bill, creating the first elected municipal governments in Canada West.

When Robert Baldwin introduced his resolutions calling for responsible government in the colony, Harrison introduced resolutions of his own which won the support of Baldwin. The Harrison resolutions, stopping short of the legal definition (the governor was not required to act on executive council advice and the requirement for the executive to have the confidence of the assembly was a suggestion only) established a de facto system of responsible government in the united Canada.

His funeral will take place tomorrow at 10 am, beginning at his former home.