The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-27 00:00:00

were not to last forever-the Legislature of the colony or of f
the mother country possesseeihe power of repealing them.— '
( Hear, hear.) He replied they had—but to ensure this repeal
it was necessary to obtain the consent of the Crown—and he
stud this viat behalf ,of the people, who might be aggrieved or
oppressed i3y any stets of the Crown ; it was necessary to
procure the consent of the Legislative Council, and
he said this on behalf of the Crown and the people, who
might feel themselves aggrieved or oppressed by any
laws giving an undue preponderance to this the aristo-
cratical branch of the Legislature ; it was necessary to ob-
tain the consent of the popular Assembly, and as he said a
small word on behalf of the people just now, when he alluded
to the possibility of their being oppressed or aggrieved by the
Crown, so now he said this on behalf of the Crown and of the
persons of property forming the aristocracy of the colony, it
such a thing as an aristocracy could be said to exist there, who
might feel themselves aggrieved and oppressed by a turbulent
or anarchical democracy. Suppose any question had passed the
Governor and Council which pressed sorely upon the subject—
suppose a law were passed giving the absolute power of life and
death to the Crown—making the Judges dependent, giving the
Crown the absolute power of punishing, coercing, imprisoning.
or putting to dbath without form of tr'al. As the law at pre-
sent stood that power would expire in 1842—it could not be
extended beyond—but as the Bill at present stood, unless the
Crown consented to the repeal, as well as the two branches of
the Legislature, the power remained for ever. So that if the
Crown had grappled absolute power during the three years
it could retain it as long as it chose. But suppose the Gover-
nor were to 'choose to enact an ordinance establishing Universal
Suffrage—Vote by Ballot—Annual Parliaments, under the
existing law such a regulation wonld expire in 1842. He
knew it had been said that such an Act could not pass on
account of the provisions of the Canada Act, but he entertained
considerable doubts on that subject, and surely their Lordships
would not legislate on a subject of such vast importance, when
grave doubts could be shown to exist as to the construction of
that Act. His first ground of doubt was that only words of
limitation were contained in the clause, which was not a clause
of proviso. The words were, that the Provincial Legisla-
ture should not have the power of doing any thing repugnant
to that Act. It did net say repugnant to any enactments of
that Act, or inconsistent with that Act. Now, that provision
would be abundantly satisfied by any measure that did not
go to make any alteration in the Legislature—such as
making laws without the intervention of the Assembly, or
making laws by means of their Assemblies. This would leave
an enormous margin within which the Governor and Council
would have the power of legislating with respect to the Con- I
stitution of the Canadian people. Besides, there was a sec-
tion
in the Act recognising Acts made by the Canadian Le-
gislature, in the teeth of the provisions of the Act itself. It
says they must be laid for thirty days before both Houses of
Parliament. It might therefore be very reasonably contended
that this Act was never intended to bear the construction now
attempted to be put upon it ; and as the Governor was not
restrained from performing all acts that might be performed
by the Canadian Legislature, and as he could only be restrained
from performing the acts to which he had alluded, on the
ground that the Canadian Legislature was restrained from
doing so by the Act alluded to, he claimed from their Lordships
not to give this power unless they were prepared to sanction
the establishment of any system of power, be it either an un-
controlled despotism or an unrestrained democracy. He would
now suppose some instances of the manner in which this
power might be exercised. Many might entertain doubts as
to the propriety of his construction of this Statute—many
might even entertain no doubt whatever, but might unhesi-
tatingly come to a decision against him. He would, for the
sake of argument, suppose he was wrong. What was there
in the clause to prevent the Governor and Council, in the
exercise of the legislative authority, making a law, that there
should be no appeal in a case in which the matter in dispute
should be under the value of 10,0001. All appellate jurisdiction
might be at,once destroyed. Again, the right of voting at pre.
sent resided in persons possessing freeholds of the value of 40s.
Assuming the Governor had not the power by the Canada Act
of altering this qualification to Is. There was nothing to pre-
vent his altering currency in such a manner as to make one
penny of real value, of the nominal value of 405., and thus give a
vote to every man possessing one single pennyworth of land in the
colony. 'There was nothing said as to the method of taking
votes. He now came to a subject which he imagined would
affect their Lordships—the subject of the Ballot. There was
nothing said in the Canada Act as to hOw the votes were to be
taken. It provided that the Assembly should meet once in four
years, but there was nothing said against Parliaments meeting
once a year—there was nothing against Annual Parliaments.
Would that be to their Lordships' taste ? (A laugh. )
There was nothing to prevent it, and if once established, it
could only be abolished by the consent of that Parliament which
it called into existence. There was nothing about the method
of taking votes. What would their Lordships say at
finding the Ballot introduced—(Cheers)—when they found
the Ballot had been made an open question by the Ministers of
the Crown—by a Cabinet which professed to repudiate the
Ballot—(Cheers)—and which, seeking to reject it altogether,
lent it on that account the full support of its own venerable
authority—modestly supposing that the more energetically it
was supported by them, the more certainly would it become
the rejected of all the rest of mankind.—(Cheers and laughter. )
But suppose a Member for Manchester —a future Chancellor of
the Exchequer—should be waited on by some of his constitu-
ency, who should say to him—" It is certainly an improvement,
you having made the Ballot an open question, it has secured
some few votes, but you must do something more—give us
the Ballot in Canada, that will make up for your
having made it an open question in this country, and by
giving it your support retarded it." Or suppose, throwing aside
all these pretences, the Government in a straight-forward and
manly manner should say "We have made the Ballot an open
question because we approve of it, at least we think it will
please our supporters, and secure us a few more votes ; with
that view we have lent our aid, very feeble it is true—as a set-
off against our feebleness in its support in England, let us go
further in Canada—

Fiat experimentum incorpore
let us see how it works in that country." (Cheers. )
If the Ballot were once established there it could never
be repealed, for the Assembly, called into existence by
the Ballet, would never repeal it ; and having once been
made an open question in this country, depend upon it you
would never get a majority, however narrow, of the House of
Commons, to consent to the repeal of the Ballot when
it should once be enacted in Canada. He beseeched their
Lordships not to give to any men the power of inflicting
upon the people of Canada, by their dictatorial laws,
either the horrors of unmitigated despotism, or such wild
anarchy and confusion, as must be painful to all levers of peace
and good order to contemplate. Even the wild and savage
Romans—the people of all antiquity, who understood and va-
lued liberty the least, although the word was always on their
lips,_ and who resigned the small portion of it which they en-
joyed almost without a struggle, even they, ignorant and careless
as they were on the subject, when they chose a dictator, never
entrusted him with legislative functions—he was entrusted
with the power of the sword—which was sheathed imme-
diately the law wrested it from his hands, all the acts of his
dictatorship expired with the power which gave them birth and
were sunk for ever in oblivion.—( Cheers.) But in a country
which understood the principles of liberty in as great a degree
as the ancient Romans were ignorant of them—(Cheers)—
which loved liberty to the full as much as the Romans were
indifferent to it—(Cheers)—under the British Constitution,
the model to which all nations looked up with admiration
and which all were ambitious of imitating, it was proposed to
institute a new and monstrous species of dictatorship, un-
known even to the savage Romans, the effects of which
should be perpetuated even after itself should have passed
away, and the condition of its existing, the necessity by which it
was called into being, should have ceased. Nothing but a ne-
cessity the most imperious could have justified the creation of
such a dictatorship—a necessity that could not be argued with,
and which to hear was to obey ; but when that necessity
ceased—when the condition of its existence was at an end—it
should cease and be at an end also. To whom could he look
for refuge? To those who had always been loudest and most en-
thusiastic in their aspirations for the cause of freedom—to those
who were supposed to be desirous of power only the more
effectually to serve the cause of liberty—to that party which
had been described by an eminent female writer as those
who loved liberty and tolerated kings, while their adversaries
the Tories loved kingly power and tolerated the Constitution?
Was it to them, the friends of the Constitution, who had rea-
soned for months about abdication—a word, by the bye, which
seemed well understood now-a-days—(Laughter)—was it to
them he was to flee for refuge from the "pelting of the pitiless
storm" against the Constitution, which now raged and threat-
ened ? He found they were the authors of the tempest, that
they had unchained the blast.—( Hear.) Where then did he
fly for refuge ? To their Lordships.—(Cheers.) The case
was before them—it was their's to decide. To their calm and
deliberate judgment he appealed, and he knew that he should
not appeal in vain, against what he held to be a departure from
all principle, an inroad upon all freedom, the destruction of all
constitutional rights, compared with which the original
measure itself was merciful and constitutional.—(Cries of
" Hear, hear.") But he must not pass entirely over the
reason given for this measure. What was it ? That whereas
improvements in public works required the raising of moneys,
these monies could not be raised but by loan, on better securi-
ties than temporary Acts. Well, he had framed his attention
accordingly, confining its operation to the particular exigencies
stated by the Noble Marquis to be necessary. Let the loans
be raised, and on permanent securities, and let the Constitution
in other respects stand : and to make this quite easy, he had
copied the very words in a following section of the Act itself,
where the power of taxation was limited to particular purposes.
He must say one word: he ought, though, to apologize to their
Lordships for the length at which he had addressed them—
(Cheers)—but he wished to say one word' on the power of
taxation. This was the second time and only the second time,
in which this power had been required. All the arguments
which had been used against the Canada resolutions in 1837,
and afterwards in a protest which other Noble Lords had
signed with him—would apply with additional force to the
clause in the present Act.—( Hear.) But if it were considered
necessary to allow money to be raised for specific purposes, and
none others, all he entreated of their Lordships was to apply
the same restriction to the powers of the second clause as to
the powers of legislation not extending beyond 1842. He was
against giving the power of taxation at all; rather than allow
such a departure from the principle of the Act of 1778 he
would that the money were lent by England, till the Go-
vernment of Canada was remodelled. One remark, and only
one remark more. The Noble Marquis had said that there
were three modes of dealing with the question—that, too, hav-
ing been universally condemned, there remained but the• one,
which had been submitted to Parliament, that one was, to re-
store the Canadian Constitution immediately ; the second, to
proceed with a Bill for remoulding the Constitution on a basis
recommended in the Royal message, the union of the two
provinces. The third, the present Bill. Was it not
time to inquire, when they saw the difficulty they
had got into,—whether the necessity continued to
exist which was the pretext for subverting the Constitu-
tion? He was told it was clear that the necessity continued.
But every thing had been quiet in Canada for some months.
Still it was said the necessity remained, because the majority of the
inhabitantswereagainst the Government. That, in truth, was the
difficulty of their position. Now, he wascheered last night, by the
Queen's Ministers, when he had said to his Noble and Learned
Friend opposite, that the disproportion of Catholics and Protes.
tants was the difficulty which his Noble and Learned Friend
.had to grapple with in Ireland, and that it was to the necessity
of the case he must submit. But if the argument was gOod for
Ireland it was good for Canada. Why should the conduct and
the polio; of the Government in Ireland be a contrast to their
conduct and policy in North America ? .They never could hope
to have an English majority in Lower Canada; they could hardly
hope for such a majority even in a union of the Provinces ;
and the difficulty and embarrassment now felt on this account
would be equally felt in 1842. His advi e was, restore the
Constitution making what changes were upon deliberation
found expedient. Let it not be suspended an hour beyond
the time required by the necessity of the case. But if their
Lordships must pass this measure, to enable the Govern-
ment to abandon its 4uty to the province of Canada, by re-
lieving them from the task of bringing in a proper and final
measure ; pass it in such a shape as lie had -attempted to de-
scribe, and by which .they would gain net only the gratitude
but the admiration, and he would. say the veneration, of all
their fellow-countrymen who had any - regard for the rights
of the people, for the privileges of the- Crown, and the prin-
ciples of the Constitution of the empire.—( Loud cheers.)
A NO.RI:R LORD on the Ministerial benches, whose name
we could not learn, and who was utterly inaudible, said a few
swords ; after. 'which, ' _ „
Viscount MELBOURNE rose and said, My Lords, the
first part of the speech of my Noble and Learned Friend tieated.
of-the conduct of the Government- on -this •subject ; and' the
second part of thaesteech referfed to thig most ilepottinV