The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-21 00:00:00

he computed the loss to Nova Scotia, with which he was
better acquainted, at £2,000,000, making a total loss of
£5,000,000. Other reductions had since taken place, so
that there was very little profit acquired by the trade ; and
it was at such a moment that the right hon. gentleman
opposite, again, without the least notice to the colonists,

produced his scheme for doing away with all preferential
duties. (Hear, hear.) He bibbed of them to consider
whether it was their intention to put it out of the poier of
these colonies whether they would belong to this country
or not. (Hear.) They were now cutting the first strand
of the cable that connected the colonists with the mother

country., He had seen a reply of'the right hon. gentleman
opposite to Mr. M'Evilly, the mayor of St. John's, who
must be a respectable person, for he was not the represen-
tative of £6 householders, but a more respectable class, ani
who addressed a letter to .the r;ght hon. gentleman on the
subject of his proposed abolition of the differential duty on
timber. This gentleman, with whom he was not acquainted,
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pointed out the injustice and the danger of the proposal,
but he could not find that his letter contained anything in
the least disrespectful. ' Ho\fever, the right hon. gentleman
returned a haughty and supercilious answer, which must
have dumbfoundered Mr. WE villy, and sent him back to
the colony if it did not kill him with fright. The right
hon, gentleman questioned and disputed his right to pro-
test and remonstrate against the policy he adopted, and
told him that he ought to have sent his remonstrance to
the Secretary fer the Colonies, who would use his discretion

whether it should be laid before the right hon. gentleman.
(Laughter.) The right hon. gentleman desired to have it
sent through the " Circumlocution-office," but the pro-
bability was that in that case it never would have been laid
before him at all, because the bill would have been passed
through Parliament before he could have made his repre-
sentations to the colonial governor and the Secretary of
State for the Colonies. The right hon. gentleman inti-
mated that the colony had been protected by this country.
Such a statement would be ungenerous, if true, but there
was not a word of truth in it. It was not protection when
they sent Lord Ashburton to strike off one-third of the best
of the timber land of New Brunswick, cut off their postal
communication with Canada, and abandoned their fisheries
to the citizens of the United States. They did not protect
the colonies. The colonies would,. in his opinion, be
better without them, but he would leave the colonies
to settle that point when the time came for doing so.
Then came Mr. Rankin, of Liverpool, who was associated
with`British North America. There was not a man in Great
Britain so well acquainted with the timber trade as he was ;
but, like a true Scotchman, he was giving up a trade which
did not pay him. He said very much the same as the mayor
of New Brunswick said. He stated that in 18i0 the balance
of the imports of colonial over foreign wood was 1,511,000
tons ; while in 1859, just 19 years afterwards, the balance
was in favour of foreign and against colonial wood to the
amount of 2,614,626 tons. Such being the case, Mr. Ran-
kin and other gentlemen of Liverpool sent a petition to that
house, but that petition was stopped by the house as "irre-
gular," and sent off like a basket of dead game. That peti..
tion stated the case briefly, but ably ; but where was the
man in that house who cared about British North America?
and there was 113 use in the petitioners going to Downing-
street, which was. only meant to "govern" the colonies.
But they came to him as a fellow-countryman, and he
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer that these 3,000,000
of people might be heard at the bar of that house. (Laugh-
ter and hear.) They who cheered at that were fond of a
reform bill for the rabble of this country, but they thought
nothing of that people who were vastly more intelligent
than their £6 voters. (A laugh.) If that was the way they
treated the colonists, they would have their cheer echoed
back from thioats louder and stronger than his. Dr. Frank-
lin was heard at the bar of the House of Commons, and
told the people of this country 'what he (Mr. Haliburton)
ventured to repeat, namely, that the persistence of the Im-
perial Parliament in an unwise course of legislation would
lose them their colonies. Dr. Franklin's prophecy had
been fulfilled, but he (Mr. Haliburton) fervently prayed
that his might-not be. Dr. Franklin, however, was charged
with being a thief and a murderer, and with having for-
feited the esteem of mankind, which was not very encou-
raging to any man to desire to be heard at the bar of the
house,. (Laughter.) The colonists, in prosecuting their
present case, had acted with great fairness and modera-
tion. They had instructed him not to ask for any reduc-
tion of duty that would affect shipping, but there was a
description of trade which they had themselves created, for
which they were anxious to obtain protection. All the
expenses incidental to the trade had been already incurred,
and if those who engaged in it were now, sent adrift,
ruin must inevitably ensue. The supply of timber,
would not be diminished, but both the labourer, the ma-
nufacturer and the merchant would experience all the dis-
alvantages of British legislation without any of
its advantages. The question would then arise
whether it would not be better for the colonists to set up for
themselves, and make their own treaties, or to annex them
selves to neighbours with whom their commercial interests
were so nearly allied. If this country was to have the
supremacy of the seas, it must not cast off the third ship-
ping country in the world, for such British North America
was, and yet the shipping trade of British North America
had been almost at a standstill fox the last 15 years ; while.
France, on the other hand, was, by' means of a bounty,
maintaining in the deep sea fisheries of Newfoundland some.:
thing like 30,000 fishermen. Nothing could be more dis-
tasteful to his own feelings, or more disrespectful to the
house, than for him to utter a threat ; but he must warn
the house that the colonists had all the disadvantages of
the connection with England, and none of the advantages.
They were not a people to be trifled with; they deserved
kindly and considerate usage. It was by their loyalty that
in 1812, when England was engaged in a life struggle in
Europe, the American invaders were driven back across the
Niagara. And later, when by French emissaries, and by
our radical or chartist emigrants who went out there, re-
bellion was excited amongst the French population, how
was the danger encountered by Sir Francis Head ? That
ablest, worthiest, and most popular of governors put him-
self at the head of the loyal militia, and the danger was sup-
pressed. The man whom he had just named was now a
living monument of the ingratitude of every administration,
and of both political parties since that day. (Hear, hear.)
The people of Canada had shown their respect for monar-
chical,institutions by the liberal provision they had made
for the Governor-General, paying' him, out of the poor
treasury of a very young country, double the salary
of the President of the United States. New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia had done likewise. And what sort of
a return was made to them for this? Why, there were
recently four townships to be named in a certain province,
and the Governor, by way of a joke, handed the naming
of them over to his lady, and she named there after her
four lapdogs. (Oh, -oh.) If hon. gentlemen did net
believe the fact, let them see if the names of those four
townships were not to be found—Tiny, Floss, Hops, and
Emily. (Hear.) Were the districts of that country to be
named after lapdogs and menials ? (Hear.) Tho colonists
could protect themselves against their enemies, but Parlia-
ment should at least protect them against the insults of a
Governor-General. The Americans did better; they named-
their towns at least after heroes of antiquity; they had their
Catos and Scipios, even their Junes and Venuses, and they
paid their country the compliment of giving it the bestnames
they knew how to invent. He had heard it said that if the
Chancellor of the Exchequer put a tax on colonial produce,
the Canadians had the impudence to tax British manufac-
tures. But that belonged to their own internal government,
it was a tax which they paid themselves, and it was at the
suggestion of Downing-street that they imposed an uniform
ad valorem duty on the manufactures of all nations alike,
British and foreign—not a protective duty like that imposed
by the United States, but one for revenue, since direct
taxation was repugnant to the feelings of the country. They
were ridiculed by their neighbours of the United States for
belonging to England. They were told that if they belonged
to the union they would have 10 members in the Senate
and 140 in the House of Representatives, and form part of
the greatest nation in the world—that they would have their
own consuls and ministers abroad'; and instead of being ex-
cluded from Government patronage, every office would be
open to themselves and their children. But let them be
treated generously and liberally, and they would never de-
sire a separation, and they would delight to remain under
the same glorious old flag which they had hitherto served.
(Cheers.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it
would only lie necessary for him to detain the committee a
few minutes. The hon. and learned gentleman bad entered
into the whole subject of the colonial relations existing be-
tween Great Britain and her North American colonies, and
had expressed his views of what he considered to be the in-
jurious treatment the colonies had received. He must say
he regretted the language used by the hon. and learned
gentleman in speaking of a large claas of the people of Eng-
land. If the feelings of the colonists were such as he had
represented, he could only say that a very different feeling
existed in this country towards British North' America.
In this respect there was a great difference betwpen public
opinion now and in the days of our forefathers. With re -
pect to the particular question of the timber duties, it was
not necessary for him to detain the house, because he had
fully stated his views in a letter which the hon. and learned
member had alluded to as haughty, contemptuous, and su-
percilious ; but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had
no proof whatever, beyond the hon. and learned gentle-
man's speech, that such a feeling existed among the colo-
nists as that just now stated to the house. The Canadian
people knew that the whole policy of England since 1812
had bean to abolish all differential duties, and therefore it
could not be truly said that no notice had been given that
such a change would be made as was now proposed. The
question was so thoroughly understood by the house and
the country that it would be unnecessary for him to discuss
it at greater length on the present occasion. Without in •
tending any disrespect to the hon. and learned gentleman
ho should now leave the decision to the committee.
The committee divided, the numbers were—
For the amendment
....................................
34
Against it
The clause was then agreed to.
On clause 15,
Lord J. MANNERS moved that the chairman report
progress and ask leave to sit again.
The motion was agreed to.
The other orders were then disposed of, and the house
adjourned at half-past one o'clock.