The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-05
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1869.
THE DESTINY or THE NEW DO
MINION


MIN[ON
THE people of the New Dominion continue
to be profoundly distressed by their un-
promising financial and industrial condition.
Their merchants are failing by scores, their
farmers are sighing in vain for market for
their products, their mines are neglected
their manufactures are unimportant or un-
productive, and the only quality for which
their land is priced or praised is the question
able characteristic of being good country to
emigrate from.
The political situation is peculiar. Great
Britain, in devising and fastening the con-
summation of the confederation scheme,
manifestly desired to rid herself of the bur-
dens involved in the maintenance of the ex-
pensive and unremunerative connection with
her North American possessions. She has
told the Canadians in every possible manner
that she wished to be we'll rid of them. Her
Prime Ministers, her Parliamentary orators,
her press, and her colonial Governors have
reiterated in a hundred ways, and on a thou
sand occasions, the idea that if the Canadians
desired independence all they had to do
was to ask for it, John Bull
hood a lout of boy, whom he does not wish
to kick out of the old homestead but whose
lack of desire to seek his fortunes in an indie
pendent and manly struggle with the world
he despises and regrets, more especially as
the work of the boy-man does not pay the ex-
penses of his maintenance. And yet John
Bull, like other fathers, has his own plans for
his offspring, which do not exactly accord with
the true interests of the latter. He desires
the New Dominion to become independent,
but he is not yet fully prepared to sanction
independence except with the understanding
that it will not be the forerunner of annexa-
tion to the United States He can stand the
shock of a loss of colonial possessions, though
they embrace half continent, because after
every conceivable experiment he has dis
covered that while they entail endless ex-
pense, they cannot be made to yield a sub
stantial revenue; and that, while he nominally
owns this vast estate, he must keep it in some
sort of repair, and garrison, defend, and i'm
prove it, without being able to extract
baubee of rents or profits, And yet he can
not brook the thought that this unpromfsing
and unproductive territory shall be made to
contribute to the greatness and wealth of the
United States. He desires to maintain on
our northern boundary a nation over
which he can maintain COM
manding influence which will be to some
extent check upon the Great Republic, but
which will not be, in turn, answerable for the
insults and outrages of the mother country.
Meanwhile, all parties in the New Do
minion acknowledge that its prosperity can
only be restored by free trade with the United
States, and they are now pretty well satisfied
that this cannot be regained while it retains
its connection with Great Britain. AS a solu-
tion of these difficulties, Hon. l.. s. Hunting
don, a member of the Canadian Parlia-
ment, has recently proposed and
advocated in an able speech the
establishment of Canadian independence and
the subsequent negotiation of treaty with
this country, establishing commercial union
or American Zollverein, which would grant
free trade without involving political annexa-
ton. Such proposition would, perhaps, be re-
garded with more favor than reciprocity treaty
made with Great Britain for the benefit of a
British colony, but it is extremely doubtful
whether Congress would sanction it. If the
, of the New Dominion, as all parties now
agree, let the people seek it by becoming
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. For
a time colonial loyalty and prejudice and
British jealousy may interpose obstacles to
this adjustment, but it is the duty of the in
habitants who seek our aid to devise means
for overcoming these difficulties rather than
our duty to make concessions to such feelings
If the New Dominion needs our help, she
should gain it only on condition that she
shares our fortunes for good or evil, so that
her consequent prosperity may contribute to
the wealth and power of an integral portion
of the Union. AS temporary expedient in
dependence may be worthy of consideration, but
as permanent rival government on this con-
tinent the New Dominion would have no
valid claim to favors from us; and while we
wouid not unnecessarily assail it, we would
have little reason to form with it the mongrel
alliance proposed by Mr.. Huntington.
HO w DEEDS ii RE RECORDED