, 1875-05-30
VIII CANADA sEcfDE7

:. piece OF. recent .CanAolan teBlslatloo Aas
partly severed ons Of the few remaining links
between that country and England. Hither-
to IN appeal has lain from the courts Of Can-
ada to the English Privy Council A Cana
dian Court Of Appeals has now been formed,
which is to have coextensiye jurisdiction
with the Privy Council. An appellant can
carry his case to either, but the decision Of
either will be equally conclusive. When the
bill constituting this court was laid before
the Canadian Parliament, 1t contained no pro-
viso for giving the new forum equal authority
with the Council. A private member moved
that it's Judgment should not be subject to
any Imperial appeal. The Ministry neither sup
ported nor opposed the Idea, The Premier,
Sir JOHN MACDONALD, opposed it as Is the
first step towards separation from the En-
pire." Yet the House carried the amended
bill by large majority. It passed the Sem
ate only by the casting vote Of the Speaker,
who should have voted the other way, &C.
cording to the Spectator, because the tradi-
tiond duty" Of the Speaker of the Engliah
House Of Commons is to give his casting
vote in favor of the existing law. Unless the
Crown exercises its almost nominal preroga-
tive end vetoes the bill, the legal system Of
the Canadas will be practically separated from
that OF the Empire.
The change is not one Of slight Importance.
The Spectator comments on it at length, and
says: ssAutonomy in its technical and
proper sense means nothing more OF less
than exemption from the appellate juris~
dicdon Of superior" II Canada
means to follow up this step, she Will rnoet
with no armed opposition. When uurGing
States are old enough and strong enough to
walk alone, the Mother-Country cannot keep
them in lending strings much longer. The
fact is legacy left to politicians by the
American Revolution. Il Tbs Canadians will
never celebrate," says the Spectator, "a
Declaration Of Independence followed by
war" And the reason, according to the same
authority, is that whenever the Colonies want
to 90, they can do 50. When Lord GRANVILLE
was managingt the affairs OF the Colonial Office,
he showed very plainly his belief IN the policy
Of persuading them to 60. He thought the
colonies were mere e1ecresconces of the 1mpe-
rial body ypolitic, with the exception, of course,
Of Hindostan and few others, and wanted
to be rid Of them. Few glishmen,>per-
haps, fully share his views, but the only good
the colonies do Groat Britain is to throw q
vague glory around the name Of Englishnan,
to serve as training schools for young and
asylums for old politicians, and to enable
orators to dilate On " the scattered jewels of
the Imperial diadem." It is very fine, from
one point Of view, to have drum-beat that
circles the world and stretch of territory
so vast that the sun never sets upon it, but
all this costs money and piles up the taxes
It does not pay to peaceab1y retain the
colonies; it certainly would not pay to retain
them By force or try to do 80 ; and 80 CAM
do can secede when she wants to; without
fear Of harm. And, since this is so, it is not
probable that she will long acknowledge even
shadowy sovereignty in Power {, 1000 milea
away. Loyalty is not strong enough to
stretch across an ocean The result Of seces-
sion will doubtless be voluntary annexation,
ere long. The manifest destiny argument
about controlling the Mississippi from source
to mouth applies to the st. Lawrence as well