The Portland daily press., 1882-03-27
The Dominion Capital.

OTTAWA, Feb. II, 1882.
In this town, there are great many fiue
public buildings, both municipal and national.
Why should we not speak of Canada as ma
ton? She is sure to be one some day great,
rich, prosperous. The Parliament Houses
here are excellent in every way, both in de-
sign and execution. They stand on high
ground at one side of the town, commanding a
fine view of all the surrounding country, at
the same time that their handsome facades and
lofty roofs and towers can be seen from afar in
every direction.
In the Parliament chambers, at the opening
and closing of the daily sessions there are some
little ceremonies, quite harmless, that are cal
calated to make Yankee smile, but he must
not do it, it would not be good manners. They
are only little bits of the wreck of the old
times, inherited by Canada from the old coun-
try, and constitute about all there is now, in
common between them.
They have something they call a Mace"
it is of wood with a wooden crown upon the
top end of it, all gay and bright with golL leaf.
The Speaker comes in and puts on cooked
hat of the last century, Immediately removes
it and makes bow to an old fashioned chair
with high, straight back, in which the
Queen is supposed to be sitting The Speaker
assumes his chair just in front of the Queens
chair, and the Mace is brought out from some
place where it is kept and laid upon spot pre-
pared to hold it ON table, where it remains
during the session in full view of the House.
At the adjournment the speaker leaves his
chair, puts on his cooked hat, turns around
face to the throne, uncovers, makes pro-
found bow to the high-backed chair and walks
away. All this did not appear childish even
to me, seeing that it was done gravely as an
important matter and with infinite dignity and
grace, the speaker being very fine looking
man, with qualities of mind in harmony with
those of his person. The same ceremony is
the routine of every day.
The speaking in the parliament is very good
in matter and style. Here is none of that
shocking hesitation, stammering and blunder-
ing so often heard in the British Parliament,
and which is studied and cultivated there as
high art, indicating, as they think, deep thought
and eminent wisdom in the speaker. In the
speaking here the members address themselves
directly to the question in hand, like sensible
business men having important business ques-
tions to deal with, spending no time and no
words in "bupcombe,' thinking only of the
public interests.
Sir Leonard Tilley, the Minister of Finance,
has laid himself out in the endeavor to estab-
lish manufactures in Canada, and has been so
far eminently successful. His wish is to rem
der Canada independent of the world in all
matters of supply for the necessaries and COM
forts of life, and in due time for all the elegan-
cies and refinements, which will certainly
come here by and by, as they have already
come for us. But the policy of protection to
Canadian industries has not been established
here without bitter and persistent opposition,
which is now dwindling away and fading out
here as it is with us.
The results of protection in Canada are al
ready eminently satisfactory, although the poll
cy is yet in its infancy here. The receipts of