Year: 1868

his Excellency "has By no means oyer-es


timated the loyalty of the people OF Nova
Scotia, and their fidelity to the British Mon


archy," and assures him that " in their efforts
tc overcome the disadvantages under which
they at present labour, they will seek the at


tainment of those objects through their rep


resentatives in strictly constitutional man


ner."


in the same days session the Attorney
General stated that at an early day he would
introduce a series of resolutions on the sub
ject of Confederation, asserting the fact that
the delegates who went to England had no
power or authority to confederate the Prov
inces OF Canada, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, and declaring the right OF Nova Scotia
TO be free from that Confederation.


The course 1T is intended to pursue is thus
sufficiently indicated. Nova Scotia intends
to withdraw from the Union. 1t hardly
seems probable that the Imperial Govern
ment will undertake to force her to remain.
To attempt this would be instantly fatal TO
the Confederacy, and would throw the rebel
lious provinces at once into the arms of the
United States. The danger which the friends
OF Repeal most dread is not the hostility but
the Indifference OF England. The Halifax
Chronicle says:


The British North American Act affecting,
not Nova Scotia only but all British Axerica,
was not listened to iD the Lords nor debated
in the Commons. The dog-iax, as well re-
marked by one OF our correspondents, which
concerned, perhaps, two hundred thousand
dogs and puppies of high and low degree.
enc,ted more comments from Britain's assem-
bied wisdom than the measure which vas so
much to affect three millions of British sub-
tects and the British Colonial Empire. or
this we complained as we had a right to do.
1nuinsrence was as ruinous to us as positive
hostility could have been, and was as well
calculated to awaken disgust of British rule
as any positive injustice ever committed by a
British Government.


But the Chronicle adds:


That the same complete contempt OF our
AFFAIRS Will not meet>our fresh Inconsistencies
we hope, though we fear it may. If it should
we shall prove such thorn in the Dominion's
SIDE that, by and by, instead of our petitioning
70 be allowed to quit the Union, Quebec and
ontario Will be begging us to go out.


II Nota Scotia goes out of the Union, New
brunswick must follow. The st. John Globe
takes this ground openly, and says:


Various reasons in proof of this assumption
might be brought forward. 1t is only neces-
sary to remind our readers that one OF the
principal causes why we in New Brunswick
sought the Confederation was that we might
get q free strade with Nova Scotia. II that
Province leaves us that cause is taken away.
What will follow? Legislative union of the
Maritime Provinces? Great Britain may in
sist upon this in lieu of the larger Union now
found to be impracticable in working. Nova |
Scotia may accept it as the readiest means of
bringing the present difficulty to an end.
The dissatisfied Contederates and Anti-Con-
federates OF New Brunswick would gladly ex-
change the Confederation for such a Union.
Perhaps the present difficulties may be solved
in this way.


The above seems, at present to be the idea
of the moderates; the extreme party do not
hesitate to talk Of annexation to the United
States as "a welcome relief from Canadian
domination.