Delphi complete works of.., p.535
Delphi Complete Works of Stephen Leacock, page 535
At the time of Lord Elgin’s arrival, the Draper government was reaching its last stage of decrepitude. “The ministry,” in the words of a Canadian writer, “were as weak as a lot of shelled pease.” In the spring of the year (April and May, 1847) a partial reconstruction of the ministry was made with a view of rallying the support of the malcontent Tories. Mr. Draper himself abandoned his place, his fall being broken by his appointment as puisne judge of the court of queen’s bench. John A. Macdonald, destined from now on to figure in the forefront of Canadian politics, entered the ministry as receiver-general; Sherwood became attorney-general of Upper Canada, and other changes were made. But inasmuch as the reconstructed cabinet — the Sherwood-Daly ministry, as it is called — contained no other French Canadian than Mr. Papineau, it was plainly but a makeshift and could not hope to conduct with success the administration of the country. As soon as parliament was summoned (June 2nd, 1847) the Reformers commenced a vigorous and united onslaught. A FEEBLE MINISTRY Baldwin, seconded by LaFontaine, moved an amendment to the address in which, while congratulating Lord Elgin upon his recent marriage with Lord Durham’s daughter, he declared that it was to Lord Durham that the country owed the recognition of the principle of responsible government, and to Lord Elgin that the parliament looked for the application of it. LaFontaine followed with an eloquent denunciation of those of his compatriots who had lent their support in parliament to a ministry whose cardinal principle was hostility to their race. “You have,” he said, “sacrificed honour to love of office: you have let yourselves become passive instruments in the hands of your colleagues: you have sacrificed your country and ere long you will reap your reward.”
After a heated debate of three days the government was able to carry the address by a majority of only two votes. Nor had it any better fortune during the session of two months which ensued. The ministry was not in a position to introduce any measures of prime importance, and even upon minor matters sustained repeated defeats. The only legislation possible under the circumstances were measures of evident and urgent public utility into which party considerations did not enter. The incorporation of companies to operate the new “magnetic telegraph,” as the newspapers of the day called it, are noticeable among these. Still more necessary was the legislation for the relief of the vast crowds of indigent Irish immigrants, driven from their own country by the terrible famine of 1846-7, and to whose other sufferings were added the ravages of ship-fever and other contagious diseases. In the public consideration of this question Robert Baldwin took a prominent place and aided in the foundation of the Emigration Association of Toronto.
The ill-success of the reconstructed government, and the universal desire for a strong and stable administration which could adequately cope with the many difficulties of the hour, clearly necessitated a dissolution of parliament. Lord Elgin though without personal bias against the existing cabinet, felt that it was no longer representative of the feelings of the people, among whom the current of public opinion had now set strongly in favour of the Reform party. Elgin dissolved the parliament on December 6th, 1847, the writs for the new election being returnable on the twenty-fourth of the following January. The general election which ensued was an unbroken triumph for the Reformers. In Upper Canada twenty-six of the forty-two members returned belonged to the Liberal party, while in the lower part of the province only half a dozen of those elected were partisans of the expiring government. Baldwin was again elected in the fourth riding of York, the same county returning also, in Blake and Price, two of his strongest supporters. Francis Hincks, who was NEW ELECTIONS absent from Canada, being at this time on a five months’ tour to his native land, was elected for Oxford in his absence. Sir Allan MacNab and John A. Macdonald were among the Conservatives reelected; Sherwood narrowly escaped defeat, while John Cameron, the solicitor-general, Ogle R. Gowan, the Orange leader, and many others of the party lost their seats. In Lower Canada the Reformers were irresistible: even the city of Montreal repented of its sins by returning LaFontaine and a fellow-Reformer as its members. LaFontaine was also returned for Terrebonne, but elected to sit for Montreal. The result of the election left nothing for the Conservatives but to retire as gracefully as might be to the shades of Opposition and wait for happier times.
It is not uninteresting to note, in the light of future events, the words which Robert Baldwin used in his election address: “We shall have no more representatives of the sovereign making the doctrine of the Charleses and Jameses the standard by which to govern British subjects in the nineteenth century . . . henceforth their vice-regal governments will be distinguished by adherence to the constitutional principles acknowledged by all parties in England . . . principles which will relieve her majesty’s representative from the invidious position of head of a party and will render him . . . a living spirit and the connecting link which binds this great colony to the parent state in affectionate and prosperous union.” At the close of his régime Elgin himself borrowed Baldwin’s words to describe the office of governor.
N. F. Davin, The Irishman in Canada, .
See Turcotte, Le Canada sous l’Union, p et seq.
These facts are admitted by Metcalfe. See Kaye, vol. ii. See also Hincks, Political History of Canada, p ff.
Hincks presented a petition to the assembly protesting against the election of his opponent, Mr. Robert Riddell. He claimed that the deputy returning officers had refused to admit the votes of persons who had come to the province previous to 1820, although, under an Act of the parliament of Upper Canada, such persons, if willing to take the oath of allegiance, were entitled to vote. The petition was not granted.
A. Leblond de Brumath, Histoire Populaire de Montréal, p ff. (Montreal, 1890).
Act of Union, Section xli. “All journals, entries, and written or printed proceedings of what nature soever of the said legislative council and legislative assembly . . . shall be in the English language only.” Speaking in French was not, of course, contrary to the law.
See below, page 311.
On the principle of the “double majority” see Dent, The Past Forty Years, vol. ii. p ff. Hincks’s Political History () contains interesting matter in this connection. “Up to the time of my leaving Canada in 1855,” writes Hincks, “no political alliance was formed on the principle of securing majorities from the two provinces.” The Draper-Caron-LaFontaine correspondence here referred to is given in Hincks Reminiscences and was published in pamphlet form (Montreal, 1846).
LaFontaine to Baldwin, September 23rd, 1845. Baldwin Correspondence, (Toronto Public Library).
Fennings Taylor, Portraits of British Americans, Vol. I. .
Baldwin Correspondence, (Toronto Public Library.)
See above, .
See La Minerve, April 9th, 1846, and following issues.
See in this connection Earl Grey, The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell, vol. i. . (2 vols., London, 1853).
See Longley’s Joseph Howe (Makers of Canada Series), Chap. iii.
The speech to the electors of Halton was one of a series of addresses delivered by Baldwin on a tour of western Canada in the autumn of 1846. The Tory journals affected to sneer at the “quacksalving tour of agitation” (Toronto Patriot, November, 1846) undertaken by the Reform leader; but the enthusiasm excited by Baldwin’s speeches made it manifest that the Tories could not again look for a repetition of their victory of two years past.
Grey to Harvey, November 3rd, 1846, Kennedy, Documents, p ff.
Letters of Queen Victoria, vol. ii., .
See in this connection B. Holland, Imperium et Libertus, Part ii., Chap. iv. (London, 1901), and Grey Colonial Policy, vol. ii., Letter v.
“The House of Assembly of Lower Canada have asked for an elective legislative council and an executive council, which shall be responsible to them and not to the government and Crown of Great Britain. We consider that these demands are inconsistent with the relations between a colony and the mother country, and that it would be better to say at once, ‘Let the two countries separate,’ than for us to pretend to govern the colony afterwards.” — Speech of May 16th, 1836.
Elgin had been governor of Jamaica. See Walrond, Letters of Lord Elgin.
Baldwin to the electors of York, December 8th, 1847, Baldwin Papers, [A], E, 6-7, 12 (15) Ontario Archives.
Elgin to Sir George Grey, December 18th, 1854, Kennedy, Documents, .
CHAPTER IX. THE SECOND LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY
THE SECOND LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN administration, which extended from the beginning of 1848 until the retirement of the two Reform leaders in the summer of 1851, has earned in Canadian history the honourable appellation of the “great ministry.” Its history marks the culmination of the lifework of Robert Baldwin and Louis LaFontaine and the justification of their political system. It is a commonplace of history that every great advance in the structure of political institutions brings with it an acceleration of national progress. This is undoubtedly true of the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, whose inception signalizes the final acceptance of the principle of responsible government. This fact lent to it a vigour and activity which enabled it to achieve a legislative record with which the work of no other ministry during the period of the union can compare. The settlement of the school system, the definite foundation of the University of Toronto on the basis to which it owes its present eminence, the organization of municipal government, the opening of the railroad system of Canada, — these are among the political achievements of the “great ministry.” More than all this is the fact that the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry indicates the first real pacification of French Canada, the passing of the “strife of two nations warring within the bosom of a single state” and the beginning of that joint and harmonious citizenship of the two races which has become the corner-stone of the structure of Canadian government. The ministry stands thus at the turning-point of an era. The forces of racial antipathy, separation and rebellion, scarce checked by the union of 1840, here pass into that broader movement which slowly makes towards Canadian confederation and the creation of a continental Dominion.
Towards the change of national life thus indicated other and more material forces were also tending. The era of the “great ministry” belongs to the time when the advent of the railroad and the telegraph was unifying and consolidating the industrial and social life of the country. Sandwich and Gaspé no longer appeared the opposite ends of the earth. The toilsome journey that separated the chief cities of Upper from those of Lower Canada was soon to become a thing of the past, and a more active intercourse and more real sympathy between the eastern and western sections of the country to take the place of their former political and social isolation. Lord Elgin once said that the true solution of the Canadian question would be found when both the French and the English inhabitants THE MINISTRY RESIGNS should be divided into Conservative and Liberal parties whose formation should rest upon grounds of kindred sentiments and kindred interests. For this the changes now operative in the country were preparing the way: the old era was passing away and a new phase of national life was destined to take its place. Looking back upon the period we can see that the LaFontaine-Baldwin administration marks the time of transition, the essential point of change from the Canada of the rebellion epoch to the Canada of the confederation.
The result of the election of 1847-8 had made it a foregone conclusion that the Conservative government must retire from office. Lord Elgin called the parliament together at Montreal on February 25th, 1848, and the vote on the election of the speaker showed at once the relative strength of the parties in the assembly. It having been proposed that Sir Allan MacNab, the late speaker of the House, be again elected, Baldwin proposed the name of Morin in his stead: while paying tribute to the qualifications of Sir Allan in other respects, he held it fitting that the speaker should be able to command both the French and English languages. A vote of fifty-four to nineteen proved the overwhelming strength of the Reformers. The answer to the speech from the throne, as was of course to be expected, was met by an amendment, proposed by Robert Baldwin, to the effect that the present ministry did not enjoy the confidence of the country. The amendment being carried by a vote of fifty-four to twenty (March 3rd, 1848), the Conservative ministers tendered their resignation. Lord Elgin at once sent for LaFontaine and the latter, in consultation with Baldwin, proceeded to form the ministry which bears their names. The ministry as thus constituted (March 11th, 1848) was as follows: —
For Lower Canada: L. H. LaFontaine, attorney-general; James Leslie, president of the executive council; R. E. Caron, president of the legislative council; E. P. Taché, chief commissioner of public works; T. C. Aylwin, solicitor-general; L. M. Viger, receiver-general.
For Upper Canada: Robert Baldwin, attorney-general; R. B. Sullivan, provincial secretary; F. Hincks, inspector-general; J. H. Price, commissioner of Crown lands; Malcolm Cameron, assistant commissioner of public works; W. H. Blake, solicitor-general.
Reference has already been made to many members of his ministry. Leslie, who had for many years represented the county of Verchères, and Malcolm Cameron, who had been a bitter opponent of Sir F. B. Head and had held a minor office under Bagot, represented the more Radical wing of the Reform party. The name of (Sir) Etienne Taché, THE NEW CABINET twice subsequently prime minister, is of course well known. Taché had formerly been in the assembly for six years (1841-6), had since held the office of deputy adjutant-general, and was now, along with James Leslie, given a seat in the legislative council. Various other additions were presently made to the Upper House in order to redress the balance of parties therein and more adequately to represent the French-Canadian population.
Lord Elgin, although determined not to identify himself in sympathy with either of the Canadian parties, seems, none the less, to have entertained a high idea of the ability and integrity of his new ministers. “My present council,” he wrote to Earl Grey, “unquestionably contains more talent, and has a firmer holder on the confidence of parliament and of the people than the last. There is, I think, moreover, on their part, a desire to prove, by proper deference for the authority of the governor-general (which they all admit has in my case never been abused), that they were libelled when they were accused of impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies.” The governor was determined to let the leaders of the ministry feel that they need fear no repetition of their difficulties with Sir Charles Metcalfe. In an initial interview with Baldwin and LaFontaine he took pains to assure them of the course he intended to pursue. “I spoke to them,” he wrote afterwards, “in a candid and friendly tone; told them I thought there was a fair prospect, if they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving and enjoying the confidence of parliament: that they might count on all proper support and assistance from me.”
It was not possible for the ministry to undertake a serious programme of legislation during the session of 1848. Those of the ministers who belonged to the assembly — including LaFontaine and Baldwin — had of course to present themselves to their constituents for reëlection. This proved an easy matter, the elections being either carried by acclamation or by large majorities. But Lord Elgin and his ministers both preferred to bring the session to a close, in order to leave time for the mature consideration of the measures to be adopted on the re-assembling of parliament. The legislature was accordingly postponed from March 23rd, 1848, until the opening of the following year. The parliamentary session which then ensued (dating from January 18th until May 30th, 1849) was unprecedented in the importance of its legislation and the excitement occasioned by its measures. The speech from the throne announced a vigorous programme of reform. Electoral reform, the revision of the judicature system of both provinces, the constitution of the university of King’s College, the completion of the St. Lawrence THE FRENCH LANGUAGE canals, and the regulation of the municipal system were among the subjects on which the parliament would be asked to legislate. The question of an interprovincial railroad from Quebec to Halifax and the transfer of the postal department from the imperial to the Canadian authorities, were also to be brought under consideration.
Two important announcements were also made by Lord Elgin on behalf of the imperial government. The legislature was informed that the imperial parliament had passed an Act in repeal of the clause of the Act of Union which had declared English to be the sole official language of the legislature. With instinctive tact and courtesy the governor-general demonstrated the reality of the change thus effected, by himself reading his speech in French as well as English, a proceeding which drew forth enthusiastic praise from the press of Lower Canada. The other announcement was no less calculated to enlist the sympathies of French Canada. “I am authorized to inform you,” said Lord Elgin, “that it is Her Majesty’s purpose to exercise the prerogative of mercy in favour of all persons who are still liable to penal consequences for political offences arising out of the unfortunate occurrences of 1837 and 1838, and I have the queen’s commands to invite you to confer with me in passing an Act to give full effect to Her Majesty’s most gracious intentions.”
