THE FRAME-WORK OF UNION PART I. UNION IN CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND GERMANY. CHAPTER I. THE CREATION OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. The year 1763 saw in the Peace of Paris the treaty which confirmed the victory of Great Britain over France in North America. On the 10th October, 1864-just over a century later—there met at Quebec that convention of delegates from Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, whose work was the creation of the Dominion of Canada. Successful as was the work of that Convention-rapid as was the accomplishment of the task of creating the Dominion-that success and that rapidity can be accounted for only by some description of the development of the States of Canada during the preceding century. The Dominion Constitution is not the mushroom growth of a night its roots go deep into the history of the land: it is in every way a native, long matured and sturdy growth. "The whole population of Canada when she came under the British Flag" Canada in 1863. -(says Mr. C. G. D. Roberts in his "History of Canada ")" was about sixty thousand. This hardy handful was gathered chiefly at Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. The rest tailed thinly along the shores of the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu. The lands about the Great Lakes, and the western country, were held only by a few scattered forts, buried here and there in the green wilderness. At Detroit had sprung up a scanty settlement of perhaps one thousand souls. . . . Quebec had seven thousand inhabitants. Most of them dwelt between the water's edge and the foot of the great cliff whose top was crowned by the citadel. Where the shoulder of the promontory swept around towards the St. Charles, the slope became more gentle, and there the houses and streets began to clamber towards the summit. Part of the city was within walls, part without. Most of the houses were low, one-storey buildings, with large expanse of steep roof and high dormer windows. Along the incline leading down to the St. Charles stretched populous suburbs. On the high plateau where now lies the stately New Town, there was then but a bleak pasture land whose grasses waved against the city gates. B The Early The Quebec Nova Scotia. "Three Rivers, situated at the mouth of the St. Maurice, 76 miles above Quebec, was a small town dwarfed politically and socially by Quebec on the one side and Montreal on the other. Iron mines in the neighbourhood gave it a measure of importance; and it was the stopping-place for travellers journeying between its bigger rivals. Montreal, after its childhood of awful trial, had greatly prospered. Its population had risen to about nine thousand. The fur trade of the mysterious North-West, developed by a succession of daring and tireless wood-rangers, had poured its wealth into the lap of the city of Maisonneuve. The city was enclosed by a stone wall and a shallow ditch, once useful as a defence against the Indians, but no protection in the face of serious assault. At the lower end of the city, covering the landing-place, rose a high earth-work crowned with cannon. The real defences of Montreal were the citadel of Quebec and the forts on Lake Champlain." The immediate result of the Peace of 1763 was a great influx of English settlers. To them the promise was made that as soon as quiet was secured, representative government on the lines of that given to the English Colonies south of the St. Lawrence would be granted. They received liberal grants of land upon the easy conditions of allegiance to the English Crown and obedience to the laws, and with the contingency of payment of a small "quitrent" to the Government after a period of ten years. As far as criminal matters and civil contracts went, the law of England was substituted for that of France. Rights of property, however, were still governed by French law, with all its encumbrances of seignorial rights, secret mortgage and the provision of a "dower" to, and the "partnership partnership" of married women. The executive government was entrusted to a Governor and a Council. In 1774-the critical year of the relations between Great Britain and her Colonies in the South-the year, in fact, in which the "Continental Congress" of those Colonies met at Philadelphia and formulated those grievances which led to the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775-was passed the first great legislative enactment of the history of Canada. The Quebec Act extended the limits of the Province of Quebec southward to the Ohio and westward to the Mississippi. In defiance of the promises made to the English settlers, the Parliament of Great Britain refused representative government and confirmed the rule of the Governor and Council. In opposition to what the English settlers regarded as their true interest, the Quebec Act also restored French civil law and declared the Roman Catholic religion to be the established religion of the country. The history of Nova Scotia or, to call it by its French name, Acadie, had been widely different from that of the Province of Quebec. First settled by a colony from Scotland in 1614, under a charter granted by James I., it had soon become part of the general field of conflict between the English and French in North America. But as far as Nova Scotia was concerned, that conflict ended in 1748 when, under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the whole of Acadie was ceded to England. The extent of territory comprised in this cession was almost wholly undefined; but the English took immediate steps to strengthen their hold at least on the part nearest to the sea-board. Thus in 1749 the great fortified place of Halifax was built, and when the French inhabitants--though apparently passive under the English rule-were found to be conspiring against it, and finally refused to take the oath of allegiance, they were removed in ship-loads. A few found their way back again, but from the date of the expulsion of the Acadians the population of Nova Scotia was distinctly British. Its territory included the whole of what are now New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In 1758 it was granted representative government, and its first Parliament, which met in that year, consisted of twenty-two members. As a result, the Colony began to attract immigrants from New England, and the population increased rapidly. Prince Edward Island was separated from Nova Scotia in 1770, and received the grant of representative government in 1773; whilst New Brunswick was declared a separate Colony in 1784 and given a Constitution which entrusted the government to a Governor, a nominated Council of twelve members, and an elective Assembly of twenty-six representatives. This separation of New Brunswick was directly due to the influx The Loyalists. of loyalists driven out of the American States at the end of the War of Independence. From the coming of the loyalists dates the era of prosperity in Canada. Large numbers of these refugees crowded into Upper Canada; others settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Their immigration had a marked effect in changing the type of the population of the Provinces in which they settled. They represented the progressive spirit of the American, as opposed to the unenterprising contentment of the French, Colonist. Politically, the period immediately succeeding their coming was one of great unrest. In Upper and Lower Canada especially the discontent soon became acute. The Quebec Act of 1774, as we have seen, denied the Province representative government. The settlers demanded it as a right, and in this they were supported by the French Canadians, who foresaw that-as far, at least, as the lower part of the Province went-it would give them a monopoly of political power. On the question of Law, the settlers were fiercely opposed to the system established by the Quebec Act. The agitation resulted in the second great Constitutional Enactment of Canadian history. The principle of this enactment was the separation of Upper from The ConstituLower Canada and a differentiation in legislation suited to their tional Act, 1791. respective populations. Thus Lower Canada-which had a population of about one hundred and twenty-five thousand, of which the large majority was French-was separated from Upper Canada, whose people numbered less than twenty thousand and were predominantly British. Each of the two new Provinces was given a separate Legislature, and an Executive Council. In each the Legislature consisted of two Houses-a Legislative Council, whose members were appointed by the Crown for life, and a House of Assembly. In Lower Canada there were fifteen members for the Legislative Council and fifty for the House of Assembly. The great majority of the members of the Lower House was French. Similarly, though the English Criminal Law and the Habeas Corpus Act were declared to be in operation in Lower Canada, the whole body The Early Settlers. The Quebec Act, 1477 Nova Scotia. "Three Rivers, situated at the mouth of the St. Maurice, 76 miles above Quebec, was a small town dwarfed politically and socially by Quebec on the one side and Montreal on the other. Iron mines in the neighbourhood gave it a measure of importance; and it was the stopping-place for travellers journeying between its bigger rivals. Montreal, after its childhood of awful trial, had greatly prospered. Its population had risen to about nine thousand. The fur trade of the mysterious North-West, developed by a succession of daring and tireless wood-rangers, had poured its wealth into the lap of the city of Maisonneuve. The city was enclosed by a stone wall and a shallow ditch, once useful as a defence against the Indians, but no protection in the face of serious assault. At the lower end of the city, covering the landing-place, rose a high earth-work crowned with cannon. The real defences of Montreal were the citadel of Quebec and the forts on Lake Champlain." The immediate result of the Peace of 1763 was a great influx of English settlers. To them the promise was made that as soon as quiet was secured, representative government on the lines of that given to the English Colonies south of the St. Lawrence would be granted. They received liberal grants of land upon the easy conditions of allegiance to the English Crown and obedience to the laws, and with the contingency of payment of a small "quitrent" to the Government after a period of ten years. As far as criminal matters and civil contracts went, the law of England was substituted for that of France. Rights of property, however, were still governed by French law, with all its encumbrances of seignorial rights, secret mortgage and the provision of a " dower to, and the partnership of married women. The executive government was entrusted to a Governor and a Council. In 1774-the critical year of the relations between Great Britain and her Colonies in the South-the year, in fact, in which the "Continental Congress" of those Colonies met at Philadelphia and formulated those grievances which led to the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775-was passed the first great legislative enactment of the history of Canada. The Quebec Act extended the limits of the Province of Quebec southward to the Ohio and westward to the Mississippi. In defiance of the promises made to the English settlers, the Parliament of Great Britain refused representative government and confirmed the rule of the Governor and Council. In opposition to what the English settlers regarded as their true interest, the Quebec Act also restored French civil law and declared the Roman Catholic religion to be the established religion of the country. The history of Nova Scotia or, to call it by its French name, Acadie, had been widely different from that of the Province of Quebec. First settled by a colony from Scotland in 1614, under a charter granted by James I., it had soon become part of the general field of conflict between the English and French in North America. But as far as Nova Scotia was concerned, that conflict ended in 1748 when, under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the whole of Acadie was ceded to England. The extent of territory comprised in this cession was almost wholly undefined; but the English took immediate steps to strengthen their hold at least on the part nearest to the sea-board. Thus in 1749 the great fortified place of Halifax was built, and when the French inhabitants-though apparently passive under the English rule-were found to be conspiring against it, and finally refused to take the oath of allegiance, they were removed in ship-loads. A few found their way back again, but from the date of the expulsion of the Acadians the population of Nova Scotia was distinctly British. Its territory included the whole of what are now New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In 1758 it was granted representative government, and its first Parliament, which met in that year, consisted of twenty-two members. As a result, the Colony began to attract immigrants from New England, and the population increased rapidly. Prince Edward Island was separated from Nova Scotia in 1770, and received the grant of representative government in 1773; whilst New Brunswick was declared a separate Colony in 1784 and given a Constitution which entrusted the government to a Governor, a nominated Council of twelve members, and an elective Assembly of twenty-six representatives. This separation of New Brunswick was directly due to the influx The Loyalists. of loyalists driven out of the American States at the end of the War of Independence. From the coming of the loyalists dates the era of prosperity in Canada. Large numbers of these refugees crowded into Upper Canada; others settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Their immigration had a marked effect in changing the type of the population of the Provinces in which they settled. They represented the progressive spirit of the American, as opposed to the unenterprising contentment of the French, Colonist. Politically, the period immediately succeeding their coming was one of great unrest. In Upper and Lower Canada especially the discontent soon became acute. The Quebec Act of 1774, as we have seen, denied the Province representative government. The settlers demanded it as a right, and in this they were supported by the French Canadians, who foresaw that-as far, at least, as the lower part of the Province went-it would give them a monopoly of political power. On the question of Law, the settlers were fiercely opposed to the system established by the Quebec Act. The agitation resulted in the second great Constitutional Enactment of Canadian history. The principle of this enactment was the separation of Upper from The ConstituLower Canada and a differentiation in legislation suited to their tional Act, 1791. respective populations. Thus Lower Canada-which had a population of about one hundred and twenty-five thousand, of which the large majority was French-was separated from Upper Canada, whose people numbered less than twenty thousand and were predominantly British. Each of the two new Provinces was given a separate Legislature, and an Executive Council. In each the Legislature consisted of two Houses-a Legislative Council, whose members were appointed by the Crown for life, and a House of Assembly. In Lower Canada there were fifteen members for the Legislative Council and fifty for the House of Assembly. The great majority of the members of the Lower House was French. Similarly, though the English Criminal Law and the Habeas Corpus Act were declared to be in operation in Lower Canada, the whole body |