440 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
believe that I approved of the policy, they attempted to silence or coerce me by threats 
of the Queen’s displeasure, if I dared to express an independent opinion. Compelled 
to think and act for myself I took the ground on which I now stand,—that any scheme 
forced upon the Provinces, by an arbitrary act of Parliament, must be a failure, and that 
the first condition of Success for any plan of government must be its deliberate acceptance 
by the populations whose Institutions it was proposed to change. 
As matters stand, of four millions in the five provinces, but four hundred thous- 
and have had an opportunity to express their opinions. Of these, a hundred and 
fifty thousand had decided against,** and two hundred and fifty thousand once for 
and once against.7° When left to their own judgment the latter were opposed. When 
a partizan Governor™ had overthrown the Cabinet and used and abused the 
Queen’s name, while the Fenians were on the frontier, a decision in favour of some 
sort of Union, which nobody understood, was obtained—which really is not worth 
arush. The reaction was pretty prompt, and when Mr. Gordon left the Province 
there was hardly any body to see him off or say God bless him. 
An attempt is now being made to buy the Constituencies of P. E. Island, by an 
offer of two hundred thousand pounds to purchase out the proprietors.” If the people 
of the Island chose to do this with their own money I can see no objection to it, but the 
offer to purchase their vote in favor of Confederation, is characteristic of the cor- 
rupt and unscrupulous spirit which Canadian politicians have infused into the whole 
transaction. When Parliament has taken the money of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 
wick to purchase and distribute the lands of P. E. Island how can they refuse Mr. 
Bright’s proposition to buy up the large Estates in Ireland, and when that is done 
why should not the large Estates in England be bought up and distributed among the 
Tenant Farmers ? 
2. At present the Colonies enjoy self government and belong to the greatest con- 
federacy that the world ever Saw. This Scheme reverses the policy of the Colonial 
office, for a quarter of a century so successful. It transfers to John McDonald or 
Darcy McGee, resting upon a purely Canadian majority, powers which no Colonial 
Secretary ever claimed. When Downing Street appointed our Governors and con- 
trolled our casual revenues, they rarely interfered with inferior patronage, could 
levy no new taxes, and the casual Revenue seldom exceeded £10 or £12,000. The 
Downing Street at Ottawa will appoint our Governors, Councillors, and Judges,— 
will have unlimitted powers of external and internal taxation—At the start, will con- 

69 The electors of Prince Edward Island had voted overwhelmingly against Confederation. The 
P. E. I. Assembly in 1866 resolved that: ‘‘This House cannot admit that a Federal union of the North 
American provinces and Colonies which would include Prince Edward’s Island, could ever be accom- 
plished on terms that would prove advantageous to the interests and well-being of the people of this 
island, separated, as it is and must ever remain, from the neighbouring provinces by an immovable 
barrier of ice for many months in the year.’’ In March, 1866, the Assembly of Newfoundland adopted 
the following Resolution: “That while duly regardful of the momentous character of the subject and 
of the promise to His Excellency to give it attention, yet as no information has been received demanding 
its immediate reconsideration, the House does not deem it expedient to enter upon its discussion with a 
view to any decision thereon.” 
70 Refers to the two New Brunswick elections, in 1865 and 1866. The St. John Telegraph published 
a statement showing that the N. B. elections of 1866 resulted in 55,665 votes for and 33,767 against’ 
Confederation. Hannay, New Brunswick, 11, 254. The resolution in the Assembly for the appoint- 
ment of delegates was adopted by a vote of 30 to 8. 
71 Arthur Hamilton Gordon. : 
72 The offer of $800,000 to extinguish proprietary rights was made by the Confederation delegates 
to Mr. James C. Pope, Leader of the Prince Edward Island Government, who happened to be in London 
at the time. Pope, Memoirs, II, 146-7. Pope had already published his views on the subject of Con- 
federation. See Bibliography No. 62. 
