130 



BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 



the renewal of the treaty ; and we had to consider, 

 in the second place, what action should be taken if it 

 declined to negotiate at all. Now it must be clear, 

 with reference to this trade of the Maritime Provinces 

 with Canada, that it is most important that this 

 meeting should be held, and that a common under- 

 standing should be arrived at by the representatives 

 of the different governments. He did not apprehend 

 that there would be the slightest difficulty in coming 

 to an agreement upon either one point or the other. 

 The Canadian Government did not desire to engross 

 the negotiations that might take place respecting the 

 treatv. If they stood alone, they would as much 

 consider the interests of the Maritime Provinces as 

 their own ; but on this occasion, they would havj 

 those interests represented by gentlemen from the 

 governments of those Provinces themselves, and they 

 would have the advantage of obtaining from those 

 gentlemen information on points relating to those 

 interests, and by this means he did not doubt that 

 they would be able to unite in placing before the 

 representative of the Imperial government at Wash- 

 ington, the united views of all those colonies in ref- 

 erence to trade with the United States, and especially 

 with reference to the fisheries of the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence and Nova Scotia, which formed such an im- 

 portant part of the trade ; but if, unfortunately, we 

 should be disappointed in our anticipations that the 

 American Government will not enter into negotiations 

 for the renewal of the treaty, then it would become 

 more than necessary that an understanding should 

 be had with the Maritime Provinces in reference to 

 the future of our trade. 



The internal trade of the Provinces during 

 the year was very flourishing. The only draw- 

 hack to this prosperous state of tilings was 

 the threatened termination of the Reciprocity 

 Treaty in March, 1866, and the uncertainty 

 which existed as to whether the Canadian 

 Government would be able to secure a renewal, 

 of it. A feeling exists in Canada that the action 

 of the United States authorities in refusing to 

 grant this, is prompted by a desire to move 

 them from their allegiance. "Whether this con- 

 jecture be well founded or not is uncertain ; but 

 if it be, it will probably fail of its object, and 

 tend rather to bind the Canadian people more 

 firmly than ever to the throne of Great Britain. 

 The Detroit Convention, mentioned elsewhere, 

 produced great practical good in Canada by its 

 labors and deliberations. It served in a meas- 

 ure to clear away many old prejudices and an- 

 tipathies, and to allay much bitter feeling that 

 had been engendered during the war. It showed 

 the great necessity for increased canal and rail- 

 road communication between the west and the 

 seaboard. 



In Nova Scotia no steps were taken on the 

 question of Confederation, either in submitting 

 it to the Legislature or to the people, although 

 the former course was promised in a despatch 

 from the Lieutenant-Governor to the Governor- 

 General. The Government, on the contrary, 

 has, for the present, abandoned the scheme, in 

 favor of a Legislative Union of the Maritime 

 Provinces, as appears by two resolutions adopted 

 in May, as follows : 







LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. IST. WTiereas, under exist- 

 ing circumstances, an immediate Union of the British 

 North American Provinces has become impracticable ; 

 and whereat a Legislative Union of the Maritime 



Provinces is desirable, whether the larger union be 

 accomplished or not; 



Resolved, That in the opinion of this House, the ne- 

 gotiations for the Union of Nova Scotia, New Bruns- 

 wick, and Prince Edward Island should be resumed 

 in accordance with the resolution passed at the last 

 Session of the Legislature. 



HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. 2n. Resolved, That in the 

 opinion of this House the negotiations for the Union 

 of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward 

 Island should be resumed in accordance with the reso- 

 lution passed at the last session of the Legislature. 



In July a delegation, composed of the Pre- 

 mier, Dr. Tupper, and the Attorney-General, Mr. 

 Henry, was appointed to proceed to England to 

 confer with the Imperial Government on the 

 subject of the Reciprocity Treaty and on other 

 questions of interest to the Colony. The reply 

 of the Imperial Government on the subject of 

 confederation was thus reported byMr. Card well : 



" I have stated that her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment can give no countenance to any proposals 

 which would lead to delay the Confederation 

 of all the Provinces, which they are so desirous 

 to promote, and can only aid in the promotion 

 of a closer union between Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick, if that closer union be ancillary to, 

 and form part of, the scheme for general union." 



Toward the close of the year, Sir R. G. Mac- 

 donnell was transferred to the Governorship of 

 Hong Kong, and Sir "W. F. "Williams, a distin- 

 guished native of the province, was appointed in 

 his stead, to the satisfaction of his countrymen. 



The Government of Mr. Tilley, in New Bruns- 

 wick, pursued a more manly and straightfor- 

 ward policy than that of the sister Province. 

 Early in the year the question was submitted 

 to the electors, but through organized influences 

 which could not be combated, a Legislature 

 unfavorable to the scheme was returned. Mr. 

 Tilley, with his Ministry, retired from office, 

 and were succeeded by the triumphant party, 

 who caused resolutions to be passed in the 

 Legislature hostile to confederation, and every 

 thing was done to place the Province in a posi- 

 tion of antagonism to the scheme. A delegation, 

 composed of Messrs. Smith and Allan, two mem- 

 bers of the Government, were appointed to pro- 

 ceed to England, to represent the views of the 

 majority on the question of Union, but failed to 

 secure countenance or any sympathy from the 

 imperial authorities. More recently, however, a 

 better feeling has sprung up, and the result of an 

 election in the county of York has been to re- 

 turn a gentleman strongly pledged in favor of 

 Union, by an overwhelming majority. Mr. An- 

 glin,the member of the Government most deter- 

 minably opposed to confederation, has resigned 

 his seat in the Council, and has been succeeded 

 by one more^willing to entertain the consider- 

 ation of the question. It is therefore considered 

 probable, that ere long, should an opportunity 

 permit. New Brunswick would declare for 

 Union. In a recent general election in New- 

 foundland, a majority has been returned pledged 

 to support the Quebec scheme. 



The comparative trade of the United States 

 with British North America and other coun- 



