178 



CANADA. 



Liabilities brought forward $71,459,799 47 



Seigniorial Tenure : 



Capital to Seigniors $2,899,711 09 



Chargeable on Municipali- 

 ties 1 Fund. 196,719 06 



On Account of Jesuits' Es- 

 tates 140,271 87 



Indemnity to the Town- 

 ships 891,500 00 



4,118,202 62 



$75,578,022 09 



Less Sinking Funds. $4,883,177 11 



Cash and Bank Accounts, 2,248,891 67 7,132,068 98 



$68,445,953 11 



From which, for reasons given in his speech, 

 Mr. Gait deducted the Common School 

 Fund. 1,181,953 85 



Leaving as net liabilities $67,263,994 27 



Imports, Exports, and Tonnage of the Provinces. 



Total value of the Imports and Exports of 

 Canada for the years 1863 and 1804. Eleven 

 months ending Nov. 30th : 



Imports. 



1863. f.43,914,692 



1864. 50,619,217 



Exports. 



1S63 $35,186,925 



1861 83,317,873 



During the latter part of the year Canada 

 became involved, to a certain extent, in the dif- 

 ficulties existing in the United States. Their 

 adjacent position to United States territory, and 

 the neutral policy which they have preserved, 

 in accordance with the spirit of the Queen's 

 proclamation to that effect, have rendered the 

 British American Provinces, since the com- 

 mencement of the war, a secure retreat and 

 asylum for all manner of political and military 

 refugees from the South. That many of these 

 persons, acting under the authority of the Con- 

 federate Government, should have violated the 

 hospitality which they thus enjoyed, by con- 

 cocting plots and raids upcp. the adjoining re- 

 public, and otherwise endeavoring to embroil 

 the Government of Great Britain, speaks little 

 to the credit of the Confederates, and has filled 

 the minds of the Canadian people and the Gov- 

 ernment with indignation. 



It was feared as the result of one of these 

 raids that upon the town of St. Albans and 

 vicinity, in the State of Vermont, in the month 

 of October, by Lieut. Bennett H. Young and 

 his associates (an account of which is elsewhere 

 given), that complications would arise between 

 the Governments of the United States and 

 Canada, which would ultimately lead to any 

 but a pacific settlement. 



The raiders, after the commission of th 

 offence before mentioned, being pursued by 

 the authorities of the United States, fled across 

 the Canadian frontier, claiming British protec- 

 tion, on the ground of the neutrality of Great 

 Britain. Being arrested and brought before 

 the judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions (an 

 inferior judicial official maintained in the cities 

 of Canada) at Montreal, they, after the lapse 

 of some time, were released from custody by 

 the judge (Mr. Coursol) on the ground of " no 

 jurisdiction " a wrong interpretation of the 

 statute for the trial of offences of this nature. 

 This decision aroused a spirit of much dissatis- 

 faction on the part of the authorities of both 

 countries ; the celebrated proclamation of Gen. 

 Dix followed, which, but for the prompt and 

 commendable action of the President in re- 

 voking it, would, if carried out, have had the 

 almost certain effect of provoking the Govern- 

 ment of Great Britain into war with the United 

 States. The Canadian people were ready to 

 defend their own soil from aggression, and the 

 mother country was both able and willing to 

 supplement them in their patriotic endeavors. 

 It is but justice to the Canadian Government 

 to say that, viewing Mr. Coursol's decision as 

 bad in law, as unjust in principle, they at once, 

 after its rendering, took measures to counteract 

 the bad effects it would be likely to give rise 

 to, and also to preserve the public peace, both 

 from the incursions of the Federal authorities 

 and the depredations of any future raiders. 



A proclamation was issued offering rewards 

 for the rearrest of Young and the other raid- 

 ers, under which he and most of his accom- 

 plices were apprehended. A large and efficient : 

 body of police were appointed for service on 

 the frontier, under the command of experienced 

 leaders. About two thousand of the volunteer 

 militia force of the Province were also called 

 out to aid the civil power in the same locality, 

 should this extreme course have to be resorted 

 to. Stipendiary magistrates (empowered to act 

 over a large extent of country, entrusted with 

 large powers, and receiving salaries from Gov- 

 ernment) were placed on the commission of the 

 peace. Both volunteers and militia, as well as 

 the last-named functionaries, were still serving 

 at their several posts on the 1st January, 1865 ; 

 the term of service of the volunteers extends to 

 the 1st May, 1865, when, very probably, they 

 will be replaced by a new brigade. Parliament 

 was convened for an early period (19th Jan- 

 uary), in order that other and, if possible, more 

 stringent measures might be devised for the 

 preservation of the public peace. 



All the acts of the Canadian authorities be- 

 token a lively desire on their part to maintain 

 amicable relations with the United States. The 

 expense of these measures will be considerable, 

 and has been estimated at $100,000 per month. 

 Meanwhile Young and his associates, at the 

 close of the year, were confined in the Mon- 

 treal jail, awaiting their trial before the Su- 

 perior Court of Lower Canada. 



