BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 



77 



of the peonle. I am particularly gratified that yon 

 haro enabled m to make provision for those who 



have sntVi'ivd l.v tin- loss of relatives, or have been 

 wonmlrd iliirinl: the late attack on the Province. 

 Thi> :i.'t is :i ju>t tribute, on your part, to the patriot- 

 ilic ini-ii upon whom devolves the defence of 

 tin- rr.i\iiiri', mill will prove. to the survivors that 

 they dn not MT\e an ungenerous or ungrateful coun- 



T!i v..i for purposes of public defence are on 

 a scale which wilf enable the Government to improve 

 tin- . ilinrucv of tin- volunteers in armament, equip- 

 ment, and drill, and no exertions shall bo wanting to 

 apply your grants with effect in each of these par- 

 tioufan. 



1 rejoice that von have completed vour part for the 

 union of the colonies of British North America, and 

 1 shall not fail to transmit to the Secretary of State 

 for the Colonies, for presentation to* her majesty, 

 your address on this subject. In bringing to a close 

 the last session likely to be held under the act for 

 the union of the two Canadas, I congratulate the 

 Parliament which that law called into existence on 

 the retrospect afforded by the events of the last 

 quarter of a century in this Province. You can mark 

 during the period the firm consolidation of your in- 

 stu ut ions, both political and municipal, the extended 

 settlement of your country, and the development of 

 your internal resources and foreign trade, the im- 

 provement and simplification of your laws, and above 

 ull the education which the adoption of the system 

 of responsible government has afforded your states- 

 men in the well-tried ways of the British constitution. 



Confederation. After securing votes in favor 

 of union and authority to go, from bothLegisla- 

 the colonial delegates from New Bruns- 

 wick and Nova Scotia left at midsummer for 

 England to perfect the final arrangements for 

 colonial union (Prince Edward Island and New- 

 foundland declining to send any), expecting the 

 Canadian delegates to follow very shortly. 

 But the session of Parliament was much longer 

 than was anticipated, and during the autumn 

 threats of renewed invasion were pretty con- 

 stant. It was felt that at such a time the Gov- 

 ernor-General and his chief advisers ought not 

 to he absent from the country. There was, 

 besides, a great deal of business to be trans- 

 acted by the Executive Council which had fallen 

 into arvears during the March and June panic 

 and invasion, and there were the measures 

 passed during the late session to be set in oper- 

 ation. These detained the Canadian ministers 

 who were named delegates until November, 

 and the Governor-General himself until De- 

 cember. Meanwhile the Eastern delegates 

 were urgently calling for the presence of their 

 Canadian colleagues, but busying themselves 

 with doing every thing possible to forward tho 

 business of their embassy. Out of their con- 

 ferences there the premier of Prince Ed\v;ird 

 Island being also in London on other business 

 came an offer of a subsidy to the island to en- 

 able it to change its land tenure by purchasing 

 proprietary rights. This was sent to tho Ca- 

 nadian Government for its concurrence, but tho 

 latter replied that it could not concur without 

 tho consent of Parliament, which had already 

 risen. They would, however, if found desir- 

 able on further consultation, recommend it to 

 the favorable consideration of the first Confed- 



erate Parliament. This was the only possible 

 answer, but it was ft severe disappointm. nt, 

 nevertheless, to tho friends of confederation in 

 Prinro Edward Island. Mr. Howe, with Mr. 

 Annand, had followed the Nova Scotian del- 

 egates to England, carrying with them a i"-ti- 

 tion from the anti-confederates of that Prov- 

 ince. 



A London correspondent of La Minerce 

 states that tlio leading men of both the great 

 parties in England express approval of tho 

 project of confederation, and that it is under- 

 stood the bill to give it effect would be taken 

 up early in the next session of 'Parliament, so as 

 to bo put into operation in the Provinces in the 

 spring. 



Agitation for Annexation to the United States. 

 A large meeting was held in Kingston, 0. W., 

 November 21st, at which a resolution was 

 adopted calling upon tho Canadian people to 

 agitate for annexation to the United States. 

 On the 25th of November tho Rev. J. Allen 

 preached in the Episcopal cathedral, to a large 

 audience, in favor of that measure. It is stated 

 that a strong annexation feeling exists among 

 the people in the Canadian peninsula between 

 Detroit and Niagara. At the Kingston meet- 

 ing allusion was made to a bill presented by 

 General Banks, in Congress, on the 2d of July, 

 and on its second reading referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Foreign Affuir;i. The history of this 

 bill has been thus stated : 



In the closing days of March there was introduced 

 into the House a long resolution calling on the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury for a statement of the trade of 

 the British Provinces in 1864 and 1865, respectively, 

 * * * " together with such information as may 

 be in his possession calculated to assist in correctly 

 estimating the trade resources of said Provinces and 

 their relations to the trade and productions of the 

 United States." The direct object of this inquiry 

 was to bring out matter bearing upon the reciprocity 

 treaty question ; the indirect object was to give some 

 official form to the vague and chaotic ideas afloat re- 

 garding the annexation of the Provinces. 



The reply to this resolution was laid before the 

 House a month ago. The Secretary's letter is very- 

 brief, but it encloses a document prepared, under his 

 direction, by Mr. James W. Taylor, special agent of 

 the Treasury Department of the Minnesota District. 

 " The closing pages of this paper," say* the Secre- 

 tary, "contain some views upon the political rela- 

 tions of the United States and British America, upon 

 which I am not prepared to express an opinion at 

 this time, but to which I invite the attention of the 

 House of Representatives." 



Mr. Taylor, in concluding the first branch of his 

 report, says: " Of the relations of the United States 

 and British America, it is evident that both commu- 

 nities are equally interested in two great objects : 

 1. An ocean navigation from the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence to Lakes Superior and Michigan ; and, 2. An 

 international railroad from Halifax to tho North 

 Pacific coast, on a route central to the forests of 

 New Brunswick, Maine, and Canada, the mineral 

 formation of Lake Superior, the wheat-growing plains 

 of Minnesota, and the Saskatchewan valley, and the 

 gold districts of British Columbia." The present 

 situation of these two great interests is then briefly 

 considered. "The problem," he says, " of which 

 every Northwestern State ardently seeVs the solution, 

 is such immediate construction of new or enlarge- 

 ment of existing canals as wU 1 yass vessels of fifteen 



