DOMINION' OF CANADA. 



277 



abundant harvest with which Providence has been 



pleased to bless the country, and mi tin- in-m-ml 



t tin- l)i. minimi. Your new nationality 



,,ii in course backed by the moral support, 



! and tin- most ardent good wishes (it the 



.ntry. Within \oiir own borders p 



,, and 'prosperity prevail, and I fervently 



{. ..ur aspirations maybe directed to inon 

 patriotic objects, and that you may be 

 ,| with xiu-h a spirit of moderation and wis- 

 vour great work of Union, which 

 has b- <!, a blessing to yourselves and 



iiv, and a fresh starting-point in the 

 political and material advancement of the 

 people of Canada. 



Parliament continued to sit until near the 

 close of December, when it adjourned until 

 March, 1868. During the short time the Houses 

 wore in session several measures of great prac- 

 tical importance were considered and adopted 

 l.y tin-in. A bill was passed authorizing the con- 

 struction of the Intercolonial Railway, vesting 

 in the Government the power to select a proper 

 route for the same, and the whole superintend- 

 ence and control of its construction ; a uniform 

 rate of letter and newspaper postage, and the 

 establishment of post-office savings banks, 

 were agreed upon ; and the old Canadian 

 taritF was made to apply to all parts of the 

 Dominion. By far the most important act of 

 iort sitting of the Dominion Legislature, 

 however, was the adoption of the Hon. Mr. 

 McDougall's resolutions for an address to the 

 Queen, praying her Majesty to unite Rupert's 

 Land and the Northwestern Territory known as 

 the Hudson's Bay Territory) with the Dominion 

 of Canada, as follows : 



1. That it would promote the prosperity of the 

 Canadian people, and conduce to the advantage of 

 the whole empire, if the Dominion of Canada, con- 

 stituted under the provisions of the British North 

 American Act of IfcWT, were extended westward to 

 the shores of the Pacific Ocean. 



2. That the colonization of the fertile lands of the 

 Saskatchewan, the Assiniboine, and the Red River 

 districts the development of the mineral wealth 

 which abounds in the regions of the Northwest 

 and the extension of commercial intercourse, through 

 the British possessions in America, from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific are alike dependent upon the 

 establishment of a stable government, for the main- 

 tenance of law and order, in the Northwestern 

 Territory. 



3. That the welfare of a sparse and widely-scattered 

 population of British subjects, of European origin, 

 already inhabiting these remote and unorganized 

 territories, would be materially enhanced by the 

 formation therein of political institutions bearing 

 analogy, as far as circumstances will admit, to those 

 which exist in the several provinces of ibis Dominion. 



4. That the U6th section of the British North Ameri- 

 can Act of 1867 provides for the admission of Ru- 

 pert's Land and the Northwestern Territory, or 

 either of them, into union with Canada ; upon terms 

 and conditions to be expressed in. addresses from 

 the Houses of Parliament of this Dominion, to her 

 Majesty, and which shall be approved of by the 

 Queen in council. 



5. That it is accordinglv expedient to address her 

 Majesty that she would "be graciously pleased, by 

 and with the advice of her most Honorable Privy 

 Council, to unite Rupert's Land and the North- 

 western Territory with the Dominion of Canada, 

 and to grant to the Parliament of Canada* authority 



to legislate for their future welfare and good gorern- 

 m.ent. 



(5. That in the event of the Imperial Government 

 ;:! '-.injr to transfer to Canada the jurisdiction and 

 control ovi-r tliis region, it would be expedient to 

 provide that the legal rights of any corporation, 

 company, or individual within the same, will be re- 

 spected, and that in case of difference of opinion M to 

 the extent, nature, or value of these rights, the 

 same shall be submitted to judicial decision, or be 

 di-ti-nnined liy mutual agreement between the Qov- 

 c-riiim-iit of Canada and the parties interested. 



7. That upon the transference of the territories in 

 question to the Canadian Government, the claims 

 of the Indian tribes to compensation, for lands re- 

 quired for purposes of settlement, would be consid- 

 ered and settled in conformity with the equitable 

 principles which have uniformly governed the crown 

 in its dealings with the aborigines. 



An untoward event happened, previous to 

 the meeting of Parliament, in the resignation 

 of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Gait, incom- 

 parably the ablest financier in the Dominion. 

 " Whatever," says an Ontario paper in refer- 

 ence to this matter, " there may be which re- 

 mains untold regarding Mr. Gait's resignation, 

 there is little room to doubt that it was largely 

 connected with the failure of the Commercial 

 Bank (in October), an event which well-nigh 

 caused a serious panic in business and commer- 

 cial circles. Much odium was sought to be 

 cast upon both Mr. Gait and the government 

 in connection with the failure of the bank ; but a 

 fuller knowledge of the facts has clearly shown 

 that the bank failed, not because of the currency 

 act, to which it was foolishly attributed, but to 

 the wretched mismanagement of previous years. 

 The stoppage of the Commercial, coming not 

 very far from the failure of the Bank of Upper 

 Canada, caused much distrust among the farm- 

 ing community, and led to a run upon some of 

 the other chartered banks of the province. 

 The causes which led to the disaster which 

 befell the Commercial Bank, not being of a gen- 

 eral character, and the banks having wisely de- 

 termined to stand by each other, the run the 

 most serious, perhaps, that ever took place in 

 Canada was deprived of its sting, and the 

 banks most directly attacked passed safely 

 through the ordeal. Shipping and commission 

 merchants were, however, unable to obtain 

 their usual accommodation, and the price of 

 wheat fell, in consequence, some eight or ten 

 cents a bushel. This disturbance in banking 

 accommodation naturally led to a dulness in 

 all branches of business. The old trade rela- 

 tions are now, however, fully reestablished." 



The Hon. John Rose, of Montreal, succeeded ' 

 Mr. Gait as Finance Minister, and a member of 

 the cabinet. 



In compliance with the requirements of the 

 Union Act, the Parliaments of Ontario and Que- 

 bec met, the former at Toronto and the latter 

 at the city of Quebec, both on the 27th of De- 

 cember, but almost immediately adjourned to 

 meet after the new year. The Legislatures of 

 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were not to 

 meet until 1868. 



The only change in the local government, &s 



