130 



CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



sion of 1885 was the longest ever held by the 

 Dominion Parliament, and lasted within ten 

 days of six months. The debate on the Fran- 

 chise Bill occupied the House of Commons two 

 months, determined but unsuccessful efforts 

 being made by the Opposition to talk the meas- 

 ure out. The Liberals made no effort to con- 

 ceal their obstructive tactics, pleading that 

 obstruction was justified by the partisan char- 

 acter of the bill. The British North America 

 Act (the act of the Imperial Parliament by 

 which some of the British North American 

 Provinces were united as the Dominion of 

 Canada in 1867) provided the electoral fran- 

 chises in the several provinces shonld be the 

 franchises for the Canadian Parliament in those 

 provinces respectively, until the Parliament of 

 Canada should otherwise provide. An excep- 

 tion was made for the District of Algoma, in 

 which every male subject, being twenty-one 

 years of age and a householder, was to have a 

 vote. The Dominion Parliament had neglected 

 for so many years to assert its right to deter- 

 mine the qualification of its own electorate, 

 that the advocates of provincial rights had 

 come to look upon the privilege as one that 

 ought never to have been granted, and ought 

 not to be exercised. The Premier, Sir John 

 Macdonald, who introduced the bill, had, how- 

 ever, repeatedly, in " speeches from the throne," 

 promised such a measure. The voters' qualifi- 

 cation in the several provinces differing so 

 widely, the effect of the bill was not the same 

 all over the Dominion. Thus, in Prince Ed- 

 ward Island and British Columbia, where man- 

 hood suffrage had prevailed, the bill was only 

 saved from being a disfranchising bill by the 

 expedient of giving the right to vote to any 

 person who had ever voted. Under Sir John's 

 bill, to be qualified to vote in a city or town, 

 a man must be twenty-one years old, and a 

 British subject by birth or naturalization. He 

 must also be either the owner of real property 

 worth $300 ; the tenant of real property worth 

 $2 a month, $6 a quarter, $12 a half-year, or 

 $20 a year, and have been in possession of such 

 a property for twelve months (not necessarily 

 the same property for the whole year); the 

 lonafide occupant of real property worth $300, 

 in enjoyment of the revenues thereof for him- 

 self or his wife; a resident within a city or 

 town, deriving an annual income of not less 

 than $400 from some trade, calling, office, or 

 profession, or from some investment, or charge 

 on real property in Canada; the son of any 

 such owner of real property, and resident con- 

 tinuously with his father (or mother, after the 

 death of his father) on such property, provid- 

 ing the value of the property would be suffi- 

 cient, if divided between the father and his 

 sons, to qualify them all ; if not, as many of the 

 sons are enfranchised in order of seniority as 

 the value of the property, if equally divided 

 among the elder of them, would qualify; an ab- 

 sence from home of four months in the year 

 does not disqualify a son. In counties a man 



must be twenty-one years of age and a British 

 subject. He must also be either the owner of 

 real property worth $150 ; the tenant of real 

 property worth a rental of $2 a month, $6 a 

 quarter, $12 a half-year, $20 a year (the rent 

 may be payable in money or in kind, except 

 when the property is situated in an incorpo- 

 rated village), change of tenancy during the 

 year not disqualifying ; the bonajide occupant 

 of real property worth $150, and enjoying the 

 profits thereof for himself or his wife ; a resi- 

 dent in a county, enjoying an income of $400 a 

 year ; a farmer's son, resident on the farm of 

 his father (or mother, after the death of his 

 father), or son of any owner of real property 

 other than a farm, if the farm or property is 

 of sufficient value, if divided equally between 

 the father and all his sons, to qualify them ; if 

 the farm is not of sufficient value to qualify all 

 the sons, then as many of the elder sons are 

 enfranchised in order of seniority as the value 

 of the farm, if equally divided, would be suffi- 

 cient to qualify ; a fisherman, and the owner 

 of real property, and boats and tackle, together 

 of the actual value of $150. Joint tenants or 

 joint owners in property, whose share would 

 be sufficient to qualify them if. held in their 

 own names, are qualified. Judges and certain 

 election officers and election agents are not 

 allowed to vote. The bill was also framed to 

 enfranchise unmarried women and widows, but 

 the Premier declined to imperil the whole bill 

 for the sake of this feature of it, and Parlia- 

 ment declined to grant female suffrage. The 

 Government was attacked by the Liberals for 

 introducing such an important measure late in 

 the session, but the most serious opposition was 

 made to the great powers conferred by the bill 

 upon the revising officers, who were to be Gov- 

 ernment nominees; and to the interpretation 

 clause making an Indian a " person " within the 

 meaning of the act. The bill contemplated the 

 appointment of a revising officer for each elec- 

 toral district, whose duties would be to prepare, 

 revise, and complete the electoral lists. No 

 appeal was to be permitted from the revising 

 officer's decisions on points of fact ; but an ap- 

 peal might be made on a point of law, with the 

 consent of the revising officer. A revising offi- 

 cer in any province, except Quebec, was to be 

 either a judge or a junior judge of any county 

 court in the province in which he was to act, 

 or a barrister of five years' standing at the bar 

 of that province. In Quebec he must be either 

 a judge of the Superior Court for Lower Can- 

 ada, or an advocate of that province of at least 

 five years' standing. To the Liberals, the re- 

 vising officer was a most objectionable institu- 

 tion. It was taken for granted that the revising 

 officers, being Government nominees, would all 

 be Government partisans. Only a degree less 

 objectionable to the Opposition was the pro- 

 posal to enfranchise the Indians. It was argued 

 that the Indians are wards of the Government, 

 and likely to be influenced by the Indian De- 

 partment. In discussing this bill the House of 



