502 MISCELLANEOUS 



that it can be successfully contended that we have shown ourselves 

 unworthy of such privileges as we enjoy under responsible govern- 

 ment. 



Again, if there be advocates for a coercive policy being applied to 

 this colony in respect to union with Canada, are they quite certain 

 that the Government of the Dominion would take in an unwilling 

 partner ? I am quite certain that the present Government would not. 

 Sir Wilfrid Laurier is far too able a statesman to admit within the 

 circle of Canadian influence any element which would bring about 

 discord. I also feel quite confident that if union ever takes place 

 between this colony and the Canadian Dominion it will have to be a 

 marriage of the affections. To attempt to force this colony into a 

 union that she does not desire would be worse than useless. I do not 

 believe that any such motive prompted the treatment of which we 

 complain; neither do I believe that it is necessary for this colony 

 to enter into union with Canada in order to obtain justice from His 

 Majesty's Government. I prefer to believe that that great diplomat 

 and statesman, Lord Dufferin, voiced the sentiments of every man 

 worthy to be called a British statesman when, as Governor-General 

 of Canada, he declared, in addressing the people of British Columbia : 



" Your numerical weakness as a community is your real strength, 

 for it is a consideration that appeals to every honest heart. Far 

 distant be the day when [on] an acre of soil over which floats the flag 

 of England mere material power, brute political preponderance, should 

 be permitted to decide such a controversy as we are now discussing. 

 Woe betide the government or the statesman who, because its inhab- 

 itants are few in number and politically of small account, should dis- 

 regard the issue or carelessly dismiss the representations, however 

 bluff, boisterous, or downright, of the feeblest of the distant colonies." 



The great British statesman who uttered these words of wisdom and 

 warning is dead, but the measure of justice that he contended for, I 

 rejoice to believe, still lives. The manner in which the great journals 

 the Empire over have taken up our cause declares to this effect. 



There have been a few newspapers on the other side of the Atlantic 

 that have described our conflict with His Majesty's Government as 

 " much ado about nothing." The writers of such articles surely could 

 not have understood the seriousness of the situation. There are 

 55,000 men, with their wives and children, in this colony whose daily 

 bread depends upon the successful prosecution of the fisheries. The 

 continuance of these fisheries depends upon the manner in which they 

 are conducted, and therefore this legislature has from time to time 

 passed laws to prevent the pollution of the waters of the bays, har- 

 bours, and coves around the coasts of this colony and of the Labrador ; 

 to regulate the seasons during which certain fish may be caught, and 

 to determine the instruments of capture that may be employed by 

 the fishermen. Within the fishery areas of this colony the Imperial 

 Government has granted to the citizens of foreign nations (France 

 and the United States of America) certain rights of fishing " in com- 

 mon " with British subjects. If the words " in common " meant any- 

 thing, I submit they conveyed to foreigners the right to fish side by 

 side with British fishermen within the prescribed areas set out in the 

 treaty or grant, at the same seasons, with the same implements of cap- 

 turej and subject to the same regulations. If this was not the mean- 

 ing of the words then the foreign fishermen were free to destroy the 



