ON THE AFFAIRS OF
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
EDITED
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
SIR C. P. LUCAS, K.C.B., K.C.M.G.
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOLUME III: APPENDIXES
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1912
v,
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
CONTENTS
PART I
SELECTIONS FROM APPENDIXES TO LORD
DURHAM'S REPORT, A FULL LIST OF
WHICH IS HERE GIVEN
[The sections marked with an asterisk have not been reprinted.]
APPENDIX A
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED FEBRUARY 11, 1839. PAGE
No. 1. — Special Report to His Excellency the Governor- General by
Mr. R. D. Hanson (Assistant-Commissioner of Crown Lands
and Emigration) on the excessive Appropriation of Public
Lands, under the name of Clergy Reserves ... 1
No. 2. — Special Report to his Excellency the Governor-General from
the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration on
Militia Claims to grants of Land ..... 6
No. 3. — State of the Hospitals, Prisons, Charitable Institutions, &c.,
in Lower Canada.
No. 4. — Addresses presented to the Earl of Durham in September and
October, 1838.
No. 5. — Letter from Mr. William Young, on the State of Nova Scotia 12
No. 6. — Letter from the Right Rev. A. Macdonell, Catholic Bishop of
Kingston .......... 18
No. 7. — Memorial of Anthony Manahan, Esq., complaining of the
total exclusion of Roman Catholics (Irish) from all places
of emolument and honour in the power of the Government
of Upper Canada.
No 8. — Memorial of Representatives of Scotch Church in Montreal.
No. 9. — Address from the Constitutional Association of Montreal to
the inhabitants of British America . . . . .21
APPENDIX B
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED MARCH 5, 1839.
Commission by the Earl of Durham, appointing Charles Buller, Esq.,
to proceed with the utmost despatch to inquire into the
past and present methods of disposing of Waste Lands,
Woods, Forests and other Domains and Hereditaments
the Property of the Crown in Lower Canada, &c. . 29
Circular Despatches from the Governor-General to the respective
Lieutenant-Governors of Her Majesty's Colonies in North
America ......... 32
Report to his Excellency the Governor-General .... 34
*Minutes of Evidence.
APPENDIX C
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED MARCH 27, 1839.
1. — Reports of Commissioners of Inquiry into the Municipal Institu-
tions of Lower Canada.
The Commission 131
Copy.of Letter of Instructions from Chief Commissioner 133
iv CONTENTS
PAGE
Preliminary Report of Assistant Commissioners . . 136
General Report of Assistant Commissioners . . . 140
*Appendix.
*2. — Report from the Bishop of Montreal ttn the state of the Church
within his Diocese.
APPENDIXES D AND E
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED JUNE 12, 1839.
APPENDIX D.
Commission by the Earl of Durham, appointing Arthur Buller, Esq.,
to proceed with the utmost despatch to inquire into and
investigate the past and present modes of disposing of the
produce of any Estates or Funds applicable to purposes of
Education in Lower Canada, &c. . . . . . 238
Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry into the state of Education in
Lower Canada, &c. ....... 240
*Returns made to Education Commission, 1838.
tReport of Mr. Dunkiri, the Secretary to the Commission . . . 294
*Plan of Seigniory of Cap de la Magdeleine.
APPENDIX E.
*Copy of a Letter from the Earl of Durham to the Marquis of Nor-
manby, dated 31 May 1839.
* Report from the Chief Secretary, on the Commutation of the Feudal
Tenures in the Island of Montreal, and other Seigniories in
the possession of the Seigniory of St. Sulpice of Montreal.
* Ordinance of the Governor-General and Special Council of Lower
Canada, for incorporating the Seminary of St. Sulpice of
Montreal.
*Report from Mr. Turton. on the Establishment of a Registry of Real
Property in Lower Canada.
PART II
DESPATCHES RELATING TO LORD DURHAM'S
MISSION AND RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
REPRINTED FROM BLUE BOOKS
Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Earl of Durham, January 20, 1838 305
Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Earl of Durham, April 3, 1838 311
Despatch from Lord Glenelg to the Earl of Durham, April 21, 1838 314
Extract of a Despatch from the Earl of Durham to Lord Glenelg
August 9, 1838 319
Lord John Russell's despatch of October 14, 1839 . . 332
PART III
SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838.
Written by Mr. Charles Buller, in 1840 . . . .336
f Extract only reprinted.
PART I.
SELECTIONS FROM
APPENDIXES TO LORD DURHAM'S
REPORT
AS LAID BEFORE PARLIAMENT
APPENDIX A.
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED FEBRUARY 11, 1839.
CONTENTS.
No. 1. — Special Report to His Excellency the Governor-General by
Mr. R. T>. Hanson (Assistant-Commissioner of Crown Lands and
J Emigration) on the excessive Appropriation of Public Lands,
•f under the name of Clergy Reserves.
No. 2. — Special Report to his Excellency the Governor-General from
the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration on Militia
Claims to grants of Land.
*No. 3. — State of the Hospitals, Prisons, Charitable Institutions, &c., in
Lower Canada.
*No. 4. — Addresses presented to the Earl of Durham in September and
October, 1838.
No. 5.— Letter from Mr. William Young, on the State of Nova Scotia.
No. 6.— Letter from the Right Rev. A. Macdonell, Catholic Bishop of
Kingston.
*No. 7. — Memorial of Anthony Manahan, Esq., complaining of the total
exclusion of Roman Catholics (Irish) from all places of emolument
and honour in the power of the Government of Upper Canada.
*No. 8. — Memorial of Representatives of Scotch Church in Montreal.
No. 9. — Address from the Constitutional Association of Montreal to the
inhabitants of British America.
[The sections marked with an asterisk have not been reprinted.]
No. 1.
SPECIAL REPORT to His Excellency the Governor-general
by Mr. E. D. Hanson (Assistant-commissioner of
Crown Lands and Emigration) on the excessive
Appropriation of public Land, under the name of
' clergy reserves '.
My Lord, Quebec, 29 October, 1838.
IN compliance with your Excellency's direction, I have the
honour to furnish a report upon the subject of the excessive
appropriation of public land in the two provinces of Upper
and Lower Canada, under the name of ' clergy reserves '.
The clergy reserves in both of these provinces are made
under the authority of the Act 31 Geo. 3. c. 31, commonly
1352-3
2 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
known as the Constitutional Act. The 36th section of that
Act, after enabling His Majesty to authorize the Governor or
Lieutenant-governor of Lower or Upper Canada to make out
of the lands of the Crown, within either province, such an
allotment and appropriation ' for the support and main-
tenance of a Protestant Clergy ' as might bear a due proportion
to the lands previously granted, enacts, ' that whenever any
grant of lands within either of the said provinces shall here-
after be made by or under the authority of his Majesty, his
heirs or successors, there shall at the same time be made in
respect of the same, a proportionable allotment and appro-
priation of lands for the above-mentioned purpose, within
the township or parish to which such lands, so to be granted,
shall appertain or be annexed, or as nearly adjacent thereto
as circumstances will admit ; and that no such grant shall be
valid or effectual, unless the same shall contain a specification
of the lands so allotted and appropriated in respect of ihe
lands to be thereby granted ; and that such lands so allotted
and appropriated shall be, as nearly as the circumstances and
nature of the case will admit, of the like quality as the lands
in respect of which the same are so allotted and appropriated,
and shall be, as nearly as the same can be estimated at the
time of making such grant, equal in value to the seventh part
of the lands so granted.'
By instructions issued by the British Government, addressed
to the Governor and Lieutenant-governor of Lower and Upper
Canada, the ungranted public lands in both provinces were
directed to be laid out in townships of certain fixed dimensions,
generally ten miles square, containing, after making the
necessary deduction for roads, about 63,000 acres. These
townships were divided into lots of 200 acres each. With
a view to supposed convenience and uniformity of appro-
priation, it was decided by the Provincial Government, that
the land to be appropriated for the clergy in respect of all
grants should be set apart at the time of the survey of the
townships ; and, in order to be sure that the lands appro-
priated for this purpose should be of equal value to the land
open to be granted, it was settled, that the clergy reserves
should be interspersed at equal intervals all over the township.
But, instead of reserving every eighth lot, which would have
been equal * to the seventh part of the land to be granted,'
every seventh lot was set apart for this purpose. The same
mode of reserving the lots, and the same amount of reserva-
tion, was pursued in both provinces. In each province also
another seventh of every township was set apart in a similar
REPORT: APPENDIX A 3
manner, and termed 'Crown reserves', in order that these/
reserves might in after years furnish the Government with
a revenue independent of taxation.
In Upper Canada a practice prevailed of making all grants
from the Crown, whatever might be the amount of the grant,
in separate lots. Two or three or more of these lots might
happen to be situate in the same township, if the person
entitled to the grant chanced to find in that township a
sufficient quantity of land of the quality and position that he
desired. But it frequently happened that an individual
having a liberty of choice over all the surveyed lands of the
province, which had not been granted or appropriated,
preferred receiving his grant in separate lots, and would often
wait for a considerable period, until he could obtain what he
deemed a suitable location, rather than put up with an
inferior lot. It therefore generally happened that no grant
in any one township was equal to more than from 200 to
600 acres, and that therefore it was necessary to specify in
the deed by which it was made as the appropriation for a
Protestant clergy some fractional portion of a lot set apart for
that purpose. It was therefore natural that the terms of the
Act should be followed in spite of the original error of setting
apart one-seventh instead of one-eighth, and in practice 28^
acres were specified in each grant of a 200 acre lot, as the
appropriation and allotment for the support and maintenance
of a protestant clergy in respect of the same. This quantity,
it will be seen, was equal in amount, and, the land being
of the same average quality, equal also in value, to a seventh
of the land granted. Assuming, however, each township to
be of the dimensions stated above (63,000 acres), of which
9,000 were set apart for the clergy reserves, and 54,000 acres,
including the reserves for the Crown, were open to grant,
it is obvious that when the whole of the latter amount had
been granted there would have been specified at the rate of
28f for each 200 acres, only 7,714f acres, leaving unspecified
l,285f acres, or one-seventh of the whole original proportion
set apart for the clergy reserve. The practice pursued at
first, with regard to the specification, was to specify six-
sevenths of each separate lot, so that in every township there
would be a portion of each lot nominally clergy reserve, but
in reality still Crown land. For it would seem clear, under
the words of the Act, that no land becomes clergy reserve
until it has been specifically appropriated in respect of a grant
from the Crown. The setting apart the lots in the diagram,
and keeping them closed against settlement, was merely an
B 2
4 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
arrangement adopted for the supposed convenience of the
land-granting department, and could have no effect upon the
legal property in the land. It was a device adopted by the
land-granting department, in order to comply with an enact-
ment evidently made in ignorance of the degree in which the
best method of executing it would be found cumbrous and
complicated. At a later period, however, the practice of
specifying only six-sevenths of each lot was changed, and,
instead of a part, the whole of each lot was specified ; but
one-seventh of the reserved lots in each township was left in
its original character of Crown land.
In the evidence of Mr. Radenhurst, the chief clerk in the
Surveyor-general's office, it is stated that this excess has
occurred in about two-thirds of the surveyed townships.
From a careful consideration of the returns that he has
supplied, it however appears that the actual excess at the
present time is about 300,000 acres.
I have selected the case of Upper Canada in the first in-
stance, because it is more simple, and because the practice
of the Surveyor-general in making the actual appropriation
to be specified in the grant, by its conformity with the terms
of the Act, exhibits clearly the nature and extent of the
original error committed by the Governor and Council, in
setting apart the seventh of each township. In Lower
Canada the same amount of reservation was made for both
the Crown and the clergy ; but the different methods of
granting land pursued by the Government of that colony
led to a practice on the part of the Surveyor-general which
greatly aggravated this original error. The first grant made
after the passing of the Constitutional Act appears to have
been to the Honourable Thomas Dunn and 47 others, of the
whole of the township of Dunham, with the exception of
the Crown and clergy reserve, or five-sevenths of the township,
amounting to about 45,000 acres. In the patent for this
grant the Surveyor-general specified the whole 9,000 acres
of clergy reserve in the township as the allotment and appro-
priation in respect of the lands granted, and thus made the
appropriation equal to one-fifth, instead of one-seventh, of
the grant, being an excess in that particular case of 2,571^
acres. In the ten following years after the making of this
grant, nearly 1,500,000 acres were granted by the Crown in
a similar manner, and in each patent the whole of the land set
apart as a reserve for the clergy in the granted portion of
each township was specified as the allotment and appro-
priation for the clergy in respect of the grant. The practice
REPORT: APPENDIX A 5
thus commenced was continued after the circumstances out
of which it arose no longer existed, and it became a settled
course to specify for the clergy in the patent for every grant
a portion of land equal to one-fifth of the amount of the
grant. So that instead of the reserve being at the rate of
28f for every 200 acres, it was at the rate of 40 acres, being
an excess in each case of llf acres, or two-fifths upon the
reserve awarded by law.
When, however, the system of disposing of the public lands
in the colony by sale, instead of free grant, was introduced,
the Crown reserve of one-seventh was offered for sale with
the other public land. But when the purchasers of this land,
after having paid the purchase -money, applied for a patent,
the Attorney-general of the province, by whom these patents
were prepared, conceived that any patent for the land thus
sold, as a grant of land under the authority of the Crown,
would be rendered invalid by the clause in the Constitutional
Act quoted above, unless it contained a specification of an
allotment for the clergy in respect of the land it purported
to convey. Under this opinion he refused to sign the draft
of any patent which did not contain such specification. As
however the whole of the land originally set apart for this
purpose in each township had been already specified in
previous patents, it was necessary that a fresh reserve should
be made, either out of the Crown reserves in that township,
or out of other lands, for the purpose. This was accordingly
done, but this fresh reserve was again equal to one-fifth,
instead of one-seventh of the land granted ; so that the
reserve for the clergy upon the grant of 54,000 being the six-
sevenths of a township, exclusively of the reserve for the
clergy, instead of 7,714|- acres, amounted to 10,800 acres,
being an excess of 3,085f acres. In addition, moreover, to
the excess thus occasioned, the sale of a portion of the clergy
reserves authorized by the Act of the Imperial Parliament,
7 Geo. 4, c. [ * ] has been made the occasion of a further reserve.
It appeared to the Attorney-general that the sales under the
authority of this Act were grants by the Crown, and, as such,
required a specification of a reserve for the clergy in respect
of the land comprised in any patent, in order to their being
valid. This interpretation of the law prevailed, and accord-
ingly a further reserve of one-fifth was made upon these sales,
making the reserve 12,600, instead of 7,7 14f acres for each
township of 63,000 acres, and the excess over the reserve
* Sic in the Blue Book, no doubt the Act of 1827, 7 & 8 Geo. IV, cap. 62.
[ED.]
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
which would appear to have been contemplated by the
Constitutional Act, 4,885 f acres. Under the opinion held by
the Attorney-general, similar reserves would have to be made
upon any fresh sale of these additional reserves, and the
result would be to give to the clergy a portion equal to one-
fourth of the granted land, instead of one-seventh, being
a clear excess of 75 per cent. The excess in Lower Canada
does not amount at present to more than 227,000 acres over
44,600, or about 50 per cent., because four-sevenths of the
clergy reserves are yet unsold, and consequently no additional
reserves have been made upon them. The amount for which
the land set apart on the map, as reserved for the clergy, has
been sold in Upper Canada, is 314,150?., and of this one-
seventh, or 44,878?., is in fact the proceeds of Crown la>nd
improperly sold under the name of ' clergy reserves ', and
belongs to the public. Of the 50,425?. produced by the sale
of land similarly appropriated in Lower Canada, one-third or
16,808?. is the proceeds of Crown land, and also belongs to
the public.
I have, &c.
(signed) E. Davies Hanson,
Ass'-comm1" of Crown Lands and
Emigration.
To His Excellency
the Governor-general.
Special
cellency
the
Govenor-
fronTthe
Commis-
sioner of
Lands and
Emigra-
tion.
No. 2.
SPECIAL REPORT to His Excellency the Governor-
General from the COMMISSIONER of CROWN LANDS
and EMIGRATION.
To His Excellency the Governor General.
My Lord,
HAVING nearly concluded the inquiry into the disposal of
crown lanc*s and emigration in the Province of Lower Canada,
^ ^eg leave to report upon the subject of the militia claims to
grants of land ; a matter which appears to require the im-
mediate interposition of Government, and cannot, without
grea^ inconvenience, be postponed till the completion of the
inquiry in the neighbouring Provinces, which must precede
anv general report.
^ aPPears that grants of land to individuals who served
in the militia during the last American war, were first directed
by instructions which in 1818 were transmitted by the Home
Government to the Duke of Richmond, then Governor of the
Province, under which all subsequent proceedings seem to
have been taken ; though, as no record of these instructions
REPOfrT: APPENDIX A 7
is extant in the Colony, and no measures have been adopted
to procure a copy of them from England, it is impossible to
determine positively the parties to whom grants of land were
directed to be made. From an Act of the Provincial Parlia-
ment, 59 Geo. 3, c. 23, appropriating 3,000/. for the survey of
townships within which the grants were to be situated, it
would seem that the instructions referred almost entirely to
the embodied militia.
Under the Act referred to, several townships were surveyed
and laid out, and on 2d November 1822, a proclamation
was issued by Lord Dalhousie, directing all persons who had
served in the six battalions of embodied militia, and such as
had marched to the frontier, to bring in their claims before
the 1st of May 1823. The time fixed by this proclamation
as the limit within which claims were to be made, was after-
wards enlarged, by another proclamation, to the 1st of May
1824, and again on the 29th of July 1829, by another procla-
mation, to the 1st of August 1830.
Under these proclamations, claims to a very considerable
extent appear to have been made, and upwards of 200,000
acres have been granted : a question, however, arose at an
early period as to the character of the individuals to whom
the original proclamation was intended to apply. In addition
to the six battalions of embodied militia, there were several
corps of the sedentary militia, which had been called out
during the course of the war, and had for a short time marched
to the frontier, the members of which contended that they
were entitled, under the terms of the proclamation, to the
same benefit as those who had belonged to the six battalions
of embodied militia. The claims of many of these individuals
were favourably received by the Executive Council ; and
upon their report recommending grants, two or three persons
received location tickets. When, however, the subject was
brought under the notice of Lord Dalhousie, he refused to
confirm the report of the Council, in the favour of an individual
belonging to the sedentary militia, who had for a short time
marched to the frontier, on the ground that the proclamation
was only intended to apply to the six incorporated battalions.
It does not appear that any claims of this nature have been
subsequently allowed, with the exception of two or three
which were sanctioned during Lord Dalhousie's temporary
absence from the Colony, by Sir Francis Burton, the Lieu-
tenant Governor.
All the grants made to claimants under this proclamation,
were made upon conditions of settlement. The grantee was
8 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to reside upon his property during a period of three years ;
to erect a dwelling-house, and to clear and cultivate four acres
of land ; these conditions were complained of as burthensome ;
and in 1837, Lord Gosford issued a proclamation, since con-
firmed by instructions from the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, stating that the claims of the officers and men who
served in the embodied militia during the last American war,
had been brought under the notice of Government, and that
such of the officers and men as had lodged their claims previous
to the 1st of August 1830, should obtain land free from all
conditions, except of performing the public and joint labour
required by the law of the Province. By the same proclama-
tion a board was constituted, to whom all claims were to be
referred.
The claimants before that board have been of three classes ;
1st. those who had served in the six battalions previously to
1830 ; 2d. those who had belonged to other corps, and who,
according to the rule laid down by Lord Dalhousie, had no
title under the original proclamation, but who had lodged
their claims before 1830 ; and, 3d. those of whatever class
who had not made their claims before that period. The
number of individuals of the first class amounts to 2,195 ;
of the second class, to 2,598 ; and of the third, to 1,669.
Upon the claims of the first class no question can arise ;
according both to the spirit and letter of the proclamation
of Lord Gosford, they must be admitted. As little doubt can
arise as to the third class, who are expressly excluded by the
same proclamation ; but there appears to be some difficulty
with regard to the second class, arising partly from the am-
biguous language of the proclamation of Lord Dalhousie, and
partly from the fact that some few individuals belonging to
that class have actually been admitted to the benefit of the
proclamation. The conduct of Lord Dalhousie himself is
explicit as to the meaning that he attached to his own pro-
clamation ; and it may be inferred from the sum granted
by the Assembly for the purpose of surveying, that they did
not contemplate these cases, which, if admitted, would have
doubled the amount of land required as included in the
proclamation, since they would in that event have hardly
granted a sum so entirely inadequate to the purpose. It is,
however, stated that there were one or two corps who were
incorporated in the same manner, and performed the same
services as the six battalions. If this is the case, individuals
belonging to these corps, as their services were equal, would
seem to be entitled to similar reward ; and the terms of the
REPORT: APPENDIX A 9
original proclamation, as well as those of all the Addresses
of the House of Assembly on the subject, and of the last
proclamation, are sufficiently comprehensive to include them.
The question for the decision of the board to whom these
claims have been referred, appears to be a question of facts.
It would appear that those who were embodied and actually
served on the frontier in the same manner as the six battalions,
ought to be considered as entitled to the benefit of the pro-
clamation, while all but these are altogether excluded. It
may be mentioned that the exclusion of those belonging to
the third class, who, notwithstanding ample notice, and
two separate enlargements of time, neglected to make any
claim in due time, is strictly in accordance with the view
expressed by the Home Government in their Despatch to
Lord Gosford, and with Lord Gosford's answer to the House
of Assembly.
The proclamation of Lord Gosford, directing that letters
patent for the land to be granted should contain none of the
conditions formerly imposed, was founded upon an Address
from the House of Assembly, representing those conditions
as onerous to the militia men, and destructive of the value
of the grant. There appears to have been much justice in
this representation, since the greater part of the locations
allotted to militiamen were distant from settlement, and the
expense of clearing and cultivating the requisite quantity of
land away from a market, and with no practicable roads
leading to the spot, was very considerable, amounting in
many cases to more than 5s. per acre upon the whole grant,
while in this part of the Province land was selling as low as
Is. 3d. per acre. The performance of these settlement duties
would not have been burthensome, if the individual acquiring
the land had been about to establish himself upon it ; but in
a great number of cases the grantee had land elsewhere, from
which he did not choose to remove, or the lot assigned to
him might be 15 or 20 miles from a settlement ; and in all
such and similar cases the conditions were performed solely
with a view to enable the individual performing them to
obtain his patent. The grant was so situated generally as
to be useless for the purpose of settlement ; and the conditions
to which it was subject rendered it of no value in any other
point of view.
The House of Assembly, in urging the abandonment of
these conditions, seems, however, to have overlooked, or to
have been ignorant of, circumstances which have appeared
in evidence before this commission, and which would entirely
10 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
defeat the intentions of the House, so far as they were desirous
of conferring advantages upon the militiamen. It has been
stated by all the witnesses who have been examined upon this
subject, that the majority of the militiamen have already
disposed of their claims, and that this has been done in most
instances for very inadequate considerations. They were
induced to do this partly by the difficulty and trouble of
urging their claims in person, and the expense of employing
an agent, and partly by the nature of the conditions they were
required to fulfil. To such an extent is this sale of militia
claims stated to have been carried, that it would seem almost
as though the militiamen themselves were not more interested
in any facilities for the acquisition of these grants, or relaxa-
tion of the conditions attached to them, than any other class
of the community ; and the benefit which, by a compliance
with the wishes of the Assembly, Government designed to
secure for a numerous and deserving class, would be reaped
chiefly, if not entirely, by speculators, by whom these claims
have been bought, and who, even supposing their bargain
with the militiamen to have been fair, had assuredly no claim
to any particular consideration from the Government. They
had purchased the claims subject to the conditions of settle-
ment, and paid a proportionally low price for them, and the
abandonment of these conditions was a boon to them entirely
uncalled for by the real circumstances of the case.
It is, in fact, obvious that, upon any system of land granting
to such a body as the militia, a similar result to that which
has been described as having actually taken place, must, to
a certain extent, be expected. The majority of the militia
were French Canadians, who have not hitherto been and are
not now an emigrating people. Those of them, too, who
might have been disposed to settle upon their lands, would
find that the desert round them, consisting of lands which
had been granted to non-resident militiamen, rendered their
success as settlers impossible. They would have been isolated,
or thinly scattered over a large tract of wilderness, away from
society, and removed from all manner of religious instruction,
to which they attach the highest importance ; deprived of all
succour, and without the superintendence to which they had
been accustomed. Under such circumstances nothing could
be expected but that they would sell their land, and generally
for an inadequate consideration, since they would estimate
its value by what, under the circumstances, it seemed to be
worth to them. From the evidence of Mr. Morin, this appears
to be so much the case, that any indication of a favourable
REPORT: APPENDIX A 11
disposition, on the part of Government, in regard of these
claims, has had no other effect than that of stimulating
speculation in them, and, instead of inducing the militiaman
to obtain the lands for himself, in order that he or his family
might settle upon them, has only increased in some small
degree the price which he could obtain for his claims.
But while the grant of land, as land being useless to the
militiaman, is merely equivalent to him to a grant of some
very small variable amount in money, its effects upon the
Province have been most injurious. Under the claims of the
militia of 1775, upwards of 230,000 acres, and under those of
the last American war upwards of 217,000 acres, have been
granted, by far the largest part of which is still perfectly
waste and unsettled. Whole townships which have been
granted in this manner, have not a single settler established
upon them. In this manner it has happened that a system
which was designed as a means of settling the Province, and
of rewarding those who had enlisted in its defence, has proved
one of the great impediments in the way of the former object,
and has accomplished the latter in the smallest possible degree.
There has been the maximum of injury to the Province, with
the minimum of benefit to the militiamen ; and a similar
result must, it would appear, necessarily follow a perseverance
in the same system. There is no probability that the 300,000
or 400,000 acres to which valid claims might be established,
if granted in the same manner, would be settled any more
than the 450,000 acres which have already been granted,
or that the benefit to the militiamen would be greater in
any appreciable degree. It becomes, therefore, a matter of
importance in «very point of view, to frame some plan by
which the intentions of Government, in offering this bounty,
might be carried out ; by which justice may be done to the
claimants, while the interests of the public are secured.
The most effectual measure for this purpose appears to be
the following : — That any claim established should be con-
sidered as entitling the claimant to an amount equivalent
to the value of the quantity of land awarded to him, at the
average selling price of crown lands during the last ten years ;
and that an order for this amount should be given to him,
which should be accepted as money at any sale of crown
lands. In all cases the order should be delivered to the
claimant himself, or, in the event of his death, to his legal
representatives, or upon the production of an order, signed
by him in the presence of witnesses, after due notification of
the intentions of Government in all parts of the Province.
12 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
By this precaution, the militiaman would be secured as far as
possible in the enjoyment of the benefit designed by Govern-
ment, and only such a sale of his claim as ought in equity to
be held valid, could be enforced against him.
I have the honour to be, with the highest respect,
My Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
(signed) Chas. Buller,
Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration.
Quebec, 8 September 1838.
No. 5.
LETTER from Mr. William Young on the State of Nova
Scotia.
My Lord, Quebec, 20 September 1838.
Letter IN the several interviews with which my associates and
from Mr. mySeif have been honoured since our arrival in Quebec,
Young11 frequent allusion has been made to the revenue and expendi-
on the ture of Nova Scotia, the composition of the two councils
State of lately organised, and the evils that are complained of in the
Scotia. administration of her public affairs. The statement annexed
to the joint communication which we addressed yesterday to
your Lordship on the main object of our mission, contains
a general and pretty accurate account of the sources from
which the revenue of the province is derived, and the mode
in which it is expended ; and I feel that it is a duty I owe to
my constituents and to the liberal or popular party with
whom I usually act in the Assembly, to avail myself of this
opportunity of placing before your Lordship in writing, in
a more distinct and permanent form than a mere verbal
communication, the principal grievances which the great
majority of the people anxiously desire to be reformed.
There are some well-informed and upright men in our province
who ridicule the idea of there being any grievances with us,
and distrust the party who have proclaimed their existence,
and aim at their redress. If those who deny that there are
grievances, mean only to say, that there are none of such
magnitude as should render the people discontented with
their condition, or disturb, even for an hour, the tranquillity
of the government, I concur with them to the full extent.
REPORT: APPENDIX A 13
Abuses in Nova Scotia have never reached the same irritating
or fearful height which we have witnessed in other provinces.
The substantial blessings of an enlightened, and, upon the
whole, an impartial and upright administration of the law,
of perfect freedom of conscience, and the unfettered exercise
of industry, of the absence of oppression in every form, have See
been long enjoyed by us, and have doubtless largely con- Journals
tributed in fostering that ardent attachment to the British £0j 44f)'
Crown and institutions, which may be fairly said to be an
universal feeling. I know not of a single individual of in-
fluence or talent, who would nor regard a severance of our
connection with the mother country, and our incorporation,
which would soon follow, into the American Union, with its
outrages on property and real freedom, its growing demo-
cratic spirit and executive weakness, as the greatest mis-
fortune that could befall us. Let not your Lordship, then,
or the British Ministry, be misled into a belief, that there is
any party in Nova Scotia which does not reverence the name,
and would not uphold, at every hazard, the supremacy of
England. True, we admire the enterprise, activity and
public works of the United States, and would wish that they
were more largely imitated in our own possessions ; but the
people of Nova Scotia have no desire to purchase these or
any other advantages, by deserting their constitution. They
do, however, desire that our public affairs in some respects
should be more economically and wisely managed : and it is
to these that I have now respectfully to solicit your Lordship's
most favourable" attention.
First. The administration of the Crown Lands is universally
and most justly complained of. Before the introduction of
the present system, grants could be obtained on the payment
of moderate fees, which were distributed among the different
officers, and reduced the necessity and amount of salaries.
In this point of view, the lands yielded some, though a very
inadequate, revenue to the Crown, and the country was
easily and quickly settled. Improvident and enormous grants
to individuals, which have been the bane of other colonies,
and were not unknown to our early history, have been long
unheard of among us, and the old system, though far from
effective, worked well and smoothly. But the Home Govern-
ment were unhappily persuaded to erect a new office, with
a salary disproportioned to its duties, and a substitution of
sales at an upset price for the fees on grants, and ever since
there has been murmuring and discontent on every side.
The officers who used to receive the fees complained that
14 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
they were deprived of their emoluments, and have increased
their demands of salary ; and the expense of maintaining
the new office, and paying the commissioner his 500/. sterling
a year, has swallowed up very nearly the whole proceeds.
Journals Upwards of 100,000 acres of land have been sold since 1831,
of 1837, an(j akout 7JOOZ. received, of which only 1,047/., as near as
I can compute it, and that for the most part in the last year,
has been paid into the casual revenue. This, however, is
but a small portion of the evil. The young men of the colony,
unable to purchase the wild lands on the terms now imposed,
and who would constitute our most valuable and hardy
settlers, are leaving us by hundreds, and the clearing and
Ib. 199. improvement of the country is greatly retarded. I rejoice,
fol. 1838. therefore, that your Lordship contemplates a thorough change
foLPis4. °f tne system, and look to it with confidence and hope, as
one of the most important benefits that will flow from your
administration.
Secondly. The oppressive and systematic encroachments
of the Americans upon our fisheries have attracted universal
attention, and exasperated all classes. It would be vain for
me to attempt a discussion of this extensive subject,, which
has already engaged your Excellency's notice. The question
is examined in all its bearings in a Pamphlet which I had
the honour of sending to Colonel C. Couper, with the Journals
and other documents referred to in this letter, and your
Lordship will find a great body of facts collected by a com-
mittee of the Assembly in 1837, and annexed to their report,
which fully establishes the reality and extent of injuries done
to our people by foreign aggressors.
Thirdly. The expense of our customs' establishment is
regarded as a serious evil. Previous to 1826 the principal
officers were paid by fees, and enjoyed very large incomes.
When these were abolished, a proposition was made to our
legislature to grant an annual sum towards the maintenance
of the establishment, which was accordingly done by the
Act 10 Geo. 4, c. 31, in consideration of the abolition of the
fees, and of the benefit which the removal of the former
burthensome restrictions would confer on the general com-
merce of the province. The Assembly of that day, however,
is usually supposed to have made an improvident bargain,
such as the present Assembly, I am sure, would never have
yielded. They granted in perpetuity for the support of the
Prov. customs' establishment no less a sum than 7,144?. 18s. 9d.
Laws, currency, payable out of the Imperial duties. Besides this
fol. 57. large amount, the establishment, as I have already mentioned,
REPORT : APPENDIX A 15
exhausts the whole of the Crown duties, which are under-
stood to yield about 2,500L currency. The establishment
costs us, therefore, nearly, if not quite, 10,000/., and it collects
about 15,0001. worth of duties. The salaries are, many of
them, enormous, and the colonial revenue is collected by a
distinct department, which might easily be dispensed with,
at an annual charge, including the commission of 15 per cent,
paid in the out-ports, of about 2,500?. The duties of both
departments might be as efficiently, and with more conveni-
ence to the merchant, fulfilled by one, at an annual expense
of about 6,000/. So that in this single item a saving is quite
practicable, with the approval and sanction of the British
Government, of 6,5002. a year — a sum nearly equivalent to
all that the legislature can bestow on its favourite object, the
intellectual and moral improvement and education of the
people.
Fourth. The Assembly has long been solicitous that every
port in the province where there is a custom-house officer,
should be declared a free port. The present system fosters
the illicit trade which so injuriously affects our revenue, and
cripples the activity of our foreign commerce. The Assembly
have declared that they can see no reason to fear an equal
open competition between the industry of their constituents
and that of any other nation, and have earnestly petitioned
the Home Government, and supported the application by
very cogent arguments, that every port where a custom-house
officer is stationed may be permitted to enjoy the privileges
of a free port.
Fifth. The emoluments and salaries of some of the officers
of government, not under the control of the legislature, are
disproportioned to the means of the colony, and engender
habits of expense which re-act upon the manners of the
people, and hinder the accumulation of capital. The secretary
of the province has 1,000/. sterling a year out of the casual
revenue, and holds besides the lucrative office of registrar of
deeds. I will not undertake to state the amount of his
income ; but it is plain, that it far exceeds what any officer
should derive from the public funds of a young and com-
paratively poor colony. The opinion is gaining ground, and
I entirely concur in it, that none of our public officers, even
the highest, with the exception of the Governor, should have
more than 1,0001. currency a year, and that none, except
two or three of the highest, should receive more than a puisne
judge. Connected with this subject is an unhappy question
still open, and which all men must anxiously desire to have
16 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
finally adjusted. Certain fees have been taken by our Chief
Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court, under an old
ordinance of Council, which the Assembly have repeatedly
attacked as illegal. On the strict constitutional ground I
have no doubt they are so, though I admit that much is to
be said, and plausibly and forcibly said, by the advocates
of the fees. They amount, on an average, to about 5001.
a year, and, for the sake of this sum, and the principle it is
supposed to involve, we have the painful and singular anomaly
of a court, highly respected for integrity as well as talent,
exacting fees which the representatives of the people have
denounced as contrary to law. For my own part, in con-
sideration of these fees having been received for half a century,
and, till of late years, with the implied acquiescence at least
of the legislature and people, I would be willing to commute
them by a reasonable allowance to the present Chief Justice
and Judges. At one time, I think, the Assembly would have
granted such a commutation ; but nothing, I am convinced,
would induce them to it now. In the debate of last session
on the civil list, the majority offered, in exchange for the
casual and territorial revenue, to grant permanently to Her
Majesty the following salaries : To the Lieutenant-governor
during his continuance in office, 3,000?. sterling per annum ;
and to any future Lieutenant-governor, 2,000?. ; to the
present Chief Justice, 850?. sterling her annum, without fees,
during his continuance in office ; and to any future Chief
Justice, 750?. sterling ; and to each of the Assistant Justices
of the Supreme Court, 500?. sterling, without fees. They
resolved also, that the provisions for the Attorney and
Solicitor General, and secretary of the province, should be
made by annual votes, a point on which I differed from them
for the same reasons that are put so forcibly in the Report
of the Canada Commissioners. I think it right also to add,
that I voted against the first Resolution, as I feared it might
defeat the proposed settlement, and thought the salaries
somewhat lower than they ought to be.
Sixth. The majority of the House of Assembly is dissatisfied
with the composition of the Executive and Legislative Coun-
cils, and the preponderance in both of interests which they
conceive to be unfavourable to reform. This is the true
ground, as I take it, of the discontent that is felt. The
respectability and private virtues of the gentlemen who sit
at the two Council Boards are admitted by all ; it is of their
political and personal predilections that the people complain.
They desire reforming and liberal principles to be more fully
REPORT : APPENDIX A 17
represented and advocated there, as they are in the Assembly.
The majority of the House, while they appreciate and have
acknowledged the anxiety of his Excellency the Lieutenant-
governor to gratify their just expectations, have also expressed
their dissatisfaction that the Church of England should have
been suffered to retain a majority in both Councils, notwith-
standing the remonstrances of the House, and the precise and
explicit directions of the Colonial Secretary. Religious dis-
sensions are happily unknown among us, and the true way to
prevent their growth and increase, is to avoid conferring an
inordinate power on any one sect, however worthy it may be
of respect or favour. The argument in the Address of last
session on this point appears to me irresistible. 1 have
respectfully to invite your Lordship's consideration also of
the Address passed by the House in the session of 1837.
These documents are the authentic and deliberate expositions
of the views entertained by the Assembly, and touch on most
of the questions I have referred to in this letter. Had it not
extended to such length, I would have been glad to introduce
some remarks also on the jurisdiction and practice of the
Admiralty Court, which will soon become an intolerable
grievance, as some already consider it to be, and on the
management of the post-office, and the Act which was passed
during the last session, and which will save us, if it go into
operation, about 1,0001. per annum. There are other reforms
demanded in our local affairs, particularly in the excessive
number of our common-law judges and courts, and the want
of an effective and easy appeal from our other tribunals, with
which I shall not trouble your Lordship, as they are within
the power of our own legislature. The reforms I have taken
the liberty of urging depend, for the most part, on the British
Government, and I earnestly hope that they will commend
themselves to your Lordship's approval. An intelligent and
powerful mind cannot fail to discover their substantial justice,
and the high sanction of your Lordship would greatly assist
us in our endeavours to accomplish them. Several of these
points have been discussed by Mr. Uniacke and myself in the
presence of your confidential advisers, and I have shown
the draft of this letter * to him and to my two other associates.
The accuracy of the facts I have stated is, I believe, unques-
tionable, and I am confident that the great body of the people
concur in the conclusion I have drawn from them.
I beg, therefore, in conclusion, respectfully to solicit your
* Mr. Uniacke; on reading the letter, wishes me to add, that he does not
concur in it,
1352-3 0 I
18 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lordship's powerful interposition in our behalf, and to assure
your Lordship that I have written this letter purely on public
grounds, being on terms of friendly intercourse with almost
all the members of Her Majesty's Councils, and the officers
of Government, whose emoluments, however, I consider, in
many instances, higher than the province can afford.
I have, &c.
(signed) W IH Young.
His Excellency the
Right Honourable the Earl of Durham, Governor-general,
&c. &c. &c.
No. 6.
LETTER from the Right Rev. A. Macdonell, Catholic
Bishop of Kingston.
My Lord, Quebec, 22 June 1838.
Letter YOUR Excellency's arrival in these provinces, invested with
fr?1? the more extensive powers than were ever yet entrusted to any
Rev. A. British subject, shows the unbounded confidence which your
Macdonell, Sovereign has been graciously pleased to repose in your
Catholic Excellency's liberal and enlightened policy, and at the same
Kingston. ^me insPires the inhabitants with sanguine expectations,
that those powers will be exercised to remove the grounds of
the jealousies, discontents and disaffection which have occa-
sioned already so much evil in both the Canadas, and, if
allowed to continue much longer, will infallibly terminate in
direful results.
A residence of 34 years in Upper Canada, and an uninter-
rupted intercourse during that period with a large proportion
of the population of the province who are placed under my
own charge, and a general acquaintance with almost all the
respectable characters in both provinces, have given me
opportunities of knowing the sentiments, feelings and disposi-
tion of Canadians which few others have had ; and, under-
standing that your Excellency has expressed a desire of
receiving all the information that can throw light on the
causes which occasion the unfortunate differences and troubles
that have existed, and still do exist in these provinces, I
consider it my duty to submit respectfully, but fearlessly and
unhesitatingly, to your Excellency, such information as my
opportunities have enabled me to acquire.
The population of Upper Canada is composed of Protestants
of the Church of England, Methodists, Presbyterians, and
REPORT : APPENDIX A 19
Scots Highlanders, who joined the royal standard during the
revolutionary war with the United States, and are called
U. E. Loyalists, and their descendents, and the disbanded
soldiers of the First Glengarry Fencible regiment, whom
I conducted unto this province with an order from the home
government to give them a grant of land ; French Canadians,
who inhabit the western district, and Irish emigrants, who
have been pouring annually in great numbers into the pro-
vince ever since the conclusion of the last war.
All the French Canadians, and a great majority of the Irish
emigrants and Scotch Highlanders, are Catholics. All the
Irish Catholics, and the whole of the Scots Highlanders,
have given the most unequivocal proofs of their loyalty anil
attachment to the British constitution, by rushing to arms
at the first call of the Government. The Scots Highlanders,
not satisfied with mustering to the number of 2,000 men in
their own province, volunteered their services to Lower
Canada, and two corps of them served on the frontier until
the excitement occasioned by the threats of the rebels had
entirely subsided.
So successful were the exhortations of the Catholic clergy
to their respective flocks, that scarcely any of them was
implicated in the rebellion. The leaders and chief contrivers
of the late outbreak were Protestants, Presbyterians and
Methodists ; but the majority of the rebels were Methodists
and Presbyterians. Such of the Protestants as became dis-
affected and inimical to the Government, are so from jealousy
and disappointment at seeing a certain party in and about
Toronto assume too much power, and exercise what they
think too much influence over the different Lieutenant-
governors ; so much so, that there is hardly a situation of
trust or emolument that is not engrossed by themselves and
their friends.
The Methodists and Presbyterians have become disaffected
from their dread and abhorrence of a dominant church, and
they cannot be persuaded but the establishment of rectories,
and the postponement of the distribution of the clergy reserves,
are preludes to a system which they are fully determined to
resist to the utmost of their power ; and it is in vain to expect
that peace or permanent tranquillity can be established in
the province until these questions are finally settled.
The warm and animated discussion which has taken place
between the archdeacon of Toronto and the Honourable
William Morris, of Perth, in reference to the right of the
Presbyterians to a share of the clergy reserves, has raised
02
20 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
a general excitement among the Presbyterians, which it
will take a long time to allay, and which may terminate in
unpleasant, if not dangerous consequences.
The Catholics, who compose a great proportion of the
population of Upper Canada, are either Irish emigrants,
Scots Highlanders, or French Canadians. All those, although
not disaffected to the Government, are far from being satis-
fied. The Irish arrived in this county with their minds under
a strong irritation, arising from the pressure of tithe exactions,
rack-rents in their own country, and, above all, their mortal
hatred to Orangeism, which they find rapidly spreading over
this province : they are with great difficulty persuaded that
they will meet with justice and fair play in Canada, and are
thus predisposed to receive every unfavourable impression
which the exaggerated misrepresentations of the disaffected,
who are most anxious to win them over to their party, choose
to make upon them.
Unable to build places of worship for themselves, or educate
their children, they, as \vell as the Scots Highlanders, feel
greatly disappointed at being excluded from their share of
the clergy reserves, and at not receiving any assistance from
Government for the education of their children, although the
Methodists obtained this very year a grant of 4,100£. towards
their seminary at Cobourgh.
There are abundant funds for education in the province,
if the school lands were disposed of, and the proceeds applied
to the support of district and common schools. The with-
holding of those funds, and of the clergy reserves, from the
purposes for which they were intended, and the spread of
the Orange system, are the principal, if not the only, grounds
of discontent among all denominations in Upper Canada.
The Scots having contributed so materially to the conquest
of the Canadas, and to the defence of them on every occasion
when any attempt had been made to wrest them from the
British crown, feel indignant -that they should be deprived
of all the rights and advantages which others enjoy who have
not the same claims that they themselves have.
I humbly beg leave to submit to your Excellency a further
claim, which the Catholic clergy of this diocese conceive to
have on the Government, on account of the charge they
have for many years past taken of the various tribes of Indians
who inhabit different parts of this province, and of those
who this year and last summer emigrated from the territories
of the United States to the Manatoline Islands in Lake Huron.
The Methodists, who have taken great pains to convert
REPORT : APPENDIX A 21
these simple people to their religious creed, have so disgusted
the Indians by their interference with temporal concerns,
contrary to the practice of the Catholic clergy, who confine
themselves entirely to spiritual matters, that they have been
most urgent to get Catholic priests among them ; and I have
so far complied with their solicitations, as to appoint two
clergymen, who speak the Indian language, to Penetangue-
shine and the Manatoline Islands ; but as the Indians them-
selves can afford nothing towards the support of those
clergymen, and my salary, although not half the amount of
that which the Catholic Bishop of Quebec receives from the
British Government, being burthened with the expenses of
the education of 14 students for the ecclesiastical state, it is
impossible for me to afford them any assistance, and the only
means they have of supporting life in these remote and
dreary regions, where their duty calls them to spend their
time among savages, is the slender quota that falls to their
share of the 1,000/. allowed by Government to all the Catholic
clergy of Upper Canada.
The Jesuit property in Lower Canada had been bequeathed
by the original donors for the purpose of instructing the
Indians in the Catholic religion ; and as that duty now
principally devolves upon the Catholic clergy of Upper
Canada, I should hope that your Excellency would see the
justice and propriety of ordering at least a share of that
property to go towards supplying the Indians with religious
instruction, and thus fulfilling the original intention of the
donors.
I have, &c.
Alexander Macdonell,
Bishop of Kingston, Upper Canada.
No. 9.
ADDRESS from the Constitutional Association of Montreal
to the Inhabitants of British America.
Fellow Countrymen,
WHEN an industrious population, after years of suffering, Address
are aroused to a sense of danger, by renewed attacks upon £°™tjhe
their rights and liberties, an appeal to those of kindred blood, tutional
animated by the same spirit, and allied by a communion of Associa-
interests, can excite no surprise, and requires no justification.
Long and patiently have the population of British and
22 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to the in- Irish descent in Lower Canada endured evils of no ordinary
habitants description, relying on the interposition of the Imperial
America. Government for relief. Deceived in their fondly-cherished
trust, they are impelled to seek from their own energies that
protection which has been withheld by the power on whose
justice they reposed.
For half a century they have been subjected to the domina-
tion of a party whose policy has been, to retain the distin-
guishing attributes of a foreign race, and to crush in others
that spirit of enterprise which they are unable or unwilling
to emulate. During that period, a population descended
from the same stock with ourselves, have covered a continent
with the smiling monuments of their agricultural industry.
Upper Canada and the United States bear ample testimony
of the flood-tide of prosperity, the result of unrestricted
enterprise and of equitable laws, which has rewarded their
efforts. Lower Canada, where another race predominates,
presents a solitary exception to this general march of improve-
ment. There, surrounded by forests inviting the industry
of man, and offering a rich reward to his labour, an illiterate
people, opposed to improvements, have compressed their grow-
ing numbers almost within "the boundaries of the original
settlements, and present in their laws, their mode of agricul-
ture, and peculiar customs, a not unfaithful picture of France
in the seventeenth century. There, also, may be witnessed
the humiliating spectacle of a rural population not unfre-
quently necessitated to implore eleemosynary relief from the
Legislature of the country.
It were incredible to suppose that a minority, constituting
nearly one-third of the entire population, imbued with the
same ardour for improvements that honourably distinguishes
their race throughout the North American continent, and
possessing the undisputed control of all the great interests
of the colony, would resign themselves to the benumbing
sway of a majority, differing from them so essentially on all
important points, whilst any mode of deliverance was open
to their choice. Nor would supineness or indifference on their
part produce a corresponding change in their opponents, or
mitigate the relentless persecution with which they -have
been visited. The deep-rooted hostility excited by the
French leaders against those of different origin, which has
led to the perpetration of outrages on persons and property,
and destroyed confidence in juries, who have been taught
to regard us as their foes, has extended its pernicious influence
beyond the limits of Lower Canada. Upper Canada, repulsed
REPORT : APPENDIX A 23
in her endeavours to open a direct channel of communication
to the sea, has been driven to cultivate commercial relations
with the United States, whose policy is more congenial with
her own. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will learn, with
indignant surprise, that the destruction of their most important
interest is countenanced and supported by the Assembly of
this province.
A French majority in one province has caused these accumu-
lated evils, — a British majority in the United Provinces will
compel their removal.
If it be the desire of the French Canadians to isolate them-
selves from the other subjects of the Empire, by cherishing
the language and manners of a country which stands to them
in the relation of a foreign power, the effects of such a pre-
judice will chiefly be felt by themselves, and may be left for
correction to the hand of time ; but, when national feeling
is exhibited in an active opposition to the general interests of
the British American Provinces, when immigration is checked,
the settlement of the country retarded, and the interests
of commerce sacrificedT to the visionary scheme of establishing
a.JFrench power ; it becomes the solemn duty of the entire
British ^population to resist proceedings so pregnant with evil.
Let it not be said that a million of freemen permitted their
rights to be invaded, and their onward course impeded, by
a faction which already recoils in alarm from the contest it
has rashly provoked.
Connected as are the Provinces of British America by a
chain of rivers and lakes, affording the means of creating
an uninterrupted water communication between their extremi-
ties, at a comparatively small expense ; possessing within
themselves the elements of an extensive trade by the inter-
change of those products which are peculiar to each, and
forming parts of the same Empire, they have the undoubted
right to require that these advantages shall not be sacrificed
by the inertness or the mistaken policy of any one State ;
more especially when, as in the case of Lower Canada, that
State, from geographical position, exercises a preponderating
influence on the prosperity of all.
The facts which have been made public in two addresses,
emanating from this Association, conclusively establish the
want of education among the French population, their sub-
serviency to their political leaders, and the hostility of those
leaders to the population of British and Irish descent. Many
additional illustrations of their hostile policy might be
adduced,
24 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
At a time when men of all political parties in the sister
provinces are united in opposing the contemplated change
in the timber duties, the Assembly of this province, far from
lending their assistance, have countenanced the attack, by
recognizing as their agent in England an individual who is
distinguished by his advocacy of the Baltic interests, and
his active opposition to the colonial trade. To aid in the
prosecution of this design, they have not scrupled to appro-
priate a part of the provincial funds (obtained under the
pretext of defraying their contingent expenses) to reward
their agent, and to circulate through the British press state-
ments that are calculated to mislead the public mind ; thus
gratifying their national animosity, by lending a willing
aid to ruin the shipping and mercantile interests of the British
American provinces, and to prevent the influx of immigrants
from the British Isles, who are brought to the Colonies
at a trifling cost by the vessels engaged in the timber
trade.
Upper Canada is honourably distinguished for works com-
pleted and in progress, remarkable for their magnitude and
for the extensiveness of their destined utility. The St. Law-
rence Canal, at this moment in active progress, will complete
an uninterrupted navigation for vessels of considerable
burthen from the upper lakes to the line dividing that pro-
vince from Lower Canada ; but at that point the spirit of
British enterprise encounters the influence of French domina-
tion ; the vast design of rendering the remotest of the inland
seas accessible to vessels from the ocean, is there frustrated
by the anti-commercial policy of the French Iftadpsrs. We
look in vain to their proceedings for any manifestation of
a desire to co-operate in the great work of public improvement
which animates, as with one spirit, the entire North American
population of British descent ; nor is their adverse disposition
less visible in their opposition to other important designs ;
they either refuse to grant charters to carry into effect works
of acknowledged public utility, or, when after repeated and
earnest applications, charters are obtained, they are clogged
with restrictions of an unusual character, in the hope of
rendering them inoperative.
In all new countries the deficiency of capital proves a
serious impediment to the exertions of the enterprising and
industrious, and it would be among the first duties of a wise
Legislature to invite the introduction of foreign capital, by
the adoption of an equitable system of law, that would inspire
confidence in personal and in landed securities. In Lower
REPORT : APPENDIX A 25
Canada, from the absence of Offices for the Registration of
real estate, and from the system of secret and general mort-
gages, not only is foreign capital excluded, but the Colony is
impoverished by the withdrawal of funds for profitable and
secure investment in other countries. In tracing the motive
of resistance to a measure that more than any other would
advance the public welfare, we again encounter the pernicious
influence of French exclusiveness. A general distrust of the
titles and securities of landed estate is suffered to exist, in
order to prevent the acquisition of real property by immigrants
from the British Isles.
This spirit of exclusiveness, which betrays itself in all the
proceedings of the Assembly, disfigures even those measures,
which, it might reasonably be expected, would inspire senti-
ments of a more lofty and generous nature. Although the
British Act of the 14 Geo. III. which confirmed the right of
the French Clergy to tithes, declared, most probably for that
very reason, that the religious communities should not hold
estates, they continue in the undisturbed possession of tracts
of land, exceeding fifteen hundred square miles in extent,
besides possessing property of great value in Quebec, Montreal,
and elsewhere. In addition to the revenues derived from
these possessions, the Assembly annually appropriates large
sums of money out of the Provincial revenues for the support
of those communities, and for the establishment of institutions
rigidly and exclusively French, whilst to other institutions
on a liberal foundation, affording relief to all, without dis-
tinction of origin or creed, a fair participation of legislative
aid has been refused.
It is to ' the great body of the people ' thus characterized,
that his Excellency the Earl of Gosford, the representative
of a British King and the head of the Commission deputed
to inquire into our complaints, has declared that all future
appointments to office shall be made acceptable.
A Legislative Council constituted on such a principle, would
be but a counterpart of the Assembly ; it might, and no
doubt would, relieve the Executive from the odium of sanc-
tioning the illegal appropriation of a part of the provincial
revenues, by the mere vote of the Assembly ; but it would
not prevent the same misapplication of the public funds being
effected by bill, which is now accomplished by an address to
the head of the Administration.
A Government thus conducted, would forfeit all title to
our confidence, would be regarded but as an instrument to
secure the domination of a party, and the brief period of its
26 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
duration would be marked by scenes of outrage, and by
difficulties of no ordinary description.
The French leaders, if we are to credit their reiterated
assertions, entertain an attachment so deep, so absorbing,
for elective institutions, that they would at once confer that
important privilege, to its fullest extent, without reference
to previous habits, education, or political dissensions. How
much of this ardour may have been called forth by a desire to
establish French ascendancy, and to depress British interests,
may fairly be deduced from a review of their past proceed-
ings. Without discussing the question of elective institutions,
which, it is obvious, cannot be introduced to the extent
demanded by the Assembly, under the existing political
relations of the colony, which relations we are resolute to
maintain, we distinctly aver, that we are not influenced by
idle apprehensions of a government of the people, and for the
people ; but it must be emphatically a government of ' the
people ', truly represented, and not that of a French faction ;
the government of an educated and independent race, attached
to the principles of civil and religious liberty ; and not that of
an uninformed population, striving for domination, and seek-
ing to perpetuate in America the institutions of feudal Europe.
To the people of the sister Colonies we appeal, earnestly
recommending the adoption of measures for assembling at
some central point a Congress of Deputies from all the
Provinces of British North America. A British American
Congress, possessing strength from union, and wisdom from
counsel, by the irresistible weight of its moral influence,
would supersede those other remedial measures which are
the last resource of an insulted and oppressed community.
On it would devolve the solemn duty, calmly to deliberate
on all matters affecting the common weal, and firmly to resist
all attempts to invade the rights, or impair the interests of
the United Provinces.
In submitting a brief recapitulation of the objects of the
Constitutional Association, it may not be misplaced to offer
a few observations explanatory of the position of parties in
Lower Canada, and of the sentiments of the British population
towards their fellow-subjects of French origin.
The moral guilt of exciting national hostility undoubtedly
rests with the French leaders, who alone benefit by the dis-
tracted state of the country ; but the facility with which the
French peasantry have received these impressions, and the
unanimity with which they support the aggressive policy of
their leaders, render them, although less culpable, yet equally
REPORT : APPENDIX A 27
determined opponents of our rights and our liberties. Un-
happily, their want of education prevents a direct appeal
being made, through the press, to their judgment ; but those
of their countrymen who are not blinded by the infatuation
of party, who possess education to comprehend, and oppor-
tunity to make known, the sentiments of the British popula-
tion, may be led to reflect upon the consequences that must
result from their present delusion. Should the admonition
be disregarded, on them let the responsibility rest.
The province of Lower Canada, whether regarded as a
part of the British Empire, or of the great North American
family, is evidently destined to receive the impress of national
character from those States by which she is surrounded. An
obstinate rejection of all measures, having for their aim the
gradual removal of those peculiarities which distinguish the
population of French origin, may retard, for a time, an
inevitable event, but will certainly hasten the introduction of
changes of a more abrupt and decisive character.
A dispassionate examination of the changes required by the
British population will satisfy all unprejudiced men that they
are adapted to the general interests of society, are liberal
and comprehensive in their character, and unconnected with
party objects.
To relieve landed estate from the servitudes and exactions
of feudal law ;
To introduce Registry Offices, and put an end to the ini-
quitous frauds that grow out of the present system ;
To promote works of public improvement ;
To encourage agriculture, and protect commerce ;
To recognize an equality of rights among all classes ;
To resist the domination of sect or party, and to establish
a general system of education divested of sectarian tests : —
These are our objects and our demands ; they are based on
truth, are essential to national prosperity and to individual
security ; they admit of no compromise, and from them we
will not recede.
The threatening aspect of the times demands action ;
neutrality, the usual resource of ordinary minds, will not be
attended by an immunity from danger ; it must remain with
the population of French origin to decide, whether, by con-
tinuing to support the leaders they have hitherto selected,
they are to be regarded as hostile to our just claims ; or, by
uniting with their fellow-subjects of British origin, they will
compel the introduction of salutary reforms, consign to their
native insignificance the few individuals who alone profit by
28 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the present system of misrule, and by repudiating ancient
prejudices, and exclusive pretensions, place themselves in
accordance with the spirit of the age.
To us, it is in one respect a matter of indifference what their
decision may be. The principles we espouse are identified
with the happiness of the human race ; they have taken root
with our language in all quarters of the globe ; and wherever
that language is spoken, there shall we meet encouragement,
and thence shall we derive force.
Although Lower Canada presents the strange spectacle of
a British Government bestowing its confidence on men who
have openly avowed their hostility to England, and their
desire to effect a separation from the Empire ; although,
by the connivance of that Government, the provincial funds
have been illegally applied to reward French agitators, to
support French journals, and to pay French agents ; yet do
we feel the proud conviction, that the energies of Britons
will rise superior to the emergency, and that, despite an
unnatural coalition, the banners of our country will continue
to wave over a British Province.
The voice of supplication has been unheeded amidst the
insolent clamours of faction. United British America, assum-
ing an attitude alike removed from menace or from fear, will
proclaim her wrongs, assert her rights, and claim from the
Imperial Parliament that interposition which shall remove
existing grounds of complaint, and carry with it a sufficient
guarantee against future aggressions.
By order of the Executive Committee of the
Montreal Constitutional Association.
William Robertson, Chairman.
J. Guthrie Scott, Secretary,
Montreal, January 1836.
APPENDIX B.
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED MARCH 5, 1839.
CONTENTS.
Commission by the Earl of Durham, appointing Charles Buller, Esq.,
to proceed with the utmost dispatch to inquire into the past and
present methods of disposing of Waste Lands, Woods, Forests and
other Domains and Hereditaments the Property of the Crown in Lower
Canada, &c.
Circular Despatches from the Governor-general to the respective
Lieutenant-governors of Her Majesty's Colonies in North America,
lleport to his Excellency the Governor-general.
*Minutes of Evidence.
[The section marked with an asterisk has not been reprinted.]
No. 1.
COMMISSION.
Province of
Lower Canada.
DURHAM.
VICTORIA by the GRACE OF GOD, of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen,
Defender of the Faith.
To CHARLES BULLER, Greeting : —
WHEREAS it is highly expedient and desirable that the dis-
posal of the extensive tracts of waste land, the property of
the Crown, in Our Provinces of Lower Canada, Upper Canada,
Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and our islands of Prince
Edward and Newfoundland, should be placed upon such a foot-
ing as may most effectually conduce to the increase of popula-
tion and wealth in the said provinces and islands, and the
general prosperity thereof, and in particular to greatly in-
creased emigration from the mother country, both of capitalists
and labourers, as permanent settlers ; to the end that, while
the vast but imperfectly developed resources of the said
provinces and islands should as soon as possible be made
fully productive, a more intimate connexion between Britain
and her colonial empire in North America, founded on com-
mon interests and productive of mutual advantages, may be
30 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
established and permanently secured. And whereas We have
ordered and directed each of Our Lieutenant-governors of
Our Provinces of Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, and New
Brunswick, and our islands of Prince Edward and Newfound-
land respectively, to affix the Great Seal of the province or
island of which each is respectively Lieutenant-governor, to
a commission addressed by Us to you, to the like effect and
containing the like powers and authorities, for inquiry, touch-
ing the waste lands, the property of the Crown, in each such
province or island respectively, as are hereinafter contained :
Know ye, therefore, that We, reposing great trust in your
zeal, ability, and discretion, have nominated, constituted and
appointed, and by these presents do nominate, constitute and
appoint you the said Charles Buller, to proceed with the
utmost despatch to inquire into the past and present methods
of disposing of waste lands, woods, forests and other domains
and hereditaments, the property of the Crown, in our Province
of Lower Canada, and to collect information respecting the
operation thereof in regard to the advancement of our said
Province, and in particular to the promotion of emigration
thereto from the mother country. And Our further will and
pleasure is that you, after due examination of the premises,
do and shall, as soon as conveniently may be, report to us
under your hand and seal, what you shall find touching or
concerning the premises upon such inquiry as aforesaid, and
also that you shall suggest such alterations or modifications
of the laws and regulations at present in force, as may appear
likely to promote the objects aforesaid. And for the better
discovery of the truth in the premises, We do by these presents
give and grant to you full power and authority to call before
you such and so many of the officers of the Crown Lands
Department and agents for emigrants, in our said Province of
Lower Canada, and such other officers of the Crown, and
other persons, as you shall judge necessary, by whom you
may be the better informed of the truth in the premises, and
to inquire of the premises and every part thereof, by all other
lawful ways and means whatsoever. And We do also give
and grant to you full power and authority to cause all and
singular the officers aforesaid, in our said Province of Lower
Canada, or any other person or persons having in their custody
any records, orders, regulations, books, papers or other writ-
ings relating to or in any wise connected with the premises,
to bring and produce the same before you. And for your
assistance in the due execution of this our Commission, We
do hereby authorize you to nominate and appoint such person
APPENDIX B 31
or persons as you shall think fit to be assistant commissioner,
or assistant commissioners, for the purposes aforesaid, or any
of them, and to delegate to him or them such and so many of
the powers hereinbefore vested in you as may seem expedient.
And Our will is, and We do hereby direct and ordain, that the
person or persons so nominated by you shall possess and
exercise any powers and authorities so as aforesaid delegated
to him or them, in as full and ample a manner as the same
are possessed and may be exercised by you under the authority
of these presents. And We do hereby further authorize and
empower you, at your discretion, to appoint such person as
secretary to this Our commission, as to you shall seem proper,
and to frame such temporary rules, orders, and regulations
with regard to the manner of disposing of such Crown lands
in Our said Province of Lower Canada, as may to you appear
expedient, and from time to time, at such like discretion, to
alter and vary the same, due regard being had in all such
rules, orders, and regulations, to any Provincial Act or Acts,
and to any Royal instructions now in force in Our said Pro-
vince of Lower Canada, touching or concerning the disposal
of the said waste lands or any part thereof. And We do
hereby further authorize and empower you to give instruc-
tions to the several officers of the Crown lands department
and agents for emigrants in Our said Province, as to the per-
formance of the duties of their respective offices, subject,
nevertheless, to all such Provincial Acts or Royal instructions
as aforesaid ; which instructions shall be in all respects bind-
ing upon the officer or officers to whom the same shall be
respectively addressed.
In testimony whereof We have caused these our letters to
be made patent and the Great Seal of our said Province of
Lower Canada to be affixed thereto.
Witness our right trusty and right well beloved John George
Earl of Durham, Viscount Lambton, &c. &c. Knight Grand
Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath,
one of our Most Honourable Privy Council, and Governor-
general, Vice-Admiral and Captain General of all our Pro-
vinces within and adjacent to the Continent of North America,
&c. &c. &c. &c.
At our Castle of St. Lewis, in Our City of Quebec, in
Our said Province of Lower Canada, the 18th day of
June, in the year of our Lord 1838, and in the first year
of Our Reign. (signed) D. Daly, Secretary.
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
No. 2.
CIRCULAR DESPATCHES from his Excellency the
Governor-General to the respective Lieutenant-
Go vernors of Her Majesty's Colonies in North
America.
Sir, Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 18 June 1838.
IN the exercise of the powers vested in me as Governor-
general of Her Majesty's colonies in North America, and with
a view to the permanent establishment of an improved system
in the disposal of waste lands, the property of the Crown in
those colonies, and the promotion of emigration thereto upon
the most extensive scale that circumstances will admit, I have
prepared a Commission, directing an immediate inquiry into
the subject, for each of the provinces and islands comprised
in my general government ; and also authorizing the com-
missioner therein named to issue temporary rules and regula-
tions for the disposal of Crown lands in each colony, and to
give instructions to the officers of the Crown lands department
as to the performance of their duties.
I enclose the commission as prepared for the province of
Upper Canada, and have to direct that you will cause the
Great Seal of that province to be immediately affixed thereto,
and that the commission, together with a copy of this despatch,
may be published in the usual manner.
As one of the incidental, though not least desirable results
of an improved system in the disposal of lands, the property
of the Crown, may, I hope, be a very considerable increase in
the value of all lands which have become private property ;
and as the expectation of such a result might lead to applica-
tions for grants of land upon the terms now in force to such
an extent as should defeat, or at least seriously impede, the
most beneficial operation of the improved system, and especi-
ally the very desirable result above mentioned, I have also to
instruct you, that until further directions from me, you will,
so far as it may be in your discretion under any Provincial
Act, or Royal instructions, or otherwise, abstain from alien-
ating any waste lands the property of the Crown. You may
rely on receiving those further directions in so short a time
as to prevent any inconvenience from the present suspension
of your discretionary powers in this respect.
I have, &c.
His Excellency, &c. &c. (signed) Durham.
APPENDIX B 33
Sir, Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 30 June 1838.
REFERRING to my despatch of the 18th instant, on the
subject of Crown lands and emigration, I have now to explain
to you more fully the views with which I thought it indis-
pensable to require your co-operation in the measures which
I propose to adopt for the purpose of improvement and
emigration in Her Majesty's North American colonies.
In the first place, I am desirous to draw your attention to
an extract, which is enclosed, from a despatch which I have
addressed to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
the Colonies on this subject ; whereby you will perceive the
great importance which I attach to such an inquiry for all the
colonies, with a view to the adoption of a permanent and
uniform system.
But it is chiefly because I fear, that without some such
precaution the announcement of this inquiry might lead to
a sudden and most mischievous alienation of public property,
that I have requested you, so far as your discretionary powers
would admit, to preserve the public property for the most
effectual attainment of a great public purpose. The only
serious obstacle, as it appears to me, with which Government
would have to contend, in seeking to render the Crown lands
productive of a great revenue, is the very large proportion
of granted lands which remain in a wild state ; and this
obstacle, whatever may be its present force, would of course
be increased if much more Crown land were alienated, with-
out provisions for its cultivation far more effectual than any
that have hitherto been tried. On this account only, I should
be glad if it were possible to put a stop to all further grants
for the present.
But as this is not possible, inasmuch as laws or regulations
to the contrary are in full force, I must be content with inter-
posing, for the present, all such obstacles to the further
alienation of Crown property, as may depend on the dis-
cretionary powers of the different governments under such
laws and regulations. In pursuance of this view of the sub-
ject, I have to desire that, in the exercise of such discretionary
powers, you will, as far as possible, rather impede than facili-
tate the alienation of. Crown property, and more especially
any alienation except for the very highest price and most
ready payment that it may be lawful for you to require.
I have, &c.
His Excellency, &c. &c. &c. (signed) Durham.
X352-3 P
34 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
PUBLIC LANDS AND EMIGRATION.
REPORT to his Excellency the GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
My Lord,
HAVING completed the inquiry directed by the five several
Commissions addressed to me by your Excellency, in respect
of the Colonies of Lower Canada, Upper Canada, Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, and the Island of Prince Edward, as to the
manner in which waste lands, the property of the Crown, have
been disposed of within the same, I have the honour to lay
before your Excellency the evidence which has been taken
upon the subject of that inquiry, and in conformity with those
Commissions, to suggest the improvements which seem to me
desirable.
The inquiry directed by your Excellency differed in one
very essential particular from those that have been previously
made under the authority or for the information of the Govern-
ment. All former inquiries appear to have been confined to
the actual condition of the land yet remaining at the disposal
of the Crown, without any reference to the character or the
results of former proceedings in relation to the land which had
been already disposed of. By this limitation of the subject
of inquiry, however, the practical utility of the investigation
was reduced to a very small amount ; and any conclu-
sions to be drawn from the facts ascertained were liable to
serious modifications, from circumstances which had been
entirely overlooked. A very brief examination indeed was
sufficient to convince me that any information I might obtain,
with respect solely to the remaining property of the Crown
in the wild lands of these Provinces, must be necessarily in-
complete and fallacious. I not merely found that the amount
of this property was, in most colonies, altogether insignificant
in comparison with the wild lands which had become private
property ; but I also discovered that the value of the public
lands still undisposed of was entirely dependent upon the
state of the appropriated lands of the colonies. It would
have been useless to ascertain merely how many thousands
or millions of acres of fertile land yet remain at the disposal
of the Crown in these Provinces when the success of any
attempt to turn them to account must be contingent upon
the proceedings adopted by the proprietors of that land over
which the Crown has no control. The neglect of this con-
sideration has led to great practical errors in the measures
hitherto adopted to promote emigration and the acquisition
REPORT : APPENDIX B 35
and settlement of public lands. By withdrawing attention
from every part of the colonies, except that which belonged
to the Crown, it has led the Government to act as though
this were the whole, or as though the situation and condition
of the remainder might be safely disregarded. Acting under
this impression, the Government has induced many persons
to emigrate to those colonies by the offer of land upon which
to settle, although the land thus promised was absolutely
worthless for all purposes of cultivation, on account of the
vast tracts of waste granted land that were interposed between
the new grant and the settled districts of the colony. Of the
persons to whom land has been thus offered, many have
wasted their property in attempting to settle upon their
grants ; and the remainder have allowed their land to remain
in a wild state, because they felt that no endeavours to reclaim
it from the wilderness could be successful. These evils might
probably have been avoided, if, at the time when Government
instituted the inquiries previously referred to, it had directed its
attention to the waste granted as well as to the waste ungranted
lands in the Province. In order that similar errors may be
avoided for the future, an inquiry into the nature and opera-
tion of previous methods of disposing of public lands must
precede any suggestions as to the method to be pursued with
regard to that which still remains undisposed of.
This course was also rendered expedient by another con-
sideration. Looking upon these Provinces as fields for British
colonization, it became obvious that their value, in this respect,
depended less upon the measures which might be adopted for
the future disposal of the public lands, than upon those which
were employed to remedy the evils of former practices. In
Upper Canada, for instance, to which by far the greater por-
tion of emigration has of late years been directed, and which
has been selected as the scene of more than one experiment
in colonization by former administrations, very little more
than a seventeenth part of the surveyed land remains at the
disposal of the Crown. The remaining sixteen parts have been
long since granted or appropriated ; but of this granted land
very little more than a tenth, in the whole, is occupied by
settlers. This colony, having reference to the circumstances
of soil, climate, and geographical position, is probably the
most valuable portion of all the colonial possessions of the
British empire upon the North American continent. In
addition to a soil better adapted for the raising of grain than
almost any other portion of that continent, it is so placed as
to form the natural channel through which nearly all the
D 2
36 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
trade of the rapidly-increasing States of the west would pass.
By an outlay quite inconsiderable in comparison with the
results to be obtained, a practicable water communication
might be established from Lake Huron, which would shorten,
by more than 300 miles, the distance from that lake to the
ocean. The natural facilities of communication too, by means
of the lakes by which the Province is bounded on its southern
and western frontier, and the River Ottawa, which forms its
north-eastern boundary, are probably superior to those
possessed by any tract of country of similar extent in North
America. Were it adequately settled, it could scarcely fail to
be one of the most thriving countries in the new world. At
present, with the greater part of its soil unoccupied, and with
a population widely scattered over its surface, it is certainly
one of the least thriving ; and this in spite of an emigration
unprecedented for the number and wealth of the emigrants.
And all of its great natural advantages are altogether unavail-
ing for public or national objects. The Government of the
United Kingdom, by the profuse grants which it has made or
sanctioned, has closed against its own subjects by far the
larger portion of this most valuable colony. But, unless this
Province is to be practically abandoned, and all the benefits
that might be derived from its possession, as a home for
the destitute population of the empire, and a market for
the products of British industry, are to be relinquished, the
attention of Government must be directed rather to the land
of which it has disposed than to that which remains at its
disposal ; and it will be necessary to adopt means to turn
the former to account, before framing plans for the wiser and
more profitable management of the latter.
The case of Upper Canada is the case of all the Provinces.
In some the proportion of land remaining at the disposal of
the Government is greater, and in others less, than in that
colony ; but in every Province that which remains is value-
less, so long as that which has been granted is allowed to
remain unimproved. In every Province the disposal of the
public land, which in new countries is the most important
of all the functions of Government, must be suspended for
a period of indefinite duration ; or, concurrently with the
measures proposed for the purpose, means must be taken to
remove the obstacles to progress, occasioned by the manner
in which that function has been hitherto exercised. The
inquiries directed by your Excellency form the appropriate
and necessary foundation for any proceedings intended to
accomplish this object.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 37
Before I proceed to detail, for your Excellency's informa-
tion, the results of the investigations which I instituted, and
the remedial measures which this investigation has suggested,
it is expedient that I should advert to one topic, of very
considerable importance, connected with the subject. The
measures which I shall have to propose are of a character to
demand the exercise of the powers of the Imperial Legislature ;
but they are, at the same time, such as that Legislature may
perhaps shrink from adopting. It may be deemed that they
involve too great an interference with the property of indi-
viduals, and with the rights of the provincial legislatures, to
render their adoption safe or just ; and it may be argued that
the subject is one which appertains of right to the colonies,
and upon which they alone ought to legislate. I shall here-
after, when describing the nature of those measures, and the
grounds upon which they rest, advert to the particular reasons
which induce me to imagine that they cannot be advantage-
ously or effectually carried out by any other than the supreme
and central authority of the empire ; but, independently of
those reasons, the present appears to me to be a case in which
it is the plain duty of the Imperial Legislature to interfere.
It is not merely that the evils in all the colonies are similar
in their nature and their origin, and requiring the same
remedy ; nor that it is for the interests of each of these
colonies that in all an uniform system should be adopted,
so that the results of one system in one colony may not be
counteracted by the operation of another system in one or
more of the neighbouring colonies ; nor that the nature of
the only adequate remedy is such as to require a central con-
trol, and some efficient guarantee for its permanency ; and
that therefore upon all these grounds the interests of the
colonies require that the supreme and central authority of the
empire should interpose ; — but higher interests than those of
the colonies, the interests of the empire of which they form
a part, demand that Parliament should establish at once, and
permanently, a well-considered and uniform system. The
waste lands of the colonies are the property, not merely of the
colony, but of the empire, and ought to be administered for
imperial, not merely for colonial, purposes. And in whatever
measures may be adopted to promote emigration, or facilitate
settlement, the interests of the empire are involved, and
should be consulted as much as those of the colonies.
It is true that hitherto, while in name the property of the
Crown, and under the control of an English minister, these
lands have been in effect administered by colonial authorities
38 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
for purely colonial purposes. It was indeed impossible that it
should be otherwise. The execution of the instructions from
time to time issued by successive Secretaries of State, or Lords
of the Treasury, has of necessity been entrusted to those who,
in the colonies, were the peculiar representatives of the English
Crown ; the Governor acting with the advice of his Executive
Council. But the power nominally given to the Governor
vested in effect entirely in his Council ; and the members of
that Council, being residents in the colony, having interests
of their own to promote, or friends whom they desired to
benefit, or it may be enemies whom they were willing to
injure, have uniformly exercised their power for local or
personal objects, unchecked by a control, which in this respect
could only be nominal. Some recent proceedings of the Home
Government would seem also almost to have assumed, that the
practice thus pursued was right in principle, though it might
be wrongly carried out, since the Government has offered to
relinquish to the Colonial Legislature the future control of
these lands, or at least of the funds arising from their disposal.
It still, however, appears that the principle, no less than the
working of the former method, was erroneous. There can
surely be nothing in the fact, that the Crown has granted to
one person, or to any number of persons, a certain portion of
land in any colony which can give to those persons any right
to dispose of the land which has not been granted to them :
but rather the first grantees, having had their share of the
land, are less entitled to any voice in the disposal of the
remainder than the other citizens of the empire. The only
rights which they can possess are of precisely the same character
and extent as those possessed by any other subject of the
Crown ; a right to demand that these lands shall be adminis-
tered in such a manner as to promote the prosperity of the
colony, and to advance the interests of the empire. These
objects, properly regarded, are identical, though experience
has amply shown that the one may be pursued at the expense
of the other. It is for the Imperial Parliament to reconcile
these different interests, and by providing for the greatest
development of the resources of the colonies, to enable them
to offer a market for the manufactures, and a home for the
surplus population of the United Kingdom. For this purpose
the acquisition of land in the colonies should be facilitated,
and the funds produced by their sale should be employed, not
merely in the execution of the public works, which are now
so essential, but in encouraging and providing for an exten-
sive emigration. The funds thus produced would then be
REPORT : APPENDIX B 39
applied to purposes in which the mother country and the
colonies would be equally interested.
And the same reasons exist for vesting in the Imperial
Parliament the application of remedies for past mismanage-
ment in the disposal of these lands. I should be far from
recommending any needless interference with merely local
matters, which in almost every case are most effectually pro-
vided for by those who are immediately conversant with
them. This, however, is not merely a local matter. If re-
garded solely as it affects the present inhabitants of the colonies
it is a matter of comparative unimportance. The present
position of these countries, in reference to their unoccupied
land, derives its significance and import from the fact, that it
not merely retards the prosperity of the thousands by whom
they are now peopled, but that it prevents the millions, to
whom they might eventually afford an asylum, from enjoying
the advantages to which they are entitled. And without
desiring to undervalue the importance of these possessions,
I may perhaps venture to say, that if Parliament will not
interpose its authority for the accomplishment of these
objects, if it will not devise means of cure for the evils which
the Imperial Government has caused or permitted, and at the
same time provide effectual securities against similar evils for
the future, the North American Provinces must be nearly
valueless to the empire.
I am induced to believe that this view of the subject is
entertained by the more numerous and intelligent part of the
colonists themselves. The demands made by the Assemblies
of Upper Canada and New Brunswick to be invested with
the control of this property were not founded upon any asser-
tion of the separate and independent right of the colony to
such control. It was admitted by many of those who took
the lead in urging this claim, that the administration of the
property belonged of right to the Imperial Legislature. But
when that Legislature refused or neglected to exercise its
rights, and tacitly delegated its powers to colonial authorities,
it was then demanded, and with much apparent reasonable-
ness, that the colonial authority exercising these powers should
be the legislature of the Province, and not an irresponsible
executive. The colonists however would, I believe, for the
most part acquiesce, not merely willingly, but even gratefully,
in any measure of the Imperial Parliament asserting and
exercising its paramount right, so as to secure the accomplish-
ment of those important objects which can be but imperfectly
effected by a colonial legislature.
40 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
It must also, I think, be admitted, that the view enter-
tained by the Colonial Assemblies, to which I have just
referred, is well founded. And while in all the measures
I shall have to recommend, I have proceeded upon the assump-
tion that the Imperial Legislature will exercise its undoubted
rights, I am also bound to recommend, that in the event of
such a course not being deemed expedient, the whole control
of the property should be vested in the most ample and
unconditional manner in the Colonial Legislature. This is
required by every principle of justice. The United Kingdom
has suffered only negatively by the malpractices which have
been permitted under previous systems. The advantages to
be derived from the possession of colonies, for the sake of
which chiefly, if not alone, it is wise to incur the expense of
founding and defending them, have, under the existing system,
been enjoyed by Great Britain in a very limited and partial
degree. But the colonists have suffered directly and most
severely by these practices. In proportion as their interests
might have prospered by the adoption of a wise system in the
disposal of the public lands, they have suffered by the irregular
and unwise methods that have been hitherto adopted, and
they have at the same time been forbidden to apply any
effectual remedy to the evils thus occasioned. While there-
fore it appears to be the duty, no less than the right, of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate upon this
subject, it is equally their duty, if they consider such an
exercise of their power inexpedient, to relinquish formally
their control over this matter to the Colonial Legislature.
At all events, if the local assembly should not legislate for
the greatest advantage of the mother country as well as
of the colony, it would take care that the mismanagement of
the public lands was not, as has hitherto been the case
under imperial management, a source of great evil to the
colony.
I shall now proceed to detail very briefly the practices
which have been pursued in the disposal of the public lands
in each of the colonies ; to describe the general character of
the results which they have produced ; to suggest measures
of remedy for the evils thus occasioned ; and to offer a plan
for the future disposal of all the land yet remaining in the
hands of the Government, as well as of such as may be re-
invested in the Crown by the operation of the measures which
I shall suggest.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 41
LOWER CANADA.
THE exact area of the Province of Lower Canada is as yet Lower
undetermined. Bounded to the south by the States of the Canada,
Union and the Province of New Brunswick, it has no denned
limit to the north, and little is known of the capabilities of
that part of the country. The surveyed portion is divided
into seigniories and townships. The land comprised in the
seigniorial districts amounts to about 8,300,000 acres, and the
surveyed lands in the townships amount to 6,169,963 acres.
Of the former the whole has been granted by the Crown,
subject to an obligation to concede to actual settlers ; and
4,300,000 acres have been thus conceded. The quantity of
land disposed of for other than public purposes in the town-
ships is about 3,500,000 acres.
The methods of granting the public lands of this Province,
founded upon instructions from the Home Government or
resolutions of the Governor in Council, have been numerous,
and they have widely differed in character and object.
All grants by the French government prior to the conquest
were made upon one uniform system. Seigniories, as they
were termed, were created in favour of certain individuals of
property or influence, who were bound to grant, or, as it was
termed, concede, a specified portion of the seigniory to any
applicant. The profit of the seigniors was derived from the
payment of a small rent ; from certain services which the
tenant or censitaire was bound to perform ; from a twelfth
of the corn ground at the seigniorial mill ; and from a fine
upon every mutation of the property otherwise than by
inheritance.
When the country fell into the hands of the English Govern-
ment, lands were at first granted in free and common socage,
subject apparently to no conditions, but with a reservation
of a right on the part of the Crown to resume the whole or
any part of the grant if required for military purposes. The
quantity to be granted to any individual was fixed by regula-
tions issued by the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Planta-
tions in 1763, and was to be limited to 100 acres for each
master or mistress of a family, and 50 acres for each white
person or person of colour composing the family, with an
exceptional power in the governor to increase this amount
by 1,000 acres. The terms of the grant were made thus
favourable in order to attract settlers from the other British
North American colonies, now forming the United States. In
1775 these regulations were superseded by instructions from
42 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower England, following the Quebec Act of 1774, which restored the
Canada. French laws. and language. These instructions directed that
all future grants should be made in fief and seigniory, in the
same manner as those which had been made by the French
prior to the conquest. Under these instructions three seig-
niories were created. In 1786 fresh instructions were issued
by the British Government, addressed to Lord Dorchester,
directing that grants should be made, in certain fixed pro-
portions, to the refugee loyalists from the United States, and
to the officers and privates of the 84th regiment, a colonial
corps raised during the revolutionary war ; such grants to
be held under the Crown as seignior, and to be subject to the
incidents of the seigniorial tenure. I could not discover what
quantity of land had been granted under these instructions.
The whole, or nearly the whole, of the grants were situated
in that part of the Province which afterwards became Upper
Canada ; and if, which is doubtful, the grants were ever
subject to the incidents of the feudal tenure, these were
relinquished in the new state of things introduced by the
Constitutional Act.
After the Act of 1791, which separated the Province of
Quebec into the two Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada,
fresh instructions were issued, which, with regard to the
quantity of land to be granted, were similar to those of 1763.
By these a quantity was fixed as the ordinary measure of
a grant, and the same power of making an exceptional addi-
tional grant was conferred upon the Governor. But certain
duties of settlement were required to be attached as a con-
dition to every grant, in default of the performance of which
the land granted was to revert to the Crown. These instruc-
tions continued in force till 1826, being in substance, and
with only slight and altogether unimportant variations in
form, addressed to every Governor, from Sir Alured Clarke
to Lord Dalhousie.
Under these instructions, the practices introduced by the
Governor and Council were,
1. The system of leaders and associates described by
Mr. Davidson, under which, by an ingenious construction, or
rather evasion of the instructions, 1,200 acres were granted
to each of from 10 to 40 applicants ; it being perfectly
notorious, and within the personal knowledge of several of the
Executive Council, that the object and result of the scheme
was to throw into the hands of one of the applicants, termed
the leader, the whole, or nearly the whole, of the enormous
quantities thus granted. With this practice, in fact, the
REPORT : APPENDIX B 43
history of the settlement of the townships of Lower Canada Lower
commences. The first grant was made to Mr. Dunn, who Canada,
obtained the whole of the township of Dunham. No precise
information could be obtained as to this particular grant ;
but it appeared that the associates, as they were termed, in
this case were persons who really desired to obtain land for
the purpose of settlement, and that Mr. Dunn, as the leader,
assisted them with the means of establishing themselves, look-
ing for his remuneration to the increased value which their
industry must give to the remainder of the land. This town-
ship is, I believe, at the present time well settled.
It was indeed to be expected, that a practice so palpably
opposed to the spirit, and even to the letter of those Royal
Instructions under cover of which it was pursued, would owe
its origin to some circumstance really tending to advance the
settlement of the country ; but the plan was too profitable
to be allowed to cease with the circumstances out of which it
arose. It afforded apparently so easy a method of obtaining
large tracts of fertile, and as it was deemed valuable land at
a very trifling expense, that its abandonment could hardly
be expected. The practice was accordingly reduced to a
system ; and during the administration of one Governor,
Sir R. S. Milnes, and under the same six members of the
Executive Council who constituted the land board, 1,425,000
acres were granted to about 60 individuals. The profusion of
this land-granting board was rewarded by the Duke of Port-
land by grants of nearly 120,000 acres of land, rather less
than 48,000 acres being granted to the Governor, and rather
less than 12,000 acres to each of the executive councillors of
which it was composed.
Even during the period, however, within which these grants
were made, the grantees began to discover that the very great
facility with which land could be acquired, rendered its posses-
sion well nigh valueless. To settle their grants was impossible
without a large immediate outlay, for the purpose of afford-
ing to the settlers the means of communicating with each
other, and with a market. This work, however, could be
undertaken by no one individual with effect, unless the other
grantees across whose lands the road must pass joined in the
work ; and even had this been done, the practice of making
Crown and clergy reserves, and thus withholding from settle-
ment two-sevenths of every township, imposed upon the
proprietor of the remaining land so much additional expense
for which he could never expect any return. The grants, too,
were so utterly disproportioned to the population and wealth
44 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower of the Province, that even if all the grantees had set to work
Canada. jn gOO(j fafth to settle their lands according to the terms of
the grant, they must have been stopped by their inability to
obtain settlers. In fact, even at the present moment, includ-
ing squatters, and after nearly 2,000,000 acres have been
disposed of in other ways, there is scarcely in the whole town-
ship land of the Province a population sufficient to settle
these grants in the proportion of one family to every 1,200
acres. A few townships on the American frontier were settled
from the United States. The remainder were either left
entirely waste, or were abandoned by their proprietors, after
a short trial had proved that any expense incurred in the
attempt to improve them must necessarily prove a total loss.
2. After 1806 no new townships were granted ; and the
grants, which were very few in number, were almost entirely
in lots of 200 acres each to actual settlers.
3. From 1814 grants were made under location tickets,
with conditions of settlement. These conditions at first
required, that in addition to the erection of a house, and the
clearing and cultivating four acres of land on the grant, the
settler should actually reside upon his lot for three years.
This last condition was subsequently abandoned, and the
conditions imposed amounted virtually only to a requisition
that the grantee should build a hut and chop four acres of
wood before a patent for his grant issued.
This practice continued till 1826, when instructions were
issued from the Lords of the Treasury, establishing a system
of sale by auction, the purchase -money being payable by four
annual instalments, without interest. Under these regula-
tions only such lands were open to purchasers as the Governor,
on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Crown lands,
should select for that purpose. The instructions also per-
mitted a sale to actual settlers of a limited quantity, subject
to what was termed a quit-rent, but which was, in fact, the
payment of interest at five per cent, upon the estimated value
of the land.
In 1831, instructions were issued by Lord Goderich, requir-
ing the pur chase -money to be paid by half-yearly instalments
with interest ; but these instructions have, it appears, never
been obeyed, the Governor, upon the representation of the
Commissioner of Crown lands, directing that the former
practice of receiving payment by annual instalments without
interest, should be continued.
In 1837, instructions were issued by Lord Glenelg requiring
payment of the purchase-money at the time of sale. These
REPORT : APPENDIX B 45
instructions remain in force at present, but no sales have as Lower
yet taken place under them. Canada.
Concurrently with the various systems thus briefly described,
there have been numerous exceptional grants, chiefly in reward
of public services. To the militia who served during the
revolutionary war, 232,281 acres were granted ; to the
executive councillors and the Governor above referred to,
about 120,000 acres ; to the militia who served during the
war with the United States in 1812, about 217,840 ; but in
addition to this amount of actual grants, there remain after
nearly 20 years have elapsed since these grants were first
promised, unsettled but valid claims on the part of these
last-named militiamen, to the amount of probably 500,000
acres. Grants have also been made to officers and soldiers
of the British army, either in the form of direct grants, or of
a remission of the purchase-money ; to commuted pensioners ;
to Mr. Felton and others under orders from Lord Bathurst ;
to two individuals in lieu of their salary, as chairmen of the
quarter sessions, for which the Assembly of the Province
refused to provide. There has also been an exceptional sale
in England to the British North American Land Company of
nearly 800,000 acres.
In addition to all the methods of granting land described
above, the plan of Crown and clergy reserves demands a
separate notice.
By the Constitutional Act of 1791, it was enacted that
a reserve for the support of a Protestant clergy should be
made in respect of every grant under the authority of the
Crown, equal in value, as nearly as the same could be esti-
mated, to one-seventh of the land granted ; and that no
patent for any grant should be valid unless it contained
a specification of the land reserved in respect of the granted
land. This Act was the origin of the clergy reserves. The
Crown reserves were the result of a plan of the Executive
Council, suggested, it is said, by the President of the Council,
a refugee loyalist from the United States, who seeing that the
disputes which had terminated in the independence of the
thirteen provinces, arose ostensibly out of questions of revenue,
imagined that all such disputes might be avoided in the
Canadas, by creating an independent source of revenue
sufficient to provide for the expenses of the government
without any necessity for having recourse to the imposition
of taxes. For this purpose he proposed that a reserve should
be made for the Crown equal to that for the clergy ; and it
was imagined that as the settlement of the country advanced,
46 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower this reserve would yield a large annual revenue, and obviate
Canada. ajj questiOns of taxation, by rendering the Government in-
dependent of the people. Had the disposal of the public
lands been conducted with prudence, and had the Govern-
ment performed its part towards the improvement of the
country, by assisting in opening roads, and by giving to the
settlers efficient institutions, it is possible that the objects of
both of these reserves might have been accomplished, although
at a price far larger and more burdensome than any taxation
could have been. But, with few and unfrequent exceptions,
the Government took no means to forward the settlement of
the country, or to provide for any of the wants of the settlers.
The crown and clergy reserves were not merely allowed to lie
waste, but they were carefully disposed in such a manner as to
separate most completely the actual settlers, and thus to
obstruct in the greatest possible degree the progress of settle-
ment. Added to this, the improvidence which, as has been
seen, marked the whole proceedings of the Government in
reference to the public lands, and the recklessness with which it
drew upon this fund to reward services, or to satisfy claimants,
diminished the value of these reserves in common with that
of all the other lands of the Province, and rendered futile
every hope of drawing a revenue from them. The injury
therefore which they caused to the colony, was not com-
pensated by any benefit to the Crown or the clergy, and after
existing for 35 years, the Crown reserves were at last virtually
abandoned when the system of sale was introduced. The
clergy reserves however still continued, until in 1831 an Act
was passed by the Imperial Legislature, authorizing the sale
of one-fourth of these reserves, at the rate of not more than
100,000 acres annually.
The present is not the place to enter into those aggravations
of the unpopularity of the clergy reserves, which arose from
the object to which they were destined. But the history of
these reserves, from their being first made, down to the present
time, is too characteristic an illustration of the system pursued
in the management of the public lands to be passed over.
By the Act of 1791, under the authority of which these reserves
were made, it was directed that ' whenever any grant of lands
within either of the said Provinces shall hereafter be made by
or under the authority of His Majesty, his heirs or successors,
there shall at the same time be made, in respect of the same,
a proportionate allotment and appropriation of lands for the
above-mentioned purpose (the support of a Protestant clergy),
within the township or parish to which such lands so to be
REPORT : APPENDIX B 47
granted, shall appertain or be annexed, or as nearly adjacent Lower
thereto as circumstances will admit, and that no such grant Canada,
shall be valid or effectual, unless the same shall contain
a specification of the lands so alloted and appropriated in
respect of the lands to be thereby granted, and that such lands
so allotted and appropriated shall be, as nearly as the circum-
stances and the nature of the case will admit, of the like
quality as the lands in respect of which the same are so allotted
and appropriated, and shall be, as nearly as the same can be
estimated at the time of making such grant, equal in value to
the seventh part of the land so granted.' When the business
of land granting commenced under the instructions given to
the Governor of the Province in 1791, it became a question in
what manner the provision quoted above could be most
effectually complied with. Various plans were suggested for
the purpose by the surveyor-general ; and the Executive
Council, to whom all these plans were referred, decided in
favour of one which proposed that every township should be
laid out in lots of 200 acres, of which every seventh lot should
be reserved for the clergy, making at the same time another
equal reservation for the Crown. Under this system there
were first two lots open for settlement, then one lot reserved
for the clergy, then two lots open for settlement, then one lot
reserved for the Crown, then one lot open for settlement, and
so on throughout the township. In this way the reserves for
the clergy were so intermixed with the lots, which were either
open for grant, or reserved for the Crown, as to ensure their
being, in the average, of equal value. It would seem, however,
that in this arrangement both the surveyor-general and the
Executive Council misconstrued the clause of the Act which
directed the making of these reserves ; since even assuming
that the reserve for the Crown was a grant by the Crown,
which it clearly was not, the reserve for the clergy, being one-
seventh of a township, of which only the remaining six-
sevenths were open to grant, was equal to a sixth instead of
a seventh, of the land granted. Upon this original error was
grafted one yet more glaring. The practice originally pursued
by the Crown in the disposal of the waste public lands of the
Province, was, as I have described, to grant nominally to
many, but in reality to one person, in one deed, whole, or half,
or quarter townships, exclusive only of the Crown and clergy
reserves, and amounting therefore to five-sevenths of the
entire township, or of the smaller portion granted. In the
patents by which these grants were made, however, the whole
of the land which had been appropriated for the clergy in the
48 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower portion of the township granted, was specified as the allot-
Canada. men^ an(j appropriation for the support of a Protestant clergy
in respect of that grant. Thus, assuming a township to con-
tain 70,000 acres, divided into 3,500 lots of 200 acres each,
which is rather more than the average dimensions of a town-
ship, but is assumed as the most simple amount for the
purpose of illustration, the appropriation in respect of the
clergy reserve amounted to one-seventh, or 500 lots, com-
prising 10,000 acres, and the Crown reserve to an equal
quantity, leaving to be granted 2,500 lots, or 50,000 acres.
But in the patent by which this last quantity was granted,
and which recited the words of the Act, directing the specifica-
tion of the reserve for the clergy, the whole 500 lots were
specified ; and though of equal quality with the granted land,
and one-fifth in amount, were described as being equal in
value to one-seventh of the land granted, as nearly as the
same could be estimated. By what process of reasoning the
surveyor-general could have arrived at the conclusion, that
one-fifth and one-seventh were equal, it is not easy to deter-
mine ; but the result was, that up to 1826 the reserve for the
clergy was equal in value to one-fifth of the whole land granted
by the Crown.
When the system of sale introduced by the Treasury In-
structions of 1826 came into operation, the lots first sold were
in most instances the Crown reserves. But here a difficulty
arose. When the purchaser, having completed the payment
of his purchase-money, applied for patent, these sales were
considered by the Crown lawyers as equivalent to grants, and
under the Constitutional Act no grant from the Crown could
possess any validity unless it contained a specification of the
reserve for the clergy in respect of the particular lot com-
prised in it. The whole of the reserve, however, which had
been made for this purpose in the township within which
these lands were situated, had been described in former
grants ; and it therefore became necessary to make a fresh
reserve for the purpose. This was a natural consequence of
the previous error ; but it will hardly be believed that the
fresh reserve, made by the surveyor-general, was again equal
to one-fifth of the land granted, or 40, instead of 28f- acres,
upon a lot of 200 acres ; so that under this practice the reserve
for the clergy, taking as before the case of a township of
70,000 acres, would amount to 12,000 acres, being the original
reserve of 10,000 acres, and 2,000 acres upon the sale of the
reserve for the Crown in that township. But the reserve did
not stop even here. When the Act of the Imperial Parliament,
REPORT : APPENDIX B 49
authorizing the sale of the clergy reserves, came into operation, Lower
and these reserves were brought into the market, the present Canada,
attorney-general, whose office it was to prepare the drafts of
patents, conceived that the Constitutional Act must be con-
sidered as applying also to these grants ; and that, therefore,
the patent must contain a specification of a reserve, even in
respect of these reserves. It is to be presumed that upon
a point of law such as this the attorney-general was in the
right ; but it certainly appears rather singular, that sales
under the authority of an Act of Parliament should be invalid,
because they did not comply with a provision in a previous
Act specifically referring to grants under the authority of the
Crown. But however this might be, it was necessary that this
opinion should be acted upon, and a fresh reserve was made.
Again, one-fifth was reserved, instead of one-seventh, and
thus, to follow the same illustration, the reserves would be
equal to 14,000 acres. It is obvious too that the system would
not stop here. There must be a fresh reserve upon the 4,000
acres of additional reserves when they are sold, and again
upon the 800 acres which would be reserved upon them ; and
this would be repeated until the process could be continued
no longer. Supposing the process to be continued to this
point, the reserve for the clergy would be equal to a fourth
instead of a seventh of the granted land, and the clear excess
would be 75 per cent. As the whole of the clergy reserves
are not yet sold, it amounts at present only to ,50 per cent.,
or 227,000 upon 446,000 acres.
But the misconstruction or violation of the law with regard
to this property has not stopped here. I have already stated,
that under the Act authorizing the sale of these reserves,
a quantity equal to one -fourth of the whole reserve was to
be sold at the rate of not more than 100,000 acres per annum.
Under this Act 299,811 acres have been sold out of 673,567,
or considerably more than three-sevenths, and the sales in one
year amounted to 111,000 acres. Assuming however, that
only so much of the land specified as clergy reserve, as is
specified in conformity with the provisions of the Constitu-
tional Act, is really such reserve, then the amount sold is very
nearly two-thirds instead of one-fourth of the whole. From
the evidence of the Rev. Mr. Sewell it appears that these sales
were made without the least regard to the interests of the
clergy, and that the property of the Church has been need-
lessly sacrificed ; and from that of Mr. Davidson, that the
greatest part of the land so sold has passed into the hands
of speculators, who have purchased with the sole view of
1352.3 TJJ
50 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower deriving a profit from the anticipated rise in the value of land,
Canada. From the first to the last, the proceedings in respect of these
reserves have been marked by irregularities and errors;
which, although not greater than have prevailed with regard
to all the public lands of the Province, are more striking,
because, in this instance, the proceedings have been in viola-
tion of a plain and positive law.
To what extent and in what manner the settlement of the
Province has been retarded by means of this profusion and
irregularity in the granting of land, and of the practice of
withholding land from grant, may be gathered from a com-
parison of the population of the township districts with the
amount of land granted, and from the evidence of almost every
witness examined on the subject. In the absence of all precise
statistical details, the former can only be ascertained approxi-
mately ; but it appears that the proportion is about nine
inhabitants to a square mile. Even this, however, exhibits
but partially the degree to which the various methods pursued
in the disposal of public lands have retarded the settlement
of the Province, because it assumes that the population is
equally distributed over the whole surface. This is far from
being the case. In some townships upon the American fron-
tier, the inhabitants of which have participated in the advan-
tages derivable from the roads and markets of the United
States, the population is very considerably more dense.
Excluding from consideration these townships, which in fact
are indebted for their comparative prosperity to the extent
to which they have been withdrawn from the influence of the
colonial administration, it may be doubted whether the aver-
age population is four to a square mile, and in some extensive
and fertile tracts, the whole, or nearly the whole of which
has been granted by the Crown, it is not one to every 10 square
miles. It is needless to refer to any evidence for the
purpose of proving that such a population is poor and
unprogressive. The evidence, however, of Mr. Kerr, Mr.
Russell, Mr. Stayner, and others, furnishes in detail some
of the more striking results of the practices I have de-
scribed, and exhibits the manner in which these results have
been produced.
I shall hereafter, when I have described the systems of
land-granting pursued in the other North American colonies,
to which the labours of this commission extended, advert
more particularly to those evils which in all cases have arisen
from the neglect and improvidence that have characterized
this department of the administration. But I must here refer
REPORT : APPENDIX B 51
briefly to the delays and impediments which were necessarily Lower
thrown in the way of the poorer applicants for land in con- Canada,
sequence of the central character of the system of government
established in Lower Canada, and the want of any efficient
local agency for the management of this branch of the public
service. With the exception of the attempts which were made
to remedy this inconvenience by the establishment of land
boards prior to the division of the Province, and in later years
by the appointment of township agents, the operation of both
of which was temporary and partial, no right to occupy land
could be obtained except by means of a personal application
to the Governor at Quebec. And even when by means of
these local agencies, a qualified and incomplete right of
occupancy was obtained, a satisfactory title to the land could
only be procured at the seat of government. To the majority
of the settlers this was equivalent to an absolute refusal of
a grant, since the expense of a journey to the capital of the
Province, and of a residence there for the period required in
order to obtain a grant or a title, was greater than the
purchase -money of the land would have been. Added to this,
the time occupied in obtaining a patent, even when an agent
was employed, was on the average 15 months. Numbers con-
sequently who were disposed to settle, preferred occupying
the first vacant lot without title, trusting to the justice or the
negligence of the Government for the undisturbed enjoyment
of whatever improvements they might effect. Numbers, too,
it cannot be doubted, preferred emigrating to the United
States, where land might be obtained, at a higher nominal
price indeed, but with a certainty and facility which in fact
made it much cheaper.
The surveys of the township lands also were so imperfect
and erroneous as to add very considerably to the practical
difficulties in the way of settlement. Instances have occurred
in which the lots professed to be granted had no existence
except on the diagram in the surveyor-general's office. Yet
more numerous were the cases in which a person receiving
a grant of 200 acres, found that the lot assigned to him con-
tained from 40 to 90 acres more or less than its assumed
dimensions. In many instances the grant was without a
boundary, or its figures and boundaries were totally different
from those which, by reference to the map, would be found
to have been assigned to it. It will be obvious that a very
general uncertainty and distrust must have been produced by
these errors, and that the desire of improvement in almost
every settler must have been checked by fears, lest a more
E 2
52 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lower accurate survey should demonstrate that the land which he
Canada. ha(j cieared and cultivated belonged to some other individual
or to the Crown.
In making these last statements, it is due, however, to the
individual by whom the office of surveyor-general is at present
held, to state, that he cannot be held responsible for the
errors I have described. From the system pursued originally,
the greater part of the surveys were made by persons who
were only nominally under the control of his department.
The surveyor employed for the purpose was paid by the
person to whom the land, when surveyed, was to be granted,
and those surveyors were employed who would contract for
the performance of the survey upon the cheapest terms.
Many professed surveys, therefore, were made by persons
who never had been on the ground. The outlines of the
township were run ; but the interior plan was filled up entirely
either according to the fancy of the surveyor or from the
.report of the Indians or hunters who were acquainted with
the general character of the land included within the limits
of the township. And even when the survey was performed
under the direction of the surveyor-general, the very inadequate
scale upon which his office is maintained rendered it impossible
that he should exercise any effectual supervision over his
subordinates. It is the more due to Mr. Bouchette to make
this statement, because during the 30 years that he has filled
the office of surveyor-general, he appears always to have
laboured zealously according to his means to advance the
interests and to facilitate the settlement of the Province.
UPPER CANADA.
Upper ^HE area Of the surveyed parts of this Province is stated
to be 17,653,544 acres. Out of this there have been reserved
for roads 450,000 acres, for the clergy 2,395,687 ; there have
been granted and appropriated 13,660,838 (total, 16,506,525),
and there remain to be granted 1,147,019.
In the evidence of the chief clerk in the surveyor-general's
office, it is stated that rather more than 1,500,000 acres remain
at the disposal of the Crown ; and by a return subsequently
furnished, this amount is stated at 1,597,019 acres. From
a careful examination of the return itself, it, however, appears,
that there is not more than the amount stated above. The
error in the return has obviously arisen from its not including
the reservation for roads in the enumeration of the granted
and appropriated lands,
REPORT : APPENDIX B 53
The methods of land-granting pursued in this Province Upper
have been as various as those described with reference to Canada-
Lower Canada. Up to 1791, Upper Canada formed a part of
the Province of Quebec, and the disposal of public lands was
successively regulated by the instructions of 1763, of 1775,
and of 1786, adverted to in the foregoing sketch of the systems
of land-granting in Lower Canada.
After the separation of the Province, the public lands in
Upper Canada were granted under instructions from the
Home Government identical with those described with regard
to Lower Canada, the chief object of which was to provide
against evils similar to those which had been experienced in
the other North American Colonies from excessive grants to
individuals, and which therefore established 200 acres as the
ordinary extent of a grant. These instructions continued in
force, without any alteration, till 1825.
The grants to officers and privates of the 84th regiment of
foot, and to the refugee loyalists from the United States and
their sons and daughters (who are termed U. E. loyalists),
under the instructions of 1786, were, subsequent to the
division of the Province, to be made in Upper Canada, and
ever since that period grants have been and continue to be
made to these individuals according to the tenor of those
instructions. During the continuance of the same instruc-
tions, but, it would seem, in direct violation of their spirit,
grants of 1,200 acres each were made to individuals of various
classes, to magistrates, barristers, &c., &c., as described in
the evidence of Mr. Radenhurst. Grants, of 5,000 acres each,
were also made to executive and some legislative councillors,
and of 1,200 acres each to their children. Attempts appear
to have been made, at a very early period, to introduce
a system of granting whole townships to individuals who
would undertake their settlement, similar, in many respects,
to the system of leaders and associates described in reference
to Lower Canada. After 10 townships had been granted in
this manner, the number of applications was however so great
as to determine the Council not merely to abandon the system
for the future, but to rescind the grants which had been made.
This was accordingly done ; but by way of compensation to
the persons to whom these townships had been assigned for
the trouble and expense they had incurred in attempting to
fulfil the conditions of the grant, each grantee was entitled
to receive 1,200 acres. This compensation was accepted by all
except Mr. Berczy, to whom the township of Markham had
been assigned, and who, having applied himself in good faith
54 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Upper to fulfil the conditions of the grant, was ruined by the decision
Canada. of the Council to rescind it.
From 1791 to 1804 it would appear that grants were alto-
gether gratuitous, and that no fees were payable except to
an amount just sufficient to compensate the various officers
concerned in passing the grant for their trouble. In the
course of the latter year a scale of fees, proportioned to the
extent of the grant, was introduced by an order of the Governor
in Council, upon the payment of which almost any one was
at liberty to obtain a grant.
The introduction of this scale of fees, from which, however,
all grants to privileged persons, such as U. E. loyalists, militia,
&c., &c., are stated to have been exempt, was the first attempt
at system, and continued in force till 1819. In 1818, in
addition to the payment of these fees, the performance of
settlement duties was also required, as a preliminary con-
dition of all grants, whether subject to the payment of fees
or made to privileged persons. Under this scale of fees there
were granted, in the 15 years, 388,263 acres.
In 1819 another scale of fees, nearly double in amount, was
introduced. Under this scale, scarcely any grants were made,
and it was in 1820 superseded by another scale of fees, which
upon all grants above 500 acres amounted to 5s. per acre
upon the grant. The Order in Council fixing this scale autho-
rized the grant of 50 acres to indigent settlers without any
fees. Under this authority, gratuitous grants of 50 acres
each, to the amount of about 40,000 acres in the whole, were
made ; and grants were also made of larger quantities, sub-
ject to the payment of fees according to the scale, amounting
in the whole to 72,228 acres.
In 1825 regulations were issued by the Lords of the Treasury
in England directing what was termed the sale of land upon
quit-rents, but what was in reality the grant of land, subject
to the payment of interest at five per cent, upon its estimated
value. Under this system 15,100 acres were granted.
Up to this period all grants of land had been made at the
discretion of the Governor in Council, not merely so far as
related to the quantity and position of the land granted, but
also as to whether the party applying should receive any grant
at all. The surveyor-general, under whose general direction
the whole land of the Province was placed, was the individual
by whom, in most instances, this discretion was exercised,
since all applicants were compelled to obtain from him a
certificate that the lot for which they applied was vacant
and might be granted ; and in all cases the adverse opinion
REPORT : APPENDIX B 55
of this officer was sufficient to prevent any grant from being Upper
made. In 1827 a Commissioner of Crown lands was appointed, Canada-
who was directed by instructions from the Lords of the
Treasury, dated July 1827, to assume the management of the
whole of the waste and ungranted lands of the Crown. By
the same instructions, all public land was to be sold by auction,
and to be paid for by instalments without interest. Under
this system, slightly modified in 1833 by requiring the pay-
ment of interest upon the unpaid portion of the purchase-
money, rather more than 100,000 acres of Crown lands have
been sold. In Upper Canada neither the instructions of Lord
Goderich in 1831, nor those of Lord Glenelg in 1837, have
been complied with.
There have been two cases in this colony in which the
Government has delegated to others the disposal of its waste
lands. A very extensive tract in the London and Western
districts has been placed under the entire superintendence of
Colonel Talbot, and the whole of the Crown reserves, and
1,100,000 acres in one block, in the Huron district, have been
sold to the Canada Company. In the former case the dele-
gation was more direct than in the latter, which took the
form of a sale. The powers of Colonel Talbot, with regard to
the whole of the tract he has been allowed to settle, are, how-
ever, apparently quite as absolute as those of the Canada
Company with regard to the land they have purchased ; and
although there was not, so far as I could learn, any such
stipulation in the arrangement with Colonel Talbot as should
have exempted the land which he had not actually settled
from the operation of any subsequent regulations framed by
Government, yet the whole of the land thus circumstanced
has been tacitly excluded from the operation of the Treasury
instructions of 1827, and of those subsequently introduced.
The sale to the Canada Company, though in form an excep-
tional method of disposing of public land, was in effect, and
was intended to be, a delegation of the powers of Govern-
ment in this important particular to a private company,
prompted, apparently, by the obvious ill success of jthe pro-
ceedings of the Government, and by the hope that persona
having a deep pecuniary stake in the result of their measures
would be more careful, and therefore more successful in their
operations. The result of both these experiments has been so
far fortunate, that settlement appears to have proceeded with
somewhat more of rapidity and regularity upon the land thus
disposed of than upon that which remained under the control
of the officers of the Crown.
56 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Upper The quantity of Crown lands disposed of, or appropriated,
Canada, according to the different plans described above, amounts in
the whole, including the sale to the Canada Company, to
rather more than 13 1 millions of acres. Of this amount there
have been granted, subject to the regulations from time to
time specially introduced by the Executive Council and the
Home Government, not quite 600,000 acres, or considerably
less than a 20th part of the whole ; and with the exception
of certainly less than 600,000 acres, all the granted land, or
13,000,000 acres, was disposed of prior to, or in satisfaction
of claims which arose before, the year 1825, at which time
the population was under 150,000. But the regulations above
described, various as they were, do not comprise the whole
of the modes by which land was disposed of by the Govern-
ment of the Province, or by the authorities at home, whether
the Lords of the Treasury, or the Secretary of State for the
Colonies. The grant of 48,500 acres to Colonel Talbot, for
settling a part of the enormous tract of land placed under his
sole control and management, and the grant to the laird of
M'Nab, by the Government of the colony, the grant of 12,000
acres to Dr. Mountain, the Bishop of Quebec, of a similar
amount to the heirs of General Brock, and of 3,000 acres to
Mr. Shireff, are, I am inclined to believe, only faint and
inadequate specimens of the exceptional dealings in respect
of rules, so little defined as apparently scarcely to allow of
any proceeding being regarded as exceptional to them ;
although, from the general carelessness of the system, these
were the only instances elicited in the course of my inquiries.
In this Province also reserves have been made for the clergy
and the Crown under the same authority, and in the same
manner as in Lower Canada. But though here also the
same original error in laying out the land to be set apart for
the clergy was committed, yet, as the surveyor-general, by
whom the specification to be inserted in the patent was
prepared, followed the terms of the Act, and described a
quantity only equal to a seventh of the land granted, there has
been no such complication of errors as I have described in
reference to the Lower Province. The land set apart on the
map, and treated as clergy reserves, exceeds by one-seventh
the amount contemplated by the Legislature, but this excess
has never been included in any patent, and it therefore re-
mains public property. A considerable proportion of it has been
sold under the name of clergy reserves. This, however, is
a mistake, which admits of an easy and satisfactory correc-
tion. The provisions of the Act authorizing the sale of these
REPORT : APPENDIX B 57
reserves, have, in this colony, been strictly observed. Less Upper
than one-fourth has been sold, and the sales have not amounted Canada-
to 100,000 acres in any one year.
In Upper Canada, however, the reservation and application
of these reserves have been the source of a widely-spread and
dangerous discontent. The purpose to which they have been
applied has very greatly aggravated the dissatisfaction occa-
sioned by the effects produced by their being withheld from
settlement ; and at the same time the constant experience
of their injurious effects upon the settlement of the Province
has embittered the polemical strife occasioned by the exclusive
character of their destination. It was impossible in a colony
where so deep and universal an interest prevailed upon this
question, while pursuing an inquiry into the operation of
former methods of disposing of the public lands, to refrain
from an examination into the nature of the results of this
particular appropriation. With a view to the most detailed
and satisfactory information upon the subject, the leading
clergy of all denominations were examined. All of them, to
whatever sect they belonged, confessed and lamented the in-
juries inflicted upon the peace of the colony by these reserves.
The Archdeacon of York, the most zealous, and certainly one
of the most able defenders of the right of the Church of Eng-
land ; the Catholic bishop, M'Donnell, eminent for his loyalty ;
no less than the ministers of the different sects of Presby-
terians, of the Methodists, and of the Congregationalists,
stated their belief, in which everything that I could learn
induces me fully to acquiesce, that it was vain to expect that
the colony could be tranquil until this question was settled.
It forms no part of the recommendations contained in this
Report to suggest any measure by which this object might
be accomplished, but I cannot do otherwise than point out
the deep and pressing importance of the subject.
In the return of granted lands accompanying this Report
(No. 13), are included appropriations made shortly after the
termination of the American war, to Indians of the Six Nations,
who had abandoned the old seats of their tribe to establish
themselves in the Province under the protection of the English
Crown, as well as some smaller blocks of land which were
reserved for the Indians of other tribes out of the cessions
made by them of the land which they had formerly occupied.
The land appropriated for the use of the Six Nations' Indians,
consisted chiefly of 570,000 acres of fertile and advantageously
selected land lying on each side of the Grand River, from its
mouth to its source. At the present timez according to the
58 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Upper statement of Mr. Jarvis, agent for the Indians, they do not
Canada, possess, in round numbers, more than about 200,000 acres ;
I believe the precise amount is 187,000 acres. Of the manner
in which the large portion they have alienated was acquired
by the individuals into whose hands, as is stated by Mr.
Radenhurst, it passed with the sanction of the Government
of the colony, and nearly the whole of whom were connected
with that Government, I could not obtain any testimony upon
which I could feel myself justified in relying. It is, however,
certain that the consideration paid for it was for the most
part of merely temporary benefit to them. The Government,
under whose guardianship the Indians were settled, and whose
duty it should have been to provide efficient securities against
any improvident grants, by which a provision, intended to be
permanent, might be disposed of for inadequate or temporary
returns, would seem, in these instances, to have neglected or
violated its implied trust. To the extent of this alienation
the objects of the original grant, so far as the advantage
of the Indians was concerned, would appear to have been
frustrated, by the same authority, and almost by the same
individuals that made the grant. I have noticed this subject
here for the purpose of showing that the Government of the
colony was not more careful in its capacity of trustee of these
lands, than it was in its general administration of the lands
of the Province.
But taking into consideration this and all the other methods
by which, as appears by the evidence of Mr. Radenhurst, lands
might be obtained in this Province, it would seem that there
is still a large amount for the granting of which no reason
appears, and none could be found, without separate inspec-
tion of each of the 50,000 grants which have been made.
The grants and appropriations in the whole appear by the
Return No. 13 to amount, including the clergy reserves, to
16,056,525.
The grants and appropriations of which an account has been
furnished are as follow :
Clergy reserves 2,395,687
U. E. loyalists 2,911,787
Militia 645,509
Under regulations of 1804 388,263
Ditto of 1820 72,288
Quit-rents 15,100
Discharged soldiers and seamen ...» 449,400
Magistrates and barristers ..... 255,500
Clergymen . 9: ' , 36,900
Carried fonvard 7,170,434
REPORT : APPENDIX B
59
Brought forward
Executive Councillors
Legislative ditto
Surveyors .
Canada Company
Sold
Schools .
Grants of officers
Indian reserves
136,960
48,475
264,950
2,484,413
100,000
500,000
92,526
600,000
Upper
Canada.
11,397,758
leaving altogether unaccounted for 4,658,767, or considerably
more than one-fourth of the whole. A small proportion of
this, less probably than a tenth, is included in the land dis-
posed of for the Government by Colonel Talbot, under the
authority conferred upon him. But after allowing for this
and other possible omissions of a similar character, it is still
difficult to understand in what manner the greater part of this
excess has been disposed of. It is not, however, impossible
that upon a strict inquiry, a large proportion will be found to
be still the property of the Crown, and that its supposed
appropriation is the result of a practice referred to in the
evidence of Dr. Baldwin, of putting fictitious names to favour-
able locations upon the diagram of a township in the surveyor-
general's office, in order that they might be reserved for
persons who possessed some particular claims upon the favour
of the office. From various statements made to me in the
shape of anecdotes that could not be embodied in evidence,
I am inclined to believe that this practice prevailed to a very
considerable extent. It has, I doubt not, very frequently
happened that these fictitious names have been taken for real,
and that many of the most favourable lots in the surveyed
townships have been thus unconsciously reserved from settle-
ment. To what extent this has been the case it is impossible
to determine without a thorough and efficient investigation,
for which neither the time nor the means at my disposal
afforded an opportunity, and which, in the existing state of
the surveyor-general's department, it would be very difficult
to accomplish. But whatever may have been the cause of
the circumstance, its existence affords a forcible illustration
of the careless and irregular practices of the land-granting
department.
Perhaps, however, the most striking proof of the early
improvidence of the Government in its disposal of the waste
lands of the Province is to be found in the fact, that from
1763 to 1825, during which period the population had slowly
grown up to 150,000 souls, the quantity granted or engaged
60 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Upper to be granted by the Crown was upwards of 13,000,000 acres,
Canada. whjje during the 13 subsequent years in which the population
increased from 150,000 to 400,000, the quantity disposed of,
including the sale of the clergy reserves, is under 600,000
acres. A fact such as this needs no comment.
In the course of the inquiries which I instituted, I heard
it frequently asserted that there had been and still were many
irregularities in the operation of the land-granting system, of
a vexatious and harassing character, from which the poorer
classes of settlers especially sustained very great incon-
venience. One class of these irregularities, referred to in
the evidence of Dr. Baldwin, has been noticed above, and the
evidence of the same gentleman evinces the prevalent opinion
upon this subject. From the observations I was able to make,
I have little doubt that these assertions were well founded ;
but no specific instance of the sort came before me. Those
persons residing at Toronto who had been concerned in obtain-
ing land, possessed facilities of access to the office which freed
them from some of the worst results of these irregularities ;
and as they were not generally persons intending to settle
upon their grants, they were less affected by those delays to
which they might be subject. The persons who have felt
these evils in the greatest degree have been settlers in remote
and thinly-peopled districts, who had, under the circumstances,
no means of representing their grievances to me. Only one
instance, therefore, of actual injury alleged to be sustained
from this cause of late years, reached me ; and that is described
in a letter appended to the minutes of evidence, addressed
to me at Toronto, but forwarded to me after I had left that
place, and when consequently I had no means of inquiring
into the truth of the complaint, or of ascertaining the cause
to which it was attributable. From the evidence of Mr.
Radenhurst as to the state of the surveys, and from the delay
which, in spite of the willingness of that gentleman to afford
me every information, I experienced in procuring the returns
for which I applied, in consequence of the incomplete organiza-
tion of the surveyor-general's office, and the apparent absence
of all proper records of its transactions, I have little doubt but
that this is by no means a solitary or uncommon instance of
evils of this nature. In fact they appear to be inseparable
from such a system, or rather such a want of system as that
which I found to prevail in Upper Canada. With an establish-
ment, inadequate at best, and for the last nine years under no
efficient and responsible direction, it is almost a matter of
course that these and similar irregularities should prevail.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 61
NOVA SCOTIA.
THE area of the land of the Province of Nova Scotia may be Nova
estimated at 8,000,000 acres. Of this amount it is assumed Scotia<
that less than 6,000,000 of acres are fit for cultivation. And
nearly the whole of this available land is included in the
5,750,000 acres which have been already granted. It is
estimated by Mr. Morris, the present surveyor-general, that
of the 2J millions of acres yet remaining at the disposal of
the Crown, not more than one -eighth is suitable for the
purpose of settlement.
My task in relating the proceedings of the Government in
reference to the disposal of the waste lands of this Province
is necessarily much simplified by the fact, that, at a very
early period, the Crown divested itself of nearly all the land
in the colony available for the purpose of settlement, and that
consequently its subsequent operations have had little effect
upon the progress or condition of the Province. The first
grants of land to any considerable extent appear to have been
made under instructions from the English Government issued
in 1760, previously to which period grants of land had been
at the discretion of the Governor and Council, and had
been made with a great and seemingly judicious reserve. Of
these instructions no copy remains of record in the colony,
and nothing certain is known of their nature. In less than
13 years, however, after they came into operation, nearly
8,000,000 of acres, including the whole of the island of Prince
Edward, then part of the Province of Nova Scotia, were
granted in blocks of from 20,000 to 150,000 acres to indi-
viduals or companies residing or formed in England. All of
these grants contained conditions of improvement ; but after
some expense had been incurred by the grantees in unsuccess-
ful endeavours to settle the extensive tracts of which they
had been made proprietors, the land was abandoned to its
few inhabitants or suffered to remain absolutely waste. It
still, however, continued in the possession of the grantees,
and the whole Province was thus effectually closed against
emigration from the mother country or the neighbouring
colonies. Efforts were repeatedly made upon representations
of the local government in 1773 and in subsequent years, to
revest these lands in the Crown by a process of escheat, but
were as repeatedly baffled by the influence of the absentee
proprietors.
Since, however, it was felt that a valuable province, such
as Nova Scotia, ought not to be left in these circumstances,
62 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Nova the Government deemed it expedient to endeavour to attract
Scotia. settlers by throwing open for location, upon advantageous
terms, all the land yet remaining at its disposal. A plan
was accordingly framed for the purpose by the Lords
Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, under which the
ungranted lands of the Province in favourable situations were
surveyed, and public notice was given of the intentions of
Government to dispose of such lands by sale. On the appointed
day 83,000 acres were accordingly offered for sale, but not
a single purchaser appeared ; no person apparently being
willing to settle in a province, the prosperity of which had
been so notoriously retarded by the early profusion of the
Government. The same plan appears to have remained in
force till shortly after the breaking out of the American war,
at which time the sales were suspended, and orders were
given to make gratuitous grants to refugee loyalists. These
orders were speedily followed by directions to escheat the old
excessive grants in respect of which the conditions of settle-
ment had not been fulfilled. The execution of these directions
was resisted by the proprietors of these grants, but very large
tracts were nevertheless resumed, and 4,000 families were
settled upon new grants. In these new grants, however, were
included the whole of the escheated land, and thus a second
time the Crown placed nearly the whole available land of the
Province out of its own control.
In 1790, for reasons which do not appear, all further grants
of land were forbidden, and this prohibition remained in
force till 1808. This restriction was, however, frequently
evaded by the issue of licences of occupation to actual settlers ;
and those who were desirous to settle, but could not obtain
a licence, squatted upon the land. In 1808 instructions were
issued by which a grant of 100 acres might be made to the
head of a family, and of 50 acres to each member, not exceed-
ing 500 acres in the whole, subject to the payment of a quit-
rent of 2s. per 100 acres. This system continued in force till
1827, and the settlement of the country is stated to have
proceeded rapidly under its operation. Many disputes and
much inconvenience were, however, produced by the grants
occasionally made of land upon which squatters had estab-
lished themselves during the previous prohibition of all grants ;
and the appointment of local boards, adopted as a remedy for
this evil, appears to have had very little influence. The
practice of squatting, too, still continued, as might be expected
when most of the causes to which it was attributable remained
in full force, and when means were adopted to secure to the
REPORT : APPENDIX B 63
squatter the benefit of his improvements. All of these grants Nova
were made subject to a quit-rent of 2s. per 100 acres, but the Scotia,
payment of this never appears to have been enforced, and the
quit-rents were, in 1835, commuted for a yearly sum of 2,000?.,
payable by the Assembly towards the salary of the Governor.
In 1827 the system of sale was introduced in this colony,
in spite of a report made by the Governor to Lord Bathurst,
pointing out what he conceived to be the injurious results
of the plan. All persons, however, who were considered to
have claims for grants of land, on the ground of actual settle-
ment and improvements, were allowed to receive them upon
the former terms, if they applied before the 1st of January
1828. 2,940 persons in the whole availed themselves of this
privilege ; 1,820 in Nova Scotia, and 1,120 in Cape Breton.
The progress of settlement in this Province has been neces-
sarily slow. The early grants, whether those made prior to
1773, or those to the American loyalists, still remain for the
most part uncultivated. Whatever progress the population and
agriculture of the colony has made of late years, appears, from
the evidence, to be attributable almost entirely to the squatters,
who have acquired, from the cultivation of the land itself,
the means of paying the amount of fees, or the purchase
money necessary to secure a title. It is stated in the evidence
of Sir R. George, that a very considerable portion of the
available ungranted land of the Province is occupied by
squatters, and that one half of the population of Cape Breton
may be assumed to consist of persons of this class.
The practices which have prevailed in the land-granting
department appear to have been not more consistent with
the instructions of 1827, and the subsequent instructions of
Lord Goderich in 1831, than those which have been described
with regard to the other provinces. The practice of free
grants has been continued ; out of the 5,750,000 acres dis-
posed of by the Crown in the Province, only about 120,000
acres have been disposed of under the system of sale ; and
Mr. Morris, the Commissioner of Crown lands, states, that the
largest portion of this has been acquired not by actual or
intending settlers, but by speculators, who have been tempted
by the low upset price, and have purchased on account of the
timber, or with a view to profit from a future sale.
In this colony there are the same defects and irregularities
in the surveys which I have described in reference to Lower
and Upper Canada, and the same immediate and prospective
inconveniences resulting from this circumstance.
64 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
NEW BRUNSWICK.
New THE area of the Province of New Brunswick is about
Bruns- 16,500,000 acres. Of this quantity there have been granted
3,000,000 acres, and sold 1,400,000 ; in all, 4,400,000. Of
the quantity still remaining at the disposal of the Crown, it
is estimated that about 11,000,000 acres are fit for settle-
ment.
Until the year 1784 this Province formed a part of Nova
Scotia, but it does not appear to what extent the lands
included within its limits had been granted before the
separation took place. After its establishment as a separate
province, grants of land were made under the authority of
instructions from the Home Government by the Governor in
Council, subject to the payment of a quit-rent of 2s. per
100 acres. This system continued in force up to the year
1827, when the system of selling was introduced by instruc-
tions from the Lords of the Treasury.
The exercise of the power thus vested in the Governor and
Council appears to have been characterized by very little
more prudence and reserve than in the other colonies, since,
although it is estimated that one half of the granted land is
in the possession of actual occupants, it appears that at the
present time very little more than a twentieth part is under
cultivation.
In carrying out the system of sale in New Brunswick, no
attention appears to have been shown to the instructions from
Lord Goderich in 1831, directing that the purchase-money
should be paid by half-yearly instead of annual instalments,
and should bear interest. The system introduced by the
Treasury instructions of 1827 would seem to have been con-
tinued till the receipt of the last instructions of Lord Glenelg
in 1837. The low price of land in this Province, 2s. per acre,
and the easy terms upon which payment is required, have led
to an extensive acquisition of land by persons who have done
nothing to improve it ; and it appears from the evidence of
Mr. Baillie, that there are great difficulties and delays in the
way of obtaining a title, occasioned by the recent Act of the
Provincial Parliament for regulating the disposal of waste lands.
In this Province, also, there are uncertainties and difficulties
resulting from the imperfect and incomplete state of the
surveys, similar to those which I have described in reference
to the other colonies ; and owing to the inadequate establish-
ment of the surveyor-general's office, there is nearly a twelve-
month's business in arrear.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 05
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
THE history of Prince Edward Island, so far as relates to Prince
the system of land-granting, is most brief. The whole of the Edward
land was granted in one day to absentee proprietors upon
terms which have never been fulfilled. To this original pro-
fusion may be attributed all the evils under which this island
has laboured, and to which, in spite of unremitting exertions
on the part of the provincial legislature to enforce upon the
Home Government the necessity of applying some remedy, it
is still exposed. In every other colony there has been such
a degree of laches upon the part of the Government as in
equity to preclude it from any enforcement of the original
conditions upon which grants were made ; but in Prince
Edward Island scarcely at any time have five years been
suffered to elapse without some appeal to the colonial minister,
praying that the Crown would resume the grants it had made,
as a measure not merely legally justifiable, but as the only
measure that could free the Province from the evils that these
excessive grants had inflicted. Upon one occasion the repre-
sentations of the Assembly temporarily prevailed ; process of
escheat was adopted, and two townships were resumed by the
Crown ; but the influence of the absentee proprietors pre-
vailed with the Home Government to stop the measures which
had been commenced, and from that time to the present
nothing has been done to enforce the settlement of the grants,
the greater number of which yet remain chiefly in a wild
state.
The repeated efforts of the legislature of the island to
compel the forfeiture of these grants, induced the Home
Government, at the same time that it refused to accede to
the measures proposed for the purpose, to recommend another
measure as a substitute. Accordingly, Lord Goderich, when
Secretary of State for the Colonies, suggested that a tax should
be imposed upon all wild land, and this suggestion was re-
peated by Lord Stanley, and at a later period by Lord Glenelg.
The Assembly, regarding such a measure as inadequate,
declined at first to entertain it, but at length, finding that
there was no chance of obtaining the sanction of the Imperial
Government to any bill for the escheat of the waste lands, they
passed an Act imposing a tax of 4-s. per 100 acres. This
Act was reserved for the allowance of the King in Council,
and upon the representations of the absentee proprietors, such
allowance was refused.
1352.3 F
66 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
From the preceding brief and general sketch of the history
of the system of land-granting pursued in all the Provinces
of British North America, it appears that similar general
principles have guided the Imperial Government in framing
the measures which it has successively introduced and relin-
quished. But although hitherto the administration of this
branch of the public service has been conducted upon similar
principles, the actual practice has been and continues to be
different in each colony. In no two colonies, in fact, has the
same system prevailed at the same time. In Upper Canada,
to select a single epoch, after 1804, land was granted upon the
payment of fees, to almost every applicant, in lots of from
100 to 1,200 acres, in addition to the free grants to privileged
persons, and till 1818 the grants were free from all conditions.
In Lower Canada, at the same time, land was being granted
in tracts of from 10,000 to 40,000 acres, subject to conditions
of settlement. In New Brunswick land was granted, subject
to the payment of a quit-rent, while in Nova Scotia, till the
year 1808, all grants of land were absolutely forbidden. And
even when an uniform system of sale was professedly estab-
lished, the practices in the different colonies have been as
variable as they previously had been. In Upper Canada,
payment of the first instalment was never required at the
time of sale ; the nominal price averaged 10s. per acre ; and
after 1833 interest was required upon unpaid instalments.
In Lower Canada, payment of the first instalment was always
required ; the price of land has been about 3s. 6d. per acre,
and interest has never been demanded. In New Brunswick
the price has been about 2s. per acre, and the payment of
interest has never been required. And in Nova Scotia, the
same price, and the same practice of not requiring interest,
has prevailed ; but nearly all the land occupied for the pur-
pose of settlement has been disposed of by free grant, in spite
of the instructions of the Home Government, or has been
occupied by squatters. In both Upper and Lower Canada
also, large free grants of land have been made even up to the
present moment, in fulfilment of previous engagements on
the part of the Government, while in New Brunswick no land
has been disposed of, excepting by sale, since 1828. In New
Brunswick, land required, or supposed to be required, for
actual settlement, has been sold at 2s. to 2s. Qd. per acre,
while timber land has been sold at as high a price as 10s. In
Lower Canada, on the contrary, timber land has been sold at
as low, and in many cases at a far lower price, than other
land. The purchase in the district of Gaspe, particularly
REPORT: APPENDIX B 67
referred to hereafter, which was made entirely for the sake of
the timber, was at an average price of about 3s. per acre. In
Lower Canada and New Brunswick, all purchases appear to
have been made bond fide, while in Upper Canada the vast
majority of purchases appear to have been merely nominal,
the bidders having no intention to become purchasers, and
bidding only that they might transfer their rights to those
whom they had overbid. In fact, there is scarcely a single
particular, from the mode in which the land was selected for
sale by the Governor, to the manner in which the title was
obtained after the completion of the purchase, in which
different and even opposite practices did not prevail, under
what was intended and assumed to be an uniform system.
It is obvious that all of these practices could not be right ;
but, judging from the results, it is not unfair to conclude that
they have all been wrong. Almost every witness examined
upon the subject condemned the practice with which he was
best acquainted. Not one person could be found in any
colony, even among those who might be supposed to possess
a motive for looking with a favourable eye upon the system
which they were engaged in carrying out, to speak in its
praise. Such an unanimity of disapprobation must be allowed
to possess considerable weight. In all of the colonies whose
history I have previously sketched, in connection with the
subject of my inquiry, the various methods of disposing of
the public lands have produced results of the most disastrous
character upon their progress and prosperity.
The evidence collected upon this subject, and appended to
the present Report, discloses the existence of evils in every
colony similar in kind and in degree, having a common cause,
and involving similar consequences. The settlers, separated
from each other by tracts of appropriated but unoccupied
land, whether Crown or clergy reserves, or private property,
have been placed in circumstances which rendered it impos-
sible that they should create or preserve the instruments of
civilization and wealth. Their numbers are too few, and their
position too distant, to allow them to support schools, places
of worship, markets, or post-offices. They can neither make
nor maintain roads. The produce of their farms, owing to
the necessarily imperfect methods of cultivation pursued
under such circumstances, is small in quantity, and, owing to
the difficulty and expense of conveying it to market, of little
value. The money that has been expended in the acquisition
and improvement of the land they occupy yields them no
adequate return ; and though the means of subsistence are
F2
68 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
within their reach, yet these are rude, and not unfrequently
scanty, and have to be purchased by severe and oftentimes
unremitting toil. The experience of the past warrants no
expectation of any improvement. With very few and irregular
exceptions, such a state of things has prevailed in every
district of every colony, from its establishment to the present
time ; any increase of population having led rather to an
extension of the limits of settlement than to the occupation
of the unsettled lands in the midst of the old occupants. To
an individual placed in this position there is, consequently,
only one means of escape ; the total and immediate abandon-
ment of his farm, either selling it for what it will fetch at
the moment, or allowing it to remain unoccupied till he can
obtain what he considers a fair price This is no exaggerated
description of the difficulties and privations of persons so
circumstanced, or of the manner in which those, who have
not dissipated all their means, escape from it. The evidence
of Mr. Kerr, of Mr. Russell, of Mr. Radenhurst, of Mr. Sullivan,
of Mr. Rankin, and of Mr. Hawke, confirm, in the most com-
plete manner, the above representation, as regards Upper
and Lower Canada ; and, with respect to Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick, in addition to the evidence given before the
Commission, the statements of Major Head, by whom these
colonies were visited in his capacity of Assistant Commissioner,
and who is himself a native of Nova Scotia, represent a degree
of stagnation and decay, as existing in these colonies, which,
on less credible testimony, it would be difficult to believe.
The picture of deserted and ruinous dwellings, and of aban-
doned farms, which he draws, is such as might be expected
in a country recently the victim of a hostile invasion, or in
which the ungrateful soil barely repaid the labour of the
cultivator. The picture, however, is drawn with respect to
countries that have not felt the footsteps of an enemy for
more than half a century, possessing a soil of abounding, if
not of unexampled, fertility, and rich in all the elements of
commerical and agricultural wealth.
In the Lower Provinces there has not been that immigra-
tion of individuals possessed of capital which took place to
so great an extent into Upper Canada, and which was stimu-
lated by the offers of the Provincial Government, and by
representations, sanctioned at least, if not made, by the
Government at home. The colonies of Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, therefore, afford no such striking instances of
ruin to the emigrant capitalist as are furnished by the evidence
taken in respect of Upper Canada ; but they contain abundant
REPORT : APPENDIX B 69
proofs of the existence of those circumstances which repress
industry and forbid progress. In Upper Canada the large
emigration of capitalists created a temporary activity and
a seeming prosperity, in which New Brunswick only partially
shared. The money paid by such emigrants, as the price of
the land they intended to cultivate, stimulated a speculation
in lands for which it supplied the means ; and the large sums
expended in the clearing and cultivation of their farms,
although yielding no sufficient return to themselves, gave
employment and subsistence to the labouring population, and
enabled many of these latter to establish themselves advan-
tageously. But all this was in its nature temporary. The
emigration of capitalists well nigh ceased with the year 1834 ;
and a progress, dependent upon this source, continued but
a short time after the impulse was withdrawn. It was to no
cause but the unprecedented emigration, from 1828 to 1834,
that we can attribute the great increase in the price of land,
which has been so often referred to as a proof of the prosperity
of Upper Canada ; and the present nominal prices of wild
land in that colony have been maintained entirely by an
expectation of a similar degree and character of emigration
for the future. Still there, where the apparent prosperity has
been greatest, we have at the same time the strongest evidences
of the evil and injury by which it has been accompanied. The
Lower Provinces, to which no similar emigration has occurred,
exhibit the ordinary and inevitable results of the policy which
has been pursued in their settlement, unaffected by any dis-
turbing causes.
It is not improbable that attempts will be made to impugn
the accuracy of these statements, and that comparisons will
be drawn between the advance of these colonies in popula-
tion, and that of the United States during the last few years,
for the purpose of proving that the inferences drawn by
different witnesses, and adopted in the present Report, are
not warranted by the facts stated. But there are certain
general facts which it is impossible to deny or evade. The
enormous disproportion between the granted and cultivated
land in every Province, and the great re-emigration to the
United States, admit of no contradiction. Allowing that
during the last few years there has been a very considerable
augmentation in the number of the inhabitants, and in the
agriculture and commerce of the colonies, and that, compared
with their previous condition, their present circumstances
exhibit hopeful signs of improvement and activity, this does
not affect the truth of the representations I have made. It
70 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
is still incontestably true, that after the lapse of a period
varying from 60 to 10 years, less than a 20th part of the land
granted by the Crown has been reclaimed from the wilder-
ness, and that a very large proportion, if not the majority,
of the emigrants from the United Kingdom, who have arrived
in these colonies, have left them for another land, with no
greater natural advantages of soil or position, and where
they are surrounded by a people whose habits and institutions
are unfamiliar to them. I do not dwell here upon the high
official rank and unimpeachable personal character of many
of the gentlemen by whom the obnoxious disclosures have
been made, because the two circumstances to which I have
just referred are notorious and indisputable. They require no
weight of evidence to establish their truth, and they sufficiently
prove the accuracy of the general conclusions deduced from
the whole evidence.
Any comparison, too, between the increase of population
in these colonies, and in the United States, is essentially
fallacious. In Upper Canada, for instance, the immigration
of 10 years, added to the natural increase by births, doubled
the number of inhabitants ; but the absolute increase was
only 200,000, and the immigrants who remained in the colony,
did not probably amount to more than 120,000. To have
produced a similar effect upon the population of the United
States would have required an immigration of nearly four
millions. The proper standard of comparison would be one
of the new states in the western territory, such as Illinois,
where, in less than 15 years, the population has risen to
a greater amount than that of Upper Canada at the present
time, and in which the general advance, in every matter con-
nected with civilization and material progress, is, beyond all
comparison, greater than anything which the most favoured
spots in these colonies could exhibit. It came to my know-
ledge, that in this state there was one town of recent founda-
tion, in which a considerable number of English settlers were
established, all of whom had originally attempted to settle
themselves in Upper Canada, and had been driven from that
Province by the impediments to success which they found
everywhere existing ; and I am credibly informed that a large
portion of the population of this state was composed of persons
of the same class. In the face of such facts I cannot acquiesce
in any eulogy of the past system, because it has not entirely
repelled or driven out all emigrants from the United Kingdom,
nor prevented those who have stayed from contributing, in
some small measure, to the advance of the Provinces.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 71
The evils above described are of so prominent a character,
and affect so materially the progress and wealth of every
inhabitant of these Provinces, that it was impossible they
should have been suffered to continue without some effort
for their cure. Accordingly, it appears that in all of the
colonies different measures, having for their object the removal
of existing, or the prevention of future, inconveniences of this
character, have been from time to time adopted. Whatever
may have been the nature of these measures, or the manner
in which they were intended to operate, the present con-
dition of every colony testifies most unequivocally to their
entire and absolute failure. No detailed evidence is required
upon this point. Every where the circumstances against which
they were directed exist in full vigour, and no traces are to be
found of the existence or operation of a remedy. And upon
inquiry, it appears that with scarcely any exception the
various proceedings that have been at different times adopted
as a remedy, have been either inoperative or injurious ; either
they have done nothing, or they have done mischief. A brief
examination of these measures will show the causes to which
their failure is attributable.
The previous history of the old American colonies had
made the English statesmen of 1763, in some degree, familiar
with the nature and the causes of those evils to which new
countries are exposed, from the manner in which the public
lands are disposed of. Accordingly, in the instructions ad-
dressed to the Governor of the Province of Quebec imme-
diately after the Peace of Paris, which secured to England the
undisturbed possession of the Provinces she had conquered,
we find a recognition of the existence of these evils employed
as introductory to a measure of prevention. ' Whereas,' say
the instructions, * great inconvenience has heretofore arisen in
many parts of the colonies in America, from the granting
excessive quantities of land to particular persons who have
never cultivated the same, and who have thereby prevented
others, more industrious, from improving such lands ; ' and
this recital is followed by a declaration limiting all grants to
an extent proportioned to the number of the family of the
applicant, and in no case beyond such an amount as, with
a large family, might be easily cultivated ; though in the
subsequent clause a power is vested in the Governor of increas-
ing the grant by 1,000 acres, in cases where he might deem
such increase expedient. In the instructions of 1791, the
quantity to be granted was yet further limited ; 200 acres
being established as the general extent of a grant. This was
72 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the first and most natural expedient. The evils referred to in
the extract from the instructions which I have just quoted,
had been occasioned by excessive grants ; what, therefore,
could seem a more appropriate remedy than the prohibition
of large grants for the future ? The effect of the regulation,
however, was not answerable to the intention of its framers.
It failed partly from the abuses introduced or permitted by
those to whom its execution was entrusted, but still more by
its own intrinsic insufficiency. In Lower Canada these in-
structions were evaded by the system of leaders and associates
previously referred to, and described in the evidence of
Mr. Davidson. And the Home Government, by whom these
instructions were framed, and by whom they were repeated
from time to time, upon the appointment of each successive
Governor, even up to the introduction of the system of sale
in 1826, itself not merely afforded an implied sanction to this
evasion, by authorizing a grant of 12,000 acres to six of the
executive councillors who had formed the land board, under
the authority of which these excessive grants had been made,
but violated its own instructions by these grants, and by the
grants to Sir R. S. Milnes and others, referred to in the same
part of the evidence. In these cases, and in the cases enume-
rated with regard to Upper Canada by Mr. Radenhurst, the
rule was evaded. But in both Provinces, and in the latter
Province especially, it was found to be insufficient, even when
fairly carried out. By far the largest portion of the present
waste, but appropriated lands, in the Province of Upper
Canada, were granted originally in 200 and 100 acre lots to
U. E. loyalists and militia claimants (Return No. 16) ; to
the former as a reward for the loyalty which induced them to
abandon the United States, in order to maintain unimpaired
their connexion with England, and to the latter in considera-
tion of the services rendered during the last war with the
United States. In Lower Canada also, including the grants
to militia men, nearly 1,000,000 acres were granted in the
spirit of these instructions, in 200 and 100 acre lots. In these
cases, therefore, it is not to the extent of the individual grants
that we can attribute the existence of evils of the very character
pointed out in the extract quoted above ; and yet such evils
were produced by these grants as completely as by the most
flagrant evasion or violation of the instructions of the Govern-
ment. Enormous tracts of land, to the extent, in one case, of
100,000 acres, were acquired by different individuals who
would neither cultivate the tracts thus acquired, nor dispose
of them upon terms to attract settlers. The first plan, there-
REPORT : APPENDIX B 73
fore, for preventing these evils by limiting the amount of the
land to be granted to individual applicants, was proved to
be altogether inadequate.
But as a further means of preventing the evils referred to
in the instructions of 1763, conditions of settlement and
cultivation were attached to the greater number of the large
grants of land made in Lower Canada, and to nearly all of
those in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward
Island. The grantee was bound to place settlers and to make
improvements upon his grant within a certain fixed period,
and in certain definite proportions. In default of the perform-
ance of these conditions the grant was to be void. These
conditions were, however, as unavailing as the previous
limitation had been. In only a very inconsiderable number
of cases were they performed to any extent, and in none
probably were they performed according to the terms of the
grant. But though the grants thus became liable to forfeiture,
this liability was seldom, in some colonies never, enforced.
The land was left unsettled and waste, but it still remained
the property of the grantees, only to be resumed by legal
process.
The proved inadequacy of these regulations and conditions
led to the adoption in 1818, both in Lower and Upper Canada,
of a new system. Under this the improvement of the land
and the establishment of a settler upon it, instead of being
a subsequent, was made a preliminary condition of all grants,
and no title to the land was to be obtained until after its
fulfilment. This plan, if it had been rigidly enforced, would
have greatly checked, if it had not entirely prevented, the
acquisition of any land except by those who had actually
settled upon it. But it was heedlessly relaxed when com-
paratively few grants had been made. Although, therefore,
a considerable degree of settlement took place under this
system, its chief effect was to occasion a certain outlay upon
the land in the colourable performance of the conditions,
without producing any improvement in the land, or diminish-
ing in any degree the evils occasioned by the unsettled grants.
This result is attributable chiefly to two causes ; the one,
the nature of a very large portion of the grants to which the
conditions were made applicable ; and the other, the state
of the districts within which, for the most part, these grants
were situated. The greater proportion of the grants were
made in reward of services to U. E. loyalists and militia.
Individuals of these classes were not, in the majority of cases,
disposed to settle upon the land promised them, and they not
74 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
unreasonably complained of the annexation of any conditions
to what they contended was designed to be a free and unin-
cumbered gift. It was quite fair upon every principle, that
when an individual, entering the country in order that he
might there find the means of bettering his fortune, applied
for a grant of land upon which he could settle, the Crown
should require some proof that the application was made bona
fide, and that the applicant really designed to cultivate his
grant. But it was alleged that this rule did not apply to the
case of persons to whom the land had been promised as a
reward for something that had been already performed. It
was no favour to such persons to allow them to receive a grant
upon the same terms upon which it might be obtained by
almost every applicant, and a compliance with which would
have destroyed its value, since the cost of performing settle-
ment duties was greater than the selling price of the land.
Great numbers of these persons, therefore, obtained location
tickets, never intending to perform any conditions, and trust-
ing that no steps would be taken by Government to dispossess
them. And those who did perform the conditions, did so in the
slightest and least effectual manner, merely in order to enable
them to obtain a secure and marketable title. There were
some, however, both of the U. E. loyalists and militia, who
would have been willing to occupy the land granted to them,
and these, as well as the intending settlers of other classes
who had obtained location tickets, applied themselves in
earnest to clear and cultivate the land of which they were put
in possession. But there were insurmountable obstacles in
their way. The assigned lot was often at a distance from all
settlements, and with no roads leading to it. Frequently it
was well nigh impossible for the settler even to discover the
actual position of a lot ; and when he had encountered and
overcome these difficulties, a more lengthened trial often con-
vinced him that ultimate success was not to be hoped for,
and compelled the abandonment of his improvements. The
land granted under these conditions, added therefore to the
land retained in a state of wilderness, uncultivated by the
proprietor, and withheld from those who might have brought
it under cultivation.
The uniform failure of these successive methods, added to
complaints of favouritism, led, about the year 1826, to the
introduction of the system of sale. In Upper Canada it appears
that this system has, to a considerable extent, effected one of
the intentions of its framers, by preventing the acquisition of
land for any other purpose than that of actual settlement.
REPORT : APPENDIX B 75
Still the results of the system have been highly injurious in
that Province, as I shall have occasion to show in connexion
with another part of the subject. In Lower Canada, except
in the case of purchases by squatters, it appears that the
greater part of the land was purchased by speculators, and
a similar result appears to have been produced in New Bruns-
wick and Nova Scotia. In these latter colonies, therefore,
the system of sale has added to whatever evils are produced
by the existence of the large tracts of appropriated but
unoccupied land.
None of the methods to which I have thus referred had, or
were intended to have, any retrospective effect. They were
prospective merely. Existing inconveniences were left un-
touched. All that was attempted was to prevent the occur-
rence of similar inconveniences in respect of any future grants.
The plans successively introduced and abandoned were
designed as measures of prevention, not of remedy, and, as
has been shown, they failed almost entirely, even in this
limited, and it might perhaps be added, unimportant, object.
There have, however, been efforts on the part of the Govern-
ment to remove existing, as well as to provide against antici-
pated evils. The measures adopted for this purpose have
been two : the adoption of proceedings to procure the escheat
of grants in respect of which the conditions had not been
fulfilled ; and the imposition of a tax upon wild lands. The
former has been attempted in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Prince Edward I&land, and Lower Canada ; the latter in
Upper Canada and Prince Edward Island. In the first-named
Province, in which, as has been already stated, nearly the
whole of the available land comprised within its limits was
granted, as early as 1763, to individuals or companies residing
for the most part in England, and where the result might be
said to be the virtual annihilation of the colony, the intoler-
able evils thus occasioned led to early attempts to recover by
escheat the lands so lavishly and improvidently alienated.
The owners of these grants, however, many of whom had
expended considerable sums in ill-directed and abortive efforts
to improve them, resisted the attempt ; and from their position
in England, and the influence they were thus enabled to exert,
resisted it with success. It is difficult to say how long this
Province, the most rich in mineral wealth, and most accessible
from Great Britain of all the British colonial possessions on
the continent of North America, might have remained in the
entire possession of these persons, had it not been for the
necessity imposed upon the English Government of providing
76 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
an asylum for the refugee loyalists from the United States.
The Province of Nova Scotia, with its numerous and capacious
harbours, its fisheries, and its mines, appeared as eminently
fitted to become the home of those merchants and capitalists
of the United States who were desirous of remaining citizens
of the British empire, as did Upper Canada, with its fertile
soil, for the agricultural class of refugees. In order to afford
the means of settlement to persons of the former class, process
of escheat was commenced against the proprietors of the
unimproved land in Nova Scotia, and large quantities were
escheated, upon which these persons were established. Both
the refugees and the Government appear to have imagined
that the settlements thus formed would maintain a successful
rivalry in commercial enterprise with the cities on the sea-
board of the United States. These hopes were, however,
utterly disappointed. While the American cities advanced
with unexampled rapidity, and extended their commerce in
every direction, the towns founded by these refugees began
to decay almost from the moment of their foundation, and
speedily sank into a state of hopeless stagnation. The cause
of the mortifying contrast is obvious. The former were sup-
ported by the trade of a community rapidly advancing in
numbers and wealth, whose products they exported to foreign
countries, and whose wants they supplied by importation.
The latter were isolated establishments, fixed in a country
which not merely had but a scanty and impoverished popula-
tion at the time, but which was closed against settlement by
the early improvidence of the Government. The attempt to
establish great commercial towns in a Province which, from
the want of a population to bring its great natural sources to
account, had no exports, and, consequently, no imports,
necessarity failed ; and all the wealth brought into the country
by these refugees was in a very short period entirely wasted.
The agricultural settlers experienced a similar fate. The
want of roads, and the scattered position of the popula-
tion, fettered their industry ; while the institutions of their
new country, from which every vestige of the municipal
system of the old colonies was jealously excluded, prevented
them from applying those remedies by which the citizens of
the United States have freed themselves from similar incon-
veniences. The progress of the colony, therefore, was slow
and languid ; and even at the present time, after the lapse of
more than half a century, only l-30th of the granted land is
under cultivation. Even in this case, therefore, the most
favourable that could be selected, the practice of escheat
REPORT : APPENDIX B 77
may be considered to have totally failed as a remedy for the
evils produced by excessive grants. In the evidence of
Mr. Morris and Sir R. George, with regard to Nova Scotia, of
Mr. Baillie with regard to New Brunswick, of Mr. Lelacheur
with regard to Prince Edward Island, and of Mr. Davidson
with regard to Lower Canada, in all of which colonies escheats
have been enforced or attempted, will be found abundant
proof of its general inutility. As a measure of punishment
merely it has had a small and partial effect ; but as a remedy
it has been altogether inoperative.
There remains for consideration only the measure of a tax
upon wild land. This differs in one respect from all the other
devices enumerated above, inasmuch as it has proceeded not
from the Home, but from the Provincial Government. There
have, ho\vever, been only two colonies in which it has been
attempted, Upper Canada and Prince Edward Island. In
both of these the object with which it was proposed, was not
so much to remedy the general evils produced by the existence
of the wild land as to compel the proprietors to contribute,
at least in some small degree, towards the general revenue of
the colony. The tax, therefore, was not at all in the nature
of a fine. Wild land was considered as a property, and, as
such, as the legitimate object of a tax, but it was rated at
a less amount than land under cultivation. The law imposing
such a tax proposed in both colonies, has, in both, received
the sanction of the Legislature. Its operation can, however,
only be traced in one, since, in Prince Edward Island, the
sanction of the Imperial Government was withheld from the
Act by which it was imposed. In Upper Canada, where it
has existed for nearly 20 years, its operation has been in
a very slight degree beneficial ; and even the benefits which
it has produced have been, to a great extent, counterbalanced
by consequences resulting from the manner in which the law
has been enforced.
The tax upon wild lands in Upper Canada was first imposed
in 1820, or perhaps it should rather be said, that in that year
measures were first taken to enforce its payment. A tax of
this sort had previously existed ; but as it was merely a per-
sonal charge upon the owner of the land, it could only be
recovered in those cases in which the owner resided within
the district where his lands were situated. In 1820 it was
made a charge upon the land, and the sheriff was authorized
to sell the land in the event of nonpayment of the tax for eight
years. By the Act imposing the tax, the assessment upon any
species of property cannot exceed Id. in the pound. The
78 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
power of assessment is vested in the magistrates of the dis-
trict, who also have the sole control of the funds produced
from this source. Wild land is valued at 4s. per acre, and
land under cultivation at 20s. ; so that the tax upon the
latter is five times greater than that upon the former ; and
the utmost amount to which the owner of wild land can be
subject under this Act, if the tax is regularly paid, is Is. 8d.
per annum for every 100 acres. There are, however, pro-
visions in the Act for augmenting the amount of the tax if it
is unpaid for more than a certain period ; and there are also
some small additional charges imposed by other Acts, to
which wild lands are subject on account of the allowances to
members of the Assembly, and the expenses of marking the
boundaries of a township. The total amount, however, of all
these taxes, supposing them to be unpaid for the whole period
of eight years, is very little more than 4s. per 100 acres per
annum. Of the amount raised from this source under the
Act of 1820, only one-third, according to the statement of
Mr. Robinson, is applicable to the making of roads ; and this,
being expended under the superintendence of an irresponsible
magistracy, is productive of very little advantage. It appears,
too, from the evidence of Mr. Radenhurst, that the tax is
levied only upon such wild land as has been actually granted
by the Crown by patent, and that there are upwards of
700,000 acres of wild land, private property, the patents for
which have not been applied for, and the owners of which,
consequently, escape the tax. In addition to this amount,
there are upwards of 1,000,000 acres sold to the Canada Com-
pany similarly circumstanced, and the whole of the clergy
and school and college reserves, amounting to 2,500,000 acres ;
so that upwards of 4,000,000 acres, or more than a fourth of
the appropriated but unoccupied land of the province, escapes
all contribution to the tax. It can excite no surprise, there-
fore, that the produce of this impost should have caused very
little perceptible improvement in the country.
The tax, too, has been of very trifling advantage in stimu-
lating the owners of wild lands to any efforts for the improve-
ment of their property ; the amount is too insignificant to
give an adequate motive for such an expenditure as might
attract settlers, or even to induce a sale at a reasonable price.
In fact, supposing the tax to be paid regularly, it would not
in five years amount, for 100 acres, to the value of a single
acre, at the present average price of public land. In this
respect, therefore, it has been totally inoperative. It has,
however, had one beneficial effect, though this has resulted
REPORT : APPENDIX B 79
chiefly from the abuse of the power of sale, and has been small
in comparison with what might have been obtained by a
different system. In almost every case in which the tax was
unpaid, the land was owned by absentee proprietors, many of
whom, probably, were hardly aware that they had any such
property. Land thus held was absolutely closed against
settlement, since there was no possibility of obtaining a title
to it. As, however, the practice was to put up for sale the
whole of the land in respect of which the tax was due, at just
such a price as would defray the tax and the expenses of the
sale, all or nearly all of these tracts of land, passed into the
hands of residents in the colony, or at least of persons who
were known and might be easily found. It is stated by
Mr. Kerr, that there was great collusion among the buyers at
these sales ; and there is no doubt that they were in effect
a measure of confiscation ; but it must be allowed that it was
more for the advantage of the colony that these lands should
be held by persons who would sell them, even at high prices,
than that they should be altogether unattainable. Here,
however, the advantage of the tax ceased. The quantity of
land actually held in a state of wilderness has not been
diminished ; and the persons who have purchased at these
sales are generally disposed to think that, as they have paid
so small a sum for t4he land, they can afford to wait until they
obtain their price for it. The estates of some wealthy land-
owners have been very greatly increased, but the improve-
ment of the country has been in none, or but in a very limited
degree, promoted by the operation of this tax.
This concludes the list of the different measures adopted to
prevent, or to cure those evils which, in the language of the
instructions of 1763, arose from 'the granting of excessive
quantities of land to particular persons, who have never
cultivated the same, and who have thereby prevented others
more industrious from improving such lands.' All these
measures in their turn have failed. Excessive quantities of
land have been and are owned by persons who never intended
to cultivate them, and who, in spite as it would seem of the
plainest dictates even of their own interest, have closed them
against those by whom they might have been improved. The
consequences of this state of things are detailed in the evidence
appended to this report. To use the words of Mr. Kerr,
inconvenience is a very faint term to employ in describing its
results. Capital and labour have been wasted ; settlement
has been prevented, or after a brief trial the attempt has been
Abandoned ; immigration has been checked, and of the
80 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
immigrants who have reached the colonies, more than half
have sought a refuge in the United States ; there are not, and
there cannot be, any efficient means for the administration
of justice, for education, for religious instruction ; few public
works are undertaken, and those which have been commenced
are carried on languidly and wastefully ; and there is every-
where a lamentable deficiency of all those circumstances
which indicate or advance civilization. It would be perhaps
beyond the truth to attribute all of these evils to the manner
in which the land has been disposed of. Other causes have no
doubt contributed to produce this result. But incontestably
the main and primary cause has been the profusion of Govern-
ment in the disposal of the public lands.
That the colonies should be left in such a position as that
which all the evidence concurs in describing, cannot assuredly
be contemplated for a moment. Still less can the English
Government persevere in encouraging emigration to these
Provinces, unless perhaps in the case of those who, having no
wealth but their labour, can without loss leave the colonies
for the United States, as soon as they discover that in the
latter the remuneration for labour, and the prospects of
industry, are greater than in the former. If the Imperial
Legislature will not devise a remedy for the evils which the
Imperial Government has occasioned or sanctioned, at least it
is the imperative duty of the Government of the present day
to refrain from adding to the numbers of those who, having
been tempted by the offer of land, or induced by false or
partial representations of the circumstances of the colonies,
have been led to emigrate to their ruin. In fact, for the pur-
poses of colonization, all these colonies may be said to be
perfectly valueless at the present time. With the single
exception of New Brunswick, the quantity of ungranted land
remaining at the disposal of the Government, bears but
a small proportion to the waste land the property of indi-
viduals, and is far less available for the purpose of settlement.
And even in New Brunswick, the 11,000,000 acres remaining
at the disposal of the Crown cannot be profitably occupied
while the four-and-a-half millions which have become private
property remain uncultivated. Until the granted wastes shall
be filled up with population, and intersected by available
means of communication, Government is necessarily restrained
from the exercise of one of its most important functions, by
the risk of injuring those whom it designs to benefit. It will
be expedient, doubtless, that some measures should be taken
REPORT : APPENDIX B 81
to regulate the future disposal of the waste public lands ; but
this can be of no immediate advantage. The wisest measures
for the future must be nugatory until the evils of the past
have been remedied ; when this is done, it wall be time enough
to determine the future proceedings to be adopted in refer-
ence to this property.
It may be urged that this is a matter chiefly concerning
the colonies ; one, too, upon which they have borne impatiently
the former interference of Government, and with regard to
which, therefore, they would be disposed to resent any legisla-
tion by the British Parliament. I have already referred to
the general grounds upon which this objection rests ; but
I may here call attention to the different feeling with which
the colonists might be expected to regard a measure of the
Imperial Legislature, of which the motive and object were
seen to be the removal of the very circumstances that have
occasioned their complaints, from that excited by those pro-
ceedings of the Imperial Executive to which these circum-
stances have been owing. But the mere anticipation of the
possibility of such an objection, can form no ground for refusing
to entertain the subject ; and the concurrent statements of
individuals of almost every class in the colonies, landholders
as well as others, show that the necessity of some remedial
measure is felt, and its advantages fully appreciated. There
may be some interests in the colonies as well as in England
opposed to such a measure, but this rather forms a reason
for the interference of Great Britain, by whose policy these
conflicting interests have been created. The condition of the
colonies, too, demands that some effort should be made ; and
it is neither prudent nor just that the country that has occa-
sioned should shrink from repairing the mischief.
It appears that any plan that can be proposed must partake Tax upon
of the nature of one or the other of the two measures by which
this has been already attempted. The one is the process of
escheat ; the other the imposition of a tax. The effect of the
former would be to re-invest in the Crown large tracts, in
respect of which the conditions of the grant have not been
performed ; of the latter, to raise from the land a revenue for
the improvement of the country, by means which would at
the same time induce the owners of the wild land to make
some effort to settle and improve their property, and which
would facilitate the success of their endeavours.
It must be confessed that the failure of all the attempts
that have been made to carry the former plan into effect,
forms no sufficient argument against its employment for the
1352.3 G
82 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Tax upon future. The measures adopted for the purpose have been
Wild so incomplete and desultory, so partial in their scope, and
Lands. inadequate in their machinery, and so completely without
any guarantees for the wiser disposal of the land which might
be thus recovered for the public, that their ill-success proves
nothing against the principle of the proceeding. But there
are in the circumstances of the colonies, and in the nature of
the conditions imposed upon the grants, reasons which appear
to render the adoption of any such plan inexpedient for the
future. In many cases the fulfilment of the conditions upon
which grants were made, has been rendered impossible by the
Government. In the two Canadas especially, the Crown and
clergy reserves were alone sufficient to render the settlement
of the townships, according to the terms of the grant, abso-
lutely impossible ; and when the injury inflicted by the
manner in which these reserves were laid out, was pointed
out by the Provincial Government, their remonstrance was
unheeded ; and a plan, which their experience of its results
led them to condemn, was maintained, in spite of their pro-
test, by the English Minister to whom their complaints were
addressed. To compel the forfeiture of grants on account of
the non-performance of impracticable conditions, would be
ungracious if not unjust, even if they remained in the hands
of the original grantees ; and when, as is the case in the
majority of instances, these grants have passed by sale into
the hands of other parties who were emboldened to purchase
by the tacit acquiescence of the Government for a period of
from 30 to 40 years in the non-performance of the conditions,
the hardship of such a step would be greatly enhanced.
Although it is true that the present holders can have acquired
no rights which Avere not possessed by those through whom
they derived their titles, yet they may fairly be considered as
having an equitable claim, which the Government is bound to
respect. The same arguments will apply more or less to all
the other colonies, with the exception, perhaps, of Prince
Edward Island, where the Provincial Government has never
desisted from endeavours, which have been unhappily defeated
by the exercise of the powers vested in the Home Government,
to enforce the performance of the conditions, or, in default,
to resume the land. In many cases, also, the conditions have
been so far performed as to render it impossible to escheat
the grant, although none of the inconveniences which it has
produced have been removed. In almost every instance the
cultivation of one-fourteenth of the land was the extent of
improvement required by the grant ; and thus, out of a block
REPORT : APPENDIX B 83
of 14,000 acres, 13,000 may be absolutely waste, and the Tax upon
owner yet have an absolute and indefeasible title. From the Wild
evidence of Sir R. George it appears that this is the case to Lands>
a considerable extent in Nova Scotia, and it appears also to
be the case in many instances in Lower Canada. In Upper
Canada no conditions of any sort were imposed upon the early
grants, which comprise by far the larger portion of the granted
land ; and in those cases in which conditions were imposed,
the cultivation of l-25th part of the grant was all that was
required ; and this, as it was a preliminary condition, has in
most instances been performed. It appears therefore that
the process of escheat would, under the circumstances, be
one of doubtful justice, and of very imperfect benefit. In
many of the cases in which it could be employed, it would
punish innocent individuals ; and it could not be employed
to an extent sufficient to produce any public advantage.
A tax upon wild lands, therefore, appears to be the only
measure left open to the Government for the accomplishment
of this most important object. Every witness who was
examined upon this subject, concurred in the opinion that
the imposition of such a tax was absolutely necessary. The
late Chief Justice of Quebec was the only individual who
objected to a general and uniform tax, preferring, with
a natural partiality to the institutions of his native country,
local assessments for local purposes. As this proposal will
come under notice in the consideration of the manner in which
such a tax should be levied, I shall not dwell upon it here.
I refer to it merely in order to call attention to the fact, that
though Mr. Sewell differed from the other witnesses, as to the
authorities by whom the tax should be imposed and expended,
he agreed in the necessity for its imposition. Every other
witness upon this point, including many persons in each colony
who had seen most of the working of the present system,
many of high official station, and many of the largest land-
holders, concurred in representing it, not merely as desirable
but necessary. I would refer especially to the evidence of
Mr. Stayner, deputy Postmaster-general, himself probably
the largest landholder in the two Canadas, and whose testi-
mony is the more valuable, because it was not delivered viva
voce, in answer to questions then presented to him for the
first time, but in writing, after repeated conversations, in
which all the principles of the plan embodied in his evidence
had been suggested to him, and ho had deliberately considered
their practicability and value.
The effect of a tax upon wild lands, the whole proceeds of
G2
84 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Tax upon which should be applied in improving the communications
Lands an<* faciu'tating tne settlement of the country, would be to
remove some of the worst evils at present produced by the
existence of the immense tracts of wilderness between, and in
the midst of, the settled districts, and to diminish the quantity
of the land retained in a wilderness state. The former, by
opening roads in all needful directions for the transport of
produce, and the latter by inducing and enabling the present
proprietors of the wild land to settle or dispose of their pro-
perty. The opening of roads is the one thing, without which
it is impossible that a new country can thrive ; and the
obstacles placed in the way of making and maintaining roads
by the waste granted land, constitute the most serious injury
that the large tracts of such land inflict upon the province.
The separation of settlers is undoubtedly under all circum-
stances a great source of injury. The existence of available
roads, however, very greatly mitigates, though it cannot
altogether remove this evil. In many parts of the country,
settlers within two miles of each other are really more separated
than they would be if living ten miles apart upon one of the
leading roads. In the evidence of Mr. Hyndman, an instance
is given in which, owing to the want of a bridge, settlers
within two or three miles of the principal town in the district,
have been unable to communicate with it for three days at
a time. Where there are no roads, it is vain for the settler
to raise any produce beyond what is required for his own
consumption ; for, when raised, the expense of carrying it to
market, would be far greater than the amount for which it
could be sold. The evidence taken in every province abounds
in testimonies, direct and indirect, to the truth of these repre-
sentations, which will be abundantly confirmed by the personal
knowledge of every one who has had any acquaintance with
our colonies, or the new States of the Union. It is the assumed
application of a wild land-tax to the making of roads, which
reconciles the landed proprietors to its imposition ; and it
is the same cause which induces the settlers to look to it as
a means of relief. The former acquiesce in it as a means of
raising, though at first at their own expense, the value of
their, at present, almost useless possessions ; the latter desire
it, in order that the productive industry of the country may
no longer be fettered by the mass of unproductive property.
But the mere construction of roads is insufficient to remove
the evils I have described. So long as an individual can
retain his land in a wilderness state without cost, there is
always a considerable risk, lest, in his endeavour to secure
REPORT : APPENDIX B 85
a large ultimate gain, he should overlook or disregard the Tax upon
inconveniences produced by his refusal to dispose of it upon
reasonable terms. There can be no doubt that this is the
case at present. Many of the holders of very large tracts are
glad to sell whenever they can find a purchaser ; but there
are many who will not sell except at prices altogether dis-
proportioned to the present value of their land, and who,
whenever applied to upon the subject, content themselves
with declaring that they can afford to wait ; that a few years
is of no importance to them ; and that they feel assured,
before many years have elapsed, the progress of settlement
will enable them to obtain the price they now ask. Without
wishing to interfere with the right of control, which every
individual ought to possess over his own property, it can
hardly be doubted that the present is a case in which some
measure should be adopted, in order to prevent such an
exercise of this right as is inconsistent with the public interest ;
and the imposition of a tax appears to be the best and most
effectual means of accomplishing the object. There may be
some to whom such a tax would be unpalatable at first ; and
there may even be some upon whom it might press unfairly ;
but no measure could be proposed, having a tendency to
remove the evils complained of, at once so popular and so
equal in its operation.
There is one preliminary question to which it is necessary
that I should advert. By whom, and in what manner, ought
this tax to be raised ? Is it to be left to the inhabitants of
particular districts to regulate its amount and application, or
to be imposed by a central authority ? The practice of the
United States appears to be in favour of the former plan,
which is advocated by the late Chief Justice of Quebec ; but
I am nevertheless of opinion, that the latter will be found by
far the more satisfactory and useful proceeding. The evils,
which a wild land-tax is intended to remedy, are neither local
nor partial. They are not confined to one colony, nor to
separate districts of each. With very few and unimportant
exceptions, every part of every colony is affected by them.
There is no reason, therefore, founded upon their merely local
character, for deriving the means of remedy from local sources,
or entrusting their application to local authorities. It is
obvious, too, that one central authority might so regulate its
operations as to provide for the advantage of each province
and district, by a plan which would be for the advantage of
the whole ; while a number of separate and independent
authorities might so conduct their proceedings as to produce
86 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Tax upon no combined and harmonious result. The lines of road, for
Wild instance, selected by two neighbouring districts, each having
an exclusive reference to the present state, or to what was
supposed to be the individual interest of that district, might
possibly be such as could not be made to coincide ; and they
might each be such as, with reference to the prospective
interests even of the district by which the lines of road were
selected, ought not to be made in the first instance. One of
the most injurious features in the legislative proceedings of
the North Amercian colonies, is the spirit of local jobbing
which prevails to an almost equal extent in all of them. To
give to the legislature of each colony, or to the present local
authorities, the application of the funds to be raised by this
tax, would be to give a fresh stimulus to the practices which
at present prevail, and to incur an imminent hazard of having
the whole proceeds of the tax employed in useless or purely
local purposes, or wasted by the manner in which even useful
works were accomplished. And even if this consideration
might be safely disregarded, or the evil were considered as one
for which a practical remedy might be found, it is obvious
that in proportion to the magnitude of the operations carried
on, is the efficiency of the superintendence that might be
secured, and the economy with which the works might be
conducted. The making of roads through a township or
a small district could not justify the employment of a really
qualified engineer to superintend the work ; and if made, as
such roads have always hitherto been, under no proper con-
trol, the work is at once more costly and less durable than it
ought to be. These considerations, however, refer solely to
the application of the funds. Still more forcible reasons
appear to require that the tax should be imposed by a central
authority. If the imposition and amount of the tax be left
to such local authorities as exist at present, then in very
many cases the persons who will have to decide upon the
amount of the tax to be levied, would be the very individuals
upon whom it would fall ; and it is not unfair to presume that
their view of what they ought to contribute would rather err
on the side of inadequacy than the reverse. Or if the inhabi-
tants of any district were to be the assessors, they might, in
a natural impatience under the evils they have sustained, err
on the other side, and impose a tax, the amount of which
would tend to defeat the object for which it was levied. In
one district, a proprietor might be called upon to pay an
assessment far below, and in another as far above, what
would be required by the real necessities of the case. There
REPORT : APPENDIX B 87
would be neither uniformity nor permanence in any of the Tax upon
arrangements ; no measures to be provided for out of funds wil<*
raised in this manner could be undertaken with confidence an s'
or carried out with vigour ; there would be a certainty that
the objects for which a tax was imposed would be imperfectly
obtained, and great risk that they might be altogether defeated.
On these grounds, and still more perhaps on account of one
of the purposes to which it appears expedient that the pro-
ceeds of such a tax should be applied — that of being part of
the security for a loan to be raised for the general improve-
ment of the country — I think that it ought to be imposed
and its continuance guaranteed by a central authority ; and,
as it must be applicable to all the colonies, that authority
appears to be fitly the Imperial Parliament.
The proper amount of the tax is also a topic of great diffi-
culty. There is no recognised standard of comparison by
which it can be estimated, and the evidence of opinion on
the subject is various and conflicting. Mr. Stayner recom-
mends that the amount should be %d. currency per acre at
first, and that the tax should be doubled upon non-payment,
till, in the event of its being unpaid for six years, it would
amount to 2d. currency per acre for the whole period. A half-
penny per acre is about the ultimate amount of the tax in
Upper Canada, and Mr. Boulton and Mr. Ranken concur in
representing that amount as far too low. The only standard
of comparison that I can discover is, the amount of the
burdens borne by the actual occupiers in Upper Canada, the
only colony where a wild land-tax at present exists. These
appear to be, on a farm of 100 acres —
£ s. d.
Statute labour, about - 15 -
Tax upon cultivated land, say 30 acres . . . - 2 b
Wild land-tax upon 70 acres -12
£- 18 8
or a fraction more than 2d. per acre. This, I am inclined to
imagine, would be a fair amount. It is, perhaps, rather too
low, but it is more expedient to err in that direction than
to excite a just discontent by making it too high. The tax
should be imposed upon all the waste lands in the provinces,
the property in which is not at the present time in the public.
But as the land in the different colonies varies very con-
siderably in value, it would be unjust to compel the payment
of this tax in money from all proprietors. In order, therefore,
to prevent as far as possible any inequality in its operation,
88 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Tax upon it would be expedient that all proprietors of wild land should
Lands ^e a^owec^ to Pay tm^ tax ^n ^an<^ ' suc^ ^an^ to ^e ta^en
by the Government at the rate of 4s. per acre, in lots of not
less than 100 acres, and upon the certificate of a Government
surveyor, that the land thus given up was of equal value in
quality and situation to the average of the land upon which
the tax was levied. And in the event of the tax not being
paid for two years, the Government should be at liberty to
resume the land in respect of which default was made ; and
the land thus resumed would then be open to purchase upon
the same terms as all Government land ; paying to the owner
of the land, when a sale was effected, 4s. per acre for the
amount sold, after deducting the tax due when the land was
resumed. It will be seen that this price of 4s. per acre is less
than what is proposed as the future price for Government
land ; but this is the value affixed by the Assembly of Upper
Canada, to the claims of the U. E. loyalists and militia, and
is greater than the real average value of wild land in any
colony at the present time. By such an arrangement the
interests of all persons would be consulted. Those who
imagined that their land was at the present moment, or
shortly would be, of greater value than 4s. per acre, would
of course pay the tax ; and those whose land, from its situa-
tion or the nature of the soil, was less valuable, would of
course make the payment in land.
This measure, if fairly carried out, would in all probability
remove, in the course of a very brief period, the evils under
which the colonies now labour, so far as these have their
origin in the mass of wild land in the hands of private indi-
viduals ; and their result would be as advantageous to the
owners of these lands as to the community at large. But
there is one objection to the principle of such a tax, to which
it is necessary to advert, because it has been urged by the
proprietors of Prince Edward Island, in opposition to a bill
which, as has been before stated, was recommended to the
Assembly of that island by Lord Stanley, when Secretary of
State for the Colonies, and which received the sanction of all
the branches of the Provincial Legislature ; and because the
force of the objection appears to have been recognised by
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary for State for the Colonies,
who, in consequence, advised Her Majesty to refuse or suspend
her assent to such bill. The objection is, in effect, that any
such tax proceeds upon a wrong principle ; that productive
property is the only fit subject of a tax, and that this wild
land, as unproductive property, ought to be exempt. It is
REPORT : APPENDIX B 89
not necessary here to enter into a discussion of the soundness Tax upon
of the principle thus laid down, nor to do more than just Wild
notice the fact, that the tax in question was only one-fifth Lands'
per cent, upon the value which these proprietors put upon
their wild land. Nor will I urge, what might fairly be urged,
that a tax of this sort might be justified upon the mere ground
that it was intended for the abatement of a nuisance ; the
existence of which, for upwards of half a century, had rendered
this island the least prosperous, probably, of all the North
American colonies, in spite of its great natural advantages.
But the fact is, that any such tax, if properly applied, either
to the formation of roads, or towards providing for the general
government of the province, accomplishes an object, in which
every individual having property in the province has a direct
and immediate interest, and in which none are more interested
than these very wild-land proprietors, the whole value of
whose property depends upon the extent to which such objects
are effected. It is, indeed, a singular plea, that those whose
industry gives value to a country should be highly taxed, in
order that those who have done and determine to do nothing
for this purpose should — for that is the necessary result —
obtain a more certain market and a higher price for the
property which they hold. It may in truth be said, that the
wild-land proprietors are even more interested than any other
class in the imposition of such a tax. Paying, as they will,
and as they ought, at first rather largely in proportion to the
present value of their land, they will almost immediately find
that the value of their property is increased in a very far
greater ratio ; while, as the alternative, if no such measure
be adopted, they will discover that, though the nominal value
of their land may continue the same, there will be every year
less opportunity of finding purchasers. It may be well, too,
to contrast the opinion formed by landholders who reside
upon the spot, and who witness the actual operation of the
present system, with that of these gentlemen who judge only
from report ; and when it is found that the one advocate,
as essential to their welfare, a measure which the other depre-
cate as ruinous, no one can, I imagine, hesitate in preferring
the former opinion.
I pass now to the consideration of the measures which Crown
should be adopted in reference to the public land which yet Lands-
remains ungranted, writh a view to the prevention for the
future of circumstances similar to those that the proposed
tax is designed to remedy. Any system adopted in the dis-
posal of the public land should be simple, uniform, and equal ;
90 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown and while it prevents the acquisition of land, except by those
Lands. w]lo jnt,en(j to use that which they acquire, should afford
every facility of selection and acquisition to such persons.
No system hitherto adopted, in any colony, and the present
probably in as little a degree as any, appears to possess any
of these characteristics. The system now in force is com-
plicated, irregular, and partial ; it neither checks the acquisi-
tion of land by those who do not intend to improve it, nor
facilitates such acquisition by those who do. The evidence
of Mr. Davidson, of Mr. Kerr, and of Mr. Christie, with regard
to Lower Canada ; of Mr. Sullivan, of Mr. Thornhill, of Mr.
Hawke and of Mr. Boulton, with regard to Upper Canada ;
of Mr. Morris and Sir R. George with regard to Nova Scotia ;
and of Mr. Baillie with regard to New Brunswick ; describe
with more or less minuteness the general objections to the
present system. None of these gentlemen urge any merely
theoretical objections to the principles upon which the present
plan is founded. They all speak upon a practical experience
of the manner in which it operates ; and some of them in
particular, from their official character, and their long and
familiar acquaintance with the details of the system, are
entitled to especial weight when they come forward to expose
its errors.
There are three particular defects in that system, to which
it appears needful to advert for the purpose of explaining the
grounds of the plan which I shall recommend in substitution
of that now prevailing. These are, the want of sufficient
liberty of selection ; the facilities afforded for a premature
or excessive acquisition of land ; and the difficulties and delays
in obtaining a title after the purchase is completed by the
payment of the whole purchase-money.
The plan contained in the Treasury instructions, under
which the practice of sale was introduced, and continued to
the present time, by making the Governor the exclusive judge
of the quantity which ought to be put up for sale ; and by
requiring that all sales should be by auction, has necessarily
prevented any freedom of choice on the part of the purchasers.
It appears, for instance, that in Upper Canada less than a fifth
of the disposable Crown land has ever been open to purchase ;
and although it may be, and doubtless has been the case,
that the lots selected have been those which, in the opinion
of the Governor, directed by the Commissioner of Crown
lands, it would be most advantageous that settlers should
occupy, it may fairly be doubted whether the settler would
not be a better judge of the tract of land suited for his own
REPORT : APPENDIX B 91
purpose than any other individual : especially when that Crown
individual, having probably little local knowledge, could only
be guided by vague general rules. It is true, that, as stated
by Mr. Radenhurst and Mr. Davidson, an individual desiring
a particular lot, might make a special application to have it
put up for sale, and that his application might be favourably
received by the Governor ; but leaving on one side, as not likely
to occur, the chance of his application being rejected, he would
have to wait for some considerable period, while the lot was
advertised for sale. During this period his expenses might
far exceed the price to be paid for the lot ; and there would
be a great risk of his being at last overbid by some person
whose attention had been drawn to the tract he desired to
purchase, solely in consequence of his application. Without
dwelling on the abuses of the system, such as are described
by Mr. Thornhill (which must nevertheless have been exceed-
ingly injurious), because they result from a violation of the
rules by which the Commissioner of the Crown lands ought to
have been guided, I select two instances of this result of the
plan of sale by auction, at the discretion of the Governor.
One is described by Mr. Kerr, in which applicants for a special
survey and sale, after obtaining the consent of the Governor,
and paying the expenses of survey, did not, in consequence
of the system of auction, obtain more than a tenth of the land
for which they had applied, the remaining nine-tenths being
purchased by speculators. The other is the case of the sale
in Gaspe, referred to in the evidence of Mr. Davidson and of
Mr. Christie. This case justifies a particular notice, because
it exemplifies very forcibly the defects of the system. It
appears that in 1836 an application was made for the special
survey of 92,000 acres of land in the district of Gaspe, by some
gentlemen, who undertook to purchase at least 50,000 acres
of the land surveyed. The application was duly transmitted
by the agent for the sale of public lands in that district to the
Commissioner of Crown land. That gentleman, on the receipt
of the application, recommended to the Governor, that 35,000
and not 92,000 acres, should be surveyed and offered for sale.
The Governor approved of this recommendation, and gave
the authority required. At this point the matter would
probably have rested, if the decision of the Governor had been
acted upon, since the applicants would not have thought it
worth while to incur the expenses contemplated for an amount
of land inadequate to the purpose for which they desired to
purchase it. In this case it would have been an instance in
which the discretion vested in the Governor would have been
92 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown exercised in a manner to prevent the disposal of the public
Lands. lands. But the Commissioner of Crown lands, upon receiving
the authority for this limited sale, immediately directed the
agent to survey and sell the whole amount of 92,000 acres.
This was accordingly done. At the sale the original applicants
purchased less than two-thirds of the land put up to auction ;
the remainder being bought by rival speculators. Cases of
this nature, and especially such as the former, must neces-
sarily tend to deter intending purchasers, and to retard the
settlement of the country. And these cases, in both of which
the object of the special applicants was to a very considerable
extent defeated, appear to have been the only two instances
of special applications for the purchase of lands not included
in the regular Government sales.
I shall advert hereafter to the operation of the system of
sale by auction, and to the grounds upon which it has been
defended, for the purpose of explaining the reasons which
induce me to recommend that it should be abandoned for the
future. I have referred to it at present only for the purpose
of pointing out this particular injurious consequence of the
system.
The practice of accepting payment by instalments for the
land sold by the Crown, appears, from the concurrent testi-
mony of those who have had the most extensive opportunities
of witnessing its effects, to have operated very injuriously.
It has induced many people to become holders and cultivators
of land prematurely, before they had either the capital or the
experience to fit them for this new position. Mr. Sullivan,
Mr. Thornhill and Mr. Hawke, especially the last named
gentleman, whose office as chief agent for emigrants in Upper
Canada has given him peculiar facilities for witnessing the
working of this practice, describes forcibly its evil results. To
use the words of Mr. Hawke, ' it has the effect of converting
a number of useful labourers into indigent and useless farmers.'
The position of such persons appears to be in every respect
inferior to that which they had previously occupied as
labourers ; and while they suffer from the want of the requi-
site knowledge and capital necessary for the due cultivation
of their land, the colony is injured by the loss of valuable
labourers. A very few years would have sufficed to place
them in a condition to have gone upon their farm in comfort,
and with the means of cultivating it profitably ; and they
would have waited until those means were at their disposal
had they not been tempted by the small sum which sufficed
to give them a temporary and insecure possession of 100 acres
REPORT : APPENDIX B 93
of Government land. In Lower Canada the low price at Crown
which Government land has been sold (a great part at less Lands-
than 3s. 6d. per acre), has led to the acquisition of very large
tracts by individuals who hold them merely in the hope of
being able at some future day to sell them at a profit, without
any intention of improving them in the mean time ; and in
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia a similar result appears to
have been produced.
The difficulties in the way of obtaining a title in Lower
Canada are described with great force by Mr. Kerr. It appears
from the testimony of the same gentleman, that fifteen months
is the average time occupied in obtaining a title ; and as the
settlers who purchase land generally reside at a considerable
distance from Quebec, where alone a title can be procured,
it is absolutely necessary that they should employ an agent ;
and this necessity must very greatly enhance, to purchasers
of a single lot, the cost of their land. In all the colonies the
same central system prevails, and in all similar inconveniences
are experienced ; though the singularly useless complication
of process which prevails in Lower Canada, and the inadequate
scale upon which the land granting offices in that Colony
are constructed, especially in the inferior departments, have
made the actual time occupied in obtaining a title far greater
than in any other province. In Upper Canada this evil has
been palliated by a recent Act of the Provincial Legislature,
which makes it imperative upon the Commissioner of Crown
Lands to transmit free of expense to the agent of every
district, the title for all land which may have been sold within
the district.
In recommending a plan for the future disposal of public
lands in all the colonies, the main feature of which is that
they shall be sold at a fixed, and not at an upset price, it
may be thought necessary that some reason should be given
for such a departure from the practice which has been so
long established in each colony, and which apparently pre-
vails in the United States. I say apparently prevails ; for
in truth the system of auction in those States is even more
nominal than in the British provinces. It is true that all the
public land in the Union is in the first instance offered for
sale by auction; but the right of pre-emption allowed to
actual occupants takes from under the operation of this
system nearly all those lots which would be likely to excite
competition. And whenever the land has been offered for
sale, it is open at the upset price to every applicant. I am
not aware that any accurate information exists upon this
94 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown subject, but from what I could learn from individuals who
Lands. had resided for a considerable period in those new States of
the Union where land speculation was most rife, the propor-
tion sold above the upset price was so small as to make the
system practically a sale at an uniform fixed price.
But whatever may be the practice established by precedent
or sanctioned by usage in the colonies or elsewhere, the proper
object of inquiry appears to be, whether the assumed or real
advantages of that system are sufficient to outweigh the in-
conveniences it produces ? It is by this test alone that any
system can fairly be tried ; and if this test is applied, it will,
I think, appear that the present system is one that it would
be wise to abandon. Even prior to any practical experience
of its working, I believe that it might have been concluded
that the system of auction was one which was not applicable
to the circumstances of a new country ; and experience has
supplied the proof that such a conclusion was well founded.
It is probable, indeed, that the practice was adopted partly
with a view to guard against favouritism, but chiefly because
of the very irregular practices which it superseded, and which
had left at the disposal of the Crown, lands of such very
unequal value ; and not from any opinion of the general
utility of the method.
Even if the object of the Crown in the disposal of the public
lands had been, which it would seem it ought not to be, the
raising of the largest possible amount of revenue from this
source, the very nature of the property to be disposed of
would make the system of sale by auction inadequate to this
end, unless indeed there had been coupled with it such a limita-
tion of the quantity of land brought into the market as would
have occasioned a high degree of competition amongst the
buyers. But in the way of such a result there were two in-
surmountable obstacles ; the one, the existence in the colonies
of tracts of land the property of private individuals ; and
the other, the facilities of acquiring land in the neighbouring
States. Both of these rendered it impossible that Crown lands
should be sold above a certain price ; and the price for which
they might fairly be sold would have been with the utmost
certainty secured by the adoption of a fixed price. But there
was in none of the colonies any such limit of the quantity
exposed for sale as would have been required to produce com-
petition. The consequence has been, to use the words of the
Commissioner of Crown Lands for Upper Canada, ' that the
system of sale by auction is a cumbrous dead letter, from
which the public receives no advantage, while the settlers
REPORT : APPENDIX B 95
are seriously delayed in their locations.' In all the colonies Crown
the system appears to have been attended with similar results. Lands.
Mr. Davidson, the Commissioner of Crown Lands for Lower
Canada, says, that the number of lots for which a higher price
than the upset price has been obtained, do not amount to
more than l-39th of the whole ; so that if the system of
selling by auction were adopted for the purpose of raising
a revenue, it must be considered to have failed in that respect.
But allowing for a few unimportant exceptions, and they
would be exceedingly few at the present time, the very object
for which the plan of selling by auction in certain cases is
now defended, is one which Government ought not to pursue.
The opportunity of obtaining a favourable lot at the fixed
price of all Government land, is the proper reward of the
trouble and sagacity of the individual who has discovered1 it,
and the appropriate stimulus to well-directed incursions upon
the wilderness. But the practice of selling by auction tends
to deprive such persons of the natural fruits of their skill
and enterprise, in order that some insignificant pecuniary
advantage may be reaped by the public. It is true that a mill
seat, or a favourable situation for a town, may, under the
present system, sell for ten or twenty dollars an acre, instead
of one or two ; but the chance of being outbid at auction
must deter persons from attempting to discover such locations,
and check in a degree which it is not easy to appreciate the
general enterprise of the colony. Gaining some inconsider-
able fraction upon the aggregate amount of sales, Government
still further represses that spirit of adventurous effort which
there are already too many circumstances in the present
position of the colonies to check. The profit may be counted
in dollars ; the loss it would be difficult to estimate. It
would, in fact, appear, that all the land in the colonies might
be sold by auction with less public and personal injury, than
those lots which, singularly enough, have always been selected
as the portions of the province which were to be alienated
with the greatest reserve. Agreeing in the opinion pronounced
by all witnesses as to the inutility of the system of auction
in those cases in which it has been proved to be inoperative,
I regard it as especially injurious in those cases in which it
has produced its intended result.
While for the reasons thus stated, it appears expedient that
the price of public lands should be fixed, instead of an upset
price ; there are other reasons which seem to lead to the
conclusion, that it should be uniform instead of variable. It
is undoubtedly true, that the present value of public lands
96 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown is variable in the highest degree. Twenty pounds an acre
Lands. mjght be more advantageously paid for some, than a shilling
per acre for other lots. Depending for its value, as land
must in all, but more obviously in new countries, upon its
vicinity to a market, and the means of transport available for
its produce, such a difference necessarily exists. It may,
therefore, appear impolitic, and even unjust, to affix the same
price to lands so different in value. But the land which is of
little value to a settler, because of its remoteness from settle-
ment, is land which for his interest, no less than for that of
the community, it is desirable he should not occupy. The
opposite system appears curiously contrived, in order to tempt
individuals of the poorer class to settle themselves in situa-
tions in which their industry must be wasted in protracted
and unaided struggles against obstacles which no industry
can suffice to overcome. The results that must be produced
by such a practice are described by Mr. Sullivan, in a passage
referred to above, where he is speaking of the effect of the
system of selling by instalment, and by Mr. Hawke, where
he describes the case of a settler who had got 13 bushels of
corn ground, at an expense in time and labour, in carrying it
to and from the nearest mill, of 51., being far more than the
selling price of wheat in the district. It is obvious that land
thus situated, whatever might be its natural fertility, could
have no real value for the purpose of settlement ; and that the
interest of individuals, as well as that of the community, would
be consulted by the adoption of measures which would prevent
its acquisition, until population and markets had so increased
in the neighbourhood as to render its occupation desirable.
It has indeed been argued with some plausibility, that although
an uniformity of price for all public lands may be advisable
as a general rule, there are nevertheless circumstances in the
actual state of the North American colonies, produced by the
past conduct of Government, which would render the imme-
diate application of any such rule highly unjust. The argu-
ment assumes, that the owners and occupiers of land, both in
those districts where the value of land is at present greatest,
and in those where it is least, would be injured by the adoption
of any uniform price. The former, because it would diminish
the value of their land by enabling settlers to obtain Govern-
ment land at a lower price than the actual selling price of
wild land in the district. The latter, because settlement
would be checked by the removal of the inducement to settle-
ment now furnished by the comparatively low price of land
in their neighbourhood. It is not perhaps necessary to go
REPORT : APPENDIX B 97
into any examination of the principles upon which this argu- Crown
ment rests, because it appears to proceed upon an entire
misapprehension of the facts of the case. In Upper Canada
especially, where the difference in the value of land is most
striking, the quantity of land remaining at the disposal of
the Crown is so small as to render the operation of a fixed
and uniform Government price upon the selling value of wild
land, the property of individuals, almost inappreciable. It
has been already stated, that out of 17,000,000 of acres, com-
prised in the surveyed townships, of which probably nearly
15,000,000 are still unoccupied, very little more than 1,000,000
acres remain at the present moment in the hands of the
Government ; and these are the refuse lands of the colony,
for which no person entitled to a grant has hitherto thought
it worth his while to apply. The settlement of the colony
and the price of land in any district, can therefore scarcely
be influenced by the operations of Government in the disposal
of its waste lands. They depend far more upon the price
demanded by private holders. It is very probable that all or
nearly all of this remaining public land is of such a quality
as to render its present occupation unadvisable. A seven-
teenth part of the land of a new country is even a small pro-
portion for refuse and unavailable land. Whatever price
might be put upon this land by the Crown, even if it w^ere
all of a fair average quality, would affect in a very slight
degree the general value of land in any district ; and assum-
ing its quality to be, as is stated by Mr. Radenhurst, very
inferior, its price would have no immediate operation of any
sort. Unless, indeed, that by fixing a price proportioned to
the present value of such land, settlers might be induced to
acquire such land rather than other land, more highly priced
but more fertile, and thus the productive industry of the
country be directed precisely to these portions of its soil
which would yield the smallest and most niggardly returns.
A period may be expected to arrive when the growth of
population, the vicinity of markets, the facilities of obtaining
manure, and the diminished cost of transport, will render
the occupation of these less fertile lands more profitable to the
individual, and therefore to the community, than that of
lands more fertile, but of a less advantageous position. When
this period arrives, the price affixed to them will form no
obstacle to their cultivation ; but until this is the case, it
would be a clear violation of the duty of Government to hold
out any peculiar inducement to settlers to establish them-
selves upon such lots.
1352.3 H
98 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown Nor must it be forgotten, in any consideration of the
Lands. probable effects of the plan suggested for the adoption of
Government with regard to the future disposal of the public
lands, that the proposed measures do not stand alone. They
form part of a large and comprehensive measure, one main
object of which is to produce a great degree of equality in
the value of all wild land, whether the property of individuals
or of the Crown, by giving equal facilities of communication
to every part of the country. Those districts in which the
price of land is lowest, are those in which there is the most
striking deficiency in all the circumstances upon which the
value of land depends. To remove this deficiency will have
a far greater effect in attracting, than any rise of price could
have in deterring settlement. And even if the immediate
result of any uniformity of price should be to attract new
settlers to the more thickly-peopled districts, the present
inhabitants of the less populous parts of the country would
gain much more from the making of roads in their neighbour-
hood, not merely on account of its removing one of the chief
obstacles to their progress, but also because of the market
which would be thus brought home to their door, by the
expenditure of the Government, in these public works, than
they could lose in the temporary check to settlement assumed
by the argument to be the result of the plan.
With respect to the other aspect of the question, the sup-
posed tendency of an uniform price to lower the value of land
in those districts where at present it is highest, it may be
doubted whether any such price as would be fixed by the
Government could have that effect. Population is one of
the chief elements in the value of land. Where population is
most dense, there invariably the price of land is highest. Any
addition to the population of a district must therefore, it
would appear, have an influence in raising the value of land ;
and this to a much greater extent than the lower price of
Government land could have in depressing it. In proportion
too as population is dense at present, the quantity of public
land yet remaining undisposed of must be inconsiderable ;
and thus where the assumed injury would be greatest, the
power of inflicting it would be least. The argument which
has been urged against the adoption of an uniform price
appears therefore not merely to be founded upon a miscon-
ception of the real facts of the case, but to be erroneous, even
upon the assumption that the facts are such as it presupposes.
For, further, the price to be fixed as that at which all
public land is to be sold, ought not to be a mere arbitrary
REPORT : APPENDIX B 99
amount. It should be just that price which, having reference Crown
to all the circumstances of the country, appears most cal- Landa-
culated to facilitate settlement, and at the same time to check
both an excessive and a premature acquisition of land by
settlers. It ought to be so low as that no one who possesses
the means of improving the land, should be deterred from
purchasing it, and so high that no one should be tempted to
acquire it before he possesses these means, or in greater
quantities than his means will enable him to occupy with
profit. In the North American colonies also there is a further
consideration which must be kept in view in fixing the price,
which it is to be feared will in some degree interfere with the
latter object. The price of land must not be so high as to
drive purchasers into the United States, in order that they
may avail themselves of the low price at which public land
can be procured there. But having in view the objects above
described, it may fairly be doubted whether any consideration
of circumstances, necessarily both partial and temporary,
ought to prevent the adoption of such a price. Government
ought not, it would appear, to affix upon any portion of the
public land a price unduly restrictive of appropriation, in
order to keep up the price of land held as private property ;
nor ought it, on account of any supposed check to settlement,
to fix a price which would encourage the appropriation of
excessive quantities of land, or tempt individuals to settle
themselves upon land, which they had not the means of
cultivating. The dearly-bought experience of past years
would indeed be fruitless if now, from any such motives, these
worst errors of former proceedings were to be renewed in any
new plan.
Upon every ground, therefore, it appears expedient that the
price of public lands should for the future not only be fixed
but uniform.
The price required for public lands, also, should be payable
at the time of sale. The practice of accepting payment by
instalments, which has been continued in Upper Canada, in
violation of the instructions of Lord Glenelg, besides inducing
a premature acquisition of land, has the further effect of
rendering altogether nugatory whatever price may be fixed
upon public lands, at least with respect to that land which is
purchased by the poorer class of settlers. It is stated by
Mr. Sullivan that no measures can be attempted safely to
enforce the payment of the arrears now due from persons of
this class ; and Mr. Hawke gives an instance in which Govern-
ment has actually abandoned claims of this nature to the
H2
100 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown amount of 30,0002. The system of sale by instalments had
Landa. ^en trje(j an(j abanc[oned jn the United States long previously
to its adoption in the North American Colonies. It was
abandoned, not merely because of the impossibility of obtain-
ing payment of the arrears, but also because of the danger to
be apprehended from the existence of a large body of settlers
in all of the new States, who were supposed to be favourable
to any proceedings which, by weakening the authority of the
Government, might diminish its power of enforcing payment
from them. Without inquiring how far any of the settlers in
Upper Canada are under the influence of any such feeling,
I may venture to state my opinion, that it is unwise to give
to any class so powerful an inducement to assist or acquiesce
in any change of Government, as is afforded by the prospect
of escaping from a heavy debt, and of acquiring an absolute
instead of a qualified and insecure title to the land they
occupy. I therefore recommend, that the whole purchase-
money of public lands should be paid at the time of purchase.
At this uniform price, all public land should be open to
purchase by everybody in unlimited quantities. The attempt
to fix a limit to the amount which an individual may acquire,
must indeed be always practically unavailing, because it is
impossible to prevent any one who desires to become a
purchaser of a quantity beyond the assigned limit, from
acquiring such larger quantity in the name and through the
instrumentality of others. But if it could be successful, it
could have no other result than that of checking enterprise
and retarding settlement. The adoption of any measure of
this kind, too, is a tacit confession of the inadequacy and
incompleteness of the system which requires such an adjunct.
It amounts to an acknowledgment that the price of land is
so low as to tempt individuals to acquire land which they do
not intend, or are unable to improve. If the price be sufficient,
then the larger the amount of land purchased, the more
effectually will the purposes of Government be accomplished.
The limitation of the quantity to be disposed of, is a cum-
brous device for effecting in an indirect way an object which
Government confesses itself unwilling or unable to effect
directly ; and like all such devices, it fails in the very cases
against which it was specially intended to provide.
The ground commonly assigned for the adoption of some
limit, is the necessity of guarding against the acquisition of
land by speculators. In all our North American colonies, the
feeling in which this practice has originated, prevails most
extensively. Everywhere complaints are heard against specu-
REPORT : APPENDIX B 101
lators ; and most of the witnesses examined in reference to Crown
this subject, attributed the evils endured by the country to Lands.
the extent to which speculation in wild lands had been carried.
It is difficult to suppose that an opinion so deep rooted, and
so widely diffused, could be altogether unfounded in fact ;
but that it should have any substantial foundation, marks
most forcibly the extent to which the lavish proceedings of
former Governments have affected the prosperity of the
colonies. In the United States of America, much of the
prosperity of the new States is attributable and is attributed
to the operations of speculators and land-jobbers. More
money has been invested, and with greater profit to the
individuals and the community, in this, than probably in
any other way. But the American speculator is actively
employed in endeavouring to give value to his land ; while
the Colonial speculator is content to wait passively until the
gradual increase of population and the progress of settlement
have effected this object for him. The former desires, and
takes the means to obtain, a large immediate gain to himself ;
the latter consoles himself with the reflection that he has
acquired a property which will be valuable to his grand-
children. The one immediately occupies himself in making
roads, laying out the sites of towns, building mills, taverns
and churches, and thus attracts a population, which enables
him at once to secure a large profit upon his investment. The
other allows the land he has purchased to lie waste, and thus
not merely to remain as unattractive to settlers as when it
was purchased, but to impede the course of settlement around.
In proportion to the extent to which speculation is carried
in the States of the Union, the growth and prosperity of the
district are stimulated ; while in the colonies the extent of
speculation is at once the indication and the cause of
stagnation and decay. But little money is invested in the
purchase of land in the former country without yielding a large
profit, but in the latter, large sums have been invested at
a loss. It is impossible to ascribe so striking a difference in
the nature and results of the courses pursued in the two
countries to any difference of character in the people by
whom they are adopted. This may have some effect ; but
the real cause of the difference is to be found in the different
circumstances of the two countries, produced by the opposite
practices of the Government. A colonist who should purchase
land in the States would be impelled to improve it by the
certainty of obtaining a large profit upon the capital thus
invested, as well as by the contagious influence of the general
102 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown spirit of enterprize and progress ; while a native of the United
Lauds. States who should purchase land in the colonies, would be
checked in any expenditure intended to increase its value,
by the certainty of incurring a heavy loss. But the remedy
for the evils now produced in our colonies by speculation in
land, is not to be found in any necessarily unavailing attempts
to deter or check speculators, but in removing the causes
which give to speculation its present stagnant and repressive
character. So soon as the holder of land finds that money
invested in its improvement will quicken and augment the
returns which he expects eventually to obtain from it, we
may be assured that the work of improvement will begin ;
but until this is the case, it is of course fruitless to anticipate
any change in the present practice. As, however, the measures
already proposed for the imposition and application of a tax
upon wild lands may be expected to effect this object, with
regard to lands already disposed of, and as the same measures
will have a tendency to prevent for the future any similar
consequences to those which they are intended to remedy, it
appears that facilities should be given to speculation, rather
than obstacles be thrown in its way. In fact, it may almost
be said that one of the objects which Government should pro-
pose to itself in any plan for the disposal of the waste public
lands, ought to be to encourage the investment of capital in
the purchase and improvement of land with a view to its
resale.
Not merely, however, ought there to be no limitation in
the amount which any individual may purchase ; still less
should there be any limit as respects the position or character
of the land. There should not be, under any pretence, or for
any purpose, a portion of the colony closed against purchase
or settlement. Every reserve, of whatever nature, or to what-
ever object it may be destined, should at once be thrown open
to acquisition, upon the same terms as the waste public lands
still unappropriated. School and college, and clergy reserves,
must, in justice to the public, be brought at once into the
market. To permit of the continuance of the present, or
the formation of any fresh reserves for public purposes, would
be, I will not say to peril, but to prevent the success of any
plan. It would indeed be an act of palpable injustice, while
imposing a tax upon the proprietors of land held in a wild
state, on account of the injury which their property inflicts
upon the public, to keep two millions of acres in one colony
still a desert. The persons upon whom the proposed wild
land tax would fall, appear to be reconciled to its imposition,
REPORT : APPENDIX B 103
because, as they conceive, it is to be part of a complete and Crown
effectual measure for the removal of all the obstacles to settle- Lands.
ment presented by the present position of the colonies. If,
however, the measure be so incomplete as the permitted con-
tinuance of the existing reserves supposes, it would be vain
to hope that these individuals would acquiesce in that part
of it which presses particularly upon them. Nor can it be
denied that, under such circumstances, the proposed tax
would wear in some degree an appearance of injustice, nor
that it would be vain to hope for any marked success for the
plan of which it forms a part.
It is obvious, indeed, as has been confessed by every person
who has made inquiries upon the subject, that such reserves
are most wasteful in their operation. The object contem-
plated by Parliament in establishing the system of clergy
reserves, could not have been obtained in a more injurious
manner. In order that there might be a wealthy church in
the Canadas, free from the odium which it was supposed
must attach to it if supported by any direct impost, it was
endowed with land which, valueless in itself, could only
become valuable by the labours of the settlers in its neigh-
bourhood. But these reserves, had more influence in retarding
the progress of settlement, than the labours of the settlers
had in increasing their value. The prosperity of the colony
was greatly retarded, but the value of the lands appropriated
for the clergy was but little augmented. The average price
per acre at which the clergy reserves in Lower Canada have
been sold, is less than 5s. ; and though there have been
apparently well-founded complaints against the late com-
missioner for the sale of clergy reserves in that Province, on
account of the wasteful nature of the sales which he made,
these complaints refer but to a small portion of the property,
and the average price would probably have been raised in
only a very trifling degree if no such waste had occurred. In
Upper Canada, the small proportion which has been sold, has,
under the system of sale by auction, and of accepting pay-
ment by 10 annual instalments, produced the nominal amount
of 15s. per acre. Yet this can by no means be taken as a fair
test of the value of these reserves in general, and has only
been obtained in respect of the sixth which has been sold,
after their injurious effects upon the community had been
experienced for nearly half a century. It would be difficult
to find many instances of so small a gain purchased by so
large an injury.
I have in a previous part of this Report adverted to the
104 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Crown dissensions produced by the nature of the purpose to which
Lands. these reserves have been destined. And I may suggest, that
whatever may be the determination of Government with
regard to the appropriation of the funds produced by the
sale of these reserves, the difficulties in the way of the adjust-
ment of that question, cannot but be greatly diminished by
the removal of those injuries which the actual reservation
of land has inflicted upon the colony. When the obstructions
to progress, occasioned by these vast tracts of appropriated
wilderness no longer exists, it may be expected that, as one
great cause of irritation is destroyed, parties will discuss with
more calmness the claims of those who now demand to engross
or to divide the funds which they produce.
In expressing thus decidedly the opinion which I have
been compelled to adopt with reference to these reserves,
I may mention that my remarks apply only to the actual
reservation of land from settlement. Whatever purpose the
reserves were originally, or may hereafter be, designed to
fulfil, would be as certainly accomplished by setting apart
a corresponding portion of the proceeds of future sales of
public lands ; and the sum produced by the sale of the
existing reserves will of course be disposed of in the manner
determined upon with respect to that which has been already
received from this source.
Title to It would be obviously necessary that any plan for the
Lan s. future disposal of public lands should contain a sufficient
provision for giving to the purchaser a complete and satis-
factory title for the land purchased. Any unnecessary delay
or expense in obtaining a title, not merely operates as an
useless and injurious addition to the cost of the land, but has
a tendency to deter purchasers, and thus to retard settlement.
The complication of every system hitherto adopted in the
different colonies, has been a natural result of the want of all
real responsibility in the land-granting department. But like
almost all similar contrivances, this multiplication of checks
has not only failed to effect its purpose, but has produced
fresh evils in addition to those it was intended to prevent or
remove. The evidence which has been given on this subject
by Mr. Kerr, Dr. Baldwin, and others, exhibits the evils of
delay and uncertainty in obtaining titles ; and the present
state of the Crown lands in all the North American Provinces
sufficiently proves how utterly unavailing the reference to
different offices has been, as a means of preventing excessive
or improper grants. The system which I should recommend
for the future, is one similar to that practised in the United
REPORT : APPENDIX B 105
States ;• partially introduced into Upper Canada by the recent Title to
Act of the Provincial Legislature for regulating the disposal Lands,
of public lands ; and most successfully pursued under the
authority of an Act of the Imperial Parliament in the new
colony of South Australia. Forms of deeds should be pre-
pared, requiring only to be filled up with the name of the
purchaser, and the description of the lot purchased ; and the
signature of the chief agent for the sale of lands in the district
should be required to give them validity. In the meantime,
until this signature is obtained, a certificate of payment of
the purchase money, in respect of a particular lot, should be
given to the purchaser ; to be exchanged for the deed at
a certain fixed period ; and in the meantime to be trans-
ferrable by assignment. In this manner every purchaser
would at once possess a marketable title ; and the necessary
time could be allowed for any system of issuing and register- ,
ing titles which it might be thought expedient to adopt.
There is one essential preliminary to any plan for the disposal Surveys,
of the public lands, without which it is impossible that there
should be certainty or regularity for the future — the survey
of the whole land of the province, whether granted or un-
granted. It is not easy to exaggerate the confusion and errors
which prevail in all the colonies with respect to the existing
surveys. With very few exceptions, no man can be said to
possess a secure title to his land, or even to know whether
the spot upon which he is settled, belongs to himself or to
his neighbour, or the Crown. Lots which, according to the
diagram in the surveyor-general's office, appear to be of
regular figure and of equal dimensions, are in reality of the
most varied form and unequal size. A grant from the Crown
which professes to convey 200 acres, has in reality conveyed
a quantity varying from 120 to 280 acres. In many cases,
too, lots have been granted which have been found to have
no existence, except upon the map. Even at the present
moment, these errors are productive of much inconvenience,
and of considerable litigation. But their present effects form
no measure of the injuries which may be anticipated from
them. Land is not now of sufficient value, in the greater
part of every province, to induce its owners to adopt measures
to ascertain or enforce their rights. In many cases, too, the
occupier of a lot has no neighbour who could dispute his
claims to the boundaries assigned or assumed to his property.
But in proportion as the increase of population gives value
to land, and fills up the intervening vacancies between settlers,
it is obvious that questions of boundary and title must arise,
106 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Surveys, which under the existing state of the surveys can only bo
settled by legal proceedings, and which must form an abun-
dant and interminable source of litigation. The circum-
stances that have hitherto prevented these consequences
from occurring in any great degree, place it still in the power
of the Government to adopt measures of prevention. A fresh
and accurate survey would define the boundaries of all lots ;
and if this were accompanied by an enactment, securing to
actual settlers, land upon which improvements had been made
upon the faith of existing surveys, or which was obviously
necessary to enable them to enjoy the benefit of such improve-
ments, all substantial injustice would be avoided. This could
not, it is true, be effected without considerable expense ; but
that would surely be a false economy which should perpetuate
evils so great as those which must arise from this cause, on
account of the expense to be incurred in their removal. More-
over, this reform is but part of a general measure, which will
itself provide the funds for carrying it into execution.
Squatters. There is another subject upon which it is I believe abso-
lutely necessary to legislate. Throughout all of the North
American provinces a very considerable portion of the popula-
tion consists of squatters ; persons, that is, who have settled
upon land the property of the Crown, or of private individuals,
without a title. The causes of this irregularity are various.
In Upper and Lower Canada it has arisen chiefly, if not entirely,
from the difficulties, often amounting to impossibility, in the
way of obtaining land by persons of no influence who desired
it for actual settlement. The profusion of the Government in
granting land has, in fact, placed serious, and, in many cases,
insurmountable obstacles to its acquisition, by those who had
but little property, and no influence. While the utmost
facilities were afforded to those whose only object in obtaining
a grant, was to profit by a future sale of the land, there has
been in effect, if not in intention, an equal niggardliness with
respect to those who would have improved their grant. In
many cases, also, it was impossible, without the expense of
a journey to the capital of the province, to ascertain whether
or not the land upon which a person was desirous of locating
himself, belonged to the Government ; and even when this
point was ascertained, there was no certainty of being able
to acquire it. In Upper Canada, in addition to these diffi-
culties, the Alien Law, which was passed shortly after the
last war with the United States, has rendered it impossible
for an American citizen to obtain land from the Government
upon any terms. The result of these circumstances has been,
REPORT : APPENDIX B 107
that no small portion of the actual settlers are persons who Squatters.
have no title to the soil which they cultivate. This is not
merely injurious, by rendering their mode of husbandry
slovenly and exhausting, but it has also rendered them luke-
warm in their loyalty to a Government under which they
have no security for the enjoyment of the fruits of their
labour. It may, perhaps, be argued, that they are not entitled
to this advantage, and that they ought to bear the con-
sequences of their illegal and unauthorized occupation ; but
without entering into the question of the absolute right of
these persons to the enjoyment of the property \vhich they
have created, it cannot, I think, be deemed that, under all
the circumstances of these colonies, it is expedient to add
this great practical grievance to those causes of dissatisfac-
tion which already exist. The habits of the whole population
of North America, and the laws of the United States, have
given a sanction to the practice of squatting, which has been
confirmed in this case by the negligence of the Government,
or of the non-resident proprietor.
In the Lower Provinces, the practice is attributable in part
to similar causes, but chiefly, apparently, to the absence of
all other means of obtaining a livelihood. In Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, but especially in the former, emigrants
on their arrival can find no employment for wages. The
profusion of the government in granting its land has checked
to so great an extent the prosperity of these provinces, that
the actual settlers are too few or too poor to be enabled to
employ labourers ; and an emigrant, therefore, must either
proceed at once to the United States, or, in order to support
himself, must occupy the first vacant lot, from the cultiva-
tion of which he can alone procure a livelihood. To disturb
a possession occasioned by such causes would be unjust as
well as inexpedient. There may be particular cases which
do not merit any indulgence, but it would be impossible to
separate such from the mass ; and, therefore, there should be
some provision by which all persons occupying land to which
they have no title, should be, if not secured in the possession
of the land they occupy, at least guaranteed the full benefit
of their improvements. With respect to those who have
settled upon government land, this may be easily effected by
allowing them to become purchasers at the uniform price of
public lands, as has been already done in Lower Canada, by
a proclamation of your Excellency ; and, if needful, even
allowing a certain period within which the purchase money
may be paid. With respect to those who occupy land, the
108 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Squatters, property of private individuals, it would be necessary to pass
a law entitling them to compensation for their improvements
by valuation. Such a measure would not only give a great
immediate stimulus to the industry of the country, but it
would have a most useful effect in confirming the loyalty
of many who are at present described as looking with hope
rather than reluctance to the subversion of the existing
government.
It also appears expedient that public land in all the North
American colonies should be open to purchase by all persons,
to whatever country they may belong ; requiring, if neces-
sary, that the subject of a foreign power should at the time
of purchase take the oath of allegiance. Such a measure
appears especially desirable with regard to citizens of the
United States. No people are so adapted to encounter the
fatigues and privations of the wilderness ; none form such
efficient pioneers of civilization. In both the Canadas almost
every settlement which has reached any degree of prosperity
has been commenced by persons of this class ; and it is
impossible to conceive a more striking contrast than is fur-
nished by the present state of settlements thus formed by
persons who had no property when they entered the bush,
as it is termed, but an axe and a camp kettle ; and that of
settlements formed by British emigrants possessed of con-
siderable capital. The Americans have almost uniformly
prospered ; the European emigrants have always been slow
in their progress, and have not unfrequently been ruined.
Indeed there appears to be in this, as in almost every other
pursuit, a natural division of employments ; and this is
practically understood in all parts of the United States. One
class of persons attach themselves almost entirely to the
occupation of breaking up new land. They go into the wilder-
ness, select a favourable location, erect a small hut, and com-
mence the task of clearing. In a few years the progress of
settlement brings other settlers into their neighbourhood,
and they then sell their improvements, and again move off
several miles in advance of the tide of population, repeating
the same process as often as they are overtaken by it. By
their labours the difficulties of a first settlement are, to a great
extent, obviated ; those who succeed them are spared the
worst and most disheartening part of the toils of a settler ;
and the work of settlement proceeds more rapidly and pros-
perously than would be the case if those who eventually
occupy the land, had been also the persons by whom it had
been first reclaimed. In the Canadas, on account of the
REPORT : APPENDIX B 109
previous habits of emigrants, which have given them no Squatters,
experience of the peculiar difficulties of settlement in the
wilderness, and even unfitted them for a successful struggle
with its hardships, such a class as the American pioneers
would have been eminently useful ; but there, owing partly
to direct legislation founded upon political grounds, and
partly to the proceedings of the government by whom all the
lands which such persons could occupy, have been alienated,
this class has had no existence. If, however, it be intended
that these colonies should be the home of any considerable
portion of the people of the United Kingdom, it can hardly
be doubted that encouragement should be given to persons
of this class, or, at least, that all direct impediments to their
exertions should be removed. If, however, from any grounds
similar to those which induced the legislature of Upper Canada
to pass the Alien Bill, to which I have referred, the British
North American colonies should be closed against citizens of
the United States, it is to be feared that, in spite of all that
may be done to remove existing obstacles to their progress,
or to encourage emigration, they must continue to exhibit
the same mortifying inferiority to the neighbouring states
which is at present everywhere apparent ; while, should this
restriction be removed, it may be fairly anticipated that
the practical skill of the Americans in this respect, aided by
British capital, and stimulated by the constant influx of
emigrants desirous of purchasing the improved land, would
enable the Colonies to rival, if not to surpass, the progress
of the most flourishing states of the Union.
The price which it would be expedient to affix to the public Price of
land is not easily determined. Nor shall I discuss the prin- Land-
ciples which would determine the proper price in a colony
for which we might legislate without regard to the proceed-
ings of adjoining countries. In the immediate neighbourhood
of the United States, where the government has never sought
any higher object in putting a price on new land, than that
of preventing appropriation without cultivation, it would be
idle to seek, by means of a price for new land, the more impor-
tant end of securing an ample and constant supply of labour
for hire. In respect to the price of public land, legislation for
the North American Colonies must necessarily be governed
by the course of the United States. In their immediate
neighbourhood it would be impossible to adopt the leading
principle on which the colony of South Australia has been
founded, and which was recommended by a Select Committee
of the House of Comons in 1836. One might as well attempt
110 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Price of to maintain in the British Colonies a totally different currency
Land. from fa&t wnich prevails in the American Union.
Satisfied, however, that the price of new land required by
the American government is too low, even for the objects
which it has in view, and also that a somewhat higher price
would not induce British emigrants to prefer a foreign country
for settlement, I would adopt the highest price which would
not have that effect. That in every colony the price is too
low, appears evident from the fact that it has encouraged
rather than deterred the acquisition of land by persons who
do not intend to settle or improve it, and that it has induced
numbers to become purchasers with very inadequate means.
In Upper Canada, where the price has been apparently highest,
the latter result has been produced very extensively. But
there, though the nominal price has averaged 10s. per acre,
yet the sum which has actually been obtained in the great
majority of cases in which persons of the labouring class have
become purchasers, is in reality very little more than a fourth
of this amount, because, in such cases, only the first instal-
ment has generally been paid. In every colony, therefore,
the real price can scarcely be said to have been more than
from 2s. to 4s. per acre, while in the United States the uniform
price is a dollar and a quarter, or 6s. 3d. per acre. I am
inclined to think, that 10s. per acre would not exceed a safe
limit. But this is, perhaps, a point which would be more
properly left to the determination of that special and respon-
sible authority to which I propose that the whole administra-
tion of the public lands in the colonies should be confided.
Some further remarks upon the subject, however, may not
be misplaced here.
That at such a price the sales of public land wrould for
some time be very inconsiderable, is highly probable ; but this
appears to be a recommendation instead of an objection to
the measure. It is not for the interest of the colonies that any
very large amount of the land yet remaining at the disposal
of the Crown should be occupied for the present. That part
of every colony which ought first to be settled, is in the
possession of private persons. Until the tracts already appro-
priated are fully settled, it would be wasteful and injurious to
encourage settlement upon the remaining public lands. And
when these tracts are covered with inhabitants, the general
value of land in the colonies will be so far advanced as to
make this price really lower than that which is required at
present ; and therefore to give greater encouragement to pur-
chase than is now afforded. This view is strikingly supported
REPORT: APPENDIX B 111
by the results of the different prices at present demanded in Price of
the different colonies. In Nova Scotia, 2s. per acre, payable Land-
in four annual instalments, is found to be too high a price,
having reference to the circumstances of the country and to
the means of the settlers ; while in Upper Canada there has
been no deficiency of purchasers from the Government and
the Canada Company, at a price more than five times this
amount. This difference is easily explained by a considera-
tion of the condition of each colony, and the fact that there
has been a large introduction of both capital and labour into
the latter colony, while no capitalists have been attracted
into the former ; and consequently no employment has existed
for the few labourers who have arrived there. In neither
colony has the mere price of government land had any effect
upon the ability of individuals to become purchasers. In
both, this has depended upon circumstances altogether inde-
pendent of that price.
It is obviously in the power of government to create in all
the colonies such a state of things as may make the purchase
of wild land at the higher price proposed, more advantageous
than now at the lower. The only question, consequently, is
whether, having regard to the object for which any price
is required, and to the manner in which it is to be applied,
105. per acre is higher than ought to be required, or than
purchasers will generally be found willing to give.
In the United States, the money derived from the sale of
public land, is applied in aid of the general revenue. The
purchasers derive no special or peculiar advantages from its
application. It is expended in the promotion of objects, in
which the inhabitants of the older States, that contribute
nothing to this source of revenue, are as much interested as
the new States, in which it is exclusively raised. Under the
plan that I am about to propose, the whole amount of the
purchase money of public land in the North American colonies
would be expended partly in the execution of works, from
which the purchasers would derive a direct and immediate
benefit, and the funds for which are raised in the United States
by taxation ; and partly in providing for a greatly increased
emigration. These works, too, or at least the greater portion
of them, would be performed before the land was sold, and
the purchasers, therefore, would be in the same position as
those who, in the United States, purchase land from specu-
lators who have given an increased value to their land, by
the improvements which they have effected upon it. Assum-
ing, therefore, that the measures suggested will be carried into
112 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Price of effect, a higher price may be properly demanded for the land
Land. jn fae colom'es than that which is at present the upset price
in the United States ; and the result of this price, coupled
with the other measures with which it is connected, would
be, with respect to the colonies, similar to that which has been
produced with respect to the United States by the general
system pursued in that country, of which the present higher
price forms a part. Instead of deterring, it would attract
purchasers ; and we might confidently rely upon seeing
American citizens leaving their own country to enjoy the
greater economical advantages of the British colonies, in
the same manner as British emigrants are now drawn to the
United States by the superior attractions which they offer.
With regard to Upper, and even to Lower Canada, there
would probably be no objection urged to such a price, and no
apprehensions entertained as to its effects. But with regard
to the other provinces, where, just because no sufficient price
has ever been required, the very low price at present demanded
is considered an obstacle to settlement, it may possibly be
feared that the price proposed might be found inapplicable
to the circumstances in which they are placed ; and this
might possibly, by reason of the great quantity and cheap-
ness of wild land in private hands, be the case if such a measure
were to stand alone. The imposition of any such price — it
might indeed be said of any price — presupposes the existence
of such a state of things as would place it within the power
of persons of the labouring class to earn and to accumulate
money. In Nova Scotia, the labouring emigrant has no means
of employment. He cannot become a purchaser, because he
cannot earn money by his labour. It is from the land alone
that he can obtain the means of subsistence ; and to require
any price for land, under such circumstances, is to place an
impassable barrier in the way of its acquisition by persons of
that class, and to drive them into the United States. But if,
by measures such as have been proposed, the proprietors of
the wild land are induced and enabled to improve and settle
their grants ; and if, at the same time, works of the nature
contemplated are undertaken, labouring emigrants will be
enabled to obtain employment for wages, and out of their
savings to purchase land at the proposed price, either from
the government or from private proprietors.
It must be remembered, also, that in every colony the
operation of the proposed price will be slow and gradual ;
government land will in only a very few instances be pur-
chased at first ; and it may rather be feared that the tax on
REPORT: APPENDIX B 113
wild lands will have the effect of lowering too much the general Price of
price of land, and thus of perpetuating for a longer period Land-
some of the evils at present experienced, than that the impossi-
bility of obtaining government land on the present low terms
will check its acquisition, under any circumstances which
would render such acquisition desirable. In every colony the
selling price of land must, for some time at least, depend far
more upon private holders than upon the government ; and
the government, therefore, is freed from the necessity of
regarding the immediate and temporary results of its deter-
mination in deciding upon the price which it would be ex-
pedient to adopt. The only end which it has at present to
secure by a price is, to prevent any more of that undue appro-
priation which now discourages the hope that much land
would soon be purchased at any price.
The proposed price of 10s. per acre, regarded in connexion
with some of the objects it is intended to accomplish, is, in
fact, much lower than it would be desirable to fix. Even at
that price, there is great reason to fear that labouring emi-
grants may be induced to become purchasers before they have
either the requisite capital or knowledge to qualify them for
the position they will thus assume. The produce of the fund,
also, will be scarcely adequate to the objects to which it ought
to be applied, the construction of public works and the pro-
motion of emigration. But it has been selected as the price
which will most nearly provide for the accomplishment of
these purposes, and, at the same time, the highest which
probably it would be in the power of government to obtain,
having reference to the price fixed upon public land in the
United States. It is not impossible that the measures pro-
posed, if fully carried into effect, might enable government
to obtain even a higher price ; but it would hardly be safe to
venture upon the experiment. In proposing this price, how-
ever, I wish to be regarded as doing so merely as a com-
promise ; not because I think it best in itself, but because
I think it the best which can be obtained under the circum-
stances.
The disposal of the timber upon the public lands of the Timber.
Provinces was included within the inquiries that I instituted.
It is only of late years that any attempt has been made in
the Canadas to derive a revenue from this property. Origin-
ally the right to cut timber upon the public lands was a mono-
poly in the hands of the contractors for the supply of the navy
with timber ; and they were in the practice of selling licences
to merchants and lumbermen in the Colonies, by whom, con-
1352-3 I
114 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Timber, sequently, the whole legal trade in this article was engrossed.
But as the commerce of the Colonies increased, it was found
impracticable to prevent unlicensed adventurers from engag-
ing in the lumber business ; and there appeared every pros-
pect, in spite of the exertions of the law officers of the Crown
in Upper Canada, that the unlicensed trade in this article
would become greater than that conducted under the authority
of the Government. At length, in the year 1824, it appears
to have been discovered that it would be a wiser course to
sanction and regulate the cutting of timber by any person,
with a view to making it a fixed source of revenue, than to
persist in useless but harassing attempts to check or punish
practices which, from the nature of the country, it was impos-
sible to prevent. With this view, the whole management of
the timber was placed under the control of an officer, entitled
the Surveyor-general of Woods and Forests, whose business
it was to offer for sale, licences to cut timber upon public lands
at an uniform upset price ; to collect the revenue arising from
this source ; and to protect the Crown timber from waste or
depredation. In all of the Provinces this office has in effect
merged in the office of Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the
timber is therefore under the same general superintendence as
the public lands of the Colonies.
I was unable to obtain any accurate information as to the
probable value of this property. From the evidence, however,
of Mr. Kerr, and of Mr. Shirreff, it appears, that the quantity
of timber upon the waste lands of the Province is practically
unlimited, and that, independently of the consumption of this
article in England, there exists at present a demand for pine
timber in the Northern and Western States of the Union
which may be expected to experience a very rapid increase,
and which can only be supplied from the British North
American Colonies.
From the evidence of Mr. Kerr and Mr. Davidson, and
others, it appears that the revenue which, under a wise
and careful system of management, might have been derived
from this property, has been needlessly sacrificed by the
practices adopted in the disposal of public lands. The value
of the timber upon an acre of land at the price of Government
licences is frequently more than ten times greater than the
amount required to be paid, in order to obtain possession of
the land upon which the timber is growing. Payment of the
first instalment of the purchase -money is alone necessary for
this purpose, and before the second instalment is due, or any
measures are adopted to enforce payment, the timber may be
REPORT: APPENDIX B 115
cut down, and the land abandoned. To what extent this has Timber,
been the case it is difficult to determine ; but there is no
doubt that very large tracts have been purchased for the sake
of the timber merely ; because the whole purchase-money, if
paid, has been very far less than the price of timber licences,
and because the land would remain in the possession of the
purchaser after the timber had been cut. Besides this cause
of defalcation in the revenue that might have been derived
from this source, there has been no proper inspection on the
spot, so that the quantity of timber cut has been very far
greater than that for which a licence has been obtained.
The plan which I have proposed of selling land at a fixed
uniform price, and requiring the payment of the whole pur-
chase money at the time of sale, will prevent, to a very con-
siderable extent, the purchase of land for the mere sake of
the timber. As the land upon which the most valuable
timber grows, is generally of an inferior quality of soil, and
of no value for agricultural purposes, it may be expected that
but little of it will be purchased, and that the whole timber
fund will be derived from the sale of licences. It will therefore
be expedient to establish an efficient system of supervision in
all the timber districts ; and by comparing the returns made
by the district inspectors, of the quantity of timber cut, with
the entries at the custom house of the quantity of timber
shipped, some security may be obtained against the frauds
which are now practised in respect of this property.
It is suggested by Mr. Kerr, that the present price of timber
licences is too low, having regard not merely to the value of
timber in the English market, but also to its price in the
United States. Although disposed to concur in this opinion,
I do not feel myself warranted in recommending any advance
in that price at present upon the only information I now
possess, and especially considering the uncertainty which is
felt to be attached to the continuance of the present timber
duties in England. This is one of the matters that must be
left to the special authority which I shall subsequently recom-
mend, to determine, from further and more accurate inquiries.
The present average annual amount produced by the sale
of timber licences in all the Colonies, appears to be about
24,OOOZ. ; but there seems no reason to doubt that under an
improved system of inspection and management, this amount
might be greatly increased.
The funds to be produced from all these sources, from the Applica-
tax upon wild lands, from the sale of the public lands, and °™f
from the disposal of timber licences, should be specifically
12
116 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Applica appropriated to such works as would improve the value of
Fund? *an(* anc* ^ac^tate tne progress of settlement. Of such works
I may mention the construction of leading lines of road, the
removal of obstructions in the navigation of rivers, and the
formation of railroads and canals. In some of these works,
the whole of the cost will be defrayed out of these funds ; in
others, it will only be necessary to afford a limited amount of
assistance, in aid of works in which private capital may be
invested, though not to a sufficient amount to complete the
undertaking. Of the class in which only a partial assistance
would be required, are the railroads and canals, which have
been projected to connect the different Colonies with each
other ; or to improve existing or create new means of trans-
port for passengers and merchandize to the Western States
of the Union ; and to which the resources of the Colonies are
as yet unequal. Of these, I may mention the projected canal
between the Bay of Fundy and the Bay Verte, referred to in
the evidence of Mr. Mackay ; the canal connecting the River
Ottawa and Lake Huron, by means of Lake Nipissing and
French River, referred to in the evidence of Mr. Shirreff ;
a projected railroad connecting Lake Ontario with Lake
Huron ; and the railroad from Halifax to Quebec. Nor can
it be doubted that as population advanced and the resources
of the Colonies were developed, numerous similar undertakings
would arise in which a portion of these funds might be advan-
tageously employed, and in wrhich also, British capital might
be invested with as much security, and might command as
large a profit, as that which is now to so great an extent
invested in similar undertakings in the United States.
It is not needful that I should attempt to describe in detail
the consequences which may be anticipated from such an
application of the revenues which will be produced by the
measures I have suggested ; they have been already described
by implication, in the picture which I have drawn of the state
of the North American colonies under their present deplor-
able deficiency in all those matters for which the proposed
expenditure would provide. It may fairly be assumed, that
taken in connexion with the other measures, previously and
subsequently suggested, they will introduce into the colonies
a state of things as gratifying to every one friendly to British
institutions, and interested in the welfare of the Colonies, as
the present condition of these provinces is now the reverse.
Emigra- But any plan which may be proposed for the improvement
tion. Oj these extensive and important provinces, must of necessity
be incomplete, unless it provides for a large and constant
REPORT: APPENDIX B 117
immigration. It is only by means of such immigration that Emjgra-
the execution of the great public works referred to above can tion-
be accomplished, and the vast tracts of appropriated desert
filled up with settlers. It is indeed an essential condition of
any scheme of emigration to which the Government of the
United Kingdom is a party, that measures having a like
object, if not identical in character, with those above suggested,
should be adopted ; and that their permanence should be
secured by a legislative guarantee. But it is no less a neces-
sary condition of any such measures, that the Government
should provide for the direction of a constant stream of
emigration to these colonies. Without the performance of the
former condition, emigrants must still be exposed to many
of the evils they have hitherto experienced ; if capitalists, to
the waste of their pecuniary means in an unavailing contest
with the difficulties which unwise methods of granting public
lands have placed in their way ; if labourers, to a precarious
and limited employment, cheered by no sure prospect of
ultimate independence. And both will then, as now, be
driven to avail themselves of the superior advantages offered
by the neighbouring States of the Union. Without systematic
emigration, too, there can be no security for the profitable
expenditure of the sums it is proposed to raise in the colonies,
and no opportunities for the proprietors of the wild land to
bring their possessions under speedy cultivation. If there is
no tax upon wild lands, and no improvement of the communi-
cations of the colonies, emigration would be unprofitable to
the colony and injurious to the individual ; and if there is
no emigration, the proposed tax could hardly fail to press
unfairly. Assuming, however, that the Government and the
Legislature will not hesitate to apply the appropriate remedy
to the evils I have described, and that the colonists will joy-
fully accept a measure so fraught with advantage to them-
selves, I proceed to the subject of emigration, a topic more
immediately affecting the people of the United Kingdom
than any of those to which I have hitherto referred. But
before entering upon any detail of the measures which appear
to me to be requisite in order that the emigration which
I recommend shall be safe and advantageous to the emigrant,
it appears needful that I should advert to its past and present
condition.
Upon this subject very great misconceptions appear to
prevail in England. It seems that all those who have made
inquiries into the subject of emigration from the United
Kingdom, have imagined that no interference was required
118
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Emigra-
tion.
Ordered
by the
House of
Commons
to be
printed,
14 May
1838.
with respect to that to the North American provinces ; and
that although some trifling matters of detail might require
correction, the general character of that emigration was such
as to forbid any intermeddling. This misconception is un-
doubtedly attributable, in a great degree, to the circum-
stance, that all the evidence obtained on the subject, was
collected in the country from which the emigrants departed,
instead of that at which they arrived. Had the position of
the inquirers been reversed, they must have arrived at very
different conclusions, and have discovered that no emigration
so imperatively demanded the regulating interposition of the
Legislature as that for which they specially refused to provide.
The evidence which has been collected upon this subject
is almost entirely confined to the case of those who arrive at
the port of Quebec. The number of those who land in New
Brunswick and Halifax is so small as to have attracted com-
paratively little attention. The want, I will not say of any
adequate provision, but of any provision whatever, for the
reception and employment of those latter emigrants has,
indeed, been sensibly felt. But the manner of their arrival,
and the arrangement for their transport, have been altogether
overlooked. From the evidence of Dr. Skey and Dr. Morrin,
it appears that, up to the year 1832, the condition of the
emigrants, on their arrival in the port of Quebec, was miser-
able in the extreme ; that numbers perished during the
passage ; that those who landed were the victims of con-
tagious diseases, occasioned by filth and privation during
their voyage ; that many were landed in a state of utter
destitution, without even the means of shelter ; and that
they introduced pestilence into the city, and formed a heavy
burthen upon the charity of the inhabitants. It is stated,
that on one occasion upwards of 400 patients with contagious
diseases were admitted into the hospital at one time. Those,
too, who escaped these evils were ignorant of the true circum-
stances of the country ; without the means of ascertaining
where, and in what manner, they could find employment, and
too frequently, if employed during the summer, left without
any means of subsistence during the winter. In fact the
emigration of that period was fraught with evil to the emigrant
and to the colony, and the ultimate advantage to either was
purchased at the cost of great and needless suffering. It
appears, however, from the Report of the chief agent for emi-
grants in the United Kingdom, an officer recently appointed
in the Colonial department, that at the time when these evils
were at their height, the Government Commission, formed in
REPORT: APPENDIX B no
1831, for the purpose of inquiring into the subject of emigra- Emigra-
tion, were led by the evidence brought before them to imagine tion-
that the vast numbers proceeding to the North American
Colonies, and especially to the Province of Lower Canada,
had emigrated and established themselves in the colonies with-
out any serious or lasting inconvenience. The evidence laid
before them appeared to warrant such a conclusion ; and the
practical inference which this Commission drew from its
inquiries appears to have been, that the system throve too
well spontaneously to require, or even admit of, their inter-
ference. Unfortunately, however, the conclusions of this
Commission did not rest at the point of non-interference.
They conceived that they should be only fulfilling the object
of their appointment, by diffusing among all those classes,
who might be disposed to emigrate, correct information as to
the rate of wages and the prices of provisions in the colonies ;
and they accordingly circulated as widely as possible, lists of
wages and prices, and such other statements as might place
the advantages of emigration in the most striking point of
view. The result of these proceedings on their part was, that
the emigration to all the North American Colonies, which
had been 58,067 in 1831, amounted, in 1832, to 66,339. In
the latter year, however, in addition to the ordinary diseases
to which emigrants were exposed, the cholera made its appear-
ance in the two Canadas. Vast numbers of the emigrants
perished from this disease, in the most miserable manner, the
inhabitants of the towns, under the belief that the disease
was contagious, refusing to admit any strangers into their
houses ; and those who were attacked by it being literally
left to perish in the streets. In the year 1832 a quarantine
station was established at Grosse Isle, an island about 30
miles below Quebec, which, except in the two years of cholera,
1832 and 1834, has accomplished the object of saving the city
from the contagious diseases by which it was formerly visited
every year. The amended Passengers Act also, and the appoint-
ment of agents at many of the ports of the United Kingdom
from which the largest numbers of emigrants depart, have
effected some improvements in the condition of the emigrants
on board many of the vessels. It appears, however, from
the evidence of Mr. Jessopp and Dr. Poole, that the provisions
of that Act are evaded in very numerous instances ; and that
cases still occur, in which from 70 to 80 passengers on board
of a single vessel are attacked by contagious fevers. It appears,
too, from the evidence of Mr. Forsyth, that the want of any
effectual provision for the reception of emigrants^ and fcr
120 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Emigra- forwarding them to those places where they would find
immediate and permanent employment, have been remedied
in no appreciable degree by the appointment of emigrant
agents in the colonies.
It is not necessary that I should attempt to prove, that it
is the duty of Government to regulate the emigration that it
continues to encourage, and to establish an efficient system of
control over emigrant vessels ; because this is admitted in
principle at least, by the appointment of an agent-general for
emigrants, and of subordinate agents at some of the ports of
embarkation. But the measures adopted have been partial
and incomplete ; and though in some cases they have pre-
vented, in many they have permitted the continuance of all
the evils against which they were intended to guard. If looked
at by an individual residing in England, it is probable that
they may appear adequate and effectual, because in that
country attention is directed exculsively to the evils they
prevent. In the colonies their deficiency is apparent, since
there, attention is naturally fixed upon those evils which they
leave untouched. The evidence given upon this subject by
gentlemen whose position necessarily makes them acquainted
with the real character of emigration at the present time, and
who can have no motive but the desire of remedying the evils
they describe, leaves no doubt that this admitted duty of
Government is still to a considerable extent unperformed, and
suggests reasons for doubting whether the manner in which
its performance has been attempted, is not faulty in principle
as well as insufficient in detail.
There is not indeed any obvious reason why the Govern-
ment should take less effectual measures to regulate emigra-
tion to the American than to the Australian Colonies. There
may be a difference in the character and circumstances of
emigration to the two regions, but none so great as to free
the former from all interference, while the latter is in several
cases, to a great extent, and in one, entirely, regulated by
Government.
The great amount of voluntary emigration to the North
American Colonies, which has been assigned as a reason for
the non-interference of Government, even if it be admitted
as an argument against the offer of a free passage to any class,
lest this offer should operate practically to deter many who
emigrate upon their own resources, forms at the same time
one of the most powerful arguments for the adoption of an
effectual system of control over this voluntary emigration.
Qf the tens of thousands who emigrated every year, it must
REPORT : APPENDIX B 121
have been known that the vast majority were ignorant of the Emigra-
existence of any law to which they could appeal for protection tion'
against extortion or ill treatment. All of them were proceed-
ing to a place where employment could be furnished to but
a very small portion ; and to these only for a limited period.
The place of ultimate destination of nearly all the emigrants,
was several hundred miles from the port of debarkation ; and
there existed no means of forwarding them to the spot where
their labour would be in demand, upon the adequacy or
permanency of which it would be safe for the Government
to rely. Private societies, indeed, existed at Quebec and
Montreal, to whom was entrusted the expenditure of some
public funds for the relief of the sick and the destitute ; but
these funds were insufficient in amount, and the societies
entrusted with their distribution were under no legal control.
So incomplete and defective were the arrangements, that in
the year 1834, when from the prevalence of the cholera the
necessities of the emigrants were greatest, the societies in
question had absolutely no public money at their disposal,
on account of the expiration of the Provincial Act under
which the fund had, till then, been raised. If, however, the
Imperial Government refused to take upon itself the entire
direction of emigration, in the fear that they might lessen its
amount, they were the more bound to take such measures as
were obviously within their power to protect or to assist the
emigrants.
The measures which Government have adopted are how-
ever deplorably defective. They have left untouched some
of the chief evils of emigration, and have very incompletely
remedied those even against which they were especially
directed. Although the safeguards for the emigrant during
the passage are increased, and in many places enforced, yet
there is still no check of any sort whatever over a large pro-
portion of the emigrant vessels. The provisions for the recep-
tion of the emigrants at Quebec, so far as the Government is
concerned, are of the most inefficient and unsatisfactory
character ; and the poorer class would have to find their way
as they best might to the Upper Province, or to the United
States, were it not for the operation of societies, whose main
object is not the advantage of the emigrants, but to free the
cities of Quebec and Montreal from the intolerable nuisance of
a crowd of unemployed, miserable, and too often diseased
persons. The government agent at Quebec has no power ;
he has not even any rules for his guidance ; and no monies
are placed at his disposal. At Montreal there has not been
122 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Emigra- any agent for the two last years. The whole extent therefore
tion. Qf £ne interference of the Government, has been to establish
in England agents to superintend the enforcement of the
provisions of the Passengers Act in respect of the emigrants
from some ports, and to maintain an agent in the Province of
Lower Canada, to observe rather than to regulate, the emigra-
tion into that province.
It may be doubted too, whether the source from which
alone all the funds applicable to the relief of emigrants in
Lower Canada are derived, is in reality one which ought to
have been selected for that purpose. To tax the whole body
of emigrants for the purpose of providing a remedy for evils
which no adequate means have been adopted to prevent, and
thus to compel the most prudent of that class to bear the
burden of imprudence or negligence in others, is surely a
measure of very doubtful justice. The practice has, I am
aware, been defended by reference to the example of the
United States, in some of the chief cities of which a similar
tax is imposed. But this is a case which bears no analogy to
the present. The United States have and can have no control
over the arrangements for the transport of emigrants from
the United Kingdom. The tax which they have imposed is
therefore the only measure within their power, in order to
prevent the whole burden of maintaining diseased or infirm
emigrants from being cast upon them. They also have taken
no part in encouraging emigration. If emigrants from the
United Kingdom imagine that there are any peculiar advan-
tages to be derived from emigration to the States, they
cannot reasonably object to the payment of the small sum
levied upon them for the protection of the community of
which they are about to become members. With regard to
the British Government, and the British North American
Colonies, the case is different. The former have stimulated
emigration, on the avowed ground that it is beneficial to the
United Kingdom ; and, except in the case of the Legislative
Assembly of Lower Canada, the latter have welcomed it, on
account of the capital and labour thus introduced among
them. In this case too, the Government of Great Britain
possesses the means of establishing an efficient control ; and
it therefore not merely compels emigrants to provide almost
alone against the inconveniences incident to the attainment
of a great national object, but to pay for the inadequacy of
the measures which Government has adopted, or the remiss-
ness of the officers it has appointed. I do not mean to assert,
that the imposition of this tax has been attended by no
REPORT : APPENDIX B 123
advantages to the emigrants ; but these advantages have been Emigra-
confined to a few, and might have been with more certainty tion*
and with more justice secured by other means.
There has not indeed been any greater degree of uniformity
in the proceedings of Government in reference to this than
to the other subjects comprised in my inquiry. In Lower
Canada there has been a tax imposed upon all emigrants
from the United Kingdom arriving at the port of Quebec.
In Upper Canada a sum not exceeding 5,000?. in the whole,
out of the casual and territorial revenues, has been appro-
priated by Government to purposes connected with immigra-
tion. The funds received in Lower Canada are placed under
the control of private societies, or devoted to objects only
indirectly under the superintendence of the Government.
They are applied too in such a manner as to lead to the pre-
sumption, that the only object of the legislature in imposing
the tax upon emigrants, was to rid the province of them as
speedily and as completely as possible. In Upper Canada the
funds are placed at the disposal of an officer of the Govern-
ment, and are so applied as to afford to emigrants an induce-
ment to remain in the province. There has been no sub-
ordination of offices, and even no proper connexion between
the agent in Lower and the agents in Upper Canada. It has
consequently been impossible that any connected and uniform
measures should be adopted. The result of this want of
regularity or method, in conjunction with the circumstances
of the colonies produced by the manner in which the public
lands have been disposed of, has been that, of the emigrants
arriving at Quebec, three-fifths according to Mr. Forsyth,
and about half according to Mr. Hawke, have, either imme-
diately, or after a very short period, proceeded to the United
States.
I cannot doubt but that the facts disclosed in the evidence
appended to this report, and referred to above, will induce
Her Majesty's Government to adopt some more effectual
means than have hitherto been pursued, to regulate the
voluntary emigration to these Colonies. But their efforts
ought not, I conceive, to end there. Numbers who would
form most valuable labourers in the colonies are prevented
from emigrating, because they have not even the small sum
at present requisite to defray the cost of their passage. Num-
bers too, it cannot be doubted, are deterred by what they
have learned of the sufferings of those who have emigrated.
If any proof was required of the truth of the latter opinion, it
is to be found in the fact, that the emigration to the Canadas,
124 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Emigra- which in the year 1832 amounted to 52,000, and which had
been regularly increasing up to that period, fell off to 21,000
in 1833, on account of the miseries endured by the emigrants
of the former year. Nor has it ever recovered from this check.
In only one subsequent year has the emigration to Quebec
exceeded 30,000, or about three-fifths of its former amount.
At the same time there has been no general disinclination
evinced by the people of the United Kingdom to emigrate
either to the United States or to other British colonies. So
far as appears, a difficulty has been rather experienced in
selecting out of the numerous candidates for emigration at
the public expense, not such as in the opinion of the agents
of Government were fit objects of the Government bounty,
but such as without injustice to the rejected applicants, might
be chosen as best suited to the peculiar circumstances of the
colonies to which they were sent. From all I have been able
to learn as to the proceedings of the South Australian Land
and Emigration Commissioners, as well as of the chief agent
for emigrants in England, the number of those who were
willing to emigrate very far exceeded that for which the
means at their disposal could enable them to provide.
In the North American colonies, however, under an improved
system, such as I have above suggested, hundreds of thousands
might find the means of employment and subsistence, most
advantageously for the colonies and for themselves. It is
assuredly not too much to say, that these provinces would
support a merely agricultural population at least tenfold
greater than that by which they are now inhabited ; and
this agricultural population would require, and would furnish
employment, for a large amount of mechanics and artisans.
Those whom the inevitable fluctuations of employment in
a country like Great Britain, no less than those whom the
improved methods of agriculture demanded by the circum-
stances of Ireland, wrould deprive of their accustomed means
of subsistence, if enabled to emigrate to these provinces, not
only would themselves benefit by the change, but would
develop the resources and augment the wealth of the colonies
to an incalculable degree. The unprecedented prosperity of
the New States of the Union, which have within a few years
sprung up in the wilderness, is owing entirely to the extent of
the emigration which has been directed to them, no small
portion of which has consisted of emigrants from the United
Kingdom. The British Government has it in its power to
direct to these colonies an emigration yet more extensive, and
to provide for its permanent establishment there ; and this
REPORT : APPENDIX B 125
without any cost to the United Kingdom. The funds which, Emigra-
under the system I have recommended, would be furnished tion-
by the colonies themselves, could not be expended in any
manner so advantageous to the countries from which they
are derived, as in providing for this emigration ; and one
great advantage to be anticipated from the execution of the
public works, to which a portion of these funds is destined,
is that such works would remove the principal difficulties now
experienced by emigrants in obtaining employment or in
establishing themselves as settlers.
I would, therefore, recommend, that a specified portion of
the produce of the wild-land tax, and of the future sales of
land and timber, should be applied in providing for emigra-
tion ; a part in furnishing free passage to emigrants of the
most desirable age, as far as may be of both sexes in equal
numbers ; and a part in defraying any expenses occasioned
by the superintendence of the emigration of those to whom,
in conformity with this rule, or from other circumstances,
a free passage cannot be offered.
The whole emigration from the United Kingdom should be
so far placed under the superintendence of Government, that
emigrants conveyed at the public expense should necessarily
proceed in vessels chartered and regulated by the Govern-
ment, and that all persons willing to pay for their own passage,
should be entitled to proceed in vessels so chartered and
regulated, at a cost for the passage not exceeding the charge
in private vessels.
Proper means of shelter and of transport should be pro-
vided at the different ports in the colonies to which emigrants
proceed ; and they should be forwarded to the place where
they can obtain employment, under the direction of respon-
sible agents, acting under a central authority.
Those who could not at once obtain employment as farm
labourers or mechanics, should be employed upon Govern-
ment works, at the usual price of labour upon such works,
which, as it is generally rather lower, having regard to the
nature of the employment, than can be obtained in other
occupations, will have no tendency to withdraw labour from
any more useful direction.
I cannot recommend that any measures should be adopted
to settle these emigrants upon land of their own. The previous
habits of English labourers are not such as to fit them for the
severe and painful labours to which they would thus be
exposed, or to give them the forethought and prudence which
such a position especially requires. Habituated to provide
126 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Emigra- for the subsistence of the week by the labour of the week,
tion- they are too often found to shrink from a toil cheered by 110
prospect of an immediate return ; and having exhausted all
the means furnished for their temporary support, to leave the
land upon which they were placed, in order to obtain sub-
sistence as labourers for hire. The exceptions to this result
are few and unimportant. They rather confirm than invali-
date the rule, and have been procured at a cost utterly dis-
proportionate to the object attained. It is rather to be feared,
that in spite of any measures that can prudently be adopted,
the majority of the labouring emigrants will be tempted,
by the desire of becoming independent landholders, to settle
themselves upon farms of their own at too early a period
for their own comfort and prosperity. It cannot, however,
be the duty of Government to precipitate this period, nor in
any way to interfere with the natural and profitable order
of things — that 'the possession of capital, and an acquain-
tance with the modes of husbandry practised in the colonies,
should precede settlement.
It would be impossible at the present moment to decide
upon the amount of emigration for which it would be prudent
to provide. This can only be ascertained by inquiries made
upon the spot, under the direction of an authority created
for the purpose. It is most essential, however, that it should
not be too limited. The works proposed to be carried on will
afford abundant means of employment for an amount of
emigration very far beyond the present apparent demand for
labour in the colonies ; and by facilitating settlement, and
increasing the opportunities for a profitable investment of
capital, will create numerous sources of employment which
do not now exist. A copious stream of emigration will supply
the means for its own maintenance, but any deficiency in this
respect cannot fail to be injurious ; and must either lead to
the withdrawal of labour from agricultural pursuits, to the
construction of public works, or must leave these latter
without the necessary means for their completion. The
details of this subject may, however, safely be trusted to the
authorities by whom the general plan is to be carried out.
Loan. The measures recommended above, although I believe quite
adequate to the ultimate and complete cure of the evils
I have described, must, however, be necessarily slow in their
operation ; while the evils against which they are directed
stand in need of an early remedy. A considerable immediate
outlay is required for the execution of the greater and lesser
works of communication through all parts of the colonies, in
REPORT : APPENDIX B 127
an effectual and permanent manner, after which they may be Loan,
kept in repair at a comparatively trifling expense. A small
portion of the funds raised would suffice to maintain roads
when once made ; but the whole fund raised in the colony for
several years would be required for the original construction
of roads, and the produce of the future sales of wild lands
and timber which would be applicable to the same purpose,
will for some time be probably very trifling. As however,
until these roads are made, it will be well nigh impossible that
the country should be settled, the proprietors of the wild land
would be compelled to pay the tax for many years before
they could reap any great advantage from its application.
The emigration, also, which I have recommended, ought to
be comparatively greater in the first instance than it would
require to be at any future period ; and would constitute,
therefore, an additional demand upon this inadequate fund.
But the tax, and the produce of land and timber sales, though
insufficient as capital, would furnish an available security as
interest ; and if the permanence of the system were guaranteed
by an Imperial enactment, there would, I believe be no
difficulty in raising, in the English money-market, a loan to
any required amount, to be employed for the purposes to
which it is intended that these funds should be devoted. The
yearly produce of the tax would be, for all the colonies, speak-
ing in round numbers, and allowing for all possible costs of
collection, about 150,000£. ; and though it may be expected
that a very considerable portion of the tax will be paid in
land, yet, as such land would be taken at less than half of the
proposed future price of wild land, this would greatly increase
the ultimate value of the security. The public lands, too, in
the different colonies, making a similar allowance for the
cost of management, would produce eventually upwards of
7,500,OOOZ. And, without including the produce of timber
licences, which would, nevertheless, amount to a considerable
sum, the two together would form a very ample security for
any advance which might be required. I should, therefore,
further propose, that loans should be raised upon the security
of these two funds, and be employed partly in all such public
works as may be required, and partly in promoting the emigra-
tion of labourers. It will be seen at once that the proposed
security would be the more certain exactly in proportion to
the funds raised upon it, and devoted to purposes directly
tending to augment the demand for the land and timber, by
the sale of which the loans would ultimately be paid off, and
interest provided in the meanwhile. The amount of the
128 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Loan. money which should be raised in this manner cannot be
determined beforehand. It must depend upon circumstances,
and must be left to the judgment of those to whom the execu-
tion of the plan is to be entrusted. By anticipating, in this
manner, the revenue to be created by the system, a stimulus
would be at once given to the prosperity of the colonies,
of which it is impossible to exaggerate the beneficial results.
Coin- In order that the plan thus suggested may be carried out
mission. wjth uniformity and effect, it will be necessary that some
special authority should be created, charged with the execu-
tion of the whole measure, and rendered thoroughly respon-
sible to Parliament. It is obvious, indeed, that no sufficient
machinery for this purpose exists at present, either in the
Colonies or in the United Kingdom. To fulfil adequately the
duties thus imposed would occupy the whole time, and demand
the undivided attention, of those to whom the task is con-
fided. The general principles of the measure must be embodied
in an Act of Parliament ; but there will necessarily be many
details for which no enactment could provide by anticipation,
and which, in fact, can only be appropriately arranged as
the practical working of the measure shows their necessity.
I should suggest, therefore, that a central commission should
be appointed in the United Kingdom, with subordinate general
and assistant commissioners in the Colonies. To these should
be entrusted the whole execution of the plan ; and the central
commission in England should have power to frame such
rules, orders, and regulations, having the force of law, as
would be necessary to give effect to the principles laid down
in the Act of Parliament. The duty of the English Com-
mission would be to regulate the disposal of the public lands
and timber, to regulate the imposition and application of the
proposed tax, to provide for the selection and transport of
emigrants, and to raise by way of loan the monies required
for all these purposes. The Colonial Commission would see
that the regulations of the English Board were carried into
effect ; would superintend the execution of all public works ;
would receive and forward emigrants ; would provide employ-
ment for such as were not employed by the inhabitants of the
colonies, and would exercise a supervision and guardianship
over them for a specified period. It would be necessary that
in each colony there should be a commissioner subordinate
to the general Board ; and that agents should be appointed,
for districts of convenient dimensions, charged with the
actual sale of land, with the collection of the tax, with the
perfecting and registry of titles, and with all matters con-
REPORT : APPENDIX B 129
nected with the business of the general Board, which related Com-
to the superintendance of the public works. mission.
As a further guarantee for the responsibility of the pro-
posed commissions, frequent reports of all the correspondence
between the English and Colonial Boards, and frequent reports
of their proceedings, should be laid before both Houses of
Parliament, and before the Legislature of the Colonies. With-
out provisions for entire publicity in the proceedings of these
commissioners, I should despair of any very beneficial results
from their appointment. The evils which I have had to
describe could not have so long existed without any adequate
attempt to remedy them, if the administration under which
they have taken place had not been conducted in secrecy.
Without such a special authority, it would be idle to expect
that any measure, however admirable in principle or perfect
in detail, can be satisfactory in practice. The experience of
all the Colonies, up to the present moment, has sufficiently
shown, that no care in framing general regulations can be
effectual without some more constant and peculiar control
than it has hitherto been practicable to exercise. These rules
have been uniformly evaded or neglected ; and as it has
frequently happened that those only knew their real character,
who were charged with their execution, it was well nigh impos-
sible that the fact of their violation should be made known
to the Imperial functionaries by whom they were framed.
Often, too, it has been the case, that, when their existence
and nature were public, those who were made acquainted
with their violation profited by the transaction in which they
were violated ; and if others also knew of the occurrence,
they had no immediate interest in its exposure, or could not
obtain attention from the distant authority to whom refer-
ence must be made, occupied as it was with far weightier
matters than what it might deem a solitary infraction of rules
supposed to be generally obeyed. It is in this way only that
we can account for the fact, that the systematic neglect of
the regulations, successively framed for the disposal of the
public lands by various Secretaries of State, should have
remained unknown ; and that it should have been believed,
even up to the time when the instructions of Lord Glenelg
were issued in 1837, that the previous instructions of Lord
Goderich were observed, when in fact there was not a single
colony in which they obtained any degree of observance.
That the Secretary of State for the Colonies should still have
the supreme control of this, as of other matters of adminis-
tration connected with the colonies, appears undoubtedly
1352.3 K
130 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Com- advisable ; and this will be secured by a provision, that all
mission, regulations framed by the Board of Commissioners should
receive his sanction ; but the enforcement of these regulations,
if it is intended that they should be enforced, ought to be
entrusted to some special and peculiar authority, and subjected
in every possible way to the public inspection. I suppose that
the costs of the proposed commission would be defrayed by
the revenue which this system of colonization would call into
existence.
In concluding this Report, I have only to repeat, that the
Imperial Government has but the alternative of adopting the
measures which I have recommended, or others similar in
their character and tendency, or of abandoning absolutely all
control over the public lands, and discouraging, instead of
encouraging, emigration to the colonies. In the event of the
former course being pursued, we may, I think, confidently
rely upon seeing these colonies enter upon an unparalleled
career of prosperity, and upon cementing indissolubly the ties
which now connect them with the United Kingdom. In the
latter, there appears no other prospect than that of continued
stagnation, languor, and consequent discontent.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient, humble Servant,
Charles Buller,
Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration.
Quebec,
2 November 1838.
APPENDIX C.
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED MARCH 27, 1839.
SCHEDULE.
1. — REPORTS of Commissioners of Inquiry into the Municipal
Institutions of Lower Canada.
The COMMISSION.
COPY of LETTER of INSTRUCTIONS from Chief Commissioner.
PRELIMINARY REPORT of Assistant Commissioners.
GENERAL REPORT of Assistant Commissioners.
'APPENDIX.
*2. — REPORT from the Bishop of Montreal on the state of the Church
within his Diocese.
[The sections marked with an asterisk have not been reprinted.]
1 REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS OF INQUIRY
INTO THE MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS
OF LOWER CANADA.
THE COMMISSION.
Province of Lower) -^
Canada. DURHAM.
VICTORIA, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the
Faith :—
To Charles Butter, greeting.
WHEREAS it is highly expedient and desirable that the
counties, cities, towns, parishes and townships in Our province
of Lower Canada should respectively enjoy as extensive
a control as may be consistent with their own improvement,
and with the general welfare of Our said province, over all
matters and things of a local nature, to the end that inter-
course may be facilitated, industry promoted, crime repressed,
education appreciated, and true liberty understood and
advanced :
Know ye, therefore, that We, reposing great trust in your
K 2
132 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
zeal, ability and .discretion, have nominated, constituted
and appointed, and by these presents do nominate, constitute
and appoint you, the said Charles Buller, to proceed with the
utmost despatch to inquire into the safest and most efficient
means of endowing the said counties, cities, towns, parishes
and townships with such powers and privileges as to you may
seem meet for the effecting of the important ends aforesaid ;
and Our further will and pleasure is, that you, after due
examination of the premises, do and shall from time to time
report to Us, under your hand and seal, what you shall find
touching or concerning the premises upon such inquiry as
aforesaid ; and also that you shall, from time to time, suggest
such alterations or modifications of the laws and regulations
at present in force as may appear likely to promote the
objects aforesaid. We do by these presents give and grant
to you full power and authority to call before you such and
so many of the grand voyers, surveyors of highways and
justices of the peace in Our said province of Lower Canada,
and such other officers of the Crown and other persons as you
shall judge necessary, and by whom you may be the better
informed of the truth in the premises, and to inquire of the
premises and every part thereof by all other lawful ways and
means whatsoever ; and We do also give and grant to you
full power and authority to cause all and singular the officers
aforesaid in Our said province of Lower Canada, or any other
person or persons having in their custody any records, orders,
regulations, books, papers or other writings relating to the
premises, or in any way connected therewith, to bring and
produce the same before you. And for your assistance in the
due execution of this Our Commission, We do hereby authorize
you to nominate and appoint such person or persons as you
shall think fit, to be Assistant Commissioner or Assistant
Commissioners, for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them,
and to delegate to him or them such and so many of the
powers hereinbefore vested in you as may seem expedient ;
and Our will is, and We do hereby direct and ordain that the
person or persons so nominated by you shall possess and
exercise any powers and authorities so as aforesaid delegated
to him or them, in as full and ample a manner as the same
are possessed and may be exercised by you under the
authority of these presents ; and We do hereby further
authorize and empower you, at your discretion, to appoint
such person as Secretary to this our Commission as you shall
see proper.*
* No Secretary was appointed to the Commission.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 133
In testimony whereof We have caused these Our letters
to be made patent and the great seal of Our said province of
Lower Canada to be affixed thereto.
Witness Our right trusty and right well-beloved John
George Earl of Durham, Viscount Lambton, &c. &c.,
Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military
Order of the Bath, one of Our Most Honourable Privy
Council, and Governor-general, Vice-admiral and
Captain-general of all Our provinces within and
adjacent to the continent of North America, &c.
&c. &c.
At Our Castle of St. Lewis, in Our city of Quebec,
in Our said province of Lower Canada, the 23d
day oi August in the year of Our Lord 1838, and
in the second year of Our reign.
(signed) D. Daly, Secretary.
Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 25 August 1838.
APPOINTMENTS.
General Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Institutions.
Chief Commissioner : —
The Honourable Charles Buller.
Assistant Commissioners : —
William Kennedy and Adam Thorn, Esquires.
MUNICIPAL COMMISSION.
(Copy of a LETTER of INSTRUCTIONS addressed by
the Honourable Charles Buller, M.P., Chief Com-
missioner of Municipal Inquiry to the Assistant
Commissioners.)
Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 25 August 1838.
Gentlemen,
BEFORE entering on the duties which you have undertaken
in consenting to act as Assistant Commissioners in the inquiry
respecting the municipal institutions of this province, it is
necessary that I should point out the objects of that inquiry
more specifically than they are to be found in the commission
itself.
134 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
You cannot, however, have failed to observe from the whole
tenor of that commission, that the word ' Municipal ' has been
used in its largest sense ; that it has not been conjoined with
any other that would limit your inquiries to incorporated
towns ; and that within the scope of your investigation will
be included every matter that may be properly submitted to
local or municipal management. The chief of these have been
pointed out in the commission, which mentions increased
facilities of internal communication, the encouragement of
industry, and the repression of crime, as primary objects of
attention. It is indeed impossible to enumerate exactly the
various branches of inquiry, or define them very precisely.
The class includes all those concerns of the people which it is
advisable to exclude from the business of the central executive
government, and leave to be managed by the separate local
divisions which have an interest in them. The limits of this
class have been more or less wide in different countries. There
would be no objection to your extending your inquiries to all
the matters comprehended in the widest classification, but
custom and general opinion have sufficiently marked out the
most important of those which come within the province of
municipal administration.
Having determined the objects of municipal government,
you will proceed to ascertain how they have been provided
for in this country. You will inquire and report about the
provision which has been made for the formation and main-
tenance of those internal communications, which, as they
concern only local divisions, can never be objects of interest
to a central government. The system by which the roads
and bridges of the province have been managed will be one
of the first and most important subjects of investigation.
The paving, draining and lighting of towns will present
kindred subjects of inquiry. You will also direct your atten-
tion to the means provided for the erection and maintenance
of public buildings, both in town and country. The manage-
ment of the entire police of the province will come under
your consideration. You will inform me of the system which
has been established for the purpose of protecting the persons
and property of the inhabitants, both of the towns and rural
districts, and of the degree of efficiency with which it has
been administered. It will not be your business to inquire
into the various particular charities, hospitals and medical
institutions which have been founded throughout the pro-
vince by the benevolence of individuals, and governed accord-
ing to the regulations prescribed by their founders ; but the
REPORT : APPENDIX C 135
general provision for the poor is an important part of local
arrangements. You will therefore investigate the system
which has been established for the general relief of destitution
and the suppression of mendicancy and vagrancy. There
are other matters which no wise government would leave
entirely to mere local arrangement, but in the management
of which it has been found that the central government
may advantageously avail itself of a well-organized municipal
machinery : such are the inferior judicatures, the subordinate
magistracy, and the institutions of education. I do not
desire from you a complete view of the judicial establishments
of the province, because the administration of justice is a
subject the importance of which will demand and receive
from his Excellency a separate investigation ; but you will
inquire into the establishments which exist unconnected with
the higher courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction, for the
settlement of petty disputes, the repression of minor offences,
and the enforcement of police regulations. You will especially
direct your attention to all those judicial institutions which
are in any degree of a popular nature, and in which the inhabi-
tants of the various provincial subdivisions have a voice in
the selection of the local judges.
The choice of a local magistracy has in some countries been
wholly, or partly, left to the people of the locality. You will
inform me how far the inhabitants of this province have been
intrusted with any share of this power, either by direct selec-
tion or recommendation of their magistrates, or by the
attribution of magisterial functions to the popularly-elected
officers of a town or district — applying the latter word accord-
ing to general usage.
In the same way, you will inquire how far the inhabitants
of the local divisions of the province have had a voice in the
management of local schools or the appointment of school-
masters, and how far the support of the institutions of educa-
tion has been made to depend upon local imposts.
After these investigations, our information on this head
as to the present establishments of the province will require
to be completed by your turning your researches from the
mode in which municipal purposes have been provided for,
to the municipal machinery which may happen to exist.
The example of various nations supplies instances of the
existence of a very complete machinery for local government
available for all municipal purposes, but actually applied to
none, or to very few, furnished with very inadequate powers,
or intrusted with very incomplete duties. Thus, in the
136 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
parishes of England a machinery for local self-government
exists, which might be rendered applicable to every description
of municipal business, but which is, in fact, restricted to the
management of a very small portion. In Upper Canada
there appears to exist a systematic, comprehensive and
popular organization of the townships. The people of these
districts are intrusted with the freest election of municipal
officers, but the officers thus chosen seem to be intrusted with
hardly any duties, and certainly are invested with hardly
any of the powers, which are necessary for a really efficient
municipal government. The inhabitants of these townships
appear to have a very popular choice of nearly useless func-
tionaries ; and a very perfect municipal machinery exists
without being rendered available for the most important
municipal purposes. You will inquire, therefore, whether
anything of a similar nature exists in this province ; whether,
for any purposes, the inhabitants of small local districts are
in the habit of managing any portion of their own affairs, or
meeting to discuss their local concerns, or selecting their local
officers. You will describe the municipal machinery which
may happen to exist for any purpose, and any existing institu-
tions for any species of local self-government, which may be
applied to the higher kinds of municipal duties.
To leave to local management whatever can be safely
intrusted to it, and in such local management to give a voice
to as large a number of the people as can use the suffrage
for the common advantage, will be your great object ; in the
prosecution of which, you will conduct your inquiries in the
way which you may deem best calculated to enable you
to draw just conclusions and to furnish an early report.
I have, &c.
William Kennedy, ) ™ . (signed) Charles Buller.
Adam Thorn, f^quires.
PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT
COMMISSIONERS OF MUNICIPAL INQUIRY.
To the Honourable Charles Buller, Chief Commissioner of
Inquiry into Municipal Institutions.
Municipal Commission Office, Quebec,
Sir, 27 October 1838.
IN conformity with your letter of instructions, as chief of
the commission appointed to inquire into the municipal
REPORT : APPENDIX C 137
institutions of the province of Lower Canada, we proceeded to
lay down a plan for conducting the inquiry on a comprehensive
basis, and, in the way that promised to enable us most readily
to meet the exigencies of a community lying under a suspen-
sion of constitutional rights. With a view to the economy
of time, as well as to the obtaining of accurate information,
we came to the conclusion, that we should discharge the duties
of the commission most satisfactorily by directing our investi-
gation, in the first instance, to the cities of Quebec and Mon-
treal. Those cities had been incorporated for a term of three
years by Acts of the provincial legislature. If the experiment
of incorporation had been successful, their inhabitants would,
of course, feel anxious for the renewal of the statutes which
expired in 1836 ; if it had been unsuccessful, it was necessary
to ascertain the cause of failure, in order to guard against its
recurrence in future legislation. It was fair to assume, that
the lapse of their municipal government would be productive
of injury and inconvenience in growing commercial towns like
Quebec and Montreal ; we were, therefore, impressed with
the conviction that we should best consult the public interest
and wishes, by making the municipal regulations of these towns
the subject of a separate report, to be submitted as early as
possible to his Excellency, Her Majesty's High Commissioner,
as material for legislative enactment. Thus we had reason
to hope that, in the course of a few months, the benefit of
improved and extended municipal institutions might have
been conferred upon the principal seats of provincial intelli-
gence and wealth, in which the disorder and discomfort
occasioned by the absence of -these institutions is strikingly
apparent.
Another consideration weighed with us in giving precedence
to Quebec and Montreal, the desire of obtaining the advantage
of the auxiliary information to be derived from this branch
of the inquiry before directing our investigation to the rural
districts, where habits of self-government are almost unknown,
and education is so scantily diffused, as to render it difficult
to procure a sufficient number of persons competent to
administer the functions that would be created by a general
scheme of popular local control.
In accordance with this plan, we called for the evidence of
persons presumed to be acquainted with the subject, as to
the working of the Act which provided for the incorporation
of Quebec. The inquiry was so far matured, that we should
have been prepared, after devoting a little time to hearing
evidence in Montreal, to submit to his Excellency a complete
138 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
scheme of incorporation for both cities. After the performance
of this, the more urgent part of our duty, it was our intention
to have made a circuit of the rural districts, for the purpose
of carefully examining the practical operation of such institu-
tions as may have been devised for the regulation of local
affairs, and of determining, from personal observation, to
what extent, and under what restrictions, the agricultural
population might safely become the depositories of municipal
authority. The vague and conflicting character of the evidence
submitted to us, even on matters of ordinary social concern,
satisfied us of the necessity of closely examining, on the spot,
the wants of the rural districts, their modes of local govern-
ment, and their capacities for municipal organization. We
were farther confirmed in this opinion, by the discouraging
manner in which intelligent and experienced persons, both of
British and Canadian blood, spoke of the habitans in relation
to the business of local management. They were almost
unanimous in affirming, that the ignorance which prevails
among this class, together with their deep-rooted dislike to
every kind of tax and assessment, must render any attempt
to improve the country, by means of a comprehensive
municipal system, impracticable.
From the line of proceeding which, under the circumstances
referred to, we deemed it expedient to adopt, events untoward
for the settlement of these colonies constrained us to depart.
We were, therefore, obliged to alter the plan of investigation,
so that we might be enabled to furnish a general report on
the subject of our inquiry, which, while it might be insufficient
to show precisely the machinery which ought to be constructed
for the administration of local affairs in the province, might
at least serve to demonstrate that some advances towards
a less defective system are imperatively demanded. Instead
of visiting Montreal and the townships and seigniories, as we
proposed, we were forced to content ourselves with examining
some of the executive officers who act in these localities,
aided by whose testimony, with documents from various
sources, we have drawn up a statement of the existing
municipal establishments of Lower Canada, and the machinery
that might be applied to the working of an improved and
comprehensive system of local administration. The nature
and efficacy of superior municipal institutions seem to be very
imperfectly understood in this province ; and the evidence
we have collected from parties examined is exceedingly meagre
and indefinite. It is indeed comparatively valueless as a help
to establishing a better order of things. One important
REPORT : APPENDIX C 139
inference, however, we could not fail to draw from it, namely,
that there is no such thing as systematized local self-govern-
ment in Lower Canada, and that although long under the rule
of England, the province has participated far too sparingly in
the benefits of sound British institutions.
We do not propose to include minute details of evidence in
the report which we are preparing to lay before you, but to
embody under their proper head such hints for amendment
as may seem of sufficient note to be adopted or recorded.
We may be permitted to remark, that perhaps in no
particular is the unhappy condition of this colony more
conspicuous than in the apathy, or despondency, or party
jealousy, with which persons, neither deficient in education
nor wanting in the spirit of enterprise, are disposed to regard
the constitution of new popular authorities for the manage-
ment of matters of common interest. The proper fruits of
representative government are not to be found in Lower
Canada. We look in vain for the young, vigorous and generous
institutions which ought to have grown up under its shade.
The Constitutional Act conferred a representative government
on the province. Yet, hitherto, the higher municipal functions
have been discharged, partly by the provincial legislature,
and partly by officers appointed by the central executive.
The mass of the people, whose incapacity is censured or
deplored, have been allowed the exercise of the greater
privilege of electing provincial representatives, while, with
singular inconsistency, they have been denied the minor right
(the exercise of which would have been a wholesome prepara-
tory for the discharge of the superior trust) of choosing
municipal authorities, and thereby gradually acquiring a
disciplined knowledge of their social duties in the school of
practical citizenship. There are persons, too, who now plead
for the restoration of the greater right, and still would hesitate
to grant the lesser, contending that, until education is generally
diffused, a system of popular local government would do more
harm than good, and that, consequently, until a new and
instructed generation shall arise, the Canadian farmers ought
to remain without a voice in the management of the affairs
with which they are most familiar, and for the prudent
direction of which they have a paramount interest in providing.
We have, &c.
(signed) William Kennedy,
Adam Thorn,
Assistant Commissioners of Municipal Inquiry.
140 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
GENERAL REPORT OF THE ASSISTANT COM-
MISSIONERS OF MUNICIPAL INQUIRY.
SOCIAL ASPECT OF THE PROVINCE OF LOWER
CANADA.
THE institutions by which the affairs of a country are to
be regulated ought to be framed in accordance with the spirit
of the people, their capacities for government, and the circum-
stances of their physical condition.
To bestow upon a people modes of government greatly in
advance of the general state of society is hardly less unwise
than to cause institutions to linger in the rear of the public
mind. The imprudence of a sudden transition from political
inexperience and dependence to the loosest habits of democracy
is visible in the republics of South America ; it may be
questioned whether most of the evils that afflict Lower Canada
have not originated in an error of a like description.
What is the present condition of the province, and how far
are its inhabitants prepared, by previous discipline, to profit
by a more liberal and comprehensive system of internal
administration ?
The earlier French settlements in Canada were made
ostensibly with the view of converting its aboriginal inhabi-
tants to the Roman Catholic faith. It happened, however,
that of the Indians, a greater number were slain in provincial
feuds than were christianized by missionary zeal. A military
policy eventually prevailed in the government of the colony ;
and to sustain this policy, the Court of France created a
military noblesse, poor, proud, restless, and contemptuous of
commerce. There was no real order of proprietorial nobility
in the country. In 1763, France ceded Canada to England.
In the same year, a Governor and Council were appointed, and
a proclamation was issued, which substituted for the ' Custom
of Paris,' heretofore the law of Canada, the civil and criminal
law of England. It was ordered, that in legal proceedings
the English language should alone be used ; the Governor
was empowered to convene an Assembly elected by the
'freeholders and planters,' and representatives were chosen
accordingly for all the parishes except Quebec. Owing to
difficulties arising out of the form of the oath prescribed to
the representatives, the Assembly never sat. Thus, in the
very first year of possession, did England hasten to ingraft
her representative system on the sterile institutions of a colony,
REPORT : APPENDIX C 141
whose only progressive movement had been from monastic
rule to military despotism. At a subsequent period, Governor
Carleton and the chief law officers of the colony united in
the opinion that the Canadians were not ripe for so large
a share of legislative power as had at the outset been volun-
teered for their acceptance.
By an Act passed in 1774, it was provided, that in the
administration of the colony, the Governor should be assisted
by a Legislative Council, to consist of not less than 17 and
not more than 23 persons (resident in the province), to be
appointed by the Crown. The Act empowered the Council
to impose such taxes (and such only) as the inhabitants of
any town or district within the province might be ' authorized
by the said Council to assess, levy, and apply within the said
town or district for the purpose of making roads, erecting or
repairing public buildings, or for any other purpose respecting
the local convenience and economy of such town or district.'
This Act re-established the French civil law in Canada.
In the year 1791, the Imperial Parliament divided the
province into Upper and Lower Canada, and gave to each
a constitution modelled after the form of the British ; thus,
within the narrow limit of 28 years, we find Lower Canada
placed under four different modes of government ; viz.,
French military authorities ; English Governor and Council,
with English law ; English Governor and Legislative Council,
with French civil law ; and a constitution framed in imitation
of the British, which constitution, after a troubled existence
of less than half a century, has been suspended by the same
imperial authority that called it into being.
Lower Canada embraces a vast extent of territory in pro-
portion to its population, its superficies extending over almost
250,000 geographical square miles,*— about half the aggregate
superficies of the British North American provinces. At the
cession of the colony in 1763, its population was estimated at
70,000. The return of the census of 1831 was,
For the district of Montreal . . 290,000
Ditto ditto Quebec . . 151,980
Ditto ditto Three Rivers . 56,570
Ditto ditto Gaspe . . 13,312
Estimated increase from 1831 to 1836 88,000
Total . . . 599,862
Of which it is computed that seven-eighths are Roman Catholics.
The number of persons of this aggregate population, who are
* Bouchette.
142 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
of British origin, has been generally estimated at 200,000, of
whom the great majority reside in the cities and parishes
of Quebec and Montreal and the townships. The inhabitants
of French origin are chiefly distributed along the banks of the
St. Lawrence, as far up as Montreal. The land adjacent to
this magnificent river exhibits the appearance of a continuous
line of villages, a military mode of settlement, which presents
obvious facilities for municipal organization.
The bulk of the population of the townships is composed of
old American loyalists and more recent settlers from the
United States ; the remainder are emigrants from Britain.
The townships in which settlements have been made are
unequally peopled, some containing a sufficient number of
inhabitants to form substantial communities, others varying
in amount from, it may be, five to a hundred families and
upwards.
The habitans, or agricultural population of French origin,
hold their lands by feudal tenure, which prevails in the
' seigniorial ' districts. Though under the sway of England
for 75 years, they are but little changed in usages, and not
at all in language. A very small proportion of them are
acquainted with the first rudiments of education ; they use
comparatively few imported articles, and their system of
agriculture is generally rude and antiquated. Owing to the
neglect of manure and a proper rotation of crops, the land in
many places has become exhausted, and its cultivators, year
after year, sink deeper in poverty. Scanty harvests during
the last six or eight years, caused mainly by imperfect modes
of culture or injudicious cropping, have reduced considerable
numbers of the habitans in the district of Quebec to a state
of extreme destitution. In the district of Montreal, the
farming is better, and the people more prosperous. The
habitant is active, hardy and intelligent, but excitable,
credulous ; and, being a stranger to every thing beyond his
own contracted sphere, he is peculiarly liable to be made the
dupe of political speculators. His ignorance of the English
language prevents him from acquiring any knowledge of the
sentiments and views of the British Government and people,
except what he may derive from educated persons of his own
race, interested, it may be, in deceiving him. Never having
directly experienced the benefits of British rule in local affairs,
and almost as much insulated from British social influences as
if the colony had never changed masters, it is idle to expect
that he should entertain any active feeling of attachment to
the Crown.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 143
For opening new settlements the habitant has many useful
qualifications, being usually competent to provide, by his
personal skill, all the essentials requisite for his situation,
such as house, clothing, and the ordinary farming implements.
But having cleared his land, erected a dwelling for himself
and a church for the cure, he remains stationary, contented
with his lot, and living and dying as his ancestors lived and
died before him. At the present day, for instance, a traveller
may pass through districts where there is an abundance of
excellent milk, and be unable to procure either butter or
cheese with the sour and black-looking country bread which
is served up at his meals ; and it is by no means an uncommon
circumstance for a habitant to sell his manure to a neighbour-
ing farmer, or throw it into the adjoining river, while every
season his crops are deteriorating, in consequence of the
degeneracy of the seed and the exhaustion of the soil.
By the habitant a small gain, or saving of actual coin, is
deemed much more important than a large expenditure of
time ; and he will not easily be induced to venture on an
immediate pecuniary outlay to secure a remote advantage,
unless indeed the money is to be devoted to litigation, in which
he loves to indulge.
There is no class resembling English ' country gentlemen '
among the Canadians ; nor do the doctors, notaries and
lawyers, who overabound in the colony, form an efficient
substitute for such a class. Needy and discontented, they
are more disposed to attempt an improvement in their own
condition of political agitation, than to labour for the advance-
ment of their uninstructed neighbours. The only body of men
to whom the hdbitans can look for aid and direction are the
parochial clergy, who, in the districts where their authority
is unimpaired, act as a vigilant moral police, the efficiency of
which is manifested in established habits of sobriety and order.
Persons acquainted with the province are well aware that, in
the disaffected districts, the influence of the Canadian clergy
is much diminished.
It appears, then, that the mode of village settlement adopted
by the Franco-Canadians is favourable to the establishment
of municipal institutions, and that the obstacles to be encoun-
tered are the absence of education, popular inexperience, blind
repugnance to taxation, and the absence of a wealthy and
instructed class, interested in the prosperity of the many,
and desirous of engaging gratuitously in the administration
of local affairs.
The townships afford better materials for municipal govern-
144 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
ment than the seigniorial districts ; but, even in these localities,
the state of education is very backward. A gentleman well
acquainted with the townships writes thus from Frelighsburg,
in the county of Missisquoi, on the borders of the United
States. ' The people are not anxious for municipal institutions,
and if they receive them, they are prepared for a very limited
power. I must warn you that the power of taxation, for any
purpose whatever, would produce the greatest dissatisfaction.
The Commissioners would therefore do well to confine the
local officers to performing administrative functions simply ;
and if they do so, it is evident that their powers cannot be
very extensive. But there is one set of powers which might
be exercised by the officers to the great benefit of the people,
and that is the control of roads. If the Commissioners see fit
to recommend them to receive and exercise the same powers
as the Grand Voyer now does, I am convinced that nothing
would be looked upon as a greater boon. The expense, the
trouble and vexation of procuring the establishment of a
new road, or of altering the course of an old one, are so great
that individuals undergo them only when necessity absolutely
compels them. In a country such as this, the greatest facility
ought to be given to the laying out of roads. It is by them
that the country becomes settled and improved : without
them it is nothing. Still I should not think it advisable to
change the system. Here the method of making and repairing
roads is infinitely preferable to any other — to that especially
of the United States. The Commissioners might also, with
great advantage, intrust to local officers the granting of
warrants against debtors leaving the country, and for a sum
much less than the one now fixed : they might reduce it to,
say, 51. currency. The substance of the above suggestions
is, shortly, 1st. Freeholders to recommend officers (I have said
nothing about the term of service ; but I think part of them
should go out of office every year : if three be appointed,
one to go out ; if five, two). 2d. Powers limited to those now
exercised by the Grand Voyer, and to granting warrants against
absconding debtors. The warrant and whole proceedings to
be brought before the Commissioners' Court for small causes,
if the sum due be 6Z. 5s. ; and if greater, to be brought before
the King's Bench.'
It is to be observed that the writer of the preceding remarks,
while he alleges that the people are not anxious for municipal
institutions, bears testimony to the existing necessity for
them with regard to the management of roads, — one of the
most important matters that can fall within their range.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 145
Such, with the exception of the cities, is the general aspect
of the province. But, unhappily, it must be added, that the
distrust and animosity engendered by political dissension
between the settlers of different races have materially increased
the difficulty of establishing a sound and comprehensive
system of local administration.
GENERAL CHARACTER OP PROVINCIAL
LEGISLATION.
THE mere concession of a form of general government, in
outline resembling its own, may amount to a very imperfect
fulfilment of the duties owing by the imperial state to a
conquered colony. It is possible that the original may be
excellent and the outline correct, and yet the constitution fail
to benefit the country to which it has been transplanted.
When, in 1791, Mr. Pitt introduced to the House of Commons
the Bill for granting a representative system of government
to Lower Canada, Mr. Fox remarked, that ' the only means
of retaining distant colonies with advantage, was to enable
them to govern themselves ; ' — an opinion undoubtedly just, if
the speaker's ideas were not limited to the gift of some peculiar
constitutional forms. The value of British constitutional forms
to a people of foreign origin, language and manners, has been
tested in Lower Canada, and may be ascertained by an
examination of the provincial statute book, and an estimate
of the benefits which have accrued to the colony from domestic
legislation.
The bulk of the statutes of Lower Canada bear upon matters
of a strictly municipal character, and the labour of the
present investigation has been materially increased by the
necessity of sifting a mass of petty enactments, framed to
endure for periods so short as rather to keep society in an
anxious and unsettled state, than to afford it the blessings of
security and repose.
The Governor and Council who exercised their authority
under the British statute, 14 Geo. 3, c. 83, commonly called
' The Quebec Act,' were, as has been stated, so far restricted
as to be incompetent to impose any tax or duty, excepting
only local rates for local objects. This power of taxing —
limited and exceptional as it was — was amply sufficient
to provide for the establishment of efficient municipal institu-
tions ; but, at so early a stage in the career of a thinly-peopled
and newly-conquered colony, these institutions would most
1862.8 L
146 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
probably have been deemed premature, perhaps even dan-
gerous. Besides, to secure their effective operation would
have been a heavy burthen upon the indolence of colonial
administration. A comparatively small portion of the
legislation of the Governor and Council was, at all events,
directed to objects of a municipal nature. Their legislation,
if not remarkable for pains-taking, had the merit of being
at once general and moderate ; neither usurping the functions
of a parish meeting on the one hand, nor encroaching on
the prerogatives of the Imperial Parliament on the other.
Very different has been the course pursued by the legislature
created by 31 Geo. 3, c. 31. The constitutional legislature
of Lower Canada has too often betrayed its ignorance of
its proper functions by dabbling in affairs unworthy of
legislative cognizance, or grasping at matters beyond its
legislative range ; equally anxious to extend the limits of its
authority, and reluctant to delegate to other bodies a share
of that authority. So much addicted has it been to this two-
fold deviation from its legitimate province, that, during a
term of 45 years, it has effected little or nothing towards
fulfilling its highest and most important duty — the purging
of the civil code of universally acknowledged evils. Almost
every essential improvement introduced into the laws of the
colony has been the work of the British Parliament in the
Quebec Act, of the Governor and Legislative Council in
their Ordinances, or of the Imperial Parliament in the Tenures
Act. Such attempts at reform as have been made by the con-
stitutional legislature have referred almost exclusively, not
to the law itself, but to the administration of the law. Most
of these attempts — developed in temporary statutes — some-
times renewed, sometimes allowed to expire, have caused
uncertainty and confusion ; while the judicature law (34 Geo. 3,
c. 6), by multiplying Courts of Bang's Bench, and infusing
them alternately into the Court of Appeal, has tended to
produce and to perpetuate discordant systems of jurisprudence
in the courts, both of original and appellate jurisdiction.
Temporary laws, with a few exceptions, founded either on
natural or constitutional necessity, are a barbarous solecism
in legislation. To pass a law once, for a limited period, might
evince a modest caution on the part of an inexperienced
legislature (though even as an experiment, a temporary law
could not have so fair a trial as a permanent one), but it would
not be easy to justify the colonial practice of successively con-
tinuing, from time to time, temporary Acts without amend-
ment. It would be uncandid to throw upon the ambition or
REPORT : APPENDIX C 147
party spirit of any portion of the constitutional legislature of
Lower Canada the odium of a system which is so general in
colonies, and which has even been sanctioned by the British
Government in its instructions to colonial governors ; but it
is impossible to doubt that the political leaders of the majority
of this province have perverted the power of framing temporary
Acts into an instrument of factious aggrandizement.
So far as the existence of any temporary law is necessary
or useful, the mere lapse of time must place the whole com-
munity at the mercy of any one branch of the legislature,
and the other branches must be often tempted to purchase
reluctant assent by mischievous concessions. As a general
instance of the evil, it is almost needless to mention that, so
long ago as the year 1825, the Imperial Parliament was
obliged to avert serious disasters by passing the Canada
Trade Act, perpetuating certain temporary revenue laws of
Lower Canada. As special instances of the unseasonableness
of temporary laws, we may mention the brief incorporation
of Quebec and Montreal, and the Act for establishing registry
offices in the townships.
Temporary laws, by encouraging every raw representative
to try his hand at statute-making must promote slovenly
legislation ; and even qualified representatives will too
frequently be disposed to overlook the blunders of an enact-
ment, which is only destined to continue for one or two years.
The system, moreover, while it reserves too much discretionary
authority to the legislature, to be exercised at the caprice of
any particular branch thereof, also serves to conceal from
the country at large the real amount of legislative labour.
Exclude from the statute book of Lower Canada its slightly
amended and merely continued laws, and its compass will
be reduced very considerably. Deduct from the sum total
of the enactments which it contains those that relate to
matters purely municipal, which experience proves to be
better cared for by local authorities than by general repre-
sentative bodies, and the remainder will hardly seem of
sufficient importance to warrant the expense of maintaining
a provincial legislature.
The subjoined tabular statement of the various ordinances
and statutes respecting the cities of Quebec and Montreal
may be taken as a fair specimen of the petty legislation of
Lower Canada.
L2
148
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BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
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REPORT : APPENDIX C
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REPORT : APPENDIX C
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152 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Under legislation so minute and inconstant, the laws by
which the affairs of a community are regulated must generally
be mere mattor of surmise, and inconvenience and incongruity
the certain result. The chimneys of Montreal have been swept
one year under the Act Will. 4 ; and the next under a revived
ordinance of Geo. 3. The dues on the Lachine Canal, a most
expensive public work, were uncollected for a year, owing to
the non-renewal of the Act which authorized the collection.
In consequence of a like omission, the wharfage dues of the
Montreal Harbour were not legally exigible during the same
year. Other instances might be adduced to show, that so
long as the constitutional legislature exercised its functions,
it was possible that local Acts of primary importance to the
public interests might be suffered to expire, in order that
a single branch of that legislature might, as a condition of the
revival of these Acts, extort from the other branches com-
pliance with its demands. In 1836, the House of Assembly
declared its intention to adjourn its sittings until its demands
had been granted. It is needless to advert to the ultimate
consequences of this determination ; they are matter of
history.*
DIVISION OF THE PROVINCE.
THE province of Lower Canada is divided into five districts :
Quebec, Montreal, Three Rivers, Gaspe and St. Francis which
are subdivided into Counties, Townships, Parishes and Extra-
parochial places.
DISTRICTS.
The ' Districts,' properly so called, are almost exclusively
judicial. They are independent of each other, and differ
occasionally, both in the theory and practice of the law ; the
inferior district of Gaspe being dependent on the district of
Quebec, and, in fact, forming part thereof. The only other
characteristic of the districts, whether dependent or indepen-
dent, is, that they have each their own grand-voyer, with the
single exception of the district of St. Francis.
St. Francis. — It is to be remarked, that while the district
of St. Francis was merely an inferior district, dependent partly
on the district of Montreal, and partly on that of Three
Rivers, the grand-voyers of these districts had full jurisdiction
each of his own section ; but now that it is superior and in-
* The capricious legislation of the province has not been rendered less
injurious by a steady and well-sustained executive. From the year 1799
down to the present time, the administration of Lower Canada has passed
from one Governor to another, on an average, once in every two years.
r
REPORT : APPENDIX C 153
dependent, some degree of confusion seems to exist with
respect to the legal position of the said grand-voyers within
its limits. They both act as if no such district were in exist-
ence ; and yet, by the road laws, any offence against the
laws can be punished only within the district where it was
committed. A question thus arises as to which district is
understood — the judicial or the road district.
Gaspe. — The inferior district of Gaspe includes the two
counties of Gaspe and Bonaventure. It contains a scattered
population of mixed races, British, Canadians, natives of
Jersey and Guernsey, and Acadians. Placed at the embouchure
of the St. Lawrence, and distant about 400 miles from Quebec,
the affairs of Gaspe have occupied but a comparatively small
share of public or legislative attention, and its inhabitants
are in a most primitive state as regards local improvements.
Mr. Power, who represented Gaspe in the House of Assembly,
states, that ' the roads in the district are very bad ; there are,
in fact, no roads in the settlements in the interior. The people
are much dissatisfied with the administration of justice.
They complain of the distance they have to travel to New
Carlisle, the principal town and seat of justice, and wish for
a judge in each county. There is but one circuit in the year ;
there is no description of police ; and though magistrates
have been appointed, the greater part of them did not qualify,
being without the requisite landed property. Law has no
great force in the district, people doing much as they like.'
Looking to the position which Gaspe occupies upon the
map, it becomes a question whether it would not be sound
national policy, as well as for the advantage of the district
itself, to unite it with the improving province of New Bruns-
wick. An arrangement of this kind would certainly tend to
simplify the administration of Lower Canada, would benefit
the district itself, and would render the province more compact
for the working of improved institutions. In the event of the
severance of Gaspe from Lower Canada, perhaps the most
convenient boundary would be the river Mitis, or Rimouski.
COUNTIES.
The counties are principally political subdivisions, laid
down with a view to the returning of members to the Provincial
Parliament.
By 2 Will. 4, cap. 44, the counties had potentially, for a short
time, a municipal character, through the collective action of
the road commissioners of the respective parishes, townships,
&c., and of the justices of the peace who homologated or
154 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
rejected proces verbaux ; but, as it was discretional with any
parish or township to continue under the old system, or to
avail itself of the Act, very few counties, more especially in
the seigniorial districts, ever assumed the character in question.
By 2 Will. 4, cap. 66, and by 4 Will. 4, cap. 8, the counties,
moreover, have had and will, until the 1st of May 1840, have
potentially a judicial existence. But of the said Acts only two
counties have availed themselves in any degree ; and even
those two have not established quarter sessions of civil and
criminal jurisdiction, which the Acts were intended to
introduce.
PARISHES AND TOWNSHIPS.
Parishes (which, so far as they are ecclesiastical, are almost
exclusively for Catholic purposes) and townships are merely
divisions for local improvement, and for the better prevention
of abuses prejudicial to agriculture. By means of these
divisions, the farmers are enabled to provide for the repairing
of roads, and the inspection of fences, ditches, watercourses,
&c. Each parish and township is subdivided into not more
than nine sections. Parishes vary in extent, but the townships
usually embrace a superficies of 100 square miles, or 10 miles
square, or 64,000 acres each.
PAROCHIAL OFFICERS AND PARISH FUNDS.
For the management of the secular concerns of the Catholic
churches, a court or council exists in the several parishes,
composed of three acting churchwardens, and of persons
who have filled the office of churchwarden : of the three
wardens, the senior is the principal. One of the number is
elected every year ; in most cases by the court or council,
though in a few localities by the notables or principal
parishioners. Where there is more business than the wardens
are able to get through, as sometimes happens, a portion of it
is devolved upon the committees of the council. Ten or
twelve years ago, Mr. Papineau's party in the House of
Assembly brought forward a bill to empower the parishioners
to choose their churchwardens. The agitation of this measure,
which passed through the House of Assembly, created con-
siderable excitement at the time ; but the bill was rejected
by the Legislative Council, and ultimately abandoned. Mr. J.
Langevin, who has acted as churchwarden in Quebec, says,
that the present system of election works satisfactorily, as
the persons chosen are generally respectable.
The seniof churchwarden collects the pew-rents and all
monies owing to the church, which go to the support of the
REPORT : APPENDIX C 155
edifice. Where the business of the parish is extensive and
the outlay considerable, a paid agent is chosen to receive and
disburse money and register the accounts, which are examined
annually by two persons nominated by the council. No
salary or entertainment is allowed to the wardens or members
of the council. When the funds of the fabrique are insufficient
for any large undertaking, such as the erection of a church,
the requisite assessments are raised in this manner : a list,
with the amount of each parishioner's contribution, is made
by trustees appointed by the majority of the parishioners ;
this list is submitted to the superior courts of law, and, should
it receive their sanction, becomes an assessment binding on
the parties whose names are inrolled in it. The money thus
raised is expended under the superintendence of the trustees.
The law for regulating this department of parish business is
contained in old French ordinances, which are so doubtful and
contradictory as to occasion frequent litigation. A suit of this
kind was commenced at Three Rivers, which lasted 15 years.
No part of the funds of the fabrique is appropriated
to the relief of the poor. Mr. Langevin states, that if such
a disposal of the parish money had at any time taken place,
it must have been by way of loan, or with the formal sanction
of the parishioners, on some extraordinary occasion, there
being no legal authority for it. The income of the Catholic
clergy is derived from their share of all grain grown on the
lands of the Catholic parishioners, which share is not a tenth,
but a twenty -sixth bushel.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
According to the system of elementary schools, each
county has been divided into districts, generally, if not always,
smaller than a parish or township. The number of school
districts has varied under different Acts of the legislature.
PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE DIFFERENT
DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT IN
LOWER CANADA.*
Assistant Civil Secretary.
Provincial Secretary and Registrar.
Receiver-general.
Inspector-general of Accounts.
* Every officer of any note in the province is appointed by the Crown,
and all hold their appointments during its pleasure.
156 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Clerk of the Special Council.
Inspector-general of the Queen's Domain.
Surveyor-general.
Adjutant -general of Militia.
Commissioners of Crown Lands.
Agent for Emigrants at Quebec.
Administration of Justice :
Chief Justice of the Province.
Chief Justice of Montreal.
Three Judges of the Court of King's Bench at Quebec.
Three Judges of the said Court at Montreal.
Provincial Resident Judge at Three Rivers.
Provincial Judge of the District of Gasp6.
Provincial Judge of the District of St. Francis.
Judge of the Court of Vice -Admiralty at Quebec.
Attorney-general.
Solicitor-general.
Advocate -general .
Sheriffs :
District of Quebec.
,, Montreal.
,, Three Rivers.
Gaspe.
„ St. Francis.
Coroners :
District of Quebec.
„ Montreal.
,, Three Rivers
,, Gaspe.
„ St. Francis.
Clerks of the Crown :
District of Quebec.
,, Montreal.
,, Three Rivers.
Clerk of the Court of Appeals :
Prothonotaries of the Court of King's Bench :
District of Quebec.
„ Montreal.
,, Three Rivers.
„ Gaspe.
St. Francis.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 157
Clerics of the Peace :
District of Quebec.
„ Montreal.
„ Three Rivers.
,, Gaspe.
„ St. Francis.
Inspectors of Police :
District of Quebec.
,, Montreal.
CUSTOMS.
Collectors :
District of Quebec.
,, Montreal.
,, St. John's.
,, Coteau du Lac.
,, Stanstead.
„ Beauce.
HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES,
Grand Voyers :
District of Quebec.
,, Montreal.
,, Three Rivers.
„ Gaspe.
SUBORDINATE JUDICATORIES.
CIRCUIT COURTS.
A GRAND desideratum in Lower Canada is a supreme court
of original jurisdiction for the whole province ; there being at
present four co-ordinate courts, each of them supreme in its
own particular district. Hence inconvenience, delay, expense,
uncertainty and confusion.
The existing system has doubtless been framed, and from
time to time extended, with the laudable view of bringing
justice as near as possible to every man's door ; but it has,
unfortunately, had a different effect. To work well, one
supreme court must necessarily be accompanied by a thorough
organization of circuits ; whereas the multiplication of
supreme courts not only diminished the necessity for such
organization, but was intended to supply its place.
These observations are necessary before entering upon
any notice of the present system of circuits, which extends
158 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to the rural districts the jurisdiction merely of the ' inferior
terms ' of the supreme courts — a jurisdiction little more
extensive than that of the commissioners for the trial of small
causes — being confined to suits not exceeding the amount
of 10Z. sterling. In the townships not comprised within the
district of St. Francis, it is a just ground for complaint, that
the circuit stations have not been multiplied since the enact-
ment of 34 Geo. 3, c. 6, to meet the wants of a rapidly-peopling
country.
SMALL CAUSE COURTS.
By 6 Will. 4, c. 17, any parish, seigniory, township or extra-
parochial place, on petition of not less than 100 freeholders
(200 in the cities of Quebec and Montreal) may call on the
Governor ' to appoint as commissioners such and so many
fit and proper persons as he shall think fit,' ' to hear and deter-
mine in a summary way, according to the facts as proved,
and to law to the best of their knowledge and judgment, all
suits and actions purely personal (with the exceptions herein-
after made) to the amount of 61. 5s. currency.'
The small cause courts are held weekly in the cities, and,
in the rural districts, on the first and third Saturday of every
month, with power of adjournment. The commissioners act
gratuitously, assisted by a clerk, who is paid by fees.
There are various opinions as to the working of this Act,
which has been but a short time in operation ; the first
commission under it having only issued May 20, 1838. In
Quebec, there are ten commissioners of English extraction
and three of French ; many of the latter having declined to
accept the appointment when offered to them by Sir John
Colborne. One of the most active (Mr. T. L. MTherson,
notary) estimates the costs of suit at from 5s. to 7s. 6d. He
thinks the court might advantageously determine personal
causes to the amount of 10Z. sterling. Mr. Rodier, a com-
missioner of the Montreal Small Cause Court, states that the
weight of the business presses very heavily on the time of the
commissioners, who ought, he conceives, to be paid for their
services.
In Quebec and Montreal, the court appears to give satisfac-
tion ; but there is reason to apprehend that there will be
a falling off in the attendance of commissioners, unless they
are paid.* Mr. Knoulton, of Brome Township, thinks the
* In Lower Canada, especially among the inhabitants of French extraction,
there is a general indisposition to serve the public without pecuniary
remuneration. This reluctance is not of recent growth. ' At present,'
remarks Sir James Marriott, the accomplished and sagacious Advocate-
REPORT : APPENDIX C 159
commissioners should be allowed reasonable fees for their
trouble. The court, he says, works decidedly ill in his district ;
men being appointed to act as commissioners who are destitute
of public regard. The small cause courts will, of course, greatly
increase petty and vexatious litigation, and as the com-
missioners must reside within the limits of their jurisdiction,
it is probable that there will be not a few cases of interested
oppression. Such courts, if established in and for larger
districts, as counties for example, might be placed on a less
questionable footing. Local residence would not be so
objectionable, and there being a wider circle for the selection
of commissioners, it is to be presumed that a better class of
persons would be chosen.
Magistrates. — The magistrates are unpaid, and are appointed
by the Crown. By a law of the provincial legislature, which
will exist until the 1st May 1840, it was provided that every
justice of the peace should possess immovable property,
worth, after the discharge of all liabilities, at least 300?. cur-
rency. The practical result of this law was to lead to the
withdrawal of some of the most valuable magistrates. The
law calling for a qualification in land was also extended to the
militia, which caused the dismissal or disqualification of many
useful and intelligent officers.
By various provincial Acts the powers of justices are defined
and regulated. Sometimes they may act singly, sometimes
two together, sometimes three, sometimes in special sessions
in any part of the province, and sometimes in quarter sessions
in the various judicial ' districts '.
One of their most important duties in quarter sessions is,
to decide on the legality or illegality of the grand-voyer's
proces verbaux — a duty which, as it bears on legal forms rather
than on questions of fact, cannot be prudently left to un-
professional men. Hence, among other reasons, an almost
universal feeling in favour of having paid professional chair-
men of quarter sessions.
To make a judicious choice of magistrates in the rural
districts, or even in the cities, must always have been one of
the most difficult duties of the provincial executive ; and the
difficulty has been much increased by the act of qualification,
which exemplifies the danger of following too closely the
general, in his " Plan of a Code of Laws for the Province of Quebec "— •' at
present, the Canadians, as it is stated upon good authority, complain
of the attendance upon juries in civil suits as a heavy burthen and interrup-
tion of their occupations ; though they like well enough to be tried by
juries, they do not like to be the triers without some compensation.
160 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
analogies of England. In the corporate towns of England no
pecuniary qualification is now required, and in the counties
the qualification is so generally diffused as not materially to
fetter the judicious exercise of the regal prerogative ; and
there, moreover, the landed qualification is what it cannot
generally be in Canada, a pretty fair index of intelligence and
respectability. Here, the qualification was the more uncalled
for, as nothing of the kind had been required for the admission
of a member of the legislature, whether of the House of
Assembly or of the Legislative Council. It was farther
objectionable, as open to the charge of being a party measure,
inasmuch as it had a tendency to affect more extensively that
race which, being newer to the country, and very generally
devoted to commercial pursuits, possessed rather personal than
real property. Besides, a qualification in land is nominal and
delusive in Lower Canada, because from the want of a registry
of real estate, even the apparent proprietor, acting in good
faith, may be utterly ignorant of the incumbrances on his
possessions ; and because through the operations of the law
of marriage, an insolvent husband may feel himself justified
in taking the requisite oath. The system of unpaid magistracy,
as incidental to the criminal law of England, was naturally
introduced into the province with that law ; and the utter
unfitness of the people for such an institution is a striking
instance of the imprudence of unadvisedly engrafting the code
of one country on that of another. There was not in 1763,
nor is there now, a sufficient number of men capable from
education, intelligence and disinterestedness of deciding
singly between contending parties ; and the magisterial system
ought to be so far modified as to require two or three justices
of the peace for every district of any importance. In other
words, there ought to be local courts, sitting at least once a
month in sections of country larger than parishes and town-
ships, and smaller than 'districts', technically so called.
The greatest care ought also to be taken to guard against the
admission of uneducated, indolent, factious or otherwise
improper persons into the magistracy, and the duties hitherto
incidental to the office might be advantageously lightened by
the establishment of more effective institutions.
COURTS OF QUARTER SESSIONS.
^By the 2d Will. 4, c. 66, and 4th Will. 4, c. 8, both of which
Acts will expire on the 1st of May 1840, county courts of quarter
sessions, having a civil as well as a criminal jurisdiction, may
be held whenever, under the provisions of the said Acts, court-
REPORT : APPENDIX 0 161
houses and gaols have previously been erected ; half the ex-
pense of erecting such edifices being paid by the counties, and
the remainder by the province. Such buildings have, however,
been erected only in two counties, L'Acadie and St. Hyacinthe,
and even in these, with a solitary exception in St. Hyacinthe,
courts of quarter sessions have never been held. With respect
to the civil jurisdiction of these courts, the law seems to have
been hastily framed. It was designed to extend to all claims,
whether real or personal, not exceeding 10Z. sterling ; without
making any provision for evocation or appeal, even in cases
that might be evoked from the ' inferior term ' of the Court
of King's Bench to the superior, — thence carried to the Court
of Appeal, and thence to the Privy Council.
Courts of monthly, or even weekly sessions might be very
useful, if controlled and guided by an impartial chairman of
professional education — a mixed system which has worked
well in Nova Scotia. These courts might furnish, either on the
bench or in their grand juries, valuable instruments for county
objects of a municipal character, such as the management of
the poor, police, &c. One palpable advantage they would afford
to the rural population, viz. the means of appealing against a
proces verbal of the grand- voyer, without incurring the expense
and trouble of forwarding it to the chief town of the district.
There were, until 1830, paid professional chairmen of quarter
sessions for Quebec, Montreal, Three Rivers and Gaspe, but
some of the parties filling the office having fallen under the
displeasure of the House of Assembly, they were all obliged
to retire in consequence of the House refusing to vote their
salaries. The discontinuance of these officers has been a
subject of much complaint, and has proved exceedingly pre-
judicial to the due administration of justice.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
THERE are no public buildings of a municipal character in the
province other than court-houses and gaols, with the exception
of such as will be mentioned under the head of ' The Poor '.
In the court-houses of Quebec and Montreal are held the
sittings of the Court of King's Bench, and of the Courts of
Vice-Admiralty and Quarter Sessions.
COURT-HOUSES AND GAOLS — (Districts).
These have been built partly at the expense of the province
by public grants, and partly at the expense of suitors by fees
on suits. There are two of these buildings in Gaspe.
1352.3 M
162 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
COURT-HOUSES AND GAOLS — (Counties).
By 2 Will. 4, c. 66, amended by 4 Will. 4, c. 8, every county
was authorized (voting by parishes or townships) to erect
a court-house and gaol ; half the cost to be advanced by
the government if it did not exceed 600L currency, and the
remainder to be assessed on the real property of the county,
according to a rule which must be pronounced vague and
iniquitous. The edifices were to be repaired, and establish-
ments maintained by fees on suits. Of this Act only the
counties of L'Acadie and St. Hyacinthe practically availed
themselves, although it held out the advantage of a county
court of civil and criminal jurisdiction as the recompense for
the erection of a court-house and gaol.
HOUSES OF CORRECTION.
These did exist under temporary laws, and, as might be
expected, were purely temporary themselves ; they exist no
longer.
COURT-HOUSES — (Circuits) .
There are none ; public school-houses are convertible into
judicial edifices for the occasion.
POLICE.
Police may be either preventive or executive.
At the date of the arrival of the Earl of Durham as Governor-
general, there was not, in any part of the province, a body of
preventive police, the night-watch of Quebec and Montreal (the
only force of the kind that had ever existed) having been broken
up in May 1836, in consequence of the expiring of the statute in
that case made and provided. By the Provincial Ordinance,
2 Viet. c. 2, an efficient system of preventive police was estab-
lished in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, the authority
of which has since been extended by proclamation, issued under
the said ordinance, to the respectively adjacent parishes.
The executive police of the province are the captains,
subalterns and Serjeants of militia, the militia itself being
but a nominal force, which includes every male inhabitant
between 16 and 60 years of age. By the Permanent Ordinance,
27 Geo. 3, c. 6, militia-men are declared to be, ex officio, peace-
officers within their respective ' parishes ' ; and, by the
statute 6 Will. 4, c. 37, they are declared to be so within their
respective ' districts '. But constables, properly so called,
may be appointed by the justices of the peace, acting either
singly or collectively ; and by 6 Will. 4, c. 19, s. 6, bailiffs
REPORT : APPENDIX C 163
of any Court of King's Bench are authorized to act as con-
stables within the district of such court. The whole militia,
too, of the province may be considered as a preventive police,
inasmuch as the Provincial Ordinance, 1 Viet. c. 22, s. 13,
enacts that ' all or any of the militia in any parish, township,
extra-parochial place or county, may be ordered out by the
civil authority in execution of the laws.'
VILLAGE POLICE.
For the removal of nuisances and the prevention of accidents
by fire in towns and villages, it was enacted by 4 Geo. 4, c. 2,
that wherever there were 30 inhabited houses on 15 arpents *
of land, or less, or on a greater extent of ground a greater
number of houses, not more than half an arpent apart, the
freeholders should meet and choose from their number five
trustees, who, on application of three freeholders, should
appoint an inspector of the borough or village, to cause the
regulations of the Act to be executed, and to enforce penalties.
This Act was in force until May 1836, when it expired. It
was revived, with amendments, by 6 Will. 4, c. 46, and will
expire again in May 1840. According to the terms of this Act.
nearly the whole of the Franco-Canadian settlements would
be legally classified as villages, so dense is the population.
It may in general be remarked that the criminal law of
England, which was introduced by the Royal Proclamation
of 1763, and confirmed by the Quebec Act of 1774, necessarily
brought with it all its system of executive police ; which is,
either actually or potentially, still in force, unless so far as it
may have been modified by provincial enactments.
The imposition of constabulary duties on the militia is both
burdensome and unsafe. Offenders are passed from captain
to captain, by whom the Serjeants are ordered to take charge
of them ; and they being indifferent to the due execution
of an irksome duty, escapes are frequent, whenever the party
in custody has reason to dread the result of his detention.
If the habitans have any political sympathy with the prisoner,
his escape is certain. There are no prisons nor places of
temporary confinement in the rural districts ; so that a prisoner
may be passed from militia-man to militia-man, for 200 miles,
before he can be lodged in a place of safe keeping. The
system offers no security whatever for the protection of
the public peace or the rights of property. The following
complaint of the want of a proper police was addressed to
the Assistant Commissioners of Municipal Inquiry by three
* An arpent, or French acre, is about four-fifths of an English acre.
M 2
164 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
respectable inhabitants of the township of Hull, in the county
of Ottawa, one of them — we believe two — being in the
magistracy, Messrs. Wright, Taylor and Brigham.
' You are, no doubt, aware that our situation is immediately
on the Chaudiere Falls, where pass yearly above 160,000 pieces
of timber for the Quebec market. In consequence of the
obstruction of the navigation, the whole of the people employed
in this branch of business are, from time to time, collected in
this vicinity. Frequent breaches of the peace occur, offenders
pass with impunity, and because we are unable to put the
law in force, many profligate characters commit crimes and
persist in their wicked courses, knowing that it is impossible
for us to get them to Montreal. Thus a very heavy tax is
levied upon the magistracy in attending to complaints. No
good results therefrom ; in fact, the magistrates have nearly
given up the idea of trying to send culprits to Montreal, as
all that are sent, as by law authorized (through the militia),
have made their escape, and returned worse characters and
more difficult to restrain than before.
' You will perceive, from the above facts, that something
more efficient is requisite for this place than any other perhaps
in the province, with the exception of the cities of Quebec,
Montreal and the town of Three Rivers. It is true that pro-
vision was made by our late legislature for the erection of
court-houses and gaols in the several counties of the province ;
but the jarring interests called into play by the provisions of
the Act have rendered it useless in this county, and, we believe,
in almost every other in the province.
* The laws regulating our roads are also very defective ;
those who make the most use of them not being obliged to
do any thing towards their repair. Something should be
done to compel merchants and residents, who do not own
lands, to do their share of labour in supporting the roads.'
Through the incompetency of the existing legislature to
impose even local rates for local purposes, the heavy expense'
of maintaining the necessary police force of Quebec and
Montreal, instead of falling, as it ought to fall, upon the
localities that benefit thereby, is thrown on the general funds
of the province. It cannot be too deeply regretted that,
during the discussions of the passing of the ' Imperial Act ',
1 Viet. c. 9, the friends of Lower Canada did not, in general
terms, demand the full benefit of the analogy of the Quebec
Act, by which the Governor and Council, though restricted
as to the power of general taxation, had full authority to
impose local rates for local purposes.
REPORT : APPENDIX C
165
The absence of this essential power must have crippled
every attempt to introduce early and extensive plans of im-
provement, whether legal, municipal or educational. The follow-
ing are the enactments respecting matters of rural police.
RURAL POLICE : — ORDINANCES AND STATUTES.
Vol.
Page.
Year.
Reign.
Chap.
Remarks.
Ord.
185
30
Geo. 3
4
Abandon des animaux. Extended by
4 Geo. 4, c. 33, s. 27, and virtually
repealed by 6 Will. 4, c. 56, till
1st May 1845.
14
356
6
Will. 4
55
Preserves grass on beaches below city
of Quebec.
14
362
6
j}
56
Remedies abuses prejudicial to agri-
culture ; consolidating and repeal-
4
292
47
Geo. 3
14
ing all former Acts till 1st May 1845.
Provides for appointment of inspec-
tors and constables in towns and
villages till 1st January 1811, &c.
10
512
4
Geo. 4
2
Provides for police of William Henry,
and other villages, repealing all
former Acts till 1st May 1826.
14
322
6
Will. 4
46
Revises and amends the foregoing
Act till 1st May 1840.
11
368
7
Geo. 4
3
Provides for maintenance of good
order in churches, &c., repealing all
former Acts till 1st May 1830 :
Continued by 10 & 11 Geo. 4,
c. 21, tiU 1 May 1834.
Continued by 4 Will. 4, c. 9, till
1 May 1836.
Continued by 6 Will. 4, c. 32,
till 1 May 1840.
9
74
57 Geo. 3
14
Facilities; administration of petty
justice in rural parishes, till 1st May
1819:
Continued by 59 Geo. 3, c. 20,
till 1 May 1821.
Continued by 1 Geo. 4, c. 3, till
1 May 1823.
Continued by 3 Geo. 4, c. 2, till
1 May 1825.
Continued by 5 Geo. 4, c. 24, till
1 May 1827.
10
368 3
Geo. 4
21
Provides for establishment of fairs
till 1st May 1826.
12
748
10 &
42
Establishes market in village of St.
11
Hyacinthe.
13
8
1
WU1. 4
51
Provides for ascertaining boundaries
of parishes, ' for civil purposes.'
13
764
2
66
Authorizes the erection of court-
"
houses and gaols in the counties till
1st May 1840.
13
64
4
8
Amends the foregoing Act.
14
288
0
37
Provides for safe conveyance of
"
criminal prisoners from country
parts to common gaol.
166 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
SCHOOLS.
By the 41 Geo. 3, c. 17, which is still in force, ' a majority
of the inhabitants ' of any parish or township, by petitioning
the Governor for the establishment of one or more schools of
royal foundation, may subject the whole parish or township
to the expense of erecting suitable school-houses for the in-
struction of pupils and the accommodation of teachers. By
subsequent statutes grants of money were made in favour of
school districts ; and by the more recent Acts of the Pro-
vincial Legislature, all of which, however, have expired, such
heads of families as were qualified to vote for members of
Assembly were authorized to elect school trustees for each
school district.
In the session of 1835-6, the House of Assembly sent up
a Bill to the Legislative Council, where it was rejected, which
proposed to give to the majority of the inhabitants of any
parish, township or extra-parochial place, assembled for the
purpose, the power of taxation to a certain extent for the
support of schools ; but it went no farther than barely to
give the power, neither offering inducement, nor imposing
obligation, with a view to ensure its exercise.
Very few, if any, parishes or townships availed themselves
of the provisions of the 41 Geo. 3, c. 17, for assessing them-
selves for the support of schools — one out of many proofs,
that optional taxation is not suitable to the people of Lower
Canada.
Under the school laws the actual practice has, in all instances,
fallen short in point of regularity and efficacy of the require-
ments of the statutes. Of the various enactments contained
in those laws, hardly any are accompanied by provisions
calculated to produce their punctual fulfilment and practical
operation. As might have been anticipated, they have been
neglected or evaded in all those particulars that involved any
sacrifice of immediate interest or convenience on the part of
the inert and unreflecting mass for whose benefit they were
devised.
POOR.
THE Poor of Lower Canada, so far as they have been the
objects of legislative provision, may be divided into two
classes.
First Class. — The first class consists of such individual
objects of charity as are to be found in every country — the
insane, the sick, the infirm, the friendless, and the destitute.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 167
Second Class. — The second class consists of such multi-
tudes of persons in particular localities as require aid to avert
the consequences, whether present or prospective, of an alleged
failure of the crops.
The first class has been practically subdivided into residents
and strangers.
I. RESIDENTS.
Charitable institutions in Lower Canada were early founded
by religious communities of the Roman Catholic faith ; but
we find that previous to the foundation of the General Hospital
of Quebec (which is at present, as heretofore, under the charge
of nuns governed by a superior), an office for the relief of the
poor, ' Bureau des Pauvres,"1 had been established at Quebec.
The expenditure of this office was controlled by trustees, and
every colonist and community was bound to contribute
annually to the funds. In the country parishes the mainten-
ance of the poor was provided for in a similar manner.
So far as the statute-book affords information on the sub-
ject, it appears that steps towards the support of the poor
were first taken by British authority at the commencement
of the present century. In the preamble of 41 Geo. 3, c. 6,
is recited the substance of a suggestion contained in the
Lieutenant-governor's speech, ' for securing and supporting
such indigent persons as from a temporary or lasting (derange-
ment of intellect are incapable of earning their subsistence,
and regarding the means to be employed to prevent the
inhuman practice of exposing and deserting new-born infants '.
On this suggestion the legislature, ' until further and more
effectual provision could be made,' authorized the Governor
to apply 1,000?'. currency a year, for the next three years, for
the purposes aforesaid, and for the aid and support of such
religious communities as receive and administer relief to sick
and infirm persons and foundlings. By a series of temporary
statutes the annual grant was gradually raised in the course
of eighteen years from 1,000?. currency to 3,500?. currency,
the latter grants having been divided by the legislature in
certain unequal proportions between the districts of Quebec,
Montreal and Three Rivers. In the Act which raised the
grant to 3,500?. currency, namely, 58 Geo. 3, c. 13, appears
the first symptom of ' further and more effectual provision ',
as promised by the legislature in 1801. This Act authorized
the Governor to apply 2,500?. currency for the purpose of
building and repairing certain wards or apartments in one of
the wings of the General Hospital, near the city of Quebec,
168 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
' for the reception and relief of insane persons ', and 2,000?.
currency for building additional wards and apartments for
the aforesaid purposes adjacent to those already in use, at
or near the General Hospital in the city of Montreal.
The last Act passed on the same narrow basis was 3 Geo. 4,
c. 25, granting 5,585?. 17s. IQd. currency for the year 1823 ; and
even in the same sessions other grants were made on a some-
what more liberal basis. The very next Act, namely, 3 Geo. 4,
c. 26, granted 850?. currency to the Montreal General Hospital,
and 2,139?. 6s. 9d. currency to the Hotel Dieu of Quebec, as
an aid ' to complete the wards, buildings and dependencies
by them recently erected in the city of Quebec, on the ground
of the poor of the said Hotel Dieu, with funds arising from
savings on the income of the poor aforesaid, and with funds
heretofore appropriated for that purpose by the legislature ' ;
and the third Act thereafter, namely, 3 Geo. 4, c. 29, granted
250?. currency a year, for two years, to the House of Industry
of the city of Montreal.
By the Ordinance 1 Viet. c. 17, of the present year (1838),
the following grants were made to charitable institutions to
defray the charges of the year commencing in October 1836,
and ending in October 1837, viz. 658?. 6s. Sd. currency, towards
the expense of supporting the insane persons in the cells of
the General Hospital at Quebec ; 511?. currency towards the
expense of maintaining sick and infirm boarders in said
hospital, and 100?. currency towards their clothing ; 580?.
currency towards the expense of maintaining the foundlings
in the hospital of the Hotel Dieu at Quebec, and 15?. currency
towards their clothing ; 200?. currency for support of indigent
sick in the said hospital 600?. currency towards the support
of the foundlings in the General Hospital of the Grey Nuns
at Montreal ; 220?. currency towards the support of insane
persons in the cells of said hospital ; 850?. currency towards
defraying the current expenses of the corporation of the
General Hospital at Montreal ; 400?. currency towards the
maintenance of the indigent sick in the convent of Ursuline
Nuns at Three Rivers, and of supporting the insane persons
and foundlings under the charge of the Commissioners of the
said district ; 100?. currency as an aid to the lady managers
of the Orphan Asylum at Quebec ; 75?. currency to the lady
managers of the Asylum at St. Roch's suburbs, Quebec ;
100?. currency to the Ladies' Charitable Society (for orphans)
at Montreal ; 100?. currency to the Ladies' Benevolent Society
(for widows and orphans) at Montreal ; and 100?. currency
for the Orphans' Asylum at Montreal.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 169
The Montreal House of Industry was established by
58 Geo. 3, c. 15, with very inadequate funds, and agreeably
to the last will and testament of one John Conrad Marsteller.
With the exception of the aforesaid grant of 500/., it has not
received any further aid from the legislature, or any accession
to its funds from other sources. For the last two winters an
institution, styling itself ' House of Industry ', has been main-
tained in Montreal, chiefly (if not altogether) by voluntary
subscriptions, and these almost entirely from the British
inhabitants. The constitution of the Montreal House of
Industry has been slightly amended by 2 Geo. 4, c. 6 ; 7 Geo. 4,
c. 4, and 9 Geo. 4, c. 43.
By the Act 45 Geo. 3, c. 12, for establishing the Corpora-
tion of the Trinity House of Quebec, provision was made for
creating a fund for ' decayed pilots and their widows and
children '.
II. STRANGERS.
Strangers having a claim on charitable support have been
practically ranked in two classes — Emigrants and Mariners.
Emigrants.— The statute 3 Geo. 4, c. 7, authorized the
Governor to advance, for the year 1823, 750?. currency, for
the relief of indigent sick emigrants, to be dispensed by
justices of the peace residing in Quebec ; the preamble of the
Act holding this promise — 'until permanent establishments
for the relief of the indigent sick of all denominations can be
made, in addition to those which already exist.' Under this
Act, the justices of the peace aforesaid established an ' Emi-
grant Hospital '.
The sum of 600/. currency was granted by 4 Geo. 4, c. 32,
authorizing the admission into the hospital of ' indigent sick
of whatsoever denomination, labouring under contagious
diseases,' as well as of ' indigent sick emigrants from the
United Kingdom '. Farther grants were made ; viz. for 1825,
700Z. currency ; for 1826, 950Z. currency, including a sum
not exceeding 1001. currency for a plan or plans of an hospital
for the medical treatment of sick seamen and others coming
from sea — a partial redemption and a partial evasion of the
promise conveyed in the first Act on the subject.
For several years similar grants were made of somewhat
greater amount (1,0001. and upwards), and, in addition to
the Emigrant Hospital at Quebec, a temporary fever hospital
was erected at Point Levi, on the south bank of the St. Law-
rence, opposite to Quebec, under 10 & 11 Geo. 4, c. 18, 'for
the reception and medical treatment of such persons arriving
170 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
in this province from seaward as shall be found labouring
under typhus fever, yellow fever, scarlet fever, plague, small-
pox or measles, and of paupers infected with any of the said
diseases ' ; the said Act granting 1501. currency for 1830 for
the purposes recited. For the said establishment, a further
grant of 750?. currency for 1832 was made by 2 Will. 4,
c. 15.
A fund was created by 2 Will. 4, c. 17, for ' defraying the
expense of providing medical assistance for sick emigrants,
and for enabling indigent persons of that description to pro-
ceed to the place of their destination ', by laying a poll-tax
on emigrants from the United Kingdom, to be paid by the
shipmasters, and to be equally divided between the Emigrant
Hospital at Quebec, the Montreal General Hospital, the
Emigrant Society of Quebec, and the Emigrant Society of
Montreal. The tax amounted to 55. currency for each emi-
grant coming out under the sanction of Government, and 10s.
currency for every other ; the Act to be in force until the
1st of May 1834. In the same session (c. 60) an aid of 100?.
currency was granted to the Emigrant Hospital, in addition
to a previous aid (c. 15) of 1,500?. currency by 6 Will. 4, c. 13 ;
the Act of 2 Will. 4, c. 17, was continued to the 1st of May
1838, and by 1 Viet. c. 3, to May 1839.
Mariners. — By 10 & 11 Geo. 4, c. 23, was granted a sum
of 11,541?. 8s. Qd. currency, to be advanced in three equal
instalments, to build ' an hospital for the reception of sick
seamen and other indigent persons ' ; and by 3 Will. 4, c. 13,
there was a farther grant for completing the building of 2,530?.
currency, and an additional grant of 2,000?. currency for erect-
ing wharves, ' in order to ensure the safety and preservation
of said building.'
The 6 Will. 4, c. 35, imposed a duty of a penny currency
a ton on ' every vessel from any port out of the limits of this
province ', the portion received in Quebec to be given to the
Marine Hospital, and the portion received in Montreal to be
given to the General Hospital of that city ; the Act to be in
force until 1st May 1840.
Various Acts have been passed to establish depots of pro-
visions for the relief of shipwrecked mariners ; the last
(6 Will. 4, c. 39) established a depot near Cape Chat, another
at Magdalene River, and four depots at Anticosti, limiting
the appropriations ' to the present year only '.
The second class of persons who have become the object of
legislative provision consists, as has been stated, of such
multitudes of persons in particular localities as require aid to
REPORT : APPENDIX C 171
avert the consequences, whether present or prospective, of
the alleged failure of the crops.
For the relief of this class various measures have been
adopted by the legislature ; the first object being to enable
the distressed applicants to procure seed-grain and seed-
potatoes ; the second to facilitate the supply of immediate
wants.
The legislature attempted to accomplish the first object,
sometimes by granting a privilege to the sellers of seed-grain
and seed-potatoes, and sometimes by advancing loans from
the provincial chest, to be repaid in money or in labour.
The former mode was legalized by 45 Geo. 3, c. 5 ; 51 Geo. 3,
c. 6 ; 57 Geo. 3, c. 1 ; 3 Will. 4, c. 2 ; 4 Will. 4, c. 3 & 4.
The advancing of loans from the provincial chest was
carried into effect by various Acts. The most remarkable
of these is 57 Geo. 3, c. 12, authorizing the advance of 20,OOOZ.
on good security ; one-half of this sum might, however,
according to the Act, be expended as a premium for the sale
of seed-corn and seed-potatoes, at a rate varying from 2s. to
6d. per minot, a Canadian measure one -eighth larger than the
Winchester bushel.
The excellence of the security, and the vigilance of the
authorities in regard to the loans, may be estimated from the
fact, that, of all the expenditure under the Act, only one loan
of SI. or 10?. has been repaid, and that not by the personal
debtor, but by a cautious purchaser of the debtor's land, who
cleared it of the mortgage for his own protection.
With respect to the supply of seed-corn and seed-potatoes,
it is worthy of notice, as showing the utter absence of prin-
ciple or system, that the time limited for the sale of these
essentials of husbandry was 25th June, in 57 Geo. 3, c. 1 ;
and in 57 Geo. 3, c. 12, 10th May for wheat, and 20th May
for any other kind of grain, or potatoes.
The second object contemplated by the legislature, viz.
facilitating the supply of immediate wants, had been indirectly
promoted by two ordinances passed by the old Legislative
Council, 20 Geo. 3, c. 1, and 30 Geo. 3, c. 9, respectively in-
tituled, ' To prohibit, for a limited time, the Exportation of
Wheat, Peas, Oats, Biscuit, Flour or Meal of any kind, also
of Horned Cattle, and thereby to reduce the present high
Price of Wheat and Flour ' ; and, ' To prevent, for a limited
time, the Exportation of Biscuit, Flour or Meal of any kind ;
also of Wheat, Peas, Barley, Rye and. Oats.'
The legislature, under the Constitutional Act, has granted
relief, occasionally, in the form of a loan, and occasionally as
172 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
a free gift. The most important Act on the subject was
57 Geo. 3, c. 2, authorizing an advance of 15,0002. currency,
to be repaid by the parties relieved, but without exacting
security for its repayment. So far as can be ascertained, no
portion of this money has ever been refunded.
By the 9 Geo. 4, c. 50, a loan of 200?. currency, for the
relief of the parish of St. Louis, Lotbiniere, was advanced on
the credit of the Fabrique, and, failing that, on the credit of
certain individuals on behalf of the Fabrique.
The 4 Will. 4, c. 1, granted a free gift of about 3,000?.
currency, to be divided between certain specified parishes, in
sums varying from 37?. 10s. to 588?. 10s.
Within the last two years, several thousand pounds have
been apportioned among distressed parishes bordering on the
St. Lawrence for the purpose of providing seed-corn and
seed-potatoes, or sustaining the necessities of the inhabitants
until harvest should bring them the means of subsistence.
Of these advances, 2,000?. have been given to the single
parish of Les Eboulemens. No part of the advances has been
repaid, nor is it at all probable that any portion ever will be.
The first step towards the correction of this vicious plan of
relief was taken during the administration of the Earl of
Durham. Applications for aid having been addressed to the
Government, his Excellency caused an inquiry to be in-
stituted into the condition of the distressed parishes on the
St. Lawrence, with a view to the adoption of such measures
as, by striking at the root of the evil, might save the rural
population from sinking into a state of helpless and reckless
pauperism. A report was made accordingly.
It may be remarked, in relation to the different modes of
providing for the necessities and afflictions of the poor of
Lower Canada, that some of the arrangements are both
objectionable in principle and defective in practice. For
instance, it appears that ' insane persons ', as well as sick and
foundlings, are placed in charge of ' religious communities '
of females. Without intending the slightest disrespect to the
members of these communities, whom we believe to be actu-
ated by the best motives, we must say, that considerations of
decorum, and regard for the proper treatment of the patients,
alike forbid their being placed under the superintendence of
women. It is discreditable to the province, and more especi-
ally to its constitutional legislature, that such an absurd,
inefficient and indecent system should have been permitted
to continue. Lunatic asylums, conducted on the humane
and enlightened principles which generally preside over these
REPORT : APPENDIX C 173
institutions in the cities of Europe, are generally wanted in
Lower Canada. For most insane persons, there is, at present,
no other receptacle than the common gaol. Is it not, moreover,
objectionable, that nearly all relief (part being through com-
missioners appointed by the Governor) should be dispensed
to a mixed population through Catholic establishments ?
In the supplying of seed-corn to distressed farmers, no
pains whatever were taken, or enjoined to be taken, to ascer-
tain that the seed was bond fide purchased or used ; thus
a wide door seems to have been opened for collusion between
any habitant and a favoured creditor, and to the misapplica-
tion of such seed as was really bought. So far from guarding
against abuses of this kind, the legislature appears to have
encouraged them, for the quantity (40 minots of wheat, 30 of
other grain and 20 of potatoes) was fixed and constant, with-
out reference to the extent of the purchaser's farm, and the
sale might take place under the earlier Acts as late as the
1st July and 25th June ; though, in the latest Acts, the
period for the sale of wheat extended only to 18th May, and
for other grain and potatoes to 18th June. The obvious
tendency of the extension of time in the older statutes was to
produce fraud or failure of crops. To obstinate perseverance
in the growing of wheat, which is neither suited to the soil
nor to the severe seasons in certain districts, much of the
distress periodically existing among the rural population is
attributable. Yet the legislature, in providing supplies of
seed-grain, neglected an excellent opportunity of checking
a confessedly unprofitable mode of cultivation, by not with-
holding the privilege in the case of seed-wheat, a privilege
which did no more to promote private than public good,
inasmuch as the privilege of the seller, at spring prices, would
swallow up most of the crop at autumnal prices.
There is reason to fear that much mismanagement prevailed
in many of the local committees appointed generally for pur-
poses of local relief, involving a waste which, without injustice
and oppression, could never be recovered by the government
from the nominal receivers of the loans.
With respect to all such grants it may be broadly asserted,
that, even if more judiciously and impartially regulated, they
must inevitably retard the progress of agriculture, and lower
the independence of the people. And in a new country, where
there is a redundancy of uncultivated land, they form but
a puny and fallacious palliative for the evils periodically
induced by an ignorant application of agricultural labour.
The distressed localities lie chiefly in the district of Quebec,
174 BRITISH -NORTH AMERICA
where the frost sets in earlier than in the districts farther up
the St. Lawrence, and where the soil, unrecruited by fallow-
ing or manure, is unable to bear the exhaustion of continual
crops of wheat. Now it clearly was the duty of the legis-
lature to have taken advantage of every occasion that pre-
sented itself to discourage the growing (or rather the sowing)
of wheat, and to promote the cultivation of the hardier crops
and the prosecution of the fisheries. The operation of the
feudal laws upon agriculture ought likewise to have been con-
sidered. The law of mills and the law of cens et rentes, for
example, tend to encourage the exclusive cultivation of wheat ;
on the other hand, the law of tithes and the negative law of
duty-free distilleries, lead to a more varied agriculture, the
former offering a premium on green crops, and the latter on
the inferior and hardier kinds of grain.
VAGRANT POOR.
COMPLAINTS have been made by persons residing in the
townships bordering on the seigniories, of the burden upon
the inhabitants caused by the influx of Franco-Canadian
poor. They state that township poor are never found levy-
ing contributions on the charitable in the seigniories. In
the District of Quebec, the parishes on the south bank of the
St. Lawrence make a similar complaint, of the influx of the
poor from the parishes on the north side of the river. Parochial
and township administration of the poor is evidently wanted,
though upon very different principles from those which prevail
in countries where the land is overstocked with population.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
ROAD OFFICERS.
THE road officers of the province are the grand-voyer and
his deputy in each district (excepting the district of St. Francis,
which is, in fact, subject, partly to the grand-voyer of Three
Rivers, and partly to the grand-voyer of Montreal) ; a sur-
veyor of roads in each parish or township, and an overseer of
highways in each subdivision of every parish and township,
the subdivisions never exceeding nine. The grand-voyer,
whose office originated during the French colonial rule, is
appointed by the Governor during pleasure. The deputy
grand-voyer and surveyor of roads are nominated by the
grand-voyer ; and the overseers of highways are elected by
the people. The grand-voyer is paid by salary and fees, and
REPORT : APPENDIX C 175
pays his deputy according to private arrangement ; the
surveyors and overseers are gratuitous servants of the public.
In the two most important districts, Quebec and Montreal,
the yearly salary of the grand-voyer is 150?. ; out of which
he defrays postage, rent, stationery, and all the general
expenses incidental to his office.
The duty of the grand-voyer is to open new roads, and to
see that the established roads are kept in good repair. His
duty, as regards the opening of new roads, he is bound to
discharge on the requisition of any one interested person ;
the requisitionist or requisitionists being liable for the grand-
voyer's claim for fees and travelling expenses. Whether he
grant or reject the prayer of the requisition, that officer may
be presumed to be altogether disinterested in his decision,
a presumption which is requisite to justify the judicial des-
potism of his office. As to the extent of the grand-voyer's
judicial power, a degree of doubt, it is true, has existed ; some
maintaining that an appeal to the quarter sessions may open
the merits of the case, and others contending that the court
can take cognizance merely of the form and technical accuracy
of the proces verbal The highest legal authority has decided
in favour of the latter construction of the Act under which the
grand-voyer exercises his authority.
In order to discharge the duty of seeing that the estab-
lished roads are kept in good repair, the grand-voyer, after
public notice being duly given, is bound to make 'annual
circuit through the highways leading from point to point
within his district ', and ' to examine and inquire whether
the surveyors and overseers duly execute their several offices,
and in default thereof to prosecute them, or either of them,
for neglect.'
This yearly tour of inspection is made in a very superficial
and imperfect manner. According to the evidence of Mr.
Panet, grand-voyer for the district of Montreal, there are
portions of his district which have never been visited by him-
self or his deputy. Mr. Panet adduced the strong plea of
impracticability in defence of this omission, adding, that the
whole expense of travelling would fall on a very inadequate
salary, subject already to many deductions for official charges.
Apart from the latter consideration, it is too much to expect
that the grand-voyer, even with the aid of a deputy, can
complete an official annual * circuit ' of the roads in a district
so extensive as Montreal.
The surveyor of roads in a parish or township is the grand-
voyer's representative therein, as to the repairing of roads, &c.
176 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
The overseers of highways support the same character in
their respective sections of parishes or townships ; though, as
will hereafter be set forth more fully, they have also, in some
respects, a collective or quasi corporate existence.
HIGHWAYS.
The public highways are of two kinds — front roads and bye-
roads.
The front roads are those that run between two ranges of
' concessions ', or through the front range on the banks of
rivers, and thus, generally speaking, they cross the breadth
of every farm at right angles to its length. As the seigniorial
farms are usually 90 arpents in extent, in the proportion of
ten breadths to one length, and as the arpent is equivalent to
3,600 square yards, every proprietor's share of front road is
180 yards French measure. But, in township farms, which
approach to a square form, every settler's share of front road
is a good deal larger, in proportion to his quantity of land.
Such is the general system of front roads ; but there are
numerous important exceptions. Hills, bridges, marshes, and
all portions of more than average difficulty, which are pecu-
liarly numerous on the undulating surface of the townships,
are worked by joint labour ; the grand- voyer, by his proces
verbal, designating all those who, on the ground of a common
interest, ought to contribute a share. Through all unconceded
land, too, and all uncultivated land in possession of the
original Crown grantee, the highways are made and repaired
by joint labour of the parties to whom ' the road is useful ',
that is, by the persons who are obliged to pass over it in going
to church, market, &c.
The bye -roads, or as they may be most appositely named,
the ' cross roads ', are altogether made and repaired by joint
labour.
With respect to the prescribed dimensions of the public
highways, every front road is required by law to be 30 feet
wide, with a ditch on either side three feet wide ; every bye-
road, besides having ditches of like extent, is required to be
20 feet wide.
Fence Viewers. — By 6 Will. 4, c. 56, s. 27, which will expire
on the 1st of May 1845, the freeholders of each parish or town-
ship are empowered to elect inspectors of fences and ditches,
in the same manner and to the same number as overseers of
highways.
By the 47th section of the same Act, a majority of the
persons interested in the clearing or opening of any water-
REPORT : APPENDIX C 177
course (corns d'eau) may cause the work to be done by contract,
each person interested contributing his share in money'
a power analogous to that which, by the existing law, is
reposed in a majority of overseers, with respect to joint labour
on bridges, and similar to that which, by an expired law, was
vested in the majority of parties interested with respect to
joint labour on roads and bridges generally.
In several particulars the fence -viewers are invested with
more important functions than overseers of highways, or even
surveyors of roads. Every inspector of fences and ditches
exercises, like the grand-voyer, judicial as well as adminis-
trative powers, being authorized singly, and sometimes in
conjunction with one or more, to frame proces verbaux with
regard to joint labour, subject, however, to the revision of two
justices of the peace for the county in which the inspector acts.
The inspectors are, in fact, official experts, and, as such, are
allowed a recompense for the loss of time at the rate of Qd.
currency per hour — a provision which, as it tends to induce
popular vigilance, goes far to remedy the evils incidental to
the non-responsibility of these officers to any central power.
ROAD FUNDS.
There is no law to authorize the exaction of any amount of
annual revenue for the maintenance of roads, or other works
of utility in the rural districts ; charges which, in England,
are provided for out of the county rates, have been defrayed
in Lower Canada out of the provincial treasury. Large sums,
the disbursement of which has been intrusted to unsalaried,
but not always uninterested, commissioners, nominated by the
Governor generally, on the recommendation of members of
the legislature, have been appropriated to the opening of
internal communications. Mr. Bouchette, surveyor-general
of Lower Canada, in his Topographical Dictionary of the
province, gives the following account of the sums voted for
the formation and repair of roads and canals from 1814 to
1830.
£. s. d.
From 1814 to 1827, both inclusive, 14 years (in-
cluding 25,0001. for the Welland Canal, Upper
Canada) 284,172 - -
For 1828, 1829, 1830 100,000 - -
£.384,172 - -
The heavy expenditure on road-making has not produced
corresponding results. At the present day there is hardly in
1352.3 N
178 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the whole province what an Englishman would call a good
line of road, while, even in places where from the favourable
character of the soil a moderate portion of well-directed
labour might afford excellent highways, the roads are (save
in summer, when they are simply bad) truly and absolutely
execrable.
Charges of jobbing, and unfairly directing lines of road
through their own property, have been made against the com-
missioners for applying the provincial grants, and, judging
by the general complexion of Canadian management in like
matters, probably not without cause. Many of the grants
themselves were objectionable on the ground of their being
voted for local instead of general improvements. The direct
tendency of such appropriations is to introduce a corrupting
influence into the legislature ; the majority having it in their
power to withhold from the minority grants for improvements
in the districts they represent, and thereby depreciate them
in the estimation of their rustic constituents. That the
majority of the late House of Assembly did stoop to this
description of party tactics is borne out by the testimony of
some of its most respectable members of Canadian birth,
who have declared that, because they declined voting with
Mr. Papineau's majority, they found it impossible to obtain
grants for any local object, however unimpeachable in its
character.
It may be observed, that whenever a highway requires
widening, or whenever it may be necessary to construct a
bridge for general as distinguished from purely local purposes,
there might arise a question as to the propriety of granting
provincial aid, but even then aid ought only to be given in
connexion with the permanent establishment of a turnpike,
so as to provide a fund for the preservation of the provincial
work, and for the payment, if possible, of interest on the
original advances. For lack of such an appendage, provincial
grants have sometimes been pleas for local oppression. By
the 2d Will. 4, c. 44, s. 21, for instance, it was enacted with
respect to certain roads in the vicinity of Quebec, Three
Rivers and Montreal, ' that no road in the said country dis-
tricts or banlieue, which shall have been macadamised, shall
be held to have been in a sufficient state of repair, unless such
road shall have been kept in repair in the same manner, and
with materials and quality at least equal to that of the materials
with which the same was macadamised.' To constrain the
parties, who by the road laws are bound to repair the high-
ways, to maintain them according to the terms of this Act
REPORT : APPENDIX C 179
must appear harsh and unjust to those who are acquainted
with provincial affairs. The natural and equitable mode of
keeping up the roads referred to would have been by turn-
pikes. A few good turnpike roads fairly introduced in the
neighbourhood of Quebec and Montreal would be invaluable
as models for imitation. Suburban roads are as frequently
used by residents of towns as by country people, and it is
only by exacting tolls that the former can be assessed for
their legitimate share of contribution to the maintenance of
these roads. A turnpike was tried with success on the Lachine
Road at Montreal, and after much opposition, the same
system has been adopted and approved in Upper Canada.
AMENDMENT OF ROAD LAW.
The existing law of roads and bridges is as old as 1796. If
age, therefore, is a test of excellence, the continuance of this
law is a presumption in its favour. But the repeated attempts
of the provincial legislature to remedy the admitted defects
of the road system by temporary enactments, prove that the
law of 36 Geo. 3, c. 9, has not been retained in consequence
of its intrinsic excellence and superior applicability to the
wants of the colony.
With the laudable view of facilitating improvement and
lessening expense, the Act 2 Will. 4, c. 44, of the provincial
legislature authorized the freeholders in any parish or town-
ship, or extra-parochial place, to elect a road commissioner,
who should within the limits of such parish, township or
extra-parochial place, have all the powers heretofore vested
in the grand-voyer or his deputy (the powers hereinafter
reserved for the commissioners of the county, or the majority
of them, alone excepted). According to provincial custom,
it was a temporary Act, and expired on the 1st of May 1835.
Now to submit a temporary law to the voluntary acceptance
or rejection of the people was to divest it even of the character
of an experiment. But the measure itself was defective ; it
contained no provision for the possible case of only one com-
missioner being elected for a county ; neither did it create
the checks and securities requisite for the working of a novel
administrative machinery among a rural population deficient
in elementary instruction, and inexperienced in the manage-
ment of local affairs. The Act, in one word, conveyed too
much license to the people, and reserved too small a share of
restraining and correcting influence to central authority.
180 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
DIGEST OF EVIDENCE RESPECTING THE OPERATION OF THE
LAW OF ROADS AND BRIDGES.
Edmund William Romer Anlrobus, Esq., Grand Voyer of the
District of Quebec.
A letter dated 6th October 1838, of which the following are
extracts, was addressed by Mr. Antrobus to the Assistant
Commissioners, explanatory of the duties of the grand-voyer,
and the operation of the road laws : —
' The Act for making, repairing and altering the highways
and bridges in this province, now in force, was passed in the
year 1796. By this Act, the grand-voyers have the direction
&c. &c. in their districts.
' The grand-voyer may appoint a deputy. He may cause
lands to be cleared, and, in case of heavy works or repairs,
may call for the assistance of a parish. He also decides dis-
putes concerning labour, &c. &c., and distributes the work
to be done on winter roads. It is his duty to lay out parishes
in divisions, for each of which an overseer is elected by the
parishioners. He appoints a surveyor of roads in each parish,
seigniory or township, also the overseer in default of election,
and when vacancies by death or otherwise occur. He (the
grand-voyer) is obliged to make an annual tour of inspection,
when it is his business to fine his officers for neglect of duty.
The habitans, generally, wait for the grand-voyer's annual
visit, to lay their opinions before him, to whose opinion they
bow, and thus many lawsuits and heartburnings are avoided.
It has been my good fortune to settle hundreds of these
squabbles, and to send home as friends the parties concerned,
who, if left to the tender mercies of either the avocats de
campagne or of the city, might have fought their battles until
their means were exhausted.
' When it is necessary to change an old road, or open a new
one, &c., a requete is presented to the grand-voyer, who, there-
upon, calls a public meeting, and, after having heard the
parties for and against the prayer contained in the peti-
tion, he proceeds to examine the premises personally ; and he
afterwards decides upon the line of road to be made, and
draws his proces verbal by which the road is described, and
the persons named who are appointed to make and keep the
same in repair. This act is subsequently placed before the
court of quarter sessions to be ratified. Persons not satisfied
with the grand-voyer's decision have an opportunity to file
their opposition to the proces verbal before this court, which
may reject or ratify the same after hearing the parties ; but
REPORT : APPENDIX C 181
the magistrates who compose the court have only a right to
inquire and decide on points of form, and the court is little
else, in matters touching the proces verbaux of the grand-
voyer, than a court of record.
' The above are among the principal features of the Road
Act, which, with some amendments much required in con-
sequence of the increase of the population, but which, as you
are not likely to amend that Act, it is unnecessary here to
mention, I suppose will answer the wants of the people in the
road way for the next quarter of a century, perhaps, unless
the schoolmaster should be very busy indeed.
' In 1832, the Honourable John Neilson, being then a
Member of the House of Assembly and President of the Road
Committee, introduced a Bill, which was passed, intituled
" An Act to amend the Act (the above 36 Geo. 3, c. 9) ", the
object of which was to give the habitans the management of
their road affairs, without consulting the officer of the govern-
ment, namely, the grand- voyer. By this Act the inhabitants
of each parish were authorized to meet, and if the majority
of the proprietors present at such meeting chose (it was not
compulsory upon them), they might elect a road commis-
sioner, to whom all the powers vested in the grand-voyer were
to be transferred. The duration of this Act was limited to
1835. Mr. Neilson, when he introduced this, his favourite
measure, in the House of Assembly, was, as many others
were at the time, convinced that the period had arrived when
the habitans might have the management of their own affairs,
and might do without a grand-voyer in the settlement of
their road concerns ; but, before the expiration of the Act,
Mr. Neilson having inquired into the way in which it operated,
became convinced that the time had not arrived, but that, in
fact, the new law did not work well. I believe that Mr. Neilson
is now quite aware that the period has not arrived when the
Canadians may be left to settle their affairs. I have not, at
least I do not recollect having met with a single person of
respectability, and who has had the good of his country at
heart, since 1832, who expressed himself in favour of the
change ; and, of all parties I have seen — and I have seen the
most respectable and most independent — I know of none
who did not rejoice that the said Act had expired.
* Among the persons elected (vice the grand-voyers) many
could not sign their names. I have now in my office (which
was constituted one of record by the nsw law) proces verbaux
his
to which the X of my substitute is affixed. I mention this
mark
182 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
circumstance to show that my countrymen (for I also am
a Canadian) are not sufficiently educated to be entrusted with
the management of their affairs. In most parishes are to be
found a doctor, a notary, and perhaps a couple of avocats de
campagne, who possess learning, that is, who can contrive to
read their names when they have written them ; but the great
majority of the inhabitants of Lower Canada are totally
uneducated. It would therefore be cruel, I think, to invest
them with powers which, the chances are, would be exercised
against their interests.'
Mr. Antrobus, in his examination before the commissioners,
stated that he had succeeded his father in the office of grand-
voyer, which he had now filled for 20 years. Before the
introduction of the Road Commissioners Act by Mr. Neilson,
petitions had been presented to the legislature, complaining
of partiality on the part of the grand-voyers, and praying
for an alteration in the Road Laws. The grand-voyers could
have no motives for partiality, not being interested in the
localities where their duties called them, nor mixed up in the
affairs of the inhabitants. The real grievance at the time was
the amount of the grand-voyer's fees, and to lighten these
was one of the objects of Mr. Neilson's Act. Had that Act
been permanent, it would have produced general dissatisfac-
tion. It was adopted pretty generally in the townships, but
very sparingly in the seigniories. It worked well in places
where competent officers were chosen, and it would be more
convenient than the present system, if proper persons could
be found to execute it ; but the difficulty is to find educated
and disinterested men. The habitans will not place confidence
in each other. In the Quebec district there is no complaint
as to any needless delay in the working of the present Road
Law. There is a deputy, who acts for the grand-voyer in each
district. He is no additional expense to the country, being
paid by private arrangement with the chief, who nominates
him. The number of deputies ought to be increased ; and
thus, by assigning them judiciously to the different divisions
of a district, the travelling charges might be greatly reduced.
Were a sufficient number of deputies appointed, the grand-
voyer would be enabled to remain, as he ought to do, more
constantly at his office, to supply the information required by
the habitans. The yearly salary of the grand-voyer for the
district of Quebec is 150/., in addition to which he is entitled
to fees on every act of office. Out of these emoluments he is
called upon to defray all office charges. The fees are frequently
not collected, owing to the poverty of the people. Were it
REPORT : APPENDIX C 183
not for the grand-voyer's expenses, new roads would be
frequently opened in places where they do not exist. In
appointing surveyors of highways, he (Mr. Antrobus) has
usually deferred to the wishes of the people, where the party
recommended was likely to be efficient. The overseers of
highways could very well execute the duty of fence-inspectors.
The surveyors are frequently remiss in prosecuting for neglect
of road labour, from the apprehension that, when their neigh-
bour's turn of service comes, they may retaliate their official
vigilance on themselves.
In Lower Canada there will never be a good road until
a rate is established for maintaining the { King's highway '.
When the proprietor of a lot is not forthcoming, those to
whom the road in front is ' useful ' are obliged to keep it in
repair. This is unjust, and the law ought to be amended by
taxing the land for the maintenance of the road, and, if need
be, selling it for the purpose. On the cross roads, people
come willingly from a distance to work ; and if they refuse,
the surveyors employ labourers, and sue the recusants for
the payment.
The court of quarter sessions, as at present constituted, is
totally inadequate to determine appeals on proces verbaux ;
most of the magistrates being altogether unacquainted with
law, and some of them mean, dependent and illiterate. Paid
professional chairmen ought to preside at quarter sessions,
and then these courts would be competent to their duties.
There are magistrates in the province who cannot write their
own names. Formerly there were professional chairmen of
quarter sessions, but the House of Assembly, it is said, from
political dislike to the parties filling the office, caused them
to be dismissed. The power of nominating the superior local
officers should be vested in the central executive. Pure
elective institutions are not suited to the province, as, owing
to the jealousy of the habitans, fit and respectable men will
not be chosen by them. At the same time, it must be admitted,
that the grand-voyer system is a source of grievance. The
powers of the surveyors might with advantage be extended,
and all payments to the grand-voyer equalized, the fees
diminished, and the salary increased.
The opening of a road at Ramouski (about 200 miles from
Quebec) ought to cost no more than opening a road at Beau-
port. The Road Commissioners Act might have suited the
townships better than the old system, the great comparative
extent of the townships not being favourable to the working
of the present Road Law. Lands cleared or in cultivation
184 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
ought to be assessed according to extent, and not according
to their positive value. Wild lands ought also to be assessed,
of course, more lightly than cultivated lands. If wild lands
are worth little or nothing, let the sale of them be the only
penalty on the proprietor for non-payment of rates ; but it is
most unjust to constrain settlers to make roads which add
to the value of wild lands, and yet leave those wild lands
untaxed. Among the mass of the population, it will be impos-
sible to raise a local assessment, unless payment be made
compulsory. The people in the townships are fitted for a more
advanced system of local administration than the inhabitants
of the seigniories.
No respect will be attached to the courts of quarter sessions
until they have paid professional chairmen of learning and
integrity. Being ignorant of law, the magistrates are liable
to be bullied by the lawyers, and there is no assurance of
their arriving at correct decisions or deciding upon proper
grounds. No unprofessional man likes to act as chairman of
quarter sessions ; he has himself remained absent from the
court rather than act in this capacity. The magistrates at
quarter sessions sometimes decide upon the merits of a proces
verbal, which is a usurped authority, and absurd in its exercise,
the court not having the power to examine witnesses on oath
in the matter at issue. This power is vested in the grand-
voyer, who also judges of the affair at issue on the spot.
The Court of King's Bench has decided against the assumed
authority of the magistrates in regard to the proces verbal.
Perhaps an authority of this description might be advan-
tageously conferred on county courts, accompanied by some
modification of the duties of grand-voyer. The more able
members of the magistracy have become disgusted by the
appointment of inferior persons to the bench, and conse-
quently have grown remiss in the execution of their duty.
Hughes Heney, Esq., Grand Voyer of the District of Three
Rivers.
Mr. Heney is of opinion that, in establishing a system of
rural municipalities, it would be advisable to preserve an
efficient central authority, were it only for the keeping of the
road archives. He fears that if the control of municipal affairs
were committed entirely to the country people, it would give
rise to favouritism ; besides, a sufficient number of persons
could not be found competent to discharge the functions that
might be assigned them. The cost of a proces verbal for open-
REPORT : APPENDIX C 185
ing a new road in the district of Three Rivers is about 121,
exclusive of the fees of the clerk of the peace, which amount
to about II. 15s. The magistrates have not, in general,
sufficient intelligence to qualify them for ' homologating '
proces verbaux. By Mr. Neilson's Act, the proces verbaux were
to be deposited with the nearest magistrate ; after whose
decease, copies could not have been obtained.
There is no legal authority to authorize the grand-voyer
to demand any part of his fees in advance. The fees are very
badly paid ; so many small sums being due by poor persons.
He (Mr. Heney) has very often lost his fees, or a great part
of them ; even when the proces verbaux have been homolo-
gated. He has only, on two occasions, been paid his fees in
full. When a requisition has been made to the grand-voyer,
it is the custom to pay him one-third of his fees.
The greatest grievance now experienced under the grand-
voyer system would be removed by the appointment of
deputies residing in the districts for which they may be
called upon to act. By this means, the charges would be
equalized, instead of falling, as they now do, more heavily
on the poorer and more remote districts. He (Mr. Heney)
has a deputy in the townships ; were it not so, the expense
would be unreasonably heavy. In the district of Three Rivers,
there are in fact two deputies ; although the existing law
authorizes the appointment of one only. He wishes that he
had the power of appointing another. It is possible that the
St. Francis district does not fall legally within the road juris-
diction of Three Rivers. Some of the townships of the district
are under the superintendence of the grand-voyer of Montreal.
The yearly salary of the grand-voyer of Three Rivers is
90?., out of which he has to provide for all office charges,
postage, and the expenses of his annual circuit. The gross
amount of his fees for the last year was about 140?. The
receipt of fees does, to a certain extent, give an interest to
the grand-voyer, which might prove prejudicial to justice.
When the roads are contiguous, and the locality poor (the
same parties being interested), Mr. Heney has united the
different roads applied for — amounting sometimes to 16 — in
one proces verbal, and thereby greatly diminishing the ex-
penses.
The habitans could not, he thinks, be induced to tax them-
selves for municipal purposes, or to pay turnpike tolls. They
would rather make a circuit of leagues than pay a turnpike.
They would not consent to give a money payment, instead
of labour value to a greater amount ; time and labour being
186 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
in their situation of comparatively little moment. They have
not assessed themselves for schools or gaols, as they were
invited to do by law. They are, however, bound by law to
build and repair their churches, and they pay pew-rents in
money besides.
Unoccupied lands should be made liable for the maintenance
of roads and bridges. The wood upon them, when required,
should be taken for this purpose, and if necessary, part of the
land sold to pay the share of the road expenses, with which,
in equity, the property might stand chargeable.
The law, as at present, does not authorize payment to the
owners of uncleared land through which roads may pass.
This sometimes operates unfairly, as, for instance, in the
neighbourhood of towns a road may pass through a ' sugary ',
which is a valuable description of property. A discretional
power in this and other points ought to be reposed in the
grand-voyer. The road regulations are too imperative. The
grand-voyer, or some parallel authority, ought to have the
power of adapting the construction of roads to the character
of the soil. The law enforces the making of ditches of a cer-
tain width, although ditches are frequently not required at
all ; no regulation ought to be made legally absolute, except
that which prescribes the breadth of the road.
Pierre Louis Panel, Esq., Grand Voyer of Montreal.
There are about thirty-four townships in the district of the
grand-voyer of Montreal. There are also three townships in
the district of St. Francis under his control ; Stanstead, one
of them, is 90 miles from Montreal. The deputy of the grand-
voyer of Three Rivers is likewise deputy of the Montreal
grand-voyer in these townships. Mr. Panet has never visited
them in his ' annual circuit ', not having time to do so.
Fees are regulated by tariff, approved at court of quarter
sessions. The Montreal tariff is different from that of Quebec.
The average cost of a proces verbal in the Montreal district
is from III. to 151. currency, exclusive of the fees paid to the
clerk of the peace. The fees of the grand-voyer are very
badly paid ; he (Mr. Panet) believes he does not receive one-
half of his taxed charges. His yearly salary is 150?., out of
which he defrays all the expenses of his office. Is of opinion
that the fees should be relinquished, reserving only so much
as would stimulate deputies to the discharge of their duty,
and prevent idle applications from the country people. By
a rule of the court of quarter sessions, the grand-voyer of
Montreal has a right to claim four shillings a day towards
REPORT : APPENDIX C 187
travelling expenses (going and returning) before he starts.
The power should be vested in the grand-voyer of appointing
a greater number of deputies. His (Mr. Panet's) deputy
resides in Montreal. The townships of the Ottawa are in the
Montreal district, but so. distant that the grand-voyer has
never had an application from them, neither has he visited
them in his annual circuit. The Act giving to grand- voyers
the right of appointing more than one deputy expired in 1825.
If the number of deputies were increased, the amount of fees
received by the grand-voyer would be proportionally lessened.
The gross amount of the fees received annually for the district
of Montreal may average about 300?. The Road Commis-
sioners Act was put into operation chiefly in the townships.
In the parishes of some counties there was not a sufficient
number of magistrates to ' homologate ' the proces verbaux.
About one -half of the parishes in the Montreal district elected
officers under the Act. Has heard that the opening of an
extraordinary number of roads was legally approved when
this Act came into operation. For example, in 1834 and part
of 1835, 52 new roads were sanctioned in the county of Beau-
harnois. Mr. Brown, of Beauharnois, represented at the time
to his brother magistrates, that these roads were too numerous
to be completed, but the bench out-voted him. The grand-
voyer's emoluments are in no degree affected by his accept-
ance or rejection of a petition, and whether he complies with
or rejects its prayer, he frames his proces verbal.
Large sums of money have, since 1815, been granted for
road-making by the provincial legislature. In the first
instance, the grants were placed at the disposal of commis-
sioners appointed by the government, who were empowered
to lay out their roads according to their own discretion, and
expend the money on them. Great complaints of mismanage-
ment and non-appropriation arose, and, subsequently, a better
system was adopted, by wilich the road for which the money
was granted was especially designated, and vouchers required
for accounts. The money thus granted was chiefly expended
in the townships ; the settlers there being so much impeded
by the crown and clergy reserves as to feel necessitated to
call upon the government to aid in opening roads.
Under Mr. Neilson's Act, although the commissioners had
no fees, the expenses were occasionally greater than under
the old law. There were various disbursements to make, as,
for instance, for the payment of a sworn surveyor and a notary
to draw up the proces verbal and furnish copies thereof ; none
of which charges were exacted from the applicants under the
188 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
grand-voyer system. In the townships, which sometimes did
not employ a sworn surveyor, there was a saving, but little
was gained in the seigniorial districts. The commissioners
did very little in the fifty parishes which adopted the Act,
owing to the difficulty of procuring magistrates to homo-
logate the proc&s verbaux, and the short duration of the law.
Only 30 or 40 proces verbaux proceeded from these parishes ;
the remainder, of 150, for the Montreal district, were from the
townships. There are about a hundred parishes in the district
of Montreal.
Mr. Panet is of opinion that enlarged municipal powers
might be entrusted to officers popularly elected, so as to unite
in the same body the superintendence of roads, fences, pounds,
water-courses, &c., preserving, however, so much of the grand-
voyer system as would leave the opening of new roads to
officers independent of the localities interested, and free from
such personal ties as might be supposed to influence their
decisions.
The habitans would be very reluctant to pay a regular
annual tax ; but they would not object to be assessed for any
necessary and clearly-understood object as occasionally might
arise, such as the repair of roads or the construction of bridges.
It would be quite practicable, indeed it has been the custom
in many cases, to repair bye-roads by contract, levying the
amount expended by assessment. This practice is a con-
venience to farmers, who might otherwise, when living at
a distance from the works, be put to considerable trouble and
expense in contributing personal labour.
It would be well to exact money contributions in all cases,
except for the front roads or highways ; and for these, the
kind of contributions, whether of money or of labour, might
be left optional. The Act of 1825 was framed with this view ;
but the intention of its authors was frustrated by the clumsi-
ness of the machinery employed.
A portion of the provincial funds might perhaps be usefully
appropriated in laying out great lines of road, under the
direction of government engineers, and taxing the people for
their support, in proportion to the local advantage they
derived from them.
The apportionment of money payments is made by over-
seers. It would much facilitate their labours, and promote
an equitable assessment, if the overseers of parishes or town-
ships were authorized to keep a register of the lands or rate-
able property.
Much inconvenience is occasioned by the postponement of
REPORT : APPENDIX C 189
j)roces verbaux from one quarter sessions to another. Paid
professional chairmen are absolutely essential to the efficiency
of courts of quarter sessions, and power should be given to
magistrates to decide postponed proces verbaux in special
sessions, to avoid the delay of three months, which, in the
climate of Canada, must materially retard improvement.
Jacques Viger, Esq., Surveyor of Highways for the Parish and
City of Montreal.
Mr. Viger, in the country part of his district, exercises an
authority similar to that of the grand-voyer, assisted by nine
overseers or sub -inspectors of highways. In the city, by
a clause of the Road Act, the surveyor of the highways is
inspector also ; so that Mr. Viger, the inspector in Montreal,
bears the same relation to Mr. Viger as surveyor that the
overseers bear to him as grand-voyer in the country part of
his district. In his character of inspector, he is called upon to
superintend the execution of the work prescribed or suggested
by himself as surveyor, and his city duties are so multifarious,
that an overseer named by the magistrates really discharges
the duty of inspector. When the opening of a new street is
deemed necessary, a petition to that effect is forwarded to the
magistrates, who, if favourable to its prayer, call upon the
sheriff to form a jury of 12 to be sworn before them at special
sessions, and to report upon their oath whether the desired
improvement be useful and necessary. If the jury report
in the affirmative, the magistrates are empowered to treat
and agree with the proprietors of the ground through which
the street is to pass. If there be a difference as to terms,
the matter is left to arbitrators, whose judgment is final ; the
losing party paying costs of arbitration. After the plan has
been adopted, it is the duty of the surveyor of highways to
trace the line of the road or street.
In the construction of a sewer or bridge for the city, the
surveyor proceeds by proces verbal, which is submitted to the
magistrates, notice being given to the parties interested to
appear to offer their objections within eight days. The magis-
trates decide in the same way as in the case of an appeal
against the grand-voyer's proces verbal. After the proces
verbal has obtained the sanction of the court, the surveyor
of highways passes from the character of grand-voyer into
that of road-inspector, and proceeds to superintend the
erection of the work thus approved by the court.
Mr. Viger's income is derived partly from salary, and partly
190 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
from fees, as regulated by tariff. His salary is 2001. a year,
payable out of the ' road fund '. His fees have declined to
a small amount, his country district being limited to a parish,
for which proces verbaux are now rarely required ; the roads
demanded by public concurrence having been already opened,
and new streets and sewers being seldom wanted for the city.
Mr. Viger thinks favourably of the turnpike system as
regards the maintenance of highways, more especially in the
neighbourhood of large towns. The bye-roads he would leave
to be maintained by the farmers by contract, as recom-
mended by Mr. Panet, — a practice which has been voluntarily
adopted by the people apart from legal enactment. The road
from Montreal to La Chine was 16 years turnpike, and paid
expenses, and gave satisfaction. The farmers in the immediate
vicinity of a large town are not able to maintain the roads,
nor is it fair that they should be constrained to do so. After
the La Chine road again came under the old system of manage-
ment, and ceased to be turnpike, a rich and educated man
residing on the line returned to the obsolete and defective
system of repairing his portion of the road, a system which
had been relinquished for 16 years, — a proof of the obstinate
adherence to ancient usages which prevails even among the
better class of persons in the province.
Joseph Bouchette, Esq., Surveyor-general of the Province.
Mr. Bouchette stated that the grand-voyer system had
never been popular ; it was both tedious and expensive.
There ought, he conceived, to be a new municipal subdivision
of the province, and proper officers assigned to the different
localities for executing the duties expressly assigned to the
grand-voyer.
Poor settlers in the townships are hardly dealt with in being
obliged to make new roads through large blocks of unculti-
vated lands. The holders of those lands ought, in equity, to
be called upon to contribute to the roads. A precedent for
exacting road duty from absentee proprietors had been set in
Upper Canada, where the remedy, Mr. Bouchette alleges, has
proved effectual.
Paul Holland Knowlton, Esq., J.P.
Mr. Knowlton, of Brome township, county of Shefford, is
a colonel of militia, and a member of the special council, under
the administration of his Excellency Sir John Colborne.
In a written communication, Mr. Knowlton submitted the
REPORT : APPENDIX C 191
following general suggestions to the commissioners. His own
words are quoted : —
* First. It appears to me that a new subdivision of counties
should take place ; and, if not done by some such power as
that with which you are invested, it never can be done ; for
there are those among us, and they are not few, whose local
interests will be, or they will fancy them to be, affected by
the first subdivision ; and who would move heaven and earth
sooner than suffer any loss of property, or of supposed con-
sequence. These considerations must all be set aside ; and
the only question to ask is, What is best and safest for us as
British subjects ?
' Second. Give us county courts, or establish new districts.
In either case let there be a competent jurisdiction, with
a respectable law judge, or with circuit judges, as may be
deemed best, bringing the court as near the door of the suitor
as possible.
' Third. Abolish the grand-voyer system of road-making,
which is illegal under the English tenure, and give us power,
in each township, to alter and execute every thing pertaining
to highways ; matters can be better managed, and at far less
expense, by those who have the roads to make than by the
grand-voyers.'
Mr. Knowlton, being examined by the commissioners, stated
that the expense and delay of the grand voyer system were the
subject of much complaint ; it was altogether unsuited to the
condition of the people in the townships. The grand-voyer,
unless specially called upon, had never made an official visit
to the townships. The people of those localities are perfectly
competent to manage their common affairs, and all road
business might be left to them with great advantage. Their
fitness had been proved by the experiment under the Road
Commissioners Act ; but that Act was defective, inasmuch
as the commissioners were bound by the old road laws, which
were ill adapted to the townships. Without a new and com-
plete subdivision of the province, no improved system of local
institutions can be efficiently established. Such a subdivision
must be matter of imperial legislation, as, if left to provincial
arrangement, private interests would interfere injuriously.
Mr. Macbean, of De Rouville Mountain, in the county of
Rouville, thus alludes to the road system in a letter addressed
to the commissioners, bearing date September the 10th,
1838 : — ' I beg you will give your particular attention to the
present manner of repairing roads. I conceive the system to
be most objectionable. The duties upon the overseers are
192 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
oppressive, and quite unrequited by remuneration ; while the
practice of giving personal labour upon the road, exerted as
it is at your own discretion, and upon a particular spot, con-
tributes really nothing either to its present or paramount
improvement.
' At their own convenience, after seed-time, they turn out
at summons of their surveyor, and throw clods upon the road
until it is almost impassable for a few weeks after. When it
has become beaten down, it is no more looked after, and the
remaining or subsequently formed ruts are left unfilled during
the whole season. Oftentimes bridges are broken down or
planks removed from their covering, and they remain for
weeks unrepaired. The bridge over the Huron or St. J.
Baptiste river, above Point Olivier, which fell down last
winter, has not yet been repaired or rebuilt, and no one seems
to say it is wrong or knows any thing about it. These things
penetrate a person from " the old country " to the quick,
and continually stick to and torment him. They are really
a never-ending source of chagrin.'
Mr. Henry May, of Verdun, on the Lower Lachine road,
near Montreal, after calling attention to the 'imperfect and
vexatious manner in which the roads of the district are made
and repaired, and to the dangerous state in which they are
for the greater part of the year,' urges the necessity of
establishing ' turnpike roads, under trusts or commissioners,
to the principal outlets to Upper and Lower Canada '. ' This ',
adds Mr. May, ' would not only relieve the agriculturists
situated on these roads from vexatious interference, at a time
when their attention ought to be directed to putting in their
crops and harvesting the same, for the short period of the
year in which agricultural operations can be carried on, but
would likewise greatly improve the entrance to the city of
Montreal.'
Mr. Charles Howard and others, proprietors and landholders
of the parishes of Charlesbourg and Beauport, in the neigh-
bourhood of Quebec, state, in a memorial praying for relief,
that the mode of giving notice under the Road Act is ex-
tremely inconvenient to persons not belonging to the Catholic
faith nor residing in the vicinity of the parish churches. The
memorialists also complain of the custom of partitioning off
small patches of roads for them to keep in repair at a distance
from their houses, and profess a willingness to repair a larger
portion of road adjacent to their places of residence. Another
grievance to which they advert is the practice of overseers,
who, when difficulties arise between them and the farmers
REPORT : APPENDIX C 193
have recourse to advocates, and issue summonses from the
police office, ' thereby heaping ruinous expenses on them, and
injuring them with impunity.' They pray for a less expensive
and more summary mode of trial, so that the penalty may
be proportionate to the offence.
Mr. Charles Houle and others, inhabitants of the township
of Stanfold, Somerset and Nicolet rivers, in a memorial pray-
ing for the grant of public money for the opening of a road,
represent that they have been five years residing in these
districts, and number about 200 families, and that they have
no means of communication from their houses to the highway
by which they might convey their potash to a market.
David Chisholm, esq., formerly clerk of the peace at Three
Rivers, thus describes the effect of the present road system in
promoting litigation among the country people : —
' In the general and special sessions of the peace, and before
single justices, complaints are almost daily brought against
some offender under the road law. Sometimes a common
informer files a qui tarn prosecution against a habitan for
permitting, for instance, a cahot to be upon the public high-
way in front of his house or property. Sometimes the sur-
veyor, or overseer of roads and bridges, is prosecuted for not
doing his duty ; that is, for not taking care that the good
order of the roads is properly attended to. Sometimes, as
there is a gradation of road officers, the one prosecutes the
other for a neglect of public duty. The grand-voyer informs
upon his inferiors, and, in return, the grand-voyer himself is
not unfrequently charged with official dereliction.
' The road system has always been a most fruitful source
of petty, penal litigation in this province. The moment neigh-
bours quarrel, the first thing they do in order to gratify their
animosity is to prosecute one another for some breach of the
road law, an offence easily substantiated against almost every
landholder in the country. Such prosecutions are of course
legally resisted, not only with the view of escaping the pre-
scribed penalties, but also in the hope of gaining a judicial
victory over private vindictiveness. Lawyers are employed,
and the French Canadian will spend his last penny to get the
better of his antagonist ; the consequence is, that many of
the habitans have been driven to want and even to beggary
by this propensity to litigation, a passion so congenial to the
natures of an ignorant and semi-civilized people.
' As to prosecutions under the road law, I have known many
of them to commence before a single justice of the peace for
a penalty of 5s. which terminated before the Court of King's
1352.3 O
194 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Bench, after exposing the parties to an expense for law pro-
ceedings of 15?., 201. and even 30Z. There are, first, the pro-
ceedings before the justice or justices in special or weekly
sessions — not at the door of the litigant, but at Quebec,
Montreal or Three Rivers, frequently many miles distant from
the homes of the contending parties. There is, next, an
appeal to the quarter sessions ; and as it is impossible that
the decision of any court can satisfy both sides, there is, lastly,
a writ of certiorari to the Court of King's Bench, which, before
it can be returned, will cost, at least, 51. in fees to court officers,
besides the usual consideration to lawyers .
' Now, although it is impossible to enforce the provisions
of any statute imposing penalties, without admitting the right
of any one that chooses to prosecute for these penalties, still,
in a country where indolent habits are so prevalent, and where
there are thousands who would expend their last farthing on
law rather than repair a piece of road, at the cost of, perhaps,
a few hours' manual labour, it seems absolutely necessary to
have recourse to some more efficacious methods of enforcing
the road law than those prescribed by the Act. Resort must
be had to some system of municipal superintendence and
direction similar to that which exists in Upper Canada. To
be sure, the roads in that province are sometimes bad enough,
but that is not the fault of the law ; it is the effect of a scanty
population, and a corresponding want of funds for carrying
the provisions of the lawT into execution.* At any rate, if there
were no other blemish in the road laws of Lower Canada than
the facility which they afford to the litigious propensities of
the French Canadians, no time ought to be lost in applying
a remedy to the evil.'
* This observation explains the cause of the imperfect working of the
municipal machinery of Upper Canada, where the laws are framed in a
manner very superior to those of the Lower Province. Persons who are
disposed to regard the local administration of the United States as a model
for other countries, will probably be unwilling to believe that in the State of
New York, whose prosperity has been immensely increased by its canal
and railroad communications, the management of the roads is extremely
defective, although there is a large population, possessing abundant resources.
The last message of the Governor to the legislature of the State of New
York contains this reference to the subject : ' The present condition of our
highways has resulted from the necessity of constructing roads over an
extended surface, with the scanty means and efforts of a sparse population.
But this inconvenience has, in a great measure, ceased to exist. The labour
expended on our highways is a grievous tax, and yet our roads are scarcely
improved. Their summer repairs accomplish little more than restoring
them to the condition they maintained before the injuries of the winter
season occurred. The evil lies in a misapplication of the labour assessed.'
REPORT : APPENDIX C 195
CITIES AND TOWNS.
EACH grand division of the province has its capital, the
seat of district jurisdiction ; Quebec, Montreal and Three
Rivers for their respective districts of the same name ; New
Carlisle for the inferior district of Gaspe, and Sherbrooke for
St. Francis. The population of Quebec has been estimated
at 30,000 (the British and French Canadians being nearly in
equal numbers) ; of Montreal (where the majority are sup-
posed to be British) at 36,000 ; of Three Rivers, 3,000. New
Carlisle and Sherbrooke are as yet rather villages than towns.
Quebec and Montreal alone have been incorporated.
A stranger arriving at Quebec experiences at every step
the discomfort occasioned by the absence of good local govern-
ment. He finds streets narrow and ill-paved, huge wooden
steps projecting, in contempt of the law, across the broken
and unsocial trottoir, to the imminent peril of the unwary
passenger ; unwholesome water, sold by carters who take it
from the St. Lawrence ; and a total want of public lights :
a lantern is the usual resource of those who are obliged to
explore their way through the streets on dark and stormy
nights. Such is the capital of British North America, —
a city beautifully situated, and possessing an extensive
commerce.
Montreal has, in some respects, more of British improve-
ment in its appearance and arrangements than Quebec ; the
paving is indeed very defective, but the new lines of streets
are well laid out, and the obstacles to pedestrians are fewer
and less formidable than in the provincial capital. A good
supply of water is furnished by an incorporated company ;
and there is a gas company prepared to light the town when-
ever the local authorities are empowered to conclude an
agreement for that purpose. As, under the existing legislature
of Lower Canada, no new tax or rate can be imposed, Montreal
remains in darkness during the nights oi winter, at a time
when military guards are planted in almost every street, and
the citizens are constantly disturbed by alarms of invasion
and insurrection.
From the middle of November until May the inhabitants
of the cities are held responsible, under the road law, for the
state of the highways and footpaths in front of their houses.
It is thus left to individuals to remove the obstacles caused
by the snow, instead of resorting to the far more efficient
and less annoying mode of providing for the performance of
the work by general assessment. Many persons, finding it
O 2
196 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
inconvenient to discharge the duty through servants of their
own, have recourse to professional street-clearers, who under-
take to keep the ways free from obstruction during the winter
season, at a certain specified rate of charge.
The following announcement, taken from the Montreal
newspapers of this year, will explain the practice more clearly
than general description : —
' WINTEE ROADS.
' Captain B. S. Schiller will, during the winter season (com-
mencing 1st December, and ending 1st May) undertake to
keep the roads free from cahots* and to take away the ice
and rubbish. He will also clear the footpaths. The charge
for the above will be 6d. per superficial foot, payable as
follows : — One -half on the 1st of December, and the other
half on the 1st of March.
' Captain S. hopes his friends will continue the patronage
with which he has been favoured during the last 17 years.'
Closely connected by commercial relations with Upper
Canada, Montreal, under a stable system of government and
enlightened institutions, would advance with great rapidity,
and become, ere long, one of the most flourishing emporiums
on the American continent. Its trade — indeed the whole
trade of the province — is almost entirely in the hands of the
British. An inclination to commercial pursuits is rarely dis-
played by the Franco-Canadians ; on the contrary, they seem
to regard the mercantile class with jealousy and dislike, and
their occupations with something approaching to scorn. And
what is the result of their anti-commercial habits and foolish
prejudices ? The division of landed property, which takes
place under the law of inheritance daily, reduces the means
of the more opulent families. The young men of these families
* The French word 'caAo£', literally, a jolt or shake, is applied in Lower
Canada to the inequalities on the winter roads, caused by the masses of snow
accumulated, in consequence of the clumsy construction of the winter
carriages in use among the habitans.
Where ' cahots ' abound, they destroy the pleasure of sleighing, and add
materially to the fatigue of man and horse during a long journey. No such
nuisance exists in the townships, Upper Canada or the United States.
Attempts have been made, but in vain, by the authorities, to coerce the
habitans into a reform of their vehicles ; had these attempts been persisted
in, the country folks would probably have shown their determination to
uphold the jolting system, by stopping the supplies to the town markets.
It is indeed recorded, that such was actually the case, and had the effect
of causing the Governor and Legislative Council of the day to repeal an
ordinance prescribing, under a slight penalty, a small alteration in the form
of the Canadian train or cariole.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 197
are destitute of the skill and capital required for profitable
agriculture, even if they were disposed to maintain them-
selves by farming. The Catholic Church offers few tempta-
tions to the young and aspiring colonist ; and there is no
army or navy to open a way for him to distinction. Law and
medicine are the only professions that hold out the hope of
elevation and independence ; but these professions are too
crowded to render it possible for the majority of practitioners
to obtain a satisfactory share of public favour, and conse-
quent emolument. From professional disappointment arises
political place -hunting, which, baffled in its object, too often
expands into a wild desire for change, criminal in its means,
desperate in its aims, the growth of mortified pride, narrow
experience, and an unreasoning ambition.
Under a temporary Act, Quebec and Montreal were watched
and lighted, after a sort, down to May 1836. The funds were
altogether unequal to the proper support of these essential
branches of civic government. Lamps fed with oil were dis-
tributed at intervals, ' few and far between ' ; and the guardian-
ship of the night was intrusted to a meagre selection of the
class of veteran servitors, of whose impotency for all useful
purposes the people of London were cognizant before the
establishment of ' the New Police '.
A constabulary force for day and night service in Quebec
and Montreal, on the plan of the metropolitan police, has been
organized under an ordinance issued during the administra-
tion of Lord Durham. The force in each city is placed under
the direction and supervision of an inspector and superinten-
dent, who is also a justice of the peace, and acts in that
capacity. The propriety of uniting the functions of magis-
trate and executive chief of police in one and the same person
may well be questioned ; but in these particular cases it may
doubtless be justified on the ground of present necessity.
Such a necessity would cease to exist, if Quebec and Montreal
were again incorporated upon safe, equitable and compre-
hensive principles.
Mr. T. A. Young, inspector and superintendent of police
for Quebec, has furnished the subjoined return of the force
on duty in that city, as a day and night police, on the 27th
of September 1838 ; with a statement of the expense of its
maintenance, and an estimate of contingencies.
198 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
QUEBEC CITY POLICE.
£. s. d.
One inspector and superintendent, per diem
One chief constable
One serjeant- major
Two Serjeants, at 3s. Qd. each
Four corporals, at 3s. each .
Twenty-four privates, at 2s. 6d. each
- 6 -
— 4 —
- 7 -
- 12 -
3 - -
Expense per diem . . . . 59-
Weekly expense . . . . 38 3 -
Annual expense .... £.1,989 - -
Contingencies :
Clothing . . . • . . £.448 13 -
Stationery, printing, surgeon's ac-
count, expresses, secret service, &c. 200 - -
648 13 -
TOTAL EXPENDITURE for One Year . . £.2,637 13 -
Since the date of the preceding return, the provisions of the
police ordinance have been extended to the parishes in the
neighbourhood of Quebec and Montreal, and a considerable
increase of the force in both cities has been made owing to
this extension and the disturbed state of the province.
The police, as an improvement upon the past, has generally
afforded satisfaction, and in Quebec it has been very useful
from the facilities it gave for the apprehension of runaway
seamen. A testimony of its usefulness appears in the present-
ment of the grand jury at the last September session of the
Court of King's Bench for the district of Quebec : —
' The grand jury have noticed with much satisfaction the
great advantages experienced by the public in the recent
establishment of the police in this city, on an improved
system, under the authority of his Excellency the Governor-
general, and strongly recommend an increase to the members
of this useful description of force ; added to which, the grand
jury respectfully recommend that public lamps be again fixed
throughout the city, — a measure of great necessity to aid the
efficiency of the police, and further to secure the peace and
quietness of the inhabitants during the night.'
The recommendation of the grand jury respecting public
lamps strikingly illustrates the neglect of the most ordinary
accessaries to social comfort, security and decorum, occasioned
by the want of appropriate local institutions. The Watch and
Light Act expired in 1836, and as the law from which the
Governor derived his powers deprived him of all authority
in the matter of imposing any rate or tax, the recommenda-
REPORT : APPENDIX C 199
tion of the grand jury was, in substance, a suggestion to his
Excellency to defray the expense of lighting the streets of
Quebec out of the provincial chest, the funds in which appear
to be regarded in Lower Canada as a common stock, on which
every class of exigents have a right to lay their hands before
they have recourse to their own particular pockets. Previous
to the passing of the Acts incorporating Quebec and Montreal,
bills for establishing municipal government in these cities
had been sent up by the House of Assembly to the Legis-
lative Council, where they were rejected, on the plea that
they contained provisions calculated to promote private
interests to the prejudice of the public. The bills which
eventually received the sanction of the provincial legislature
might, we conceive, have been justly rejected, for reasons in
the main not dissimilar. In the first place, their temporary
character had a tendency to lessen the respect due to the
authority they were intended to create, that authority itself
being necessarily incompetent to mature and work out any
comprehensive plan of improvement. In the next place, their
provisions, as regarded the municipal franchise and the dis-
tribution of the wards, had the inevitable effect of giving
a lasting and undue preponderance in the town councils to
the representatives of a favoured class, namely, the Franco-
Canadians. It happened, accordingly, that, among the twenty
councillors allotted to Quebec, four was the average number
of members of British blood. The officers appointed by the
corporation were of French extraction, and the corporate
records were kept in the French language. There was about
the same proportion of members of British origin in the
Montreal town council as in that of Quebec, and the corporate
officers were similarly selected. Thus, in two cities dependent
for their prosperity on commerce, that portion of the com-
munity who were at the head of all commercial undertakings
were, by a partial franchise, and an unfair sectional arrange-
ment, thrown into a hopeless minority in the local adminis-
trative bodies. Nor do we find that their exclusion was
compensated by the superior trustworthiness of those who
constituted the majority. In Montreal, the choice, for one year
at least, was unfortunate. In the list of councillors elected
in June 1835 (for the last year of incorporation) are the names
of Dr. Robert Nelson, Messrs. E. E. Rodier, John M'Donnell,
L. H. Lafontaine, J. Donegani, and Dr. Lusignan ; all of
whom are now in prison or in exile, in consequence of being
engaged in treasonable practices, or implicated in aiding and
abetting them.
200 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Besides their temporary and exclusive character, there were
other and vital defects in the Acts incorporating Quebec and
Montreal. They invested the town councils with a very
imperfect share of municipal attributes. These bodies had,
in fact, hardly any substantial authority beyond the superin-
tendence of streets, and, even in that department, they were
controlled by a special Road Act of 1799. A section of the
meagre statutes of incorporation is devoted to a summary
of the moral obligations incident to the discharge of the
mayoralty : ' The mayor to be vigilant and active in causing
the laws for the government of the city to be respected,' &c.
Through what description of agency the city functionary's
vigilance was to be exerted, we are left to surmise, for he who,
by virtue of his office, is chief magistrate in the corporate
towns of Great Britain and the United States, was in the
incorporated cities of Lower Canada no magistrate at all.
And if the administrative powers conferred upon the corpora-
tions were little, the resources at their disposal were less.
The average yearly revenue of the city of Quebec for five
years was 5,500?., a sum which, with strict economy, would
barely suffice to pay the corporate officers, and maintain an
efficient constabulary police.
Partial in the distribution of electoral privileges ; crippled
by the Road Act, the Watch and Light Act, and other laws
for municipal purposes ; obliged to await the tardy sanction
of the superior courts to their bye-laws and internal regula-
tions ; destitute of funds adequate to the proper accomplish-
ment of the objects within the limited circle of their adminis-
tration ; the corporations of Quebec and Montreal passed
through the term of their brief existence, leaving with the
public no memorial of their usefulness, nor any general
anxiety for their revival.* Sir George Gipps could hardly
have examined this halting attempt at municipal govern-
ment, when he expressed the opinion, ' that if the chief
magistrates of Quebec and Montreal, after their completion
of the terms of their service, were to become, of right, legis-
lative councillors for an equal term, it would add to the
popularity of the legislative councillors'.
* It is stated, that an Act for continuing the incorporation of Montreal
was thrown out by the House of Assembly, because a provision had been
inserted in it by the Legislative Council, conferring the municipal franchise
upon tenants as well as proprietors.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 201
ABSTRACT OF THE ACTS FOR INCORPORATING
QUEBEC AND MONTREAL.
QUEBEC.
BY the Provincial Act 1 Will. 4, c. 52, Quebec was incor-
porated and divided into 10 wards ; each ward to return two
members to the common council ; nine of the 20 councillors
thus returned to constitute a quorum, of which the mayor
always to be considered one.
ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION.
The right of voting for the ward in which he resided, con-
ferred upon every male inhabitant, being a resident in the
city for 12 months preceding the election, and proprietor of
a house, with the ground on which it is built and paying
assessment.*
In cases of objection to voters, the party tendering the vote
to swear to his qualification.
Qualification of Councillors. — The possession as proprietor
of real property to the yearly value of 251. currency (amount-
ing to 221. 4s. 8d. sterling), clear of all incumbrances, and
over and above all rents and charges affecting the same (said
property being in the ward for which the return is made) ;
with residence in the city for two years previous to the election.
Election of Councillors. — The annual election to be holden
on the first Monday in June ; poll to open at 10 in the morn-
ing, and close at four in the afternoon. The election not to
occupy more than two successive days, unless Sundays and
holidays (fetes d' obligation) should intervene. Justices of the
peace to preside at the first elections under the Act ; at all
subsequent elections, the councillors for the time being in their
respective wards.
One-half of the council to retire in annual rotation. At the
close of the first "year under the Act, the councillors for the
several wards to determine the order of their retirement by
lot or ballot.
* Assessment is levied under the road law, which provides, ' That no lot
of ground which (together with the houses and buildings thereon erected)
does not exceed the annual value of 51. currency, and no lots, houses or
buildings occupied by religious communities of women, and no grounds
without the fortification walls of the said cities respectively used for pasture,
hay-land, or for raising grain, shall be assessed under this Act.' No other
description of property is exempted. ' The Canadians,' says Laterriere, in
his Political and Historical Account of Lower Canada, ' with hardly an
exception, are proprietors of land.' Not so the commercial classes of British
origin resident in the towns.
202 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Persons refusing to serve liable to a penalty of 251. currency.
No councillor obliged to serve for more than four successive
years. Exemptions may be claimed by certain public officers
and members of learned professions.
Oath of Office. — Councillors sworn to perform and execute
their duty according to the intent and meaning of the
Act.
The Mayor. — To be elected annually by and from the
council, and to be allowed a salary not exceeding 100Z. per
annum. — Chief executive officer of the corporation and president
of the council, which may, in his absence, choose a temporary
chairman. Empowered to call extraordinary meetings of
council.* Instructed * to be vigilant and active in causing
the laws for the government of the city to be enforced, to
inspect the conduct of all subordinate municipal officers, and,
so far as in his power, to cause all neglect or violation of duty
to be prosecuted and punished '. Also instructed to com-
municate to the council such information and recommend
such measures ' as may tend to the improvement of the
finances, the police, health, security, cleanliness, comfort and
advancement of the town '.
PROCEEDINGS AND POWERS OF COUNCIL.
Proceedings to be public ' with regard to all the members
of the incorporation '.
A statement of revenue and expenditure to be published
at least once a year, in one or more of the French and English
newspapers of the city.
The council to appoint such officers as to it may seem
expedient, and allow them a just and reasonable remunera-
tion. The treasurer to give security, and all the corporate
officers to render their accounts as often as required by the
council.
Council to have the powers which, before the passing of the
Act, were vested in the justices of the peace (resident in the
city) for making police regulations, receiving and employing
the monies raised by assessments or otherwise, and over and
concerning all streets, lanes, roads, causeways, pavements,
bridges, embankments, water-courses, sewers, market-places
public squares, and all other improvements within the city ;
the making and repairing of all market-houses and weigh-
houses in the different markets, watching and lighting, and,
* The Act made no provision for meetings of council at certain fixed
periods.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 203
generally, over all things which might in any way regard
the improvement and convenience of the city.*
Council to have possession of all monies raised by assess-
ment or otherwise, the funds appropriated for watching and
lighting the city, and all the immovable property and out-
standing debts formerly under the control of the justices of
the peace, with all registers, books of assessment and other
documents belonging to or concerning the city.
Council empowered to make bye-laws, ' such laws not being
repugnant to the laws and constitution of the province,' with
the proviso that no bye-law shall have effect unless made by
a majority of the whole council, and confirmed by the Court
of King's Bench. Bye-laws not to impose any fine or penalty
exceeding the sum of 51. currency.
Fines, penalties and forfeitures recoverable in a summary
manner before any two justices of the peace for the district,
in weekly sessions ; one moiety of such fines and forfeitures
to go to the informer, the other to the corporate fund.
Council empowered to purchase ground for opening new
streets, squares and market-places, or improving those already
opened ; also to borrow money and to issue transferable and
redeemable bonds for the same, bearing interest not exceed-
ing six per cent. The sums borrowed not to exceed at any
time ' one moiety of the net proceeds of the revenue raised
by assessment or otherwise ' for city purposes during the
preceding year.
The powers vested in the corporation not to interfere with
the powers granted by law to the Trinity-house in respect of
the port and harbour of Quebec.
MONTREAL.
By the Act of Incorporation, 1 Will. 4, c. 54, the city was
divided into eight wards, each returning two members to the
council. Seven to be a quorum; the mayor always to be
one.
The Act restrained the corporation from interfering with
the powers of the Montreal Trinity-house (since merged in
that of Quebec), the wharves and slips erected or being
erected by the commissioners for improving and enlarging
the harbour of the city, and the wharves and grounds under
the direction of the commissioners for superintending and
* The municipal powers withdrawn by the Act from the resident justices
became re-invested in them after the Act had expired. Thus two important
towns were shuttle-cocked between different forms of local government in
the short space of three years.
204 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
enlarging the Lachine Canal. With the exception of these
purely local provisions, the Montreal Statute of Incorpora-
tion is similar to that of Quebec.
MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.
Mr. Longevin, formerly town clerk of Quebec, has furnished
the following list of municipal officers for that city during the
period of its incorporation, distinguishing those appointed
by the council and those appointed by the Crown. With
some immaterial differences, the return will also apply to
Montreal.
Officers appointed by the Grown.
Health Officer. — Chief duty, inspecting vessels, their crews
and passengers.
Road Surveyor. — Duties prescribed by Road and Police Acts.
Inspector of Flour.
Inspector of Pot and Pearl Ashes.
Inspector of Chimneys. — The duty performed in 1833, by an
officer chosen by a society constituted under a tem-
porary Act, and confirmed by the Common Council.
After the expiry of the said Act, the duty performed
by the officer originally appointed by the Crown.
Inspector of Weights and Measures.
Clerks of Markets.
Superintendent of Watch and Light, and his Deputy, under
a provincial Act since expired.
Clerks of the Peace ; High Constable. — ' District ' officers.
Harbour Master and Superintendent of the Cul-de-sac. —
Appointed by the Crown, but acting under the
direction of the Quebec Trinity-house.
Officers appointed by the Common Council.
Mayor.
Town Clerk. — (This office was not rilled by a lawyer.)
Road Treasurer. — Acting as treasurer to the corporation.
Law Adviser. — None appointed in 1835.
Notary.
Clerks of Markets. — Two for new markets opened during the
period of incorporation, but not recognized by the
Crown.
Inspector of Beaches. — tinder a temporary Act, now expired.
Corporation Wardens. — Six ; for enforcing sanatory and other
regulations ; and inspecting streets and public works.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 205
To the foregoing list may be added,
The Assessors of the City Rate. — There are five, who serve
gratuitously, and are selected by the magistrates out
of a list of 15, presented annually by the grand jury
at quarter sessions. Parties assessed have the right
of appeal to the justices at quarter sessions.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
No town-hall or other building for corporate uses in Quebec
or Montreal. The Quebec Council held its sittings in a house
rented for the purpose. The Montreal Council met in a room
in the court-house, by permission of the justices.
REVENUE.
The sources of corporate revenue in both cities were —
Assessment on real estate.
Tax on horses.
Poll-tax, being composition for statute labour.
Tavern and other licenses.
Markets and stalls.
Municipal property.
Fines, penalties and forfeitures.
Subscriptions from parties desirous of improvements.
QUEBEC.
By a rather complex statement from the road treasury,
Quebec, it appears that the amount of revenue raised in the
city from the 1st of January 1833 to the 31st of December
1837, was 27,505?. 13s. 6d.
The expenditure during the same period was 27,879?. 9s. Wd.
Of this expenditure, the charge under the head of salaries to
officers is 4,362?. 9s. 3d.
Amount of debt owing by the city, up to September 1838,
1,992?. 4s. 3d., being money expended in the purchase of
ground for opening and prolonging streets, and in the con-
struction of wharves in the St. Paul's-street market.
Amount of unpaid assessment, and rent of stalls for the year
1837, 137?. 16s. 5d.
MONTREAL.
I. Total amount of city revenue from the 1st of January
1833 to the 1st of December 1837, 31,406?. 5s. 2d.
II. The road treasurer's statement shows the proportions
in which the various sources of revenue contributed to the
city fund.
206
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
STATEMENT showing the various Sources of the ANNUAL
REVENUE of Montreal, for the Years 1833, 1834, 1835,
1836, 1837.
1833.
1834.
1835.
1836.
1837.
Assessment on property
Tax on horses . . .
Statute labour money .
Tavern-keepers . . .
Grocers
£. 8. d.
2,908
32715 -
15210 -
32
247 17 6
131 7 4
86 2 6
14219 -
1,000 -
£. 8. d.
3,649 1 6
307 2 6
144 2 6
318
292
481 16 8
213 10 2
82
39 - -
89 3 6
500 -
100 -
16 7 6
£. 8. d.
3,511 3 9
337 2 6
186 12 6
382
284
39514 -
203 19 7|
91 5 -
3912 6
250 9 6
17017 1
276
£. s. d. \
4,048 4 10
371 5 -
16215 -
412
268
373 5 -
203 18 4|'
88 5 -
2315 -
58 6 -
144 - 3J
1,007 12 11
26 6 3
£. 8. d.
3,87916 6
315
87 2 6
508
168
396
23917 1
8610 -
5817 6
1415 -
1,149 - 9|
200
Rent of butchers' stalls
Clerk of the markets .
Rent of municipal pro-
perty.
Fines
Arrears collected . .
Balance in hand . . .
Loan of money . . .
Sale of old materials .
Amount of public sub-
scription.
Waterworks company,
in lieu of repairing
streets.
£.
5,02811 4
6,232 4 4
5,855 3 11^
7,187 6 2a
7,10219 4£
III. Amount of expenditure from 1st January 1833 to
31st December 1837, 29,3112. 19s. Qd.
IV. CLAIMS against the City of Montreal up to 31 August
1838.
£. s. d.
John Bowers * ...
500 - -
with interest
from 4 August 1835.
Fabrique of Montreal f
Hon. John Molson J
750 - -
5,250 - -
without interest
with interest
from 26 April 1836.
from 20 April 1836.
Hon. Pierre de Roche-
120 - -
ditto
from 2 June 1838.
blave.
Augustin Tulloch . .
120 --
ditto
ditto
Moses Hayes ....
79-6
without interest.
Henry Jackson . . .
44 6 6
ditto
Montreal and People's
1,500 - -
with interest .
10 August 1838.
banks
Thomas Philipps . . .
75 - -
£.
8,438 7 -
* This loan of money was contracted under the sign manual of the mayor
and seat of the city corporation. The creditor has not required the amount,
but only the interest, which has been annually paid to him.
t One instalment of 100/. has been paid for the year 1837.
J This debt was contracted under and by virtue of 6 Will. 4, c. 7.
a Sic in Blue Book. [ED.]
REPORT : APPENDIX C
207
MUNICIPAL DIVISIONS.
QUEBEC.
OF the ten wards into which the city was divided, four were
allotted by the Act of incorporation to the Upper Town, two
to the Lower, and four to the suburbs.
MONTREAL.
To the city proper were allotted two wards ; to the suburbs,
six ; returning 16 members, less by four than Quebec, which is
inferior to Montreal in wealth and population.
In this distribution of wards no sound governing principle
is discernible ; nor, indeed, principle of any kind. Had
aggregate population formed the basis of the division, the
Upper Town of Quebec would have had a smaller, and the
Lower Town a larger share of the municipal representation ;
for according to the returns of 1825, the population of the
latter was 4,187, and of the former, 4,445. That the influence
of property was not regarded in the warding of the cities will
be seen by referring to the assessments for the several divisions
of each.
GENERAL VIEW of the ASSESSMENTS for each Section of the
City of Quebec in 1837.
Wards
in each
Section.
Section.
Men,
at
2s. Qd.
Horses,
at
Is. 6d.
Real Estate,
at 2% per
Cent, on
Annual
Value.
Total
Two Wards
Two Wards
Two Wards
Four Wards
St. John and St.
Louis suburbs.
St. Roch and St.
Vallier suburbs.
Lower Town
Upper Town
£. s. d.
101 126
75 26
8910-
67 26
£. *. d.
95126
7815-
15 —
55176
£. s. d.
230 5 6
319 1 -
955 8 6
999 --
£. 8. d.
427 10 6
472 18 6
1,059186
1,122 --
GRAND TOTALS . £.
333 76
245 5-
2,503 15 -
3,082 76
Mr. Molson having experienced some difficulty relating to the payment, has
instituted a law-suit against the magistrates, which was pending in court
at the date of the return.
The various sums due to the above-mentioned claimants were expended
in enlarging the new market, tunnelling the little river, and improving the
streets.
208
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Of this assessment, the amount actually contributed in
1837, from each section, was —
£ s. d.
From St. John and St. Louis suburbs . . . 395 5 -
„ St. Roch and St. Vallier suburbs . . 451 10 3
„ Lower Town . . . . . . 1,031 3 6
„ Upper Town ...... 1,111 7 6
Excess of city contribution over suburbs 1,295 15
Excess of Lower Town contribution, alone,
over suburbs
184 7
The Montreal ' assessment ' for the year 1837 amounted to
4,801?. 45. of which 4,281Z. 195. was actually collected in the
subjoined proportions from each section of the town.
ACTUAL CONTRIBUTION from each Section of the City of
Montreal, on the Assessment of 1837.
Section.
Men, at
2s. Qd.
Horses,
7s. 6d
at
Real Estate,
at 2% per Cent,
on Annual
Value.
Total.
City ( East Ward
Proper / West Ward
St. Lawrence
St. Antoine
St. Louis
St. Mary
St. Anne
St. Joseph
£.
20
20
8
2
14
15
2
4
s.
10
2
12
5
5
7
d.
(>
(>
0
£.
33
27
49
27
41
48
39
46
s.
15
15
10
15
12
15
7
10
d.
Q
8
£. 8.
1,177 14
977 6
394 17
165 6
260 11
252 12
346 6
305 2
d.
6
6
6
6
6
£.
1,231
1,025
453
195
316
316
388
355
s.
19
3
6
9
7
1
12
d.
1
6
6
0
GBAND TOTALS . £.
87
2
6
315
-
- 3,879 16
6
4,281
19
-
City Proper , .
Suburbs . ...
40
46
12
10
6
61
253
10
10
- 2,155 -
- ; 1,724 16
6
2,257
2,024
3
16
-
Excess of City Contributions
over Suburbs
£.
232
7
-
The inferiority of the assessment on real estate in the
suburban divisions, as compared with the main part of the
cities, clearly establishes the fact, that in apportioning municipal
representatives to the different sections of Quebec and Montreal,
the Canadian legislature did not proceed upon the basis of pro-
perty ; nor assuming that the proprietorial qualification was
a sound and liberal one, instead of being partial and narrow,
does it appear that the plan of warding adopted in Quebec was
justified by the number of qualified voters in each ward.
We learn from the assessment books that the number of
rated proprietors of houses and lots in the Upper Town of
Quebec is 221 ; in the Lower Town, 265 ; in St. John and
REPORT : APPENDIX C 209
St. Louis suburbs, 343 ; in St. Roch and St. Vallier suburbs, 473.
Now, had the distribution of the wards been regulated by the
number of assessed proprietors, the suburbs would have formed
at least six out of the ten, while the Upper Town, even had the
wards been increased to twelve, would not have been entitled
to more than two, under the same standard of qualification.
Unable, then, to discover any guiding principle in the
warding of Quebec and Montreal, it is difficult to resist the
conviction, that the comparatively small share of repre-
sentative influence given to the Lower Town of Quebec and
the City Proper of Montreal, where trade is chiefly centred,
and where the commercial interest prevails, originated in
a feeling hostile to the British population on the part of the
House of Assembly, or of those who were instrumental in
passing the measure of incorporation through that House.
In consequence of aggrandizing the Upper Town at the
expense of the Lower, the four wards in the former contained
only a mockery of popular constituencies. The assessment
books show that the whole of the proprietors qualified to vote
for the city council amount to about 1,302 ; of which 816
belong to the poorer suburban population : after deducting
from the remaining 486 the 265 Lower Town electors to be
distributed between two wards, there is left for each of the
Upper Town wards an average electoral body of 55 and
a fraction, — a constituency little better than a close club.
QUALIFICATION OF ELECTORS.
CAPITAL and population are the wants of a colony like
Lower Canada, and it must be the object of an enlightened
policy to encourage their introduction by an ungrudging par-
ticipation in the rights of citizenship. In the towns, especially,
every inducement should be given to the settlement of wealthy,
enterprising and industrious strangers. The municipal fran-
chise selected by the Canadian legislature was calculated to
have an effect directly the reverse, inasmuch as, being vested
exclusively in the possessors of real estate, it conferred a
monopoly of local influence on the old race of settlers to the
prejudice of the new ; and this, too, in places depending on
trade for their prosperity, and where the commercial classes
have always been recruited from without. It is hard to
believe that the House of Assembly had any other motive
in fixing the municipal franchise than the desire to secure the
ascendancy to the Franco-Canadians.*
* In Upper Canada, Toronto has been successfully incorporated, and the
municipal franchise of that city is, by the Act of Incorporation, vested in
1352-3 P
210
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
By the Constitutional Act, the privilege of voting for
members of the House of Assembly itself was extended to the
occupiers of houses paying a yearly rent of 101. sterling, yet
the very same class of tenants, who were chiefly British, were
deprived by the legislature which this Act created, of a voice
in the municipal elections. And that the municipal franchise
adopted by the provincial legislature afforded no correct test
of the degree of individual or sectional interest in the judicious
management of city affairs is evident from the assessment
returns, which show that 816 suburban proprietors of Quebec,
having eight representatives in the council, did not contribute
so much annually to the corporate fund, by 184/. Is. 9d., as
did the 265 Lower Town proprietors, having no more than
four representatives.
Poor and ignorant Canadians are the proprietors of houses
and lots, of which the yearly assessment value would rarely
be less than 6/. ; and while the proprietorial franchise tended
to give such persons an undue influence in the urban govern-
ment of the province, it had the effect of excluding persons
of wealth and intelligence ; the very best depositaries of
colonial municipal power. Nor can the authors of this in-
vidious and deceptive franchise uphold it on the score of its
popular operation. Had the possession of the electoral right
been conceded to the single class of occupiers of houses assessed
at the annual value of 10Z. sterling, it would have been more
extensively as well as more equitably distributed. Take, for
example, the comparative amount of proprietors and occupiers
of houses assessed as before in the city of Quebec.
Section.
Proprietors.
Occupiers.
Increase and
Diminution.
St. John and St. Louis suburbs
St. Roch and St. Vallier suburbs
Lower Town . . :. • •.."•!
Upper Town . .
343
473
265
221
182
300
489
510
Less by 161.
173.
More by 224.
289.
TOTALS
1,302
1,481
More by 179.
such male inhabitant freeholders within the Avard for which the elections
shall be holden, or the liberties thereof, as shall be possessed at the time of
the election, either in freehold or as tenant for a term of years, or from year to
year, of a town lot or dwelling-house within the said ward or liberties :
Provided always, that a portion of a house in which any inhabitant shall
reside as a householder, and not as a boarder or lodger, and having a distinct
communication with the street by an outer door, shall be considered a
dwelling-house within the meaning of this clause.' By a subsequent Act
(7 Will. 4, s.39), the franchise was altered, and the right of voting restricted to
possessors, either in freehold, or as tenants for a term of years, or from year to
year, of a town lot or dwelling-house rated at the yearly value of ten pounds.
REPORT : APPENDIX C
211
Thus it appears, that by conferring municipal electoral
rights on this class of substantial occupiers, in preference to
assessed proprietors, the constituency of Quebec (which would
be open to constant increase by new settlers) would at once
receive an addition of 179 voters. But this is not all : it will
be. found, on referring to the assessment returns, that the
substitution of occupiers for proprietors would bring the
electoral strength of the municipal divisions into limits pro-
portionate to their respective sectional contributions to the
local revenue. St. Louis and St. John suburbs, which con-
tribute the least amount, would have fewest qualified voters,
and of course ought to have fewest wards. The Upper Town,
which pays the largest assessment, would furnish the most
numerous constituency ; and the remaining divisions, accord-
ing to their proportion of the public burthens, would obtain
their share of influence. By a new and just municipal division,
the number of wards should be so limited as to ensure con-
stituencies large enough to make what might deserve to be
entitled a popular choice, and at the same time afford their
due weight and influence to the heaviest tax-payers.
In the city of Montreal, the enlargement of the municipal
constituency, by transferring the franchise from proprietors
to the aforesaid class of occupiers, would be still more impor-
tant than in Quebec.
Section.
Proprietors.
Occupiers.
Increase and
Diminution.
East Ward .
West Ward .
St. Anne's Ward
St. Joseph „
St. Antoine „
St. Lawrence ,,
St. Louis „
St. Mary
138
93
130
250
131
296
183
232
412
365
2-15
278
200
435
452
402
Moi
e by 274.
272.
85.
28.
69.
139.
269.
170.
TOTALS
1,453
2,759
„ 1,306.
The constituency of Montreal would thus be nearly doubled,
the greatest increase accruing to the east and west wards,
which constitute the ' city proper ', and pay a larger share of
assessments than all the other wards combined, and are
particularly devoted to the commerce on which the town
depends for its prosperity.
P2
212 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
QUALIFICATION OF MUNICIPAL COUNCILLORS.
FOR a seat in the House of Assembly or the Legislative
Council, no qualification whatever was required by the Con-
stitutional Act. By the provincial Act, 2 Will. 4, c. 22, the
right of serving on grand juries of the superior courts was
extended to occupiers of houses in Quebec and Montreal
paying a yearly rent of 60/., as well as to the owners of real
property producing an annual return of 251. A like qualifica-
tion, but to a less amount, was fixed by the same Act for the
grand jurors at quarter sessions. By the Quebec and Montreal
statutes of incorporation the qualification was restricted
absolutely to the possession of real property to the yearly
value of 221. 10s. sterling, clear of all incumbrances.
There are two objections to this qualification ; first, the
impossibility of ascertaining whether it be actual or nominal ;
second, its tendency to exclude from the management of
corporate affairs persons highly competent to conduct them
with advantage, viz. those whose capital is embarked in
trade.
Under the laws of the province there is no way of arriving
at the knowledge of the incumbrances on real estate, so that
an individual having ostensibly a 25?. property qualification,
may, in fact, not be possessed of an annual income of 25 pence.
The municipal representatives of Quebec and Montreal were
not required to swear to their qualification.
Owing to the aforesaid defect in the provincial law, and to
the unimproving and unstable system of general government,
most of the British engaged in trade have been deterred from
the purchase of real property, for lack of which they were
inadmissible to the city councils, however wealthy, experienced
or enlightened they might be. Nothing could be more short-
sighted and illiberal than to frame laws for establishing
municipal institutions in such a way as to give an undue
preponderance to the class which was wholly unacquainted
with the working of these institutions by excluding another
class whose social training in the mother-country had made
them familiar with their operation, their objects and their
advantages. And why was a tenancy qualification, recog-
nized with regard to grand jurors by the Canadian legislature
overlooked with respect to the members of a municipal
council ?
REPORT : APPENDIX C 213
MUNICIPAL PROPERTY.
QUEBEC.
THE property vested in the corporation of Quebec was
comprised of markets, St. Paul's wharf, and a small lot of
ground opposite the custom-house, granted to the city by the
Crown. The markets were established by provincial Acts ;
one for the Upper Town, one for the Lower (St. Paul's -street),
and one for the St. Roch's suburbs. The last has not suc-
ceeded. There is also a hay-market.
The principal market is in the Upper Town. Mr. Thomas
Atkins, clerk of the market, (who is also the inspector of
weights and measures, at a yearly salary of 40/.), stated to
the commissioners, that, in addition to his salary, he was
entitled to weigh-house fees ; but these had been reduced
almost to nothing by a regulation which permits the buyer
and seller, when both are consenting, to weigh commodities
where they like. There are 18 stalls in the market, which let,
on an average, at from two to five dollars a year each. They
are let annually by auction. The revenue from them is
diminished, owing to the great number of hucksters, who pay
no rent, and only 5s. a year for license. These hucksters
advance the price of almost every article for sale by fore-
stalling. Mr. Atkins has recommended the magistrates to
raise the charge of a huckster's license to 51. yearly.
The chief business done in the St. Paul's market is the
selling of hay, which has been removed thither from the
Upper Town. The old hay-market does not, at present,
yield any revenue ; but the magistrates are said to entertain
the intention of erecting new stalls upon it, which might be
made to pay well.
The general returns from the Quebec markets might be
considerably increased. A trifling income has been derived
from St. Paul's wharf.
MONTREAL.
Besides markets, the corporation of Montreal had no pro-
perty, save a common, containing about 40 acres ; returning
no revenue, but capable of being advantageously disposed of
in lots.
Four markets, exclusive of a hay-market, have been estab-
lished, under provincial Acts — the new market, St. Anne's,
Pres de Ville and St. Lawrence markets. Little, if any,
business is done, except in the new market and St. Anne's.
214 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
The new market belongs to the city, and is the most fre-
quented. Its returns are good, in proportion to the original
outlay and yearly expenditure.
St. Anne's market is under the management of trustees.
According to a statement furnished by their treasurer, Mr.
Thomas Blackwood, the claims against the trustees remain-
ing unliquidated on the 1st of September 1838, amounted
to . . .T . . . . £.19,057 4 5
Viz. Money borrowed .. . . . £.13,77613 4
Balance due to tradesmen for erect-
ing the market-house, &c. . 773 6 4
Interest of money up to June 1838 4,507 4 9
RECEIPTS for last Three Years :
£. a. d,
From 1st July 1835 to 30th June 1836 . . 725 9 11
„ 1st July 1836 to 30th June 1837 . . 612 2 9
„ 1st July 1837 to 30th June 1838 . . 435 11 8
EXPENDITURE for last Three Years :
From 1st July 1835 to 30th June 1836 . . 269 2 2
„ 1st July 1836 to 30th June 1837 . . 240 17 9
„ 1st July 1837 to 30th June 1838 . . 253 8 9
The officers of the market are secretary and treasurer (one
person), at a yearly salary of 251. ; clerk, at a reduced salary
of 501. ; and constable, at a reduced salary of 301.
DIGEST OF EVIDENCE RESPECTING THE INCOR-
PORATION OF THE CITIES OF QUEBEC AND
MONTREAL.
QUEBEC.
Edward Glackemeyer, Esq., notary public, justice of the
peace, and formerly a member of the Quebec common council,
being examined, expressed the opinion, that the powers con-
ferred upon the councils of the incorporated towns were too
limited. With an inadequate revenue for effecting necessary
local improvements, they were destitute of authority to raise
an assessment. There was and is no public supply of water
in Quebec, and the watch and light fund was insufficient for
the proper accomplishments of the objects to wilich it was
appropriated. The expenses of the fire department were
defrayed out of the ' road money '. There was no municipal
property, except the markets, a wharf, and a small lot of
REPORT : APPENDIX C 215
ground, worth perhaps 1,000?. or 1,200?. All the wharves are
private property, with the exception of the St. Paul's (city)
wharf, and the King's ; the latter is appropriated to the pur-
poses of government. The Court of King's Bench delayed
for six months the grant of its sanction to the market regula-
tions framed by the Quebec common council. When the Act
of Incorporation last expired, the same court refused to renew
its sanction to these very regulations when applied to by the
magistrates ; and the markets came again under the old rules,
which are unfit for the present state of society in the town.
It was desirable that there should be a comprehensive
municipal administration, including, so far as might be reason-
able, every institution of a municipal character, and invested
with power to appoint all corporate officers, license public -
houses, &c. &c.
A daily police court is much wanted for the summary trial
of petty offences, and breaches of municipal law. At present
it was sometimes difficult to procure an attendance of magis-
trates, those unacquainted with law having a disinclination
to attend. For this, among other reasons, it was expedient
that a paid professional chairman should be appointed to
preside at quarter sessions.
A change might properly be made in the municipal fran-
chise, by adopting the city franchise for the election of mem-
bers of the House of Assembly. This alteration, by extending
the right of voting to those tenants who paid a yearly rent of
10?. sterling, would increase the number of city electors in
a larger proportion than the suburban. The possession of
a yearly clear income of 25?., arising out of real property,
appeared to him a sufficient qualification for a common coun-
cillor, and he considered it just to exclude from the council
all who were not possessors of a real property qualification.
A larger revenue might be obtained from the markets if the
rules framed by the corporation were again in operation.
The property of the Cul-de-sac, now vested in the Trinity
house, and comparatively valueless, might, if transferred to
a city corporation, be made productive. The wants of the
public under municipal government ought to be provided
for by a general assessment, when the funds raised by special
rates proved insufficient. The existing mode of assessment
might be improved, it being unequal, troublesome and expen-
sive. An assessor was chosen yearly for each of the five
divisions of the city, and the consequent inequality of assess-
ment occasioned complaint and appeals to the magistrates.
There ought to be paid assessors for rating the whole town
216 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
uniformly, and, instead of a yearly valuation, one in every
five years might perhaps suffice.
The ferry from Quebec to Point Levi is an open one, and
is under the jurisdiction of the Trinity-house. The only
regulation respecting ferryage is a rule of the Trinity board,
that the horse -boats shall start regularly every half hour.
Mr. Glackemeyer is of opinion that the Quebec corporation
had generally afforded satisfaction to the public, until politics
were introduced into the council. The affairs of the city
would, he conceived, never be well regulated until they were
again submitted to corporate control.
Ebenezer Baird, esq., merchant and a member of the late
corporation of Quebec, did not think that the corporation
had satisfied the inhabitants generally. There was, in fact,
a continual outcry against it. Its character was injured and
its usefulness impaired by the introduction of party politics.
One instance to which he alluded was the uncalled-for intro-
duction to the council by Mr. (now Judge) Bedard, of a letter
from William Lyon M'Kenzie. In addition to the objection
arising from its interference in politics, the corporation was
imperfect in its powers, not possessing the prerogatives of
an efficient municipal government. It had, for example, no
police court peculiar to itself, nor any means for enforcing
the summary payment of rates, such as are possessed by the
corporation of Toronto.
The British population were not fairly represented in the
council. This was partly owing to the partial provisions of
the Act of Incorporation, and partly to the supineness of the
British, who felt that they must, under such a law, always
remain in a minority, and, therefore, 'did not greatly exert
themselves to obtain admission into a body constituted with
powers so inadequate. The municipal franchise was not an
equitable one ; it operated more directly against the rights of
the British, than the elective franchise for the House of
Assembly. A uniform household qualification, say to the
extent of 101. sterling by the yearly assessment, would be
preferable to a qualification based upon the possession of real
property, which in the towns must tend to exclude new
settlers and persons in trade from a share in the local govern-
ment. The qualification of common councillors was too low
to secure the services of respectable men ; it ought to be
doubled, at least ; nor ought it to be confined to the owner-
ship of real estate, which, in a colony under the French law
of property, afforded no grounds of forming a correct estimate
of an individual's worldly circumstances.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 217
There was not sufficient funds at the disposal of the corpora-
tion, nor were the modes of assessment and appropriation the
best that might have been devised. It would be better to
appoint permanent assessors to value all the rateable property
of the city at reasonable intervals, — for example, once in
three years. There ought to be a general fund for corporate
purposes, composed of the aggregate local contributions ; and
when a deficiency arose in providing for any useful object of
expenditure, it should be supplied by a general equitable
assessment. Certain taxes levied upon shops and taverns
ought not to have been specially set apart for watching and
lighting ; nor ought the road money to have borne the expense
of the fire department. As to payment of fair local taxes,
people would not object to it if the extent of public accom-
modation bore a just proportion to the outlay.
In the event of the cities of Lower Canada being again
incorporated, the town councils ought to have the control of
the police, the fire department and other branches of municipal
administration, and the corporate jurisdiction should be ex-
tended as far as high-water mark of the St. Lawrence.
The power of making bye -laws should be granted to the
councils without imposing on them the necessity of awaiting
the sanction of the Court of King's Bench. Corporations
wisely constituted and invested with due authority would be
of the greatest advantage to Quebec and Montreal.
Rene Edouard Caron, esq., advocate and mayor of Quebec
during two years, considered the power of the late corpora-
tion too circumscribed, and its revenues too limited, for an
efficient administration of city affairs. The road surveyor
and some other officers performing corporate duties were
appointed by the Crown, nor had the common council even
the power of appointing the common constables. In case of
the peace of the city being disturbed, the mayor had no more
right to interfere than any other citizen.
The corporation was fettered by various municipal laws,
all of which should be repealed if the cities are re-incorporated,
and the powers conferred by these laws on insulated authori-
ties, together with the appointment of all the municipal
officers, should be given to the councils ; which ought like-
wise to be empowered to frame bye-laws without reference
to the Court of King's Bench or the executive. The cor-
porate authority should not only be extended, but clearly
defined, so as to prevent it clashing with the jurisdiction of the
Trinity-house. Of course an increase of duty would call for a
corresponding increase in the number of municipal councillors.
218 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
A daily police court would be of great utility, provided
there were a paid professional magistrate (who might preside
at quarter sessions) to sit with and assist such unpaid magis-
trates as might be in attendance. The mayor ought to be
a magistrate ex officio, and be allowed a salary in proportion
to his responsibility, labour and sacrifice of time. Unless
a salary were given, it would be difficult to procure the services
of qualified persons ; there being but few who could afford
to spare the time requisite for the discharge of the office.
Triennial assessment appeared to him objectionable, owing
to the frequency of removal and the fluctuations in the value
of property. As to the imposition of new taxes, it would
probably be complained of at the outset, but the public
would become reconciled to the burthen when it had been
succeeded by improvements of obvious and general advantage.
With respect to the franchise, Mr. Caron would not object
to confer it upon tenants who pay a yearly rent of 251. and
are assessed for municipal purposes, but he would oppose the
admission of any to the town councils save those who possessed
a qualification in real estate ; and the former one he conceived
to be high enough for a fair popular choice. According to his
view, mere tenants, as their residence might be only temporary,
would not have a sufficient interest in the welfare of the city.
If they wished to enter the corporation, they might purchase
property and stand upon the same footing as others.
John Malcolm Fraser, esq., merchant, and a common coun-
cillor of Quebec during the three years of its incorporation,
was of opinion that the conduct of the council had not satis-
fied the inhabitants generally. A portion of the council
consisted of men of strong prejudices and inferior education,
and, of the educated members, some were violent political
partisans. Their proceedings had at times been marked by the
introduction of party politics, and the manifestation of an
anti-British feeling. (Mr. Fraser alluded to the letter from
W. L. M'Kenzie mentioned in the evidence of Mr. Baird, and
to a quarrel that had occurred between the soldiers of the 79th
regiment and some of the inhabitants of the suburbs, concern-
ing which the corporation had thought proper to make certain
representations, considered by the British objectionable in
themselves, and irregular as regarded the legitimate exercise
of corporate functions.)
Mr. Fraser concurred in the sentiments expressed by the
gentlemen previously examined as to the insufficiency of the
city revenue, the necessity of a complete and comprehensive
system of municipal government, with the power of making
REPORT : APPENDIX C 219
bye -laws subordinate only to the law of the land, and the
establishment of a city police court for the summary trial of
petty offences. He likewise deemed it expedient that a new
measure of incorporation should include an impartial adap-
tation of the franchise to the capacities of the citizens for
maintaining a sound local administration. A corporation so
constituted would, he believed, prove of undoubted benefit
to Quebec, and he felt assured that the respectable part of
the inhabitants would not object to being called upon to
contribute to its support.
L. T. Macpherson,esq., notary public, considered the Quebec
corporation defective in its constitution, in consequence of
more power having been given to those who formed the mass
of the provincial population than they were capable of using
for their own good. To the same cause might be attributed
the failure of all the popular institutions of Lower Canada.
Still the province stood in need of popular institutions ;
but, to secure their beneficial operation, the qualifications
of the elector and the elected should be so clearly understood
and so accurately defined, as to restrict the possession
of power to those who were competent to exercise it for the
welfare of the whole. In order to promote this desirable end,
he suggested that in all Canadian elections, whether local or
parliamentary, each duly qualified elector should only possess
a single vote when more than one representative was to be
chosen. The effect of this arrangement would be a more equal
representation. He thought, also, that quorums, small in
number, should be fixed by statute, so that the minority
should not be deprived of the power of transacting business
when the majority did not choose to attend. Were Quebec
incorporated on such principles, it might, with safety to the
Crown and advantage to the people, be endowed with all the
powers and attributes common to British corporations. But
he held it to be indispensably necessary that the Governor
and Council should enact, and the Imperial Parliament render
permanent, the primary laws for the happy government of
the province ; for laws of this stamp they could never expect
to obtain from any popular provincial assembly. Extensive
private interests would always have sufficient influence to
thwart comprehensive measures, however conducive those
measures might be to the public good. The prosperity of all
British North America now depended upon the remedies to
be devised and sanctioned by the British Parliament. At
present, with advantages far exceeding those enjoyed by the
people of an adjacent country, they saw their neighbours
220 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
advancing in improved institutions, arts and wealth, while
they were poor, feeble and retrograding.
MONTREAL.
Jacques Viger, esq., mayor of Montreal during the whole
period of its incorporation, then held and continues to hold
the office of road surveyor for the city and parish of Montreal,
in which capacity he was subject to the council, of which as
mayor he was the head. A member of the council had on
one occasion moved that Mr. Viger, as road surveyor, should
report to Mr. Viger, as mayor, how he had discharged certain
duties of his office.
Mr. Viger stated to the commissioners that little interest
was taken in the municipal elections of Montreal. The British
party probably made no efforts to gain admission into the
council, as they could not hope to obtain a majority, else they
might have succeeded in returning more members than they
did. The powers of the corporation were too limited. It had
no police authority, save over the night watch, which was
altogether impotent for the due protection of the town. The
city was badly lighted, although a yearly sum of 800?. had
been expended for that purpose.
The Montreal gas company offered to supply double the
quantity of public lights for the same sum, but the expiry
of the Act of Incorporation prevented an arrangement. Had
the Act been renewed, the council would have applied to the
legislature for power to conclude an arrangement with the
company. Since the demise of the corporation in 1836,
nothing has been done for lighting the city, as the magis-
trates have no funds to meet the outlay.
A corporation to be effective for good should have powers
more extensive than the former one. The mayor and a certain
number of councillors ought to be justices of the peace, ex
officio. All matters of common interest to the citizens should
be placed under the management of the corporation, and it
should possess the unfettered right of making bye-laws. It
might be advisable to give the council the power of appoint-
ing paid assessors. There being five assessors for the city
acting independently of each other, there are occasional com-
plaints of inequality of assessment. The object of an assess-
ment on real property is to keep up the roads ; but the rate
of sixpence in the pound is not sufficient to maintain good
roads in Montreal. The city applied, at one time, to the
House of Assembly for a grant of 1,000?. in aid of the road
funds. During the worst part of the year, from the 15th of
REPORT : APPENDIX C 221
November to the 1st of May, the duty of sweeping the streets
and clearing off the accumulations of snow and rubbish in
front of the houses, devolves upon the citizens, who are liable
to a fine for neglect.
Mr. Viger saw nothing objectionable in granting the muni-
cipal franchise to occupiers of houses fairly assessed for
municipal purposes. A 251. real property qualification seemed
to him sufficient for a common councillor ; but persons might
be justly eligible who paid a rent equivalent, as a test of
property, to the qualification of real estate.
The inhabitants of towns would not complain of a larger
assessment, provided the money were applied to objects of
general and acknowledged utility.
The introduction of additional testimony would not throw
more light upon the working of the corporate system in
Quebec and Montreal. With reference to the latter city it
may be remarked, that the corporation satisfied the majority
of the French Canadians, so far as its administration of affairs
was concerned, while by the British it was regarded with
strong dislike.
MINOR INCORPORATIONS OF QUEBEC AND
MONTREAL.
QUEBEC TRINITY-HOUSE.
BY the permanent Provincial Act 45 Geo. 3, c. 12, the
corporation of the Trinity-house was erected for ' the better
regulating of pilots and shipping in the port of Quebec, and in
the harbours of Quebec and Montreal, and for improving the
navigation of the river Saint Lawrence, and for establishing
a fund for decayed pilots, their widows and children.'
The Trinity Board, which is chiefly composed of respectable
merchants, consists of a master, deputy-master and five
wardens. The officers of the corporation are a registrar and
treasurer (one person), harbour-master (one of the wardens),
assistant harbour-master and superintendent of the Cul-de-sac
(one person), superintendent of pilots (a warden), and a water-
bailiff. The members of the board, as well as the officers, are
nominated by the Crown.
The corporation is empowered to make bye -laws and enact
penalties for the breach thereof, the fines exacted for violation
of pilot regulations going to the pilot charity fund ; of the
remainder, one moiety goes to the informer and the other to
the provincial chest. The first bye-laws were issued in 1805,
222 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
under the sanction of the then Lieutenant-governor of the
province, Sir R. S. Milnes.
Open courts for the transaction of business are held on
Tuesdays and Fridays. Summons is served by the water-
bailiff. Charges against pilots are directed by their superin-
tendent ; prosecutions for all other infringements of Trinity-
house bye-laws are conducted by the harbour-master. During
the period of the year when the St. Lawrence is open to
navigation, the board is a good deal occupied in hearing
complaints.
The corporation has a police jurisdiction over wharves and
landing-places, for the removal of nuisances and the preven-
tion of accidents to shipping by fire. It has, however, no
constabulary force for securing the observance of its regula-
tions. It is the duty of the water-bailiff to enforce the rules
of the board at the Lower Town landing-place.
Mr. E. B. Lindsay, registrar and treasurer to the corpora-
tion, states that it has for some time experienced a deficiency
of funds. Application was made to the House of Assembly
for an Act to authorize the levying of a small tonnage duty,
to which no opposition would have been offered by the com-
mercial interest ; but, owing to the political excitement which
prevailed, no attention was paid to the matter.
MONTREAL TRINITY-HOUSE.
The Act which erected the Quebec Trinity-house, empowered
the corporation to establish a branch at Montreal, which was
done accordingly ; and this arrangement continued in force
until the passing of the Provincial Act, 2 Will. 4, c. 24, which
erected an independent Trinity-house in Montreal, the boun-
dary of the jurisdiction of the two houses being Pointe du
Lac, about nine miles above Three Rivers. The latter, a tem-
porary Act, expired in May 1837, and the government of the
river has reverted to its former position.
According to Mr. J. Viger's evidence concerning the Mont-
real municipal corporation, the separate jurisdiction over the
beaches anid wharves, vested in the Trinity-house and the
harbour commissioners, occasioned inconvenience by clashing
with the city authority.
MONTREAL HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS.
Authority was given to the commissioners appointed under
the Provincial Act, 10 & 11 Geo. 4, c. 28, to borrow money to
be expended in enlarging and improving the harbour of
REPORT : APPENDIX C 223
Montreal. By subsequent enactments the authority of the
commissioners was enlarged. The amount of receipt and
expenditure, together with all necessary vouchers, are for-
warded annually to the receiver-general of the province.
The general state of affairs is explained by Mr. Badgeley,
secretary to the harbour commissioners, in the following
communication, bearing date Montreal, 4th September
1838.
'I have the honour to transmit herewith copies of the
following account of receipt and expenditure, viz. :—
Dated 31st December 1833
„ 31st December 1834
„ 26th October 1835
„ 20th September 1836
For 1837 . „ 21st February 1838
' Also the following statements made up from the above
and those of the preceding year, viz. : —
Amount of three loans authorized by Act of the £. s. d.
provincial legislature, with a detail of the cer-
tificates granted to the lenders for their re-
spective sums, and the annual interest accru-
ing thereon 35,000 -
Amount of incidental expenses advanced by the
provincial government, closing with the year
1837 630 17 6
Amount of warrants granted by the government
in advance to pay the annual interest to the
holders of the (loan) debentures, &c. . 7,006 4 2
' From which latter sum of 7,006?. 4s. 2d. is to be deducted
the amount of wharfages collected for the years 1835, 1836,
1837, which did not pass through the hands of the com-
missioners, nor was any account thereof furnished to them ;
but the collector of the harbour dues was directed to transmit
the sum in question to the receiver-general at Quebec, which
mode still continues.
* Amount of interest paid to the holders of debentures from
the commencement until the 5th of July 1837 (exclusive of
52/. 12s. 6d. unclaimed), from which is deducted the amount
of wharfages received by the commissioners for the years
1832, 1833, and 1834, being 3,903J. 2s.t leaving a balance of
7,006/. 45. 2d. advanced by the government, and correspond-
ing to the sum stated in the account of government warrants.
224 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
The stopping of the improvements with the close of the year
1832 has materially affected the harbour revenues, rendering
them inadequate to meet the interest on the money expended ;
as during the summer months many of the masters evade
paying the dues by taking their vessels to the upper part of
the harbour (beyond the wharves, where they do not incur
the charge of wharfage), and which, at that season, notwith-
standing its inconvenience, is accessible for commercial pur-
poses. The result of the statement shows : —
£. s. d.
The debt to individuals bearing inter-
est is 35,000 - - currency.
The debt to the Government in ad-
vance for incidental expenses • 630 17 6
To the Government in advance, on
payment of interest . . * 7,006 4 2
The last subject to the deduction of wharfage for 1835, 1836
and 1837, as already specified.
' You will please to observe, that the commissioners have
to account for two farther warrants for 952?. 17s. 6d. each ;
the one on the 31st January, and the other on the 18th July
last, from which, deducting 5s. 3d. paid for the fees on the
two warrants, make 1,905Z. 10s. currency, to pay the interest
for one year to the 5th July last ; this sum, with the expendi-
ture of the present season for the works now in progress, will
be accounted for in the annual statement to be furnished at
the usual period.'
Until the works are completed, which will probably be in
the course of the ensuing year, no correct estimate can be
made of the revenue to be derived from the harbour of Mon-
treal. In the opinion of experienced commercial men, the
rates of wharfage, at present uselessly low, might be quad-
rupled, without detriment to the port.
MONTREAL GAS COMPANY.
The Act 6 Will. 4, c. 18, which incorporated the company,
provides, that the gas-works shall at all times be visited and
inspected by the municipal authorities of the city or their
deputies, all of whose just and reasonable orders shall be
obeyed by the company's servants, under a penalty of not
more than 51. , nor less than 21. 10s. currency.
This provision was probably introduced under the anticipa-
tion that the public lighting of the city would have been
REPORT : APPENDIX C 225
intrusted to the company. In the absence of such an arrange-
ment, the company is obliged to place a higher price on the
gas supplied to individual consumers, by whom the increased
rate of charge is very sensibly felt.
MONTREAL WATER COMPANY.
The affairs of this company have passed into the hands of
a small number of private speculators, who, it is said, give
satisfaction to the public ; at all events the supply of water
is good.
TOWN OF THREE RIVERS.
THE local government of Three Rivers is administered by
the unpaid magistracy, who hold weekly sessions, and frame
such police regulations as they deem necessary. But destitute
as the magistrates are of the funds requisite for giving even
due publicity to their regulations, they are quite incapable
of enforcing them. No police, worthy of the name, is main-
tained in the town, and its inhabitants suffer accordingly
from the influx of bad characters, who, expelled from Quebec
and Montreal, resort to Three Rivers.
There are two market-places in the borough, one of which
only is in use. These, with a common about 500 acres in
extent, under the management of a corporate body chosen by
the inhabitants, and which is productive of some revenue,
comprise the whole of the town property. Local improve-
ments are provided for by voluntary subscription.
The municipal officers of Three Rivers are, a high con-
stable (of the district), an inspector of weights and measures,
and an inspector of chimneys. The last two offices are held
by the same person.
There, as elsewhere, stipendiary magistrates are required.
The unpaid magistrates, engaged in their private affairs, are
difficult of access ; and as the same persons rarely occupy
the bench on consecutive days, the public are exposed to the
evils of contradictory decisions.
Owing to a provision of the road law, which forbids entrance
into gardens, orchards, &c. without the consent of the pro-
prietor, the district grand-voyer is unable to act in such
places as Three Rivers, and the improvement of the streets
is consequently neglected.
1352.3
226
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
TOWN OF THREE RIVERS : — ORDINANCES AND STATUTES.
Subject.
Vol.
Page.
Year. Reign.
Chap.
Remarks.
Accidents by fire
Ord.
33
17
Geo. 3
13
Provides against the same in Three
Rivers, Quebec and Montreal.
»
M
189
30
7 | Amends foregoing ordinance.
13
94
Will. 4
25 i Establishes fire society in the same,
suspending, so far, the two ordinances
till 1st May 1838.
-
N.B. — Since 1st May 1838, sus-
pended ordinance again in force.
Police .
9
86
57
Geo. 3
16
Provides for regulation of police in
Three Rivers, Quebec and Montreal,
former Acts having expired on 1st
May 1816.
Common.
3
62
41 \ „
11 Authorizes inhabitants to regulate,
! concede, &c. &c., common.
,,
4
176
46
„ 7 ! Remedies informality in carrying fore-
going Act into effect.
»
9
38
57
5>
8 Extends provisions of 41 Geo. 3, c. 11,
to surveying and defining of the same.
!t
11
324
6
Geo. 4
24
Extends power of conceding, and gives
power of acquiring portion of Jesuits'
estates.
Markets .
10
668
4
»
29
Establishes two markets.
Wharfingers .
13
508
2
Will. 4
32
Compels them to advertise unclaimed
goods till 1st May 1834. Continued,
! ,
without amendment, by two subse-
-* •
quent Acts, till 1st May 1840.
The Assistant Municipal Commissioners have now con-
cluded their exposition of the state of Lower Canada, in
regard to the various branches of local administration falling
within the scope of their inquiry. In framing this portion of
their report, they have aimed at giving a succinct statement
of facts, in terms so clear, and with an arrangement so precise,
as to be easily understood by persons unacquainted with the
domestic history and usages of the province. The result of
the inquiry shows the total absence of any efficient or uniform
system of internal government. From the passing of the
Constitutional Act to the period of its suspension, the country
presents few indications of progressive improvement apart
from those which are sure to accompany commerce and
emigration. The representative chamber of the province tried
its hand at every thing, and constructed nothing durable and
worthy.* When it ceased to exercise its functions, not a single
* The road law of 1796, which has long outlived its usefulness, was passed
with difficulty through the House of Assembly by the influence of the
executive. It created much discontent among the habitans, who were
opposed to the grant of labour or money required under the Act for the
maintenance of the roads.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 227
popular institution remained capable of aiding the delibera-
tions of the extraordinary legislature by which it was suc-
ceeded ; or sustaining the necessary demonstrations of execu-
tive power during a season of great public emergency,
EXISTING MEANS FOR LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
IN LOWER CANADA.
THE only machinery for the working of a plan of municipal
government in the province is to be found under the operation
of the road law and collateral enactments.
Under the actually existing road law, there are, or may be,
in every parish or township nine popularly-elected officers
(overseers of highways), acting separately in as many dis-
tricts, and collectively for the whole parish or township ; and
under the expired statute, 5 Geo. 4, c. 3, there were, or might
have been, 45 officers of like authority, both separate and
collective. To each of these popularly-elected officers are
assigned duties which require for their due performance as
much of education and intelligence as are required for the
execution of most of the ordinary duties of a municipal
character. By electing two officers from each subdivision of
a parish or township, and distributing between them the
executive functions for each particular district, and at the
same time forming the whole into one collective council,
a tolerably efficient municipal body for ordinary local purposes
might be called into existence. The surveyor or surveyors may
be considered the already-constituted head or heads, appointed,
as at present, by the provincial executive — a reservation of
authority which, besides being in accordance with the existing
law, might, in many cases, prove highly advantageous.
In addition to overseers of highways, there is also in every
parish or township another body of officers, chosen by popular
election, namely, inspectors of fences. By reference to the
duties devolved upon these officers, it will be seen that the
law requires and expects from them a higher degree of educa-
tion than from the highway overseers. Both classes of func-
tionaries are elected for a period of two years, so that in fact
we have the machinery adequate for accomplishing the objects
of minor municipal jurisdiction, requiring merely a distribu-
tion of more various duties, and an alteration of elections, to
provide against the retirement of more than one-half of the
local authorities at the same time. The attempt to construct
out of these materials a good working system of local adminis-
tration might, owing to the apathy and obtuseness of the
Q2
228 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
agency employed, prove a failure ; but at all events, it would
not be open to the objection of being new-fangled or visionary ;
for popularly-elected officers now are, and long have been,
depositaries of legislative, judicial and administrative powers
for minor municipal purposes over the whole length and
breadth of the province. It may, moreover, be fairly inferred,
that an extension of powers (still, however, under the correc-
tion of the provincial executive), and particularly the control
of a pecuniary assessment, would lead to a more careful and
discriminating selection of officers. With respect to this most
important subject of a pecuniary assessment, it is, we must
repeat, deeply to be regretted, that the existing legislature of
the province of Lower Canada, as we have had occasion before
to remark, is, by the law which constituted it, declared in-
competent to levy 'any tax, duty, rate or impost for any
purpose whatever '. Such a restriction it is difficult to account
for, inasmuch, as has been observed, the similarly-constituted
legislature, which existed before the introduction of the
Constitutional Act, was, by a special exception, permitted to
impose local taxes for local purposes. It might have been
supposed that, in suspending the intermediate system, the
natural and obvious course would be to fall back upon its
predecessor, having due regard to the peculiar circumstances
of the time, which certainly were not of a cast to warrant
a distrustful and penurious delegation of authority. At all
events the effect of the prohibition was to delay, if not to
frustrate, the best designs of a government, whose hope of
efficiency mainly rested upon prompt and comprehensive
legislation. No law, whether for the promotion of education,
registry of property, or of judicature or municipal reform,
could have been put in operation without the power of local
taxation, unless indeed fresh and indefensible sanction had
been given to the old and vicious system countenanced by the
House of Assembly — the application of the imposts levied on
commerce to every provincial exigency, whether partial or
general, temporary or enduring.
SUGGESTIONS FOR AN IMPROVED MUNICIPAL
ADMINISTRATION OF LOWER CANADA
THERE are certain alterations in subordinate departments
of local government which the Assistant Commissioners feel
it their duty to recommend for immediate adoption, under
the persuasion that they will constitute, pro tanto, a decided
improvement on the present state of municipal administration.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 229
In recommending partial ameliorations, they do not for
a moment lose sight of the necessity of those extensive reforms
which, whatever may be the system of general government,
are imperatively demanded for the establishment of law and
order throughout the province.
The lesser amendments, however, are not only useful
intrinsically, but they will in nowise interfere with any com-
plete scheme of municipal improvement that may hereafter
be adopted, and which will necessarily require time to mature.
The suggestions for an improved municipal administration fall,
theref ore, under two heads : first, partial amendment ; second,
general re -organization.
First. The first head includes the incorporation of the cities
of Quebec and Montreal, and an amendment of the Road Laws.
QUEBEC AND MONTREAL.
It is not easy to overrate the benefits that would accrue
from the incorporation of Quebec and Montreal upon those
protective and progressive principles on which the European
municipalities of the middle ages were founded. It has been
shown, in the preceding part of the report, that, by the Con-
stitutional Act, a controlling legislative influence was granted
to the representatives of the Canadian habitans, an electoral
body altogether ignorant of the nature of the trust reposed
in them, and inveterately hostile to any measure, however
prospectively advantageous, that might trouble their rude
repose. It has been shown, also, that this controlling in-
fluence was followed by crude, uncertain and one-sided
legislation, continued encroachment of the popular branch on
the other branches of the legislature, and an eventual dis-
ruption of the friendly social relations subsisting between the
.settlers of diverse origin. The Acts incorporating Quebec and
Montreal studiously and unjustly excluded the British settlers
from a fair share of local power in the very strongholds of the
commercial energy which they themselves had introduced
into the province. In the whole colony there was not a single
popular institution through which the British could make
known their grievances, or develop their capacities for self-
control. What has been the consequence ? Decreasing
colonial enterprise and increasing dissatisfaction with the
Government at home, from whatever party the materials
of that Government may have been drawn. Destitute of any
mode of constitutional organization by which they might be
enabled to lay their complaint before the Imperial Parliament
or the Executive, the British colonists have been obliged to
230 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
rely for aid on the advocacy of the local press — not always
wisely guided — or on associations, secret or open, the sure
indications of a diseased condition of the body politic. The
simple question at issue is, whether the province shall remain
French, or stand still until pushed forward by the aggressive
movements of the United States, or become English in the
progressive and prosperous action, as well as in the outward
and visible character of its institutions. As the incorpora-
tion of Quebec and Montreal, upon principles equitably
regardful of the claims of property, intelligence and enter-
prise, would materially tend to promote the latter result,
while it would remove the plea for associations unrecognized
by and inconsistent with law, measures should be taken for
that purpose with as much speed as may consort with the
secure attainment of the contemplated object.
The outline of a plan of incorporation for Quebec and
Montreal is annexed to this report. A scheme of local govern-
ment for Three Rivers cannot at present be suggested, owing
to the want of information collected on the spot.
AMENDMENT OF THE ROAD LAW.
POPULAR election, local supervision, judicial disinterested-
ness and central responsibility, are the theoretical features
of the road system, and these are precisely the essential
requisites for the successful working of municipal institutions
in a country socially circumstanced as is Lower Canada.
A few modifications — unimportant probably in the estima-
tion of persons unacquainted with the necessities of a new
country, would afford a grateful relief to the settlers, and
would bring the promise of theory and the efficiency of practice
to a closer approximation.*
These modifications, at least the most important of them,
are the increase of the number of deputy grand-voyers, with
perhaps only one grand- voyer for the whole province, and the
substitution to a certain extent of pecuniary payments for
road labour.
With respect to the first modification, it would materially
* It might be advantageous to vest in the grand-voyer, or his local deputy,
a discretionary power, within a limited extent, as to the dimensions both
of the highways and the ditches ; and, also, as to the moulding and repairing
of roads. In two sections of country differing so widely in physical charac-
teristics as the upper seigniories on the one hand, and the lower seigniories
and townships on the other, legal uniformity as to the matters of detail
cannot fail to be productive of inconvenience. But with the introduction
of an improved general system, there must be a thorough revision of every
branch of the now obsolete road laws.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 231
diminish the travelling expenses of the grand-voyer or his
local deputy, and would tend to equalize the costs of proces
verbaux over the whole province ; whereas, at present, the
parts most remote from the seats of district jurisdiction, which
are generally the poorest, are the most heavily burdened with
regard to preliminary expenditure, and that sometimes to so
onerous a degree, as to induce them to dispense with the
grand-voyer's services altogether. Of course the local depu-
ties would necessarily absorb all the fees, so as to throw the
central head on the liberality of the central government.
The multiplication of local deputies is strongly recom-
mended by the grand-voyers of the province, and it was
effected for four years under the sanction of the Act 9 Geo. 4,
c. 34, s. 3. By the statute which this Act amended and con-
tinued, viz., 5 Geo. 4, c. 3, s. 4 & 5, the grand-voyer or his
deputy was empowered to appoint two or three surveyors for
any parish or township, to act each in a separate division,
and to authorize the election of not more than fifteen overseers
in as many separate districts under each surveyor. To this
enactment we have adverted already. A reasonable recom-
pense by fees ought to be given to surveyors for the time
absolutely spent in the discharge of their duty.
Pecuniary payments ought to be substituted for joint
labour, whether on front roads or on bye-roads. The advan-
tages of such a modification of the present system would be
manifold : —
First. The proprietors, instead of being tempted, as they
now are, to choose the worst men, in a practical point of view,
namely, the men who are least likely to exact a strict per-
formance of road labour, would be induced to choose the most
intelligent, honest and energetic of their neighbours, inasmuch
as, under a fixed rate, similar to that now levied in Quebec
and Montreal, the difference between a good road and a bad
one would really entail no cost upon the inhabitants.
Secondly. The overseers of highways having a much more
definite duty to perform, and being allowed much less scope
for discretionary indulgence, might fairly be held by their
superiors as more directly responsible, and would certainly be
so held by their constituents.
Thirdly. The voluntary labour of paid workmen would be far
more efficient than the reluctant labour of unpaid workmen.
Fourthly. An incidental advantage would arise to poor and
industrious men ; as the pecuniary assessment would return
to them in the shape of wages for labour, more than they
would pay as a rate.
232 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Fifthly. There would be another incidental advantage,
inasmuch as farmers could not be dragged from their lands,
to the great prejudice of their agricultural operations — an
advantage to be the more gravely considered, in proportion
to the shortness of the agricultural season, and to the entire
dependence of most Canadian farmers on each crop as it is
harvested.
Sixthly. A third incidental advantage would accrue from
the substitution of pecuniary assessment for joint labour ; it
would gradually diminish the necessity, and even the desire
of provincial grants for local purposes, which are subversive
alike of local independence and central efficiency. The merits
of the question may in some degree be appreciated from the
somewhat analogous practice with regard to private bills in
the Imperial Parliament ; there being, however, this differ-
ence, that the operation of the latter is partial, and of the
former universal, both among representatives and con-
stituents. The provincial system — if system indeed it can
be called — leads both to jobbing in the appropriation and
waste in the expenditure ; tempts both representatives and
constituencies to purchase the acquiescence of majorities by
prostitution of principle ; tends to prevent each individual
member of the popular branch of the legislature from con-
sidering himself, according to the true doctrine of the con-
stitution, a representative of the whole people ; and prompts
every man to clamour for that spurious administrative
economy, which is maintained at the expense of efficiency,
with the view of preserving as large a residue as possible of
the public funds for general — we might add, eleemosynary
distribution.
It has been stated by many, if not most of the witnesses
before the commission, that pecuniary assessment in the rural
districts would be unpopular or oppressive. But beyond the
general fact that the mass of the people dislike taxation, there
seems to be no ascertained ground for the allegation, at least
at the present day. Throughout the whole extent of the
seigniorial parishes, large sums are levied for building and
maintaining churches, — a proof that there is no such extreme
scarcity of money among the habitans as to bar the collection
of the very moderate pecuniary assessment that would be
required for local improvements of obvious and admitted
necessity.
But such pecuniary assessment, though in a modified form,
already exists under the road law of 1796. By 36 Geo. 3,
c. 9, s. 19, the majority of the overseers of highways of the
REPORT : APPENDIX C 233
parish or township may impose a rate on the parties interested
' when it shall be necessary to pay artificers or undertakers
for making or conducting the work to be done on any public
bridge, or to purchase materials for the same '. And by the
expired Act, 5 Geo. 4, c. 3, s. 7, the majority of the parties
interested had the same power with respect to all joint labour
— a power which would have been more generally exerted,
had not the overseers been obliged to serve notices of the
requisite meeting on each and every interested party. In
cases of this description the apportionment generally is not
based on value, but on extent of property. This basis, whether
reasonable or unreasonable in the abstract, is equitable in the
case of a composition for road labour, which service itself
bears a regular proportion to extent of property, at least in
the seigniorial districts. In the newer settlements, however,
some distinction ought to be made between the cleared and
uncleared portions of any lot or farm, and a register, as has
been suggested by Mr. Panet, grand-voyer of the Montreal
district, might be advantageously framed, so as not to require
alteration for three or four years.
And here would naturally arise the question as to the
propriety and expediency of rendering all land, wild or re-
claimed, liable to the cost of making and repairing roads and
bridges. By the existing law (36 Geo. 3, c. 9, s. 7), all uncon-
ceded land and all wild lots in the possession of the original
grantees of the Crown are exempted from road duty ; but
by an Act amending this Act with respect to * the townships '
(3 Geo. 4, c. 19), all granted lands, with the exception of those
of ' a Protestant clergy ', were placed on precisely the same
footing. It is to be regretted that a statute so beneficial in
practice and so just in principle was only a temporary enact-
ment, and, as such, permitted to die a natural death in 1828.
With regard to the wild land, the practical working of the
present system is clearly bad. The resident settler, who is
generally straitened in means, is compelled by it to make
roads for the absentee proprietor, who is generally rich, and
to whom, at all events, the possession of the land is a mattei
of subordinate consideration. The provisions of the expired
Act, modified perhaps in some particulars, ought to be revived
in the townships. It ought, moreover, to be extended to the
unconceded land in the seigniories, wherever and whenever
the seignior is not competent to declare on oath that he has
never directly or indirectly refused to concede any land in
question on the terms prescribed by the old laws of the country ;
and should such a change of tenure take place as would render
234 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the seignior not trustee but proprietor, all distinction on this
head between townships and seigniories ought forthwith to
disappear.
From the errors of the past, we may derive a lesson for the
future. Institutions essential to the peace and welfare of the
colony, when it first came under the sovereignty of Britain,
are still wanting ; and, as the ancestral character of the
majority of the population remains unchanged, the principles
upon which these institutions may be successfully established
continue to be the same.
The period of deliberation has been too brief to allow the
Assistant Commissioners to mature any scheme of municipal
government for a province so disunited in itself, and so com-
plicated in its relations as Lower Canada. But, in addition
to an insufficiency of time, there is the farther disadvantage
of considering a new municipal system as an insulated ques-
tion ; whereas, under the circumstances of the country, it
claims to be regarded in connexion with whatever system of
general government may ultimately be substituted for that
unhappy shadow of the British constitution, so productive of
mischief, so barren of good. Institutions, to operate happily,
should be framed so as to dove-tail with each other, and meet
in a common correcting and controlling centre.
In the hope that they will not be charged either with
fanciful speculation or presumption, the Assistant Com-
missioners venture to place on record what they wish to be
viewed merely as hints for a plan, and not as a digested
arrangement. A minute of Sir Charles Grey, in the Report
of the Commission of which he was a member, suggests the
division of Lower Canada into several subordinate ' legis-
latures ', with one general and controlling legislature. Not
prepared to agree with this proposition, under the apprehen-
sion (which may be erroneous) that it comprehends an important
delegation of legislative authority to sectional assemblies, we
are still disposed to believe that, by machinery not widely
dissimilar, but more guarded in its construction, the pro-
vince might obtain the benefits of improved local adminis-
tration. Under this impression, we should be inclined to
recommend —
First. A new division of the province, on the principle of
territory and population, with the transfer of the inferior
district of Gaspe to New Brunswick, taking the river Mitis
or Rimouski as the boundary line. The division to comprise
* districts ' and counties, leaving the present parochial and
township subdivisions unaltered. Each ' district ' to be so
REPORT : APPENDIX C 235
far limited in extent as to lie within the direct and constant
supervision of an executive head. Proceeding upon this rule,
there would, probably, be about eight municipal districts in
Lower Canada.
Second. Councils chosen in the same way as overseers of
highways under the road law, to administer the affairs of
parishes and townships.
Third. Councils chosen by the municipalities of parishes
and townships, from persons possessing the double qualifica-
tion of education and property, to administer county affairs.
Fourth. Councils chosen by the county municipalities, from
educated persons possessing a higher property qualification
than that required for the county representation, to administer
district affairs.
The duties of these various bodies to be of a strictly local
character and the execution of the duties, as well as the mode
of executing them, to be provided for and prescribed by
a code of municipal law.
Fifth. To assist and temper the action of these municipal
bodies, as well as to facilitate the due administration of
justice, courts of monthly sessions (more frequent, if need be)
with civil and criminal jurisdiction, having paid professional
chairmen.
Sixth. A board of internal improvement, to audit accounts,
report upon all applications for aid, and make periodical
statements to the legislature.
Seventh. Professional engineers appointed by the Crown,
to act as superintendents of roads and bridges, in place of the
unprofessional grand- voyers.
Eighth. A salaried district chief, appointed by the Crown
to preside over district council, and report to the board of
internal improvement and the provincial government.
Ninth. A county road superintendent appointed by the
provincial superintendent, paid by fees and acting as a deputy
grand-voyer, with power to homologate proces verbaux at
monthly sessions, to preside at county council, and report to
district chief.
Tenth. Surveyors of parishes or townships appointed by
county superintendent, and paid by fees, to preside over their
respective municipalities, and report to said superintendent.
None of the municipal bodies to possess the power of
organizing or controlling a constabulary police. The protec-
tion of life and property in the rural districts cannot at present
be withdrawn, without peril, from the hands of the central
executive.
236 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
The good to be anticipated from the operation of such
a system of local administration as has been faintly indicated,
is the breaking up of jobbing connexions between the habitans
and their representatives, and the introduction of habits of
self-reliance among the former. The frequent interposition
of responsible executive agencies might be expected to act
as a stimulus to the inertness of the French Canadians, while
it would enable the central government to discern, at a glance,
the condition of the population, and to operate rapidly and
simultaneously on every division of the province.
With respect to the pecuniary means for local government
and improvement, the correct principles of provincial taxa-
tion were clearly laid down by the merchants and others of
British origin in 1806. They then contended, in opposition
to the majority of the House of Assembly, that ' if the sup-
port of the civil government were not to rest on direct taxes,
it should, at least, be secured by permanent Acts of indirect
taxation, as already introduced by the British Act 14 Geo. 3,
c. 83, and the provincial Acts 33, 35 & 41 Geo. 3. That
local establishments, such as court-houses, gaols and houses
of correction should be defrayed by assessments or indirect
taxes upon the districts, counties and cities for whose benefit
they might respectively be required. And that, for the
general improvement of the country, its agriculture, com-
merce and communication by land and water with the adjoin-
ing colonies and foreign states, recourse should be had to
indirect taxes of temporary duration.' *
The construction of great public works by loan, as in the
United States, would, in tranquil times, and under a stable
provincial government, materially accelerate the physical
prosperity of Lower Canada. The construction of the canals
of the State of New York has been carried on chiefly with
funds derived from loans. The whole amount borrowed is
about fifteen millions of dollars ; the balance of the debt for
their construction is now less than five millions ; and the
Erie and Champlain Canal fund alone yields a net revenue,
after paying all legitimate charges, and all deficiencies of the
auxiliary canals, of $718,650 f (dollars). The beneficial effect
of the loan system is twofold ; it calls into operation indi-
vidual capital and enterprise, and gives distant capitalists
an immediate interest in the welfare of the country.
The Assistant Commissioners feel bound to declare their
conviction of the uselessness of all subordinate measures for
* Political Annals of Lower Canada, 1828.
t Message of the Governor to the Legislature of the State of NCAV York.
REPORT : APPENDIX C 237
the improvement of Lower Canada, however promising in
appearance, or excellent in design, unless the general govern-
ment of the province shall be reconstructed, and placed on so
solid a basis as to enable it to resist the shock of parties, to
maintain the even course of justice, and secure for imperial
authority the respect which it has lost by long perseverance
in a blind, wavering and anti-national policy. The present
moment is peculiarly favourable for the commencement of
a new era in Canadian administration. Steam navigation has
so far reduced the distance between England and her North
American colonies, that the affairs of these most valuable
dependencies are capable of being conducted with as much
efficiency as those of the remoter sections of the United
Kingdom. But it is vain to hope that commerce will thrive,
emigration increase, or the lesser institutions for social advance-
ment extend and flourish, until they are assured of the fostering
care and protection of a firmly-rooted, enlightened and ener-
getic government.
Witt. Kennedy, 4
Adam Thorn,
Assistant Commissioners of Municipal Inquiry.
Quebec, 14 November 1838.
APPENDIXES D AND E.
ORDERED TO BE PRINTED JUNE 12, 1839.
CONTENTS OF APPENDIX D.
Commission by the Earl of Durham, appointing Arthur Buller, Esq., to
proceed with the utmost despatch to inquire into and investigate the
past and present modes of disposing of the produce of any Estates
or Funds applicable to purposes of Education in Lower Canada, &c.
Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry into the state of Education in
Lower Canada, &c.
*Returns made to Education Commission, 1838.
fReport of Mr. Dunkin, the Secretary to the Commission.
*Plan of Seigniory of Cap de la Magdeleine.
CONTENTS OF APPENDIX E.
*Copy of a Letter from the Earl of Durham to the Marquis of Normanby,
dated 31 May 1839.
'•"Report from the Chief Secretary, on the Commutation of the Feudal
Tenures in the Island of Montreal, and other Seigniories in the
possession of the Seigniory of St. Sulpice of Montreal.
* Ordinance of the Governor-general and Special Council of Lower Canada,
for incorporating the Seminary of St. Sulpice of Montreal.
* Report from Mr. Turton, on the Establishment of a Registry of Real
Property in Lower Canada.
[The sections marked with an asterisk have not been reprinted.]
f Extract only reprinted.
APPENDIX D.
COMMISSION.
VICTORIA, by the GRACE OF GOD of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the
Faith.
To ARTHUR BULLER, Greeting : —
WHEREAS it is highly expedient that an inquiry should be
made into the means of education enjoyed by Our subjects
in Our Province of Lower Canada, and into the amount,
nature and application of the produce of any estates or funds
which may have been set apart for, or may be applicable to,
purposes of education, and whether the same have been
employed in the most beneficial manner for the said purposes :
And whereas it is also highly expedient and desirable, that
such a system of education should be established as may
most conduce to the diffusion of knowledge, religion and
virtue : Know ye, therefore, that We, reposing great trust
in your zeal, ability and discretion, have nominated, con-
REPORT : APPENDIX D 239
stituted and appointed, and by these presents do nominate,
constitute and appoint you, the said Arthur Buller, to proceed
with the utmost despatch to inquire into and investigate the
past and present modes of disposing of the produce of any
estates or funds set apart for or applicable to purposes of
education in the said Province of Lower Canada, and into the
present means of education enjoyed by, or within reach of,
Our subjects in the said Province : And Our further will and
pleasure is, that you, after due examination of the premises,
do and shall, as soon as conveniently may be, report to Us,
under your hand and seal, what you shall find touching or
concerning the premises, upon such inquiry as aforesaid ;
and also that you shall suggest such alteration, modification
and extension of the system of education at present prevailing
in Our said Province, or such other management of any
estates or funds applicable to such purposes of education,
as may in your judgment appear likely to promote the objects
aforesaid ; and for the better discovery of the truth in the
premises, We do by these presents give and grant to you
full power and authority to call before you such persons as
you may deem necessary, and to inquire of the premises,
and every part thereof, by all other lawful ways and means
whatsoever : And We do also give and grant to you full
power and authority to cause all persons having in their
custody any records, orders, regulations, books, papers or
other writings relating to, or in anywise connected with,
the premises, to bring and produce the same before you ;
and for your assistance in the due execution of this Our
Commission, We do hereby authorize you to nominate and
appoint such person or persons as you shall think fit to be
Assistant Commissioner or Assistant Commissioners for the
purposes aforesaid, or any of them, and to delegate to him
or them such and so many of the powers hereinbefore vested
in you as may seem expedient : And Our will is, and We do
hereby direct and ordain, that the person or persons so
nominated by you shall possess and exercise any powers and
authorities so as aforesaid delegated to him or them, in as
full and ample a manner as the same are possessed and may
be exercised by you under the authority of these presents :
And We do hereby further authorize and empower you, at
your discretion, to appoint such person as Secretary to this
Our Commission as to you shall seem proper.
In testimony whereof, We have caused these Our Letters
to be made patent, and the Great Seal of our said Province
of Lower Canada to be hereunto affixed.
240 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Witness, Our right trusty and right well-beloved John
George Earl of Durham, Viscount Lambton, &c. &c., Knight
Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the
Bath, one of Our Most Honourable Privy Council, and
Governor-general, Vice-admiral and Captain-general of all
Our Provinces within and adjacent to the Continent of North
America, &c. &c. &c. &c.
At Our Castle of St. Lewis, in Our City of Quebec, in
Our said Province of Lower Canada, the 4th day of July,
in the year of our Lord 1838, and in the second year of
Our reign.
D. Daly, Secretary of the Province.
REPORT of the COMMISSIONER of INQUIRY into the
STATE of EDUCATION in Lower Canada.
My Lord, Quebec, November 15, 1838.
IN the instructions given in 1835 by Lord Glenelg to the
Canadian Commissioners, his Lordship, after pointing out
the importance and the difficulty of their inquiry into the
state of education, concludes by observing, — ' This is a task,
the due performance of which requires so intimate an acquaint-
ance with the character and wants of the people, that I doubt
whether, within the time of your residence in Canada, it will
be possible for you to be completely prepared to form a
deliberative conclusion over a question thus comprehensive.'
If any doubt could be entertained of the sufficiency for such
a purpose of the period which was then contemplated by his
Lordship, but small results can reasonably be expected from
the labours of the commission with which I had the honour
of being charged, when it is borne in mind that they only
commenced on the 1st of August, and closed in the early part
of the following November, and that the difficulties, which
were anticipated in the case of the Canadian Commissioners,
had been greatly aggravated by the political events which
intervened between the two periods. Had I been aware that
my time and opportunities were to be so abridged, I should
have entered upon the various considerations involved in
this extensive inquiry separately, and in the order suggested
by their importance and connexion ; thereby enabling myself
to report information, which, if extending only over part of
the subject, would still have been complete as far as it went,
and would to that extent have furnished materials for
immediate legislation. But anticipating no interruption ;
REPORT: APPENDIX D 241
imagining that the whole inquiry lay before me, and finding it
so divided as to admit of the simultaneous labour of a variety
of different parties, I thought I should best economize my
time by putting each of such parties in possession, as early as
possible, of the nature of the information which I sought
from them, and thus enabling every part of the inquiry to
be in progress at the same time. The doing this, however,
in a convenient form, and the previous necessity of making
ntyself master of each point, were works of so much labour,
that, by the time I was called upon to relinquish my task,
I found that, though every thing was set in train, nothing
had been completed.
I have nevertheless succeeded in eliciting some information.
It is no doubt too scanty to deserve the form and name of
a report, and unfortunately its authenticity, even to the
small extent that it goes, stands unattested by the formal
evidence of any witnesses, because, although I was in daily
communication with the leading authorities on this subject,
in Quebec, I abstained from committing their answers to
paper till I should be in a position to question them upon all
the points to which their information extended.
The subject of Canadian education naturally divides itself
under two general heads : the state in which it has been in
former times, and now is, and that to which it is proposed
to raise it hereafter.
To the Catholic Church Canada is indebted for all its early
scholastic endowments ; indeed, with the exception of M'Gill's
college, for all that at present exist. The ample estates and
active benevolence of the Jesuits, of the seminaries of Montreal
and Quebec, and of various nunneries and their missions,
were devoted to the education of the people. It is impos-
sible to pay too high a tribute to the merits of this most
exemplary Church. Its existence has ever been beneficially
felt, and its career has been marked throughout by the most
faithful discharge of its sacred duties, and the most unde-
viating allegiance to the British Crown.
The Jesuits' estates, however, soon ceased to be available
to the beneficent objects of their grantors. The British
Government, on the dissolution of that order, entered into
possession ; and, not content with diverting their proceeds
from their original destination, unfortunately adopted the
mode of appropriation the most obnoxious possible to that
part of the population for whose benefit they were first granted,
and who were the most clamorous for their restitution.
The first proposal of the Government was to present them
1352-3 R
242 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to Lord Amherst, by way of compensation for his military
services in the reduction of Canada. This it at length aban-
doned ; not, however, until after a long struggle, and after
the grant had been actually made out in favour of his Lord-
ship. Nor were the French Canadians alone in their com-
plaints. At the first session of the newly-constituted legislature,
in 1792, a petition, signed wholly or in greater part by the
inhabitants of British origin, was presented to the House of
Assembly from the city and county of Quebec, setting forth
the original destination of the Jesuits' estates, and showing,
that, owing to their diversion, the province was utterly with-
out the means of education. An address to his Majesty
Geo. III., upon this petition, was unanimously adopted by
the Assembly and transmitted to England, but no answer was
received till upon the presentation of a similar address on the
following year, the Governor informed them, that, in con-
sequence of the previous one, the claims of the province had
been considered by his Majesty in Council, and that the result
of that consideration had been an order to take possession of
these estates for the Crown. He concluded by suggesting,
that possibly any further applications on the subject might
be inconsistent with the accustomed respect of the House of
Assembly for the decision of his Majesty on matters connected
with his prerogative.
Accordingly, the subject was dropped for the moment.
However, as it was resumed almost annually from that period
to the final surrender of the estates to the Provincial Legis-
lature, in 1832, it will be more convenient to dispose at once
of this part of the question by presenting certain facts reported
by a committee of the House of Assembly in that last-men-
tioned year, in which the grievances, as far as relates to the
misappropriation of this fund, are brought together, and, it
would seem, fully substantiated.
It appears that, from the year 1800 to 1831, the gross
receipts in respect of the estates amounted to 49,OOOZ. : of
this 8,650L odd were expended in their management ; 622/.
in pensions ; for unknown services (which in fact comprised
an allowance to the then Attorney-general for his expenses
in going to England to defend himself against the impeach-
ment of the House of Assembly), 1,719?. ; law expenses con-
nected with M'Gill's college, a Protestant institution, 780/. ;
the maintenance of a Protestant chaplain (authorized in
a despatch of Sir George Murray, dated 2d June 1828, 984L ;
building Protestant churches, 9,793Z. There appears certainly
an item of 12,389Z. for the support of three schools ; but it
REPORT : APPENDIX D 243
should be remarked that these were all what the Catholics
looked upon as purely Protestant establishments, and were
by them avoided as such. The English Government might
maintain that in these appropriations it merely exercised the
right which it undeniably possessed of doing what it liked
with its own ; but it cannot be matter of surprise that the
Catholics of Canada should have felt discontented, when they
saw the great Catholic legacy of their forefathers thus con-
verted into a fund for the establishment of a rival Church.
At length, after years of incessant struggling, Lord Goderich
announced, in his despatch of the 7th July 1831, the deter-
mination of the Crown to resign to the Colonial Legislature,
for the purposes of education exclusively, the Jesuits' estates
(with the exception of the barracks, and even these on con-
dition of others being built), and the then existing balance in
respect of them. His Lordship then goes on to mention, that
two sums, the one of 7,154Z. odd, and the other of 1,2001. odd,
had lately been recovered from the estate of Mr. John Caldwell ,
and directs that both shall be placed at the disposal of the
Legislature, the former for general purposes, and the latter,
with reference to principles previously noticed, for purposes
of education exclusively. The reason of this distinction is
rather curious : it appears that the two sums were recovered
from different estates : on the former the Government had
claims on the ground of Mr. J. Caldwell's default as receiver-
general. These claims, however, were posterior to those of
several private individuals, and therefore were of no value.
The prior claim of all was that of ' the Jesuits' estates ', to
which, for a debt incurred as their treasurer, both properties
had been mortgaged by Mr. J. Caldwell's father. The Crown
accordingly effected the recovery by availing itself of its
capacity of proprietor of the Jesuits' estates, to sue Mr. J.
Caldwell, as heir-at-law to his father, for this debt. As regards
the smaller property, it never having come into Mr. J. Cald-
well's hands, and not being, therefore, liable for his default
as receiver -general, the claim of ' the Jesuits' estates ' to the
1,200?. recovered out of it was unopposed. However, there is
really no distinction between these two claims of the Jesuits'
estates : both were equally good : the only difference is, that
against the one there were no pretensions to set up at all,
and, against the other, none that had the slightest show
of legal weight, both being founded on the same original
debt.
Reverting to Lord Goderich's despatch, it must not be
forgotten that the larger sum of 7,154/. was directed by his
R 2
244 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Lordship to be placed at the disposal of the legislature for
general purposes.
A committee of the House of Assembly, by their report,
dated 7th February 1832, after finding, among other things,
that both the above sums mentioned in Lord Goderich's
despatch were then in the hands of the receiver -general, con-
clude by recommending that they shall both be carried to the
account of the Jesuits' estates, &c. &c.
Accordingly, in pursuance of this report, and embodying
every one of its recommendations, is passed the 2 Will. 4,
c. 41, whereby it is enacted, ' That all the monies arising
out of the Jesuits' estates then in or that might thereafter
come into the hands of the receiver-general, should be placed
in a separate chest, &c., and should be applied to the purposes
of education exclusively.' Now, it is clear that both sums
in question did arise out of the Jesuits' estates, and that both
were then in the hands of the receiver -general.
Besides (waiving the benefit of all this argument) Lord
Goderich, having left the larger sum to the disposal of the
legislature for general purposes, the legislature selected, of
their own free choice, as is clear from the above report
of their committee, those of education ; and surely they come
under the head of general purposes.
Nevertheless, in the face of this Act, concurred in by both
Houses, and assented to by the Governor, and as authentic
a law as ever law was, in the following September, the appro-
priation which appears to have been contemplated by Lord
Goderich was actually enforced by order of Colonel Craig, the
then Civil Secretary, and the 7,154?. transferred to the general
fund of the province. The other injunction of the Act, as to
keeping the future balances of these estates in a separate
chest, has been no better observed. They have been invari-
ably mixed with the other public revenue, a separate account
only being kept to show their amount.
By this account it appears that the balance on the 10th
October 1838 had accumulated to 13,436?. 4s. 6JcZ. If to this
is to be added, as it unquestionably ought, the 7,154?. currency,
or 6,439?. 5s. lO^d. sterling, the whole fund applicable to
education, in respect of the Jesuits' estates, will amount
to 19,875?. 10s. 4d. sterling.
As regards the condition annexed to the surrender of the
Jesuits' barracks, I fear it is not capable of fulfilment. I com-
municated with the military authorities on the subject, and
was informed that the Crown was in possession of no land
within the walls, where barracks must be, sufficient for their
REPORT : APPENDIX D 245
site ; and of course it would be bad economy in the province,
with a view to getting back the lost property, to incur, first
of all, the expense of purchasing land in the town already
built upon, pulling down the buildings, and then erecting
new barracks, and afterwards that of pulling down the old
ones and raising more profitable buildings on their site. The
most equitable arrangement, I should submit, would be for
the Crown to come forward now and pay the Jjcoper market
price for what it has so long withheld.
A full description of these estates will be found, in a tabular
form, in the Appendix to this Report, (Letter A.), as also
a minute criticism of their past management, and suggestions
for their future improvement. This has been the undivided
labour of Mr. Dunkin, the secretary to the commission, to
whose unremitting exertions in this and other departments
of the inquiry, not only during the continuance, but for some
months subsequent to the expiration of the commission, I am
indebted for much of the information I am able to supply.
To take up the order of events where it was broken off, the
hopes of the friends of education in the province, which had
been grievously disappointed by the Governor's recommenda-
tion in 1800 to abstain from any further complaints, were
fully revived by his announcing, in his speech of the follow-
ing year, the benevolent intentions of the Imperial Govern-
ment. ' With great satisfaction I have to inform you, that
his Majesty, from his paternal regard for the welfare and
prosperity of his subjects of this colony, has been graciously
pleased to give directions for the establishing of a competent
number of free schools, for the instruction of their children in
the first rudiments of useful learning, and in the English
tongue, and also, as occasion may require, for foundations of
a more enlarged and comprehensive nature ; and his Majesty
has been further pleased to signify his royal intention, that
a suitable proportion of the lands of the Crown should be set
apart, and the revenue thereof applied to such purposes.'
The 41 Geo. 3, c. 17, an Act founded on these promises,
and intituled, ' An Act for the establishment of Free Schools
and the advancement of Learning in the Province,' was
immediately passed. It will be found abstracted in Appendix,
(Letter B.), No. 1. The following are its principal provisions.
The Governor is empowered to erect a corporation, to be
called ' The Royal Institution for the advancement of Learn-
ing ', with all necessary powers for holding land in mortmain,
&c., to be composed of trustees to be appointed by the Governor.
To this corporation the entire management of all schools and
24« BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
institutions of royal foundation in the province, as well as
the administration of all estates and property which may be
appropriated to the said schools, is committed. The sanction
of the Governor is required to all rules and statutes which
may be made for the schools by the trustees, and for the
government of the masters and scholars. He may establish
one or more free schools in each parish or township, as he may
see fit, upon the application of the inhabitants, or a majority
of them, to that effect, and he appoints the masters, and
orders their salaries, after the conveyance of the school-house
to the trustees, which is to be done immediately upon their
completion ; the expense of the erection of the houses to be
equally apportioned among the inhabitants.
In 1803 the promised grants of land, by which the con-
templated schools were to be supported, never having been
made, the Executive Council recommended to the Governor
that 16 townships of the waste lands of the Crown should be
appropriated for this purpose. In answer to this recom-
mendation, the province received the same year an assurance
that 20,000 acres should be granted to each of the cities of
Quebec and Montreal for the support of a seminary, and that
immediate steps should be taken in the matter. These steps,
however, never were taken, the grants of land never made,
and the Act of 1801 remained a dead letter.
Complaints of this bad faith have never ceased. In answer
to one of them, as late at 1831, Lord Goderich, after admitting
that grants of land had been promised by the Crown, adds,
' that of course such promises are binding and must be carried
into effect, unless there are circumstances, of which he was
not then apprized, which might have cancelled the obligation
contracted in 1801, or which may have rendered the fulfilment
of it at that time impracticable.'
However, this admission was followed by no better results.
Up to this moment the only Acts of the British Government, in
respect of Canadian instruction, have been the wholesale
seizure, and the partial restoration, of the Jesuits' estates.
At length the House of Assembly determined to take up this
question, and passed a Bill, which, however, was thrown out
by the Legislative Council. Its principal features are the
same as those which distinguish the Elementary School Acts
that subsequently came into operation, and to which I shall
shortly call your Excellency's more particular attention. Two
of its provisions, namely, those contained in the llth section,
are worthy of notice. They both relate to the master ; one
requiring that, among other qualifications, he shall bring
REPORT : APPENDIX D 247
a certificate of loyalty, and the other fixing his salary at 60Z.
This latter particular I advert to, because it shows what far
juster notions were entertained in those days of the com-
petent provision for a teacher, than appears to have been the
case in later times. An abstract of this Bill will be found in
Appendix (B.) No. 2.
In 1818 another Bill was passed by the Assembly. This,
after reciting the necessity of elementary schools, and the
advantage of subjecting them to local control, vests the
trusteeship of those created under its provisions in a corpora-
tion, consisting of the rector, curate or priest, &c., with the
four churchwardens last appointed, of the Church of England
or the Roman Catholic Church, the seigneur primitif and
senior justice of the peace, who were to report annually to
the inhabitants. A sum of 200?. was to be granted from the
provincial treasury to the trustees of every parish or town-
ship in which a house had been built and opened, sufficient for
the residence of a master, and the instruction of 30 children.
The school was to receive no further support from the legis-
lature, but was entitled to one-fourth of the yearly revenues
of the fabrique, until its yearly income from other sources
should amount to 100Z. ; and the master was to be paid by
fees from the children, never, however, at a rate exceeding
5s. per month from each. This Bill, (see Appendix (B.) No. 3,)
after some amendments by the council which were concurred
in, was reserved for the Royal Assent, since which it was
never heard of. A similar fate attended two similar Bills
the two following years.
Up to this period the corporation contemplated by the
41 Geo. 3, having never been erected, letters patent were issued
for that purpose in October 1818. The Protestant Bishop of
Quebec was named the principal of the institution, and certain
other trustees from time to time appointed to act with him.
Great stress has been laid upon the two following rules,
which are among the first they made, as indicative of the
liberal spirit in which they entered on their duties : * That
every school should be placed under the immediate inspec-
tion of the clergy of the religion professed by the inhabitants
of the spot, and that, where they might be of different
persuasions, the clergy of each church should have the super-
intendence of the children of their respective communities.'
' That a regular superintendence of the schools was assigned
to visitors named by the corporation (one or more to be the
minister or ministers of the parish or township), who were to
report to them every six months the number and progress of
248 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the scholars, the conduct of the masters, and generally on
the state of the schools.'
The institution entered upon the management of all the
then existing schools supported by Government, and con-
tinued from year to year, but very slowly, to augment their
number. This remained the sole legislative provision for
education up to the year 1824. It will be perhaps better
again to break in upon the regular course of events, and pursue
the history of the Royal Institution to its end, disencumber-
ing it from the other systems which were for some years
co-existent with it, and by which it was finally absorbed.
That it failed entirely is admitted on all hands, and there is
no disagreement as to the immediate cause of failure, namely,
its unpopularity with the French Canadians and the Catholic
Church. This unpopularity was founded on the exclusively
British and Protestant character by which, it was asserted,
its organization and management were distinguished. A com-
mittee of the House of Assembly, appointed in 1824 to inquire
into its operation, reported, among other things, that, out of
its 20 trustees, only five, and only 22 out of its 81 school
visitors, were Canadians. In spite of the apparent liberality
of the rules, this constitution of the authorities, by whom
they were to be carried into effect, inspired such jealousies,
and so offended the religious and national antipathies of
the Canadians, that they withdrew their confidence from the
institution, and rarely applied for schools under its direction.
And, indeed, this was a natural enough result. Suppose
the proportions of the members of the corporation and of the
visitors, as regards their national origin, had been reversed,
and that the Catholic bishop had been placed at its head,
what would have been the popularity of such an institution
with the Protestants and the British ?
In the townships the system naturally worked better, arid
the demand for schools was proportionately great.
In 1827 an attempt was made to divide the board of the
institution into two committees, composed of an equal number
of members, and possessing equal privileges ; the new one to
be entirely Catholic, under the presidency of the Catholic
bishop, and to have the exclusive management of all Catholic
schools. After the two parties had with some difficulty been
brought to acquiesce in this arrangement, it was discovered
that there were some legal impediments in the way of cany-
ing it into effect, and a Bill for the repeal of such parts of
the 41 George 3, as interposed these impediments, was sug-
gested by Sir James Kempt and brought into the Assembly,
REPORT : APPENDIX D 249
but soon after dropt. An abstract of this Bill is given,
Appendix B. No. 5.
It appears, from successive reports of committees, that the
number of schools under the Royal Institution, after a certain
time, diminished rather than increased. In 1827 they amounted
to 82, of which 64 were Protestant, and only 18 Catholic. In
1832 there were but 72, in which there were only five Canadian
masters ; and in 1834 the whole number was reduced to 63.
The last application for a new school to the institution was
in 1828.
This decline is easily to be accounted for, by the greater
popularity of the school system which came into operation in
1829, and of those which succeeded it. A sum, varying
usually from 1,800/. to 2,000/., was annually voted to the
trustees of the corporation for the support of their schools
up to 1832, when it was reduced to 1,265/. Since this latter
period the Royal Institution fell into the general elementary
school system, and its schools were supported and managed in
the same manner as those thereby created, with the exception
that the corporation was still permitted to exercise the powers
in other cases intrusted to trustees elected by the localities.
The corporation has now no other function than the trustee-
ship of M'Gill's college, which establishment will be noticed
hereafter.
I have shown that, from the moment the Royal Institution
came into operation, systematic attempts were annually made
by the House of Assembly to substitute some other more
popular management.
In addition to the Bills, with this view, of 1818, 1819 and
1820, which, after being passed by both Houses of the Pro-
vincial Legislature, were left unnoticed by the Home Govern-
ment, two others, brought up in 1821 and 1823, were thrown
out by the Legislative Council.
At this period a committee, reporting upon the then lament-
able state of education in the province, represent that in many
parishes not more than five or six individuals can write, and
that, generally, not above one-fourth of the entire population
can read, and one-tenth write, and that very imperfectly.
At length, in 1824, the Assembly so far succeeded as to
carry through a Bill, which became the 4 Geo. 4, c. 31, and is
commonly known by the name of the ' Fabrique Act '. By
this the fabriques, or local corporations, established in each
Roman Catholic parish, by which the temporalities of the
parish church are administered, are authorized to establish
one or more schools in each parish of the province according
250 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to its population, and to have the sole management of
them.
They are further authorized to purchase and hold property
to a certain amount, real and personal, for the support of these
schools, and, until such property is acquired, may apply to
that purpose one-fourth of their revenue. This Act will be
found abstracted, Appendix, (Letter B.) No. 4. But it can
hardly be said to have ever come into operation. In some
parishes the fabriques were too poor, and in most, I have
been assured, the existence of the Act was unknown. Like
that established under the Royal Institution, the fabrique
school-system became absorbed in those of a more general
and popular character, which were shortly after established.
The first of these, which forms a remarkable epoch in the
history of Canadian education, was established by the 9 Geo. 4,
c. 46. It will be observed that all the abortive attempts made
from 1818 up to this period, as well as the Act of 1824, had
alone in view the wants of the French Canadians, which were
virtually untouched by the Royal Institution, and which
undeniably called for urgent relief. It is true, that, as regards
the receipt, at starting, of a certain sum of public money, the
Protestant settlements were put on the same footing as
the Catholic ; but reliance for the subsequent support of the
schools was placed first of all upon the fabriques, a fund which
only existed in Catholic parishes, and eventually on charitable
endowments, which were only to be expected from the greater
wealth and zeal of the Catholic Church.
Imperfect as the provisions of these Bills were for the
erection of any thing approaching a sound and general system
of education, no fault can be found with the spirit in which
they were devised by the Assembly. It appears to have been
one of fairness and sincerity, and liable to none of the imputa-
tions which attach to similar proceedings of that body in
later times.
By the Act of 1829 the establishment and sole manage-
ment of schools in their respective parishes and townships
was confided to five trustees, elected by the resident land-
holders eligible to vote at elections. These trustees were
empowered to hold property belonging to the school, and to
receive benefactions. Half the expense of erecting school-
houses, if not above 50?., is to be advanced from the public
chest on the certificate of the trustees.
A salary of 20?. is to be given to every master teaching
20 pupils, and a further allowance of 105. a head for poor
children, provided their number does not exceed 50, nor fall
REPORT : APPENDIX D 251
short of 20. The trustees were required to report annually
to the legislature.— [See Abstract, Appendix (B. 6.)]
Under this Act, which was to be in force for three years,
there was no provision for visitatorial inspection.
The trustees, who in very few instances could write them-
selves, as is proved by the almost invariable use of marks
instead of signatures in their returns, had the power of appoint-
ing and removing the masters ; in short, the entire control
of the schools. It is true that they were required to make
annual returns to the legislature ; but then nothing was more
easy, and, I have been informed by many persons, nothing
was more common, than for them to make false returns.
In many schools where there were not 20 scholars bona fide
taught gratis (the number requisite before the gratuity of 10s.
a head was to be granted), I was assured that it was a very
usual device of the master to ask of his neighbours, or of
another school, the loan of a sufficient number of children to
satisfy this condition. Indeed, where children were scarce,
parents were known to lend themselves to this good-humoured
arrangement. The trustees, when they knew all this, generally
connived at it willingly enough, because they generally wished
well to the master, who was of their own appointment, and
because the gratuity did not come out of their pockets, but,
on the contrary, was pretty sure to find its way into them,
the master being very frequently in their debt, and, as they
well knew, having no other means of paying them.
In 1830 and 1831, two other Acts were passed, slightly
amending and explaining the provisions of that of 1829. By
the latter, the Governor was empowered to appoint 19 visitors,
who with the members of the House of Assembly resident in
the country, and the resident rector or curate of the parish,
were to divide the country into school districts, visit the
schools annually, and report their state to the legislature,
with any recommendations they might be disposed to make.
Schools rose rapidly under the Act of 1829. In that year
48 houses were built, under its provisions, and 381 schools
received the Government allowance. In 1830, 60 more houses
were built, and the number of elementary schools increased
to 899. In 1829, the whole cost of education to the province
was 13,785?. 16s. 3d., including, in addition to the expenses
of the elementary schools, 2,1157. 10s. for the 84 under the
Royal Institution, and 5,2507. 3s. for special grants. In 1830,
the gross amount under these same heads was increased to
26,0197., and in 1831, the whole number of elementary schools
was 1,216, and the whole cost of education 32,4707.
252 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
It is time here to explain the meaning of these special
grants. The general educational Acts which have been noticed
were meant to embrace only the elementary schools in the
rural districts. Many of those, originally established by
voluntary associations in the three towns of Montreal, Quebec,
and Three Rivers, as well as sundry superior academies and
colleges, dispersed over various parts of the province, were
the subjects of separate annual appropriations. The first of
these was in 1823, when 200/. was granted to a school in
Quebec under the management of the Education Society
in that town. In the following year there was only this same
grant. In 1825, a like sum was also given to the British and
Canadian school at Montreal. Every subsequent year fresh
institutions received similar aid, and the grants under this head
have been shown, in 1830, to have increased to 5,2501. 3s.
In 1831, the House of Assembly appointed a standing com-
mittee of 11 members (five to be a quorum), to report from
time to time on all subjects connected with education.
The Act of 1829 having expired in May 1832, the 2 Will. 4,.
c. 26, was passed for the continuance of the system for two
more years. Before noticing the peculiar provisions by which
this Act is distinguished from its predecessors, it will be proper
to advert to the reasons given for such distinction by the
Education Committee. In 1831, they report, ' that they
cannot but regret that they have had evidence that in several
instances too much dependence has been placed on legislative
aids, and, in some cases, to a degree which seems to have had
the effect of relaxing the exertions which were formerly made.
Your committee cannot too strongly impress upon the House
the mischiefs which would result from such a dependence,
and placing the public money in the hands of societies or
individuals practically liable to no sufficient responsibility,
or regular or strict accountability, unless they at the same
time have to apply a considerable portion of their own money
along with that of the public.'
The same committee, remonstrating against large legis-
lative grants, dwells on ' the abuses and corruption which
uniformly attend the lavish expenditure of public money.
Education itself suffers in the estimation of the public ; false
ideas are spread abroad among the people, that education is
rather an object which concerns the community than them-
selves individually, and it is undervalued, while in reality it
is become nearly as needful in the present state of things
in this province as religious instruction, or instruction in
the means of gaining an honest livelihood, for which it is the
REPORT : APPENDIX D 253
bounden duty of every head of a family to provide to the
utmost of his power. To draw the money from the people
by taxes, to be restored to them for these purposes, after
undergoing all the diminution of the expenses of collection,
management and waste, would soon impoverish them without
effecting the object in view.'
In 1832 the Committee report, that the increasing applica-
tions for public money render certain regulations necessary,
and as warning to the public that less reliance than thereto-
fore must be placed in aids from the general funds, and more
from the localities immediately interested ; and that, for
these reasons, it is desirable, 1st, to grant no new allowances,
except on the most urgent grounds, but rather to dimmish
those already granted ; 2nd, to confine aids for elementary
instruction in the towns, as much as possible, to one elemen-
tary school connected in some degree with one of each of the
principal religious denominations, where all the poorer classes
may have easy admission. It goes on ' to regret that the
applications during that session were nearly as numerous and
great in amount as in the previous one. The extraordinary
efforts which were made by the legislature under the unfor-
tunate state of things which had so long retarded education
in the province, and in a prosperous state of the public funds,
have widely spread abroad the idea that the expenses of the
education of youth were to be defrayed out of the public
revenue ; and the abuses consequent thereon have, no doubt,
in some instances, made those who profited by them over-
anxious for their continuance. The present state of the
public funds, however, will force a return to more correct
notions and practice. Your committee cannot conceive that
it will ever be expedient to draw money from the industry of
the people, by an expensive process, to be returned to them
in greatly diminished amount, for objects for which they can
apply it more certainly, more equitably, and with greater
economy, under their own immediate control.'
In this report the committee remark, that the proportion
of children attending school in Lower Canada is one in 12 ;
whereas, in the neighbouring state of New York, it is one in
four. By the 2 Will. 4, c. 26, founded on this latter report,
1321 districts were adopted as laid out by the visitors appointed
the preceding year.
To a school in each of these districts, and also to a separate
girls' school in that district in every Roman Catholic parish in
which the church was situated, an allowance was given of
201. per annum, provided that no more than 2s. per month
254 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
was demanded from each scholar, and that 20 scholars, from
5 to 15 years of age, had been in regular attendance for 190
days in the year. Ten shillings were to be distributed yearly,
as prize-money, among the best scholars in each school, by
the first resident member for the county, on the return ;
otherwise by the non-resident one. The management of the
schools was intrusted to trustees, as in the Act of 1829. The
teacher, before appointment, must produce a certificate,
signed by the minister of the most numerous religious denomi-
nation in the parish, according to the latest census, and by
one justice of the peace, and the militia officer of highest grade
in the parish, or by two others, that he is known as of good
character, and that he has been examined by them, and
found capable of teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, in
the language of the majority of the inhabitants. He might be
removed, either on the representation of a majority of the
county visitors, or, after hearing, by the trustees, on the com-
plaint of three electors. A public examination was to be held
yearly, and three at least of the visitors were to make an
inspection of the school, which they were to certify, as directed
by a schedule annexed to the Act. No more than 10 free
scholars were to be admitted to any one school, and then only
when their parents had another child at school, for whom they
paid. The visitors were to be the legislative councillors resi-
dent in the county ; its members in the House of Assembly,
whether resident or not ; the senior acting justice of the
peace, the militia officer of highest rank, and the minister of
the most numerous religious denomination. These visitors,
in addition to the duties before mentioned, were to determine
all questions relating to districting and building houses, &c.,
and they alone were to have then: expenses paid.
The schools of the Royal Institution were embraced in
this Act.
The other most remarkable alterations introduced by it
consisted in the additional powers which it vested in the
members of the House of Assembly. They were to have the
distribution of the 10s. prize-money ; indeed the whole powers
of visitation may be said to have centred in them, because
their political importance generally enabled them to do as
they chose with those of their co- visitors who resided in the
parish, and because the members of the Legislative Council
were few in number, and rarely fulfilled the condition of
residence in the county. Complaints were frequently made
of the improper application of the prize-money entrusted for
distribution to the M. P. Ps.
REPORT : APPENDIX D 255
A writer of no small merit, in an article addressed to the
' Populaire ', Canadian newspaper, and signed, L. P. R.
Instituteur, remarks : ' Sur ce sujet je puis dire a la honte
de ceux a qui il appartient, que bien des ecoles ont ete privees
de cette gratification. Moi-meme, je me suis oblige d'ecrire
a un representant du comte de Berthier pour lui mander,
" s'il avait envoye 1'argent qui etait destine a recompenser
les enf ans des ecoles, qu'il y avait deux semestres que les visi-
teurs de notre paroisse n'avaient rien donne pour cet objet."
II me fit reponse qu'il avait donne 1'argent a un des princi-
paux de la paroisse, ou je tenais 1'ecole ; que si ce dernier ne
1'avait pas distribue, il y avait mauvaise foi de la part de
cet individu. Alors je dis a 1'un de mes sindics d'aller trouver
Findividu en question, et de lui demander les recompenses
des enf ans ; qu'avec ce peu d'argent les enf ans se pourraient
acheter des livres, du papier, et d'autres choses necessaires
pour 1'ecole. En y allant il re§ut a peu pres la reponse
suivante : " Je garde, dit le visiteur, cet argent pour payer
les frais d'annonces, les lettres non affranchies, et 1'acte
d'election des sindics." Combien d'autres abus que je men-
tionnerais, si le terns me le permettait, et combien d'autres
encore se sont passes inapper9us ! S'il y a eu des visiteurs si
peu delicats jusqu'au point d'enfreindre les lois eux-memes,
il ne faut pas s'etonner s'il y ait eu des sindics qui se soient
rendus encore plus coupables, pour des sommes beaucoup
plus considerables, par exemple dans la construction des
maisons d'ecole. Je fus temoin lorsqu'un sindic dans le
comte de St. Hyacinthe re9ut une verte Ie9on de Mr. Roc
de St. Ours, dans le courant d'Aout 1832, pour avoir retire
501. du gouvernement pour la batisse d'une maison, dont voici
a peu pres 1'histoire. Le terrain sur lequel la maison etait
batie avait ete donne en pur don a la fabrique de la paroisse.
Le seigneur du lieu avait fait don de tout le bois, en outre
14 a 15 habitans avaient donne chacun trois a quatre piastres
a part des corvees, de maniere que la maison fut edifice sans
avoir coute 15 piastres. Le sindic, qui s'ingerait de cela, fit
estimer le terrain et la maison a 100/. pour retirer 501. , comme
il etait dit dans 1'acte d'education. II les retira en effet, et
la maison est toujours restee imparfaite. M. de St. Ours fut
tellement surpris de voir cette maison, qu'il dit qu'elle n'etait
bonne qu'a loger les poules. Quand il sut en outre que le
gouvernement avait donne 50Z., c'est pour le coup que le
pauvre sindic se fit tancer, et qu'il en re9ut sur les quatre
faces. Le cure de la paroisse, voyant le maitre et la maitresse
si mal luges, leur donna onze piastres pour faire cloisons. II
256 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
parait a present que le proprietaire du terrain s'en est empare.
Voila un exemple qui fait voir que 1'argent a ete dissipe ou
mal employe ; car avec 50?. toutes personnes peuvent faire
une bonne maison, bien parachevee en dedans et en dehors,
lorsque les materiaux sont sur la place gratuitement. S'il
y avait une perquisition sur toutes les maisons qui se sont
baties, sous les dispositions de 1'acte, il est certain qu'on y
verrait avec surprise plusieurs cents louis de dissipes et perdus
pour la province, mais qui ont grossi la bourse de certains
tartuffes avides d'argent/
Complaints were also very frequently made that the pro-
vision, which required the master's certificate to be signed
by the county members, before his allowance could be drawn,
gave them a power over him, which was too often propitiated
by acts of political subserviency. I frequently heard these
charges made, and in no few instances attempted to be sub-
stantiated by facts. Though it is necessary in Canada to be
very suspicious of statements advanced by political parties in
disparagement of their adversaries, or in vindication of them-
selves, no one who is conversant with the fury of Canadian
partizanship can help recognizing in the provisions of this Act
temptations to abuse sufficient, under such circumstances, to
overcome the scruples of belligerent legislators.
The 3 Will. 4, c. 4, made some alterations in the school
districts, as laid out in the previous year, and reduced their
whole number to 1,294. It also contained a very judicious
provision for granting 4?. extra to every master who should
teach both languages.
The Education Committee in their report in 1834 still com-
plain of the extravagance of the school grants, and express
a hope ' that the time is not far distant when the whole
country will be persuaded that it is much better to trust to
themselves for the discharge of the duty of affording useful
instruction to their offspring, rather than depend upon legis-
lative appropriations.' The 4 Will. 4, c. 9, continued the Act
of 1832 to May 1836. By this the school districts were again
increased in seven counties, and the visitors were empowered
to grant 10?. extra to the best master in every county, namely,
the one who had the largest and best conducted school ; pro-
vided that in addition to the ordinary course of elementary
instruction he also taught geometry, French or English
grammar, and book-keeping.
In 1835 the House of Assembly having come to the resolu-
tion of not proceeding to business, no Education Bill was
passed. In the session 1835-6 special grants were made
REPORT : APPENDIX D 257
amounting to nearly 12,OOOZ., being, in point of fact, the allow-
ance for the previous as well as the current year. The reports
of the Education Committee this year are much in the same
strain as those before referred to. They state, 'that the
liberality of the legislature, far from having stimulated the
efforts of the members of the institutions connected with
education, appears on the contrary to have paralyzed them.'
They go on to represent the unreasonable demands made by
the inhabitants in many places for new schools districts.
' These applications,' they say, ' do not, generally speaking,
come from places which appear by their population to be
entitled to a greater number than that now allowed them ;
but, on the contrary, from places where the proportion of the
number of school districts is four times greater than some
others. The single fact that a school district is asked for
a place in which there are only three families, will be sufficient
to satisfy your honourable House of the necessity of examin-
ing applications of this nature with the most scrupulous
attention. Your committee have come to the determination
to recommend, that for the future the number of school
districts in each county be regulated by its population.' It
appears from these reports that the cost of education in the
three preceding years had been as follows : — In 1833, 22,154?. ;
in 1834, 24,543?. ; in 1835, 25,810?. In the last year there
were 1,202 schools and 38,377 children in attendance, of whom
14,048 were gratuitously instructed, and 24,329 paid, or pro-
fessed to pay, at the rate prescribed by law. The committee,
after commenting upon the universal incompetency of school-
masters, &c., conclude by recommending two Bills ; the one for
the establishment of Normal schools, and the other for the con-
tinuance of the general elementary system. The first of these
became law (6 Will. 4, c. 12.)— See Abstract, Appendix, (B. 12.)
It provided for the establishment and support, for five
years, of two Normal schools, one at Quebec and the other at
Montreal, to be under the management of a committee, of
10 persons in each city ; each committee was allowed 400?.,
to enable it to procure professors, and purchase books and
apparatus ; 600?. per annum, for five years, for salaries for
such professors, and 250?. per annum, for a like period, for
the contingent expenses of the schools. A further yearly sum
of 120?. was granted to each, for three years, for the mainte-
nance and tuition of five or more poor schoolmasters desirous
of completing themselves in the art of teaching : and a like
sum was granted, for the like period, to the Ursuline Nuns of
Quebec and Three Rivers, and the Sceurs de la Congregation
1352-3 S
258 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
de Notre-Dame at Montreal, for the maintenance and tuition
of five poor young females willing to devote themselves to
teaching. The schools were to be open only to persons above
14, who would give good security that they would accept
employment for five years after leaving the Normal school in
some superior or elementary institutions in the province, under
penalty of refunding to the committees all the expenses of
their tuition, &c. ; and to schoolmasters seeking to perfect
themselves in the art of teaching. A course of studies was
prescribed, such as is adopted at similar establishments in
Europe, and was to extend over a period of three years.
A pupil, after having obtained a certificate of fitness, &c. was
entitled to preference in employment at schools receiving
legislative assistance. The five years were to begin to run
from the date of the establishment of the schools in the
respective cities. Both committees immediately united in
sending to Europe, for the purpose of procuring professors and
books, &c., the Rev. Mr. Holmes of the seminary of Quebec,
a gentleman of great worth and talents. He brought back
with him two professors for the Montreal branch, who imme-
diately opened their school, and came into the receipt of their
salaries. They had I believe as many at one time as three
pupils, but have none at all at the present moment. No
attempt has yet been made to organize the school at Quebec.
Mr. Holmes brought back with him some very valuable
apparatus and a large collection of books, which are now in
charge of the committee. The reason of the failure of this
act is obvious. The other Bill, which was passed by the House
of Assembly at the same time, having been rejected by the
Council, the whole system of elementary education fell to the
ground, and persons could hardly be found willing to throw
away three years at these normal schools, and pledge them-
selves to be ready to teach for five more, when there were no
schools in existence for them to teach in, and really a very
poor prospect of any ever being established. At the same
time the Act had great merits ; it sought to remedy, and by
provisions very suitable as far as they went, one of the greatest
vices in the existing system. It, nevertheless, was of course
the subject of bitter attack Jin a province where the merits
of 'measures are no security against attack.
The Bill of 1836, which, as I have just said, was thrown out
by the Council, proposed to raise the number of school dis-
tricts to 1,658, and to grant far greater powers as regarded
the management of schools to members of the House of
Assembly. The only other novel features in it are, 1st, the
REPORT : APPENDIX D 250
establishment of a superior or model school, in every parish
or township, where the population, according to the last
census, exceeded 500 souls, to the master of which an allow-
ance was to be made of 50?. per annum, upon the majority of
the heads of families, at a meeting duly called, having voted
a further sum of not less than 201., so as to raise his salary
to 70?. He was required, in addition to reading, writing and
arithmetic, to teach the grammar of the language of the
majority of the inhabitants, and the elements of mensuration
and geography, particularly that of North America. 2dly,
the provision by which it empowered, though it did not
compel, the majority of the inhabitants to tax the district for
further support of its schools. The grounds on which the
Council rejected this Bill are so fully and so ably stated in
their report, that I cannot do better than give their own words.
After reviewing the provisions made for education in past
years by the legislature, and pointing out their numerous
faults as emphatically and oftentimes admitted in the reports
of the other House, they proceed : — ' Your committee beg
leave to state, that, notwithstanding the foregoing reports of
the special committee of the House of Assembly on education,
concurred in by that honourable House, the number of school
districts is by this Bill considerably augmented, and the public
expenditure for this object, which has already reached the
amount of 150,000?., is very greatly increased, as nearly
40,000?. will be required annually, for four years ensuing,
to cover the appropriations specified therein. Your com-
mittee, while expressing their concurrence in the propriety
of assisting education in its progress, at the same time fully
coincide with the general tenor of the reports above alluded
to, that its support by the people themselves would be more
effectual in its results than under the present system of lavish
expenditure, which, even for so desirable an end, will ulti-
mately lead to apathy and indifference.
' That the system of management proposed to be continued,
and in some points extended, by this Bill, must lead to con-
sequences which your committee cannot but regard as pro-
ductive of evil. The direction and superintendence of the
sums appropriated by this Bill are intrusted, in effect, to the
county members of the House of Assembly. This power your
committee consider to be an object of extreme importance
for good or for evil, as the persons in whose hands it is placed
may be influenced, on the one hand, by a pure sense of duty,
or, on the other, by the opinion or feeling of party, or by
other improper motives. Your committee think it necessary
S2
260 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
to point out the powers contained in this Bill, upon which
they found their apprehensions that some abuses may result
from its operation :
' First. The certificate of the trustees, by means of which
the schoolmaster is to be paid, is to be transmitted to the
county member. Second. The certificate of the qualification
of masters of the superior schools, by means of which they
receive their salaries, is to be transmitted likewise to him.
Third. The county member is to make the pay-list of the
county schools and masters, by means of which the masters'
salaries are to be paid by the receiver-general. Fourth. All
alterations in the school districts are subject to the approval
of the county members, or may in some cases, as provided by
this Bill, be made by them of their own authority. Fifth.
Large sums of money are to be intrusted to them for dis-
tribution, as rewards of excellence to scholars. Sixth. The
county member is to demand, recover and receive all sums
of money remaining unpaid from former appropriations, for
sums for prizes, and for this purpose may require the assis-
tance of the law officers of the Crown. Seventh. The elections
of trustees of schools, by heads of families, are to be trans-
mitted to the county member. Eighth. They are not required
to support by vouchers their account of monies intrusted to
them, as are other persons. Ninth. They are among the number
of school visitors. Tenth. Finally, these powers of the county
members shall, in case of a dissolution of Parliament, con-
tinue to be vested in them until their successors shall be
elected, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
' Your committee believe that your honourable House will
see in these provisions sufficient grounds for the apprehension
they have expressed, that abuses may result from the opera-
tion of the measure. From the experience of past ages, as
well as from the appropriations made by this BUI, your com-
mittee apprehend that liberality may at last degenerate into
prodigality, and the object sought for be as far from attain-
ment as before. Under these circumstances, your committee
suggest the propriety of suspending all further appropriations
until some general effective system of education can be
judiciously planned, and carefully executed, whereby the
provincial revenue will be relieved from so heavy an annual
demand upon it, and the people be influenced to take a more
decided interest in the prosperity of institutions for the educa-
tion of themselves and children. Independently of these
general considerations affecting the merits of the measure,
your committee conceive that there are others growing out
REPORT : APPENDIX D 261
of the particular circumstances of the finances of the province
which demand their serious attention. They think it neces-
sary to bring to recollection a resolution passed by your
honourable House on the 6th of March last, " That it was not
expedient to concur, during the present session of the Pro-
vincial Parliament, in appropriation of monies to a greater
extent than will leave in the public chest a sum equal to the
discharge of the sum of 30,519?. 4s. 2d., advanced and paid
out of the funds of the United Kingdom, by his Majesty's
order, for the support of the government, and the administra-
tion of justice therein, and to other servants of the Crown
and individuals as therein mentioned, for which sums no
appropriation or provision has hitherto been made.
4 That as your honourable House has already concurred in
Acts for the appropriation of nearly 12,000?. for the encourage-
ment of education in this province, that as no Act providing
for the sum of money mentioned in the preceding resolution
has hitherto been sent up by the House of Assembly for the
concurrence of this honourable House, and as your com-
mittee conceive that the state of the provincial revenue (due
regard being had to the payment of the sums above men-
tioned which remain unprovided for) will not warrant the
increased appropriation, your committee urge upon your
honourable House the propriety of proceeding no further
with the Bill intituled, &c.'
It is impossible not to recognize the truth of the greater
part of these objections urged by the Council. Although the
Bill contained some new provisions of a very valuable charac-
ter, yet all the radical faults of the old system were left un-
touched by it, and some, namely, those pointed out by the
Council, so aggravated, that the cause of education in the
province has, I am convinced, gained much more than it has
lost by the rejection of the Bill and the consequent breaking
up of the whole system.
Since this period some few masters continued their schools,
in the double hope of a new Act being shortly passed, or of
being supported by the voluntary contributions of the in-
habitants ; but both these hopes were soon disappointed,
and the schools, with very few exceptions, shut up. Thrown
thus on the wide world without resources, and in a time of
such excitement, the rebel standard attracted some to a cause
which ended in their destruction or expatriation ; others have
succeeded in getting into new occupations, but very few are
to be found still adhering to the old.
The schools, however, in the three towns of Quebec, Montreal
262 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
and Three Rivers, and the academies and colleges, which had
been the subjects of special grants, continued in operation
and received the usual assistance under an Act passed by
Sir John Colborne and his Special Council in the spring of
1838.
I will now conclude my observation on the past, by taking
a general retrospect of the different attempts at elementary
education made by the legislature, and pointing out the
causes which led to their failure.
The immediate cause of the failure of the schools under the
Royal Institution was the unceasing hostility of the Catholic
Church and the French Canadians, on the ground that they
were essentially British and Protestant. The absence of every
species of popular control distinguished this system from
those subsequently adopted by the Assembly. In other
respects it had the same miserable imperfections.
The Fabrique Act can hardly be said ever to have fairly
come into operation, and only deserves notice as pointing
out a fund in every Catholic parish, by which, in the opinion
of the French Canadians themselves, education can always
be more or less assisted. The system patched up at different
times by the Assembly, into what was called the elementary
school system, was not merely a vicious and imperfect one,
but of late years, especially, pernicious in the extreme. It
is obvious that it was mainly recommended to that body by
its vast utility as a political machine.
The annual distribution of such large sums of money, and
the exercise in other respects of such extensive patronage,
were of course convenient to members ; but to the school
system such an arrangement was pregnant with mischief.
How startled we should be in England at a proposition to
vest similar powers in our House of Commons ! It would be
regarded as almost equivalent to granting the existing members
their seats during pleasure.
That the temptations to abuse thus offered were not very
strenuously resisted by the House of Assembly in Lower
Canada is more than insinuated by what is called the British
party. By them the schoolmaster in the Catholic parishes is
represented as invariably the most active and accredited
organ of the disaffected ; and I have been assured by many
witnesses that the ' Minerve ', an exciting and seditious paper,
was in frequent use in the schools as a class-book. This
latter assertion is, it may be hoped, unfounded. But, with
regard to the former, I have reason to believe that it is to
a certain extent too true. Certain it is, at any rate, that the
REPORT : APPENDIX B 263
qualification of loyalty, required of a master in the more
peaceable days of the Bill of 1814, was never insisted upon in
later bills. Another great evil, to which this system was
subjected by its connexion with politics, was its want of per-
manency. Every alternate year it was liable to expire alto-
gether, or undergo modifications, which, as regarded those
embarked in it, in many cases amounted to expiration. The
House of Assembly knew well the power which they derived
from their common habit of temporary legislation. It was
no slight hold to possess in the country, this, of continuing,
or at any given time withholding, its sole means of education.
It is true that it would be almost impossible to make a system
permanent which was to be supported entirely by legislative
grants, because the finances of a country like Canada could
not always afford such large expenditure. Indeed, the ex-
penditure was not fixed, but was liable to be increased to an
indefinite amount. This, however, instead of being an argu-
ment in favour of temporary legislation, should be one among
many others for seeking out some never-failing source of
maintenance by which education should be rendered inde-
pendent of the wants or caprices of the legislature. No man
of character or industrious habits could be induced to abandon
other more certain occupations to embrace that of school-
master, when he was only certain of two years' employment.
Another very pregnant evil, common to all such systems,
was the miserable character of the inspection to which they
were subject. The trustees who had the choice of the master,
and virtually the entire management of the school, it has
been already shown, could themselves . rarely write. Their
principal relations with him were those of debtor and creditor,
or of fellow-partizans in politics. If it were ever necessary
to deceive the visitors, nothing more easy. The daily journals
of attendance, which latterly the master was obliged to keep,
were easily falsified to suit the injunctions of the law, and
nobody able or willing to detect the falsehood. The day on
which the visitors made their inspection the number of
children was complete, and every thing appeared correct.
The great desideratum of the master's political usefulness
being once proved, the visitors were good-humouredly blind
to trifling deficiencies in morals or capacity. L. P. R. In-
stituteur, whom I have before quoted, speaking of these
abuses, says, — ' II y a eu des sindics qui ne se sont pas fait
scrupules de prendre 1'argent des maitres pour payer les frais
de leurs elections ; ces messieurs avaient les honneurs, et les
pauvres maitres d'ecoles payaient pour. Enfin, il y a eu des
264 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
visiteurs qui ont fait avoir la paye a des personnes qui n'avaient
pas eu d'ecoliers pendant un hiver. J'en connais une, qui
re9ut 10?. du gouvernement malgre le rapport de ses sindics,
qui deposerent qu'elle n'avait pas eu plus de sept a huit
ecoliers durant le semestre, quoique le bill disposat que
personne ne recevrait 1'allocation sans qu'il eut, de bonne foi,
instruit 20 pupilles : cette personne re9ut les 101. parce qu'elle
etait dans la manche du cure de la paroisse.'
But the most fertile source of failure was in the indifferent
qualifications and characters of the masters. I believe it may
be fairly said, that a schoolmaster's was the worst trade in
the country, and that nobody would embark in it who was
qualified by character and understanding for any other.
' A common farm servant,' says the Rev. Mr. Alexander,
of Leeds, in his evidence before a committee of the House of
Assembly, in 1836, ' is allowed 151. per annum for wages,
and, in addition, washing, board and lodging. A school-
master rarely gets more than 201. per annum, and none of
the above-mentioned extras.' It is true that an additional
payment of 2s. per month from each scholar was contem-
plated by the legislature, but the poor master rarely got it ;
parents either refused the payment altogether, or offered
a tithe of it, and, if he declined, had recourse to the easy
alternative of removing their children from his school ; and
it would not do for him to break with too many children in
this way, because he was obliged to have 20 regular pupils
to entitle him to the Government allowance. Accordingly,
the master was frequently on the brink of starvation, and
always dependent on the good will of his parishioners.
L. P. R. Instituteur says again, ' Le peu de respect qu'on
a pour les maitres vient aussi en partie de ce qu'ils sont
obliges de tendre la main aux habitans, pour avoir de quoi
subsister a credit. Les habitans s'habituent a les entendre
supplier, a demander ; ils viennent, enfin, a les rebuter et
a les regarder comme des etres depourvus de toutes ressources
pour vivre, ou, pour le dire en termes plus claires, comme des
pauvres necessiteux, car avec nos habitans ceux des gens
instruits qui n'ont pas de terre en partage ne sont guere
regardes d'eux.'
Nor was the master's incompetency the whole evil ; even
when he was capable and willing, there was no provision for
supplying the children with books. Parents objected strongly
to the expense ; there was no other quarter to look to, and,
consequently, many children went to schools without books.
The indifference of parents was at once the cause and the
REPORT : APPENDIX D 265
effect of some of these evils. Here indeed was action and
reaction. As long as they refused to contribute to the support
of schools, so long the schools were without competent masters,
and the children without a proper provision of books. And,
again, while the schools were in such a deplorable state, the
parents did not see much advantage in supporting them, but
thought their children might be much more profitably em-
ployed at home. The fatal notion fully possessed them that
it was the duty of the legislature to supply them with the
means of education, and that they were conferring a favour
in accepting such means.
Such, then, have been the attempts at education hitherto
made in Lower Canada ; and can it excite wonder that this
combination of imperfections and vices should have produced
no good result ? — that education should have languished
under systems, where the masters were illiterate and needy ;
the supervision careless and dishonest ; the school-houses
unfit for occupation, and ill -supplied with fuel ; the children
unprovided with books ; and parents utterly indifferent to
an institution of which they could not appreciate the impor-
tance, and the trouble and cost of which, at all events, they
deemed the province of the legislature ?
I trust that I have not done injustice to the House of
Assembly in this review of their labours. It is extremely
difficult to apportion to them their proper share of praise and
blame. Much of each they undeniably deserved. In the Bills
of 1814r-18, «fcc., up to 1831, their main struggle was to subject
the school system to popular control. This principle surely
merits well to be an important element in every system of
education ; and if, on these occasions, such control was left
altogether unchecked by the executive, it was, perhaps,
because the executive had no great claims upon the confidence
of the Assembly. The standing committee of the House
laboured diligently and in good faith. They received evidence
on all points. They did not shrink from the investigation of
alleged abuses, nor, in many instances, from the application
of the proper remedies. They saw the evils arising out of the
incompetency of masters, and the necessity of providing some-
thing higher than mere elementary education, and they
suggested the wholesome expedients of normal and model
schools. They saw the fraudulent operation of the provision
which required a minimum attendance of 20 free scholars
before the Government allowance of 10s. a head could be
touched ; and they did away with it, substituting a fixed
monthly payment. They saw again the avarice of the people
266 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
evade this remedial provision, and they saw clearly how to
enforce it, but they had not the courage. They knew that
their semi-annual expressions of regret would be of no avail ;
that appeals to good feelings were utterly thrown away, and
that nothing would do, short of compelling the inhabitants
to contribute a direct, and not scanty, proportion towards the
expenses of the system. They saw all this, but they did not
dare to propose so unpopular a measure.
In short, the moment they found that their educational
provisions could be turned to political account, from that
moment those provisions were framed with a view to pro-
mote party rather than education. This was their essential
fault ; this it was that pervaded and contaminated the whole
system, and paralysed all the good that was otherwise in it.
This it was that mainly contributed to reduce the province
to the deplorable state in which it is at present found. Were
a stranger to travel through it, unacquainted with its history,
or any part of the voluminous details which I have barely
sketched to your Excellency ; were he to converse every
where with the poorer class of its inhabitants, I am confident
that he would return with the impression that no attempt
had ever been made in it towards the establishment of any
elementary system of education ; but, to one who has studied
its history, and wraded through the mass of laws concerning
education, it is at first inexplicable how so many attempts
can have been made without producing some sort of result.
Go where you will, nevertheless, you will scarcely find a trace
of education among the peasantry. While the school-system
was in force, there was a very inadequate provision of houses,
and, of those that once had existence, some are now in com-
plete ruins, and others the subject of fierce litigation among
the neighbouring inhabitants. The sight of these ruins or the
tale of these disputes is all that remains to the present of
the past.
I consulted several lawyers as to their experience in this
matter, and they invariably told the same story. They agreed
that there is hardly ever a prisoner or a witness, or a petty
juryman who knows how to write ; indeed, I have seen
noticed in a Montreal paper a presentment by a grand jury, in
which six out of the 13 signatures were marks. I consulted
one of the heads of the militia department, and he told me,
with a play on the word, that the officers under him were
generally very experienced marksmen. I saw several petitions
from parishes, praying for the erection of small-cause courts ;
I hardly ever saw more than the petitioners' crosses to them ;
REPORT : APPENDIX D 267
and it should be borne in mind that these petitions must be
signed by at least 100 heads of families in the parish. It may
be said that all these jurors and militia officers and petitioners
are of necessity grown-up men, and that few could have reaped
the benefit of the schools which were only established to any
extent in 1829, at which time they were beyond the age of
admission. I made, however, particular inquiries on all sides
as to whether the rising generation were better instructed,
but rarely was any distinction made in their favour. In the
very few country places which I visited, I made a point of
asking all the children I met whether they could write ; the
great majority could not write at all, and of those who said
they could, most, I found, on pressing, to admit that they
could only write their names. This description will not seem
justified by the analysis of the schools under the Roman
.Catholic clergy of the diocese of Quebec, furnished by M. Ca-
zeau, the bishop's secretary, and which will be found in
the Appendix (Letter C.) I feel bound in justice to give his
statement, but, although I am not qualified positively to
contradict any part of it, I cannot help expressing an opinion,
formed after much conversation respecting the district, that
if a strict inquiry were made as to how many old or young in
it could write, or cast up sums, or speak English well enough
for ordinary purposes, the number, apparently so respectable
on his list, would be reduced to a very small fraction.
Withal, this is a people eminently qualified to reap advan-
tage from education ; they are shrewd and intelligent, very
moral, most amiable in their domestic relations, and most
graceful in their manners ; but they lack all enterprise ; they
have no notion of improvement, and no desire for it. Their
wants are few and easily satisfied. They have not advanced
one step in civilization beyond the old Bretons who first set
foot on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and they are quite
content to be stationary. Their utter ignorance of the theory
and improved practice of agriculture is painfully witnessed
in their cultivation of the rich banks of that noble river. If,
instead of learning at their schools to make crosses with pens,
they had been taught the most approved principles of clearing,
draining, &c., in a word, of farming ; instead of starving cattle
and minute subdivisions of ill-cultivated plots, no disadvan-
tages of climate would have prevented our seeing by this time
thriving gardens, productive crops and healthy herds.
But I have hitherto been only speaking of the male popula-
tion. The difference in the character of the two sexes is
remarkable. The women are really the men of Lower Canada,
268 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
They are the active, bustling, business portion of the habiians ;
and this results from the much better education which they
get, gratuitously, or at a very cheap rate, at the nunneries
which are dispersed over the province.
But I do not profess to give any thing like the accurate
statistics of the present state of education. To arrive at these
required more labour and time than any other branch of the
inquiry. I had, however, made the attempt, and had sent to
every parish and township a series of questions arranged in
a tabular form, and so comprehensive, as, if properly answered,
to enable me to give the minutest details as to the quantity
and character of education now existing, and the local means
of which use might be made in building up a new system.
The preparation of these tables, blank forms of which will be
found in the Appendix, (Letter D.), and the finding out the
individuals in each locality most qualified to give information,
took much time and were attended, the latter task in par-
ticular, with much trouble. By the time I left Quebec, hardly
any returns had been sent in, but post after post brought
letters from persons whose assistance I had asked in filling up
the tables, declining to act with certain other persons with
whom I had proposed to associate them for that purpose ;
some, on the ground that such persons were bad characters,
or that they were too interested to be honest, &c., but most
frequently that they were disloyal. A Protestant clergyman
wrote to me, indignantly refusing his aid, because his name
had been put after that of the Roman Catholic priest, in the
list of persons whom I had requested to co-operate in making
a return. The greater part of the Roman Catholic clergy in
the diocese of Montreal, who took any notice whatever of my
circular, gave answer, that they could consent to receive no
communications on such a subject that did not come through
their bishop. The bishop himself intimated to me, that the
education of the Catholic population was the business of their
Church, and one with which the Government had no right to
interfere. From the bishop of Quebec and his coadjutor, and
from all the clergy in that diocese with whom I came in con-
tact, I invariably received the most considerate and friendly
attention to importunities which it was necessary not sparingly
to address to them.
From the moment it became generally understood that your
Lordship's government was coming to a speedy close, a marked
difference was observable in the willingness of many to supply
information. Some, perhaps, thought that the whole inquiry
would from that moment fall to the ground ; but a greater
REPORT : APPENDIX D 269
number, I am persuaded, that there was no longer any authority
to enforce their attention to its unpopular demands.
The greater part of the information required in my circular
being indispensable before any future system of education
can be brought into operation, the office of the commission
at Quebec is kept open, and a competent gentleman appointed
fpr the express purpose of collecting, digesting, and reporting
upon the returns. Since my departure from Canada, I have
received letters from him, stating that the answers come in
very slowly 7" that there is a great disinclination on the part
of some to take any trouble in the matter, and a determina-
tion on that of others to throw every impediment in the way
of the inquiry. His experience strongly confirms my own,
that no reliance is to be placed on the zeal or honesty of the
localities, and that whatever is to be done, must be done by
commissioners themselves visiting every spot, and in person
setting their new system on foot. The only accurate details
I am able to furnish, and I venture to call them accurate, not
from my own knowledge, but from my complete confidence
in the gentleman who collected them, relate to the city and
suburbs of Quebec. It was a work of no small labour, as he
had no authentic guide in his search, and was literally obliged
to hunt out schools in every street and alley within that large
circle, and as he made the most minute inquiries respecting
each. These details are in my possession ; they are hardly
worth inserting in this report or in the Appendix, but are
ready to be handed over, at a moment's notice, to any authori-
ties that may hereafter have a use for them.
The following are the most important facts that they
present : —
There are in Quebec 22 boys' and 23 girls' schools, among
which latter are not however included those of the Ursuline
and Sceurs de la Congregation, &c., nunneries.
The total number of boys in regular attendance is 1,222,
of whom 581 are English and 641 French Canadians. The
total number of girls is 977, of whom 365 are English and
612 French. Accordingly, the gross number of scholars in
regular attendance is 2,199 ; of this number only 548 can
read and write well enough for ordinary purposes, and only
490 learn both languages, 46 English children learning French,
and 444 French learning English. The whole yearly cost of
these schools, arising from subscription, public grants and
pupils' fees, is about 4,400?. Many of the masters and mis-
tresses are utterly incompetent ; and it is obvious, that,
under a judicious system, twice this number of children
270 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
might be brought together at half the cost, in a quarter of
the number of schools, and receive an education incalculably
superior.
With regard to the means of higher education, persons of
British origin have hardly any, while those of French origin
have them in too great abundance. It is impossible for an
English gentleman to give his son a finished education in the
province. If he wishes him to be instructed in the higher
branches of mathematics, natural and moral philosophy, &c.,
he must either send him to Europe or the United States, or
avail himself of the more imperfect opportunities afforded in
the Catholic establishments of the colony. Political and
religious animosities render them very averse to the latter
alternative. Some fear what they consider the contamina-
tion of republican principles in the States, and all shrink from
the expense and separation attending education in Europe.
Under these circumstances, they cherish with great fondness
the hope of seeing the establishment of a colonial university,
on a broad and comprehensive scale. The better class of
tradesmen, and the lower grade of merchants, are also without
the opportunities of a good commercial education. It is true
that there are some private establishments of the requisite
description ; but neither as regards number or quality are
they adequate to the necessity.
I will now explain what is intended by the too great abun-
dance of means of superior education enjoyed by the French
Canadians. They have the two large seminaries of *Quebec
and Montreal ; the former giving instruction to about 350
pupils yearly, and the latter (from which I have received no
return) to probably about the same number ; and also the
colleges of Nicolet, Chambly, *Berthier, *St. Anne de la
Pocatiere, St. Hyacinthe and *l'Assomption, which, perhaps,
between them contain about 1,000 pupils. These are under
the sole direction of the Catholic clergy, by whose benevolence
they were originally endowed. Many of the pupils are children
of common habitans. They receive a vastly superior education
to the rest of the population, but, after their course of studies
is completed, what is their lot ? There are no public institu-
tions in the province where their talents can be turned to
account. The learned professions are overstocked, and many
bring back to the humble home of their fathers a disappointed
and discontented spirit ; too proud to sink to manual labour,
and without the opportunity of rising higher.
With the exception of the seminary of Quebec, I cannot
speak from my own knowledge of the character of these
REPORT : APPENDIX D 271
colleges. I had intended to make a personal inspection of
them, and had made preparations to commence my journey
on the very morning the intelligence arrived from England
which rendered it necessary for your Excellency to relinquish
the government of the colony. From those in the above
enumeration marked with an asterisk I have received returns.
These I have also in my possession, and at the disposal of
the Government. The seminary of Quebec is an admirably-
conducted establishment ; the zeal of its members unremit-
ting, and their arrangements in every way most judicious.
Mr. Holmes, who is at present at the head of the department
of tuition, furnished me with a minute account of its history,
management and resources. This establishment has never
received assistance from the public chest, but has kept up
a constant struggle to make its own resources meet its daily
increasing expenditure. This, however, will not long be
possible. In a petition, which the seminary presented to your
Excellency, they complain that lands in France belonging to
them, and yielding an annual revenue of 960?. sterling, had
been confiscated at the French Revolution ; and that, owing
to sundry misunderstandings between their agent and the
commissioners appointed to examine the claims of British
subjects so situated, no compensation had ever been granted
to them. The petition concluded with a prayer, that, if there
was no further hope from that quarter, they might be per-
mitted under letters patent to acquire and hold in mortmain
lands of equal value to those of which they were thus de-
spoiled, subject, however, to the most specific declaration
that might be required, that they were held in trust for pur-
poses of education alone.
Similar attempts have been made by several other colleges,
and some with success. A Bill to give generally a corporate
capacity to all provincial institutions for education was passed
by both Houses in 1834, but the royal sanction refused, on
grounds very clearly stated by Lord Aberdeen, the then
Colonial Secretary. In the course of this statement his Lord-
ship observes, 'that he is not disposed to attach any real
importance to the unlimited power which this Bill would confer
of holding in mortmain rent-charges of any amount for the
objects of the proposed corporations. With the changes which
time has introduced in the state of society and public opinion
throughout Christendom, have passed away the greater part,
if not all, of the solid reasons by which our ancestors were
induced to contend against the immoderate growth of eccle-
siastical and collegiate foundations ; and maxims which
272 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
might be just and useful in the densely-peopled states of
Europe, possessing territories of comparatively narrow extent,
would be altogether delusive if transferred to the continent
of North America.' His Lordship concludes by saying, ' not-
withstanding these objections, his Majesty cannot so far over-
look the importance of the great object to the advancement
of which the measure is directed, as to adopt any decision
unfavourable to it. His Majesty earnestly trusts that a further
Bill will be passed by the two Houses to obviate the difficulties
I have pointed out, and in that event his Majesty's assent
will be given with the highest possible satisfaction to the
present, as well as to any such supplemental, enactment.'
If any danger can reasonably be apprehended from the
unlimited power to hold real estate, it would be very easy to
prescribe a limit! The Canadians have great faith in the
good effects of a general incorporation of educational institu-
tions, as is witnessed by all the Bills from 1818 to 1824,
wherein reliance for the eventual maintenance of schools was
placed entirely on the charity, which was invited by such safe
and encouraging provisions.
As regards the academies and colleges, of which I have
been speaking, it is confidently asserted that, if a general
' Incorporation Act were passed, the greater part, if not all of
ithem, would before long be in a condition to be independent
of legislative aid.
The only Protestant endowment in the province is that of
M'Gill's college. The history of this institution, the original
bequest, the protracted litigation, and, at length, the final
decision, are matters as familiar to persons in this country
acquainted with Canadian affairs as in Canada itself. The
college is not yet open ; indeed, the building not yet erected.
Its annual income, derivable from houses in Montreal, and
money at interest, is about 644?. It is obvious that this
endowment alone is insufficient for the purposes of a univer-
sity, to which rank it is the wish of many to elevate this
college ; and it is doubtful whether the trustees of the Royal
Institution, under whose direction it was placed by the will
of the testator, would acquiesce in the terms on which legis-
lative assistance ought hereafter to be granted.
I abstain from giving in this place, which might appear the
most appropriate for it, the views generally entertained as to
the proper means and end of education by the most influential
parties in the province, namely, the French and English laity,
and the Protestant and Catholic clergy. I think they will be
found better illustrated by their contrast or accordance with
REPORT : APPENDIX D 273
the principles I am now about to submit to your Excellency,
as, in my opinion, affording the best foundation for a future
scheme of national education. '
I cannot, however, dismiss this part of the subject without
remarking, that, though the picture of the present, as I have,
not unfaithfully, drawn it, is gloomy, and in much unpromis-
ing, it has still its bright side. The very circumstances of the
complete destruction of past systems, and the utter absence
of any at the present time, are matters of great good fortune
and congratulation, for now a clear field lies open for the
future. Infinitely greater difficulties would have been in the
way, if the claims of acting teachers were to be first con-
sidered, or if a school-system were still in force, interwoven
with the affections or interests of any large portion of the
people ; but, as it is, there are no individuals to compensate,
no old machinery forced upon our use ; and on the site of the
old ruins is ample unencumbered room for the erection of
a new and durable edifice.
The great parent evil of Lower Canada is the hostile division
of races. Every act of modern legislation bears the faithful
impress of this hereditary deformity, and has imparted it
with aggravated intensity to every institution or interest
with which it has had to deal. Hence the imperfections and
one-sidedness of all such institutions. In private life, the
intense hatred of the two races does not often show itself
in violent collisions, but rather in a rigid non-intercourse.
From the moment they are born to the hour that they die
they are, to all intents and purposes, two separate nations.
But, until these divisions are healed and the people united,
until Canada is nationalized and Anglified, it is idle for Eng-
land to be devising schemes for her improvement. In this
great work of nationalization, education is at once the most
convenient and powerful instrument. It is a hopeless task to
attempt to reconcile the existing generation of antagonists.
Their whole life has been one of civil warfare. But, for those
that are yet unborn, a more auspicious future may be prepared.
In Canada, the child of French extraction is brought up
out of the sight and hearing of the child of British parents.
They never meet under the same roof ; they are sent to separate
schools ; and they are told that the reason of this separation
is, that the children of the rival schools are heretics, or belong
to another nation. They have no common hopes or fears, or
pleasures or dangers — none of those kindly associations so
easily born out of the familiarities of comradeship, and so
faithfully retained throughout the vicissitudes of life. In
1352-3 T
274 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
short, upon entering into the world, they find no tie to bind
them together, and all things around them inviting to hatred
and hostility. But how different would be their feelings
towards each other, were they brought up at the same schools ;
were they to play together, and receive the same punishment !
They would then form friendships which would soften, if not
altogether subdue, the rivalries of after life. A scheme by
which the children of these antagonist races should be brought
together, were it only for purposes of play, would be prefer-
able to one by which they received a good education apart ;
but one, by which both union and instruction were assured
to them, would be the first and most important step towards
the regeneration of Canada.
The first difficulty in the way of such a scheme is, to divest
it altogether of political and sectarian tendencies. There
must be no room for politicians to turn it to selfish purposes.
The system must be permanent, and not liable to be dis-
turbed by party dishonesty or caprice. No schoolmaster
should vote at elections and any interference on his part in
politics at any time should be punishable with removal, just
as is the case in England with persons holding certain offices
under the Crown. It should be made, moreover, impossible
to make masterships, as heretofore, the reward to incom-
petent persons of past political obsequiousness, by refusing
that office to any one who has not a certificate from a normal
school, or some similar establishment. Such precautions,
enforced by an honest and vigilant supervision, would, I have
no doubt, rid a new system of the abuse which was perhaps
the most fatal among the many in the past.
Another difficulty consists in the solution of these two
questions : Is any religious instruction to be given in the
future national schools ? and, if so, how is it to be so given
as to be acceptable alike to Catholic and Protestant ? Through-
out the United States, it is met by permitting no instruction
of this description in the public schools beyond the reading
every day, by the master, of a chapter in the Bible, and that
without comment. The circumstances, however, of the two
countries are different in some important respects. In the
States, especially in those of New England, communications
are more easy, the population more dense, and almost every
sect in every locality provided with its religious teacher, and
consequently with the means of obtaining religious instruction,
independently of the school. In Canada, the minority in
a parish or township have rarely any one to look to for it,
except the schoolmaster ; nor4 indeed, can the majority place
REPORT : APPENDIX D 275
much reliance elsewhere, because the people are so scattered,
and the distances so great, that the minister can only bestow
that attention on few which all require. Recognizing, there-
fore, as every Christian must, the indispensable necessity of
providing some means of religious instruction for children,
and seeing the difficulty of finding them elsewhere than in the
schools, it remains for me to show whether they can be intro-
duced there, without at the same time offering violence to the
reasonable jealousies of either creed.
There are surely some points, and those neither few nor
trifling, on which all Christians agree. The historical parts of
the old Testament, the Psalms, the Gospels, and various
passages throughout the sacred volume, instilling the prin-
ciples of Christian morality, are acceptable alike to Catholics
and Protestants. Such parts are eminently adapted for
children. The dogmatical parts, such as one religion would
not trust another to interpret, are eminently ill-adapted for
them ; therefore, it is precisely those parts of the Scriptures,
concerning which, in every way, all religious denominations
agree, that are best suited for the instruction of children.
Is there any difficulty, then, in collating these parts, or are
they insufficient for the object in view ? If the book of
Bible-extracts adopted in the national schools of Ireland be
objected to, on the ground of injudicious selection, let dele-
gates from each persuasion of Christians in Canada meet and
agree upon some other selection, in which the same principle
shall be observed, namely, that of excluding all controversial
points, and in which such grammatical, philological or his-
torical explanations as are deemed requisite shall be arranged
at the end of each chapter, and form the limit to which the
master's comments shall extend.
If some parts of the Bible are more important than others,
they will be found in such extracts. In short, all that is
therein should be read over and over again, marked and
digested before a child travels beyond. It may safely be
asserted that much more of the Scriptures may be so selected
than ever will be read at elementary schools, and that the
selection, made as it would be under the superintendence of
able and discerning men, would be far better than could be
expected from the discretion of the ordinary run of village
school-masters. Under every system that has been, or ever
will be, the Bible has been and will always be, in point of
fact, read in extracts. The only difference is, that in some
the extracts have been carefully made and separately bound
together, and in others made at random and read from a
T2
276 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
volume which contained a great deal else, which was not
read.
By this arrangement, provision would be made for religious
instruction to a certain extent, in which all might participate.
However, I see no difficulty in affording different denomina-
tions the opportunities of still further and more exclusive
religious instruction, which they might enjoy without offend-
ing or interfering with each other. The book of extracts,
I propose to be the only religious book used in school-hours,
unless the board of delegates, to which I have referred, shall
be ready to agree upon others of a similarly liberal character.
Out of school-hours, that is to say, the first thing in the
) norning or the last in the evening, any minister or any body
authorized in that behalf by the minister and the parents of
the children, should be at liberty to teach them the catechism,
or any thing else that might be deemed necessary. If con-
fidence to such an extent can be placed by the majority in the
master (for I think it should be considered a rule that, as
generally as possible, the master should be of the religion of
the majority), he can give them this extra religious instruction
at either of those times, and the minority will understand that
they are not to come till it is over, or to go away before it
begins. Where, however, it is given by the master, an extra
allowance should be made to him. In Catholic parishes the
fabrique can without difficulty supply this trifling sum, and
in the townships it must be raised by subscription.
Again, the time which is not fixed upon for this purpose by
the majority may be devoted to the extra religious instruction
of the minority, if any person can be found to supply it.
By this arrangement the majority lose nothing, and the
minority are guaranteed something that they would not other-
wise get. Every child will have the means of religious instruc-
tion, of a sound and unimpeachable character, up to a certain
point ; and the children of the majority will continue to have
precisely the same opportunity of receiving any further
religious instruction, which they have hitherto been in the
habit of enjoying, with this single exception, that it must be
given either late or early in the day, and not, as heretofore,
perhaps, in the middle of school-hours.
There is nothing in this which takes the religious instruc-
tion of youth out of the hands of the clergy. It, on the con-
trary, confirms it to them. The religion, which it teaches in
school-hours, is such as they have already approved of, and
all beyond is left entirely to their direction.
These views I put forward, much in the same language, in
REPORT : APPENDIX D 277
letters to the Catholic bishop of Quebec, and some of the
principal members of the English and Scotch church. The
answers I received were any thing but encouraging. The
bishop, who spoke as the mild representative of the feelings
of his clergy, seemed to find no fault with the proposal respect-
ing the extracts, but directed his chief fears and hostility
against the principle which I laid down as the great founda-
tion of my system, namely, the importance of bringing the
two religions and races together in common schools. He saw
no advantage in such a union — (how few Canadians do, or
will own that they do !) — and he clung with fondness to
a scheme, which, together with the bishops of Montreal and
Sidyme, and in the name of the Catholic Church, he had
developed in a petition to your Lordship for the establish-
ment of exclusively Catholic schools for the children of that
persuasion.
He also feared the powers, which, in the system of which
I drew him a sketch, I proposed to give to the superintendent
or chief officer of education. He assumed that this func-
tionary would never be a Catholic, and that he would invari-
ably turn his influence against the Catholic Church. But, in
the first place, I cannot see the justice of the assumption ;
and, secondly, whatever his religion may be, and indeed how-
ever illiberal his propensities, I conceive that my system
would be so guarded against the possibility of this species of
abuse, as to render the attempt much more dangerous to
himself than to the religion which he sought to injure.
The hostility of some leading members of the Protestant
Church was founded upon the principle which has become so
painfully familiar of late years in these educational con-
troversies. It is expressed in the 7th of a series of resolutions
adopted at a meeting of some members of that body, a short
time after my departure from Quebec, ' That we feel it our
duty candidly to avow the conviction, that, on the part of
a Protestant Government, no system of education whatever
should be termed a national one which is not based on the
great Protestant principle of the unrestricted use of the Holy
Scriptures ' ; in other words, upon the most unnational
principle of exclusion of nine-tenths of the population. The
recognition of this principle would be barren of any useful
consequences to the Protestant Church, and it would be
a declaration of war against the Catholic Church, whose
ministers have been the only men of station among the French
Canadians who never forfeited their fidelity to the mother
country.
278 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
But why introduce the discussion of this principle into
a school-system ? I am for the unrestricted use of the
Scriptures, — my Catholic neighbour is against it ; but we are
both agreed that, practically, in schools their use must be
restricted ; and therefore it would really seem very foolish of
either of us to forego the advantages of education merely for
the sake of asserting a principle which is not in the slightest
degree affected by our assertion of it on such an occasion.
I am far from proposing to abandon this principle. In the
pulpit, or .by the family fireside, I would maintain its truth ;
but I conceive that its assertion, as proposed by the petitioners,
would be attended with no practical advantage, but, on the
contrary, with the great practical evil of for ever alienating
the affections of the majority of our colonists, and of thwart-
ing the surest means remaining to us of regenerating this
unhappy land.
I do not wish to be understood as admitting that these are
the opinions of the entire Protestant clergy ; perhaps the
exceptions are as numerous. The Episcopalian clergy are
almost unanimously hostile to my scheme, the Presbyterian
divided ; but I fancy that I may claim the sympathy of a vast
majority of the different bodies of Dissenters.
I hardly developed my views to one of the laity of British
origin, who did not cordially enter into them. From this
class the strongest support will be given to a liberal scheme.
The laity of French origin are strongly averse to the amalga-
mating principle, and of course still more so to the kindred
principle of Anglification, upon which this as well as all future
Canadian institutions must be based. Such principles of
course shock their feelings of nationality, and they would in
all probability for a long time keep back their children from
the contemplated schools, were not still more unpopular
means resorted to to induce them to conform, namely, taxation.
Hitherto unaccustomed to any contributions, the imposition
of one even for this purpose would at first be considered
a great hardship. But it is idle to dream of giving good
institutions to Canada without calling upon its inhabitants
for direct pecuniary aid. It is visionary to think of support-
ing an extensive system of education, simply by grants from
the public chest, and equally so to rely on the voluntary
sacrifices of a people, who would rather see their children
altogether uneducated than set the dangerous precedent of
doing any thing for themselves.
To indirect taxation, I found many Canadians not averse ;
butj upon argument, I found them differ greatly as to what
REPORT : APPENDIX D 279
were the best objects of such taxation : and the more general
and better opinion I think was, that such a resource was
uncertain and inadequate. However, there are many reasons
besides its greater certainty, in favour of direct taxation. There
is no waste in collection, and the parties who pay see how
their money is applied. The feeling is irresistibly forced upon
them, * If we are obliged to pay, we will have our money's
worth ' ; and however unpopular the schools might be, the
tax would soon fill them.
This truth I have shown, by extracts from their reports,
to have been fully and frequently acknowledged by com-
mittees of the House of Assembly.
The principle adopted in the American systems would
perhaps be the best ; viz. to require each school district to
furnish, by assessment among its inhabitants, an amount at
least equivalent to the sum apportioned to it from the public
funds. In the towns, perhaps, it would not be unreasonable
to tax to twice that amount. After all, this tax, levied as it
would be, generally, and according to certain proportions,
upon the community at large, would fall far more lightly
than did the demand, under former systems, upon parents
sending their children to school, of payment at the rate of
2s. per month for each.
Supposing that 50 children attended school for eight months
in the year, formerly 50 parents would have had to pay 16s.
per annum a piece, making in all a sum of 40?. Now I sup-
pose in such a school district I may safely say there would
be 100 taxable inhabitants. Accordingly, each (assuming
they were taxed equally) would only have to pay 8s. to make
up the 40?. ; or supposing an extra 2s. a piece necessary for
fuel and books, only 10s. or two dollars. It is hardly worth
while combating the argument, that the expenses of the
education of children should be borne by their own parents,
and that they cannot justly be imposed upon those who
receive no benefit. They all receive a benefit ; and if A.'s
child cannot go to school because neighbours B., C. and D.,
who have no children, will not help to support the school,
these same worthy neighbours deserve no public assistance
in detecting or punishing the depredations which A.'s child,
from want of a good moral education, and the vicious habits
engendered by idleness, commits upon their property, or any
other outrage he perpetrates against them.
, a member of the House of Assembly, always
an active member of the Education Committee, and one of
the principal framers of the rejected Bill of 1836, says, in the
280 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
' Populaire ' of the 10th September 1838, that among other
duties of local trustees there was this, — * d'obliger tous les
enfans a aller a 1'ecole de leur arrondissement respectif , depuis
Page de 6 ans jusqu'a celui de 12 inclusivement, excepte dans
le cas d'absence en assistant a une autre ecole, et ce sous
peine d'une amende de 5 a 20 chelins, que les parens delin-
quans seraient dans le cas de payer aux sindics par suite
d'une poursuite intentee par eux, et d'un jugement sommaire
devant Fun des magistrats du comte. Le montant de telles
amendes, s'il y en avait, serait employe a procurer aux enfans
pauvres les choses necessaires a leur ecole, tels que livres,
papiers, &c. &c. L' obligation pour les parens d'envoyer leurs
enfans a 1'ecole commencerait du jour que 1'ecole de 1'arron-
dissement ou serait leur demeure serait ouverte,' &c.
As regards the character of this proposition, it is just as
stringent as mine ; but it has the fault of throwing the entire
burthen on the parents, instead of dividing it among the
locality. In addition to the payment of half the master's
salary, the localities should be made, moreover, to supply the
school-house and master with fuel, and to keep both houses in
repair. Part of the original expense of building should be
defrayed from the public education fund (provided that the
gross amount of such payments should in no single year
exceed a certain amount, say 2,500?.), and the remainder by
the locality.
Perhaps a larger assistance might be afforded under this
latter head from the education fund for the first two or three
years, because it would be impossible to bring the whole
system into immediate operation, and many expenses might
for that period be saved which must be incurred in a more
advanced stage. These savings might with great advantage,
therefore, be employed about this first and indispensable pre-
liminary ; and in the course of two or three years every
district in the province might be supplied with its schoolroom
and master's house.
Again, when the necessary number of houses is built, of
course the annual allowance for that purpose will no longer
be requisite. But are there no other purposes for which it
might be advantageously continued ? For instance, for the
formation of district libraries, the collection of apparatus,
&c. ; on the system, however, in all cases of simply aiding the
voluntary efforts of the district itself.
It is impossible for me, with my limited statistical know-
ledge, to form any but the roughest calculation of the number
of elementary schools at present necessary.
REPORT : APPENDIX D 281
The population of Lower Canada in 1836 was estimated at
about 600,000 ; of this number, perhaps, 100,000 may be
said to be inhabitants of the large towns. The average of
children between 5 and 14 is generally supposed to be one in
five of the whole population. Accordingly, there will be in
the rural districts 100,000 children of an age to attend schools.
Supposing, then, 1,300 districts were laid down, this would
give between 70 and 80 children to each. Of these again,
perhaps, 20 would be kept away from some cause or another,
such as that they attended a superior or model school, or that
they were infirm, or were employed at home in assisting their
parents. The remaining 50 would be in regular attendance,
and might easily be all well instructed by a competent master.
As it is notorious that there are some districts in the pro-
vince habitually very poor, and that others are liable to
occasional distress, it will be advisable to have a yearly sum
to bring to their aid ; such sum never to exceed 2,500?. in
any one year, and not more than 10?. to be given to any one
district.
In addition to the elementary schools, it will be necessary
to have some of a higher description dispersed over the pro-
vince. Indeed it may be as well at once to adopt for this
purpose the provision of the Bill of 1836, by which it was
proposed to erect a model school in each county.
The cost of these to the education fund, supposing an allow-
ance of 501. a piece to 40 counties, would be 2,000?. per annum.
A sum of 201. additional might without difficulty be raised
in each county, so as to raise the master's salary to 70?. ; the
allowance of the 50?. being in every case conditional on the
previous collection of the 20?.
These model schools are of infinite importance, because
they not only supply the means of a better kind of education
to the better classes in each county, but may be made to hold
out strong incentives to the ambition of both masters and
scholars of elementary schools.
By the masters they might be considered in the light of
40 prizes, to which any one of them might reasonably aspire ;
and a promotion to which, supposing an equality of qualifica-
tion, should go by preference to an elementary schoolmaster
of the county in which the vacancy occurs.
Again, there might be attached to each model school, to
be raised in like manner from the county, a sort of scholarship
of the yearly value of 10?. This sum, which of course may
be increased to any amount that is pleased by voluntary
subscriptions, should be devoted towards the maintenance at
282 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the model school of a best boy from each parish, to be elected
by the inspector or school visitors of the parish from can-
didates from each school in it. This boy should intend to
devote himself to the occupation of teacher, and after having
completed his studies there, should have a certificate of
qualification for the ' indigent list ' at a normal school, or
some academy receiving government assistance.
There are 40 counties in the province, and, on an average,
six parishes or townships in each. Accordingly, each best boy
would receive a little more than II. 13s. a year towards his
maintenance, which would be a consideration to many who
at the model schools would be out of reach of their own homes,
and which, taken with its consequences, would present an
infinitely preferable object of ambition to that of the 10s.
prize-money of past systems. I am aware how unevenly this
fixed reward would operate in different parishes according to
the number of school districts in them ; and, no doubt, the
suggestion is susceptible of much improvement. My object
is merely to throw it out as one which will be advantageously
kept in view.
Thus there would be in every district a master doing his
best to be promoted to the model school, and a rivalry among
the scholars to be sent there as ' best boys '. From the model
schools these latter would get certificates for the normal
schools, and ultimately obtain masterships which would ensure
a provision for life.
In the three normal schools 500?. per annum should be
devoted to the support of the ' indigent list ', which would
contain 240 members, upon the calculation of parishes above
referred to, thus assuring to each such member an aid of
a little more than 21. per annum.
The nature of these schools is too well known to require
any minute description. Attached to each should be an
elementary school, where the future masters should have the
opportunity of learning the most approved method of teach-
ing ; and I would strongly urge that to each should also be
attached a considerable farm, on which the pupils should
daily work, and where, under the superintendence of a com-
petent professor, they should make themselves perfectly
acquainted with the various modern improvements in agricul-
ture. Hereafter, when the national system is in full operation,
it will be necessary to require of every person desiring to be
a schoolmaster under it, a certificate of qualification from the
normal school or some other, which shall be deemed an
equivalent qualification. I should conceive that each of these
REPORT : APPENDIX D 283
three schools to be efficiently supported would require an
annual support, at all events, for a long period, of 1,000?.*
Both normal or model schools ought immediately to be set
on foot, because they may both be made to supply one of the
first wants of the new system, namely, competent teachers.
It is very clear that many of those first appointed, whatever
pains may be taken to select them, will be in need of instruc-
tion themselves. I would therefore suggest, that all masters
of elementary schools should be obliged for a certain period
every year to attend the model schools in their county, until
they receive a certificate of ' complete qualification ' for their
duties. With this view there must either be a difference
between the times of vacation in the model and elementary
schools, or the masters of the latter during their attendance
at the former must provide teachers to carry on their business
for them. By this preparatory education the competency of
future masters would be ensured. They must also, of course,
bring to the normal schools, and carry from them untarnished,
testimonials of good private character. If at a subsequent
period any of them should be guilty of any great immorality,
they will be removed by the proper authorities.
The certainty of a salary of at least 30?. per annum, besides
house and fuel, and the further prospect of promotion to
a model school, or to some better supported (from local
advantages) than their own, would hold out sufficient induce-
ment to men of character and talent to follow the calling of
teacher, which then, instead of being, as now, the worst in
the country, would be among the best. Perhaps the erection
of new institutions, or the provisions of new laws, such, for
instance, as those of a Registry Act, may create duties which
the schoolmaster may be the most fitting person in the locality
to perform. Here at once there would be a safety-valve for
all that waste talent which I have described as finding no
outlet under the present system, and endangering society by its
irregular outbreaks. Here are at once 1 ,300 new places of profit
to which well-educated men may look for honourable support.
But not only are these incentives held out to masters ;
their power of doing harm is much abridged ; all interference
* The normal schools should, if possible, be in the neighbourhood of each
of the three great towns. There is a farm near Beauport, forming part of
the Jesuits' estates, now under a lease which will shortly expire, and the
remainder of which might advantageously be purchased. This would be
a most desirable spot for the normal school in the district of Quebec.
It would also be of great utility to attach a farm to each model school.
I imagine that there would be little danger of the cost of purchase and
implements, &c. being before long repaid out of the produce.
284 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
with politics is interdicted, under penalty of removal ; their
powers of interference in matters connected with religion are
strictly limited ; their scholars are obliged to bring with them
books specified by a superior authority ; in short, little is left
to a master's mere discretion ; his chief care must be to act up
to his instructions, and to maintain his character for decency
and diligence.
I now come to the provisions for inspection and supervision,
in which the vitality of every system of education must essen-
tially reside. However good the scheme may be in theory,
with whatever precautions it may be guarded in written books
of rules and Acts of Parliament, all is of no avail unless that
scheme is watched, and those precautions enforced by an
honest and active inspection. The church, and more especi-
ally the Catholic branch of it, have long maintained that
the education of the people is emphatically their department,
and ought by right to be subjected to their immediate con-
trol. Heretofore, when that body monopolized all the learning
of the times, it was right to concede this claim ; but a different
distribution of intelligence exists in the present day. The
science of education is now more generally known, and a more
general interest felt in its advancement. The people every
where assert their right to some share in the management of
institutions for which they pay, and which are intended for
their benefit ; and a long experience has shown the advantage
of paying well for direct responsibility over confiding to the
zeal of unremunerated, and therefore independent, service.
Clerical control and national schools are incompatible in
a country where there exist two religions ; and it is very
certain that the clergy would not be over anxious to carry
out a scheme founded, like the one which I have sketched, on
the principle of perfect religious equality.
The Catholic clergy are very hostile to any plan which does
not give them the nomination of masters, at all events, in
Catholic parishes. They assert that there is no other guarantee
of their morality. The experience of the class of persons who
filled that office under previous Canadian systems, by the
appointment of illiterate and partizan trustees, justifies to
a great extent' their jealousies on this point ; but I conceive
that, under the management which I have in view, there is
no room for their apprehensions.
But I would give the resident clergy a concurrent power
with the local trustees in the selection of masters ; and in
their character of visitors, which they should be ex officio in
all their parish schools they would have the opportunity of
REPORT : APPENDIX D 285
reporting upon any misconduct which they might discover in
them, and forcing an investigation by the proper authorities.
That this investigation is not to be honestly conducted under
the precautions which I propose to enforce is an ungenerous
and unwarranted imputation.
I now come to the question of popular or local control.
The past systems, which left the entire direction to trustees
elected by the inhabitants, afford a bad example of the con-
sequences of unchecked local control ; and if a new system,
however superior in other respects, were left to similar manage-
ment, I see no reason for expecting for it a different fate.
At the same time, in matters so interesting to every locality
as the proper conduct of the schoolmaster, the proper ex-
penditure of school monies, and, in general, the proper working
of the school system, it is clear that they should have some
direct and considerable control. Perhaps, however, instead of
taking up any more time by abstract arguments, it will be better
to give at once a slight sketch of the machinery by which I pro-
pose to carry on the government of the national system.
I will begin by assuming that the country is to be divided
into municipalities, of an extent suitable to the operation of
my plan. In each municipality a certain number (say three)
school-commissioners should be elected, in the same manner
and at the same time as the other local officers. One of these
should go out yearly, there being, however, no restriction as
to re-election. Their duty should be to receive the govern-
ment allowance for all the schools in the municipality, and
to distribute their respective shares to the trustees of each
district. The legal estate in all the elementary school-houses
in their municipality, and in all the real property attached to
them, should be vested in them ; and they should direct,
subject to appeal, the formation of new districts.* They would
have to report to the inspector annually upon the financial
concerns of the municipality under their management ; and
also, at the proper time, upon the districts that they have
formed, or those that they have proposed and have been
objected to, together with the statements pro and con.
A district being formed, three trustees should be elected by
the inhabitants, in the same manner and for the same period
as the commissioners. Their duties would be to superintend
the financial concerns of the district. They would have to
* There have been so many complaints of the past unfairness of the
divisions of districts, that I should recommend, as I have before said, the
first arrangements of this description to be made under the immediate
superintendence of an Education Commission.
286 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
collect the tax, and hold the government allowance, making
quarterly payments of both to the master. They would also
see that the provisions of the law respecting the repairs and
warming of the school-house, &c., were properly attended to ;
in short, they would manage the daily concerns of the school.
To them, in conjunction with all the ministers of religion in
the parish or township, should be intrusted the appointment
of the master. Of course the person they select must possess
the certificate from a normal or other school ; in short, all the
qualifications required by law. Once, or oftener, they must
report to the inspector, and a copy of their report be posted
in some conspicuous place, or deposited somewhere where all
the inhabitants might have access to it.
There should also be a board of school visitors in each muni-
cipality, composed of the following members ; the resident
ministers of religion, two residents appointed by the inspector,
and two annually by the municipality. Their duties should be
to inspect the reports of the commissioners and trustees before
presentation to the inspector, and make their comments
thereon if necessary ; to visit (in a body of three at least)
each school four times a year, at irregular periods, and without
notice, and to report quarterly to the inspector. A copy of their
report should also be placed within reach of the inhabitants of
each district. If there is any difference of opinion among the
visitors, the same should be expressed in the report.
In the three large towns this management must be slightly
different. In each a certain number of public elementary
schools (liable of course from time to time to considerable
variation) should be established by commissioners elected for
that purpose, in the same manner as the other municipal
officers. At the same time should be elected (say 19) trustees
to have similar powers with those in rural districts, a certain
number going out yearly, and others being elected in their
stead. The visitors should be the heads or seniors of each
religious denomination, or their deputies ; five persons elected
by the municipality, and five by the inspector. The same
regularity of reporting and publicity, &c., will be required
here as in the country.
The province should be divided into three inspectorships,
comprising as nearly as possible an equal population, and
under the direction of three inspectors appointed by the
Governor ; one to reside at Quebec, another at Montreal, and
the third either at Three Rivers, or some more convenient
place. Their duties should be to receive and collate the
reports of all subordinate officers ; to determine, subject to
REPORT : APPENDIX D 287
appeal to the superintendent, all questions relating to the
schools in their inspectorship ; and to report twice a year to
the superintendent, each report to be printed in one or more
newspapers most in circulation in that part of the country,
and a copy to be sent to each municipality. Once a year, if
possible, or, at all events, twice in three years, they should
visit every school of every grade, in their inspectorship,
receiving government aid. These are offices of so much
importance, that in order to attract well-qualified persons
a handsome salary must be attached to them. For this pur-
pose, I should think 400Z. a year to each would be sufficient,
with an additional 100/. for travelling expenses.
The office of superintendent or chief officer of instruction
ought to be one of the highest dignity in the province. He
should keep himself (and so should the inspectors), under
penalty of removal, completely aloof from politics. He is to
be trustee of the permanent education fund, and is to dis-
tribute it according to the prescribed proportions He wiJl
have to lay down rules as to what books are to be used in
schools, the hours of attendance, &c., and to interpret the Act
under which the system is created. His decisions should be
binding in all matters relating to school discipline. He should
receive the reports of the inspectors, and lay them, together
with his comments on them, as well as his observations on
the general concerns and condition of education in the pro-
vince, annually before the legislature. This report, like all
the others, should receive the widest possible circulation. He
should reside at the seat of government, where an office and
secretary should be found him, and should have a suitable
salary, say 800?. a year. As the working of the system will
materially depend upon this officer, it is needless to urge the
necessity of a discreet selection, and of the most careful
accuracy in defining his powers. Both he and the inspectors
should hold office during good behaviour. There is some
difficulty in determining the authority by which their alleged
offences should be tried, and by which, in case of conviction,
they should be removed. Perhaps, if a new court of appeals
is established, on the principle which I understand is in your
Lordship's contemplation to recommend, such would be the
most fitting tribunal to adjudicate in these cases.
Such, then, my Lord, are the principles on which, in my
opinion, a national system of education for Lower Canada
should be based, and such the rough outline of the machinery
by which it should be worked. I have made no attempt at
originality, but have constantly kept in view, as models, the
288 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
systems in force in Prussia and the United States, particularly
the latter, as being more adapted to the circumstances of the
colony. The office of inspector is somewhat new to that
system, and provides, I think, against its most serious defects,
but almost every other suggestion which I have made is
vindicated by the most successful experience in one or the
other of those countries.
From a system so founded and so managed, I anticipate
the happiest results. It would be one into which religious
dissensions could not find their way, and which political men
would have no power to pervert. It would impress upon the
people the important truth, that education was as much their
own concern as that of their rulers. It would forward ener-
getically the great national objects we should have in view, —
uniting the two races and Anglifying the Canadian. It would
be provided with teachers well qualified in station, character
and acquirements ; and pursuits of utility would be encouraged
in forms at once popular and practical. A general feeling of
emulation would be created, both among masters and pupils,
by the prospect of honourable and substantial distinction.
Its faithful administration would be guaranteed at once by
the interestedness of its subordinate officers, and the dis-
interestedness of the superintendent and inspectors ; but,
above all, by that best of human securities, the perfect
publicity of its minutest details.
That such a system will at first be assailed by a great many
objections, I will admit. By the great mass of Dissenters
and by nearly all the British laity, I believe, it will be fully
approved. And, indeed, to each of those parties, among which
its opponents will be found, there will be many parts of it
highly acceptable. All religious denominations, for instance,
will approve of its guarantees against political contamination,
and politicians will not find fault with its being placed out of
the control of the Church. Of course, a variety of exceptions
may be taken to the details of my scheme, particularly to my
imperfect development of them, but by these I do not profess
to abide. I thought some such sketch as I have given was
necessary for the illustration of it, and I am quite ready to
believe that, in order to render it practicable, many important
alterations must be made.
If, however, the unpopularity and not the intrinsic merits
of measures is to be a consideration now, I should conceive
that the trouble of legislating for Lower Canada might as
well be spared. Unless the principle of Anglification is to be
unequivocally recognized, and inflexibly carried out, of course
REPORT : APPENDIX D 289
all such proposals as mine must fall to the ground ; but, if it
is to be recognized and carried out, where will its popularity
be found ? Is it not, in other words, waging direct war with
the dearest prejudices and fondest hopes of the vast majority
of the people ? and can any caution, in the way of half-
measures or of delay, deceive them as to the object, or disarm
or even mitigate their hostility ? It is not without feelings
of sincere aversion that those who avow liberal principles of
government can so far abandon them, as to entertain pro-
positions like these for trampling upon the opinions and
feelings of the majority. But, yet, in Lower Canada, original
blunders and continuous mismanagement have produced such
desperate diseases as to leave none but desperate remedies.
The colony will not be worth our keeping unless it is Anglified.
The French majority detest and will resist such an attempt.
If made, it must be made at once, and vigorously, — openly
avowed and steadily pursued. Every new institution given
to the country must be subservient to this end, which, the
sooner accomplished, the shorter the struggle, and the earlier
the recompense ; but, in the painful interval, popularity
must not be hoped for, conciliation not attempted.
Such considerations alone have induced me to submit
suggestions, which I feel sure, under other circumstances,
would be repugnant to your Excellency's generous disposition
and liberal principles.
A question still remains — ' How is this system to be sup-
ported ? ' The annual demand on the permanent fund for
the maintenance of the elementary school-system, when it is
in full operation, would, on the foregoing calculation, be about
as follows : —
£.
15?. a piece towards masters' salaries to 1,300
schools ... . 19,500
Towards building houses . . . 2,500
Towards relieving poor districts . . 2,500
50?. a piece to 40 model schools . 2,000
Three normal schools, including 500/. between
them for ' indigent list ' 3,000
Three inspectors, including travelling expenses . 1,500
One superintendent, secretary and office . 1,000
Printing, &c. in different departments . . 500
£.32,500
The elementary schools in the three great towns are still
unprovided for. Considering their large population, and that
1352.3 U
290 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
there every child would be within reach of the schools, a less
sum than 1,000?. a year to each of the cities of Quebec and
Montreal, and 500?. to Three Rivers, would not be sufficient.
Before, however, either should be entitled to its grant, it
should have raised, by taxation, a sum of twice that amount.
This would raise the annual charge on the education fund to
35,000?. The cost to the inhabitants, to be raised by tax,
and added to the above sum, would be, in town and country, —
Towards masters' salaries in elementary schools .
Ditto .... in model . ditto .
Towards scholarships
£.30,000
Great as these two amounts appear, they are not under
either head as large as would have been required to carry out
the provisions of the rejected Bill of 1836. The sum to have
been supplied from the public chest, for the support of elemen-
tary model and normal schools, would have amounted to
upwards of 40,000?. per annum ; and the following sums
would have been raised from the inhabitants by assessment,
or by monthly or irregular payments.
The country was to be divided into 1,658 districts. Now,
supposing, that in each school there was only the minimum
number of children (namely 20) in attendance for eight months
only in the year. Each of these being required to pay 2s.
per month, the aggregated payments under this head, arising
from the inhabitants, would have amounted to 26,528?.
This is supposing, as I have said, that only 20 children were
in attendance at each school, or 33,160 in all ; whereas the
number of children throughout the province, between 5 and
14 years of age, is calculated at about 100,000.
In addition to these monthly payments, localities were
made to contribute 2.000?. a year as their share towards the
salaries of masters of model schools. Their share in the cost
of building school-houses, was to have been 2,000?. a year at
the least, I believe ; and estimating the cost of books at only
72?., there would be coming on the whole from the pockets of
the inhabitants, in respect of elementary education in the
rural districts alone, a yearly sum of 30,600?. ; whereas under
the system I propose, the inhabitants of the same districts
would be only taxed to the yearly amount of 25,000?. There
is this further difference, I think, in favour of mine, that the
raising of the 30,600?. fell entirety upon, at most, 33,160
REPORT : APPENDIX D 291
parents, whereas my 25,000?. will be divided probably between
200,000 tax payers.
Under the system, then, proposed by the Bill of 1836,
33,160 children might receive a very miserable education
at a cost of about 71,000?. per annum ; under the system
I propose, at least twice that number of children may receive
a very excellent education at a yearly cost of only 57,000?.
Still, however, the question remains unanswered, from
what source is a permanent education fund of 35,0007. per
annum to be raised ? The only means towards it at present
available to the province, are the yearly revenues of the
Jesuits' estates and the 20,000?. belonging to the same fund,
which are, or which ought to be, in the hands of the receiver-
general. The 20,000?. if well invested, might produce 1,200?.
a year ; and the estates under good management, to yield an
available income, shortly, of 3,500?. ; hereafter possibly, of
5,000?. or 10,000?.* Still, 30,000?. a year, remains to be per-
manently secured.
The only sources to which to look for this, are probably the
following : —
1st. A compensation from the Home Government for the
Jesuits' barracks, which in point of justice belong, of course,
just as much to the education fund as any other part of these
estates. This though no more than an act of justice, would
be felt as one of grace.
2d. The clergy reserves. There is no doubt as to the almost
universal popularity of such an appropriation of this much-
disputed fund. The entire Episcopalian clergy, and half the
Presbyterian, would be violently opposed to it ; but I think
I may say, that with very few exceptions, every one else in
the province would hail it as a happy expedient for at the
same time putting an end to a great national quarrel, and con-
ferring a great national boon.
It is impossible to estimate with any exactness the value
of this concession to the education fund ; but perhaps it may
be safe to say, that, in addition to what may be permanently
secured from the above and other sources, annual appropria-
tions of from 20,000?. to 25,000?. will still be needed from the
provincial treasury. This is much to be regretted, but there
is no alternative. Complete independence of the legislature
is of course unattainable ; but it is to be hoped that, if that
body is reconstituted or reformed, the cause of education
* Mr. Dunkin, in his report, which I had not received when the above
was written, estimates the probable future income of the Jesuits' estates
at a far higher amount.
U2
202 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
need not henceforth apprehend danger from the indifference
or dishonesty of any of its component parts.
In his annual report, the superintendent will lay before
each branch of the legislature an account of the expenses of
the system, and, after meeting them as far as he is able by its
' permanent funds ', will apply to the province for the re-
mainder. If this is refused from any capricious motives, the
system must fall to the ground ; but such a refusal would
argue a state of things in which it would be impossible for
education or any other useful institution to thrive.
I have as yet said nothing of the encouragement of superior
educational institutions. The best system for adoption
respecting these would perhaps be one closely resembling that
in force in the state of New York, namely, to distribute
annually a fixed sum between all the establishments of this
grade in the province (with certain provisions as regards legal
incorporation, property and tuition) in proportion to the
number of pupils attending each. They should have been
incorporated in accordance with the provisions of a general
incorporation law, and their permanence thereby secured.
They should have been endowed to a certain reasonable
extent, and their teaching should be of a certain character,
so as to give them the rank of academies or colleges. They
should be subject to an annual visitation of an inspector, and
be required to conform to such purely literary injunctions as
might from time to time be specified as conditions of the
public grant. One invariable condition should be the teach-
ing of English, in a manner satisfactory to the inspector.
An amount of probably from 4,000?. to 5,000?. per annum
would be necessary to serve as an incentive to the erection
and endowment of such institutions. A portion of this sum
might with advantage be laid out in the shape of a contribu-
tion towards academies, which should themselves raise a like
sum, (50?. for instance) for the purchase of books and appa-
ratus. It would be desirable also, in consideration of the
lamentable deficiency of the means of superior education
within reach of the higher and middle classes of British origin
to devote 250?. per annum towards the support of each of two
large English grammar or public schools at Montreal and
Quebec, upon a like sum in each place being first of all pro-
vided by voluntary contribution. These schools, however,
should be open to all, the teaching being entirely in English.
The same restrictions as to religious instruction should be in
force as in the elementary schools. The trustees should be
chosen by the subscribers out of their own body. The nomina-
REPORT : APPENDIX D 293
tion of the masters should originate with them, but be subject
to the approval of the superintendent ; and, in case of dis-
agreement, the Governor should decide.
Nor would this annual grant of 5,000?. for superior educa-
tion quite equal those made for a similar purpose for the last
five years, the average of which was about 5,200?.
The claim upon the permanent fund would now, for the
entire support of every species of education, amount to 40,000?.
per annum.
I have before noticed the great anxiety of the higher class
of colonists of British origin for the establishment of a univer-
sity. I am fully sensible of its advantages, but will abstain
from saying more on the subject than that its character and
means of support must depend materially upon the nature of
the future government of Canada. If any union of the British
North American provinces is effected, a university, jointly
endowed by them, might be erected on a most comprehensive
scale, embracing faculties of arts, theology, law, medicine, &c.
Its proper seat would seem to be Quebec.
In conclusion, if any system such as I have sketched should
ultimately be adopted and confirmed by law, I should strongly
recommend that it should gradually be put in force by a board
of commissioners somewhat similarly constituted to that of
the board of Poor Law Commissioners in this country.
The following would be among their earliest duties. To set
the normal and model schools in operation, and at once open
the elementary schools on the new system in the three great
towns ; to lose no time in dividing the country into districts,
either personally, or by means of assistant commissioners,
visiting every locality, and superintending the necessary
arrangements ; and to appoint two committees, one com-
posed, as before suggested, of clergymen of different per-
suasions, to prepare a book of Bible -extracts ; and another
composed according to their discretion, and under their own
immediate control, of persons whose province it should be to
draw up a list of books fit to be used in the elementary, model
and normal schools, and also a series of rules and regulations
for their management, in strict conformity with the provisions
of the new Act.
Until the system should be sufficiently advanced to require
the aid of the inspectors and superintendent, this commission
would of course continue to sit and exercise their functions.
Such, my Lord, are the principal suggestions for a future
plan of education for Lower Canada, which the past history
and present condition of that country, and the analogies of
294 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
similar experiments in other countries, in my opinion, combine
in recommending.
In laying them before your Lordship, I am fully sensible of
their many imperfections.
I have, &c.
(signed) Arthur Butter.
JESUITS' ESTATES.
REPORT of MR. DUNKIN, the Secretary to the
Commission. (Extract.)
Cap. II.
OUTLINES of the HISTORY of the JESUITS' ESTATES as an
EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT in Lower Canada.
IT would neither be useful nor interesting to recount the
dates at which the various properties at any period held by
the order of Jesuits in Lower Canada originally came into
their possession, the names of the individuals who gave,
bequeathed or sold them to that order, the motives assigned
for the gift or bequest of the greater part, and the transfers
or alienations by the Jesuits of particular portions of them.
For the purposes of the present report, .little more is required
than a brief outline of the proceedings which have taken
place since the conquest in regard to these possessions, their
administration, and the uses to which the revenues drawn
from them have been put.
At the period of the cession of Canada, in 1763, the order of
Jesuits was in possession of a number of seigniories and other
properties in different parts of the province, of great extent
and considerable value. They had houses of residence in
Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal ; their residence in Quebec
being the large building now used as a barrack in the upper
town, and still one of the most extensive buildings in Lower
Canada. In this building was their chief residence and college.
Their other property was scattered over the province ; four
seigniories, of considerable size and value, besides a fifth of
little or none, and several valuable tracts of land, in and near
the city of Quebec, belonging to them, within the district of
Quebec ; two of the largest seigniories in the province, and
a great part of the town of Three Rivers, being theirs in the
district of that name ; and a small property in the city of
Montreal, with two large seigniories (one of them, however,
KEPORT : APPENDIX D 295
only held in trust for the Iroquois Indians), being in their
possession in the district of Montreal. Of these properties,
the greater part had been given or bequeathed to them ;
a comparatively small portion had been purchased. The whole
had been confirmed to them in mortmain, by letters patent
of the French King, his governors or intendants in the pro-
vince. In the official documents by which their title was thus
confirmed, the object of the endowment was in almost every
instance stated to be the maintenance of their college, and
the instruction of the youth of Canada by their order. The
original bequests or deeds of gift, in many instances, gave
other motives ; the conversion of the heathen, friendship for
the Jesuits, &c. The royal letters patent, however, explained
the whole as above stated ; the Jesuits appearing to have
requested this form of confirmation, on account of the tenor
of their vows of poverty, and the consequent necessity of their
holding all their possessions under this pretext.
In the articles of capitulation by which Canada was tem-
porarily ceded by the French General, an attempt was made to
introduce a guarantee for the continued maintenance of this
order in the province, and the perpetual possession by them
of their estates. This proposal of the Marquis of Vaudreuil
was, however, set aside, and no such guarantee given or
implied, either in the capitulation or in the treaty of 1763, by
which the country was finally ceded to Great Britain.
Notwithstanding this refusal, however, to recognise the
order, the Jesuits remained in the undisturbed possession
of most of their property for many years. A part of their
college building in Quebec was taken possession of by the
government, as a public storehouse, immediately after the
conquest, and continued to be used for this purpose till 1776,
when the greater part of the building was taken possession of
as a barrack, a use to which the whole building has been
devoted since the year 1800, when the last surviving member
of the order died. A part of the mission-house, in Montreal,
was also occupied as a public prison, before the death of its
last inmate, and the whole building was converted into
a prison on that event. In the year 1774, royal instructions
were given to the Governor for the suppression and dissolu-
tion of the order of Jesuits ; ' all their rights, privileges and
property ' to be vested in the Crown, ' for such purposes as
the Crown might hereafter think fit to direct and appoint.'
The royal intention, however, was at the same time declared
to be, ' that the present members of the society, as established
at Quebec, should be allowed sufficient stipends and provisions
296 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
during their natural lives.' In point of fact, the Jesuits were
allowed to continue in the possession and management of their
productive estates, and to draw from them the ' stipends and
provisions ' promised in these instructions in lieu of them.
Father Well, the last survivor of the Jesuits resident in
Montreal, administered the properties in that district till his
death, and Fathers De Glapion and Casot (the latter not him-
self a Jesuit) those in the district of Quebec, till the death of
the former. Shortly after this event, viz. on the 8th of March
1800, the Crown took unreserved possession of the estates,
and they have since remained under its management.
The suppression of the order of Jesuits in France took place
in the year 1762, and in Italy in the year 1773. The posses-
sions of the order were, in the former country, at once devoted
to the support of institutions of education ; in some cases, to
the support of the colleges originally founded by the Jesuits
(but then placed under other government) ; in other cases,
to that of schools and colleges which had never been under
their control.
From the year 1770 to the year 1803 a claim was. under
discussion, urged by Lord Amherst, for a royal grant to that
nobleman of these estates, or the greater part of them, as
a mark of royal acknowledgment of his services in the reduc-
tion of Canada. After repeated references to the Privy
Council and to the Law Officers of the Crown, both in England
and Canada, and more than one order in council enjoining
the Governor of Canada to issue, or the Law Officers to pre-
pare, a deed of gift, conferring them, with one or more reserva-
tions, on his Lordship, the project was at last abandoned in
1803, after the death of the original claimant ; and the claims
of his son and heir were met by a grant voted him by the
Imperial Parliament in that year. In the course of these
discussions, a commission was issued by Lord Dorchester,
then Governor of Canada, on the 7th of January 1788, in
obedience to an Order in Council, to inquire into the extent,
value, tenure, &c. of the estates, with a view to deciding
whether and by what means the proposed grant could be
made. The report of the commission, though far from com-
plete in point of information, and indeed not even unanimous,
was altogether in favour of the grant, a result which was to
have been expected. The report of the Attorney and Solicitor-
general of Canada, made at the same time, was to the same
tenor. Subsequently raised objections, however, defeated the
project.
During this period several attempts were made by parties
REPORT : APPENDIX 0 297
in Canada to obtain from the Crown a grant of these estates,
for the support of education within the province.
In the year 1787, the legislative council of the province, on
the suggestion of Lord Dorchester, then Governor-general,
appointed a committee to inquire into the means of advancing
education, &c. The report of the committee was made in
1789. For the present purpose, we have to do only with so
much of it as relates to the Jesuits' estates. In a letter from
the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, dated November 18,
1789, addressed to the committee, and published in their
report, that prelate urged the propriety of again devoting the
college-building in Quebec to educational purposes, of endow-
ing the new institution to be thus opened with these estates,
and placing it, when thus endowed, first under the control of
the surviving Jesuits, for their lives, and then under that of
the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, as the head of the
Catholic Church in the province. The committee in their
report, dated 26 November 1789, recommend that a portion
at least (and it is to be inferred a considerable portion) of
these estates be given as an endowment, to aid in the erection
of a proposed ' Colonial College ', of the constitution of which
they present an outline. According to this scheme, the college
was to have been constituted on the most liberal principles,
Catholics and Protestants respectively to provide each their
own system of religious instruction for the students of their
own communion ; the corporation to consist of an equal
number of members of each communion, and the visitation
to be vested in the Crown.
On the 31st of December in the same year (1789), Father
de Glapion, the titular superior of the dissolved order, pro-
posed by letter, on his own part and that of his three surviving
fellow Jesuits, to make over the estates ' for the benefit of
the Canadian citizens of the province of Lower Canada ',
with the reservation for themselves of a residence within their
former dwellings, and a life pension of 3,000 livres each per
annum, and on condition that the estates so made over should
for ever be applied to educational purposes under the direction
of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec.
Early in the year 1793, during the first session of the Pro-
vincial Parliament of Lower Canada, created by the con-
stitutional Act of 1791, a petition, signed principally by
persons of British origin, was presented to the House of
Assembly from the city and county of Quebec, praying the
House to urge upon the Crown the propriety of giving up
the estates to the disposal of the provincial legislature, for the
298 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
support of education in the province ; a destination, it was
urged, which would, more than any other, be in accordance
with the design of those who endowed the order with these
possessions, and the spirit of the letters patent of the French
King, which confirmed them to the order, for educational
objects only.
On the llth of April of the same year, the House adopted
an address to the Crown, embodying the substance, and
urging the prayer of this petition. No answer was given to
this address ; the project of granting the estates to Lord
Amherst being the one then favoured by Government.
During the session of the Provincial Parliament held in the
year 1800 (the year in which the final occupancy of the estates
by the Crown took place), the House of Assembly again took
up the subject, and voted an address to the Governor, praying
his Excellency to communicate to the House certain docu-
ments, ' to facilitate the investigation of the claims and pre-
tensions of the province, on the Jesuits' College converted into
barracks, and to the estates of that order, &c.' His Excel-
lency's reply informed the House, ' that in consequence of the
address of the House of Assembly, of the llth of April 1793,
the claims of the province had been considered by his Majesty
in Council, and that the result of that consideration had been
an order to take possession of those estates for the Crown.
That if, after this explanation the House should deem it
advisable to investigate, they should have access to the
documents required ; but any further application on the
subject might be inconsistent with the accustomed respect of
the House of Assembly for the decision of his Majesty, on
matters connected with his prerogative.' No further action
was had in consequence of this reply on the subject for several
years.
Since the final occupation of the estates by the Crown in
1800, their administration has been vested by a series of com-
missions ; first in a board of five commissioners, holding
office during pleasure ; some years afterwards in a board of
eight, and then in a board of six ; and, lastly, in a single
commissioner, the Honourable John Stewart, who still holds
that office, and who had been a member of the board for several
years before he became sole commissioner. The successive
changes which have taken place under the several commissions
which have been issued, and their dates, are not material to
the purpose of the present report.
The revenues of the estates during the interval between
this period and the year 1831, (when they were surrendered
REPORT : APPENDIX D 299
to the Provincial Parliament for the support of education),
were appropriated by the local executive as a part of the
property of the Crown, and no report as to the mode of their
application was made public.
In 1812, the legislative council voted an address to the
Prince Regent, praying for the devotion of these estates to
the support of education. The address was sent down to the
Assembly for concurrence ; but, owing probably in a great
degree to the pressure of business and the excitement growing
out of the war with the United States, then just commencing,
it was not then acted upon. The address does not appear to
have been noticed by the government ; in part, doubtless,
from the same cause.
From this time till 1824, little was done on this subject.
In the session of 1824, however, a special committee of the
House, appointed for the purpose, submitted a long and
elaborate report, setting forth the proceedings connected with
the suppression of the order of Jesuits, both in France and
Canada, and urging the unreserved devotion of the estates
once possessed by them to educational objects, in the latter
as well as in the former country. The report was concurred
in by the Assembly.
In the session of 1825-6, the discussion of the subject was
again resumed, and another special committee named, to
inquire into the kindred topics of the Jesuits' estates and the
state of education in the province. In accordance with the
report of that committee, it was resolved, on the 20th of
March 1826, to address the Crown anew, in behalf of the claims
of the provincial parliament to the revenues of the estates for
the advancement of education. To this address no answer
was made.
In 1827 a variety of complaints urged by the House of
Assembly of Lower Canada were laid before the Imperial
Parliament, the disposition and management of the Jesuits'
estates being among the number of ' grievances ' complained
of. The Canada committee of the House of Commons, in
1828, reported in favour of the application of the proceeds of
the estates ' to the purposes of general education '.
In the month of March 1831, resolutions were again adopted
by the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, complaining,
among a number of other things, of the continued with-
holding of the Jesuits' estates from this use and from their
control ; and another address to the Crown was voted,
embodying all these complaints. A despatch of Lord Goderich
(then Colonial Secretary), dated 7th July 1831, and containing
300 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
the reply of the Government to the demands urged in this
address, concedes, at least on this point, almost all that
the Assembly had demanded. By this despatch, the future
revenue of the estates was placed at the disposal of the pro-
vincial legislature for the support of education, with a recom-
mendation only to the House, in favour of the continuance
of a provision to those ' scholastic establishments ' (the
grammar schools of Quebec and Montreal) which had up to
that period been sustained by its means. In this cession of
the estates, however, the Jesuits' College was not included,
except upon condition of the erection by the province of
' adequate barracks ', for the accommodation of the troops
which had been for so many years quartered there.
A number of other measures were proposed to the Assembly
by Lord Goderich, for the settlement of the controverted
questions of the civil list, &c., out of the agitation of which
the address of the Assembly had had its origin. To these the
House did not assent. The surrender of the Jesuits' estates
alone was ratified by a legislative enactment of that year,
the 2d Will. 4, c. 41. By this law it is enacted, that from and
after the date of its passage, ' all monies arising out of the
estates of the late order of Jesuits, which now are in or may
hereafter come into the hands of the receiver-general of this
province, shall be placed in a separate chest in the vaults
wherein the public monies of the province are kept, and
shall be applied to the purposes of education exclusively, in
the manner provided by this Act, or by any Act or Acts
which may hereafter be passed by the provincial legislature,
and not otherwise.' The Act then proceeds to appropriate,
for the next year only ; i. e. till October 1, 1832, the following
sums : —
For the expenses of management of the estates :
The commissioner's salary . . £.180 sterling.
Allowance for clerk hire , . 90
Allowance for contingencies . " . 80
350
For the royal grammar school in Quebec :
Master's salary . , . . £.200 sterling.
Allowance for house rent < . 90
290
For the royal grammar school in Montreal :
Master's salary r * . ... . £.200 sterling.
Allowance for house rent . . . 54
254
REPORT : APPENDIX D 301
In all, 894J. sterling, or 993/. 65. 8d. currency; the 'pound
sterling ' of the law being that in which the receiver-general's
accounts are kept (9?. sterling equalling 101. Halifax cur-
rency), and not the true ' pound sterling ' of English money.
The above amounts were all copied into the Act from the
estimates proposed, and are the amounts which had for some
time previous been allowed from the estates for those purposes
respectively.
The Act, of which the above is an outline, was adopted by
the House on the recommendation of a special committee, to
which so much of Lord Goderich's despatch as related to the
estates had been referred. That committee accompanied their
Bill with an explanatory report, which was adopted by the
House, and to which I shall have occasion hereafter to refer
more than once. On the subject of the retention of the
Jesuits' barracks, this report proposes to the House no im-
mediate action, but expresses the confident anticipation that
' the justice of his Majesty's government ' will ere long com-
plete the restitution of the estates, without insisting upon
a condition, a compliance with which on the part of the pro-
vince would exhaust the revenues of the estates for several
years.
Appended to the report of the committee on the Journals
of the House is an abstract (drawn up apparently by some
member of the committee) of the accounts of the estates for
the 31 years from 1800 to 1831, as reported to the committee
on this occasion. It is not easy to reconcile some of the
statements made in this abstract with the contents of other
papers embodying official information on the subject. I was
not, however, able to give to this part of the inquiry a suffi-
cient amount of time, to feel warranted in positively asserting
any contradiction between the two authorities, or in attempt-
ing to discuss at length the points on which they seem to
differ.
From this table it would seem that the total amount re-
ceived into the hands of the treasurer of the estates * or
* The receipts of the estates (after the deduction of an allowance of
10 per cent, to the agents for collection) were deposited under the earlier
commissions in the hands of a ' treasurer of the Jesuits' estates ', for safe
keeping and disbursement. This office was for a number of years held by
the receivers-general of the province ; first, by Mr. Henry Caldwell, and
on his death, by his son, Sir John Caldwell. After the discovery of
Sir John's defalcations (from which, as will be seen presently, the revenue
of the Jesuits' estates as well as the general revenues of the province
suffered) the treasurership of the Jesuits' estates was held by one of the
commissioners, the Hon. H. W. Ryland. Shortly after the appointment of
the Hon. John Stewart as sole commissioner, the revenues of the estates
302 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
receiver-general for the 31 years between 1800 and 1831 was
49,583?. 14«. 3d. currency, being on an average not quite
1,600?. currency yearly, for the entire period. Of this sum
there had been expended during the same time upon the
management of the estates, 8,652?. 2s. 4d., being at the rate
of nearly 17J per cent, per annum upon the amount received
by the treasurer or receiver-general. This sum evidently
does not include the 10 per cent, on all collections made by
the agents, and deducted by them in the first instance from
the gross receipts, without passing through the treasurer's
or receiver-general's hands. Besides this 8,652?. 2s. 4d.,
a further sum of 4,732?. 9s. is returned, as having been ex-
pended upon ' repairs ' of roads, mills, &c., making rather
more than 9J per cent, on the amount passed through the
treasurer's hands. Assuming these figures to be correct, the
entire sum expended in agent's allowance, expenses of manage-
ment and repairs upon the properties for 31 years, amounted
to more than 35 per cent, on the gross collections made in
that period by the agents.
Of the 36,199?. 2s. lid. remaining after these deductions,
the same account shows a sum of 13,169?. 7s. 6d. (a little
more than one-third) to have been for educational purposes.
Of this sum, 780?. was a grant in favour of the M'Gill college,
and all or nearly all the rest had been expended upon the
royal grammar schools of Quebec, Montreal and Kingston
(Upper Canada). The allowance to these schools commenced
in 1817, and that to the Kingston school had been given up
some years before 1831.
Among the remaining items of disbursements appears
a charge of 9,793?. 2s. lid. for ' repairs of Protestant churches ',
all or nearly all this sum having been expended upon the
repair of the Protestant cathedral church in Quebec. Another
charge upon the estates (sanctioned by a despatch of Sir
George Murray, dated June 2, 1828), is to the amount of
984?. 3s. 2d. for the salary of a clergyman of the Protestant
Episcopal Church (Rev. Mr. Sewell), as chaplain of the church
of the Holy Trinity in Quebec.
On the subject of the balance in the receiver-general's
hands at the time of the surrender of the estates, the account
given in this table is not reconcilable, so far as I can see,
with that given on the books of the receiver-general. The
latter (as may be seen from the accompanying document
marked (E.) state it to be 8,020?. 16s. 3d. sterling, or
were again deposited with the receiver-general, and the office of treasurer of
the estates was abolished.
REPORT : APPENDIX D 303
8,812?. O.s. 3Jd currency. This sum, I presume, is the correct
one.
The provisions of the 2d Will. 4, cap. 41, were in several
particulars disregarded or contravened. The monies received
from the Jesuits' estates were never placed by the receiver-
general in a separate chest, as required by the law, but have
continued, as before, to be deposited with the other public
revenue of the province, a separate account only being kept
to show their amount. The clause prohibiting the expenditure
of any part of the balance at any time accruing from the
Jesuits' estates for any other than educational objects was
also set aside by the transfer on the 22d of September 1832
(by order of the governor, signified in a letter from Colonel
Craig, then civil secretary, to the receiver-general), of
7,154-1. 15s. 4Jd. currency, from the amount credited to the
Jesuits' estates, to the general revenues of the province. The
circumstances under which this transfer was made, and the
defence set up for it (a passage in Lord Goderich's despatch
of 7th July 1831), will require fuller consideration in another
part of this report. I shall there endeavour to show, that
however undeserving of blame the order may have been, it
was clearly a contravention of the law, and that the transfer
in question ought accordingly to be reversed, and the
7,154?. 15«. 4|d. currency again set down as belonging to the
educational fund of the province.
The appropriations made by the above Act of 1832 were,
as has been stated, for one year only ; no subsequent enact-
ment has been passed on the subject, so that the revenues
of the estates have been accumulating in the hands of the
receiver-general since October 1, 1832 ; the allowances to the
two grammar schools ceased at that date. The expenses of
the commissioners' office have continued to be paid to the
same amount as before ; not, however, as before, by warrant
drawn in due form upon the receiver-general, but by the
commissioner himself, out of the monies received by him,
before paying over the balance to the receiver-general. This
course is defended by a reference to the terms of the com-
mission by which that officer was appointed, and which
empowers him to pay out of the receipts of the estates all
necessary expenses of collection, &c. It received also at the
time the sanction of the executive government, though there
can be no doubt the majority of the House of Assembly
intended, as one consequence of the non-renewal of their
appropriations from this fund, to have reduced the com-
missioner of the estates to the position of the other public
304 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
officers during the period of the stoppage of the supplies, and,
if possible, to have obliged him to resign his office in con-
sequence.
During the stormy sessions of the provincial parliament
which followed the year 1831, a standing committee of the
House was constantly occupied with investigations relative
to the Jesuits' estates. In the last session at which any public
business was transacted (that of 1835-6), a Bill to regulate
the future administration of the estates was introduced into
the House of Assembly by Mr. Kimber, of Three Rivers, the
chairman of this committee ; but though it passed the House
it failed to become a law, the disputes between the two Houses
having so entirely engrossed attention, after it was sent up
to the legislative council, as to prevent that body from pro-
ceeding with it to its passage, amendment or rejection. The
session came to a close without any decisive action of the
council in regard to it. The principal provisions of this Bill
will require notice in another part of this report, when the
particular subject to which it relates shall be under discussion.
With the history of this property as an educational endow-
ment they have no connexion.
PART II.
DESPATCHES RELATING TO
LOKD DUKHAM'S MISSION AND
KESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
REPRINTED FROM BLUE BOOKS.
COPY of a DESPATCH from Lord Glenelg to the
Earl of Durham, G.C.B.
My Lord, Downing street, 20 January 1838. Lord
ALTHOUGH it will be necessary to reserve, until the approach Glenelg to
of the period of your proceeding to Canada, the full instruc- Durham,
tions which it will be my duty to address to your Lordship, 20 Janu-
with respect to the important mission which you have under- ary
taken, Her Majesty's Government feel it incumbent on them
to take the earliest opportunity of briefly explaining to you,
in an official communication, the general line of policy which
appears to them best calculated to affect a permanent settle-
ment of the various questions which will demand your attention.
I abstain here from adverting to the measures which may
be requisite in order to suppress any remaining symptoms of
resistance to Her Majesty's authority ; because, from the
information which I at present possess, I am induced to hope
that, before your arrival in Lower Canada, all open attempts
to disturb the public peace, or to impede the due administra-
tion of the law, will have been effectively put down ; and
I trust that the large increase which will be made to the
military force in the province on the opening of the navigation
will render hopeless any further designs of an insurrectionary
character.
Tranquillity having been restored, it will be your duty to
enter on the more arduous part of the task committed to you,
and to consider what steps should be adopted in order to
prepare the way for a return to a system of government
founded on those principles of liberty Avhich form the basis
both of the British constitution and of that which was given
to Canada by the Imperial Act of 1791.
It is upon such a system alone that, in the opinion of
Her Majesty's advisers, the colony can be permanently
governed with advantage either to its inhabitants or to the
mother country ; but, after the disturbances by which the
1352-3 X
306 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord province has been convulsed, it can scarcely be expected that
th^E^Vf ^ w^ a^ once ke ^stored to such a state of calmness as to
Durham, allow a regular constitutional mode of government to come
20 Janu- into beneficial operation immediately on the suppression of
ary 1838. the insurrection ; it is therefore proposed that for a limited
time Parliament should authorize a different method of
administering the affairs of the province. This, however, is
but a temporary expedient, intended only to meet the actual
crisis, and to afford time for removing the obstacles which
have of late years prevented the successful working of a more
regular and liberal system of government. It will be your
chief aim to prepare the way for the earliest practicable return
to such a system, and for this purpose you will use every
means in your power to undeceive those who have been
betrayed into disaffection, and to reconcile the different
classes of the population to each other and to the Govern-
ment. Your personal influence, and your prompt and impar-
tial attention to every real grievance and every well-founded
complaint, Her Majesty is persuaded will have a powerful
effect in contributing to this most desirable result.
I need not here advert to the differences which have so long
prevailed between the executive government and the legis-
lature of the province. You are already acquainted with
their history and character ; and you are also aware that, in
the year 1835, Commissioners were sent out by the Govern-
ment of his late Majesty for the purpose of ascertaining the
causes which had led to these differences, and of inquiring
what alterations it would be right to make in the laws and
constitution of the colony with a view to their adjustment.
Early in the last year the final reports of the Commissioners
were received, and measures founded upon the information
which they afforded, and the suggestions they contain were
in the course of being submitted to Parliament, when the
execution of this design was unavoidably interrupted by the
demise of his late Majesty.
The events which have since taken place in Lower Canada,
and the degree to which they have exasperated the contend-
ing parties in that colony, have rendered it inexpedient, in
the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, again to bring
forward propositions which were calculated to meet a very
different state of things from that which at present exists.
More extensive changes in the Act of 1791 than were then
in contemplation seem now to be required, since it is hardly
to be hoped that when an actual conflict must have so greatly
inflamed those mutual jealousies and animosities between
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 307
different classes of the population which before obstructed Lord
the working of that Act, it could, without very material Glenelg to
alterations, be brought again into beneficial operation. l?ur?am°f
The necessity which has thus arisen of looking to more 20 Janu-
important amendments of the Act of 1791 than were originally ary 1838.
contemplated is a sufficient reason for not at once recom-
mending these amendments to Parliament, with a view to
their immediate adoption, since the authority of the Imperial
Legislature could not with advantage be employed in carry-
ing into effect changes of this description before the wishes
and opinions of those whom they would more immediately
affect could be ascertained, especially as the interests of
Upper Canada must of necessity be influenced in a greater or
less degree by whatever may be done with respect to the
Lower province.
In looking back to the history of the now long-continued
dissensions of Lower Canada, it may be remarked that one
prominent topic of complaint from the party opposed to the
majority of the Assembly has been the anti-commercial spirit
of legislation attributed to that body, and their alleged in-
difference to measures calculated to promote the industry of
the colony, and the development of its natural resources.
This disposition of the representatives of the French popula-
tion of Lower Canada has been also urged as a most serious *
grievance by the inhabitants of the Upper province, which
by its situation is rendered in great measure dependent, in all
that relates to its foreign trade, on the legislation of the
former colony. To meet these complaints it has, as you are
aware, been frequently proposed, that the two provinces
should be united under a common legislature, and some years
ago a Bill for effecting that object was actually introduced
into Parliament, where, however, upon discussion, it was
abandoned. So recently as the beginning of last year, both
branches of the legislature of Upper Canada concurred in
representing, by a joint address to the Crown, the grievance
which they suffered in being denied a freer access to the ocean,
and the House of Assembly in another address prayed that
the evil might be remedied by the annexation of the island
of Montreal to the Upper province.
In order to lay the ground for the permanent settlement
of the questions which agitate Lower Canada, and also of
those which create divisions between Upper and Lower
Canada, it will probably be found necessary to resort to some
legislative measures of a comprehensive nature ; but before
such measures can be framed and submitted to Parliament, it
X2
308 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord would be highly desirable to ascertain the wishes and opinions
Glenelg to of fae people of both provinces regarding them.
Durham° This object could best be attained by a personal communica-
20 Janu- tion on your part with such persons selected from each pro-
ary 1838. vince as may be presumed, from their station, character and
influence, to represent the feelings of their fellow-countrymen
in general. It seems advisable, therefore, to authorize your
Lordship, if you should so think fit, to call around you a certain
number of such persons, with whom you might take counsel
on the most important affairs of the two provinces, the time
of meeting of such a committee of advice being left entirely
to your discretion.
You are therefore empowered to select three members from
the legislative council of Upper Canada to attend such meet-
ing, and to invite the House of Assembly of Upper Canada
to nominate ten of its members for the same purpose. Under
ordinary circumstances the same course would be pursued
with respect to the legislature of Lower Canada. But if the
Bill now before Parliament should be passed into a law,
recourse must be had, during the suspension of that legis-
lature, to another mode of supplying the deficiency.
You will accordingly, during such suspension, select three
member^ of the body at present composing the legislative
council, and will take measures for calling on the electors in
each of the five districts into which Lower Canada is now
divided to elect two persons to sit in the committee. Your
Lordship can obviate any difficulty which may stand in the
way of holding such elections by an ordinance for this pur-
pose to be passed by the authority of the Governor in council.
The committee will thus consist of twenty-six members,
over whose deliberations you will of course preside.
The committee being thus formed, you will bring before
them the subjects on which you desire to receive their opinion
and advice. Among the most important of these are the
questions in debate between the two Canadian provinces.
In the last session, both Houses of Parliament passed
a resolution, ' That great inconvenience has been sustained
by His Majesty's subjects inhabiting the provinces of Lower
Canada and Upper Canada, from the want of some adequate
means for regulating and adjusting questions, respecting the
trade and commerce of the said provinces, and divers other
questions wherein the said provinces have a common interest,
and it is expedient that the legislatures of the said provinces
respectively be authorized to make provision for the joint
regulation and adjustment of such their common interests.'
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 309
It is clear that some plan must be devised to meet the just Lord
demands of Upper Canada. Glenelg to
It will be for your Lordship, in conjunction with the com- Durham°f
mittee, to consider if this should not be done, by constituting 20 Janu-
some joint legislative authority, which should preside over all ar7 1838.
questions of common interest to the two provinces, and which
might be appealed to in extraordinary cases to arbitrate
between contending parties in either ; preserving, however,
to each province its distinct legislature, with authority in all
matters of exclusively domestic concern.
If this should be your opinion, you will have further to
consider what should be the nature and limits of such authority,
and all the particulars which ought to be comprehended in
any scheme for its establishment.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 will supply another subject
of deliberation, with a view to determine what measures may
safely be taken to correct the defects which have hitherto
interfered, at least in the Lower province, with its successful
working.
The constitution of the legislative council has formed the
chief topic of complaint with the House of Assembly of Lower
Canada, and they have insisted that the only remedy is to
be found in making the council elective.
On this subject the following resolution was last year passed
by both Houses of Parliament : ' That, in the existing state
of Lower Canada, it is unadvisable to make the legislative
council of that province an elective body, but it is expedient
that measures be adopted for securing to that branch of the
legislature a greater degree of public confidence.'
It will be for you and the committee to consider in what
manner the judgment thus pronounced by Parliament can
best be carried into effect.
There are other very important subjects regarding which
you will probably think it right to consult the same advisers ;
such, for example, as the provision that should be made to
meet the necessary expenses of the civil government in Lower
Canada ; the state of the law affecting the tenure of landed
property in that province ; the establishment of a court for
the trial of appeals and impeachments. There is, in truth,
not one of the many interesting questions relating to the good
government and well-being of the two Canadas which might
not very properly engage the attention of the committee.
On all the subjects which I have specified, and on others
which may come under the notice of the committee, your
Lordship will probably have to recommend the adoption of
310 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord some legislative measures in this country : you will transmit
Clenelg to to me an explanation of such measures in the fullest detail,
Durham,0 in order that the Government may consider of the propriety
20 Janu- of submitting them to Parliament.
ary 1838. You are authorized to fix the times and places of the meet-
ings of the committee, to adjourn from time to time, and to
frame all regulations necessary for the despatch of business.
You are also empowered to dissolve the committee at your
pleasure.
It is obvious that such a body could not be assembled with
advantage during the prevalence of disturbance, or while
the passions excited by recent conflict are still unallayed ;
but should a calmer period succeed, the same tranquillity
which would render the meeting of such a committee ex-
pedient would make it practicable to provide for the election
of representatives for the purpose of forming part of it.
Your Lordship, however, will understand that although,
with a view to ascertain the opinions of the people, Her
Majesty's Government have thought it right to convey to you
a distinct authority to convene such a committee as that which
I have described, should your own deliberate judgment con-
firm the view which they at present entertain of its probable
expediency, they are fully aware that other modes may here-
after suggest themselves to you by which the same end could
be attained, and to which you may give a preference, as being
more acceptable to the inhabitants of the respective provinces,
or less liable to any objection which may arise to the plan
proposed. In that case, it is not the wish or the intention of
Her Majesty's Government to restrict the free exercise of your
own judgment or discretion, bearing in mind that the great
object which they have in view is to avoid giving any just
ground for complaints, not unreasonably made on former
occasions, against attempting legislative changes affecting
Canada, without previously ascertaining the sentiments and
wishes of those whom such changes principally concern.
Neither, in the brief enumeration of the topics upon which it
has been suggested that you should consult with such a com-
mittee as has been proposed, is it the intention of Her Majesty's
Government to exclude other subjects from your considera-
tion, or to restrict you from entertaining other proposals,
whether affecting the two Canadas only or all the British
North American provinces, which you may be induced to
think conducive to the permanent establishment of an im-
proved system of government in Her Majesty's North American
possessions.
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 311
Your commission will be co-extensive with the whole of Lord
these possessions, for the express purpose of enabling you Glenelg to
with the greatest advantage to take the most comprehensive Durham°f
vie w of their general interests, and to recommend such measures 20" Jan?-'
as, after personal communication with men of various classes, ary 1838-
and upon mature deliberation, you may consider best adapted
to remove all reasonable ground of dissatisfaction in these
colonies, and to cement the union subsisting between them
and this country by the ties of mutual advantage, and a re-
ciprocal feeling of confidence and good-will.
I have, &c.
(signed) Glenelg.
COPY of a DESPATCH from Lord Glenelg to the
Earl of Durham, G.C.B.
My Lord, Downing-street, 3 April 1838.
I HAVE the honour herewith to transmit to your Lordship Lord
four commissions under the great seal, by which Her Majesty
has been pleased to appoint you to be the Governor and
Captain-general of the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper 3 April
Canada, of New Brunswick and of Prince Edward Island. 1838>
A similar commission, appointing your Lordship to the corre-
sponding offices in Nova Scotia, has already been transmitted
to the Lieutenant-governor of that province. I also transmit
a separate commission, by which your Lordship is consti-
tuted Governor-general of all Her Majesty's North American
provinces, including the island of Newfoundland, and Her
Majesty's High Commissioner for the investigation of certain
questions depending in the Canadian provinces.
In my despatch (No. 1) of the 20th of January last, I thought Instruc-
it my duty to record the motives which had induced Her ^°gSr*°rs
Majesty's Government to advise The Queen to invest your wick and
Lordship with unusual and extensive powers, and I then for Prince
stated the general principles by which you are to be guided fs^^rcl
in the discharge of your high and arduous duties. My im- Those for
mediate object is to explain what are the powers thus intrusted Upper and
to your Lordship by your commissions, and by the instruc- ^ae^a
tions under the royal sign manual and signet which accom- sent jn
pany them. subse-
The deviations from former precedents which will be found ^gnatch
in these commissions, though to a considerable extent sug- NO> 20, of
gested by the existing crisis in the affairs of British North 21 April.
312 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord America, are not all referable to considerations of an occasional
Glenelg to or transitory nature. The usual practice has hitherto been
Durham to address to the Governor of Lower Canada a single com-
3 April ' mission for the government of the two Canadian provinces ;
1838. a second single commission for the government of Nova
Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and a third and separate
commission for the government of New Brunswick. With the
title of Governor-general, he has, in fact, been Governor of
the province of Lower Canada only, and has been prohibited
from resorting to any of the other provinces, lest his presence
should supersede the authority of the respective Lieutenant-
governors to whose administration they have been confided.
It is difficult to assign any other motive for this practice
of issuing three commissions for the government of five distinct
provinces to an officer whose functions were to be confined
exclusively to one of them, except that this arrangement may
have diminished the expenses attendant upon the issuing of
such instruments. This advantage, such as it was, has, how-
ever, been far more than overbalanced by the inconvenience
that two of the five provinces have been invariably left
destitute of the original document upon which the powers of
the local government may in a certain sense be said to have
entirely depended. If any question arose at Toronto or in
Prince Edward Island as to the terms of the. royal commission,
it could be answered only by a reference to Quebec or to
Halifax.
But while the number of these instruments was thus reduced,
they were filled with a multitude of superfluous words and
redundant clauses, which appear to have been transcribed
from ancient precedents, without any attention to subsequent
changes of the law, or of the state and circumstances of the
provinces.
In the accompanying commissions these inconveniences are
obviated. For each separate government there will hence-
forth be a distinct commission, which will be found to contain
no provisions but such as are necessary to impart and to
define the powers which are to be exercised by the Governor,
or, in his absence, by the officer charged with the administra-
tion of the government.
On your Lordship's arrival at Quebec, you will open your
commission as Governor of that province, and your com-
mission as Governor-general and Lord High Commissioner.
The first of these instruments will then be deposited amongst
the archives of the province ; the second will remain in your
Lordship's personal custody, and will accompany you to
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 313
every part of British North America to which you may have Lord
occasion to resort. Glenelg to
The commissions for Upper Canada, for New Brunswick, Durham0*
and for Prince Edward Island, your Lordship will transmit to 3 April
the respective Lieutenant-governors of those provinces, to be 1838>
deposited amongst the archives of their respective govern-
ments. You will at the same time transmit to each the
accompanying commissions under the royal sign manual and
signet, renewing their several offices, which would otherwise be
superseded by the revocation of Lord Gosford's commissions.
As Lower Canada is that part of British North America in
which the necessity for your Lordship's presence will be
chiefly felt, your residence will be principally fixed in that
province ; but it will probably be convenient, if not indis-
pensable, that you should occasionally resort to all or to some
of the adjacent provinces. As often as such an occasion shall
arise, and your Lordship shall pass into Upper Canada, New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, you will,
by virtue of the commissions there awaiting your arrival,
assume the administration of the government of the province
in which you may be, and retain it during your residence in
such province. During that period, the functions of the
Lieutenant-governor will be altogether suspended. It is
almost superfluous to suggest, that, with a view to the main-
tenance of the deference due to the Lieutenant-governor, and
to the unimpaired revival of his authority on the resumption
of his functions, your Lordship will afford to the Lieutenant
governor the utmost countenance in your power, and will
mark, by every possible demonstration, that the temporary
suspension of his command detracts nothing from his claims
on the confidence of Her Majesty's Government, and the
respect of the inhabitants at large. On his side, it will be the
duty of the Lieutenant-governor to render to your Lordship
the utmost possible assistance in the conduct of affairs with
which he will be thoroughly conversant, and regarding many
of which your Lordship will of course stand in need of
information.
Hitherto it has not been the practice to carry on official
correspondence between the Governor-general and any of the
Lieutenant-governors. The Governor-general and the Lieu-
tenant-governors have severally conducted their respective
administrations as separate and independent authorities,
addressing all their communications on public affairs to the
head of this department, and receiving from the Secretary of
State alone instructions for their guidance. As, however, the
314 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord success of your Lordship's mission may in no light degree
th6!?1?!*? dePend on your power of maintaining uniformity of principle
Durham, i*1 the administration of the different North American govern-
3 April ments, in regard to all the more considerable questions which
1838. are depen(iing in them, it seems necessary to depart from the
existing system so far as may be requisite for attaining that
object, but no further.
It will therefore be the duty of each Lieutenant-governor
to enter into a free and confidential correspondence with your
Lordship on every topic on which you may invite such com-
munications, and to obey every instruction not in itself
unlawful which you may address to him ; but it will be desir-
able to limit such correspondence to questions of general and
permanent interest. Nor will you address any positive instruc-
tion to any of these officers without fully weighing every
representation which he may have made, or may wish to
make, on the subject of it.
The Lieutenant-governors will continue their correspond-
ence with me as usual ; and your Lordship will transmit to
me a copy of the correspondence which may pass between
yourself and any of the Lieutenant-governors.
It will be readily understood that the preceding instructions
have not been dictated by any distrust of the zeal or ability
of any of the officers at present engaged in the administration
of the North American provinces ; they have been suggested
exclusively by the present position of affairs in Canada, and
by a conviction of the importance of maintaining, on questions
of general concern, that unity of purpose throughout the
different governments which can be secured only by placing
them all, for at least a short period, in some degree of sub-
ordination to one authority common to the whole.
I shall transmit a copy of this despatch to each of the
Lieutenant-governors, for his information and guidance.
I have, &c.
(signed) Glenelg.
COPY of a DESPATCH from Lord Glenelg to the
Earl of Durham, G.C.B.
Lord My Lord, Downing-street, 21 April 1838.
G?enelg to ^N my despatch of 20th January, I briefly explained to your
the Earl of Lordship, the general line of policy which appeared to Her
2JUAU!?l' Majesty's Government, best calculated to effect a permanent
1838.Pn settlement of the various questions which would demand your
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 315
attention, as Governor-general of Her Majesty's provinces in Lord
North America, and I reserved until the approach of the time Glenelg to
for your proceeding to Lower Canada, the further instructions ^rh£m°f
which it would then be my duty to address to your Lordship 21 April'
in regard to the same subject. 1838.
In my despatch (No. 8) of the 3d April, accompanying your
Lordship's commissions under the great seal, I have explained
in what respect those instruments differ from the commissions
issued to former governors of the same provinces, and what
are the powers which, although not enjoyed by your pre-
decessors in the government of Lower Canada, are vested in
you for the purpose of a general superintendence over all
British North America.
I now propose to fulfil my intention of completing the series
of the instructions under which you are to act.
From the latest accounts it appears that, although revolt
and insurrection have been suppressed within the Canadas,
considerable excitement still exists on various parts of the
frontier adjoining the United States, and that several attempts
have recently been made by armed citizens of those states to
invade the British territory ; these attempts have in every
instance been successfully resisted, and the government of
the United States has taken measures which I trust will prove
sufficient to restrain such aggressions in future. It will be
your Lordship's duty to adopt the most efficient precautions
for the protection of the Canadian provinces from inroad or
attack on the part of American citizens, and for the prompt
repression of any such attempts should they hereafter be
renewed. It is scarcely necessary that I should at the same
time suggest the importance of abstaining from all language
and conduct calculated to give just or reasonable offence to
the government of the United States, the more especially as
that government appears to have acted with perfect good
faith during the late transactions.
The late revolt in the Canadas, has been followed by the
arrest and imprisonment of a very considerable number of
persons both in the Lower and in the Upper Province. In
regard to Upper Canada, I have not, even to this time, been
informed of the course contemplated by the local authorities
for bringing such prisoners to trial, except that I know gener-
ally that a special commission has been appointed to investi-
gate the charges preferred against them, and that the Habeas
Corpus Act has been suspended. From Lower Canada I have
later and more ample intelligence.
Sir John Colborne having been authorized to carry into
316 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord execution Lord Gosford's proclamation of martial law, had,
Glenelg to jn njg capacjty of Lieutenant-general commanding Her
the Earl of *f < ,_, t • ,1 T i i *
Durham, Majesty s forces in the provinces, discharged from custody
21 April a large number of the prisoners against whom he thought
1838. ft unnecessary or injudicious to proceed ; and at the date of
his last despatches he appears to have expected that it would
be in his power to extend the same indulgence to several
others ; but he regarded the trial and punishment of some of
the more guilty parties as indispensable, and applied to me
ior instructions as to the means of securing an impartial trial.
On referring to this correspondence, your Lordship will
learn the difficulties which appeared to impede the ordinary
course of proceeding before the grand and petit juries of the
country, and you will find that Her Majesty's Government
resolved that, even if it might be right to resort ultimately
to any form of trial unknown to the constitution, it would
at least be improper to do so without having ascertained by
actual experiment that the usual forms are unequal to the
occasion. If however that experiment, when fairly tried, in
two or three cases, should prove that, under the peculiar
circumstances of the colony, the investigation of truth and
the equal administration of justice could not be effected by
a recourse to the ordinary tribunals, Sir John Colborne was
instructed to suspend all further proceedings against the
' persons charged with treason or traitorous conspiracy, until
your Lordship's arrival.
It is possible that under these instructions, Sir J. Colborne
may have been enabled to clear the prisons ; but I apprehend
it to be more likely that you will find the prisoners in question,
or a certain number of them, reserved in custody for your
decision ; it is at all events necessary to be prepared for this
contingency.
From the very commencement of the late disturbances it
has been, as your Lordship is aware, the earnest desire of the
Government that the utmost lenity, compatible with public
safety, should be exercised towards the insurgents ; this is
the principle inculcated in my various despatches to the
authorities in Lower and Upper Canada, and it is a principle
supported, in our opinion, by considerations, not only of
humanity, which cannot in such cases be admitted as the
exclusive test of right conduct, but also of true policy in
reference to the future well-being of the Canadas. The course
of events, and the circumstances in which we may venture to
assume you will find the provinces, will supply, as it appears
to us, new facilities as well as fresh inducements to the carry-
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 317
ing of this principle into effect. You will, I am persuaded, Lord
enter into the views of the Government on this subject ; and
in order to enable you to act with prompitude in this respect,
you are relieved from the restriction by which your pre- 21 April
decessors were prevented, in the case of treason, from giving 1838>
an absolute pardon, or granting more than a respite, till the
royal pleasure should be known : in your commission that
restriction is omitted.
The power thus intrusted to you, of granting an amnesty
or pardon, in all cases should, in the opinion of Her Majesty's
Government, be exercised largely, but not entirely without
exception. Independently of persons committed on a charge
of murder, to whose cases I have referred in my despatch of
the 19th March to Sir J. Colborne, as exceptions to the class
of cases fit to be included in an amnesty, there must probably,
among the prisoners, be some flagrant and prominent cases
of delinquency, which it would not be just or advisable to
comprehend in the general lenity. These cases it will be for *-
you to select, in order that they may be brought to trial. In the
constitution of the tribunals before which these prisoners are
to be arraigned, and in the conduct of the trials, Her Majesty's
Government are, after full deliberation, satisfied that there
should be no further deviation from the established modes of
legal procedure than was sanctioned in my despatch to Sir J.
Colborne. You will therefore bring them to trial, in the usual
manner, before the courts of justice as at present constituted
for the trial of criminal offences in the province. By the
verdicts of the ordinary juries, the fate of the prisoners must
be decided, subject of course to any questions of law which,
as in any other case, might be reserved for the decision of
the court, and subject also to the exercise of the prerogative
in the commutation, if you should consider it expedient, of
the sentence, for a less amount of punishment. Except in
case of murder, capital punishments should be avoided :
transportation or banishment from the province, for a certain *
period, imprisonment and fine, will afford the means of com-
mutation of any capital sentence, and I trust also of fully
vindicating the authority of the law. Should the course of
events, or your experience in the province, lead you to con-
sider that, with regard to future cases of treason or insurrec-
tion, an alteration is required in the law regulating the trial
of such offences, it will be competent to your Lordship to
propose such an alteration to the special council ; but Her
Majesty's Government are of opinion that no law of this
description ought to have a retrospective operation.
318 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Lord The most important object of your Lordship's mission is,
(heiFelgl *f k°wever> ^e settlement of the affairs of Her Majesty's domi-
Durham° ni°ns in North America, on such a basis, as may afford the
21 April' reasonable prospect of an enduring tranquillity under a form
1838. of government, corresponding in its general principles with
that of this kingdom, so far as such a correspondence is
compatible with the essential differences which must subsist
between the metropolitan state and its provincial dependen-
cies. On this subject I have little to add to the instructions
contained in my despatch of the 20th January.
It is quite unnecessary for me to enter into discussions in
this place, on the various plans which have been suggested,
both by public bodies and by individuals, with a view of
forming a permanent adjustment, such as I have mentioned
to be desirable. Indeed, by attempting to discuss them
I should only embarrass you, and run the risk of interfering
with that complete discretion which it is intended that you
should enjoy on every part of this wide subject. I can only
recommend to your most serious consideration those plans
and any others that may present themselves to your own
mind.
You are quite aware of the great principles, on which alone
a wise system of polity can be established, and you are no
less aware how little of stability can be expected, even for the
wisest system, unless it be adapted to the affections and
circumstances of the people, whom it professes to benefit.
I wish therefore especially to press it on your attention, that,
in the preparation of any plan to be submitted to Parlia-
ment, the first object should be to ensure every probability
of its practical efficiency. I mean that the plan should, in its
principle and details, be such as to warrant a well-founded
expectation, not only that it shall please and gratify at the
moment, but that it shall practically work well ; it is by the
test of actual experiment that its merits or demerits will
eventually be judged.
In my accompanying despatch (No. 17,) I have conveyed
to your Lordship, instructions sanctioned by the Lords Com-
missioners of the Treasury, for your guidance respecting the
financial affairs of Lower Canada, and the expenditure of the
revenues of the province. The powers with which you are
invested by the Act to make temporary provision for the
government of Lower Canada are, I trust, so clearly defined
in the Act itself, as to supersede the necessity for any attempt
on my part at explanation or comment in regard to them.
On reference to the recent correspondence with Sir J. Colborne,
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 319
you will perceive that a full discretion is reserved to you as Lord
to the selection of individuals on your arrival, to constitute Glenelg to
the special council. You will, I have no doubt, so exercise Durham**
this discretion as fully to justify the choice which you may 21 April'
think proper to make. You will enter on the execution of 1838.
your high duties in the full possession of the confidence of
Her Majesty's Government, and in the discharge of it, you "
may be assured of their utmost support and assistance.
I have, &c.
(signed) Glenelg.
EXTRACT of a DESPATCH from the Earl of
Durham, G.C.B., to Lord Glenelg.
Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 9 August 1838.
My Lord,
THE information which my residence here has enabled me Earl of
to obtain as to the condition of the two Canadas is of such *)u£ha'j1
a nature as to make me doubt whether, if I had been fully Gieneig>
aware of the real state of affairs in this part of the world, 9 August
any considerations would have induced me to undertake so 1838<
very difficult a task as is involved in my mission. I do not,
however, wish it to be understood that I consider success
impossible. On the contrary, I indulge in a hope that if the
difficulties and dangers that are now so apparent to me are
appreciated by Her Majesty's Government, so as to lead to
their adoption of measures sufficiently comprehensive and
decided to meet the emergency, the objects of my mission
may be accomplished.
My sole purpose, therefore, in adverting to circumstances
which threaten a different result is to impress upon your
Lordship my own conviction, which has been formed by
personal experience, that even the best informed persons in
England can hardly conceive the disorder or disorganization
which, to the careful inquirer on the spot, is manifest in all
things pertaining to Government in these colonies.
Such words scarcely express the whole truth : not Govern-
ment merely, but society itself seems to be almost dissolved ;
the vessel of the State is not in great danger only, as I had been
previously led to suppose, but looks like a complete wreck.
It is needless to point out the wide difference between this
representation and the opinions on the subject which were,
and probably still are, held by Her Majesty's Ministers ; but
320 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of since one who had the benefit of whatever information they
toULor? possessed is nevertheless compelled to acknowledge that the
Glenelg, truth, as it now appears to him, differs so much from his
9 August previous conceptions of it, what can he infer but that distance
1838. f^g precluded them from acquiring an accurate knowledge
of the whole subject ? This is my belief, and it becomes,
therefore, an imperative duty on my part to convey to your
Lordship the exact impressions which I have derived from
personal inquiry and observation. I will not shrink from the
performance of that duty.
On the present occasion, however, I propose to confine
myself to a particular class of circumstances ; that is, to
those which, relate to the Lower Province, and are of the
most unfavourable character ; my object in making such
a selection being to state without reserve, in a separate
despatch, certain facts and opinions, as to which, as coming
from me, it is most inexpedient that any duplicity should be
given for the present : this despatch will therefore be marked
' Secret '.
The first point to which I would draw your attention, being
one with which all others are more or less connected, is the
existence of a most bitter animosity between the Canadians
and the British, not as two parties holding different opinions
and seeking different objects in respect to Government, but
as different races engaged in a national contest.
This hatred of races is not publicly avowed on either side ;
on the contrary, both sides profess to be moved by any other
feelings than such as belong to difference of origin ; but the
fact is, I think, proved by an accumulation of circumstantial
evidence more conclusive than any direct testimony would
be, and far more than sufficient to rebut all mere assertions
to the contrary. If the difference between the two classes
were one of party or principles only, we should find on each
side a mixture of persons of both races, whereas the truth is
that, with exceptions which tend to prove the rule, all the
British are on one side, and all the Canadians are on the
other. What may be the immediate subject of dispute seems
to be of no consequence ; so surely as there is a dispute on
any subject, the great bulk of the Canadian and the great
bulk of the British appear ranged against each other. In the
next place, the mutual dislike of the two classes extends
beyond politics into social life, where, with some trifling
exceptions again, all intercourse is confined to persons of the
same origin. Grown-up persons of a different origin seldom
or never meet in private society ; and even the children,
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 321
when they quarrel, divide themselves into French and English Earl of
like their parents. In the schools and the streets of Montreal, Durham
the real capital of the province, this is commonly the case, oienelg,
The station in life, moreover, of an individual of either race 9 August
seems to have no influence on his real disposition towards the 1838«
other race ; high and low, rich and poor, on both sides —
the merchant and the porter, the seigneur and the habitant
— though they use different language to express themselves,
yet exhibit the very same feeling of national jealousy and
hatred. Such a sentiment is naturally evinced rather by
trifles than by acts of intrinsic importance. There has been
no solemn or formal declaration of national hostility, but not
a day nor scarcely an hour passes without some petty insult,
some provoking language, or even some serious mutual affront,
occurring between persons of British and French descent.
Lastly, it appears, upon a careful review of the political
struggle between those who have termed themselves the loyal
party and the popular party, that the subject of dissension
has been, not the connexion with England, nor the form of
the constitution, nor any of the practical abuses which have
affected all classes of the people, but simply such institutions,
laws, and customs as are of French origin, which the British
have sought to overthrow and the Canadians have struggled
to preserve, each class assuming false designations and fight-
ing under false colours — the British professing exclusive
loyalty to the Crown of England, and the Canadians pretending
to the character of reformers. Nay, I am inclined to think
that the true principles and ultimate objects of both parties,
taken apart from the question of race, are exactly the reverse
of what each of them professes, or, in other words, that the
British (always excluding the body of officials) are really
desirous of a more responsible Government, while the Canadians
would prefer the present form of Government, or even one of
a less democratic character. I shall have more to say on this
head presently, having mentioned the subject here only for
the ^purpose of citing another fact which tends to prove the
existence of a deep-rooted national sentiment on both sides.
Such a contradiction between the real and avowed principles
of each party, could not have occurred if all the people had
been of one race, or if every other consideration had not given
way to the sentiment of nationality.
This general antipathy of the Canadians towards the British,
and of the British towards the Canadians, appears to have
been, as it were, provided for at the conquest of the province,
and by subsequent measures of the British Government. If
1352-3 Y
322 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of Lower Canada had been isolated from other colonies, and so
toLOTcT We^ peopled as to leave little room for emigration from Britain,
Glenelg, i* might have been right at the conquest to engage for the
9 August preservation of French institutions, for the existence of
1838. a « Nation Canadienne ' ; but, considering how certain it was
that, sooner or later, the British race would predominate in
the country, that engagement seems to have been most
unwise. It insured such a strife as has actually taken place ;
for, notwithstanding the division of Canada into two pro-
vinces, for the purpose of isolating the French, the British
already predominate in French Canada, not numerically of
course, but by means of their superior energy and wealth, and
their natural relationship to the powers of Government.
It was long before the Canadians perceived that their
nationality was in the course of being over-ridden by a British
nationality. When the Constitutional Act bestowed on them
a representative system, they were so little conversant with
its nature, and so blind to the probable results of British
emigration, that they described the constitution as a ' machine
anglaise pour nous taxer ', and elected to the House of
Assembly almost a majority of Englishmen. But with the
progress of British intrusion, they at length discovered, not
only the uses of a representative system, but also that their
nationality was in danger ; and I have no hesitation in assert-
ing that of late years they have used the representative
system for the single purpose of maintaining their nationality
against the progressive intrusion of the British race. They
have found the British pressing upon them at every turn, in
the possession of land, in commerce, in the retail trade, in all
kinds of industrious enterprize, in religion, in the whole
administration of government, and though they are a stagnant
people, easily satisfied and disinclined to exertion, they have
naturally resisted an invasion which w&s so offensive to their
national pride.
The British, on the other hand, impeded in the pursuit of
all their objects, partly by the ancient and barbarous civil
law of the country, and partly by the systematic opposition
of the Canadians to the progress of British enterprize, have
naturally sought to remove those impediments, and to con-
quer, without much regard to the means employed, that
very mischievous opposition. The actual result should have
seemed inevitable. The struggle between the two races, con-
ducted as long as possible according to the forms of the
constitution, became too violent to be kept within those bounds.
In order to preserve some sort of government, the public
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 323
revenue was disposed of against the will of the Canadian Earl of
people represented by their Assembly. The consequent t^Lon?
rebellion, although precipitated by the British from an in- Glenelg,
stinctive sense of the danger of allowing the Canadians full 9 August
time for preparation, could not, perhaps, have been avoided ; 1838'
and the sentiment of national hostility has been aggravated
to the uttermost, on both sides, by that excessive inflamma-
tion of the passions which always attends upon bloodshed for
such a cause, and still more by this unusual circumstance,
that the victorious minority suffered extreme fear at the
beginning of the contest, and that the now subdued majority
had been led to hope everything from an appeal to force.
There seems to me only one modification of this view of the
subject. The employment by the Canadians of constitutional
and popular means for their national purpose, has taught
some of them, consisting chiefly of the most active and able,
higher political views than such as belong to the question of
nationality. These men are not at heart friendly to the
barbarous institutions of their ancestors, but would readily
adopt a more enlightened system, if they could do so without
losing their own importance. Their necessary dependence on
the prejudiced mass has alone restrained them from joining
in many of the views for the improvement of the country
which are entertained by the British. They have also learned
to estimate the practical abuses of Government which affect
all classes, and to wish for many reforms without reference
to Canadian nationality. They even had, to some extent,
succeeded in disseminating their opinions amongst the mass
of their countrymen, and they are not unlikely to play a valu-
able and distinguished part under any new system of govern-
ment that may put an end to the strife between hostile races ;
but, unfortunately, their number is so small as scarcely to
affect my opinion of the temper of the Canadian people.
Supposing my view of that subject to be correct, your Lord-
ship will readily understand that the bulk of the Canadian
people are as disaffected as ever, and that the British part of
the population regard the Canadians with vindictive jealousy.
The Imperial Government is distrusted by both parties ; by
the Canadians because they fear, or rather expect in gloomy
silence, that advantage will be taken of their late rebellion
to remove the very causes of dissension, by giving a British
character to the institutions and laws of the province, so that
there shall no longer be any serious impediment to British
colonization and enterprize ; and by the British, on the other
hand, because they doubt whether the Imperial Government
Y2
324 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of will ever sufficiently understand the state of parties here, to
Durham approve of the great changes which must inevitably take place,
to Lord jf another period of legislative strife, and perhaps another
9 August rebellion, are to be averted.
1838. And here I must notice a fact of great importance. The
more discerning of the Canadians are perfectly aware that if
the authority of the United States should ever extend to this
country, whether by means of war or of a peaceful union,
the peculiar institutions, and even the language, of French
Canada would be extinguished as soon as possible, yet are
they willing, with the exception perhaps of a considerable
portion of the clergy, to incur the loss of all that they have
held most dear, in order to gratify the sentiment of vengeance
that has now got possession of them. I would not exaggerate
the amount of the sacrifice that they are willing to make for
the sake of revenge. It is right to add, therefore, that, in my
opinion, they almost despair, come what may, of preserving
those ancient usages and that distinct nationality, in defence
of which they have struggled so many years.
But be this as it may, whether they are moved by a senti-
ment of mere vengeance, or by revenge mixed with despair,
I am well convinced that an American invasion of this
province would be highly acceptable to most of them.
Satisfied of the disaffected temper of the Canadians as
a people, I have naturally taken pains to acquire correct
information as to the state of feeling in the United States
as respects these colonies and the mother country.
All reports concur in assuring me that the present govern-
ment of the Union, and a vast majority of the American
people, are decidedly adverse to a rupture with England.
Having already conveyed this assurance to your Lordship,
I need not dwell upon it here ; but there are points in the
state of American feeling towards these colonies, and especially
near the frontier, of so much moment as to require particular
notice.
In the first place, although some persons in the States, and
the more so if they have visited this country, are aware of
the true nature of the late rebellion, it is a common opinion
in America that the contention in this province has been
between the executive government on the one hand, sup-
ported by a minority, and the majority of the people, without
distinction of race, on the other ; and that the subject of
disagreement has been, practical grievances and general
principles similar to those which formed the matter of dispute
between England and her old colonies in America.
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 325
As their fathers rebelled in defence of those old English Earl of
charters of local self-government, which placed local taxation J^^J
and revenue at the sole disposition of popular assemblies, so Gienelg,
they think that the Canadian majority was justified in with- 9 August
holding supplies, and in resisting by force the violation of their 1838t
constitution by the British Parliament.
They believe, in a word, that the majority in Lower Canada
has contended for the maintenance of popular rights, and that
arbitrary government is the aim of the minority. The mistake
is easily accounted for : it is only on the spot that one learns
how the subject of strife in Lower Canada has been a question
of nationality ; everywhere else, the false professions and
designations employed by both parties, combined with the
plain fact that the contest has been between a majority and
a minority, is apt to mislead the inquirer, by keeping out of
view the distinction of races. If the whole subject were
understood by Americans, they would probably sympathize
with those who are of the same origin as themselves, who
resemble them in numerous particulars, and who seek objects
which, if this country were under American rule, would be
unhesitatingly accomplished, as similar objects have been
attained in the Dutch colony of New York, and the French
colony of Louisiana.
There is no people under the sun to whom the feudal in-
stitutions and most defective civil laws of the Canadians would
be more intolerable, than to the Anglo-Saxon race of the
United States. But they have misunderstood the case. They
have fallen into the not uncommon mistake of confounding
means with ends. Believing that the means employed by the
Canadians, in the Assembly, were constitutional and popular,
and seeing that the British, being in a minority, necessarily
clung to the local executive and the imperial authority ; above
all, regardless of the accident (for so it may be termed with
respect to the question of nationality), by which the Canadians
happen to constitute a majority, Americans have supposed
that the objects of both parties in the colony were of the same
nature respectively, as to the means on which each party has
relied. An ever active sentiment of national pride is, perhaps,
the most remarkable feature in the American character. It
might have been foreseen, therefore, that the Americans,
proudly recollecting the origin and progress of their own
revolutionary war with England, should sympathize with the
Canadians, or rather with the majority, who happen to be
Canadians. Whether they may ever comprehend the false
position assumed by both parties in this colony, I will not
326 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of venture to predict ; but so long as their view of the subject
t^Lon? sna^ remain unchanged, they will, I believe, continue to
Glenelg, sympathize with that side which has the air of contending
9 August for democratic principles and popular objects, and to wish
1838. fagfc ft may prevail over the other, which appears in the light
of an oppressive minority.
Secondly : Having regard to the national pride of America,
it is certain that the temper and tone of the British party
towards that country, tends to stir up angry passions through-
out the Union, and especially near the frontier, where articles
from the colonial newspapers are generally reprinted . Hitherto
the national pride of America has not been deeply wounded
by these means (and I do all in my power to mitigate the
national influence of such affronts to it) ; but I am credibly
informed that these unceasing attacks have not been without
effect, and that they form a subject of growing irritation.
Thirdly : By the existence of a state of things out of which
it is easy to see that war might spring, the American mind
becomes more and more familiar with the idea of war. Differ-
ing as the Americans do, from all other nations, in the universal
diffusion of an active interest in public affairs, and in a habit
which belongs to all ranks, of calculation as to the future,
they are led, by the political state of these provinces, to
discuss the subject of war hypothetically, if I may use the
expression ; they are reminded of the events of the last war,
and one of them in particular, the capture of Washington,
which inflicted a deep wound on the national pride, and b}^
frequently conversing on such exciting topics, they gradually
approach that state of feeling under which the government,
necessarily impelled by the people, would find it hard to
maintain friendly relations with England.
Fourthly : It is not to be denied that the distracted state
of these colonies occasions no little inconvenience to the frontier
states, and to the federal government ; it calls for an increase
of the army, a sort of military array on the frontier, and the
exercise of new powers by the executive, which are opposed
to the habits, if not the institutions, of the American people.
All the expense and annoyance are attributed to the British
Government. A dispassionate American admits that his
government is bound, at whatever cost, to prevent aggressions
on the Canadian frontier, and he does not deny that the
obligation has been inadequately fulfilled ; but when reminded
of the inefficiency of the laws for that purpose, and the weak-
ness of the American executive, he answers that the true
source of every difficulty is the weakness of the British Govern-
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 327
ment in Canada, which has not maintained order amongst its Earl of
own subjects, nor is able to protect the United States from Durham
such a nuisance as arises from the conduct of British refugees {^eJd
within their territory. This retort, without stopping to 9 August
examine its justice, suffices to show that, until order shall be 1838.
restored in these colonies, a great cause of irritation in America
will probably continue to operate with increasing force.
Fifthly : The boundary question, being much mixed, as it
unavoidably is in America, with considerations arising out
of the state of these colonies, forms a more active element of
hostile feeling than would otherwise have been the case.
Lastly : It is certain that, amongst the frontier population
of the United States, which, I should observe, has very greatly
increased since the last war, there exists a numerous body of
men, young, active, energetic, and self -relying, who, from
various motives, long for an opportunity of invading Canada.
Some of them are moved by an opinion, which it would not
be easy to question, that if these colonies were laid open to
American enterprize, a great impulse would be given to the
industry and trade of that part of the States which now con-
stitutes the frontier ; some are influenced by one or other of
the circumstances to which I have already adverted ; some by
that love of adventure merely which belongs to the American
character ; and some by a reasonable calculation of the gain
and distinction which, in troubled times, usually fall to the
most active and daring. The manner in which these people
talk of invading the Canadas exemplifies the self-reliance of
American citizens. They do not expect that the federal
government should open the way for them by military opera-
tions ; they even avow their belief that, in a contest of troops
only, the British would surely prevail ; but they reckon upon
the friendly disposition towards them of great numbers on
this side, and upon swarming over the line in such numbers,
and at so many places simultaneously, as to get possession
of the country in spite of military obstacles. I do not pretend
to weigh such calculations, but state them as they have been
reported to me. If I am not misinformed, it is well that
I should remind Her Majesty's Government of the invasion
of Texas by a body of American citizens, who, without the
least aid from their government, have seized an extensive
country, defeated armies, got possession of the soil, and
established themselves as a nation, with constitutional govern-
ment, a judicial system and municipal institution, as com-
plete as any in America. There is certainly no immediate
danger of such an attack upon these colonies ; and I have
328 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of mentioned the subject only for the purpose of indicating the
Durham probable character of the contest that would take place here,
GleneL ^ a^ *ne causes now m operation should finally produce one.
9" August It was in consequence of all these important considerations
1838. that, during my late residence on the American frontier,
I courted the most unreserved communication with all
respectable Americans, for the purpose of impressing them
with a more sound and accurate conception of the real state
of things ; with a more just appreciation of our system of
government, and its real objects ; and with a due sense of the
danger which would arise to themselves, if their government
remained a passive spectator of all these proceedings, tending,
as they did, to destroy all confidence in its executive strength,
and all reliance on the national honour.
I am happy to say that my efforts have been successful,
that a great change has taken place in public feeling on the
American side, and that my exertions to restore tranquillity
and good order are encouraged and supported by the most
influential portions of the press and of society in the United
States.
Except as it has been noticed for the purpose of explaining
the temper of the Canadians, and one of the causes of irrita-
tion in the United States, a most important subject yet calls
for your Lordship's attention ; I allude to certain feelings
and views of the British section of Her Majesty's subjects in
this province.
Your Lordship is already informed of the general satis-
faction expressed by the British party at my having, when
I assumed the Government, avoided connecting myself with
the old body of officials. It may be supposed that the body
in question did not participate in that sentiment. I very
soon became aware therefore of the existence of some differ-
ence between the official body and the British in general.
Subsequent observation has convinced me that, except in
their common hostility to the Canadians, there is no sym-
pathy between these two classes.
That this should be the case is really not surprising when
one discovers how all the powers of Government have been
neglected and abused for many years past in this colony. Not
to go further back than the commencement of serious differ-
ences between the Canadians and British as such ; since, when
the two branches of the legislature have neglected their proper
functions to pursue the contest between races, a long time
has passed without anything like beneficial legislation, and
not a few of the many evils resulting from this perversion of
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 329
legislative powers have, by a very natural mistake, been attri- Earl of
buted to neglect and corruption in the Executive. At the same JJ^Jj1
time it must be confessed, that the Executive has been both Qlenelg,
neglectful and corrupt. I need not remind your Lordship of 9 August
those flagrant instances in which the Imperial Government 1838>
has been led to interfere for the correction of administrative
abuses, nor is this a fit occasion for entering on that subject
in detail ; but I am bound to add, that the Government of
this province, including the administration of justice, has not
obtained the respect of the people, and that, according to all
my information, there has been ample ground for the distrust
and suspicion with which authority is regarded.
This leads to another feature in the disposition of that
portion of the British inhabitants which may be termed
' independent '. Their main object, as I have before ex-
plained, has been to remove the obstacles which the ignorance,
the apathy, and the ancient prejudices of the Canadians
opposed to the progress of British industry and enterprize ;
to substitute, in short, for Canadian institutions, laws and
practices, others of a British character. In this pursuit they
have necessarily disregarded the implied, not to say precise,
engagement of England to respect the peculiar institutions
of French Canada. But the Imperial Government, on the
contrary, never quite forgetting that ancient pledge, has
rather extended its protection to the Canadians than espoused
the cause of the British settlers. It were to be wished, perhaps,
that this policy had been consistently pursued from the
beginning, as in that case a British community might not
have grown up here with feelings, wants, and a degree of
power which make it simply impossible to pursue such a policy
now. But it has not been consistently pursued. By a variety
of measures, and especially by promoting emigration to this
colony, the Imperial Government have really undermined
the Canadian nationality which they perhaps intended to
preserve. A similar contradiction may be observed in their
treatment of the national struggle which has ended in civil
war. Never taking a decided part with either section in the
colony, they have wavered between them, now favouring
the one and then the other, but neither decidedly, and finally
displeasing both sections in about the same degree. Under
such a system, if it may be called one, no governor could have
pursued a consistent course, or have attached either the
Canadians or the British to the Imperial Government.
I should not permit myself to say this reproachfully, even
if there were room for an accusation, which in my humble
330 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE
Earl of opinion there is not ; but I mention it as a necessary result
t^Lord1 °* tne origmal f^86 steP> and f°r tne purpose of explaining
Glenelg, the present disposition of the British party. Deeply offended
9 August at every measure or decision of the Imperial Government
1838< which thwarted their own British or Anti-Canadian views,
they are also wanting in that respect for the supreme authority
which is sometimes felt by the discontented subjects of a
decided and vigorous Government. Restrained (though not
entirely) from the public expression of their sentiments by
a hope that the Imperial Government may yet accomplish
the object on which their heart is set, they have no such reserve
amongst themselves, nor do they at all care who knows of
the language commonly held by them when speaking of the
Imperial Government, and the connexion between this colony
and the mother country.
I am assured that the leaders and their followers, one and
all, are in the habit of declaring, that rather than be again
subject to the French (meaning, rather than see another
majority of Canadians in the Assembly), they shall find a way
to take care of themselves.
I should be sorry to report any idle conversation upon such
a topic, but have no doubt that language of this kind is
commonly uttered with an earnestness of manner which should
prove its sincerity. And this is not all : for the sentiments
expressed are enforced by deliberate arguments, such as that,
considering the exasperation of the Canadians produced by
late events, there can be no permanent safety for people of
British descent, except by rendering the colony thoroughly
British ; and that if the Imperial Government should not
provide for the security of its British subjects, the time will
soon be past for obedience to any other law than that of
self-preservation.
That such views are currently expressed amongst the British
party, there can be no doubt ; and I am the more disposed to
believe them sincerely entertained, because, having reference
to a future contingency, they are not inconsistent with those
loud professions of loyalty and attachment to England by
which the British minority has hitherto sought to enlist the
Imperial Government against the Canadian majority. At
present, of course, such views are merely speculative, every-
thing being held in suspense by the large powers awarded to
me, and by the hope of a happy settlement of affairs upon my
recommendation.
Notwithstanding, however, the very unfavourable repre-
sentations contained in this despatch, I am induced to hope
AFFAIRS OF CANADA 331
with confidence, that success may ultimately attend the Earl of
measures with respect to this country which have been recently PULha2l
adopted by the Imperial Government. My principal reason Glenelg,
for this assurance is drawn from the good effect already pro- 9 August
duced by decided and vigorous action. The exercise of the 1838'
very extensive powers placed in my hands seems to have
operated as a sort of charm, like oil poured upon troubled
waters. At this moment all is still. A stranger would hardly
believe that the country had been recently distracted by civil
war. Expectation for the future is, I trust, taking the place
of angry passions occasioned by the past. I must, however,
conclude by assuring your Lordship, that whatever hopes
I entertain of the future, depend altogether on the supposition
that Her Majesty's Government and Parliament will not
shrink from the adoption of permanent measures of remedy
and prevention, proportioned to the greatness of the difficulties
with which I have yet to contend, and will sanction such
measures as will effectually provide for the abstraction of all
legislation on British interests from the control of a French
majority. I am of opinion that this great object can be
legitimately effected without violence to Canadian rights, and
in strict accordance with the soundest principles of constitu-
tional government.
The time is fast approaching when I shall be enabled to
bring these measures under the consideration of Her Majesty's
Government ; and in the meantime I recommend to their
serious attention the important points to which I have referred
in the present communication.
COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM LORD JOHN
RUSSELL TO THE RIGHT HON. C.
POULETT THOMSON.
SIR, Downing Street, 14th Oct. 1839.
Lord John IT appears from Sir George Arthur's despatches that you
tib&TK^ht may encounter much difficulty in subduing the excitement
Hon. C. which prevails on the question of what is called ' Responsible
Poulett Government '. I have to instruct you, however, to refuse any
October11 explanati°n which may be construed to imply an acquiescence
14, 1839. m the petitions and addresses upon this subject. I cannot
better commence this despatch than by a reference to the
resolutions of both houses of Parliament, of the 28th April
and 9th May, in the year 1837.
The Assembly of Lower Canada having repeatedly pressed
this point, Her Majesty's confidential advisers at that period
thought it necessary not only to explain their views in the
communications of the Secretary of State, but expressly called
for the opinion of Parliament on the subject. The Crown
and the two houses of Lords and Commons having thus
decisively pronounced a judgment upon the question, you
will consider yourself precluded from entertaining any pro-
position on the subject.
It does not appear, indeed, that any very definite meaning
is generally agreed upon by those who call themselves the
advocates of this principle ; but its very vagueness is a source
of delusion, and if at all encouraged, would prove the cause of
embarrassment and danger.
The constitution of England, after long struggles and
alternate success, has settled into a form of government in
which the prerogative of the Crown is undisputed, but is
never exercised without advice. Hence the exercise only
is questioned, and however the use of the authority may be
condemned, the authority itself remains untouched.
This is the practical solution of a great problem, the result
of a contest which from 1640 to 1690 shook the monarchy;
and disturbed the peace of the country.
DESPATCH FROM LORD JOHN RUSSELL 333
But if we seek to apply such a practice to a colony, we shall Lord John
at once find ourselves at fault. The power for which a minister RusseU to
is responsible in England, is not his own power, but the power HonR(f. *
of the Crown, of which he is for the time the organ. It is Poulett
obvious that the executive councillor of a colony is in a situa- Thomson,
tion totally different. The Governor, under whom he serves, ^
receives his orders from the Crown of England. But can the
colonial council be the advisers of the Crown of England ?
Evidently not, for the Crown has other advisers, for the same
functions, and with superior authority.
It may happen, therefore, that the Governor receives at
one and the same time instructions from the Queen, and
advice from his executive council, totally at variance with
each other. If he is to obey his instructions from England,
the parallel of constitutional responsibility entirely fails ; if,
on the other hand, he is to follow the advice of his council,
he is no longer a subordinate officer, but an independent
sovereign.
There are some cases in which the force of these objections
is so manifest, that those who at first made no distinction
between the constitution of the United Kingdom, and that of
the colonies, admit their strength. I allude to the questions
of foreign war, and international relations, whether of trade
or diplomacy. It is now said that internal government is
alone intended.
But there are some cases of internal government, in which
the honour of the Crown or the faith of Parliament, or the
safety of the state, are so seriously involved, that it would
not be possible for Her Majesty to delegate her authority to
a ministry in a colony.
I will put for illustration some of the cases which have
occurred in that very province where the petition for a re-
sponsible executive first arose — I mean Lower Canada.
During the time when a large majority of the Assembly of
Lower Canada followed M. Papineau as their leader, it was
obviously the aim of that gentleman to discourage all who did
their duty to the Crown within the province, and to deter all
who should resort to Canada with British habits and feelings
from without. I need not say that it would have been impos-
sible for any minister to support, in the Parliament of the
United Kingdom, the measures which a ministry, headed
by M. Papineau, would have imposed upon the Governor of
Lower Canada ; — British officers punished for doing their
duty ; British emigrants defrauded of their property ; British
merchants discouraged in their lawful pursuits, — would have
334 DESPATCH FROM LORD JOHN RUSSELL
Lord John loudly appealed to Parliament against the Canadian ministry,
th^Rfht* anc* wou^ nave demanded protection.
Hon. C. Let us suppose the Assembly as then constituted, to have
Poulett been sitting when Sir John Colborne suspended two of the
October" 3U(^ges> Would any councillor, possessing the confidence of
14, 1839. the Assembly, have made himself responsible for such an
act ? And yet the very safety of the province depended on
its adoption. Nay, the very orders of which your Excellency
is yourself the bearer, respecting Messrs. Bedard and Panet,
would never be adopted, or put in execution by a ministry
depending for existence on a majority led by M. Papineau.
Nor can any one take upon himself to say that such cases
will not again occur. The principle once sanctioned, no one
can say how soon its application might be dangerous, or even
dishonourable, while all will agree that to recall the power
thus conceded would be impossible.
While I thus see insuperable objections to the adoption of
the principle as it has been stated, I see little or none to the
practical views of colonial government recommended by Lord
Durham, as I understand them. The Queen's Government
have no desire to thwart the representative assemblies of
British North America in their measures of reform and improve-
ment. They have no wish to make those provinces the resource
for patronage at home. They are earnestly intent on giving
to the talent and character of leading persons in the colonies,
advantages similar to those which talent and character,
employed in the public service, obtain, in the United Kingdom.
Her Majesty has no desire to maintain any system of policy
among her North American subjects which opinion condemns.
In receiving the Queen's commands, therefore, to protest
against any declaration at variance with the honour of the
Crown, and the unity of the empire, I am at the same time
instructed to announce Her Majesty's gracious intention to
look to the affectionate attachment of her people in North
America, as the best security for permanent dominion.
It is necessary for this purpose that no official misconduct
should be screened by Her Majesty's representative in the
provinces ; and that no private interests should be allowed
to compete with the general good.
Your Excellency is fully in possession of the principles
which have guided Her Majesty's advisers on this subject ;
and you must be aware that there is no surer way of earning
the approbation of The Queen, than by maintaining the
harmony of the executive with the legislative authorities.
While I have thus cautioned you against any declaration
DESPATCH FROM LORD JOHN RUSSELL 335
from which dangerous consequences might hereafter flow, Lord John
and instructed you as to the general line of your conduct, it J^8^1^0
may be said that I have not drawn any specific line beyond Hon. C.
which the power of the Governor on the one hand, and the Poulett
privileges of the Assembly on the other, ought not to extend. October"'
But this must be the case in any mixed government. Every 14, 1339.
political constitution in which different bodies share the
supreme power, is only enabled to exist by the forbearance
of those among whom this power is distributed. In this
respect the example of England may well be imitated. The
sovereign using the prerogative of the Crown to the utmost
extent, and the House of Commons exerting its power of the
purse, to carry all its resolutions into immediate effect, would
produce confusion in the country in less than a twelvemonth.
So in a colony : the Governor thwarting every legitimate
proposition of the Assembly ; and the Assembly continually
recurring to its power of refusing supplies, can but disturb all
political relations, embarrass trade, and retard the prosperity
of the people. Each must exercise a wise moderation. The
Governor must only oppose the wishes of the Assembly where
the honour of the Crown, or the interests of the empire are
deeply concerned ; and the Assembly must be ready to modify
some of its measures for the sake of harmony, and from
a reverent attachment to the authority of Great Britain.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) J. RUSSELL.
The Right Hon. C. Poulett Thomson,
&c. &c. &c.
PART III.
SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S MISSION TO
CANADA IN 1838.
WRITTEN BY MR. CHARLES BTJLLER, IN 1840.*
A COMPLETE history of Lord Durham's mission to Canada
would be a work requiring much research respecting a long
chain of preceding and a great variety of contemporaneous
events. Nor is the time yet come for giving such a history
with the minuteness and accuracy which I should desire.
Time must yet elapse before we shall be able sufficiently to
develop much of the secret motives and acts of the parties
concerned. Nor are the general bearings and results of what
then occurred become yet sufficiently apparent for the world
in general to appreciate in their full extent the magnitude and
usefulness of the measures then adopted. It is still matter of
interest, of pique, or of a false point of honour with great
parties and powerful individuals to refuse to the memory of
Lord Durham that justice which could not be granted without
condemning their conduct, or stripping them of the credit
which they wish most unjustly to arrogate to themselves. We,
whose first purpose must be to secure him justice, have how-
ever but to wait till time shall attain for us the object which
we have at heart. True and lasting fame must almost always
be earned as much by patience as by merit. And sure may
we be that if our estimate of Lord Durham's policy and acts
during this mission be correct, the results will unfold them-
selves in such a manner as to force even the most inattentive
or prejudiced to view them aright. The interests, and the
passions too, that have hitherto thwarted our endeavours to
obtain justice will in the same manner be dispelled by mere
lapse of time ; and it will probably not be long ere some of
the very parties and individuals that have hitherto fancied
it their interest to decry Lord Durham will find policy as well
as justice inducing them to vindicate for him the honour
which others seem inclined to usurp. My purpose in writing
this sketch of the mission to Canada is to give a succinct view
of the state of affairs with which Lord Durham had to deal ;
of the incidents which occurred during his government ; of
* From original manuscript. Presented to A. G. Doughty, C.M.G.,
Dominion Archivist, by the Earl of Durham, July 1910.
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 337
the steps that he took in order to overcome the immediate
difficulties which he had to encounter ; and of the plans, by
which he purposed to put the government of the North
American colonies on a footing of permanent tranquillity,
freedom, and progress.
My personal acquaintance with Lord Durham only com-
menced in the summer of 1837, on his return from Russia ;
and I had seen very little of him at the time when the Bill for
the temporary government of Canada was brought into Parlia-
ment. Absolute as the necessity of some such measure was,
it would have been very difficult to get the assent of all parties
to the establishment of such a power in the hands of any
other individual than Lord Durham. So high did he stand
in the estimation of all parties that the Tories were obliged
to be as unanimous in their acquiescence as the Liberals of
every shade were in their loud approval. His memorable
speech in the House of Lords on the night that the measure
was first announced in it, increased the feeling of confidence
in him. Such an occasion admitted indeed of no display of
reasoning or information ; but Lord Durham's short speech
showed that he was actuated by a firm determination and
a spirit of most impartial justice ; it marked a deep sense of
the heavy responsibility which he had taken on himself ; and
it breathed a chivalrous reliance on the cordial support of
friends, and the generous forbearance of opponents, that made
both of them affect a show of such feelings, and led the public
to believe that they entertained them. This was most un-
fortunate for Lord Durham, for it led him to expect cordial
support and generous forbearance where prudence would have
induced to count on one as little as the other, and thus have
spared him the pain of the double disappointment which he
afterwards experienced.
It was a day or two after this speech that Lord Durham,
while sitting under the gallery of the House of Commons,
desired me to call on him the next morning. Anticipating the
purpose for which he desired to see me, and having had
a good deal of discussion on the subject with my own family,
I went to the interview having made up my mind not to accept
of any offer of going out to Canada. Loid Durham made me
the proposal in very flattering terms, and with much kindness.
I was not very easily induced to change my resolution, but
he desired me to take a little time for consideration ere I gave
my final answer ; and the result of reconsideration and of
consultation with friends was that the next morning I accepted
the offer.
1352-3 Z
338 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
I wish that it had so happened that at the period of my
thus undertaking to serve under Lord Durham our acquaint-
ance had been of longer standing, and that I had been on
those terms of perfect confidence with him to which I very
soon attained. For though nothing could be more uniformly
kind than Lord Durham was to me from the first, though he
was not long in giving me his confidence, and when he gave it
gave, as he always did, without reserve, yet the mere awkward-
ness arising from imperfect personal acquaintance is enough
in any case for some time to prevent a sufficiently free com-
munication between two people. Had we at the outset been
on the terms on which we got in a very few weeks, I think
I might have enabled Lord Durham to avoid what always
struck me at the time and has, I think, since proved to have
been an error most injurious to the success of the mission.
This was the delay that occurred before we entered upon it ;
and though the season of the year placed some difficulties in
the way of our going to Quebec in the mode that appeared
most desirable, I think that Lord Durham's first object should
have been that of commencing his work with promptitude.
The delay took off the bloom of the mission ; the insurrection
was to all appearance wholly suppressed before we started ;
the danger began to be thought less urgent ; and the general
impression of the necessity for great powers and unusual
measures was gradually weakened. We soon felt the effect
of this, for as the first alarm so the first unanimity wore off,
and the Tories, as they recovered spirits, began to find all
manner of faults with the mission, and to circulate a variety
of falsehoods, to draw invidious comparisons between Lord
Durham and Sir John Colborne, and to depreciate the moral
effect of the powers of the new Governor -General.
This altered state of feeling soon began to show itself in
the Press, and in Parliament we had a very unpleasant
indication of it in the very near success of Lord Chandos's
motion respecting the expenses of the mission. Soon after
that difficulties began to be experienced with respect to the
appointment of Mr. Turton ; and the opposition to Lord
Durham here commenced on the part of supporters and
members of the Government. It is impossible now not to
regret an appointment, which was the occasion of so much
subsequent annoyance and evil. Useful as Mr. Turton's legal
knowledge and abilities were, and creditable to Lord Durham
as was his eagerness to avail himself of the opportunity afforded
him of serving an old and unfortunate friend by the sugges-
tion of giving him the appointment, which was made to him
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 339
by Mr. Stanley, and urged on him by Sir John Hobhouse, yet
it cannot but be regretted that the appointment was ever made,
and still more so that after the difficulties, which prevented
its being sanctioned by the Colonial Office, Mr. Turton should
have been taken out without the written approval of the
ministers. But there was the very clearest understanding
respecting the terms on which Mr. Turton was to go out. It
was distinctly arranged between them and Lord Durham that
though the appointment was not to be made by ministers or
in England, Mr. Turton was to go out with us, it being left
to Lord Durham to appoint him to office on his own responsi-
bility after our arrival in Canada. Lord Durham, confiding
in the promised forbearance of the Tories and the cordial
support of ministers, left the matter on this footing of clear
but unwritten understanding. Unhappily we had none of us
then learned how necessary it was to distrust both.
It is painful now to recall the circumstances of our embarka-
tion in the Hastings. I had got on board about an hour
before Lord Durham came, and, having found everything in
my cabin in utter confusion, I had been exerting myself so
busily in seeing things arranged as well as possible that every
melancholy thought naturally excited by leaving England
had been for the moment completely put out of my mind.
I had just got over my difficulties, when the steamer bringing
Lord Durham and his family came alongside. All the parade
of naval reception was of course exhibited on the occasion :
the marines were drawn up, and the officers, with the captain
at their head, were on the deck, when Lord Durham, who had
been very ill the night before, came looking very pale, and
wrapped in a large cloak, with Lady Durham and his children
around him. Painful thoughts arose within me at the sight
of a man so distinguished leaving his country with his whole
family for what, though an honourable, was still a painful
exile, and a duty of arduous responsibility ; and when on
a sudden the band struck up its loud and slow strain, the
sudden excitement brought the tears at once into my eyes.
I did not long indulge these feelings, I thought that this was
but a passing and necessary trial attendant on the outset of
a career of high utility and honour, of which the first glory
would be the pacification of Canada, and the ultimate reward
would be renown, power, and happiness at home. But the
foreboding of the first moment was unfortunately more pro-
phetic than my calmer afterthought.
In one respect we did most certainly merit success : for
never I believe, did men embark in any public undertaking
Z2
340 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
with more singleness and honesty of purpose. During the long
period of our voyage out we read over all the public documents
connected with the subject of our mission, and the dispatches,
instructions, and other papers with which the Colonial Office
had supplied us ; and very fully did we discuss- all the various
and difficult questions which it appeared to us that we should
have to solve. MVe had, I must again say, very little thought
of ourselves, and a very absorbing desire so to perform our
task as to promote the best interests both of Canada and of
Great Britain. And I think I may also say that we had very
few prejudices to mislead us. I used indeed then to think
that Lord Durham had too strong a feeling against the French
Canadians on account of their recent insurrection. I looked
on that insurrection as having been provoked by the long
injustice, and invited by the deplorable imbecility of our
colonial policy ; and I thought that our real sympathies
ought to be with a people whose ultimate purposes were
aright, though by the misconduct of others they had been
drawn into rebellion. But Lord Durham from the first took
a far sounder view of the matter : he saw what narrow and
mischievous spirit lurked at the bottom of all the acts of the
French Canadians ; and while he was prepared to do the
individuals full justice, and justice with mercy, he had made
up his mind that no quarter should be shown to the absurd
pretensions of race, and that he must throw himself on the
support of the British feelings, and aim at making Canada
thoroughly British!]]
It was not, however, only these questions, paramount as
they of course were to all others, that formed the subject of
our many and long conversations in the Hastings ; and
I look back with satisfaction to the interesting views which
Lord Durham often gave me of the great questions of European
policy, and of the important events, in which he had borne
so great a part. Many a stirring scene of old political con-
flicts did he recount, and many a secret history did he give,
which explained the nature and causes of some of the great
political movements of our time.
In spite, however, of all our occupations we got somewhat
tired of our voyage before the first land on the American
continent met our eyes. An ungenial aspect did our new
home present to us as we lay for two or three days beating
about at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, now looking at the
long low desert island of Anticosti, now borne close to
the unpeopled forests of Gaspe, and now catching a glimpse of
the icy rocks of Labrador glittering in the far distance. Here,
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 341
however, we received a file of Quebec papers, that gave us
some insight into what was passing in Lower Canada. Nor
was the information by any means assuring. The French
Canadians, it is true, appeared to be making no movement ;
but for this very reason it seemed to be generally apprehended
that they were preparing their forces for some new attempt.
The people of the United States were represented as univer-
sally fomenting and aiding the designs of the disaffected, and
as hardly to be restrained from breaking into open hostility.
Amid all these dangers the British population of Lower Canada-
was evidently torn in pieces by numerous and furious dissen-
sions. A very violent party, while it called for war with the
United States, and for the harshest measures against the
French Canadians, kept no terms with its own Government,
and denounced both local and Imperial authorities in the
most unmeasured terms. We learned that a few days before,
in anticipation of our arrival, a meeting of the British popula-
tion had taken place at Quebec. At this the violent party
appeared to have carried the day ; various speakers had used
language expressive of very little confidence in the Oovernor-
General, and an address had been adopted which, though it
contained nothing positively offensive, showed the bad spirit
that animated those who had assumed the lead of what was
called the British party. This intelligence, disagreeable as it
was, proved nevertheless of use, because it prepared Lord
Durham beforehand for the kind of feeling and language which
he was to meet with on landing. And during the two or three
days that elapsed before our arrival at Quebec he prepared
the proclamation to the inhabitants of British North America
which he published on disembarking.
It is not my business here to narrate with minuteness every
little incident that occurred, or to recall the various scenes
of our mission as they passed before our eyes. But I cannot
look back without emotion at the bright and cheerful day on
which we arrived at Quebec. When we got on deck in the
morning we found the river considerably narrowed from its
width of the previous day ; the high mountains, which then
seemed to overhang us, were now seen at a distance in the
background, and between them and the river there extended
on each side a long line of well-cultivated and apparently
densely-peopled country, which presented to our view what
looked almost like a long street of white cottages and farm-
buildings. It was one of the first fine days of the late spring
of that country ; the snow was off the ground, and the first
signs of incipient vegetation were visible in the fields which
342 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
lay close to us on each side as, with wind and tide in our
favour, we advanced with great rapidity up the river. It was
Sunday, and as at every two or three miles we passed a village
church on one, side or the other, the whole population seemed
to be collected on either shore to watch the progress of their
new Governor.
At last over a reach of the river we saw the black line of the
ramparts of Quebec, and the tin roofs of the city glittering
iiX the sun ; and, having passed through the noble basin,
which stretches before the town, we found ourselves amid
a whole fleet ,of men-of-war, beneath the very guns of the
magnificent fortress. Our landing did not take place for
a couple of days, but from the moment of our arrival in the
. harbour we received the visits of the various authorities and
public officers of the province.
At the very moment of landing, and taking upon himself
the government, it became necessary for Lord Durham to
resolve upon a very important and bold step. For it was
usual for the new Governor immediately after having taken
the oaths of office, to proceed to swear in those of whom he
intended to form his Executive Council, and the custom ha,d
been for every new Governor to continue the Council of his
predecessor. This, however, Lord Durham had made up his
mind not to do, and subsequent reflection has only more and
more convinced me that this was the wisest course of conduct
which he could have pursued. The strange system of colonial
government, by which every person once in office was held in
practice to be for ever irremovable, had had the effect of
filling the Executive Council with some of the oldest men of
every clique that had in succession ruled the province. Many
of these either happened to have been subordinate members
of their party, or to have been selected simply because they
were attached to no party, and being men of little strength of
character, or position in public life, were likely to be very
docile agents of the one or two persons who really managed
the government. No one of them possessed the confidence
of the British population. The only one who, from his talents
and previous career, formed an exception to the general
nullity which I have described, was Mr. Debartzch, one of the
ablest and most active of the French Canadians. He had been
recently placed in the Council by Lord Gosford. This man,
however, was, more than any other man in the province,
obnoxious to the British population, on account of his very
talents, on account of the formidable use which he had made
of these talents, when as a coadjutor of Papineau, he had
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 - 343
been one of the leaders of the French, and yet more on account
of the influence which he had exercised over Lord Gosford,
who was supposed to have been entirely guided by his advice
in that whole course of policy which was so universally and
vehemently condemned by the British. He was not less
odious to the French, who reproached him as a renegade from
his party and his race, and who ascribed to him those coercive
measures which they represented as having provoked the
insurrection. All the component parts of the Executive
Council were in truth generally obnoxious and destitute of
moral influence. Lord Durham did quite wisely in keeping
clear of them, and in letting the public see that he did so.
He resolved at once not to retain the Executive Council, but
to form a new one, which might discharge the mere acts of
routine to which the Constitutional Act required the assent
of an Executive Council, composing it of persons who had
either come with him from England, or who had previously
taken little part in the politics of the province. Accordingly
he determined at the outset to compose his council of his
three secretaries, together with the Commissary-General, and
Mrc- Daly, the provincial secretary, whom Sir John Colborne
had recommended as the most unexceptionable of the public
officers of the province. This determination shocked the
prejudices of the old official body, and not only was it the
subject of warm remonstrances beforehand, but on the occasion
of the investiture, the Clerk of the Council, though apprised
of Lord Durham's intention, attempted to surprise him into
swearing in the whole Council as a matter of course. But
this attempt Lord Durham checked very decisively, and the
same day he put into my hands the draft of a letter, in which
I was to inform the Executive Councillors of his determina-
tion, and of the grounds on which he had formed it. This
document was taken as the programme of a new system of
administering the government free of the influence of these
local cabals, which were odious to the whole province. The
act of dispensing with the old Executive Council, and the
statement 'of the grounds on which it was done, were not
unpalatable to the British, and very gratifying to the French
Canadians. 'II a fait deja une bonne chose,' said an old
inhabitant at Montreal to Mr. Viger, who asked him what
he thought of the Governor-General ; ' il a tue les deux Con-
seils.'
This measure has, however, been blamed as if Lord Durham
had thereby voluntarily deprived himself of the valuable
advice of all the persons best acquainted with the mysteries
344 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
of provincial government, and of the moral influence of their
character and experience. The value of their individual
advice and influence I have already shown. It must not be
supposed, however, that Lord Durham was insensible to the
necessity of local experience >nd wise advisers. But the truth
I was that from its official ranks the province could supply him
J with no advisers on whom he could safely rely. With the
exception of Mr. Daly, every one of the body had been so
mixed up with the ancient and odious system of exclusive
government and jobbing — had rendered himself so obnoxious
to one party or the other, or more often to all — and had con-
tracted such violent antipathies, that it would have been
most imprudent to trust to their representations and advice.
We found the whole machine of government utterly disor-
ganized and powerless. The official body, as the head of
whom we might still regard Mr. Sewell, the Chief Justice of
v the province, was a class perfectly apart from every other,
possessing the confidence neither of French nor of British,
and exercising not the slightest influence Over the public
mind. The Chief Justice had for some years ceased to play
an important part in politics, and at the period of our arrival
his age had wholly unfitted him for active exertions. Of the
younger members of the official body none had at all exhibited
talents so remarkable as his, or could be relied upon as an
impartial or capable adviser of the Government. The Attorney-
General, Mr. Ogden, whose office was really the most important
in the province, though a much more kindly disposed and
honest man than my previous notions had led me to expect
that I should find him, was, after all, endowed with so little
political knowledge or capacity that it was impossible for
Lord Durham to place any reliance on his advice. Our official
advisers were, in fact, men of little capacity and great unpopu-
larity. Lord Durham could have gained little from their
counsels except the contagion of their party antipathies and
the odium of being supposed to be under their influence.
When we came to look around us, and endeavoured to
judge of the feelings and situation of the different classes of
the population, it appeared at first sight utterly impossible
to ascertain the truth about either. The great mass of the
population of Lower Canada — those of the French race —
y appeared to be placed utterly beyond the reach of any com-
munication with the .Government. There could, however, be
no doubt that this whole population was thoroughly disaffected
to the British Government ; that it remained brooding over
the memory of its late defeat and the annihilation of its recent
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 345
predominance ; and that it cherished the hope of avenging its
imagined wrongs and triumphing over its rulers by means of
more combined insurrection and the aid of foreign arms. The
greater part of its ancient leaders were fugitives or prisoners ;
of the few who remained in Canada some were too timid,
some too full of resentment, to take any open part in politics ;
and some, whom we had imagined to possess great influence,
appeared to have 'become objects of suspicion to their country-
men. The Catholic clergy in the diocese of Quebec, under /
a good and quiet bishop, were loyal and well disposed ; those ^
of the diocese of Montreal, under the influence of their bishop,
Lartique, were supposed in many instances not to be very
well affected. But the priesthood had in great measure lost
their influence, and though we made use of them at first as
a means of formal communication with their parishioners,
and though they sometimes gave us useful private information,
they supplied us with no channel of efficient intercourse with
the French. With the mass of that body the Government
could, in fact, get into no confidential communicatiori. Their
desires, as far as they could be ascertained, seemed to be wild
and impracticable. All demanded, and perhaps the greater
part really expected, that the new Government would attempt
to conciliate them by placing things just in the position in
which they had been before the insurrection, that Lord
Durham would re-establish the Constitution which Parlia-
ment had suspended, bring back the Local Assembly with its
French majority, grant a complete amnesty to the insurgent
leaders, and trust them with all the powers that they had
been used to demand during the period of their greatest
influence and most exaggerated pretensions. Some hopes of
a more reasonable kind, a few of the leaders of the party
appear to have entertained from the known liberal views of
Lord Durham. But the language of their addresses was con-
strained and cold ; in some cases it was such that Lord
Durham felt compelled to check their extravagant demands,
and the great body of them immediately relapsed into their
sullen and distant apathy.
The leaders of the British party, who were for the most
part leading merchants in Montreal, with one or two of the
same class in Quebec, were the men who had for some time,'
through their influence in the Legislative, and subsequently
in Sir Jolin Colborne's Special Council, exercised a great in-
fluence over the Government of the province, and were little ^
pleased at the change of circumstances, which partly by the
necessary consequences of the suspension of the Constitution,
346 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
and partly by Lord Durham's own policy, had excluded them
from all direct share in the Government. These men, how-
ever, had too much tact voluntarily to place themselves in
open collision with the Governor-General. The mass of the
British population, however, heated by the fierce conflict of
the two races, were after all in the main actuated by very
laudable purposes. Their main object was the tranquillity
and improvement of the province, whereby they hoped that
their own industrial occupations might be rendered more
secure and profitable.
The subversion of the French ascendency had gone far to
satisfy most of them, and the appointment of Lord Durham
to exercise the vast powers vested in the Governor-General
had been popular with the great mass of them, because from
his liberal opinions and known energy of character they
expected that speedy and extensive reforms would be made
in the obnoxious institutions of the province, and a great
impulse given to i£s internal improvement. The leaders, seeing
this tendency among them, had gone with them in it : the
cold and repulsive spirit of the meeting at Quebec had found
very few imitators in the province ; the addresses of the
British were general and warm, and the deputations that pre-
sented them were numerous and friendly, and Lord Durham
improved their good dispositions by the reception which he
gave them. All his answers to their addresses showed how
skilfully he had divined the true mode of acquiring their
confidence. He appealed boldly and strongly to the feel-
ings which he knew to animate the British population. He
spoke always of the greatness of the mother country and of
the importance and wonderful capabilities of the colony, and,
appealing to them to use every effort to improve its resources,
promised them an efficient co-operation on his own part and
that of the Imperial Government. By these means he speedily
excited among them an enthusiasm and attachment such as
no Governor before or since ever aroused. The splendour of
his establishment, which had been the theme of ridicule
among superficial observers at home, had a great effect on
the minds of the British colonists. The civilities, which no
one could aipply with such grace, because with such dignity,
went a great way in conciliating the leaders, who were thus
flattered with the belief that if they had lost some power,
they had lost none of that consideration which, after all, is
what vulgar minds look on as the best part of power. In
a very short time Lord Durham had by these means com-
pletely gained the confidence of almost the whole British
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838" 347
population. They looked forward with the fullest expecta-
tion of finding his measures in accordance with the feelings
that he had charmed them by expressing. Our main diffi-
culty with them arose from their wish to push their victory
over their opponents further than good feeling or good policy
would permit. This was the sure consequence of a dangerous
and protracted conflict, and the British wished not only to
disable the French so as to prevent their future aggressions,
but also to wreak their revenge upon them under the forms
of law.
But the state of the Lower Province was not the only
subject of difficulty and anxiety. The accounts which we
received from Upper Canada were from the first most alarm-
ing. The cause of the dissensions and disorders there it was
not easy to understand. It was clear that there had been
very extensive and violent disaffection. It was also clear that
the dominant party there had taken advantage of the recent
insurrection to exercise the greatest severity towards their
opponents. This had only increased the discontents, and if
the tendency to actual revolt had been checked, the number
of persons seriously dissatisfied with the Government was at
this time far greater than it had been before the insurrection.
The Governor, Sir George Arthur, a very weak and timid
man, seemed to be divided between his deference for the con-
ciliatory policy dictated by Lord Glenelg and his subservience
to the violent counsels of the Family Compact, under whose
influence he had completely fallen. From our first landing
he sent us the most alarming accounts, one after the other, of
the insurrectionary spirit of the Upper Province, and of the
formidable plans as well of the refugees, who hung on its
frontiers, as of the whole border population of the United
States. And before the end of the month his alarms, though
exaggerated, received some confirmation from the invasion
and outbreak which took place under Morrow, Chandler, and
others at the Short Hills in the Niagara district. r
But there was quite enough in the state of our relations
with the United States to inspire the boldest and calmest
mind with deep apprehensions. The Canadian refugees col-
lected along the frontier from New Hampshire' to. Michigan,
rendered desperate by their exile and the ruin of all their
prospects in life, were everywhere preparing a threatening
invasion, and doing almost as much mischief to the peace-
able inhabitants of the Canadas by the alarms which they
thus kept up, as could have resulted from actual incursions.
They kept the appearance if not the reality of an incessant
348 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
correspondence with disaffected persons on our side of the
frontier, and they seemed to have the support also of a general
and active sympathy on the other side. It was impossible
to ascertain what proportion or what class of the American
public were prepared to aid the fugitives. But the lawless
and wild race that peopled the frontiers, especially the shores
of the Great Lakes, were evidently eager for some desperate
enterprise of plunder or conquest, and these alone, in the
circumstances of that time, and on that defenceless and
extended line, were a formidable support to internal dis-
affection. At public meetings, too, the hostile language of
the refugees and their less reputable associates seemed to
be countenanced by persons of character and property, who
might be supposed to be under the influence of political
fanaticism or national antipathy. This open violence was
supposed to be abetted by wealthy men who were disposed
to speculate on the chances of war, and the profits of a con-
quest of Canada. The strong and general opinion of the
respectable citizens doubtless discountenanced this aggressive
spirit. ^But even among these there existed much sympathy
with colonists supposed to be struggling against that tyranny
of the mother country, which had driven the forefathers of
the American people into revolt. Some remains of old national
antipathy to Great Britain yet appeared to exist, and the
insolent language in which not merely reckless individuals
but even some of the authorities in Canada, especially Sir
Francis Head, had denounced the people and institutions of
the United States had greatly incensed many of them. A
large section of the newspaper press supported the refugees
and their allies, and each of the great political parties in the
Union seemed occasionally disposed to recruit partisans by
assuming a warlike tone towards Great Britain. It was
asserted that the Government of Washington was not guilt-
less of encouraging these feelings, and of conniving at the
most unjustifiable enterprises against the British colonies ;
and it was quite clear that the Federal Executive, even if so
disposed, was not very capable of putting a stop to them with
sufficient decision^ These evils, great in reality, were magni-
fied tenfold by the rumours designedly spread by the many,
who on each side of the frontier found their account in foment-
ing disturbance and alarm.
It was only three or four days after our landing that these
alarms were brought to a head by the news of the burning of
the Sir Robert Peel, a British steamer, in the American waters
of the St. Lawrence by a desperate smuggler known by the
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 349
name of ' Bill Johnson ', who had long haunted the Thousand
Isles, and now appeared resolved to carry on his marauding
trade under colour of Canadian ' patriotism '. The alarm
excited by this desperado's force or designs was, however,
light in comparison with that occasioned by the chances of
collision with the United States, which this outrage presented.
Immediately afterwards this alarm was increased by intelli-
gence of another violation of the pacific relations of the two
countries, which had occurred at Brockville, where British
sentries had fired on a peaceable American steamboat, the
Telegraph. The angry feeling on both sides was now raised
to the highest pitch ; the press indulged in the warmest
recriminations, and the more violent residents on each side of
the line loudly threatened their neighbours with invasion and
reprisals. It seemed hardly possible to preserve peace, and
I, who had up to that time indulged the most sanguine hopes
of the pacification of Canada, thought that all chance of
success in that object would very speedily be destroyed by
the breaking out of a war between Great Britain and the
United States.
Out of all this evil the vigour and sagacity of Lord Durham
brought immediate and great good. On the receipt of the
intelligence of the destruction of the Sir Robert Peel, he offered
a reward of a thousand pounds to any one who should bring
the offenders to trial and conviction in the courts of the
United States. But while by this step he declared the deter-
mination of the British Government to protect its subjects,
and thereby conciliated the goodwill of the loyal inhabitants
of Canada, he took care to show the utmost respect for the
Government of the United States by exhibiting his confidence
in its good faith. He determined to take this opportunity of
impressing on that Government the necessity of a prompt
and cordial co-operation with ours for the suppression of
disorders fraught with such danger to the pacific relations of
the two countries. For this purpose he despatched Colonel
Grey to Washington. This mission was attended with the
best results. The friendly declarations of the President and
Secretary of State were accompanied by substantial proofs of
sincerity. The force on the borders was increased, the strict
laws of neutrality recently passed by Congress were at length
enforced, and within a fortnight from Colonel Grey's arrival
at Washington, the forces of Great Britain and the United
States were co-operating on the lakes and St. Lawrence in
repressing the disturbers of the common peace.
These precautions against the interruption of peace with
/
350 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
the United States were our first serious business, and while
harassed and occupied with this we received most discourag-
ing news from home. Within a week from our arrival in Canada
we heard of the discussions which had taken place in the
House of Lords immediately after our leaving England, in
reference to the appointment of Mr. Turton. The determina-
tion of the Tory peers to impair Lord Durham's authority
by constant attacks in the worst spirit of faction were not
nearly so discouraging as the apparent readiness of Lord
Melbourne to abandon and even blame him. The despatches
which we received on this subject drew forth answers from
Lord Durham, in which he expressed very freely his feelings
with respect to the conduct of ministers. Thus from the
outset was there distrust, and ill feeling between the two
parties, owing to what, if not cowardice or indifference, could
only be viewed as proof of very malignant perfidy on the part
of the Government. And thus, amid all the difficulties of our
task on the spot, there hung over us from the first like a cloud
the depressing consciousness that we had no support to rely
on at home, that faction would make no allowance for the
difficulties and dangers of our position, but seize hold of every
pretext for discrediting and thwarting Lord Durham, and
that to uphold him against such assaults he could rely on
no sincerity or energy on the part of the ministers whom he
was serving.
It was, however, necessary for him to proceed in his course
without faltering, and give some earnest of his intention to
carry into effect the reforms which he had promised. The
state of the province and all its institutions afforded ample
scope for the amending hand, and in the month of June,
before our departure for Montreal and Upper Canada, Lord
Durham made some considerable practical reforms. The first
was the establishment of a ve'ry efficient police in Quebec,
where before this there had in fact been none. This institu-
tion was immediately afterwards extended to Montreal, where
the want of a good police had been quite as much felt. The
Report gives a view of the disgraceful neglect that had pre-
viously existed, from which it will be easy to see for how
necessary and important a protection to person, property,
and order the inhabitants of these two cities afe indebted to
Lord Durham.
Among the practical, grievances of the province none was
more palpable, and certainly none more injurious, than the
gross mismanagement of the Crown lands. One of Lord
Durham's first objects in his mission was to lay the founda-
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 351
tions of such a reform in the administration of them as might
render them instrumental in promoting that influx of colonists
which was requisite for the accomplishment of his great
schemes for the improvement of the colonies. With this end
in view he had engaged Mr. Wakefield to come from England
about the time of our own departure, having for some time
been acquainted with him, and having completely entered
into all his views of colonies and emigration. On the 18th of
June he issued the Commission for an Inquiry into the state
of the Crown Lands in all the North American Colonies. As
Lord Glenelg, though well aware beforehand of Mr. Wakefield's
coming out with Lord Durham, had, when frightened by the
discussions about Mr. Turton, written to prohibit Mr. Wake-
field's being employed publicly, I was nominally placed at
the head of the Commission. But my other avocations entirely
prevented my taking any part in the work ; the details of it
were accordingly left to my Assistant Commissioner, Mr.
Hanson, but the real direction of the' whole business was
entrusted to Mr. Wakefield, who had no ostensible employ-
ment. A very thorough inquiry was instituted at Quebec
and Toronto by Mr. Hanson ; an Assistant Commissioner was
sent to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's
Island ; witnesses were examined, and statistical information
carefully collected. The result of these labours afterwards
appeared in that most valuable Report on Crown Lands and
Emigration, which forms Appendix B to Lord Durham's
Report.
The last of the practical reforms now effected, which I need
mention, was rendered necessary by the limited number of
an Executive Council, which imposed on Lord Durham the
necessity of taking some measures with regard to the juris-
diction in appeals from the courts of law of the province.
The Executive Council was, by virtue of an Imperial Act,
which Lord Durham could not alter, the sole supreme appel-
late tribunal of Lower Canada, and it was necessary that its
sittings should be held during the early part of the month
of July, when some of the members of the Council would be
absent with Lord Durham in his visit to Upper Canada. He
could take no step to provide against this difficulty without
becoming sensible of the absurdity of the system by which the
decision of the most difficult and important legal questions in
the province had been left to a numerous body of persons,
for the most part wholly ignorant of law. He took this
occasion, therefore, instead of merely completing the quorum,
to constitute a really efficient Court of Appeal on sound
352 ' SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
principles. He composed it almost wholly of the highest and
ablest judges of the province. In order to keep up the neces-
sary quorum he added Mr. Turton, whose great legal know-
ledge and experience rendered his presence in the Court most
useful, and for the same reason he was obliged to add my
brother. The Court as thus constituted held only these
single sittings. But the opinion of both bar and suitors was
unanimously in favour of the soundness and importance of this
reform. It was agreed on all hands that so efficient a Court
of Appeal had never before been seen in the province.
But the most important and difficult task remained to be
done by the disposal of the prisoners who had filled the gaols
since the suppression of the insurrection. This was a matter
wholly foreign to "the true purpose of our mission ; it had
been thrown upon us by the timidity of Sir John Colborne,
who, swayed backwards and forwards, as all the authorities
in the Canadas were, between the ferocity of the dominant
party in the province and the more enlightened orders
which came to him from England, determined to shift the
responsibility of this most delicate business from himself on
to Lord Durham. The difficulty of disposing of the .prisoners
had in no degree been diminished by the delay. It is true
that the leading men of the British party had begun to enter-
tain more rational and humane feelings than had animated
them on the first suppression of the insurrection ; and the
mass of the British, though still thirsting for some blood,
were, as the event proved, very easy to be reconciled to
a lenient course. But the difficulty of getting any punish-
ment at all inflicted by the verdict of a jury had been only
increased by the lapse of time, and though every one in the
province was convinced that the allowing the prisoners to
escape without any punishment would have the most dangerous
results, we felt that public opinion in England would revolt
from our having recourse to military tribunals so long after
the cessation of the insurrection and martial law. We might,
by altering the jury law, or by using the influence of Govern-
ment over the sheriffs, have secured a British jury, which
would have convicted the innocent and guilty alike. But
besides the mischiefs of a public trial, which must have brought
~lo light many things that for the honour of Government and
of individuals, as well as for the best interests of ordkr, it was
most important to bury in oblivion, and the publication of
which would probably have rendered it necessary to deal
severely with those who should be proved to have been leaders
in the insurrection, we all felt that it would be far more for
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 353
the permanent interests of liberty and for the honour of the
British Government to secure the punishment of a few guilty
individuals by an open deviation for that purpose from the
ordinary forms of law, than to make new laws permanently
depriving the French Canadians of the guarantees for equal
justice, or to set the dangerous precedent of packing a jury.
After much deliberation on this matter, Mr. Turton and
I, to whom the investigation of the details had been left,
came to the conclusion that the best course would be to
punish the leaders certainly, but lightly, by means of an
ex post facto law. When this was first proposed to Lord
Durham he instantly saw what an outcry would be raised in
England against an act so contrary to our notions of liberty
and law ; and he refused to take any step of the kind unless
it should be requested by the prisoners themselves. The
prisoners, who expected the Government to avail itself of its
power of packing a jury, and ensuring their capital punish-
ment, were very ready to petition to be disposed of without
trial, and as I had in the meantime ascertained that the pro-
posed mode of dealing with them would not be condemned by
the leading men of the British party, Lord Durham adopted
the plan proposed, and on the 28th of June, the day of Her
Majesty's coronation, issued the famous Ordinance with
respect to the prisoners, and the Proclamation of Amnesty.
The ultimate results of this bold step neither Lord Durham
nor those with him are responsible for ; its immediate effects
were even more satisfactory than we had ventured to antici-
pate. In America its success was complete. The British
population of Lower Canada, after a few partial indications
of dissatisfaction, universally acquiesced in it. The French,
who were not disposed to be satisfied with anything but an
entire concession to all their most unreasonable views, were
awed by the decision, and conciliated by the lenity of the
act. After a while they ceased to murmur at it. But its
reception in the United States was most satisfactory. All
parties agreed in extolling it as a noble, wise, and liberal act.
The very newspapers that had previously been most violent
in assailing the British Government changed their tone for
a while. And the revulsion of feeling throughout the Union
was general and permanent. From that hour the feelings of
national jealousy and political sympathy gave way to that of
admiration of Lord Durham. From that hour the disaffected
in Canada ceased to derive any aid from the public opinion of
our neighbours, and among our difficulties we Had no longer
to contend with the chance of war with the United States.
1352-3 A a
354 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
I think there was only one error with which throughout
this business Lord Durham is justly chargeable, and it was
an error to which I must attribute most injurious effects. He
ought, in announcing such a step to the Home Government, to
have given an ample and detailed statement of the grounds
on which he had felt it right to compose his Special Council,
and dispose of the prisoners as he had done ; and I fear that
to the absence of some such explanation, which might have
been laid before Parliament, and served to convey a know-
ledge of the real state of affairs, is to be ascribed that mis-
apprehension on these points which enabled Lord Durham's
assailants to produce any effect on the public mind. The
composition of our Special Council was calculated to be
misunderstood by those who did not know how difficult it
would have been to find any better materials in Lower Canada.
If Lord Durham had fully explained the grounds of his Ordin-
ance, the public at home would readily have appreciated his
manliness in composing his Special Council so as in fact to
shift no responsibility off his own shoulders. And it could
easily have been shown that had he composed the Council,
as Sir John Colborne had done, of residents in the province,
he must in the existing state of things have thereby placed
the power of legislation in the hands of one party, which would
assuredly have used them, as had been done under Sir John
Colborne, for the promotion of its own interests and the
oppression of its opponents.
Immediately after the publication of the Ordinances, Lord
Durham, accompanied by Sir Charles Paget, the admiral on
the American station, set out for Montreal. Our departure
from Quebec gave occasion for a very sullen demeanour on
the part of the British inhabitants, who were by no means
pleased with the lenity of the Ordinances. We heard that
a still more unfavourable feeling would probably be exhibited
on our arrival at Montreal. It was about the middle of the
day of the 5th of July when our steamboat cast anchor oppo-
site to that city, and we instantly received the visits of the
authorities and principal inhabitants. The state of terror and
uncertainty which then existed throughout the Canadas was
testified to us by a hundred alarming rumours that reached
us in the course of the day. The full effect of the Ordinances
had not yet had time to develop itself. We had every reason
to believe that the British inhabitants of Montreal, who,
having been in the very midst of the preceding party struggles,
had naturally contracted a greater violence of feeling than
even the rest of their race in the province, would very strongly
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 355
exhibit their disapprobation of the lenity of the Ordinance.
Nor had this measure had time to exhibit its effects on the
public opinion of the United States, and the country was
inundated with alarms of fresh demonstrations of American
* sympathy ' with the insurgents. I recollect well that during
the twenty-four hours that ^elapsed between our arrival in the~
port and our landing, there were brought to us no less than
three distinct and circumstantial accounts of * Bill Johnson's '
invasion of the provinces at the head of a large force of rebels
and ' sympathizers ', he himself being reputed to have made
his appearance at no less than three different points at the
distance of about five hundred miles from each other. It had
required little time to learn to give very little weight to any
rumours that we might hear in Canada, and these produced
little impression on us except as far as they went to convince
us of the extremely disorganized state of men's minds in the
province. Lord Durham had not lost the opportunity afforded
him by the visits of the leaders of the British, who on their
return spread the most favourable report of his views. An
instant change was produced in the minds of this people, who
seem to me, from all the experience I have Had of them, to
be, of all the English race that I ever met with, the most
excitable, and the most susceptible of new impressions. When
Lord Durham landed on the 6th, the whole city poured out
to meet him, and received him with the utmost enthusiasm.
We remained some days at Montreal, and it was here that
Lord Durham, in a private interview with a large number of
the British leaders, developed for the first time an outline of
his views with respect to the permanent settlement of the
colonies. These I shall hereafter detail ; the only effect which
this communication could have in this stage of affairs was
that of being regarded as a flattering proof of confidence in
the persons to whom it was made. In the answers to the
various addresses which he received from different bodies,
Lord Durham availed himself of the opportunity of making
known the general principles on which he meant to administer
the government of the province. He well knew to what
account he could turn these occasions of ceremony, and his
answers were all framed with the same great principles in
view, the various aspects of which the various addresses
enabled him to bring before the public. The chord which he
touched in addressing all these bodies was the determination
of Great Britain to uphold her connexion with these provinces, ,
of which he painted the vast resources, and the ease with
which they might be developed. By the consideration of
A a2
356 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
their common interest in this he urged both parties to union
and tranquillity, and, while he impressed on the one the
necessity of co-operating in the reform of their defective laws,
and of casting aside the petty jealousies of race, he exhorted
the other to an oblivion of the insurrection, and of the long
course of irritating events that had preceded it.
On the 10th we left Montreal, and soon entered Upper
Canada, where during our progress up the river Lord Durham
received addresses from the various towns which we passed,,
indicative, in spite of the violent dissensions that existed in
the province, of a pretty unanimous resolution to confide in
him. But every step that we took in this province showed
us the fearful extent and nature of the divisions that separated
classes and parties. These had just then unhappily been very
seriously augmented by the very inopportune arrival of an
opinion of the Attorney- and Solicitor-General of England in
favour of the validity of Sir John Colborne's unpopular
creation of the ' rectories ', and from one end to the other the
province was agitated by a revival of the irritating discus-
sions on the question of clergy reserves. We passed unharmed
and unassailed through the romantic region of the Thousand
Isles, where indeed nature seemed to have invited the attempts
of ' Bill Johnson ' and his gang, and went straight to the
Falls of Niagara, where Lord Durham had very wisely ordered
a considerable display of military force to be made. At this
spot, the general rendezvous at this season of large numbers
of travellers of the wealthy class of the United States, the
reviews which now took place attracted a crowd of spectators
from the opposite side, and the presence of the Governor-
General, of the authorities of Upper Canada, of the Admiral,
and of a numerous and most efficient military force of every
kind was calculated to impress on our neighbours the value
which the British Government was disposed to attach to the
maintenance of her empire in the Canadas, and of the efficient
means by which that determination was backed. The hospi-
talities that Lord Durham very widely extended to the visitors
from the United States, were productive of even more useful
results, because they excited in them better feelings than the
mere dread of our arms. After the studied reserve that it
had been usual for the leading persons in the British provinces
to maintain towards their republican neighbours, it was most
gratifying to the latter to be received with cordiality by the
nobleman of the hjghest position with whom they had ever
come in contact. \I have often said to those who (after the
fashion of petty carping, by which we were assailed) used to
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 357
dilate on the seven or eight hundred pounds that were spent
in the course of Lord Durham's visit to Niagara as a monstrous
expense, that, considering the results attributed to it, a million
of money would have been a cheap price for the single glass
of wine which Lord Durham drank to the health of the American
President.^ For such had been the absurd demeanour of the
authorities in the British colonies towards those of the United
States that it actually seemed as if the latter Government
were not completely recognized by ours. This mere ordinary
civility, therefore, on the part of the Governor -General was
taken by the Americans present, and by their countrymen at
large, as indicative of a thorough change of feeling and policy,
and as a pledge of goodwill towards their country/! Of the
change thereby produced in their feelings, we had speedy and
gratifying proofs, and these acts of civility created among the
mass that regard for Lord Durham which the wise and humane
policy of his government had in great measure already pro-
duced among the more thinking. Henceforth, instead of
incivilities being offered to every British officer who chanced
to cross the lines, the citizens of the United States vied with
each other in hospitality and respect to them. Lord Durham
continued this wise course after his return to Quebec, where
he made a point of receiving the numerous travellers from the
United States at his house during the summer. These were
in themselves but slight acts and easy observances, but they
were parts of a great view of international relations, and
produced great and good effects on the feelings and inter-
course of two nations. It is only the man of statesmanlike
mind who can produce a great result out of things so small
as an invitation to dinner, or the drinking a glass of wine
With respect to the events which occurred during this visit
to Upper Canada I am little qualified to speak from personal
knowledge, as my unfortunate illness compelled Lord Durham
to leave me behind him on his return. He visited a consider-
able part of the province, and here, as in Lower Canada, he
made the answer to every address the means- of appealing to
those feelings of pride in their mother country, and interest
in the prosperity of the colony, by taking advantage of which
alone he saw that Canada could be secured. This purpose
was predominant in Lord Durham's mind. When from the
Canadian shore he looked across the entrance of Lake Erie,
and saw the noble buildings and crowded harbour of Buffalo,
he longed to divert the stream of commerce to the British
shore, and by means of the Wetland Canal to give to Canada
the trade between the Great Lakes and the sea. With this
358 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
view he wrote that despatch in which he impressed on the
Home Government the necessity of contributing a large
sum of money to complete the great plan of internal water
communication which the Assembly of Upper Canada had
commenced, but had found beyond its powers of completion.
This proposal was not, however, adopted by ministers. Lord
Durham subsequently proposed by means of such provincial
resources as he could command to aid in the improvement of
the navigation of the Ottawa, the most important tributary
of the St. Lawrence, and hardly inferior in importance to the
main branch of the river. But his abrupt departure prevented
his taking any steps for this purpose.
Q[n the short period which had elapsed between our first
arrival in Lower Canada and our return from the Upper
Province, a very great and beneficial change had already
been wrought in the state of things. The change in our
position with respect to the United States was the most im-
portant ; no imminent risk of war any longer harassed us and
deranged our plans ; on the contrary, the favourable feeling
of the States came to the aid of our Government and operated
for us in public opinion in CanadaJ The British party, in
spite of the secret dissatisfaction of some of its leaders, had
very generally rallied round Lord Durham. The French had
become somewhat more reconciled to their lot, and though
secret intrigues still continued to be carried on among habitans,
the change of feeling in the United States had convinced the
leaders of the refugees, as well as of the disaffected in the
province, that their main support, which had been the sym-
pathy of their neighbours, was altogether withdrawn. The
opportunity was now afforded for setting about those internal
reforms which Lord Durham had promised in the Gazette that
contained the Ordinance respecting the prisoners.
The reform which the British population had chiefly at
heart was the commutation of the feudal tenures. With
a view to this Lord Durham proposed to begin with two
measures which might be regarded as parts and preliminaries
of the general scheme. The first of these was the commutation
of these tenures in the city of Montreal, where their operation
was the most injurious, where the disputes respecting the title
of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, an ecclesiastical body, to whom
the seigniory belonged, rendered that body more ready to
accede to a commutation than the owners of seigniorial rights
generally were. The second was the measure of a general
registry of titles to land, which besides being a necessary
accompaniment of any general commutation of tenures, was
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 359
eagerly desired by the British population as a most valuable
substantive reform. The preparation of a measure for this
purpose was confided to Mr. Turton, who for that end pro-
ceeded to institute extensive inquiries, and consulted the
leading lawyers of the province, both French and English.
The settlement of terms of an arrangement with the seminary
had been entrusted to me, and before our journey to Upper
Canada, I had already entered into negotiations with the
superior of that body. The outlines of the plan, which
appeared to me fair and expedient, and which were indeed
almost identically the same with those proposed by Lord
Gosford's Commission, had been communicated by me to
some of the leading British inhabitants of Montreal. The
matter had naturally been a good deal spoken of, the nature
of the suggested arrangement became known, and some of the
more stirring and unreasonable of the British party com-
menced an agitation among the more violent of their own
race and religion against terms, which they described as too
favourable to a French and Catholic community. When
Lord Durham visited Montreal on his return from Upper
Canada a petition got up by these persons was presented to
him, remonstrating very warmly against the arrangement,
and not very covertly insinuating, after a fashion too common
in the private conversation of those who in both Canadas
affected the greatest loyalty, that the continuance of that
loyalty would in a great measure depend on a compliance
with their demands. This insolent threat, as well as the
bigotry exhibited in the petition were promptly rebuked by
Lord Durham, and his decisive conduct not only checked the
extravagance of the leaders of this fanatical movement, but
elicited a strong counter-expression of opinion. At a public
meeting held on the subject a few days after Lord Durham's
answer to the address, the more moderate of the British
expressed their disapprobation of the petition, and the Irish
Catholics exhibited such marked indignation at the insolent
tone adopted towards their clergy and religion that it became
obvious that the bigotry of a few individuals had gone near
to bring about that separation between the Irish Catholics and
the remainder of the British race, which it had been the great
care of the British leaders in their recent conflicts with the
French most cautiously to avoid. The meeting broke up in
disorder, all agitation on the subject ceased, and the Govern-
ment was left to complete its arrangements with the seminary
at its leisure.
TAVO subjects of no less importance than even the com-
360 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
mutation of the feudal tenures were at the same time under-
taken. A Commission was issued for an inquiry into the state
of education in the province, and another to inquire into the
state of its municipal and local institutions. On the last of
these Commissions it was resolved to employ a person who
had acquired a rather unenviable notoriety by the extreme
violence as well as ability with which he had advocated the
views of the British party. This was Adam Thorn, who had
been for some time the principal writer in the Montreal Herald.
The talents and energy of this man, originally a very humble
schoolmaster in the north of Scotland, had raised him to the
possession of the greatest influence over the mass of the British
party, and to them the confidence now reposed in him by
the Government was highly gratifying. Of course it was just
as unpalatable to the French Canadians, whose press rang
with denunciations of the ' execrable ' Thorn. The only
really bad result of this was the loss of the assistance of
a respectable and influential French Canadian, who had con-
sented to serve on the Commission, but declined when he
found that he was to be associated with one who was regarded
as the enemy of his race. But I am not at all inclined to
doubt of the wisdom of this step. Mr. Thorn was very fit for
the business assigned to him, and performed his task with
great integrity and judgement. Nor was his utility confined
to that particular business. Throughout the rest of the
mission he rendered himself most useful by the information
which he supplied, and by his influence over the mass of the
British population.
His services were even more essential after our arrival in
England, whither he returned at the same time, and his assis-
tance in furnishing various pieces of local information and
corrections of detail were of great value to the Report. But
his appointment was of still more importance on account of
the principle of selection, which the employment of a man
so obnoxious to one race indicated. It was a great thing to
show the violent parties in Canada that their denunciations
should not succeed as heretofore in excluding men of ability
from the public service. It was a great point also to take an
able and energetic man out of the mischievous occupation of
party agitation to enlist him in the service of the Govern-
ment, and to employ him where his energy and talents would
do good instead of harm. Had Lord Durham's government
continued he would have shown that he meant to pursue the
same course with both races alike. For when the events
occurred which put an end to his mission, he was in great
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 361
hopes of securing the services of Mr. Morin, a/Frerich Canadian
i>f great industry and knowledge, of amiable and upright
character, and who perhaps, next to Mr/Papineau, had occupied
the foremost position in the debates of the Assembly ; and
who, though subjected of course to much animosity and many
accusations, appeared to have kept quite aloof from the recent
insurrection. The education inquiry was entrusted to my
brother, who with great perseverance and judgement under-
took the high but difficult task of uniting the hostile races in
the same schools and colleges, and in spite of a good deal of
opposition from the bigots of every race and creed, devised
a very satisfactory scheme for the purpose, which will be
found detailed in the Appendix D to Lord Durham's Report.
The multitudinous business of the more ordinary administra-
tion of the Province of Lower Canada occupied of course much
of Lord Durham's time.
Every question of magnitude that arose in British North
America was referred to him. The disposal of the political
prisoners in Upper Canada was the subject of a long and warm
correspondence with Sir George Arthur. An application to
Lord Durham from the wives of Chandler and Waite, two of
the unhappy men condemned to death for what was called
the Short Hills insurrection, occasioned his interference in
the first instance. This was somewhat angrily resented by
Sir George Arthur. I need not enter into the particulars of
a discussion which is contained in the correspondence printed
at the end of Ridgway's edition of the Report, and which does
honour to Lord Durham's humanity as well as to his political
wisdom. The result was most satisfactory, for after earnest
entreaties from Sir George Arthur to be allowed to execute
at first four, and then at least one of the convicts, the lives
of all these unhappy men were saved, and what was even
more important, Sir George Arthur was induced to proclaim
a general amnesty, by which the fears of the various families
compromised in the late risings were set at rest, and the
greater part of the political exiles, who molested the frontier,
were permitted to return, and became harmless at home.
Among Lord Durham's labours during this period I must
not forget the excellent dispatch of the 9th of August. This
document, in which for the first time he developed for the
information of the Home Government his views of the general
state of Lower Canada and the causes which had produced it,
describes very fully the hostility of the French and English
races, the objects and characters of the contending parties,
the state of feeling which the recent events had produced in
362 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
the United States, the abuses of the internal government of
the province, and the general want of confidence on the part
of its inhabitants in the Imperial Executive and Legislature.
The views contained in this dispatch are in fact the same as
those subsequently given with much greater fullness in the
Report, and the great value of the dispatch consists in this
coincidence between it and the Report, inasmuch as it proves
that the views expressed in the latter were not taken up by
Lord Durham after his return to England, but that, confirmed
by intervening experience, they were in effect the same views
as those which he had communicated to the Ministry before
the occurrence of the events that cut short his mission.
Lord Durham, before leaving England, had, with a view
principally to having some definite subject of discussion with
the persons whom he might consult in the province, prepared
the outline of a plan for the future government, founded on
suggestions which he had received both from public docu-
ments and discussions, and from individuals who had paid
a great attention to the subject. Soon after his arrival in
Canada he had taken advantage of visits from the Lieutenant-
Go vernors of what are commonly called the Lower Provinces,
to desire them to send to Quebec such persons of every party
in their respective colonies as they might consider capable of
giving the soundest opinion on such a subject. Accordingly,
on the 12th of September, deputations from Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward's Island came to Quebec, and in a few days
after arrived that from New Brunswick. Great praise is due
to the Governors for the skill and impartiality with which they
had selected the deputations. Their members appeared to
have been very fairly selected as the ablest representatives of
the different parties in the colonies. They gave us indeed
a very favourable opinion of the state of society in the Lower
Provinces. Generally men of plain manners, they exhibited
also a great deal of plain good sense and fairness. Opposed
in provincial politics they could discuss even their own points
of difference with candour and moderation. The deputation
from Nova Scotia in particular pleased us highly. Some
of its leading members were persons riot only of striking
ability, but of a degree of general information and polish of
manners which are even less commonly met with in colonial
society.
The scheme which Lord Durham proposed as the basis of
discussion was one on the principle of a federative union of
all the existing colonies in North America. The idea of this
had been originally thrown out by Mr. Roebuck in the House
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 363
of Commons, and the suggestion had met with the approval
of Sir Robert Peel, as well as of Lord Howick, Mr. Ellice, and
other persons who had paid much attention to colonial matters.
The plan appeared to offer a chance of putting an end to
existing discussions, of overwhelming the enemies of British
connexion in the Canadas by the unanimous loyalty of the
Lower Provinces, of extinguishing the pretensions of French
nationality, and at the same time of leaving each different
community in possession of its own laws and of the power of
managing its own local affairs. The plan had in Lord Durham's
eyes the still greater merit of combining these large and richly
endowed provinces for common purposes of improvement, of
forming out of these divided and feeble elements a single
community with vigour as well as singleness of action, and of
thus raising up on the northern frontier of the United States
a rival union of British colonies, which might ere long, by the
development of its vast internal resources, form a counter-
balancing power on the American Continent. The same
measure would, he hoped, not only make these colonies power-
ful, but also incline them to use their power no longer for the
purpose of thwarting, but for that of supporting, the Imperial
Government. In order, however, still further to guard against
the contest of races, he entertained the idea of dividing
Upper and Lower Canada into three instead of two Govern-
ments. The wester most of these was to have been formed
entirely of the furthest portion of Upper Canada, where the
population would have been wholly English. The middle
part was to be composed of a portion of Upper Canada,
together with the whole or the greater part of the districts
of Montreal and the Eastern Townships in Lower Canada.
An English majority would by this means have completely
overpowered the French population of that district in which,
from the near approach to equality of the two races, the
hostility between them had been the most mischievous, and
in which the French were far more turbulent and ill affected
than in any other parts of the province. The third govern-
ment, comprising the country from Sorel to the eastern
extremity of Canada, would have been entirely French. But
the French of the greater part of this district, particularly
those below Quebec, are so comparatively quiet a race, there
is such a paucity of English there, and consequently so little
collision occurs between the races, that we had every reason
for thinking that such a French community might have
proved tolerably tranquil and well affected. At any rate the
disturbances of a single province would, under the federal
364 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
system, have been local, and need not have disturbed the
general legislation and tranquillity of British North America.
Our conferences with the deputations were harmonious and
satisfactory. I need not now specify the effects produced on
our opinions by these discussions, nor how it was that our
views (for it was so not only with Lord Durham, but with all
of us) gradually took the shape in which they were embodied
in the Report. The urgency of a union was more forcibly
impressed on our minds in the course of our conferences, and
still more by subsequent events. And as we discussed the
details of a plan, so the merits of a federal scheme faded away
by degrees, and we became convinced of the propriety of such
a complete legislative union of the provinces as was after-
wards proposed in Lord Durham's Report. The language
held by the deputations showed us that the public mind of
all the provinces was prepared for a union, and that such
a measure would be conducive to their separate interests as
well as to the common good of the empire.
In the midst of these occupations we received the astound-
ing news of the disallowance of the Ordinance of the 28th of
June. Previous intelligence had by no means prepared us for
this. Lord Durham had received not only a dispatch from
Lord Glenelg, but also an autograph letter from the Queen
highly approving of the Ordinance. We had no reason to
believe from the reports of the first debates on the subject in
Parliament that any person would join Lord Brougham and
Mr. Leader in their outcry against the Ordinance. Lord
Durham had always had misgivings as to the result. I will
own that I had felt none. I thought that the merciful and
pacifying purpose of the Act would have so pleased the great
mass of our countrymen that there would have been no
dissent from their universal approbation. I still think that
I judged the mass of my countrymen aright, and that by
them Lord Durham's Ordinances were fairly appreciated and
fully approved. But he counted more accurately than I did
on the selfishness of parties and the consequences of intrigue.
I recollect well the day that the news arrived. I happened,
amid my usual fatigues, to have that morning a few hours of
leisure, and at Lord Durham's request I went with him on an
excursion in the neighbourhood. The incidents of this little
journey are fresh in my recollection even now ; I well remem-
ber what we saw, and how we talked, and how we laughed
under the bright Canadian sky in that fine autumn day. As
I was walking back from the carriage to my lodgings some one
told me the news in general terms, but I supposed it "to originate
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 365
either in joke or in mistake, and hardly thought again about
it. However, when I got into the carriole to go with Mr.
Turton to dinner, he told me that the report was quite true,
and when I arrived at the house Lord Durham sent for me,
told me the news, and, almost more by manner than words,
let me know that his mind was made up to resign his govern-
ment. I saw indeed from the first that such would inevitably
be the result, and that here — f or a while at least — was destroyed
the whole fabric of improvement that Lord Durham had with
so much labour and anxiety been building up during the
period of his government.
Whenever up to this time the least mention had been made
of resignation, I had invariably combated it as a thing not to
be for a moment thought of. I had recently done this with
great warmth ; I had represented the trust confided to Lord
Durham as similar to that of the defence of some besieged
outpost of the empire, and I had asserted that in his case, as
in that of the military commandant, success would be the
only proof that our countrymen would accept of the efficiency
of his defence. Great, unexpectedly great, as was the addi-
tional discouragement to which he was now exposed, I think
— I even then thought — that it would have been wise, had it
been possible, for Lord Durham to have held the post. His
reasons for quitting it have been stated at full length in his
dispatches and proclamation, and they unanswerably show
the fearful chances of failure in his great purpose of maintain-
ing and pacifying Canada, to which the factious conduct of
the Tories and the more fatal abandonment of ministers had
exposed him. I think also that they quite clearly showed that
the persecution of which Lord Durham had been the object
from the onset of his government, and the mistrust of his
power occasioned by the recent occurrences, had placed
difficulties in his way from which another governor would in
all likelihood be free. Still I think that had he met the diffi-
culties with his accustomed energy, he would in all proba-
bility have succeeded, and that the honour and advantage
of success after such discouragement would have been so great
that it would have been quite prudent for such a prize to run
the risk of a failure for which under the circumstances of the
case nobody could have blamed him. I approved of his
resignation on a ground which now, alas ! I may very plainly
mention. Without surmising the 'real nature or extent of the
mischief, I saw that Lord Durham's health was fearfully
affected by all that had passed. Such a degree of nervous
agitation did his disease produce, and such a reaction of that
366 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
agitation on his bodily health was constantly going on, that
it was evidently v impossible for him to bear up against the
anxieties and labour of his government under existing cir-
cumstances, and display that energy and promptitude of
decision which had so eminently distinguished him when his
health was better. I felt convinced — and unhappily it is now
too clear that I was likely to be right — that Lord Durham's
life would very soon ha v« been the sacrifice for his continuance
in Canada, eve'n for two or three months, and'that at any rate
he was liable to have his energies impaired by illness at
incVments in which any relaxation of them would have been
ratal to success. I lamented his resignation then : I deplore
it yet more deeply now ; but I approved of it then, and approve
of it K^OW, as an act done in compliance with a stern and sad
necessity. I must not be understood as admitting that his
return home was calculated to "injure the interests of the
province ; on the contrary, I still think that in the difficulties
then impending the preservation of the province was more
safe in the hands of Sir John Colborne than in those of Lord
Durham, weakened as they were by the repeated proofs of
his being unsupported at home. It is for his own sake — for
the sake of the influence which his continuance in his govern-
ment under such circumstances would have ensured him —
and for the sake of all the strength that would thence have
accrued to the popular cause at home, that I regret that the
state of his health compelled him to abandon this chance of
fame and power, and that even this sacrifice came too late
to avert the blow which disease had already struck.
The declaration of Lord Durham's intended resignation
spread terror and grief throughout British North America.
The delegates from the Lower Provinces gave utterance to
the first expression of regret at his departure, and of entreaty
that he would remain, and it was in answer to them that he
first publicly announced his intention of resigning. In con-
sequence of this, addresses of a similar nature came from all
parts of both the Canadas. The address from Quebec, pre-
sented in the hall of the House of Assembly, gave occasion
to a burst of the most enthusiastic popular feeling. Large
deputations brought the addresses from Kingston, Toronto,
and Montreal, and expressed the alarm with which the whole
British race in Canada regarded the attacks made on Lord
Durham, and the consequent calamity of his resignation. The
French — though some of the more honest and sagacious of
their leaders were inclined to express openly their regret at
an event, which deprived them of their own efficient protec-
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 367
tion from the violence of their antagonists — maintained their
usual sullen and impassive demeanour. But the feeling and
the movement of deep regret extended throughout the British
of every party in the two provinces. Even those who had the
most violently condemned his policy — even the most reckless
of the Family Compact of Upper Canada — expressed the
common feeling in terms proving how sincerely they-partici-
pated in alarm at Lord Durham's departure, if not in approval
of his policy.
These demonstrations did not, however, affect the grounds
on which Lord Durham and all around him saw that his
resignation was absolutely necessary. Indeed these considera-
tions, together with the news which reached us from -every
quarter of the preparations for fresh insurrection, rendered it
incumbent on Lord Durham at once to put the fact of his
resolution beyond a doubt, and to take measures for his instant
departure, in order to end that species of interregnum which
cannot but exist when a governor has declared his intention
of giving up his office. With this view, he determined on
leaving the province at the close of October, and he announced
this by the famous Proclamation which he issued on the 9th
of that month.
In this Proclamation Lord Durham had two great objects
in view. The first was that of calming the excessive agitation
which his abrupt departure from Canada had occasioned, by
showing that he did not despair, and that he yet hoped by
immediate and energetic remonstrances at home to effect
that good which he could not secure by remaining in Canada.
The second was certainly that of vindicating himself by the
only public means in his power. He was much censured for
publishing what has been considered an inflammatory appeal
from the Imperial Government and Legislature to the people
of the colonies. It must not, however, be matter of surprise
that after the unusual mode in which Lord Durham had been
assailed in Parliament and abandoned by the Ministry — after
his policy had been condemned without hearing or explanation,
that he should think it necessary to step somewhat beyond
the line of official usage, in order to protect himself against
those who had used him thus ungenerously. As for the
inflammatory effect which it has been said that the proclama-
tion was calculated, if not intended, to produce, the answer
simply is that it both purported to seek, and did in effect
produce, precisely the opposite result. No disorder, no increase
of disaffection ensued ; on the contrary, all parties in the
province expressed a revival of confidence ; and we had it
368 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
very clearly shown to us that one effect of the Proclamation
had been that of inducing a much more general readiness to
enlist in the volunteer corps, and take other measures for the
defence of the provinces (see Note A, at the end).
There was, however, one necessary consequence of the great
hurry in which Lord Durham was compelled to take his
departure when once determined on, that I much regretted.
He had originally purposed embarking at New York, after
previously visiting Washington. The knowledge of this
intention had created the greatest satisfaction in the United
States, and the people had made preparations for giving him
an enthusiastic welcome. Shortly after, in my passage through
the States, I heard that the corporations of the various great
cities on his line of way had made arrangements for meeting
him at different points, and conveying him from one to the
other. In fact he was everywhere to be received by the local
authorities as a public visitor. On our return to England he
was informed by Mr. Stevenson, the American Minister, that
at Washington he was to have remained with the President
at the White House as a national guest — an honour never
before conferred on any one but Lafayette. Such a deep
impression had Lord Durham made on the people of the United
States : nor has that impression been yet effaced : to the hour
of his death his popularity in that great country remained
undiminished. I regret that no visible exhibition of this
popularity occurred in the manner proposed, both because it
would have been a great support to Lord Durham at home,
and because it would have been useful in teaching our public
men in what way and with what ease mere honesty and
courtesy can secure the goodwill of that great kindred nation.
But the intimations of meditated insurrection were so numerous
and strong that Lord Durham felt that he must lose no time
in returning home, and that it would be unseemly in him
to be travelling in the United States at a time in which the
seat of his late government might probably be a prey to
civil war.
During the short time that remained before his departure,
he occupied himself in bringing to a close or advancing the
various inquiries and reform which he had commenced. The
Registry Bill was completed, and received the sanction of the
principal lawyers of both races in the province, as well as of
those persons who had long taken the lead in demanding such
a measure. The agreement with the Seminary of St. Sulpice
was arranged, and, though Lord Durham did not choose, on
the eve of quitting his government, to use his strictly legal
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 369
authority to give a definitive sanction to measures of such
importance, to this arrangement made with the assent of all
the parties may be ascribed the enfranchisement of Montreal
from the feudal restraints that have long obstructed its
prosperity. The Commissioners of Education and Municipal
Institutions were left to complete their tasks, of which the
results afterwards appeared in the Appendix to Lord Durham's
Report. The Commission on Crown Lands had continued its
labours, and already settled some most important practical
questions. The Militia claims had been adjusted by the
proclamation oc September 8, and on the 31st of October, the
very eve of his departure, Lord Durham issued a proclama-
tion settling the intricate question of the rights of ' squatters '
on the Crown lands. But a question of still greater magnitude
was decided by Lord Durham in the Report on the subject
of escheat in Prince Edward's Island, contained in the dispatch
of the 8th of October. The abuse of the proprietary rights
of the absentee landowners of this colony was the mischief
that had blighted its prosperity in the very bud. The Legisla-
ture of the island had in vain passed Bill after Bill to authorise
the escheat of waste lands on the principles usually acted on
in almost every new country, and in vain had the Governor
of the island repeatedly recommended the Crown to give its
sanction to such a measure. The proprietors in England had
more weight with ministers than the desires and interests
of the whole colonial community. Lord Durham's dispatch
secured the Royal Assent to a law of escheat ; and if Prince
Edward's Island shall hereafter prosper, it will be mainly
owing to this interposition on his part.
I need only mention one other act done by Lord Durham
before his departure from Canada. The two chief -justiceships
of the province were resigned by Mr. Sewell and Mr. Reid.
Lord Durham, without any solicitation, instantly conferred
the office of Chief Justice of Quebec, the highest judicial
office in the province, on Mr. James Stuart. This gentleman,
by universal consent the first lawyer in the province, and the
ablest as well as most influential leader of the British party,
had been Attorney-General during Lord Aylmer's govern-
ment ; and having rendered himself obnoxious to the French
majority, had been impeached by the Assembly, and an address
had been presented for his removal. That he had acted with
a good deal of intemperance in one or two instances cannot
be denied, but beyond this there was really no foundation
for the charges made against him. But though this was
acknowledged by Lord Aylmer and the Colonial Secretary,
1352-3 B b
370 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
Mr. Stanley, the former removed him from office arid the latter
sanctioned the removal. On any rational system of executive
responsibility the mere hostility of the Assembly ought to
have been in itself a sufficient ground for the removal of a man
from an important executive office, but the dismissal of Mr.
Stuart by those who strenuously combated that principle,
amounted to a recognition of the truth of the charges made
against him, and that recognition on the part of men who
believed him innocent of all the serious articles of accusation
was a most flagrant and cruel act of injustice. This injustice
Lord Durham repaired, and to the great satisfaction of the
whole British population, made Mr. Stuart Chief Justice of
the province. A day or two after Lord Durham's departure,
Mr. Stuart called on me, and as he spoke of his deep and
lasting gratitude to him for having thus relieved him from
the stigma that had so long rested on his name, the tears
actually burst into the eyes of that hard old man. ' But I do
not find that Mr., now Sir, James Stuart, who since Mr.
Poulett Thomson's arrival has been the chief director of the
Government, has ever shown any care for the interests or
memory of him who lifted him from the very dirt into the
highest judicial position in the province.
It was on the 1st of November that Lord Durham sailed
from Quebec in the Inconstant. A sad day and sad departure
it was. The streets were crowded ; the spectators filled every
window and Wery house-top t; and, though every hat was
raised as we passed, a deep silence marked the general grief
for Lord Durham's departure. His own presentiments de-
pressed him, and those about him, for he had told me and
others also that he did not expect to reach England alive.
When I left him (for I had to stay some time behind to collect
materials for the Report) I had as a member of the Executive
Council to repair to the Castle, where Sir John Colborne was
to be sworn in. There were but few people in the room, but
the countenances of the old Executive Councillors seemed to
mark the restoration of the ancient system of administration.
A good many military officers also were present ; they seemed to
think that their ascendancy also was restored. The ceremony
was silently hurried over, and when it was finished I went to
the window, which commanded a full view of the harbour.
The cannon were just sounding in honour of his successor's
installation, when the frigate that bore Lord Durham was
' slowly towed out of the harbour. The sky was black with
clouds bearing the first snowstorm of the winter, and hardly
a breath of air was moving. I returned to my office, and, some
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 371
hours after, from the window, which commanded the wide
basin below the city, I saw the dark form of that ill-omened
ship slowly, and as it were painfully, struggling on its course.
My heart filled with many a bitter regret, many a super-
stitious presentiment, and alas ! many too true misgivings.
We dined that evening at Mr. Daly's, and the party was com-
posed of Mr. Turton, my brother, and myself, forming with
him the last remains of Lord Durham's goyernment. It was
a mournful meeting, and none mourned more deeply than our
kind and honourable host, who said that with Lord Durham's
departure all his hope had gone. A heavy fall of snow was
setting in as we left the house, and tfye very morning after
the winter was completely set in. The next day we heard the
alarming report that Lord Durham's worst forebodings had
been nigh being fulfilled in the most fearfuL manner by a fire
on board the ship. This was perfectly true ; not so the reports
which reached us every now and then during the next fort-
night to the effect that Lord Durham had been forced to put
into Halifax, or that he had ,been driven ashore on some othei
part of the coast. After fearful perils at the outset, the In-
constant kept on her course to its appointed end amid almost
perpetual storms, which' did not cease even when she had
reached the shelter of Plymouth Sound.
Thus ended Lord Durham's mission to Canada, and instead
of bringing those great results to the country, and that harvest
of honour and power to himself, for which we had hoped, and
for which we had all laboured, it seemed at its close to have
ended in nothing but disappointment to all concerned in it.
Its most fatal consequence, indeed, was his feeling ^that dis-
appointment so acutely, and that, sickened by the malignity
and weakness of which he Jiad been the victim, he from the
hour of his return, gave way to a depression that quickened
the progress of his malady. Many of those who enthusiastic-
ally rallied around him on his return, have since reproached
,him that he threw away the opportunity of complete justifica-
tion arid satisfaction, and refused to take that position in the
political world which Deemed to invite him. But this course
he took after full and anxious consideration, and took as
wisely as I am sure he did it honestly. Abstaining from all
public part in general politics, he reserved himself for Canada
alone. Nor did he seek to urge on the discussion of that
topic. When Lord Winchelsea imprudently attempted to
renew his persecution of Mr. Turton, Lord Durham's short and
vigorous speech scared his assailants, and at once and for
Bb2
372 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S ,
ever checked all similar attacks. From that hour he. remained
unmolested by those who had been so eager in assailing him
during his absende. He never in his turn became the assailant.
Public opinion had clone him such complete justice in the
matter of the Ordinance that, if he had brought it again before
Parliament, it must have been for the purpose of assault, not of
self-defence. When at the close of the session the question
of the future government of Canada came before the House
of Lords, he contented himself with a short speech, in which
he neither defended himself nor attacked others, but, approv-
ing of the policy of ministers in postponing final legislation
on the subject, emphatically impressed on the House of Lords
the principles on which he thought that their conduct towards
Canada ought to be shaped. At the moment, perhaps, the
vindication of measures unjustly condemned and thwarted,
and the triumphant assertion of his own policy by dint of
argument and eloquence, might have given more satisfaction
to his friends. But now we may with far higher and purer
pride look back to the forbearance which he displayed, recol-
lecting that, when all others thought most of his personal
position and wrongs, he said nothing of them. True to the
public principles of his past life, he allowed no impulse of
anger, no scheme of ambitious aggrandizement out of the
many assiduously suggested to him, to turn him from the
course which, independently of all personal considerations,
he judged to be the best calculated to serve his country. To
the last day of his life his influence was steadily and effectu-
ally employed in repressing those feelings on the part of his
political friends which, if uncontrolled by him, would on
many an occasion have given the finishing blow to the exist-
ence of Lord Melbourne's ministry. More active exertions in
the general field of politics, and the consequent attainment of
the power of more effectually serving his country in office, we
might have expected, had he possessed the health which had
been the spring of his former energy. This it pleased Pro-
vidence to deny us ; but his hard fate could not deprive him,
during the period that followed his return from Canada, of the
opportunity of exhibiting a generous forbearance and an
unselfish love of country.
Nor need we look with any dissatisfaction to the fruits of
his mission. That these were at first less obvious and less
abundant than they should have been was not his fault, but
that of those whose misconduct cut short the brilliant and
useful career of his administration, and compelled him to
leave to others the execution and completion of what he had
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 373
only planned or commenced. The period of his government,
which seems so long when we follow its various incidents
and acts, was after all but of five months' duration, and yet
in that short time what great practical results did he bring
about ! His policy in fact it was that pacified Canada and /
secured its retention. He found the gaols of Lower Canada •
full of prisoners trembling for their lives, which had been
forfeited to the law, and the frontiers crowded with hopeless
and reckless exiles. These traces of insurrecti6n he removed,
freed every prisoner, and recalled the exiles, without shedding
any man's blood or confiscating any man's estate. In Upper
Canada, where he could not so speedily or completely exercise
his authority to the same effect, he nevertheless succeeded in
producing nearly similar results by his advice and example.
He found the British of Lower Canada suspicious and angry :
he inspired them with confidence. He found the great mass
of the people of Upper Canada animated by a discontent
which bordered on disaffection, and utterly despairing of
justice from Great Britain. He rallied them around the
British Crown with that unanimous feeling which they since
exhibited during the winter of 1838-9, when the whole popula-
tion turned out against the invaders, and not a man, or hardly
a man, of those most inclined to disaffection in the former
troubles lent the slightest aid to the attack. He found a still
more serious cause of alarm in the alienation of the great
body, and the active hostility of a dangerous portion, of the
people of the United States. He entirely changed the public
opinion of the United States with respect to Canada; he
turned it from assailing to supporting the British Government ;
and he so completely destroyed all general or open disposition
to aid the insurgent Canadians, that, although some outrages
were committed by the few reckless desperadoes who crossed
the frontier at Prescott and Sandwich, the refugees and their
adherents never again with any effect made an appeal to the
sympathy of the American people. And though it was
impossible for him to conciliate the long estranged goodwill ,
of the French Canadians, or to eradicate their insane aspira- \/
tions after the ascendancy of their race, he deprived their
discontent of every justification, and so stripped them of all
aid that their second insurrection exhibited only their utter
want both of .resources in themselves and of allies without.
I have already adverted to the practical reforms of every
kind which Lord Durham effected or put in train during his
stay in Canada. Besides those which were sufficiently simple
to admit of being completed by him, the foundations of almost
374 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
every reform of the defective institutions of Lower Canada
were laid by the Commissioners of Inquiry which he estab-
lished, and by their reports contained in the Appendix to his
own, or by the suggestions in the Report itself. It has
been the good fortune of Mr. Poulett Thomson, acting under
the suggestions made to him by Lord Durham and those
attached to Lord Durham — prompted by the advice of those
whom we recommended to him as his advisers — and sup-
ported by those whose goodwill our private representations
secured for him, to achieve some great and useful reforms,
But if he had improved the administration of justice, he found
its defects marked out in Lord Durham's Report. If he had
prepared a system of municipal institutions, it was Lord
Durham who painted the mischiefs of the want of them, and
marked out the means by which they might be erected on
an efficient and liberal basis. If he has been able to establish
a comprehensive and sound system of education, the necessity
and the means were alike pointed out by Lord Durham's
Commission. If Montreal is enfranchised, if a registry of
landed property is secured, it is by the adoption of Lord
Durham's measures for each purpose. And if, above all, any
reform is yet effected or shall hereafter be effected in the
management of the Crown lands, the credit of procuring the
requisite information and of settling the principles to be
adopted for the future administration of this department, is
due to Lord Durham's Commission, and to it alone. All these
were reforms of which neither the necessity nor the practic-
ability were -suggested to Lord Durham from home. He saw
the defects, he devised the remedies ; others have stepped in
to appropriate the honour of the execution.
But unquestionably the most important purpose of the
mission was that of effecting, or rather suggesting, such im-
provements in the constitution and general administration of
government in Canada, as might guard us against the recur-
rence of the disorders that had for many years afflicted both
provinces. This task remained to be performed when Lord
Durham returned to England, and it has been completely
performed in his Report. The praise of laborious inquiry and
of comprehensive thought has never yet been refused to this
document by those even who have most loudly condemned it.
For it has been bitterly condemned "by Tories, whose narrow
and slavish notions its free principles of government could not
but shock. It has been condemned by those whose attach-
ment to the routine of our colonial policy has been revolted
by the startling recommendation of a generous confidence in
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 375
the good sense of the people of the colonies, It has given
great offence to those ministers whose whole recent system of
colonial policy it showed to have been shallow and unsound.
And there are some, who can dispute no position in it, who
cannot deny the truth of its statements or the general sound-
ness of its conclusions, but who, being of that school of wily
statesmen that imagine political wisdom to consist in going
round about to one's end — that regard truths as mischiefs to
be suppressed, or at any rate as dangerous matters to be kept
only for cabinets and saloons — regret that Lord Durham should
have said anything about responsible government, or at any
rate that what he said should have been published to the
world. We may console ourselves that the public at large,
while admitting the truth of Lord Durham's views, have not
shrunk from them as dangerous on that account. Even amid
the universal indifference with which the colonies are regarded
here, the public in this country have generally and highly
approved of the Report. But in the colonies it has become
the textbook of every advocate of colonial freedom, of every
one who does not deny that our countrymen in the colonies
should have that voice in their own government which English-
men are used to regard as the birthright of their race. In
Canada it has become the rallying-point of the great body
of the people ; those whom the ancient misgovernment had
driven to the verge of disaffection have waived all their
former objects for that of the practical adoption of Lord
Durham's Report, and under his name every subdivision of
the friends of liberal government have united as ' Durhamites ',
and insist on that which he sanctioned and no more. Nor has
the Report been less studied or adopted in the other colonies.
The people of the West Indies and of the Cape of Good Hope
have claimed the benefit of its principles, and every news-
paper from the various colonies of the Australasian world
appeals to it as the manual of colonial reform.
Nor need we repine at the practical effect already given to
the suggestions of the Report. Many of these indeed put
forward rather what were views of ultimate and possible
improvement, and general principles of colonial administra-
tion, than what can be regarded as positive recommendations
for direct and immediate legislation. But the Report did
distinctly and earnestly urge the legislative union of the two
Canadas, and the principal purpose of the Act of the last
session goes to give effect to this recommendation. I think
I see in the Lower Provinces a tendency towards such an
accession to the present union as would realize Lord Durham's
376 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
splendid scheme of a great British community in North
America. The principle of executive responsibility which he
recommended, not with the vain notion that it could be
enforced by positive law, but as the sure and only foundation
of a firm and peaceable government of the colonies, though
repudiated in words, has been already partially recognized
in the appointments made by the Government. But it does
not matter very much what the Government repudiates or
what it recognizes, for certain it is that in the Parliament of
United Canada it has created a power from which no Govern-
ment in this country will be able to withhold that voice in the
selection of its rulers, which Lord Durham showed to be a
necessary consequence of representative institutions.
If then the mission to Canada must ever be an object of
mournful contemplation to us who loved Lord Durham and
lament his irreparable loss, yet, when we look to the interests
of his reputation, we may regard the execution of this high
and difficult task as among the noblest of the many noble
memorials of his career. Let us remember that, if he failed
to obtain the results of immediate satisfaction and credit to
himself, it was because he laboured for higher and more per-
manent objects. In this, as in every other part of his course
through life, he left the trodden path of old routine and by-
gone systems, and was the first to advance towards whatever
of wider and clearer views the enlarged experience of man-
kind has in these days reached. Here, as in other matters,
his foresight enabled him to base his policy on those principles
on which the coming age of the world will be ruled. He who
acts thus must not expect that he will be rightly appreciated
by the little knots of intriguers, from whose thoughts and
interests he 'Separates himself. But from the mass of his
countrymen he may expect at least that generous sympathy
with the rectitucle of his purpose, which Lord Durham found
even in his own day. From after times he will receive a yet
larger meed of justice. For, as coming events in their ap-
pointed .course shall prove the sagacity with which he foresaw
them — as the public mind, gradually opening to new and
sound views, shall be prepared to read the right lesson in the
occurrences which it may witness — so will shine forth with
daily increasing brightness the character of that statesman,
who alone in his day rightly appreciated the worth of our
colonial empire, and saw on what deep and sure foundations
of freedom its prosperity might be reared. With us, then, that
sorrow for his loss, which no time can efface, need be mingled
with no vain and injurious regrets for the results of his labours,
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 377
vhich will long survive in the bettered lot and grateful recol-
lections of our colonies, with none for a fame which, instead
of being laid in his untimely grave, will date from the hour of
'iis death the commencement of a long and vigorous existence.
NOTE A, REFERRED TO IN PAGE 368.
There is one passage in the Proclamation, of which the
propriety has been much questioned even by some of those
most inclined to judge favourably of Lord Durham's conduct.
It is that passage in which he states that, the Ordinances
having been disallowed, there existed no impediment to the
return of the persons who had been sent to Bermuda, or
prevented from returning to the province. This was regarded
by many as a mere outbreak of temper on Lord Durham's
part, and it was supposed that, in order to throw obloquy on
the Government at home, he actually invited dangerous
persons to return to the colony. I confess that at first sight
the passage in question has this appearance, and therefore
I feel bound in justice to say that on that very ground Lord
Durham was very reluctant to insert this passage, which
I suggested, and very earnestly and perseveringly pressed on
him. But practical considerations, totally unconnected with
any reference to the conduct of the Home Government,
induced me to make the suggestion, and, I think, justified
Lord Durham in adopting it.
The instant that the news of the disallowancereached Canada,
it was supposed that some of the exiles would enter the pro-
vince. It seemed doubtful whether in that case they would
be liable to be tried for their original offencev. Nobody could
deny that they had undergone some punishment, however
inadequate, and the sound principle of Non bis in idem seemed,
therefore,1 applicable to their case. But this point just admitted
of so much doubt, as to make it quite certain that criminals, so
obnoxious to a large and violent party would not be allowed
to re-establish themselves quietly at their former abodes,
without some proceedings against them being attempted.
We felt quite sure that they would be arrested, and that half
the magistrates in the province would be eager to commit
them for trial. The grand juries would have found bills, the
trials must have taken place, and then would have recurred
all the mischiefs which the Ordinances had been designed to
avert. The angry passion of the past insurrection would
have been revived by the proceedings in the courts, the guilt
of the prisoners would have been proved in the clearest
378 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S
manner, and there would have infallibly followed (as in the
recent case of the murderers of Chartrand) a verdict of acquittal
in the face of evidence.
The punishment of the exiles could only have been secured
by suspending the habeas corpus, or by altering the con-
stitution of the tribunals by either substituting courts martial
for the ordinary courts of criminal law, or packing the juries.
The last Lord Durham did not choose to do, and the two
former courses (though defensible in certain emergencies)
appeared most unadvisable in the circumstances of the case.
He had abstained from having recourse to such encroach-
ments on constitutional principles and personal rights, when
the difficulty of disposing of the prisoners had first presented
itself to him in all its magnitude on his arrival in the province ;
and he was most averse, for the sake of punishing a few, to
take a course from which he had shrunk when it would have
enabled him to punish all the guilty. And it should always
be borne in mind that the measures of rigour, which may be
most necessary during an insurrection, may be the most
unadvisable when insurrection is apprehended. At that time
to have suspended the habeas corpus, or substituted courts
martial for juries, would simply have been to supply the
disaffected with a pretext for the rebellion which1 we knew
them to be meditating ; and, what was more, give them some
chance of success by setting public opinion in the United
States against the Government of Canada. These were evils
not even to be risked except for the most important objects,
and the exiles in question were mostly so insignificant, that the
keeping them out of the province really was a matter of no
consequence. As for Papineau, the only one among them of
any consideration, we had learned enough of his character to
feel assured that his presence among the disaffected would
have been the surest means of paralysing their operations.
Besides which, however great his moral culpability, I knew
that the evidence in the possession of Government, all of
which I had gone through, would not in his case have justified
a legal conviction.
The evils, which appeared thus likely to result from the
return of the exiles, rendered it imperative on us to take
some precautions to avert them. We were perfectly sure
that some of the exiles would return without permission the
moment that they heard of the disallowance of the Ordinances,
and the fact is that one or two actually did return before the
Proclamation was out. After the first step taken against any
of them after their return, the consequences would have been
MISSION TO CANADA IN 1838 379
beyond Lord Durham's control, and as he could not bring
himself to commit the Government to an arbitrary course for
the purpose of punishing a score of persons, he would have
no choice but of letting matters run their course of arrest,
trial, and unjust acquittal.
The great thing then was to prevent any step being taken
against the exiles, and as they were sure to obtain impunity
in the end, to let them have it at once without all the interven-
ing excitement, and without bringing the administration of
justice into further contempt. I therefore pressed on Lord
Durham to take the bull by the horns, and as he knew that he
could not punish the exiles if they came back, at once to tell
them that there was nothing to prevent their doing so. By
taking this course Lord Durham did in fact avoid all the
excitement, exposures, recriminations, and subversion of
justice which would have followed from his doing nothing ;
and, on the other hand, the worse mischief which would have
resulted from his having recourse to violent exceptional
measures. When the subsequent insurrection actually did
break out, the rebels could allege no harsh act on the part of
the Government as a provocation. And what was the practical
mischief that resulted from letting these people back ? None
that returned did any harm, or even, as I firmly believe,
took any part in the subsequent insurrection. But those
who remained out of the province did all the harm they
could.
Of course it is always an evil in the way of example, if
notoriously guilty persons enjoy perfect impunity. I trust,
however, that I have shown that punishing the persons in
question by any unconstitutional means would have pro-
duced far worse effects even than their going unpunished.
In order to keep up the confidence of the loyal portion of
the Canadian public in himself personally and generally in
the Provincial Government, it was necessary for Lord Durham
to point out that the impunity of these guilty and obnoxious
persons was not his doing, but that of the Home Government.
He could say this with perfect justice, for he had done his
best to punish ; his measures had been defeated by the inter-
ference of Parliament, and the present difficulty had been
created solely by the disallowance of the Ordinances. And
I think that it was quite as much in accordance with sound
policy as with justice for him to lay the blame on Parlia-
ment. For as blame must in the opinion of the colonists rest
on some portion of the Government, it was far better that it
should rest on the House than the Provincial Government.
380 SKETCH OF LORD DURHAM'S MISSION
A little more discredit thrown on the proceedings of Parlia-
ment could hardly produce any sensible effect in augmenting
the odium which at that moment rested on that body in the
opinion of the colonists. But anything that cast suspicion
on the policy of the Provincial Government would have
seriously increased the practical difficulties which surrounded
not only Lord Durham, but also his successor. In Parliament
the colonists had no confidence, in the provincial authorities
an entire trust, and it would have been very unwise to weaken
the influence of the latter by subjecting them to any part
of the blame which Parliament and the Home Government
alone deserved.
At any rate, as I began by saying, the course pursued by
Lord Durham in this matter and the passage in the Proclama-
tion were both adopted at my urgent suggestion ; and I, not
he, am answerable for what was done, as well as for the way
in which it was announced. He was, of course, obliged to
depend greatly on me with respect to all that concerned the
internal administration of the province, and more particularly
in matters connected with the administration of justice. If
my advice was wrong, he could not be blamed for acting by
it in such matters.
I am bound to take on myself whatever blame is due to me,
for well I know he never would have cast it on me. Every
man who has to act on a great variety of matters of impor-
tance must rely on those whom he employs and trusts ; and
Lord Durham was necessarily compelled in much that he did
to rely on me and act on my advice. Some steps that he took
at my suggestion were among those that were most fiercely
assailed either at home or in Canada. Yet never have I any
reason to believe that he threw on me even the blame that
I deserved. Never certainly, though often he might justly
have done so, did he reproach me with the consequences of
my counsels, never at least but once, in a moment of very
natural excitement, and then he repaired the reproach in half
an hour.
O
'V
'
»T. QCT261960
F Durham, John George Lambton,
5075 1st earl of Durham
D9# Report on the affairs of
1912 British North America
v.3
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