DOMINIΟΝ PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES IN THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA WHICH WAS CALLED TO MEET, FOR THE DESPATCH OF BUSINESS, ON THURSDAY, THE 11TH APRIL, A.D., 1872, IN THE 35TH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD LISGAR, GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. THE SENATE. OTTAWA, April 11, 1872. This day, at three o'clock, P. M., His Excellency the Governor General proceeded in state to the Chamber of the Senate, in the Parliament Buildings, and took his seat upon the Throne. The members of the Senate being assembled, His Excellency was pleased to command the attendance of the House of Commons, and that House being present, His Excellency was pleased to open the Fifth Session of the First Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, with the following Speech from the Throne: Hon. Gentlemen of the Senate. Gentlemen of the House of Commons. The auspicious recovery which the mercy of Providence vouchsafed from the well nigh mortal illness of the Prince of Wales, called forth a universal expression of joy and thankfulness throughout the Empire. All classes of the people testified their deep sense of relief from the anxieties of a long and painful suspense by joining their beloved Queen in a public Thanks giving which proved in vastness of attendance and unanimity of feeling the grand. est and most impressive ceremony ever witnessed in the British Capital. I invite you to follow the good example on the fifteenth day of this month. It was thought advisable to defer the solemnity until after the meeting of Parliament, and 1 feel assured that the Mem. bers of the two Houses, as well as all Her Majesty's faithful subjects throughout the Dominion will be anxious to unite in celebrating the occasion with all becoming observance and loyal alacrity. Your Meeting has itself been postponed to a later season than usual, upon considerations of Imperial as well as Colonial interest, and at the instance of Her Majesty's Government. The young Province of Manitoba, was last September threatened with an invasion of lawless persons from the United States. Prompt measures for resistance were adopted by the local authorities and attended with the best results. In order to reassure the people of the Province, and to prevent a recurrence of the outrage, I ordered a force of two hundred Militiamen to be sent to Fo:t Garry. Notwithstanding the inclement season of the year the troops surmounted the dif. ficulties of the march with energy and success, thus proving not only their own discipline and endurance, but also the value of the route through our own Territory. The accounts of the expenditure occasioned by this expedition will be laid be. fore you, and you will be requested to pass a Bill to indemnify the Government. A copy of the Treaty made at Washing ton last year between Her Majesty the Queen and the United States of America, in which the Dominion has so great an interest, will be laid before you. So much of the papers and of the completed correspondence as can be made public without injury to the interests of the Empire or of Canada, will also be at once submitted for your information, and your attention will be invited to this important subject. A conference was held at Ottawa in September last, on the important subject of Immigration, at which the Government of the Dominion, as well as those of every Province, were represented. A scheme for joint and several action was provisionally arranged, to which I invite your attention. I do not doubt that you will be inclined to make ample provision for the encouragement of Immigration with the maintenance and extension of which the development of the vast natural resources of Canada is so vitally interwoven. Since last Session the union of British Columbia with Canada has been happily consummated, and her representatives now take part in your deliberations. In order to open up and settle the fertile Territories of the North West, and to link British Columbia therewith, it will be necessary for you to make provision for the construction of a Railway to the Pacific Ocean, in conformity with the terms of Her Majesty's Order in Council uniting British Columbia with the Dominion. An appropriation was made in the last Session for the preliminary Survey of the route for this Railway. The work has been diligently prosecuted, and a report of the progress achieved will be laid before you. You will, I trust, concur with me in thinking that the long contemplated improvement and extension of our system of Canals ought to be vigorously prosecuted. The rapid increase in the trade of Can ada, and the importance of competing tor, and accommodating the commerce of the Great West, render it necessary that the means of transport by water should be cheapened and facilitated. I have to request your serious consideration of this subject, and in connection with it, the expediency of providing a direct water communication between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. the The decennial Census having been taken last year, the duty of readjusting four Provinces originally constituting the representation in Parliament of the Dominion devolves upon you now, according to the terms of the Union Act. A measure for the purpose wil! accordingly be submitted for your consideration. Among other measures, Bills will be presented to you relating to the Judges of Superior Courts to the regulation and management of the public lands and mines of the Dominion in Manitoba and the North West Territories, and for the amendment of the laws relating to the public health. Gentlemen of the House of Commons: The accounts of the past year will at once be laid before you, and likewise a statement of the receipts and expenditure of the current year, up to the close of the last month. It is gratifying to me to be able to announce to you that the revenue for the past, as well as that for the current year, will be considerably in excess of what was estimated, and that consequently there is no reason to apprehend embarrassment from the immediate commencement of the contemplated public improvements. The estimates for the ensuing year will be submitted to you, and I trust that you will be of opinion that the supplies which my Government will ask you to vote for the service of Her Majesty can be granted without inconvenience to her Canadian subjects. Hon. Gentlemen of the Senate : Gentlemen of the House of Commons : I have all the more satisfaction in recurring to your counsel and assistance at this period, inasmuch as I may congratulate you on the general prosperity of the country, and the fortunate issue of the steps taken to unite and consolidate the vast territories which now form the Dominion. I feel assured that you will continue to devote the same assiduity as in the past to the augmented labours, which the exigencies of more numerous constituencies and a wider sphere of operations demand at your hands, and I earnestly pray that your efforts in the path of duty may be so happily guided as to maintain peace and justice in all the borders of the land, and ensure the happiness and lasting welfare of all classes of its inhabit ants. The following Senators were introduced and took the usual oaths: Hon. Messrs. Sutherland, Macdonald, Carrall, Cornwall, and Girard. Hon. Mr. CAMPBELL introduced a Bill pro forma. Expiring Laws.-3. On Railways, Canals and Telegraph Lines.-4. On Miscellaneous Private Bills.-5. On Standing Or. ders.-6. On Printing.-7. On Public Accounts.-8. On Banking and Commerce.9. On Immigration and Colonization, which said Committees shall severally be empowered to examine and enquire into all such matters and things as may be referred to them by the House; and to report from time to time their observations and opinions thereon; with power to send for persons, papers and records. Resolved, 1st.-That if anything shall come in question touching the Return or Election of any Member, he is to withdraw during the time the matter is in Debate; and all members returned upon double Returns are to withdraw until their Returns are determined. Resolved, 2nd.-That if it shall appear that any person hath been elected or A Return of Baptisms was laid on the returned a Member of this House, or table. LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT. Mr. SPEAKER laid before the House, the Report of the Librarian of the House of Commons, on the state of the Library of Parliament. The House then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. OTTAWA, April 11, 1872. The Commons having returned to their own Chamber, Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair. The following members were intro. duced, and took their seats: Hon. Mr. Pope, of Compton; Mr. Nathan, of Victoria, British Columbia; Mr. Carter, of Brome, Province of Quebec; Mr. Wallace, of Vancouver's Island; Mr. Thompson, of Cariboo; Mr. Houghton, of Yale Kowtenay District, British Columbia; Mr. De Cosmos, British Columbia; and Mr. Nelson, of New Westminster. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. Resolved, That the Votes and Proceed ings of the House be printed, being first perused by Mr. Speaker, and that he do appoint the printing thereof; and that no person but such as he shall appoint do presume to print the same. Resolved, That Select Standing Committees of this House for the present Session be appointed for the following purposes: 1. On Privileges and Elections.-2. On hath endeavored so to be, by bribery or corrupt practices, this House will proceed with the utmost severity against all such persons as shall have been wilfully concerned in such bribery or other corrupt practices. Resolved, 3rd.-That the offer of any money or other advantage to any Member of the House of Commons, for the promoting of any matter whatsoever, depend. ing or to be transacted in the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, is a high crime and misdemeanor, and tends to the subversion of the Constitution. Hon. Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD moved, seconded by Sir GEORGE E. CARTIER, that the Speech from the Throne be taken into consideration tomorrow. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE desired to be informed if it were the intention of the Government to lay before the House the promised correspondence relative to the Treaty of Washington before the House proceeded to take into consideration the speech from the Throne. Hon. Sir J. A. MACDONALD: It is not. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE said: The speech from the Throne had promised that the desired-for correspondence should be presented for the consideration of the House. The speech inferred that the House should discuss the treaty, and now the House was asked to discuss the treaty without having the papers before it. Hon, Sir J. A. MACDONALD.-Discussions on Addresses from the throne were things of the past. In England such addresses were not now discussed. In the House of Commons in England it was customary to adopt the Address unless it was intended to move a vote of want of confidence. Hon. Mr. HOLTON.-If the leader of the House desired to follow English precedent he should proceed with the discussion of the Address at once. Such was the practice in England. Such a course was desirable, considering the late period at which the House had been called together and it would save much expense to the country. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE asked what steps the Government intended to adopt with regard to a return which had been brought before the House, last session, in which it was shown that two members from a Manitoba constituency, had been returned by the same number of votes, and the Government had promised to have a commission appointed to investigate the matter. The result had been that owing to the negligence of the Government, the constitu< ency was not represented at all. Hon. Sir G. E. CARTIER explained. The same course had been pursued as would have been followed under the rules adopted for regulating such matters in the former Province of Canada. The hon. member for Lambton had not stated matters fairly or the facts correctly. In Manitoba there was, at the period alluded to, no law in regard to contested elections, and there was no other course than to follow the enactment applying to the late Province of Canada. The matter had been referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and the House could not do anything in the matter before that Committee had reported, a report being rendered impossible by the absence of members of the Committee on the other side of the House. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE-The hon. gen tleman had no doubt stated a part of the circumstances correctly; but he must bear in mind that he was then acting as the leader of the House, and must accept the responsibility attaching to that position. I was very improper that in so young a Province one seat should be now unrepresented. Hon. Sir GEO. E. CARTIER said that the fault was entirely that of the other side of the House. The members of the Election Committee on that side had refused to act, and therefore the injustice complained of. Hon. Mr. BLAKE-The memory of the Minister of Militia seems to be failing him. He (Mr. Blake) during the last days of no the previous session bad suggested that steps should be taken to have the seats filled. It was the duty of Parliament to take such steps, and if there were quorum of the Committee on Elections and Privileges, certainly the Opposition were not to blame for that. It had been referred to a Committee of the House simply to be burked, and Ministers being omnipotent had burked it accordingly. Hon. Sir GEO. E. CARTIER was read ing from the journals of the House in reference to the action taken in the case of the elections of Lisgar and Provencher, when he was called to order by Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE, who observed that the discussion had no reference what ever to that subject. Hon. Sir GEO. E. CARTIER hoped that the honorable member for Lambton would not try to confuse him. The question now stood in precisely the same condition as it did last session. Hon. Mr. HOLTON-The Minister of Militia has admitted that he wished the matter to be referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections, but he had failed to have it so referred, and was therefore blameable. Hon. Sir GEO. E. CARTIER said that the returns had been made up in such a way as to be no returns at all. The discussion here came to an end. Hon. Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD moved, seconded by Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE, that when the House adjourns to-morrow it stand adjourned until Tuesday next, in order to afford the members an oppor. tunity of joining in the celebration of the public thanksgiving on account of the recovery of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The motion was unanimously carried. SENATE. FRIDAY, 12th April, 1872. The SPEAKER took the Chair at three o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Hon. Mr. KAULBACK was introduced and took his seat after having gone through the usual formalities. RETURNS. The SPEAKER laid on the table the Librarian's Report for the present year. Also a return of Baptisms and Burials for the several districts, MOTION. Hon. Mr. CAMPBELL moved that when the House adjourn it stand adjourned until Tuesday next, in order to give members an opportunity of assisting in the Thanks. giving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. He also stated that he would move an address of congratulation to Her Majesty on the same subject. ANSWER TO THE SPEECH. Hon. Mr. GIRARD, in proposing the answer to the Address, expressed the peculiar pleasure he felt, as one of the inhabitants of the distant Province of Manitoba, in giving his approval to the sentiments contained therein. He made special reference to the illness of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, the news of which had been read with the deepest regret by the people of the North West. He need not give the House the assurance that no portion of the people of Canada sympathized more deeply with Her Majesty, or felt greater satisfaction at the recovery of the Prince than the inhabitants of that little Province in the far Western wilderness. He could not too highly approve of the reference in the Speech to Manitoba, where the people were deeply attached to British institutions and had no other desire than to give them their support, and preserve and strengthen the connection with the Dominion. He was perfectly satisfied with the manner in which the Government of Canada had acted towards that Province, and had no doubt that they would do their best to develop its resources. He had read with int erest that paragraph in the Speech which referred to the Treaty of Washington, and for one would be happy to give the question that consideration which its importance required. He had no doubt that the efforts of the Government to promote immigration would have happy results to the prosperity of the Confederation. He heard with satisfaction the announcement from the Throne that the Government intended using their best efforts to construct such public works as were necessary for the development of the great resources of this country, and he hoped that the time was not far distant when the locomotive would pass through the Province of Manitoba on its way to the Pacific coast. The prosperous condition of the finances, and the Dominion generally, was to every one a subject of congratulation, and he was convinced that we had every reason to look to the future with hopefulness. With these remarks he asked permission to move the following resolution for an Address to His Excellency the Governor General in answer to his speech from the Throne: "That the following Address be presented to his Excellency the Governor General, to offer the respectful thanks of this House to His Excellency, for the been pleased to make to both Houses of gracious Speech which His Excellency has Parliament, namely: To His Excellency the Right Honorable JOHN, BARON LISGAR, of Lisgar and Ballie. borough, in the County of Cavan, Ireland, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and a Baronet, one of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor General of Canada, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Island of Prince Edward. May it Please Your Excellency: We, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate of Canada, in Parliament assembled, respectfully thank Your Excellency for your gracious speech at the opening of this session. We agree with Your Excellency that the auspicious recovery which the mercy of Providence vouchsafed from the well nigh mortal illness of the Prince of Wales, called forth a universal expression of joy and thankfulness throughout the Impire, and that all classes of the people testified their deep sense of relief from the anxie. ties of a long and painful suspense, by joining their beloved Queen in a public Thanksgiving, which proved in vastness of attendance and unanimity of feeling the grandest and most impressive ceremony ever witnessed in the British Capital. We thank Your Excellency for inviting us to follow the good example on the fif teenth day of this month. We are glad that it was thought advisable to defer the solemnity until after the meeting of Parliament; and we assure Your Excellency that the members of this House will be anxious to unite with all Her Majesty's faithful subjects throughout the Dominion in celebrating the occasion with all becoming observance and loyal alacrity. We thank Your Excellency for informing us that our meeting has itself been postponed to a later season than usual, upon considerations of Imperial as well as Colonial interest, and at the instance of Her Majesty's Government. |