THE CANADA QUESTION MADE EASY. (From the Spectator, March 31.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 358, 22 September 1849, Page 3

THE CANADA QUESTION MADE EASY. (From the Spectator, March 31.)

The mail from Canada now approaching our shores will bring intelligence that can bardly fail to reviirethe pubiic interest and curiosity about Canadian affairs ; for in whatever state may be the measure of the Provincial Governmsnt for giving compensation to persons injured during the rebellion in Lower Cauadn, the intioduction of this measure into the Provincial Parliament by the Executive has occaBi'cned a §Ule of things in the colony which must force the British public to acquire a knowledge of » lie whole case. At present, the case is very imperfectly unders'uod here* Our immediate object is to furnish us complete an exposition, oi it as the spacs at our disposal will allow. Ntarly twelve years ago, there were two rebellions in Canada. The colony was at that time divided into i two Provinces, under perfectly distinct Governments The two rebellions woe simultaneous, and bo far ankc lint both were directed to the overthrow of the Imperial power of Bnlain; but in other respects they were as distinct as the two local Governments against which thfy were imnif diately directed. Thpy arose ft om different causes, and wera actua'cd, so to speak, by different spirits. Tlide differences sprang out of" very marked differences in the circumstances of the. (wo Provinces. The population of Upper Canada wis exclusively English ; that is, composed of peoj la speaking the English language, wh ther they were of English, Scotch, Irish, or American extraction. Iv Up f .cr Canada there was no question of nationality or race. In Louver Canada, on the contrary, the great bulk of the people (nearly all of them, indeed, except in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, a district called the Eastern Townships, and a few other thinly-peo-pled townships where some English settlement had taken pi use) consisted of Trench Canadians ; that is, people of Ficneh origin, speaking the French language, an-1 as d ffdient in point of race or nationality from the small number of English colonists as are the inhabitants of Calais from those cf Dover. Lcrl Durham's amp'o desciip'.iun of the antagonism of race* in Lower Canada, and Ins representation tlm tin's wics the cause of the rebellion in that Piovince, have never been contradicts! , and may be taken as settled tiuths. In Lower Cnnuli, the who'e French population (the exceptions were bo few as to be of ud importance) sympathized with the actual rebels; and the actual outbreaks of rebe lion were only put down by tbe Im» peiial army, with the aid ol volunteers diaxvn from the ■mall English population of the Province, which, viitli exceptions! too insignificant for notice, took part in upholding the imperial pwr. The rebellion in Lower Canada was a civil war of races as well a3 a rebellion against the Government ; and in this war those who were rebels in act and ait composed the great majoiity of the people, so that only a small minority sided with established authority. The rebellion, nevetthelcss, was effectually cu-hed ; some of thcreb«.ls wete banged and others transposed by the verdict of mililaiy tribunals ; foi, in consequence of the first outbreak, the representative constitution was suspended, and a pure despotism substituted for ordinaiy law. In upper CanaJo, on tbe contrary, although the Provincial Government was very generally unpopular, and those who uere called Reformers constituted probably a considerable niaj >rity of the people, it was only a very small minoiu.y that actual!) rebelled, or that ever contemplated rebellion against the Imperial power. The actual outbreak of a small portion of this small minority created a general fever of loyalty in Upper Canada : the rebellion was crushed by the colonist* themselves without the aid of Imperial troops some rebels were hanged and some transported, and the rest were driven into the United Scates. la this Province the rebellion was not merely put down, but exterminated or obliterated: the whole colouy soon after the rebellion was remarkable for its loyalty to the empire ; and there was not the least occasion for suspending the Imperial constitution. In Upper Canada, moreover, alter the rebellion had hern put down, some of the rebels who had fled to the United States, together with some Ameiican " sympathizers," invaded tbe Province; and though this invasion was easily defeated, it occasioned some damage to property ; whereas Lower Canada wai not invaded from a foreign country. We big the reader to bear these distinctions iv mind; for the events now taking place in Canada have au intimate relation to the n. Iv both Provinces, of couise, damage was done to property by the warfare that took place in them. But here arises another and most important distinction*;

In Upper Canada, the iiamagfl ilone to property by rebellion and invasion was felt, ufter the restoration of pence, only by people who had sided with the Government : the others had disappeared, having either emigrated or shrunk into corners where they were happy if nobody talked about or observed them. Loyalists who had suffered by the rebellion and invasion now claimed compensation for thair losies ; and the Parliament of Upper Canada (still a distinct Province) passed an act by which ,£40,000 was awarded to the .sufferers. No provision, however, wa« made for raising the iconcy. Down to this time, nobody had drcHmt, or at any rate spoken, of compensation for lebelhon losses in Lower Canada . the suffeiers there were either actual rebels or persons belonging to the disaffected French majority, at that time in a state of political slavery ; every power of Government being then in the hands of the English minority which had put down the lebellion with the aid of Her Majesty's troops, f.nd which had not suffered, but inflicted, losses of propeity during the struggle. But now came an fvent which changed the aspect of things. The two Provinces were united under one Government, based on representation in Parliament. The Imperial power, moieover, adopted a new policy in Canada; namely, that of dtetmng the local Pailiament the only proper judge of locnl questions, and resolving to govern henceforth, aB respects local matters, always in harmony with the representative body. It is necessary to observe, further, that tl'<; existing laws of the two Provinces were not alteied except by the establishment of this new constitutional system ; and tnat, of pcc(ssity, legislation in the Parliament of the Un.ted Province wvh often confined to one or other of the becttons of the country which had been foi merry Upper and Lower Canada. These two &ections of the Province came to be called Canada West and CanaJa East, and were designated in provincial acts which applied to only one of them, as •* the portion of the Province formerly called Upper or Lower Canada." Soon after the Union, the act of the Parliament of Upper Canada for awarding £40,000 to uifferers by the rebellion came before the House of Assembly, and was altered so as to include losses not suffered by Loyalists, but inflicted by them on others ; that is, on persons who had belonged to the rebel party, but were now no longer afraid to ask for compensation for losses incurred at the hands of the military and volunteers. This " amendment " of the act was proposed by Mr. Baldwin, the leader of a party in Canada West which was supposed to have sympathized with the rebels tbere» and which wai now in close and avewed alliance with the great French or rebel party in Can ad i East. This alteration by the United Parliament of an Up. per Canada act was the flneit point of a wedge which has now split the whole colony into two factions ai hostile to each other as were the French and English of Lower Canada in 1837 : it passed without much opposition at the time, because the sufferers in Canada West were very anxious to get their money, because in practice nearly the whole of the money was sure to go to Loyalists, and because the admission of the principle of giving compensation for losses inflicted by Loyalists was not then deemed as important as it has since ■proved. Still no provision was made for raising the £"40,000. Another important event now took placp, The Baldwin-Lafontaine party, so called because Mr. Baldwin was the leader of a small Radical party in Canuda West, whilst his ally, Mr. Lafontaine, headed the gieat French party in Canada East, obtained a majority in the Assembly. It was in truth a French party ; the number of Canada West Membeis who followed Mi 1 . Baldwin being 1 only five. This party had hitherto been in Opposition under Lord Sydenham's administration of the government of United Canada, ilis successor, Sir Charles Bagot, had now to determine,^ therefore, between resorting to the exploded syitem of carrying on the government with the support of a minority of the representative body, and forming a Piovinci.il Ministry composed of the leaders of the majority. He adopted the latter course, and thus established what is called "reiponsible government." The result was a Lafontaine-Buldwin Ministiyi Wnilst this Provincial Administration lasted, several attempts were nude on behalf of the Canada West claim-mts to get the £30,000, but without sue cast. The object of the claimants was to make the #40,000 a charge on the general revenue of United Canada; but to this the French party of Canada East, combined with Mr. Baldwin'! small party in Canada West, strongly objected. Since they had a majority in the Assembly, and really directed the Government, as the majority of the Home of Commons really directs the British Government, they were of course success* ful in their opposiiion to the Canada- West claimants. In the course of the discussion that took pl.ice, the Government of Canada for the first time intimated that there vie\e claims in Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) of compensation for rebellion losses. If, they urged, the claimants of Canada West to be paid out of the general revenue of the Province, the claimants in Canada Eait may justly demand compensation out Of the same fund. Indirectly, or incidentally, the Government broached the question of compensation fcr losies principally irflicled by LoyalUts and suffered by rebelp. The unwillingness of the English or Loy« ahst party throughout Canada to bring this question to a practical issue, seems to have been the reason why under the Lifontaincßaldsvin Ministry nothing further was done to satisfy the claims of the Lojabsts in Canada West. Both parties were, as well they might be, afraid of the question. The Loyalists or English could not deny the abstract justice of giving compensation in one section of the Province, if it were given in the other, out of funds rai^d by taxation ol the whole colony, The French party, with its small number of allies in Canada West, was in power, and had then no mind to provolte such a storm as this question has since raised. Though in power, they were not so strong in power ns they are now. The Ministry formed by Sir Charles Bagot contained at least one member whose known prudence and caution may have had some influence on his colleagues, to whom power was a novelty, and who, uiuler the strange system of rule practised in Canada before the rebellions, had necessarily passed their lives in learning to be incurable demagogues. We allude to Mr. Daly, who was Provincial Secretary of Lower Canada under Lord Durham and Lord Seatoa, and Secretary of the United Province dow;> to the last change of Ministry in Canada under Lord lilgin. It may also be doubted whether either Sir Charles Bagot or Lord Metcalfe, who were Cv.v< i " ->>3 of Canuda during the fiisl Lafon« tains Mm/.,''}, would have deemed ill • r >i'.jn {, nf, >m» pensution for rcbtllion losses in Lo'.ver Canada a purely local quest.on : they nngl-t not improbably have thought it as much nn Im^eiial question asuould be that of reversing the elections of the militiry comts by wh'di rebels were hanged at Montreal, 'ihey could hardly have failed to perceive, that a proposal for com j ensation for resell on loscc? in JLowei Cunr>'!a bj a Minisliy of the French party, would piobably revive the old war oi races. It may be, therefore, that the fit st Lafontaine Ministiy was unable to moot this question practically, as the same rren (with tb.9 exception of Mr. Daly, vJio quitted office on the forma, lion of the present Lnfontaiae Ministry under Lori Elgin) have now mooted it.

The fust Lafontaine Ministry, however, quarrelled with Lord Metcalfe, and so threw themselves and their party out of power for nearly four \ears. Their successors, nmongbt whom was Mr. Dn'y, " appealed to the country," and were supported by a majority of the representative body. This Ministry, of whkh the leaders were Mr. Daly for Canada East, and Mr. Drapi>r(uow a judge) for Canada^\^ est, contained two or three gentlemen of French origin and of the high • eat respectability : but at they had differed with Mr. Lafontiine about his quarrel with Lord Metcalfe, and as Mr. Lafontaine is really the leader of the French Canadian nation, they possessed no influence with the prear majority in Canada Eatt, of their origin ; and the Daly-Draper Ministry wai iti fact Engliih as distinguished, from French. It represented the great mas? of thofe who had resisted and put down rebellion in both of the former Provinces. This Ministry, therefore, Loid Metcalfe being Governor- General, natural'}' endeavoured to provide the £40,000 for Upper Canada losses. Lord Metcalfe, in whose nature it was to consider justice and sound policy one, concurred with (hem in admitting that, in abstract justice, compensation for rebellion losies was equally due in both sections of the Province; and he could not fail to perceive that a measure of compensation for losses in Canada East, or French Canada, might be promoted by a Ministry of the English or Loyal party, without either exasperating the loyal or reviving the war of rares. Under the circumstances, therefore, policy did not forbid what justice required. The Bcly-Draper Ministry accordingly resolved to proceed with the rebellion claims in both sections of the Province. But they trod tenderly upon ground which they knew to be like eggs in its liability to break under pressure. They charged the £40,000 for Upper Can»di, not oa the consolidate! revenues of the United Provinces, but on a special fund, (the Tavern- licence fund and the Manias-licence fund,) which, as it arose mainly from taxation of people of English origin, was paid mainly by Canada West. As far ns could be, a local fund was appropriated to the local purpose. By this means, Canada East was prevented from feeling itself unjustly called upon to satisfy claims due in Canada West only, and arising out of the Upper Canada rebellion. The Upper Canada claims were thus finally disposed of. At the same time, the Lower or French Canada claims were referred to a Commission. The motion for entertaining these claims was made by a supporter of the Ministry, Mr. Scott, and seconded by the late Dr. Dunlop, an eminent Loyalist of Canada West. The proceedings so managed, excited no serious dissatisfaction amongst the English of Canada generally, or even the Loyalists par excellence. The Commission thereupon appointed was only authorised to receive claims, not to adjudicate upon them in any way. After a while, the Commission applied to the Executive Government for instiuctions : it wanted to know how it was to distinguish between actual rebels and from persons who had not actual'y rebelled ; and it was then instructed to receive claims from everybody who had not been convicted of rebellion according to law. Phis further step, which authorized the reception at least of claims from persons who had notoriously shared in the rebellion, passed without exciting any serious dissatisfaction. If the Daly-Draper Ministry had lasted, and had continued to proceed with the matter thus slowly and cautiously, the rebellion claims of Lowjr Canada might probably have been disposed of without creating much disturbance. But now there occurred another change in the Govprumeot. Lord Metcalf had gone home to die, and was succeeded by Lord Elgin ; the Daly-Draper Ministry, knowing that it bad fallen into a minority in the Assembly, tried a general election, end was beaten; and the LifontaineBdldwin party returned to power. The present Canadian Minutiy is deemed to be, and really is, notwithstanding an admixture of Baldwinitei from Canada West, a French Ministry. The Government is in the hands of the old French or rebel party. This Ministry is unchecked, apparently, by the Goveinor.General, who seemed to have thought tbe question of compensation for rebellion losses a purely local matter, in which the Imperial Government has no concern : it therefore brings a bill into the House of Assembly by which, if it should become law, compensation will be given to all who were not formally convicted of treason, anil the amount of compensation will be a charge on the general consolidated revenues of the Province It happens that the general revenue of Canada, being chiefly raised by duties of import, is paid by the consumers of imported commodities. These are principally the Engli»h, as distinguished from the French inhabitants of the colony ; which last, speaking generally, make their own clothes, sugar, and tobacco, and drink but little tea or wine. Thus the English or loyal colonist! feel that they will have to pay principa'ly for compensation to people who were for the most part cither actual rebels though not convicted, or rebels at heart, in 18 57 and 1838. The two facts which have inflamed (he English population of United Canada into a sort of madness are— firsr, that compensation to rebels who are of French origin is proposed by a Government of the French and once rebel p^rty ; and secondly, that the intended compensation is to come mainly out of the English and ouce anti rebel population- There may be something too in the rough manner and crowing tone which the present Ministry of formpr demagogues has exhibited to war Js its opponents whilst urging on the measure by means of its large mnjoriy in the Assembly. The quobtion of giving compensation to rebels, like that of amnesty after rebellion, is one of the nicest In the whole field of politics, and one that requires the most delicate handling in practice. Ii is surely a question also, when it occurs in a colony, in which the Imperial Government has much concern, and ou^ht to have the most influential voice : like the question of peace or war, it belongs as matter of right exclusively to the empire : it is eminently one of 'he few questions that can arUc in a colony which are not left to the colonists by the strictest adoption of the principle of " responsible government for colonies.' 1 Lord Elgin appears to have treated it as a mere local question, leaving it to be handled by the local Administration as they pleased. They ha\e handled it rashly and loughly and clumsily. Bad management of a subject that required the best possible management seems to have been the cause of all the mi.-chief. We bb»ll learn more about the effects by tbe next mail, and probably by many a mail yet to come.