In 1859 an important step was taken for the reorganization of King's College, which by an Act passed in that year, was changed into the University of New Brunswick. There had always been a great deal of dissatisfaction with the college in consequence of its denominational character, and in 1854 an Act was passed empowering the lieutenant-governor to appoint a commission to inquire into the state of King's College, its management and utility, with a view to improving it. The commissioners appointed were the Hon. John H. Gray, the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, J. W. Dawson, the Hon. John S. Saunders and the Hon. James Brown. The report, which was dated December 28th, 1854, was laid before both branches of the legislature in 1855. In 1857 the college council appointed a committee and prepared a draft of a bill which was laid before the legislature. This, with a few slight alterations, was the bill which was passed in 1859 for the establishment of the University of New Brunswick, and in this bill were embodied the principal recommendations of the commissioners appointed in 1854 to enquire into the state of the college. This Act transferred to the University of New Brunswick all the property of King's College and its endowment, and made the university liable for the payment of the debts and the performance of the contracts of King's College. It created a new governing body for the college to be styled the senate, to be appointed by the governor in council, and the president of the college was required to be a member of that body and also to be a layman. It conferred upon the senate the power of appointing the professors and other officers of the university, except the president, and also the power of removing them from office, subject to the approval of the governor in council. It also authorized the senate to fix their salaries. It abolished the professorship of theology and provided for the affiliation of other institutions with the university, and also for a number of free scholars. This Act, which was passed in April, 1859, was especially approved by Her Majesty in council on January 25th, 1860. Thus a new era in the higher education of New Brunswick was commenced, and a long step was taken towards making the college more acceptable to the people of that province. Great hopes were entertained at the time that this liberalizing of the constitution of the college would lead to a large increase in the number of its students, and a more general interest in its work, but, unfortunately, as the sequel showed, these hopes were only partially realized.
During the spring of 1860 circumstances occurred which led to the resignation of the postmaster-general, the Hon. Charles Connell. The legislature having adopted the decimal system of currency in the place of the pounds, shillings and pence which had been the currency of the province since its foundation, Mr. Connell, in March, 1860, was authorized to obtain a new set of postage stamps of the denominations required for use in the postal service of the province. No person, at that time, thought that a political crisis would arise out of this order, but it appears that Mr. Connell, guided by the example of presidents and postmasters-general of the United States, had made up his mind that instead of the likeness of the queen, which had been upon all the old postage stamps of the province, the five-cent stamp, the one which would be most in use, should bear the impress of his own countenance. Accordingly the Connell postage stamp, which is now one of the rarest and most costly of all in the lists of collectors, was procured and was ready to be used, when Mr. Connell's colleagues in the government discovered what was going on and took steps to prevent the new five-cent stamp from being issued. The correspondence on the subject, which will be found in the journals of 1861, is curious and interesting; it ended in the withdrawal of the objectionable stamps and in the resignation of Mr. Connell, who complained that he had lost the confidence of his colleagues, and in resigning, charged them with neglecting the affairs of the province. Only a few of the Connell stamps got into circulation, the remainder of the issue being destroyed. Mr. Connell's place as postmaster-general was filled by the appointment of James Steadman.
RESIGNATION OF MR. FISHER
In the early part of 1861 a very important event occurred in connection with the government which produced a lasting effect on provincial politics. Charges were made by a St. John Conservative paper, The Colonial Empire, in which it was stated that members of the government and certain Crown lands officials had been purchasing the most desirable and valuable Crown lands of the province for speculative purposes, and that in bringing these lands to sale the government regulations had been violated and the public treasury had suffered. A committee of the House was appointed to investigate these charges, and inquiry established the fact that an official of the Crown lands department had purchased some eight hundred acres. These lands were all bought at public sale, but in the forms of application other names were used, which was a violation of the rules of the department. A portion of the press at the time created a widespread excitement upon this subject, and the services of the official referred to were dispensed with. Some of the supporters of the government also took such ground in reference to the attorney-general, Mr. Fisher, that his retirement from the government became necessary, the accusation against him being that he had negligently permitted some improper sales of Crown lands to be made. It was felt at the time by some that the penalty that was paid by the attorney-general was excessive for the offence; but, under the excitement then existing, it was the only course that could be taken to avoid the defeat of the government. At the general election that followed a few months later, Mr. Fisher was reëlected for the county of York, and later on, after the excitement had passed over, the delinquent Crown lands official was reinstated. At the same election, that took place in 1861, the government was handsomely sustained, after one of the warmest contests that had ever taken place in New Brunswick. Probably the most effective nomination speech ever made by Tilley, during his long political career, was the one then delivered at the court-house, St. John, in his own defence, and in the vindication of his government against the charges made by the Opposition candidates and press.
CHAPTER V
THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY
The imperfect means of communication between the Maritime Provinces and Canada had long been recognized as a great evil, and very soon after the introduction of railways into England a line of railway was projected to run from St. Andrews, in New Brunswick, to Quebec. The transfer of a considerable tract of territory, which had been believed to be in New Brunswick, to the state of Maine, under the terms of the Ashburton Treaty, gave a check to this enterprise, and financial difficulties afterwards prevented its accomplishment. A more promising scheme was that of a railway from Halifax to Quebec, and this so far received the approval of the British government that an officer of engineers, Major Robinson, was, in 1847, detailed to conduct a survey of the proposed line. As this gentleman was influenced by purely military considerations, his line was carried as far from the United States boundary as possible, and consequently by a very long and circuitous route. During the session of 1852, Attorney-General Street introduced a series of resolutions in the New Brunswick legislature favouring the building of the Intercolonial Railway jointly by Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, according to terms which had been agreed upon by the delegates of each. This arrangement was that the Intercolonial Railway should be built through the valley of the St. John. These resolutions were carried by a large majority. During the recess, Mr. Chandler, as the representative of New Brunswick, and Mr. Hincks, the representative of Canada, went to London to endeavour to obtain from the British government financial aid to build the Intercolonial Railway. This was refused on the ground that such a work had to be one of military necessity. Further efforts were made in 1855, and again in 1858, to influence the British government in favour of this railway, but without result; the answer of Downing Street being that the heavy expenditure involved in the Crimean War prevented the government from assisting in the construction of public works, such as the Intercolonial Railway, however desirable in themselves.
DELEGATION TO ENGLAND
The effort to secure the construction of the Intercolonial Railway was renewed in 1861. At a meeting of delegates representing Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which was held at Quebec on September 30th, it was resolved that the three governments should renew the offers made to the imperial government in 1858 with reference to the Intercolonial Railway, and that the route to be adopted be decided by the imperial government. The Hon. Mr. Tilley, who was at this Quebec meeting, was sent to England as a delegate to confer with the imperial government with regard to the railway, while Nova Scotia was represented by the Hon. Joseph Howe, and Canada, by the Hon. P. M. Vankoughnet. The delegates reached England in November and placed themselves in communication with the Duke of Newcastle, who was then colonial secretary, and they also had interviews with the prime minister, Lord Palmerston, the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretary of war, and the president of the board of trade. While in England, the seizure of the commissioners of the southern confederacy, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, by Commodore Wilkes, on board the British mail steamer Trent, produced a crisis in the relations between Great Britain and the United States which seemed likely to lead to a war, and greatly strengthened the position of the delegates, who were able to point out the difficulty involved in defending Canada without a railway to the sea. They presented their views to the colonial secretary in a very ably written state paper, which should have convinced those to whom it was addressed that the railway was an absolute necessity. The delegates estimated the cost of the railway at £3,000,000 sterling, and they asked the imperial government to join in a guarantee of four per cent. interest on this sum, each of the provinces to guarantee £20,000 a year for this purpose and the imperial government, £60,000. This proposal was rejected by the British government, but it offered "an imperial guarantee of interest towards enabling them to raise by public loan, at a moderate rate, the requisite funds for constructing the railway." The British government, therefore, would do nothing for this great work except to indorse the bonds of the provinces to a limited extent, for it was stated in the Duke of Newcastle's letter to the delegates that "the nature and extent of the guarantee must be determined by the particulars of any scheme which the provincial governments may be disposed to found on the present proposal and on the kind of security which they would offer."