The government of Canada had full knowledge of what was going on at Charlottetown, and they considered the time opportune for the purpose of bringing to the notice of the delegates from the Maritime Provinces the subject of a confederation of all the British North American colonies. A telegram was received while the delegates were in session announcing that representatives of the government of Canada had left Quebec for the purpose of meeting the delegates of the Maritime Provinces, and placing certain proposals before them. On the receipt of this message the further consideration of the question which they had met to discuss was deferred until after the Canadian delegates had arrived. They came in the government steamer Victoria on the following day and were found to embrace the leading men then in Canadian political life,—the Hons. J. A. Macdonald, George Brown, Georges E. Cartier, Alexander T. Galt, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Hector L. Langevin, William McDougall and Alexander Campbell. These delegates represented the Reform, as well as the Conservative party, and were therefore able to speak with authority in regard to the views of the people of both Upper and Lower Canada. They were accorded seats in the convention, and at once submitted reasons why in their opinion a scheme of union, embracing the whole of the British North American colonies, should be adopted. The Hon. John A. Macdonald and Messrs. Brown and Cartier were heard on this subject, the financial position of Canada was explained, and the sources of revenue and wealth of the several provinces were discussed. Speeches were also made by Messrs. Galt, McGee, Langevin and McDougall, and after having commanded the attention of the convention for two days the Canadian deputation withdrew. Before doing so they proposed that if the convention concluded to suspend its deliberations upon the question of Maritime union, they should adjourn to Quebec at an early day, to be named by the governor-general, to consider the question of confederation. On the following day the convention adjourned, on the ground that it would be more for the general interest of British North America to adopt the larger union than a union of the Maritime Provinces merely, and it was thought that this might be effected without any very great difficulty, for there was then no strong feeling evinced in any quarter against confederation.
From Charlottetown the members of the convention and the Canadian deputation went to Halifax, where they were received most cordially and entertained at a banquet. They then took their departure for St. John, where they were entertained at a public dinner at which many leading men of the city were present. The chair was occupied by the Hon. John H. Gray, one of the delegates, and the expressions in favour of the proposed confederation were strong and hearty. No one could have suspected at that time that the movement for confederation would meet with so much opposition in New Brunswick. All seemed plain sailing but, as the result showed, the battle for confederation had yet to be fought, and it was won only after a long and doubtful struggle.
THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE
According to arrangement, the delegations from the other provinces met in convention at Quebec on October 10th, all the colonies, including Newfoundland, were represented and the delegates were as follows:—
Canada.—Hon. Sir Etienne P. Taché, premier; Hon. John A. Macdonald, attorney-general west; Hon. Georges E. Cartier, attorney-general east; Hon. George Brown, president of the executive council; Hon. Alexander T. Galt, finance minister; Hon. Alexander Campbell, commissioner of Crown lands; Hon. William McDougall, provincial secretary; Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee, minister of agriculture; Hon. Hector Langevin, solicitor-general east; Hon. J. Cockburn, solicitor-general west; Hon. Oliver Mowat, postmaster-general; Hon. J. C. Chapais, commissioner of public works.
Nova Scotia.—Hon. Charles Tupper, provincial secretary; Hon. W. A. Henry, attorney-general, Hon. R. B. Dickey, Hon. Adams G. Archibald, Hon. Jonathan McCully.
New Brunswick.—Hon. Samuel L. Tilley, provincial secretary; Hon. John M. Johnson, attorney-general; Hon. Edward B. Chandler, Hon. John Hamilton Gray, Hon. Peter Mitchell, Hon. Chas. Fisher, Hon. William H. Steeves.
Newfoundland.—Hon. F. B. T. Carter, speaker of the House of Assembly; Hon. Ambrose Shea.
Prince Edward Island.—Hon. John Hamilton Gray, premier; Hon. Edward Palmer, attorney-general; Hon. W. H. Pope, provincial secretary; Hon. George Coles, Hon. A. A. Macdonald, Hon. T. H. Haviland, Hon. Edward Whelan.
Sir Etienne P. Taché, who was then premier of Canada, was unanimously chosen president of the conference, and Major Hewitt Bernard, of the staff of the attorney-general west, private and confidential secretary. It was arranged that the convention should hold its meetings with closed doors, and it was laid down as a principle of the discussion that, as the matters to come up for debate were all of a novel character, no man should be prejudiced or held liable to the charge of inconsistency because he had changed his views in regard to any particular matter in the course of the discussion. It was also agreed that the vote, in case of a division, should be by provinces and not by numbers, Canada having two votes, representing Canada East and Canada West, and each of the other provinces one. This arrangement made it quite certain that the interests of the Maritime Provinces were not likely to be prejudiced by the result of the vote, or the work of the convention. It was soon decided that a federal union was to be preferred to a legislative union, and on the second day of the meeting the outlines of the proposed confederation were submitted in a series of resolutions by the Hon. John A. Macdonald. The general model of the proposed confederation was that of the United States, but with this difference, that whereas in the United States all powers not expressly given by the constitution to the federal government are held to belong to the several states, in the Canadian constitution all powers not expressly reserved to the several provinces were held to belong to the federal parliament. Thus in the United States the residuum of power is in the several states, while in Canada it is in the federal union and in the parliament of the Dominion. No doubt the recent example of the civil war in the United States, which was the result of an extreme assertion of state rights, was largely responsible for this feature of the Canadian constitution. It is clear, however, that it is a feature that is to be commended, because its tendency is to cause Canadians to regard themselves rather as Canadians than as belonging to any particular province, while in the United States the feeling of statehood is still very strong. There are, of course, many other contrasts between the Canadian confederation and the federal union of the United States, arising from radical differences in the system of government. Nothing like responsible government, as understood in the British empire, exists in the United States, while this essential feature had to be preserved in the Canadian constitution, not only with reference to the Dominion parliament, but also in the legislatures of the several provinces.