Tag: Anti-Confederates

Posted on Posted in Coup, Democracy, History, Legislative, Self Government

“Hon. Mr. Wilkins, Attorney General, moved the following resolutions on the subject of confederation, in the house of assembly, on the 5th of February: That the members of the Legislative assembly of this Province, elected in 1862 simply to legislate under the colonial constitution, had no authority to make or consent to any material change of such constitution, without first submitting the same to the people at the polls That the resolution of the 10th of April, which preceded the enactment of the British North America Act is as follows Whereas it is the opinion of this house it is …

Debate on resolutions relative to repeal of the “British North America Act” in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia; session 1868 More…

Posted on Posted in Coup, History, Legislative

“At Confederation the Conservative Government then in power in Nova Scotia had filled all the vacancies in the Council (of which there were a number), occasioned not only by natural causes but by the appointment of a number of Councillors to the newly formed Senate of Canada; so that the Liberals who were returned in September of 1867 were in a minority in the Council.” “As to the practical reasons behind this determined attempt to get rid of the Council-three main arguments are usually advanced. First: That it is obsolete and unnecessary and that all the other Provinces in Canada, …

Constitutional Questions in Nova Scotia. The Attorney-General of Nova Scotia v. The Legislative Council of Nova Scotia More…

Posted on Posted in Coup, History

If arrogant assumption were argument, and cool impudence common sense, the advocates of Confederation in Nova Scotia might perhaps hope to convince the people of this province, some day, that it would be a great advantage to them to have the control of all their political and commercial affairs handed over to Canada as in intended under that scheme. From the first, unfounded assumption, and a tone of supercilious insolence towards all who ventured to differ from them in opinion, has been the only argument used by those people in the controversy, and from present appearances their stock of such …

“If the sky falls we shall catch larks” More…

Posted on Posted in Coup, History

Speaking of the Colonies reminds us that the Montreal Sun of the 28th ultimo editorially refers to the political condition of Canada in rather a striking manner. It states, we observe, that even the Toronto Globe has been forced to admit that Ontario is within the category of Provinces where the “canker of corruption” is eating out the life of the Government, where there exists a premeditated system of thieving from the public purse, an organized system of ballot-stuffing and ballot-switching. “Added to this,” says the Sun, “we have just witnessed the horrifying perjury in connection with the Gamey charges, …

Strong Argument Against Confederation More…

Posted on Posted in Coup, History

CONFEDERATION(To the Editor of the Star).SIR,-Although I have not yet seen the pamphlet published by Mr. Howe, in opposition to the proposed confederation of the British North American Provinces, you will, I hope, permit me to correct several misstatements of facts into which you have inadvertently been betrayed, by the perusal of Mr. Howe’s brochure, in your article in the “Star” of the 21st inst., upon a question involving the most important consequences, both to British North America and the Parent State. A scheme of confederation, providing for the Union of the British North American provinces under one Government and …

Dr. Tupper’s Letter More…

Posted on Posted in Academic Avenues, History

“The agricultural produce of the fertile Island found a ready market in industrial New England between 1854 and 1865. Exports to the United States fell from £120,928 in 1865 to £21,633 in 1866, while imports only slipped slightly.16 The cheap food that fed immigrant workers in New England mill towns during the Civil War now came from other sources. Stagnation gripped the Island economy, in spite of minor illicit trading with American fishermen. While Canada had been able to open some alternate markets after the collapse of reciprocity,1 7 Prince Edward Island had virtually no place to turn. Canadian farmers …

Annexation in the Maritimes? The Butler Mission to Charlottetown More…

Posted on Posted in Academic Avenues, Coup, History

“However, our chief interest in this matter lies not in the practical actions of statesmen but rather in the editorial opinion on this subject as expressed by the Halifax newspapers. Of these the Acadian Recorder was one of the first and most persistent champions of inter-provincial consolidation.” “By 1864 the question of B. N. A. Union had not yet become a strong political issue between parties. Both Liberal and Conservative party organs favored the scheme in principle, realizing that it was “pregnant with weal and woe to the people of British America.” As to the difficulties involved in the achievement …

The Halifax Press and B.N.A. Union 1856-1864 More…

Posted on Posted in Academic Avenues, Coup, History

“It now rested with Nova Scotia to give her decision. When Mr. Tilley’s government were first defeated at the polls, it seemed to Dr. Tupper, the Nova Scotian premier, impolitic and unnecessary to press the question in the sister province. Now, however, that New Brunswick had accepted the principle of union, it became incumbent on Nova Scotia to deal with the matter. For reasons which, no doubt, were in his opinion sufficient, Dr. Tupper decided and Sir Fenwick Williams, the lieut.-governor, acquiesced in the decision-that no dissolution should take place, but that the existing House of Assembly should be asked …

Political Experiences in Nova Scotia, 1867-1869 More…

Posted on Posted in Academic Avenues, Coup, History

“…in the Maritimes Confederation was the remedy for no particular evils, and it was an issue to be decided on its merits. It promised practical benefits of course, but it offered few practical solutions for Maritime problems. Confederation raised new problems: it did not solve old ones. In Nova Scotia these new problems erupted quite suddenly in public debate in August, 1864, with the first appearance of the Canadian visitors. The debate thus begun filled the pages of the newspapers. In Halifax four of the major newspapers carried an editorial on Confederation in virtually every issue from that time on …

Halifax Newspapers and the Federal Principle, 1864-1865 More…

Posted on Posted in Academic Avenues, Coup, History

THE HON. JUDGE PATTERSON “UNDER the above title Mr. Laurence J. Burpee has edited and published a series of letters written by Howe while in England in 1866-7, opposing the passage of the British North America Act, to William J. Stairs, one of the Vice Presidents of the League. Howe was himself the President, and its Constitution which Mr. Burpee gives in an Appendix is unmistakably his work. In expressing his thought in crisp sentences, where every word tells, there was in Nova Scotia no one aut similis aut secundus to the great Tribune.” “True to its claim to represent …

Joseph Howe and the Anti-Confederation League More…