Among the strange things that we see Are quondam traitors like McGee, Prating to us of liberty. With him were England’s crosses, bars Made red with impious wars – The gods she worships – Mamon -Mars!
A champion of the rights of man He raged and hurled his awful ban At Britain’s head and off he ran!
We see him next in Yankee land; And there he offered heart and hand To any who, at his command,
Would simply cross the wide, wide ocean And whip proud England; what a notion! While he would stay and watch the motion.
None caring to obey his order Disgusted D’Arcy crossed the border And of himself became recorder.
He told Niagra’s waterfall, Rivaling its roar with frantic bawl. That he would do the deuce and all!
But finding treason would not pay, He tried the loyal dodge. Today No man so loyal-so they say.
And yet this man – this patriot wight – Stands forth mid those, a shining light, Who’ve robbed us of our due birthright.
Though dark and subtle in his mind His boast of loyalty can’t blind Folks eyes to what lurks far behind.
If he could raise a feud betwixt England and we, he’d think us fixed; For annexation might come next.
Unless indeed he could be king; And all his chieftains – not a few – Would not come up, great Mac, to you.
Ah, D’Arcy, D’Arcy! many doubt you, And think we were as well without you – That’s why all loyal subjects flout you.
We seek not to be a new nation, Nor do we yearn for annexation, – Yet anything but Federation.
Anon. (Fred. ?) Morning Chronicle, January 10, 1868
Repeal or no Repeal? that is the question; Whether ’tis best for us to live in quiet, As we are now, a tail end of the great confederation, Or to take arms against this unjust union, And by our voting end it? To go -secede – That’s all! And with one voice, united at the poll, End all this doubt of what is our intention.
Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished, To be- but free once more; perchance a union maritime, Aye, there’s the rub; for, were we free what good might come, When we have shuffled off this Tupper yoke, Must make us hopeful. There’s the tariff That makes calamity of our trade, For who would bear the tax on flour, the high price paid. Paid for sugar, tea, and soap; the grinding down Of the poor man to build monopolies And fatten the few rich who own the factories. When we could cure all this with reciprocity?
Who would taxation bear, only exist, not live, And grovel on in sloth, still sinking deeper in it, Day by day? But the dread of being naturalized, And loosing our birthright makes us halt, And would emigrate to the far west, From whose borders few travellers e’er return. And so we hesitate, and sickly sentiment Makes cowards of us all: So let not now Our true, firm resolution be led astray By the pale cast of thought the coming fight may offer. Great agitation. Soft you, now? He comes, – Lord High Commissioner Tupper – Arch traitor, – In thy presence May our woes be all remembered, and our hearts Steeled with the thoughts of cursed ’67.
Pity the sorrows of some Union men, Whose unwise steps have borne them to your door; Whose days politically are but a span, 0 give relief! And tax our bread no more.
Those scattered ranks, extremety bespeaks, Those Customs locks do justify the Antis fears; And many a furrow in our grief worn cheeks Has been the channel to a flood of tears.
You have erected on the rising ground With ‘miles of cornice’, drew me from the road; These sinecures a residence have found, And grandeur a magnificent abode.
Hard is the fate of fishermen and poor, Here as our members voted taxes off our bread, Saw Canadians growing corn around their door From produce of my farms they shall be fed.
O! take us to your hospitable dome, Keen blows the opposition wind and cold; Short is our passage to the friendly tomb, Our cause is poor and we arc badly sold.
Pity the sorrows of poor Union men, Whose blinded steps have borne them to your door; Whose days politically are but a span, O! grant respite and tax our corn no more.
“Highly emotional” is an interesting term used here, thieving and thievery can certainly arouse “emotion” in all those whose goods, or whose rights, have been absconded. I assume this language is used in order to paint the anti-confederate as illogical, as opposed to the non-stop mendacity and “licksplitterism” which has continued to be the trademark of “the Canadians”, bereft of “emotion” except for that which is their contrivance, which suits their interests.
“CONFEDERATION WAS IMPOSED upon Nova Scotia in 1867 over the opposition of significant groups of people within the province. There were many reasons for their opposition to union, and a great deal has been written concerning the nature of the struggle and the ultimate success of the Confederates. That Nova Scotia’s response to Confederation was highly emotional has not gone unnoticed.”
Hush my babes, be still and trusting Sooth your fears and soundly sleep. My biggest bubble’s almost bursting, But soothing Syrup’s blessed cheap.
Sleep soft dupes and trust in Tupper; Retrenchment’s but a naughty dream, The sad effect of too much supper, He never thought of such a scheme.
Hush, that’s not the cars you’re hearing: ‘Tis but the mind – you silly pup, Longley’s only ‘electioneering’; He’s tore the cursed Railroad up.
Soft my babes, let music charm you; ‘Quebec Scheme’s’ a blessed thing; Not a Fenian will dare to harm you, When under Canada’s wing.
Happy days, devoutly withed for! Our independence loosly sold! Every knave in the place is fished for, And your poor dupes, left out (in the) cold.
Nelson v. Dartmouth, perhaps part of the genesis for the Trailer Park Boys.
“After the Act of Union in 1840, British opinion mounted for Canada to become responsible for her own defence. At the same time, American pressure on the western territories became severe. The Northern Pacific Railway, chartered by Americans in 1864, had the object of providing transcontinental service. American settlement was pushing ever northward. Without the protection of British troops, American expansionist claims to the west seemed impossible to resist.
The scheme of Confederation was principally designed to overcome these problems. It was thought that a larger, strongly centralized political unit would be capable of (a) re-establishing the public credit, (b) undertaking the considerable public expenditure on transport which was the condition precedent to development, and (c) offering a sufficient defence posture to resist American pressure.”
Cultural and sectional rivalries proved insuperable obstacles to the legislative union foreseen by Sir John A. Macdonald. A federal state, characterized by strong cultural and regional guarantees, was the compromise. But there was to be no question of economic decentralization. By the British North America Act, 1867 the Dominion government was granted legislative power over:
91(3) The raising of Money by any Mode or System of Taxation.
By section 122 of the Act customs and excise, which accounted for the vast bulk of public revenue immediately prior to Confederation, were brought within the central government’s exclusive competence. Section 118 of the Act, since repealed, 4 made provision for payment of subsidies by the central government to the provinces, with the intent that they be “in full settlement of all future demands on Canada”. In the early years of Confederation such subsidies accounted for some fifty per cent of all provincial revenues.”
“Three mechanisms were tried to ameliorate this unsatisfactory constitutional arrangement. The first was dissolution of the Confederation. This was not conspicuously successful. Nova Scotia was the only government to attempt it. Within two years after union, under the leadership of Joseph Howe, the Imperial Parliament was petitioned to release the province from Confederation. The second alternative involved an increase in the subsidies paid under the B.N.A. Act. Despite some early federal willingness to alter the subsidies stated by the B.N.A. Act to be in full settlement of all claims on the central government, several events intervened to make the Dominion government rely on the full settlement clause and refuse further increase. A global depression, beginning in 1873, placed a severe crimp in the central government’s fiscal capacities. The railroads entailed vast expense, creating further federal monetary restraint. From 1873 until 1906 the subsidy payments stood unaltered. Lastly, resort by the provinces to their own powers of taxation was explored. Some means had to be developed to make these significant. The means found was a judicial stretching of the concept of “direct taxation” to encompass modes of taxation which would have been quite unimaginable to the Fathers of Confederation.”
“In Nelson v. Dartmouth a municipal by-law imposed a license fee of $15 per month on operators of mobile home home situated in the mobile home park. The by-law was attacked as ultra vires in that it overstepped the limits of section 92(9). Counsel argued that the legislation was enacted for the colourable purpose of imposing a personal property tax upon the owners of mobile homes situated in the parks in question. Mr. Justice MacDonald, in considering this submission, held as follows:
In my view, a genuine licensing-tax provision imposed for the primary purpose of revenue or for revenue purposes incidental to valid provincial regulation of such an operation as that of mobile home parks-as is the case here-is not invalidated by the circumstance that the tax may be indirect in its general incidence (See Laskin, Canadian Constitutional Law, 2nd ed., pp. 754-5; and Reference re Farm Products Marketing Act…).
There is no requirement in this case that the indirect taxation by way of license fee be limited to the expenses of the regulatory scheme, nor is there any indication that the fees were so limited. The only limitation referred to by the court is that the license fees must be in relation to the regulation of mobile home parks and not in relation to the raising of revenue by indirect taxation.”
This is “Fairfield”, residence of the great Joseph Howe from 1863 to 1869. Amid his books and his garden, Howe spent many happy days in this rural retreat away from all sorts of persons who continually besieged his Halifax home. It was at “Fairfield”, during the Confederation wrangles, that he made perhaps the most momentous decision of his whole career, when in 1869, he left the Liberal party.
Many prominent Liberals and Conservatives, like wealthy Enos Collins, bitterly opposed the Confederation scheme. Howe was their spokesman, and the leader of two futile delegations to London seeking repeal of the B.N.A.
Returning home from an election victory in Hants County, he was met at the ferry and escorted in a torchlight procession to “Fairfield”, while bonfires blazed on the hills, and an 18-gun salute was fired.
Realizing that opposition was useless, Howe then headed the agitation against the Dominion for adequate financial relations, popularly known as “Better Terms”. Advised by Sir John A. MacDonald that such proposals would never pass the House of Commons unless he accepted a Cabinet post, Howe eventually sacrificed his life-long political feelings in favor of his native province, and became a member of the Conservative Government. “Anti-Confederates” never forgave him.
It seems safe to assume, therefore, that at “Fairfield”, the future Dominion-Provincial policy of that day was determined. It was also at “Fairfield” that Howe prepared his marvelous oration delivered at Halifax in 1864, on the occasion of Shakespeare’s tercentenary.
Joseph Howe’s commanding figure, clad in gray suit and gray beaver hat, was a familiar sight as he drove or walked along Windmill Road, followed by his little dog, on his way to the ferry.
At a meeting of the Members of the House of Assembly, in the Assembly Room, in the Provincial Building at Halifax, on the 7th day of November, 1867, the following Declaration was unanimously agreed to, and ordered to be published:—
We, the representatives of Nova Scotia, having assembled for the purpose of constructing an Administration, and having effected that object, cannot separate without making known to our constituents our unanimous and unalterable determination to use every lawful and constitutional means to extricate this Province from the operation of the British North America Act, the passage of which, in the Imperial Legislature, was obtained by falsehood, fraud, and deception.
We shall take the earliest opportunity of informing the Queen and her Parliament that the people of Nova Scotia were systematically and perseveringly prevented from expressing their will on the subject of Confederation until after the Imperial statute was enacted, and we shall respectfully insist that the Act is invalid as to this Province, because it subjects her people, without their consent and against their will, to a Legislature on which it assumes to confer a power of taxation which the Imperial Parliament itself does not constitutionally possess.
We shall, in the name and on behalf of the people, firmly reject Confederation, and we entertain no apprehension that the Imperial authorities will attempt, or even desire, to coerce the loyal people of Nova Scotia into a political alliance to which they have manifested an invincible repugnance.
We have observed with indignation the insult offered to the people, by the ex-Lieutenant-Governor, Sir W.F. Williams, with a Council, who never possessed the confidence of the people, whose policy was emphatically condemned at the recent elections, whose enforced resignations had been tendered, and who were simply holding office until the nomination of their successors, in having gazetted a number of appointments to the Legislative Council, as the pretended testamentary, or posthumous, work, of a former defunct Administration.
This extraordinary step must have been taken under the authority of the Canadian Executive, as the moribund Administration of Nova Scotia would not have dared, on their own responsibility, to perpetrate such an outrage on the rights of the people. We consider these irregular and insulting appointments an act of tyranny, and an earnest of the kind of respect that would be paid to the wishes and feelings of Nova Scotia, were they weak enough to suffer themselves to be defrauded of their constitutional rights, forced into an unjust Confederation, and subjected to the oligarchical despotism of an irresponsible Executive Council in Canada.
It is our desire that the new Administration shall immediately communicate, to the Imperial authorities, the facts and details of this offensive proceeding, and respectfully demand its reversal, and the dismissal from the Council, of men, who have obviously been selected for the express purpose of obstructing the People’s house, in their efforts to reject Confederation, by creating discord between the upper and lower branches of the Legislature.
We in no way impeach the prudence or patriotism of the Members elect in having resolved to attend in the Dominion Parliament; but while we have confidence that they will not designedly compromise the rights of the people of Nova Scotia, we nevertheless feel bound to protest against their acceptance of their seats, or any action they may take, in that Legislature, being in any manner construed into an acquiescence, on the part of this Province, in the obligatory force of the British North America Act, as regards the rights of the people.
In conclusion, we recommend the Executive Council to advise an early meeting of the Legislature, in order that no time may be lost in disposing of Confederation and restoring the constitution of the Province to its former efficiency. By order of the meeting. Halifax County. Meeting in Town of Dartmouth:
Mechanics Institute, later Town Hall on Ochterloney Street.
On Friday evening, Dec. 27, 1867, a very large gathering was held at the Mechanics Institute, Dartmouth, in accordance with the notice given by N. Russell, Esq., in response to a requisition of the inhabitants of that town, who desired to express their views on the great question of Repeal.
Shortly after seven o’clock Mr. Russell called the meeting to order and stated briefly its objects. Jos. H. Weeks, Esq., was chosen Secretary.
Alexander James, Esq., moved the first resolution, which runs as follows:—
“Resolved, That we, the electors and others, residents and tax-payers in this district, opposed to a Union with Canada, feeling deeply aggrieved by the oppressive and injurious Act of Union, inasmuch as we are made thereby the victims of an intolerable and ruinous taxation, hereby resolve to use all peaceable and lawful means to obtain a repeal of the aforesaid most obnoxious enactment.”
“And be it further resolved, That we, the said electors and others of this district, opposed to a Union with Canada, petition the Local Legislature of Nova Scotia for redress and that the following be the petition for that purpose : —
“To the Honorable the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia : “The Petition of the Electors and others, inhabitants of Dartmouth and neighborhood,
“HUMBLY SHEWETH—
“That your Petitioners, feeling deeply aggrieved and concerned by the present aspect of public affairs in this Province, beg respectfully to bring the same to the notice of your Honorable House for the following reasons:—
“First—That by legislation, adopted in England by a Parliament in which we had no representation, we have been forced into a Union with other Provinces in British America, without our sanction or consent—a Union which is not only repulsive to our feelings as the FREE subjects of our most Gracious Queen, but destructive and injurious to our best interests as citizens of this Province;
“Second—That your Petitioners, not only being dissatisfied and disgusted with the mode in which Confederation was carried, and with the gross and wilful misrepresentation used for that purpose, the worst fears of your Petitioners are more than realized by every act of the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa—acts which have already proved fatal to the happiness and prosperity of the people of the Province generally.
“Third—That this so-called Union with Canada has been accomplished by means and measures which a very large majority of the people of this Province consider unconstitutional and illegal, not only because it is subversive of their just rights as citizens of this Province, but as attempting to establish a precedent and principle which any loyal British subject feels keenly and holds in utter detestation.
“Fourth —That your Petitioners consider the British American Confederation Act most debasing in its character and operation, inasmuch as it places the loyal citizens of Nova Scotia on a lower and MORE DEGRADED political level than other British subjects in any part of the world.
“Fifth—That your Petitioners all along protested against a Union with Canada, and they will continue to do so until fully relieved from what appears to them, after six months’ experience to be little short of Egyptian tyranny and bondage; Canada having already shown by its superior numbers in the Dominion Parliament that we are to be governed and taxed solely for Canadian purposes, totally irrespective of our own wishes, feelings, and interests.
“Sixth—Under these circumstances, and seeing it would be utterly vain to appeal to the Dominion Parliament for redress, your Petitioners resolved to submit their complaints to the Local Legislature of Nova Scotia, and to respectfully urge upon that Honorable Assembly the absolute necessity for immediate measures being taken to bring in its legislative capacity this gross oppression and Injustice, of which we have been the victims, to the notice of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and the Imperial Parliament.
“Your Petitioners are satisfied that if your Honorable House will timeously and firmly appeal to the British Parliament, the people of this Province will soon be relieved from the operation of the aforesaid most injurious and obnoxious Act of Confederation.
“May it, therefore, please your Honorable House to consider the foregoing statements, and in respect thereto, and of the urgency and importance of the question at issue, to spare no efforts until you obtain a total Repeal of the obnoxious measure of Confederation, in so far as Nova Scotia is concerned; and your Petitioners pledge to you their steady and unwavering support. Your petitioners behoove that this object can be accomplished by peaceable means, and a steady and determined resolve on the part of your Honorable House, supported as you will be by a vast majority of the loyal and intelligent people of this Province, And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.”
James W. Turner, Esq., seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously by acclamation.
Jos. H. Weeks, Esq., then moved the following resolution : — “Resolved, That inasmuch as all efforts for redress from the Parliament at Ottawa are quite useless, the superior number of members representing Canada and Canadian interests being far more than sufficient, as has been shown by the votes on the Tariff, and other measures, to neutralize all efforts on the part of the members from Nova Scotia in the said Parliament at Ottawa, to obtain redress; it is, therefore, the opinion of this meeting that the members from Nova Scotia to the Dominion Parliament should not again return to that Parliament, until every means for a Repeal of the Union be exhausted.”
The resolution was seconded by J. Fuller, Esq., and carried unanimously.
Donald Ross, Esq., then moved the following resolution : — “Resolved, That we cordially approve of the proceedings of our representatives to the Dominion and local Parliaments; and have the utmost confidence that they will continue their efforts to relieve this Province from the unfortunate position in which it has been placed by the Act of Confederation.”
T. A. Bauer, Esq., seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. The meeting then closed, the expression of feeling having been most enthusiastic throughout.
N. RUSSELL, Chairman. JOS. H. WEEKS, Secretary. Dartmouth, December 27, 1867.
Portland Street, near Maitland Street, looking east towards five corners. Albert Street seen at right.
In the spring of 1892 the water-works project was carried on more extensively with trenches being dug concurrently in sections both without and within the Town limits. During that year and the next, main streets of downtown Dartmouth presented an extraordinary appearance with long stretches of yawning ditches topped by ridges of reddish clay and slate-ish stone which narrowed the thoroughfares into one-lane arteries.
Gutters were strewn with long links of heavy iron pipe, while here and there the sidewalk was obstructed with breast-high piles of birch-brush used in blasting operations. The periodic sounds of the coarse blasting-horn halted teamsters in their tracks and warned pedestrians to scamper for shelter and await the thudding boom of the explosion which sometimes sent sprays of stone against window-panes nearby. On muggy days the atmosphere was laden with pungent fumes of spent powder mingled with the smell of dampish earth which seemed to cling to the clothing of the sweating navies as they scrambled out of the deep trenches sharp on the bang of the noonday gun from Halifax Citadel.
Meanwhile Halifax and Dartmouth plumbers were busily engaged fitting up residences along the route of the pipes with modern water and sewerage facilities. Tests on the main line were made at intervals along Lake Road and within the Town proper. Finally on October 20th, water was let into the pipe at the upper part of Ochterloney, and the precious liquid gushed forth from a hydrant at the corner of Pine Street. The first tumblerful from this outlet was passed to Dr. Norman F. Cunningham, who upon sampling the same, pronounced it “good and wholesome brew.”
The first building to receive the service was the Town Hall where the water was turned on on November 2nd. By the end of 1892 some 125 houses and shops had been connected with the new system, and at least 125 water-buckets thrown into discard.
One can imagine with what feelings of relief and delight, young people of my generation welcomed this wonderful improvement. No more would we be obliged of a morning to jostle for our turn at the old town-pump amid the milling crowd of boys and girls striving to fill their buckets before school time.
Others were not so jubilant. Truckmen, for instance, who eked out their incomes by hauling puncheons of pond-water for the use of large families on wash-days, were now no longer deluged with orders on Monday mornings. The new arrangement also spelled doom for itinerant water-carriers like Frank Wilson and Saul Bauld, who were soon forced into liquidation.
In addition to a water system, the year 1892 is to be noted for another important advancement in the public utilities of Dartmouth. This was the installation of electric lights. Promoted by Dr. A. C. Cogswell, the Dartmouth Electric Light Company set up a generating plant at Ochterloney and Maple Streets, and strung wires on their poles throughout parts of the Town to provide for some 60 incandescent lights, besides arranging to service several shops and houses.
Up to that time the only street lights to which we were accustomed came from the small kerosene lamps whose rays were weak enough at their best, but often rendered worthless when high winds sputtered the flame and blackened the lamp-shade. Then on Thursday July 14th, about 9 o’clock in the evening, we were surprised and dazzled by the sudden illumination of streets from a series of electric lights at corners which brightened-up whole town blocks. To us youngsters, this was the eighth wonder of the world.
The contract with the Company was to run for five years at a cost of $20 per light per annum. George Foston and his wagon equipped with an oil barrel, small ladder and a supply of lamp-wicks, who had been making rounds as town lamplighter for nearly twenty years, ceased his operations.
By 1892 most of the work on St. Peter’s brick church was completed, and on the first Sunday of February the basement section was open for divine service. (For the next nine years, the upper portion remained as a vast empty shell.)
In a three-mile skating race at Dartmouth Rink that winter “Sandy” Patterson, who could cut around corners with ease, had no trouble defeating Charles Gordon the well-known speedster of Montreal. Ice-sports and carnivals were held frequently, but only an occasional hockey match of importance because the Chebucto team had not much competition either in Halifax or Dartmouth.
Zera Semon, the magician, (and no doubt his little son Larry) appeared for a week at Reform Club Hall. The nightly program of entertainment given there by the Kickapoo IndianMedicine Company also drew large crowds, and so enthused some of our local lassies that they made a futile attempt to run away from home and travel with the troupe. A tight-rope walker named Langwell gave an exhibition on a rope stretched high across Portland Street from the old Post Office to Brown’s corner.
Houses erected during 1892 included one in the vacant Esson field at the corner of King and Boggs Street built by John T. Walker for H. S. Creighton. The place was equipped with the most modern plumbing and hot-water heating. Mr. Creighton’s meticulous diary gives the total cost of the residence as amounting to $5,082.47. Alexander Hutchinson, plasterer, built a two-storey house at Ochterloney and Pine Streets. The high steeple of St. James’ Church was taken down by John A. Chisholm. Prescott Johnson purchased the house adjoining the Manse from Wm. McV. Smith, harness maker.
Luther Sterns died that year leaving a $40,000 estate. He owned the field bounded by Tulip, Maple, Rose and Pine Streets. Another industrialist James W. Turner, the tanner, also passed away. He was worth $100,000. “Jock” Patterson the piper, who came here with the 42nd Highlanders after the Crimean War, died in September. At 63 years of age he participated in the Riel Rebellion of 1885. His descendants are legion.
The year 1891-1892 marked my debut at Greenvale School in the Primer Class of Miss Emma Hume. A few of us young hopefuls of that vintage had been shuttled through Miss Hamilton’s crowded kindergarten owing to our ability to read some simple words on the beginners’ chart. My knowledge of these was gained mostly from an acquaintance with large-lettered phrases blackened on the six-foot bulletin board of the Halifax “Daily Echo” which was placed against a lamp-post at our corner in the late afternoon, and which stood inside the shop confronting us every succeeding day. Besides that there were copies of the three evening papers left from the day’s sales, strewn on the kitchen table after supper when we youngsters gathered around the single kerosene oil-lamp to do school lessons or clip out newspaper pictures.
At Greenvale School a high board fence extended from the southeast angle of the building towards the Canal stream, establishing a dividing line between the two play-yards and the two outhouses, which were built back to back. The lower level of the school had separate playrooms for girls and boys where during the recess periods noisy groups of grown-ups shouted, chased and dodged one another around the upright beams or across the creaking floor in an atmosphere that was literally clouded with indoor dust.
The school year constituted 212 days, divided into two terms. The winter term ran from November 1st to April 30th. The summer term extended from May 1st to the end of October with a six weeks’ break for vacation beginning on the second Monday of July. In 1891 schools closed for the summer on Friday, July 10th.
The most popular single holiday of early summer was the Natal Day of Halifax on June 21st. The Lieutenant-Governor always proclaimed it a public holiday in the Halifax area to commemorate the settlement of the City in 1749. Dominion Day was not recognized very much hereabouts, and schoolhouses in Dartmouth and in Halifax were kept open on July 1st as they had been, with few exceptions, both before and after 1867.
At Halifax, the Citadel flagstaffs, and some shipping in the harbor would be gaily bedecked with flags or bunting. The chartered Banks, the Dominion Government offices (not the Provincial) and some business places kept the holiday, but definitely a large number of wholesale and retail firms, ordinary shops, and the Liberal newspapers did not then observe Dominion Day, nor ever had. This, in spite of the fact that the City itself had given a majority vote for Confederation in the Dominion election of 1867. Almost every July 1st, the “Acadian Recorder” used to refer contemptuously to the day when Nova Scotians were “sold down the river”.
By 1892, however, much of the old antagonism to Confederation was beginning to weaken. Younger men were growing up and succeeding their ancestors in the business world. In June of 1892, a large group of Halifax merchants petitioned the Mayor to declare a holiday on Dominion Day. The answer was that there had already been a holiday on June 21st, and another one was due on Labor Day, then held about mid-July.
