Letters from Van Dieman's Land : written during four years imprisonment for political offences committed in Upper Canada

Front matter

RBlMf37 the estate of

J. Stuart Fleming i t

Sec page 205.

Introduction

Previous to entering upon the incontestable evidence I proposed in the prefaratory pages, to deduce from authentic documents, I would answer the question so frequently asked, viz: 6 ‘of what did Canada complain V9 and then proceed.

Canada complained of the absence of all security for life and property — of taxation without representation— of the destruction of the liberty of the press — of packed juries — of a judiciary bribed by, and entirely dependent upon the crown — of the profligate waste of the public revenues among swarms of foreign officials— of an illegal distribution of the public lands among herds of foreign stock-jobbers, to the injury and degradation of the industrious agriculturists and immigrant — of education for the rich and none for the poor — of a dominant government established church — of an annihilation of the Colonial constitution — of a total want of responsibility in the government party. In a word — of the existence of an arbitrary, arrogant, vindictive, and fraudulent oligarchy, which is now happily exchanged for a more liberal and responsible experiment s

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EXTRACTS

FROM CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY DOCUMENTS.

The seventh report of the “Committee on Grievances,” to the honorable the Commons the House of As-* sembly, in April, of 1835, says that, “ ‘In 1828 a select committee of the House of Commons enquired into the causes of these embarrassments and discontents, which had for many years prevailed in the Canadas. This committee conclude their report by stating their anxiety to record their complete conviction, that neither the suggestions they have presumed to make, nor any other improvement in the laws and institutions of the Canadas, will be attended with the desired effect, unless an impartial, conciliatory, and constitutional form of government be observed in those loyal and important Colonies/

“The almost unlimited extent of the patronage of the Crown, or rather, of the Colonial Minister, for the time being, and his advisers here, together with the abuse of that patronage, are the chief sources of Colonial discontent. Such is the patronage of the Colonial Office, that the granting or withholding of supplies is of no political importance, unless as an indication of the opinion of the country concerning the character of the government, which is conducted upon a system that admits its officers to take and apply the funds of the Colonists without any legislative vote whatever.

“This patronage, as now exercised in the Province, includes the payment of gifts, salaries, pensions, and

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retired allowances to the various Clergies ‘and civil officers of the government. The heads of the several departments are all in subordinate stations under them, and hold their situations only during the pleasure of the Crown. It also embraces the judicial establishment, the nomination of one branch of the legislature, the appointment of its speaker and the other officers, the selection of the officers of the House of Assembly, the control of the Indian department — the colleges, the twelve boards of education, and the direction of the expenditure of the public monies in aid of immigration— the selection of the executive council — the uncontrolled management of millions of acres of public lands — the appointment of 1,500 commissioned militia officers — the sole control of the military and naval forces — and the expenditure of a large annual amount of local taxation, by appointing the magistracy during pleasure.

“The Crown also appoints the members of the court of King’s Bench; and the judges of that court regulate, at their discretion, the tariff of fees to be paid therein by suitors. These judges are dependent on the Crown for such retiring pensions as it may see fit to award them, and enabled to look forward with hope and expectation, to the enjoyment of other offices and situations within its gift, by themselves and their families.

“The Canada company, and the several incorporations for banking, canalling, &c., nearly all unite with the local government, and steadily strive to increase the influence of the Crown.

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“The Post Office, with its hundred deputies, and contracts, are all under its sole control, while the surplus revenue is transmitted to England. No detailed account of its receipts and expenditures have ever been laid before the Colonial Legislature, though often requested.

“The salaries and emoluments, paid to civil and judicial officers, appointed by the Crown, extend to £50,000, or $200,000 a year, (exclusive of the clergy grants,) the whole being raised from the people, and not one farthing derived from England.

“The yearly salary of the present Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Colborne, with his other public sources of emolument, is about $22,524. And his private secretary gets $3,232. John H. Dunn, receiver general, $5,776. P. Robinson, surveyor of woods, $6,884; with all other officers, from the highest to the lowest, receiving salaries in the same proportion.

“Arch Deacon Strachan’s income cannot be easily ascertained. The application of the house to look into the ‘blue book’ or official statement of the pecuniary affairs of the Province, as sent to England, for the years of 1824, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32, the Lieutenant Governor refuses to comply with; and every effort of the committee to obtain the particulars of the Arch Deacon’s income, for a few years back, by questions put to himself, has proved unsuccessful. But as far as we have been able to obtain evidence, he has, since 1826, received $51,312, which we presume falls far short of the gross amount.

“Within the last eight years, there have been paid to eleven individuals, in the form of pension, out of

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the Provincial revenues, but without the consent of the legislature, about $122,000.

“There were paid out of the Provincial chest, without any vote of the legislature, in 1832, 33, and 34, to the established churches, $161,764; of which, $61,136, were paid in 1834; and 23,905 acres of public land have been set apart as glebes to clergymen.

“Accounts of expenditures, for immigration, of $126,917 70, under the Crown Land Commissioner, the Honorable P. Robinson, have been presented, mostly unattested, and sometimes with evidently false vouchers. These accounts are like others, of Mr. Robinson’s — a specimen of the imperfect mode of accounting for public monies, which prevails in U. C.” This man subsequently became a defaulter to the government in some forty or fifty thousand dollars, but still retained in the governor’s councils, by the power of the “family compact.”

A great cause of complaint, is, the appointment of the sheriffs by the executive, with full power to select all jurors from creatures of his own — the consquence is, packed juries are not unfrequent, which result to the discomfiture of proper justice, when a litigant happens to be branded with the epithet of “radical.”

“Little respect is paid, even in subordinate matters* to the wishes of the house;” and, as peculiarly shown, “by His Excellency, in the measures he adopted for the second Leeds election, at variance with their known wishes. The returning officer, in his evidence, under oath, before the committee, declared Beverly, where the first election was held, to be an unfit place.

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It had always been the scene of disgraceful riots, destructive of the freedom of elections, of life and of property, and was in the vicinity of those violent partisans, [Orangemen,] of Messrs. Gowan, [grand master of the Orange lodge,] and Attorney General, who were the authors of the former riots, and remote from the district town where any rioters might be confined. The returning officer was judged, by the committee, under oath, to be destitute of firmness. Yet the same returning officer, and the same place, was selected by Sir John Colborne, for the new election, which was ordered to take place at so short a notice, that it was scarcely possible for the freeholders of the different townships to be apprized. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising, that renewed riots occurred at the second election, which has, by another committee, been also set aside,75 from the same cause as was the first.

“Among other complaints, embraced in the petitions referred to this committee, were the neglect of general education — the delays, costs, and partialities exhibited in the administration of justice' — defective jury laws — inconvenient polling places at county elections — an imperfect state of the representation in the House of Assembly — the primogeniture laws — the Crown and Clergy reserves, and the large Provincial debt, which is daily augmenting.

“The legislative council forms a part of the patronage of the British Government; they are the nominees of the Minister of the Colonies, who can add to their numbers at his discretion. In continually rejecting the many valuable measures earnestly prayed for

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by the people, they may fairly be presumed to act in obedience to the authorities from whence their power was derived,” as their answers, in the examination that took place, plainly show.

“Capital may be carried into any country; but, under an arbitrary , imprudent , and irresponsible government, like this , it will be impossible to retain a large share of it. Notwithstanding the ‘pretended5 encouragement given for immigration, the population of the Colony has not increased beyond the natural rate*

“Governors, like other men, are individually liable to all the infirmities of human nature; and in their political capacity, when left without restraint, they, no doubt, sacrifice, occasionally, the interest and happiness of the people, to the gratification of their passions and caprices. They, with the British Ministry, hold the sole dominion of the country, and leave the representative branch of the Legislature powerless and dependant.

“Mr. Stanley, [now Lord Stanley,] in giving his opinion of the executive council, says — ‘I do, however, think, that something might be done, with great advantage, to give a really responsible character to the executive council, which, at present, is a perfectly anomalous body, hardly recognised by the constitution, and effective, chiefly, as a source of patronage.5 Its dependance is strikingly manifested by facts stated in the evidence of the Hon. Col. Clark, and the Hon. W. Dickson, members of that body, before a select committee of a late Parliament. It appears that several

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legislative counsellors had objected to a measure strongly urged by the executive; and its failure was inevitable. To ensure its passage, coercive measures were adopted; and the members, dependent on the government, were told, either to vote directly contrary to the opinion they had publicly expressed, or be dismissed from their offices. In this manner, any measure might be carried; for, of the twenty-seven counsellors, seventeen hold offices of emolument.

“It appears, therefore, that the legislative council, as at present constituted, has utterly failed, and can never be made to answer the ends for which it was created.

“The opinions of Messrs. Fox, Stanley, Earl Grey, Lord Erskine, Messrs. Ellice, Hume, Sir James Mcintosh, Messrs. O’Connell, Warburton, Laboucher, and many other eminent British statesmen, have been expressed in favor of elective institutions, as the most suitable for the Canadas; and it appears to the committee, that Mr. Stanley correctly describes the legislative councils as being at the root of all the evils complained of in both Provinces. A painful experience has proved how impracticable it is for such a succession of strangers, [Ministers of England,] beneficially to direct and control the affairs of a Province 4000 miles off.

A bill, “popularly called the ‘everlasting salarybill,’ was carried through the house, by the artifice, cunning, and consummate skill of those who felt themselves above responsibility, and spread universal dissatisfaction and discontent. There is nothing in the

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country to justify such unconstitutional encroachments upon the privileges of the legislature, and there is no language of censure too strong against it. Yet, it is not of this act, alone, that we complain, though it may serve to illustrate our condition; but the whole system has so long continued, virtually, in the same hands, that it is little better than a family compact. Abuses have grown up so as to be interwoven with every thing; and these abuses are concealed or palliated, excused, and sustained, by those who were interested to uphold them, as the means to retain office, for their private, and not the public good.”

The following is an extract from a memorial to the Home Government, subscribed by 30,000 freeholders, and presented by a gentleman who stood high in the esteem of the people.

“He,” Sir John Colborne, “came into the country a stranger to the people, their customs and their manners. He found the persons who had guided his predecessor, prepared to advise him. He found Dr. Strachan in possession of the wealth, honors, emoluments, influence, and resources of the Province, while the House of Assembly was neglected, and its remonstrances utterly despised. He found that the government was carried on without any supplies, and that the policy of England’s rules, in these days, was to conciliate the people, be as moderate as possible, but trust the people with nothing — keep them powerless and obedient.”

“There is no one public individual who has been more honored, caressed, and promoted to greater

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wealth, influence, and distinction, by the British government, than Dr. Strachan,” “and there is not one who has done more to wean the affections of the people from British rule, and to impress upon their minds the sense of -British injustice” and misrule. “He is an executive counsellor, a legislative counsellor, president of the college, and member of its council; a civil magistrate, rector of York, missionary to the society for promoting Christian knowledge, member of the land council, president of the board of education, senior member of the boards of education in eleven districts, and a very extensive landholder. He is receiver of the new glebe rents, member of the clergy corporation, one of the principal proprietors of the Upper Canada bank, arch deacon of the church of England, doctor in divinity, a commissioner under the heir and devisee act for proving letters to estates, a trustee of the royal institution,” &c. &c. &c.

During the Parliamentary session of 1835, thirty-four bills for public good, originated in and passed the Commons, were rejected by the Legislative Council, and five reserved for his Majesty’s pleasure.

So much for the PXouse of 1835; and the following is from the House of 1836 — it being the report of a committee to whom was referred the correspondence between his excellency and the late members of the executive council, viz: Messrs. Baldwin, Rolph, and Dunn:

“The committee are deeply convinced of the truth of Lord Glenelg’s opinion, that the present is an era of more difficulty and importance than any which has

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hitherto occurred in the history of this part of his Majesty’s dominions; and not less are they convinced that the difficulty has been increased, instead of being diminished, since the date of Lord Glenelg’s despatch. It is at such a crisis, that we are called to the discussion of a question of vital importance to the people of this Province: a question, which, in the opinion of the committee, is no less than this: Whether we have, as we have been taught to believe, a constitution, ‘the image and transcript of that of Great Britain,’ or have only a mutilated and degraded one.

“The increasing dissatisfaction which has been produced by. the mal-administration of our Provincial affairs under Lieut. Governors Gore, Maitland, and Colborne, has been so well known and so general, that even the colonial office seems to have been awakened to a sense of the necessity of meliorating our condition, by holding out the encouraging prospects of relief and reform. ##*###

“The country was ignorant how much the affairs of the Province had been conducted by the arbitary will of the Lieutenant Governor himself, with no other counsel than the secret suggestions of unsworn, irresponsible, and unknown advisers.

“Much and justly as the people of the Province had been dissatisfied with the condition of our public affairs, they were, nevertheless, not aware of the extent to which the unconstitutional proceedings of the Lieut. Governor of this Province had been carried, until recently.

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“Every day, however, discovers new causes of complaint on the one hand, and the contemptuous indifference with which all complaints are regarded, on the other.

“Your committee were forced to believe, that the appointment of the new counsellors was a direct maneuver to gain credit with the country for liberal feelings, and intention, where none really existed; for it was notorious, that his Excellency had really given his confidence to, and was acting under the influence of secret and unsworn advisers. Under these circumstances, the council seems to have been led, (in conformity to suggestions of his Excellency himself,) to examine the nature and extent of their duties under the constitutional act; and having discussed the subject with his Excellency at the council board, they united, ten days afterwards, in an unanimous and respectful representation, in writing, in which they advert to the critical state of affairs, and the general discontent with past administration.

“The Council placed their duties on the most moderate scale, and only proposed that the affairs of the Province should be submitted for their advice, before the Governor exercised his discretionary power upon them. Yet this simple proposition, in the opinion of the committee, so reasonable to a candid, and so acceptable to a well constituted mind , is repelled by his Excellency, with seeming indignation; and the counsellors, in a most arbitrary manner, coerced from their office; and after their resignation, literally traduced. Upon such official conduct, (whatever the station from

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which it comes,) the committee cannot forbear freely to animadvert; for the country will look in vain for talented and honorable men, to fill the government stations, and aid the conduct of government officers, if subjected to ignominy and reproach, without vindication by the representatives of the people, whose highest interests, in the King’s councils, they have undertaken to serve.”

Sir Francis B. Head, in a letter to the council, says, “should they be of opinion that the oath they have taken requires them to retire from his confidence, rather than from the principles they have avowed, they will, on no account, hesitate to. do so.”

To which Mr. Baldwin nobly observed, “I could not, for a moment, hesitate, when the alternative presented to me was, either the abandonment of my principles, or my place.”

“The committee cannot hesitate to remark, that this proposition of Sir F. B. Head, in the secret council chamber, to retain them in his service, if they would retire from their principles, was highly objectionable, derogatory to the honor of the King, and demoralizing to the community.”

In his Excellency’s description of the infant state of the Colony, “he appears to have had, in his ‘mind’s eye,’ the fable of the frog and the ox. and the committee are led to the conclusion, from a careful observation of things, that the policy, apparently intended to be pursued by the present head of our government, and that of Rehoboam, as recorded in the 12th chapter of the first book of Kings, to be very similar.

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“If all our local governors were impeached, and all their estates confiscated, itv would not repair the injuries of the most notorious nature, besides thousands of just complaints, murmured only in secret, and endured with patience, because the remedy proposed would be worse than the injury; or because, what is notoriously true, to prefer a complaint, however just, against a governor, insures a black mark to the name, as a troublesome, factious, or undeserving man, whose future hopes are blasted, while his oppressions are multiplied, every favorable opportunity, in various ways, that elude all proof and conviction. What could be done to redeem the injustice against Gourley, the late Robert Randall, Judge Willis, Francis Collins, (who was a martyr for maintaining the liberty of the press,) and many others of the same class? “Your committee, therefore, deny the all sufficiency of the Governor’^ liability to impeachment, for mismanagement of our affairs,” for various enumerated reasons, for a detail of which, I cannot afford space. An extract from one, however, is as follows: “For it would be in vain to proceed against the executive authorities for the erection of the fifty-seven rectories, and certain corrupt exchanges of lands, although opposed to the well known wishes and interest of a vast majority of the religious community. If the only means of preventing wrong being done , was founded on an institution of an impeachment for it, after it was done , before a patron of the wrong doer, four thousand miles off, defended by a person entrenched in power here, and sustained at home by family connexions, and the pre-

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servation of what is called the Colonial system, our condition must be desperate. The House of Assembly, of Lower Canada, instituted a complaint against Lord Aylmer, in a most solemn manner, and with great unanimity, for most arbitrary and unconstituional misgovernment; but it only ended in his promotion to a higher post of honor. Therefore, although an impeachment might be resorted to, in extreme cases, yet, it by no means supercedes the necessity of all local and constitutional checks, calculated to prevent cause for so difficult, painful, and undesirable a course.”

Further: “Because there are such changes of Colonial ministers, that there might be half a dozen in succession, before a suit could be conducted to a conclusion. For instance, Mr. Gale, who gave such evidence before the Canada committee, as to oblige the Right Honorable Mr. Spring Rice, to pronounce him unfit for any office of trust, was appointed a judge by Governor Aylmer, whose partisan he had been. Mr. Rice* who had, in the mean time, been appointed Colonial Secretary, refused to confirm his appointment. He was soon after succeeded by Lord Aberdeen, who allowed the appointment; and Mr. Gale now sits upon the bench, although Mr. Rice, again, in 1835, (when he was once more in the secretary’s office,) denounced him as an unfit and improper person to occupy that station.

“Your committee find the same doing, by one minister, and undoing by another, in our own Province; which is, unhappily, misgoverned, by the same policy, and under the same constitutional act. For instance,

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the late Attorney and Solicitor Generals, were dismissed formal-practice, by Lord Goderich; but no sooner was he succeeded by Lord Stanley, than his decision, in favor of the rights and liberties of the people, was, by the latter, cancelled, and the Solicitor put back again into office, to the great dissatisfaction of the country; and the Attorney General sent as Chief Justice to Newfoundland, to create new scenes of trouble and dissension there.”

And also, 6 ‘Because, when, in 1831, his Majesty suggested a further provision for the civil list, which tho Colonial Minister required to be made, for a term of years , or, for the life of the King , the terms of the proposition were not candidly submitted to the House of Assembly; but were suppressed, for the purpose of securing a keen bargain ; and for his boasted adroitness in managing it, his late excellency was officially commended. His undue and unworthy concealment was practiced with the aid of the executive influence, to carry a measure injurious to the constitutional liberties of the people; but the uselessness of any complaint against a government for such unworthy policy, is apparent, when we see, as in this case, that such liberal institutions are violated, and the mischief accomplished with impunity, although it merits disgrace.”

Lastly, “Because, the pretended responsibility to Downing street, has been in full operation for nearly half a century; and we have, therefore, against its sufficiency, the uniform testimony afforded by one misgovernment, during nearly the whole of that period.

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By this system, we have been stripped of the public resources, and reduced to our present bankrupt condition; and having thus suffered in the past, we cannot look for better for the future, if we submit to the continuance of the same system of speculation that has brought such a visitation upon us.

From documents relative to the endowment of the fifty-seven rectories, or parsonages, 6 ‘according to the established church of England, ” “It appears they have been constituted, in this Province, within the past year, by the government, under the great seal of the Province; and have been endowed, out of the clergy reserves, to the amount of 24,425 acres of valuable land, chiefly in old townships, and in some cases, within towns. To these rectories, or parsonages ministers have been, or are to be presented, as are their successors in future, by the government; and they are, according to the thirty-ninth section of the act, ‘to hold and enjoy the same, and all rights, profits, and emoluments thereunto, belonging are granted, as fully and amply, and in the same manner, and on the same terms and conditions, and liable to the performance of the same duties as the encumbent of a parsonage, or rectory, in England / and the next clause provides for exercise of ‘spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction and authority/ ‘according to the laws and canons of the Church of England/ under which clause, of course, ecclesiastical courts will be established, as no others can fully exercise such ‘spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction.’ ”

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“According to the act, the government may endow such parsonages ‘from time to time/ So that, if the bold experiment succeeds, which is now attempted, we may expect that the present parsonages will receive greater endowments; and that the number of these parsonages will be multiplied amongst us beyond all present calculation.

“•It further appears, that different clergymen of the church of England, for private property they have surrendered, consisting of 205 acres of land, with two dwellings, have received, in exchange, 5238 acres of as good, and in many cases, better land. Admiral Van Sittart, astonishing to say, must also share these good things, for the benefit of the church; and for about twenty-nine acres of land, lying in laid out towns, (which however, are uncleared yet, and may be, some fifty years hence,) receives 3690 acres of valuable land.

“All these endowments, and all these grants of land, are in addition to the large regular allowance that is annually paid to them by the government, out of public moneys of the Province, without the knowledge or consent of the people, or their representatives.

“All comment upon such transactions, is superfluous. And it is with difficulty the committee suppress the strong feelings of disgust, indignation, and astonishment, which these practices and proceedings of the government are calculated to excite.

“Year after year have the people of this Province, and their representatives, been straining every nerve, to procure the appropriation of the clergy reserves to

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some useful public purpose, in which all his Majesty’s subjects might impartially participate. Year after year have they solemnly and indignantly protested against the establishment of any state church in this Province. The people, indiscriminately, and in public bodies, from one end of the Province to the other, have again and again, petitioned the Provincial Parliament, the King and Imperial Parliament, vainly on the subject.

“In fact, all denominations have been agreed on this subject, and remained in a perfect unanimity and perseverance really surprising. And so has the House, when either party predominated, or had the ascendency, showing plainly that it was not merely a party attempt.

“To establish and endow these rectories, in opposition to these representations, was as flagrant a violation of good faith as can well be imagined.

“In Lord Glenclg’s instructions to his Excellency, it is distinctly intimated, that the disposal and appropriation of the clergy reserves are to be left, for the present, at least, to the Legislature of the Province.”

A few seasons more of as favorable pickings, and the clergy reserves, (which comprise one seventh of the whole Province, and are always situated in the best parts,) will not be worth the asking, let alone the •contending for.

Relative to the resignation of the council, who were forced to that step, as was before seen, “It is, to the committee, a matter of profound regret, that, when his Excellency was surrounded by the late council, with

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every means of conducting his administration in a manner efficient, and satisfactory, calculated to allay all existing discontent, and preserve the peace, welfare, and good government of the Province, he should so hastily, rashly, and wantonly disappoint public expectation, and fill the Province with greater distress and apprehension than even prevailed from the alien question. No alternative, therefore, remains to the House, but to abandon their privileges and honor, and to betray their duties and the rights of the people, or to withhold the supplies— or all that has been done will be deemed an idle bravado, contemptible in itself, and disgraceful to the House. Your committee, therefore, distinctly recommend to your Honorable House, to withhold the annual supplies; for we would again state, in illustration of the alleged sufficiency of Downing street responsibility by Governors, it appears that an outrage is first perpetrated, and then executive authority, influence, and power exerted to prevent investigation. Nor is this all; for they further try to poison what justice might be expected from his Majesty, by calumniating despatches, traducing, as factious, the assem^y,” who endeavor to withstand their flagrant wrongs.

The following is the close of a memorial to the British Commons, to which was appended the report from which the foregoing extracts are taken,

“It is with pain, disappointment and humiliation, we notice the reiterated declaration of his Excellency to conduct our affairs, without the advice of the Executive Council, according to his own will and pleasure, which his public acts have already proved to be grbitrary and vindictive. And this view of his own sole miniate*