§ LORD G. BENTINCKrose to put a question to the First Minister of the Crown, which might appear at first sight to impugn the fair dealing, frankness, and truth-telling of a Member of Her Majesty's Government; but he had reason to think, from the explanation he had already received, that no such imputation could rest upon the Earl of Dalhousie, to whom his question referred. It was probably within the knowledge of every Gentleman in that House, that a statement had been made last night by the Earl of Dalhousie, that the Canadian Colonies were perfectly satisfied with the commercial policy of Her Majesty's Government, and that, so far from entertaining any feeling of apprehension and alarm, all that the Canadians asked was, that the nominal duty of one shilling, which was proposed to be retained on Canadian and other wheat, should be reduced to a penny. That was the statement which they had all probably seen imputed to the Earl of Dalhousie; and he (Lord G. Bentinck) might state, that he had heard it with his own ears. Now, the question which he had to ask of Her Majesty's Minister, was this—whether or not the Canadian mail had not arrived, bringing an Address to Her Majesty, which had been unanimously voted by the Legislative Assembly of Canada, of which the first paragraph ran in terms something like this:—
That this House views with most serious apprehension and alarm, and as detrimental to the future peace and prosperity of these Colonies, the adoption of the proposed principles of commercial intercourse now under the consideration of the Imperial Parliament?That such an Address had been unanimously voted, he had the best reason for knowing, inasmuch—["Question!"] Well, the question he had to put was this, whether, when this statement was made by a Cabinet Minister of the Crown, he was in possession of the information to which he had just referred?
§ SIR R. PEELI have great pleasure in giving the noble Lord all the information I possess upon the subject on which he has just put the question. I had yesterday made an appointment with the Secretary for the Colonies, to meet him at half-past one o'clock this day; and when my right hon. Friend attended that meeting, he brought with him a letter from Lord Cathcart, containing an Address to the Crown—I know not whether unanimously adopted or not—but of the general purport to which the noble Lord has referred, namely, expressing apprehension at the consequences of the adoption of the commercial measures of Her Majesty's Government. I certainly understood my right hon. Friend to say, that this despatch had reached him in the course of the morning; but for myself I must say that, at any rate, I had no knowledge of its arrival till two o'clock to-day. When the noble Lord was good enough to state to me that he would put the question, I told him that I thought it probable the Earl of Dalhousie had no earlier knowledge of the purport of the despatch than I had; but since then I have received an assurance that my noble Friend was entirely unaware of the receipt of this despatch at the period when he spoke last night. It must be obvious that when despatches arrive, especially at a late hour, it is quite impossible that their contents can be simultaneously communicated to the Members of the Government, however important they may be. If there is not to be a meeting of the Cabinet on the day of their arrival, they are put into circulation among the Members of Government, and some time must necessarily elapse before they all receive information of them.