LORD STANLEYSeeing the noble Earl the Secretary for the Colonies in his place, I must say, though I am unwilling to produce, and certainly shall not utter anything calculated to provoke, a premature discussion, that the news which has been received from Canada this morning is of so formidable and alarming a character that I feel it to be my duty not to lose a single moment in ascertaining whether Her Majesty's Government has received from that colony any further information than that which was conveyed to us through the ordinary channels, in a form which I trust is exaggerated, but which I have had confirmed by private intelligence. I ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are prepared to offer to the House and to the country any explanation of the state of affairs in that colony, where it would appear that the discontent which has been produced by recent measures of the Government has at last broken out into absolute disaffection and revolt—that the two Parliament houses at Montreal have been consumed by fire—that great violence has prevailed—and that at this moment there is waging the most formidable of all wars, a war of races. I wish to ask the noble Earl and Her Majesty's Government generally, whether he or they have any information or explanation to give of the present condition of that province. I will also repeat the question which I put at an early period of this Session, and will again ask, whether the noble Earl the Secretary for the Colonies has given to the Governor General of Canada any specific instructions as to the policy to be pursued with regard to the measure which produced this outbreak. And I also will remind the noble Earl that for the consequences of that measure, and for the present state of Canada, it is not the Governor General of Canada, the Earl of Elgin, but Her Majesty's Government—whether it gave the Governor General instructions or not—which must ultimately be held responsible. I will not, on the present occasion, give any opinion or enter into any discussion on the merits of the case. I will confine myself to asking two questions only. The first is, whether the Governor General of 'Canada has acted without advice or instructions from Her Majesty's Government at home, and has been allowed so to act? And the second is, whether Her Majesty's Government has any explanation to offer as to the present condition in which Canada, one of the most 468 valuable possessions of the British Crown, appears to be?
§ EARL GREYI wish that the noble Baron could have abstained, as he promised that he would abstain, from the premature expression of an opinion, and making a statement which it is difficult for me at the present moment either to answer or to pass over in silence. I received about an hour ago a despatch from the Earl of Elgin, which I shall have great pleasure in laying on the table of the House when the House next reassembles. That despatch will show that my noble Friend the Earl of Elgin has acted throughout with his accustomed judgment, moderation, and good sense. I have to inform your Lordships that the date of that despatch is the 30th of April; that it was written in great haste, after the regular mail had been made up, and forwarded through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to New York, and that it arrived at New York only just in time for the packet. It appears by that despatch that a riot, undoubtedly of an aggravated character, has taken place at Montreal, and that the Parliament houses have been burned; but I see no reason for anything contained in it to apprehend that a war of races, as the noble Baron apprehends, is at present raging. On the contrary, I have every reason to believe that tranquillity is now restored. For what has taken place in Canada I am prepared to take any responsibility which legitimately belongs to myself and to my Colleagues. There is no step which we have taken in this matter which I am not prepared at the proper time to justify, and which I am not convinced that Parliament will approve. But I take the liberty of informing the noble Baron, that in my opinion the responsibility for these events rests as much with him as with many others; and for this reason—that there is no doubt, from the accounts which I have seen the newspapers and elsewhere, that the accounts of the proceedings in this House, and the expression of the opinions held by the noble Baron, have contributed in no slight degree to aggravate the violence of party feeling which, unfortunately, prevails in that colony. I trust that the noble Baron will recollect that in this House there is a responsibility resting on the Members of the Opposition as well as on the Members of the Administration. It is a fact which the noble Baron is too much in the habit of forgetting.
LORD STANLEYI must remind the 469 noble Earl that he has not yet given an answer to either of ray questions. As to the responsibility which, he says, attaches to Members of the House generally, and to the Members of the Opposition, I reply that there never was a Government in existence which was indebted so much to, or had profited more by, the sense which the present Opposition entertained of its responsibility. But I say that it is no part of the responsibility of a Peer of Parliament to abstain from expressing his conviction of the danger likely to arise from the course of policy pursed by the Government; and I tell the noble Earl that no intimidation, no insinuation, no taunt, no invective, shall at any time prevent me from exercising that liberty of speech which is one of the highest privileges of every Member of your Lordships' House. I therefore again repeat my questions. Has Lord Elgin, the Governor General of Canada, acted in this matter without advice, upon his own authority, or has the noble Earl opposite directed the step which Lord Elgin has recently taken? I also ask whether the noble Earl has any explanation to give as to the state of Canada beyond that which has appeared in the public papers? The noble Earl tells us that he will lay on the table the despatch which he has received from Lord Elgin on the first day the House reassembles—that is, on Friday next. I will take that as an answer to part of my question; but what I principally wish to know is, whether Lord Elgin is left to act on his own unassisted judgment, or has he any written instructions from the noble Earl?
§ EARL GREYI will only repeat what I said just now, that I will lay Lord Elgin's despatch on the table on the first day of our reassembling. Until that despatch is on the table, it does not appear to me expedient to enter into any explanation; for until your Lordships have read it, I cannot state upon what points I may or may not have given intructions to Lord Elgin. As far as regards the Indemnity Bill, I may now say that I deliberately and advisedly abstained from giving my noble Friend any instructions at all. I believe that the rule in Canada—and, indeed, in all our colonies—is, that the Governors have certain general instructions given them to guide them in giving their assent to, or withholding their assent from, the Bills of the colonial legislatures. Whenever Bills are tendered to them for approval, they exercise their judgment upon them, and, having ex- 470 ercised that judgment, transmit them to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with such reports thereon as they think proper, and then Her Majesty in Council is advised to give or withhold assent, as the case may require. It has not been my practice, neither will it be my practice so long as I retain the office which I now fill, to depart from that wholesome rule; nor will I give instructions to the Governors as to giving or withholding assent to Bills which are not before me, and of which the circumstances are unknown to me.
§ LORD REDESDALEobserved, that this was a very important question. Here was a Government Bill, brought in and supported by the Government officers, and carried through the Legislative Council by the introduction of six new members into it—all of whom were introduced for the distinct purpose of carrying this Bill—which at last was only carried by a majority of four. He called on their Lordships to consider the position in which the Governor General of Canada was placed on this question. He had a Government measure to introduce; all his advisers, all the parties about him, were authors of that measure, and he had no power but to give his assent to the measure to which he had himself been a party, unless he derived it from the Government at home. The whole proceeding was one which—
The MAEQUESS of LANSDOWNErose to order. There was no desire on the part of Her Majesty's Government to avoid discussion, nor any reluctance to hear everything which the noble Lord had to say. His Lordship, however, was quite out of order. The noble Lord opposite had asked a question; as he had received for answer that on Friday next Lord Elgin's despatch explanatory of all the transactions should be laid on the table, the present was not the time for pursuing the course on which the noble Lord seemed entering by his remarks.
§ EARL GREYmerely rose to set the noble Lord right on a matter of fact. Whatever addition had been recently made to the Legislative Council of Canada, had been made quite irrespective of this measure. So long ago as the month of September or October last the Governor General had written him a letter, in which he stated his conviction that it was expedient that an addition should be made to that Council; and as he (Earl Grey) was uncertain whether the parties whom he had nominated would accept the office, he had 471 sent confidentially to the Governor General warrants with those names inserted, to be ready in case they accepted it.
LORD BROUGHAMwas not aware whether the same rule prevailed in the colonial legislatures as prevailed in this country—namely, that no grant for money could be introduced into the Legislature without the previous consent of the Crown?
§ EARL GREYSuch a measure must be introduced with the assent of the Crown by its responsible advisers. The assent of the Crown was implied whenever a measure was introduced by an officer of the Crown.