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XU1U.I. xiKirjLi.

HINTS OJL/^LONIAIh

{Rep^Hu0Bdfromdhe Montreal Morning Courier, April and May, 1838.) '<^'^

\^ .^^ f Montreal, 4f^

L,J!a^ our last, we endeavoured to insist upo:
essential principle, that the contemplated arrangement of our
affairs must be made a thorough and therefore permanent
measure. It is not enough, that it infringe upon no rule of
justice, nor, so far as it may go, of expediency ; — ^it must be
a setdement of every point that can be drawn into dispute,
— a settlement calculated in every respect to be final.

We proceed to allude briefly to some of the more prominent
of these points. Their number does not allow of a complete
examination of them all in the columns of a newspaper. We
shall endeavour not to omit any of the more important.

It is necessary, as we remarked in our last, that the pro-
posed examination should not be limited to Lower Canada.
The relations' of Lower Canada with the mother country, and
with the sister colonies, must receive their full share of
attention. ThiB intimate natural connection of the two
Canadas especially, requires that the relations which are to
subsist between them be attentively considered. Important
as the right adjustment of our own internal affairs is to us in
Lower Canada, the settlement of these other questions is
hardly less so. The latter is the foundation, so to speak, on
which the former must rest. Considering to what extent our
past difficulties have arisen from, or been aggravated by, the

deficiencies of the Act of 1791 in this respect, the necessity
of avoiding all such deficiencies in the future Act of 1840,
can hardly be questioned.

There is, in some quarters, an apparent disposition to regard
the separation of the North American colonies from the
empire, at no very distant period, as a probable and perhaps
not undesirable event. Great pains have been taken to
inculcate this anti-colonial doctrine in the three kingdoms
as 'Sfell as in the colonies ; and tho natural consequence is
that a good many persons are more or less imbued with it.
Even in the House of Commons it has been the text on which
the radical nunority have enlarged for years past y and of
late it has been handled too gently, to say the least, by some
of the public men of both the other parties. In these colonies
the leaders of the late radical party were its avowed apostles.
We do not go too far when we say that some of their political
opponents, even, have not been as strongly opposed to it on
principle as they might have been. Their number may have
been far from large, and the opinions of most of them on this
point far from definite ; still, there are those whose opposition
to the revolutionists has not arisen from any very decided
attachment to the connexion with the parent state, or any
very strong desire to preserve it as a permanent element of
the constitution. The great body of the nation at home,
beyond a doubt, would scout any project for a separation ; the
great body of their fellow-subjects in the colonies, we are
proud to beKeve, would oppose it no less heartily.

There is much mischief done, however, by these repre-
sentations of the possibility of an abandonment of any of the
British colonies. They tend to unsettle every thing, — colonial
policy at home, and colonial politics here. If ever they
should unhappily be realized, it will be owing mainly to this
cause. Great Britain has once lost colonies ; but it was
through her own fault, and under circumstances not likely

ever to recur. She has but to continue to avoid the faulty
policy which then cost her so dear, and the lesson will never
be repeated.

It is true that from the extent of territory to be occupied
by some of the colonies, the time must at last arrive when
the precise colonial relation now subsisting cannot possibly
continue. In North America and in Australia, whenever
their population shall have become dense, (and this will not
be until they are also widely extended,) British colonies will
exist, too powerful for the control of the mother country.
But that period is distant. It will be very long before any
colony of Great Britain will need to be abandoned for such a
cause. And even then, there is no reason why a league
should not take the place of the old bond of union, — and the
whole British nation thus continue ever united, o every
intent and purpose, so far as peace, mutual good under-
standing, commerce, and identity of foreign policy, can unite
it.

It is a great mistake, though not a very uncommon one, to
speak of the British Empire as unwieldy, — because its several
parts are scattered over the four quarters of the earth, and
its subjects are of almost every race and creed under heaven.
Such an empire is different from any which has ever before
existed ; but that is surely no reason why we should look for-
ward to its decay or overthrow. Other extensive empires,
unlike it in their construction, have fallen. British policy
must adapt itself to the peculiar resources and position of the
empire. The fate of the empire may be as unlike that of
former states as its position is unlike theirs.

The single fact that steam is now on the point of being
successfully applied to ocean navigation, is decisive (to go no
farther) on this point. When Spain and Portugal held
South America and the two Indies, a voyage to their nearest
colonies was an affair of months, and to the most distant, an

affair of years. The wretched system of misgovemment
-which they established in their colonies, grew in part out of
the state of the times, and in part, also, out of this very cause.
The colonies were too distant not to be misgoverned. Their
mismanagement proved their ruin, and that of their founders.
In the present day, the case is different. Steam-commu-
nication with the East Indies, as already established by way
of the Mediterranean, brings Bombay and London within 44
days of one another. Steamships are fitting out to go from
London round the Cape to Calcutta, in 62 days. Steam-
frigates are exterminating the native pirates in the Eastern
Archipelago. A very few more years, and who will say how
much nearer the several portions of the empire may thus be
brought? Edinburgh was once farther from London than
Montreal will be in another week or two. Take into account,
besides, the principles of government adopted everywhere
under the British flag, the civilization which it carries with it,
and *;he rapid improvement in all these respects which the
c .we are alluding to must produce, — and who will then
limit the increase or the duration of a power which is founded
on such elements ?

Those who affect to philosophize in favour of an early
separation of colonies from the parent state, might do well
not wholly to overlook these considerations. They may lead
some of them, as they do us, to a directly opposite conclusion.
Misgoverned, a colony may gain, or it may lose, by a suc-
cessful assertion of its independence. Well governed, the
bright prospect for a British colony is in the steady main-
tenance — as the essential object of its policy — of its connexion
with the British Empire.

Montreal, April 13, 1838.
The opinion that all colonies must, sooner or later, become
wholly independent of the connexion with the parent state,

has been so often confidently asserted, and so often tacitly
admitted, that, at the risk of being tedious, we return to it.
Its importance, bearing as it dues upon every other point in
our colonial politics, must be our excuse for urging one or
two more reasons, in addition to those we have already stated
in opposition to it. They will serve as an introduction to the
remarks we propose afterwards to offer on the relations which
ought to subsist between the North American colonies in gene-
ral, and the two Canadas in particular.

It is surely unnecessary to dwell upon the immense advan-
tages which must ever accrue to all parts of an empire like
the British Empire, from the constant maintenance of the
most intimate connexion between them. Every climate, trade,
production and manufacture may be found, or obtained, within
their limits. The commerce between them gives its possessor
the almost uncontrolled command of the sea. The only nation
that can at all compete with us on this element, is, in fact, the
United States — a people of our own origin and language, and
endowed with the same enterprising disposition which is the
peculiar feature of the British race, and to which the
British Empire owes all its power. So long, however,
as we remain united, we possess an immense advantage
over them. We have ports of our own^ in every sea.
They have ports, only along the North Eastern border
of the Atlantic. Our own possessions furnish us with the
entire material for a most extensive trade by sea ; all the
trade we may carry on with other countries is so much added
to this ; and the mere fact that we have ports everywhere,
ensures a great advantage in our foreign trade over other
nations whose ports are limited to one quarter of the globe.
The United States have vast resources for internal commerce,
and its rivers, canals and railroads enable its people to deve-
lope those resources with great rapidity ; their coasting trade,
too, is considerable ; but their commerce over sea is entirely

foreign, and depends, therefore, not only on their own enter-
piise, but also on the temper of other nations, and especially
on the uninterrupted maintenance of peace between them.
The government and people of the United States do their best
to make up for this deficiency by their commercial treaties
with foreign powers. Great Britain can also make such trea-
ties, just as well as they can ; and thus preserve her present
advantage over them.

Reverse this state of things. Let any colony be cut off
from this connexion. — We do not say that in such a case the
whole body might not suffer ; but we do say that the detached
colony would suffer most. For a colony, circumstanced in
regard to population as Lower Canada is, to be thus detached
would be its ruin. It may be said that it would be merged
in the great Republic to the South, and would share in its
prosperity. There may be some who would willingly submit
to the accompanying infliction of democracy in such a hope.
But the hope is unfounded. Here, of all places in the world,
we must have, for some time to come, a restraining and reform-
ing government, such as we surely need not gravely argue
that democracy, and connexion with the United States,
would never give us. To expect prosperity without such a
government is a dream, — as idle as the hope of rain would
be in the heart of the Sahara. Separated from England,
the fate of Lower Canada may rather be read in the fate of
South America.

But we put out of view these considerations, as they are
only temporary. Our position is, that the union of Great
Britain and her colonies ought to be perpetual ; changing, it
may be, in its character, as the colonies increase in strength :
but still perpetual, so far as unrestricted freedom of commerce,
identity of foreign policy, the use of the same flag, the admis-
sion of a common right of citizenship, and in general, the
constant maintenance of the most intimate friendly relations,

can render it. It is only thus that the great advantages of
our present situation can be realised. Thus realised, he must
be a bold prophet who would undertake to limit them.

What are the objections to this view ? — Are we told that
the several British possessions are too distant ? Steam and
the maintenance of general peace are annihilating distance .
The Saxon Kings of England had a more disjointed empire
than the present Sovereign has : though in their day, Corn-
wall, Wales, Scotland, and often, indeed, the northern coun-
ties of England, were all foreign states, within the compass of
Great Britain, and every spot of land beyond sea was also
foreign. In a few more years, the projected colony in New
Zealand will be accessible, at a less cost of time and money,
and with infinitely less risk, than the remoter districts of Ire-
land and Scotland were when first the " Three Kingdoms"
came under the rule of a common Sovereign. Distance, as
well as nearness, has its advantages. Modern improvements
are rapidly enabling us to combine them.

Are we told that the interests of difierent colonies, or of
the parent state and the colonies generally, are hostile ?
The objection is a century too late. There can be no clash-
ing interests in the case. Clashing prejudices there may be ;
nothing more. The prosperity of one district is no drawback
on that of others, but the contrary. Even as regards inde-
pendent nations, this unsocial theory is abandoned. The
wealth of England is increased, not diminished, by the wealth
of France, and vice versd. The producer sells advantageous-
ly only when the buyer has resources to purchase at a high
rate. Where would English manufactures be were England
the only wealthy country in the world ? The interest of every
country is to promote, and not to retard, the prosperity of
every other community. How much more is this the case
when the communities themselves are but parts of a com
mon whole ! Diflferent portions of the same empire with con-

flicting interests! Educate the whole community. Make
them understand what their interest is. We shall then soon
hear the last of this absurdity.

Are we told that all this is very fine on paper but not in
practice ? Are we reminded of old blunders in colonial
policy, ana their effectp ? The argument does not hold. We
all know there have been errors ; we all know their effects
have been serious. It is these very errors and their results
which have made some people hastily adopt the theory we are
combating. The question is whether these errors arc essen-
tial, — whether there is no remedy for them but in separation ?
Tf so, it is still to be determined whether separation itself may
not be a more serious error— a remedy worse than the disease.

But we take no such gloomy view. The mistakes of the
past can be avoided. The evils of separation, and the advan-
tages of a lasting union, (maintained, as it may be, without the
disadvantages which have lessened its value,) are too great
to allow of any other than this latter course being adopted.
In what way these advantages can best be secured is another
question. Many plans, and many reasons for and against
each, have been proposed. To discuss them all is impossible.
We shall endeavour to the best of our ability to suggest some
of the reasons which induce us to give the preference to the
measure which we are inclined to think the best.

Montreal, A'pril 16, 1838.
Among the various plans which have been suggested to
ensure that permanence to the connexion between the mother
country and the colonies for which we have been contending,
the one which we feel called upon to notice first is the sug-
gestion of giving the colonies a direct representation in the
Imperial Parliament. This suggestion has lately been favour-
ably noticed in the Parliament of Upper Canada. At first

view thoro appears much to support it. It is encumbered,
however, with serious difficulties, which are not likely to bo
got rid of.

The Imperial Parliament is not merely the supreme legis-
lature of the empire, but the local legislature of the United
Kingdom. Its members act in both these capacities. In the
former, colonial representatives might reasonably claim a seat
in the House of Commons. In the latter, it is obvious that
they would be wholly out of place. What business could
members from Newfoundland, Lower Canada or New South
Wales, have in the local concerns or politics of England ? Or
how, indeed, could they be qualified to interfere in them ? —
And yet, how could the distinction be drawn between the two
departments, — and the powers of the colonial members limited
to that department with which alone they could rightly deal ?

Were a complete Legislative Union of the whole Empire
the measure contemplated, this objection would not hold. If
all Legislation were conducted by one Legislature, all its
members might take part in all the business that might come
before it. Members from Lower Canada might fairly vote on
every Irish question, were the members for Dublin and Kil-
kenny equally free to vote on all Canadian questions. But
we presume no one ever thought of a scheme quite so prepos-
terous as this. The House of Commons is full large enough
already, with its 658 members. Add a fair proportion for
the colonies, and then, what would it become ? Its aflFairs,
too, are as complex as its numbers are large. Neither admit
of multiplication. Local Legislatures for the several colonies
cannot possibly be dispensed with. Retaining them, and
retaining also the compound authority of the Imperial Parlia-
ment, (and we do not see how it is to be done away with,) the
project of colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament
must be laid aside.

There are other minor difficulties, (were this main objection

,.,^'

obviated,) which would still be fatal to the project. Suppos-
ing the line were drawn between the local and general busi-
ness of the Imperial Pai'liament, and the colonial members'
speeches and votes restricted to the latter, it must not be for-
gotten that, to make the voice of the coIodtcs heard, a pretty
strong representation would be needed. What would one or
two members be, added to so many as are already in the
. House ? Bow could such a representation be maintained as
should prove effective ? Such a delegation as could be kept
up would be useless ; such a delegation as might be service-
able could not be obtained.

Again, in view of this last fact especially — the impossi-
bility of securing a sufficient number of colonial members
willing and competrnt to act — it should not be forgotten that,
though a proverb says that " a half loaf is better than no
bread," there is some danger in this case in taking up with a
half provision. The Imperial Parliament having the right
of legislating in matters affecting the colonies, it might, at
first sight, appear better for the colonies to have some vote
(though ever so insufficient) in all such legislation. This is
a mistake. iVb vote, or a full vote. Let the entire respon-
sibility rest, in all cases, upon those with whom the power
rests. They will exercise it all the more cautiously. Let
them share this responsibility with a nominal representation
from the colonies, and their interference will be all the less
cautious for the division. We know that they are careful
now, how they interfere in our concerns ; we do not know
how careless they might become, with a few members from
the colonies present and voting to share the responsibility, and
not the power. A small delegation, at such a distance from
their constituents, and lost in the body of which they were
delegated members, could not be safely trusted.

The chief, if not the sole, advantages of this plan, as it
appears to us, are to be found in the opportunities it would

•A'

afford the colonies of continuallj making their wishes and
feelings known at home, to the authorities and to Parliament,
— in the opportunities it would /^ive colonial politicians to
make themselves known in England, — and in the consequent
opening it would make for colonial talent, to Imperial distinc-
tion. These advantages are important, especially when con-
sidered in their bearing upon the future maintenance of the
connexion between the mother country and the colonies.
Nothing could more strongly bind together the several parts
of the empire than this introduction of colonists into the
political world of the metropolis. Without it, indeed, it is
hard to see how the connexion can be made permanent. The
highest colonial offices cannot always continue to be filled from
home, and no office or distinction at home be attainable by a
colonist. ThiB natives of a colony are necessarily more or less
jealous of the reservation of the highest offices in their native
district, from their own class. As a colony increases in age
and consequence, this jealousy must increase. We do not
see how it is to be checked, but by opening up other avenues
to distinction, which may serve to compensate for this, which
the maintenance of the colonial relation seems necessarily to
close.

But for this purpose it is not necessary that colonial dele-
gates to the metropolis should be members of Parliament.
We have endeavoured to show some of the difficulties in the
way of this project. They are all removed the moment we
take away from it this one feature. Let delegates be sent
from the colonies, — but not merged and lost in the House of
Commons. There would then be none of the difficulties
which grow out of the necessary powers and numbers of that
body. The delegates need not be more numerous than the
colonies could well afford to send. Their advice would not
have the less weight for their not having direct legislative
power. They might constitute a board of advice, attached

to the colonial department. They might enjoy the right of
addressing either House of Parliament on matters aifecting
their respective colonies, or colonial policy in general. Their
functions thus limited, they would have no temptation to fail
in their duties to their constituents. As voting members of
the House of Commons, we need not say that the case would
be very different.

The full statement and consideration of this project, how-
ever, demands a separate article. We defer it, therefore, to
our next.

' Montreal, April 18, 1838.

A great deal of complaint has been made, at one time and
another, of the defective constitution of the colonial depart-
ment ; and it cannot be denied that there has been, and
indeed still is, some ground for complaint on this score. The
machinery of the department has not been perfected as the
colonies have increased in number and importance. Some
years ago, a secretary of state, with his complement of under-
secretaries and clerks, could very well control the affairs of
the then colonies of Great Britain, as they were then con-
ducted. At the present day it is quite another business. The
affairs of the several colonies are too complex, and the effects
of any blunders that may be made, too serious, for any one
man to preside over them alone^ successfully. To understand
the politics of any colony thoroughly, it is necessary to have
spent some time in careful observation, on the spot. One
who has never himself visited a country, can form no adequate
idea of its wants and capacities, the state of parties, the cha-
racter of individuals, the thousand details, in fact, which are
essential to a right judgment in matters affecting its govern-
ment. A colonial secretary cannot have this knowledge of
all the colonies. Often, indeed, on his entry into office, he
has no such knowledge of any one of them. In office, he has

no adequate means of supplying the deficiency. The current
business of the department leaves him little time to look back
and study the political position of the various colonies, as he
best may, even from books or documents. Besides, he has
other business, foreign to his own department, to look to, in
order to preserve his seat as a cabinet minister. Domestic
politics he understands ; his oflSce depends upon them. Colo-
nial politics are, of necessity, too often left in the back
ground. With all the talent and the best intentions in the
world, it is impossible for any man so circumstanced, to avoid
mistakes.

To meet this difficulty it has been suggested that a board,
to consist of ex-governors, secretaries, judges, and other
officers of colonies, resident colonial merchants and others
who have lived in the colonies, should be created, to assist
the colonial minister with their advice. This plan has its
advantages, — and its disadvantages, too. It is well, as a part
of the system ; inadequate, if it is to be the whole. Such a
board could give correct information about the past, but
could not possibly be equally well acquainted with the pre-
sent. In new countries, things change rapidly, and the latest
information is as necessary as any other.

A representation of the colonies, such as we suggested in
our last, would meet this difficulty. With a board of advice,
consisting partly of the material above mentioned, and partly
of delegated agents from the several colonies, the depart-
ment would no longer suffer from any lack of information of
any description. Such a body, it might be expected, would
secure the adoption and maintenance of an enlightened and
consistent policy, the effects of which on the interests of the
empire could not fail in a very few years to be most striking.

In our last, we urged some of the reasons which seem to
us strongly to require the adoption of the principle of direct
colonial representation at the seat of the imperial govern-

ment, and also some of the reasons which as strongly indicate
the impossibility, and indeed the impolicy, of giving to such
representation a place in the House of Commons. We did
not then urge the consideration, that such a step would
require a most material innovation upon the constitution of
the House as established by the Reform Bill, and indeed upon
the entire fabric of the British Constitution itself. No party
in England would be likely to carry, or indeed to propose,
such a measure. And, supposing it carried, and every other
objection removed,whether arising from the Local Legislative
powers of the House, the number of its members, or the
danger of taking up with an insufficient representation, or of
trusting colonial M. P.'s so far from their constituents, —
sotting all these aside for the sake of argument, — it is still to
be remembered, that the plan gives the colonies a voice only
in one House of Parliament, leaving the other precisely where
it was. On all these accounts, there can hardly be a question
which of the two kinds of representation is the more desirable.

In speaking of colonial agents, or representatives, as we
have done, we wish the distinction to be clearly borne in mind,
between such a representation of the colonies and the late
TniWepresentation system, adopted by one party in this
colony. It is not to a salaried member of the Imperial
Parliament, the representative of one party, that we would pro-
pose to commit this trust. The agent or agents must be
delegated, in the true sense of the word ; — ^regularly appointed
by the Legislature, (not by one branch of it,) and chosen
from the colony. It would be easy so to order the mode of
election as to secure a fair share in the delegation to both
the contending parties in any colony.

A board of advice thus constituted, we repeat, would, in all
probability, very soon effijct all the required improvements in
the conduct of the colonial department. The secretary
would stiU remain, as he is now, the responsible executive

minister ; in fact, his responsibility would be as much increased
as his power to discharge his duties would be, by the existence
of the board. At present, he has only to make himself
acceptable to Parliament; and this is to be done by the
general policy of the cabinet, rather than by his own colonial
measures. He would then have to manage his colonial
advisers also, who would look directly to the colonies and
judge of him by his own doings. Their disapproval of his
measures would be very apt to make Parliament look much
more closely into the matter, than under the old system they
have ever done. By giving the delegates a right to bring
up colonial questions in Parliament, or to speak upon them
when before either House, this end would be fully attained.

There are many other incidental advantages of such a
system, upon which we have not space at present to enlarge.
In the selection of colonial governors, it would ensure a much
more careful and thorough scrutiny into their qualifications
than is at present possible. In giving them their instructions,
in judging of their measures and recommendations, — in every
act, in short, of the department, it would be of essential service
to the minister. It would keep the attention of Parliament
and of the nation more steadily directed to the colonies, and
would ensure us no small benefit thereby. Commercial
legislation and treaties would be better looked to, in connec-
tion with our interests. The statesmen of the mother country
would be made more intimately conversant with our wants ;
and our own leading public men would be made better
acquainted with their views, and would be introduced, not
merely to a wider field for their own personal ambition, but
to one on which they could better serve the colony of their
birth or adoption, and the empire at large. The colonial
policy of the empire might further be expected to become,
under the influence of such a system, progressive^ as it must,
if it is to keep pace with the exigencies of the times. As the

colonies increase in power and resources, it would adapt itself
to their changing relations towards the parent state ; and thus
the present temporary bond of colonial inferiority and metro-
politan control, would gradually convert itself into that more
equal bond of union, under which alone the several portions
of the British Empire can remain permanently united, for
their common good.

Montreal, May 10, 1838.

We observe in the last number of the Toronto British
Colonist, a very favourable notice of Mr. Robert Montgomery
Martin's project for the re-organisation of the colonial office.
The following able article on the subject, from a late English
paper, is reprinted in that journal, and its conclusions adopted
without reserve. — There is certainly much in the plan, and
in the article too, that is valuable. So far as the general
principle goes, we think every colonist must agree with them.
On some points, however, we cannot arrive at the conclusion
which their authors favour.

' In giving insertion to the article in question, we may
remark that there is in one or two passages, a little of that
spirit of exaggeration which it is almost impossible to avoid in
controversy. The very rapid changes in the colonial office,
for instance, cited as evidence against the present system,
are not the rule, but the exception. That a system is terribly
defective, which ever admits of such frequent transition of
powers so extensive, cannot, however, be doubted. Of the
importance of the colonies, and the extreme difficulty of the
task of superintending their administration, too much is not
said, because too much can hardly be said.

" OBSERVATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION.

"1. No uniformly wise colonial system can be acted on by
reason of tlio constant changes of the secretary and under-
secretary of state.

" Between March, 1833, and April, 1835, there were eight
secretaries and under-secretaries of state ; and subsequently
two assistant under-secretaries; thus making ten changes
within about two years. (In one year, from April, 1834, to
April, 1835, there were three secretaries and three under"
secretaries of state.) The names will sufficiently indicate the
fluctuations of counsel that must have prevailed in the colo-
nial office during this brief period.

" Secretaries of State. — Lord Stanley, Mr. T. Spring
Kice, Earl of Aberdeen, and Lord Glenelg.

" Under-Secretaries of State. — Viscount Howick, Mr.
Lefevre, Mr. Gladstone and Sir George Grey.

" Assistant Under-Secretaries of State. — Mr. Hay and
Mr. Stephen.

"2. Those who have the management of the vast and com-
plicated affairs of the colonies have no local, and probably but
very slight personal, knowledge of our transmarine possessions
— the heads of the office are naturally much occupied with
the patronage which extends from a governorship down to
a custom-house officer — the clerks, on whom the business
devolves, cannot be supposed to be desirous of extra trouble
— and Parliament is too busily engaged with domestic mat-
ters to pay much attention to the wants, feelings, and interests
of several millions of our distant subjects.

" 3. The territories under the management, control, and
protecting care and patronage of the Secretary of State, are :

" In North America. — Canada, Upper and Lower, New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Cape
Breton and Newfoundland ; area 435,000 square miles, or
279,400,000 acres, with a population of one million and a half
of white colonists. (Independent of the foregoing, Hudson Bay
Territories extend over 370,000 square miles.)

" In South America. — Demerara, Essequibo, Berbice, Hon-
duras, and the Falkland Isles ; area 165,000 square miles —
or 105,600,000 acres, with a population of 120,000.

" In the West Indies. — Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Gren-
ada, St. Vincent, Barbadoes, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua,
Montserrat, Ne^ds, St. Kitts, Anguilla, TortoUa and the
Virgin Isles, New Providence and the Bahama Islands, St.
George's and the Bermuda Isles ; area 13,000 square miles,
or 7,720,000 acres ; population, 1,000,000.

" In Africa. — The Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Mahe
and the Sejchelle Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension, Sierra
Leone, the Gambia, Accra, Cape Coast, &c. ; area 250,000
square miles, or 160,000,000 acres ; population, 360,000.

** In Australasia. — New South Wales, Van Dieman's Island,
Swan River, King George's Sound, South Australia, Norfolk
Island, &c. ; area 500,000 square miles, or 320,000,000
acres ; population, 120,000.

" In Asia. — Ceylon ; area 24,644 square miles, or 11,771,
160 acres ; population, 1,000,000.

" In Europe. —Gibraltar, Malta, Gozo, Corfu, Cephalonia,
Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Paxo, Cerigo, &c., Heligoland ;
area 1,500 square miles, or 1,000,000 acres ; population,
400,000.

" Total under the Colonial Secretary. — 1,750,000 square
miles, equal to 1,120,000,000 acres ; with a population of at
least 5,000,000 of British subjects, and daily increasing.

" 4. The languages used in these different colonies embrace
the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese,
Greek, Maltese, Cingalese, &c.

" 5. The laws are more or less based on the customs of the
different nations from whom these languages are derived, and
from whom we obtained the possessions.

" 6. The religions embrace the English Episcopalians, Scotch
English and Irish Presbyterians, Dutch, Lutheran, Roman
Catholic, and Greek Churches, with various shades of Pagan
Idolatry and forms of worship.

" 7. The value of the maritime commerce of the above men-

tioned possessions is i aggregate of X 85,000,000 per

annum ; and the value oi tue property, public and private,
moveable and immoveable, in lands,houses, roads, forts, canals,
ships, trading stock, and horses, oxen, sheep, &;c., is X450,-
000,000 ! all confided to the responsibility of a single indivi-
dual who has no permanency of office, and no local knowledge
of the vast interests committed to his care.

" 8. Some of the colonies have an exceedingly democratic
form of government, namely, a controlling Representative
Assembly, with a £10 franchise constituency — others have a
Legislative Council, appointed by the secretary of state,
and consisting chiefly of the principal government officers,
and some have no ruling authority but the fiat of the gover
nor. Under all these difierent systems there is no fixed prin-
ciple — internal discord and party feeling follow in the wake
of the politics of the secretary of state at home, and all the
evils of sectarianism (lay and clerical) are in full force, to
the utter ruin of social concord, and the great detriment of
the commerce, peace, and prosperity of each settlement.

" Governors and public functionaries are not chosen in refe-
rence to their personal qualifications, but chiefly with regard
to their political bias, their family connections and parliamen-
tary influence ; and the unfortunate consequences of such an
exercise of power are felt at the extremities, and re-act on
the very heart of the empire, as exemplified at this moment
in the state of Canada, and which will be the case with every
other colony as soon as its inhabitants feel their strength, and
become sensible of the cause of their sufiering.

" As a remedy of these evils, it is suggested to form an
administrative board in Downing-street for the management
of colonial affairs, with a secretary of state as at present,
but aided by a council of retired governors, judges, and
civilians, who possess a local and general knowledge of our
maritime possessions , the number of the council not to exceed

or to be less than twelve, of whom six shall change with the
secretary of state (on constitutional grounds) and six shall
hold office quam diu se bene geaserinty with two assistant per-
manent under-secretaries for the respective departments of
the colonies in the eastern and western hemisphere. This
exposition will, it is to be hoped, sufficiently explain and jus-
tify the petition to Parliament, which is totally unconnected
with party or personal considerations, and seeks to aid rather
than embarrass government.

" The inhabitants of the different colonies, and all who are
interested in this vital subject, are requested to use every
lawful effort in support of a Parliamentary enquiry, as there
are great difficulties to be overcome before a just colonial
government can be formed."

The question of remedy is the great question. And here
the suggestions of Mr. Martin are surely insufficient. An
" administrative board," such as he proposes, is, on many
accounts, objectionable. The number, " twelve," is too small,
if it be intended to secure to the department on all colonial
questions the advice of persons practically acquainted with
every colony. It would scarcely be easy to select twelve
men, who could advise, from their own practical knowledge,
on all occasions. Again, supposing this board an " adminis-
trative board," with six of its members holding office perma-
nently, the check upon the colonial secretary would be so
great as to deprive him of that power in the department,
which a responsible adviser of the crown must have. How
could Parliament censure a colonial minister with his hands
tied by an " administrative" council, one-half of its mem-
bers irremovable, and the other half removable only by his
own resignation of office ? The head of a department must
be responsible. To be responsible, he must have power. To
suppose that either a board of twelve persons, half of them
holding office for life, or a colonial secretary shackled by

such a board, could be made responsible to Parliament, is to
suppose an impossibility.

A still stronger objection to the plan is to be found in the
proposed composition of the board. It is all one-sided. Ex-
governors and other retired functionaries of colonies, and
merchants and others resident for years out of the colonies,
are not the men to be trusted as the sole advisers of the
department. It is very well that they should advise ; but
others should advise too. Men delegated directly from the
colonies, practically acquainted with their respective circum-
stances, should be present to contribute their share of infor-
mation to the department. The present wants and wishes of
the colonies should be known as well as their past condition ;
and the feelings of the many out of oflfice represented, as well
as those of the official few. In both these respects, the pro-
posed composition of the board is faulty.

The more this subject is looked into, the more clearly we
think it will be seen that the colonial minister ought not to
be controlled by any " administrative " board with irremov-
able members — that he ought to have advisers^ sufficiently
numerous to ensure practical information from one or other
of them, on every point on which he might have occasion for
it — and that among those advisers there ought to be persons
delegated from the several colonies to discharge that trust.

The importance of this subject demands for it a far larger
share of attention — in the colonies especially — than it has
ever yet received. Above all, it is no party subject, but one
upon which all men should decide, without reference to party
politics, imperial or colonial. On these two points we agree
most heartily with our Toronto contemporary.