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I :ii THE / RED RIVER ^mmM^K T LETTER ,j/( HOy. JOSEPH HOWE, rtBCKKTAKY OC STATR KOIl TUK PUDVINCKS, «T0., .1 N I ; I'. IM - V I < ) A N ' — A new dogma of infallibility, etc.. Page 5— 10. LETTER II. Lord Granville's ojnnion the result of "false impressions" — Mr. McDcmgall's i)o- licy — Calajiitiks that woidd have been caused by it, and ULESbiNGS that would not What was his policy? — (jov. McTavish'sju'otest-'' Heavy swearing" — ("apt. Cameron "striking while the iron was hot" — " Half-breeds" in a new light— Military advice !.t Pembina — "Specific information" bufort an interview — A son-in-law who must be "provided for" — A promise hi writing— ('ivil vs. military policy, etc.. Page 10 — 17. LETTER III. Mr. McDougall's instructions — Notice of intention to ref. .se transfer withheld from him — The Proclamation qxiibble exposed— A little ruse of INIr. Howe in committee— Re- maining at Pembina with a " cheering conviction " — Opinion of law officers as to com- pelling Canadian Government " by legal process " to i>ay over — Grounds of belief that transfer would be made on 1st Decendjer —A despatch that was unt sent down to Parliament—Letter from De])uty Governor of Hudson Pay Comjjany to lS\r. McDou- gall, telling him transfer wo-ald take place on 1st Deceml)er — Copy of letter from Sir . Stafford Northcote to sflftiie effect — Order in Council, and not Proclamation, mode [/re- scribed by statute for transfer — Waiting for a "I'roclamation" that cordd never come — A falsehood " of course" — One easy question, and three misstatements of fact — Lord Granville as a witness — A legal straw— /)f minimis and (Jreenwich time — Transfer made at last, just as Mr. McDougall assumed it would be. Page 17 — 27. LETTER IV. A legal champion and a pop-gun missile — A big "purchase" — Col. Dennis' com- mission and the wickedness of resisting rebels — Mr. Howe's policy, as proclaimed at St. Paul, Fort Abercronibie and Fort Garry— " Big shoes" not wanted — ^Major Wal- lace's report of ]Mr. Howe's sayings at Fort Gany — " Continuing an authority " at Ottawa after its extinction in the North- West — 'what President Grant mvjht have done — A messenger from Rome and his ji.esgage — Is it lawful for the civil magistrate to resist rebels ? (See Blackstone et at.) — "Pray nuich for me" — de facto " banditti"— Why did Col. Dennis fail? — Private Information from Ottawa, the answer I— A retro- spective " if " — V ';at miyht have becU saved to Canada. Page 28—34. I J '•: ! T \ IV LETTER V. Auxiliary ininHtateinpntH--A f(iialifie(l ctMtificato of character !>y ft colIoaj^uo-Two " ifs" for t.lii! iialf-hreods Tlio iiiiin who told tliti ii'itU-ontcnts to jf" "n, " oxoiuTftttHl," and Mr. McDoiiifall duclarod to 1)(! the cliiff criiiiiiial ! Tlu- " Hurvfys" nnd who hu;^- gested thwnCol. Doniiis' instnictionn Withholdiii:^' information— A now view of otfi- cial reH|)onMii)ility — Sir I'Vaiii'is on the •' ciiiiHo of the Kciu'llion" -A false charj^e an- Hwered l)y ."i^O IJreech-loiuli'rH What tlit'n? -A (luestion for Mr. ilowo to answer— Uitfercnco of reasoning in " (.'ojnmittee of Council," and in a " lie view." I'ago 35—39. LETTER VL The iiolicy of Canadian Oover-iinent reviewed undi'r five lieai'n -Endorsing Mr. Howt!, endorses his mischievous aTts -Provoking reheiliou - A leaf of history - Inter- coloni'.il h'aihvay route and its set-olf — Two millions of money and what was got for it — A harmonious policy to ahaudou the Nortli-VVest — The ''(juiet |)ossessiou " theory— A diplomatic coup — An expensive promenade and ahugle blast at the end of it — " Stay where you are" — Bishop Tache's '' estalilishet a difficulty — the role was yours ; you had promised in one of your public speeches to play it, and your di.inaged reputati(m seemed most in need of repair. But what if you should blurt out another confession ? It is evident you have been told not to imte, as you were more than once told by your master last session, not to speah on Red River matters. I shall deal with this brochure as an emanation of yours, because you are the Minister officially charged with the subject of which it treats, and the chief delinquent in whose behalf it has been sent forth. You attempted last session to escape from the conseqiiences of your own perfidy by attacking me, and by repeating the slanders against the loyal Canadians of the North-west, which you had heard from the Yankee annexationists, and the traitors in tlie service of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, with whom you consorted at Fort Garry. But you utterly fail-^d in your attempt, and only succeeded in confirming the suspicion that M Il i prevailed within, as woll as without the walls of Parliamrnt, that you were the chief abettor, if not the chief iiiHtigator of "the Red Hiver Insurrection." Fiii(liii<< that the verdict of public opinion was clearly against yoii, and that your (;ollcagiu's wero involved iu the same con- demnation, yuu have a[tpeal('(l from that verdict, atul now move in anrd of jii(l(jiiinit on the ground that " fal^iC impressiiUih " have been made upon the " public mind," *' chicHy by the lion. Wm. McDimgall," that ho is, in fact, the one man who is " censurable," whose "conduct was wholly indetensible," who8(! "policy" "would havcMleprived Canada of Imperial countenance and supjjort ;" while "Mr. Howe must be com- pletely exonerated from all blame," the Manitoba Act, admitted to be " generally acceptable to the people of the North-west," and the Cana- dian (lovernnent lauded for its "singular judgment, decision, and conciliation," in the whole matter ! This is certainly a novel, as well as a bold proceeding, and must, I think, luive been resorted to in the absence of the legal aciviser of the GovernnuMit. "A motion in arrest of judgment," we are told, "must be grounded on some objection arising on the face of the recor ' itself." The defendant cannot, at this stage, re-argue his case, or adduce the " opinions " of third parties as evidence in the cause, cr attempt- tc change places with the plaintiif. Judgment non obstante veredicto is the exclusive privilege of tlie latter. Even in the high Court of public opinion, some regard must be paid to those rules of logic and proceduie which judicial experience has found to be indispensible iu the adminiistration of Justice. You admit that the v(?rdict on the pleadings, and on the evidence submitted, is against the Government ; you liave not shown any mistake or defect in the indictment ; you] have not brought forward anything that can be regarded as new, or additional evidence — admitting that, m such a case as this, you might be permitted to produce it if you could. The judg- ment must, therefore, 1 respectfully submit, be entered against you — as it has been already in the mind of every man in Canada who is not a sympathizer with rebels and "banditti." But, pursuing the legal analogy a step further, perhaps your motion is tor a new trial 1 Be it so ; I do not object. Nay, I am under obligations to you for the opportunity thus afforded me, to produce important evidence hitherto withheld from motives of prudence, even under the strongest provocation to make it public. I am absolvedj by this official attack, (if not made at the- cost of tho Socrot Sorvico Fund, it certainly is vvitli the assisril of the resiMinsihif {^'u.'irdians of conlidontial Stiite papers) iVoni all obligationH to secrecy or reticence resi>ectingthe res (jcdm of this whole matter. You have invited a " review " at my hands, and neither you nor your col- leagues shall have r<\ason to complain of any matiirial omission. I will meru shall understand it in its widest sense. Titasoii, not to the lawful Sovereign of this Dominion only, bivt treason to the people of Canada ; treason to the interests, civil and religious, of the people of the North-west ; treason to human pro- gress, freedom, and civilization in every Province of the Dominion. You bf^gin your "review" of my conduct, as you are pleased to express it, by charging me with inaking " false impressions" upon the public mind. What are these false impressions ? When and where did I make them? I have written and .spoke" frequently, and at som(j length, during the last two or three years, o • subjects relating to the acquisition of the North-^vest Territories, and the attempt to organize government within them. Could you not in all these minutes, reports, correspondence, despatches and speeches, find one line to support your charge 1 If you felt it necessary for your case to make so serious a charge against me, it was surely incumbent on you to call a witness, or quote a line or a paragraph to prove it. You have not done so ; you have not even m. '■• the attempt. I have read carefully your garbled extracts, jumbled together in equal disregard of chronological and logical sequence, and I do not find a statement or a suggestion, for * i M iW 8 I which 1 am responsible, that is not strictly true, even when read by the light of subsequent events. I ask you, sir, how can a man >vho reports the truth and nothing but the trutli, whose statements you have been unable in a single instance to disprove, niukt^ " faisy impressions" on the public mind 1 That kind of logic, let me remind you, did not prevail with many of your own supporters in Parliament, and it will not remove the impressions — the true impressions — which the public mind has received, and will indelibly retain, in regard to your conduct. But you have called a Avitness, not to prove the truth of your charge against me' but to exculpate the Canadian Government. A '^espaLch from Lord Granville, dated 18th May, in which he acknowledges a telegram of the 3rd of May, informing him that " the Canadian Government and the delegates" — Exchot and Soott — had "come to an understanding," is cited to prove that what Lord Granville said in the House of Lords in praise of the Canadian Government, on receiving this, as he sup- posed, important intelligence, cannot even now be disputed. Lord Granville's official compliments in May, though he had written long and argumentative despatches to prove the very opposite, a few weeks previously, are seized upon with avidity, and paraded in the first paragraph of your " review " to " disabuse " the public mind in this country, of impressions formed upon a much better knowledge of the facts than Lord Granville could possibly obtain from your telegrams. Lord Granville is an exceedingly j^olite official. He belongs to that school of tacticians who believe that, as the ])ast cannot be rectified, it is best to forget it as quickly as possible, and make terms with the future The Saturday Ilevieiv, in a recent article, approving of tho Foreign Secretary's diploiuatic reply to Count BornstorflF's remonstrance on the subject of neutrality, remarks, that " it is the duty of a diplon: itist to "say nothing disagreeable, except when it is ncMssary to the attainment "of his object." My o\v-\ experience of Earl Granville's suavity, and diplomatic agreeableness, corroborates the judgment of the English writer. He is, without doubt, the most conspicuous example among living statesmen, of the agreeable in diplomacy. It is rather unfair to the noble Earl, therefoie, to publish his little complimentary despatch of 18th May, written under a "false impression " of tlie actual state of the case, as a complete vijidication of the acts and policy of the Canadian Government. Whether his Lord^iiip will consider it his duty to say ( among I "nothing disagreeable," Avlien he learns that you have paraded his "happy despatch," as an admission that his previous despatches, in which he condemned those ctcts, and denounced that policy, • ith a severity of language to which his pen is so unfamiliar, remains to be seen. I, for one, am incredulous on thr point. But, sir, I apprehend that the opinion of Lord Granville, even when all the focts are before him, is not conclusive upon the merits or de- merits of Canadian Ministers. Tlie Canadian Parliament and the Canadian people^ are the constitutional judges in their case, and judges too, let me add, from whose decision there is no appeal. When I had the honour, along with Sir George E. Cartier, to discuss with Lord Granville the claims of Canada to acquire, Avithout purchiise from the Hudson Bay Company, the great Territory that lies between Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains, I felt it my dntj' to dissent very strongly from some of Ihe noble Lord's opinions. Tliat dissent, reiterated and persisted in for weeks — and without intending any reflection upon my colleague, I know he Avill yield me the position of chief dissenter — saved to Canada a very large sum of money, and eliminated from Lord Granville's proposals many onerous and embarrassing conditions. We thought then, that the opinions, and even the mulshes of an Imperial Secretary of State, suri'ounded by influences adverse to Canada, with Hudson Bay shareholders in his own ofTice, and an ex-Governor of the Company in the same Cabinet, were to be received, Avith respect cer- tainly, but not Avithout question, and might even be controverted and resisted Avithout incurring a pru'viunire. But the supple courtier from Demerara, and the mollified blusterer from Nova Scotia, have promul- gated a neAV dogma of infallibility. If a Secretary of State for the Colonies, pays a compliment to a Colonial Government that has fallen into disfavour a\ ith its own people, the GoA^miment must be right, and the people must be Avrong ! If he expresses regret that a Government official assumed authority " in a difiicult and embarrassing position,' Avhich he Avould have laAvfuUy exercised, but for a breach of agreement by the Government that commissioned him — an act that is reprehended in the very despatch that conveys the "regret" — the official must accept the " regret" as equivalent to condemnation, and the defaulting Govern- ment may point to the "responsibility" and the " added ;omplications,' which are declared to have arisen from their " delay," — may even quote Mi - '% r 10 the opinion of trie Secretary, that they are hound to pay interest on the purchase money, which was due the first of December but not paid tiU May, as a proof that the official who represented and trusted them, is the real delinquent, and the men who betrayed him, violated their agreement, and are told they must pay interest as a consequence, are innocent, meritorious, clever people, whose policy it is every one's duty to approve ! I much mistake the signs of the times, if this new political dogma is not destined to be followed by the discomfiture of its promulgators, as swift and as signal as that which has just overtaken the author of tha^, other dogma, who, like Prometheus, attempting to steal the attributes of Heaven, suddenly finds himself prone upon the earth, imprisoned and eviscerated, and no Hercules to deliver him. I am. Sir, &c., Ac, WM. MACDOUGALL. Toronto, Oct. 27th, 1870. Letter II. Sir, — I submit that Lord Granville's " opinion" of the policy of the Canadian Goveiiiment in dealing with the Red River Insurrec- tion during its first stage — the only stage which concerns me — is not evidence in your favour. 1. Because up to April 23rd, as his despatches show, it is against you. 2. Because the opinion of 18th May wa.s based on a report of facts which did not exist, to wit, that the people of the Red River Settlement had sent "delegates" to the Canadian Government, and that the Manitoba Bill, as settled with these fco-caUed delegates, was acce]itable to the people of Red River. Your rei)ort was not true on either point. Riel, the rebel President, sent the delegates, if any one sent them ; and the " understanding come to" was not recognized by him, for he remained in arms, imprisoning and plundering Her Maj(>sty's loyal subjects, and defying her authority, till Lord (iranville's regular troops drove him in terror from the country. I .shall defer any further remarks upon this point till I ascertain his Lordship's " opinion" of these transactions, after the truth has reached wm 11 .Mm through Col. Wolseley's reports, and the private correspondence found among Kiel's papers. These will disclose the "policy" of tho authorities at Ottawa in a much clearer and truer light than the cable telegrams of last spring. Disregarding for the present th. "opinion" of Lord Granville who is the Alpha and Omega of your pamphlet, I proceed to review your accu sations against me, and to answer them. Your first charge is, that "Mr. McDougall and his partizans have per- " sistently denounced the Government for not adopting a policy which "would have deprived Canada of Imperial countenance and support -and which would, most assuredly, have brought about a war between ''Canada and the Red River settlers, in which the latter would have "had the aid of any number of sympathizers from the United States of " America." The same charge is repeated further on, with an extended list of caiaiiaties that "would," and of blessings that " would not " have happened, if Mr. McDougall's policy had l,een adopted. Let me tabulate them for greater convenience : — Calamities. 1. Mr. McDougall's policy would have deprived Canada o/ the •' moral and material support" of the Imperial Government. 2. It would, have " brought about a war between Canada and the Red River settlers." 3. It would have given the settlers the "aid of any number of sympathizers" from the States. 4. It would have caused "the expenditure of an enormous sum of money, the sacrifice of many lives," &c. 5. " Riel would have retained his ascendency until conquered by Canada." Blessin&s. 1. " General Lindsay would not have been sent." 2. "Col. Wolseley would not have been allowed to command tiie •expedition." 3. " Bishop Tache would not have been summoned from Rome." 4. " The people of Red River Settlement would not have been invited to send delegates to Ottawa." 5. " The Territory" would not have " been organized into a Pro- vince." 12 6. " An excellent Governor has been (which would not have been, in the other case,) sent to it, whose policy will be to restore harmony and to administer equal justice to all." Adding the " woulds" and " would nots" together, you have made out, I confess, a formidable catalogue. But as there is no limit to airy conjecture, when the region of solid fact is left behind, I consider my self fortunate that your retrospective predictions are only eleven in number. When you unshipped your balloon, Speculation, and threw out ballast so recklessly, you surely did not expect me to follow you. Nevertheless, I will try a few shots, and if I hit your wind-bag, and you come down with a thump, and get badly bruised, you must blame your own temerity. The fii'st question that suggests itself, and one that you ought to have considered, is this : — What is, or rather what was, Mr. McDougall's policy 1 You say, " No one who reads the Parliamentary papers "carefully can arrive at any other conclusion than that if Mr. "McDougall's policy had been adopted," &c., &c. Now, sir, I have read again, at your suggestion, these Parliamentary papers, and I have re-examined certain other papers not yet made public. The policy adopted, and the policy recommended by me, will be found in these papers. Beginning with my first letter to you from J'embina, and end- ing Avith my last speech in Parliament, I submit it for your recon- sideration : — "This moining I determined to send forward Mr. Provencher to Fort Garry, if permitted to go so far, with a verbal message to Governor McTavish, announcing- my arrival within liis jurisdiction, and claiming h''s protection for myself iind party. Jlr. Provencher was instructed to ascertain from the insurgents by a friendty confererice, if possible, their object, and the extent of the force at their command. He was instructed to (issitrc thcui uf the determination of the Ouvernmcnt to deal jnstly with all ckuiscis, aid to respect existing rights without reference to ra,ce or religion. But he v. as to exidain to them that until the new Government was organized, and so long as they remained with arms in their hands, no official communication could be held with them by me, or any one on my behalf.' (Letter from Pembina, Oct. 31, 1869. Corrcspondtnce and Papers, the, page 5) " I cannot help thinking that a proclamation from your Government ex- plaining the provisions of the late Imperial Act respecting the Territory, and the authority undei which the new Government will exeicise its powers, at the same time warning the malcontents of the serious nature of the crime they meditated, and the grave consequences to all concerned that must result from its comndssion, would have been well-timed, and perhaps sufficient to prevent the designing men at the head of the movement from accomplishing their purposes. I understand from Col. Dennis, that no proclamation or 13 waxning has yot been published at Fort Garr>, under official sanction.' (Letter to Gov. McTuvish, Nov. 2. Correspondence and Papers, page 29.) A proclamation followed on tlio 16th November from Gov. McTavish' " protesting" against the unlawful acts of the rebels, and " charging'' them to disperse and depart out of Fort Garry to their habitations. They h.ad found the gates open two weeks previously ; were allowed to enter without protest ; were accommodated with pemmican, brandy, tobacco, &c., ad libitum, by the obliging officers of the H. B. Company ; and when asked, for form's sake, to walk out, declined with thanks ! They lauglied at the " protest," more boisterously, but not more heartily, than their willing capti^^e, the unwilling protester, and then made them- selves comfortable for the winter. Mr. Bookkeeper McTavish, no doubt, for form's sake also, charging the pemmican, brandy, &c., to the Canadian Government ! As matters turned out, I frankly admit that my " policy," in respect to Governor McTavish, and the H. B. Com- pany's servantc at Fort Garry, was not a success. I assumed that they were loyal to Her Majesty, and I invoked their aid to restore law and order in the country. I found they were only loyal to St. Boniface, and its agent, Kiel, and that they preferred to give aid and comfort to liim, and had only curses,* and lectures on the shortcomings of the Canadian Government, for (as they supposed) Her Majesty's representative ! But, sir, let me ask you which of ycur hypothetical calamities might, could, or would have happened, if my '' policy" in seeking the active co-opera- tion of the Governor and his Council, in behalf of peace and order, and the supremacy of the constituted authorities, had been successful 1 I admit, at once, that your entire list of " blessings" might, in that case, have been unattained ! Your partizans have industriously circulated, and you have asserted in your speeches and in your pamphlet, that my policy, v/hile at Pem- bina, and since, was "blood-thirsty," "warlike," "imprudent," &c. An extract from certain correspondence, not heretofore published, will throw some light on this point. On the 30th November, at the most critical moment of my expedition — being, as all about me knew, the eve * " I met Mr. McKenny's son in the Council room (in Father Richot's house), at River Sale, when I was arrested. Both Bannatyne and McKenny stated tliut there had at t'lat time been no official notification tliat there had been any transfer of the Territory. The fornjer (Bannatyne) when in the Council of Assinaboia, iicard the Governor of the Company mcear heavily at Mr. McDougall, when he read a letter from the latter, urgin); him to issue his Proclamation to call upon the loyal in- habitants to preserve law and ordor."— Extract from a Report of Major Wallace tome at Pembina. U 4 If m ik 14 of the transfer, which the three Governments had agreed to — a military man who attained some celebrity in the North-West, the son-in-law of a now Cabinet Minister, and one of the persons sent by you to dragoon the half-breeds into the habits of civilized life, gave me in writing the bene- fit of his advice : — * ' The reports from Fort Garry pcrsnado mo that I might be of use in strikimj whild the iron is hot there. The present feeling against the French i breeds may cool unless the Government party there are encouraged, and I am sure there cannot be a doubt about its l)eing for the future -.welfare of the coiuitry that the present rising should be quelled by the inhabitants, rather than by soldiers, employed by the new Government to introduce itself. " Yours very sincerely, "D. R. Cameron." "Fort Garry, 1st December, 1869. The gallant captain's letter was written and sent to me on the last day of November, and the writer was not at Fort Garry, but at Pem- bina, G5 miles distant. These little slips were, no doubt, caused by his nervous impatience to get at the " h breeds" before his " feelings" liad time to " cool !" He struck the iron while it was hot with much less dange: to the " i breeds," after he had been safely brought back to Ottawa by his father-in-law. His feelings having been cooled to the proper temj jrature, he was set to translate Bishop. Tache's " Sketch of the North-West," in which your Reverend Ambassador depreciates the country ; deprecates immigration ; defends and eulogises the Bois Br tiles; apologises for the murder of Governor Semple, and does not hesitate to publish a scandalous libel upon the character of Lord Milton. I think, i'.\%\\ you, will not deny, that the captain's literary exploit in your service at Ottawa, reflects more credit on his scholarship, than his martial exploits at Pembina an( I Riviere Sale have added to his fame as a warrior. In replying to the proposal of my military adviser, I informed him that : — " I have never proposed, contemplated, or asked for the aid of soldiers. If any fighting becomes necessary, it must be done by the loyal people of the settlement in their own way and at their own time. Organization is now going on, prompted by themselves, and so far as I could give it, with the sanction of authority. I shall be happy to avail myself of the oflFer of your military skill and experience, whenever operations of that kind are contem- plated, or become nece&.«ary. I have determined, for the present, to act 15 it I wholly through ' conservators of the peace,' and in the name and with the forms I ' the civil power. " The captain was irate because I reminded him of his insubordination in attempting to pass the barricade against my written protest, and the advice of Governor McTavish — (Sec Correspondence a7id Papers, pages 14-24.) — and in his reply, peremptorily repudiated my authority. He also informed me that he was in communication with " the friends of the new Government," a circumstance of whiclr I was not previously aware- The following passages of his letter caused some anxiety in my camp, J lest the bold " Penetrator," as the Yankees dubbed him, should attack the barricade a third time, and, installing himself as Dictator, leave us all in the lurch ! ' ' But your remarks suggest the idea that you consider my services were untimely ollered. As it was only on Saturday, the 27th inst. , that a message was sent to me from the settlement — where no authority is in force — inviting me to lead ' the friends of the new Government,' and of law and order — to whom you probably refer, my proposal to you on the night of the 25th Inst. , that I should go amongst them, was surely not premature." "You state, sir, that you never proposed, contemplated, or asked for the aid of soldiers. To a militaiy man, the possible necessity for their services is immediately suggested by the rising of rebels in arms, and the overthrow of civil au- thority. '* Somewhat puzzled by the captain's attitude, and having expressed a wish in my tiri^t letter to see him at my residence, at a certain hour, for " a special purpose," which he declined, unless 1 would send him a written statement of the subject matter of the iii*^"rview — which Col. Stutsman would probably have perused on the w.a. — I sent him the following instead, and have not since had the honour to receive a communication from him, civil or milita^;-' ; — " Pembina, December 1st, 1869. "Dear Sir, — 1 beg to acknowledge the receipt of a letter from you, in reply to mine of yesterday, in which you * decline to consider yourself sub- ject to my reprimand or my rebuke.' As I sufficiently indicated the acts imd proceedings on your part to which I took exception at the time, and also the reasons which led me to do so, in my note of yesterday. 1 shall not argue, the matter with you any further. " You do not seem to comprehend the situation, or the policy which has been adopted in dealing with it. You do not even seem able to arrive at any conclusion in your own mind, as to what ought to be done ; for, in your note of yesterday, you declare that, ' for the future welfare of the coimtry the present rising should be quelled rather by the inhabitants than by soldiers, employed by the Government, ' and when I informed you that I had neither ' proposed, contemplated, or asked the aid of soldiers,' but reUed upon the loyal inhabitants, you rejily that to you, ' a military man, the possible neces- sity of their services is immediately suggested, by the rising of rebels in arms ! '■m I 16 " I do not quite comprehend your advice, (if yo\i meant to advise,) and must, therefore, resiiectfiilly ' decline ' it. " With regai-d to my re<[uest tliat you shoidd * see mo here to-day, about 11a.m. for a special pur^xise,' and to which you reply by asking to be 'in- formed of the character of the special purpose,' before granting me the inter- view, I beg to say, that if, at such a time, and place, and with spies, and eaves-droppers all about us, you require me to send specific information, (in writing I i)resume,) of the ' purpose ' of any interview I may desire, I must decline to hold interviews with you. "I am. Sir, " Respectfully yours, " D. R. Cameron, Ewp, " W. MfDouaAiL. " Captain Royal Artillery." Before quitting the case of Capt. Cameron, I feci it my duty to state, partly in my own defence, and partly in the interost.s of truth and hon- est administration, two or three facts not generally known : — 1. Capt. Cameron was sent to the North- West against my strong re- monstrance. I was told that he had to be provided for, — that Dr. Tap- per demanded it ; and that, being a military man, I would find him use- ful in organizing a force of mounted police, &c. 2. I consented to take liim, remarking, that as he was an artillery of" ficer, I should probably rind him more useful in mounting guns than horsey ; but with this express stipulation, that no other person who rmist be provided for should be forced upon me. It was rumored about that time that a formidalile array of officials was to be sent out from Canada, and believing that such a proceeding Avould excite great jealousy and indignation in the North West, I thought it would be a good bar- gain if I could get off with one supernumerary, and a solemn promise that no more should be sent. 3. When I found the gallant Captain rushing at the barricade against my wish, made known to him in writing, — sending his servant and horses a second time, after he had failed himself, and then negotiat- ing for an expedition on " his own hook," I began to tlank he must bo an incorrigible madcap, or else was acting under some mistake as to his position and authority. Expressing this view to one of my party, j learned that the Captain had given out that he was going to Fort Garry under the Minister of Militia, and not under my Gi.vernment ! This was news to me, but whether the fact was so or not, it enabled me to read his actions in a new light, and it revealed, at the same time, the nature and meaning of some other movements, which subsequent events have more fully explained. ' vise,) and lay, about to be ' in- tlie inter- spies, and nation, (in re, I mnst OALL. ' to state, and hon- trong re- i Dr. Tup- l him use- ■tillery of" ;uns than rson who red about out from t jealousy ?ood bar- promise e against servant negotiat- must ba -ke as to party, j )rt Garry ?his was ! to read e nature nts have I 17 4. In a short conversation with Dr. Tupper, whom I met on tha plains, as I was returning lo Canada, he informed me that Captain Cam- eron was sent to the North-West under a ^n-omm that he slwiihl he a memher of mi/ Govermmmt, and that he (Dr. Tupi)er) luvd that promise in writing ! This also was news to me. If true, it was a palpable breach of the agreement with m(^ at Ottawa, and placed me in the awkward pre- dicament of having to break ftxith with the people of the country, who were assured, on my authority, that my " hands were untied in the matter of my council," except as to two nersons, both of whom were residents within the Territory (See Cor'>'ef2)ondence mid paj}ers, paje 65), or, to disappoint the just expectations of the Doctor's son-in-law. The evidence I have submitted will, probably, be sufficient to con- vince the public — whatever its effect may be on your mind — that up to the 1st of December, 1869, 'Sny policy" was not so blood-thirsty, or so warlike, or even so imp'i dent, as that of your confidential military agent, whose wisdom and prowess you extolled in your place in Parliament, and Avhose fitness for high command in Manitoba, Governor Archibald warndy maintained in the same place, and prnvcd, by reading letters of recommendation from the Yankee Postmaster at Pembina ! ■;': ' I am, sir, yours, &c., ' • WM. MACDOUGALL. -■■'■"• ■■•■■' '•-■ — '■■' Lettkh III. ■* -^-■'•' =>-■■--. ^■■ Sir. — On the first day of December, 18G9, 1 believed, on grounds which I shall presently f^tate, that Rupert's Land, and the North Western Ter- ritory, had, that day, been transferred to, and had become part of, the Dominion of Canada. As my instructions authorized me " to assume the Government of the Territories on their actual transfer to Canada," and as my Commission " authorized, empowered, required, and command- ed" me, "from and after" that day, " to do and execute in all things that .shoidd belong to my said command," I had to decide lietween action and inaction, oljedience and disobedience. Not a word, not a hint, not a cii-- cumstance from which I could infer, that you and your colleagues had determined to break the agreement with the Imi)erial Government and m If. 18 the Hudson Bay (*onipaiiy, l»y rofusinj? to jicrcpt tlin transfer of tlie coun- try, had reached my ears. For trusting you, for assuming that you wouhl keep faith at all hazards, with the other high conti-acting parties, (to say nothing of my position as your Ix^hiaguered rejtresentativt',) you and your small faction — very small, I am hap|)y to say, — censure and de- nounce me! WciU, sir, [ shall now give you, and them, the answer for which it seems you have been waiting. It will he all the more satisfac- tory, I tnist, Ix^cause I am now enabled to make it complete. The fad, as well as the law, is on \\\y side, and you and the legi 1 quibblers, who have instrvicted you, are condemned by both. You devote some eight or ten pages to prove, that in assuming iXw fact of the transfer on the 1st of December, I acted " ilh^gally," committed a " fatal error, with full knowledge that I was doing so," &C. Tluit the transfer did not take place on the 1st of December, no one has ever de- nied ; that my commission took effect, or could take effect without the transfer, no one has ever pretended. But that I "had full knoAvledge" that I was then acting illegally, is a false, a wilfully false suggestion. There is not a member of the present cabinet, not even the writer of your pamphlet, Avho believes, or ever has believed, that I knew, or sus- pected, or had any reason to susj)ect, that the solemn agreement made and concluded between the three governments, would be broken by one of them, and that one, the government of Canada, of which I was still a member. Why, su-. you know iind all Canada knows, that yoii met and passed me on the plains, leaving me in complete ignorance of the state of affairs at Fort Garry, at the date of your depai-ture, — for you confessed the fact in your place in Parliament ; and you know, though you have tried hard to convey to the public, a conti'ary impression, that I was kept, dvu'ing the whole period of my stay at Pembina, (uitirely in the dark as to your policy of refusing the ti-ansfer ! That no despatch or telegram, or messenger Avas sent to a}>prise me of your sudden change of policy, (whicli cut the ground from under my feet), till I was several days journey from Pembina on my Avay to Canada ! And liere I must recall a little inise you resoi-ted to in the publication of the " correspon- dence and papers," which you have repeated in your pamphlet. Con- scious of the fatal error yon and your colleagues had committed, in coun- termanding payment of the £300,000 to the Company, anu in refusing to accept the transfer on the 1st of December, as agreed upon, without o several I must in coun- \ 19 taking any stops to advise me of tlu; fact, thoiij^h it was most important [ should know it, you endeavour to convey the impression that i/ou had advised me so early as the lUth of November ! And how is this done;! By tninsposing your desj)atch of that date from its jjroper place, and foisting it into my correspondencct from Pemhina, written as (^a^ly as the 4th of that month. I protested, in th'3 committee appointed to sc^lect and arrange the coiTcspondence, against this confusion of despatclios, and the majority of the committee concurred with me. But I fell ill, and did not recover until the correspondetice was published, when I found you had carried your point, and ])laced your despatch of the l!)th hcjore mine of the 4th, .5th, 7th, 9th, and 13th of November. Now, as \ did not receive yours till the Gth of December, and as it contained no hint that you intended to refuse the transfer on the first, but, on the contrary, actually conveyed the information that a "Proclamation annexing the country to Canada," would probably be issued on the 2nd of December, you have not, as it seems to me, gained much by the transposition, and subsequent citation of this desi)atch. Even in your despatch of the 29tli of November, wiitten some days after you liad telegraplunl INIr. Rose to withhold the ,£300,000, — and to Lord Granville to postpone th" trans- fer, you do not advise me of these acts ! You tell me that you ai-o in " telegraphic communication with the Secretary of State;" that it appeared to you " unwise to complicate matters by any hasty action un- til the policy of the Queen's Government was known ;" that the council " desired that all collision with the insurgents" might be avoided ; that "no violation of the neutrality laws" sliould occur, and that I was to "remain at Pembina, cheered by the conviJion tvhich animated" you at Ot- taiva !i! But not a word that you had refused to pay the money or to accept the transfer. Lord Granville, as the correspondence shows, was at that \ery moment pressing the transfer upon you, threatening to make it in spite of your refusal, and interrogating the law officers of the Crown,* on the question of seizing the purchase money by legal pro- cess ! This contest between the Canadian government and Lord Gran- ville may account for your inability to announce that the transfer would * " Lord Granville leavns from the law officers of the Crown, that although it would be competent to Her Majesty's government to complete the transfer by ac- cepting the surrender of the Company and issuing the, reqiiisitp order in Courdl; yet this acceptance would not place the Company in a position to obta'n, by any legal process, the sum of £300,000 recently deposited by Mr. Kose.",J Sir F. Rogers to Sir S. Northcote. Cor. and papers, p, 132. 1. 1 ■at tU i ^1 Ml 1 1 S:- ! I; I so not take plin-e — that you had come off victorious in the struggh' — hut it waw no reason for witlihoMing from your representative in the North- west, all knowledge of your new policy, till it was too hvte to bo of ser- vice. Nor do(!S your ultimate triumph over Lord (Jranville, the H. B. Company, and the law oUicers, give you any right to make mo your scape-goat, and to talk now of " illegality," which, Imt for your inter- ference — prompted by motives you have never dared to avow — would have been undoubted legality. In the absence of any instructions or information from Ottawa, the question, and the only q'iestion that remains to bo answered under your count, charging a guilty knowledge of illegality, is this : — Had I reason- able grounds to believe that thi! transfer of Kupert's Land, and the Northwest Territory to Canada, would be made on the 1st day of De- cember, 18G9 ? Hero are the grounds : — I knew, of my own knowledge, and had in my possession the official documents to ))rove, that all the parties to the contract, had agreed to the terms ; that the day was fixed, and that the money was ready to be jiaid over. Before leaving Ottawa, I took the precaution to obtain copies of all the despatches, draft agreements, and other documents, relating to tlie Northwest, wliich, I have since found, was a wise precaution. I knew by experience, that it would be unsafe to rely upon official promp- titude, or perspicacity at Ottawa ; or to assume that the proper minister or a quorum of ministers would be found at the Capital in any emer- gency that might happen. And I knew — what tliis case has conclusively established — that you and the majority of your colleagues, would not hesitate to garble or suppress important state papers, even when demand- ed by Parliament; if their production was likely to expose or embai'rass the government. The following important despatch was not sent down to Parliament with the other correspondence : — Downing Street, 11th August, 1869. Sir — Witli reference to my despatch of the 22nd of July, I have the hon- our to inform you that the Hudson Bay Company liave altered tlie draft deed of surrender, so as to make it conform with the terms in the draft order in Council, and that I have, approved of the draft as altered. 1 transmit fox" your information, a copy of the draft, and also of th-i Rupert's Land Loan Guarantee Bill, which has just received H. M. assent and become law. I shall be glad to learn from you, at your earliest convenience, whether any arrangement has been made for the payment of the £.300,000, as this is 21 fhf. onhj point now romaining to bo sottlod before the Onkr in Cnmcil can bo isHUod I have, ber, and 5 transfer " British 3," I dis- " and not the Pro- 11 be law- rvest Ter- of any ccn enac- N. A. Orders '.n a date to lominion for the aination- in your until a ty m the xing the the legal quibbles on this point which we heard from one or two of your partizans iu the House of Commons ; after all the positive accusations of your organs, inspired from the office of the Attorney-General, the country hics been transferred, exactly in the way I supposed it would be, by Order in Council, and not by Proclamation ! So far as I have seen, no Proclamation has begn issued by the Queen, or through your office, to this day ! What now becomes of your Proclamation tl;oorj l Wh.'t of the brilliant legal doctrine, that a commission, which was in express tenur^ to take effect, " from and after" an event, whenever it might hap- pen, could not take aff'ect until a '• Proclamation" — unnecessary and un- authorized — had been issued, and had " reached," through your office, the unlucky holder of the commission 1 Does it help your legal theory that this waiter for futile Proclamations was more ti:iin a thousand miles distant — in the middle of the Wt«tern plains — on foreign soil — with a rebellion in front : and the allies of rebels — threcj hundred miles of un- inhabited country — and Avinter, 30 degrees below zero, in the rear 1 Non constat that your Proclamation, or your messenger, would over reach him ! And ix, is now clear, that if he had remained at Pembina to this hour, " cheered by the conviction that animated" you and your cheerful colleagues, no Proclamation, suui ;>« you described, would, or could, have reached him ! You seom to have discovered, before writing your pamphlet, that the Proclamation story — which had served its purpose — was exploded by the action of the Imperial Government, and you hit upon another form of indictment. In several despatches, written in November, I com- plained of the delay in sending instructions for my guidance after the transfer. In your despatch of December 7th, you endeavoured to hide your shortcomings on this point by stating an untruth. You enumer- ated a list of eight " assurances" that I might give to the residents of the North-West, and then rexnarked, "You had, of course, instructions on all the above mendoned points, excepting as regards the tariff, before you left Ottawa." Now, I had received no " instructions" before I left Ottawa, except those of 28th September, which were preUmlnary merely, and dirci'(>d me '•'to reporu" on a variety of subjects. The only acts I was authorized to do, were two — to offer seats in my Council to Messrs. McTavish and Black, and to make " provisional arrangements" for the extension of the telegraph system, both of which I did. Your despatch H^ 24 of 7tli of December, with its glittering generalities, met me on my way to Canada. Its tardy receipt was no deprivation, except as to the tariff, for it gave no information, and no a ithority, which were not to be found in my Commission, and in the Acts of Parliament. But my chief cause of anxiety, as tlie 1st cf December drew near, was the non" receipt of the Order in Council, or of any notice 'thai, it had passed. As early as the 1 3th November, I Avrote thus : — " I expected tc hear by this time that the transfer had been agreed to, and the Imperial Order in Council passed. If I don't receive notice of this " Older" in a few days, I shall be mucli embarrassed in my plans, and the leaders of the insurrection will be emboldened and strengthened." On this passage of my despatch you comment as follows in your review : — " How could Mr. McDfJUgall liave expected to hear at Pembins, on the 14th November, that the Imperial Order in Council had been passed ? The date fixed for the ijayment of the money to the Company, and the concur- rent transfer to the Crown, was fixed for the 1st December ; but Mr. McDougall Avas well aware that after the transfer to the Crown, a future day for the transference to Canada would have to be fixed by .an Order of the Queen in Council ; and even if the Canadian Government had paid over the money on the 1st of December, as contemplated Avhen Mr. McDougaU left Ottawa, the proc'amation would have been illegal." The above short paragraph contains one question and three state, ments of fivct. Tlio question is easily answered, and the statements are untrue. First, as to the question : — How could I expect to hear " on 1 4th November, that the Imperial Order in Council had been passed V 1 . Because the order was prepared and its terms agreed to before I left Ottawa. 2. Because J: payment of the mony to the Company Avas "the only point" then "remaining to be settled before the Order iu Council can be passed." (^Despatch of 11th Avgust). 3. Because the Canadian Government had authorized Mr. Eose, on the 20th Septem- ber, " to pay forthwith, out of the funds now in the hands of the Cana- dian Government, the £300,000, payable to the Hudson Bay Company." {Correspondence and Papers, p>. 147). 4. Because the payment of the money, the surren,der by the Company to the Crown, and the passing of the Order, lefore the day fixed for tlic actual transfer, Avere expected by all parties, Averc highly expedient, and within the terms of the Statutes. 5. Because Mr. Rose reached England early in October, and a telegram to St. Cloud would have reached me at any time, by post or messenger, in nine or ten days. Therefore, it was not unreasonable that I should T, !. on the d 1 The 25 have expected to hear in the middle of Noveuiber, that the Order iii Council had passed. But, secondly, as to the statements. They are each and all of them disingenuous in terms, unwarranted in law, and untrue in fact. (1.) " The date fixed for the payment of the money to the Company and the concurrent transfer to the Crown," wore not, Avhen 1 left OttaAva, " lixed for the 1st of Decembei." You have used the word " transfer' disingenuously as well as inaccurately. The Statutes direct tliat the Company shall sitrrender to the Crown, and the Crown transfer by Order in Council to Canada. But T will not bandy words Avitli you. The fact, as it has occurred, contradicts you, and that is enough. I have before me the Canada Gazette of 23i'd July, 1870. I find there the Deed of Surrender, Avith this conclusion : — " In Avitncs whereof, the Governor and Company, ^c, have hereunto caused their common seal to be affixed this 19^/t day of Kovember, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine." So, after all your quibbles on this point, it turns out that the Deed was actually executed within three or four days of the time I expected to hear of it, and not on the 1st December ! In his despatch of the 30 th of November, Lord Granville, resisting your attempt to post- pone the transfer, reminds you that : — " The other requisite Instruments have been prepared, and the Canadian Government itself has named first, the 1st October, and next, the 1st Decem- ber, for the completion of the transfer. Meanwhile, the Company have been informed by the agents of the Canadiiin Government, (Messrs. Baring & Glyn), that the indenmity of £300,000 will be paid on due proof of the aur- rcnder. " So, here again is evidence that previous to the 1st December, (we are not told liow long, but no doubt it was before the execution of the Deed) the money was ready to be paid, not on the 1st December, as you have stated for the purpose of making a point against me, but on the "completion of the surrender." (2.) "But Mr. McDougall Avas Avell aware that after the transfer to the Crown, a future day for the translerence to Canada would have to be fixed by an Order of the Queen in Council." The object of this tricky perversion of the fact, as Avell as of the laAv, is apparent, and is worthy of its source. I first heard it from one of your colleagues, on my return to OttaAva. It Avas r(!sorted to as a sort of legal straAv to save a drowning case. I scouted it as a cpiibble on the instant, and never W9^ B 26 expected to hear it again in any serious discussion. But, driven out of every other position, you come back to your sharp practice argument, and exclaim, " "Well, at any rate, you were wrong in acting on the 1st, you ought to have waited till the 2nd of December !" Ion probably never heard, or perhaps I should say, never comprehended the maxim, De mhumis von curat lex. But I am fortunately able to answer one " minimis" by another. In point of fact, I did not sign the " proclama- tion" or notice of tran.sfer, until the morning of the 2nd December, Greenwich time ! I had a sort of instinctive su.spicion that I had left behind me official superiors, who would not hesitate to take even so small an advantage as the difference of a few hours to prove " illegal- ity" against me, and I took measures accordingly. But what does the official record of these events prove 1 Why, sir, that but for your i'^ter- ference, the " completion of the transfer" Avould, on the authority of Lord Granville himself, have been effected on the 1st December ! Thus youv little quibl^le, for Avhich " the laAv cares not," disappears, let us iiope never to be heard again. (3.) The last statement, that if the money had been paid over on the 1st, my proclamation of the fact of the transfer "would have been il- legal," is perhaps sufficiently answered alreadj'. But it presents the op- portunity, AvJiich I .shall use, for a final and, 1 venture to think, conclusive rejoiiutei to the dishonest casuistry of your despatch of the 24th December, better known as the " brutal despatch" ; to the caq)- ing of your newspaper organs — though I must do them the justice to say they have not made much of the point, — and to the sugcjest'io falsi of your pamphlet, the writer of which seems to have had little more than this idea in his head from the first page to the last. All your arguments as to the "wholly indefensible" character of my conduct on the 1st and 2nd of December, may be summed up in these words : " You ought not to have assumed a transfer on the 1st, because, though that day was fix- ed for the transfer, the Order in Council could not be passed till after that day." To which I answer, — the Canada Gazette of the 23rd July last contains the following despatch : — Downing Street, 25tli June, 1870. " SiK, — Having reference to yo\ir telegram of the 12th instant, in which you stated that tlio transfer of Rupert's Lund to the Doniiiiiou of Canada niight projierly take place ou the 15th July, I have the honour to inform you ^^"'■'■'■"Wipmiii! 27 that on the 22nd instant Her Majesty was pleased to accept fxom tlie H B Company the surrender of that Territory, in pursuance of tlie Rupert's Land Act of 1868, and by the accompanying Order in Council to imite Rupert's Land and the North- West Territory to the Dominion of Canada from the loth day of July. "I have, &c., ,, ^ _, , "Granville. (jcovcrnor-General " Sir John Young, Bart., &o., &g., &c." So, tliank God, the great act of State was done ! As to the foot itself —in spite of your disloyal intrigues, and the "parish politics" of your allies in the east ; in spite of Jesuitical plots in the North- West, and ministerial connivance and in^hecility at the Capital. As to the manner and form— in spite of your quibbles, in spite of your "brutal despatch," exactly as I imaghied and assumed it would be done. Let me recapitu- late : — 1. The day was agreed to /beforehand, to wit, on the 12th June. 2. The money was paid in advance, to wit, on the 4th of May (per telegram to Mr. Rose of that date, as stated in your pamphlet, p. 64). 3. The surrender was accepted before the day fixed for the transfer, to wit, on the 22nd June. 4. The Order in Council was passed before the day fixed upon, to wit, on the 23rd June. 5. The transfer took effect from and after the day fixed, to wit, the 15th July, tviihoul any " Queen's Proclamation." As you Avill hardly contend that Lord Granville has acted illegally ; or that Rupert's Land and the North- West Territory did not, in fact and in law, become a part of the Dominion on the loth July ; or that Gov- ernor Archibald's commission, of tlie 20th May, did not, on that day, take effect, without the Queen's Proclamation reaching him, " through your office,'' I respectfully demand a retractation of your arguments and assertions to the contrary in my case, — of your pretence that the same acts, having the same order and relation to each other in 18G9, would iiave been illegal, and ought not " to have been expected" by me. I have the honour, il'C, (*tc., &c., WM. IMACDOITGALL. 28 Letter IV. Sir;, — The legal arguments and pretences about the Queen's Procla- "uation which, ever since the concoction of your sinister despatch of 24th December, you and your partizans, witli dishonest intent and malicious zeal, have liurled at my head, are now answered. I again thank you for the opportunity afforded for this review of the question. Your legal champion, the portly member for West Toronto, who never refuses an official retainer, took his brief at Ottawa, and on one of the ast nights of the session, flung two or three forensic missiles across the House. At the next meeting I was r'iady to answer him, but on enquiry found he had taken the night train for Toronto as soon as he had discliarged his pop-gun. And now your clumsy and dishonest " review" — dishonest because its writer hieiv that the accomplished fact had given the lie to the legal theory — makes its unAvelcome appearance, and, unhappily for you, falls to the ground silent and harmless ! I am told by a mem- ber of the Press, that up to this date, not a single newspaper of influence in the country (except the moribund organ of the Finance Minister) has ventured to reproduce its arguments, or even to notice its api^ear- ance ! It seems to have fallen still-born, and if I had not felt that ju tice to the loyal Canadians of the North-West, who have suffered, and still suffer, from the malevolence and treachery of men who for the moment control the administration of their country's affairs, demands some further explanation and exposure of the real delinquents in this matter-, I should not, on my own account, have deemed it necessary to notice your blank production. But the acquisition, hy purcJmse, and the political re-organization of a Territory, estimated by Russell to cover an area of 2,210,000 superficial miles, is not an every day occurrence — is, indeed, a transaction without precedent in ancient or modern times — and no serious incident in its history can be regarded as trivial, or unfit to be recorded in some form more durable than the daily broad-sheet. I shall, therefore, having put my hand to the plough, turn over a few additional furrows Avhich, but for you, might have hidden a little longer the unsavoury facts bent>ath. I return, for a paragraph or two, to the consideration of my policy wliile at Pembina. You ring the changes upon certain expressions in ' ti's Procla- lespatch of intent and I. I again ! question, wlio never one of the iiles across ini, but on a as he had ' review" — d given the unhappily by a mem- )f influence Minister) its appear- It that ju ffered, and iho for tlie 1, demands its in this ecessary to ',se, and the :o cover an rrence — is, rn times — al, or unfit road-sheet, over a few ■ttle longer my policy ressions in 29 the commission to Colonel Dennis — " attack, arrest, disarm and dis-- perse armed men disturbing the public peace," &c., &c., as if there was something illegal, blood-thirsty and awful in the use of such terms. Let me ask you, sir, this plain question. Suppose that you and your colleagues had not prevented Lord Granville from making the transfer on the 1st December, and I had remained inactive at Pembina after that date, while the loyal inhabitants were arming, drilling, forming com- mittees of public safety, and preparing to put down the handful of rioters, who had made prisoners of the Governor and his officers at Fort Garry, what woidd they have said 1 And if I had turned my lace to" wards Ottawa, instead of giving the countenance of authority to their loyal efforts, and had Avaited for your message or messenger, Avhat would the loyal people of Canada have said 1 You apparently did not know a v-'eek before the Lst December, but the transfer would be made on that day, and yet your messenger under the greater urgency of a sudden change of policy, did not reach Pembina until the 25th day of Decem- ber ! I would thus, in the case supposed, have stood looking on with closed mouth and nerveless hand for a Avhole month, while riot and theft, and robbery, and (what Avould no doubt have happened in that case) bloodshed and murder ravaged the settlement ! And this is your idea of duty in a Kepresentative of the Crown, sent to a distant and half civilized colony, in such an emergency '( The chief Magistrate, the only person with authority to command, ought, you tell us, to have folded his arras for a whole month, while rebellion perfected its plans' and gathered strength ; and bcAvildered loyalty, appealing for advice and authority to act, ought to have been ignored, discouraged and abandoned to its enemies ! Such a policy, I admit, would have accorded well Avith the vieAvs yoii expressed at Otta-'-n,, at St. Paul, at Fort Abei'- crombie, and at Fort Garry. You declared in Parliament that Canada ought not to ask for, and if offered them, ought not to accept, the " big shoes" of England in the North- West. You told your American friends in St. Paul, and elsewhere on your journey, that our great Territories in that part of the Continent belonged naturally, geographically and commercially to the United States. You assured the Hudson Bay mal- contents and Canadian outlaAvs in the settlement, that they Avould be much better off under brother Jonathan, and that if they took their ground firmly, and demanded their rights boldly, Canada Avould not,, 1. ' isi . '77' and could not, coerce tlieni !* But tu a man who believed exactly the opposite of all this ; -vho had la1)()urod for years to secure this " fertile helt," with its fifty millions of untilled hut teeming acres as a great in- heritance for our children — an acquisition unexampled in the history of the world for its magnitude and its splendour, — who could not sym- pathise with the medieval proclivities and anti-British pi'ejudices of a few foreign Priests and Jesuits, or the scliish and disloyal aims of a handful of petty traders ; who knew that the half-breeds — about whose rights you talked so much — were merely too^s in the hands of others, and had no grievances to comphnn of, and nothing but benefits to re. * ' ' Mr. Bannatyne (Post Master and a member of Council at Winnipeg), stated to ine on several occasions, between tlio (3th and 20th November, while I was at Fort Garry, tliat Mr. Howe told him that he (Howe) approved of the course the half-breeds were taking, and if they held oiit they would get all they wished for from tlie Canadian Government. That Nova Scotia held out and succeeded with no better plea. That lie (Howe) had held very little intercourse while there Avith that party calling itself tlie " Canadian Party," for lie livmly believed that Schnltz, Mair and Bown, Anth his iVor'- "Wi.der, had acted in a very \uibecoming manner towards the half-breeds, and lie only wondered how these men were tolerated in tlie settlement. And further, that wlien he (Howe} took his place in Parliament, he would cer- tainly do his best for the half-lireeds. Mr. Bannatyne put great stress iipon the latter expression, and told me that Howe and the Lower Canadians would make a big light against l^i)per Canadians, not to have any coercion used in the settlement. Mr. Howe further told him that the settlement wonld pros2)er if left to govern itself. ( !) "Mr. Howe also told Mr. Bannatyne tliat Mr. McDougall Ava ! •.ni})opular in Canada, and hinted at the px'obability that he would make himself so if allowed to govern lied River." " Mr. McKenney (Sheriff), told me that Mr. Howe made himself very popular while at lied lliver, and he believed, if they wanted a Canadian Governor there at all, they would have accepted aim ; but the time for Canada to rule tlieir country Ava? past, that their natural outlet Avas through the United States. That no Canadian Government could be established j)ermanently in the settlement. Mr. McKenney also conlii'mod Bannatync'a statement that Mr. HoAve told him he had no doubt of the success of the half- breeds if they Avere firm and held out. " Mr. McKenney also laid great Aveight on the action that Mr. HoAve Avould take in the Canadian Parliament, assisted by Lower Canadians." Ec- jyort of Major Wallace o}t, his return to Pe/mhina from Fort Ciarry. " Robt. G'Loan, one of those I met in Council at Riviere Sale, spoke highly of Mr. HoAve, and said he Avas as much a Republican as he AA-as, and he kncAv he Avould not Avish to force that settlement into subjection to Canada — that he Avas a very liberal minded man, itc. He also corroborated the statements made by many others that HoAve, along Avith most of the LoAver Canadian members, Avould range themselves in the Canadian Pai-liament on the ^ido of the Red River people, and that through his eloquence and the precedent of Nova Scotia before them, he had no doubt but they Avould be left to them- selves, for the concessions they Avould ask Avould not be granted by the Cana- dian Government."— J/ji(i. T ^^■^^^TfJlUlillUJII [ , ceivo at the hands of the Canadian people ; wlio understood tliat his duty to tlie Crown, to Canada, to the cause of order and law and civilization, required him as a loyal suhject, not to fold his arms in the presence of riot and rel)ellion, hut to be prompt, decided, and ready to share with others the danger in front, and submit, if need be, to treacliery and desertion in the rear, if by his example and counsel he could reassure the Avell-disposed, and re-establish the authority of the Sovereign he had been commissioned to serve. To sucli an one, Mr. Howe, your policy was neither prudent nor loyal, nor manly, nor just. It was a policy, moreover, that could only, if successful, have hud one result — the extinction of all loyal feeling in the country, the establish- ment of an independent Government, and the loss of the whole territory to Canada and the JBritish Crown. When 1 had ascertained beyond doubt that the Company's Govern- ment Avas deposed ; the Governor a close prisoner ; the principal Fort, with its armament, in the hands of the French half-breeds ; and that Eichot and his creatures had usurped all the poAvei's and functions of government, I could see no imin-opriety in any loyal subject taking mea- sures for the protection of life and property, and the restoration of order. Even if I had doubted my authority under your commission, I should have felt no hesitation on the score of interference with the authority of Governor McTavish and his Council. Their authority Avas already at an end. The supposed transfer on the 1 st December could only have operated as a legal transfer of functions which had for some time been opeidy usurped by another. While j'ou were gravidy discussing at Ottawa the importance of " continuing the authority of the Company," for fear that "anarchy and confusion might (>nsue," they had begun their reign. While you were trying to frighten Loixl Granville into postponement by reminding him tha^ if tlie Company's Government was superseded, " a legal status might be given to any Government de facto formed by the inhabitants for the protection of their lives and property." I, and every one in the settlement, knew that the Company's Govern- ment was then as much a thing of the past as the Government of Napoleon III. after the surrender at Sedan, and the decheance voted by the Corps Legislatif. The very danger that you pretended you were anxious to avoid— by the coward's expedient of running away — I saw before me as a fait accompli, which no despatches or telegrams could re- t J! i'J 32 verso or ignore ! A de facto government was in existence ; a declaration of independence adopted by it liad been sent to W.ashington ; and if President Grant luid taken tbo same view of international law and duty that some wise people in Canada — one of whom rcof^itly exhibited his naval prowess on the Flats of St. Clair — so imprudently avowed at the outbreak of the Southern n^bellion, wo, should bo discussing tho question to-day under different circumstances, and possibly under different auspices. My policy, sir, in a crisis so grave — according to your own showing — was to avert the danger of foreign interference by proving to the world the true character of the insurrection. I knew that the great majority of the respectable inhabitants of the country, French as well as English, were entirely opposed to the political designs of the small faction that rallied the Ijuffalo-hunters to tl'^ir standard. Fre(iuent and urgent m'^'ssages reached me from this loyal majority for instructions and guidance. It seems I ought to have told them to submit to the " estab- lished authorities !" Your speci.al agent, hastily summoned fi'om Rome, inculcated instant submission to President Riel, and I observe ho still possesses your confidence.* But I remembered onough of my legal studies to satisfy me that I would be right jn law, if not in your estima- tion, in advising resistance to the rebels wherever they appeared, and by Avhatever means tlie local magistrate might find available to disperse them. Accordingly, I requested Col. Dennis to convey »iy answer to the loyal portion of the people, to confer with Judge Black and the other magis- trates, and to concert measures with them and under their authority — lest by any chance there should be a question as to mine— to attempt nothing xoithout their concurrence, and to raise no force, except volunteers in aid of the civil powci. The commission which you have so often paraded to frighten those timid people who want " peace," even though submission to the rule of robbers, murderers and rebels, is the condition on whicli they are to enjoy it, was issued to Col. Dennis, as explained in my des- patches, to protect him against personal reclamations — -so far as my authority coidd do it — and was never intended for publication in hcec * ' ' No one had d jne more good to conciliate the people than the Bisliop. " — Sir Francis Hiticics^ speech at Renfrew. " Salute for me Mr. O'Donohue and others at the Fort. Pray much for mc. (!) I do not forget you. Your Bishop who signs himself your best friend." — Bishop Tache^s letter to M. le President. 33 l! verba. It was shewn to Judge Black, w}io pronouncetl it legal and suffi- cient. By some niistako it was i)rinted and got into the hands of the enemy before Col. Dennis had coTn])leted liis plans, but \, nether any harm resulted from it in the North-West I am unaljlo to say. ft has furnished you Avith a good deal of himbim, and as you had but little material other »vise of which to compose your favourite oratorical dish, I suppose you will admit that the commission has, at least, served a good j)Ui'pose in your case. My instrudlons to (Jol. Dennis— how to act and when to act — Avere not embodied in the commission, but wore the sub- ject of a separate communication, and will be found, in substance, in the Colonel's reports of his proceedings. These instn'ctions were followed to the letter, and although Col. Dennis failed in putting down the insur- rection by a cmq) de (/race, his movement liad the effect of showing that the statement (repeated daily by your organ at St. Paul), that the people of the settlement were imanimous for independence, Avas initrue. It established a distinct and ineffaceable line between the rebels and the rest of the population, anil proved that the former were a small minority — the very scum of that variform society — led l)y a foAV foreign Priests, Fenian agents and American citizens ; and that they could not be re- garded as representing a resident British community, seeking to throw off the yoke of the Pai'ent State. It proved to the satisfaction of all the respectable newspapers of the United States that this (h facto au- thority in one part of a scattered settlement of half-breeds and Indian traders Avas merely the authority of " banditti," who, with arms in their hands, levied contributions upon all Avho came in their way. il/y policy developed these facts. Yours Avould have iiidden them, with what result Ave may guess. I have not been endoAved, like you, Avith the gift of prophecying backAvards, and, therefore, I leave the point entirely to your imagination. There is one question yet to be ansAvered under the head of " my policy" in the North-West. Why did the movement of the loyal people of the settlement, under Col. Dennis, fail 1 Leaving out of vicAV all secondary and minor causes, the reason Avas this : — The rebd leaders had jnivaie information from Ottawa by the same mail that brought me your non-committal and deceptive despatch of 19 th November, that the Cana- dian Government wmld not accept the transfer! That their so-called Governor liad no authority, Avould be left to get out of the scrape as best 34 he could, and that the leach^is of tlie inHiuTectiou neal not fear either pmishmeiit or coercion ! ! I may iuld that tho same mail brought mo the Monlrcal Gazette, witli a paragraph informing tlio puhlic that tho (iovern- ment had telegraphod Mr. Ro.so not to pay over tho .£;3()<),00() ! This was tho (irst and oidy information I recoivcd whilo at Pembina from which I could infer your policy. Michot and Kiel were bisttcr advised ; they had positive inforn)ation and acted upon it at once. They laid soige to the house of Dr. Schultz, in which tlu! Canadians and loyalists of the town of Winnipeg had assond)led, cut off their supplies and made them prisoners. Father llichot and the Priest of White Horse Plains were seen rushing through their respective Parishes, taking men and boys out of tho houses by main force, putting arms in their hands, and sending them off to Fort Garry. Secret nusssages wei-e sent from II. B. Company officials to tho Anglican Priests and other prominent men in the Lower or English settlement, apprising them of the same facts ! Meetings were held which (Jol. Dennis was not invited to attend,"' and it was resolved that the half-armed loyalists had better not take the field — they could not expect to con(i[uer the French half-breeds and the Canadian Governmeiu at the same time ! Perhaps, sir, you will allow nie to conclude this letter with a retros- pective affirmation after the miMiner of your pamphlet : — If the Caniidian Government, instead of re[)uiaating their contract, leaving their repre- sentative uninformed and un.uipported, and communicating privately and without his knowledge witli the rebel leaders, had kej)t faith with the Imperial Government, wiih the PI. B. Company and with him — had an- nounced boldly, not only their acceptance of the North- West into the Dominion, but their '^termination to hold it by all the force at their omraand — ttMt fac: 'xonk would have donj all that Col. Wolsley's bugles accomplished -it a later date, and would have saved to Canada a million of dollars at least, a vast amount of humiliation and disgrace, political complications and difficulties that are only just beginning to *" I was informed that a public meeting held in the vicinity had just broken up, at which delegates had been appointed to visit me at the Stone Fort without delay to reipiest that aggressive measures, for the present, might be abandoned. This attitude on their part, just at the present time, strengthened the conclusion I had come to, jus to a change in the sentiments of the people of the Lower Parishes." — Col. Dennis' Jieport, p. 112, Cor. and Fapers. 35 manifeat theinsolvps, and, in all luunan probability, the one bravo life that waH sacrificed on the altar of tueacherv ! T am, 8ir, Ac, «Src., &c., WM. MACDOUaALL, Letter V. Sir, — I shall devote this letter to the refutation of two or three of tho auxiliary mis-statements with which you have studded your review. For the purpose of turning " the sympathy extended throughout Canada to those who Avero compelled to immigrate" — emigrate, you mean " from Red Eiver during the ascendancy of Kiel," towards " all who supported the Provisional Clovernment," including, of course, those who recognised it at Ottawa, you boldly attempt to make me, as Minister of Public Works, responsible for the Eebtllion, and insinuate that I acted without the privity or consent of my colleagues ! Tho Canadian Govern- ment, by allowing its organs to announce a large emigration of ready-made officials from Canada to the North-West, and prepiaing and carrying an Act for the government of the country, without even recognising the muni- cipal rights of the inhabitants — contrary to my strongly expressed views as a member of the Government — did nothing to provoke the outbreak. Your denunciation of the British flag, with the word '' Canada" upon it, at Fort Garry ; your admitted sympathy with the mal-contents who, as soon as your back was turned, and acting upon what they understood to be your advice, became rebels, was quite proper ! Even your qualified assurance to the mal-contents that the incoming Governor, your then colleague, " if a man of sense "^ would treat them well, and that other encouraging and judicious information reported by you in advance, that the man whose appointment as Governor, you had, upon your oath as a Minister of the Crown, advised, -was " unpopular in Canada, and would in all probability make himself so, if allowed to govern Red River," was so far from provoking to insurrection — was so fitted to allay the appre- * Mr. Howe's speech in the House of Commons, Ji'ebruary, 1870. 1 u W 30 'm licriHions of iIk; li;ili-bre(;(l.s, that " it appears" from your review, you " must b<; f:oini,l<;te]y exonerated from all blame I !" But I, v.'ho came /jflrr your eonciliatoiy olficial visit to the lialf-ljreed.s — I, who fjund all your admirf-rs in anns to resist my entrance into the country, am the f:hiel' criminal, an ' responsibh; for the rebellio)! I Yea, more. I am .solely to be blamed i'ov the wicked Orders in Council, deliberately ;vdopt(Ml by tin (Government ! I suppose this kind of logic is good enough for the political junto who still want to use you, and I readily a(lmit that it will not shock the common sense tif your followers, " if," to use your cautious phrase, any follower.? endowed with that faculty still adlxre to you. JJut it v/ill requii-e several pamphlets, and a good many visits to the counliy. by that zealous colporteur, the returned lli.To of the York Ivoads and the jc 10,000 Debenture case^ to convert (^he unbelieving public. You and yn, the absence of any necessity for the survey of so many townships imnu'diately, and the J'lid that avc had. no authority until after the tianster to make surveys at all. You and your then colleagues will Viiniember the warmth of the debate, and that the result was a telegiam to Karl Granville asking him to obtain from the H. B. Com- pany permis.siou to begin the survey of townships previous to the formal transfer. In two or three days an answer came from the Colonial Secretary that the Company had consented. The Premier was ill, and 37 did not attend Council for some days after the reply Avas received. His proposition to survey twenty townships at once was taken up in his absence, and you all agreed, without a dissentient voice, that my plan was preferable, viz. : — To employ an able and experienced surveyor, Avith a small staff ; to send him out to examine the country and report a plan of survey adapted to its topographical peculiarities ; to find out the vieAvs of the land-oAvners, and the position of surveys and titles already made in Ked River settlement ; and if he found it expedient, to begin operations at Oak-point, a place some thirty miles from Fort Garry, on the Government Road betAveen Red River and Lake of the Woods. In consequence of the peculiar vicAvs of the Premier, I Avas uuAvilling to proc^^d Avithout another discussion Avith him, and a formal decision of the Government, but all present on the occasion, and you among them, au- thorized me to adopt the course I had indicated, and to proceed depart- mentally. That very afternoon I telegraphed Col. Dennis, a gentleman Avhose professional skill and energetic character I kneAv Avould be every- Avhere admitted, and offered him the position of superintendent of this Avork. He promptly visited OttaAva, received bis instructions from me. (July 10th), conferred Avith other Ministers, and proceeded to the North- West. The press generally, including the Globe, spoke highly of the ap- pointment. He Avas directed to " confer Avith CJovernor McTavish" before commencing operations, and carried a letter informing the Governor of thfc ttutliorization of surveys by the Company through Lord Granville. In the face of these facts, you have the hardihood to assert that " the course taken by Col. Dennis, according tn his instructions, Avas the most impru- dent that he could have adopted ;" and shirking for yourself and your colleagues your just share of responsibility, boldly charge that the " most serious of the difficulties Avere the consequence of Mr. McDougall's imprudence." Not content Avith this, you misrepresent, in your zeal to ascail me, the facts as they occurred. After accusing me of " Avithhold- ing altogether very alarming informatior " as to the necessity of extin- gixishing the Indian title, Avhich Col. Dennis had pointed out as " the first question of importance to be dealt Avith by the Government," you quote as mine, in order to condemn it, a letter from the Department of Public Works, AATitten on the 4th October, some days after I had left OttaAva ! I obseive that Sir Francis Hincks repeated at RenfrcAV, the mis-statements of your pamphlet on this point, and asserted AV^ith II 38 emphasis that "the surveys produced the rebellion !" Every person in the North- West, acquainted with tha movements of last fall and winter, will laugh at the absurdity of this statement.* The surveys were made the pretext by Eichot & Co., at some of their first meetings, to excite the ignorant half-breeds, but they Avere never seriously put forth as a reason for rebellion. In the " I jclaration of Independence," and tne ''List of Rights," they are not once referred to. But if this silly story were true, why is the Premier, who wanted "twenty township.s" sur- veyed forthwith, to be excused, and the Minister of Puldic Works Avho reduced the proposal to one township at Oak-Point, and a meridian line and preliminary report, to be condemned ? And why should you, and Sir George Cartier, and the other members of the Council who con curred in my plan, escape censure ? Is this your idea of Responsible Government 1 You have published lengthy extracts from two letters of Col. Dei ■ " j. received at the Department of Public Works on the eve of my departure for the North- West. These extracts contained nothing but opinions and suggestions as to the best mode of dealing witli tlie Indians and the Indian title on my assumption of tlio Government, and had no re- ference whatever to the " plan of survey" which he recommended, and which I asked the Council to approve. Yet you blame me for not em- bodying these opmwns in my official report upon "rectangular" town- ships, meridian lines, &c., and accuse me of " Avithholding" them from the Government ! My answer to this charge — paltry, if true, but which only a man dead to every sentiment of honour Avould make, if false — Avill be explicit, and fortunately can l)e corroborated by evidence as strong as my answers to your other charges : — Col. Dennis' apprehen ion of trouble from the Indians, as Avell as a recommendation — which you have not noticed in your " revicAv" — to send arms and ammunition for the equipment of two or three companies of volunteers, tvtre brought imdcr the notice of all the members of the Government who took any interest in the subject, (md resulted in my being authorised, hj the Minister *" The men who have tlui3 interfered say fhe]i kninv ihc survcij could pro- ceed witlwvt a)i\j injunj to any one; but stojjping it is ahvays a beginning, and tlicy are desirous to let the Canadian Government know that it (tha Canadian Government) is not wanted bj- them." — Extract from letter of Governor McTavish to W. H. Smith, Secretary II. B, Connpany, dated Red River, 12th October, 1869. 39 of Militia, to tike vjitk me 350 breech-loading rifles, with 30,000 rounds of ammunition, which you passed on the plains, probably without notice, certainly without any warning that they would fall into the hands' of your friends the French half-breeds, if taken into the terri'^ory ! I was absent from Ottawa on official duty when the letters of Col. Dennis arrived, and you were on your way to Fort Garry to explain the good intentions of the Government, and to ascertain the true condition of affairs. What m^re could have been done ? Do you mean to contend that because Col. Dennis advised an early settlement with the Indians, and thought it " likely" the French half-breeds would prove a " turbu- lent element," I ought to have declined to foUow you, and that the Government ought tlmn to have declined to accept the country 1 As t(j the Indians I had no apprehensions, and the result proved that I was right, and that Col. Dennis Avas unnecessarily anxious. As to the French half-breeds, we all knew that they were under the control of their priests, and that Governor McTavish, when in Ottawa, had not even hinted at any "turbulence" from that quarter.* I cannot, after what has since occurred, undertake to say that the lay fresuit in the Council — the gentleman whose services to the Priesthood have since been rewarded by the decoration of the Order of St. Gregory, conferred upon him by the Pope — did not know that the Jesuit Priests in the North- West Avere plotting rebellion and murder ; but I do not believe that Sir George Cartier at that time suspected it, and I know that it was Avholly unsuspected by me. You avII^, perhaps, allow me to con- clude my answer to the charge of suppressing important information with a question : — If you did not think the fact, that the half-breeds had .topped one of Col. Dennis' surveying parties, (which occurred before ' .u. left Fort Garry), of sufficient importance to communicate it to me wli.n you met me on the plains — if you could " withhold" from me, ^our colleague, Avithout '' blame," the actual fact, (which you did), hoAv can you find foult Avith me for " Avithholding" (which I did not) from * On the IGth Deco.iiber, after Mr. Howe liad road Col. Dennis' letters to me and had visited tlie country himself, lie concurr'xl in the f()lk)win<^ justi- licationof the pe;\ce policy of tlio Govern inent : — " When (Jovernor jNIcTavis! visited Canada, in June last, ho Avas in communication Avitli tlio Canadian Governmen*-, and lie never intimated that he oven had a suspicion of discon- tent existing, nor did he make any suggestions as to the best mode of effect- ing the proposed change with the assent of the inhabitants." — Report of Com- mittec of Council, IGth December, 1809, in answer to Lord Ora}ivilk. I < iS K3f»* 40 my colleagues at Ottawa, the mere apprehension of one of my sub- ordinates that such a thing was "likely" to happen from the "turbu- lence" of the half-breeds 1 I shall leave you, sir, in that crux, confident that you will not, even with the aid of the artful dodgers about you, be able to escape from it, until we meet again on the floor of Parliament. 1 an^ Sir, yours, &c., WM. MACDOUGALL. / Letter VI. SiR^_Having noticed, and I trust sufficiently answered, the material accusations of your pamphlet against the " policy of Mr. McDougall and his partizans," I shall now take the liberty of which you have so freely availed yourself in my case, to pass under review " the policy" of the Canadian Government in dealing with rebels, when they happen to be patronized in certain influential quarters. That policy may be conveniently reviewed under five heads or divi- sions : — 1. The conduct of the Government prior to the 16th November, when they received notice of the armed insurrection of Eichot & Co. 2. Their conduct and policy from that date to the introduction of the. Manitoba Bill. 3. The Mani jba Bill, and the policy of the Government as evidenced by its provisions. 4. The Expedition, and the attempts to render it subservient to the objects of Bishop Tache and his co-conspirators. f). The policy of the Government since the transfer of the country, —preventing emigration, obstructing settlement, introducing Quebec lawyers and French law into Manitoba, breaking faith with, and ignor- ing the Indians, thereby exposing the distant settlers and settlements to their depredations. (1.) Under the first head I may remark, that in replyng to your stric- tures upon my conduct during the same period, I have nece&oaiUy stated some facts and expressed some opinions which illustrate, if they do not 41 uUy explain, the policy of the Government previous to the outbreak. It is sufficient, perhaps, to add that by endorsing and defending your disloyal and mischievous conduct as their representative, and as my precursor, they have made it their own, and must be held to have meditated, planned, and intended that which by your mouth they proclaimed, and in your person have deliberately approved. This conclusion is in strict accord- ance Avith the theory of responsible government ; it commends itself to our common sense and is justified by our political experience. The policy of the Canadian Government as j^roved by the terms of Sir John A. Macdonald's Bill of 1869, for the temporary government of the Ter- ritories ; by the sending of a considerable number of officials from Canada and instructing me to select others from the officials of the Hudson Bay Company, was well adapted to excite the indignation, and the moral, if not tlie physical, resistance of the people of Red River , while your seditions talk, and bibulous fraternization with the leaders of the conspiracy at Fort Garry, and your offensive discourtesy to, and open denunciation of, the loyal portion of the settlers, were the most effective complement of the original design that could have been de- vised. The one provoked rebellion ; the other promised it success. I am disclosing no secret of the Council room when I affirm that in September, 18G8, except Mr. Tilly and myself, every member ^f the Government was either indifferent or hostile to the acquisition of the North West Territories. When they discovered that a ministerial crisis respecting the route of the Intercolonial Railway could only be avoided by an immediate agreemeat (and immediate action) to secure the transfer of tliese territories to the Dominion, they were ready to act. On the same day that Sir John A. Macdonald, and Mr. Campbell sur- rendered the interests of Ontario to Quebec and Mr. Mitchell — and threw eight millions of dollars into the sea — I caixied a proposition to send a deputation to England with full ])ower to close negotiations for the purchase of one-third of the North American continent as an ofi-set. The purchase was effected, and to all appearance the Anti-North- West- Extensionists accepted the situation. You had not yet extorted your two millions fo)' Nova Scotia, nor secured a place for yourself, and places for your two sons, on the official staff of the Dominion. You were willing to carry the railway around by the north shore, to prevent the people of the west from making St. John their winter seaport, by u f 42 W which they would save 2G0 miles of expensive and hazardous transpor- tation by rail, (to say nothing of the extra eight millions,) but you never agreed, it seems, to give up your hostility to the founding of pro- vinces and the creation of political power in the North- West. I leave the question whether you have advanced or they have receded, to the "oUer judgment of those intelligent observers, Avho have not forgotten your antecedents nor theirs. 2. From the day on which you received notice at Ottawa of a.i armed resistance to my entrance into the territory as the representative of the Canadian Government — information which did not surprise you — until my return to Canada, the policy of thi^ government was consistent — and Sir Francis Hincks tells us, harmonious — in one direction, namely, to abandon the country ! Your first position Avas, that you had bought an estate, and that there was an implied contract to give ycu quiet possession. The armed up- rising of a Roman Catholic priest and a few of his parishioners, inspired and encouraged by letters from Canada, first from Bishop Tache, and afterwards from political as well as clerical sympathisers — including your own special visit of sympathy and encouragement — was made a charge against the H, B. Company and the Imperial Government, and a reason for refusing to accept the transfer of the country. You contended that Richot and his parishioners, must be put down by British soldiers, sent at the expense of the over -taxed people of England, and you have boasted of your success in forcing Lord Granville to undertake the job, as a great diplomatic covp; " General Lindsay would not have been " sent out, and Col. Wolseley would not have been allowed to command " the expedition ! " Not only would we have suffered that dejjrivation, but a greater still, — "Bishop Tache would not have been summoned from Rome (why'?) and as the people of Red River would not have been invited (by whom]) to send delegates to Ottawa, Reil would have maintained his ascendancy until conquered hy Canada." Therefore it was a great policy — an achievement for which Canada should hold its incomparable ministers in ever grateful remembrance — to refuse the transfer at the time agreed upon, and to compel the Imperial Govern- ment to send General Lindsay to Canada, and Col. Wolseley, with 300 British soldiers on an expedition into the wilderness, paddling and scrambling for hundreds of miles through dangerous rapids, and (until TK 43 they bridged them) nupassable swamps, in order that Eiel might be " conquered " by England and not by Canada ! All honour to the gallant Colonel : he like the King of France, Avith his " twenty thousand men, marched up the hill," blew his bugle blast, " and then marched down again." If he had found an enemy no doubt he would gladly have measured swords with him, but being sent on a "mission of peace," he had no power to arrest Reil and his co-conspirators if he had met them. They might have taken sanctuary (as it was for some time supposed they had) with their "best friend " the Bishop,* or even have walked out of Fort Garry and bestowed themselves in their mud cabins at St. Norbert, Avith perfect impunity. A more humiliating service no British officer Avas ever asked to undertake ; a more contemptible farce no strolling players ever offered to the small boys of a penny theatre with the expectation of applause. Your next decision, — in arriving at which, Sir Francis tells us, there Avas not a shadoAv of a shade of dis- sension among you, — Avas to leave me Avithout support, advice or direc- tion, except to "remain at Pembina. "t You kncAV I Avas surrovmded by outlaAvs and desperadoes, avIio Avere in league with the rebels. They were daily threatening, and nightly Avatching for an opportunity to take my life, and yet you generously left me to myself, and considerately allowed me to " exercise my oAvn judgment, and decide on the instant what was best to be done. "J Your next step Avas to send messengers to the insurgents Avith in- structions to recognize them as "established authorities." Mr. Donald Smith and Vicar General Thibault did this so effectually, that one man Avas tried and shot for speaking disrespectfully of these " authorities," and others Avere imprisoned and threatened Avith death for like offences, while your missionaries looked on Avith mild disapproval, but Avithout loss of prestige with the rebels, Avith Avhom they still continued to ad- vise in the administration of affairs ! Your " special messenger," Col. De Salaberry, Avho Avas sent to me * See the letter of Bishop Tache to Eiel, Appendix B. t " If he (Gov. McTavish) either declines to admit you, or is ijowerless to give you safe conduct, stay where yow are till further advised." — Despatch sioned '^Joseph Howe," dated 19th November. X " At this distance from the scene of disturbance, any instructions that could be sent to you would only embarrass you and restrain your freedom of action. You will, therefore, exercise your own judgment, and decide on the instant, as circumstances change, what is best to be diOne." —Despatch of 19th November. i *. «, mmm r y V 44 , . ", because he " spoke French fluently" and Avas "a gentleman of some expe- rience," came fresh from your department at Ottawa with the old Jesuit falsehood about my oppression at Manitoulin, and my unjust treaty with the Indians,* and as soon as he passed me on the plains, developed the real object of his mission by denouncing me and my " partizans," (as you stigmatize the loyal dmadians of tho territory) to the half-breeds he met on his journey. (See Major ','/allacc's Report, Append'u; 0.) This special messenger immediately fraternized with the rebels, followed your example in railing at the loyalists and devoted his military "experi- ence," with Eiel's approval, to the training and drilling of the half-breed pupils of St. Boniface, so that they would be able to "present arms" in the most approved manner at any Canadian troops that might be sent to subdue them ! The mock trial and suljsequent butchery of the un- fortunate prisoner Scott, took place in their presence — Ave may some day learn hoAV far, if at all, Avith their connivance. But thig Ave already knoAv, that they continued to fraternize, and consult, and drill, as be- fore. AVe know also, that tlie dignitary Avho Avas summoned from Kome, and entrusted by you Avith a higher and more special commission than either of the three gentlemen Avho preceded him, arrived after the murder, and immediately recognized the murderers as the " established authorities" of the country. A Avord from their Bishop to tho ignorant half-breeds, Avho prostrated themselves before him as he passed, Avcmld have sent them all to their homes, and re-established the laAvful Govern- ment of Assinaboia, hut that tvord was not spoken. At a later date, while intriguing Avith some of your colleagues to smuggle Mr. Archibald into the country in advance of the troops, he addressed Itiel in the most affectionate terms, and deemed him so good a Christian, so nearly a Saint, that he thought CAen a Bishop might be benefited by his prayers ! (See Appendix B.) All these missionaiies have been extolled, their acts have been approved, and their expenses liberally paid by the Gov- ernment. Their policy is, therefore, your policy ; and I am not sur- prised, that seeing tbe storm-cloud in the sky, you are anxious to seek * The cesbion of Manitoulin was proposed by the Tache-McDonald Government, completed by the McDonald-Sicotte Government, and confirmed, and modified to the disadvantage of the Indians, at the suggestion of Mr, Campbell, by the Belleau- McDonald Government ; j'et the organs of the present Government hold me guilty of a crime for agreeing to the treaty \~Hee Report of Col. De Salaberry's conversation ivith Major Wallace, App. C. : 45 any refuge, even that wliicli the Proplict assures us, the hail shall sweep away and the waters overtlow.* The Manitoba Bill and the p]xpedition, fio far as they illuf,trate your policy and aims, are too important to be reviewed in this letter, and I remain, therefore, Yours, &c., WM. MACDOUGALL. LETTER VII. -*-f - Sir,— The Manitoba Bill hasa history which is too important to berele gated to the limbo of unrecorded controversies. It will justify an effort to set down the principal facts in precise terms and in chronological order : (1.) A Bill to secure to Ked Itiver settlers their "rights" was not proposed or apparently intended to be passed by the Canadian Govern- ment, until Lo)-d Granville made such a measure the condition on which Imperial assistance Avould be given to put down the rebellion. (2.) Although Lord Granville telegraphed on the 5th March, that mil- itary assistance would be given "provided reasonable terms are granted ^ Ked Eiver settlers," &c„ and, again on the 23rd April, sent an ultimatum in which he stipulated that the Canadian Government should "accept the decision of Her Majesty's Government on all points of the settler's Bill of Eights," no answer was returned on the subject of this stipula- tion; because as the official "Review" informs us, it " might have led to grave complications." (3.) The Imperial Government were led to believe that "delegates appointed by a council freely elected by the peo2^le of all classes in the lied River Settlement," were on their way to Ottawa when these stipu- lations, as to a settler's Bill of Rights, were made conditions precedent to Imperial co-operation. (4.) In the second week of April Pere. Richot, next to Pere. Lestanc, the chief of the Insurrection ; Scott, an American citizen, acting as a clerk in McKen ney's shop, and representing no one but himself and the * Isaiah, Chap. 28, v. 15, 17. 40 Ir American or annexation party, followed by Judge Black, of the Hudson Bay Company, who was leaving the country for his own, if not the coun- try's good, appeared at Ottawa, calling themselves Ddetjak^ from Red River. They were named at a Convention of the Insurgents in Fort Garry, attended by a ftnv ]']nglish who were present rather from fear of personal violence than of free will, and could only protest against the acts of the majority. The "freely elected council" deliberated with Kiel's armed guards at the door, — Governor McTavish, Dr. Cowan, and even Mr. Donald Smith, being at the time close prisoners ! (5.) With these so-called Delegates (two of them reeking with the blood of a murdered prisoner) whose acts in their pretended character of Delegates, the Provisional Government refused to acknowledge, the terms of the Manitoba Bill were arranged. The loyal portion of the set- tlement sent delegates in a less formal way, but they were only consult- ed after the Bill was agreed to by the other parties, and little if any attention was paid to their suggestions. (0.) Notwithstanding the recent asseveration to the contrary, of Sir Francis Hincks, it was well know'li. at Ottawa that while the Bill was on the Ministerial anvil, there were many and some hot controversies in the council room. Sir John, who was believed to be contending against the schemes of the Jesuits, fell ill and Avell nigh lost his life. The chevalier of St. Gregory took charge of the measure on behalf of the priesthood ; Sir George conducted it through the House, and but for the determined efforts of a few members of the opposition, it would have passed in its original form. A French Catholic Province would have been establish- ed in Manitoba; a French Governor Avould have followed; and French, customs, and French civil law, would have taken the place of English institutions, and English law, which prevailed before the transfer, and still have legal existence in that country. Even under the Bill as it pass- ed, an attempt is being made with the aid of Lower Canada Lawyers, and a subservient Governor, to supercede the English Judicial system, by one more agreeable to Bishop Tache and his foreign priests. (7.) The Bill as submitted to Parliament by the dominant faction in the Cabinet, was on the face of it, a Bill to establish French half-breed and foreign ecclesiastical ascendancy in Manitoba. The English and Protes- tant settlement of the Portage, the most promising in the Territory, was, by a crnningly drawn boundary line, excluded from the Province. . . , _ 47 Father Kichot expected by liis arrangement to secure for himself and his faction, the easy control of the new government. When I pointed out this as the probable result and object of the p((culiar configuration cftho proposed province, and Mr. Mackenzie^ with his compasses on the ra?p, proved the truth of my suspicion as to the exclusion of the Poriage set- tlement, Ministers confessed the fact, and attempted to justify it by a falsehood, — to wit, that the people of the Portage "desired" to be ex- cluded ! A sufficient ntimber of the Ontario su])portcrs of the Govern- ment signified their intention to vote with the opposition on this point to compel even the clicvalier of St. (Gregory to expand his cDUtracted ideas a little, and take in tlu; English settlement on the borders o!" Lake Manitoba. But the emasculated section of the Cabinet cannot claim any credit for the change ; it was forced upon them by the House, and their helplessness in the subsequent stages of the measure, proved that their political virility was lost forever. " :. ^ -. ' (8.) The "Appropriation"' *of 1,400,000 acres of the ungranted lands of the Province "towivrds the extinguishment of the Indian title" — but by a strange contradiction reserved "for the benefit of the families of the half-breed residents," was intended to prevent, and is now made the excuse for discoui'aging immigration and settlement in ^fanitoba. No land system has since been promulgated, no surveys ordered, no authority given to settlers to preempt vacant lands, but the half-breed reserve, Avhitli was not even asked for in their " List of Eights," is used, as the Quebec Mercury and other ministerial organs said it would be used, to keep English settlers out of Manitoba, t ' : ;•, , (9.) All the usual qualifications required of Candidates for a Legisla- tive Assembly wci^ purposely, and in spite of amendments proposed by members of opposition, omitted from the Manitoba Act. Candidates for •In your Review you have so altered the 31st section of the Act by omitting the words which make an "appropriation" of lands, as to convey. an impression that no .specific quantity of land has. been reserved. Is this quite honest ? t " Mr. Langevin need be imder no apprehension from the threats and muttered thun- der of the Western Clear Grits. His country will stand by him as a unity if he ha^ but attempted to keep the speculators, jobbers, and land sharks of Ontario, from plying their destructive, dishonest and injurious vocation amongst the people of Assinaboine territorj''. Ontario is not to be suffered to viirror herself and her institutions in the Sas- katckaivan Valley. Nothing short of the foundation of such a province in the North West as shall give the Lower Canada of yore and Quebec of to-day a staunch Wtsterti ally in the Confederation should content either this province or the bold and patriotic decendants of the North West pioneers." Quebec Mermry, (Mr. Lanycviii'e, English or- iian,) on the debates in Parliament 48 / -I tho IIouso of Commons must bo of age, subjects of Hor Majesty, resident for a year before tho writ of election within the riovinco, and bonajide houKeholcU'rs ; but for tho Local House they may bo strangers, aliens, outlaws, murderers, anything the half-))reeds are told to vote for ! The object of this unprecedented liberty of choice was all but avowed. The flutter cren>"d on the IMinisterial benches when I moved a proviso that "no pcson guilty of felony" should be eligible, and the pressure put upon a distinguished supporter of the Government from Ontario to in- duce him to argue that such a proviso was legally impracticable, showed the anxiety of Ministers on tho subject and their determination to open the Assembly to Keil, O'Donohue, Lepine, Eoss, McKenney, Scott, and the like. (10.) Tiie impositi(m of a system of sectarian schools upon the now province, in advance of legislation by the Local Assembly, and in the absence of any expressed desire for such a system, — nay, in opposi- tion to the claim of Reil's Convention (see "List of liigb " No. G and IG) to regulate all such matters for themselves, is i t flagrant proof of tho determination of the dominant faction at Ottawa, to " mir- ror" — in the language of Mr. Langevin's Enghsli organ — Quebec " and its institutions" in the province of Manitoba. Your " policy ■' in respect to tho North West, may be collected with tolerable facility and little danger of misconception from these ten par- ticulars of the history and ]n-ovisions of the Manitol)a Bill. I shall not dwell upon ihem. None of them are new to you, and with most of them the public are already familiar. I will merely add that nothing has occurred since Parliament rose to convince me that the territorial sys- tem, which the experience of our American neighbours has so fully ap- proved, which even the self-asserting constitution-makers at Fort Garry, deemed sufficient for their case, * and which I had the honour to sub- mit in amendment to your scheme, would not have been afar safer, a far less oxjiensive, and more acceptable system of Government for the (4.) "That while the burden of the Public expen.se in this country is borne by Canada the country .shall be governed under a Lieutenant Governor from Canada and a Legis- lature, three members of whom being heads of departments shall be nominated by the Governor General of Canada." (5.) "That after the expiration of this excei)tional period (how long it should last they did not suggest) the country shall oe govcrnod as regards its'local affairs as the Province of Ontario and Quebec are governed, by a Legislature elected by the people and a ministry responsible to it," &c. —List of Rights adofded by ReiVa convention, Feb. 10, 1870. 49 political tu'opliytcH iuid unlcttcrotl huntns of the western plains. You and your colleagues, ignoring all experience, and deaf to the wishes and suggestions of that convention of "the people" of Ked River, vou recognized as a legitimate! authority, gave them a complicated and costly system of responsible self-government in 1870, although you had refused the same i)eopli! even so much as a Municipal council in 18G'J ! — and j'ou now ask tlu! Avorld to a])i)laud your statesmanship, and admire your "policy!" A year ago, lucfnats von esseilamlasdum canhil siifficiant was your motto and policy, but Father Kichot taughtyou a lunv version when he reached Ottawa. Transl^.ted into plain English I have no doubt it would read : — " Give me v. small Province on the American border, with a local responsible government ; cutoff the pestilent English set- tlement at Lake Manitoba; reserve all the best land along the liiverfor my half-breeds ; give mo a pliant Governor ; let mo fill the Manitoba Parliament with my faithful cut-throats, Kiel, Lepine, O'Donohue, & Co., and I will undertake that no " land shark" shall settle there. Holding the gate-Avay to the North W( ., I will see that Ontario is not ".suffer- ed to mirror herself or her institutions in the Saskatchawan Valley!" A new view of the question was thus presented to the opponents of western gXtension. From the extreme of indifi'erence and political deprivation, you suddenly rushed to the otiier extreme of local independence, demo- cratic license, and half-breed ascendancy. Hence the enormous reserve of 1,400,000 acres of the best land; hence the restnction of the franchise to householders for a year previous to the elections, and the exclusion of all Canadians not actual householders in the territory, or who may remove to it within the next four years, from all electoral privileges ; hence the efforts to delay, and at one time procure the recall, of the Ex- pedition ; hence the intrigue to send Mr. Archil)ald under convoy of Bishop Tache, via the United States, to receive the reins of Government from the hands of President Kiel ; hence the unjust and insulting exclu- sion of all the loyal Canadian and native refugees from the territory, from any part or lot in the Military Expedition, Avhich they could have pioneered and greatly aided ; hence the sending with that expedition of a clerical emissary, who M'as to keep, and did keep, Riel informed of its progress, of the number of soldiers and volunteers, their arms, supplies, &c. ; hence the invitation to disaster in the swamps and defiles of Rainy lake and river, by violating promises made to the warlike Indians of A\ 50 that region, in the name of the Government and on the authority of the Premier ; and hence, finally, the schemes novr on foot to unite the Hud- son Bay Com])any's employees, who wish to kee} the whole North West a hunting ground as long as possible, Avith Bishop Tache, Eichot, and their Butfalo-hunters, and a few easily persuaded adventurer.5 from Can- ada, into a political party to carry the elections, and — acco:nplish your policy. But you will not succeed. History, and science, and the irre- I)ressible spirit of modern civilization are against you. "i''our Jesuit allies with their treacherous doctrines, their bloo'l-stained hands, and their indiscriminate hostility to human progress in whatever form, have mined eveiy power and every cause that has trusted or employed them. Even the Pope himself could not survive their patronage. By their in- trigues, they rendeied him so unpopular with his own subjects that his reign as a temporal sovereign coidd not be maintained. Driven, and being driven, from nearly every country in Europe, these dark birds of evil omen seem to have alighted upon the northern shores of the great lakes of America, and to have spread themselves, under the name of Oblats, over the vast regions and among the nomadic tribes of the North West. They will fight hard to retain possession. In the course of offi- cial duty 1 disturbed, a fi.'W years ago, one of their out-posts on the Island of Manitoulin, and the falsehood and calumny with which they have pursued me ever since, and the secret wires pulled for that jnirpose, prove at once their vindictive spirit, their indomitable energy, and their powerful influence in our complex society. When the Chevalier of St. Gregory, under the pretence of visiting the site of a talked-of Canal at Sault Ste. j\Iarie, — of which he understands little, and about Avhich he cares less— is met by a flock of Jesuit Priests from distant missions, who must Lave been "notified of his coming, and when, he ventures to employ one of Her Majesty's Gun Boats for such a service, we must ad- mit that they have secured at least, one bold and efficient representative in the Cabinet. When you and the ex-rulcr of Demarara, who could pull a Chief Justice from his bench without a wry face, ai*e compelled to write pamphlets defending the priests, and charging m(> with "fearfully abusing" them, because I simply reported the truth respecting their un- lawful act , as it was my (hity to do, and which no one has ventured to oontradic. —which even you admit in the same page that contains your sluibby charge — we may see to what straits you have been reduced, 51 what dirt-eating and dirt-throwing service is exacted from yon, by your inexorable masters. Thehistoryof theMilitary Expedition to FortGarry cannotnow be wTit- ten. If the official reports of Col. Wolesley and other officers of that ex- pedition, should happen to be asked for in the English House of Com- mons, we may have an opportunity of verifying a good many curious statements at present passing froia mouth to mouth under the restraint of confidential commnnication. But enough has transpired to satisfy every attentiA'e observer that itwasnever^/w^r policy or that of a majority of your colleagues, to send any expedition whatever to the North West. The indignant expression of public opinion — chiefly from Ontario — and the bold and determined attitude of the leaders of opposition in Par- liament, compelled you to organize the force .and put it motion, The same unmistakal)le opinion, reinforced l)y public meetings, and the de- nunciations, all but unanimous, of the Lyal press of the Dominion, pre- vented you from recalling it after it had reached Thunder Bay, * but while you Avere deterred from the execution of Bishop Tachc's plan — probably Sir George Avas unable to "induce" His Excellency to assent to it,- -vou did the next best thing for Bishop Tache's " best friend,'' the rebel President, — you deprived the Commander of the Expedition of the powei to arrest him, or to invoke ».'.> aid of any magistrate iov that purpose ! Riel sat upon a horse at the Stone Fort and watched the ap- proach of Col. Wolesley's boats, saw the soldiers land, counted their num- bers, and rode leisurely to Fort Garry. The messenger left behind to give him notice of the advance of the troops towards the Upper Fort, Avas captured by the skirmishers, and the President had barely time to gather up the £5,000 he had borrowed — to use the Avord Avhich Avill be most agreeable to your ears, — from the Hudson Bay Companj, and make off toAvards Pembina. He could easily hvxe been caught and the booty recoA'ered, but no one had authority to take him. Hispriv^ate correspondence Avas left behind. A portion of it has been published, but a still more curious and instructive portion Avas carried off Avhile the * " Ottawa, July 18. —Bishop Tache will arrive here thi.i evening from Montreal. The Privy 'Council held a Special inee'iiiir on Saturday. It is stated b ere on good authority, that Sir George E. Cartier will proceed with Lient. Gov. Archil)ald to Niagara Falls next Wednesday to induce HU Excellency , Sir J. Young, to go to the North Went via I'embina with Lieut. Gov. Archibald an d Bishop Tache. On their arrival Riel is to deliver up the Government to them and th o expeditionary trooi)8 will be withdrawn."— »S)jec(a/ despatch to Toronto Leader. (Gov- orument organ.) I 52 officer in charge was at dinner. One of the loyal clerks of the Hudson Bay Company, who was seen going into tlie room is supposed to have performed this useful service for the President's epistolary friends. The consequences of your '• policy" in sending a military officer toput down the rebellion with his hands tied (civilly) behind his back, were soon apparent at Fort Garry. A kitter from General Lindsay — at whose in- stance written we can guess — rebuking the gallant commander of the ex- pedition for icferring to civil affiiirs in his Proclamation to the Eed River people, compelled him to fold his arms, and look on in helpless disability, while liot and debauchery held high revel in the town. If the mass of the people had ever seriously meditated revolution, your ex- pedition, disarmed as it was of all civil power, would have introduced anarchy, and not ordci', into that distracted settlement. But the Indians were loyal, and the English and Scotch half-breeds were loyal, and a large number of the French half-breeds were, from the first, opposed to the designs of the insurgents. All these well-affected people believed that the interregnum of disorder would not last long ; that the volun- teers at least were their friends, and that your Representative, Avhatever his instnictions might be, would not dare to attempt a reactionary policy of his own authority, and without the consent of responsible advisers, appointed under the provisions of their new constitution. They waited with as much patience as they could commaal, but their contideiice, as it seems to me, has not been completely justified by the tardy and un- certain acts of the Governor. They more than suspected that his hands had been tied, as Avell as those of his military predecessor. Events Avill soon exhibit your policy in the civil administration, but they have al- ready shown, beyond question, that the success of the Expedition, so far as it may be said to have extinguished Riel, and subdued the rebellious priests has been accomplished against the wish and in spite of the secret intrigues of the pro-rebel faction at Ottawa. Grave constitutional questions are involved in your mode of organizing and conducting military expeditions, Avhich parliament will be compel- led to answer as soon as it meets. These questions are : — Can the Dominion Government, responsible to the people of this country for the expenditure of public money, be per- mitted to abdicate its authority whenever a few desperadoes assemble on the frontier, or a few priests oxcite a riot in some distant settlement? 53 Can that Government transfer to Imperial officers, the duty of direct- ing operations, and the authority to incur expenditure ad liUtwii, which the Parliament of Canada is bound to p^^y ? Is there any constitu- tional check, control, or responsibility in such a system ] If blun- dering incapacity, and reckless extravagance — such as we have witnessed in the fitting up of unnecessary barracks, and the chartering of foreign steamers that were not wanted — should be proved against these Impe- rial officers, will the Minister of Militia be permitted to say that he is not responsible because they were not subject to his orders 1 The repre- sentativeg of the Canadian tax-payers will, let us hope, be ready to give the pro]ier answers to these questions when submitted, as they soon must be, for their decision. One word, in conclusion, as to the coraposicion of the expeditionary force. Instead of calling for volunteers who wislied to settle in the new Province, and who would have been glad to serve for a year or moi-e, at the minimum of pay, with a grant of land on their discharge in Mani- toba, you attempted to organize a force in equal proportions from Quebec and Ontario, in the liope that one lialf would, politically, aUvagoniae the other — one man for Bishop Tache and one for Canada, — but the result dis- appointed the cunning projectors, and your P( heme miscarried. After weeks of delay which cost this country a lar' un, ;uulinfeased un- necessarily, the expense of tlio Imperial ; nt, less than a hundred French Canadians were enlisted ! 'i battalion." rs, by a pleasant metonymy, it is up wherever they could be found, ii* Ontario men of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were not waii. li bably, they could not be trusted ; they were, therefore, ignomiuioi dy excluded. When die accounts of the expedition are submitt- to par- liament, W3 ?hall be able to estimate how much this part of \ i " poli- cy" has cost the Dominion. I am yours, &c., Wm. MACDOUGxVr 'ikKM' the " Quebec ■ 'liumnif' 'i ^\Wi ■ar. I 54 LETTER VIII. Sir, — I shall conclude my review of your policy with a brief notice of the course of events in the North West, and at Ottawa, since the appointment of Mr. Archibald as your representative. Of the appoint- ment itself, and the circumstances under which it was made, I cannot, for obvious reasons, speak without some reserve ; but as a fjiithful ser- vant of Her JIajesty, as a native Canadian of the stock of " United Empire Loyalists," as one of the earliest projectors, and in the course of events, one of the responsible constructors of the political confedera- tion, authorized by the Imperial Act of 18G7, I may, perhaps, be permitted to say that in my judgment, that appointment wa.'?, under the circumstances, not the best that could have been made in the interests of the new Dominion. It is much to be feared that the keystone in that majestic political Arch, which all true Canadians hoped would soon span the northern half of this Continent, has received a treacherous blow from some of its architec+s. LTnfortunatel}'^ it came from within, and before the cementing mortar had time to dry. There are signs, sufficiently alarm- ing, that a dangerous displacement has occurred, that the ecpiilibrium of the structui'e has been impaired, and that a heavy or sudden pressure would tumble it in ruins. I have spent the greater part of my political life in advocating the extension of popular rule, yet I never doubted or denied the necessity for a prompt and vigorous execution of the law, and a stern asserrion of authority by the governing poAver of the state against its armed foes, whether from within or from without. Nothing in the history of modern political si ience is more instructive to govern- ments, or more gratifying to the admirers of free institutions and the sovereignty of the people, than the determined spirit, the willing sacri- fice of life ami property, and the unflagging faith in the ability of their government to establish its authority in spite of frequent and dis- heartening reverses, which the inhabitants of the free States ','xhibited in their recent terrible struggle with the rebel slave-holders of the Sre con- venient season, the long-looked-for arrangements with the neighbouring Indian tvibe«, whose lands are being occupied, though still unceded ? Who is to pay the enhanced annuities Avhich this injurious delay is certain to entail 1 Who will answer to the British sentiment of the Dominion — to the offended spirit of modern progress- —for the insult per petrat«d and the wrong intended by the appointment to the office of Judge, and judicial organizer of the new Province, of a Lower Canada lawyer, unfamiliar with the principles and practice of our English legal system, but well-grounded in the ancient "Customs of Paris," many of which have been tenaciously retained in Lower Canada, though repealed long since in the country of their origin] Who invited, or who sent to Manitoba, with a view to the Attorney-Greneralship, another Lower Canada lawyer, a Protestant pervert, lately editor of the True Witness, and the most rabid enemy of Protestantism, the moat slavish supporter of the ultramontane faction in the Roman Catholic Church, to be found in all Canada] Is the Minister of Justice, or Governor Archibald re- ipnnsible for this last selection 1 When the constitutional vote of cen- sure is about to be invoked against the advisers of these injurious — if not traitorous — acts, shall we be met by the shuttle-cock manoeuvre of throwing the responsibilitv on a distant authority — Manitoba or Ottawa, as the case may be] Or will the Minister of Militia boldly, as becomes his office, and boaetfully, as accords Avith his habit, cut the matter short by proclaiming, — " I fluttered your Volscians in Corioli ; Alone I did it." " Mr. Speaker, call in the members !" The difficulties of Mr. Archibald's position are, I admit, suffi- ciently embarrassing. Much forbearance is necessary in the public interest, even from those who did not approve of his appoint- ment, and now condemn his administrative acts. I shall not, therefore, push the case against him by going into details, or using materials which have been placed in my hands by credible correspondents. I have merely indicated some of the features of his policy, which I deem un- just and impolitic, and the result of unconstitutional pressure from OttaAva — at least I give him credit for the disposition to do otherwise if he were free to act — and I throw upon you and your colleagues the I 58 responsibility which attaches to principal! in the case, tor all the misZ chiefs which have grown, and are still likely to grow, out of "your policy." I had intended to offer some observations upon the land system, which ought to have been promptly adopted, but which appears to have been purposely delayed. To discourage and repel settlers from the North West, in accordance with the avowed intentions of your supporters in Quebec and Manitoba, is evidently your olyect ; but as Parliament is soon to meet, and as we can better discuss, face to face, the propriety of measures, / ■■ But, Sir, I do not despair of my country. I have not lost faith in m that " New Nationality," foreshadowed by Lord Monck in his speech from the throne, in 186G, "the dimensions of which will entitle it to a high place amongst the powers of the world." Traitors may conspire ; Jesuits may plot ; sectional politicians may intrigue, and moribund ministers may hesitate and succumb ; but " westward the star of empire takes its way," and in spite of ail obstacles, the immense wheat-growing and cattle-grazing vallies and plains of our " Great West," will soon be subdued and occupied, not by priest-ridden natives addicted to the chase, but by sturdy cultivators of the soil, carrying with them the civiliza- tion, the political principles, the self-reliant energy, and the contempt for sacerdotal leadership, which distinguish the colonizing populations of the new world. Your "policy" may interpose a temporary check, but unless we ignore the past and lose faith in the power of free thought and free institutions to p-^rmeate, to expand, to conquer in this hemisphere, we must trust the future, and march onward. Ohristian philosophy forbids us to doubt the ultimate triumph of a cause that is at once patriotic and just, benignant and true. Even if the skies were darker, and the waves more tumultuous, no storm-tried mariner who loves his country, no honest pilot who has guided the helm of state in rough weather, would now counsel delay or propose to abandon the voyage. We have hoisted sail; the ship is new and staunch ; a rival trader is cruising in the same seas, and may forestall us. If we are wise we will tack no longer but run before the wind, or, if need be, against it. Difficulties there have been, and dangers there may be, but the faith of the pious ^neas should be ours : — i "0 paasi gi-aviora, dabit Deus his quoque finem." I remain, &c., WM. MACDOUGALL. Nov. 1870. J p J i^ •! ,1 .1 . , - t'i, s-i i 'J. ,J. n'IChl-hi *■ 61 .( I- A^r^PEISTDIX Toronto, September 3rd, 1870.* Sir, — I had the honour, during your recent absence from the seat of Government, to receive from Mr. Under-Secretary Meredith, a letter (dated 2nd August), informing me that " His Excellency tlie Governor General in Council," had been passed to direct that the Commission issued to me on the 29th September last, appointing me Lieuten mt- Governor of the North-West Territories, "be revoked." . ^.tr v, , , ;,, Mr. Meredith does not mention the date of the writ of supersedeas which it apiiears His Excellency was advised to issue, but as the official Gazette had already apprised the public of the appointment of another person on the 20t]i of May to the same office, I am left to iiifer that the revocation and supersedure took place at some date antecedent to that appointment. ■ I regret that the Government found it necessary, after my letter to the Premier, Sir John A. Macdonald, in January last, (in which I volun- tarily placed my Commission at his disposal), to resort to the adverse process of supersedeas without previous notice to, or communication with me. And I also regret, though with much less poignancy, that you should have availed yourself of your last official opportunity to add in- sult to the injury you had already inflicted on one of your recent col- leagues, and now a chief victim of your policy. I am persuaded you would not have withheld from me until the 2nd of August, the official notice to v/hich, in all courtesy, I was entitled on the 20th May, unless you had determined that the tirst cycle of your ill- starred administi'ation should be completed by an act that would not relieve by contrast your proceedings at Fort Garry, your reticence on the plains, or your speeches in Parliament. ^ * This letter is added to illustrate official courtesy at Ottawa. It closed my cor- respondence with Mr. Howe under the Royal Commission. —W. McU. m 62 I acquit His Excellency as tho Ucproscntativo of Hor Majosty in this country of any participation in, or knowlcdj^o of your last otiicial «cc««n- tricity, ami I await with all possihlo equanimity the approach of tho hour when the loyal Canadians of the North- West, and myself among them, will be amply vinflicated, and their enemies, and the enemies of their country, here as well as there, shall receive their desei'ts. Already the first wave of the flowing tide has struck tin; shore. Our country's flag, which gave you so much oflenco at Fort (Jarry, has again been raised by loyal hands. Your special envoy was not present, ami the bells of St. Boniface were dumb ; but the loyal half-brecMls and Cana- dians, whom you scorned to their face and caluminated behind their backs, welcomed their deliverers with shouts of e.\ultation and tears of joy. The very savages, against whom it was pretended at Ottawa that your forces were to be sent, hailed with unwonted delight the unfui'ling of that flag which, with a truer and better instinct than they had dis- covered in at least one of their Canadian governors, they regard as the sole emblem of authority aud law, and of justice and protection to their race. At the first blast of Col. Wolsey's bugles, ymir proteges — " the estal'liahed authorities" of your ghostly rejiresentative — sped across the prairie to the shelter of that otlier flag which you had told them was at once their best protection, and their ultimate and certain destiny. So the wheel turns ! The truth may now be told, and iciil be told, and confident that its i-evelations will abundantlv corroborate my case, I can bear, without dejection or solicitude, the " stingless insults" of a man who secured otfice without honour, who has signalized his adminis- tration by drivelling imbecility, if not by peijurious incivism, and who clings to his post to the evident mortification of his colleagues, and amid the scorn and contempt of his countrymen. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your very obedient servant, WM. MACDOUGALL. Hon. J. Howe, Secretary of State for the Provinces, ritish Possessions, and for the best of reasons, which ho explaiiuid to me, and which I shall communicate to you later. We cannot therefore arrive together, as 1 had exp«!cted. 1 shall not be alone, because 1 shall have with me people who come to aid us. Mr. Archibahl regrets he cannot come by way of Pembina, he wishes, not- withstanding to arrive among us, and before the troops. Therefore he will be glad to have a road found for him either by the Point des Chenes or the Lac du Roseaux. I pray you to make enquiry in this respect, in order to obtain the result that we have proposed. It is necessary that he should arrive among and through our people. I am well content with this Mr. Archibald. I have observed that he is really the man that is needed by us. Already he seems to understand the situation and the condition of our dear Red River, and ho seems to love our people. Have faith then that the good God has blessed us, not- withstanding our unworthiness. Be not uneasy ; time and faith will bring us all we desire, and more, which it is impossible to mention, not- withstanding the expectations of certain Ontarians. We have some sincere, devoted and powerful friends. I think of leaving Montreal on the 8th of August, in which case, it is probable I shallarrive towards the 22nd of the same month. The letter which I brought has been sent to England, as well as those wliich I have written myself, and which I have read to you. The people of Toronto wished to make a demonstration against me, and, in spite of the exaggerated statements of the newspapers, they have never dared to give the number of the persons present (?) Some persons here at Hamilton wished to speak, but the newspapers dis- couraged their zealous efforts. I am here by chance, and remain as this is Sunday. Salute for me wmsm «E" 64 Mr. 0. (O'Donohue?) and others at the Fort. Pray much for me. I do not forget you. Your Bishop, who signs himself your best friend, A. G. DE St. BONIFACE. Letter No. 2.— Bishop Tache to President Kiel. Bourville, 6th August. M. Le Preside'. c— I well know how important it is for you to have positive neAvs— I have something good and cheering to tell yor.. I had already something wherewith to console us when the papers pub- lished news dear and precious to all onr ^riends, and they are many. I shall leave on Jionday, and Avith the companions whom I mentioned to Rev. P. Lestang. Governor Archibald leaves at the same time, but by another road. He will arrive before the troops, and I have promised him a good reception if he comes by the Snuw road. Governor Mc- Tavish'p house \>\l\ suit him, and we will try to get it for him, Mother salutes you affectionately, as also my uncle. Mad'llo Massou and a croAvd of others send kind remembrances to your good mother and sisters. Forget not Mr. 0., and others at the iort. We have to con- gratulate you on the happy re^uit. The GloO.: and others are furious at it. Let them howl leisurely— they excite but the pity and contempt of some of their friends. Excu„e me— it is late, and I am fatigued, and to-morrow I have to do a hard day's work. Yours devotedly, t A. G. DE St. BONIFACE. [The above letters were found among Kiel's papers after his hasty flight from Fort Garry.] c. A3ERCR0MBIR. D'lC. 27th, 1869. HoK. Wm. McDougall, Sir,— Having heard some expressions at Grand Point touching Red River matters, from an ignorant man who drove Col. De Salaberry, I 65 I was led to believe that they were not original with him, and made it my business to call upon his master, the Colonel ; at a house adjoining that in which I put up for the night. I introduced myself and the following questions were put to me by the Colonel : — "Is there any late news from Red Kivei- ]" " When did you leave V " "What do you think of the state of things there f " Anything you say to give me in- formation will be confidential." The first tAvo T answered shortly, the latter I went into as fvtUy as I could, but was interrupted several times by De Salaberry saying, " what could the Governor expect T " He "treated those people A'-ery roughly and very unbecomingly when they " called upon him at Pembina." " He also spoke harshly to them at the " Hudson Bay Company's post and would not even condescend to speak " to the men who bore the message from Eiel to himself." " He on " other occasions called those French half-breeds a set of scoundrels, vil- " lains, robbers and such names." "Could he think or expect men to " submit (juietly to such epithets?" I at this point said, " Sir, you are mistaken and I am in a position to " prove you are. I was present when the half-breeds delivered the let- " ter to the Hon. Wm. McDougall in the Custom House, at Pembina, " and i>l so when the party arrived at the Company's post to drive the " '"'ovurnor across the line. I heai'd those men when they delivered the " message there, and there was no such language used on either occasion. " On the contrary, he treated both parties very civilly, and gave them "pork, sugar, tea, &c., for their supper and breakfast, and farther, Sir, " I can show you in my memorandum book, every word that was spoken " by the Governor and also by the half-breeds through an interpreter, " taken down by myself at the time." " Now where did you get your " information ?" He answered, " In the ncAvspapers." "Yes," said I, " in the Globe, I fancy." Said he, " in other papers as well, and also " from private parties." " But did you never hear anything at Fort " Garry of him " (McB.) " havingcheated the Indians out of their lands]" I said, " No, the first I heard of that was what I read iji the Globe." " Well," said the Colonel, " Brown is a great friend of McDougall is he " notr I laughed, and said, " I thought not, r)ut had it not been for " Brown and Howe, assisted by the Hudson Bay Company giving the " Yankees in Fort Garry and on the lines, a lever to take advantage of, " we should have had no such trouble as there lias been in tiie settle- iW.. . .«,»,,iJi!3^ 66 "ment." Finally, Col, DeSalaberry, said, "Dc n't you think McDougall is *' very impopular in the settlement 1" I answered, "No, that when I " left Fort Garry in September, last, his appointment was very popular." Then said he, "Why the change?' I said, "I am not aware of any " change in that respect, hut if there is any it is occasioned by the con- " tinued harping in the ears of the ignorant half-breeds the sentiments "expressed in the Gfobe against the Governor personally, by such men as " Bannatyne, McKenney, O'Loane, Emerlin, Donaldson, andafew others^ " who have expressed themselves openly to favour annexation to the " United States." " Well," said the Colonel, " The Canadian Govern- " ment is much to blame; they should have sent us before the sur- " veyors went into the country and we could have arranged it. The " surveyors have done mucli harm by some of the employees stating that " this farm would belong to one, and that to another, and so on, irrita- " tin"' in (jvery way those men, who no doubt have their rights in the " land." I told him that I chanced to be with the surveyorsand that Col. Dennis and his employees on every occasion told the half-breeds and others that the rights of every one would be respected, and that the sur- vey would not interfere with the lands now held by the half-breeds. He immediately said, " it avus not Col. Dennis and his party he meant ; it was Snow and his employees." I then said, "Do you think the Gov- ernor will get into the couutry before SpiitigT' He said, " It was doubtful if ^. cDougall would ever govern the country." I am, Sir, Your obed't servant, JAMES WA LLACE. E. Red Iliver Settlement, Oct. 1st, 1870. Hon. Wm. Macdougall, C.B., Toronto. SlR^ — In a tim(i of groat trial and anxiety, I took the liberty of ad- dressing you from Pembina, Avhere 1 was driven to seek refuge last winter. I have again the honour to address you and inform you of 67 Y some additional facts whicli may tend to show you that the forces em- ployed to keep you out of the country are yet actively in existence, although Riel, their tool and agent, has been forced to flee. To tell you the truth, sir, 1 have learned the bitter lesson that rebellion and dis- loyalty is likely to be rewarded, while those who remained staunch to the Queen are likely to be overlooked and considered fools for their pains. You must excuse me if I feel indignant and express that indig- nation. I am a Britisli subject and a soldier, and have served Her Majesty in various regiments in India, in England, in Ireland and Scot- laud, from the age of eighteen years, till my hair has gr^Avn grey, after twenty-four years of service, and I am proud to refer yourself, sir, or any else, to the records in the office of the ^'ecretary of War, as to my character. I am a Roman Catholic, and can speak without religious bias in this matter, and I tell you, sir, that the detailed statement which I made to. you, in a former letter, is true, and that I am prepared to furnish proofs. The presence of this force h.re, which is much against the Avill of Bis- hop Tache, prevents the possibility of armed opposition, and their dodge now is, if possible, to quiet matters, and by getting the ears of the pre- sent Grovernment to influence them against every loyal man in tLis country. They haxe already commenced this course, and I will give you the following instance : — I have been Chief of the Police in this town of Winnipeg for the past four years, and yet, when, after imprisonment for three months, and when forced to flee to the other side of the line to save my life, I return here, after the arrival of the 60th Rifles, to resume my services, I find myself set aside, and a man named Rickards, Avhora I have proved to be a rank rebel, and to have instructed Riel's men in the use of the big guns, is put in my place, and is this moment on duty, and I am discarded. Now, sir, for what 1 Because, in daring to be loyal, I conflicted with tlie interests of tln^ Hudson Bay Company and Bisliop Tache. Had I chosen the other course, all would have been smooth, I could have o-ot a leading position in th(^ Rebel Government, and could have fattened myself on the spoils robbed from honest and loyal men. But no, I will remain true to the Queen to the end, and if the present Governor is so hampered by promises to Cartier and others in Canada, that he dare *".r" GS not countenance loyal men, I will sell the property I have honestly ac- cumulated here, for what I can, and leave this country for ever. This opposition is not to me alone. Dr. Schultz, the friend, and the most powerful, of our loyal people here, native and foreign, is this mo- ment, and will be, in danger of assassination. It is well known that they will i-.3ek to remove every obstacle in their path to accomplish their ends. Sir, 1 am sorry to trespass on your time, yet you are in a posi- tion to let the people of Canada see things in their right light. I take the liberty of enclosing a photograph of myself in the uniform of which I am proud, and also the picture of a group of the scoundrels who di- rected the robberies and murder of last winter. You will notice in the group, that the only English ones are J^iomas Spence and Thomas Bunn, and that both are with downcast looks, as thougli they had an idea that sooner or later the scorn and contempt which is shown here now for them, would come to pass. I have, ail", letters from Governor JMcTavish, to show my official position, and I again repeat that I have made no statement that I am not able to prove. Belieivng, sir, tisat sooner or later it will be clearly shown that the fault of this rebellion, with its crinu!s, lies with my own clergy and with the crafty and unscrupulous Hudson Bay Company. I remain yours very respectfully. Sergeant JAMES MULLIGAN, Late of Her Majesty's 17th Foot. HW«JJ> official I am tl 10 and Foot.