Macdonald, in the course of which he informed him of the situation in Prince Edward Island. Macdonald was cautious. He refused to allow Canada to open negotiations, but he asked Lord Dufferin to inform the lieutenant-governor that the terms of 1869 were still available. The governor telegraphed asking if the debt of the railway would be taken into consideration. The dominion government replied that it was a proper subject for discussion and that any proposals with regard to it would be carefully considered. A few months later, delegates came to Ottawa to arrange a basis of union, and on July 1, 1873, Prince Edward Island joined the Canadian federation.

It lies outside this history to consider the work done by the railway builders of Canada, but amid the hard facts which gave the political dream realization their work is the most romantic. Political and financial circumstances combined to delay the day when Halifax and Vancouver were linked up by steam. When, however, the eastern and western branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway were at last connected and the last spike driven home in November 1885 by Donald Smith, afterwards Lord Strathcona, political faith was made visible across the continent and the lines of steel became symbolical bonds of Canadian national unity. Without the hope and courage of the railway builders and the political vision which refused to be dimmed, the full territorial heritage of the dominion would have remained, as John A. Macdonald said, a geographical expression '.1

[AUTHORITIES.-For the earlier period the material is in Report from the Committee appointed to inquire into the State and Condition of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay (London, 1749); Report from the Select Committee on Hudson's Bay Company (London, 1837); Parliamentary Papers (1819), Red River Settlement'; Canadian Archives Report (1897), Note D; The David Thompson Papers (Ontario Archives). Very valuable are: Elliott Coues, New Light on the Earlier History of the Great North-west (3 vols., New York, 1897); J. B. Tyrrell, David Thompson's Narrative of his Explorations in 1 Macdonald to Northcote, May 1, 1878, Pope, Correspondence of Sir John Macdonald, p. 239.

Ꮓ

Western America, 1784–1812 (Toronto, 1916); Chester Martin, Lord Selkirk's Work in Canada (Oxford, 1916); L. A. Prud'homme, 'Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Vérendrye' (Trans. Royal Soc. of Canada, 2nd series, vol. xi, sect. i, pp. 9 ff.); G. Dugas, L'Ouest Canadien, sa Découverte par le Sieur de la Vérendrye (Montreal, 1896; also in English, Montreal, 1905); A. Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal through the Continent of North America, 1789 and 1793 (London, 1801; reprint ed. by W. L. Grant, 2 vols., Toronto, 1911). For the later periods consult Colonial Office Papers, series G, 335–59, 360-5 (Canadian Archives); Report from the Select Committee on Hudson's Bay Company (London, 1857); Hudson's Bay Papers (London, 1859); Copy or Extract of Correspondence. . . relating to the Surrender of Rupert's Land, &c. (London, 1869); E. H. Oliver, The Canadian North-west: Its Early Development and Legislative Records (2 vols., Ottawa, 1914); E. O. S. Scholefield, Report of the Provincial Archives Department of British Columbia (Victoria, 1914), Minutes of the Council of Vancouver Island . . . August 30, 1851, to February 6, 1861 (Victoria, 1918), Minutes of the House of Assembly, Vancouver Island, August 12, 1856, to September 25, 1858 (Victoria, 1918), House of Assembly, Correspondence Book, August 12, 1856, to July 6, 1859 (Victoria, 1918); N. F. Black, A History of Saskatchewan and the Old North-west (Regina, 1913); E. O. S. Scholefield and F. W. Howay, British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present (2 vols., Vancouver, 1914); J. N. E. Brown, "The Evolution of Law and Government in the Yukon Territory' (University of Toronto Studies: History and Economics, vol. ii, 1907). There is no adequate history of the Hudson's Bay Co.: consult Willson, The Great Company (London, 1889); Bryce, The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Co. (London, 1900); Mackenzie, Selkirk and Simpson (Toronto, 1910); Coats and Gosnell, Sir James Douglas (Toronto, 1910).]

...

CHAPTER XXI

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CANADIAN AUTONOMY

(i) From Federation to 1914

THE development of Canadian autonomy falls naturally into two periods. The first, extending from 1867 to 1914, saw the evolution of full self-government and of authority in commercial matters. It is characterized by growing assurance, slowly developing self-confidence, and that widening interest in economic affairs which belongs to the life of a young nation rich in material possibilities. The second period, from the beginning of the Great War to the present time, is the period of national manhood suddenly matured by the unparalleled events. During it constitutional advances were made which have revolutionized the relationship of Canada to the empire. In dramatic growth and in spectacular achievement these years are the most momentous in Canadian constitutional history.

6

After the territorial 'rounding off' of the dominion there began to grow up a national emotion.1 At first this was scattered and unorganized, but in 1870 a group of young men, known as the Canada First party', began to lend it a greater influence and a wider life. Of these, W. A. Foster, a Toronto barrister, was the most brilliant. In a lecture entitled Canada First; or, Our New Nationality, published in 1871, he called on Canadians to strengthen the foundations of their identity and to render the different races homogeneous by the development of an all-Canadian national feeling. For a year or two the party resisted the allurements of politics, but at length it expanded into the Canadian National Association with definite

1 For a full discussion see The Growth of Canadian National Feeling', by W. S. Wallace (Canadian Historical Review, June 1920).

political aims. These included a voice in treaties affecting Canada, the imposition of revenue duties for the fullest encouragement of native industry, and a militia system under Canadian officers. Hopes sprang high when Edward Blake, in his famous speech delivered at Aurora on October 3, 1874, adopted and amplified the platform.1 Blake urged the cultivation of a Canadian national spirit as a preparation for the fullness of citizenship by four millions of Britons who are not free'. Fortunately for the future, Blake soon resumed friendly relations with the liberal party, and the emotion of Canadian nationalism was thus saved from ambiguous affiliations. Both the great historic parties have contributed to its development in sentiment as well as in fact. Indeed, it was insight that led Macdonald to call his protectionist system'the national policy', for he meant it to be the economic counterpart of national emotion. Laurier's defeat on the reciprocity issue in 1911 was in a large measure due to the fact that Canadians believed that such a system would impair national life. On the other hand, the Canada First' movement must not be lightly overlooked. It came at an opportune moment in Canadian history to provide, as it were, an emotional impetus towards nationhood.

6

When Edward Blake became minister of justice in the year following his speech, he must have been convinced that his words were hardly a platform exaggeration, for the dominion was still heavily shackled even in domestic affairs. Legislation was still liable to disallowance. The governor-general was specially instructed to reserve certain classes of bills, and he possessed the right of pardon, a prerogative which the crown in England no longer enjoyed. There was no Canadian control over British immigration. The position of defence was still doubtful with the presence of imperial soldiers, and with an imperial officer in command of Canadian forces. There was no 1 For a reprint of the speech, see Canadian Historical Review, September 1921.

supreme court at Ottawa. Needless to say Canada had little or no voice in international affairs. Under both conservative and liberal administrations extension of Canadian autonomy was achieved, but it was fortunate that the initial steps were made by Blake, as he gave to Canadian nationalism sobriety of judgement, wide scholarship, and legal insight, which were invaluable in the early days of advance.

As minister of justice Blake piloted through parliament the measure which set up the supreme court of Canada. The bill included a clause closing appeals to the judicial committee. of the privy council. The government were compelled to withdraw this clause as the imperial cabinet pointed out that the royal assent would be withheld. The court, however, has been a remarkable success. It has received many appeals from the provincial courts which otherwise would have gone to Westminster. It has helped to develop constitutional law and it has lent dignity and confidence to the Canadian judiciary. In the executive sphere Blakes's accomplishment was more remarkable. From the time of federation, Canadian selfgovernment was severely limited by the commissions and instructions issued by the imperial cabinet to the governorsgeneral. They were ordered to refuse assent to any bill for divorce; for grants to themselves; for making paper or other currency legal tender; for imposing differential duties; for interference with the naval or military forces of the crown in the dominion, with treaty obligations, with the royal prerogative, with the property of British subjects not resident in Canada, or with the trade and shipping of the United Kingdom; for re-enacting any measure which had been disallowed or to which assent had been previously refused. In the case of an offender condemned to death they were commanded to with

Cf. Nineteenth Century, July 1879, p. 173. See Judicial Committee Act, 1844 (7 & 8 Victoria, c. 69), which places the right of appeal on a statutory basis. * See Canada Sessional Papers, 1877, No. 13; 1879, No. 181..