ADDENDA.

1872.

July 8th.-Parliament dissolved by Proclamation. 15th.-Writs issued for a General Election.

1874.

January 2nd.-Parliament dissolved by Proclamation.

Writs issued same day for a General Election.

February 19th.-Mr. James D. Edgar, of Toronto, appointed to proceed to British Columbia as the Agent of the Dominion Government, "to consult with the Local Government with reference to the late agitation concerning an extension of time for the construction of the Pacific Railway beyond that promised in the terms of Union."

POLITICAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER I.

INDEPENDENCE OF PARLIAMENT ACT.-NEW ELECTIONS AND THEIR RESULTS.CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT.-BANQUET TO SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD BY TORONTO WORKINGMEN. MEETING OF ONTARIO LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION-RESOLUTIONS PASSED ENDORSING CONDUCT OF CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION AND FAVORING A NATIONAL POLICY.-MR. BLAKE RETIRES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. THE FORTUNE BAY DIFFICULTY.- MEETING OF ONTARIO REFORM ASSOCIATION-POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT ENDORSED— CONFEDERATION DECLARED A SUCCESS. MEETING OF PARLIAMENT MR. ANGLIN RE-ELECTED SPEAKER.-IMPORTANT DISCUSSION AS TO HIS ELIGIBILITY -SPEECH FROM THE THRONE.

Politically, 1878 was one of the most important years in the history of British North America; certainly the most productive of remarkable events since the Confederation of the Provinces, as a glance at the events themselves, in the order of their occurrence, will show.

The interpretation placed upon the Independence of Parliament Act by the Select Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, to which during the session of 1877 was referred the case of Mr. T. W. Anglin, Member for Gloucester, and Speaker of the House of Commons, who was proved to have been personally interested in a printing contract with the Government, involved the resignation of a good many other members of the House, who had in different ways infringed the provisions of the Act, and had thereby forfeited their right to exercise the trust reposed in them by their constituents, except at the risk of laying themselves open to the pains and penalties imposed by the statute in that behalf. Mr. W. B. Vail, member for the county of Digby, Nova Scotia, Minister of Militia and Defence in Mr. Mackenzie's Administration, and Mr. A. G. Jones, member for the city and county of Halifax, being stockholders in a company which had performed printing and advertising services for the Government, and thus becoming disqualified to sit and vote in Parliament, one of the first note

worthy political occurrences of the year was the resignation of their seats by these two gentlemen, both of whom appealed to their constituents for re-election. Mr. Vail was opposed in Digby, in the interest of the Conservative party, by Mr. J. C. Wade, Q.C., who had heen previously in public life in Nova Scotia, and was for some time Speaker of the Provincial Legislative Assembly. The contest, of course, assumed increased importance, from the fact that one of the candidates was a Minister of the Crown, and it is needless to add that the triumph of the Opposition candidate, by a majority of 372, in a constituency which gave Mr. Vail a majority of 276, in October, 1874, on the occasion of his becoming a member of the Federal Cabinet, was regarded as significant of a very decided change in the public feeling of the Province of Nova Scotia an opinion which the events of the 17th September fully justified.

The return of Mr. George Haddow, an Independent Liberal, for the county of Restigouche, in the place of Mr. George Moffatt, a Conservative, who had also been compelled to resign his seat on account of an infraction of the Independence of Parliament Act, was regarded as equally significant in its way, and proved just as reliable an indication of the continued popularity of the Government in the Province of New Brunswick as was the result in Digby of a contrary tendency in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Peter Mitchell, member for Northumberland, New Brunswick, another victim to the stringent provisions of the Independence of Parliament Act, likewise appealed to his constituents for a renewal of their confidence, but met with no opposition.

Having been excluded from Parliament by the verdict of his constituents, Mr. Vail also retired from the Ministry, and was succeeded by Mr. A. G. Jones, who was sworn in Minister of Militia and Defence on the morning of his re-nomination for the representation of Halifax, and a week afterwards was returned by a majority of 208 over Mr. M. H. Richey, Q.C., the Conservative candidate.

On the 8th January, the workingmen of Toronto entertained Sir John A. Macdonald, leader of the Opposition, at a banquet, and on the 15th the Liberal-Conservative Association of Ontario met in the same city. At this latter demonstration, a series of four resolutions was agreed to, which set forth with considerable precision the platform upon which the Opposition subsequently challenged the confidence of the country. These resolutions constituted in effect a formal endorsement by the party of the various

amendments offered by their leaders in Parliament to the policy of the then existing Administration, especially with respect to the Tariff and the protection of native industries; and as they were ratified at the general election by such a decisive majority, and may therefore be fairly regarded as a concise and correct expression of the will of the people, they are here quoted. After the usual preamble, the delegates composing the Convention, resolved:

"(1.) They are satisfied e welfare o. Canada requ res the adoption of a national financial policy, which, by a judicious readjustment of the tariff, will benefit and foster the agricultural, mining and manufacturing interests of the Dominion; (2.) That no such readjustment will be satisfactory to the interests affected or to the country, if adopted as a provisional means only to meet a temporary exigency or to supply a temporary deficit, nor unless it is made and carried out as a national policy; (3.) That until a reciprocity of trade is established with our neighbors, Canada should move in the direction of a reciprocity of tariffs so far as her varied interests may demand; (4.) That it is the duty of the people of Canada to force upon the attention of the Government and Parliament of the Dominion the necessity of carrying out their views, and to withhold or withdraw their confidence from any Government which may fail, from want of will or want of ability, to enforce them by legislative enactment."

The morning papers

nounced on the first day of February that Mr. Edward Blake had resigned his seat in the Cabinet and retired from Mr. Mackenzie's Government. During the previous summer, and in consequence of physical indisposition, Mr. Blake had been compelled to give up the portfolio of Justice, and take refuge in the Presidency of the Council. Here it was hoped and expected he would find that relaxation from work and anxiety necessary to restore him to his wonted health. The result, however, disappointed these hopes, and, it appears to be generally understood, confirmed the hon. gentleman's medical advisers in the opinion they had formerly expressed-namely, that his state of health demanded that he should remove himself as much as possible from every cause of excitement. This meant, of course, that he must leave the Government, if not indeed give up all idea of remaining in public life. That he did not make up his mind to the latter step, is evidenced by his subsequent acceptance of the candidature for South Bruce at the general election; but he took very little part in the proceedings of the ensuing session, and was not unfrequently absent from the House altogether a very unusual thing with him. There were not wanting those who assigned to other and totally different causes than ill-health some share, at least, in bringing about Mr. Blake's withdrawal from the