He Was Bound To Take That Answer As A
Correct Statement; And He Then Asked, Was It Possible That Her
Majesty's Government Could Remain Inactive When A Trade Of
10,000,000l A Year And The Issues Of Future Peace Or Disturbance
Were In The Balance?
Were the proposed notice to terminate the treaty
any matter of suddenness or by way of surprise, he might comprehend it;
but for above three years the subject had been agitated and discussed
in Congress, in Canada, and in all the Chambers of Commerce in the
North-west.
It had been notorious to everybody that one party desired
isolation from the British Provinces and another desired the operations
of the treaty to be extended. It was, therefore, a question to be
discussed in advance of the present entanglement; and, as Canada had no
treaty-making power, the responsibility rested with the Government at
home. This was a question so serious from every point of view that the
House would have to take it up as soon as the noble lord at the head of
the Government laid upon the table the notice which he had told them
would be given on the 15th March next. Then would be the time to
discuss it fully and in all its bearings. His object now was to prepare
for that discussion by obtaining all the facts. The papers laid before
the House last week did not go back far enough. It appeared that in the
autumn of 1861 the New York Chamber of Commerce memorialized Congress
for a revision of the treaty, and a committee reported upon it in
February, 1862.
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