"'Mr. MORRILL: That will have to be postponed until you, gentlemen,
assume your seats here.'
"Mr. Derby coolly discusses the question as to whether concession or
coercion will best succeed in inducing the British Provinces to 'come
over,' and his recipe for all outstanding grievances is the following.
He says, in his report of January 1st, 1866: -
"'And if as an inducement for this treaty and in settlement of Alabama
claims we can obtain a cession of Vancouver's Island, or other
territory, it will be a consummation most devoutly to be wished for.'
"Would our Government 'devoutly wish' such a consummation?
"Mr. O. S. Wood had to resign his position as manager of the Montreal
Telegraph Company: that was done by public opinion in Canada. But Mr.
Potter, who attends a meeting to enforce the annexation of a part of
the Queen's dominions, by the consent of the Washington Government, is
still Consul at Montreal.
"But what are these dominions which Mr. Potter would annex? Read what
Mr. Ward's Report of 1862 says: -
"'The great and practical value of the British North American Provinces
and possessions is seldom appreciated. Stretching from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Oceans, they contain an area of at least 3,478,380 square
miles - more than is owned by the United States, and not much less than
the whole of Europe, with its family of nations!
