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Uod ts oo o e en ty Perty was ours. That was not very lo'ng ayo--no onger aizo than 1857--and in 1860 ver{ able argu-- ments were set forth to show that this territory did belorg to us. If we do not go there and take possession and administer justice. and if we do not attempt io preserve the property by pro-- per force, who has a right to do it ? My hon. friend says leot it |fo to anarchy. The consequence is that law is not enforced there by anybody, and peace can only be presorved by the exercise of illegal force. If snits are decid-- ed there, it would be said that the Dominion Court had no jurisdiction, | If it is said the law of Mani-- toba prevails, the objection may be taken that the property is not theirs. Mr. MEREDITH--The hon. member does not nu-unzto pretend that criminal laws are not in | force Mr. MOWAT--Criminal law is, to a certain exient, in force; but is not civil law of as much importance as criminal law ? (Cheers). 'There is no Magistrate in all that territory by the Act as it stands now whose jurisdiction is secured. If he is A Manitoba Magistrate, his acts may be objected to on the ground that it is Ontario property. If it is Ontario's Magistrate, his authority may be objected to on the ground that the property does not belongy to Ontario. What I say is that it is absoiutely necessary that we should go and take Irm-msshm, that we should assume the duty of enforcing the laws there unless some satis-- factory provisional arrangement can be made. The hon. member refuse(r to concece that we have been exerting ourselves in every way that we could conceive to induce the Ottawa Govern-- ment to agree to provisional arrangements in order out that theremight be a system of Courts to carry civil law. Wehave been urgingy them for more than three years aml we are now in no better position than three years ago. Draft Acts and Bills have been sent down to them to facilitate the work.and they refused to make nnly provision whatever for that territory, and the alternative rests upon the Government. which has the {u't'ma Jacic title, if not the absolute title, as the hon. fientlemnn says we have,. My hon. friend says we will have civil war it we exercise our rights. He says murder will be committed. If it is, the consequences will be upon his head and upon the heads of his party, My hon. friend talks about his loyaity. Asubject whois truly loyal will not submit to wrong by encroachment. but will, like the hiberal party, insist on his ')ust. rights. My hon. friend is willing to lose halt of our Province rather than resist the illegal ncts of the Dominion, Let that be well understood by this country, that so unsafe are Provincial rights in the hands of the hon. genatleman and those as-- sociated with him, that they will submit to any-- thing ; that there is no encroachment which the Dominion authorities may choso to make but they wi'l submut to. Isay more to the hon. gentieman ----If do not beliove that civil war is going to be the. consequence. (Cheers.) Ihave a higher opinion -- of every part of the Dominion than to believe that -- its people will endorse the action of those who J would drive us into civil war, My hon. friend libels the people of the Dominion--(cheers)--not l only the ncople of Ontario, but of the whoie Dominion, when ho says they will re-- | fuse the people of Ontario their just rights. Continuiny on this ('ucsnion Mr, Mowat said that he was as much attached to the Confederation, and felt as great an interest in its success, as any body ; but if the Constitution was to be interpreted as hon. gentlemen opposite did interpret fl. and it they could only maintain Confedecration by giving up half of their Province, then Confederation must go. . (Cheers.) Confederation was well-- worth muintaining if the Constitution was faith fuily administered, and if the Dominion Govern-- ment would deal fairly and justly with them. But it their power ol passing laws within their own legitimate sphore was to be subject to the whim of a Minister or Ministers at Ottawa, and if they ecould not demand the targe amount of property to which they were entitled without foregoing the advantages of Confederation, then it was not worth maintaining. (Choers.) Was Ontario only of use as the great t« x--paying Province of the Do-- minion +--only of uso as a lever to place a particu lar party in power at Ottawa !--_onr of use to ren-- der possible the floating of {umc loans ?-- 49--« 28. , s of his friends at Ottawa. and he tells us now that . they are determined that this territory shall be theirs ; that we shall not exercise our rights there ; shall have no control ; and if we do at-- tempt to assume controi that civil war is inevitable. It is welil that Ontario should understand that. (Cheers.) It is well that the true position of the matter should be known, and i+ has been de clared in an authoritativeo manner b{ my hon, friend. At the present moment there is not civil law in the whole of that territory aof 100,000 square miles. There is no set of recogized laws, no set of recognized courts or offices in that vast | country. How is justice to be administered there ? | How are peace and order to be maintained, and ' how is settiement to be brought about? The Do--| minion Government has not a shadow of claim to that property, My hon. friend here, anxilous to do his best for them, and to put forward the strongest claim, tells us that the territory is ours. (Loud cheors.) He is an'industrious lawyer, an _ this is one of the most important matters that b ; cver occupied his attention. He has studi the matter, looked at the evidence, ard tells us that our claim is a just one, (Cheers) that we are not pursuing an uniust claim. But we have a case that the leader of the Opposition says is a good case and yet civil war is 10 be the conscoquence if we endeavour to exepeise the rights we possess, or exclude trespassers. If we har@ no right to this territory, amd have not a prima facte claim, there is nobody that has such a claim, 'This territory having been awarded to as, we have certain dutics to perform, and my only apprehemsion is that the people of the Province may complain, thas we have not done enough in the way of taking possession. by not placing sufti-- cient loree to carry out our laws. Let it be re-- moimbered #hat not only have the Opposition de-- clared that the title is ours, but the title we claim is that which the old Province of Canada always claimed. 'The authoritiee of this country up to 1870 al ways claimed this as theirs. It was upon that ground that xhe{got fora very small sum the release of the claim of the Hudson Bay Company. We have | had the matter submitted to avbitrators of such ability, impartiality, and competency, that the have been complimented on all sides and by a{l parties,. What can be said against all that t Nothing whatever. (Cheers.) sir Johr Macdon-- ald has over and pver again declared that the pro-- Mr. MeMahon--On Monday next--Bill to umend the Act respecting the rights and liabilities of inn-- keepers, Mactiatiey h ic a 3e Mb ioib ic n oA i indA 4 p(\BM'\l an Act in advance of the a ward, would have un doubtedly involved the Government in the great-- est difficulties, diflicultiecs which had no applica-- tion whatever to the present -- Government. (Cheers.) 4 It being six; o"(-a'.()(;k'. Mr, MOWAT moved the ad-- , It being six o'clock, Mr. MOW AT n jJournment of the debate. The House adjourned at six o'ciock,. be remembered that it weis not 100,000 square miles that Ontario claiimed. but a million square miles. The Province of Manitoha was afterwards estab-- lished, and that Legislature made no objection, though they did not feelatliberty to withdraw any part of their claim previously set up. If Mr. Mac-- kenzie had proposed to pass an Act confirming _ the result of the arbitration which, if -- favourable to Ontario, might zive this Province a million square miles of land ft would have been binding. _ But the friends of the hon. gentleman complained of a difficulty when the amount was only 109,000 miles. 'The hon.. member for London (Mr. Mcredith) said that the reason for the Government at Otta wa withhoiding its sanction to the award was the jealousy of the other Provinces. But if they found that objection insnpeiable what would have been their objection before the award was made, und when an Act must have committed the Parliament to the sanc-- toning of Ontario's full claim for one million square miles? Therefors that unusual procedure of ratifying the award prior to its declaration would lhmve involved the Mackenzie Governmoent in ten times the difficulty which the present Gov-- ernment scemed to have found insuperable. (Choers.) 'Then to increase the difMlculty, in 1872 two of the Ministers of the duy had pronounced upon the subject, one, Mr. Mills. having investi-- gated the mautter before ho became a Minister, xmdAto h'ch'xlmked nu';sv'Minismrs to have passed . n ww ant wow wl 02 ue e & Ed _Mr., MOWAT said there had been some conver-- sation atout it, and no doubt there were reasons given for not passing a Bill at that time. It was to Mr. MEREDITH----Did not the hon. gentleman ask the Dominion Government to pass a confirm-- KLOTY Act EP _: ... ... sc L. Pak® mbP 7 us t m d tlatP tw P PA As Ab Auts sA »4B cce 4c cicaia say that a great Txesnon of this kind, involving 100,000 square miles of territory, should depend upon the willingness of one of the pariies to ac-- cept or reject it at pleasure, It was an insult to the arbitrators, (Applause.) He <new of no in-- stance where two Governments entéred into an arbitration that both did not fecl in duty bound to accept the award reached in accord-- ance with _ the _ reference. The _ course of the present Dominion Government, in refusing to accept the award was an uan'eccdem- ed one, while on the other hand if Mr. Mackenzie had ratified the award in advance, as the hon. renuemen said he should have done. he would iave been taking an unusual course. lle would have been glad if he had. Konteman had said that Mr. Mackenzie was to blame for not passing an Act confirming the «ward prior to its conclusion. He had also said that the award, when made, was subject to the sanction of Parliament. Mr, MEREDITH--Your statute says so. Mr, MOW AT thouzht that his hon. friend was reduced to hard straits when he took such ground as that, Governments did not pass Acts to con:-- firm awards yet to be made. But they ajways did immediately after the award was rcached. In i)oinr, of form it was submitted for the sanction of 'arliament, but good faith and all precedent re-- quired that awards shall be sanctioned by Parlia-- ment. (HMear, hear.) No one would for a moment and of use only to enable contracts to be mado _ by | which -- millions of -- money _ were thrown into the sea ? He always favoured Con-- federation, _ami _ favoured it _ now, believing that the ('(':mlution was a good one if faithfully adiminister®d, thouzh a bad one if not. The hon. gontleman had said that Mr. Mackenzie was to NOTICES OF MOTION 4