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nun-253v: and A y of 1.‘ 01.... Liberal poi 9 now opened to call and in- seWhere. OWER. nt Insurance. Singer Sewing Machine upplies kept on hand. Ucucr Ltién, an accrdent. res of Toronto, extensive 1311? f Latest Fash- 'eflings, Feath- 'hen TO PAY. 0111' .lly filled, guaran- Sta, Lindsay. §E£.'i rriving daily, at 3118111688 »pe to be of your the House. mast and CHEAP 0 every County SON. Efigg TY and m, ndas Flavelle ros. Volume III. Number 7. Great Discounts. FLAVELLE mg mg BROS. LINDSAY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, I890. 0:1 Dual Language in N. W. T. , From the Hansard. Mr. BARRON. When, before recess, I had'the pleasure of hearing my hon. friend the member for Nortbumberland (Mr. Mitchell) rise in his seat and say that he, an old parliamentarian, an old mem- ber of this House, rose to speak on this serious and important question with a - good deal of diflidence, I confess to hav- inc then e tperienced some feeling of re- gret that I, a yount1 member had made up my mind to speak on this burn n: ques- tion; but- I hope the hon. members of this House will see that, in rising to speak, notwithstanding my youth, I do so solely under a keen sense of duty to my .consti- tuents, who expect me in this matter to give my decided views one way or the other. I do not think any hon. member of this House feels more conscious than I of the great necessity we are under to say nothing to night, or hereafter during this debate. which may in any way continue the ill-feeling that. perhaps, has been e11- gendered duringfihe dehate. 1 am con- scious of this necessity. not only out of respect for the high official position Which you, Sir, so worthily occupy, not only out of respect for our own individual selves, and not only out of respect for the French members from the Province of Quebec, representinga great and free electorate, but because Sir I know full well that a harsh or hasty word spoken to-night, how- ever, true its text may be, is more calcu~ lated to repel th an to induce a. calm and dispassionate judgment; and so I hope, when I shall have resumed my seat, that I shall be able, on l1111lii11gj111ck over what I have said, to eonclude that I have spoken calmly and diSpassionately, although 11l- ready words have been Spoken which have grated somewhat harshly on the ears of hon. gentlemen who may think as I do and who may vote as I intend to vote on this important question. But if I do give offence to any creed or to any perSon, I hope hon. gentlemen will see it is because I am now in the years of enthusiasm, he- causo i believe in the assertion of free thought and free speech, k11<11ving,iasI do. that in past history those two elements have led to the higlmst kind of legislation â€"â€"â€"le-_5isl.-1tion tending to peace on earth and froodwil l tow 1rds men. I 111 11 c said th- at words l1a1e been spoken durino this de- bate which fell unpleas 111tly on the cars of hon. g1 11tlen1en in this House. Need I say to whose language I refer? N eed I say that 'the hon the Minister of Public Vi orks, more than any hon. gentleman in this House, 1113, during this debite. 111: 1 le use 1f language c1lcul: ited to do solious barn} throughoutthecounu‘x at. large. 1 say, Sir, that this language was most fan- atical, most111tl11111111atory, and not justified at all by that of the hon. member for North Simcoe (\Ir McCarthy);but, assum- ing for a moment, which I do not now admit, that the hon. member for North Simcoe did say 11 h: it, perhaps 111 his calme1 judgment, he would not have said, two wrongs do not make a riuht; and there fore, the 11011. the Minister of Public , Works ought not to have used the langu- 1 age he did, and, coming from a gentloman ‘ in his exalted position, it was most danger~ ous to the peace and welfare of the Com- munity at large. Bad enough would that language have been had it come from an ordinary member; had enough would it have been had 1t come from a member of the Government, sitting behind the hon. gentleman but, infinitely 111iscl1ie111ns was it C1 ming from the Minister of Public Works, who 13 second 1n command to the right hon. gentleman who leads the House. The hon. the Minister of Public Works spoke of the loyalty of the French Cana- dians. I admit, and I rejoice in the fact, that there are no more loyal men in the community than the French Canadians, but I do not propose to admit, as worthy of our admirationâ€"if I may be allowed to speak for a moment in their behalfâ€"â€" the example set us by the hon, the Mlnisâ€" ter of Public Works in the gentleman tc whom he referred, for British Canadians cannot see much loyalty to admire or re- spect in a gentleman who one moment re- joiced 1n the tricolor of France, and the next ga1e three cheeis for tlie British Crown. The loyalty I admire is that 11f such a man as Montcalm, who fought to the bitter end. The loyalty I admire is that of the French Canadians, who when tempted by the Americans, refused to yield to temptation and remained loyal to the British Crown. Then, I cannot-but recall the remarks made by the hon. mem- ber for East Grey (Mr. Sproule) when he undertook to criticise the remark of the hon. memborfor West Durham (Mr. Blake). He devoted half an hour to abuse and vituperation against the hon. member for West Durham -â€"against the very gentle- m 111 whom the right hon. the First Minis- ter asked to come to his assistance in this serious and important matter. What must have been the feelings of the hon. mem- ber for East Grey when, after abusinc . that hon. gentleman, he heard a day or ] two later, his leader ask him to come to 1 his assistance, in order to bridge over this difficulty ? When I heard the hon. mem- 1 ber forF ast Grey presuming to criticise 1 the course of the hon. member for West 1 Durham, and contrasted his hearing with 1 that of the hon. member for East Grey, I 1 could not help thinking of the cartoon in 5 c c t a which a singed cat was depicted as hissing and spitting at a great Bengal tiger. But much as I respect and admire the hon. member for West Durham, exalted as is his ability, I regret to have to say that, In some particulars, I cannot follow him in the speech he addressed to this House a few nights ago. It is not my fault but my _ Iflfi". misfqrtune, and no one regrets it. more MR. BARRON’S SPEECH “It is not unusual to find that the enact- ing parts is not exactly co-exbensive with the preamble. In many Acts of Parlia- ment, although a particular mischief is re- vitcd, the legislative provisions extend l'c- )‘ondiz. The preamble is often no more “But the preamble cannot either restrict or extend the enacting part when the language of the latter is plain, and not open to doubt either as to its meaning.r or its scope." 1 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). Hear, hear. Mr. BARRON. The hon. member for Bothwell interrupts me by saying “ hear, hear”-â€"~meaning, I suppose, that the l unguâ€" age of the enacting clause is not plain. The hon. gentleman can read English and so can I, and neither he nor anytme else can contend that the enacting clause of this Bill is not so plain that any child can understand it. What is the Bill? Simply that the 110th section of the N orth~West Territories Act shall be repealed, so there can be no ambiguity about the enacting clause, and therefore the preamble is a matter of no possible moment. The authority I have quoted goes on to say: Those are the Words spoiten a short year ago by the hon. the Minister of the Jus- tice, when it appeared to be his purpose to minimise the importance of a preamble to an Act. But it will be in the recollec~ tion of hon. members that, on that occa- sion the preamble was made by a special enacting clause, part and parcel of the Act itself; and, therefore, it was that some hon. gentlemen Opposed, as I did, the Act because the preamble which was made a part of it was most oflensive. What law- yer in this House will assume that the preamble is of any importance so long as the Act itself is clear and beyond doubt? First, however, let me draw attention to the fact that the member for North Simcoe (Mr. McCarthy), having heard the objec- tions made to the preamble, said at once in effect, I do not- consider it offensive, but if any hon. gentleman does so, I will con- . sent to have it struck out in committee. The Minister cf Justice, the other night, did not take a particle of notice of the concession or offer made by the hon. memâ€" ber for North Simcoe. It appeared to me that he refused to take notice of that offer or to comment upon it. It appeared to me that he was anxious that this apparent- ly offensive preamble should continue in the Bill, so that he might have some argu- ment and grievance on which to build an argument in this House. I say that there was nothing in the preamble to this Act. I mean by that, that no matter how ofieti- l sive it might beâ€"and I am not going to argue that just nowâ€"this House has no right to consider the preamble So long as the enacting clause is beyond any doubt, and I think there are very few lawyers in this House who will deny the truth of that proposition. I will not venture young as I am, to address a legal argument to this House coming from myself, and I prefer to read’authorities proving my contentions. I shall read from Maxwell on Statutes, an authority which, I think, will be ac- knowledged as sufficient. On page 56, Maxwell says: “Now let me again, before I leave the subject of the Act, call the attention of the House to the fact that all the argument which has been made with regard to the necessity for disallowance is based on ob- jections to the preamble of the Act. In the history of disallowancc in this country in the history of the disallowance of our own statu tes in the mother countryâ€"and we know that scores of them were disallow~ edâ€"the records will be searched in vain to find one which was disallowed because the preamble was not agreeable to anybody. I do not pretend to dispute the statement of my hon. friend from Muskoka (Mr. O’Brien) that the preamble is apart of the Act. So is the title a part of the Act, and so are the head~notes of sections; but has anyone ever heard of a Government being: asked to disallow an Act because they did not like the wording of the title or of the head-notes. The preamble is understood to be a part of the Act for the purpose at interpreting the Act, but there is nothing in this Act for which interpretation is needed, and I distinguish in referring to this, the most trivial andtechnical objec- tion which could be taken to a statute. be- tween those parts of the preamble which assert that certaincorrespondencu has pass- ed, such as this between the Premier and the Cardinal at Home, and thOse pream- bles which recite certain agreements which the statute validates." Then further on he says: “I assert, without fear of contradiction ameng people who will consider this mat- ter in acalm and businesslike way, that that part of the preamble which is the only part revelant to the purposes of the Act itself, is utterly harmless, entirely busineSslike. free from the sliehest suspi- cion of derogat-ing from any right of Her Majesty, and from the slightest suspicion c9 of infringement of the constitution. 4. than I, that the constituency which I have the honor to represent did not send a gen- tleman of greater ability and of more as- tute mind to follow the hon. member for West Durham in the vote he proposes to give, and in the language he addressed to this House. But I shall refer to his re- marks a few minutes later, when I come to that ortiou of my speech. For the present? wish to refer to the remarks addressed to this Ho'use last night by the hon. the Minister of Justice. It is with pride and pleasure that I see that hon. gentleman rise to address this House. It is with delight that I look forward to a literary treat when I see he intends to speak, and it was with pleasure that I saw him rise to move, as he did more, the amendment W hich is now beforethe House. But I confess to a feeling of great dis- appointment when he sat down; I confess that my idol was struck to the ground, because we found that the Minister of Jus- tice had actually swallowed himselt'; that he, who had within one year smce declar- ed that the preamble to an Act was of no moment, now declared that it was of the greatest possible importance. In tlie (le- bate on the Jesuits’ Estates Act, he said: Mr. Houghton Lennox, of Beeton, has been elected by the Conservativm of Card- woll to carry the <‘ml-wd L1 the pr vi.“ a. .l clwzivn. We will gixje the remainder of Mr. Bar- ron's speech 1n our next lssue. “That at the same time this House deems it expedient and proper and not imonsis- tent with the covenants, that the Leg isla- tive Assembly of the horth- West Te rritor- ies should receive from the Parliament of Canada power to regulate after the gener- a1 election of the Assembly the proceed- ings of the Assembl and the manner of recording and pub ishing such proceed- ings. I here declare that if the member for North Simcee attempted in any way to interfere with the rights of our fellow countrymen in the Province of Quebec so far as the use of the French language 18 concerned, I would resist that attempt to the utmost. But we. have heard it hexe declared by the member for North Simcoe time and again. both in his speech in in- troducing this Bill and in his speech the other night, that that was not his inten- tion, and therefore, it- Seems to me that. “e may agree with these premises. The amendment of the Minister of J ustxce then goes on : on the conti‘ary, tliis House declarrs its adheszon to the sam covenants and its de- termination to resist any attempt to impair the same." “That this House, having: regard for the long continued use of the French language in old Canada and to the covenants of that subject embodied in the British North America Act, cannot agree to t..e declara- tions contained in the said Bill as a basis thereof, namely, that it is expedient in the interest of the national unity of the Do- minion that there should be unity of lan- guage amongst thepeonla of Canada. That Now, it seems to me that the hon mem- ber far North Simcoe has never disputed Shese premises. So far as I am concerned “That all the words after ‘Resolved' be expunged, and the following substituted: “’est; it says in effect that we shall not do to-ddy what we shall do m-morrow; therefore I say that when the Minister of Justice brings in his amendment propos- ing to do this a. few days months or years henceâ€"perhaps not by this House, but to give others the pOWer to do itâ€"why, Sir, he practically gives a“ ay the case to the member from North Simcoe. What is that amendment? 1832. The preamble to the Act recited that it was directed against secxet or oath- bound societies, and the argument was made that by reason of that statute, ‘29 George III, and by reason of that pre- amble the orange society was illegal. But it was found that the enacting clause did not go to the extent of the preamble, and the opinion was given by such men as Sergeant Lewis, Sir Wm. Howe, Sir Rob- lert Gifford. Mr. Gurney, Mr. Gasalee. and ' ‘ _ nen. some of whomwften j wards adorned the bench, and reached high positions in the service of tl;eircoun- try; ail of them gave the opinion that by reason of the enacting clause not going to the extent of the preamble, therefore the society itself was not illegal. N ow, the hon. Minister of Justice proposes an amendment, and 1 must say that it struck me that that amendment was as inconsis- tent and as incongruous as the fax-famed autumn leaves of Vallambrosa: but after all, what does it amount to? It admits the principle of the hon. member for North Simcoe as advanced by his Bill; it admits that the time may come when dual language nust be abolished in the North- Great as my respect is for the hon. mem- ber for Bothwell (Mr. Mills), greatas is my admiration for the hon. member for West Durham (Mr. Blake), much as I re- Spect and admire the hon. the Minister of Justice, I prefer to take the viexx‘s of Max~ well as to the meaning of the preamble to an Act. Let me give the House an'in- stance where the preamble tn an Act proved entirely inefficaciuus. There was a stntutc under which the question was raised as to the legality of the Orange As- swcintinn in England, in nr about the year I\-\ “Where the preamble is found more .ex- tensive than the enacting part, it is equal- ly inefla’cacious to control the effect of the latter, when otherwise free from doubt." Then on page 64, this work proceeds: “It has been sometimes said that the preamble may extend but cannot restrain the enacting part of a statute. But it would seem difficult to support this pro- position. * * * In a word. then, it is to be taken as a fundamental principle, standing as it were. at the threshold of the whole subject of interpretation, that the inten- tion of the legislature is invariably to be accepted and carried into effect, whatever may be the Opinion of the judicial inter- preter of its Wisdom or justice. If the language admit-s of no doubt or secondary meaning, it is simply to be obeyed, with- out more ado. If it admits of more than one construction, the true meaning is to be sought,- not on the wide sea of surmise and speculation, but ‘from such conjectures as are drawn from the words alone or some- thing contained in them:‘ that is, from the context viewed by such light as its history may throw upon it, and construed with the help of certain general principles. and under the influence of certain presump- tions as to what the Legislature does or does not generally intend." But it may be said that in this case the preamble is more extensive than the en- acting clause, and. if I Stup there, it would be said that I had not answered the question as to the importance of the pre- amble. But on page 62, I find: than the recital of some of the inconven- iences, and does not exclude an others for which a remedy is given by t- e statute. The evil recited is but the motive for legis- lation; the remedy may both consistently and Wisely be extended beyond the cure of that evil; and if on a review of the who} Act a wider intention than that expresseu. in the preamble appears to be the real one, efiect is to be given to it, notwithstanding thebl less extensive import of the pre- am e.” Cents per Year in Advance.