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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1918-6-27, Page 2A BEFORE CONFEDERATION THE BANNER 0�" TNS ��["�ISt� �l�Pll�E The Growth of the `colony Under the Union, jack Until It Ac- The Flag rThat. Flies; Over One Quarter of the }Duman Race and One -Fifth of the Surface of the World. quired the Proud Status of a "Dominion." in the British Empire, When the capitulation o io Montreal inion,. The terms on which New 1760 was confirmed there were In Brunswick and Nova Scotia, came into Canada about 40,000 French descend- the compact showed that they had ants. Later came another 40,000, realized how important the Inter- the Loyalists from the revolted Colon- colonial Railway would be. Ite sub - lee, But these were scattered se iii cent history, what Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and sayof collective versus private own- s later became Qntarro. Both ershi p, has fully justified the fore - lase +,acs, had te, work for extension sight of the easterners then. In 1850 through what was practically virgin there were only fifty miles of railway forest. How they 'did it is a tale too hi the old Province of Canada. But vast and too heroic to be fully told the Grand Trunk was commenced, and lira newspaper artjete. by Confederation there was the highly Yet what were the commercial and respectable total of three thousand other conditions in the years just pre- miles, including the fine Victoria ceding Confederation? It was re- bridge at Montreal, which for the first marked that the united Provinces time linked up the American systems flourished in all except politics. Trade with Canadian lines. had ,beginto grow with a. rapidity A5 in steam railroads, so on sea. which it hasrarely been surpassed The Cunard line of steamships was even since. inaugurated by a Nova . Scotian, Samuel Cunard, who had been a sec- cessful builder of wooden ships in the Maritime Provinces. At the sugges- tion of Hon. Joseph Howe he tendered and secured the mail contract for the. transatlantic' passage. His vessel, the Britannia, started the first steam the country, the original population mail service from Liverpool on July 4, 1840. In the same period the development of shipping on the Great Lakes took Coming of the Settlers "During the quarter of a century that elapsed between 1842 and 1867, the crucial period of national develop- ment," remarks Bourinot, "an indus- trious population flowed steadily into became more self-reliant and pursued their vocations with renewed energy, and confidence increased on all sides in the ability of the Provinces to hold place. By 1870 there was a good their own against the competition of steam river service from Nia ara to a wonderfully enterprising neighbor. Quebec, as all readers of Wi11iam Cities, towns and villages were built Dean Howells know. In fact, in up with :a rapidity not exceeded on travel the coming of Confederation synchronized with the going of the old stage coach and all it meant, Spread of Education was the the other side of the. ( American) border. In those days Ontario be- came the noble Province that she now is by virtue of the capacity of her people for self-government, the energy of her industrial classes, the fertility The Union Jack, Symbolizingg,Three Centuries of History, Combines the Crosses of St, George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick. "The flag under which the British ed." In each"arm we see the two army is fighting is not the Red En- sign of the mercantile marine, nor -yet the white ensign of the British navy, but the Union Jack, that we see "tali toned" (to borrow a word from the language of heraldry) on the upper corner nearest the •staff of the red ensign with which we. are most famil- iar, As 'befits gierhaps the most vene-- crosses lying side by side and proper- ly of equal widths. In the, opposite arae the white becomes red and the red becomes white. This is what is meant by counter -changing. When the two crosses we're thus placed side by side, the red cross of St. Patrick fell on the blue field and it became necessary to resort to another fifbria_ tion to avoid col •on color Hence or A Vital Necessity In Peace or War Tlie operations of Water -Power and l'ubile 'Utility Coen, • panes ars a vital'rieoessity to the industrial and soulel -welfare of Canada, and are rs eeseuilal in times of peeco. as in war: THE SOUTHERN CANADA POWER COMPANVy LIMITED—a Water -Power '& Public Utility Company= controls water powers capable of 100,000 11.i'. deveiopmont,. and supplies light and power to over 45 municipalities la the Eastern Townships and violuity. :a These are two of our reasons for recommending the '- 6Ja . BONDS OF THE SOUTHERN CANADA POWER COM PA NY, LIMITED, wl loh we are offering with a bonus of conrinon, stook, thus giving investors an opportunity of participating in the future success of the Company. Send for special circular, and map showing territory served. BOrri'Itq MAY' ne Plincivi.smD PROW va ON WONT138.Y PAYLIi T PLAN NESBITT, THOMSON COMPANY 5 Investment rcunksre Limited Mercantile Trust Bldg. - Hamilton 222 St. James Street - MV ntreal ` THEMAKING CANADA'S CONSTITUTION IN At the Westminster Conference, Held in London, in December, 1866, the Idea . of Union Took Shape in The British North America Act. The Charlottetown Conference met able flag among the nations of the the narrow white strip separating the on evorid a flame which has left its iia red part of each arm from' the blue ed Provinces sent delegates, but the September 1, 1864. All the invit- print on the Ameridan Stars and field. Then' over all again was plac- oldest colony in the Empire, New - Stripes and on the flags of the British ed the cross of. St. George, with its foundland, was not represented. Tak Then still more important Dominions and colonies, the Union white fimbriation. This produced the ing a later term in Canadian History emancipation which free prini�uy' edu Jack has a long and complicated his- Union Jack of to -day. It is officially superiority of her cation brought. The year 1870 is tory. Other nations' have "scrapped" described as follows: el her soil, and thesup ri a Y turning point their former emblems and set upnew climate"—a summary of conditions practically the world's . Azure: The Saltines of St, Andrew ear ago, whose in this. It was about that year that ones during the changes of" their his- and St. Patrick, quarterly per saltire, written over everyeyears g , _ Great Britain, France, Germany and tor, The Union Jack, ori the con- countercharged, ,argent and gales; zemarks in his book, "The Fathers a phaclze de in detail is only em ItaI in Europe, with several of theacethe latter fimbriated of, the second; nConfederation,": "The Charlottetown phasized to -day. United States andsome of the Re- traty, can when its• descent to those surmounted by the Cross of St. Conference was an essential part -of dim time when knights rode ' the The Maritime Industry publics of South America adopted lists; when the Cross of St. George George of the third, fimbriated as the the proceedings which culminated at compulsory stood red against a white. field, and groundbroken. "The Maritime industryof the low- free and coni ulsox education for all. glast. Quebec. The : had been er Provinces," the same genial chron- Indeed it has been claimed that Nova flew victorious among the arrows of Other British Flags The leaders in the various Provinces ioler-historian continues,."was devel- Scotia, thanks to Sir Charles Tupper, Agincourt; when the flag of Britain The Union Jack has a top and'a a ed most encouragingly, and Novae led the civilized world in this parti- met the `Bright St. Andrew's Cross" bottom. The cross of St. Andrew friendship, and favorably impressed fected by the union, and this to some extent simplified the work." The London Conference It was in London that the act was. finally' shaped. The Westminster Conference at London in December, .1866, comprised it might be said that the conference of delegates from the Cauades, New was one of "bonne entente" more than Brunswick and :Nova Scotia, drafted of detail. Mr. A. H. U. Colquhoun the British North America act from f the resolutions adopted at Quebec in October, 1864. The' British Govern- ment was now a thorough convert to the idea of the union, and Cartier was able; to, tell the people of Montreal a few months afterwards ` how loyally the delegates had been. supported. "It is a great source -1 will not say of pride -but a great source of en- couragement," he said, "to the public men who then took part'in that great scheme, that it was adopted by the English Parliament, without, I may say, 2. word of alteration." "Provincial Rights" Battle To understand clearly what has be- come known as the "Provincial' rights" fight, it is well to recall that ' one of the impelling causes of the Confedera- tive movement was the fear that "State"' right would run as it was believed it had in the United States, causing, some thought, the Civil War. In: the constitution of the United States the powers not specifically de- legated to the Federal Government at Washington are within the jurisdic- had formed ties of intimacy and: e in came in before the cross of St. Pat_ each other.. rick and takes 'precedence. Corse- It was, however, in. the Quebec quently the broader white stripe, rep- Conference that the working plan of resenting the cross ° of St. Andrew, the union was framed. The confer - should be uppermost next the staff. ence began its sessions on October 10. The red flag with- the Union Jack There were thirty-three representa- in the corner which we see flying at elves present. These are the Fathers cotia built up a .commercial marine l talar, A system was begun there not equalled by that of any New Eng- 1864. Ontario's record under Eger- land State. The total population of ton Ryerson is everywhere acknowl- the Provinces of British North edged. America, now comprised within the [ Another national factor which can Confederation of 1867, had increased not be over-estimated in the - twenty from a million and: a half In 1840 toi years before 1867 was the facilitating teaches a particular lesson namely, of Scotland in mortal combat. To Canadians and to the rest of the world, who know nothing and care less about the venerable 'precedents and stern dictates of the ancient school of heraldry, : 'the Union Jack three millions and a quarter in 1861 of trade through the b e fine banking that flags:are not the creations of the ratio of increase in those years system in Canada. By means of a l color -loving committees and fanciful having been greater than .at any facile paper currency and iasaneme- t the gave an impetus to history." trade in the middle of the last cen- b ' There had. been since the forties a flood of immigration, from Scotland artists, but that they all have' definite I previous or later period of Canadian: th od of ered i , s origins and. every detail has 'a mean- ing, if you can understand their language. tury to which nb tribute is too high. to -day. Close study of the American and Ireland in particular. The first system enabled Canadian bankers Story of Britain's! Flag Scottish settlers had sent back good then to avoid many of their errors, so Sp here is the story of the Union reports and personal influence in a clannish race - did as much then as Provincial propaganda later. In Ire_ that, combined with the stability Jack, ,containing in its carefully which Canada enjoyed as a part of modulated stripings the whole history the British Empire,: there was estale- of a united Britain. It is a story of the sterns of steamships is known as the "Red Ensign." It is the flag;ap- propriated to the use of the mercan- tile marine. The British flag, the flag used by the army, and flown on pub - of Confederation. After sitting for fourteen days they agreed on a set of seventy-two resolutions which were to be submitted to their respective Legis- latures. The first, which was pro- lic'buildings, is the Union Jack -no Posed by J. A. Macdonald:, seconded more .and no less. Still another flag• by S. L. Tilley, read: is used by the British navy. ' It i a "That the best interests and white flag with the red cross of 'St. ' the present and future prosperity George and the Union Jack occupiesAmerica will be the upper canton next the staff. ofr British Northaral union PP promoted by a Fe Thus in Flanders to -day the British underthe Crown of Great Brit - soldier, ifhe isfrom England, sin providedsuch union-canbe sees floating above him the cross of effected on principles just to the George. asthe eo c man seesthe several Provinces. cross: o n reiv as a Irishman was a momentous , gathering in the' old building in Quebec, now de- molished. The thirty-three were in deepearnest about their wor Their sessions were held ha secret. At the time a good deal of rumor ran around ��' tion of each State, The contrary land there were economic conditions Iished a confidence which soon invited heraldic terms and.details, but if you ld' old , famine of 1848 `which `nvestment of money within the Prov read it you will know how to hang after the potato , benefited the Canadian Provinces, as the Irish settlements in Montreal, St, John and Halifax attest, About the sixties the larger English influx be- gan, when artisans rather than farm- ers came in to the growing eastern cities. Perhaps it is not often enough re- cognized how closely the date of Con- federation coincided with that of the blossom -time of railways in the Dom- wasthe effect of the Canadian con- e . This has not ceased to -day, the flag from your house, and what St. S t h „ stitution. Any powers not serve cal- enc s g and it is possible that after the war is more, you will not reverse it, nor f St A d the I ' h ly given to Provinces are reserved to experience will still more be that yet hang it upsidedown as a Cignal sees the cross of that venerable saint the Dominion Government. How xp who banished e snake from:his na- tive heath. • Outgrowths of the Union. Jack The influence of the Union jack ' An Historic Gathering "trade follows the flag." of distress..h b h d th k It t th this has resulted not merely in the may "be "as a thrice' told " "ted All this yThe. first Union Jack was' adop evolution l Provincial Parka slow tale" but its recapitulation can only 606 soon. after the union of Eng - tend law to fuller consideration at this land. and Scotland under James I. h ' k other departments, and how the ap- parent `duplication of some' of this has spread;far beyond the British tune of what it was at went o e (4 Jac. 1), and the Jack is supposed making of the twentieth century to be a corruption of Jae., which was work had to go on under the`Domin- Isles. It is safe to 'say that it has as to vwhat vent on in the chamber. ion control cannot stow: be told. It Canada, with which we are all con-' the common abbreviation for Jacobus left its t every Anglo-Saxon race on g b t h f t havenee become pret- is a long story of;the gradual fitting er James. The Union Jack combined emblem. The American flag, 'after of two sots of machinery to each oth thet flf England the redty well known. The gossipy, charm- y g theRed Ensign,theing records will remain one of the end, though P cerned, u e acs 'si The First of 3u1y, This is a great anniversary day in the history of Canada, one of the most brilliant members of the British Ern- ire. - m ire.. Canada is a bulwark of free dom, and her sons have fought with magnificent courage in this great war. Their deeds of valor on the Vimy Ridge, and many another battlefield, are now a matter of history. . They have shown the might of Canada and the strength of the British Empire, When the Old Country was assailed in its defence of freedom, the great Dominions were the' first to make com- mon causii with the Old Country, and together they have shown that there is more in the might and the muster. of the British Empire than ever its enemies reckoned. This day is also a day sacred' to the commemoration of those who died untimely far from their homes in the great Dominion, the men who fell tortured by poison gas holding the line at Ypres, the men who stormed and. field the crest of Vimy Ridge, and. were lost in victory. By their deeds Canada has won an honor which glorifies and sa notifies the triumphs of peace. So the deepest note in our Dominion Day celebration is the Farmers awho fillip their wool direct to ue gat �ieftty prIoee thala ferrates who ee1l to tilt) general store, ASA' ANY PA}MEF!' who has sol , is , Wayst Inncl bo Or bt:o ria 1p. px�e9 tntiali v4,4;0 : WODay.ihe !ra t'hee . to 4 f. Ca . burs cecitfr$ f 9 �Aayd�W- c- leated tui stuteditiytWca k ealy, d. eelaeay'oe �,00ffeilei Zvii5e more fern pleased "yeaez aft rt geuree aP a severe deal freta tags V.geeeeseesealeetesseeneece thunder: of the war for freedom. The glad music of the Doxology is a hymn in honor of sacrifice.. Our joyful. thanksgiving for Canada's marvellous achievement in the use and govern- ment of -her great territory has a deeper and nobler•signifieance in the commemoration of those of her sons who have given' up their rich inherit- ance. and life itself for their loyalty, and their faith in liberty. CANADA 1867-1918 Wild trackless land, where trod the dusky' race Untutored those short\\years ago, ancien ago all is nothing but e er.' In the hon h the POCe5S is" cross of St. George'on a white field, red striped with white, the crosses of not Yet; finished it can be said there with the ancient flag of Scotland, the the Union Jacic removed `from th© most interesting parts of Canadian , literature. -: But they cannot `even be has been evolved a facile and work - white cross of St.:Andrew on a bluecantonand stars substituted on the field. The two flags were combined blue field; to represent the union of by putting the crass of St. George the States: Australia, Canada, and with a white edge, or fimbriation as New Zealand, all of them bear the the heralds call it, representing the Union Jack or part of it cantoned on white field of: the old English flag their emblems. The flags of -the this'. overthe old. Scotch flag. The rules teen American colonies, the anti- quarian' will tell you, are all of 'them outgrowths of the British emblem, containing the cross of St. George or other parts of the Union Jack. • The pictures in the U. S. grammar school history books to the contrary, the flag that. the Americans carried at the'bat- tle of Bunker Hill had on .it the cross of. St. George, with, as the heralds say, the pine tree of Massachusetts for "difference." Many is the time that British emblem, its component parts, and its descendants have clash- ed on the field of battle, but to -day the Union Jack has reached a unique stage in its history. For the first time , every Union Jack in the world has joined • in a common alliance against a common enemy. The crosses of the Union Jack have finally united against the Black Eagle, which Glad- stone might have justly called "the negation of 'God," of heraldry applicableto flags as well as to coats of arms did not permit color on color or metal on metal. The white represented silver, and in a for- mal 'description of the flag is termed "argent." ' Consequently the fimbria- tion not only preserved a portion of the 'ancient 'white field for the red cross to repose' iii, but avoided the heraldic solecism of placing a red cross on a blue field. The :first Union Stands forth. our fair Domain, to-day Jacek wise azure, a saltire argent, sur - and mounted by a cross of St. George with a place And name revered and honored far away. Thou country of broad acres, whose ideal Of Liberty and Justice days gone by Fulfilled that promise. So the dream is real To -day. And hearts are proud to do or die. The way was lengthy, and the path untrod, And bloody storms oft mark'd that growth ,of years, But witl=i that faith of Home,': and trust in God The way was clear'd, and smiles shone through the tears, u nt of uxmonme to s s So na to -day 0 pride, sweeps Broad smilingr land that . weeps *one sea to sea, Whose sons to -day are standing side by side On blood-stained fields to do or die fot thee, . . Robert Partridge. "His Dominieet 601 be also :from the one sea to the other, and from the flood Unto the *orld'a etedr'�-'atalrrz 7`x,6. fimbriated of the second (argent), The Cross of St. Patrick The union of Great Britain' and Ire: land (1801) introduced a third cross into the Union Jack -the red cross of St. Patrick, which was a saltire, like the cross of St. Andrew. These two crosses were combined, an 'arrange- ment which the heralds describedas "quarterly per saltire, countercllang- The "Dominion'' of Canada. It was only after ' much .discussion of •the question and after changing their minds more than once, that the Fathers of fiderfeder ation decided to call the union they 'formed a Do- minion. Sir John Macdonald was in favors of calling it a Kingdom, says The Mail and Empire, In some of the drafts of the bill which finally issued from the Imperial Par- liament as the British North America Act it is proyided that the Queen be authorized bo declare by pros amation that the pl'ovinces iii question "shall feral anti be one united dominion un- der the name of the Kingdom of Canada." • "Dominion" was the tent fmaily adopted, not because it was altogether satisfaetory, but because it was les3 open to misuntieeetaliding.. To soiree minds the name Kingdom might su- ,gest tl idea of sepasettion,. Bat f the name °"`Kingdom" suggested too soaring an ambition, the term "Dom- inion" seemed rather humble. In fifty-one years Canada hasmade it a term of dignity, one that the daughter Statee of Britain throughout the Em- pire have been proud to adopt. elite self-governing communities of Greater Britain are now all "Dominions." That term of dietinction differs tiatee them from the "colonies," New Zealand formally adopted the 'tame "bomin- ion."` The British Colonial , Office was reorganized some years ago and a Dominions branch was established. It was in London, England, that the Fa`bher& of, Conifederation met in 186*l —01' years ago—in a room of the Weahnineter Palace Hotel which is now In its Club ca ecity inhabit by my an Canadians of the O. . There wad -ort the Dominion o aia la, summarized here. The resolutions were the essential outcome. A great many views have been ex- pressed about the act which has come stands out. It is the high standard to be almost universally known as the of the Canadian Judiciary. To the Constitution of Canada. ''Dr. Bernard Judges; of the land has time after Flint, the Clerk ; to the Canadian time fallen the decision of - saying House of Commons, holds that the real what the Fathers of ' Confederation "constitution" of Canada can -only be aimed at,,in a loose phrase. The re said to lie in the unwritten laws •stilt, where there was so little light able scheme.' Under it Canada has grown in strength and prosperity. In all this complexity one thing which make up the British Constitu- tion. Prof. J. E. C.'Munroe, pro- fessor of law at Owens College, Man- chester, looking at the British North America Act with the impartiality which distance gives, summed up the effort, not of the Quebec Conference only, but of the subsequent confer- ences end consultations with Colonial Office officials in London, as follows: "A study of ` the Canadian constitution offers a special field for the inquirer. It is a successful ef- fort to solve the problem of uniting distinct States or Provinces under a central '' government. While the American States had to create not merely a central government, but a government which, within the lintits, laid down,,should be . supreme, the Canadian Provinces had to organize. a union, subject to a supreme Execu- tive, Legisi'ature and, Judicature, all of which already existed. The „executive supremacy of the Queen, the legislative' power of the Imperial Parliament, and .the judicial functions of the Privy Council remaiiiei anal - to guide, has been such that Canada may well be proud of the intelligence," the independence and the integrity of her lawyers, In the strictly political arena there have been odd developments, some of them far other than those anticipat- ed, but which do not seem he working to be attaining dissimilar ends than those sought. For instance, hi the United States the power of the Senate grew at the expense of the Souse of Representatives.` In Canada almost the contrary took place; the Senate dwindled in influence ` and in public estimation as the House of Commons extended. Conditions, however, are eo tactful- ly observed on the one side, and con- trol so mildly exercised on the other, that, 'instead of causing friction,, the actual limitations have become a bond of sentiment and obligation; they .. form that unuttered something which gives the apt link of love to Kipling's lines: "Daughter am I in my mother's house, But mistress in my own," WAS A MEMORABLE DAY June 14th 77 Years Ago Parliament of C.i:nada Met in Kingston 4t was da memorable be y June 1h a mora iii the history of Canada and King- ston, :for it was on this day, 1841, just 77 years aeo, that the sitting of the first Parliament of Canada was held in the small frame building• next to St. Paul's Church, Queen st., King- ston, In this buiidle ,' which is still intact and occupied, tie mein'bers of the Parliament Canada went into session to carry on the 'business of Canada, then in its infancy, The speech from the throne was delivered by his Excellency„ Lord Sydenham, Governor-General of Canada, and after this event the Gazette du Canada published its first extra in Kingston, The ediard of honor to the, Governor. General ,was furnished by the 14th Regiment.