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equitable administration of their affairs are among the subjects to which the Government has given its attention, and the House will be happy to learn that, following on the steps that have been adopted among the Indians themselves to discover their sentiments, a measure will be brought be fore it for the purpose of defining and regulating the civil and political rights of the red race. It is a work of Christian charity and philanthropy which, if it had been accomplished in time in other countries, would have prevented terrible wars and unheard of cruelties. The Government, up to this time, has looked at the question in a proper light, and its policy of conciliation and patience towards our brethren of the woods has been such as to attract them to us and render comparatively easy the definition of their rights and privileges.-We must expect a diminution of our revThe commercial prostration which has affected all Governments cannot but affect us too. But I am happy to see that by a wise reduction in the expenses of the several departments of the public service which the whole country will applaud-the Government hopes to re-establish the equilibrium of our finances. Anyhow, we shall not be long before we are able to render an account of the exact state of things; and it is probable that in a few days the Hon. Minister of Finance and the hon. member for Cumberland will have thrown across the Chamber a sufficient quantity of figures, that members of this House who, like myself, are not financiers, may not find themselves astray more than three millions.—The Province of Manitoba has attracted the attention of the Government in respect to its financial position. Whatever the nature of its wants and demands may be, we should, in any case, felicitate it on the manner, eminently practical, in which it has been able, before presenting its case to us, to reduce its ordinary expenses by the suppression of a part of its administrative machinery. The abolition of its Legislative Council is,under the circumstances actually existing, an act of the highest prudence and, at the same time, of the purest abnegation. To save one of its diseased arms it

has courageously amputated the other, and this lattor has lent itself to the operation in the most gracious manner possible. Here is a good commencement, and one which permits us to take a favorable view of the case of Manitoba. I know a certain large Provinco where a similar amputation would be at the present moment impossible. It would prefer to lose the Federal subsidy rather than sacrifice the right arm of the local constitution, the immortal Legislative Council, the deliberations of which are the delight of thẻ ancient capital. So let us speak of it no longer, that impotent arm will remain bandaged yet a long while, and will not be cut off if that depends on itself.-The House eagerly awaits the correspondence, reports and other documents relative to the construction of the Pacific Railway which are promised it. The Speech from the Throne does not announce to us any change in the policy of the Government in reference to this enterprise. I am glad, for my part, and I would say to the Government: continue to follow the tactics of Fabius, and take the council of the wise Festinan Lente! The other subjects which are mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, and which I have not touched, as I must keep myself within due limits, are of great importance, and tne measures in connection with them will doubtless be pressed forward with all the diligence that the want of complete legislation in their regard warrants. In concluding, His Excellency hopes that wisdom and moderation will preside over our deliberations. Mr. Speaker, we will not disappoint that expectation. There are in this Chamber many conflicting principles, and, unfortunately, yet more prejudice in full ebullition. It cannot be otherwise in a House issuing from the popular will of seven distinct Provinces, which but a short while since had no common tie, and little or no points of resemblance with each other. But we have nothing to fear in the matter of excess of language, dangerous recriminations or appeals to passion in a Chamber such as ours, which has already shewn in the past so much moderation in its acts, and so much wisdom in the settlement of questions the most difficult. I thank

you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the House for the kind attention it has given me.

Mr. SPEAKER--Having read the motion, asked whether it was the pleasure of the House to adopt the Address en bloc, or to have it read paragraph by paragraph.

Hon. Members-Dispense! dispense! Mr. SPEAKER-Having read the first paragraph, asked if it was the pleasure of the House to adopt it.

Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD-Mr. Speaker, my hon. friends, the mover and seconder of the Address, cannot claim exemption from criticism, for although they are young members they are not new members. We have the right to exercise stern criticism in our remarks to-day, and in the character of an appreciative but stern critic allow me to offer to both my felicitations on the happy and eloquent manner in which they have done their duty. As to the speech itself, to which they have moved a response, I can say that it is a most harmless and innocent printed document. I hope that there is no torpedo under it which will create an explosion before the Session is over. However, it looks so amiable on its face, that I certainly do not propose, nor do I suppose, that any of my friends on this side of the House will offer an amendment to it; and so the millenium of which my honorable friend has spoken, has happened already. This Address will, I hope, receive the unanimous assent of this House. In the first paragraph a very proper allusion has been made His Excellency's late visit to the United Kingdom, and I cordially agree with everything that has been said by these two gentlemen and in respecting this paragraph, and in laudation of the illustrious individual who represents Her Majesty so well and so gracefully in this country. We can say here what they have said, and we can supply what he could not say in his speech, that his efforts in the way of explaining the position of Canada to the people of England, and in calling the attention of the people of England to the feeling prominent in Canada, was done with the view of benefitting this country, and with the

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usual happy eloquence and excellent tact which have always distinguished His Excellency. My hon. friend the leader of the Government, after a review of his speeches in West Ontario on a former occasion, said that he would not want a better emigration agent than His Excellency the Governor General. useful duty he performed in a more That agreeable and marked manner while in England, and I have no doubt that his speeches and remarks, and the influence which those remarks will carry with them, from his high position and from the able and eloquent manner in which they have been presented to the English public, will go far to counteract the effects of the utterances of the official AgentGeneral. The next paragraph is one which we cannot afford to smile uponthat is, the stagnation which exists in this country. We must all deplore that this stagnation exists. It may be our duty to enquire whether it is created altogether by sympathy with the depression existing elsewhere, or whether there have not been causes, or there are not now causes, which will continue that depression unless by alministrative or legislative action it is removed. I have no doubt

it will be our duty to address ourselves calmly, seriously and zealously to the consideration of that subject. The completion of the Intercolonial Railway is a matter for congratulation in this House, and in this country. I believe when that road is in full operation we will have one of the best railways, if not the very best, on this continent, and, considering the excellence of the road and the high class of the work we have in that line, it will be one of the cheapest in America. I will not now, as we are resolved to have no dissension on this millenial sion, enter into the question as to location. I have always contended, whether as a military work or as a railway which will have the effect of developing one of the great industries of the Maritime Provinces, the fishing interest, or as a road which will have the effect of encouraging and developing a great section of the Maritime Provinces, which without this Intercolonial Railway would continue comparatively in a state of stagnation,

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view of the legislation, I imagine the measures to be proposed are of considerable importance. The financial clause is not as couleur de rose as the beginning of the speech. We are told that the stagnation in trade has seriously affected the revenue, but we have the consolation of knowing it is only temporary, and that by due attention to economy the depression will be speedily removed. Whether the economies which are announced in this clause will affect the efficiency of the service or not, depends, of course, on the details, and we can only judge of that when we see them. I notice by the paragraph that it is proposed to curtail the expenditure in all branches of the Government. If so, there will be a most serious and extensive bill of economy. When we have

these details we will be better able to judge the extent to which the economies are to be carried. I would deeply regret if this depression should induce the Government to impede or seriously obstruct or postpone the development of the country, as they believe that the depression is only temporary. We have already experienced some of the measures of economy. I presume that the abolition of the office of AgentGeneral is one of them. It is an economy which has been loudly called for in the country and has been at last completed. The Government deserve the credit of having stopped the leak, but at the same time they must remember they are chargeable with having made the auger-hole. At the time the Agent-General was appointed I think, from this side of the House, there were sundry warnings of what the result would be. In my place, standing where I do now, I predicted the disappearance of the Agent-General before long. He has gone, but I am not at all sure he has disappeared from motives of economy. We have it almost directly from him (because we see it in a Dundee newspaper with which he is connected) that it was the result of a diabolical plot of the Ultramontanes of Canada that these Ultramontanes-who hate the introduction of Englishmen, Irishmen and Scotchmen if they are Protestants (and I am not sure

whether he says they would not object to them even if they were Catho lics)-were resolved to have the Agent-General turned out of office, and although his hon. friend and my hon. friend the Premier stood by him as long as he could—and we all know how long he will stand by his friends when they are in the wronghe was obliged by the Ultramontanes to sacrifice one friend and abolish the Agent-General of Canada. So while we must thank the Administration for this economy, we cannot at all applaud the motives to which their late employé attributes his removal. Another economy, I have no doubt, will be carried out, and if so, it will be in accordance with the suggestion of this side of the House. When the Bill for the inaugu ration of the North-West Government was proposed last Session, I said until there is a larger body of people to be ruled, the constitutional Governor of Manitoba might still be entrusted with the management of the NorthWest. As the constitutional Governor of Manitoba he has little to do, and he might very well have given his spare time-and he had plenty of it on his hands, and, as I understand, did not grumble at the labor-to the administration of the affairs of the North-West Territories. But my hon. friend the Premier, in his usual incisive way, said it was absolutely necessary that the Government should be established without delay, and stationed far away from Winnipeg and its influences. I was not convinced, but I was silenced, and the Bill passed; but we do not see that the Government has been established after all. I flatter myself in the calm consideration of the subject which my hon. friend gave it after the prorogation, and in his own chamber, that he began to feel there was no such imminent necessity as he at first thought for the immediate appointment of a second Governor. At all events no appointment has yet been made, and as we have no complaint from the North-West, and have saved a considerable amount from the delay, I presume the hon. gentleman will make the saving a permanent one by continuing the masterly inactivity which he has shown hitherto with respect to this Govern