The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1888.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 223, 21 September 1888, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1888.

~..__ —-—_».. ' " ' .■'■_ Por the; causa '..f_u,t laoks assistaaco,, -~. ;For tha -wrong thtit needs resistance,. - For the future 'in' the '.distance,''.','.'!-■■ :-,' _fl_id the e°o^ that we can do.

The chronic; discontent in Canada; with the Dominion Government, and the frequent, threats of secession, 'Ought not to be without their lessons to the advocates' of a prfeinkture confederation Of-the. Australasian colonies. /A year of two agb, Nova Scotia, dissatis-? fied with the treatment of its local grievances, chiefly in connection with the fisheries, by the Doininion Government, threatened to join the linked States, Manitoba ; has more , than bnce-vgiven, utterance to simitar threats, and now wo learn that Quebec: has in p, somewhat serious way menaced the Peminion Government, The mma. belli ifl'ihiis fcase is a .Bill, the! ipassing of., which by ,1 the ■'Dominion Parliament is made a condition of the continued loyalty of the Province. Tiie judicial system of the province of |Q usfrge ha _' al wye stooej upon a pojh &-

what exceptional footing. When the ■cession'of-French .Canada to England took place the inhabitants were guaranteed the maintenance of their laws and .customs, - and-the old French law still governs the tenure of property. When the Dominion was created the administration of the criminal law, gaols-, etc., passed over to the central Government, bat in order to provide for the recognition of the special ,-ights of Quebec and the interpretation of its laws in accordance, - with established usage, it was provided in the constitution of the Dominion that the judges for Quebec must be selected from the bar.of tnat province. We have no detailed information with regard to the provisions of the Magistrates Bill, which is the cause of the present discontent, but presume that the provincial parliament desires to obtain complete control over the- lower courts. As a State of the American Union it would enjoj this privilege. When we remember the vast area over wh.ch the Dominion Government exercises sway, the friction which has resulted from the central administration is scarcely to be wondered at. Not many years ago separation was the popular remedy in Auckland for local discontent with the rule df a 'Parliament in which we had a much larger share than is exercised by any single province in the Parliament of the Canadian Dominion. When this is true of a'country of shell small dimensions, and apparently with so few conflicting interests, what may be expected from a country like Canada, which embraces an area equal to the whole of not excluding Kussia, and which is inhabited by a very mixed population numbering four millions, many of whom still cherish the prejudices of ancestors upon whom British rule wasthrust at tbe point of the bayonet. Union is often attained most perfectly by loosening artificial bonds and permitting absolute freedom of action. If England had realised this a century or so ago, the federation of Anglo-Saxon people dominating the earth, which i 3 now only a dream, would to-day be a verity. If her statesmen would realise it now in their dealings with Ireland, the term Untied Kingdom.would no longer be a grim misnomer. It must not be inferred, however, that matters political ran smoothly in Canada before the Do. minion was set up. It was the con^ tinual irritation, produced by a want of co-operation between the several colonies, and within the colonies themselves, that generated the idea of a Dominion Government. .Arid it cannot be supposed that Quebec would be allowed to exercise own sweet will Jin a matter of such importance to the rest Of Canada and the, whole BritisH Empire as the severance of its connection, with a view to joining'another nation. The western provinces of Canada, would never tolerate the insertion Of a wedge of territory, hedged around with hostile tariffs, between [ them and ; ' the, seaboard. The feeling which is .drawing Canadians closer to their cousins on the Southern side of the _st. Lawrence is not one which should be regarded with disfavour if displayed in a legitimate way. We are of those who believe that the racial relationship between the inhabitants of Britain's present and past colonies will som<! day be recognised iti a definite union which will have a substantial influence upon the government of the world. ■»' The common law of England at this moment is the common law of tho United States, and we have a common ' her|tage- in the literature and achievemjjjnts. of the Anglo-Saxon race in all ages. The feeling existing between the two nations is the feeling of; cousins, who have quarrelled somewhat seriously but still cousins. And ait-iougt. a reconciliaiion will never,bebrotightabout by acts ,of pique like tiiat which the people of Quebec threaten, the readiness manifested, by Canadians to turn ' towards the United States as a relative with whom they could comfortably go into partnership, rather than a foreign nation possessing no sympathies in common, must, on the whole, be con-, sidered a not unfavourable sign by those who cherisb the idea of Anglo . Saxon unity and brotherhood as something more: than ah idle dream.