Pope that the scheme was carried to
successful completion.
During this session an act was also passed for assimilating the currency
of the island to that of the Dominion of Canada, by the introduction of
a decimal system of keeping the public accounts. The act did not disturb
the existing value of the current coins, but simply declared what their
value should be in relation to the new system.
The question of a union of the North American Provinces was not
prominently before the people of Prince Edward Island until 1864. Ten
years previously, the subject had been discussed in the parliament of
Nova Scotia by the parties of which Howe and Johnston were the leaders,
when the latter gentleman moved a resolution favorable to union. In
1857, two members of the government of Nova Scotia had an interview with
Mr. Labouchere, the colonial secretary, on the subject, when he
intimated that, in the event of concurrence on the part of all the
provinces, the home government would be prepared to consider any
measure, with a view to the consummation of union, which might be agreed
upon. Mr. Galt, in 1858, when a member of the Canadian administration,
was an advocate for the consideration of the question; and,
subsequently, a correspondence with the home government on the subject
was opened by the Canadian government. But the official action which
resulted in the consummation of union was taken in the assembly of Nova
Scotia in 1861, when the provincial secretary moved that the
lieutenant-governor of the province should be respectfully requested to
put himself in communication with the colonial secretary, the
governor-general, and the lieutenant-governors of the other North
American Provinces, in order to ascertain the policy of Her Majesty’s
government, and the sentiments of the other colonies, with a view to the
consideration of the question. This resolution was unanimously adopted
by the assembly, sent to the colonial office, and subsequently
transmitted by the Duke of Newcastle to the governor-general, and to the
lieutenant-governors of the several provinces. On the proceedings of the
assembly, his grace remarked that if a union, either partial or
complete, should hereafter be proposed, with the concurrence of all the
provinces to be united, he was sure that the matter would be weighed in
England by the public, by parliament, and by Her Majesty’s government
with no other feeling than an anxiety to discern and to promote any
course which might be most conducive to the prosperity, the strength,
and the harmony of all the British communities in North America.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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