avoid the dangers of
State sovereignty is continually cropping up in the literature of
confederation. Friends and opponents of the new constitution made
much of these mysterious residuary powers, and the Lower Canadian
Liberals feared that they were being drawn into a union that would
destroy the liberties and imperil the cherished institutions of the
French-Canadian people.

Another point is the extraordinary amount of time and labour given to
the constitution of the senate. "The conference proceedings," wrote
Mr. Brown, "get along very well, considering we were very near broken
up on the question of the distribution of members in the Upper Chamber
of the federal legislature, but fortunately, we have this morning got
the matter amicably compromised, after a loss of three days in
discussing it." During the latter years of the union, the elective
system had prevailed in Canada, and Mowat, Macdougall and others
favoured continuing this practice, but were overruled. Brown joined
Macdonald in supporting the nominative system. His reasons were given
in his speech in the legislature in 1865. He believed that two
elective chambers were incompatible with the British parliamentary
system. The Upper Chamber, if elected, might claim equal power with
the Lower, including power over money bills. It might amend money
bills, might reject all legislation, and stop the machinery of
government. With a Conservative majority in one House, and a Reform
majority in the other, a dead-lock might occur. To the objection that
the change from the elective to the nominative system involved a
diminution of the power of the people, Mr. Brown answered that the
government of the day would be responsible for each appointment. It
must be admitted that this responsibility is of little practical
value, and that Mr. Brown fully shared in the delusions of his time as
to the manner in which the senate would be constituted, and the part
it would play in the government of the country.

A rupture was threatened also on the question of finance. A large
number of local works which in Upper Canada were paid for by local
municipal taxation, were in the Maritime Provinces provided out of the
provincial revenues. The adjustment was a difficult matter, and
finally it was found necessary for the financial representatives of
the different provinces to withdraw, for the purpose of constructing a
scheme.

On October 28th the conference was concluded, and its resoluti