ted, forced it out of office. It is true that in a subsequent
election this decision was reversed; but that is not a justification
for the means adopted to bring about this result. It is no
exaggeration to say that Nova Scotia was forced into the union against
the express desire of a large majority of its people. There are
arguments by which these proceedings may be defended, but they are not
arguments that lie in the mouth of a Liberal. And if we say that the
confederation, in spite of these taints in its origin, has worked well
and has solved the difficulties of Canada, we use an argument which
might justify the forcible annexation of a country by a powerful
neighbour.

Again, there was much force in Dorion's contention that the new
constitution was an illiberal constitution, increasing those powers of
the executive which were already too large. To the inordinate strength
of the executive, under the delusive name of the Crown, may be traced
many of the worst evils of Canadian politics: the abuse of the
prerogative of dissolution, the delay in holding bye-elections, the
gerrymandering of the constituencies by a parliament registering the
decree of a government. To these powers of the government the
Confederation Act added that of filling one branch of the legislature
with its own nominees. By the power of disallowance, by the equivocal
language used in regard to education, and in regard to the creation of
new provinces, pretexts were furnished for federal interference in
local affairs. But for the resolute opposition of Mowat and his
colleagues, the subordination of the provinces to the central
authority would have gone very far towards realizing Macdonald's ideal
of a legislative union; and recent events have shown that the danger
of centralization is by no means at an end.

It was a true, liberal and patriotic impulse that induced Brown to
offer his aid in breaking the dead-lock of 1864. He desired that Upper
Canada should be fairly represented in parliament, and should have
freedom to manage its local affairs. He desired that the Maritime
Provinces and the North-West should, in the course of time, be
brought in on similar terms of freedom. But by joining the coalition
he became a participant in a different course of procedure; and if we
give him a large, perhaps the largest share, of the credit for the
ultimate benefits of confederation, we cannot divest him of
responsibility for the methods by which it was brough