77 law courts prior to 1834 failed to support the legal demands of the slave owners for the protection of their property; consequently, the value of slaves depreciated. Upon the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 the question of the negroes assumed a new significance both from an economic and moral standpoint, for henceforth British America was the sole haven of the refugees. Although the negroes were to be found in all the provinces, their number remained relatively insignificant except in the southwestern portion of Canada West. To this section many of them crossed the border from the frontier towns of Niagara and Detroit, and lived together in settlements. Here too the people of Canada West came into an intimate personal contact with the negro that was not found elsewhere throughout the British provinces.

CHAPTER III

PUBLIC OPINION IN CANADA WEST

Power of the Press - Liberal Press - Conservative Press - Opposed Coercion-Press of the Northern States-Transformation in Canadian Feeling Anderson Case - Inaugural Address Mason and Slidell Preparation for War-Canadian Militia Bill-Conscription in United States-The Proclamation of Emancipation-The Alabama-Chesapeake -Peterhoff-St. Albans Raid-Party Division-Canadian Loyalty.

The press of a country at one time guides and directs public opinion, at another merely acts as the reflector and register. It is not indeed by the study of a single newspaper, however influential that newspaper may be, that public opinion can be accurately gauged, for no newspaper is the spokesman of the entire people, but often the organ of a certain organization, usually a political organization within the country. Since this simple fact, self-evident to all thoughtful people, has been frequently overlooked, the rash and unconsidered statements, the work of politicians, and not of statesmen, have threatened grave international complications. One paper has spoken-the entire people are held responsible. This is exactly what happened in the days of the sixties. Once again, the Canadian press recognized that the relationship between the British North American Provinces and the United States, which since the War of 1812, with the possible exception of the years from 1837 to 1842, had been a matter of minor significance, had become of vital significance, for was not the peace of the English-speaking world again threatened? In the event of war between the United States and Great Britain, Canada must

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necessarily have been the battlefield. Hence to Canada, as the chief sufferer in the event of war, even more than to the neighboring Republic, the preservation of amicable relations was a matter of supreme importance.

What then was the attitude of the press of Canada West? Did its newspapers consistently follow lines of political partisanship? These are a few of the questions which naturally arise in the mind. Was any one newspaper consistently the friend of the North, was any one paper consistently the friend of the South? Must the newspaper friendly to the North be anti-slavery, must that friendly to the South be pro-slavery? The American Civil War, of course, was not in its initial stage a war for the liberation of the slave, but a war for the preservation of the union; as has been stated, the question involved was one of grammar, namely whether the United States is or the United States are. Once again the Federalist party was arrayed against the States Rights' party. The great Lincoln, according to his careful and explicit statement, did not regard himself primarily as the Emancipator of the slave, but as the Protector and Savior of the Union:

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some of the slaves and leaving others alone, I would also do that.1

It is no wonder, therefore, in view of the declaration made by Lincoln that the newspapers of Canada - even those most friendly to the slave-sometimes failed to recognize the cause of freedom as dependent upon the success of

1 Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln, A History, vol. ii, abridged edition, p. 227.

the Northern army. Yet it was natural that the anti-slavery press in Canada West should generally regard itself as the ally of the North. For instance, the great Liberal organ, the Globe, a Toronto newspaper, under the leadership of George Brown and his brother Gordon Brown, unwaveringly followed an anti-slavery policy. In the opening days of the American Civil War, this newspaper was outspoken in its support of the North, and equally outspoken in its denunciation of the South. Yet this expression of opinion does not seem to have been prompted by any love of the North, but merely by its hatred of slavery. The emancipation of the slave, and not the preservation of the Union, was the subject of its solicitude, just the reverse order of importance as expressed by Lincoln. To the Liberal in Canada West, the moral issue which involved the freedom of the colored race was a matter of paramount importance. The negro ever found a firm friend and ally in the Globe, but this did not require any independence of judgment on the part of that paper in the opening days of the war, for the Liberals of Canada West regarded themselves as the natural allies of the North.

It did, however, require considerable moral courage as time went on, for the Northern States were soon regarded with disfavor by many Canadians, Liberals as well as Conservatives. The service to the Northern cause rendered by the Globe was in no sense inconsiderable, and the fact was undoubtedly due in a large measure to the influence of George Brown, the great Liberal leader. It is impossible to determine the number of Canadians whom Brown influenced to enlist in the Northern army. Various estimates have been made. According to one report 48,000 Canadians enlisted, and of these 18,000 were killed.1 Sir John

1 Canadian Historical Review, vol. ii, March, 1921, Wilfred Bovey, "Confederate Agents in Canada during the Civil War," p. 57.

1

A. Macdonald, first premier of the Dominion of Canada, is reported to have said that "there were 40,000 Canadian enlistments in the American army in the course of the Civil War." If this estimate is correct, and Sir John A. Macdonald surely possessed sufficient data, then it seems probable that Brown through the columns of the Globe aroused considerable Northern sympathy. He more than any other public man in Canada West, served consistently the Northern cause, and this fact should be generally recognized. "The spirit that animated the youth of the North in this moral struggle was powerful in the minds of these young Canadians. There was present in Canada not a little of the feeling of responsibility for the honor of the continent that George Brown voiced, and both by peaceful means and by the sword the people of the British American Provinces had their part in striking off the shackles from the slave in the South." 2

Just as the Globe, the official organ of the Liberal party, was largely instrumental in determining opinions expressed in Liberal newspapers, equally significant was the influence exerted by the Leader, the official organ of the Conservative party. The Leader, which had been established in 1852 as a Conservative journal, was vigorously managed by Charles Lindsey throughout the period of the sixties. Its

3

1 Collected by Arnold Haultain, a selection from Goldwin Smith's Correspondence, comprising letters chiefly to and from his English friends written between the years 1846 and 1910, p. 414; The Makers of Canada, vol. xviii, “Sir John A. Macdonald” by George R. Parkin.

2 Goldwin Smith's Letters, p. 377.

3 The newspapers of the sixties did not publish their circulation. Although the Public Archives of Canada, the Public Library of Toronto and the Office of the Globe were consulted, it has been impossible to secure this information. The eightieth anniversary number of the Globe published in March, 1924, reviewed the history of the paper since its foundation, but did not contain anything along the line of its early circulation.