Page:Letter from L. J. Papineau and J. Neilson, Esqs., Addressed to His Majesty's Under Secretary of State on the Subject of the Proposed Union of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.djvu/75



That the requisition likewise made upon the Legislature to make permanent provision for the administration of justice and support of the civil government, would at once render the Legislature a nominal and unsubstantial body, and deprive the House of Assembly of the only proper and effectual check necessary to balance the otherwise overwhelming force of the executive power; for Petitioners' short history has taught them that times of plenty are times of profusion; and by granting a permanent supply the House of Assembly would part with the power to accommodate the expenditure to the means their resources may enable them to grant, to curtail enormous contingencies, or to afford compensation to services that may imperatively call for reward. The propriety of this observation has become more evident by the experience of a few years, for from 1812 to 1816 an unusual quantity of money was in circulation in this Province, and, as might be expected, abundance in receipt produced extravagance in expenditure both public and private. The reverse has been great and sudden, for Petitioners have experienced, and do still experience, a period of depression beyond parallel, when all the usual means of the country have scarcely been equal to the net supply of an increased expenditure in the Government.

That your Petitioners respectfully state their objections to union of the Legislature of the two Canadas on any terms. The population of this Province is chiefly composed of subjects who have emigrated from Great Britain and Ireland, and from His Majesty's late American Colonies, and their descendants, who from sameness of original language, customs, and government, easily unite, commix, and become one people. While His Majesty's subjects, their brethren of Lower Canada, sprang from a distinct origin, speak a different language, profess a different form of religion, and are wedded to their own peculiar manners and customs. Each Legislature likewise has enacted, adopted, and retained, laws suitable to their own usage, customs, and local wants. These tow Provinces having been separated into different governments for more than thirty years, Petitioners