CHAPTER XXVI PALMERSTON AND THE EMPIRE. 1837-1867 505. Problems of the Early Victorian Period. The first thirty years of Queen Victoria's reign were occupied chiefly with problems that concerned the United Kingdom in the larger sense, the British Empire, and the position of England among the nations of the world. After a few years of legislation for social betterment a reaction set in and the enthusiasm for reform yielded to a deepening interest in affairs abroad. The earlier decades of the Victorian era witnessed a series of vast movements in Europe and in the world at large: the revolutionary risings of 1848; the Crimean War; the Sepoy rebellion against the East India Company; the unification of Italy; the civil war in the United States; and the pre- World liminary conflicts that led to the formation of the problems. German Empire. In some of these movements England played a large and leading part; in every case she was an interested and attentive observer. 506. Four Victorian Statesmen. Of the English statesmen of the period four were preeminent: Peel, Derby, Russell, and Palmerston. The first two represented the Tory tradition with the difference that Derby, who had come over Derby, Peel, from the Whigs, was developing toward Conserv- and Russell. atism, while Peel, who had sprung from the middle class and was essentially a man of affairs, had no fear of changes that seemed to promote social justice, and was gradually advancing toward Liberalism. Russell, while a man of moderate abilities, had an excellent record and was one of the more important chiefs of the Whig element in the newly formed Liberal party. The chief pilot of the period, however, was Lord Palmerston. Lord Palmerston was an Irish peer, though of English blood: he found a seat in the house of commons at an early Palmerston. age and remained in that body almost continuously for nearly sixty years. For the larger part of this period he also had a seat in the cabi net and was twice prime minister. He was originally a Tory of the Canningite faction; but during the agitation for parliamentary reform he deserted the Tory party and became identified with the Whigs. Palmerston's interest lay in foreign affairs, and in the conduct of the foreign office he showed such an aggressive and domineering spirit that the peace of Europe was often despaired of. His ideas of foreign policy were often totally different from those of the queen; but this did not disturb Palmerston: notified the sovereign after he had taken action. A minister who employed and the queen. such high-handed methods and showed so little respect for the crowned heads of Europe could not fail to be a sore trial to the queen. But the interests of England were carefully watched when Palmerston was in the foreign office, and his methods and policy had the approval of the great majority of Englishmen. HENRY JOHN TEMPLE, VISCOUNT From an engraving, after the original from life by C. Silvy. he went ahead with his plans and Palmerston 507. The Dominion of Canada.1 During this period England entered into new relations with Canada. The two chief regions of this colony, Upper and Lower Canada, had 1 Gardiner, 915-916; Innes, Industrial Development, 210-211; Masterman, 237-241. THE DOMINION OF CANADA 559 long shown signs of unrest. The older colony, Lower Canada (Quebec), was French: the upper colony (Ontario) Canadian was English. Each viewed the other with distrust: difficulties. both were dissatisfied with their own situation. The trouble finally came to the point of rebellion, and the government felt that the Canadian demands could no longer be ignored. Lord Melbourne, who had succeeded Earl Grey as prime minister in 1834, sent Lord Durham to Canada with Lord Durham large powers to rectify the situation. The commis- in Canada. sioner was a man of exceptional abilities, though in his methods he was inclined to be arbitrary. Lord Durham was soon recalled, but his ideas as to Canadian affairs.prevailed: the two Canadas were given a joint legislature with extensive control over the affairs of the colony. But the differences in race, religion, and language continued to make trouble, and the plan was not successful. In 1867 a new form of government was devised: the two maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were joined to the colonies of Ontario and Quebec in a federation which was called the Dominion of Canada.1 The Canadian system of government is a combination of English and American elements. The federal idea is American; The Canadian but the executive with its cabinet or privy council federation. responsible to the Dominion parliament is planned on English lines. In the distribution of powers between the provinces and the Dominion an important innovation was introduced the powers granted to the provinces are enumerated and defined; all remaining powers belong to the Dominion government. The nominal executive is the English sovereign represented at Ottawa by a governor-general; but the actual ruler of the Dominion is the prime minister of Canada. The governor-general appoints the prime minister, but he is always careful to select the leader of the political party that is strongest in the Canadian house of commons. New South 508. Australia.2 While Canada was being transformed into a self-governing dominion, an important group of colonies was developing on the edge of the Southern Ocean. The history of the Australian settlements begins with a penal colony at Botany Bay in 1788.3 Other colonies of the same type were founded later. For several decades the settlement of New South Wales struggled along without making much progress. Very few emigrants came to settle on the island and the only colonists of a desirable sort were soldiers whose term of service had expired. But in the thirties a new type of settlers began to arrive, and colonies multiplied. Self-government of the usual British colonial type began to be extended to the Australian settlements in 1842. The development of this vast Other Austra- island is closely associated with the reign of Queen lian colonies. Victoria, as the names of the two colonies Victoria and Queensland sufficiently testify. 1 See also sec. 551. 2 Innes, Industrial Development, 211-212. 3 Review sec. 470. THE AGITATION FOR FREE TRADE gold. 561 The principal industry of the Australian colonies in their earlier day was agriculture; but it was soon discovered that live stock and especially sheep could be raised to Wool and good advantage. Australia is still one of the great wool-producing regions of the world. But in 1849 the discovery of immense gold fields in the southeastern part of the island drew the attention of the entire world to this continent, and an era of rapid growth set in. 509. The Agitation for Free Trade.1 About the middle of the nineteenth century certain very important changes came into the agriculture, industry, and public finance of the kingdom by the adoption of "free trade." Since the early days of English commerce it had been the policy of the government to prevent foreign merchants from competing successfully with English merchants in the English markets by placing a tax on imported products. For some time, however, it had been The free trade held by many students of economic problems that movement. such "protective" taxes were of little advantage to English commerce and that they probably were a hindrance. The movement for free trade dates from the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Adam Smith held that free trade was desirable, though perhaps not practical as conditions were in 1 Innes, Industrial Development, 274-293. |