|
:

Co )

So to the townsite of Victoria, Earlier in the
relinquished 3 es policies to the times, the company had
fament for a ancouver Island grant to the British gov-
at Victoria. 4 | 500, But its retention of the fort property
acres bevas d ae number of town lots and thousands of
Inevitably a city was bitterly assailed by the colonists.
and er, a. James Douglas, the man who had shaped
Port despite = the company’s policy and retained its sup:
Warget of all th e formal severance of relations, became the

ese attacks,

the ot owas British Guiana, on August 14, 1803,
"eared in a8 see father and West Indian mother, and
Of the ee as an orphan, Douglas entered the service
clerk at Bor _ Company when he was 12 years old. From
tinuing Ais ae William he rose rapidly in the company, ooh:
eS. imb in the Hudson’s Bay Company until in 1833,

Se of 30, he became chief factor at Fort Vancouver.

Ambit
Prove Ps an able planner and administrator as he was to
Ment go He building of roads and organization of govern-

a : + . .
to a? he remained a company man in his approach
against aa limited by a colonial vision. He had fought
Were -j S. encroachment becausé~ the company’s interests
A + ey ard .

When ag with continued British sovereignty and
e pe pment of the territory could no longer be denied,
Colonial extended his allegiance and assumed the powers ot
Sovernor, But his concept of the future of the two
n —_ Was that of British colonies and no more, with power
“haa in the governor’s own hands and respon:

vérnment held back as long as possible.
Ouver Bue Richard Blanshard held the governorship of Van-
Son, peland from 1849-51, interfering with what the Hud-
him Bae pany: considered its interests, Douglas refused
of £ ¥ financial support, compelling him to pay his expenses
imself - a year out of his own pocket. When Douglas
Served fcame governor of British Columbia and the office
enough is interests, he complained that £1,800 was not
fortun, and asked for £5,000. He claimed that his personal
8 poy, had suffered because the emolument paid to him
thou baad of Vancouver Island had been inadequate, al-
he had also held his position as the company Ss chief

OF until 1858,

i Chafing under the constant attacks of the British Col-
LA ouglas sought for a means of silencing De Cosmos.
£] Rt 1859, he ordered De Cosmos to post 4 bond of
Oppogi / Or cease publication. So widespread was the popular

t ition to Douglas that the paper's: supporters rushed to
Dublin e.” bond and De: Cosmos triumphantly continued
and aw Again, in 1860, Douglas had De Cosmos arrested
1 rought before the assembly for libelling the speaker —
aes trenchant articles written by De Cosmos and his chief
fi Tibutor, Charles Bedford Young, it was never difficult to
Quir ees for a libel charge. De Cosmos made the re-

Sd apology and was released.

Unable to defeat his opposition by direct repressive
ie Douglas increasingly resorted to political manoeu’
In which he proved himself to be adept.

ictoria Gazette
Publig Victoria ’

hed by three Americans. Cynically, Douglas used the
ae to label De Cosmos a “whitewashed American, ine
Citize ing that he must have been a naturalized ager
act oy to get his name changed from Smith to De Cosmos y
oe California legislature. “It is a malignant, envio”,
Never earted lie,” retorted De Cosmos. But the Gazette ae
uly ee because it supported Douglas policies = “a
Onie 59, when anti-American feeling ran high in the co
S$ Over U.S. occupation of San Juan. Island, it was force

¢ 228
€ase publication.

0)

Meas

His own press support came from the

lish aS his first attempt to win election to the assembly =a
“wil in 1856, De Cosmos fell victim to what he called Douglas
in = diplomacy.” In the 1860 election he ran as a candidate
th Y two-member Victoria constituency. A minor issue in
" election but one that caused considerable feeling in the
exo} Was the agitation by some Americans to have Negroes
Bed from the city’s only church services. De Cosmos
the nee strongly against the segregationists, contending that
inat egroes had sought haven in the colonies from discrim-
nt Ory U.S. laws and were entitled to equal rights. There
a he held, no color bar in heaven and there should be
Re on earth,

His opponents were Semlin Franklin and George Carey,
both supporters of Douglas. Carey, attorney general and a
member of Douglas’ clique, had aroused public indignation
by his unsuccessful attempt to acquire the springs on which
the city depended for its water supply, and De Cosmos felt
confident of popular support. When Carey ruled,that a
group of Negroes recently arrived from California were not
USS. or of any other country and must there-
d to be British citizens entitled to vote, De
Cosmos made no objection. He felt sure he felt sure he would
have the Negroes’ support. But Carey’s ruling had not been
dictated by any altruistic considerations. Whatever means
he used, bribery or ‘ntimidation, when the poll was held,
n turn declared for De

citizens of the
fore be assume

by open vote, each of the Negroes 1
Cosmos’ opponents.
Again, in the 1861 election, De Cosmos was defeated by

trickery. He contested the election in Esquimalt as “Smith
called De Cosmos,” but one of his supporters, arriving at the
poll at the last minute, unthinkingly called out De Cosmos. His
vote was ruled out on a technicality, leaving a tie, and the
returning officer. cast the deciding vote for DeCosmos’ op-
ponent. Complacently, Douglas reported to London that “the
Cosmos clique” had been excluded from the assembly.

But the fight for representative government continued,
centred now around removing the inequalities between the
two colonies and uniting them into one. The popular move-
ment forced extension of the franchise and in the 1863 elec-
tion not all Douglas’ conniving could prevent De Cosmos
and some of his supporters from winning election, among
them John Robson, editor of ‘the British Columbian, and
Thomas Basil Humphreys, who held the mining constituency
of Lillooet. They remained a minority of six in an assembly of
15 dominated by Douglas, but now the people’s demands
could be voiced both within and outside the House.

They received support in 1864 when Douglas’ terms of
office expired and his successor on Vancouver Island, Captain
Arthur Kennedy, strongly championed their demand for union
of the colonies, although Frederick Seymour, who followed
Douglas in British Columbia, was as strongly opposed. Then
in 1865, De Cosmos resigned. his seat to fight a byelection
against C. B. Young, his erstwhile contributor, over the issue
union, His re-election, despite the desperate efforts of his
opponents to defeat him by buying out one Victoria paperr, the
Express, and bribing the editor of another, the Chronicle,
and continuing petitions to the British government, decided the
issue in favor of union, By act of the British parliament in
1866, the two colonies were united. Responsible government
was now within the people’s grasp and the first long step had
been taken toward Confederation.,

(NEXT WEEK: THE BATTLE FOR CONFEDERATION)

TOP: Sir James Douglas, first
governor of B.C. and avowed
opponent of responsible gov-
ernment. BOTTOM: Sir
Matthew Begbie, Douglas’ no
less autocratic chief justice,

THE MINERS USED CAMELS FOR TRANSPORTATION ON THE CARIBOO TRAIL

April 18, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 9