Drummond then most unreasonably found fault with Heriot for leaving to Allan the duty of attending to the requirements of Niagara and Amherstburg, when his excellency had ordered Heriot to give the matter his personal attention. Heriot's time was very fully occupied at Quebec with the ordinary duties of his office, a fact of which Drummond could not have been ignorant; and to order him to leave these duties, and make a journey to the western end of the province, involving a travel of scarcely less than twelve hundred miles, to do a piece of work which any subordinate in the district could do equally well, argued either an indifference as regards the daily calls upon Heriot's time, or a determination to annoy him, either of which was discreditable to the governor general.
Heriot was steadily respectful, however, but maintained that with the powers entrusted to him it was impossible to meet Drummond's views. He cited the incident of 1812, when his recommendation that the whole of the revenue from Upper Canada should be expended on extensions and improvements had been disapproved, and the arrangements founded upon these suggestions had to be cancelled. As for his employment of Allan to secure a postmaster at Amherstburg, Allan knew the district while he himself did not, and in his circumstances he was compelled to rely upon his officials as he did in the west and at Halifax.
The whole of the case was laid by Heriot before the postmaster general.
His situation, he declared, was very disagreeable, as people seemed to imagine that he had carte blanche as to the disposal of the post office revenue. Every governor on coming to Canada assailed Heriot with his particular scheme for improvement. Prevost, who had come from the governorship of Nova Scotia, insisted on a large expenditure on the service in that province. Drummond, whose interests lay in Upper Canada, was peremptory in regard to the claims of that part of the country. The consequence of all this was correspondence always lengthy and frequently unpleasant.
What Heriot desired to know was whether his conduct was approved or condemned by his superiors. The official silence left him in uncertainty and suspense. Heriot concluded by asking to be relieved of the office and to be allowed some remuneration for past services.
After a short lull, trouble broke out afresh, and this time Drummond managed to put Heriot clearly in the wrong. A very sharp letter from the governor drew from Heriot the reply that the deputy postmaster general in Canada was governed by several acts of parliament, and by instructions from the general post office, and he was not subject to any orders, but through the secretary of the post office. He would, however, afford every necessary information when applied to in the mode of solicitation or request.
This was not the tone to take in addressing the chief executive in the colony; and the governor promptly laid the whole matter before the colonial secretary, condemning Heriot for his incapacity, insubordination and insolence, and declaring that nothing but the fear of embarrassing the accounts prevented him from instantly suspending Heriot. He urged his dismissal.
A fortnight later Drummond reported further grievances. Indeed, Heriot seems now to have cast prudence as well as respect for the governor's office to the winds. The governor had demanded to see the postmaster general's instructions to Heriot, and it was not until the demand had been twice repeated that Heriot saw fit to obey.
Among those instructions was one directing the deputy postmaster general to keep the orders of the postmaster general and the table of rates in his office, for his own guidance, and for the satisfaction of all persons desiring to see them. This Drummond insisted on reading as a direction to the deputy postmaster general to make all his communications from the postmaster general public, and he dilates on the disrespect of Heriot in withholding from the governor what he is under orders to disclose to the first comer.
All this is, of course, manifestly disingenuous, and does not impose on Heriot's superiors in the general post office. The secretary of the general post office in discussing Drummond's complaints, has words of commendation for Heriot's zeal and alacrity. He always considered Heriot a judicious, active and efficient officer. Governors, he affirmed, too commonly entertain the idea that the whole revenue of the post office should be devoted to extending the communications. Whatever view might be held as to the principle, Heriot at all events was precluded by his instructions from acting upon it without the express authority of the postmaster general.
While Heriot had, beyond question, given ample grounds for irritation on Drummond's part, it should be remembered, in dealing with the demand for Heriot's dismissal, Drummond was told that he had been sixteen years in the service, and had on many occasions received the thanks of the board.
It might be sufficient to enjoin upon Heriot a more respectful attitude towards the governor, and consult with him as to the extension of communications, and the interests of the revenue.
The postmaster general concurred in the secretary's views. But the quarrel was now past mending, and when after repeated requests to be relieved, Heriot declared that no motive of interest or advantage could induce him to stay in the service longer than was necessary to appoint his successor, the postmaster general decided to accept his resignation.
FOOTNOTES:
[155] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.
[156] Hugh Gray, _Letters from Canada_, London, 1809.
[157] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, pp. 1-16.
[158] _Can. Arch._, C. 283, p. 42.
[159] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. 388.
[160] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 172.
[161] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
[162] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 114.
[163] _Ibid._, Q. 115, pp. 112, 113 and 121.
[164] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
[165] _Can. Arch._, C. 284, p. 105.
[166] _Ibid._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III.
CHAPTER VII
Administration of Daniel Sutherland--Postal service on the Ottawa river, and to eastern townships--Ocean mails.
On Heriot's retirement, a number of London merchants who traded to Canada, recommended that the postmaster of Montreal, Daniel Sutherland, be appointed as his successor, and the appointment was made in April 1816.[167] Sutherland entered upon his duties with full knowledge of the postal service in Canada, as he had been postmaster of Montreal since 1807.
An effort was made at this time to remove the headquarters of the department from Quebec to Montreal, but it was not encouraged. The postmaster general was of opinion that, although there were no direct official relations between the governor general and the head of the postal service, it would be inadvisable to diminish in any way the opportunities that then existed of enlisting the good will of the governor towards the post office by the pursuit of a more tactful course than had been taken by Sutherland's predecessor. If, while relations between the chief executive and the deputy postmaster general were thus strained, the office of the latter had been removed to Montreal, the chances of establishing a more cordial feeling on the part of the governor towards the post office would have greatly lessened.
The wisdom of the postmaster general in this matter was soon shown. It was not long before the post office incurred the hostility of the legislatures in both Upper and Lower Canada and its case would have been hard indeed, if it had not obtained the steady support of the governors and the executive councils in the two provinces.
A notable feature of Sutherland's administration was the extension of the service into settlements, which lay far off the beaten lines. The first of these to be provided with a post office was the settlement of Perth. In the summer of 1815, a number of Scotch artisans and peasants sailed from Greenock, attracted by the inducements held out to settlers in British North America, and of these about sixty families spent the winter in Brockville on the St. Lawrence. When spring opened, they proceeded inland till they reached the Rideau river, and took up homes about the site of the present town of Perth.
The new settlement was almost immediately joined by a large number of disbanded troops, who were set free on the conclusion of peace with the United States. By October 1816, there were over sixteen hundred settlers in the district. They were fortunate in securing the interest of Sir John Sherbrooke, the governor general, at whose instance a post office was opened, and fortnightly trips were made with the mails from Brockville.[168]
A road was broken between the two places, but little could be said for it for some time. Dr. Mountain, the son of the first Anglican bishop of Quebec, and himself afterwards third bishop of Quebec, accompanied his father on an episcopal trip into Upper Canada in 1820. Among the places he visited was Perth. Of the road he said: "All the roads I have described before were turnpike and bowling green to this."[169] The road was divided into three stages of seven miles each, and the best the party could do was three hours for each stage.
In 1818, another settlement was formed in the same part of the country about thirty miles north of Perth. It was a military settlement, being made up of officers and men of the 99th and 100th regiments. This group did not enter upon its lands by way of the St. Lawrence, but is notable as the first considerable body to come into Upper Canada by way of the Ottawa river. They landed on the site of the present city of Ottawa, but did not stop there longer than was necessary to break a road through to their lands, which were situated about twenty miles to the westward. The settlement was called Richmond, in honour of the Duke of Richmond, the governor general, and this circumstance gave Ottawa its first name--Richmond Landing.
It was at Richmond that the duke came to his melancholy end that same summer, as the result of the bite of a fox. The duke had shown his interest in the settlement which bore his name in a number of ways, and shortly before his death he induced the deputy postmaster general to open a post office there. In order to provide it with mails, a blazed trail was made between the new settlement and Perth.[170]
The settlement at Richmond was not the first, however, in the Upper Ottawa district. In 1800, Philemon Wright, a New Englander, who had made one or two exploratory tours into the country, determined to form a settlement at Hull, on the Lower Canadian side of the river, and in that year he brought with him a group of his neighbours from Malden, Massachusetts.
These settlers were thrifty and intelligent, and by 1815, they had brought their settlement to a pitch of prosperity, which won special mention from Bouchette, the surveyor general. At that time there were about thirty families in the district, whose farms were in a respectable state of cultivation; and a large trade in timber, pot and pearl ashes was carried on.
The little settlement was so far from Montreal--one hundred and twenty miles--that it was at first impracticable to give it the benefit of the postal service. The isolation did not last long. Little bodies of settlers were taking up land at different points, both above and below the Long Sault rapids; and for some time before 1819, there had been a steamer running between Lachine and Carillon, at the foot of the Long Sault.[171]
In 1819, a steamer was put on the Upper Ottawa, running between the head of the Long Sault and Hull, and the Duke of Richmond appealed to Sutherland to open post offices on the river route. The deputy postmaster general at first demurred on the ground of expense, but he withdrew his objections on a guarantee being given by a number of gentlemen interested in the district, that the post office should be saved against any loss which might ensue. Offices were accordingly opened at St. Eustache and St. Andrews on the lower Ottawa, and at Grenville, Hawkesbury and Hull on the upper part of the river.[172]
Another part of the country to which the postal system was extended during this period was the eastern townships in Lower Canada. These townships lie along the northern border of eastern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. Owing to their contiguity to the United States, the settlement of these townships gave the British Government much concern.
Lord North, at the close of the war of the Revolution, desired to settle this border country with old soldiers. Haldimand, the governor general, was of another opinion, believing that the interests of peace would be best served by keeping the country uncultivated, that it might serve as a barrier to the restless spirits from the south. Some effort was made to give effect to this view but without much success. Indeed the governors who followed Haldimand made grants in the townships freely; and in 1812, it was estimated that there were not less than 17,000 people settled there.
Lord Bathurst, the colonial secretary, on learning in 1816 the state of affairs, was highly displeased that the policy of the government had been disregarded in this manner, and directed the governor to do what he could to discourage further settlement, and wherever possible to restore the cultivated country to a state of nature.
Mentioning particularly the townships at the western end of the province, the colonial secretary directed that no new roads were to be run into them, and advantage was to be taken of any circumstances that presented themselves of letting the roads already made fall into disuse.
For five years this desolating policy was carried into execution.
In 1821, Lord Dalhousie, the governor general reported that the result was an utter failure. "These townships," he says "are the resort of all the felons escaping from justice within His Majesty's province or from the United States. Forgery, coining, and every crime is committed there with impunity. American lumbermen are cutting everywhere the best timber, and sit down where they please, and move about where they find it convenient."
A reversal of the mistaken policy resulted from the Dalhousie report.
The first post office opened in the townships was at Stanstead,[173] the centre of a comfortable, well-settled population of about 2500. The village lay on the main stage route from Quebec into the state of Vermont. The post office at Stanstead was opened in 1817, and with three other offices opened at the same time had a weekly exchange of mails with Quebec by way of Three Rivers.
During Sutherland's administration, there were a considerable number of post offices opened, and many of them established at this period afterwards attained great importance. In 1816, when he became deputy postmaster general, there were only ten offices in Lower Canada and nine in Upper Canada. When he retired in 1827, there were forty-nine in Lower Canada and sixty-five in Upper Canada. In 1816, Belleville post office was opened under the name of bay of Quinte: in 1825, Hamilton, London, Brantford, and St. Thomas were provided with post offices.
In Lower Canada, besides those already mentioned, a post office was opened at Sherbrooke in 1819, replacing an office established in Aston township in 1817.