in the United States, so
that authority is less divided here than in the Republic. In a country
covering half a continent, with great diversity of climate and
resources and industrial development, centralization of all power would
mean the neglect of local needs and the disregard of local differences.
Particularly where, as in Canada, thirty per cent of the people differ
in race and language and creed from the majority, and are concentrated
mainly in a single province, the need for local autonomy as the surest
means of harmony is abundantly clear.

It was in Quebec that the first issue as to provincial rights arose.
The Mackenzie Government in 1876 had appointed Luc Letellier de St
Just, one of their most steadfast supporters, lieutenant-governor of
that province. It was not long before political and {64} personal
antagonism strained to the breaking point the relations between the
Liberal Letellier and his Conservative ministers at Quebec. The
neglect of the premier, M. de Boucherville, to consult Letellier before
introducing some railway legislation proved the last straw, and in
March 1878 Boucherville was dismissed and Henri Joly de Lotbiniere was
called upon to form a Cabinet. This sudden rupture raised a storm of
protest in Quebec, of which the echoes soon reached Ottawa. Sir John
Macdonald, then leader of the Opposition, moved a vote of censure upon
Letellier, which was defeated on a party vote. A year later, after the
change of government at Ottawa, a Quebec ministerialist again moved in
the House of Commons the resolution of censure.

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[Illustration: VICE-REGAL CONSORTS

1. LADY MONCK
2. LADY LISGAR
3. LADY DUFFERIN
4. THE PRINCESS LOUISE
5. LADY LANSDOWNE
6. LADY STANLEY
7. LADY ABERDEEN
8. LADY MINTO
9. LADY GREY
10. THE DUCHESS OF CONNAUGHT]

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The Liberal leaders at Ottawa were inclined to agree that Letellier had
been too sensitive about his dignity as governor, and Sir John
Macdonald on his part would have preferred to let the matter rest,
since the elections in the province had upheld Joly, had not his Quebec
supporters demanded their pound of flesh. But the constitutional issue
was clear, and on this the Liberals rested their case. It was for the
people of Quebec, they contended, to {65} decide whether or no