cdonald in the chair and Lieut.-Col. Hewitt
Bernard acting as secretary. The resolution passed at the Quebec
conference held in 1864 was read, and amendments were moved in
accordance with the suggestions made in the several legislatures during
the discussions at the previous sessions. It was conceded by all that
the Intercolonial Railway, by which facilities for interprovincial
commercial intercourse should be secured, must be built by the united
provinces and without delay. It was also conceded that in the provinces
where separate schools were established by law, that principle should
not be disturbed. In the discussion it was claimed that the sole right
of imposing an export duty should be vested in the federal authority.
This was objected to by the New Brunswick delegates, on the ground that
as the people of that province had expended a large sum of money in the
improving of the navigation of the upper St. John, they had to recoup
themselves by imposing an export duty on lumber shipped from the
province. A considerable portion of the income thus received was paid by
the lumbermen of the state of Maine, the advantage derived by them from
such improvements being very great. The claim thus presented by the New
Brunswick delegates was conceded, and the province was permitted to
retain the right. This right was abandoned after confederation, the
Dominion paying therefor a hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum
to the New Brunswick government.

{THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ACT}

During the sitting of the delegates, which lasted for two months, many
conferences were held with Lord Carnarvon, then secretary of state for
the colonies, and the law officers of the Crown, in regard to objections
which were taken to some of the resolutions adopted by the delegates.
The governor-general of Canada, Viscount Monck, was in London at the
time, and was able to render valuable assistance during the conference,
owing to his intimate knowledge of the previous negotiations at Quebec.
The arrangements there made, in regard to the strengthening of the
central government, founded on the experience of the United States
during the War of Secession, were adhered to in the London resolutions
and accepted by the imperial authorities. When the bill reached
parliament some amendments were suggested, but when it was pointed out
that the bill as presented was the result of the most careful
consideration of both the imperial authorities and the co