THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA THE POLITICAL CAREER OF SIR JOSEPH-ADOLPHE CRAPLEAU by KENNETH JAMES MUNRO A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEC3.EE OF DOCTOR OF Pff , LIBRARIES » DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OTTAWA, ONTARIO 1973 K.J. Munro, Ottawa, 1973. UMI Number: DC53350 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53350 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 PREFACE This thesis is a study of the political failure of Sir Joseph- Adolphe Chapleau. It is an examination of the ideas and actions of the last great French Canadian Conservative disciple of the LaFontaine political tradition. That tradition stemmed from Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine's claims during the 1840's that in a union with English- speaking Canadians the flexibility of the British constitutional system could best ensure the acquired rights of French Canadians and also a healthy climate for the favourable growth of their language, institu­ tions and nationality. LaFontaine's doctrine which, he claimed, would ensure not only la survivance but also 1 'epanoulsseirent of French Canada, demanded that a French Canadian political leader possess the confidence of his anglophone and francophone colleagues if he wished to be success­ ful in the political arena. This study seeks to establish and to explain Chapleau's inability to cement those necessary ties. By the time Chapleau arrived on the federal political stage in 1882 to reaffirm the francophone-anglophone political alliance that LaFontaine and Baldwin had created and Cartier and Macdonald had con­ tinued, English-speaking Conservatives seriously questioned the need and advantage of a relationship based on equality with French-speaking Con­ servatives. That anglophone position resulted from the decrease in the francophone community's electoral power as the population in English- "The term Conservative and Liberal-Conservative shall be used interchangeably throughout the thesis. ii speaking Canada after Confederation increased in proportion to that of French-speaking Canada. In addition, many English-speaking Canadians contended that dual language and separate schools had failed to establish a true national amalgam--a necessity if Canada were to realize the aim of Confederation and become a great nation. Consequently, French Canadians found that their views were often neglected and aspirations thwarted by the anglophone majority. This situation produced friction between the two communities which became apparent in the early 1870's with the rejection of French Canadian wishes in the New Brunswick School issue. Therefore, Chapleau, who desired to secure Cartier's mantle as co-leader of the party with Macdonald after Cartier's death in 1873, faced two major difficulties. From a position of political weakness, Chapleau was not only forced to attempt to secure anglophone trust in himself, but also to obtain for French Canadians an equal voice in the determination of national policy. Those problems that Chapleau confronted were coupled with the necessity to ensure his dominance in French Canada. That task was not easy because by the end of the 1840's a section of the LaFontaine party had turned from a larger perspective to concentrate on Church-State problems in French Canada. That group which became entrenched within the Liberal-Conservative party of Macdonald and Cartier turned from 2 parliamentarianism towards authoritarianism. By 1882, those dissident Jacques Monet, s. j., "French-Canadian nationalism and the challenge of ultramontanism", CHAR, 1966, p. 41. iii Conservatives, nominally led by Senator F.-X.-A. Trudel, openly challenged those Quebec Conservatives who maintained a larger perspective, such as Chapleau. A second obstacle Chapleau faced was Sir Hector Langevin. Langevin had been the nominal leader of French Canada since Cartier's death. However, once Chapleau clashed with his Quebec colleague over the position of the small coterie of particularist Conservatives within the party and Langevin's handling of the Riel affair, Chapleau was determined to supplant Langevin as Quebec chef. In the discussion of these themes, each of the chapters of the dissertation focuses on an element of Chapleau's thought and action. Although all of Chapleau's life is examined in a chronological fashion, the thesis concentrates on the latter part of his life from 1882 when he entered federal politics, through his term as Lieutenant-Governor of the province of Quebec until his death in 1898. The material to document this study was rather sparse and probably accounts for the fact that no biography or major work on Chapleau has 3 ever been written. Since Adolphe Chapleau, as well as Honore Mercier and Wilfrid Laurier dominated Quebec politics in the last quarter of the Chapleau's private secretary, L.-H. Tache, under the pseudonym of A. de Bonneterre, wrote a short sketch of Chapleau's life as an introduc­ tion to a collection of Chapleau's speeches. The book was published in 1887 under the title: L'Honorable J.-A. Chapleau. Sa biographle, suivie de ses principaux discours.... (See Montreal Gazette Saturday November 19, 1887, and L'Etendard jeudi le 20 octobre 1887). Since that date• only two major articles have appeared concerning Chapleau. (See Jacques Gouin, "Histoire d'une amitie: correspondance intime entre Chapleau et DeCelles (1876-1898)", RHAF, 18.3 (dec. 1964), 363-386; 18.4 (mars 1965), 541-565; and H. Blair Neatby and John T. Saywell, "Chapleau and the Conservative party in Quebec", CHR, 37.1 (March 1956), 1-22.) iv nineteenth century, the fact that Chapleau is largely forgotten is lamentable and an error that this thesis hopefully rectifies to some extent. Undoubtedly, Canadians do not remember Chapleau because very little of his private correspondence remains. Chapleau had saved his letters and stored them in his office at the Credit Foncier Franco- Canadien in Montreal. After his death, Lady Chapleau had the material transferred to the basement of La Banque d'Epargne, where all the mate- 4 rial was destroyed in a fire. Consequently, Chapleau's ideas and out­ look must be gleaned from other sources. Valuable information about Adolphe Chapleau can be found in the private papers of the Prime Ministers at the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa, private collections in the National Archives of Quebec at Quebec City or the files of political and religious leaders at the various religious archives in Quebec and Manitoba. In addition, other private archives contain some of Chapleau's correspondence. Mr. Jacques Gouin of Hull kindly allowed me to tead the DeCelles-Chapleau correspondence which he possessed. Most of these letters (now in the Fonds Gouin at the Centre de Recherche en Civilisation Canadienne-Francaise at the Universite d'Ottawa) were addressed from DeCelles to Chapleau. The letters from Chapleau to DeCelles are located at Le Seminaire St -Joseph, aux Trois-Rivieres. I am also indebted to Dr. Jean Bruch£si,m. s. r. c., who not only allowed me to see corres­ pondence between Chapleau and his maternal grandfather, Mathias C. Robert Rumilly, Histoire de la Province de Quebec, Montreal: editions Bernard Valiquette, [n. d.J, IX, 54 . v Desnoyers, but also spoke to me about the relations between his uncle, Mgr. Bruchesi and Chapleau. Besides correspondence, pamphlets, and speeches, newspapers were extremely beneficial in the preparation of this thesis. La Minerve, Chapleau's personal organ, and La Presse, presented his viewpoint. Senator Trudel's thought was revealed in L'Etendard and Liberal atti­ tudes appeared in La Patrie. Other newspapers, both in the English and French language added valuable material on specific questions and on the general atmosphere of the period. I express sincerest thanks to those who helped proof-read my thesis--Jeryl McLean, John Rasmussen, Andre Lamalice, Francois-Xavier Neve de Mevergnies--, to Mrs. V. Gowing who aided with some typing, to Mrs. B. Steel for her advice in reproducing this work and to my excellent typist Mrs. Minnie Cutts. In addition, I am indebted to the many archivists and librarians who aided me in finding materials. I wish to express special thanks to Mr. Ralph Heintzman who listened attentively during our many conversations and who pointed out valuable information about Chapleau which he discovered during his own research. Most of all, I thank Dr. Jacques Monet, s. j., for supervising my dissertation. With­ out his patience, encouragement and suggestions, I would never have com­ pleted this thesis. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 I. ENTREE EN SCENE 38 II. LES CASTORS 62 III. A RAILWAY RIDE TO RUIN 91 IV. LES CHINOIS ET LES CHINOISERIES DU GOUVERNEMENT . 128 V. "TO UPHOLD THE LAW AND THE CROWN" 157 VI. "J'AI PLAIDE, J'AI PRIE, J 'PI CRIE" 206 VII. PYRRHIC VICTORY 262 VIII. FIGHT FOR LEADERSHIP 315 IX. A LIBERAL FLIRTATION 361 X. CONCLUSION