TIIE QUESTION or CONFEDERATION. 187

should have been effected in so brief a period. The solution of the problem is to be found mainly in the circumstance, that the mercantile community was afraid of a monetary crisis, consequent on the liabilities of the island in connec- tion with the railway, and that the only satisfactory way of getting out of the difficulty appeared to be the union of the island, 011 liberal terms, with the Dominion of Canada. Fidelity to historical accuracy constrains us to say that the final settlement of the terms was in no small measure attrib- utable to the able manner in which l\Iessrs. Haythornc and Laird acquitted themselves when delegates at Ottawa; and it must further be stated, to the credit of these gentlemen, that they rose, when occasion required, above party preju- dice, and communicated their desire to the Dominion gov~ crnment that further concessions SllOllltl, if possible, be granted to the new delegates, so that the union might be effected without delay. But it must not, at the same time, be forgotten that the government of which Mr. J. C. Pope was the leader obtained better terms than those conceded to the previous delegation, and that to them belongs the merit, in a great measure, of bringing the question to a final solution.