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 |m|fnaljfchrati0n. 
 
 THE POSITION 
 OF CANADA. 
 
 %n ^adir^$s (Hctild^d) 
 
 BY 
 
 MR. GEOR GP] HAGUE, 
 
 General Manager Merchants Bank of Canada, 
 BEFOBE THE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 IjaPBI^I^Ir FEDEJ^ipieN IiE^ieOE 
 
 Tuesday Evening, Pebruary 16th, 
 1886. 
 
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THE POSITION OF CANADA 
 
 IN BELATION TO 
 
 ANNEXATION, SECESSION OR INDEPENDENCE, 
 
 AND 
 
 IMPERIAL FEDERATION. 
 
 MONTREAL 
 WILLIAM DRYSDALE & CO., PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1886. 
 
In discussing so complicated a matter as Imperial Federation, it 
 is evident that no practical conclusion can he arrived at without a 
 knoioledge of the position of all the parties concerned. This paper is 
 an attempt to present to our friends in England a statement of the 
 position of the people of Canada in relation to various questions con- 
 nected with the main issue. 
 
 The vieios of the writer are his oion. The League in (Janada is 
 not responsible for them. Opinions differ as to details, while, loith 
 regard to the great matter of preserving the unity of the Empirey 
 we are one. 
 
 \ 
 
/• 
 
 IMPERIAL FEDERATION. 
 
 THE POSITION OF CANADA. 
 
 AN ADDRESS (rBVISBD) BY MR. GEORGE HAGUE, BEFORE THE MONTREAL 
 BRANCH OP THE IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE IN CANADA, TUESDAY 
 EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1886. 
 
 Wh(.'n English gentlemen of position address the people of Canada, 
 stating that unity between Great Britain and her colonies is desirable 
 in itself, and should be perpetuated, they strike a chord to which an 
 all but unanimous response will be made, wherever the name and 
 power of Britain are found. When they further state that in their 
 judgment some closer tie than the one now existing is desirable in 
 order to the continuance of that union, such an opinion is entitled to 
 respect and consideration. When they suggest that such closer tie 
 should take the form of a Federal union, with special arrangements 
 for mutual defence, the people of the colonies cannot but be gratified 
 at the evidence which such a proposition gives of a better appreciation 
 of the sentiments that animate them. For the very invitation implies 
 a certain recognition of equality. It indicates an entire change of base 
 from that spirit of contemptuous depreciation which has provoked 
 the just resentment of millions of people. 
 
 The proposal, however, involves some of the highest problems of 
 statemanship. It has already been the subject of discussion in Great 
 Britain, Australia and Canada. While there is an almost entire 
 unanimity in the fundamental idea of preserving a United Empire, 
 there is a diversity of opinion as to whether any special measures need 
 to be taken to accomplish it ; and, if so, what those measures should 
 be. Even at this early stage of the discussion it is evident that much 
 misunderstanding exists in regard to our mutual position and relations. 
 It is well that this haa been brought out. 
 
 The position of Canada is indeed constantly misiiEderstood even by 
 our nearest neighbours. They cannot comprehend why we deliberately 
 prefer to maintain a political entity of our own, rather than to cast in 
 
our lot with them. It ia equally eviu^nt that our friends in the 
 Mother Country do not understand us. Every pamphlet and document 
 hitherto published in connection with Federation has given evidence 
 of this. Whatever appreciation the people of the Mother Country 
 may have of Australia or other colonies, it is evident that they do not 
 understand Canada. A striking illustration of this has recently been 
 afforded in the charming book of Mr. Froude, who, after travelling 
 round the world to see British colonies, actually stopped at our very 
 border, because, as he thought, it would be too cold to visit Canada 
 in May ! As Canada is the most important, and, in many respects, 
 the best worth-studying of the Colonies, Oceana may be looked on as 
 Hamlet with the part of Kamlet omitted.* 
 
 A mutual understanding of each other's position is necessary to any 
 discussion of a closer union. It is with a view of putting the 
 position of Canada clearly before our friends who have approached 
 us, that this paper has been written. 
 
 I do not presume to be a perfect exponent of Canadian opinion, 
 or of the history or possibilities of the country. Every man can 
 speak only from his own point of view, and relate things as they 
 appear to himself. I have, however, had fair opportunities of forming 
 a judgment. Thirty years of my life were spent in England ; thirty 
 more have been spent in Canada. I have lived for many years in both 
 of Canada's chief centres — Montreal and Toronto — and, from the 
 nature of my occupation, can scarcely fail to have an intima^^^e 
 acquaintance with every Province of the Dominion. For the same 
 reason it has fallen to my lot to have a practical acquaintance with 
 many important interests of the adjoining States. 
 
 * Had Mr. Froude taken the next Pullman car to Toronto he would soon have 
 found himself in a genial spring climate, for Canada has a Spring, and a lovely 
 season it ia. He would have passed, in an hour or two, through Canadian peach 
 orchards about to bloom, to the lawns and parks of one of the most beautiful cities 
 on this continent, a city in which a literary man would find himself more at home 
 than in any other in America, except Boston. And travelling further, he would 
 have arrived at cities like Montreal and Quebec, whose historical associations 
 should surely have a charm for a historian equal to the materia' charms of 
 Melbourne or Sydney. Montreal and Quebec too, have high mat,eri<*l charms of 
 their own. Mr. Froude should come to Canada and see for himself. Meantime, 
 he might look into Picturesque Canada, first published in Toronto, and now being 
 republished by Cassela. 
 
 
 ;: 
 
The position of Canada as a Colony is unique. It is entirely 
 different from that of Australia, New Zealand, the Cape, or any other 
 British dependency. 
 
 Our country is a part of the Continent of Xorth America, 
 immediately contiguous to the Northern States of the American 
 Republic. It is separated from them for the whole tlistance across the 
 continent, for the most part by an invisible line. Broadly speaking, 
 we occupy the whole of the northern portion of the continent ; but, 
 as the boundary line trends considerably to the south our southern 
 tiers of counties are more than 400 miles further south than the 
 northern tiers of counties in the States. This fact should be noted. 
 
 When we leave those great Maritime Provinces of the Dominion 
 that have a coast line of some 1,500 miles on the Atlantic, travelling 
 inland we own at first large tracts of territory on both shores of the 
 St. Lawrence. As we proceed to the South-west we reap the fruit 
 of the blundering diplomacy which adjusted the boundaries of Canada, 
 without asking the opinion of Canadians.* Our thickly settled terri- 
 tory from about the mouth of the Ottawa is wholly on the northern side 
 of the river, and of the chain of inland seas that occupy the centre of 
 the continent. Beyond them come the vast stretches of northern 
 prairie that finally end in the Rocky Mountain range. In these 
 Canada has room for millions. Lastly comes our noble Pacific 
 province of British Columbia, with its mountain ranges, harbours and 
 forests. This vast expanse of country was for generations supposed 
 to be so barren that it would not repay the trouble of settling it. 
 Many Americans think so still ; and in England, on the part of many 
 persons otherwise able and well informed, there has long been a 
 conviction that Canada is an inhospitable region, and that its inhabit- 
 ants are backward and unenterprising as compared with their 
 neighbours to the south. The members of the Imperial Federation 
 League, certainly, do not shaie in these opinions. They are held, 
 however, by an influential school of politicians and thinkers, of which 
 the London Times may be taken as a leading exponent. One may 
 gather the contempt with which that journal regards the idea of a separ- 
 
 * If England belonged to Canada, and France laid claim to Kent, the people 
 of England would think it a very odd proceeding if Canacla gave up that county to 
 France without consulting them. Yet this is exactly what was done at the time 
 of the Aahburton treaty. 
 
ate destiny for Canada from the fact that it has never considered it 
 worth while to have a correspondent of its own in this country. The 
 Times is content to receive its information about us through the dubious 
 channel of an American correspondent ; and that correspondent lives 
 in a distant city that is a centre of neither politics nor commerce. We 
 might as well get our own news about Great Britain from a 
 correspondent in Lyons. I need not say that the greater part of the 
 news sent to the Timen about Canada from Philadelphia is inaccurate. 
 
 Though Canada is a part of the American continent, it is not, and 
 never has been, a part of the United States. The deliberate choice of 
 her people has been against it. For the last half century, at any rate, 
 they have been free in making the choice ; and the»r choice has been, 
 and ia to day, to work out their destiny on this continent in their own 
 way. We might have long ago joined the United States, if we would j 
 but we would not. It is interesting to trace the origin of this 
 repugnance. 
 
 When the English colonies were once where the Eastern States 
 are now, the regions now occupied by Canada from the Atlantic to 
 the great lakes were wholly under the dominion of France. The 
 fortunes of war made these territories British. But while Britain gained 
 in the north she shortly afterwards lost her colonies in the south- 
 Numbers, however, of her children preferred the old flag. They 
 migrated northwards, and settled the forest-covered regions of Upper 
 Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and part of Lower Canada. 
 So an entire reversal took place. What before was French became 
 English, and what was English became American. It is noticeable 
 that the French inhabitants of Lower Canada, though often approached, 
 have never shown a desire to affiliate with the American Republic. 
 Thus, then, the very foundation of Canada, the raison d'etre of her 
 continuance as a separate entity on this continent, has been the 
 deliberate and continuous preference of her people for British insti- 
 tutions rather than for American. And this is true in spite of 
 the rebellion of 1837 : for this rebellion was an outbreak against a 
 mode of rule, which, though British in form, was anti-British in 
 character. The rebellion, in fact, if we go to its foundation, was a 
 struggle for British Parliamentary institutions. The struggle was 
 successful. The British system of Parliamentary government by 
 ministers responsible to the people, as distinguished from the 
 congressional system of the States, has ever since been our prized 
 
inheritance. A constantly increasing population has occupied these 
 regions for four or five generations, and of their own free will they 
 have always resolved to keep their country a separate entity on this 
 continent. The multitudes of new comers to our shores have imbibed 
 the same sentiment, or brought it with them. However dissatified they 
 may have been with the Government at home, they have invariably 
 on settling down in Canada become a part of a population who prefer 
 union with Great Britain to union with the United States. 
 
 Why is all this 1 It has been a deep and long enduring sentiment 
 It has stood unshaken amidst numerous vicissitudes. There must be a 
 etrong and substant'^.! reason for it. There undoubtedly is. I think 
 the reason is a three-iuld one. It has an element of patriotism in it, 
 and an element of independence, both strongly rooted in our composite 
 national character. There is besides, a strong conviction of the 
 superiority of the influences that proceed from Britain to those which 
 reach us from the States. 
 
 First : Patriotism. 
 
 We love our land ; we are proud of it ; we take an honest and 
 abiding interest in its welfare. We love it largely because we have 
 made it what it is, and I think we love it the more because of the 
 enormous difficulties we have overcome in taming its wildness, and 
 making it subservient to our use. We have some reason to think 
 that in the process of subduing the country (I do not mean subduing 
 our fellows, but subduing the forest, the lake, the river, and the 
 sea) we have developed the hardiest, the healthiest, and the most 
 intelligent of the pec pies that occupy the Continent. 
 
 What was this portionof North America when we or our ancestors 
 came to it. Let us try to picture it to an Englishman. If he can 
 imagine England, as at one time it certainly was, wholly covered by 
 forests and swamps, without a mile of road, without a field, farm, 
 church or house, with not a single village, town or city through its 
 length and breadth, without a bridge over its rivers, and without a 
 harbour on its coasts, its sole inhabitants being wandering savages, its 
 woods filled with wolves, bears and wild deer, he can picture what a 
 large part of Canada was, within the memory of living men ; and 
 what the whole of it was, not many generations ago. A vast expanse 
 of varied territory covered by primeval forests, not a sing' 3 mile of 
 road being made through them, not a bridge, not a harbour, 
 not a civilized house, not a civilized man. The task of 
 
8 
 
 converting this region into the Canada of to-day is, I 
 venture to say, utterly unthinkable to any ordinary Eng- 
 lishman, for it is unlike anything within the bounds of his experi- 
 ence. We in Canada have taken this savage wilderness and 
 transformed it into a country filled with the conveniencies and luxuries 
 of modem civilization. We have surveyed and mapped out regions 
 which came into our posession, penetrating interminable forests for 
 the purpose. We have divided the land into counties, ridings and 
 townships. We have cov 'ed the whole area of it with loads, having 
 constructed not less than J0,000 miles of them, nearly all through 
 the forests in the first place. This is independent of great public 
 works of the Government, such as canals, railways, harbours, light- 
 houses, breakwaters, deepening river channels, &c, for which purpose* 
 mainly our national debt was contracted. 
 
 The labour of making roads has been a bagatelle compared with 
 the labour of making farms. The words " making farms " will sound 
 strange to English ears, for ninety-nine out of every hundred in 
 England imagine that the farms of the motherland are natural features 
 of the country. But a farm is a manufactured article, just as truly as 
 a waggon or a threshing machine. It has to be made, just as truly as 
 a house has to be built. The material is of the Great Creator — th& 
 handiwork is of man. 
 
 Now we have thus made aboat 30,000,000 acres of farms. The 
 whole of this has been done by the piocess of cutting down the woods. 
 It is a very low average which gives 20 trees to an acre of ground,, 
 for numbers of acres in the forest have five times as many. But on 
 this moderate scale of computation we arrive at the conclusion that 
 more than six hundred millions of forest trees have been cut down to 
 make the farms of the present day. Our farmers may well be proud 
 of their lands, when they have cost them so much labor. We have built 
 some 100,000 or 150,000 farm houses. Those of the early days were 
 simply wooden sheds. Thousands of the Canadian farm houses of the 
 present day are substantial and handsome dwellings, with beautiful 
 orchards and gardens surrounding them. And our country, now that 
 we have made it, is one of the most fertile, productive, and beautiful 
 on the face of the earth, with a bracing and sunny climate adapted in 
 a high degree to the development of the race. * 
 
 * Scarcely any part of Canada in as far north as London, and by far the 
 greater part of it U south of the latitude of Paris. 
 
 I 
 
■: 
 
 ,. 
 
 •• 
 
 Thinly populated as Canada is compared with Great Britain, we 
 still have hundreds of thriving villages with their shops, dwellings, 
 and churches. We have scores of towns also with their gaslit streets, 
 telegraphs, shops, villas, banks, and railway stations. We have not 
 a few cities, with their numerous spires and towers, betokening the 
 presence of the Cathedral, the University, the Municipal building, 
 with miles of handsome streets, mansions, factories, warehouses, 
 churches, clubs, opera houses, and every convenience and luxury that 
 European cities can boast. Wo have in this city of Montreal alone, 
 besides street railway cars, and omnibuses, some 800 cabs. Some 70 
 railway trains come and go from our stations every day. We have 
 ten daily newspapers. I hardly know a more striking way to put 
 advanced civilization than this. 
 
 The last and crowning work in the way of material progress has 
 been the construction of railways. . We do not take all the credit of 
 this. Our earlier railways were designed, engineered, and constructed 
 by Englishmen. But in time we learned the art of building railways 
 for ourselves, and we improved even upon our Mother Country. 
 Canada has the unique triumph of having conceived, engineered, and 
 built the greatest railway on the face of the globe. The Canadian 
 Pacific Railway is wholly our own work. 
 
 But other things have been done in Canada demanding a far higher 
 order of ability. We have established a complete, system of municipal 
 and parliamentary government. 
 
 This ic our own work. Generations of Canadian statesmen, guided, 
 indeed, now and then by able administrators from England, have 
 a'sconiplished this. The crowning work of Canadian Statesmen in 
 roaring up our political fabric was the welding together of our sopamte 
 provinces into one confederation ; a work demanding the highest 
 qualities of statcmanship. Following botli American and British 
 models, we have improved upon them. Canada is a perfect Fedoratio'i 
 already, and in this respect has far outstripped in her political 
 dovolopniont any otiier colony of Great Britain. We have well 
 established ecclesiastical systems. Our jurisprudence and laws 
 command universal respect and obedience. We have a system of 
 education, beginning at the very foundation in the common country 
 school, and reaching up to universities whoso culture is of the same 
 stivndard as that of the old universities of the Mother Country and 
 United States, 
 
10 
 
 Our shipping interests are very large, both inland and of the ocean. 
 Our friends in England will probably be surprised to learn that they 
 are enormously greater in proportion to our population than those of 
 the United States. Seven lines of ocean steamships come to the port 
 of Montreal, most of them either originated, owned, or controlled in 
 Canada. It may surprise them, too, to bo told that our trade and 
 commerce are much greater in proportion to population than those of 
 the United States. We have a thoroughly established Banking system 
 almost wholly oui own creation. Our manufactures and mines arc 
 rapidly developing. * Art, Literatuie, Science, all have their place 
 in our midst. Our social life and habits are fashioned after the best 
 European models, both English and French, and the country is a great 
 find glorious one, with noble inland seas, picturesque chains of 
 mountains, beautiful coasts and harbours ; a splendid system of rivers, 
 and, what has come to us almost as a new revelation, a vast and fertile 
 prairie region with room enough in it for millions more of inhabitants. 
 
 (2.) Such is the Canada of to-day ; and it is our own country. There 
 is not only patriotism, but Independence in our love of it. Our fathers 
 and we have toiled to produce it. We have an abiding faith in great 
 possibilities for the future, and we mean, under Providence, to keep 
 these possibilities under our own control in close unity with the 
 Mother Country. Our neighbours to the South have more than once 
 attempted to take the land for their own, and have been repulsed. 
 They have made diplomatic approaches ; but we have not responded. 
 ' They have tried a system of gentle pressure ; but this has only aroused 
 a sterner spirit of self-reliance. Great Britain has always aidiki us by 
 her forces ; and our own people have been proud to rally around them 
 as a nucleus, in defence of their homes and their country. 
 
 The toils of the early pioneers, their sacrifices, hardships, and 
 endurance, both of men and women, are almost inconceivable to us of 
 these later times, and they have been, and are now, entirely inconceiv- 
 able to our brethren in England. Some of them in thtir ignorance, 
 notably those of the John Bright school, have cast jibes and reproaches 
 at us at the very time, when, by heroic sacrifices and wrestling with 
 
 <l 
 
 . 
 
 * Our protective policy may be critized, with reoHon or unreason. Our own 
 people are by no means united on that subject. It is not a question of trade 
 merely. But there can be no diversity of opinion as to the goodness of our wares ; 
 that is well established. 
 
11 
 
 ) 
 
 i 
 
 the fierce forces of nature in lonely forest regions, the pioneers of early 
 days were preparing the times of comfort and prosperity under which 
 we now live, and under which Canadians have become larger consumers 
 of British goods than any other inhabitants of this continent.* 
 
 (3.) With regard to the superiority of the influences that flow from 
 Great Britain, a whole essay would be required to do justice to the 
 subject. They are social, literary, and political, multifarious in number, 
 and constant in duration. 
 
 As between Great Britain and the United States, the opinion of 
 Canadians may be expressed in a Scriptural quotation. " No man 
 when ho hath tasted old wine straightway desireth new : for he saith 
 THE OLD IS BETTER." 
 
 PESSIMISM. 
 
 But, say a few, even among ourselves, the Canada of to-day is a 
 bundle of disjointed provinces, and cannot long subsist together as a 
 Confederation. In support of this they point to the rivalries and 
 jealousies that crop out at times between the different provinces. They 
 point, too, to the alleged exodus of our people to the United States. 
 They allege also that there is no natural affinity or commercial bond 
 between the Provinces. 
 
 As to the first, these rivalries are no stronger than those which 
 have constantly subsisted between different sections and States of the 
 neighboring Union, and between different interests and districts of 
 Great Britain itself. The rivalries of the provinces of Canada are, 
 indeed, but trifling affairs compared with the deadly feuds that have 
 raged between north and south and east and west in the union. But 
 as a matter of fact, our rivaltries are forgotten in a moment who.n some 
 question of common interest stirs us all. In the Kiel Rebellion, spite 
 of pessimist opinion to the contrary, all the provinces responded at 
 once to the call to defend our country. 
 
 As to the exodus of population, it is well known to have been 
 grossly exaggerated. If statistics are correct, many of us have migrated 
 to the States a dozen times at least. Not the slighest reliance can be 
 placed upon figures which are got up for political purposes. They can 
 be promptly repudiated by their very authors if party exigencies call 
 
 *The Uritish Board of Trade returns do us injustice. The great bulk of our 
 imi>ort8 and exports in winter are entered as if they belonged to the United 
 States, because at that season they pass through American ports. But they are 
 Canadian for all that. 
 
12 
 
 for it. Travel and intercourse between Canada and the States are just 
 as free, and as constant as between Scotland and England, or England 
 and the Continent. Young men from our agricultural districts migrate 
 to the manufacturing districts of New England, just as they do from 
 the agricultural to the manufacturing counties in Old England. But 
 numbers of Americans have crossed the northern boundary and settled 
 in Canada. They arc constantly doing so. Many of the most intelli- 
 gent and wealthy' of our population are American in origin, but they 
 become thoroughly Canadian in feeling whenever obey have lived long 
 enough in the cc jntry to acquire an interest in it. As to the want of 
 affinity of interest and of commercial connection between the provinces 
 of Canada, no one will allege this who has competent knowledge of 
 the subject. But some conductors of the press have not competent 
 knowledge of it. That " superficial omniscience " which is said to be 
 the curse of modern journalism, leads to constant misconception and 
 misstatements in our journals. It is, however, a large subject, and we 
 may all make the common mistake of speaking of the whole when we 
 know but a part. I think, however, the following will be near the 
 truth : — 
 
 1. When the people of old Canada and the Maritime Provinces 
 met to discuss Confederation, some twenty years ago, they found 
 almost instantly, that they were not strangers and foreigners, but one 
 people. Their sentiments, antecedents, ideas, and aspirations, wore 
 fundamentally the same. 
 
 2. The trade between the different Provinces is not published in 
 any Custom House returns. It is supposed, ther::fore, by some, who 
 have no other means of knowing, to be non-existent. But bankers 
 liave other means of knowing. Speaking as a banker, and of what I 
 know as such, I assert that the trade between Ontario, Quebec, and 
 the Maritime Provinces is large, constant, and natural. The Mari- 
 time Provinces are buying their provisions and breadstuff's in the best 
 markets when they buy them in Ontario and Quebec. The grain and 
 flour of Manitoba enter also into the supply, and will probably do so 
 increasingly. As to exports, no doubt the United States and Great 
 Britain are the best customers of the Maritime Provinces, and so they 
 are of all the Provinces. But who ever heard that it is necessary 
 to the unity of a country that its whole trade should be within itself, 
 and that it should have no intercourse with foreign nations 1 This is 
 certainly an odd idea to be propounded by people speaking the English 
 
13 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 tongue. In fact, the same reasons which would show that Canada is 
 a bundle of disconnected provinces, would prove Great Britain to be 
 a bundle of disconnected counties, and the adjoining Republic a mere 
 jumble of warring States. The logic of facts is against all this. If 
 Ontario and Nova Scotia have no natural connection, what natural 
 connection is there between Minnesota and Georgia ? Or between 
 Ohio and South Carolina 1 Or Montana and Kentucky 1 Looking 
 at Great Britain, what natural connection is there between Norfolk 
 and Cornwall, or between Northumberland and Kent, or Lanark and 
 Glamorgan 1 It is not long since that the people of Cornwall used to 
 talk of people in the Midland counties as living in foreign parts. 
 That is a fact well known to residents. 
 
 But Engand is not going back to the Heptarchy. And the United 
 States endured the horrors of a terrible war to keep her separate parts 
 unbroken. 
 
 Let Canadians not be misled by pessimists from among themselves. 
 They should know by this time that such pessimism is generally the 
 pessimism of opposition to the Government, or the pessimism of 
 natural restlessness, or the pessimism that always looks to the distant 
 and unattainable, as a haven of contentment and delight. There is 
 also an interested pessimism in the minds of a few persons, some of 
 whom are Americans connected with our press, who constantly show 
 their ignorance of Canada, though writing in its newspapers. Such 
 as these desire to foment discontent on this side of the line, in order 
 to bring about a desire for annexation. 
 
 Mr. Goldwin Smith's pessimistic views are well known. He is a 
 man whom it is becoming to speak of in terms of high respect. In 
 theory he depreciates Canada as a Dominion, and would have us cast 
 in our lot with the United States. But the logic of facts cannot but 
 have weight. It is hardly intruding on the concerns of private life to 
 say that though Mr. Smith left England to settle in the United States, 
 he left that country long ago to take up his residence in Canada, And he 
 lives here still. Many of us think that, if Canada became a part of the 
 States, nearly everything which attracts him to Canada would disappear. 
 
 Canada, then, is not a disjointed bundle of provinces. We have 
 largely a common history and traditions. We have a common flag 
 and country. We have common laws, feelings, and aspirations. We 
 are most closely united by commercial ties, and even the difference of 
 language, race, and local laws in one of the provinces does not prevent 
 
14 
 
 us being one people as Canadians. To many thoughtful persons of 
 English blood, the French element, with its romantic traditions, its fine 
 literary culture, its charm of social life, its grace, elegance, and refine- 
 ment, is not the least attractive of the varied features that go to make 
 Canada a country to be loved with a strong and abiding attachment. 
 We have groat aspirations, and a great ambition — namely, to be 
 
 and to do in future what will bo worthy of our past, and worthy of 
 the Empire of which we form a part. 
 
 The early French explorers, such as Champlain and LaSalle, were 
 men of whom any nation in the world might be proud. The men 
 that have made modern Canada what it is, from the toiling settler in 
 forest solitudes, to the statesmen forming plans of government for 
 half a continent, will be appreciated at their worth as time reduces all 
 things to their true proportions. 
 
 Our material future is assured. Nothing can prevent our growing 
 wealthy and prosperous. But it is well for us occasionally to consider 
 in what mould our political future will be cast. That is a matter on 
 which opinions differ. Shall we remain as we are 1 Shall we seek 
 annexation to the States 1 Shall we seek by secession to become an 
 isolated nation 1 Shall we seek, while retaining a virtual independence, 
 to become one of a confederation of States of which our Mother 
 Country is the centre 1 These are great questions. Their discussion 
 will bring about a clashing and conflict of opinions. But out of this 
 clashing and conflict there will finally emerge a settled conviction 
 which will shape our political destiny. 
 
 Let us look at each of these calmly, and in the light of knowledge 
 and reason. 
 
 ANNEXATION. 
 
 Putting aside our continuance as at present, which is scarcely a 
 matter for discussion, let the consideration of Annexation first come 
 before us. 
 
 It is a fixed conviction with numbers of Englishmen that annexa- 
 tion to the United States must ultimately ensue. In the United 
 States themselves the sentiment was once universal. The words 
 " manifest destiny " used in this connection had become part of their 
 common speech. Of late years this opinion has been modified. Those 
 who have a more perfect knowledge of Canada seldom express it. 
 Both Englishmen and Americans have been misled by maps and 
 geographical considerations. But geography and maps have been the 
 
15 
 
 source of many illusions. They deceived many during the war 
 between the North and South. Numbers of Englishmen imagined, 
 from studying maps and geography, that the South was by far the 
 greater power of the two. Events undeceived them. If we, on this 
 side of the Atlantic, judged the divisions of Europe simply by maps and 
 geography we should be similarly deceived. We should certainly think 
 Spain and Portugal to be one country. "We should find no place for 
 Belgium or Holland ; still less for Switzerland ; Germany and Austria 
 ought to be one state ; and why should Russia be bounded as it is ? 
 
 In looking at the boundaries and future of nations, tradition, sentiment, 
 laws, and above all, FLAG, are the vital forces that determine them. 
 
 I do not wish to become responsible for ^atement8 as to what the 
 people of Canada may think, or what the people of Canada may 
 determine to do at some future time. Assertions as to what millions 
 or tens of millions of people may do, belong rather to the iri'esponsible 
 newspaper reporter whoso follies amuse us at our breakfast table. As 
 to the future we can only draw inferences. About uhe past and the 
 present, we have accurate knowledge. The following facts are, I 
 submit, unquestionable as bearing on annexation. 
 
 We have had Legislatures of our own in all the Provinces, meeting 
 every year for more than two generations back. Every possible 
 variety of subject affecting the interests of Canada hay, been discussed 
 in these Legislatures ; but in no one of them, at any time, under any 
 conjunction of circumstances, no matter what political party he belonged 
 to, has any member of Parliament ever brought forward a resolution 
 looking to annexation. 
 
 Further : — Numbers of elections have been held during the last 
 fifty years amongst us, and thousands of political speeches have been 
 made. I venture to say that politicians here are as keenly observant 
 of the drift of public opinion as they are anywhere in the world. No 
 man in any election speech, at any time, in any part of the country, 
 has ever spoken of annexation as a remedy for the political evils and 
 wrongs, which those in opposition invariably descant upon. 
 
 Some years ago, a member of the Dominion Parliament, in the heat of 
 debate, stated that unless certain grievances of the people of Cana«iawere 
 redressed, they might look to Washington for a remedy. This declaration 
 caused great excitement in the House. It was indignantly commented 
 upon by the press at the time, and for years was used, justly or unjustly, 
 to bring reproach upon the political character of the person who uttered it. 
 
■■■M 
 
 16 
 
 These are facts, that no one acquainted with Canada for the last 
 tV Tty or forty years will dispute, and they are pregnant with meaning 
 whtn we consider how free our institutions are, with what freedom 
 we discuss the measures of our ministers, the conduc^i of our Governors, 
 the proceedings of the Enr^lish Parliament, and of the Legislatures of 
 the United States. They point clearly to this, that the steady and 
 persistent flow of public opinion is in another direction than annexa- 
 tion. 
 
 This is the more remarkable, considering the close ties that bind 
 us to the people of the United States in other respects. In spite of 
 tariff's, there is a heavy volume of trade between us, to our mutual 
 advantage. Ecclesiastically, we are almost one people. Ministers and 
 dignitaries of the various Churches often interchange positions on both 
 sides. In various forms of Christian activity and philanthropic work 
 there is no dividing line between us. Our intercourse with the 
 United States in literature, art, and in some strata of social life, is 
 close and constant. Streams of American tourists regularly visit 
 Canada for recreation. Canadians just as constantly visit the pic- 
 turesque regions of the United States. We thoroughy appreciate 
 (and we know them more accurately than our English friends) the good 
 qualities of the people of the United States in many relations of life. 
 But with their political system Canadians have no sympathy. Many 
 of the most intelligent among us are persuaded that the American 
 people are as great as they are in spite of that system, and not in 
 consequence of it ; in fact, that they owe their greatness to their race, 
 their traditions, antecedents, religion, and inherited habits, rather 
 than to a paper Constitution, which would have been shattered to 
 pieces again and again, but for the qualities they inherit from their 
 English ancestors. We, in Cariada, have had the advantage of one 
 hundred years of experience. We have formed our Constitution on 
 better models, and I imagine the ideas of the more thoughtful and 
 experienced amongst us would be something like these : — 
 
 That annexation to the United States would be a distinct step 
 backward in our political life ; that we have a more perfectly developed 
 liberty in a Parliamentary system by which Ministers are directly re- 
 sponsible to the people ; that we have a better judicial system, a better 
 administration of the law, a more ready redress of grievances, a 
 sounder and more practically developed system of public educatioij. 
 Our impression is that the United States are fast becoming already an 
 
17 
 
 unwieldy aggregation of communities; that public opinion scarcely 
 makes itself felt in its system of government ; that the daily press 
 (except the financial journals), has lost all its political, and most of 
 its intellectual power, having become largely a mere channel for the 
 retailing of the silliest of twaddle and the falsest of reports ; that 
 while private enterprises of every kind in the States are conducted 
 with the highest ability and enterprise, politics, either State or Federal, 
 are becoming more and more corrupt. We. in Canada, know how far 
 from perfect our own Government, or system of government, is. It 
 would be absurd, indeed, to claim perfection, either absolute or approx- 
 imate, for any system of government on earth. But we are persuaded 
 that to join the United States would not be a change for the better 
 but for the worse. If the United States would adopt our system of 
 government, it would undoubtedly be a change for the better for them, 
 but as they arc too large already, it would indeed be an absurdity to 
 add to their cares the government of another half of this continent. 
 
 With regard to trade, Canada would lose as much as she would 
 gain by a change in this direction. 
 
 SECESSION OR INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Another idea, however, and one growing in favour amongst the 
 young men of Canada, is that of Independence. Not that it is an 
 immediate practical question, for it is not. Men who look forward to 
 shaping the destiny of Canada in this direction, so far as can be judged, 
 are willing to bide their time, being convinced that events will deter- 
 mine the destiny of Canada as they wish. This idea falls in with the 
 spirit which has already had to do with determining our position. We 
 inherited it from our ancestors, and it is not likely to become weaker 
 but stronger. We have a large share of independence already. Those 
 who desire a complete and absolute independence, in other words 
 Secession, may well be reminded of the following considerations : — 
 
 A State that declares itself independent must be prepared to 
 maintain its independence by force against all comers. If it is not 
 strong enough to do that, it is not truly and properly independent. 
 Our position in that respect is not like that of the smaller nations of 
 Europe, whose strength consists in the jealousy of neighbouring powers, 
 Switzerland could not hold its position for a month if attacked by 
 France ; but Germany and Italy would defend it. If attacked by 
 Germany, France and Italy would combine to defend it. France 
 could overrun Belgium and take it without the slighest difficulty, but 
 
18 
 
 England and Germany would instantly interfere. What then is our 
 position in Canada ? "We have one of the strongest nations in the 
 world for a neighbour. "We have no other neighbour within a seven 
 days journey across the sea. If we were an independent State, 
 and a cause of quarrel arose with the United States, it is 
 improbable in the highest degree that any European State would 
 interfere. What possible interest would either England or 
 France have in any quarrel between us and our neighbours <i 
 Now, in such a quarrel, does any sane man suppose that Canada 
 could hold her own, and keep such an enormous territory as we have ? 
 It could be broken in half a dozen places within a month. But, reply 
 some, ** Why anticipate a quarrel 1 Our neighbors are friendly." He 
 must be an extreme optimist who does not see that causes of quarrel 
 do sometimes loom up, and are brewing even now in the question of 
 our Fisheries. But we have held our own before when assailed, why 
 not again 1 Certainly we have held it when the power of Great 
 Britain was joined with our own, and when the whole force of the 
 Empire, to use Mr. Gladstone's words on a memorable occasion, was 
 at our back. Under such circumstances we could doubtless hold it 
 again, but not otherwise. Some persons imagine it would be a great 
 advantage to make our own treaties. It would, beyond doubt. But 
 treaties without force behind them would prove pieces of waste paper. 
 So far as treaties are concerned we may depend upon it that in any 
 which affect Canadian interests, Canadians in future will be called 
 on to take a part. That they have been ignored with persistent 
 blindness on former occasions is the reason why large tracts of terri- 
 tory that naturally belong to us have become the property of our 
 southern neighbors. American diplomatists have always had the 
 advantage of a perfect knowledge of the country they were striving to 
 obtain. English diplomatists, on the other hand, were absolutely 
 ignorant, and, singular to say, they never thought of asking advice 
 from the people whose interests were directly affected. If Canadians 
 had negotiated the Ashburton Trtaty, we should have had very 
 different results from those which were obtained. If Canadians had 
 had a voice in fixing the boundary of our North- West, it would have 
 contained millions of acres more than it does. Canadians never 
 would have allowed a foreign power to dominate the approaches and 
 command the harbors of British Columbia. We may some day have 
 reason bitterly to regret our supineness in this matter. Such things, 
 
19 
 
 however, belong to the past. We have had a hand in making one 
 treaty, and proved that we were perfectly capable of taking care of 
 •our own interests. Some persons imagine that Canadians would 
 be of greater consequence in Europe if we were an independent 
 country. We have often been irritated to find what greater con- 
 sideration is given to United States people than to Canadians. 
 But it is, after all, solely because the United States have become 
 a great and powerful people. It used not to be so. Americans, 
 in the lifetime of many of us, were looked upon in Europe as only 
 half civilized, and treated quite as contemptuously as Canadians have 
 been till recently. If Canada were an independent State, what sort 
 of a position should we have amongst the representatives and ambas- 
 sadors of the nations of the world ? A tenth rate position at present ; 
 that is certain. It is altogether a dream that we should be respected 
 simply because we are independent. We may depend upon it that 
 any self assertion of such a little state as we would be, would be 
 severely snubbed. When Canada does something great in the eyes 
 of the world she will be respected. We have made a wilderness 
 <;apable of supporting 5,000,000 of people. That is something to 
 begin with. We put down the Kiel rebellion with our own forces. 
 That was something. The marches, fatigues and privations of our 
 volunteer troops proved them to be the equals of any in the world. 
 That was something. We have made the Pacific Railway. That is 
 something, and a very great something. The British Association has 
 been here, and met its peers. That is something. The sneers of the 
 London Times with regard to the development of science in Canada 
 Jiave recoiled upon its own head, showing that the ignorance was not 
 in Canada but in Printing House Square. 
 
 I need scarcely say that such a change as secession would involve 
 very grave financial considerations. It is not possible, however, to 
 discuss these. 
 
 It is by deeds that Canada must make herself respected in the 
 community of nations, and she is rapidly doing it. Let us go on as 
 we are, and we shall find that Canada is no longer considered as a 
 part of the United States, and that to be a Canadian entitles a man 
 ±0 hold up his head in any community in the world. 
 
20 
 
 FEDERATION. 
 
 My object in this paper has rather been to present concisely our 
 own position for the information of those who may not understand it, 
 than to discuss at length the great questions that are connected with 
 Federation. This paper, however, would not be complete unless 
 something, however little, was said in regard to this. 
 
 To begin with, there are obviously various forms, more or less 
 complete and practicable, of such a Federation as is proposed. 
 
 (1.) A perfect and complete Federation of the whole Empire 
 would take somewhat of the following form : — It ^\ould be such a 
 union as is found in Canada between its several Provinces, or in the 
 neighboring Republic between the several States. In these Federa- 
 tions there is perfect free trade between all the Provinces or States, 
 one set of customs duties is levied in all its parts, common interests, 
 such as Post Office, finance, banking, commerce, tariff, excise, being 
 controlled by a central Parliament, consisting of two branches of the 
 legislature. A Governor, or President, is over all, and each com- 
 ponent part has its own legislature, governor, judiciary, taxing power 
 to a certain extent, and jurisdiction over certain specified concerns. 
 If this system were applied to the whole British Empire, there would 
 be perfect free trade and an entire abolition of all customs, between 
 the var'ous countries and territories composing it. There would be 
 a common debt, common taxation, common tariff, and common 
 banking, commercial, and bankruptcy laws. With regard to the 
 machinery for carrying on this federated government, there would 
 need to be considerable changes in Great Britain. England, Scotland, 
 Ireland, and Wales would all probably require separate local govern- 
 ments, legislative and executive, and separate systems of local juris- 
 prudence and taxation. The present House of Commons and House 
 of Lords in a modified form might constit'ite the nucleus of these 
 Local Legislatures. A Lieut. -Governor would require to be appointed 
 for England, and others for Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The 
 Colonies are already organized on this system. Then, when all the 
 component parts of the Empire had their separate executive and 
 legislative systems provided for, a higher executive and legislative 
 machinery would require to be constituted to deal with the affairs of 
 the Federated Empire. This higher machinery would correspond 
 with the two houses of Legislature in the United States, the Presi- 
 
21 
 
 dent and Cabinet being above all, or with our own Dominion 
 Parliament, with the Governor-General and Ministry above all. The 
 head of the Imperial machinery would, of course, be the Queen. 
 
 But an altogether new Parliament would require to be elected, of 
 course consisting of two branches of the Legislature — a House of 
 Commons, and a Senate or House of Lords. All parts of t^*^ Empire 
 would require to be represented on an equal footing, in numbers 
 proportioned to their population, or whatever else might be agreed 
 on. This body would deal with such great matters as the 
 ■commerce, tariff, finance, taxation, and debt of the whole 
 Empire. The post office, the army, the navy, and the diplo- 
 matic service would be under its control. The place in which such a 
 Parliament would meet would, of course, be London. This would be 
 Federation pure and simple, ample and complete, with all its powers, 
 functions, and obligations thoroughly defined. It would need, how- 
 ever, to be created by a written constitution. 
 
 Is such a scheme of government as this within the bounds of 
 practical realization 1 And could it be carried out if set on foot 1 Let 
 us consider what would require to be done. 
 
 A world-wide Convention would require to be held in order to 
 draw up a new constitution for the British Empire. Is this practic- 
 able t If such a constitution were drawn up, would the people of the 
 British Islands accept such an extraordinary increase of governmental 
 machinery as it would involve 1 Would it be possible to prevail on 
 the present House of Commons to pass such a series of self-denying 
 ordinances as would be necessary 1 Would it be possible within any 
 measurable space of time to settle the knotty questions of the 
 division of legislative functions and powers between what is local for 
 Great Britain and Avhat is Imperial for all the world 1 I merely 
 throw out these suggestions and leave others in Great Britain to 
 answer them. 
 
 But what the bearing of such a complete federation would be on 
 Canada is a question which I will attempt to answer. Under such a 
 systeij . we might undoubtedly elect our own Governor, if we wished, 
 whatever advantage there might be in that. I believe there would 
 be none. All the manufactures of Great Britain would enter the 
 country free of duty. This would infallibly destroy our rising 
 industries in cottons, woollens, iron, etc., render valueless numbers of 
 factories and mills, and destroy the property of thousands of our 
 
99 
 
 citizens to the amount of many millions. It would destroy nearly 
 the whole of our revenue from Customs duties, and render it neces- 
 sary that the debt of the Dominion of Canada should be assumed 
 by the Federation. It would undoubtedly lead to an immense 
 diminution of our trade with the United States. It would lead 
 to a transfer of control of our most important interests to a 
 Legislature 3,000 miles away, in which we would have but a mere 
 fraction of influence. On these grounds, and others not mentioned, I 
 have no hesitation in saying that such a system of Imperial Federa- 
 tion as this would never be consented to by the people of Canada. 
 It would prove utterly unworkable if attempted. It would create a 
 thousand complications, disputes, questions, and strifes. For Canada 
 it would be nothing short of a revolution. It does not seem that any 
 revolutionary change is called for by any exigencies that exist at 
 present. 
 
 A MORE EXCELLENT WAY. 
 
 But then can nothing be done ? I do not see that we are shut up to 
 this conclusion. There is a more excellent way. But in such matters, 
 Festina Lente is a good rule. Let us hasten slowly. In my judg- 
 ment, the utmost that can be done at present in the way of Federation 
 is to have Great Britain and her Colonies closely bound in a defensive 
 alliance againsu any Power or State that may attempt aggression upon 
 any of them. Alliances of this sort are generally offensive as well as 
 defensive. But it is doubtful if an alliance that would bind the 
 Colonies to furnish men, material, and money for an aggressive war 
 could be carried out. For the defence of the Empire, however, all 
 parts of the Empire might fairly be called on to contribute. But the 
 adjustment of the proportion of each would be a matter calling for 
 large information, much judgment, and a sound, impartial estimate of 
 the position of each part in relation to the whole. We have long 
 ceased to cost Great Britain any^'iing for military defence ; and the 
 only harbor in which British ships of war are now stationed is Halifax, 
 on the Atlantic. 
 
 As a mode of expressing and giving effect to this defensive alliance 
 an Imperial Council of some kind would be necessary. How consti- 
 tuted, with what powers, (what taxing powers or otherwise,) how 
 often and where to meet, — these are all questions which would require 
 careful consideration and adjustment. The nucleus of such a council 
 exists already in the Commissioners and Agents-General of the various 
 
23 
 
 Colonies permanently resident in London. To these might be added 
 a certain number of English statesir.en to constitute the voice of 
 Great Britain in the Council. How to select them would be a matter 
 for consideration. Probably the appointment of certain members of 
 the Cabinet or Privy Council (ex-officio) would be best. A council 
 consisting of representative men numberincj thirty to forty persons 
 would be a body whose conclusions would carry weight with any 
 Ministry, Avhether in Great Britain or in any Colony. Its recom- 
 mendations would doubtless be carried into effect. Could there be 
 greater power entrusted to it than advisory 1 I doubt it. To the 
 consideration of such a council might be referred all questions affecting 
 the relations between the Colonies and Great Britain, and between 
 the Colonies and other countries (tariffs always excepted, for no 
 Colonial Parliament would surrender its power in this respect). Our 
 fisheries question is a case in point. Another is the occupation of 
 the islands adjacent to Australia by foreign powers ; another still, the 
 boundary and race question in South Africa. Another and more 
 practical one for Canada is the claim of France to certain rights on 
 the coast of Newfoundland. The transcendently important questions 
 that are involved in the Government of our Indian Empire, I am 
 afraid would be beyond the consideration of a Council such as this. 
 The positions of India, and of countries like Australia and Canada 
 are radically different. 
 
 The idea of the Colonies being represented in the House of Com- 
 mons, and having votes only on colonial questions, is one which 
 would be found very difficult in practice. It would certainly not be 
 liked by the House of Commons itself. The members from the 
 Colonies, too, would always feel themselves in an invidious position. 
 It would intensify the idea of inferiority, against which we have so 
 often protested. This being the case, our best men would not be 
 likely to accept it, and inferior men would be entirely out of place 
 there. 
 
 With regard to differential duties for the purpose of a Defence 
 Fund, specially or for general purposes, some grave difficulties present 
 themselves. I do not say that they are insuperable, and it is well to 
 consider the suggestion fairly. Great Britain, in that case, would be 
 required to tax the food products of the United States and Russia. 
 This might be a very distastefulutroceeding to the now dominant 
 English democracy. Differential duties against the products of the 
 
24 
 
 adjoining Republic going into England or coming into Canada would 
 certaiidy not be liked by the Americans, but as a keenly practical 
 people they would recognize the fairness of these being imposed and 
 maintained, so long as they persist in almost prohibitive duties against 
 our Empire. Greater difficulties than all these, however, have been 
 solved before, ana will be solved again. ' • , > 
 
 To sum up in a few words : , ' ■• 
 
 Canada stands firmly on the northern portion of the American 
 Continent. She is thoroughly satisfied with her territory so far as it 
 goes, though she ought to have had much more. She appreciates the 
 ties that bind her to Great Britain. An immense majority of her 
 people would strengthen them by every possible means. Canadians 
 have a warm admiration for the great qualities of the American 
 people, and desire to live on terms of friendly intercourse with them. 
 But political union they conceive would be political death. 
 
 Complete independence is not practicable. It would be dangerous 
 to try the experiment. . , ; 
 
 '' A complete Federation of the Empire, in the sense of having 
 common customs duties, tariff, debt, revenue, and finance would also 
 be impracticable. But a machinery may be devised by which the 
 Colonies and the British Islands can be united for common defence, 
 so that the strength of the whole may be rallied round any portion 
 attacked ; all to contribute, rateably, to the expense, and a council 
 for the discussion of Imperial questions to be formed, to which all 
 matters relating to the rights or interests of any of the Colonies or of 
 the Mother Country in her relation to them, may be referred. 
 
 In the discussion of these matters the inha])itants of the Colonies 
 will require to be treated as citizens of the great British Empire, 
 having an equal standing with citizens inhabiting any other part of 
 it. If there is to be a common understanding amongst us, there must 
 be no talk of putting pressure upon any of the Colonies with regard 
 to tariffs or any other matter. One article contributed to the first 
 number of the magazine devoted to Imperial Federation contains some 
 hints of this kind. But such an idea will have to be abandoned. I 
 know little of other colonies, but my impression is that they would 
 not bear it. I am very sure, at any rate, that Canada would not.