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THE POLITICAL REUNION OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. ». HV AN FA'-MRMHKR OF THIO CANADFAX F'AKTJAMKXT. CONTINENTAL union, or the poHtical reunion of the United States and Canada, is the most comprehensive and impor- tant question befoie tlie American people. The political reunion of the two great English-speaking communities who now occupy and control this continent, to quote Pi'of. Goldwin Smith, "would exclude war from North America and dedicate the whole continent securely to peaceful industry and progress. It would remove all internal customs, lines, and impediments to trade. It would make the St. Lawrence, the fisheries, the seal- ing grounds, and all piivileges which are now the subject of perpetual dispute, the undisputed heritage of all." Professor Smith's conclusions cannot be successfully disputed, and, therefore, the subject merits the earnest, thoughtful, and serious consideration of all those who create, control, and direct public opinion in this country. It should be discussed in a broad, liberal, kindly spirit upon both sides of the boundary line. The reunion of these two great communities is not desira- ble unless consummated, as the matured judgment of a large majority of all concerned, upon terms generous, just, and honor- able to both of the contracting parties. It can only be accom- plished peacefully after full, free, public discussion in the press and upon the public platform in both countries. The advocates of political reunion have nothing to fear from public discussion. X • •'^ > ■AV.r^i!.ff;- 502 THE AMEEICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS, They can well alTord to create it and abide by the result. The advantages of reunion are so great to both communities, from a financial, commercial, industrial, and political standpoint, that to arouse discussion and investigation in a generous and kindly spirit, is to assure its i)eaceful consummation. The proper attitude for the people of the United States to assume was admirably expressed in a very few words by Prof. Smith, when requested to prepare a resolution for adoption by the National Convention, held at ^Minneapolis in 1892, and was as follows : ''Let Canada cast in her lot with her own continent and she shall have all that the continent can give her. We will respect her freedom of action and welcome her, wlien she desires it, into an equal and honorable union." Canadians (and they are many) who earnestly desire to see political reunion peacefully consummated, and are quite willing and ready to make great personal sacrifices to promote and secure it, need and deserve a public declaration of assurance in unmistakable terms from a large non-partisan organized body of American citizens, fairly representative of public opinion in this country, that when they have educated and prepared a majority of the Canadian people to desire and seek reunion, Canada will be cordially received upon terms just and generous into *'an equal and honorable union." They seek this moral support from the people of this country, and they should not seek it in vain. They cannot fairly be asked or expected to enter upon and sustain a campaign of education upon this subject without this assurance. If the advantages to flow from reunion were simply of a finan- cial or commercial character, and this country were to reap all the benefits, there might be good reasons for the sentiment frequently expressed by Americans, that all advances should come from the Canadians, and that our position should be one of supreme indifference. The benefits are mutual and far tran- scend, in importance, financial or commercial gain. The political reunion of the United States and Canada will remove forever the causes most likely to involve this country in a serious conflict with Great Britain and make it possible to create and establish a moral union between America and the \ ■f POLITICAL REUNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA. 503 r. \ f - (ri Mother land, which cannot be attained under present con- ditions. This alone is of far greater importance to the several branches of the English speaking race throughout the world than all the financial and commercial adv^antages to How from it to the people of North America. The influence for good of a moral union between reunited North America and Great Britain, upon the promotion, extension, and preservation of government by the people cannot be overestimated. Such a union would power- fully influence the settlement of all international disputes by peaceful arbitration rather than by the sword, and tend to cause the disbandment of the great armies of Europe, which are a constant menace to its peace and a heavy and unjust burden to its toiling millions, as well as a perpetual disturbing factor in the financial, commercial, industrial, and political affairs of the whole world. If the peace of Europe were assured, financial, commercial, and industrial values would rest upon a more stable foundation. The influence of the political reunion of these two English communities upon the preservation of peace in North and South America deserves consideration. Our commercial interests alone in South America are already very great and are rapidly increasing, and with the completion of the Nicaragua Canal they will be largely further augmented. Continental union was proposed to the people of Quebec by the Continental Congress in session in Philadelphia upon October 20, 1774, and again in May, 1775. It was advocated by Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Samuel Adams, Jefferson, IMadison, Jay, Livingston, John Adams, and Gouverneur Morris. The failure to secure its consummation at that time was largely due to tlie publication of an ultra Protestant attack upon the Roman Catholics of Lower Canada. It might have been ettected in 1837 but for the cold indiffer- ence of the American people, which enabled the imperial gov- ernment to ejisily crush the annexation movement then active in (Canada, and drive its chief promoters, William Lyon McKenzie and John Rolj)!!, into exile. And still again in 1849, when such prominent political leaders as the late Sir George Cartier ■L 504 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS. aud Sir Alexaiuler T. Gait; Sir Leonard Tilley, the present (Jovernor of New Brunswick; Sir John J. C. Abbott, ex- premior of the Dominion ; and Sir David I\IcI*herson, a senator of Canada, signed the Montreal annexation manifesto, but for the determined opposition of the leaders of the pro-slavery party in this country, who feared the effect of the admission of several new free states into the Union, and to prevent which, they secured, through President IMerce, the Reciprocity Treaty of lS5t, which gave to Canada the financial and commercial advantages of political union without separation from Great Britain, Our Civil War, and its attendant burdens, allayed the desire of the Canadian people for a time for political reunion, but soon after 1875, when we had re-established our financial credit upon a firm basis and demonstrated our ability and willingness to discharge all of our obligations, the latent desire for reunion was revived and has been steadily increasing ever since, and now exists upon a broader basis and upon stronger convictions as to its beneficent results than ever before. Seward, Sumner, and Blaine, a trio of clear and far-sighted statesmen, all strongly favored continental union, upon the basis nnder discussion. Mr. Seward purchased Alaska chiefly for its influence in promoting political union with Canada. The Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, of Connecticut, in his '^ His- toric Policy of the United States as to Annexation," predicts ^Hhat the North American Continent, with every island on the east and the Hawaiian group upon the west, all bound to it as satellites to their planet, will, if we continue our present policy as to annexation, come under the American flag." Mr. Andrew Carnegie, in his ''A Look Ahead," sees in conti- nental union not only a most desirable moral union between all powerful reunited North America and the Mother land securing beneficent results to humanity, but a possible political reunion of the several branches of the Anglo Saxon race. The Hon. Carl Schurz, while objecting to the annexation of Hawaii, favors political union with Canada. The Hon. John Sherman, the nestor of the United States Senate, has expressed the opinion that continental union is the •e of I POLITICA L REUNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA, rm most important (juestion iKifoie the American people demanding solution at the present time. The Hon. Anthony IFij^gins, in a brilliant address delivered in Detroit upon the 'JlM day of February last (Wsushington's birthday), declared continental union to be "our manifest des- tiny," and support/cd his declaration with many cogent reasons. The Hon. Honore Mercer, ex-premier of the province of Quebec, the most adroit and skillfid political leader, with a stronger personal following than any of his cotemporaries, is organizing in that province the Independence party, as the first practical step toward continental union. The Hon. (Jiiarles A. Dana, the cleverest editor upon the American press, a clear and far-sighted politi(5al leader, always an American when American interests are involved, hsis for some years past made an aggressive, determined, and persistent demand for continental union, lusserting that no event likely to happen will accomplish so much to i)reserve the peace of the world, establish cordial relations between all the branches of the Anglo Saxon race, promote, extend, and perpetuate self- government, and add so largely to the iulluence, prestige, and power of North America. Enough has been written to Justify the creation of a non- partisan organization in this country, for the avowed purpose of securing continental union by all peaceful, lawful, and honora- ble means. A solid Canadian vote has been suggested in some quarters as an objection to political reunion. The late Secretarv Reward, as long ago as 1867, completely disposed of that objecti<». by show- ing that the interests of the English-speaking maratime provin- ces would always be with our Atlantic States, that those of the great central Protestant province of Ontario would be with Xew York, Ohio, and Michigan, while the interests of British Colum- bia would be with our Pacific States, and that of any provinces or states organized between Ontario and the Eocky Mountains would be with our Northwestern States. Mr. Seward's con- clusions are as valid to-day as when he first published them. The great French Roman Catholic province of Quebec, the 1 666 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS. I " I second iu population and wealth in the Doniiuioii, wliich cou- (rols the mouth of tlie St. Lawrence, the key which liohls the Confederacy to{j;etliei', wliich separates the English Protestant maratiiue provinces from Ontario, and whose best and nearest market will always be in our Xew JOiigland States, and whose children to tlie number of live hundred thousand have settled there, will never unite with the other Canadian provinces to create a solid Canadian vote, when she becomes a sovereign state in the American Union. At the present time, there are seven provinces in the Canadian (Confederation, each one having a local legislature. As states in the Union they would be entitled to only fourteen senators and twenty-five members of the House of Kepresentatives. No danger could, therefore, come to the Eepublic from a solid Canadian vote, even if it were possible to organize it. Another objection sometimes raised to continental union, is the incorporation into the Republic of the French lioman Catholic province of (Quebec. This objection is not founded upon knowledge, but upon prejudice. The Canadian French Komanists are a kiiidly, home and kindred loving, domestic, peaceful, hiw- abiding, moral people. Life and property are as secure in Quebec as iu any state in the Kex^ublic, and far more so than in many of them. The French Catholics have a very large majority in Montreal, and yet for the past thirty years the mayors of that city have been chiefly chosen from the English-speaking race. We have five hundred thousand Frencb Canadians in the Eastern States who are quite as law-abiding as the average of the citizens of New England. They are naturally republican and will readily harmonize with our institutions. There is not anywhere in the world two and one half millions of people in a body the equal of the inhabitants of Ontario in all respects, and so free from objectionable and disturbing elements. They are as thoroughly versed in the art of self- government, and as industrious, ambitious, energetic, enterpris- ing, progressive, moral, law-abiding, peaceful, and wisely con- servative as our best and most favored communities. POLITIVA L RFA^NION OF THE V. S. AND CAN A DA. -.(.7 linpciiiil fe(UMiiti()ii iin a do.sirablo and practical .solution of the future relation of ('anadi to the UnittMl States and the IJritish lOtnpire, hius no Huhslantial support in the Dominion. Its advocates are over /.eaioiis loyalists and inipraclicid |)olitical dreamers. A federation of tlie several branches of the Anglo- Saxon race with tlie United States left out, is not worth a moment's consideration, and if attempted to pi'olong- JJritain's control upon the continent, w ill sooner oi- later lead to a war for the complete supremacy of the lepublic in North AmiM-ica. It would certaiidy create and develop a spirit of antaj^jonism be- tween the United States and the Federated l']iu[)ire, which would increase lather than remove the causes which tend to produce a contlict between the two chief Inanclies of the Anglo- Saxon race, rractically it is a dead ])olitical issue in Canada. Unrestricted reciprocity and commercial union as a settlement of our relations with Canada, as i)i'oposed by the leaders t)f the oft defeated Liberal partj', are ^^insubstantial dreams" while Canada remains a IJritish dependency, (ireat Britain will never consent, while she is responsible to the world for Canada, to the free admission into Canada of the product of our manufactories while that of hers is subject to a high customs duty. Nor will a majority of the <'anadiau electoiate ever consent to a treaty which opens their market free to our manufactories, wiiich can be abrogated at any time after ten years. Xor will the govern- ment of the United States enter into a treaty of that character which would be experimental as to its results and might become very embarrassing in dealing with other nations, which cannot be terminated at pleiisure after a limited period. Independence will add to the per capita cost of go\ ernment and defense without enlarging the market for the surplus prod- ucts of Canada or without lessening the exodus of her people or increasing her ability to divert immigration to her shores. As population must precede development and development an in- crease in the value of fixed investments, independence will not afford Canada any relief from the difficulties which surround her at the present time, or allay the spirit of unrest which pre- vails from Cape Briton to Vancouver, or remove the impression # WH TITR AMERICA!^ JOURNAL OF POLITICS, tu tliat oMHts ill tiMt iiiiiids of her |i(>(>pl(^ that a liulical political cliiiii^'f; is iiiip<>ii(liii^'. lii(I(>p(Mi(h>ii('<^ <'aii only bo piactically cotisidcrctl :us a step lowanl coiitiiKMital iiiii ctMisidcrcd. The Hon. lOdward lllakc, tlu^ lato leader of tl>e Liberal party, now a iiHMiiber of the Imperial l*arlianient, who retircre and ardent dclender and advo<^ate of his native land, descrilK's the present policy t)f (/anada as ''one of re- tardation, of slow develoinnent, of declininjjj values, of an exodus of poi)ulation, of increasiiijjj indebtedness, and decreased power of payment." (Mearly then continental union is the only prac- tical i)olicy under discussion which will secuie the rapid devel- opment of the boundless natural resources of Canada and forever settle her relation to her ii;reat neij;hbor to the south of her and to the outside world. Mr. Wiman in a letter published in Truth, in March, 1891, wrote JUS follows : " The two nationalities set out side by side one hundred and twenty years ago on the race for continental s'lpremacy. The United States had an untried form of govern- ment, had no capital, no backing, and no previous experience, working out on a vast scale a plan of self government, and an experiment in tinance and development. Canada had behind her (Jreat llritain, stable institutions, enormous supplies of money, and everything to make her great. Yet to-day the two countries are widely dift'erent in the results achieved. One has a population of sixty-four millions; the other a population of barely five millions. IMeasured by every standard of comparison, the experiment in Canada of self-reliance and self-development is a failure." Is not one hundred and twenty years quite long enough to continue a policy of "retardation and slow development, of increasing indebtedness and decreiising power of payment " ? .4 ill POLITIC A L RFAJMON OF THE II S. A N/> CA NA DA. .. coiitiru'iit, tho same rohitivc pr(>j;n\sM w«mi(l havc! tak«'ii phu**' north oF the forty lifth parallel -the lakes and the St. liawrciice — that h;is taken place to the south of tlnun, analthful and invigorating (climate, with a poj)ulation of less than five millions, with boundless undeveloped wealth in her unoccupied agri(;ul tural and mineial lands, forests, and fisheries, an e«lucational systtMu uusui'pjussed in any country, a free press, a free church, enjoying all but in name republican institutions and local self- government, should fail in every effort n)ade to attract or retain immigration, and that so great a percentage of her native boin sous and daughters should desert liei-. Her government hius expejided some millions of dollars in maintaining for many years a system of immigration agencies throughout (Ireat Britain and upon tlie continent of lOurope, and in paying ocean i)iussages, with very meagre residts. '^Phe fact that for some time past a special effort has been made to induce Scotch Crofters, Icelanders, and Russian IMennonites to settle upon lands in the northwest territories with poor success clearly indicates that the attempt to secure a better class of settlers has proved a failure. In 1870 the i)opulation of the United States was ten and one half times that of Canada. In 1890 thirteen times greater, with a strong probability that at the close of the century it will be fifteen and one half times greater. The United States, therefore, will continue to attract the most ambitious, enterprising, and skillful in all the walks of life. The rewards of skill and labor I i i ;i| 570 THE AMERICAN JOVRNAL OF POLITICS. will always be greater here than in Canada if present political conditions there continne. We shall constantly draw from her the cliiss she most needs, viz. : her most skillful worksrs, her best thinkers, and her most successful and intelligent organizers and managers. Her loss in this respect will increase rather than diminish. Our end of the whiltletree is now more than thirteen times longer than hers, and the leverage in our favor will stead- ily and constantly increase so long as Canadians insist upon preserving their monarchical institutions. Personal observation for the piist forty years justifies the statement that the Canadian peoi)le are steadily becoming less English and more American in their t?.3tes, habits, customs, sen- timent, spirit, iuspirations, institutions, and legislation. Although a British dependency, Canada adopted the American policy of protection to home industries, and even her judicial system is being steadily assimilated to ours. In organizing the confed- eration, the federal system, with local legislatures in the several provinces, was adopted against the determined opposition of the Imperial party. All her railways at great cost abandoned the English wide gauge and adojited the standard American gauge. She abolished a state church, adopted the secret ballot, repre- sentation according to population, a written Constitution, state education, a decimal currency in place of the sterling, the net ton, and our municipal system. Her people are as tenacious of their right to direct and control their own local affairs through their municipal councils as our own. If Canada should become an independent state she would certainly adopt a republican form of government modeled after that of the United States. The gain to the people of Canada from political reunion can hardly be overestimated. They will share in all the advantages of our enormous and rapidly expanding home market for their surplus products and in the benefits to be derived from the great variety of our natural productions, and also share equally in all the advantages of the commercial treaties which we, as a great consuming nation, may negotiate with other i)Owers. (As an appendage of the British Crown, they do not have the same op- portunities.) The value of their fisheries will be immensely aug- * * POLITICAL REUNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA. oTl at ill at an V- s- fj. I mented, their vast mineral resources developed, tlieir arable lands occupied and cultivated, their numerous water powers improved, their waterways enlarged, their railway mileage extended, their shipping share upon equal terms in our coasting trade upon the sea and lakes, the exodus of their most ambitious and energetic sons and daughters suspended, and their population rapidly and largely multiplied, the market and productive value of all their fixed investments increased, the dread of impending political re- organization removed, a firm foundation reached upon which to securely establish their financial, commercial, industrial, educa- tional, and political institutions, and the absolute control of their own local affairs permanently assured. Continental union will deliver the ( -anadian people from bondage to the Canadian J'aciiic Kailway Company, which controls and operates one half of the railway mileage of the Dominion, although first chartered in 1881. The late Sir John A. MacDonald, as premier of Canada and leader of the Tory party, induced Parliament to create this gigantic monopoly and grant it enormous special powers and privileges for the purpose, largely, of maintaining his supremacy. The railway company exercises its power and influence and con- tributes liberally to election funds to sustain the party which created it, and in return the parliamentary majority grants it ad- ditional favors and privileges to aid in maintaining its monopoly. Xeither could exist under present conditions without the other, therefore, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company actively op- poses continental union. The settlement of our rights in the Behring Sea would be of far greater value if the Canadian people had a common interest with us in the preservation of the seal fisheries. There has been scarcely a single question of dispute between the govern- ment of Great Britain and that of the United States which has not grown out of, or been complicated by, Britain's proprietary interest in the northern portion of this continent. It has also doubtless been the promoting cause of much of her unfriendly treatment of our interests in the past. The Canadian people anticipate that the present national ad- ministration will consent to a practical renewal of the reciprocity 672 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS. J 5 treaty of 1854, which gave them free access to this market for their surplus natural products, of which we produce a surplus in excess of the home demand and are compelled to export, without permitting the admission into their limited market of the product of our manufactories, except upon payment of a high customs duty. They have never contributed one dollar to create, maintain, or defend our market — and will not so long as Canada remains a British colony. Why then should we grant them valuable commercial privileges which we would not grant to England, France, or Germany ? Mr. Seward, as secretary of state in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, gave notice of the abrogation of the treaty of 1854 in 18G4, and declined to consider a renewal. President Grant declined, at the request of the Hon. CJeorge Brown, Special Commissioner from Canada to the United States, to urge upon Congress a treaty ot reciprocity upon terms more favorable to the United States than that of 1854. because it would delay a final settlement of our relations to Canada, and of hers to Great Britain. Mr. Brown exi)ended a large sum of money in this country to create a public sentiment favorable to a renewal of reciprocity, but without avail. ]\[r. Blaine, as secretary of state, declined even to consider a commercial treaty with Canada which did not include the ad- mission into Canada, free of duty, of a large line of our manu- factured products. Negotiations were first begun by England for the free admission of the suri)lus natural products of Canada into our market in 181G. All advances were repelled until the slave power in 1854 forced the treaty of 1854 upon Congress, and President Pierce to allay the desire of the Canadian people for annexation, and thus prevent the admission of several more free states into the Union. It may be confidently asserted, tliat no treaty with Great Britain, for the free admission of the natural j)roducts of her Canadian provinces into this country, would, ever have been seriously considered by the government of the United States had it not been for the influence of the pro slavery party. Continental union involves a final settlement of all questions ^ POLITICAL REUNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA. TjTS relating to the fisheries in the Atlantic and Pacific, in the best interest of all parties specially concerned. It assures the devel- opment of the St. Lawrence as an outlet and inlet to and from tidewater, for the rapidly expanding commerce of the interior of the continent. It will remove all necessity for ever fortifying our northern frontier ; it will lessen the per capita cost of gov- ernment and defense ; it will remove the chief obstacle in regu- lating and controlling our trans-continental railway traffic, by bringing the Canadian railways under the interstate commerce law. Our present legislation and customs regulations for the shipment of merchandise in bond, in transit from one part of the United States to another through Canada, work great injustice to our own great trans-continental lines and open a wide door for fraud upon the customs revenue. It will remove a serious difficulty in controlling and preventing Chinese immigration. It will remove forever all excuse, right, or opportunity for interference with the domestic affairs of this continent, by any foreign power. It will, to quote Prof. Smith, ''call forth the vast mineral wealth of the North, now dormant, by admitting American capital and enterprise to a region which they are now prevented from freely entering by mistrust of a foreign jurisdic- tion." It will open to settlement, as the result of the permanent free admission to this market of the products of the soil, an immense area in a climate which tends to develop and stimulate the conservative and best elements of human character, so essen- tial in maintaining and perpetuating self-government and free institutions. The Toronto Globe, the organ of the Liberal party of ( 'auada and the most ably edited, most influential and widely circulated journal in the Dominion, on several occasions has declared that a renewal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854 would ''destroy the political reunion movement in a single night." Sir Oliver INIowat, for the past twenty years premier of Ontario, and the most successful and clever political leader of high character ever developed in Canadian public affairs, in a published interview a short time ago gave expression to sub- stantially the same sentiments. Mr. Erastus Wiman, the highest 574 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS. ■\i ■It !; m Canadian authority resident in this country, with great candor and frankness upon more than a score of occasions when address- ing public meetings in Canada, told his countrymen that unless they could secure a treaty of reciprocity with the United States, political reunion was inevitable, and in giving his testimony before the Committee of the United Senate upon our "trade rela- tions with Canada," stated that with a renewal of the recipro- city treaty of 1854, political reunion would take place when a sufficient number of Americans had emigrated to Canada to create a majority of the population of that country. It cannot be possible that the present administration will be so disloyal to American interests as to renew a treaty, or adopt a fiscal policy, which will delay or endanger the final solution of a great continental problem, of the highest importance to our future development and security from serious foreign complica- tions. Had political reunion been consummated when prosposed by the Continental Congress in 1774, the War of 1812 would prob- ably have been avoided. Had it been accomplished in 1837, or 1849, we should almost certainly have escaped the Civil War of 1861, which cost us more than $8,000,000,000 in money and one million li^es. The slave power would not have appealed to the swordyyT^he several provinces of Canada, had there oeen free and loyal states in the Union, and Great Britain had not had a foothold upon this continent. It was the expectation of Eng- land's support that precipitated the Rebellion. Is it not sound statesmanship to anticipate all possible complications that may arise, and take such action as will prevent them and so remove the danger? Therefore, would it not be disloyal to adopt a pol- icy which will strengthen British power upon this continent! The strongest active opposition in Canada to continental union will come from the political leaders now in power, and from those who hope to gain power at the next general election, the mem- bers of the Dominion and provincial civil service, all of whom are appointed for life, the judiciary included, the manufacturers and wholesale merchants who have an established and profitable trade, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which has *% rOLITWAL REVNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA. S75 been granted enormous and valuable special powers and privi- leges by the government of Canada. They all oppose it for personal reasons. There is a large body of citizens who look forward (many of them born in Great Brit- ain) to continental union as the only practical and final solution of the future of Canada, who desire to defer action upon it in their lifetime for sentimental reasons, but who will not aggres- sively oppose it when presented in a kindly and generous spirit, upon terms which Canadians can honorably accept without hu- miliation. If imperial federation, unrestricted reciprocity, commercial union, independence, status quo, and "an equal and honorable union" with the United States were presented to the people of Canada for acceptance or rejection through the ballot box, after calm and free discussion in the press and upon the public plat- form, a majority of the electorate would decide in favor of an ''equal and honorable reunion" with their neighbors upon this continent. If continental union is, as has been set forth, one of the most important questions before the people of the United States and Canada, and its consummation will secure beneficent results to both of the great communities involved, there is not any valid reason why the more numerous and therefore the more powerful people should not publicly declare their willingness to accept it as a final and peaceful solution of their relations with the less numerous and therefore less powerful community, nor is there any good reason why either community should not use all lawful, peacefid and honorable means to hasten its consummation. With an assurance from a large and representative non-par- tisan body of A merican citizens of a cordial welcome into an equal and honorable union upon terms just and generous, advo- cates of continental union in Canada would rapidly multiply, and the two political parties, as now organized there, would be disintegrated and reorganizetl as advocates and opponents of a reunited North America. It is no doubt true, however, that an organized movement in this country upon the lines suggested by Prof. Smith, no matter 570 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS. i^^ tu ti; 'A^' I*' ill how kiiully a spirit it may be conceived and expressed, will call forth from the leaders of the Monarchial party of Canada, fierce, vehement, and angry denunciations, and Canadian resi- dents who may cooperate with such an organization will be howled down as disloyalists, but after the first Tory yell has sub- sided, it will be discov^ered that it was caused by the fatal blow, the kindly and generous invitation issued to Canadians to enter into an equal and honorable union, given the enemies in Canada of republican institutions. A general discussion of the question upon its merits will then proceed and a peaceful reunion in due time will be consummated. If a large non-partisan organized body of American citizens, fairly representing those who create, control, and direct public opinion, should adopt and publish as an expression of public sentiment in this country a resolution similar to the following, it could not wound the feelings of the Canadian people, or justly olFend them, but would certainly hasten a solution of our rela- tions to that great Anglo-Saxon community. Jicsohed, That we believe that the political reunion of the two great l^^nglish -speaking communities, who now occupy and control North America, will deliver the continent from the scourge of war and dedicate it to the arts of peace, lessen the per capita cost of government and defense, insure the rapid development of its nnlimited natural resources, enlarge its domestic and foreign commerce, protect and preserve its wealth, resoui'ces, privileges and opportunities, as the undisputed herit- age of all, and promote, extend and perpetuate government by the people. We therefore invite the Canadian people to cast in their lot with their own continent, and assure them that they shall have all that the continent can give them. We will respect their freedom of action, and welcome them, when they desire it, into an equal and honorable union. Since 18G0, we have readjusted, at great cost, the labor system of sixteen states, which was disorganized by the abolition of slavery ; paid more than $8,000,000,000, as the money cost of the Civil War, expended immense sums upon education, the arts, sciences, and organized charities ; created and established upon POLITICAL REUNION OF THE U. S. AND CANADA. 677 in a firm basis an industrial system which is the wonder of the world ; enlarged and diversified the field for the employment of skilled labor and increased its reward ; encouraged the applica- tion of mental power in production and distribution and in the economical expenditure of human force ; laid the foundation for a navy commensurate with the possibilities and needs of our rapidly growing foreign trade ; developed an internal or domes- tic commerce far exceeding in value and tonnage that of any other nation; invested large sums in promoting the development of our vast mineral resources; created and established a national banking system which has won the confidence of our wisest and most experienced financiers; restored and raised the credit of the nation in the financial centers of the world to the highest rank ; constructed the most complete and extensive telegraph and tele- phone systems known to man ; established and developed a daily press without a rival in power and influence for good in any country ; more than doubled our population ; nearly quadrupled the market value and earning power of our national resources ; enormously increased the ability of our people to produce the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life ; subjected, directed, and employed the elements and forces of Nature for the service of man to a greater extent and in a larger field than any other people, and constructed and equipped at a cost of $10,000,000,- 000 nearly 150,000 miles of railway. "With our financial, commercial, industrial, educational, and political institutions firmly established and directed, by a higher average intelligence in the future than in the past, with greater freedom of individual thought and action, and the causes most likely to disturb the harmonious working of all the parts for the general good removed, what may we not accomplish as a nation for the welfare of the human race and the promotion of self-gov- ernment? Continental union upon equal and honorable terms gives the Canadian people an equal share in all the benefits, privileges, and opportunities which we now or hereafter may enjoy towards the creation and preservation of which they have not made any contribution. Is it unretisonable for us to insist that the only 678 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS, basis npon which we will share these blessings with them is that of political reunion upon terms just, generous, and honorable to both of the contracting parties? When pensions to our war veterans have ceased to be a tax upon the national revenue, we shall have expended more than $10,000,000,000 as the money cost of the Civil War, in addition to the sacrifice of one million productive lives. Had we paid this vast sum in installments to the owners of the slaves for their peaceful emancipation, it would have prevented the terrible destruction of human life, the disorganization of the productive energies of the Southern States, the bitter antago- nisms which have existed and will continue to ej^t^tween the white and black race there, and between the ^rnifrTrri at the South and North, and have given the South an immense capital for development. Less than one tenth of one per cent of the money cost of the war expended upon a peaceful campaign of education in the United States and Canada, will secure a reunited North America, an event which, in its beneficent results to humanity, will take rank in history with the founding of the Bepublic by Washing- ton and its preservation by Lincoln. Francis Wayland Glen. MV(j; American Journal of Politics, 114 Nassau Street. NEW YORK. $4.00 per year. 35 cents per copy. \ ■» MBiniigiaHTraBingiaa ■*^s^'.. Wr: