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1653 East Ua,n Str«
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THE COMMENCEMENT ORATION,
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY.
JUNE Mth. leti.
\fi ^anam^hU Mr. itiatirr SUidrll.
KINO'S BENCH DIVISION, H.C.J.
ONTARIO
With the Compliments of
William Renv^hk KiijDull.
(SiwMin,
The Commcnetmcnt Oration, Syiicu^e Univtriily, Jun« Hth, 1911.
THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM RENTICK RIDDELL, L.H.D., ETC.
Mr. Chancellor, Fathers and Brethren, Ladies and
Gentlemen:
When I .say that I ain glad to be here — uow — I am
not simply using the langiiafjo of mere convention.
I am eome to you from the adjoining nation and
from a University which her sons delight to honour,
calling her, as she indeed is, the largest University
imder the British flag ; they do not in their devotion
go so far as to say that she is the greatest University
under the British flag— as yet— but with the opti-
mism which characterizes the Canadian, thej consider
even that to be but a matter of years — few, it is hoped.
I bring you greetings from that land and that Uni-
versity, and wish you every possible blessing.
We are told across the Lake, that there are million-
aires at the back of this University ; and if that is so,
we rejoice. But it may be but an invention of the
enemy.
" Are millionaires common in America?" asked a
stranger. " They are," answered the American,
" most of them." If millionaires are responsible for
the buildiuKS of this Universiity, it is a matter of ro-
xrct tliat tli( y uiv not more cvimmim — in tlic ouc scuso.
No person common in tlie otlir r sonso could have con-
eeivpd tlioir erection or hroii it iiljoiit in beauty
and hnrmony as tliey exist. Ai. i we might well pray
that more of such benefai'tors should be found ' ) aid
in the cause of higher education by furnishing tiiaste
and lovely temples for its pursuit.
But whatever and whucvcr may be at tlie back of
Syracuse Univ(>rsity, I can bear personal testimony
that at its head there stands a man —
"A man with l^-nd, he.irt, hand
Like some of the great siiuple onus gone,
Who can rule and dare not lie."
— a man who lives by old George Herbert's precept,
"Do all things like a man. not uneakinirly,"
and who "girt by friend or foe," says "the thing he
will."
Was it not Garfield who said, " Dr. Mark Hopkins
at one end of a log and a student at the other — that is
a University "? How much more may wc say, " Dr.
Day at one end of this institute of learning and these
four thousand students at the other — that is a great
University "t
And I most heartily and sincerely congratulate him
and you on the progress made by this University, be-
lieving and appreciating as I do that advance in true
culture and true learning in this University and in
this State cannot be without its influence, not only
upon this great Union, but also upon the world at
large, and not least of all upon my own beloved
Canada.
I an to speak to you of the United States and
Canada.
On the northern shore of Lake Erie, our magnifi-
cent inland sea, are many projections of the land to-
ward the Soutli, ii« it si-n-r strcl.liiii^ imt Oanadiiin
hnnds to the .-istcr I'liiiiitrv. And mi diii' i>{ tlic Ki'.-t
kiuiwu of these stiiiid twn'tall shafts ,.f i.iiie. tiipiicd
witli vei-diii iievei' failirii;. These u'lnw ficiii the
sniiie soil mid spring; fidni the same iHut; tilmve,
they aic distinct ami whcdly self-eiuitained. Tlio
pillars stand near t.i«etlier', i-et never e'ash— the
lighter, more eonspieuniis portions of the tre( s do in-
deed intenninKle:and ever and anon, when stiricd liy
gale or tempest, their hraiiehes chafi' and fret in noi>y
commotion. But with the iiassiii;; of the storm passes
also the fury of eontendini; hraneli: with the ealin
comes njiain the peaeeful and harmonious interlaeiiis
of limb and twi;; and needh — and the oseillatin;; shaft
nodding ti' its sister is jjladdened by the peaee above.
Long years have thes(' sisters st I on the shore of our
Lake, and lonj,' have .hey symbolized the t.vo peoples
living on its ojiposite sliores.
For the United States and Canada are from tlie
same soil, have urown cm the same pontinent ; they are
sprung from tlie same root and glory in the same an-
cestry — and while the lighter part rif eneh has, when
stirred by the tempest of passicjn, .iarred and fretted
and ehafed, the solid portion has, in the main, .stood
firm; and when the stor.n was over and quiet reigned,
those who had wrangled an i lashed i esiimed friendly
communion and intermingled one «'ith tiie i tlier in
peace and harmony.
" Behold how' good and how ple.jsant
brethren to dwell together in unity."
The histories are full of war and battii
bloodshed and sufleriug are told to child an
but who has told the .story of the long ai
peace on each side of the longest intcrnatioi
ary in tiie world ?
Four thousand miles stretches the line hetwi
United States and Cauada: and never a i'u-titi.
or a stronghold — the so-called forts are ir.erc gli
farmhouses, the earthworks like deserted potato
is f. r
I des of
HlH—
.ul-
n the
tion
— tilt' potty KBi'rijoiiis kfpt at u few pDiiits do uo iriore
than |iluy nt Hi>l
d to take
Quebec. The colonic.^ were called upou to furnish 20,-
000 men, and tliev .lid furnisli 17,.300: Massachusetts,
7,000; Connecticut, 5.000: Rhode Island and \ew
Jersey each 1,000; New Ilampsliire, 800, and \ew
York, 2,680. The relative importance of the colonies
is shown by the number of men rai.sed, Connecticut
supplying many more than Xew York, and Massa-
chusetts nearly three times Xew York's quota (but
of course Massachusetts included what is now Maine).
The belief which bad become finnly established
throughout Canada that Quebec was vmassailable by
water, proved not quite fallacious. Quebec fell, but it
fell assailed by way of the Plains of Abraham. Ticou-
deroga was avenged. The colonies had their wish and
the toast was fulfilled, " British colours on every
French fort, post and garrison in America."
It is a satisfaction to know that the three American
grenadiers captured by the French at Quebec were
not burnt alive as their friends feared they would be.
The 2nd and .3rd battalions of Royal Americans
were with the besieging army and did their duty man-
fully; and no difference was made between them and
the other English taken prisoner.
And now took place what the more acute observers
had foreseen, and some had openly prophesied. When
the fear of starvation or privation is removed, the
young man may safely, if he is so inclined, treat the
old folks lightly — while they in tiirn cannot think of
him as anything but a mere boy wholly unfit to gov-
ern himself or his household. The Euglish (which
by this time had become British) Colonies, relieved
from the ever-pressing fear of invasion from the
alien North, had time to consider their relations with
the mother country. So long as the next day might
bring a hostile raid by Frenchman or Indian, the
assistance of British troops was very desirable, and
greatly desired. Xor was there much complaint even
if these troops had to be supported by the colonists
whose homes they protected — and that though these
colonists had notthe full control of the money raised
for that purpose.
But when there was no longer any fear of French
soldier, civilized or savage, as all to the North was
now become also British, tlic case was changed.
It is a part of the very life of English-speaking
people that they must govern themselves — for well or
ill. Swarms leave the mother hive: these set up a
new hive for themselves, governed after the ancestral
model, iudcod, but sclf-govei'ned. There is no such
phenomenon in English-speaking colonization as in
the aricicut Greek — nor were these colonists chosen by
lot or sent from an inferior grade of the people ; they
came of their o\n\ elioice, and many of England's best
and bravest found their place in the ranks of the ven-
turesome settlers of the American wilds.
I do not know whether you consider it a matter of
pride or not — probably not — but it must be said that
New York was not the leader in opposition to flie
claims of the government of King George — perluips
Massachusetts was the most determined and self-
assorting. Whoever tl'.e leader, arbitrary acts were
met bv stubborn resistance; and at length a deplor-
able, though perhaps inevitable, war broke out. be-
tween mother and daughter; and America claimed
independence.
8
Canada was never lonj; nbsout from the iniuds of
the leaders of the re\olted colonies. It was always a
desideratum that Canada should join the Union and
so round off the federation of States. Canada, Brit-
^h, might be dangerous to the oolonies now anti-
British, as she was when anti-British to them still
British. The Continental Congress meeting at Phila-
delphia issued an address to the Canadians, filled with
turgid rhetoric, and more tittcd as an argument
to philosophers than an appeal to simple people like
the mhabitants of Canada. The address wholly failed
m its object. Not that the French-Canadians had
become enthusiastic British subjects— thev had re-
fused to furuLsh the Governor. Sir Ouv Carletou, with
provisions for his troops. The addVess printed in
Philadelphia reached very few Canadians : fewer still
could read: and those who could read knew of an ad-
dress to the peo]ile of England bv that same Congress
complaining bitterly of favour' shown to the Cana-
dians as a gross betrayal of Protestant pi'inciplcs and
inveighing against the toleration of Poperv, " that
blood thirsty, idolatrous and hypocritical" creed."
Catholics who had been repeatedly and in the most
solemn manner assured of the free exercise of their
religion under the British Hag were not likely to
choose rather the fellowship iu allegiance of those
whose representatives so thought and so spoke of
their beloved Church and most cherished beliefs.
Montgomery and Arnold were sent North against
Montreal and Quebec— the erratic Ethan Allen had
made a di.sma! failure. Montreal was taken, and ^Mont-
gomery hastened to assist Arnold at Quebec. Mont-
gomery died and Arnold failed.
To Montreal during its (jceupaney by the Ameri-
cans came three Commissioners, Benjamin Franklin
being one, taking with them a French printer
from Philadelphia; and they issued apjjeals to the
people — in vain. The priests, who could read, were
immovable — they had been treated with at least re-
spect by the British, they were treated with contume-
ly and even with physical harshness by the Colonials
—the British had paid in gold for all the stores taken
and labour exacted by them, the Colonials, if they
paid at all, paid in paper— and the paper was repu-
diated bv Congress. It is said that the cheating and
trickery" of the "Bastonuais" is still a tradition in
parts of Quebec after a century and a half, as tlie
Angevin Kings of England are still remembered and
execrated by the peasants in parts of France after a
lapse of six hundred years.
But while all parties recognized that it would be
for the advantage of the United Cfilonies that Canada
should join them and so cease to be British, George
Washington was sufficiently clear-sighted to recog-
nize tluit it was bett'r for his country that Canada
should ))c British than that she should become once
more French. For, he said, France with a foothold
on the left iu Canada, on tlie right in Louisiana and
holding all the West of the Continent in the rear of
the new nation, would l)c a greater mc-.ice than a
British Canada. It is not too nuich to say that, even
then, it was, at least bv Washiugtou. appreciated that
"blood is thicker than water": he frowned down
Lafayette's plan to invade Canada with the aid of
troops obtained from France.
The revolted colonies wholly failed to carry Can-
ada with them; but they achieved independence for
themselves — the wretchedly-conducted war came to
an end.
The ' w-abiding and law-seeking genius of the race
asserted itself— for I maintain that the Anglo-Saxon
is essentially a lover of law, and of law as a means of
deciding disputes. There was, of course, no room in
the preliminarv articles of 1782, or even in the defi-
nitive Treaty of Peace of 1783 for anything but a
statement of the rights of the contracting parties:
but when time showed that they were not exactly
agreed as to the meaning and import of the words
they had employed iu common, the case was different.
A legislature may declare the rights of parties by a
Statute, or imities may make a written agreement;
but if they disagree as to the meaning of the words
employed by the legislature or bv themselves, that
meaning must be found, lixed and determined by
some tribunal— unless, indeed, the parties fight it out
physically.
War is tlie international ormivaleut of trial In-
combat — and war even yet is not whollv obsolete:
" 'Tis true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis "tis true'."
But these two English peojiles, the insular and the
continental, had more sense than to rush to war to
determine their respective rights under their agree-
ment. And, accordingly, the celebrated John Jay,
when sent to have the rights of the .American people
better defined, as well as to arrange matters which
had already led to some trouble, and might lead to
more, willingly agreed that the rights as declared by
the former treaty should be submitted to a tribunal
for decision — while he secured a further agreement as
to other matters of international irritation. His
treaty, that of 1794, has .Justly been called the start-
ing point of international arbitration. (Not that
arbitration had previously been unknown among
the nations, for, as all students of history know,
among the states of European Greece and "of Asia
Minor. arliitr,iti(in was nut at all unronunon. A most
interesting article — or, indeed, volume — might be
written upon this topic; and I venture to hope that
some of the Peace Societies or the Carnegie Trust will
have the history of international arbitration, ancient
and modern, w. '-■n at no distant date.) But the
Jay Treaty is first in modern times of an in-
ternational arbitiutiou between great nations, and,
consequently, it deserves all the fame which it
actually enjoys.
The negotiation of this Treaty, while it forms, per-
haps. Jay's best claim to immortality, was fatal to
n
his honourable and natural ambition to become Presi-
dent of the United States. Politics were then as bit-
ter and as unjust as at the preSeut day : and charges
against J.iy of selling his country wore made and be-
lieved in a generation which listened witli patience
and almost with credulity to the charge of defrauding
the nation made against (h-orge Washington — for
evrn he was charged with dishonestly taking public
mniicy.
Posterity has beer kinder and more just.
By the Treat}' of 1 (94, it was arranged that matters
in (lispute should be referred to arlutratiou — and
(with one exception) since that time to this, more
than 100 years after, there has been no armed conHict
between the mother couutiy and her loyal colonies on
the one hand, and the separated ccdonies on the other
— a splendid i:)roof of the sense of justice and right on
either side.
By day's Ti'caty, it was referred to a Board of
Arbitrators selected by the two governments .fith
another selected by these, to determine what river
was meant by the "Ste. Croix" in the Treaty of
Peace. Three arbitrators were sufficient for that.
But there were claims for money by British subjects
and American citizens : and with that keen sense of
the importance of money which has never failed the
Anglo-Saxon since the times in which he assess^ed, at
a fixed money I'ate. the value of the life of all from
king to villeiii, five arbitrators were to pass upon the
money claims. The boiuulary arbitrators failed,
and si), too, did the arbitrators on the British claims.
The latter claims were in 1802 eonii)voraised
at £600,000— while the former dispute continued to
trouble the nations for forty years longer. The
boundary was a matter directly affecting Canada, as
have been most of the matters leading to international
dispute, negotiation and arbitration.
Then, as for many years thereafter — and indeed in
some remote parts even at this day — Americans were
12
under the impression— nay, tlio profouiil eonvii-ti.in.
that moiinrcliy is of necessity tyranny and that
Canada was fjnmnd down nailer' tlie iron heel of
ojijiression— and some Americans liad sufficient cour-
age and spirit of self-sacrifice to help her to be
free. Canada has an awkward wav of taking such
efforts seriously, and of dealinf; sterulv with those
who interfere with her; accordinnlv when, shortly be-
fore the end of the 18tli century, agitators fron'i the
south of the boundary line caiiie into Canada, they
were looked aftei' with car( — anIc-
Lane, was in 1797 drawn, hansed and quartered at
Quebec for endeavouring to stir up a rebellion against
the King.
McLane's scheme involved an invasion by a large
force from Vermont, well equipped with artillery,
ai-ms and ammunition. There can be no doubt that
the government of the United States was quite inno^
cent of any ))articii)ation in the plan (it is indeed sug-
gested that McLane was partially insane) ; but there
is equally no doubt that the Vcrmonters wished to
have the use of the St. Lawreiice and had become dis-
couraged by the attitude of the British Government
in regard to the navigation laws.
From almost the very inauguration of the United
States there was a party of considerable, though
varying, strength which aimed at the absorption of
Canada; and from the end of the 18th centurv. the
administrati i in Canada lived in fear of an attack
from the so^ ,\. These fears were openly expressed
in correspon..eiice with the Home authoi-ities ; and at
length, in 1812, the long anticipated war broke out.
I do not intend to discuss the real origin and occasion
of that war. Jlr. Forster has done so recentlv at the
Washington meeting of the American Society for the
Judicial Settlement of International Disputes.
Washington was captured and in part burnt; but
so were Newark, the previous, and York (Toronto),
the then capital of Upper Canada.
13
I say nothing further as to the military opera-
tions and the suecess and eonduct of tlie troops
on cither side — the Adjutant-General of the State of
New York, Oincral Verhei.'k of this city, lias said
something alx)ut tliat very recently. The war was
wliolly unnecessary, and the avowed were not the real
objects. But that war came soon to an end — it never
should have l)ep;un.
"Inter arma .silent leges," but, "Armibus silenti-
bus, lex proprium vigorem habet." And, according-
lj% when the two branches of the lace had satiated
their taste for gore— for they would— and will— any
time sooner fight than eat — law liad its way. The
Treaty of Ghent was entered into, which provided
for a deterniiuatiou by arbitration of the matters still
in dispute (Dec. 24tli. 181-t). The ostensible causes
of the war were not so mucli as mentioned in the
Treaty.
Tliere is a bay on the Atlantic coast called the Bay
of Passamaquocldy, in wliicli arc a tew islands — of no
great intrinsic value indeed. l)Ut then since Saucho
Panza's time an "Island" has had a sentimental
value. (I find that in a solenm law report of a very
famous case, in 181(5, Upper Canada is called an
"Lsland" — I presume, by way of compliment.) These
islands in Passamaquoddy Bay were claimed as form-
ing part of the United States, and by the other party
as forming part of Nova Scotia. They v.ere not large,
but large enough to be a pretext for war, if either
country really desired it.
The Treaty of Ghent provided that a Commissioner
should be appointed by the King, another l)y the
President, and that these should determine upon the
claims. It was provided that if the Commissioners
could not agree, the mutter was to be referred to L^ome
friendly Sovereign or State. Fortunately, the Com-
missioners, Messrs. Holmes and Barclay, were able to
agree: they gave Moose, Dudley and Frederick
Islands to the Unitcrt States, and the remainder to
Britain — and thus that little trouble was settled.
Commissioners -were also a])pointed to determine
the northern houndaiy of Maine; they did not a^rcc;
it was arrang-'d in lf527 to refer this to a friendly
Sovereign; and the King of the Netherlands was
seleeted. He made an award in 1S31 satisfac-
tory to neither party. Both repudiated it, and the
boundary was at length settled in 1842 by the Web-
ster-Ashb'irton Tr<'aty, or the Ashburton "Capitula-
tion." as the sarcastic Palmeiston called it. We
Canadians have not quite got over the "Capitulation"
yet, and we tliank Lord Palmerston for that word.
But Messrs. Porter and Barclay, the Commission-
ers appointed under another clause of the Treaty of
Ghent to determine the boundary at the Lakes On-
tario, Erie and Huriiu. were entirely successful in
arriving at a satisfactory award: and this award
given at Utici, June 18tli, 1822, was received with
universal api Hist I'riinc Minister .'if the
Dominion, found >;uilty nnd cxiiMiti'd witli
otlicrs; i:i(i were s^nti iiccil to death, liiit tlie
bcr of 10 wns fonsidered suffieicnt iii Irrroirm.
Tlion, nt tlie other end of \.'\)\wv Canada, n nmn-
ber of ••SyiiipathiziTs,"' after tlii'V iiad liiiied a few
Caundinns, were caught liy Colonel Prinee. Some of
them were simminrily sliot, «nd seven afterwards
tried hy the eivil courts, found guilty of murder and
e.xeeuted. There never were anv "nioie "Svnipa-
thizers" in Canada, I<:ast or West. Placards were
posted in Detroit, offeiing $H(K) reward for the
Colonel dead, nnd *1,0()0 for liini alive; Imt he kept
safe on Canadian soil, and lived for long venrs there-
after.
A very sntir^fnetoiy arhitration took place in 18.')4-
55 imder a tref.ty of 185?, in reference to claims made
again.rt either country by citizens of th. other.
Joshua Bate.». nn Aniericnn who lived in London, was
appointed Umpire by the two Commissioners, nrd he
conducted the arbitrntion to the coimivm .satisfaction
of all — except those who lost.
Ever .since the organization of the Republic there
had been trouble about trade matters, and in 1854 a
treaty was entered into, the well-known " Reciprocity
Treaty."
I cannot do much more than simply refer to this
Treaty, so far as its commercial aspect is concerned.
After it had been in force for some twelve years it
was denounced by the United States. While it had
defects and was not wholly satisfactory to either
party, it was not these defect's which cau.sed its denun-
ciation. The people of the United States tiiought—
rightly or wixmgly, I do not enquire — that Biitain
had been unfair in her dealings with the North during
the Civil War; and the dislike engendered by this
fcolinK had its oiitoomo in tlio inti'i'iintlonol relations
witli < 'aiind that two Commis-
sioners should be appointed with power to select, if
neccssarv, a third by lot. Vhese were to examine the
coasts of British A.-.erica and the United States, and
deteiininc the places reserved by the Convention of
1818, etc., for the British fishei-men. I cannot say
that the relations of the two nations in respect of the
ri);ht to tish have ever been all that could be wished.
Perhaps the award of 1910 may clear the air and
make these relation? more satisfactory and cordial in
the future.
While all this was Roins on in the East, there was
a little dispute in the far West. The Hudson's Bay
Company and the Puget Sound Agri(;ultural Com-
pany hail, before 1846. become i.ossessert of property,
farms, etc.. In the new territory at what was subse-
quently the North- Western part of the United States,
but then a kind of No Man's Land, claimed indeed by
Britain as well as the United States. When the na-
tions in 1846 settled that the 4 destitute of spirit that they
would not take a fly.
Everyone must know of the trouble the seal fishing
in the Pacific Ocean is .still causins— the trouble was
more acute twenty years ago. The United States
claimed a sovereignty over the waters ot.th'^ i^a'-'hc
and the seal fisheries in that ocean, which Biitam
(and Canada) refused to a.-kuowledge. Arme(l ves-
sels were sent bv the ruited States to patrol these
waters, and sonic seizures were made of Canadian
yessels. This is the stuff that wars are made of— and
it must be reeo^uized that had Britani >eeu looking
for war she had pretexts at hand which were more
weighty than many upon which lou- and sanguinary
wars have been wa^-ed. But the America .immand-
ers far from theirgovernment, acted wit., prudence ;
and neither jx-ople was anxious for an armed struggle.
A modus Vivendi was arrived at: and subsequently a
Board of Arbitrators was agreed upon to detei-mme
the matters in controversy. By this Treaty of 1892
each power was to name two Commissioners and the
Kin" of Sweden and Xorway, the King of Italy and
the President of France one each, making a Board ot
53
seven in all. One of these was a Canadian Minister of
the Crown, and Canadians took miwh of the burden
of the reference. This was the Paris Commission,
which awarded $42.5,000 to be paid bv the United
States to the subjects of Britain.
The only part of the international boundarv not
settled was on the Alaska side. Canada claimed most
of the lonfT toujjue to the .*outh of the main part of
Alaska and running' along liv the sea. Americans said,
"What we have wi> will hold"— and uesotiation.s
came to an imjiasse. In 1!)03 it was agreed to I'efcr
the matter to a tril)uniil of si.\ juvi.>e Treaty of 1908, as will be seen
bv reference to its provisions.
"The Rush-Bagot arrangement arose in this way.
durrngX war of 1812 some damage had been done
and more annovauce .'aused by armed vessels upon
?he Great L..k-o^. The Treaty of Ghen did not
pro^"de that such armed forces f u,u d not be
kent urv but it became apiiarent to both sides
thTt it wo Id be well strictly to limit the number
Tnd quaUtv of armed vessels upon the fresh waters
between the two countries. After some "^f otiation
notis wre interchanged. April 28th and 29th, 1817,
containing the '-Rush-Bagot convention, which
noh'S contained an agreement by one and the other
party iSg the naval force to be kept on the lakes
?o aVen ft'^v: on Lake Ontario, one vessel; on the
Unnei Lakes, two vessels: on Lake Champlam. one
XT; n 'ne of the vessels to exceed one ''""dred ton«
burden and each to have but one cannon ot 18 pounds
It was 'agreed to dismantle forthwith all other armed
vesTek on the lakes, and that no other vessels of war
should be there built or armed; six months notice
to be given by either party of desire of annulling the
''Selrrangement was, after some delay, submi^tted
bv t e President to the Senate, and that body in 1818
anOTOved of and consented to it. I understand that
constUutional lawvers in the United States-and all
lawers in the United States are constitutional law-
ve^-are not agrjeed as to the necessity for the Presi-
Ln? to lav this agreement before the Senate or for the
'rLrblCrilv observed, except where the
consent of Canada has been obtained to trifling varia-
tions from its teims, variations more in the letter
than in the spirit.
The understanding was, however, in great danger
in 1864. The Minister of the United States in Lon-
don was instructed in October of that year to give the
six months' notice required to tenninate the agree-
ment; and Mr. Adams did so, with tlie subsequent
approval of Congress. Before the lapse of the time
specified, however, matters on the lakes had taken a
different turn, and the United States expressed a de-
sire that the arrangement should continue and be ob-
served by both jjartics. Tliis was acceded to, and ever
since the convention has been considered in full force.
But there remains one thing more in mention. At
a recent meeting of the American Society for the
Judicial Settlement of International Disputes, the
President of the United States gave utterance to an
epoch-making statement— T have always thought that
the President of the United States of America has
the greatest power for good or ill of any man upon the
face of the earth — and in this instance the President
rose to the height even of liis great opportunity.
Mr. Taft said in substance: "There is no reason why
every international question sliould not be submitted
to judicial arbitrament, whether it be a question of
money or of territory or of national honour." Mr.
Taft has since that time, amid the har;issiug cares and
multitudinous laljours uf liis great office, continued
to press on the adojrtion of arbitration methods.
His efforts have been recognized and seconded by
statesmen and ehmclmieu in the mother country, and
in Canada.
But few discordant notes are to be heard. Of
course, the "fire-eater" is not dead, nor the pessi-
mist, nor he who can walk only per vins antiquas,
while the fool we have always with us. We hear that
■wars are necessary to keep down population, although
the same argiunent is not advanced for famine. . .
. . . — that war is needed to awaken and keep
alive vnlouv ami masoulino virtuos ReneraUy, al-
thouch those who know most ahout war know best the
absunlitv of tlie arnmnent: there is more valour
in one (lav of attendanee upon the sick in an epidemic
than in a month of active warfare. I undertake to
find ten men to face bullet or bayonet for e^veiy one
who will face smallpox or malignant fever.* \\ e aie
told that questions of national honour cannot be ar-
bitrated, and that if any nation were to fire a shot at
a peaceful ship of another, war must ensue, a though
Britain did uot suffer in the eyes of the world or m
her own, because slu- submitted to international arbi-
tration when her pea.^eful ttshermen were shot down
on the Dogger Bank; that a man does not go to law
when somec^e assaults his wife as though ha jusU-
fied hhn iu stealing the other's fish-or as though the
drcumstance that some outrage might be so gross tha
?aw would 1)0 forgotten, furnished an argument
^^^rlh';\r.rbfeXni-will,inthelong^^^^^^^^^^^^
^?!e:=!l!;^t^itw^-a^v^^3
the rut.' within; AVhcther man was evolving up
from the lower animal or devolving down from a state
\lm any lower than the angels when he first made
his appearance as man, I shall not discuss in the
p^senL of learned theologians and accomplished
^eientists-we in Ontario a>'' , '"^"'Si J'"' ''"'^.
troubles over questions of tW^ kind and I do not
T)roT)ose to get into hot water in New lork State if J
?an^avoid!t. One way or the other he was but
IMe muoved from tlu^ brute. He l^a'l the weai>ons of
the brute the tooth and claw-and he had adopted
mproved weapons, the club wielded by brawny am,
and the missile stone projected by strong and deft
I ei'/.o'u iiv ftaf.7.
*.0V U TtKilV 'i"lf.
— Burip. Mtdta 11. 250, 251.
hand. He was judge of what he would have, and
of what he would not liavo : and wife and child and
neighbour were kept in order by the tooth and claw,
the club and stone. And then prevailed
"thn (pK)d ohl riilf,
the sinipip plan,
Thnt they shouiil take who have thi' power
Anil tliey should keep who can."
Tlmt Is anarcliy, the state that is spoken of ii, the
good old book, "In tliosc dav.s there was no KiiiK in
Israel, but every man did that wliich was rijjlit in his
own eyes."
In affairs relatiug to the sept \ old wood p>d^ lanifh
Who »nw th.' llr»t priim-va oalf !
M.1IIV thinp this tall' miuht toach,_
But'l am not ordainril to preach.
So it is-aud the wav of umn with his f e""'^-™*" .''
dren of God."
'150:;
.«v'
m.