IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
//
1.0
I.I
[f i^ IIM
^ 1^ ill 2.2
^ 1^ 12.0
1.8
1.25 1.4 ||L6
^
6"
►
V]
<^
7
PhoiDgraphic
Sciences
Cuipomtion
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques
The
toti
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
D
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
I I Covers damaged/
D
D
D
Couverture endommagde
□ Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restanrde et/ou pelliculde
D
Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
□ Coloured maps/
Cartes gdographiques en couleur
□ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
I — I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La re Mure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intdrieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6t6 filmdes.
Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppl6mentaires;
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a 6td possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage
sont indiqu^s ci-dessous.
□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur
Pages damaged/
I I Pages endommagdes
Pages restored and/oi
Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes
I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/
v/
y
D
D
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqudes
□ Pages detached/
Pages d6tach6es
Showthrough/
Transparence
I I Quality of print varies/
Quality indgale de I'impression
Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du materiel suppldmentaire
Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have b<fen refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de faqon d
obtenir la meilleure image possible.
The
post
of tl
film
Ori{
beg
the
slor
oth«
first
sior
or II
The
shal
TIN
whi
Mai
diff(
enti
beg
righ
reqi
mel
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous.
10X 14X 18X 22X
26X
30X
UK
16X
20X
24X
28X
32X
ails
du
>difier
une
nage
The copy filinad her* he* been reproduced thenke
to the generosity of:
University of British Columbia Library
The imeges sppeering here ere the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.
L'exemplaire fiimi fut reproduit grAce A la
gAnirositi de:
University of British Columbia Library
Les images suivantes ont 6t4 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetA de rexemplaire film*, et en
conformity avec les conditions ou contrat de
filmage.
Original copies In printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back rover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimis sont filmAs en commengant
par le premier plat et pn terminant soit par la
dernlAre page qui comports une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration. soit par le second
plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont fiimds en commen^ant par la
premiere page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Un des symboies suivarts apparaftra sur la
derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbols V signifie "FIN".
Meps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to
right a*jd top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre
fiimis 6 des taux de reduction diffirents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 it partir
de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite,
et de heut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nicessaire. Les diagremmes suivants
illustrent la m6thode.
rrata
to
pelure,
n d
D
32X
1
2
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
/
/
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
Annexation is as familiar a word to American statesmen as it
is to British leaders. Louisiana and Florida, Texas, Northern Mex-
ico and Alaska, have been acquired one after the other and in various
ways. Cuba, Hayti and Ilawaii have come within the sphere of dis-
cussion. But the problems connected with any proposition to annex
the Dominion of Canada to the United States are so entirely different
from those involved in all previous extensions of territory as to afford
no room for legitimate comparison. Whether such a proposition is
spoken of as " political union" or as " continental union," it involves
the addition of a territory larger than that of the Republic; the amal-
gamation of a people who, as a whole, are intensely proud of their
country, of their union with the British empire, and of their loyalty
to the Queen; serious diplomatic difficulties, if not war, between the
United States and Great Britain; the disruption of the British empire
to a degree not measured by the secession of Canada, important as
that would be ; and finally, the commercial and political supremacy
of the American Republic upon this Northern continent, and a marked
diminution of British power, trade, territory and prestige.
Until the last two or three years, the idea has been only fitfully
discussed in Canada and is now only indirectly referred to or sup-
ported. Thus, tlie party in power believe that the policy of the Op-
position would result in annexation if it were carried out in the man-
ner proposed ; but they also believe that an attempt on the part of
the Liberals to accomplish a policy of commercial discrimination
against Great Britain would result in a Parliamentary overthrow,
followed by a popular reversal of any success which might have been
obtained through disguising the issue during an election contest. In
the United States, however, the principle of " manifest destiny, " as
Charles Sumner called it, runs like a thread through every page of
its international history, and is woven into many parts of its internal
policy. The efforts made during the War of the Revolution to bring
the Canadian Provinces, or Colonies as they wers, then called, into
the new Confederation of States, are known to every reader of his-
320
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
tory. In Article XI of the Constitution of 1777 it was specially
provided that
"Canada, acceding to the confederation and joining in the measures of the
United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of, this
Union ; but no other Colony shall be admitted to the Union unless such admis-
sion shall be agreed to by nine States. "
But the British provinces refused to be won by persuasion and were
left unconquered by force. Most Canadians believe to-day that the
United States has shown a steady, deliberate dislike of their country
and has pursued a policy more or less injurious to their interests.
The Oregon boundary dispute; the Maine boundary troubles, set-
tled, it was thought, most unjustlj'- by the Ashburton Treaty ; the San
Juan question; the abrogation of the fishery clauses of the Washing-
ton Treaty ; the Atlantic Coast fisheries dispute ; the refusal to allow
Canadian volunteers to cross American territory during the North-
West Rebellion and previously to the completion of the Canadian
Pacific Railway, although dozens of American regiments had passed
through Canadian territory during the Civil War; the annexation of
Alaska in order, as Secretary Seward once pointed out, to prevent
British-Canadian extension on the Pacific Coast and to strengthen
American influence in British Columbia; the Behring Sea fisheries
dispute and the unfriendly manner in which Canadian sealers have
been treated ; the McKinley bill and its injurious agricultural sched-
ule; the Alien Labor law, and its aggressive enforcement against
Canadians ; the constant threats regarding the Canadian Pacific Rail-
road ; and refusals to entertain any proposition for fair reciprocity —
all these things have combined to make Canadians as a rule consider
the inhabitants of the Republic what the Liberal Premier of Ontario
once termed them, " a hostile people. " And these historical inci-
dents, these evidences of doubtful friendship, are among the most
powerful obstacles to future union or closer relations.
Intimately connected with these considerations is the concealed
dislike of so many Americans to Great Britain or their avowed hos-
tility to its interests. Whether this feeling is representative or not
of the United States as a nation, Canadians are prone to look upon it
in that light, especially when considering the utterances of politicians
like the late General Butler, or the appeals to international preju-
dice made by leading American newspapers. Such incidents as
America's expression of sympathy with Russia during the Crimean
War and with Arabi Pisha during the Egyptian campaign are not
f
i
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
327
f
If i
forgotten wlien the relations of Canada and tlie States are discussed.
In a word, another serious obstacle to annexation is the possibility,
dim or vivid, as it may seem to the individual, that some day the
United States may drift, or be dragged, into a war with Great Britain,
which under Continental Union would force Canadians to be false to
their new flag or else to the honor and gratitude which they owe to
their mother- country. " Manifest destiny," therefore, is dependent
for the first step towards realization upon the Canadian people's being
impressed with a conviction of the genuine friendship entertained by
the United States towards themselves and Great Britain.
It must not be supposed, however, that there is no annexation
sentiment in Canada to meet the annexation talk in the United States.
There is some — probably the same proportion that existed in ITT-l,
or that could have been found m 1812, in 1849, in 1867, or in any
year since the Thirteen Colonies severed their connection with Eng-
land. Periods of depression give the feeling a slight impetus, as was
the case in 1849, when a number of young Montreal men signed a
document in favor of annexation. Many of them subsequently rose
to eminence, several were knighted, one became Prime Minister of
Canada and another Chief -Justice of Quebec ; and all who have ever
been heard of, lived to express their sincere regret for a hasty ebulli-
tion of anger.
In recent years, a brilliant but intensely unpopular Englishman,
Professor Goldwin Smith, has devoted his pen and his time to advo-
cating annexation. The result of this advocacy was first visible about
five years ago, when Mr. Erastus Wiman and Sir Richard Cartwright
tried to convince the Canadian people that the only hope for Canada
lay in its immediately obtaining free, unrestricted access to the
American market. It was pointed out upon a thousand platforms
that this could not be arranged without practically adopting the
United States tariff against England, and charging high duties upon
British goods while American were admitted free. But naturally,
when the changes were rung from day to day upon the statement that
free-trade with the Republic was necessary, even at the expense of a
discrimination which would probably involve separation from the
empire and control of the Canadian tariff by Congress at Washington,
many of the supporters of these leaders became tinctured with an-
nexation ideas. In any case, argued many, dependence upon Britain
for protection and dependence upon the States in trade and fiscal
matters would involve an impossible, anomalous, and disgraceful
328
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
position. Many Liberals in the elections of 1891 refrained from vot-
ing, others voted with the Conservatives, the party was again de-
feated, the Hon. Edward Blake, one of its leaders, retired and publicly
announced his reasons for rejecting the party policy, numerous bye-
elections followed, and Mr. Blake's manifesto having opened the eyes
of Liberals everywhere, the Dominion Ministry received a majority
never before equalled in a Canadian Parliament. Since then, the
temporary increase in annexation sentiment has again subsided and
Professor Goldwin Smith's little " Political Union Club" in Toronto
is one of those organizations which never meet and concerning which
no one knows anything or seems to care.
Apart from the difficulty of its being carried out, there are
of course several ways of regarding this proposition. From the
United States standpoint, it would mean the addition to the Kepublic
of a vast area of fertile lands and rich resources in nickel, copper,
gold, silver, coal, iron, and a hundred other minerals; the acquisi-
tion of half a continent; the amalgamation of an intelligent and
liberty-loving people; the chance of advantage to one or other of the
great political parties; the removal of a possible rival in power and
population; and the addition of a voting population to the Union
which would aid effectively in the settlement of the Southern and
negro problems. From the Canadian standpoint, it would mean the
surrender of many advantages ; the sacrifice of hundreds of millions
spent upon the railways, canals and public works necessary to the
achievement of a national ideal laid down at Confederation twenty-
six years ago; the abrogation of a Constitution which is considered,
rightly or wrongly, as the combination of all that is best in the
British and American systems ; the adoption of new institutions, new
political principles, a new history — if such a phrase may be used —
new ideas of business and commerce, and new fiscal regulations, all
of which the average Canadian thinks inferior to his own. And these
considerations would have to be dealt with after the nation's senti-
mental regard for Great Britain had been superseded by a friendly
feeling towards the United States, which has not yet been encouraged
by the Eepublic and which under the most favorable circumstances
would take a long time to grow.
The defects in American national life have long been keenly
studied and criticised in Canada, and the most enthusiastic advocate
of annexation knows that this belief in the superiority of Canadian
institutions, laws, politics and even morals, is ingrained in the heart of
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
320
the average citizen whom he endeavors to convert. I will summarize
briefly a few of the most important considerations which occur nat-
urally to a Canadian when annexation is mentioned.
I. Kesponsible government, as compared with Presidential rule.
In Canada the Governor-General represents the Queen. and reigns but
does not rule. Parliament sits, legally, for seven years — practically,
for five or six years, and the Premier must have the confidence of its
majority. If the country is generally alarmed or indignant, it actS
upon the members and they vote against the Ministry. Public posts
in the control of Parliament, or of its delegated representatives — the
Ministry of the day — are held for life during good behavior. On the
other hand, the United States has its President chosen in the midst
of a violent turmoil every four years — every two years, if prepara-
tion be part of the battle — and he is during his term responsible
practically to nobody. The people cannot control him. Congress can-
not overthrow his authority or that of his Cabinet, and the whole
machinery of government, including the spoils system, rests to a great
degree in the hands of one man.
II. Legislative methods. It is believed that injurious and poorly-
digested laws, together with appropriations for large sums and im-
portant purposes, rushed through without care or consideration, are
characteristic of the Congress system. These slipshod methods not
only compel the courts to spend much time in testing the constitu-
tionality of various laws, but encourage the corrupt legislation which
is the chief source of lobbyism and its multitudinous evils. The
absence from Congress of authoritative Cabinet spokesmen much en-
hances this difficulty, which has its root in that serious constitutional
error, the lack of responsibility for legislation. At Ottawa, on the
other hand, as in London, careful preparation is given by selected
members of the Cabinet to all government bills, and where the meas-
ure is of vital import, the whole Cabinet probably deals with it clause
by clause before submitting it to Parliament. After it is submitted
to the House of Commons or to the Senate, as the case may be, all
publicity is given to its terms. So with legislation on private bills,
of which two months' notice is required and concerning which the
fullest opportunity is given for criticism in the select committees
to which the bills may be referred.
III. Divorce laws and morals. This consideration is alike im-
portant and difficult to deal with. It is not necessary to affect or
presume superior national morality in order to express regret at the
X]0
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION,
looseness of tlic marriage-tic in the great Republic, Cardinal Gib-
bons pointed out not long ago that between 1807 and 18S0 two hun-
dred thousand divorces were granted in the United States, as com-
pared with one hundred and sixteen given in Canada. The trouble,
of course, is caused largely by a difference in the laws of the various
States, which permit the anomalous and disgraceful condition of a
man or woman's being married in one State and single in another.
And Canadians are disposed to see in the vast number of divorces
granted yearly in New York, Chicago and more Western centres,
a reflection upon the morality of the community and an evidence of
a widespread lack of respect for the sacredness of the marriage-tie.
Whether justified or not, this feeling is almost universal in Canada
and constitutes another consideraljle obstacle to closer national rela-
tionship.
IV. The elective judiciary. Canadians are exceedingly averse
from any judicial system founded upon an electoral basis. They
recognize the merits of the United States Supreme Court, the ability
and impartiality which characterize its judges; but the respect paid
to its decisions and to the Court itself is believed to be due to the
fact that the judges are carefully selected and hold office upon a life
tenure. But lower down in the scale of courts, the unfortunate elec-
toral system comes into play. At once, the lack of respect for the
bench and its decisions we think, rightly or wrongly, becomes ap-
parent; the judge is only an elected official, no longer impartial, but
the servant of the people or of the party which elected him. In
Canada, the judiciary is appointed for life and is composed of men of
the highest legal standing. Sir John Macdonald, during his many
years of Premiership, selected most of the principal judges, and, like
the other party-leaders, chose men irrespective of politics or political
services. The consequence is that from the lowest court to the high-
est, the bench of Canada is admired and respected throughout the
Dor' inion.
y. Lack of respect for law. Whether it be a result of the elec-
tive system or a consequence of innate lawlessness in a part of the
population, the frequency of lynch-law outrages throughout the Union
is to Canadians incomprehensible. The great Canadian North-West
has been opened up, the Indians have been dealt with, a half-breed
population has been trained in self-government, the mines of British
Columbia have been made to produce fifty million dollars in gold,
and that great province has been opened up to civilization and settle-
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
U.'U
meiit, while thousands of miles of railway have been built, and all
without 0:10 lynehing! Such incidents, therefore, as the frightful
tortures inllieted upon the negro who was burned to death at Paris,
Texas; the hanging at Burnet, Texas, upon the very slightest sus-
picion, of a colored girl who was afterwards found to be innocent;
the lynching of the man Denmark by a mob in South Carolina, with
the Governor's practical connivance or approval, after the alleged
victim had declared him innocent; these and similar occurrences pro-
duce a sensation of horror in the onlooker, equalled only by amaze-
ment as to the condition of the laws, or the public disregard of them,
which permits such deeds. If they were exceptional and occasional,
little would be thought of outbursts of this nature; but taking place
constantly and extending as they do, from New Jersey to Texas,
from New York to San Francisco, the average Canadian can hardly
be blamed for disliking and fearing the general national conditions
which permit such results.
VI. The spoils system. In Canada, positions in the Civil Ser-
vice are obtainable after examination and are held during good be-
havior, which as a rule means for life. In the United States, the
motto, " To the victors belong the spoils," has been lived up to in
principle and practice. Senator Pendleton, during a speech on De-
cember 31, 1881, said that the idea that one hundred thousand ofBces,
purely administrative, almost absolutely clerical in their nature, pay-
ing one hundred million dollars a year in salaries, should be dis-
tributed by the President and his friends after every election, was a
crime against civilization, and " the prolific parent of fraud, corrup-
tion and brutality. " This is a severe indictment, but it represents a
very general feeling in Canada, strengthened by such incidents as
the contention of Mr. Blaine's friends that he was beaten at the Min-
neapolis Convention by office-holders; the many weeks' struggle of
President Cleveland and his whole Cabinet with office-seekers, to the
neglect of national business ; and the recent discoveries of fraud in
the Pension Bureau.
VII. Banking and currency. In Canada, there seems no doubt
that the American banking system is on its trial, and that the currency
of the Eepublio is in a deplorable condition. Time may adjust mat-
ters, but the financial instability of the United States is a source of
much dread to Canadian bankers and business-men and constitutes a
most important factor in any discussion of international relations.
Canadians are naturally cautious, and the spectacle of experiments
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
such fts the Sherman net; of agitations such as those the free-coinage
men have been pushing; or of schemes such as the Populist leaders
pro])ose from time to time, lills them with uneasiness. The Ameri-
can system provides small banks for every part of the community,
connected with each other by no apparent link, started upon no par-
ticular principle, with little capital and often no experience. The
Caaadian banking arrangements include a score of large banks, char-
tered by the Dominion Parliarrent every ten years, after a wide public
discussion of necessary changes, having many branches in every por-
tion of the country, with skilled and trained oiTicers who rise by
ability and arc required to possess experience, enabling the General
Managers accurately to measure the conditions in all parts of the coun-
try, to send money here and withdraw it there, to avert undue expan-
sion and undue tightness; meanwhile giving the public a circulation
which, issued by the banks and secured beyond all possibility of risk,
affords the only known system whereby the public are assured of a
rise and fall in the supply of money exactly in accord with the re-
quirements of the moment. Such is the Canadian system, based
upon a well-riustained public confidence and established in a manner
to defy assault from the causes which every day overthrow small
American institutions. This at least is the Canadian view of the
situation; and coupled with a gold basis for onr Dominion cur-
rency and no trouble whatever with the silver question, it affords
another pretty strong objection to any proposed annexation scheme.
It is unnecessary to go at length into other Canadian objections.
The obstacle afforded by a tariff double or treble that of the Domin-
ion, may be alleviated in time, if President Cleveland during his
term of office is able to persuade Congress to lower the duties —
presuming that he wishes to do so. The difficulty looming dark
upon the horizon in connection with seven millions of negroes whom
the average American is indisposed to treat upon equal terms; the
extreme length to which monopolies and trusts are carried ; the dis-
like felt to wealthy monopolists and the danger arising from the
constant accumulation of huge fortunes in a few hands ; the cost and
turmoil of the almost continual elections ; the memory of that near
approach to civil war at the time of the Tilden-Hayes contest; the
enormous expenditure upon pensions: — all these considerations mili-
tate against the spread of annexationism in Canada. Were the ques-
tion to be publicly and generally discussed they would be heard of in
every detail and particular from a thousand platforms — and this with-
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
I
out anything but respect for the United States as a nation. Thero
are indeed few appeals to patriotism which exercise a stronger and
more iinmediute ell'ec t in Cana(h\, tlian the picture of that great people
battling with disunion and rebellion over a term of years, spending
thousands of millions in money and tiiousands of lives for tiieir Hug
and country. The Union's progress is appreciated; its Constitution,
in many points so excellent, is respected; its prosperity in the past
has been greatly admired, its future welfare is universally desired.
And above all, Canada, in preserving and cementing its national
unity, in protecting and promoting its trade and internal commerce,
in extending its railways and encouraging immigration, wants no bet-
ter exemplar.
One more point remains to be considered. Annexationists, wher-
ever they may be, insist that Canada is suilering under terrible depres-
sion and poverty ; that its commerce is restricted and its condition
generally retrcgref-^ive instead of progressive — the only cure for all
these evils being political union. Figures may be cited almost at ran-
dom to prove the e-cpansion of Canada since 1878, the year in which
Sir John Macdonald came into power and in which the Conservative
policy of protection was prepared for application in 1879. The ex-
ports, for instance, rose from $79,323,067 in 1878 to $113,963,375
in 1892; the imports from $93,089,787 in 1878 to $127,406,068 in
1892. The export of mineral products during this period increased
by three million dollars; of fisheries, three millions; of forest prod-
ucts, three millions; animals and their products, fourteen millions;
agricultural products, four millions; and manufactures, three millions.
Meantime, the home production increased, as importation of foreign-
made articles decreased, and Canadian industries soon showed the dif-
ference. As the census figures indicate, the number of factories in-
creased from 49,923 in 1881 to 75,768 in 1891 ; the capital invested,
from $165,302,623 to $353,836,817; the number of employes, from
254,935 to 367,865; the wages paid, from $59,429,002 to $99,-
762,441; the cost of raw material, from $179,918,593 to $255,-
983,219, and the value of products, from $309,676,068 to $475,-
455,705. It is estimated, upon these and other figures, that Canada
added to its wealth $89,000,000 per an' um, during the decade, as
compared with $33,000,000 a year in the previous decade. Other
evidences of this industrial progress are found in the importation of
raw wool, which increased from 4,900,000 pounds in 1879 to 10, -
200,000 pounds in 1892; of raw cotton, which rose from 9,700,-
334
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
000 pounds to 46,300,000 pounds, and of raw sugar, which leaped
up from 21,000,000 pounds to 343,000,000 pounds.
That the United States is not the best market for Canadian farmers
is held to be shown by the fact that Canada exported in 1891 $10,-
917,357 worth of farm products to the Republic and imported from
it $9,395,747, while it exported to Great Britain $25,074,464 and
imported from that country only $1 ,408,239 worth. That Canadian
trade compares favorably with American is indicated by figures, also
for 1891, which show that Canada's trade, ^er capita, was in imports,
$24.77 and in exports, $20.32; while the trade of the United States
was in imports only $13.45 and in exports, $14,08. The Canadian
debt of $237,000,000 is now stationary and compares favorably with
the Australian debt of more than $700,000,000. If American rail-
road mortgage debts of more than $4,000,000,000 were included in
the debt of the United States, as the chief railway indebtedness is
included in figures for the Dominion, there would be an equally fa-
vorable showing as between Canada and the United States. But Can-
ada has spent $114,000,000 on railways, $36,000,000 on canals and
$35,000,000 on other public works since 1867, besides assuming at
Confederation and afterwards $109,000,000 of Provincial debts; so
that she does not feel the burden of indebtedness, in face of substan-
tial results, public approval of the expenditure, redundant revenues
and enhanced credit. Without, however, going further into figures,
Canadians may well be pardoned for inquiring why in such circum-
stances they should be pessimistic, and why pessimism should lead
them into despair — and the American Union.
To summarize, the conditions of the annexation problem seem
simple and easily understood. Canada is contented with her present
national position, and conservative Canadians entertain a profound
belief in the superiority of the British system of governmr^nt over the
American. They think the institutions, laws, morals, finance and
legislation of the Dominion superior to those of the United States,
and they would not care to risk serious changes through annexation.
They are every year becoming more attached to Great Britain and
more grateful for the power and liberty which can be obtained within
the British realm. They are afraid of American aggression, suspi-
cious of American dislike to the mother-land, averse from the neces-
sity which would exist of hostile fiscal legislation under annexation,
and of possible future conflict with Great Britain. They are becom-
ing profoundly interested in the British market, as opposed to the
I
old
whe
vol\
way
east
to t
port
mil,
exp
Wh
mat
pov\
otli<
pec
CANADIAN HOSTILITY TO ANNEXATION.
335
old " sixty million market" theory, aud have defeated by an over-
whelming vote unrestricted reciprocity schemes which seemed to in-
volve trade discrimination against England. Their commerce, rail-
ways, steamship lines, cable projects, and waterways all converge,
east and west, toward Britain and British countries, instead of south
to the United States. And of Americans who feci inclined to sup-
port passively or aid actively some annexation propaganda, the
majority of Canadians honestly ask. Why should you desire or
expect us to do what you would never dream of doing yourselves?
Why should Canada, with its vast and wealthy territory, its inti-
mate connection with the greatest naval, commercial and territorial
power on earth, and its splendid institutions, seek union with an-
other nation, whatever its wealth and population, progress and pros-
pects may be?
J. Castell Hopkins.
22