''^>. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4 ^ .^^^. % ^1 (A -« 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.2 If 1^ IM ^ 1^ 12.0 u >^ I. ■UI4U 1.4 — A" iiiiim pm V. # o V] c?" :^ > ^.^* ^ # ^ ^; Photographic _Sciaices Ccrporation 33 WIST MA/N STRUT WHSTIR^rt.Y. MSSO (716) S79-4503 iV •sj :\ \ >" CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notes techniques at bibliographiquas 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 D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couvertiire de couleur □ Covers damaged/ C< Couverture endommagee Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e I I 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/ Relii avec d'autres documonts Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reljure 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 r^ue certaines pages blanches pjouties lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6td filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires: L'Institut a microfiimi le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cat 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 methods normaie de filrviage sont indiquds ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restiiurdes et/ou pellinui^ns Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu^es □Pages detached/ Pages d^tachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Quality indgale de {'impression Includes supplementary materia Comprend du materiel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible rT~] Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ D Pages wholly or partially obscured by eirata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6ti filmdes A nouveau de fapon it obtenir la meilleure image possible. This Stem is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 2ex 30X J 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada L'exemplaire filmA fut reproduit grAce d la g6n6rosit6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives pubiiques du Canada The signifie "A SUIVRE ', le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too Sarge to be entirely includ3d in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmi d partir de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent ia mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 \ A \ 77 iM y\k) I \ PUBLIC AFFAIRS. ^? \ SIR JOHN THOMPSONS TORONTO ADDRESS. THE POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRATION ON TRADE, THE TARIFF, RECIPROCITY AND PROVINCIAL RIGHTS. MR. FOSTER'S VIEWS ON » THE GROWTH OF OUR TRADE, THE SOUNDNESS If OUR FINANCE AND THE DESTINY OF OUR COUNTRY. /Tf'J SPEECHES OF SIR JOHN THOMPSON AND HON. MR. FOSTER. Till! following; adtliesses, the first of which was dehveied at tlio request of the Youn^ Men's Conservative Associa- tion (»f Toronto in the Audibormm, on tlie 18th of January, 1H93, and the second at tlie request of the Board of Trade of that city at their banquet, on tlve ")th of Jaunary. 1898, are repuhhshed for i)ubhe thstribation, and for the further information of the people. The views of those who are responsible alike to Parliauienc and the people for their public utterances can never be made too familiar to those who must ultimately support or condemn theui. And it is hut fair that i)ublic men siiould be judj«ed b_y their own u iterances carefully coiisidt>red by the electors, rather than by what they are alle{»ed to have said by hasty, inaccurate, or inimical reports. These addresses con'aiii tlu- carefully considi)liey of the new Administra- tion, and the carefully coni[)iled facts by wliich than ))olicy is supportcnl. Sir .Tohn Thonqtson met with a most enthusiastic recei)tion. When order had been restored lie said : Mh. I'KKsiiiKNr. Ladiks ano (iKNTLK- MKN' - I am most >{rati'ful to you for the kind reception which you have just ex- tended to me. and I am t^i-att-ful to the Young Men's C'ons(>rvative Association for this great <;pportunity to address a large numhi'r of the j)eopl(! of 'I'oronto. We heard, sir. that you had a gr<'at nuiny young uu-n in the association, and we have brought a number of our young men from Ottawa to gret^t you and to make your acquaintance this ('veiling. I agret^ with what the ])resident said to the public, as well as to his association, on the occasion of his inauguration as president, that it is upon asso^ls t he statement that it was higli time that 1 appointed a minister to look after this association. Ladies and gentlemen, I recognize the importance of the asso- ciation as not at all overvalued by that remark. An association comprising nearly 5,000 of the young men of Toron- to are worthy of a minister oi their own ; and until they get a better one I want to 1)0 understood as being a candidate for the place. (Applause.) PULSE OF PUBLIC OPINION. I need no ttell you, but 1 have often told the people of my own province with [iride, that the people (jf Toronto, awake, alive and active as they are on the public (piestions of the day, give the pulse beats of public o[)inion throughout this great country whenever electoral strug- gles come on ; and, sir, 1 cannot help stating at this early part of my address a proposition which has lately been made, and which it is my privilege to 'give voice to to-night, that the associations 6f Toronto, the Conservative associations of Toronto, including this gi'eat associa- tion, should build for themselves a jier- maiient home in this city in which all could be combined, and all could be ac- commodated. There could be no greater, no more fitting tribute to the memory of the great statesman who for nearly half a century was at tlu; head of this great party than that it should take the name and place of tiie Macdonald Memorial in the city of Toronto. (I'rolonged applause.) I hope that the idea that i^• thus put hjrward with a view of giving, not accom- modation merely, but a home for these organi/ations, will be carried forward with success, and that Toronto will have the pride of liaviiij? in that way a very substantial nionunient to our (lei)art((l cJiieftain. I tliink there is {^ood reason for this. There is good reason for the assoeiations of Toronto to liavt- a home. You have lately been addressed by the eloquent leader of the ojji.osition. and the people of Hamilton have heard him in glowing terms deseribe the ho[)e — the still " lingering, flickering hope of the Liberal party of this country. (Hear, hear. ) He has tracedan historical parallel . namely, that once the Whigs in England were fifty years out of office. IN THK WILDEKNESS. The recollection of the fifty years' sojourn in the wilderness of the Whigs under Charles James Fox and other great Whig statesmen gives heart and hope to the Liberals of Canada to-day. But you must remember tw^o things, one of which he must have thought of him- self, that was that while the Whigs were for fifty years out of office Conservative statesmen were laying broad and deep the foundations of the greatest empire tliat the sun ever shone upon. (Applause.) He forgot, too, this fact, which this association will do veil to bear in mind, that we have been but fifteen out of fifty years in office, and so, if we are to stay for thirty-five moie, tiie Conservative asso- ciations of this city had better set about to look for a permanent home at liuce. (Hear, hear.) NO NEW STORY. Mr. President, our coming before you as a new administration has been her- alded in such a way that I am afraid I shall have to disappoint you this even- ing. It has been heralded in such away as to indicate that I have a new story to tell you. Ladies and gentlemen, the party to which I belong obtained power and obtained office and i)ublic trust nearly fifteen years ago ; bi:t I am proud to tell you to-night that we have no new story to tell you, and that we stand by the principles on which we obtained office then, and on which we have held it with the approval of the people of Canada ever since. (Applause.) Let me call your attention to what the great ambition of the Liberal Conservative party was iu 1867, under the guidance of Sir John Mactlonald, and what it has been ever since. The guiding ambition of that party has been to establish a great Canada. (Hear, hear.) Its policy was called the national [)olicy. The name has been travestied in a hundred ways. The name has been treated as api)licable only to the rigid lines of a custom tariff; but in the mind of the statesman whocon- ceiviul it, and the statesmen who have followed it up, it meant far more than a tariff arrangement for Canada. (Hear, hear.) It meant the [mrchaseof a great northwestern territory, which should be the home of the young fanners and the people of Canada. It meant that instead of going to the fertile fields of the west- ern States, in the United States of America, they slK)uld have a great fertile northwest of their own under the British Hag, and where they can enjoy Canadian institutions. It meant that the development of the country should go forward by the extension of lines of railway, which should not only connect every town and every village in the country from end to end, but which sliould build up the desolate lands in the noi'thwest, pierce the Rocky mountains and unite the province of British Cohun- bia with the sister provinces by the Atlantic coast. That policy has been cai'ried forward. It has been carried forward in a way that has made Canada an object of pride to every per- son who admires British institu- tions. We have ex[)ended treasure, effort and struggle upon the accomplish- mentof that policy. We have exi)ended. it is said, too much treasure upon it, but I think there are few who believe that nowadays. When I remind you that over and above all the increase of public debt we have spent in railways and canal improvement alone upwards of 5'1<5.000,- 000 — forwarding and comi)leting the scheme to make Canada a great nation- ality, I have to fell you to-night, as the unworthy successor of that great statesman whom I have named, and of the statesman wlu^ followed him, and who has boon com])elled to retire from your service only by the heavy ha'.id of affliction, that we stand by the policy of making Canada a nation. We will suc- ceed, if the earnest and patriotic efforts of young Canadians can do it. (Api)lause.) THE ('ONDITION OK THE COUXTUV. We have been addressed upon this subject very lately, let me remind you again ; we have been told that the coun- try is not prosperous. We have, during the last two or three weeks - during the last! week iu fact — had facts placed before the people of this country from the imblic records, aiul fron' tin; luoutlis of responsible men, showiufi the vast proj^ress wliicli tlie country lias achieved ; showinj^ tliat lier railway system is the tinest in the world. If we take the statistics of business of the banks, the accunudated savings of the people, their investments in life insur- ance, or in other modes of investment, the statistics showing the bulk t)f our trade and conuuei'ce. we sliall see that there are no 5,000.000 of people in the Morld more busy and more prosperous, more active and more alive to the wants of thtir coun- try than the .l.OOO.OOO of Canadians are to- day. (Applause.) 1 ask you. ladies and f^entlemeu. to mark the important fact that while these statements have {^(one before the [)eo[)le of Toronto and the people of Ontario widely, they have met with a singular response by our friends of the opposite side. We have been told that it is trash to talk of the l)rosperity of the people, wlieu nearly a million of [X'ople have fled from that l)rosperity. (Cheers.) But, ladies and ff(!ntlemen, have they, down to tliis moment, controverted one fact or one figure of the long array of statistics which have [)roved the statements made by our friends as regards the activity and success of this country, and the growth of its trade and commerce, and its development in every channel '? . Have they attempted to wrestle with one of tlibse tigures or to deny their conclusions ? It is very easy to talk about trash, to talk about the exodus— but the plain tigures are there, and cannot be wrestled with. No. sir ; to call it trash and U) call it buncombe is easier and makes [trettier sentences for an after- dinner speech than would tlu; discussion of the plani facts. Let me call your attention to another fact in connection with this criticism. We are told that while we are taking figures as regards the progress of the country W(.' are very conveniently leaving out of sight certain other figures whichare of great const!- tpieuce, that liavt' great bearing on this question. THK CKNSUS. Now, I am projuising to-night to talk to my fellow-Canadians in the plainest way about what our opponents call the disagreeable figures of the ('(nisus. We have had an exiuhis ev{>r since the British provinces \V(>re founded. Tlie exodus lias been going on at a rate which both political jiarties have de- plored. The difterence between the two parties is that fifteen years ago Liberal statesmen were asked to deal with that question and to endeavor to check the exodus, and they denied the right and power of statesmen to deal with that question by legislation or by government effort at all. The difference is that Sir John Macdonald ainl the statesmen who battled with that question said that by giving the home market to our own psiople for their labor, and by encouraging the establishment of indus- tries throughout Canada, it was [)ossible at least to check that (exodus, and to give employment to a large number of those who were seeking enq)loyment in the United States. VVe could not stop it ; no man suppose-d that the exodus could be completely stoi)ped. The exodus proceeds very largely from the enterprise and adventure of the Canadian people ; but there were two or three things that were done to check it, and make the e.xodus, as a matter of necessity, no longer t^xist in C'anada. One was this — that tlje fertile lands of the Northwest were to be opened up for the young farmers of Ontario. Another was that, by keeping the home marlcet for our farmers and operatives the industries of our country wei'e to be greatly en- hanced. Both of these have been done. I admit the exodus still. TTiere are various kinds of exodus, ladies and gentlemen. There is the Cartwright exodus— (laughter) — which reaches the tall figures of a million and a half, and its author soared above that, even, and claimed that a good many more were lost from the Canadian population, until somebody turned round his own calcula- tion, applied it to the Uniti^d States, and showed him that according to liis mode of calculating, the exodus there had been an exodus from the United States of six millions and a half . (Lauglkfcer.) There is the kind of exodus which the leader of the opposition described a few evenings ago as an exodus so great that we were unable to keep the beggarly five millions of people in this country that we have in it. Why, ladies and gentlemen, un- fortunately, while the population has grown in the last decade over eleven per cent., and has r«!ached nearly five millions of ))eo})le, it has never quite reached that mark yet, and to talk about bi;ing uiiabl:; to kee)) in this country the beggarly number that we have, is to talk what that great oiator 6 tloHci-ibtul a few secoiKis aftorwards as " mere traHli and biincoinhe." What is the exodus ? The tacts have been as- certained within the last few weeks from the United States records ; and ilu'.y sliow tliat ilw whole i)oi)ulatio!i of the United States Canadian-born, is about 9;50,C)00. How many oi those have v,e lost in tlie last decade, and how many in the decad(! before ? The nund)er of Canadian born peo])le in the States has increasc^l duriuf^ the last ten years '2(55, ()0() i)eo[)le. (rreatly to be regret- ted ; but. ladies and gentlemen, the loss in the decade before was far greater, although not in numbers, in percentage — (hear, hear)- and, while in the decade before that we had increased that number by TiO per cent., during the last decade tlie increase has been pulled down to a little over 86 [)er cent. But the assurance with which our opponents de- clare that the naticmal [)olicy is to be blam- ed for our having an exodus at all, is some- thing a[)palling to the intellect of Canadians. (Hear, hear.) What is it in the iiational policy that has cre«ted an exoduK ? Ik it that tlui number of our ■working [)eoplc is less thaji it used to be b(!fore the national i)olicy was estab- lished ? ALLKCiKD KKFKCTS OF THE N. 1', We are challenged to look at the dis- agreeable figures of tlie census ; Vint let us take those figures all togetlier, and we find thai the pay-roll of persrns employed in iiidustrieH in this country lias increased in the last ten years l)y 112,000 operatives. (ApplaustM Has tlie national policy expelled opera- tives from this country ? The figures of the census, which we are challenged to look into, show tiiat the operatives increased by ll'iOOO. Is it that capital lias been flyhig from the country— fiying from its resources — under the national policy '? Those same disagreeable figures which we are challenged to look into sliow that the capital invested in the industries of Canada has increased by $1!H),(H)0,0()0 during the last ten years. (Applau.se.) Is it that the national policy has made it harder for the work- iiignien to make wages in this country ? Would to (lod that wages and emp-.("oj . meut were more abundant than they are ! But let us face the facts and figures which we are asked to face, and we finu that in wages $41,000,000 nioi'e were paid at the end of the decennial period than were paid at the beginning of the (U'cennial }>eriod. (Apjilause.) Is it that the product of those manufactories and those industries has not adch'd to the public wealth and the public welfare ? We find that Sl<30.- OOO.OOO has been the output added directly to the product of these manufac- tories during that period as compared with the ten yi-ars before. We are told that if our opponents could but get into power, as a contrast to what I have shown you as the results of the national policy, the prosperity of this country would be so apparent that it would not need to be provtid at all. Well, sir, the Liberals were in power, and the prosper- ity was not proved at all. and was not visible even by the aid of a microscope. (Applause and laughter.) I have given you the results. I have spoken to you about tlie great advantage which has been secured by the opening of the fertile lands in the Northwest. .\s re- gards the c^lass of young men who were accustomed to leave the province of Ontario, to a great extent that has siip})liedtlie new fields which these voiing men sought for in the' I'liited States. As regards the peoide of the province of Quebec, who have been emigrating lai'gely to the United States, and the people of the maritime provinces, remem- ber side by side with what I have told you we have done for the people of Ontario to check the exodus- remem- ber, that we have given for wages, that we are giving for wages now, two millions of dollars a year nun*e for the (iiiiploynient of labor in the cotton industries and the leather-working industries, which have hitherto drawn the principal part of the popula- tion who have emigrated from Quebec and the maritime [iroviiUH's to the Unit^'d States. (.Applause.) That has been one of the results — one of the achievements — of the national jiolicy : and when my friend the leader of the opjiosition told in iiathetic terms the otlier night the story of the brave-hearted man who. going to the jjolls. wished to wave the old Hag and (!h<>er for it -when he told the story of what his wife said to him about the misery of having their sons working in the State of Michigan instead of having (employment under the old flag, that was precisely the state of affairs before Sir John Macdonald developed the national policy. (Hear, hear, and applause.) But now that patriot will be able to wave tlie old flag and feel that his sons can continue to livf under it and establish homes for tlieniselves in Manitoba and the {^reat Northwest tei'ritories instead of spendinf» their labor in tlw; State of Michif^an. I am preaehiu}^. I know, an old ser- mon to you with rej^ard to wliat tlie national policy has done, and what its aims and wliat the objects of those who have laid its foundations were ; hut it is for me to tell yon to-ni}{ht in connection with the past history of the Conservative party, what our policy is to be for the future — (hear, hear) — and I Hay to you, ladies and f^entlemen, that the national policy, as I have described it, not as a mere tariff arrange- ment, but as a means of developing the resources of Canada, knitting its people together and welding them into anation, is a policy that we intend to i)nrsue. (Ap- plause.) Before the elocpience of even the great leader of the opposition charms us into abandoning that policy, he wnll have to tell what ant in anticipation of fundamental changes in tariff' arrangement in the United States. While I admit that the national policy is not perfection, and requires to be moulded from time to tinu> to suit the changing circumstances of this country, I did not propose to postpone all change until tariff reform has iM^en completed in the Unit«!d States. We propose to put our hands to the work in the sessi(ju which is coming, and to go on as far as may be ncicessary. changing and mould- ing from time to time the tariff" system perhaps th«! mostenergetic wayof exi)res8- ing tlu! nt^cessity for that was used by the leader of the opposition last night when he said such changes are necessary because " what is the use one day may be an abusi' the next." The tariff', carefully an<' wisely framed as the tariff was, may require revising, in consequence of clianged conditions of tliis and surround- ing countries. We propose, in the words which wi!re extended to nu; as a motto on ♦^^he toast card at the Board of Trade banquet, simply to lop mouldering branches away. You understand perfectly well, ladies and gentlemen, without my telling you, that while to-morrow the pa))ers will say I am very vague and spliinx-like in speaking thus it is inqwssible for a minister, standing upon a public platform, in advance of a session of parliament, to put his finger upon one item or another item of the tariff and say that this shall be repealed, or that shall be cut away. All that we can state to you, under our duty to those to whom we owe the highest duty as jneni- bers of the government, is to state that the i)rinciple iq)on which we intend to proceed is that of sustaining the national l)olicy, and of reforming the tariff to suit the wants of the Canadian people, as they may change and alter from day to day. (JRKAT TARIFF KKFOUMERS. 1 may claim some little credit for the Conservative party in making this state- ment, when I remind you that in the changes we have made in the direction of tariff refoi'm we have shown om-selves to be the greatest tariff" reformers in the world. In the session before the last, while the new government was but a month or six weeks old. we struck from tlie tariff the duties on sugar, whicli threw oft" in the interest of tariff' reform one- tw(;lfth of our entire revenue, upwards of three millions a year, and I think tlie people, seeing the circumstances luuler wliich we did that three years ago, will have faith in us that having put our hands to the work we will carry on that work, and wherever we can inqirove the 10 conditions of trade, or reduce the public burdens, we sliall do so in the early future. We have been taunted, in that connection, witli "lookiufj to A'ashiuf^- ton," with waiting on the United States. Well, what would you thin"k of a minis- ter of trade or coriuiierct! who would shut his eyes to the movements goin^ on in otlier ooimtries. and care nothing whether they made articles free or taxed jhem 60 <)>• HO jier cent.; care nothing about that, but go on with an iron-bound tariff wliich he would claim as perfect ? The best minis- ter of finance or trade and cou'nievce yon can have is the one who keeps tlu; keenest lookout for the changes of tariff" and trade in other countries, because it is only in comiection with changes of that kind that we can understand howour trade find our fiscal policy are to be directed and uioulded fron, day to day. But let me ask you, in the few minutes that I shall still detain you — for my time is running rapidly out- let me ask you to consider f>r a few moni' rits, my fellow-Canadians, what the policy is tliat we are asked to adopt instead of this. What proj)osal is it that the leaders of the ojijwsition speak of so frcipiently anc' so elotjuently as they do ? What proposition is it they offer that will add to the growth of our nianv;facturing indu!;tries ; that will in- crease wages ; that will increase employ- ment ; that will bring new capital into the country ".* They propose a policy — namely, unrestricutd reciprocity - which. I humbly tliink, would take more opera- tives out of Canada in on-i year than have gone in the last ten. (Aiplause.) BuL when you wish to test their sincerity in the policy they jjut befori' you, I can ask nothing better than that you should tr.ke tlu>ir own words. Now. if you will read their speeches which hav(> been delivered within the last six days, yon will find that what Mr. Laurier has proposed as the trade policy of the Liberal party is this : Tliey pr()])()se to have absolute free trade as it is in Eng- land -(A faint "Hear, hear," which evoked ironical applause.) Now, my friend, do hear the end of the sentence Tl>'\v projxist? to give you at the samt> time a tariff of about 00 or HO per cent, as against Kiiglaiul and all the world, except the United States. Lot nr, friend who said " hear, hear" a swer nie this (]Uestion, or at any rate think of it liimself : What is the kind of free tradt! they have in England ? What would the apostles of free trade who were ci^ed only last night as tho great exemplars for this coimtry, Cobden and Bright, think of a proposition whicli would induce a colony to liave free trade with a neighbouring country and the fauious McKinleyism as against all the world ? What would he tlunk, or any- one else thiidi,of calling thf.t " free trade as it is in England "?"' What would he think of tlu! statesman \,ho stood on a Canadian platform and said while advo- cating a policy like that, that he founded his policy on true English Liberalism ? All I can say is that a true Bjuglish Liberal would not own a man in whose mouth sucli a policy as that was placed. The peoi>le of Toronto were told so lately as that also hat the Liberals were able to get unrestricted reciprocity with the United States— (a cry of "Hear, hear") -that it was very preposteroits to see the woebegone looks of the Cana- dian emissaries who came brck from the I'nited States unable to get reciprocity. Why. my friends — (one of them said hear, hear to emphasize it)- so they could ; so we could have got it last February. The statesmen of the United States were in favor of unrestricted Reciprocity. Why? B(>cause unrestrict- ed Reciprocity is a thoroughly American l)olicy — as opposed to a British or Canadiun policy. THK WASHINt-TON VISIT. When 3Ir. r oster. Mr. Bowell and my- self wei'e in Washington last February we could, barring a settlement of the details, li.'ive concluded evei\ tiling in a week, and I will tell you why we did not. In t((e first place, because there was required to be a common tariff as against the world, excepting the United States, and that tariff' the tariff which then existed in the United States; and, in the next place, we were obliged to agree distinctly to discriminate agains-'t the moth(>r country. On those terms W(> could have got unrestricted reciprocity. On tliose ti rms we shall never take it. (Prolonged applause.) And on those terms, 1 venture to say, the Canadian pc^ojile will never let the Liberals take it. (Hear, iiea'.) Now, ladies and gentlenu-n. let me call your atteiiti(m to tiiis question. Why have I s])oken of it as a thoroughly American policy ? Well, anyone vvlio saw and heard tlie late Secretary of the United States, that great man, .lames G. Blaine, 11 trade who IS tlio great Cobden and ition which e free trade ry and the -inst all the ink, or auy- f ree trade at would he > stood on a while advo- he founded jiberalisiii ? ne P^nglish m in whose was placed. ive told so iberals were )rocity with of " Hear, roposteroiis f the Cana- ck from the reciprocity. them .said 1 1 - so thty got it last the United mrestricted iunrestrict- y American British or IT. ell and my- t Fel)ruary lent of the .\ tiling in a hy we did ause there )n tariff as the United aritf which tates ; and, I'e obliged iscriminate On those ii.rcstricted s we shall applanse.l nc to say, ver let tlie 'a''.) Now, ' ciall your Vby have 1 American ' saw and ;he United i(j. Blaine, and the present Secvetary, Mr. John W. Foster, and heard them discuss tliat question, saw at a glance that they understood tlie whole question - saw that, if the trade of Canada wjre bound up entirely witli the Unit(!d States, a trade with tlie world excluded, this country would be absolutely at the mercy of tlie United States. The tariff would hv i-.iade at Washington, because it could not be made anywliere el ;e. Ladies and gentlemen. 1 wont go into the old argument showing what condition we should be in then with our Bi'itisli trade hauipered if not entirely cut off' ; with 'Mir connection witli the mother country practically severed, because we would ha%'e assumed a i)osi- timi of hostility to that country, from the Atlantic to the i'at;ific, Canada would have no trade except tliat which she had with the United States, and that would be at the mercy of the men who make the tariff in congress at Washington. ( Hear, hear.) They saw, liki'wise. that it was inexpedient to settle the ffslievy (juestion between the United States and Canada, altlioiigh we were willing to make ii bargain upon th-' fairest of terms. Xn ; the fishery (]uestion must be settled by unrestricted reciprocity too. Wliy •.> In order that the tishermen of the iUniled States might come in and take fish in the inshore waters of Canada, and on the seacoasts of Canada, within the territorial limit, and exhaust and ile- ;ftl)lete them, as they did their own coasts ^many years ago. These wer terms on which we could liav(> obtained a treaty. . I do not d(>uy that the Ijiberals can obtain it. but tlicre are tei'nis wliich the /Cuaadian [leoplc! do not want, and nc ver . vwill have. (Hear, hear.) And for the lead(;r of any i)oli«iical party to attem})t to make the [)eo])le believe that he is going to liave free trade as it is in Kng- iaud, and McKinh^yism at the sauH' - time, is to attempt to persuade them that he can ride two horses .vhich are limning in o(>posite directions. THK FUTUKK I'OI.ICV. Ladies and geiitlenuui, there are other questions iqxm which T would like to .'uldress you, but you luive a great many — ifi voice— "(to on ")— ^others to addrt^ss ynii, and I make way t'oi- them by the simple statement to yon that, while we ;i(lh(>r(' to the priucijiles ami conditions wliicli have made our pi'ity wluit it i^ and made Caiii'da what it is. we ar.' glad to welcome the sen- ti;uents of adhesion to the principles of British nationality which have been ut'jcred by statesmen on the other side of j)olitics. I repeat to yon that the future of this countiy, the welfare of this country, its existence, its union, depend upon the hearty co-operation •>£ tilt Canadian people of both sides of politics in establisliing firmly British institutions here : and those principles as regiirds the development of the country, tiiose principles as regards ilie tariff" c.f the country, which will develop the great resources Canada has and make I'.er that which we, are all proud to reiterate on every occasion when we think of her name, the bi ightest possession that Ureat Britain has to-day. and a possession which, by ties of trade, by increased iies of affec- tion, and bj' the ties of mutual interest, will not only continue a possession of (ireat liiitain but one of the great pillars of till' British empire. (Applause.) MAMTOHA SCHOOL QUKSTION. Tlie chairman, Mr. Armstrong, on rising to introduce the next speaker, being interrupced by cries of " The schools." Sir John Thompson arose again, and saiw : " I heard the cry, and did not know what it r'cant until I asked my frienrnor - geiu>ral and his goveriiiiieiit to interfere with the exist- ing system of edui'ation in tlie province of Manitoba as it was establisiied about two years ag i. C/ui right to int(>rfero. to sn.y uotliiiig of thr' policy of interference, is chiiHeiiged by tlio->n wiio are upon the other side. anre siippcj c that lurking 12 in the breast of any minister of the government of Canada there Hes a secret design to interfere witli the legitimate riglits and powers of provinces. (Loud applause.) We will not interfere with tlie rights and i)owers of any provinee. nor will we desurt any duty which is imposed upi>n us by th(^ constitution. no nip.tter how painful it h<' to our feelings or how obnoxious to others it may be. I want simply to impress upon you this, that candidly and hon- estly we intend to be guided in that matter by the constitution, and by the constitution as it will be expounded by the highest authorities that can be got to expound it, and not by the private opinion of ai:y member of +he govern- mer"^. When I tell you, therefore, tJiat we intend to be guided by the constitu- tion, and to stand bj- the constitution on that subject, I am not etiuivt)cating and I am not concealing. The whole cpu-s- tion will be argu>d by the counst'l on both sides in the face of the whole people of Canada, and you will be able to see in the next ten days the arguments that are presented on both sides, and you will be able to measure the value and weight which ought to attach to them, and eventually you will be satis- tied, whatever impiilsL's excite one class of people or another, that we have simply doi'e our duty under the law whether it agrees with our own religious inclinations or is against them. (Loud ap])lause.) You will not ask me to say more, for this reason, that I would be prejudicing a case which has not been heard, and which we have .invited the parties to discuss biifore us all, the report of which will be [)resented to you within the next ten days, and, therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I have told you all that anyone can say consistently with his (hity u[)on the cpiestion, and all we intend to say and all we intend to do with regard to it will be optni to every Canadian man and woman who cares to study the subje(,'t and follow our course lear, ai savings accunni ency business reached not mai crops ot great w an ord( report ap to tl he cur ;»overui ,o issue no throi i Mr. Foster was warndy cheered on rising. He began his speech by alluding to two events, separated from each other by nearly four years— the jnesence of Sir John Macdonald as the central figure at a ban(piet given by the Toronto board of trade four years ago. and the recent unveiling of a bust of the late nmch-beloved chief of the Conservative party in the crypt of 8t. Pauls Catliedral in London. On the occasion of the latter event Lord Rosebery uttered a few eloquent words, among which this remark stood as the encomium, upon Sir John Macdonald, that he had grasped early and kept through his life the Imperial idea, " that the Anglo-Saxon enii)ire is tlm greatest secular agency foi' good now known to mankind, that that was the secret oi his success, that lie was determined to die under it, and had striven that Canada should live under it." These words every true Canadian and every true Hiiton might well take as a watch-word in i)otli public and private life. Mr. Foster proceeded ; — " When I spoke here four yi'ars ag > tiie few words I said had reference to the |)rogress of Canada in tlic [niAi and h t prospects for MR. FOSTER'S ADDRESS VT THK nO.VUl) OK TKADK, liANin'KT. the future. To-night I stand before you ablt! to say— and glad am I, as well as every Canadian, that I can say it— that the promise of four years ago of con- tinued prosperity has been fulfilled, beyond the expectation of myself i.nd beyond tlu' expectation of most of you here. During those four vears our trade in exports has increased by ^'20,000.000, or 2H per cent.: our imports by $12,000,000. or 11 per cent., and our total trade by $;J7.000,00(), or 18 per cent. In that time I think I may say without being contra- dicted that there has been an output increasing in every branch of industry and production in this country ; that l)ublic works have been gradually and contimially pressed forwarcl, until to-day we stand within a small measurable distance of the time when the great works und(>rtaken at the time of con- tederation and latei', is the works par (>xct>llence in this eountry, shall have been finished, the capital accounts with regard to them largely closed, and the great benefits accruing in point of cheap eiiing of transit and eiieouiagement oi trade to go on for all future and growini^ generations of tiiis country. (Hear. 13 :; will be able u' ai-giuneutH Hides, and ■ro the value lO attach to will be satis- itc one clasp xt we have lev the law )wii religions leiii. (Loud ;k me to say I would be las not been .invited the us all, the nted to yon id, therefore, ftve told yon consistently stion, and all intend to do >l>t!n to every who cares to V onr course. id before yon I, as well as say it— that ago of coll- een fullillcd. \ myself i.nd most of yon ■ars our trade • $'25,UOO.l)(H), V$r2,000,()00. otal trade by In that tiniv' being contra 111 an output of industry onntry ; that ra(hially and , until to-day measurable 'U the great time of con le worics pai ', Hhali hav( ccoiTnts witli ised. and tin lint of cheap ragenient ol and growing try. (Ih>ar. Iiear, and applause.) In that tinie the lavings of the peo))le have a^jpreciably iCCumulated in the banks, as His pjxcel- lency has noted. The circulation and lusiness of the banks of this country has ■eached its maximum of past years, and ot many months ago so large were the jrops of this country to be moved and so [»reat was the demand for currency that ,11 order in council was passed on a [report signed by myself, which issued Lip to the tweuty-million-dollar limit of ,he currency power that the Dominion 2[overiiinent is authorized by parliament ,o issue. iHear, hear.) And so 1 might i^o tlirough e\ery trade, every industry, very branch of the country's progress, nd show to yon the steady, gradual and urprisingly large advancement in the 'our years whicli have just past. I re- lember stating here four years ago that approached the task of replying to the loast of the simple commercial interests if this country with a great deal of irenibling and of fear. What must ^ say lO-night "? For to-nigiit you have added lO the commercial interests, the agricul- lUral and the manufacturing interes' -, as Kvell ; but I am helped by an expression ivhich fell from my hon. friend who sits in the chair to-night which gives me an '^idea which I will turn as well as I can for yon to think of in respect to these great interests. Looked at at lirst, they seeni'.'d to be fo(>s ; looked at more closely and studied, they are, as you said, sir, a trinity— indissoluble and ;indisi)ensable at this age of the world, to tlie greatness of any country or of any nation— a trinity of body, of soul and of spirit -agriculture, the basic element, the body which gi\es sustenance and atieiigth, without which none of these things could be : niaiuifa(!ture. which is tile soul, transmuting, transforming all that iiaturt! gives us to the use and for the wealth and hai)i)iness of men : and •commerce shall nc not call it the spii'it Mliich presides ov(>r all. distributing to every man his portion in due season, diffusing the resalts and [troductsof all '.' (Applause.) Hapi)y is the country which possesses this trinity— for all countri»>s do not. Time was, in the early days of tlie world, wh(U> the fi.'st was the only element possessed. Men strt)ve for their daily bread, and agriculture oven was in -its infancy. Then came comineree, and Inter cauw manufactures, and although in those old days a pastoral people as liose of Judea could be happy and prosperous — although later great peoples could arise without the possession of large manufacturing interests — to-day it is as true as any fact that can be stated that the three are necessary to continued and permanent greatness. If the agricultural basis is not in the country itself, as in England to-dny, that country must be at the mercy, to a certain extent, of foreign producers, of the benefit of which it may be deprived at any moment, under certain circum-* stances. Ask yourselves what Great Britain, with her pre-eminent commerce, with her pre-eminent manufactures, would be if she had the agricultural basis that the Dominion ot Canada has to-day. (Hear, hear.) She would then b(! independent of the wide world for her food sources and supplies, and I ask your attention to this simple fact in order to raise -if it needs to be raised, and I think it does, and I think it may wcill be raised in order to raise in the minds of every Canadian here or who may read my words, a gtuieral and proper and proud aj)preciatioii of his country in its rich enjoyment of the three great sources in this trinity of which I have spoktm. (.\pplause.) Have we grasped the agricultural capabilities of this country .' Have we fully grasped the agricultural progress the country has niad(> in the last twenty yctars ".' Let me give you a few figures to substantiate it. Not many years ago how small was the agricultural area of this country ? To-day how large and how vast it is I So large and so vast that tiu' mind of no single man sitting around these boards is abli! fully, with the iuformation he possesses, to comprehend it, to grasp it in its entirety. The progress in the past in agriculture has been large and gratifying. Let me take just some articles. The products of the field in 1H()H were raised to feed the population we had, and to (^xjiort to the amount of f1'2.(M)().()(KI: in iH'.Ci the agricultural products weie raised to teed .').()()(),(M)0 of [)eopU; - a much larger number than in 1K()H — and to export at the same time to the amount of $'2'2,( MX). 000, an increase of 00 per cent, in that time. (Applause.) In IHOH animals and their product:, were raised to feed the peoi)le of this country at that time, and to export beside to the amount of |Ji..")0O.()O0 ; in 1802 tlie r),(KK),(MM) were fed from these products, and exjiorts to the amount of ^'2H,r)00,(XM) were sent from the country to fHe,xhaustil)le market for our products which we are l)eginning to exploit by reason of enterprise, adapta- tion and businei s methods. Put along- side of that market thi' boimdless agricultural resources of this country, and I am right in saying that it is hard for us to grasp what the future may hold in store for this country in tlu' line of agricultural effort. The numufactiues of this country have gro\\ n largely. Twenty years ago how many classes ot articles were made in this country com- pared with what are nuide now ".' There have been immense strides in our uui.nii- facturing industries. Take in conntsction with the progress which is being made in manufactui'ing industry our wealth of minerals, our carrying facilities, the enterprise and business methods of an enterprising and business-like people, and I say that there is no boundary to tht^ future of the manufacturing of this country except the l)oundary of tlu; call for the products and the limit of our enterprise and cai)acity. Coming into the domain of conunerce, the same good story of progress may be told. We hear sometimes that the govern- ment ought to take the fetters off com- merce. Theie is a way in which the peo})le a.nd the government have done it. Some of you may remember the story of the sleeping princess in the fairy tale, so beautiful as she lay wrapt in a slumber which nothing had u^) to that time dis- turbed. It was only when the voice of the j)rincely noble sounded in her ears that she arose and walked in her resplendent beauty. So tlie Northwest, with all its boundless capabilities and resources lay sleeping and beautiful, it may be, but powerless to rise and walk. to produce and develop, until the government and people of this country by their contribution of millions of dollars opened up that country, and the first whistle of the railway cars along the steel rails in the Northwest waked up its dormant and wonderful possibilities, and took the fetters off" half a continent — I hear, hear and clieering) -and from the Peace river communications were estab- lished which will in the course of a few nuinthi-' allow your cargoes to go '2,600 miles out from the middle of this continent until they strike the waters of the deep ocean. By every foot of draught j'ou give your canals and every line of possible connnunication you uuike. you cheapen the cost of transj)ort- ation equally ; to what was before use- less you give value and to that which before had vahu! more value. Every dollar of contribution for the canals, de(>p waterways and railways which have made the transporting facilities of this country unequalled by any country of equal ])roportions and equal age, has taken tlu; fetters off conunerce and roused the doruuint [jossiljilities for trade and the development of tliis rich country. (Ap|)lause.l Will you allow me one more word —a word of sympathy with that which fell from my fri'.md the Lieutenant-(h)vernor of this province. That is. taking what we iiavi! in those three respects, proud as we may be of our progress, confident as we may ))e in our i)resent standing and hopeful of tlie future, there is cme thing which ,ve need to take more to heart. I mention it here in synq)athy with the remark which fell from my honorable friend. Is it or is it not too ni^u^h the fact that when a nuui finds himself useless for everythitig else, he has an idea that lie can come into town and set up in a mercantile business and improve his If) lit' f^overn- Ts off coni- wliicli the avc (lone it. tilt" stoiy of liiy tale, so II a Hluniber t time (lis- lie voice of ill lier ears ed in her Nortliwest. bilities and beautiful, it and walk, until tlie lis country uillions of ry, and tlu' •s along the .'aked up its bilities, and continent — id from the were estab- se of a few to go '2,600 le of this e watei's of ry foot of and every jation you f traiis])ort- before use- tliat wliich ue. Kvery the canals, ays w'licli facilities of iiiy country al age, lias nerce and I's for trade til is rich you allow sympathy friund the province. in those may be; of may he in f'ful of tlie jI. .ve need nention it e remark l)le friend. 1 fact that iseless for !a that he t up in a i[)rove his circumstances in the commercial contest of to-day '? Is it or is it not a fact that men go into farming without any technical or scientific knowledge of farming, what soils are required or what components nnist be given ? And is it not a fact tliat in manufacturing we have not nearly tlie technical skill and knowledge that we ought to have ? For in all these things to-day the margin is small, and the competition is great. Nothing struck me with greater force in my few days in Great Britain than the princely contributions which are given by the trades guilds and tlie government itself. What for ;.' For technical edu- cation ; institutions where the farmer can learn his trade ; where the mechanic can mastei the principles of liis trade; where the manufacturer can learn the secret of the processes of manufacture ; and to-day what we want in this country, to put alongside our great capabilities and the progress we have made, is a more diligent study of technique. In that the governmenc of tliis province has done its share ; its agricultural colleges and its dairy in- stitutions and the different instructors that it is sending out are doing valuable work, as is also the Dominion govern- ment in raising the (piality and the grade of the agricultural products of this country, thereby putting not only more money into the pockets of the farmers, but inspiring them with a better hope, and a certain compensation for the drudgery of work, which always conies to a man when he is doing more than mere mechanical labor ; when he feels that he has got hold of nature's secret, and is making her work with him for the production of tliat which he desires. (Applause.) THRKK THINiiS NK'^DKI). Let me call the attention of tliis most enterprising and business-like audience to these three things — the iK^cessity for schools of tecbiii([ue, educa- tion in tile [)r(H'.esses appertaining to the processes of manufacture, and know- ledge of the methods of commerce— for of this latter, if there ever was a time when a young, unskill(>d, raw man. so to speak, would have a ditticulty in holding his own in commerce without it, it is to-day, when a man has to kee{) liis ears open to the tick of the telegraph from the wide world, lias to watch the mar- kets and sources of supply, to appreciate and ascertain the need for articles and products, if he would stand eminent in the race for mercantile wealth and for r^.ercantile prominence. Now, in con- clusion, let me thank you, Mr. President, and you, ladies and gentlemen, for the kindly way in wliicli you have received this toast. The toast was important ; these interests are the great iii'erests of our country. I have but one more word to say, that these are not mere material things, but while you are exploiting and developing the material wealth of the country you are expanding the mind and elevating the people and making our scale of living and our scale of thinking higher than it lias been before. But there is one thing more which I plead for, not that I feel that it is a quality in wliich we are lacking, but rather that it is one of which we cannot have too much, the subtle essence of patriotism which is true to its country, true to its present and confident in its future as well. There are so many people to-day who, if they went down to the sands of Egypt and gazed on the pyramids, would feel a discontented, unrest ful teeling unless lh(>y could sliglitly al'er their pose ; who never look on the rings of Saturn but they feel they would like to carve off a piece here or add another bit there ; who either have so little to do. or do it so badly, that, with all the rich resources of this country calling on them to develop them and make the country grear, they are wasting their time discussing imposni- bililies with reference to the status of this country. 1 liav(! just this word to say, restrict ionist thougli I have lieen called by my honorable friend here. I refuse utterly, and I believe in Canada's best interests,the restrictions which are at i)r(;- seiit implied in the overburdening w(;ight and ill tlie limitations which at ac-h themselves to independence for Canada, with her wide territory, iier thousands of miles of ci.ast, her dominant, powerlul neighbor and the demand for (^api al to b(! ap))lied to the developmiJii of the riches which lie crying out to be brought forth, to be exjiloiti'd in this (lountry. Let us hav(^ faith in our own country,, and refuse to follow the charmer that lias been spoken of, charm he iiev(!r so wisely, into that nirvana of continental- ism or annexation. (A])plause.) I be- lieve in something be'ter, and my individual creed is this: lam a British subject, and 1 refuse to ijc separatcit 16 from the empire to Avhich I belong. (Clieers.) As my lieritage in that empire goes back a thousand years and more, I do not wish to lose tlie inspira- tion that comes from that fact. Her lieritage of glory is mine, and if glory in great institutions and progress is worth anything to a country, I want to feel that as a British subject I keep it, and keep it penmanently with me. Her future is my future, and I believe individually that our course to-day should be to assist with luidiminislied strength and enterprise, and with what collective wisdom we have, in the development of our country. The con- ditions which exist to-day, and time and the inevi'aWe progress of nations, and that Power j,bove which makes for righteousness '/ill, I believe, assuredly lead us into he way whereby we may be continuously good Canadians, but where we may feel also the throbbing pulse of an imperialism w^iich encircles the w^orld, which is bounded by no continents and which is enclosed by no seas, but which is as wide as the world, a guarantee of continual peace and a synonym for the highest religious, civil and political liberty. That is the ex- pectation which I cherish ; that is tlie expectation that I believe Canada looks for. In that there is enough to claim the highest thought and the noblest effort of every Canadian. (Loud cheers.) makes for , assuredly by we may i,cliaii8, but throbbing li encircles led by no osed by no the world, iace and a igious, civil is the ex- that is the inada looks ;li to claim he noblest )ud cheers.)