SPEECHES \ N i:> A.DDRESSf r .S IM CHARLTON ( 'rh /^ SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES POLITICAL, LITERARY AND RELIGIOUS BY JOHN CHARLTON TORONTO MORANG & CO., LIMITED 1905 C Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1905, by MORANG & Co., LIMITED, in the Department of Agriculture CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION vii CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY Reply to the Hon. Mr. Blair - - 1 - 3 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY Defence of Government's Policy 29 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED - 77 TERMS OF PEACE - 99 FISCAL RELATIONS THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY - 117 REPLY TO PERSONAL ATTACK THE LUMBER DUTIES 129 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION 151 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION - - 179 BRITISH PREFERENCE AMERICAN RECIPROCITY - 197 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - 237 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS SABBATH OBSERVANCE 253 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES - 291 CONTENTS Continued PAGE A LAYMAN'S VIEW OP CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES - 305 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY - 331 POLITICAL CORRUPTION - - 357 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE - - - 371 ABRAHAM LINCOLN ... 389 DAVID LIVINGSTONE ... 423 GEORGE WASHINGTON ... - 453 AMERICAN HUMOUR - - 469 INDEX __._-_ 495 INTRODUCTION MANY of my friends have asked me to publish in the more permanent form of a book some of the speeches and addresses that I have had the honour of making before a great variety of audiences during my career. This request I gladly comply with, and I use the first break in a life-long series of pressing business and political engagements to prepare the book for publication. While a man makes many enemies by frankly speaking his mind, as it has been my principle and my habit to do, he makes many friends also ; and I certainly have every reason to be thankful both for the number and for the constancy of my friends. Speaking, as I have done, on many subjects, and in support of many causes, I could not hope to carry with me in all things those who agreed with me in many things ; but among those whose good opinion I valued, there have been few who were not willing to believe that I was no less candid when I differed from them than when I happened to express opinions that they cherished. Any reference to my friends would be incomplete did it not include special mention of the people who continuously honoured me with their suffrages in elections covering a period of thirty- two years, and vii SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES who, I believe, would have continued so to honour me had not illness compelled me to decline another nomination. At the time of the dissolution of 1904, there was but one member of the House of Com- mons Hon. John Costigan, of Victoria, N.B. who had represented one constituency in that House for a longer period than I had. To the kindness and confidence of the yeomen of grand old North Norfolk I owe this signal honour. I should be callous, in- deed, if I did not feel, and express gratitude for it. Many a man tries to do his duty in public life, but only some men are so fortunate as to find their work appreciated. Let North Norfolk be forever re- membered as always ready to give generous assistance to its willing servants. I have some hope that the student of public affairs will find in this volume historical and other material that will be of value to him. As the weight to be given to facts alleged, or opinions expressed, depends upon the man who sets them forth, those who turn to this volume have a right to facts upon which to base such a judgment. This makes some account of myself necessary. I am the eldest son of Adam Charlton, from New- castle-on-Tyne, England. I was born at Garbutts- ville, New York, on February 3, 1829. I attended the common and high schools of that district, and also had the advantage of some special reading. I studied medicine for a time, but recoiled at the dissecting room. I read law also, and intended to be a lawyer, but circumstances forbade. My parents Vlll INTRODUCTION removed to Canada with their family in 1849, and settled near Ayr, Ontario. I worked on my father's farm until 1853, when I engaged with a partner in carrying on a general store at Lynedoch, which has since been my home. Store-keeping led to grain- buying and lumbering. Those were the days of mag- nificent pines in this district, and I took part in the removal of the timber to market, and the opening up of what is now one of the finest farming sections on the continent. Working either for myself or for em- ployers, I took part in every phase of lumbering, from making and rafting the logs and sawing lumber, to dealing in the market. On the removal of the pine from this section, I extended my operations to Michigan and Northern Ontario, where, by myself and with different partners, I have for years been actively engaged in lumbering. I was elected township councillor of Charlotteville in 1856 and in 1857, after which I declined re-elec- tion. In the Dominion election of 1872 I was re- turned to the House of Commons as the representa- tive of North Norfolk. That position I continued to fill until 1904. In the last general election in which I took part that of 1900 I was returned by ac- clamation. I was made chairman of the Royal Com- mission to investigate the mineral resources of On- tario in 1888. In 1898, I was appointed a member of the Joint High Commission to arrange a settle- ment of the matters in dispute between Canada and the United States. As a youth I was instrumental in organizing liter- IX SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES ary and debating societies in places in which I lived. I was one of the founders of a circulating library in Ayr. My first experience in public speaking was in the delivery of lectures which I had prepared as a useful exercise in the course of my self-education in literature. From this I went on to the delivery of carefully written addresses on living but non-political questions. This work brought me into prominence, and I was asked to speak at political meetings. From that time I have usually spoken, not from manuscript, but from notes after careful preparation. I have been for many years a contributor to news- papers and magazines, and numerous articles of mine have appeared in the leading periodicals of America and Great Britain. My father's house was a place where religion was both preached and practised, and my religious asso- ciations have always been with the Presbyterian Church. I have been a delegate to many of the councils of the church, including the General Assem- bly, and also to the Pan-Presbyterian Council in Toronto. I was one of the founders of the Dominion Lord's Day Alliance. My name will be remembered by the Charlton Act. I have been the author of several statutes, but this Act is the only one of great importance. It took years of parliamentary fighting to place that law on the statute-book. Some may ask why no speech on that subject is included here. It is not that I am ashamed of the work I did to secure this protection for young girls against the wiles of the evil-minded INTRODUCTION far from it. I was driven to take up this question only by the strongest sense of public duty ; and I succeeded ; let the Charlton Act speak for itself. When I review the mass of material which my public speaking of over forty years affords for such a book as this, I find it almost impossible to make a choice, or, having chosen, to decide upon the ar- rangement. As to the selection of speeches, I have exercised my best judgment. In the arrangement I have been guided in part by the necessities of the situation, and in part by the judgment of friends. Any arrangement must be, in the main, a mere matter of taste, and only suggestive of order. I acknowledge with thanks the kindness of the publishers of the North American Review in allowing me to use here an article contributed by me to their issue of February, 1904. That article was, in effect, a report of a speech I had made in Boston, and per- mission to use it here with some additions is a great advantage. I have been assisted in the work of preparing this book for the press by my friend, Mr. A. C. Campbell, of the House of Commons reporting staff, to whom also acknowledgments are made. JOHN CHARLTON. Twin Oaks, Lynedoch, 1905. CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY REPLY TO THE HON. MR. BLAIR LEGISLATIVE action respecting the Canadian na- tional transcontinental railway was foreshadowed in the Speech from the Throne in opening the Dominion parliament in 1903. Negotiations with the repre- sentatives of the proposed Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company proceeded during the session. These negotiations and the discussion of the terms of incorporation of the company consumed time. The Opposition complained loudly of delay. The situa- tion was complicated by the resignation of the Hon. A. G. Blair, Minister of Railways and Canals, owing to his dissatisfaction with the policy decided upon by the government. It was then expected that Mr- Blair would make the strongest attack upon the new railway scheme, and the Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, asked me to reply to Mr. Blair's criticisms and lead in upholding the government's policy. The great debate took place on Sir Wilfrid Laurier's motion to ratify the agreement with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. This motion was made on the afternoon of August 11, 1903. Sir Wil- frid did not speak, having explained the project at an earlier stage of the bill. Mr. Blair was the 3 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM first speaker of the afternoon. I followed in the evening, dealing with Mr. Blair's speech point by point. The next day the debate was resumed, and I was afforded an opportunity to present my views more in the form of a set speech. The report here given is that of Hansard, revised and condensed. House of Commons, August 11, 1903. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: We are engaged in dis- cussing a question of very great importance. Never in the history of Canada has a question so important engaged the attention of parliament, and been brought before the people of this country. It is a question which we should attempt to discuss in a spirit of fairness, in a spirit of candour, and with a desire to promote the best interests of Canada. This is a project which has to do with the future of our country far down in its history, and no individual in this House, no individual in this country, has an interest in this matter differ- ent from that of other individuals; all are interested in hav- ing a policy carried out by this government which will be for the benefit of the whole country. There may be differences of opinion, honest differences of opinion. There inevitably will be such differences; and, indeed, differences have ex- isted within the ranks of the Liberal party. This question has been discussed in all its phases within the ranks of the party. The most courteous consideration has been given by members of the government to the views presented by the members of the Liberal party with regard to this pro- ject. There is nothing that has been presented here to-day by the honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) that has not received consideration, that has not been fully considered, and a decision reached with regard to it. The honourable gentle- man (Hon. Mr. Blair) tells us that this measure has been urged with unexampled haste, that it has been sprung upon the country without due deliberation. Why, sir, this ques- tion has been under discussion in the country and has 4 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY received the attention of the public for months; almost for years. The question of another transcontinental line was dealt with nearly a year ago by the very gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) who has been addressing the House to-night; and I shall read, in due tune, what that honourable gentleman said, and I shall contrast, with a feeling of pain, his sentiments uttered a year ago and the sentiments which he uttered to-night. The question has not been sprung without due deliberation; the question has been thoroughly considered. Of course, parlia- ment has been delayed by the consideration of this question; we have remained in session much longer than we would have done if it had not been under consideration. I have approved of the delay, and the country will approve of it. The government has decided not to enter hastily upon a de- cision as to this matter. They have weighed all the argu- ments and all the conditions in relation to this case, and they have arrived at their decision after due deliberation. Whether that decision is correct or incorrect it has not been arrived at hastily; it has not been arrived at without full consideration of every circumstance and condition that had a bearing upon the matter. My honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) says that the Prune Minister held that the necessity for the construction of this road was urgent, and he presented that statement as a reflec- tion upon the judgment of the Prime Minister, as an evidence that the Prune Minister has acted hastily, as an evidence that the Prune Minister has been influenced by considera- tions that are not considerations of wisdom, and that, in fact, the statement of the Prime Minister that the necessity for the construction of this road was urgent, is an ill-founded assertion. The honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) spoke as though our only choice was either to wait a little while, as he recommends, or to plunge into this project and have the road next year. Why, sir, we are not to have the road next year; it is not a question as to whether we should have a transcontinental line immediately, but whether the ne- 5 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM cessity for it is urgent. This line cannot be constructed in less than five years. In the meantime, a great tide of immi- gration is pouring into the North- West. What will be the condition of things in that country five years from to-day? Its productions will have increased; they may be doubled, they possibly may by that time be quadrupled. The gov- ernment is simply taking time by the forelock, taking into consideration conditions, not as they exist to-day, but as they will exist as soon or sooner than they can provide the means to meet them. And so, I repeat, the necessity is an urgent necessity. We shall need transportation facilities in the North- West as fast, if not faster, than they can be pro- vided. Every bushel of wheat that is raised in that country, all the productions of its soil, must find egress by rail. Our North- West is not provided, as are the western states of the United States, with great channels of communication, with rivers flowing to the sea, rivers that furnish outlets to com- merce; but the productions of our West must reach the tidewater or the Great Lakes by rail. Our prairie region must have railway facilities for every farmer in it. And so the government is not only taking into consideration the circumstances that now exist but the conditions that inevitably will exist. The government has made a reason- able calculation as to what conditions they have to meet five years from to-day; they have realized that these condi- tions will imperatively demand additional transportation facilities; and they have set themselves to work not with undue haste, not prematurely, but at a time when it was necessary to take action to enter upon a course of policy which will result in 'meeting this emergency when it does ar- rive. My honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) in the course of his speech indulged in one remark which possibly, upon mature reflection, and when he is cool, and has a candid moment, he will regret; and that is, sir, to attribute to this government the desire to please Senator Cox. SOME HON. MEMBERS Hear, hear. 6 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY MR. CHARLTON Let my honourable friends on the opposite side cheer. I do not know whether such action is quite consistent with the course they have hitherto pursued, or whether it strikes them as a natural thing to do; but I do think this imputation was unworthy of the honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair), applied to the colleagues with whom he had recently acted, and applied under these cir- cumstances, when we are facing a great national emergency. AN HON. MEMBER A crisis. MR. CHARLTON No, not a crisis. When we are simply taking such action as prudence requires for promoting the interests of this young nation. Now, Mr. Speaker, our judgment as to this measure should be governed by a careful examination into the character of the undertaking. It is a very easy thing to raise ques- tions to befog a case; a very easy thing to appeal to preju- dices; to ascribe motives; to bring in Senator Cox and other irrelevant matters. But what we want to examine into on this occasion is this: What is the character of this proposi- tion which the government has laid before this House of Commons? I think, Mr. Speaker, that the proposition is a good one. I have examined it carefully, and I have arrived at that conclusion dispassionately, simply because an ex- amination of all the conditions bearing on the case forces that conclusion upon me. Other gentlemen may arrive at a different conclusion. AN HON. MEMBER Sure. MR. CHARLTON Some honourable gentleman says, sure. Quite likely many of them will. Their conclusions may be just as honest as mine. Mine may be based on fallacious reasons; the same may be said of theirs. It is for us to sit down calmly and argue out this question, to avoid appeals to prejudice and to party spirit, if that is possible, and to judge this proposition upon its merits. It may be that the honourable ex-Minister of Railways thought he was doing this; but if he did, I do not think he grasped very accur- ately or very fully the merits of the scheme. 7 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM The honourable gentleman chose to make a quotation from the speech of the right honourable leader of the government (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) with regard to the bonding privilege, and to belittle the fears expressed by the Premier to assert that those fears were groundless, and that it was all nonsense to talk about the danger of the abrogation of the bonding priv- ilege. "Why, sir, "said he, the "Americans cannot afford to abrogate the bonding privilege; it would injure themselves; self-interest would prevent them from doing it." Why, Mr. Speaker, the Americans have threatened to abrogate the bonding privilege, not once, not twice, but repeatedly. Whenever friction exists, whenever bad feeling is aroused, one of the first things suggested in the United States is to bring this "spoiled child," as Senator Depew called Canada, to its senses by shutting it off from access to the sea by the abrogation of the bonding privilege. Now, we want an alternative route; we want to place our- selves in a position to defy the application of this threat if it is ever made in the future. The honourable gentleman, (Hon. Mr. Blair) who addressed you is loath to believe, he tells us, that the people of Canada are at the mercy of Americans. We are loath to believe that. We do not believe it. But we simply want to take prudent steps to place ourselves in the best possible position in our relations with the Americans. We do not want to quarrel with the Americans. If the bonding privilege is abrogated, it will not be abrogated with our consent. They call it a privilege, and they hold that we are beholden to them for this privilege. But it is a privilege they can withdraw. They have threat- ened to withdraw it. That may occur again, and this threat they may carry into effect. Now, Mr. Speaker, my honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) characterizes this road as a sentimental road. MR. BROCK Political. MR. CHARLTON I do not know that he characterized it as a political road. He characterized it as a sentimental road. Well, it is a sentimental road. At the back of the 8 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY proposition to build this road is a sentiment, and that senti- ment is the freeing of Canada from the danger of being shut out from access to the sea. That sentiment is the develop- ment of Canada upon broad national lines. That sentiment is the building of a transcontinental road from ocean to ocean upon Canadian soil. That sentiment is the carrying to our own seaports, on our own roads, of the products of our own lands. At the back of this road is the loftiest and noblest sentiment that can exist the sentiment of patriot- ism, of love of country. My honourable friend says that the question of profit and loss does not enter into the calculation. Well, we have carefully considered that matter also. While the road is a sentimental road, I think we shall be able to show that the question of profit and loss has received due consideration; and the conclusion we arrive at is that a balance on the right side of the ledger will unite with sentiment in justifying the building of this road. My honourable friend tells us that he would favour the building of a road under certain conditions. He says he would favour a well-considered line proceeded with at the proper time. He intimates that this is not the proper time, and he goes on to say: " Now in the immediate future there is no need of another road, not even on the prairies." Compare this with the speech made by my honourable friend less than a year ago, on the ninth day of October, in Van- couver. He had been waited on by the Board of Trade of Victoria two days before. He had been presented with an address, and the Victoria Board of Trade had, in that address, recommended government aid to the Canadian Northern Railway for the purpose of securing an additional line across the territory of British Columbia to the ocean. Inspired possibly by that address he made a speech, in the course of which he made use of the following language: " There is no country where the soil is more fertile than in the millions of acres in Canada which the plough has not yet 9 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM touched, and which man has not yet invaded. Railways are necessary to open up these great fertile tracts. If we are to invite the people from the world outside to immigrate here, they have a right to expect that the government can assure them the means of transportation. That means a great many railways in many parts of Canada, and we feel as a government that we have ample justification in going to all reasonable lengths to meet this need. The tide of im- migration is just setting in full and strong towards Canada particularly from the south, and I believe the time is near when there will be a greater immigration than ever before to Canada from the motherland. This influx of settlers must bring its problems. " It means an increase of soil production and necessarily of means of transport. We cannot long remain content with only one transcontinental line. I am ambitious myself to see another right away. It cannot come fast enough to satisfy me, and I am doing all I can, in my small way, with- out public pretence about it, to ensure its construction." How does that compare with the language used by the honourable gentleman to-night? Has he come around, after giving utterance to these sentiments, to the position that we show undue and indecent haste in spending a few months in perfecting a scheme to construct a road which cannot be ready for use before four or five years? We have the honourable gentleman's words quoted also in the Daily News- Advertiser, of Vancouver. That paper reports him as saying: " This influx of settlers," he said, " must bring its problems. It means an increase of soil production and necessarily a means of transport. We cannot long remain content with only one transcontinental line, I am ambitious myself to see another right away. It cannot come fast enough to satisfy me, and I am doing all I can in my small way, without public pretence about it, to ensure its construction." Then there is another report of the same speech hi the Daily Province of Vancouver. I quote these three in order to avoid the charge that the speech was not revised by the 10 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY honourable gentleman and that his sentiments were not correctly reported. This report says: " We cannot long remain content with only one trans- continental line. I am ambitious myself to see another right away. It cannot come fast enough to satisfy me, and I am doing all I can in my small way, without public pretence about it, to ensure its construction/' These were, I think, sound sentiments, and I endorse them. It is unfortunate that there was a difference in tone and in position compared with the position occupied and the lan- guage used by the honourable gentleman to-night. I am at a loss to account for the discrepancy. I would hardly sup- pose that the honourable gentleman could have had so radical a change of views in eight or nine months, as he has shown by his speech to-night compared with his speech of the ninth of October last. It has been suggested to me that, in quoting from these newspaper reports, I have overlooked something. I find that the honourable gentleman gave utterance to the following sentiments in Vancouver: " There are young men, perhaps middle-aged men, who are listening to me who will see three or four transcontinental lines running through Canada. And they will not see more than enough." Three or four transcontinental lines, and these will not be more than enough! Well, Mr. Speaker, I am at a loss to ac- count for the difference in these expressions of opinions as indicated by these quotations and the speech of the hon- ourable gentleman to-night. There are some expressions in my honourable friend's speech, which, perhaps, indicate something that was not fully revealed. Persons skilful in such business may read between the lines and draw inferences. He says: " As Minister of Railways I was entitled to know what was going on, I was entitled to know what the Premier of this Dominion thought about the matter, what he was doing about it. I was entitled to be consulted from day to day 11 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM and step by step, if I was not entitled as Minister of Railways, to dictate which course should be pursued." Again he said: " No Intercolonial Railway official was consulted about this matter." I do not know what this means. It is not possible, I pre- sume, that pique could have induced my honourable friend to resign. It is not possible, I believe, that a feeling of indignation, because he thought he had not occupied that prominent position to which he believed he was entitled in shaping affairs in the councils of the state, could have in- fluenced his conduct; but it was unfortunate that he introduced these allusions to the fact that he had not been consulted. Comparing his remarks to-night with his speech of eight months ago, one is naturally led to look for some reason besides the one given: that he left his position as Minister of the Crown because the government had adopted a scheme for another transcontinental railway, much less radical and objectionable than the one he had proposed and advocated. He tells us in his speech that we want no rail- way, that there is no demand for it. How does that com- pare with his speech in Vancouver, where he tells us that we want railways to open up unoccupied territory, so that we may invite immigration? The two positions are radically and diametrically opposed to each other. No demand for a railway through unpeopled regions? I think I heard that in the old Canadian Pacific Railway time. I think we our- selves made the mistake of using the same language, and I think we paid dearly for our lack of comprehension of the position of things. And we are not going to be led into that trap again. We are not going to take advice that will lead us into a line of action of which we have such unpleasant remembrance. The honourable gentleman tells us that there is no demand hi Quebec for a transcontinental rail- way. Who promoted the project of the Trans-Canada line? Was it not a popular scheme in Quebec? Had it no backing, 12 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY no popular support there? Why, Quebec was unanimous in favour of the transcontinental line, and the honourable gentleman's statement is absurdly unfounded. And, I may remark parenthetically, we are adopting a scheme that dis- poses of the Trans-Canada project with its demand of enormous subsidies hi cash and land, in favour of which there would have been pressure which it would have been difficult to resist. Mr. Speaker, when the Speech from the Throne was de- livered, my honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) was a mem- ber of the ministry. That speech foreshadowed a transcon- tinental road. We had not reached, at that period, a definite conclusion as to how this thing was to be proceeded with; but there was a broad statement to the effect that a transcontinental line was deemed to be a necessity, and that the government was about to proceed to consider the best plan to adopt for the construction of that line. Why did not my honourable friend resign then? HON. MR. BLAIR We got 600 miles of it authorized this very session. That is the thing that was hi my mind. MR. CHARLTON Now, the burden of my honourable friend's speech was the question of government ownership. And I give the honourable gentleman credit for having, honestly, ener- getically and without deviation, advocated that principle of the construction of the road by the government. And I have this to say, that I sympathized with that view myself. But I did not consider that my own views were entitled to be accepted by the government, as the ex-Minister of Rail- ways and Canals evidently did in his own case. I presented my arguments in favour of that scheme, and those arguments were received with courtesy and were given careful considera- tion. Then I heard the arguments against the adoption of the scheme, and I felt a little doubt whether I might not have been mistaken. And had my ideas been accepted, and had I been responsible for the adoption of that scheme, I should have trembled for the consequence, and, no doubt, should have regretted it. 13 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM Government ownership has a seductive appearance. It appeals to the imagination. It would be a bold policy. It would be just the thing for this country, granted two or three conditions. The first condition is separation, total separation, of the management of the road from politics. The second condition is honesty of construction. The third condition is honesty and efficiency in the management, on the basis of a well-organized and well-arranged railway. If we could have all these conditions, government ownership would be a good thing in my opinion. But the danger is that we might not be able to secure these conditions. The members of the ministry, possibly, in arriving at a conclu- sion on this matter may have had the Intercolonial road in view and may have had some doubt, owing to the results of the management of the Intercolonial, whether it was best to extend the principle further. And I presume their doubts were well founded. Now, the honourable gentleman tells us that in his opinion we should have proceeded in a leisurely, careful, conservative manner. First of all, we should have secured an appropria- tion for surveys. Then we should have gone on and made the surveys. Then, in due time, at the expiration of a couple of years, we might have proceeded with the construc- tion; and, at the end of the next decade, probably, we would have had the road completed. In the meantime, the con- gestion in the West would unquestionably have made us sorry that we had not got it sooner. Now, with regard to exploration, we should not fall into the error of supposing that we are entirely without informa- tion as to the country through which this road will pass. We have a great amount of information. We have not actually located the line; we have not actually taken the levels. But we know what the general character of the country is between Quebec and Winnipeg north of Lake Nepigon. We have one survey made by Sir Sandford Flem- ing from the head of the Montreal River north of Lake Nepigon to Winnipeg. He tells us that it is a highly favourable line, 14 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY with no grades more than one per cent, with no bridges more than three hundred feet in length and only a few of them; that the country is a level one and highly favourable for railway construction. With regard to the country east of the commencement of that survey to Quebec, we have abun- dant information which shows that it is of the same charac- ter as that reported on by Sir Sandford Fleming. This great country north of the height of land offers few impediments to railway construction. We know enough of the general character of that country to warrant us in definitely enter- ing upon the scheme of constructing that railway. Then, with regard to the country from Winnipeg to Port Simpson, through the Peace River Pass, that country has been traversed again and again not only by explorers, but by engineers. The character of that country is thoroughly well-known. For the whole territory from Winnipeg to Port Simpson, the government is in possession of all the in- formation that is necessary to warrant it in embarking upon a scheme for the construction of this road. While they could not tell with definite accuracy what the road would cost, they could make an approximate estimate that would be within the cost per mile, and they knew definitely the character of the obstacles to be overcome in the building of the road. Now, Mr. Speaker, my honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blah*) I am going somewhat discursively over the notes which I made at random while he was speaking my honourable friend tells us that the idea of developing a large lumber business from this country between Quebec and Winnipeg for the supply of the prairies, is illusory; that the British Columbia lumber is much handier, and consequently we cannot ex- pect to do very much lumbering in the territory east of Winnipeg. I went over to Vancouver a few weeks ago, and being a lumberman myself, I naturally looked into that business a little. I found that nearly all the lumber manu- factured in New Westminister, Vancouver and all points in British Columbia accessible to a railway for transport to 15 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM the prairies, went up through the canyons of the Fraser and the Thompson, went over the heavy grades between Kam- loops and the Columbia, went over the Selkirk Mountains, went over the Rocky Mountains, went up the Kicking Horse grade, a grade of four per cent., where it takes a powerful locomotive to go up with three cars, and so out to the prair- ies. This all meant that this lumber was transported at great cost. With a well-equipped road of easy grades we can reach the prairie section with lumber from all parts of the region that this road will open in Ontario and the west- ern portion of Quebec, in my opinion, as cheaply as the lum- ber from Vancouver reaches that destination. A railroad man, if you ask him whether the capacity of a road is meas- ured by the length of the line, will tell you, no, that it is measured by the length of the line and the steepness of the grades. The grades over the Selkirk Mountains are one hundred and twenty feet to the mile, over the Rocky Moun- tains two hundred feet to the mile for four miles, and one hundred and twenty feet to the mile the rest of the way. These grades are equivalent to adding four level miles to the length of every single mile of the road. So the assertion that we cannot reach the prairies with lumber from this hinterland of ours, is not well founded. Now, he tells us that we know nothing of this country. Ten exploring parties were sent out last year by the Ontario government for the purpose of ascertaining the character of this country north of the height of land hi Ontario; and the report of these parties was to the effect that in Ontario, in that region of which we previously knew comparatively nothing, in what is termed the clay belt, there are 16,000,000 acres of good productive land, with a climate which fits it for agricultural operations, land which lies south of the latitude of Winnipeg, every acre of it. It is useless to talk about the road passing through a howling wilderness where there are no sources of business available, or to say that it will run the whole 1,300 or 1,400 miles from Win- nipeg to Quebec without having any local business whatever. 16 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY Then, the honourable gentleman comes down to the ques- tion of running rights: one road giving another road a right to use its road-bed. He refers to the sections that grant these running rights, particularly section twenty-four, and he tells us that this whole thing is a delusion. He makes merry over it. " Why," he says, " the absurdity of supposing that a railroad is like a wagon road, that you can set a train on it as you can put a wagon on a wagon road and run it to its destination." He tells us that the Premier knew nothing of what he was talking about, that the thing could not possibly work. Then he gave himself away a few moments later by saying that when the system went into operation the Grand Trunk Pacific would take advantage of other lines that were making use of the road and would not give them fair-play in the adjustment of the rules and regulations, and the despatching of trains. Now, Mr. Speaker, pullman cars run all over the United States and Canada without any reference to a particular railway. A pullman car will often traverse three or four different lines without a change of porter, without a change of passengers, without any change what- ever. A car will go from Boston to Chicago, it will go perhaps from Boston to San Francisco, traversing a great number of different lines. Freight will go in the same way. One of the great reasons for securing uniformity of gauge in railways on this continent was to avoid the necessity of breaking bulk. Formerly we had a five-foot gauge, a six- foot gauge, a three-foot-six-inch gauge, a four-foot-eight- and-a-half-inch gauge; and wherever one of these roads connected with another having a different gauge, the freight had to be transferred from one car to another, had to break bulk, as it was termed. Now, with uniformity of gauge, there is no breaking of bulk. A freight car is loaded at Los Angeles, or San Francisco or Portland, and it goes through to New York, or Chicago, or Boston, or wherever its destination may be, without breaking bulk, and then it goes back again, perhaps loaded and perhaps empty. The feasibility of running two roads over the same track 17 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM has been demonstrated. I live on the air-line of the Grand Trunk Railway, a line extending from Buffalo to Detroit, 229 miles in length. That road is operated by the Grand Trunk and by the Wabash. The Wabash sends its through trains from Chicago, from Kansas City, from St. Louis, over ' that road to Buffalo and back again. The Grand Trunk Railway does the same. They have their running arrange- ments and a joint system of despatching. Agents at stations are paid by each company according to the volume of busi- ness that each transacts; and repairs are kept up in the same way. There is no hitch, there is no friction. They change engines on that route. They have a division 110 miles long from Detroit to St. Thomas, and a division 119 miles long from St. Thomas to Niagara Falls or Buffalo. Each road has its engine house, each road has its repair shops, and they can work them jointly if they choose. That system of things has been operated for three or four years, operated successfully, operated without the slightest friction, operated to the advantage of both these companies. They use the same bridge going into Buffalo everything in com- mon, and the share of expenses to be borne by the respec- tive companies is amicably arranged. The Flint and Pre Marquette road, which is a Michigan system, exchanges its traffic at St. Thomas with the Michigan Central. They send their freight trains over their own road from Walker- ville to St. Thomas and over the Michigan Central to Buffalo. They have a joint arrangement in the matter of despatching and the whole arrangement is working harmoniously, effi- ciently, and to the satisfaction of both parties. The honour- able gentleman has not been Minister of Railways and Canals long enough to learn his trade. He has not been Minister of Railways and Canals long enough to learn some of the elementary principles of the business. SIB FREDERICK BORDEN The Canadian Pacific Railway runs over the Intercolonial Railway between St. John and Halifax. MR. CHARLTON Yes, and the honourable ex-Minister of 18 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY Railways and Canals admitted that the Canadian Pacific Railway ran over the Grand Trunk Railway line from Toronto to Hamilton, but he said there was no change of engines and that they could consequently work that arrange- ment. If you can work a road 229 miles long with two divi- sions and a change of engines, you can have twenty changes of engines and work it satisfactorily. All you have to do is to have your despatching system properly organized and make your arrangements for the use of the road. In this instance the government steps in and acts as an arbitrator, and if any attempt is made to take an unfair advantage on the part of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, the government can see to it that the stipulations of this contract are carried out. The honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) wants to know why we cut off government ownership at Winnipeg. Why put this section of the road west of Winnipeg on a different basis from the section east of Winnipeg? In one sense the govern- ment has the same control over the western division that it has over the eastern division. The arrangement secures to other roads the same rights from Winnipeg to Port Simpson as from Winnipeg to Quebec. It gives these privileges to every road from ocean to ocean and the government exer- cises similar control in this matter. That is one of the con- ditions of the contract, but the government retains ownership in the eastern divison while it leases the road to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Why does it retain it? Winnipeg is the great converging point of all the roads in the North- West Territories. Here the trade of that country concentrates, and will do so for a long time to come, if not perpetually. The government constructs a great trunk line from that point to tide-water, to an ocean port, for the purpose of securing Can- adian trade for Canadian ports, and it does so because this is the great main artery into which will be poured, and over which will run, the trade of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, of the Canadian Northern Railway, perhaps, and the Canadian Pacific Railway, possibly, and of any road that wishes to use 19 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM it. Its use is free to all upon equal and equitable terms. The motives are all right and it remains to be seen how much traffic we can get for the road. But we cannot get anything unless we try. If we are to attempt to secure busi- ness for our own seaports we must provide a road to get there. My honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) at this stage of his speech entered upon the Intercolonial Railway question. He really feels sore over that. The Intercolonial Railway is, no doubt, a pet with the honourable gentleman, and the bril- liancy of the management of the road, of course, entitles him to feel doubly interested in its welfare. The people's money, he tells us, will be squandered by the construction of a rival, line, but he neglects to tell us that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway promoters were in favour of building their short line, and making Moncton their eastern terminus, and that they moved for this in the railway committee. He tells us that the building of this new line will save a very few miles of distance, that it will have heavier grades, that it will in every other respect be a less desirable road and that the whole thing is a supreme act of folly. I have never been over the line. He tells us what an excellent road the Intercolonial Railway is, how much business it is capable of doing. And, in the next breath, he tells us that if we took some of this money that we are to expend on the short line and reduced the grades on the Intercolonial Railway, making it a"first-class road, it might be able to do the business. What are the grades on the Intercolonial Railway? There are sixty-two-and- a-half-foot grades and fifty-foot grades to the mile. No road can claim to be a first-class road with grades more than one- half per cent, or twenty-six feet to the mile. In the construc- tion of this short line and in the construction of the line from Quebec to Winnipeg it should be an absolute condition that the road should be first-class in point of grades, in point of construction, and in point of weight of rails. The rails should not be less than ninety-pound rails, and the grades should not be more than four-tenths per cent. And, if these con- ditions are complied with, this road will compete with a water 20 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY route or anything else. The object of the building of a short line from Chaudiere Junction to Moncton is to correct the costly mistake that the country made when the Intercolonial Railway was constructed. What I regret is not the correct- big of the mistake, but the making of the mistake. All first- class railways hi America for the last ten or fifteen years have been spending enormous sums of money in correcting the mistakes made in their first construction. The Pennsylvania, the New York Central, the Grand Trunk, and other first- class roads that I could name, have been pumping out money like water, quietly, without observation, for the purpose of reducing grades, correcting alignment, taking out curves, and increasing the power of the roads to do business and earn money. The Canadian Pacific Railway has built a short line from Ottawa to Montreal. It had a line already, north of the Ottawa River. Why did it build the new line? Because it was necessary. AN HON. MEMBER No sentiment there. MR. CHARLTON No sentiment there. It was business; it was necessary to have the best conditions they could obtain in order to secure the business. Why should we level, straighten, and improve the Intercolonial Railway? It is simply because we have set out with the purpose of securing trade for our own seaports, and if we are to secure that trade we must have the best obtainable conditions with regard to our lines of transportation. We must not be obliged to go away around by the sea 120 miles farther than a short line would take us; we must not have grades of sixty- two and a half feet to the mile; but we must reduce the distance, reduce the grades, improve the efficiency of the road and secure the necessary conditions, so far as it is possible to do so, hi order to get the trade that we aim to get. That is why we dealt with the Intercolonial Railway. But the whole question is befogged by the course which the honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) has pursued in talking about this line and that line, and about one line being ten miles longer than it was represented to be, and about crossing so many 21 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM gullies, and about this and that difficulty to overcome. We have to overcome these difficulties. We are putting that road there for a specific purpose, and that purpose is to increase the capacity of the road, to reduce the cost of the transporta- tion of the products of the West to our maritime seaports. Now, I think the trouble with my honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) is that his view is somewhat circumscribed. He has not yet got out of provincial ideas; he has still a provincial range of vision; he has not become continental in his aspira- tions, in his desires, in his grasp of affairs. We regret that the Intercolonial Railway will be injured by this new line; we regret that it is necessary to spend some millions of dollars to rectify the costly mistake that was made years ago. But we are dealing now with a question of national importance; we are dealing with a question that is national in all its bear- ings; we are dealing with the question of securing for our own seaports the business that will go to the seaports of an- other country, if we do not take steps to secure our own in- terest. And whether we can do it or not I cannot venture to say, but I do venture to say that we cannot do it unless we construct roads of the very best character with the lowest possible grades. In regard to that matter, as I was going over to Vancouver a short time ago, I sat in the rear car of the train as we were passing north of Lake Superior, with General Manager Mc- Nicoll, two or three American railway magnates and a number of railway men, and the discussion turned upon the question of water transportation versus transportation by rail. The subject of discussion was whether railways could be made to compete with water-carriers, and Mr. McNicoll stated that if the Canadian Pacific Railway over which we were passing had grades of four-tenths per cent, per mile (that is twenty- one feet and a fraction) and some improvement in the align- ment, it could do four times the business it was doing now, and that it could compete with the water route. Now, sir, if we build a line from Winnipeg to Quebec, say 1,400 miles long, and if we can secure four-tenths per cent. 22 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY grades; if we lay that road with ninety-pound rails; if we put bridges upon it that will carry the heaviest locomotives and trains of cars, each car carrying a load of fifty tons, we can carry, hi my opinion, grain from Winnipeg to Quebec for twelve cents a bushel and perhaps even less. The lowest rate that I have known for gram from Chicago to New York was twelve cents per hundred, or seven and two-tenths cents per bushel for a distance of 1,000 miles. Now, if it can be carried at that rate with a profit and I don't suppose it was carried at a loss it is a reasonable thing to suppose that we could carry grain over this road for twelve cents a bushel, if it is the right kind of a road. But if it has fifty-foot grades; if it has a light rail; if it is a second-class road, we can secure no business, we cut ourselves off from the con- ditions that are necessary to secure business. And we must bear that in mind when we are building this road. My honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair), hi the course of his remarks, had a thrust at the Globe. He stated that the Globe had an article which said that when this new road was built there would be freight trams and passenger trams on the road passing each way hi embarrassing numbers. Well, it is a matter of conjecture, of course, as to what kind of business this road might do. The writer of that article perhaps looked into the future, and he saw Canada with vast developments, with a great increase of population, with a great increase of production, with a great increase of business, with business largely attracted over the transcontinental line; and perhaps his forecast of the future was not so extravagant after all. We do not know what the result may be. We have been guilty, constantly guilty, of underrating the capacity of our country. This gentleman perhaps overrated a little, but we cannot tell, and I would rather have speculation in that direction than in the other. Now, I do not know but that perhaps my honourable friend (Hon. Mr. Blair) would have looked with a somewhat greater degree of favour upon this scheme if the road had gone to St. John. And it would perhaps have served the purposes of 23 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM the country just as well if it had. I do not know as to that, but the government was bound, hi my opinion, to adopt a course that was fair and impartial. They could not properly discriminate between Halifax and St. John, in favour of the one and against the other, and they have adopted a plan which will serve the purposes of both. If St. John wants to meet the conditions for reaching this business, let it pro- mote the construction of a road up to this short line, and no- body will have any objection to that, i MR. TUCKER There is a road to Chipman now. j& MR. CHARLTON Let that road be unproved and made first- class, and let them get the business at that point. The gov- ernment, I think, acted with perfect propriety in placing the eastern terminus of the road at Moncton, from which point both St. John and Halifax will be accessible, though the advantage in distance will be in favour of St. John. MR. TUCKER It increases the distance to St. John eighty- nine miles. MR. CHARLTON Well, you want to cut that off. Now, Mr. Speaker, a good deal of criticism has been indulged in by the honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) in regard to the increase of our debt. We are to add $15,000,000 to it by the construction of the section from Moncton to Chau- diere Junction, and untold millions by the construction of the line from Quebec to Winnipeg, and by the guarantees of the line west of Winnipeg. I did not hear the honourable gentle- man make anything of the fact that this was, in reality, a mere lease to a railway company, and that the company was to pay interest on the cost of the line. We shall have some little burden on the country, of course. We shall have interest to pay for seven years on the cost of the line from Moncton to Winnipeg, and probably some little interest to pay on our guarantee of a portion of the cost of the line west of Winnipeg. All this may amount to $14,000,000 or $15,000,000, but that is a small consideration in comparison with the benefit to the country resulting from the construction of this trans- continental line. 24 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY The honourable gentleman refers to the Premier's state- ment with regard to this road as a national line, and inti- mates that the Premier paid no attention whatever to the commercial side of the question, that this had no weight with the Premier, but that the national consideration wholly gov- erned his course in the matter. This was not a fab: presen- tation of the views expressed by the right honourable gentle- man (Sir Wilfrid Laurier). The Premier, as he was entitled to do, did lay due stress on the importance of the construc- tion of this road from a national standpoint, for the purpose of having a railway on our own soil from ocean to ocean. He took high ground in that respect, a ground which I think the country will support him hi taking. But he did not lose sight of the commercial aspects of the case far from it. While dwelling on the national importance of the road, he pointed out at the same time that its commercial results would be in the highest degree important and satisfactory. The honourable ex-Minister of Railways (Hon. Mr. Blair) enters into a financial statement with regard to this road, and estimates its cost from Moncton to Winnipeg at $35,000 per mile. Well, it is impossible to say whether that estimate is a correct one or not; the probability is that it is excessive. You must bear in mind that this is a question of the construction of a railway without equipment. The cost of equipment adds very largely to the cost of a railway line. This line is simply to be constructed and handed over to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company, and that company is to place the equipment upon it. I do not believe that this road will cost over $30,000 a mile from Moncton to Chaudiere Junction, and I doubt very much that it will cost more than $30,000 per mile or even that much from Quebec to Winnipeg. The honourable gentleman, in reckon- ing the burdens that will rest on the government in connection with the guarantee of the western section, assumes that the government guarantee will amount to the cost of building the road. He overlooks the fact that the guarantee of the gov- ernment is to cover merely three-fourths of the cost of the 25 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM road, and that when the government advances this guarantee, it takes over security upon the road and its equipment, including what the company has put into it, so that the security is ample. The honourable gentleman refers at some length to the question of the stock. What is there about this stock question? There is to be $45,000,000 of stock. Of that, $20,000,000 is to be preferred stock, which goes into the equipment of the road, and $25,000,000 is to be common stock. The honourable gentleman would lead us to sup- pose that that will all go into the pockets of the share- holders and directors. What will it be used for? Why, sir, the company will require money with which to build ele- vators, to improve the road, and for various purposes in con- nection with the operation of the road. It will require money to carry out its stipulation with regard to providing vessels and shipping facilities at each end of the road. That is what that stock is set apart for $20,000,000 of preferred stock for equipment, and $25,000,000 of common stock to be used for these various purposes to which I have referred. The honourable gentleman regrets that it is not the Grand Trunk Railway that is going into the West, but the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Well, it strikes me that there is a distinction without a difference. I think we shall be thank- ful if we get the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway into the North-West, with the stipulations and conditions with which it is hedged round with all these stipulations which place it absolutely in the hands of the government, as to the operation of the road, as to its maintenance, as to providing facilities at each end of the road for the transaction of business, and as to not discriminating against Canadian ports and in favour of American ports. The honourable gentleman asks what that condition about discrimination amounts to. He says the company will send their agents through ^the North-West, and will quietly secure freight and have it shipped with their own connivance to American ports. Well, this company enters into a solemn agreement not to 26 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY discriminate against Canadian ports. But he tells us that we have no penalties by which we can enforce the fulfilment of this agreement. Is the whole thing ended when this bill passes? We have to go on and perfect the conditions by a lease; and what does this agreement say in regard to that? It says: " The said lease shall also contain such other covenants and provisions, including proper indemnity to the government in respect of the working of the railway, as may be deemed necessary by the government to secure the proper carrying out of this agreement." Does not that cover the ground? The honourable gentleman surely could not have read that. The government has a most carefully prepared agreement here. After reading it over and over again, I cannot see any point that has been neglected. I pronounce it a perfect agreement. The time that has been devoted to the perfection of this scheme has not been mis- spent or wasted. Now, Mr. Speaker, I have got through with a sort of rambl- ing criticism of my honourable friend's speech, and I have my own speech to make yet. I beg to move the adjourn- ment of the debate. 27 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT'S POLICY AT the opening of the second day's debate on the National Transcontinental Railway, I resumed speak- ing. In the speech of that day, I devoted myself to explanation and defence of the government's policy. The speech is given as it appears in Hansard, with some modifications. House of Commons, August 12, 1903. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: At the close of my remarks last evening I had very nearly finished my review of the speech of the honourable ex-Minister of Railways (Mr. Blair). I have only a word to add to what I have already said in that connection. I have thought over the position of that honour- able gentleman, thought it over carefully; and I am obliged to arrive at the conclusion that there was no sufficient reason for the course that he has taken. When I contrast his declara- tions in his speech made in Victoria, B.C., last October, in which he asserted that we wanted another transcontinental road, that we wanted it right away, that we wanted to open up new districts in the North- West and fit them for settle- ment when I contrast that with his statement of yesterday : that we do not want a transcontinental road now, that the government was proceeding with indecent and reckless haste in the matter, I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that the two positions are entirely irreconcilable. He puts me in mind of a story I read a few years ago of the great riot in Chicago. A United States regiment of regulars who had been engaged in a winter campaign under General Miles against the Sioux 29 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM Indians, were on their way to quarters in the east where they were to be granted a respite from their labours. They were ragged and toil-worn, but they were veterans, and as they were drawn up in line a person on the sidewalk said to the soldier nearest to him: " You would not shoot us fellows would you?" He replied, "I would not, unless the captain told me to." Now, the difficulty with the ex-Minister of Railways is that he did not shoot when the captain told him to. It is necessary to have discipline in an army; it is necessary to have discipline in a party. Individual men may have very strong individual opinions I belong to that category myself but it is unreasonable for an individual to suppose that a party must accept his opinions and act upon them, and it is in the highest degree injudicious for that individual to kick over the traces because he cannot govern the party; for, in doing that, he destroys what little influence he might otherwise possess, and that is what my honourable friend the ex-Minister of Railways and Canals, I fear, has done. Now, as I have said, there is no radical difference between the policy that the honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) ad- vocates, namely a government road and the policy adopted by the government of a road partly of government construction partly aided by the government, and leased by the government to a private corporation, a road destined to serve the same pur- pose, under the arrangement that is made, that a strictly gov- ernment road would serve. I say there is not such a radical difference between these policies as to warrant the honourable gentleman in resigning his position as Minister of Railways, and opposing the government, as he did most unmistakably and most bitterly yesterday. His position yesterday, lacking as it did that dignity which ought to characterize the position of a gentleman who resigns on high patriotic and moral grounds, and the bitterness of his attack, convinced me that there is something beneath and beyond the ostensible reason assigned for his leaving the Cabinet. I repeat what I said last night, that the honourable gentleman in the course of his remarks gives us a clue to his feelings and to his action in this matter, when he 30 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY tells us that he was not consulted, that no official of the Inter- colonial Railway was consulted, that the government, for- sooth, that the Premier of this country and his advisers, pro- ceeded to organize and arrange a policy about which the honour- able gentleman was not consulted and which he did not approve of. I imagine, Mr. Speaker, that when that honourable gentle- man resigned, he had arrived at the conclusion that he would make the captain shoot at his command, instead of shooting at the captain's command. And the outcome was that the cap- tain did not shoot, and that the rebellious member retired from the ranks, and he is out of the ranks. I am sorry that the ex-Minister (Hon. Mr. Blair) should have thought so highly of his own individual opinion; should have decided that it was necessary for the government to accept his opinion and act upon it, and that if the govern- ment failed to do so he would leave the government in the lurch. Well, he has left the government in the lurch, if being deprived of the honourable gentleman's sanction could place it in that position. The honourable gentleman (Hon. Mr. Blair) devoted a large portion of his speech to the Intercolonial Railway. I shall leave the detailed discussion of that matter to gentlemen better acquainted with the condition of affairs in the Maritime Provin- ces than I am. Still, it is patent to me, and must be patent to any person who has a fair knowledge of the situation, that the honourable gentleman in his criticism upon the policy of the government with regard to the Intercolonial did not take the pains to put us in possession of all the facts. He laments the ruin of the Intercolonial. He laments that we did not adhere to the policy of attempting to create a business for our mari- time ports by using a second-class road with an unnecessary mileage of from one hundred to one hundred and forty miles, with heavy grades, and one that we know cannot fulfil the conditions that we must expect of it if the Scheme of the gov- ernment is to be made a success. He did not tell us that the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Grand Trunk are separate and distinct corporations. He did not tell us that the government 31 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM had a contract with the Grand Trunk for ninety-nine years to turn over to the Intercolonial at Montreal all freight the road brings to Montreal designed for points east of Quebec. The Intercolonial cannot be deprived of that business, one of the largest items of business it possesses. He made no calculation as to the great accession to this road of business at Moncton for Halifax and St. John. If the straightening of its line, if the reducing of its grades, if the increase in its capacity, which are making it first-class and shorter, will lead to bringing from the West a large amount of grain for shipment at maritime ports, the Intercolonial must share in the benefit. The Grand Trunk Pacific ends at Moncton. There are one hundred and eighty-three miles of the Intercolonial road to share in the business that will come to Halifax; there are eighty-nine miles from Moncton to St. John to share in the business. The gross business of the Intercolonial will inevitably be increased by the construction of this short line, owing to the large in- crease of traffic between Quebec and the Maritime Provinces; and there is, besides, the retention to the Intercolonial of the trade which I have mentioned that pertains to it and that cannot be taken away from it. I have a line of argument to present with relation to this scheme of the Grand Trunk Pacific which I propose to enter upon briefly at this stage of my remarks. As to the question whether we need another transcontinental railway, the ques- tion has been answered by the ex-Minister of Railways (Hon. Mr. Blair) at Vancouver. I can quote him as an authority. According to him, we need the road and we need it quickly. He said on that occasion that men were standing in the audi- ence who would live to see three or four transcontinental lines north of the boundary. I have no doubt he was right. We must bear in mind the fact that we cannot get this road at once. We are taking the initiative steps now towards get- ting it. We have to proceed with surveys; we have to locate the line; we have to proceed with the construction of a road three thousand and thirty miles long in an air-line, and it will take several years to complete it. 32 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY In the meantime, population is pouring into the North-West; new acreage is being brought into cultivation; its prolific soil will furnish a large harvest every year, and by the time of its completion this road will be a crying necessity. I estimate that five years from to-day, with a continuance of the conditions that exist now, the grain products of the Canadian North- West will have increased at least threefold. The present means of transportation will prove utterly inadequate and this road will be imperatively called for. The govern- ment is not entering upon an enterprise which it is not warranted in entering upon; but on the contrary, it is entering upon a scheme which is called for, and called for now. I pointed out last night that our situation, so far as our great wheat-producing region is concerned, and the situation of the United States when it was a young country, are entirely different. The United States had an outlet by the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. There were navigable rivers scattered along the Atlantic coast the Hudson, the Savannah and other rivers. At an early date a canal was constructed from Albany to Lake Erie, tapping the waters of the Great Lakes. The country was able to get along largely without railways. In 1850, when the country had twenty-three million inhabi- tants railroads had hardly become a factor in the transporta- tion situation at all. But we have no Mississippi to convey the products of our western fields to the sea; we have no Erie canal; we have no natural outlet, not even by access by navigable rivers to Hudson Bay. If we are to have a route, it must be provided by artificial means. The whole country, to as far north as the northern limit of cereal pro- duction, must depend on railroads exclusively. We have to provide our North-West with the means of communication which are absolutely essential to its success and its prosperity. Consequently, delay in providing these facilities is not advis- able. Therefore I dismiss the assertion as to the action of the government in proceeding with this railway being premature, as totally without foundation, as betraying a lamentable 33 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM ignorance of the conditions that exist and the probable wants of the near future. The government proceeded carefully to the consideration of this question. The Speech from the Throne contained an allusion to the necessity for a transcontinental line. The government was evidently considering the propriety first of constituting a transportation commission to examine and report as to the proper course to pursue. But it became evi- dent that there was not time to wait for the slow operation of an investigation by a commission; that the time for action was now, and that if we could secure such knowledge as would warrant us in taking action, we should proceed. The gov- ernment considered several propositions. They considered a proposition of building a government road, considered it care- fully, as I am well aware, and rejected that proposition the proposition which my honourable friend the ex-Minister of Railways and Canals (Hon. Mr. Blair) pins his faith to. The government rejected that proposition for what, I suppose I may fairly concede, were good and sufficient reasons, although I was favourably impressed by it. The government realized that to make a success of a government road across the con- tinent required the total severance of that scheme from politics. Can that be done in Canada? The government thought not, and so do I. It required, in the second place, honesty in construction. That would require the possession of expert knowledge in supervising and carrying on that work, which perhaps no gentleman in this House pos- sesses. It required, in the third place, honesty as well as efficiency of management, and called for a degree of expert railway knowledge which we do not find among men in public life. It would require a man like Sir Thomas Shaughnessy or Mr. Hays, at a salary of $50,000 or $75,000 per year, to manage efficiently such a scheme. Whether the government was right or wrong, whether its reasons for rejecting the proposition were sound or not, it did reject it. ^ The government proceeded next to consider a proposition for the construction of the road in the old-fashioned way, that 34 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY of granting subsidies. There was a proposition to build a road from North Bay to the West, which involved a land grant of 5,000 acres per mile and a money grant of $6,400 per mile. Well, the government has never adopted the sys- tem of making land grants to railways, and wisely concluded that this was not a good time to begin it. Then a compromise proposition was accepted, namely, the construction of a road over which the government should have supervision. One division of that road, estimated at 1,835 miles in length, was to be constructed by the govern- ment, but the company was to lease the road and was thus interested in having the cost of the construction kept down. The company was to have the right and opportunity of investigating whether the government was doing the work economically or not. This was adopted for the construction by the government of the eastern section. Perhaps it would have suited my honourable friend, the ex-Minister of Rail- ways, better if he had had the disposal of the contracts for building that road, but I think it will be constructed fully as cheaply under the arrangement arrived at. Then we have the construction of a line from Winnipeg to Port Simpson by the company, the right being reserved to the govern- ment to audit the accounts, and supervise the work, and take any necessary steps to see that the work is done pro- perly. By this scheme we are to have the eastern section owned by the government and leased to and operated by the company, and the western section owned by the company and operated under the supervision of the government, which is to have control of the rates. This scheme will serve the purposes of the country, I think, possibly better than the construction of a government road, even if a government road could have been constructed with the conditions necessary for success which I have mentioned. There were three schemes before the government, and taking everything into consideration, in my opinion they acted wisely and have adopted the scheme which is the safest and most likely to confer on the country great advantages. 35 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM The government was criticized for delay. My honourable friend the leader of the Opposition, (Mr. R. L.Borden) every day or two, would inquire what was the cause of delay, why we were kept dancing attendance while the government was shilly- shallying. But yesterday we had my honourable friend, the ex-Minister of Railways, telling us that it has shown un- due and unseemly haste. MR. R. L. BORDEN If my honourable friend will allow me, it had been announced in the government organs, over and over again, that a certain policy was to be brought down, and I protested against the House being kept from day to day and week to week waiting for the government to announce its policy. I was not insisting on the government bringing down a policy, but insisting that, if they had any policy to bring down, they should bring it down at once. MR. CHARLTON The government was probably in a posi- tion in which circumstances were arising that rendered them unable to say definitely how soon they would arrive at a decision. They had announced their intention of bringing down a railway policy. They took time, however, to consider and weigh carefully all the conditions before concluding fin- ally an agreement with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. That agreement will stand as a monument of their sagacity. And they brought down their policy with celerity and despatch, if we consider all the circumstances attendant upon the case. It was proper that they should take careful action. We were at the parting of the ways. We had, on the one hand, the policy recommended of building a government road. On the other hand, we had the policy recommended of assisting the construction of a road in the old-fashioned way of grant- ing subsidies. Between these two policies, the government had one which is better than either, but which required tune and careful consideration because there were vast interests at stake. And if, owing to haste and lack of due care, mis- takes were made which would cause difficulties in the future, my honourable friend, the leader of the Opposition, would not 36 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY be slow to say that the government had acted too quickly and brought down its policy too soon. In adopting this policy, the primary consideration which the government had in view was the national interest the building of a national road to connect our Atlantic with our Pacific ports, and which would pass all the way through Canadian territory. That object they have kept steadily in view. They desired to secure the trade from the North- West for our own ocean ports, or as large a share of that trade as possible. I do not say this all-rail route will not be able to compete successfully with the water route; but I do say that it will not, unless it be made first-class in every respect. I notice that the Mail has an editorial contrasting my position with that which I took on the transportation question in a speech I made on the twenty-sixth of May last. I took the position then that water transportation was cheaper from the North- West to the seaboard than transpor- tation by rail, under the then existing conditions. I take the same position to-day. If this road from Quebec to Winni- peg is to be no better than the other railways with which it will have to compete, it will be outdistanced in the race; and to that extent I endorse the position which I took hi my speech of the twenty-sixth of May. I was then discussing water versus railway transportation in the then existing condi- tions. This road from Winnipeg to Quebec, if it is to serve the purpose which it is intended to serve, must be a first-class road. It must have not more than half-per-cent. grades, and should have four-tenths-per-cent. grades coming east, or twenty-one feet to the mile. It should be laid with ninety- pound rails, should have bridges that will carry the heaviest rolling stock in use, with a margin to allow for an increase in the weight of rolling stock; it should have engines of one hun- dred tons weight without the tender, and cars of fifty tons capacity of cargo. And, with a road of that kind, consider- ing prospective improvements in railways, I feel hopeful that the route will be able to compete with the water route. 37 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM There has been a constant, a regular increase in the efficiency of railway transportation. We have had the introduction of the fish-plate joint, making practically a continuous rail. We have had the introduction of the steel rail in place of the iron rail. We have had the increase in the weight of the rail. We have had the increase in the firmness of the road-bed. We have had a great increase in the weight and hauling capacity of engines, and an increase of from ten to fifty tons in the carrying capacity of cars. Trains are run on first-class roads with a capacity of hauling two thousand tons of cargo to the train without requiring any greater force of engineers, firemen, brakemen and other employees of the train than were required twenty years ago for trains that carried two hundred and fifty or three hundred tons. And this improvement still goes on; the efficiency of railways will be still further increased. And with the kind of road that I foreshadow it is my belief that we can compete with the water route. I know of a road with a maximum grade of nineteen feet to the mile running from Buffalo to Detroit through the province of Ontario. The only limit to the size of their trains is the question of their management whether they are too unwieldy or not; they do not like a train that is over half a mile long. They can haul sixty or seventy loaded freight cars with ease. Compare that with a road on which the engine is struggling up a grade of sixty or seventy feet to the mile with twelve or fifteen cars, and you can see the difference between a first- class road and a second-class road. We want a road from Winnipeg to Quebec that, in the ordinary way of business, can carry trains with two thousand tons of freight. If we get that kind of a road, in my opinion we can transport wheat from Winnipeg to Quebec for less than twelve cents per bushel. Now, the rate to-day from Winnipeg to Port Arthur by the Canadian Pacific Railway is seven and a half cents per bushel. And, at the rate I have given as a basis of transportation between Winnipeg and the Lakes, the transportation on this line will be cheaper than the present transportation partly by water and partly by rail. 38 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY With the kind of road I am talking about, in my opinion, we can carry grain from Winnipeg to Quebec in competition with the partly water and the partly rail routes that pass to the south. And at this point I wish to impress upon the government the absolute necessity of securing the construc- tion of a road of this kind. If because of difficulties of en- gineering, if because of enhanced cost of the road, we permit ourselves to construct a road with grades of fifty or sixty feet to the mile, we shall defeat our own purpose; we cannot then compete with the other routes. But with a road of the kind I speak of, we can in all probability transport freight to Quebec successfully. And I say this in the face of the arguments I used on the twenty-sixth of May last, comparing water rates with the rates on the now existing roads from the west to the east. It is evident that the government comprehends the magni- tude of this issue; for it is an issue of great magnitude; we have not been confronted with so great a one since the Cana- dian Pacific Railway debate. The government comprehends the magnitude of this issue and has conscientiously done its best. And I may be allowed to say to my honourable friends opposite, that this is a question that momentously affects the future of this great country, with its three millions of square miles of territory, with its enormous resources and with its splendid future. We are considering the best means of sub- serving the interests of this country. This should not be a party question, but we should get down to the consideration of this problem on business principles, and make up our minds, on the basis of the evidence we have, to arrive, if we can, at a reasonable conclusion. Now, the government has had in this matter a twofold object, and it has not confined its attention to one or to the other. The first object is to provide an additional outlet for the grain of the North- West; the second is to direct the trade of the North- West to our own ports. There would have been no trouble about giving an outlet to the trade of the North-West with, perhaps, the expenditure of no money at all. 39 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM We had only to allow these roads to reach Lake Superior. Perhaps we might have granted a little aid for that purpose. We t had^simply to allow the Jim Hill roads and other American roads to come in without let or hindrance, without bonus or aid, and they would have furnished the North-West with an outlet and carried its grain to Duluth, Minneapolis, and Chicago, and so over American roads to the ocean. This would have been just as good an outlet as any other, so far as the mere interest of the farmer is concerned, but it would not have served a national purpose; it would have diverted the trade from our own ports and would have been a suicidal policy. The government has avoided such a policy. The government has not counted a few millions as weighing against the fact that such a settlement of the transportation problem would have taken away from our own ports this great trade of to-day, this trade which is to be so much greater in the future. So, due weight has been given to national considerations; and when my honourable friends opposite be- little these considerations and make an effort to cast odium upon the government's policy and to show that what is claimed for this route cannot be accomplished, I do not think they are acting a patriotic part. Now, I wish to refer to the physical features of the scheme. It designs to make Quebec the great seaport of the Dominion; that is the first great physical feature of this scheme. It will reach Quebec, one of the best harbours of the Dominion, by a direct route from Winnipeg. The only drawback is that that harbour is closed for some portion of the winter. After having given Quebec a business that that port can transact during the season of open navigation, it is designed to carry that trade on during the winter to ports in the Maritime Provinces, to the port of Halifax, to the port of St. John. It proposes to give the very best conditions that are attainable for securing that object. It may be that it cannot be done, but we intend to attempt it, and to attempt it by using the best means in our power to accomplish the purpose. A first- class road from Winnipeg to Quebec and the Maritime Pro- 40 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY vinces for the purpose of securing the trade of the North- West for these ports that is the object had in view by the government, that is the purpose they intend to attempt to attain; and if our honourable friends on the opposite side wish to throw obstacles in the way of that purpose, why, I merely say that in that regard they are not patriotic. I remember, Mr. Speaker, some twenty-one years ago when the party that I belonged to at that time occupied very much the same attitude that my honourable friends opposite occupy to-day, belittling to some extent, casting aspersions upon, raising objections to, and magnifying the obstacles in the way of the construction of a transcontinental line. Well, some of our objections were well taken, but the general trend of our policy was not to our advantage. The country believed in a transcontinental line, and wanted it, and got it. We believe now that the country believes in another, and wants it, and is going to get it; and honourable gentlemen who stand in the way of the consummation of that purpose will find that they have been poor statesmen and still poorer politicians. The next physical feature of this road is the fact that it opens up a vast unsettled area in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. It is a colonization road for fourteen hundred miles. It passes through our hinterland, and while opening it up, goes over the best route for a direct line from Winnipeg to Quebec. This road passes through this hinterland, with a trunk branch in the proper time, running down the valley of the Nottawa River I presume some of my hearers have never heard of the Nottawa River, a stream about the size of the Ottawa, with what is supposed to be an extensive and fertile valley. This branch will go to a harbour upon James Bay, and will open up a vast section of country that will be tributary to this road. That is another physical feature. This road, through its connection with the extension of the Temiskaming road be- ing built by the Ontario government, will provide access to Ontario centres for all the country tributary to this Grand Trunk Pacific line. But this Temiskaming road will not serve as a line to divert traffic to other ports than the port of Quebec. 41 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM The new transcontinental road will run, from Winnipeg west, largely through a new country, a vast unsettled region, a region supposed to contain the richest and most productive land in the North- West. It will open up a region from north of the Saskatchewan to Dunvegan on the Peace River, and thence up the Peace River valley and through the Peace River Pass to Port Simpson on the Pacific Ocean. The road will cross the Rockies by easy grades. The summit of the Peace River Pass has an altitude about eighteen hundred feet above the sea. The construction of the mountain section, as that portion between the western side of the level country and the Pacific Ocean is termed, will be found to be much less expen- sive and much less difficult, probably, than is now anticipated. The port that is to be its western terminus will be much nearer to Asiatic ports in north China and Japan than any other port on the Pacific Ocean. While the length of the road is somewhat greater than one running to Vancouver, the dis- tance by the ocean to the ports named is very much less, and so this route will have important advantages in the overland and oriental trade over any other line. It will reach Quebec by easy grades, by a direct line, and in this respect will be superior to any other possible route from the West to that city. It will open up the great clay belt of this northern region that is supposed to contain sixteen million acres of arable land now lying unoccupied, not possible of being occupied, because it has no .means of communication with the outer world. It will open up that clay belt, and it will open up all the agricultural, timber and mining resources of that great stretch of country, fourteen hundred miles in length, from Quebec to Winnipeg. Now, with regard to the route of this road, there were two propositions. The one proposition was to carry the road north of Lake Winnipeg. That was the route that would have been adopted by the Trans-Canada line. A good friend of mine in this House, whom I very highly esteem, thought that this line ought to have been adopted because it was five hun- dred miles shorter than the other. Well, if there had been 42 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY that difference in the distance it would have been a strong argument in favour of adopting that route. To find the distances but of course they are only approxi- mate I have calculated them by the map. I converted the geographical miles into statute miles, and made some allow- ance for deviation from the direct line in estimating the length, and the distances I obtained are as follows: BY THE WINNIPEG ROUTE: From Quebec to Winnipeg 1,380 miles. Winnipeg to Port Simpson 1,650 TOTAL 3,030 " BY THE NELSON ROUTE: From Quebec to Nelson River 1,466 " " Nelson River to Port Simpson 1,490 " TOTAL 2,956 The difference of distance in favour of the northern route, north of Lake Winnipeg, is less than seventy-five miles. Now, I was surprised at this result myself. The two lines at their furthest points of divergence are three and a half degrees apart. But when you come to lay out, as I did, a sketch to ascertain the difference between the length of the hypothenuse of a triangle as compared with the length of the base and the per- pendicular combined, it is less than one would naturally sup- pose. For instance, you lay out a line with a perpendicular of four hundred miles and a base of eight hundred miles, and the hypothenuse is but a trifle more than one-fourth more than the length of the perpendicular line. So that showed this calculation was substantially correct. Now, there is a reason why the Winnipeg route is prefer- able to the other. If there had been no such reason, the government would naturally have chosen the shorter line, even though the advantage to be gained was only seventy-five miles. But the Nelson route has less agricultural land upon it than the other. The distance is greater from Quebec to the river Nelson than it is from Quebec to Winnipeg, by about seventy miles. Then the unproductive country extends from 43 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM the Nelson River west a long distance; while from Winnipeg, the productive country extends at least to the Peace River Pass. That is a sufficient reason for putting the road upon that line. Another reason is that at Quebec the road touches a point where all the business of the North- West converges, a great entrepot for the vast country west and north-west of it. It is so to-day, it will probably continue to be so, and a road reaching that point is in a position to compete for the business furnished by all these roads ramifying the North- West in every direction, while if it had gone by the Nelson route it would have reached none of them, and could have competed for none of this business. For these reasons the choice of line by way of Winnipeg was a judicious one. I wish next to call attention to the -business prospects of this proposed road. We have dealt with the necessity from a national standpoint of having a great transcontinental road upon our own soil, and it has been asserted by the hon- ourable ex-Minister of Railways and Canals (Hon. Mr. Blair) and by others, that, leaving out this view of the case, this road has nothing to commend it to us from a commercial stand- point. Well, sir, what are the business prospects of this road? First, it will furnish an outlet to the North Saskatchewan val- ley, an enormous extent of country and a fertile and rich region of the Canadian North- West. It will furnish an outlet to the Athabaska River and Peace River valleys. These regions are to be peopled in the near future by millions of people; they are to be the heart of the productive region of the Canadian North- West, they are to furnish an untold amount of business business that one line will be incapable of carrying. As the honourable ex-Minister of Railways and Canals very properly said at Vancouver, the building of a road through this new and wilderness country is an act of statesmanship, of good policy. When this road has been built to Fort Dunvegan on the Peace River, the natural corollary is to extend the line from that point to Dawson City, in the Yukon. The line would be per- haps a thousand miles long. I have not measured the exact 44 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY distance; it may be something less than that. It would cross the Hay River, it would follow the Liard River and traverse the fertile country watered by those streams. Not three hundred miles of the length of that road to Dawson would pass through a country incapable of settlement and cultiva- tion. This road to Dawson would do away with this question of the bonding privilege from Skagway over the White Pass, and the trouble about the Alaskan boundary, so far as reach- ing the Yukon from the Pacific is concerned, for it would afford a direct route through the heart of that region, and would give us its entire trade. The road will open up, in addition to the regions I have named, Northern British Columbia. Recent discoveries have been made upon the Skeena River of enormous deposits of coal, of hundreds of millions of tons of coal of superior quality. We are just scratching the surface of the country, we are just learning about its enormous resources. It is a country rich in coal, in iron, in precious metals awaiting development. The road will build up a great city at Port Simpson, a city that will command an enormous trade with the Orient, a city that will command, when the Panama canal is completed, an enormous grain trade with Europe. Grain from the Peace River valley can then be taken to Port Simpson by this road and shipped to Liverpool at rates that will set at rest the transportation ques- tion for that rich country. It will afford an outlet for the grain trade and for the flour trade which is sure to be developed in that great western country with China and Japan. This road will have a great lumber trade. That will be another item in its business prospects. It will have a lumber trade from the forests of British Columbia to the prairies of the West. It will have a lumber trade from the forests of the hinterland of Ontario and Quebec, which will be traversed for a length of 1,300 miles by this road. Wherever the road crosses a stream every tree standing upon that stream above the line of the railway will be tributary to the railway, and lumber from this section of the country can be trans- ported to the prairies as cheaply as lumber is now transported 45 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM from Vancouver, where there are two mountain ranges to climb, offering grades of from one hundred and twenty to two hundred feet to the mile. This road, when it is com- pleted, will be called upon, in all human probability, to handle one hundred million bushels of grain annually by its line west of Winnipeg. As I have said, it will be the exclusive outlet of the clay belt. By its branch down the Nottawa River, with a good harbour on James Bay it will command the business of that great mare clausum of Canada, Hudson Bay, thousands of square miles larger than the German Ocean, a sea with untold re- sources in fish, with enormous resources in minerals upon its shores, and near whose shores Philadelphia companies have been locating iron mines for the last two years. While on that subject, I would counsel the honourable Minister of the Interior (Hon. Mr. Sifton) to look closely into this question and see that these people do not obtain enormously valuable properties at a mere fraction of their value. It will bring back to Quebec and I am sure this will interest you, Mr. Speaker, (Hon. L. P. Brodeur) its palmy days. Once that was the seat of an empire in embryo. Its adven- turous explorers reached the far West, planted fortifications and military and trading posts, in the rear of the English colonists, at Fort Duquesne, near Pittsburg, at Fort Kaskaskia, opposite St. Louis, at Mackinaw and various other points in the country, and projected an empire that was to be tributary to France; but by the struggle on the Plains of Abraham that dream of empire was shattered. But, with this road, Quebec will reach out to the future again; Quebec will reach out to the commerce of this vast region with its untold resources, and it will command that trade and become a queenly city. This project will practically straighten the Intercolonial Railway a necessary step to be taken if we are to furnish our maritime ports in the winter with grain for cargoes. Vast expenditures have been undertaken by all the principal Ameri- can lines in betterment of their roads, in reduction of grades, in improvement of alignment, in laying with heavier rails, 46 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY and in giving better equipment. These vast expenditures were absolutely necessary. The roads could not perform the functions for which they were designed without these expen- ditures. If one road made these expenditures every rival road had to follow; and the result is that the capacity of these roads has been quadrupled by the expenditure of money made in the way I have mentioned. The same necessity rests upon us in regard to the Intercolonial Railway. That road was built upon a wrong route, and it is not first-class in the matter of its grades. The straightening of the road, and the improve- ment of its grades will vastly increase its efficiency and will render it possible to give to the maritime ports a trade which, without this improvement of the line, could not be secured. If we seek to divert trade to the Maritime Provinces we must have the best tools, the best appliances. We cannot do it with an antiquated system and with an inferior and second- class road. This road will develop an extensive and valuable section of the country in Quebec and New Brunswick. Another consideration, and a consideration of no mean importance, is, that it will remove the dread of the abrogation of the bonding privilege. The ex-Minister of Railways and Canals (Hon. Mr. Blair) scouted the idea that there was any danger of such a thing. He told us: "The Americans will never dream of adopting a course that would result to their own disadvantage; will never think of depriving themselves of the trade that now flows to their own seaports." Well, sir, I do not know. The Americans have threatened to do this. Their President had power placed in his hands a few years ago to do it by his own proclamation without reference to Congress, without being governed by anything except his own supreme will in the matter. It is a dangerous position for us to be in. We have had friction in our relations with the United States. Those relations are pleasant and agreeable now. The Americans say it is because they treat Canada as a " spoiled child." I think we can stand all the spoiling from any generosity that has been shown us by them for thirty-five years past. But the day may come, sir, when friction may 47 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM exist again. Our trade relations have got to be readjusted; we must have from the United States fairer trade conditions or we must apply to the United States the treatment that they apply to us. If we get fairer trade conditions it is all right, and there will be very little danger of the abrogation of the bonding privilege; if we enter on the other line of policy, I would not guarantee that there would not be friction, I would not guarantee that there would not be talk of abrogating what the Americans call a privilege, and I would not be surprised if it were abrogated. And in any event, self-respect, care for our own interests, respect for our standing as a country, im- peratively demand that if we can place ourselves in a position where such a calamity cannot be visited on our heads, it is our duty to do so; and the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific line will do it. I wish now, Mr. Speaker, to enter upon a consideration of the financial basis of this scheme. We have government construction from Moncton to Winnipeg. From Moncton to Chaudire Junction, according to the best data that can be obtained, would be a distance by the new line of 378 miles, and by the present line it is 488 miles. The saving in the distance would be 110 miles. Estimates have been made of a saving of distance of from 120 to 140 miles, and I take this estimate of 110 miles saving, as being a moderate and reasonable one. Then we have from Chaudi&re to Winnipeg a distance by air-line of 1,380 miles. I add to the air-line distance, for deviations slight deviations going north of Lake Nepigon and so forth an increase of four per cent., which I believe is sufficient; and this would make the line from Quebec to Winnipeg 1,435 miles, and the line from Moncton to Winnipeg, 1,823 miles. Now, these are approx- imate estimates. I arrive at them by careful measurement of the map, by ascertaining the number of geographical miles, by turning these into statute miles, by taking 69 miles and 900 feet and making that the width of each degree instead of 60 geographical miles. Now, the cost of this 1,823 miles and we must bear in 48 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY mind that this cost does not include the equipment I esti- mate the cost of these 1,823 miles at $30,000 a mile. I think that estimate is not too high; I presume it is not too high for that section of the road from Moncton to Chaudi&re Junction, but I believe it is too high for the stretch of road through that level country most of the way from Quebec to Winnipeg. But we will allow $30,000 a mile as the cost of a road 1,823 miles in length, or a total of $54,690,000. Then we guarantee the mountain section, and we are to pay interest upon that as well as upon the line from Moncton to Winnipeg. We guarantee the mountain section for not more than $30,000 per mile; the guarantee to be three-fourths of the cost of the line. That I believe is too high. I do not be- lieve the line will cost $40,000 a mile through the Peace River Pass and from that point to Port Simpson. I estimate the length of that mountain section at 450 miles. This would be a guarantee of $13,500,000. The total cost of the road, and guarantee of the mountain section which rests upon the same basis as the cost of the road so far as the payment of interest for seven years is concerned, would amount to $68,- 190,000. If we pay upon that sum three per cent, interest for seven years that would amount to $14,319,900. Now, I have no doubt that the calculation of $13,000,000 by my right honourable friend the Premier is much nearer correct. I be- lieve I have allowed sums in excess of what would be the actual cost of the mountain section and the actual cost of that stretch of 1,435 miles from Quebec to Winnipeg. But on the basis of this estimate we shall pay $14,319,900. This will be equivalent to a bonus. Now, it was represented by the ex-Minister of Railways and Canals, and no doubt it will be represented again, that the total cost of the eastern section represents an actural increase of our debt, that the burden that the country assumes is measured by this amount, and that that burden is $68,190,000. It is nothing of the kind. After the payment of $14,319,900 we lease this road to a responsible company, under guarantees and conditions highly advantageous to ourselves, and with a 49 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM reversion of title and ownership in fifty years. We lease this road upon conditions that pay the interest on this sum year after year; and we hold ample security for it. We hold the rolling stock, we hold on the western division their own invest- ments in the road in addition to our guarantee. To assert that this whole amount is an addition to our debt, an increase of the burdens that rest upon the country, is absurd. It is not honest; it is not a truthful presentation of the case. Now, with regard to the western division from Winnipeg to Port Simpson, I estimate an increase in length over an air-line of five per cent. Perhaps that is somewhat too little, but the difference cannot be great enough to seriously affect the cal- culation. This will make the line in statute miles 1,733 miles. The government guarantees the mountain section. I assume that that mountain section will not exceed 450 miles in length I do not believe that road will cost $40,000 a mile, judging by the character of the country, but the guarantee at $30,000 a mile amounts to $13,500,000. Then there will remain 1,283 miles upon which the guarantee will be $13,000 a mile. The ex-Minister of Railways and Canals assumed that the road would cost the sum that this guarantee represents only. It is estimated that the prairie section will cost be- tween $17,000 and $18,000 a mile, and the government guarantee upon that will be $13,000 a mile. The mountain section will cost $40,000 per mile, and the government guarantee on that portion will be $30,000 per mile. This amounts to a guarantee of $13,500,000 for the mountain sec- tion and $16,679,000 for the prairie section, a total of $30,- 179,000 of government guarantee applied to the entire portion of the line from Winnipeg to Port Simpson. If this estimate of cost is correct, the company's expenditure on this portion of the road will be $10,059,000, in addition to which they have to put on it $15,000,000 worth of rolling stock. So that the expenditure by the Grand Trunk Pacific of one- fourth the cost, and $15,000,000 on rolling stock, in addi- tion to the guarantee by the government, will represent a 50 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY value of $55,238,000 which we will hold as absolute security for our guarantee of $30,179,000. Is there anything reck- less or prodigal or unbusinesslike in this arrangement? Why, the more I consider this agreement, the more I analyze its conditions, the better satisfied I am with the bargain. I would suggest that my honourable friends opposite also make a careful study of it, and see if that will not bring them to the same conclusion. Now, Mr. Speaker, this is a bargain that could have been made with any prospect of its being carried out with no other company in Canada than the one with which it has been made. No private company could take this agreement just as it stands to-day and finance the undertaking. No private company could raise on its second mortgage bonds the balance of the cost of the prairie section, over the amount guaranteed by the government. No private company could provide this road with $20,000,000 of rolling stock (which includes $5,000,000 from Winnipeg east). It was the credit of the Grand Trunk Company, standing behind the Grand Trunk Pacific, which consummated this bargain. We have the entire strength, resources and character of the Grand Trunk Company of Canada behind the Grand Trunk Pacific; the two are united a fortunate concurrence of cir- cumstances, a rare opportunity which the government has had the wisdom to seize upon; and by seizing upon it they have secured the construction of a transcontinental line upon terms that are surprisingly favourable. As I said before, the road reverts to the government at the expiration of fifty years. What will it probably be worth then? How many people will be in Canada fifty years from now? What amount of business will be done by this road then? There is a very carefully drawn provision here with regard to betterments and the keeping of the road up to a certain standard. The government has a right to compel this company to keep the road up to the highest standard that exists at any time. If improvements are made in railways, this road must be made to correspond 51 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM with the character of the improved lines. The keeping up of the road is an absolute condition of the contract. When this road reverts to the government at the expiration of fifty years, is it an extravagant calculation to suppose it will be worth twice its original cost? There is something marvellous about the increased value of railroads. Take the New York Central. It fell into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt about the year 1860. That road's stock was watered, and watered, and watered again, until every dollar of that stock to-day represents a cost of only twenty-five cents; and yet this great volume of watered stock goes on paying dividends of six per cent, per annum, due simply to increased value from increase of business. The same con- ditions will apply to this road. I think it is a very moderate calculation to suppose that this road, at the time it reverts to the government, will be worth twice its original cost. The agreement provides that if the government does not then choose to assume the road and run it itself, the Grand Trunk Pacific Company shall have the right to lease it if it offers as good conditions as the government can secure else- where. Well, do you suppose that that road will be leased a second time at three per cent, on its original cost a road that will be worth twice what it cost? Is it unreasonable to sup- pose that the road will then become a great source of revenue to the government? It is a moderate calculation to suppose that while the government will continue to carry its bonds at three per cent., the company on the second lease will pay at least six per cent, on the original cost. I do not know but that is a better arrangement than to rush into a scheme of government construction of railroads. At all events, it is an arrangement which will certainly enable the government to establish an efficient railroad from ocean to ocean, and leave that road under the absolute control of the government in every essential respect. Now, I wish to refer to the management and practical basis of this scheme. The Canadian Pacific Railway dis- tance from Montreal to Winnipeg is 1,424 miles. The 52 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY length of the Grand Trunk Pacific from Quebec to Win- nipeg, if my calculations are correct, will be 1,435 miles, eleven miles longer from Quebec to Winnipeg than the distance on the Canadian Pacific Railway from Montreal to Winnipeg; and I doubt if, when the surveys are made, the difference will be as much in favour of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The length of the entire road is considerably greater than that of the Canadian Pacific Railway, but that increased length is all, except eleven miles of it, west of Winnipeg, and it is a consideration that does not matter much, for every mile of it is developing a rich country, which will afford business to the line. The government retains running powers on the road, or the right to give running powers over the entire line. The eastern division, from Winnipeg, is made a great artery as an outlet from the West, connecting with every road which comes from the West into Winnipeg; and, if it carries grain as cheaply to Quebec as gram can be carried to Boston or Portland, it will divert to Quebec and our maritime ports all the traffic they can possibly handle. Was there any wis- dom hi the government retaining this right, and making these provisions for joint use and joint running powers? Certainly there was, and the question is, can this right be secured on reasonable terms for other companies? I an- swer, beyond question it can. The criticisms made by my honourable friend the ex- Minister of Railways and Canals with regard to this matter betrayed an utter ignorance on his part of the conditions surrounding this question. The gauges of the roads in the United States have been made uniform for the purpose of exchange of freight and to avoid the breaking of bulk when one road connects with another. No bulk is broken now. Cars go from where they were billed to their destination over one or two of a dozen roads, and arrangements are made for the division of freight on the basis of mileage. I pass over a road almost every week which is used by two lines for a distance of 229 miles. There is one division 53 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM from St. Thomas to Detroit 110 miles, and another division from St. Thomas to Buffalo 119 miles long. Each of the lines which uses this road has its own round houses, its own appliances, its own engines, and runs its own trains, and there is no friction between them. Their system of train despatching is arranged in the easiest manner. Passenger trains take precedence over freight trains, and stock freight takes precedence over ordinary freight. The whole business is conducted with the utmost system and works with the most perfect regularity and without friction. If you can run a road where there are two divisions, you can run a road where there are three or four or a dozen divisions. The same system applies to many as it does to a few. The run- ning of pullman cars and passenger cars is reduced to a system on all roads. A pullman starts from New York or Boston and goes to San Francisco, and it makes no difference whether it goes over two roads or half a dozen. The system is per- fectly adjusted to the satisfaction of all the roads, and every- thing goes on smoothly. The same system can be introduced here, and it is absurd to say that it cannot. We have this further assurance in our own case, that while in the United States all these matters are subject to mutual arrangement, so that any road may defeat the working of the system by being too grasping or exacting, here we shall have an umpire, the government itself, which can compel the faithful and equitable carrying out of the provision laid down in section twenty-four. This company, as an assurance of good faith, deposits the sum of $5,000,000 with the government, and that money is to remain in the hands of the government until the company has fulfilled its obligations. But if the company is within $3,000,000 or $4,000,000 of the completion of the work, then the government may allow the company to use the $5,000,000 deposit to complete the work. But the government holds this $5,000,000 in hard cash or convertible securities in addition to all these other conditions. The government controls the rates on this road and it has the right 54 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY to audit the accounts at any time. At any time it may send its accountant to see whether the accounts of the company are properly kept, whether there is any stuffing of accounts and pay-rolls. It can ascertain exactly what the road is doing, what its earnings are, what its dividends should be, and whether its rates can be reduced without injustice to the company. Contrast that with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which we cannot interfere with at all until its dividends are ten per cent. Then this company is liable to taxation; the Canadian Pacific Railway is not. This com- pany has neither land grants nor cash subsidy, unless you can call the seven years' interest on the guarantee on the cost of the mountain section a suosidy. Contrast this with the first proposal of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway itself. That company came down to the government with a proposition to build a line from North Bay. It wanted a subsidy of $6,400, and 5,000 acres of land, a mile, equivalent in value to at least $15,000. Contrast the present bargain with that demand. I believe that the government has pressed the Grand Trunk Railway to the last point. I believe Mr. Hays was ready to throw up the sponge, if one single concession further had been demanded. I am, I think, hi a position to know that the government got the very last concession possible from the managers of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway; and that it has got a good bargain the future will prove, whether it be admitted now or not. I give great credit to the government for having refused to give a land grant and greater credit for having made that its uniform policy. The government deserves well of the country, to a greater degree, perhaps, in this respect than in any other. Contrast this with the policy of the late government. That government made land grants to rail- ways to the amount of 57,087,000 acres an empire thrown away recklessly. It gave away our lands as freely as you would stones from a brook, and of this amount of 57,087,- 000 acres, 29,986,000 have been earned and have passed out 55 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM of the hands of the country. Our honourable friends oppo site are welcome to all the credit they can extract from that policy. It has been a most wasteful one and I trust that the Liberal government will add to the brilliancy of its record in this respect by continuing to enforce the old principle, which we advocated when we were in opposition, of the land for the settler and the settler for the land. With regard to the question of subsidies, I do not know that I would take the position taken by many persons in Ontario. Subsidies, reasonably granted, are a proper thing. Railroads may be subsidized and their construction secured that could not otherwise be had, railroads that would be of great benefit to the country. And here again, in regard to their system of subsidizing railroads, the government has adopted a principle which redounds greatly to its credit. It has adopted the principle that a railroad which is subsidized must carry the mails free, and, I believe, they must provide a mail car and a mail clerk the Postmaster- General will correct me if I am wrong they must carry military forces free, in fact, they must perform all govern- ment services free to the extent of three per cent, interest upon the amount of subsidy granted. Under these condi- tions, and with these provisions, I believe that subsidies granted within the limit of reason, granted to meritorious enterprises, and hi moderate amount, may be reasonably granted, notwithstanding the outcry that has been raised. MR. MONK Are there any of these conditions in this con- tract? MR. CHARLTON I was speaking of the conditions upon which railroads are subsidized by this government. There is no subsidy in this contract. Now, sir, I desire to refer to some of the wise provisions in the public interest con- tained in this agreement. Great care has been taken hi this respect. We have not a Minister of Railways and Canals with carte blanche in the construction of a transcontinental line. This would be a very pleasant position, no doubt, for a public official to occupy. But in the construction of 56 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY the eastern section, we have a joint supervision provided for on the part of the company and the government. The company is interested in having the road constructed as cheaply as possible, as it has to pay three per cent, interest on the cost. It has joint supervision with the government hi the letting of contracts and the construction of the line. This provision will secure perhaps such a provision would be unnecessary with a government like this economy of construction to the utmost attainable extent. Then, we have a provision in the public interest that the standard of the road west of Winnipeg shall be equal to the standard of the Grand Trunk between Toronto and Montreal. If this provision in the contract is complied with and the Grand Trunk builds a road in the West that shall not be inferior to the Grand Trunk between Montreal and Toronto, it will build a road thirty or forty per cent, better than any road now in that western country. Compare these conditions with those that were imposed on the Canadian Pacific Rail- way when it was built. That company was under obligation to build a road equal to the standard of the Union Pacific when it was first constructed a road whose rails were laid on cottonwood ties two feet apart, ballasted with frozen dirt in the winter, and with grades as high as ninety, or even one hundred feet to the mile. There are other important conditions in this contract. We have a provision in section sixteen that the government may improve the eastern section. So, if this road is not kept in a condition to answer the pur- poses of the government, in a condition to secure the trade for the maritime ports and Quebec, the government may step in and put the road in condition necessary for this pur- pose, and the cost is capitalized at the cost of the company. The government is adopting provisions with regard to the eastern section that insure against the deterioration of the line, and that insure its maintenance at the same standard of efficiency as the rest of the road. Then there is the provision with regard to the hauling rights, made in the interest of the shipper of the West and of 57 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM the whole country, that will be vastly beneficial to the trans- portation interest of Canada. The government has a mort- gage that covers the road-bed and the rolling stock and is ample security for all its advances by way of guarantee. Then there is a clause providing for the purchase of Canadian material. My honourable friends on the other side may say that this does not amount to anything, because the company is not obliged to purchase Canadian materials, unless it can get them as advantageously as other materials. But I think this clause secures to us an important advantage. The time will come, and come very soon, unless we get advanta- geous trade conditions from the United States, when we shall have duties high enough to assure the purchase of mater- ials in Canada; and this condition that the company shall purchase its materials in Canada will prove a great boon to the manufacturing interests of this country. The right of the government to control rates is a condition of the first importance. I have already referred to that. There is a provision for continuous and efficient operation of the road, and that condition is secured by a clause in the agreement which says that when the lease is drawn the government shall have plenary powers of imposing penalties in the event of this condition not being complied with. This agreement provides that the rates on export trade shall be no greater to Canadian ports than to American ports. The road must absolutely place Canadian seaports on the same basis with regard to advantage as it places other sea- ports. It has been said that the company could evade this provision by sending its agents to the West to secure freight routed to American ports. If it did this it would violate clause forty-three, which provides that there shall be no discrimination on the part of the railway company in favour of American routes. Then there is a condition that the company shall provide ample shipping accommodation at Port Simpson, Quebec, Halifax, St. John or any other ocean port that its business reaches. 58 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY The attempt was made last night to convey the impression that of the $45,000,000 of stock which this company is to issue, $25,000,000 was to be treated in some way so that the manipulators of this contract could put it in their own pockets confiscate it. Why, the $20,000,000 of preferred stock is to secure $20,000,000 of rolling stock for the road. That is the purpose to which it will be devoted. The $25,000,000 of common stock is to be laid aside and put upon the market for the purpose of constructing the elevators and other shipping facilities at the end of the route^' that the government stipulates it shall furnish, and, for other such purposes. So that we have in this contract ample security for all the stipulations that it contains. Now, to sum up the matter: Under this arrangement we are about to secure a transcontinental line. We have granted no land for it. We pay interest for seven years on the cost of the eastern section, and upon the guaran- teed portion of the mountain section not exceeding $14,- 500,000. And, at the expiration of fifty years, when the value of this property will be greatly enhanced, it comes back into our possession. That, broadly speaking, is the outline of this arrangement. I wish to contrast this bar- gain with the first bargain for a transcontinental road made in this country. I think there will be food for reflection in this contrast; and while doing this, I wish distinctly to dis- claim that I have any reflections to make upon the manage- ment of the Canadian Pacific Railway. I admire the cour- age, the grasp, the energy, the push that characterized that movement from the outset. I criticize, not the Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate, but the government of that day. In 1886 I had a letter from the present Lord Mount- Stephen, thanking me for a speech I made in that year at- tacking the policy of the government and showing what vast franchises the Canadian Pacific Railway Company had ob- tained, what an enormous bargain they had from the govern- ment. This letter complimented me for having tried to act justly, and I was informed that my speech had been used 59 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM efficiently in promoting the credit of the company. So I say now, that while I point out the recklessness of the government of that day, I utterly disclaim any intention of casting reflections upon the management of the Canadian Pacific Railway. When the contract was made with the syndicate in 1881, it provided for the construction of a line from Callander to Port Moody. Of that line, certain portions were to be built by the government the Lake Superior section from Lake Superior to Selkirk, 405 miles in length; the western section from Port Moody to Kamloops, up through the canyons of the Thompson and the Fraser, 238 miles in length, a total of 643 miles that the government was to build and hand over free of cost or charge to the syndicate. The balance of the road was to be built by the syndicate. It was 1,906 miles long. Now, whatever subsidies, whatever grants of land, whatever gifts of completed railway the syndicate received were applicable to the construction of that 1,906 miles of road only. Let us see what they got. They got a cash bonus of $25,000,000; they got the 643 miles of completed road which cost, with the surveys, in round numbers, $35,000,000; they got 25,000,000 acres of land, worth at the least calculation $3 an acre, or $75,- 000,000. Their cash subsidy therefore for the 1,906 miles of road amounted to $13,100 a mile; their subsidy from the gift from the government of 643 miles, which had cost $35,000,000, amounted to $18,300 a mile; their subsidy from the 25,000,000 acres of land, worth $75,000,000 as the outcome proves, amounted to $38,300 a mile. So the syn- dicate for the construction of 1,906 miles, the portion that was constructed by it between Callander and Port Moody, received in cash, in road completed, and in lands esti- mated to be worth three dollars an acre, a total subsidy of $69,700 a mile. Now, I hope my honourable friends on the opposite side will make a note of that. That was a pretty reasonable subsidy $13,100 a mile in cash, $18,500 a mile in the value of the road the government built for them, and 60 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY handed over, and $38,300 a mile in land at three dollars an acre. It may be argued in regard to the land grant that its value was created by the construction of the road, and that we are not entitled to count this as being in the shape of a bonus in regard to the aids rendered to this line. Leaving that question aside, I may say, in this connection at least, that we grant no land bonus to the present scheme and that the increase in the value of the land consequent upon the construction of the road will be ensured to ourselves as a country and not to a railway corporation. I shall now enter into other conditions of contrast be- tween these two schemes as relates to the government's position in the respective cases, and the first one I will refer to, sir, will be the exemption of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way from taxation. That exemption is contained in section sixteen <jf the agreement of the company, and is as follows: " The Canadian Pacific Railway, and all stations and station grounds, workshops, buildings, yards and other property, rolling stock and appurtenances required and used for the construction and working thereof, and the capital stock of the company, shall be forever free from taxation by the Dominion, or by any province hereafter to be established, or by any municipal corporation therein."' That exemption, of course, is perpetual. I need not point out that no such condition applies to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway scheme. There is no exemption of its property in this case, and whatever conditions a railway corporation may be liable to under the authority of the Dominion, or of provinces, that corporation will be liable to. Then, the next provision that I would refer to in this contrast of conditions is the exemption of the land grant of the Canadian Pacific Railway from taxation, which ex- emption is also contained in section sixteen, and is as fol- lows: " And the lands 6f the company in the North- West Terri- tories, until they are either sold or occupied, shall also be free 61 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM from such taxation for twenty years after the grant thereof from the Crown." These lands were granted more than twenty years ago, no taxes have yet been paid, and the lands still are practi- cally exempt from taxation. The next condition and contrast that I would refer to is the transportation monopoly granted to the Canadian Pacific Railway covering the entire North-West Territories. The clause granting that monopoly is number fifteen of the agree- ment or contract, and is as follows: " For twenty years from the date hereof, no line of railway shall be authorized by the Dominion parliament to be con- structed south of the Canadian Pacific Railway, from any point at or near the Canadian Pacific Railway, except such line as shall run south-west or to the westward of south-west, nor to within fifteen miles of latitude 49. And hi the estab- lishment of any new province in the North- West Territories, provision shall be made for continuing such prohibition after such establishment until the expiration of the said period." Here was a condition which gave the Canadian Pacific Railway an absolute monopoly of transportation in the entire North-West Territories. No line was to be built from the south of that road to within fifteen miles of the American boundary line, no connection with any American road was possible under the provisions of this section. The Canadian Pacific Railway, by this provision of its agree- ment, enjoyed an absolute transportation monopoly in the North-West. Contrast that provision with the provision of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway scheme and we find that no such monopoly is given, that no special privileges are given in regard to transportation, but that this road has to enter into full and free competition with all other lines without any intervention on the part of any govern- ment to aid it in any way in securing business. The next point of difference is in regard to the admission of material for the construction of the road, contained in 62 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY section ten of this Act. By this provision it was agreed that the government: " Shall also permit the admission free of duty, of all steel rails, fish plates and other fastenings, spikes, bolts and nuts, wire, timber and all material for bridges, to be used in the original construction of the railway, and of a telegraph line in connection therewith, and all telegraph apparatus requir- ed for the first equipment of such telegraph line ; and will con- vey to the company, at cost price, with interest, all rails and fastenings; bought in or since the year 1879, and other materials for construction in the possession of or purchased by the government at a valuation, such rails, fastenings and materials not being required by it for the construction of the said Lake Superior and western sections." Well, sir, this exemption of material from duty was held later on to apply to the material used in the renewal of bridges years and years after the Canadian Pacific Railway had been constructed. The Grand Trunk Pacific has no such privileges, has no such exemption from the payment of duties; it must pay duties upon all the materials it imports. That is another contrast between the conditions applicable to the roads. Then the Canadian Pacific Railway was required to put up a deposit by way of security of $1,000,000. The Grand Trunk Pacific is required to put up a deposit by way of security of $5,000,000 five times as much as that required from the Canadian Pacific Railway. Then, the Canadian Pacific Railway could not be touched in reference to the adjustment or handling of its freight rates, no interference on the part of the government could be made with the affairs of the company until it was paying a dividend of ten per cent. That was provided in section eighteen of the Act I have been quoting. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway is liable to the intervention of the govern- ment in the regulation of its rates at any time, at the pleasure and upon the judgment of the government without any refer- ence to the maximum rate of dividends it may be earning. 63 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM Then, the Canadian Pacific Railway had three-quarters of the cost of the rails that it imported advanced by the government. This provision is contained hi subsection (c) of section nine of this Act, and it is as follows: " If at any tune the company shall cause to be delivered on or near the line of the said railway, at a place satisfactory to the government, steel rails and fastenings to be used in the construction of the railway, but in advance of the require- ments for such construction, the government, on the requisi- tion of the company, shall, upon such terms and conditions as shall be determined by the government, advance thereon three-fourths of the value thereof at the place of delivery." There is no such condition in reference to the Grand Trunk Pacific. All these conditions exemption from taxation, monopoly of transportation, exemption from duties, ad- vances on the cost of rails are special conditions granted to the Canadian Pacific Company in addition to the enor- mous subventions I have referred to, and not granted to the Grand Trunk Pacific. Then, we have another contrast of the conditions between the two roads. When the govern- ment had paid this $25,000,000 in money, when it had handed over roads costing $35,000,000, and when it had given these 25,000,000 acres of land for the purpose of aiding in the construction of 1,906 miles of road, the control of the government ceased. The road may at any tune pass beyond the control of the government altogether. It may pass into the hands of foreign owners. It may be gathered hi by a Morgan syndicate. There is nothing to ensure to this country the possession of the road as a Cana- dian highway. It may be secured by foreign companies at any time and there is no guarantee to prevent such a con- summation. Such is not the case with the Grand Trunk Pacific. The control of the government over the Grand Trunk Pacific is continuous. The Grand Trunk Pacific is bound to remain a Canadian road. It can never be made anything else. It must continue under Canadian control and can never pass from our possession. Then, the Cana- 64 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY i dian Pacific Railway gave no running rights to anybody over any portion of its line the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway must share its line from ocean to ocean at the dic- tation of the government, and under the direction of the government, with other lines. I repeat that in all this, no odium attaches to the Cana- dian Pacific Railway people. They simply made the best bargain with the government they could. They made a good bargain, they displayed their astuteness in doing it. They have created a property of enormous value; it is the grandest railway speculation that was ever entered into; it is the most brilliant of successes in the railway history of the world. The Canadian Pacific Railway magnates were not to blame; the odium, if any, attaches to the government that granted these conditions and failed to safeguard the interests of the people in granting them. Of course, at the time the Canadian Pacific Railway syndi- cate bargain went through, the conditions were different from what they are to-day. The North- West was then largely a wilderness; the success of a transcontinental road was problematical, and it was useless to suppose that we could then secure terms as favourable as we can to-day when that country is better known, and after the fact has been demonstrated that a transcontinental line can secure business, and business adequate to the payment of dividends upon the cost of construction. Still, it was quite evident at that time, and it was maintained by us who were then in opposition, that the terms which were given to the Cana- dian Pacific Railway were extravagant. It was pointed out then that we were practically building a road for the Canadian Pacific Railway and handing it over to them, and more than that, in point of fact that we might as well build the road ourselves and own it, and then sell it if neces- sary. The Mackenzie scheme was to build a road from Lake Superior to Selkirk on the Red River. They had that road nearly completed when this contract was made. They 65 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM were proceeding to extend that road to the Yellow Head Pass and one hundred miles were under construction; they were building a branch line from Selkirk to Pembina to connect with the American lines. We held, in discussing the terms of this contract, that if the Mackenzie road were pushed vigorously to Yellow Head Pass we would then be in a position to secure the construction of the entire line, and be able to pass over to the company as a bonus the portion of the road constructed. No doubt this could have been done. If it had been done the cost to the country would not have been one-third what it proved to be under the scheme that was adopted by the Conservative govern- ment. It was not necessary to grant these conditions to the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was not necessary for the reason that we received a better offer. We received an offer at the time this contract was under consideration to build this road for 3,000,000 acres less of land; for $3,000,000 less subsidy; the road to be the standard of the Union Pacific as it then existed, instead of the standard of the Union Pacific as at first constructed and the difference was very great; no exemption from taxation; no exemption from duty on materials; the road subject to the government control of its rates; subject to purchase by the govern- ment on conditions favourable to the government. All these conditions in the second offer made it infinitely better for the country than the first offer. MR. CLANCY That was a bogus offer made by the hon- ourable gentleman's friends at the last moment. MR. CHARLTON This "bogus" offer from a "bogus" syndicate was accompanied by a cash deposit of $1,395,000 or $395,000 more than was required of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the best way to have demonstrated that this was a bogus offer would have been to accept it and take in the money if it was bogus. Who made this offer? W. P. Howland, of Toronto; A. R. McMaster, of Toronto; H. H. Cook, of Toronto. 66 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY SOME HON. MEMBERS Hear, hear. MR. CHARLTON Yes, a gentleman of wealth and enter- prise. AN HON. MEMBER All Liberals. MR. CHARLTON Yes, I am thankful to say they were James McLaren, of Ottawa, a millionaire; William Hendrie, of Hamilton; John Stuart, of Hamilton; John Walker, of London; D. MacFie, of London; K. Chisholm, of Brampton; John Proctor, of Hamilton; P. S. Stevenson, of Montreal; A. T. Wood, of Hamilton; A. W. Ross, of Winnipeg; George A. Cox, of Peterborough. SOME HON. MEMBERS Hear, hear. MR. CHARLTON A gentleman of wealth, a gentleman able to support his undertakings to the extent of hundreds of thousands of dollars at any moment P. Howland, Toronto ; P. Larkin, St. Catharines; Allan Gilmour, of Ottawa, a mil- lionaire lumberman; John Carruthers, of Kingston; W. D. Lovitt, of Yarmouth; Alexander Gibson, of Fredericton, a millionaire lumberman of New Brunswick; Barnet & McKay, of Renfrew. There were at least five upon this list of gentle- men who were millionaires and the combination of all those I have read could have furnished all the security and all the money that was necessary to carry through this project successfully with the aid they asked from the government. As an evidence of good faith they put up $500,000 in the Bank of Ottawa, $500,000 in the Bank of Commerce, and $395,000 in other banks. And yet, some gentlemen tell us that this was a bogus offer. Well, there is no other way to exonerate themselves from the odium that ought to attach to them for having refused this offer, except to put in that unsupported plea. Now, Mr. Speaker, as to the character of this second syndi- cate, how would it compare with that of the first syndicate. Let us see who were the signers of the contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway. There was Charles Tupper. Was he a millionaire at this time? I suppose he could pay his debts: I do not know how much more he would have had 67 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM then. There was George Stephen. He was probably a man of considerable means, connected with the Bank of Mon- treal. There was Duncan Mclntyre; he was a millionaire afterwards, he was not a millionaire at this time. There were J. S. Kennedy, R. B. Angus, J. J. Hill (per pro George Stephen), Morton, Rose & Co., and Kohn, Reinach & Co. The second offer was made by a number of gentlemen all of whom were Canadians. Here we have in this first offer: Mr. Hill, he lives at St. Paul Morton, Rose & Co., English bankers; Kohn & Reinach, Paris bankers. This second offer was signed by men of greater weight, men of greater responsibility, men who were Canadians. In addition to the other things I have enumerated, that offer would have put this road under Canadian control; it stated that the directors should be British subjects; and it secured the country in every respect with regard to the management of the road. Their offer was millions and millions of dollars better than the offer of the first syndicate. The stipulation that they should not be exempt from taxation would of itself have conferred enormous advantages on the settlers of the West. In every respect that offer was one that it would have been in the country's interest to accept. It would have left the company under supervision in the matter of rates, which were entirely beyond our control in the case of the Canadian Pacific Railway. But enough of comparisons. All of these serve to prove the superiority of the Grand Trunk Pacific scheme over any other that has been put forward. Now, sir, in their criticism upon the obligations that are to be incurred under this arrangement, I ask my honourable friends, in the first place, to remember that the money expended on a road which is to be leased by a responsible company at a rate of interest that will carry the cost of its construction, is not an addi- tion, in the proper sense, to our obligations. I ask them to bear in mind that the guarantee of the bonds on the moun- tain section of the western division and the cost of the division from Winnipeg to Moncton, are not, properly speaking, an 68 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY increase to our debt; because we have, in the first place, the obligation of a responsible company to pay the interest, and we have at the end of fifty years, when that property reverts to us, a property whose value will be vastly more than the obligations which the road represents. I ask these gentlemen to bear in mind that this is a country that is to have great expansion of its interests, its property, its population, its tax paying power, in the near future. We are providing, not for the present, but for the future. We are entering now upon obligations which will culminate five years hence, when the road which these obligations create will be imperatively necessary; and when the period of fifty years terminates, what may we reasonably expect will be the population of Canada? If it increases at the rate of twenty per cent, each decade, it will in 1951 be 15,000,000. If it increases at the rate of twenty-five per cent, in each decade it will be 18,000,000. I see no reason why our population should not increase more rapidly than at the rate of twenty-five per cent, in each decade. During the first four decades of the United States their population increased at the rate of not less than thirty per cent., and yet, up to the year 1825, the addition to their population was very small, amounting to 250,000 in a period of two or three decades. We shall have the natural increase of a vigorous population, and in addition an enormous immigra- tion from the British Isles, from Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, and a still greater immigration from the middle and western portions of the United States. What, may we expect, will be the increase of our agri- cultural productions? This year the area in wheat amounted to 2,500,000 acres in Manitoba, and 750,000 acres in the Territories, and we expect to reap from this land a crop of over 60,000,000 bushels. How much more wheat land have we? At a most moderate calculation, we have 250,000,000 acres of wheat land west of Lake Superior. If we produce 60,000,000 bushels this year from 3,550,000 acres of land, how many millions of bushels are we likely to produce when CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM that country is populated and the greater part of the soil is brought under cultivation, and when we increase the cultivable area to sixty or seventy or perhaps a hundred million acres? Let the honourable gentlemen figure that out. We are confronting great commercial expansion. We cannot realize how great that expansion will be, and we are making provision for it in the most moderate manner, instead of recklessly and with undue haste. As to the question whether this railway will pay, I remem- ber a similar question was debated when the Canadian Pacific Railway scheme was under consideration, and very grave doubts were expressed as to whether it would. Well, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company made its annual statement a short time ago. Its total earnings last year were $43,957,000, its expenses $28,120,000, and its net earn- ings $15,836,000. It has just declared a dividend of six per cent. I can remember a few years ago when its stock was worth forty. The day before yesterday, when the six per cent, dividend was declared, its stock was worth one hun- dred and twenty-six, and that at a period when the bottom has been knocked out of stocks, and the best paying stocks are at a lower point than they have been for many years. MR. HYMAN What was it sold at originally? MR. CHARLTON I think at twenty-five cents on the dollar all but $5,000,000, which was sold at par. So I judge from this that the transcontinental line financially will have an assured success. It will secure the trade of the North- West to our ports, if that can be secured by any railway; and if it is made essentially a first-class road, with a four-tenths- per-cent. grade, heavy rails and perfect construction, it will be able to compete with the water routes in bringing down grain for shipment to Europe at our own seaports. The contrast between the policies of the two governments, in relation to the first transcontinental line, and to the trans- continental line now under consideration, is so marked, so striking, that I do not see how any man of dispassionate judg- ment can fail to approve of the scheme which we have under 70 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY consideration. This scheme, Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding all that may be said in regard to it, has been thoroughly matured. It bears internal evidence of that fact. Let the ablest lawyer hi this country scrutinize this agreement and seek to pick flaws in it, and, if he finds any at all, they will be of infinitesimal character. The interests of the government are safeguarded in the most perfect and complete manner. The only surprise to me is that a great railway corporation, with the resources which the Grand Trunk possesses, should have consented to be bound hi the manner in which it is bound by the stipulations of this agreement. When you have a good thing take it. Time and tide wait for no man, and if you neglect to take at its flood the tide which will lead you on to fortune, the opportunity may never again present itself. I think that the perfection of this contract reflects un- questionably great credit on my right honourable friend the Premier of this Dominion. He may fairly claim, I apprehend, that this is his scheme. I apprehend that he may claim credit to a great extent for the consummation of this bargain with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. If that be the case, I believe this will be such a monument as any public man might desire to have to his memory when he passes from this stage of action. The right honourable gentleman con- sidered all the suggestions of the various schemes presented. He considered them courteously, fully and fairly; and I think I may say that in meeting these various presenta- tions of these various schemes or opinions, he has left those who presented them satisfied that he was right. This I believe to be the case in every instance except one the case of my honourable friend the ex-Minister of Railways. The right honourable Premier has shown throughout his firm belief in a national road. That has been with him the paramount consideration a road which would serve national purposes, which would give an outlet on Canadian soil through Canadian ports for Canadian productions in the far West. It remains to be seen whether this road will do all that 71 CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM is predicted. If it be constructed in a thoroughly first-class manner in every respect, I believe it will. And when both the government and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway have to face the alternative, that if it be not so constructed it will not accomplish what is expected, I believe they will see that it is built in a way to produce the results we all hope for. No doubt there are many gentlemen who would throw cold water on our aspirations. We will perhaps have reason to compare these men with the critics of DeWitt Clinton, who, in 1817, when promoting the construction of the Erie canal, which revolutionized the commercial history of New York and made that city a great seaport, was ridiculed and assailed by lampoons and criticisms about Clinton's ditch from Albany to Buffalo. Well, sir, Clinton's ditch was a nation-maker. It affected the destinies of a great people in the West, just as the Laurier road will affect the destinies of our people. We are incurring, of course, heavy obligations, but they are moderate in view of what will be realized from the expenditure. Regarded absolutely, however, they are heavy obligations, and we are to become responsible for a large sum of money. But we shall have an asset which will represent something. We have an asset of great and ever increasing value in the transcontinental road. It will be money well expended. It will be a judicious investment which will not, after the first seven years, bear upon the resources of the country. The future will unquestionably justify this expenditure. We have in the past constantly underrated our potential sources of power. We have failed to realize that we have resources for the creation of a great nation. We have failed to realize that we have the room and the soil to produce food for 100,000,000 people. We have not allowed ourselves to rise to the level of the destiny that awaits us and the possi- bilities within our grasp. To-day our conceptions of the future cease to be a dream, hazy, indistinct, and perhaps, fantastic. Conditions confront us, the outcome of which we can measure and determine conditions as to the extent of our arable land, and mineral resources, and the certain influx 72 THE NATIONAL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY of population from abroad. All these conditions we can measure and understand. We know that a judicious expen- diture will be cheerfully borne by future generations, and that should we fail to do the work we are called on to perform, the future will blame us for our neglect to grasp the great possi- bilities of this immense country. Under all these circum- stances, with a rosy future expanding before us and we can look down the vista and see within a century 50,000,000 or 60,000,000 under our government with this future expanding before us, are we not haggling in a penny-wise pound-foolish manner in standing here and criticizing a policy which proposes to give this country a great national road from ocean to ocean a road which will pass by a direct route from Quebec to the West, a road which will pass through 1,700 miles of rich and undeveloped territory in the North- West, and from which branch lines will extend to the Yukon and in various directions for the development of this area ? Shall we not be conscious of what is before us ; shall we not realize our future and reach forth our hand to grasp our destiny by carrying out the sound policy now submitted to us ? 73 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED THE session of the Dominion parliament of 1900 was one characterized by vigorous, not to say heat- ed, discussion, principally on the subject of the South African war and the action, or alleged inaction, of the government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier with rela- tion to sending troops from Canada to take part with the rest of the British forces in subduing the Boers. A debate on this subject was precipitated on the motion for the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, and special phases of the question were almost constantly before the House for weeks. On the thirteenth of February, the Minister of Fi- nance, the Hon. W. S. Fielding, moved the reso- lution providing for the expenditures in connection with the sending of the Canadian contingents to South Africa. Sir Charles Tupper, the leader of the Opposition, while approving the resolution, strongly criticized the government's attitude in relation to the war. I followed Sir Charles on behalf of the government. The speech as reported in Hansard has been revised for this work. House of Commons, February 13, 1900. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker : In the course of the remarks presented to the House this afternoon by the honourable the leader of the Opposition (Sir Charles Tupper) a good deal of 77 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR time was devoted by him to the task of proving that his past record had not been inconsistent with his present attitude upon the question of imperial defence. I certainly have no dis- position to call in question the accuracy of the honourable gentleman's remarks, and it would be far from affording my- self or any member on this side any pleasure were we able to prove any inconsistency in that regard. No member of this House, no citizen of this country, will, I apprehend, raise the claim that the honourable leader of the Opposition is not a truly loyal man loyal to the empire and loyal to Canada. His speech, further, was devoted to an attempt justifiable perhaps from a partisan standpoint, as the leader of the Oppo- sition to cast a certain measure of discredit upon the govern- ment for alleged tardiness in grappling with the great duty which confronted it in connection with the South African war, and for half-heartedness in the course it at first pur- sued. His criticisms, as regards this alleged lack of readiness of the government, were of a character that I shall deal with in detail later on, and I shall give facts which convince me at least that the government has acted in this matter with prudence, sagacity and dignity. It is to be lamented that an attempt should be made to make party capital part of this matter. This is a question above party politics, above politics in any sense. It is a question which should appeal to the patriotic impulses of every Canadian, and we should never permit an attempt to cast discredit on one party, or to make political capital out of this matter, to be a factor in the discussion now before the House. I propose to enter briefly into a discussion of the question : whether the action of the government is justifiable. Of course we have this wave of patriotic fervour that has swept over the country. The government is unquestionably acting in accordance with the popular will. They have the mandate of the people to warrant their taking the course we are pursuing; but it would be well, perhaps, to calmly and dispassionately examine this subject and satisfy ourselves, if possible, whether, aside from excitement, aside from the general feeling that pre- 78 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED vails in the country, there are really sound and sufficient rea- sons to justify the conduct of the government. I propose briefly to deal with that question. I propose to do so because there are a great many people in Canada more perhaps than some imagine who are a little distrustful as to the propriety of the course the government has adopted, and who, perhaps secretly, hold the opinion that this course is scarcely war- ranted. In my own constituency, the people are not in- fluenced by the excitement which pervades great centres of population; and in calmly considering this question, when this vote of $2,000,000 is asked, some of these constituents, and citizens in other rural constituencies of this country, may possibly be disposed to cavil at the line of action adopted by the government, the first result of which is so palpable in the asking of this House to vote $2,000,000 to defray the expenses of the contingents sent to South Africa. In looking this matter over, I propose to cover some little extent of ground. I propose, first of all, to inquire into the character of the British title to South Africa. We hear it asserted that this is a war for independence on the part of the Boers, that they are oppressed, that they have gone back into the wilderness and established a state with a government of their own, and that now, when the impingement has come with British population and British interests, they are being trampled into the dust by the superior power of the British nation. I propose, then, to inquire into the character of the British claim in South Africa. If our title is not a good one, of course the arguments which we base upon that title are false. I propose next to inquire, very briefly, as to the importance of South Africa. It may be asserted that this is a barren, in- hospitable region, incapable of supporting a great population and that the importance of the country does not justify the exertion necessary to put down this rebellion, pacify the coun- try and make it a secure British possession. I propose next to inquire what our own interests are in Africa. Our own interests there seem to be a somewhat remote matter. We are separated from Africa bv the width and length of the 79 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR Atlantic Ocean. It is a voyage of over 6,000 miles from one of our seaports to Cape Town, and the impression might prevail that, whether the British title was good or not whether the country was good or not, we at least had little or no interest in the matter, and were not called upon to make sacrifices or undergo exertion, or in any manner to interfere in it. I shall examine next, very briefly, into the causes of the war. If we have a good cause, the war can be justified; if not, our action cannot be upheld. I shall next deal with the ques- tion of Canadian duty, viewed from the standpoint of our connection with the empire, viewed from the particular stand- point of the fact that we are a part of the empire, growing in population and power, joined to other portions, and with common interests with the rest of the empire. Taking this view, I shall inquire what is the duty of Canada in the pre- mises. I shall next inquire whether the government has moved in this matter with due promptitude, whether its con- duct is such as to warrant it in asking the people of Canada for their approval. I shall next have something to say about the propriety of avoiding an attempt to make party capital out of this affair and to reduce this great question to the low level of party politics. Now, sir, with regard to the British title to South Africa. Cape Colony was founded by the Dutch in 1652. It was taken by the English in 1796. It was ceded to the Netherlands under the provisions of the Treaty of Amiens in 1803. It was again occupied by the British troops in 1806, and in August, 1814, the British government extinguished the title of the Netherlands to Cape Colony and all their colonies in South Africa for a consideration of 6,000,000 sterling. So the British first conquered the country, then they occupied the country, and then they paid 6,000,000 sterling for South Africa and some colonies of insignificant importance in South Africa. So our title rests upon conquest, occu- pation and purchase. There can be no question as to the title. The explorations of Africa by British subjects from an early 80 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED day have fairly entitled Great Britain to claim almost any por- tion of the continent she might desire. Mungo Park and Lander first discovered and descended the Niger from Tim- buctoo to the sea. Bruce, away back in the early part of the century, traced the Blue Nile to its source, supposing that it was the true Nile. Sir Samuel Baker traced the White Nile to its source, and discovered the great equatorial lakes of Albert Nyanza and Victoria Nyanza. Burton and Speke discovered the great inland sea of Tanganyika. Stanley, a British subject, and now a member of the British parliament, traced the Congo from where Livingstone had left its descent to the sea. Livingstone, the greatest of all African explorers, gave to the world knowledge of the whole South African empire, which now claims attention. He commenced his explorations in 1841. He was a missionary, and when he commenced his explorations, the whole of Africa was a blank from Kolobeng, the most northern missionary station in South Africa, to Timbuctoo and Khartoum. He penetrated to the Zambesi in 1851, and discovered the Victoria Falls. Unaided and alone, he succeeded in getting the assistance of a party of Makololos, and made the journey from Linyanti to Loanda, on the west coast of Africa in the Portuguese colony of Angola. He retraced his steps to Linyanti, near the centre of the con- tinent, and, in 1853, he took a party of one hundred and twenty- six Makololos and traced the course of the Zambesi to its mouth, being the first white man to cross the continent of Africa. He went to England, and returned under the auspices of the Geographical Society and the British government, and ex- plored the Zambesi, discovering Lake Nyassa, a larger body of water than Lake Erie, traced the Zambesi and the Shire Rivers, and discovered the great inland sea of Bangweolo, on the shores of which he afterwards died. He, as a British explorer, gave us knowledge of this whole region, which now forms, or which will form, the South African empire. This is a country of very great importance, a country of an importance and magnitude which very few in this country 81 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR understand. It is the richest mineral country in the world. It is rich in iron, in lead, in copper, hi coal; richer than any other land under the sun in gold and diamonds, and rich in silver. In this country are situated the mines of the Witwatersrand, from which in 1898, 11,400,000 of gold were taken. Rhodesia, lately added to this country, extending north from the Trans- vaal to Lake Tanganyika, possesses, unquestionably, the richest gold-bearing region on the face of the globe, a region not developed, and only now commencing to be explored. In this region are found the traces of ancient mining, and ruins of great magnitude. Everything points to the correct- ness of the belief that this is the ancient Ophir. In Rhodesia, south of the Zambesi, within the next twenty years, if British supremacy is established, undoubtedly will be placed more than a million white men engaged in the cul- tivation of the soil, and digging from the bowels of the earth gold from the quartz reefs, and working the alluvial deposits in the valleys of the rivers. This is a region of breezy, salu- brious upland, of rich valleys, fertile corn lands, excellent fruit lands, and lands for the vine; a country admirably suited for settlement by whites, and possessing resources beyond the reach of imagination, resources which English statesmen are conversant with, but of which we are comparatively ignorant. The stake in this war is of immense magnitude, a stake of first- class importance, it is an empire with potential wealth beyond almost the dream or imagination of man. This South African empire, as at present constituted, con- tains five provinces, Cape Colony, Basutoland, Mashonaland, Natal and Rhodesia, with an area of 1,286,000 square miles. It has a native population of about 7,000,000, a white popu- lation of 475,000 and an Indian population from Hindostan, and centred in Natal, of 53,000. In addition to this are the territories of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The Transvaal has an area of 119,000 square miles, the Orange Free State an area of 48,000 square miles, a total of 167,000 square miles. Of these two states, the Orange Free State has a white population of 77,000, and a native popu- 82 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED lation of 130,000; the Transvaal has a Boer population, according to Whitaker's Almanac of 1900, of 63,000, a Uit- lander population of 87,000, and a native population of 600,000. Therefore the white population of these two Dutch states now in rebellion is 227,000, with a native population of 730,000. The Boer population in these two states is 140,000. The total population of British and Dutch Africa, including these two states, is 8,500,000; the total white population is 700,000, of whom the Dutch number 340,000, as near as I am able to make out. The total area of Dutch and British Africa is, in round numbers, 1,450,000 square miles. This South African empire abuts upon the Congo Free State with an area of 900,000 square miles, and a native population of 30,000,000; upon Portuguese West Africa with 200,000 square miles, a rich country; and upon Por- tuguese East Africa, Mozambique, with an area of 620,000 square miles, and a population of 1,500,000. It is not reasonable to suppose that the limits now occupied by the Anglo-Saxon race of that country will continue to measure the bounds of their African empire, and they are almost certain to acquire Portuguese East Africa, and possibly the wheel of fortune may bring around some change by which they will take, what they are justly entitled to by virtue of the discovery of the great basin of the Congo, the most of the valley of that river with a drainage of 1,500,000 square miles. They already have in this South African empire of which I have spoken, most of the Zambesi valley with a drainage of 800,000 square miles. Now, I have made it apparent that South Africa is a country of great importance. With regard to the Transvaal, I have a few interesting figures to present. The Transvaal, or the Dutch republic of South Africa, as it is called, has for the last five or six years extracted an enormous revenue, considering its population, from the foreign residents mainly. In 1882 the revenue of the Trans- vaal was $870,000. The gold mines of the Witwatersrand were discovered and worked, and in 1897 the revenue of this state was $22,000,000, mainly derived from the working of 83 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR the mines. The total production of the mines in 1897 was $57,000,000, of which a taxation of $22,000,000, or thirty-eight per cent, was exacted from the Uitlanders who worked them. This revenue was obtained by ex- actions of the most outrageous and unjustifiable character, monopolies of various kinds; and the money so raised was expended, not for the benefit of the community, but for the purchase of arms and munitions of war that this state might place itself in a position to enter upon the career of rebellion which it is now pursuing. The city of Johannesburg, with over 100,000 inhabitants had 250 voters; and out of the vast amount contributed by those who had their homes in that city not a dollar was expended for drains, for sewerage, for school purposes, or for anything in the shape of public benefit. When President Kruger invited to the Transvaal foreign im- migration, a residence of two years entitled the immigrant to the franchise; but as the immigrants began to pour in and it became apparent to this astute old Hollander that there was danger of the Boer element being submerged by the great tide of immigration flowing in, the franchise laws were utterly repealed. After a great effort a concession was gained grant- ing the franchise at the expiration of fourteen years, upon condition that when that period had expired the man who wished to exercise the franchise should get the written consent of two-thirds of the Dutchmen who resided in the district where he voted, and then get the consent of the authorities of Pretoria. And these men, denied the franchise, these men from whom were wrung $22,000,000 of revenue in unjust taxation, these men were liable at twelve hours' notice to be called into the military service of the Transvaal, without food, without clothing, without pay. These men were living in a country in which British authority should by right have been paramount, but they were helots, slaves, without rights hi the country where they lived. There were of those Uitlanders 83,000, and 63,000 Boers; there were of those Uitlanders 73,000 British subjects, or eighty per 84 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED cent.; there were 7,000 more British subjects than the total number of Boers in the Transvaal. And these men were trodden upon, these men were denied every civil right; and the purpose of the Transvaal government was to con- tinue denying them those rights and to make their life in the Transvaal one of bitterness and humiliation. Now, British policy in South Africa has not always been a prudent or a wise policy. This struggle that is being fought out now ought to have been fought out in the days of Majuba Hill. That was the time to settle whether Africa should be Dutch or British. And in the Soudan, where Gordon's life was sacrificed at Khartoum, it was a lack of courage, a lack of comprehension of the importance of the issue that led Glad- stone to fail to secure the Soudan and to rescue Gordon when it could have been done at comparatively slight cost. At that time, the great colonial possessions which have since fallen into the hands of Germany, of France, and of Belgium, might have been had by the British government by merely claiming possession of them. But the British government of that time failed to comprehend or to grasp the situation, and we are paying to-day the penalty of the mistakes made twenty or thirty years ago. But the British authorities understand the case now, and they have now clearly defined purposes as to South Africa. Whether those purposes are right or wrong is a question to be decided later on, but the character of those purposes, and the policy of the British government with regard to South Africa, are clearly defined. Those purposes are to procure just as much of South Africa as they can get, and the more they get of Africa the better for that country. If they had it all it would be a God-send to Africa. And if we look at what they have accomplished, we shall see that they are making tolerably good progress. They have recently smashed the power of the Mahdi at Omdurman, they have nearly finished a railway from Cairo to Khartoum, a distance of almost 2,000 miles; they are building a railway from Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean, to Victoria Nyanza, the great equatorial lake in Uganda, 85 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR a distance of 700 miles; they have pushed their railway system from Cape Town northwards, they have nearly reached Mashonaland, they are almost to Salisbury, and but for the little unpleasantness that has occurred they would have reached the Zambesi. In one or two years more this line would have been pushed on northwards to Lake Tanganyika; then the gap from Tanganyika to Victoria Nyanza would have been rapidly constructed, and the dream of a railway from the Cape to Cairo would have been realized. It will be realized in due tune. The scope of these English possessions is a grand one. They have acquired the entire valley of the Nile. There was a little question at one time whether France might not plant a post at Fashoda, but France has withdrawn. England has the valley of the Nile from the mouth of the Albert and the Victoria Nyanza, extending over thirty-three degrees of lati- tude, an empire in itself. She has Uganda and great possessions in the equatorial regions of Africa. She has the great empire in South Africa, the position, history and value of which I am discussing to-night. This question as to the possession of Cape Colony and the country north of Cape Colony is one of importance to every person who is interested in British supremacy, and who wishes well to British interests. Cape Colony, as a strategic posi- tion, is as important as Gibraltar, is as important as any other strategic position on the globe. Its relation to Aus- tralia and to India makes it a matter of prime importance that England should control it, not only because it affords the means of maintaining the line of communication in case of the closing of the Suez canal, but because it would be most dangerous to have it used as a rendez-vous and harbour for some maritime power hostile to British interests. The importance of Cape Colony to Great Britain in a lesser degree, makes it a matter of importance to ourselves. Our own interests, it is unnecessary to say, are intimately blended with those of the empire, and what is calculated to injure the empire is calculated to injure ourselves. We are interested GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED in maintaining the imperial power from the mercenary stand- point, from the standpoint of self-interest. We cannot afford to have the imperial power destroyed, we cannot afford to have the power and prestige of Britain weakened. We want her markets. Last year we sold to England sixty-three per cent, of our exports I say England, I mean Great Britain. To Great Britain are sold $93,000,000 worth, and to the whole world, Great Britain included, $150,000,000 worth. Now, I repeat that the loss of territory by England in- volves the loss of trade, involves the loss of prestige and involves for us the loss of markets; so that we are directly and intimately interested in this question, and what is hi the interest of England is hi the interest of every portion of the empire, and especially in the interest of Canada, which is barred out by hostile tariffs from her natural market at her doors, and must continue to find her chief mar- ket in the British Islands. That market will be maintained and extended, and will become more valuable only by the pro- gress of British commerce and British wealth, and by the con- tinuance of British prosperity. I was talking with a young man, about twenty-two years of age, in my own county, who had volunteered to go to South Africa. His name is Stringer. I asked him why he was going to South Africa, and he gave me a theory of his own which he had. "Yes/' he said, "I am going to South Africa, not on account of England, but on account of Canada. I would like to know what would become of Canada if England is destroyed." His reasoning was sound. He is a noble boy, and may God be his shield in battle hi Africa, where he has gone to fight for the British cause. We have certain obligations to England, and we do not, perhaps, always stop to realize what they are. We have en- joyed, from the first, the protection of England's navy and army; we have had the advantage of the services of England's diplomatic corps; we have had the advantage of the services of England's consular corps; and these advantages have not been of a less efficient character because we have not been called upon to pay a dollar for them. I say that we are under 87 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR obligations to England, obligations the money value of which will infinitely exceed all that we shall ever incur in the shape of expense in sending two contingents to South Africa. Then, this sending of the contingents is an epoch in our history. It is more than that, it is an epoch in British history. And the world is taking note of this thing; perhaps not saying very much about it; perhaps not fully, in some cases, realizing the significance of the thing; but, in the majority of cases, the significance of this movement is realized. I was reading an article in the January number of the North American Review, by a Russian writer, who refers to this country and says that this new movement is immense: it means that England's military strength is increased to the extent of the population of her colonies, and we may possibly have to face the eventu- ality of millions of the colonists of England and India being summoned into the field. When I hear talk about the magnitude of this struggle and the amount of difficulty that it imposes on England, and the strain that is to be put upon her resources, it seems to me the height of absurdity. I look back upon the struggle in the United States from 1861 to 1864, and in looking at the records I see that the North, with a population of 20,000,000, put 2,500,000 soldiers hi the field, and that when the war closed they had 1,000,000 veterans in arms. Figure out the present case on the same basis, and it will be seen that England has a population, hi round numbers, of 40,000,000, and her colonies a population, in round numbers, of 10,000,000, besides the vast hordes in India out of whom good soldiers can be made. The effort necessary to be made to de- monstrate England's capabilities as a great military power has as yet scarcely begun; and when people make pessimistic statements about the magnitude of this struggle, I laugh them to scorn. It is a large matter in one sense, it is going to cost a good deal of money and a good many lives; but to suggest that England is not capable of coping with this emergency, of putting down this rebellion of the Dutch ele- ment in South Africa is supremely preposterous. 88 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED And now, a word in regard to the character of British rule in South Africa. Of course, if we were engaged in forcing upon these people a tyrannical form of government, not cal- culated to bring blessings to the people, not calculated to afford to them that which every British subject has the right to demand protection to life and property, and enjoy- ment of liberty the movement would not have my sym- pathy at least. But what is the character of British rule hi South Africa? Sir, the character of British rule in South Africa is precisely the character of British rule hi Canada. Cape Colony has representative institutions. It has two branches of the legis- lature. Both are elected by the people, one for seven years and the other for five. It has a governor appointed by the English government. Its Premier at the present moment is an Africander. Its laws and institutions are administered in the same way as our own. Two languages are permitted in the Assembly, the Dutch and the English, just as French and English are permitted here; and the same degree of care for the rights of others, of generosity towards others, of res- pect for the rights of all, characterizes British rule in South Africa as characterizes British rule in Canada. All these British institutions in South Africa are institutions which Great Britain does not propose to change. She proposes to conquer that country, she proposes to crush the rebellion into fine dust, and then she proposes to give to every man in South Africa Englishman or Dutchman, white man or black man equal liberty before the law, the right to enjoy all that he lawfully possesses, and perfect security to life, liberty and property. These are the institutions which South Africa, when it is erected into a dominion, would enjoy to the fullest extent and to the same degree as we do in this country. Now, sir, I ask is not this consummation preferable to the erection of a Boer government ? This I say with all due respect for my honourable friend from West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin), who challenged that expression the other day. I repeat that the Boers are, in a sense, nomads; men who did 89 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR originally come from a good stock, the descendants of Dutch and Huguenot ancestors, but who got mixed up with Hotten- tots and Zulus and Basutos and other tribes of South Africa, and are somewhat mongrel in their character now. Ten or fifteen per cent, of them perhaps can read, the majority wander over the veldt, respect no rights, and enslave the na- tives. They are men who trekked off from Cape Colony many years ago because the British had there the same law for the white man that they had for the black man, and the same law for the black man as they had for the white man. They could not stand that, and so went off to the north, following the Old Testament usage, as they supposed, of visiting the wrath of God upon Canaan, and enslaving the natives and making their lives miserable in bondage, and denying them every right that pertains to humanity. Boer and British civilization are in the balance to-day, and one or the other has to prevail in that country. I, for one, have no doubt as to where the sympathies of every man in this House and of every man in this Dominion of Canada should rest in this great struggle between these two elements. Sir, I have heard criticisms upon the conduct of Mr. Chamber- lam outside of this House, and in private conversations inside of this House. I have heard it asserted that Mr. Chamberlain on the one hand was just as much to blame for this war as Mr. Paul Kruger was on the other, and that this war could have been averted, and was a proof of a lack of diplomacy in the management of this matter. Why, Mr. Speaker, for the last eight years, ever since the mines of the Witwatersrand have yielded a revenue, the Boers have been devoting that revenue to the purchase of arms. For the last ten years the Afrikander element hi South Africa has steadfastly kept hi view its ultimate object, to make South Africa Dutch. There is just one underlying issue that has prevailed from the outset, and that is the issue to-day, viz. Shall South Africa be Dutch, or shall South Africa be British? That is the question to be settled now. There is no outcome but to decide which it shall be, and either it will be Dutch and we shall leave South Africa 90 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED as Paul Kruger in his ultimatum practically demanded we should do last October, or, South Africa will be British and the Dutchmen will have to be content with the same degree of liberty that the Englishmen possess. Notwithstanding all, England will see that the Dutchman has that liberty. The outrages that have been perpetrated on British subjects by the Boer government will have to cease. The tone of that ultimatum in last October is but a very poor basis for the assertion that the British in their treatment of the Dutch element in South Africa were arrogant, and rash and overbearing, and that they were to blame for the war. Sir, this war was a foregone conclusion. The Dutch had decided it should come, and they purposely precipitated the contest while the British troops were being gathered in South Africa so that they might strike the first blow under circumstances which gave them a decided advantage, and which for the time being have led, perhaps, to the belief that the Boer is fully the equal, if not the superior of the British soldier. Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. We heard quoted hi this House not long ago the aspersion once cast upon British generals. But, sir, the very man who was reported to have said that the British general was a jackass, was himself conquered by a British general, and, as a result of his defeat, was sent a prisoner to St. Helena. Of course, sir, the British army is now engaged in a war under new conditions, as the American army was engaged in war under new conditions not long ago. This war is going to demonstrate a good many things that were not before known. It has already demonstrated the great advantage possessed by an army acting upon the defensive, behind rocks and entrenchments, and armed with Mausers and rapid-fire guns. The Boer, as he has been situated in Natal, in the military operations up to the present, has been, I admit, an ugly customer. But, sir, as I said the other night, the Boers have accomplished nothing hi this war which has evinced great bravery and dash. They besieged a little gar- rison at Mafeking, consisting of colonial troops, and not many 91 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR of those, and they have had Mafeking under siege for several months, but have failed to capture it. They have besieged two of three thousand British and colonial troops in Kimberley, but have not been able to take that town. They have besieged six or seven thousand British soldiers in Ladysmith, and be- leaguered it with forty or fifty thousand men, but for months they have been unable to overcome the gallant resistance of the British soldiers there. But the British soldiers, time and again, have driven them from strong positions at the point of the bayonet, with gallantry such as could not have been ex- celled; and if you will give them a fair chance on an open field, the character of this war will soon demonstrate itself, and its result will very soon be known, and will prove the superiority of British arms. Now, this maintenance of British supremacy, I said a mo- ment ago, is a matter in which we colonists hi Canada are very directly and intimately interested. England has built up a very wonderful empire. If you look around the world, you will be struck with this fact. Here we have half of the North American continent, just in the infancy of its development. We have room here for 75,000,000 people who can be fed from our own soil. We have in Australia an empire which will support probably 100,000,000 people. We have this magnificent region in South Africa which I have been describ- ing. We have our hands upon every important naval strategic position in the world. We command the entrance to the Mediterranean at Gibraltar. We have our coaling and naval station at Malta in a commanding position half-way to the East. We control Egypt; we have the Suez canal; we control the outlet to the Red Sea with our fortresses at Aden. We have a great naval position at Cape Town. We have our coaling stations and naval positions scattered over the whole face of the globe. We have Zanzibar, off the east coast of Africa, midway between its extremities, and commanding the Zambesi, the German sphere of influence in Africa and the Portuguese sphere of influence in Africa. The British empire has its coigns of vantage and its strategic 92 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED positions in every part of the globe; and its power is ubiquitous. Its sails are found on every sea; and its armies are collected in almost every part of the globe. Its accomplishments have been almost beyond human belief; and to talk of the incap- acity of the leaders of the great movements, or the lack of bravery on the part of men who have carried England's flag in triumph over so many quarters of the globe and over so many fields of action, is the supremest folly. Of course, as I said a few moments ago, we have difficulties to meet; and perhaps, Mr. Speaker, it is a fortunate thing for Great Britain that we have occasion now to test our strength. Perhaps it is a fortunate thing for us that we are taking a short canter over the military field under these changed conditions to adjust our chronometers, to test our armaments, to ascer- tain where weak points exist, so as to get ready for any great difficulties that may come in the future, and to know how to strike great blows unerringly and efficiently when the occasion arises. In that respect the two great Anglo-Saxon nations of the world, the United States and Great Britain, have passed through the training required to fit them to meet great emergencies. Sir, we have lost some men in the Transvaal. It is an unfor- tunate thing. We may expect to lose more. You do not go to war and fight battles with an enemy capable of handling arms without loss of men. You have to expect that. But we have lost very few men compared with the numbers that have been lost in other wars. We have had some reverses; but the reverses have reflected no dishonour on our arms. We have had no reverse like Bull Run, the opening episode in the American struggle. We have had no fighting like the fighting at Cold Harbour, where 10,000 men were swept out of existence in twenty minutes through the mistake of a general. We have had no fighting like that at Gettysburg, where Pickett's brigade of 20,000 men made its assault on the Union centre and the fire was held till the assaulting column was within twenty rods, and 6,000 men went to their death in sixty seconds. We have lost no such num- 93 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR bers of men as were lost at Chancellorsville. And we have had a greater reserve to draw upon than the republic which sustained these losses, and yet fought through and came out triumphant at the end, having buried, indeed, half a million men, but having proved its capacity to subdue the rebellion and its right to claim the position of a first-class power. No, we do not need to borrow trouble about this matter. We do not need to consider the necessity of calling the leaders of the Opposition and the leaders of the government in this House together, or to resolve ourselves into a committee of the whole to determine what is to be done. We are not managing these military movements. That belongs to the British War Office. We are doing what lies in our power to promote the interests of the British empire, and we are called upon, not to direct the military operations, not to tell England what is to be done, but to send as many men as we can spare, to raise as much money as we can, and to do our duty as a child of the motherland, loyal to her interests, and well aware that her interests are ours. I deprecate the evident attempt that has been made to make party capital out of this matter. It has been said that the government moved too slowly, that they ought to have led public opinion, that they ought to have jumped right into the breach and decided incontinently that they would send their contingent to South Africa. Well, governments as a rule are elected to carry into effect certain lines of policy. They do not originate these lines of policy; but the people decide ques- tions at the polls, and a government is installed in office for the purpose of giving effect to the policy which the people have decided upon as a proper one. The question of sending a con- tingent to Africa had never been passed upon by the people of Canada. The government had no mandate in this matter, and, in my opinion, was not called upon to assume that it knew what the people wanted until the people gave some indication of their opinion. In the great struggle of the United States, to which I referred a moment ago, when President Lincoln took office, state after 94 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED state seceded. Why, then, did not President Lincoln at once call out the troops? Because he was uncertain of public opinion and he waited until the American flag was actually struck down at Fort Sumter and until American blood was shed, before issuing a proclamation calling out a single soldier; and then he only called out 75,000 men, committing the error with which the British government has been charged, of under- rating the magnitude of the task before him. He recognized that slavery was the cause of the civil war; he was an anti-slavery man from his youth; he was always ready and anxious to destroy slavery; he was petitioned to abolish slavery by the anti-slavery societies, and by ministers of the gospel, who preached that the negro should be free; he was pressed to issue a proclamation emancipating the slaves; but he withheld his decision and waited. Not because he was not willing and ready and anxious to act. No, he waited until he knew he had public sentiment behind him, and when that point was reached, when he knew that public sentiment would back him up, he issued his proclamation emancipating the slaves. He issued it two years after the struggle had begun, on January 1, 1863. Why did he not jump hi and lead public opinion? He knew better. He knew it was necessary to have public opinion to back him up, and that it was not for him to create public opinion, and that he could not do it. So with the honourable gentlemen occupying the treasury benches here. The issue was a new one. They were con- fronted by a crisis of a grave character that had never confronted Canada before. It was proper for them to see that any steps taken in this case should be taken only after being fully certain of popular approval. It would have been quite constitutional to call parliament together. It would have been a proper, perhaps, but not a practical thing, because the first thing that would have happened would have been a debate, perhaps of a month, on the Address, and in the meantime we would not have been sending the contin- gents to South Africa. But the government took action hi this case as fast as public opinion crystallized, and as fast as 95 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR it felt public sentiment behind it with sufficient distinctness and force to warrant it in believing that it was acting in a line that would receive public approval. There is one consideration in connection with this matter, Mr. Speaker, that has occurred to me, and it would have a great amount of force with me if I were upon the Opposition benches. I should be very much afraid, sir, of placing myself in a posi- tion where I would be liable to the charge of having sought to embarrass the government by making demands which I foresaw would lead to a large increase of debt and a great drain of human life, in order that, when the consequences returned upon our heads, I might turn round and upbraid the govern- ment for its recklessness in incurring an enormous debt, and in the sacrifice of Canadian lives and interests. I do not accuse the Opposition of being animated by any motive so base. But these are considerations that might have weight. It might be that an unscrupulous Opposition would hound the government into incurring great expense, and into sending a great number of men abroad, looking forward to the time when the people, on reflection, would say: "You went too fast, you piled up an enormous amount of debt; thousands of our sons have never returned; you were too precipitate in this matter." These charges, which might be urged by an Opposition without scruples, actuated by base motives as of course this Opposi- tion would never be these charges might be made, not from patriotic motives, but from a desire to embarrass the govern- ment. We want to bear these things in mind. The gentlemen of the Opposition ought to remember that the government has all these considerations to take into account. The gov- ernment will have to meet, in the future, the accumulation of debt, and the fact that a great many gallant Canadians have gone from our shores who will find graves in a foreign land. These are matters requiring due consideration, and concerning which patriotic and generous feelings should sway all classes and parties in this country. I am sure that these reasons I have urged are a justification of the course that I intend to take, as a representative of the 96 GREAT BRITAIN'S COURSE JUSTIFIED electors of North Norfolk, in supporting the government in the policy it has inaugurated. I am ready to face the consequences of voting any amount of money it may be deemed necessary to vote for maintaining the honour of Canada and the interests of the empire. I am ready to say: "Send as many men as are required," feeling sure that willing hearts are ready to respond to the call, and that these men will never bring disgrace upon their native land. I am for all this, and I am ready to con- front, if need be, any contingency and any crisis that may arise. I have no fear as regards the position and condition of affairs as they exist to-day. But something more serious may come up. There may be interference. England is not very popular in Europe, I believe. I suppose it is due largely to the fact that she has outdistanced all her rivals. But we might have interference, we might have a condition of things that would cause us to deliberate as to what course we ought to pursue, and to summon to our aid our utmost resolution. If these things come in God's providence, they will have to be met. But I feel that we can hardly have a general European interference, because we can hardly expect the Dreibund and Russia and France to act together, and we hope that we shall find Great Britain sailing smoothly along without interference. But if interference takes place, we shall simply have to meet it, and I hope we are able to meet it, believing that we have the power behind us. Feeling that the interests of the great empire with which we are associated and bound up to-day demand united action on our part, I venture to implore those who are listening to me to-night to look upon this question calmly and dispassionately, scorning to make out of such an issue base political party capital, but seeking to promote the interests of the grandest empire of the globe by doing our duty manfully and honestly in the crisis that confronts this empire and this great colony. 97 TERMS OF PEACE THE struggle of the Boers in South Africa for supremacy over the British was prolonged beyond the expectation of even those who had warned the authorities that the putting down of the rebellion would be a heavy task. By the time the following speech was made, the war was ended, but guerilla bands of Boers still kept up a heroic, but useless, struggle. Hoping to help the cause of peace, I pro- posed a resolution of conciliation. It was in amend- ment to a motion for Committee of Supply, which is the form often used for a declaration of want of confidence in the ministry. Of course I used the form, not for that purpose, but because it was the only form available at the time. The resolution was seconded by Mr. Henri Bourassa, another sup- porter of the Laurier government. Having express- ed my own views and elicited discussion, I proposed to withdraw my motion, but this was objected to, and the motion was formally put and negatived. House of Commons, April 23, 1902. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: Before you leave the chair I desire to bring to your notice certain matters connected with the motion of which I gave notice yesterday. I have thought proper to vary the language slightly, but the purport of the motion remains unchanged. Before proceeding to dis- 99 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR cuss this motion, perhaps I had better read it, so that the House may be in possession of the features that it contains. It is as follows: " This House is of the opinion that British supremacy should be maintained and firmly established in South Africa, to which end Canada has cheerfully contributed men and money. Having in view the effect of a policy of magnanim- ity and mercy at the cession of Canada, and at the close of the civil war in the United States, and for other reasons, this House is also of the opinion that in the interest of peace and of future tranquillity, harmony and homogeneity in South Africa, the broadest policy of magnanimity and mercy may be extended to a brave foe now opposing British arms, upon condition of submission to British control. And upon this opinion, humbly presented with the prayerful hope that it may aid in securing a favourable and honourable settle- ment of South African difficulties, this House invokes the considerate judgment of His Gracious Majesty the King." The question, Mr. Speaker, is brought before the House in this manner and at this time, for the reason that another op- portunity will not be afforded during the present session. It is not offered as a motion of want of confidence; it is not offered in any sense as a motion having political significance or having anything to do with the policy of the party hi power in this country, or with the policy of the Opposition. The resolution, it will be noticed, provides expressly for submission and for the establishment and maintenance of British authority in South Africa. It is not a pro-Boer motion; it is not a mo- tion that in the remotest degree would counsel the establish- ing of Boer independence or the establishing of any condition of things in South Africa except British supremacy. At my request the motion will be seconded by a gentleman (Mr. Henri Bourassa) who, hi my opinion, as fully as any other member of this House, perhaps, represents French-Canadian sentiment. I move the motion as an English representative, the gentleman who will second the motion, I have asked to second it because he is a representative French-Canadian. I am happy to say, Mr. Speaker, that that gentleman is pre- 100 TERMS OF PEACE pared to-day to endorse the assertion that it is proper and desirable to maintain British supremacy in South Africa, and that the people in arms in that country against British au- thority should be called upon to submit to British control. This is all that can be required. This lays the foundation for the settlement of this question upon a basis which would be to the interest of all portions of this empire, and this motion deals simply with the character of the settlement that it is hoped may be obtained with the belligerents in South Africa, and obtained for the purpose of establishing in that country unquestioned and unimpaired British authority. The motion, sir, is a humble expression of opinion on the part of this House. It may be asserted that it will be consid- ered an act of impertinence to offer such a motion here. SOME HON. MEMBERS Hear, hear. MR. CHARLTON Some honourable gentlemen say, "Hear, hear." The motion says: "It is humbly presented with the prayerful hope that it may be conducive to the securing of a settlement. " Sir, has this House of Commons of Canada no right to express an opinion upon a great imperial question a question with reference to which we have been called upon to pour out millions of dollars, and to send thousands of our sons to maintain British supremacy ? Have we no right, sir, to express humbly an opinion as to the proper course to be pursued in securing the settlement of this war in South Africa SOME HON. MEMBERS No. MR. CHARLTON I say, yes. SOME HON. MEMBERS No. MR. CHARLTON Suppose that my honourable friends on on the opposite side of the House were to secure the adop- tion of their policy for imperial defence; suppose Canada were called upon to pay annually into a common fund ten per cent, of all its duties for imperial defence; would it be said that Canada should not be allowed to have a voice as to the expenditure of that money; that Canada would not be permitted even to express a humble opinion as to what 101 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR course might be taken in regard to the expenditure of the money she had so contributed? AN HON. MEMBER That is different. MR. CHARLTON Sir, the condition of things to-day is exact- ly the same as it would be under such circumstances. While we have not a law which compels us to contribute a certain sum of money for imperial defence, yet we have done so volun- tarily. Our soldiers have gone to South Africa; our money has been expended. We, as an integral portion of this great empire, have surely an interest in this question. I maintain that we in this parliament, as the representatives of 6,000,- 000 of British subjects, have a right to express humbly and respectfully an opinion, and that is all that the resolu- tion asks shall be done. Now, sir, the motion may be useless, but the spirit mani- fested in offering it cannot be questioned and cannot be con- demned. The motion may have no weight, but on the other hand, it may perhaps be extremely useful. It may aid the imperial government in the settlement of this question by showing that in one of the great colonies of the empire the same spirit of bitterness does not exist that probably does exist in Cape Colony and Natal. This motion may have a counteracting influence, possibly, to the pressure from the British colonists in these colonies asking for the exacting of vengeance upon the Cape rebels. If the motion does produce that effect, it will have a beneficent influence. In any event, the motion is meant to do good; and, being couched in respectful terms, and being merely an expression of opinion, in any event, if it does no good, in my opinion, it can do no harm. I shall, no doubt, be subjected to criticism for offering this motion, but that is a matter of utter indifference to me, provided I can feel that I have done right. What troubles me is whether it is a judicious act, whether it is a proper act, whether it is something I ought to have done or ought not to have done. As to how it will be received by my fellow-citizens is a matter of minor import- ance. It is my firm conviction that in the course I have 102 TERMS OF PEACE taken I have been actuated by a sincere desire to benefit my country, to offer an influence that will aid in the settle- ment of a melancholy struggle. The motive, at all events, in offering this resolution is a good one. My own record with regard to this matter would render it absurd to say that I am actuated by pro-Boer sentiments. The House will remember the position I took on this question, the defence I made of the action of the authorities here, and of the policy of the imperial government in this war. The House remembers that I would never for one moment have entertained the idea of parting with one foot of South African territory, or of lowering the British standard in the slightest degree. I have always believed that British supremacy must be maintained in South Africa. I take that position to-day, and the question with me now is: What is the best course to pursue in seeking such a settlement as will place matters in South Africa on a just, humane and enduring basis ? Now, sir, nobody would venture to make the assertion that Canada is not loyal to the empire. The expression of this humble opinion, if the House chooses to sanction that expres- sion, will not be accepted in England as an evidence of dis- loyalty. It will, on the contrary, be accepted in England as an evidence of the sincere desire of Canada to aid, if it possibly can aid, in securing a settlement of a question which it is desirable to have settled. Canada is loyal to the empire, and its loyalty has been proved. Nobody in this country or in the world at large doubts that Canadian loyalty is some- thing that will bear the strain, something that can be relied on, something that is thoroughly imbedded in the hearts of the people of this country. Now, what were Canada's interests in this struggle? Here we are on a continent, possessing more than two-fifths of it, with vast resources, with our own destiny to work out, with our own nationality to build up, with our interests requiring our utmost efforts for their advancement, with enough to do to command our utmost labours and resources. What had we 103 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR to do as a matter of self-interest with the struggle in South Africa? With 3,000 miles between us and the motherland, with 7,000 miles between us and the scene of conflict, with our commerce with South Africa of the most insignificant character, if we had been governed by merely material or selfish considerations, we never would have put a dollar into that struggle or have sent one man to the scene of conflict. But we sent the men and voted the money because we wished to maintain and uphold the integrity of the British empire; because we wished to maintain the prestige of England; because we wished to have that country which affords us a market, that country with which we are allied by the bonds of race affinity and by political institutions, furnished with aid; not from any selfish consideration, but purely as an offering from one of the great colonies to the welfare of the empire, given freely and without hope of reward for the sacrifices made. Canada stands in the position to-day where, having made these sacrifices, having put forth these efforts, having proved by its conduct that it is thoroughly loyal, it naturally desires to see an end put to this struggle, that has been in progress for three years, and an honourable peace obtained; and Canada, actuated by that desire, may venture to express to the im- perial authorities a humble and respectful opinion as to what course, in the estimation of the people of this country, might be pursued. It is preposterous, Mr. Speaker, to assert that that expres- sion of opinion can be or will be considered in England, or anywhere else, an impertinence. Of course, British authority must prevail; that is an absolute condition. No proposition of peace will admit of consideration which involves Boer in- dependence or anything but the absolute sovereignty of Great Britain over all South Africa the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, Cape Colony, Natal, Rhodesia, and the whole of that magnificent country. British authority and sovereignty must prevail. This House, perhaps, has not been fully aware of the 104 TERMS OF PEACE importance of that country, that great region of 1,500,000 square miles now in the possession of Great Britain, with vast possibilities for the increase of territory, with resources almost beyond the dream of the enthusiast, awaiting development. A few days ago Cecil Rhodes was buried on the Matoppa Hills with imposing ceremonies; and his grave overlooks that vast region which his genius and energy secured for his native land; a region which embraces the ancient Ophir, a region of untold possibilities, a region which England never could afford to have lost. Happy, perhaps, it would have been if the genius and the experience of Cecil Rhodes had exercised more influence upon the coun- sels of British commanders and British authorities in South Africa. But this conflict has nearly run its course. It has been a great struggle, a greater struggle than was anticipated at the outset, a struggle which will form one of the epochs of history, a struggle which has demonstrated the resources, the credit, the perseverance, the indomitable courage of the British people. We perhaps fail to understand the obstacles which they have overcome. With a single line of communication from Cape Colony penetrating into the north, 1,500 miles in length, liable to be cut at almost any point; with the transport over that overloaded line of the supplies for a large army; and with an aggressive and cunning foe, familiar with the country, the subjection of the Boer has been a great achievement. And Great Britain has learned in this war lessons with regard to the conditions of modern warfare that will be worth to her all the money she has expended. And now we come to the point when this war is practically ended, when the opposition that remains is merely guerilla warfare. We come to the point of considering what were the causes of this war, and what distinction shall we draw between the belligerents in one section of South Africa and those in another? Shall we make a different rule of settlement for the Orange Free Stater, for the Transvaal man, and for the Afri- kander of Cape Colony? Is the one a rebel whom we shall 105 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR put into chains and hang, and the other an honourable bellig- erent whom we shall treat with and pardon, and deal with on the terms of civilized warfare? Sir, the deep-seated cause of the hostilities in South Africa was the determination on the part of the Dutch element in that entire country, from Cape Town to the Transvaal, to make South Africa a Dutch country. The Afrikander Bund, for years before the hostilities began, was laying its plans, accu- mulating its resources, buying arms and munitions of war, erecting fortifications and preparing for this struggle, which it entered upon deliberately. It had one clear purpose in view and that was to expel the British from South Africa, and when it found that Great Britain was transporting troops to that country, and threatening the success of that policy, it precipitated hostilities by invading British territory. I hold that every belligerent in South Africa should be dealt with on the same principle, that we should draw no distinction be- tween the Dutchmen of Cape Colony and the Boers of the Transvaal, or the Dutchmen of the Orange Free State. They all belong to the one nationality. They were all actuated by the one purpose and fought in the one common cause. We were contending, not with the Transvaal Dutch or the Free State Dutch alone, but with the Afrikander element in South Africa from Cape Town to the Zambesi. MR. BRODEUR The Free Staters had no cause of complaint. MR. CHARLTON No, but they joined in the general purpose of the Dutch in South Africa to erect a Dutch empire in that country. The Boer was a brave foe. He fought for his race, for his ideals. He staked his life upon the issue, and he has lost. It was known by close observers from the outset that there could be but one of two results. Either the Afrikander must prevail, or the British must prevail; either South Africa must be Dutch or South Africa must be British. One thing or the other had to come to pass. And the thing that has come to pass is that the Afrikander has been driven to the wall, that the British forces are supreme and the contest practically ended. The question now confronts the imperial authorities: How 106 TERMS OF PEACE shall this war, which has degenerated into murder, rapine and foray how shall these useless hostilities be terminated? It is a question of delay in putting an end to useless suffering. It is a question of delay in the advent of prosperity and peace in South Africa. How is peace to be secured? How is delay in securing peace to be obviated? How are these useless struggles in South Africa to be terminated? They can be terminated by protracting this struggle untif the Boer cause is ground into fine dust. But it will take long to do it; many lives will be lost; and when the end is reached there will be left the seeds of bitterness and hatred in every Boer heart south of the Zambesi. It can be done in another way. It can be done by the exer- cise of mercy and magnanimity. The exercise of these two qualities will hasten peace, and not only hasten peace, but place that peace, when it comes, upon a sure and certain foundation, and leave these people satisfied that the struggle is indeed ended, and that it is useless to perpetuate it longer. On the other hand, severity will retard peace and leave endless hate to fester in the heart of every Boer in that country. The imperial authorities are facing to-day the question of South African reconstruction. The condition of things that existed before cannot be continued. There can be no Transvaal with a dim shadow of suzerainty in the British Crown. There can be no independent Orange Free State. There can be no divided authority in South Africa. The whole country must be under one flag and one king; it must be a part of the one great empire. That is a foregone con- clusion. How is this South African reconstruction to be accomplished? Not by the exercise of vengeance, not by exacting the pound of flesh, not by pursuing a fallen and noble foe to the utmost extremity of vengeance. But recon- struction will be accomplished, if it is ever accomplished on an enduring basis, by Afrikander assimilation. Afrikander assimilation will be the hope of South Africa, and without it peace upon any enduring basis, and success in the formation of a South African confederation, cannot be secured. 107 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR We have in operation in our age a great principle which is peculiar to the Anglo-Saxon : the principle of federal union, first adopted by the American states after the revolution, in 1787, next adopted by Canada in 1867, since then adopted by Australia, and waiting now to be adopted by South Africa. In that country there will be the colony of Natal, the colony of Cape Colony, the colony of the Orange River, the colony of the Transvaal, the colony of Rhodesia, and other colonies to the north in that magnificent valley of the Zambesi, beyond which British possessions reach to the great inland sea of Tanganyika. This African reconstruction will be accom- plished. It will build up in South Africa an empire under British influence and British laws. It will be another of the great commonwealths formed under British influence, and in accord with the genius of British government. Does any man doubt that magnanimity will promote this result, that the exercise of mercy and generosity will have a favourable influence on the population of these colonies and tend to bind in ties of common interest their institutions and their laws? I think it cannot be doubted, and one reason why I introduce this resolution is the belief I entertain that the imperial government is probably embarrassed at this mo- ment by the demands of the English colonists of Cape Colony and Natal, who refuse to consider the Dutch in arms against British authority in Cape Colony in any other way than as rebels, and who demand the condign punishment of these men after the war is finished. I do not believe that it would be good policy to adopt such a course. I do not believe that we should make any distinction between the Cape Town rebel and the Orange Free State belligerent and the Transvaal soldier. I believe that, if any distinction is made, it will simply retard the settlement and make it less satisfactory and less likely to be enduring after it is accomplished. This feeling, no doubt, impedes reconstruction. In my humble judgment, this feeling is an embarrassment to the imperial authorities ; and, for that reason, I believe that the respectful expression of opinion on the part of the representatives of this 108 TERMS OF PEACE great colony of Canada would have great weight with the British authorities and be most welcome. In this view I have ventured to offer this motion, and in so doing I believe that I am acting in the interest of my country and of humanity, and on lines which would promote a settle- ment hi South Africa and hasten the realization of that con- dition of things for which we all hope. A great many thousand Boers are in captivity. Some are in Bermuda, some in St. Helena, some in Ceylon thousands and thousands of these men who must be restored to their country some day and it is a question of the utmost consequence whether these men shall come back with sore hearts and cherishing vengeful feelings because of undue severity which they believe their conquerors have practised, or whether they shall come back with gladness of heart, with thankfulness for mercies granted to them, for magnanimity, for generosity, for the restoration of privileges, for the expression of a desire that they should go back to their native land and become good citizens and obedient to the country that treated them with mag- nanimity. The Boer, Mr. Speaker, will make a magnificent component, ethnic quantity in South Africa. His is a noble race, the race that held at bay Alva in the Netherlands, the race that fur- nished to England the Prince of Orange, the race that has the lofty faith and the endurance of the Puritan. These people are a constituent portion of the population of South Africa which it is worth the while of the British authorities to cultivate. It is worth their while to make this Boer element a loyal one, to make of this Boer element one attached to the English institutions, an element that realizes that it has been treated with generosity and magnanimity, and that it can put its faith in the power with which it is dealing. Now, Britain wants in this matter, I apprehend, not revenge, for that is not a British characteristic. Britain conquers its enemies and then deals with them generously. Britain wants no revenge, but wants a united people in South Africa, the restoration of prosperity to that country, and the creation of a 109 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR commonwealth there that, in its history and progress, will redound to the glory of English institutions and of English government. England wants no revenge, no devastated farms, no ravaged lands reduced to the condition of a desert, no hordes of fugitives harrying the country. She wants a prosperous land, a return to fixed conditions, the gathering together of these people in their homes, and the use by them of their energies and industry for the advancement of the state. And, sir, in gaining this aspiration, the three angels, mercy, amnesty and peace stand ready to give their services in securing the consummation of that which every true citizen of Canada must desire. Now, it may be asked, Mr. Speaker, when the exercise of the qualities of mercy and magnanimity is urged, when the grant- ing of amnesty is proposed, have we any parallel for this policy? I answer, yes. And every parallel we have is a shining, a glorious example of the success of this policy. In 1759 Canada passed from one authority to another. Prior to that, the scalping-knife, the tomahawk and the torch worked their savage will along the frontier from the Penobscot to Fort Du- quesne. For generations the English colonists and the French colonists were engaged in bitter war, and the hatred of each side for the other was intense and consuming. We had the slaughter of Braddock's army at Monogahela; we had the battle of Ticonderoga and the British reverse there; we had the warwhoop and the Indian foray; we had bitter and deadly hostilities along this whole border year after year. And when, at last, Wolfe took Quebec, and under the Treaty of Paris Canada was ceded to Great Britain, the policy that was pur- sued towards the French people of this country was to allow them to retain their laws, their religion, their language, their social and ecclesiastical institutions ; and this broad, com- prehensive liberal policy adopted with these 60,000 Can- adians in British North America has had results for which we cannot feel too thankful. MR. SPROULE Is not England's action in that case the best guarantee in the world that she will deal generously with 110 TERMS OF PEACE a conquered foe, even without any resolution from any outside country? MR. CHARLTON Possibly that is so. But does it follow that it is wrong to counsel that policy which the honourable gentleman assumes that England will pursue? Is it wrong to express the humble opinion here that the policy he says Eng- land is likely to follow will receive our approbation? I think not. As I said at the outset, the expression of this wish can do no harm, if it is unnecessary, and it may do good. This historical example to which I have referred resulted in firmly attaching all this race to British institutions. Thirteen years after the Treaty of Paris the American revolution broke out, and an attempt was made by American agitators to carry the French colonists with them. But they failed. Those French colonists were faithful to British institutions then ; they have been faithful to British institutions since; and they are faithful to British institutions now ; and their history affords a shining and crowning example of the results follow- ing the policy of mercy and magnanimity in treating with a conquered foe. We had another case in the thirteen colonies. There was a Dutch colony there, which was called the New Netherlands. That colony was conquered and re-christened New York, and the Dutch colonists were incorporated with the Anglo-Saxon population. They were treated with generosity; their rights and privileges were assured to them, including their language if they chose to use it. To-day it is one of the most loyal elements in the country. It has given one president to the union Van Buren it has its representative in the United States Senate Depew and it has given rise to a great family of railway kings, the Vanderbilts. Its history affords an illustration of the desirability and propriety of treating a nation thus incorporated into another with generosity. And we have a still more striking example in the United States itself, in the great struggle of the civil war. That war was carried through with relentless and remorseless energy. It was a titanic struggle. The North and the South were 111 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR arrayed against each other on a question of principle, and the hostilities between the sections were of the bitterest kind. The battles fought in that war were remarkable for their sanguin- ary character. In all the great battles of Europe, the number of men killed was smaller in proportion to the number engaged than in the great battles of this terrible war. There was Chancellorsville with its seventeen thousand dead; there was Vicksburg; there was Chicamauga; there was Missionary Ridge. They fought the fierce seven-days' Battle of the Wilderness. Great struggles. Great loss of life. The South planted thick with graves. The soil soaked with blood. The war was fought out to the bitter end with relentless hate and animosity. And at last, at Appomatox, Lee surrendered to Grant. The Southerners were exhausted. They were treated with the greatest generosity. A Union soldier would deprive him- self of his breakfast to give food to the starving Confederate. And when the Southern army was disbanded, Grant said: '' Take the horses, you will need them to put in your spring crops; take anything that you can make use of anything that will be of service to you as private property; I will take as public property only what you cannot use." And these men disbanded with the kindest feelings towards their con- querors; and, but for the unfortunate death of Lincoln, the reconstruction of the South would have been speedy and com- plete. There was a great cry for vengeance on the leader of the Southerners, Jefferson Davis, but he was never punished, except by temporary imprisonment. There was no confisca- tion of the property of a rebel, there was no disfranchisement of a rebel, there was no vengeance inflicted upon the heads of rebels; but there was magnanimity, there was generosity exercised by the conquerors to the conquered. And the result has been a reconstructed nation, with those two belligerent sections fighting under the same flag in the wars that have since occurred where their country has been engaged. So, sir, this struggle in the United States, which passed be- yond the limits of a rebellion and became one of the great 112 TERMS OF PEACE wars of history, is a type of the struggle that has occurred in South Africa. In South Africa, where the principle at issue has been whether one race or another should possess the country, where the prize has been the possession of South Africa either for Boer or for Briton, let the same generosity and magnanimity be exercised towards the conquered as was exercised in the case of the Confederate states. Now, sir, the measure of blood is full, the measure of misery is full, and I imagine that no man in Canada wants more of conflict. We are warranted in looking for a day when South Africa, like Canada, will be a great commonwealth with two races moving together hand in hand, as is the case here, in promoting the interests and extending the boundaries and increasing the power of their great commonwealth. Sir, mercy, and magnanimity, and amnesty are the powers that need to be exercised to secure this result. In moving this motion, Mr. Speaker, I have been governed by a sincere desire to place a statement before the House, to urge reasons to this House that would warrant us, as I believe, in expressing a humble opinion as to the propriety of inaugurating that policy which I have set forth, which I believe to be the touchstone for the settlement of our difficulties in South Africa upon a desirable and enduring basis. 8 113 FISCAL RELATIONS THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY THE Liberals came into power, under Mackenzie, in November, 1873, and one of their first acts was to send the Hon. George Brown as commissioner to Washington to negotiate a reciprocity treaty. The terms of a treaty were agreed upon with the admin- istration of the United States, and would probably have been accepted by Canada. However, ratifica- tion was refused by the United States Senate. The terms agreed to by the Hon. Mr. Brown were criti- cized and condemned by the Conservative opposition. One of their leading speakers in the House of Com- mons was Mr. J. Burr Plumb. I replied to Mr. Plumb, speaking on March 22, 1875. At that time many of the speeches in the House of Commons were reported in the third person. That is the only form in which the speech is now extant, and it is given as it appears in Hansard with some minor modifica- tions. House of Commons, March 22, 1875. Mr. Charlton said the discussion on the reciprocity ques- tion in Canada had been principally confined to the enemies of the proposed treaty, and any remarks that he might make in regard to it he desired to be regarded as simply a statement of his own views. It was well, he thought, that the gov- ernment had abstained from the discussion of this question while the treaty was pending in the United States Senate, as 117 FISCAL RELATIONS our case might have been prejudiced had they appeared be- fore the Canadian public as vindicators of the treaty and placed before it the benefits that Canada would derive from its adoption. However, the time had arrived when re- ticence was no longer necessary, and in his remarks he would present no advantages that Canada would derive from this treaty, that had not been urged in the United States as objections to the treaty from their standpoint. The hon- ourable member for Niagara (Mr. Plumb) told the House with reference to the negotiations that the government of Canada had bound itself to the provisions of the proposed treaty, while the government of the United States was at liberty to reject them. He could not understand that such was the case. The secretary of state, the president of the United States, the British minister at Washington, and the Hon. George Brown, acting in their respective capacities for the United States, Great Britain and Canada, negotiated the treaty. The treaty was rejected by the Senate of the United States. But had it been ratified by the Senate, it might have been rejected by the parliament of Canada, and this government, in any future negotiations, was in no way bound by the provisions of the proposed treaty, any more than was the government of the United States. Then the honourable member (Mr. Plumb) drew somewhat upon his imagination in picturing the wealth, population and resources which this country would possess at the expiration of twen- ty-one years, the period during which the treaty would run. The honourable member had stated that Canada would by that time, have quadrupled its population,* which would indeed be the most marvellous growth ever recorded. The highest rate of increase of the United States in a decade was thirty-three per cent., but the average was somewhat less. In all the discussions upon the treaty, the Hon. George Brown occupied a very prominent position. In fact it might be suspected that had some honourable member on the Opposi- tion side of the House, instead of a leader of the Reform * A statement omitted in the Hansard revision of Mr. Plumb's speech. 118 1 THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY party, negotiated the treaty, it would have been more accept- able to the honourable members opposite. The treaty had been made to operate against the Reform party, and the course taken by the Opposition throughout had been an unpatriotic one, their opposition having been dictated by no regard for the interests of the country, but by a desire to drag down a prominent man and injure the party in power. The honourable member for Niagara told the government that it ought to have foreseen the political change which was impending in the United States, and that the present was an unfavourable time for negotiating a treaty, and that, indeed, the government of Canada ought to have known what the American people did not know, viz., that at the coming elections the Democratic party would return a majority to the House of Representatives. Mr. Plumb explained that he said that the Hon. Mr. Brown from his ultimate knowledge of American politics ought to have known this fact. Mr. Charlton said that if Mr. Brown ought to have fore- seen this result, then he was expected to know more than the Democratic party leaders themselves knew, for they were astonished at their success; and more than the leaders of the Republican party knew, for they were equally aston- ished at the success of their opponents. But, even had Mr. Brown or the government foreseen that the Democratic party would have a majority in the House of Representatives at the next Congress, it made no difference in the treaty making power. The Senate was still Republican, and would re- main so for years to come. It is probable the success of the Democratic party hi returning a majority to the House of Representatives was a mere temporary success, and would not obtain two years hence when the next election for mem- bers of Congress would take place. The honourable member for Niagara (Mr. Plumb) had also argued that after the abolition of the treaty of 1854, in 1866, this country was prosperous in a remarkable degree. He inferred from that that the honourable member was opposed to reciprocity on 119 FISCAL RELATIONS any terms whatever. But an increase in the population of the country was a pretty sure indication of its increase in wealth, and of the measure of prosperity which it enjoyed. During the decade between 1861 and 1871 the progress of Canada was most unsatisfactory to all real lovers of their country. The increase in population during that period was less than thirteen per cent, and that was a sufficient answer to the argument that this country would prosper without reciprocity. It was not a healthy increase as compared with that of the United States where the increase was twenty- three per cent, in the decade, although that country was subjected during that time to the drain of the civil war. Nature had placed us side by side with a nation which now possessed 42,000,000 people, a country that had nearly one- half of the railway mileage of the globe, and with 30,000 miles of navigable inland lakes and rivers ; a country that had every variety of soil, climate and production. It would be unnecessary to dwell upon the benefits that the thirty-eight states and ten territorities had derived from free trade between themselves. And Canada, lying alongside that republic, forming, geographically and commercially, a part of it, felt that free trade with that country was in the highest degree desirable. Her desire to participate in the benefits that free trade conferred under these circumstances, had been shown on various occasions. In 1866 Sir Alexander Gait, and Messrs. Rowland, Smith and Henry, of Nova Scotia, were sent to Washington to endeavour to procure a renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty. The government was then led by the honourable member for Kingston (Sir John A. Macdonald). In 1869 Sir John Rose was sent to the United States for the same purpose. Both these missions were, however, unsuccessful. In 1874 the Hon. George Brown was sent to Washington with the same object, and unlike his pre- decessors, his mission, to a certain extent, was a success, and it was a misfortune for Canada that the treaty nego- tiated had not been ratified by the United States Senate and carried into effect. When the draft of the treaty was made 120 THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY public, it was surprising to see the objections offered to it. Canadian Boards of Trade objected to it because it was going to ruin our manufacturing interests, and nearly all business interests in the United States objected to the ratification of the treaty, and memorialized the Senate to reject it. British merchants thronged to Downing Street and the Colonial Office, likewise protesting against it. The treaty appeared to be a diplomatic bull in a national china shop, smashing the goods belonging to the unfortunate pro- prietors. What were the objections offered in the United States? One was that it would divert trade from American channels, and build up Canadian emporiums of trade by the enlargement of the Canadian canals. There was force in this, because a large portion of the trade would undoubt- edly be diverted from American ports when the St. Lawrence and Welland canals were enlarged to allow the passage of vessels drawing twelve feet of water. Another objection was that the treaty would divert ship-building from the United States to Canadian yards. There was force in this contention also. The treaty that gave Canadian-built vessels the privilege of registering as American vessels a privilege never accorded by the United States except by a special Act of Congress would have transferred a large amount of ship-building from the republic to this country; it would thus have given employment to thousands of mechanics and artisans, and millions of capital, and would have more than compensated for any loss that could have accrued to our manufacturing interest from the adoption of the treaty. Then the objection was raised by American carrying interests that the treaty opened the carrying trade of the Great Lakes to Canadian shipping; and persons not familiar with that trade were not aware of the importance to Cana- dian shipping of that concession. Under the present law, Canadian vessels clearing with a cargo of grain form Chi- cago, Milwaukee or other United States ports, to Montreal or other Canadian ports, could not call at Buffalo or Detroit to take return cargoes of coal. The consequence was that 121 FISCAL RELATIONS Canadian vessels were obliged to go up light, and Canadian vessel-owners, in consequence, could not compete with American vessel-owners, especially in dull seasons like the past one. If, however, the concessions given under the treaty were obtained by Canadian ship-owners, a large pro- portion of the carrying trade of the lakes would be trans- ferred to Canadian bottoms. Then it was urged that the treaty would injure the lumber interests of the United States, a vast interest employing 200,000 men and $40,000,000 of capital, the production in Michigan last year being 3,000,- 000,000 feet, or more than five times the production of the Ottawa district. The American lumber interest was, there- fore, very powerful, and it had used its best efforts to defeat the treaty. Then a protest came from the American woollen manu- facturers and wool growers, they fearing that the Canadian woollen mills, which now made excellent tweeds, would, if the barriers were thrown down, find a market for their goods among the 40,000,000 people in the republic. The agricul- turists of the United States protested against the treaty, even those western farmers who, the honourable member for Niagara said, could drive our grains from the American market. There was, in fact, scarcely an industry in the United States that had not memorialized the Senate against the ratification of the treaty. What Canadian interests objected to the treaty? Did we hear any objection from the agriculturist, the lumberman, the mine-owner, the fisherman, the colliery-owner? No. The great interests of the country never raised their voices against the treaty, they were in favour of the treaty, and knew it would conduce to their prosperity. With respect to agricultural interests, from a free-trade standpoint the treaty was a wise act, but he proposed to view it from a protectionist standpoint. The object of a protective tariff was to develop manufacturing industries and create a home market for produce of the soil, especially such as will not bear the cost of transportation to a distant 122 THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY market. And, although the people might pay higher for the products of the loom, yet in the end the balance of benefit would be in their favour. The policy of the United States had been for many years a protective policy, and, for the last ten years it had been one of extreme protection. The tax-payers of that country had paid millions of dollars for the purpose of creating their vast home manufactures by assuring markets for them, that they might have their Low- ells, their Manchesters, their Fall Rivers, their Providences, and other great manufacturing towns. What did this treaty purpose doing? Were we to enact protective tariffs, and create a market by the most protective duties, it would be half a century before our market would be in a condition like that of the American market at the present moment. But this treaty proposed to throw down all the barriers and give us the benefit of a market which they had paid millions to create. The great West, with its millions of population, had borne its share of taxation in creating those great manu- facturing industries in the East. But the great West occu- pied a secondary position to us, and, had this treaty be- come law, it would have placed us not only upon equal terms, but upon better terms in the market to create which they had paid so much. He had attended the committee that had the duty of examining into the state of the manufactur- ing interests of the Dominion, and the committee had had before it manufacturers from all parts of the country. He had invariably asked those gentlemen their opinion as to the probable effect of free trade with the United States upon the particular commodity they dealt in or manufactured, and in no instance had he received an unfavourable answer. The universal answer was that they desired nothing better than free trade with the United States, and to meet the American manufacturer upon equal terms. And why should they not? We had no manufacturing interests created by an imposition of a protection of more than fifteen per cent., but most American manufactures had been created by the imposition of a duty of thirty-five per cent., and many by a 123 FISCAL RELATIONS duty of fifty per cent, or more. If those two interests were to stand side by side, the one requiring fifteen per cent, and the other thirty-five and fifty per cent., would not the one with the smallest degree of protection be able to compete with the interest having the greatest degree of protection? He believed that, in negotiating this treaty, the Hon. George Brown builded better than he knew. Of all the benefits that would accrue to Canada, the greatest benefits would have accrued to the manufacturer. He believed that when the barriers were broken down the operations of Can- adian manufacturers could be so largely extended that a re- duction in the cost of manufacturing would be made of from ten to twenty per cent. He believed that those who were unnecessarily alarmed would have found, if the treaty had come into operation, that the benefits accruing to them would have been very great. It had been objected that, in securing this treaty, we had given too much. What did we give for the treaty of 1854? We gave the fisheries and the free navigation of the St. Lawrence. But when the treaty of 1874 came to be ne- gotiated, we had not the latter to give. And why? Be- cause it had been given before, and without any considera- tion. The benefits secured by the treaty of 1854 were secured by the late draft treaty, and we secured much more besides. We gave for the late treaty the fisheries; but we had given those before. We gave our pledge that certain public works would be constructed and completed by 1880; and we were to receive in return in addition to the free importation, as in the old treaty, of the produce of the soil, the forest, and the mine the privilege of American register for Canadian- built vessels and the carrying trade of the Great Lakes. One of the strongest arguments against the treaty by the American shipping interest was that indirectly we would receive the entire carrying trade of the sea-coast, not di- rectly, but indirectly, it being held that if our vessels were admitted to American registry a nominial transfer would be made, the real ownership remaining in the hands of the 124 THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY Canadians, and Canadian vessels would enter upon the carrying trade of the Atlantic and Pacific sea-coasts. This concession was worth more to Canada than all she gave for the treaty. As to our fisheries it was well enough known at what value the Americans estimated them. When the hon- ourable member for Kingston (Sir John A. Macdonald) was assisting in the negotiations of the celebrated Washington Treaty, they would remember, the American commissioners had offered for them the free admission of coal, lumber, salt, and fish, with the provision that lumber should not be ad- mitted free until after 1874. The British commissioners demurred, and the Americans did not see fit to increase the offer, but withdrew it. With regard to the canal enlarge- ment, undoubtedly the expense would be very great to Canada. But the Canadian system of canals was not de- signed to benefit the Americans, but to divert a portion of the vast commerce of the West from the American canals; and for the purpose of carrying out more fully that plan, it was the policy of this country to enlarge those canals without reference to reciprocity. For this purpose we proposed to enlarge the Welland and St. Lawrence canals, and, by this enlargement, we hoped a very large proportion of the trade that passed through the Erie canal, and from Oswego to New York, would go to Montreal. Much had been said about the building of the Caughna- waga canal, and efforts had been made to mislead the pub- lic regarding it. We were told that we were to be cheated in the operation, because the American government only undertook to urge it on the state of New York that the Whitehall canal and Erie should be opened to Canada, but we were bound to build and open the Caughnawaga canal to American vessels. But the draft treaty reserved to Can- ada the privilege of refusing American vessels the use of the canal if the state of New York did not choose to accept the recommendation of the United States government, and open her canals to the Canadians. We were to have the free use of the Erie canal, three-hundred and sixty-five 125 FISCAL RELATIONS miles in length, and of the Champlain canal, ninety-five miles in length, for the use of the Caughnawaga canal, of about forty miles; that is, we were to get the use of eleven times as many miles of canals as we gave. He considered the construction of that canal would be good policy under the circumstances, because it would afford the cheapest and most convenient outlet for the lumber of the Ottawa valley, and would save fully $200,000 per annum to the Ottawa lumbermen. The vast amount of food consumed in the New England states would go down this canal instead of the Erie canal, and Burlington would become the great distributing point instead of Albany. It might be urged that, under this treaty, we should not be allowed the free navigation of Lake Champlain; but it would make very little difference, for, instead of Burlington, we would make Rouse's Point, or some place on the bound- ary line, the distributing point. There were two interests he had not mentioned that would be very much benefited by reciprocity. We had in Canada vast deposits of iron. The trade of the United States in iron ore was enormously great, especially from the Lake Superior mines. Remove the duty of twenty per cent., and great quantities would be exported to the other side. And coal could be brought, and iron manufactured here, and exported to the United States. With this treaty in operation, employment would be given to an immense amount of capital, and to tens of thousands of men. We had in Nova Scotia enormous deposits of coal which could be taken to the New England ports for the New England manufactories. That coal could be laid down hi New York more cheaply than American coal, and a great coal business would spring up in Nova Scotia. Had this treaty been ratified, Canada would have received an enormous impetus; we should have entered upon a new career. One of its strongest features was that the treaty would have existed twenty-one years, and in that time interests would have grown up, and grown per- manent. We were well aware that Canada had superior 126 THE BROWN DRAFT TREATY political institutions, and that, standing side by side, the two forms of government were on trial. The Americans had a theory largely evolved from the reasoning of those who framed the constitution, and abstract rather than practical in character. We had a government the result of experience gained in ten centuries. It remained to be determined which of those two systems was best adapted to secure the happiness and prosperity of the people living under it. In order to give our institutions a fair trial, it was necessary that we should have a due share of prosperity. If we went on increasing at the rate of only ten or fifteen per cent, in ten years, while the population of the United States showed twice that rate, we should fall behind in the race of progress, our institutions would attract no attention, and our nationality would in time be snuffed out. All who had the interest of the country at heart should seek a policy that would advance our welfare. He believed that no measure had been devised that was so thoroughly calculated to ad- vance our prosperity as this treaty; and any one who had opposed it for party purposes was guilty of an unpatriotic act. He would only say in conclusion that, when the honourable gentleman (Hon. George Brown), who negotiated this treaty passed away, he needed no prouder epitaph than this: "Here lies the man who negotiated the Reciprocity Treaty of 1874." 127 REPLY TO PERSONAL ATTACK THE LUMBER DUTIES WHILE the following speech takes the form of a reply to personal attacks, it deals with matters of public interest which are not explained elsewhere, and which could not be explained by any person except myself. The attack which primarily called forth this reply, and which is referred to in the exordium of the speech, was made by Mr. W. H. Bennett, of East Simcoe. The report here given is from Hansard with slight revision. House of Commons, June 4, 1895. MR. CHARLTON Before you leave the chair, Mr. Speaker, I wish to refer to a matter that once engaged the attention of this House, and has provoked considerable discussion in the country. It is a matter pertaining largely to myself; and but for the attention that has been given to it by minis- ters, by Conservative members of the House, and by the Conservative press, I should not have felt warranted in ob- truding it upon the atttention of the House at this time. But, under the circumstances, I feel bound to take the course I now take. About one year ago, on the thirteenth day of June last, a very bitter attack was made upon me, without notice, by a member of this House. I was called upon on the spur of the moment, to refute, to the best of my ability, that attack. Owing to certain circumstances, my course in doing so was to some extent, embarrassed and constrained. The Wilson Bill which placed Canadian lumber upon the free list, was, at that time, pending before the United States Congress, 129 FISCAL RELATIONS and owing to that fact, I, perhaps, withheld some statements that I might otherwise have deemed it proper to make on that occasion. After stating the circumstances, I take this opportunity the first one that has occurred since the opening of this session to refute some of the charges that were made upon that occasion, and previous to that occa- sion, and that have been subsequently made, against me. The Conservative press has paid me a good deal of atten- tion. Conservative members have also paid me a good deal of attention. Allusions have been made to the circum- stances by members of this government since the opening of the session. Not many months ago the Secretary of State (Hon. W. H. Montague) not then a member of the Cabinet spoke in my own riding in the town of Tillsonburg, and made an attack upon me. I was not present, but I am in- formed that he assured my constituents that I was a traitor, and that there was not another constituency, except the one I represented, which would so far disgrace itself as to choose me for its representative. Under these circumstances, I ask the indulgence of the House while I now refute some of the charges made against me in connection with the long struggle to secure concessions from the United States government with regard to their lumber duty. I propose to make some statements which, I think, will exonerate me from the charges that have been made against me. I may say, Mr. Speaker, that I have always been in favour of reciprocal trade with the United States, that I have al- ways considered that question the most important fiscal question which could engage the attention of the Canadian people. I have acted upon the assumption that any citizen of Canada who was able to use influence, directly or indirectly, in the direction of securing trade concessions which would be beneficial to this country, and who did so, was acting in a patriotic manner, and deserved well of his fellow-citizens. Now, whatever action I may have taken, the purposes that I have had hi view have always, I imagine, been apparent, and the result of that action has in no case been detrimental to 130 THE LUMBER DUTIES the interests of this country; and if, in connection with the negotiations for free lumber, I have been able to make use of the argument that a concession on the part of the Canadian government of free logs and the abolition of export duty was a matter of sufficient importance to induce the American government to place upon the free list the long list of articles now put upon that list under their wood schedule, I hold that the arguments used for that purpose, resulting in the prac- tical exchange of free logs for free lumber, were very greatly in the interest of this country. The conditions of the McKinley Bill, some five years ago, were accepted by this government; but yet obloquy was thrown upon me because it was asserted that I had some connection with the negotiation of those conditions. The government gladly accepted these conditions, yet an attack was made upon me less than a year ago in this House, and I have been attacked by Conservative newspapers and orators since, for having been the instrument of obtaining the very thing which the government was glad to accept. I feel a deep sense of injury and wrong in connection with the course which the Conservative press and Conservative politicians have taken towards me. The existence of an export duty on logs excited a very strong feeling of hostility hi the United States. That feel- ing was attributable to several causes. The Americans are not in favour of export duties primarily; their constitution prohibits such duties. Every American believes that an export duty is a bad kind of fiscal policy per se. During the time of our export duty, while we were exporting at the rate of 3,000,000 feet to the United States, we were im- porting at the rate of 8,000,000, or our exports were only three-eighths of our imports. When the Americans dis- covered that the balance of advantage from the importation of logs and their manufacture into lumber was so largely in favour of Canada, that was an additional reason for dissatis- faction on their part with the export duty. And thus, those who sought to obtain free admission of our lumber into the 131 FISCAL RELATIONS American market, found standing as a lion in their path this feeling of resentment on the part of those specially interested in that trade, because of the imposition of a duty which every American conversant with the matter felt to be in the high- est degree unfriendly and unfair. When the Mills Bill was under consideration in 1888, the condition made in the bill was that lumber should not be placed upon the free list in the case of any country that imposed an export duty on logs and lumber. I have always believed, and acted upon the belief, that an export duty, that discriminating duties, that such a motion as the honourable member for Algoma (Mr. Macdonell) has now on the notice paper, to compel the Ameri- cans to peel the bark from their logs in order to increase the cost of getting them out I say, I have always been convinced that all such restrictions were calculated to promote nobody's interest except that of a few parties directly interested, and were calculated to render more difficult the securing of any trade concessions from the United States. For that reason I have always been opposed to an export duty. I first began to operate on this question by endeavouring to convince my fellow-lumbermen that an export duty was not in their in- terest. Time was when an export duty was asked for by the great majority of lumbermen. I believe that some three or four years ago a delegation of Ottawa lumbermen waited upon the Minister of Finance and asked for an increase of the export duty. Gradually these men came to see that the imposition of this duty stood as a bar against their obtaining from the United States that which we all desired, namely, the free admission of Canadian lumber, and consequently the lumber trade of Ontario at least was opposed, almost to a man, to the continuance of this export duty. Thus the road was open for negotiations that might be prosecuted with the certainty that our own people were prepared to recommend the removal of this obnoxious impost. The McKinley Bill was under consideration in the year 1890. In the House of Representatives it was proposed that any country which imposed an export duty upon logs should 132 THE LUMBER DUTIES have the amount of that export duty added to the import duty upon the lumber received from that country. The condition of affairs as relating to our obtaining concessions was in a most unsatisfactory shape. I was in Washington during the discussion of that measure. I am perfectly free to confess that I went to Washington to see if anything could be done in behalf of the lumber interests of Canada. I sounded many members of the finance and ways and means committees of the Senate and the House as to their views on this question, and urged the advisability of freer trade relations and more friendly trade conditions between the two countries; and I assured these men, that in my be- lief, the export duty, which was universally cited by those in favour of high duties as reason for refusing the demand for free lumber, could be made to stand aside. Well, an ar- rangement was made; and, so far as I know, I was the only Canadian connected with that arrangement. I was directed to Senator Philetus Sawyer, of Wisconsin, who, I was told, was the authority in the Senate upon all lumbering matters. The result was a suggestion that if the Canadian government would promise to remove the export duty, the American government would reduce the lumber duties from two dollars to one dollar per thousand; and I was authorized to say to the government here in Canada that if that promise were made, a reduction hi the lumber duties would take place when the McKinley Bill left the finance com- mittee of the United States Senate. I came to Ottawa and saw Sir John Macdonald and placed this proposition before him. He looked upon me, evidently, with some little distrust, and failed to realize that this proposition covered something of very great advantage to Canada. I then looked around for some Conservative member conversant with the lumber trade and of high respectability and great influence, and naturally, Mr. Speaker (Hon. Peter White), I selected your- self. After a conference, we arranged an interview with Sir John Macdonald and presented the subject to the right honourable gentleman. Sir John, after hearing the case 133 FISCAL RELATIONS stated, fell in at once with the idea, said that it was a good one and that it would redound to the advantage of Canada. He said also that Canada would agree to it, and he sug- gested that you, Mr. Speaker, should put a notice of the question upon the paper, and it would be answered. And here is the question, on p. 616 of the Votes and Proceedings of 1890, under date of the seventh day of May: " MR. WHITE (Renfrew) Inquiry of Ministry Whether in the event of the United States Congress reducing the import duty on sawn lumber to one dollar per thousand feet, the government will remove the export duty on pine and spruce logs?" That question was asked in due course, not by yourself, Mr. Speaker, but, hi your absence, by the honourable mem- ber for Pontiac (Mr. Bryson). And here is the report in Hansard of 1890, Vol. II., p. 4662 : DUTY ON SAWN LUMBER "MR. BRYSON Before the orders of the day are called, with the permission of the House, I would like to ask a ques- tion which has been put on the notice paper by the hon- ourable member for North Renfrew (Mr. White) . The question is this: Whether, in the event of the United States Congress reducing the import duty on sawn lumber to one dollar per thousand feet, the government will remove the export duty on pine and spruce logs? It is very important that this question should be answered at the present moment. " SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD I will answer that question. In the event of the United States Congress reducing the im- port duties on sawn lumber the government will remove the export duty on pine and spruce logs. I will take an oppor- tunity of conveying that decision to the proper quarters." There was a culmination of negotiations originated at Washington. It was, in point of fact, an informal proposi- tion of the American government, which was laid before our government by yourself, Mr. Speaker, and answered by the Prime Minister, that the United States government would 134 THE LUMBER DUTIES reduce the duty upon sawn lumber to one dollar per thousand feet, on condition that Canada would repeal the export duty on pine and spruce logs. When the McKinley Bill became law, it was found that the duty was removed from pine lumber only, but the same condition was attached that the ex- port duty should be removed from pine and spruce logs. So we could not be required to take advantage of it, as the terms of the arrangement had not been fully complied with. I felt not a little incensed at this result; I felt that the Ameri- can government had not kept faith, and I withdrew from the whole affair and had nothing more to do with it. But Sir John A. Macdonald was interviewed by lumbermen of the Ottawa valley. I do not know whether you took any part in that, Mr. Speaker, but he was interviewed by Mr. Booth, I believe, and also by Mr. A. H. Campbell, of Toronto, a prominent lumberman and a prominent supporter of his own, and pressure was brought to bear upon him to accept the proposition even although the duties upon spruce lum- ber were retained. Sir John Macdonald decided to do this, and the export duty was repealed. This incensed the repre- sentatives of the spruce interests, who felt that the pine in- terests had sacrificed them for their own advantage. But the trouble was that the American government had not carried out the agreement, while the Canadian government had seen fit to accept the half loaf and remove the export duty. As to this McKinley concession, whatever it amount- ed to, I freely acknowledge I was connected with the matter. In all human probability, so far as the initiation of these negotiations was concerned, I alone was connected with the matter. I accept all that responsibility. But when the government accepted the proposition it assumed the responsibility and I must be exonerated from blame, and they are estopped from calling me a traitor because I was found in Washington. I was there to advance Canadian interests. Now, with regard to the Wilson Bill. We remained under the McKinley Bill from October, 1890, until last year. The 135 FISCAL RELATIONS Wilson Bill was introduced late in 1893. That bill emerged from the ways and means committee and was referred to the House of Representatives, and passed that House early hi February, 1894. It then went to the Senate. It was under consideration hi the Senate when I happened to be hi Washington. I arrived hi that city on February 25, 1894, and I remained there until the first day of March. I found that this measure, which in its provisions, as it left the House, was in the highest degree favourable to Canada, was in danger, in consequence of some mistake, or some disagreement, or bad feeling about the export duty proviso. Now, sir, here are the articles from which it was proposed to remove the duty, and when I read the list honourable members may judge whether it was or was not an advan- tageous thing to Canada to seek to secure the passage of that bill, and seek to retain these free-lumber provisions. These provisions are contained hi the Wilson Bill, paragraphs 673 to 683, and they are as follows: " 673. Firewood, handle-bolts, heading-bolts, stave bolts, and shingle bolts, hop poles, fence posts, railroad ties, ship timber, and ship planking, not specially provided for hi this act. " 674. Timber, hewn and sawed, and timber used for spars and for building wharfs. " 675. Timber squared or sided. " 676. Sawed boards, planks, deals, and other lumber, rough or dressed except boards, planks, deals, and other lumber of cedar, lignum vitse, lancewood, ebony, box, grana- dilla, mahogany, rosewood, satinwood, and all other cabinet woods. " 677. Pine clapboards. " 678. Spruce clapboards. " 679. Hubs for wheels, posts, last blocks, wagon blocks, oar blocks, heading and all like blocks or sticks, rough-hewn or sawed only. " 680. Laths. " 681. Pickets and palings. " 682. Shingles. 136 THE LUMBER DUTIES " 683. Staves of wood of all kinds, wood unmanufactured; provided that all of the articles mentioned in paragraphs six hundred and seventy-three to six hundred and eighty-three, inclusive, when imported from any country which lays an export duty or imposes discriminating stumpage dues on any of them, shall be subject to the duties existing prior to the passage of this act." Now, here was a list of Canadian dutiable exports, that amounted annually to over $13,000,000; and the proviso that it was intended hi the House of Representatives to put hi with regard to this matter, was the same old proviso that had been contained in the Mills Bill that any nation that wished to avail itself of the privileges of the exemption from duty of this list of articles should be debarred from im- posing an export duty upon any of them. By some clerical blunder the bill left the committee of ways and means and went through the House with the provision that, if any country imposed an export duty on any article in that list, then the United States should restore that article to its original condition under the previous law. The result of this would have been that farcical condition of things which I have described, that, in case of any export duty on logs being imposed, all the United States government would be able to do would be to restore the logs to the position they occupied before the passage of this bill, which would debar the United States from reaping any of the advantages what- ever which it was designed to reap with reference to the export duty proviso. This bill came to the Senate. The Democratic caucus of the Senate commenced on the twenty- sixth day of February, and continued until the fourteenth day of March. The Michigan lumber interest had supposed that it had secured its purpose in the provisions of this bill as it left the committee of ways and means, but that interest soon discovered that it was mistaken. The bill was under discus- sion in the Senate caucus, and the Michigan influence was in a state of dissatisfaction; and the suggestion was made to strike out the free-lumber schedule altogether and to leave 137 FISCAL RELATIONS the matter to be adjusted by subsequent negotiation. The Senate was in this position. While there was an over- whelming Democratic majority in the House, there was a very narrow Democratic majority in the Senate I think, a majority of four only. And the various interests, such as those opposed to free coal, free sugar, free iron ore and free lumber, if they combined in what the Americans term a log- rolling arrangement, could carry any schedule they pleased. On Tuesday, the day after the Senate caucus met, Senator Morgan, of Alabama, who was a member of the Behring Sea Commission, and is a very influential member of the Senate, made a speech against free lumber, and it was evident that, while Michigan was wavering, and just about to veer around and throw its influence against free lumber, the lumber states of the South were only seeking an excuse for throwing them- selves against this feature of the bill. Now, the states op- posed to free lumber were Maine, Minnesota and Wis- consin; the other lumber states of the union were North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. All these states were interested hi lumber; all these states were large producers of lumber; all these states naturally were not well affected towards the free lumber provision of the bill. And the same was true with regard to Oregon and Washington. Well, sir, the position of the matter at Washington was one most critical for the free lumber provision of this bill, and the prospect was that the provision would be thrown out. As free coal, free iron, and free sugar were thrown out, it seemed almost certain that this feature of the bill in addition would be sacrificed by the combination of a portion of the Democratic members of the Senate opposed to these provi- sions. To secure the passage of the free lumber provisions of the bill it was necessary to incorporate in that bill, then and there, an export duty proviso, unequivocally positive, that could not be mistaken, and that would assure the Mich- igan men that if these $13,000,000 worth of lumber products 138 THE LUMBER DUTIES were placed upon the free list their interests should be protected by making it contingent upon the definite provision that logs should be exempt from an export duty. Now, what was to be done? This caucus of the Democratic party was in progress, and there was the certainty that negotiations were going on in that caucus to remove the free lumber provision. It was known then that sugar, and free iron ore, and free coal had gone; it was supposed that lumber was almost cer- tain to share the fate of these other three articles. Some- thing must be done then and there or free lumber, the privilege of exporting $13,000,000 worth of our products to the United States market, free of duty, was gone. Now, what would the Minister of Finance (Hon. G. E. Foster) have done under the circumstances? Would he have refused to make a suggestion that would secure the passage of these free lumber provisions? Would he have refused to make a suggestion that would avert the disaster that threatened this country in the prospect of those pro- visions being lost? Well, if he would have done so, he would not have acted very much in the interest of Canada, I imagine. And what I did, Mr. Speaker, was to suggest to some members of Congress that this difficulty could be averted, that the United States government could just leave the articles enumerated in these eleven paragraphs, from 673 to 683 inclusive, upon the free list, and they could insert a clause providing for the placing of these articles upon the free list under the conditions that would either secure from Canada the free exportation of logs, or would leave with the Canadian government the choice of putting on an export duty and losing the free lumber provision. That was done. I do not deny that it was done; I do not deny that I had something to do with the arrangement; I do not deny that I talked this matter over with members of the committee of ways and means; I do not deny that I talked this matter over with a sub-committee of the fi- nance committee of the Senate, Senators Voorhees and Vest; I do not deny that I was instrumental in getting that 139 FISCAL RELATIONS proviso so amended that we saved free lumber. It was all referred to the government of Canada. That government was free to approve and accept the arrangement, or to dis- approve and reject it. If they had not approved it, but had rejected it, there might have been reason for casting obloquy upon me. But when the arrangement was made, when the proviso was accepted, when the proposition was endorsed by this government, who gladly accepted the arrangement, and not only gladly accepted it, but subsequently made sacrifices to retain this very arrangement that was made upon that occasion, I hold that no blame can attach to me for having been instrumental hi making the arrangement. I might go more exhaustively into this matter, I might explain the various steps hi the laborious efforts I made to save this free lumber provision, in going from one member to another, interviewing this man and that man, and seeking to impress the treasury department in favour of that view, but it is unnecessary. Suffice it to say, that the proposition was adopted by the Senate committee of finance, and the adoption of that proposition secured the retention in the Wilson Bill of the paragraphs that place the articles I have read upon the free list. Now, sir, free lumber having been saved, the essence of the arrangement being free logs on the one hand for free lumber on the other, and that arrangement having been accepted by Canada, as it was subsequent to this time it was not until some time in August when the bill finally passed I think that, if all the circumstances had been known, all impartial men upon the opposite side of the House would have said that the attack made upon me in this House on the thirteenth day of June last, was unwarranted and unfair. And it did strike some individuals as unwarranted and unfair. I will take the liberty of reading some letters I received not long after this time from men conversant with all the circum- stances connected with the insertion of the free lumber clauses in the Wilson Bill, in order to show the House and the country what opinion is held outside of the House, and 140 THE LUMBER DUTIES by those in influential positions, and most competent to judge. The first letter I will read is from a gentleman who appeared before the Privy Council in this city in December last, in relation to the boom duty question, and urged that question here, and I think impressed the Privy Council with his absolute and eminent fairness the Hon. Thomas A. E. Weadock, member of Congress for one of the Michigan dis- tricts, and a resident of Bay City, who wrote on the twen- tieth day of June, as follows: " WASHINGTON, June 20, 1894. " MR. JOHN CHARLTON, M.P., " OTTAWA, CANADA. " DEAR SIR: I notice that the Conservative press of Canada has been severely criticizing you upon your alleged course in regard to free lumber. I am very certain that without the export duty proviso in the Wilson Bill, lumber ought not, and would not be free. Without the reciprocal arrangement of free lumber for free logs, that is free of export duties, a feature of the bill, Michigan members would have opposed it, and it would not have passed the committee. The lum- ber states would have preferred retaining at least half the present duty and with the parties so nearly ties in the Senate, you can see how close a call free lumber would have had. As it is, I think Canada has the best of it, and in rendering any service toward securing free lumber you have done your people a service. It may not be perceived, however, by those who will not see. I remain, sir, " Yours sincerely, " THOMAS A. E. WEADOCK." I desire next to read a letter from the Hon. J. R. Whiting, a member of the committee of ways and means, and a mem- ber of Congress from Michigan. It is as follows: " WASHINGTON, D. C., June 21, 1894. " MY DEAR SIR: I note a disposition to criticize you because of the clause in our bill to require free logs from Canada as the price of free lumber. I can say this: A free lumber bill was defeated in the last Congress through Michigan's 141 FISCAL RELATIONS protests, joined to those of California and the South. Michigan's interests in free logs from Canada reconciled her to free lumber; deny this, and her opposition will be aroused at once. "Yours truly, "J. R. WHITING. "To MR. JOHN CHARLTON." This letter was written when the bill was pending. The next letter I read is from Senator Voorhees, chairman of the Senate committee of finance, as follows: "WASHINGTON, July 13, 1894. " DEAR SIR: My attention has been called to some attacks upon you in the Canadian journals, based upon the asser- tion that you suggested the export duty proviso in the wood schedule of the Wilson Bill. The attack seems to be so unfair that I take the liberty of writing to say that the proviso is understood to have secured the support of the Michigan members for free lumber. It is not unlikely that the active hostility of Michigan would have defeated free lumber, and without the export duty proviso, that hostility, there is little reason to doubt, would have been vigorously applied. "Very respectfully, " D. W. VOORHEES. "JOHN CHARLTON, ESQ., M.P." One other letter I desire to read, and it is from a gentle- man very largely engaged in the lumber interests, whose re- sponsibility will be vouched for by the fact that he was Democratic candidate for governor of the state of Michigan last year the Hon. S. 0. Fisher, former member of Congress, who is also conversant with this matter. It is as follows : "WEST BAY CITY, MICH., June 20, 1894. "JOHN CHARLTON, ESQ., M.P., "OTTAWA, ONTARIO. "DEAR SIR: I notice that the Conservative press of Canada is engaged in criticizing you in a manner which evinces either ignorance of the question under consideration, or a 142 THE LUMBER DUTIES desire to place your alleged course on the export duty ques- tion in a false light before the people. There are two or three points in the free lumber question that should be kept in mind when dealing with the matter. One of these points is, that if Michigan had joined its forces with those of Maine, the lumber states of the South, and other lumber states, free lumber would have been lost in the Sen- ate; just as free coal, free ore, and free sugar were lost. An- other point is that, unless proper provision had been made for making free lumber depend upon the absence of all ex- port duties in Canada upon logs or other forest products, Michigan would have thrown its entire influence against free lumber and would have secured its defeat in the Senate. Such being the case, whoever can claim the invention of the export duty proviso of the Wilson Bill can logically claim the credit for free lumber; for without that provision free lum- ber could not have been carried. If the Wilson Bill carries and the Canadian government believes that Canada is not getting enough under the reciprocal arrangement, which practically offers free lumber for free logs, it will not be necessary to accept this, for they are quite at liberty to im- pose as heavy an export duty as they please, surrendering in doing so the privilege of free entry into the United States for all kinds of lumber and forest product. "Very truly yours, "S. 0. FISHER." There are some other matters referred to in this letter of a personal character which I do not read. On the nineteenth day of July, while the Wilson Bill was still pending, and while the attack on me was still being carried on hi the press of the country, the lumbermen of the Ottawa valley held a meeting in Ottawa, which I attended. I laid before my brother lumbermen a full and frank statement of all I had done in regard to this matter. They understood my motives perfectly well; they understood the value of the considera- tion obtained in the Wilson Bill for free logs, and in the course of that meeting the following resolution was adopted. I may say that the chairman of the meeting was Mr. Booth 143 FISCAL RELATIONS of this city, one of the most prominent Conservatives of this country, and a good many attending the meeting were Conservatives : "Resolved, that this meeting is of the opinion that a fair measure of reciprocity in the trade relations of Canada and the United States would be in the interest of both countries; "That, in the matter of the lumber trade, if such an ar- rangement should embrace the reciprocally free exchange of logs and lumber between the two countries, it would be of mutual benefit; "That in so far as Mr. Charlton has been able to contribute towards the securing of such legislation, he has acted in the commercial interests of Canada." I will not trouble the House any more with documentary evidence, but I will go back for a few moments to an episode which will throw further light on this subject I refer to the log-boom and chain duty, which had been imposed, I think in the fall of 1893, and which upon the representation of the Michigan lumbermen had been set aside with the understand- ing that the Michigan lumbermen would provide themselves with Canadian booms and chains in the winter of 1893-4. Those lumbermen, knowing that lumber was placed on the free list in the Wilson Bill and having good reason to believe that the bill would pass, did not desire to incur the very large expense necessary to throwing away the American booms and chains and substituting Canadian articles in place of them. On the tenth of May, 1894, an order was issued from the Customs Department here, informing the collector at Sault Ste. Marie that this duty was to be enforced at all the outports under his jurisdiction. I received word of this order having been sent, and the same afternoon I made an arrangement with the Controller of Customs to have an inter- view with him on the following day. I saw that the issuing of that order was made at a most inopportune time, that its influence on the fate of the free lumber provisions of the Wil- son Bill could not be otherwise than unfavourable. I saw a few of my lumbermen friends hi Ottawa and they all agreed 144 THE LUMBER DUTIES that it was a matter of the utmost importance that this order should be set aside, and that the interpolation of this duty at that time was something to be deprecated. A large delegation of the most influential lumbermen in this city had an interview with the Controller of Customs but they could do nothing with the honourable gentleman. He, in effect, told us that the Americans always put the knife into us when they had the opportunity, and he was going to put the knife into them. He could not see any reason for withdrawing the order, and he stood upon his right to issue it. I told him that we would take occasion to have an interview with the Premier, and he said we had better do so. That same evening I arranged an interview with Sir John Thompson for the following day, Saturday, the twelfth of May; and Mr. Booth, the Hon. E. H. Bronson and myself called upon Sir John Thompson and took pains to set before him very fully the effect that we thought this inopportune order would have, and the necessity for its removal. We had a long talk about the general character of the export duty provisions, and about the export of American logs to the Canadian mills at St. John, and the fact that the balance of export had been, and was still, on the side of Canadians. The Premier seemed very much impressed with our representations. He said he would refer the matter to Council that afternoon, and we left with the impression that the boom duty was to be re- scinded. On Monday morning I received in my mail a letter from a friend in Bay City, Michigan, saying that a deputa- tion consisting of S. 0. Fisher, ex-member of Congress, and subsequently a candidate for governor of the state; Colonel Bliss, also an ex-member of Congress; General Alger, ex- governor of the state, and other leading capitalists, was leav- ing for Washington the Sunday night following the date of the letter, and without using the somewhat vigorous lan- guage of the letter the object of their visit was stated to be an attempt to break up the free lumber provisions of the bill, and have done with the whole thing, so much were they incensed at the issue of the Canadian order. I intercepted 145 FISCAL RELATIONS Sir John Thompson on his way to his office that morning, and I showed him the letter and stated that it was of the ut- most importance to the lumber trade of Canada that prompt action should be taken. I told him that the Michigan dele- gation would not reach Washington until that afternoon, and that if they could be met with a telegram from Ottawa, that this order had been set aside, the mischief they would otherwise do might be averted. Sir John Thompson said: "I will see you when the House meets, and let you know whether or not to send the message." After prayers on Monday, the fourteenth of May, Sir John Thompson crossed the floor of the House and asked me if I would be kind enough to send the message to the delegation at Washington that the boom duty would be left in abeyance, or rescinded, as I understood it. That message was sent. It was not sent by me. It was sent by the Customs Department at my suggestion and request. It was sent to one gentleman belonging to this delegation at Washington, in care of Thomas A. E. Weadock, of the House of Representatives, and another telegram was sent to the president of the Michigan Log Towing Company of Bay City, Michigan. Another message was sent to the Collector of Customs at Sault Ste. Marie, and the government used the utmost haste, and took the most effective measures to con- vince the Americans that this obnoxious duty, which the Con- troller of Customs had sprung upon them was set aside. MR. N. CLARKE WALLACE (Controller of Customs) It was not set aside. MR. CHARLTON Well, it was set aside for the time being. It was left in abeyance. The impression conveyed to them was that if this matter was left in abeyance, when the Wil- son Bill became law the trouble was ended. I learned after- wards, Mr. Speaker, that the delegation at Washington re- ceived this telegram through Mr. E. T. Carrington, one of its members, and that they were not fully satisfied with its purport. Through some delay the telegram was not received until Tuesday morning. In the meantime they had as- 146 THE LUMBER DUTIES sembled the Michigan delegation of the House of Repre- sentatives and of the Senate, who all agreed in determining that they would sweep free lumber from the Wilson Bill, that they would have no more tinkering with the Canadian government, which had shown such bad faith in the matter, and that they would leave Canadians to pay duty on lum- ber, and would pay the duty on the boom sticks. They had gone to the state department and had requested the authorities to procure an interview between themselves and Sir Julian Pauncefote, and after some little hesitation, Mr. Adee, one of the Assistant Secretaries of State, wrote a carefully worded note to the British embassy. In the course of three-quarters of an hour Mr. Goschen came to the state department from the embassy and expressed regret that Sir Julian Pauncefote was indisposed and not able to meet the delegation. They discussed the matter, and the Michigan delegation found Mr. Goschen quite capable of understanding the whole question. If their statements are correct he pronounced it a worse than absurd order, and he went to Sir Julian Pauncefote, and returned in the course of an hour and stated: "That, although it was not an ordinary course to pursue, yet the British embassy would wire the authorities at Ottawa that that order had better be set aside." That is what is stated by the Michigan delegation. I do not know whether my honourable friend (Mr. Wallace), or the Secretary of State ever received such a telegram from the British embassy or not. That was the nature of that feature of the boom duty impost. The government left the duty in abeyance. They did it at the solicitation of the Ottawa lumbermen of whom I was one, and the government em- ployed me MR. WALLACE Oh. MR. CHARLTON Yes, sir; and I have a copy of the tele- gram here. The government employed me to communicate with the Michigan delegation at Washington to avert the evil consequences they feared would result from their visit to that city, and which might upset the free-lumber arrange- 147 FISCAL RELATIONS ments. Matters ran on without a hitch, and the boom duty was not imposed until after the passage of the Wilson Bill. When the Wilson Bill had become law and when we had se- cured the great advantages that that bill conferred upon us, by the comparatively paltry concession of refraining from putting an export duty on booms, then this magnanimous and chivalrous government, imagining that the danger was passed that they would bring upon their head by unfriendly action, proceeded to enforce this order again. They were not aware I presume, that the Michigan delegation had received the pledge of the United States treasury department, that if the Canadian boom duty were imposed it would be considered pro tanto an export duty, and the whole of the advantages secured by the Wilson Bill would be swept away by one stroke of the pen. They thought that they might then with impunity impose this duty on booms. A Michigan delega- tion came down here about the first of December, and their spokesman, Mr. Weadock, pointed out to the government that this duty might be he knew it would be considered pro tanto an export duty, and that the consequences might be most serious to the Canadian lumber interests. After due consideration the government made up its mind to back down, and, in order to cover its retreat, it had a series of negotiations by which it professed to be very anxious to have the American government declare it would not impose an export duty upon boom sticks, a duty which it had never imposed and which it never thought of imposing at all. This is the history of the transaction up to the final removal of this pet boom duty by the govern- ment, a duty which they had clung to with much tenacity. They imposed it in May and dropped it because of the serious consequences that threatened them. They dropped it under the advice of a level-headed, common-sense Premier. They resuscitated it again by the action of my honourable friend the Controller of Customs (Mr. Wallace), and they ignomin- iously backed out of it afterwards, when they ascertained the serious consequence likely to attend it. 148 THE LUMBER DUTIES Now, sir, let me in conclusion, ask what I have done where the government has availed itself of the fruits of my efforts? They condemn me without stint; their press has condemned me; their orators upon the stump have con- demned me. They have rung the charges upon it by saying I was a Yankee, an annexationist, a traitor. And what have they taken at my hands? They have accepted the pro- ferred reduction in the McKinley Bill to one dollar a thousand on lumber upon condition of their giving up the export duty. That arrangement, which I initiated, they accepted promptly, and then they called me a traitor. They accepted the pro- visions of the Wilson Bill, made in February, 1894, which I had more or less connection with; and having accepted those provisions, with all the conditions attached, and having accepted them thankfully, they set aside the boom duty order in May, 1894, for fear they would lose them; and all the while they called myself, who had been instrumental hi get- ting these concessions, a traitor. They accepted the privilege, and sacrificed their boom duty, knowing that it would tend to save the free lumber provision; but they could not forego the opportunity of putting the knife into a hated political rival. Then they asked my services to avert the hostile action of the Michigan delegation at Washington; and there are two telegrams in the honourable gentleman's (Mr. Wal- lace's) department copies of which I have in my hand, prac- tically sent by myself, which were sent on May 14, 1894, to secure the object which the government sought, namely, the averting of the disaster which would have been the result of the Michigan delegation in both Houses of Congress going against the free lumber provision of the Wilson Bill. And then after waiting until the Wilson Bill became law, they, with infinite meanness, came around and put into force again their boom duty order. Had they adhered to that position, the whole of the advantages that were secured to Canada under the Wilson Bill the free admission of the articles which it took eleven paragraphs to enumerate, and which covered $13,000,000 worth of products would have been swept 149 FISCAL RELATIONS away by a treasury department ruling; because their boom duty order would have been ruled by the treasury authorities at Washington to be, pro tanto, an export duty. After having been instrumental in securing these things, and having the fruits of my efforts appropriated by the govern- ment, I have been persecuted and traduced by that govern- ment and by its followers. I here record my assertion that in all the discussion relating to this matter, the course of the government and its supporters towards me has been unfair, petty and malignant, and utterly devoid of the first prin- ciples of political honesty, in regard to this matter. 150 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION THE propaganda which I carried on in Canada and the United States in favour of better trade relations between the two countries was not confined to the platform. I declared my opinions and policy from my place in the House of Commons. This speech was delivered on March 20, 1902, in the course of the budget debate. This is the Hansard report, with some slight revision. House of Commons, March 20, 1902. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: The fiscal relations of Can- ada with other countries and especially with the United States at the present time excite very great attention and interest in the public mind. It is a question which deserves and calls for our careful consideration and deliberation. It may not be, sir, that revision of our policy at the present time, or definite action of any character, is desirable or called for; but some action of that character is inevitable in the near future, and it is in the highest degree important that the facts relating to our fiscal relations with various countries should be discussed, and should be made generally known to the public. I propose, to-day, Mr. Speaker, at the outset, to make a few references to some events in the past history of the legislation of this country which I think are pertinent to the condition of things that exists to-day. I had a great deal of pleasure in listening to the speech of the Minister of Trade and Commerce (Sir Richard Cartwright), and I can endorse most fully his encomiums upon the administration of the 151 FISCAL RELATIONS Mackenzie government, and his speculations as to what would probably have been the outcome of that policy had that government continued in power. There is one thing in connection with that administration which I think the present administration may profitably take into consideration. We had, in Canada, in the early years of the Mackenzie administration, a strong protectionist feeling. That was a question which was discussed to some extent when I first entered politics in Canada in 1872. It was a question which received a good deal of attention in the years 1874, 1875 and 1876 in this Canadian House of Commons. There were in the Liberal party, among the supporters of Mr. Mackenzie, a number of members who believed that the duties should be advanced, and that the government should adopt a protec- tive policy moderate in character and limited in extent. Among those supporters of the Mackenzie administration who supported that policy were representatives from Hamil- ton, Toronto and Montreal, the present Minister of Customs (Hon. Wm. Paterson) then representing South Brant, and myself. The rate of duty upon the great mass of our import- ations then was seventeen and a half per cent., and the re- quest made by the supporters of the government who repre- sented this demand for some advance in the duties, was that the duties should be advanced to twenty-five per cent. But it was well known that an advance to twenty-two and a half per cent., would have been acceptable, and it is even probable that an advance to twenty per cent, would have allayed the protectionist feeling that existed and would have been accepted with some grumbling as a solution of the question by those who were demanding an increase of the duties. These demands, it is hardly necessary to say, were of the most moderate character. There were good reasons for adopting this policy. The revenue of the country was insufficient to meet the expenditure even with the careful and economical administration of Mr. Mackenzie. It was an era of deficits, and it would have been the most proper thing in the world to increase the revenue to a degree sufficient 152 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION to cover the absolutely necessary expenditure. This would have been done, and very little more than has been done, by the increase of the duties that was asked for. I do not know what the actual desire of the Mackenzie government in reference to this matter was. I suspect how- ever and I think I have good reasons for the suspicion that the Mackenzie government was willing to advance the duties to twenty per cent, or even to twenty-two and a half per cent. But the Minister of Finance of that day (Sir Richard Cartwright,) was waited upon by a delegation of the members from the Maritime Provinces headed by the Hon. A. G. Jones, then member for Halifax, and was inform- ed by that delegation that if any advance hi the duties was made it simply meant that there would be a bolt of the sup- porters of the government in the Maritime Provinces. Well, the members who advocated this policy, and who were the supporters of the government in the West, hardly felt justified hi taking so extreme a position as to threaten the mackenzie government with their displeasure if it did not Meet their wishes, and consequently the government, if it had any intention of advancing the duties, abandoned that intention and surrendered to the threats of the Liberal mem- bers from the Maritime Provinces. At that time we were on the eve of a re-arrangement of party issues. If the Liberal party had advanced the duties even by a bare two and a half per cent, on the seventeen and and a half per cent, list, we have reason to suppose the then Opposition would have met that advance by a denunciation of the adoption of a protective policy. SOME HON. MEMBERS Oh! MR. CHARLTON Yes. We have reason to suppose so. The advance of the duties, however, was not made. The Minister of Finance in his budget speech in 1876 set at rest our doubts, our aspirations and our desires by announcing as has been announced on the present occasion that there would be no change in the tariff. That speech was made in the afternoon. The Finance Minister closed his remarks 153 FISCAL RELATIONS just a little before six o'clock, and during the recess between six o'clock and eight o'clock unless the Opposition had deliberated upon this question before, and had resolved what they would do in case the government did increase the duties, and had also made an alternative resolve as to what they would do if the government did not increase the duties, which I doubt in the space between six and eight o'clock the Opposition had decided upon its policy; had decided to strike out hi a bold course ; had decided to adopt a policy of protection; had decided to denounce the posi- tion taken by the Finance Minister and the Mackenzie ad- ministration, and were ready with a resolution calling for a readjustment of the tariff of Canada upon protectionist principles. Well, sir, we all know the result. The chance of the Liberal party had been thrown away. I had fought for an increase in the duties, for I believed that the salvation of the Liberal party depended upon the government taking the course that my friends and I then advocated. We failed. The duties were not increased. The policy outlined by the reso- lution of Sir John Macdonald became the policy of the Con- servative party. We went to the country upon that issue and we sustained a crushing defeat. Now, sir, the leader of the Reform government of that day, and the ministers of his administration, in my belief, had not the slightest belief that they were in danger. They had not realized what the public opinion was on this ques- tion. I felt it. I went to my constituency and held meetings for the two years that elapsed before the elections. I held twenty or thirty meetings in each year, because I felt that my position was in danger, and that as a supporter of the Mackenzie government I was liable to be defeated. In June, 1878, I wrote to the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie. I had previously implored our friends to go into the field, to hold meetings to combat this new principle, and I had warned them that if this were not done they were in danger. I wrote as I say, to the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie in June, 1878, 154 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION telling him that in my opinion his government was in a dan- gerous position, that in my opinion they were resting hi a fancied security, and ought to arouse themselves at once or be overwhelmed. I advised Mr. Mackenzie to postpone the date of the elections and to take measures to have this question thoroughly discussed in every riding in the Dominion, and to have this protective policy combatted by good speakers everywhere. Well, I suppose that my good friend Mr. Mackenzie had some little sympathy for me, a poor deluded member from the West who had got scared, and who did not realize fully how safe the government was, and how little danger there was of this heresy taking possession of the public mind. The honourable gentleman had the kindness to write me a long letter, to disabuse my mind of the false impressions I had received; to show me that I failed entirely to apprehend the drift of public sentiment; to assure me that the government was perfectly safe; that there was no danger at all; and that it was folly for me to borrow trouble. He went on to enter into details and to show me the ridings we were sure to carry, the ridings we might possibly lose, the ridings we might pos- sibly gain, and he wound up his survey of the field by the assertion that he would come back to power with a majority of sixty members hi the House of Commons. Well, I did not believe it. But, when the thunderbolt fell on September 17, 1878, I must confess that I was paralyzed, for I had not anticipated a majority of sixty on the opposite side. But such was the case. Now, the mistake of the government of that time was simply this: they underrated the force of the currents of public sentiment that pervaded the country. They did not realize how strong a hold this doctrine of protection had taken upon the public mind. They failed even to take ad- vantage of the circumstances they might have taken advan- tage of, by combatting vigorously in every riding in the Dominion this so-called heresy. And they were beaten. The Opposition party came into power came into power 155 FISCAL RELATIONS largely because the Liberal party had failed to understand the drift of public sentiment, and because the Liberal party had refused to do what was a reasonable thing, and a thing they ought to have done to make a slight concession to this protectionist sentiment that pervaded the country. What was the great difference between a tariff of seventeen and a half per cent, and a tariff of twenty per cent, or even twenty- two per cent? Each was a revenue tariff. The one was a little more protective than the other incidentally, and that was all. However, this concession to public sentiment was refused by the Liberal party and the party 'fell. Sir John Macdonald came into power. Now, sir, I am bound to say that the changes made by that honourable gentleman were not violent changes; that they were not in the strictest sense of the word, radical. It is true that a protective policy was adopted; a moderately protective policy I am bound to say in the light of past events, and speaking, as I want to speak, candidly and with a desire to present the truth. The duties under the Sir John A. Macdonald tariff were about half as high as the duties in the United States under their protective tariff ; they were what we may reasonably assert to have been moderate duties. We went on under that policy for eighteen years ; and during all that time we were dealing with states which, with the exception of Great Britain, are protective states the United States, Germany, France, Russia, and the rest all highly protected. In dealing with this question, it is easy enough to take the position of a doctrinaire, and to say that this or that corres- ponds with the teaching of political economy, and that nothing else can be correct; but it seems to me that the proper course at this juncture is to be governed by practical condi- tions. Theories are all right, but theories may not be applic- able to the conditions, and we should be governed by prac- tical conditions. Now, I am afraid I shall be considered an inconsistent man. MR. EDWARDS There is no trouble about that. 156 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION MR. CHARLTON My honourable friend says there is no trouble about that. I must confess that I cannot hold on to the doctrines of absolute free trade, as my honourable friend does, in the light of the experience I have passed through and the knowledge I have obtained. I am afraid that I must confess that I am slightly inconsistent, that I sometimes change and modify my opinions; and that, on this question, I have reached conclusions by a process of reasoning founded on conditions which have come under my notice. For instance, when I became a member of the Joint High Commission, I commenced to analyze the American trade returns; and I found before I had worked at them long, that I had been quite ignorant of our trade relations with the United States, and that the same degree of ignorance had characterized the great mass of the Canadian people. I found that the policy which the United States had pursued against Canada since the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty had been a policy conceived in the desire to keep us from growing and prospering; and that under the operation of that policy of repression they had kept our exports to the United States stationary from 1866 down to this present moment, while we had left our markets open to them through the operation of moderate duties, and they had marched in and practically monopolized the supply of manufactures to the Dominion of Canada. Well, I said, this is not right; something needs to be done; whether I am a free trader or a protectionist, or whatever my antecedents may have been, this is a condition of things which requires re-adjustment, a condition of things which it is not proper or desirable, in our interest, to allow to continue. Thus, by a course of experience, of enquiring into the facts, I confess that I have to some extent modified opinions which I may have entertained some years ago. Changed and changing conditions must ever modify opinions; and the man who does not change or modify his opinions, is a man who does not grow is not a progressive man; is not an intelligent 157 FISCAL RELATIONS man; is not a man who is influenced by his environment as he ought to be. When I issued my address to my electors at the last general election, I was, I think the first public man in Canada to give public utterance to the views which I entertained with re- gard to our American trade. And I judge that those views were acceptable to my constituents, because I was elected by acclamation; and I think I am justified in making the prediction that the views which were enunciated in that address, and were accepted by the electors of North Norfolk, Conservative and Liberal, are views which will be accepted by three-fourths of the electors of Canada. As a Liberal, I stand here to make these statements, be- cause, so far as my own influence and voice can prevent it, I do not want my party to be in ignorance of these facts or to enter upon a line of action without being fully aware of the conditions that exist. The government, of course, is not, in my opinion, called upon to take definite action in this matter now. When I tabled a resolution here on the twenty-fifth of February, it was not for the purpose of defining and challenging the issue as between the government and the opposite party. I approve of the policy of the gov- ernment in taking this matter into consideration, in deferring its conclusions, and, in the meantime, ascertaining what will be the result of the conference at London in regard to the relations of the various parts of the empire to each other. While I sustain my views by every argument which I can advance, I do not expect that the government is to take them into consideration with a view to definite and final action this session. I have said that the fiscal policy presented by the Conser- vative party after their success in 1878 could not fairly be termed a radical one. And in the same connection, sir, I would say that upon the defeat of the Conservative party in 1896 and the establishment of the present government, the changes made in the fiscal policy of the country were still not at all radical, with the exception of the feature introduced 158 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION into the tariff and known as the preferential policy. With this exception, the changes were comparatively slight, and the policy pursued by the previous government was, in a large measure, continued. The promise of the Liberal party to reduce the taxation raised by customs duties was in a measure redeemed by the adoption of the preference in favour of Great Britain the preference, first, of twelve and a half per cent., afterwards increased to twenty-five per cent, and then to thirty-three and a third per cent. I have never been very enthusiastic about this preference. It was, of course, an indirect, but nevertheless an actual, reduction of taxes from customs, so far as the importations from Great Britain are concerned. And to this extent and in this respect, those who advocated the policy may feel justified. However, to me it has always seemed that we receive nothing in return for this concession. We are left in the English markets upon exactly the same footing as all foreign states. The preference was a sentimen- tal one, an evidence of our good-will for England. It was accepted as such. It promotes good feeling; but I think that, so far as a mere expression of sentiment is concerned, a preference of twelve and a half per cent, would have been just as effective as the highest preference. It has wrought consequences that are not such as we can felicitate ourselves upon, because it has reduced the protection enjoyed by certain manufacturing industries below, the point at which protection should stand. For this reason I think it would have been a commendable act if some change had been made in the tariff this session to meet the condition of our woollen industries. However, it is difficult for a government to meddle with the tariff. It was specially natural for the government to shrink from interfering with the tariff in this case, when it avowed its intention, after the London conference is held and certain conditions settled so that we may know where we are, to revise the fiscal policy of the country. MR. CLARKE When was that avowal made? 159 FISCAL RELATIONS MR. CHARLTON I think we had from the Minister of Finance (Hon. W. S. Fielding) practically the statement that while the tariff would not be taken up and changes made this session, it would receive the attention of the gov- ernment another session. And I do not think, if it should receive the attention of the government, that the government can fail to rectify certain abuses that now exist. I, of course, differ in opinion from the Minister of Finance because it seems to me that the proper time to stop a leak in the roof is when it leaks. But that is a mere matter of opinion, and we shall have the matter adjusted later on and in a way, I trust, satisfactory to all. It is evidently the intention of the government to carefully consider all these questions. It is evidently the intention of the government to see what will be the outcome of the conference to be held in London, before making any change in the tariff. It is evidently their intention to place them- selves, first of all, in the position of knowing all the conditions and being able to deal intelligently with the fiscal questions that may confront them when this House is convened again. In the meantime, I hope the Minister of Finance in par- ticular will ask himself the question and will proceed to make investigations for the purpose of answering this question satisfactorily to his own mind: Why are nearly all the nations of Christendom protective nations except Great Britain? Is it some insane fatuity that prompts these countries to adopt protection? Are they utterly ig- norant of what pertains to their best interests? Are they rushing blindly and madly upon a course that will land them in serious difficulties and ruin? Why, it is natural for a great nation to desire to be self-sustaining, to desire to create within its own borders every variety of industry, to seek to attain that position where it will be independent, where it will have every branch of business carried on and every variety of working-man employed in these various branches ; and this realization may be attained must be attained at the cost of some sacrifice. The question is whether the 160 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION result is worth the sacrifice. Is it worth the while of a nation to impose upon itself conditions which temporarily cost money and entail difficulties and disabilities for the sake of the good that lies before it? How, at this moment, is Great Britain standing up against this prevalent policy of protection on the part of nearly every nation with which she has commercial transactions? Is she maintaining her relative position of thirty years ago? Has she command even of her own markets? She has not. She finds her rivals, the manufacturers of Germany, of the United States and of France, underselling her own manu- facturers in her own markets. She meets hi every common market the keen and bitter competition of Germany and the United States, a competition which is growing more for- midable. She finds it difficult to maintain her position in many lines. The United States has obtained command of the iron and steel market. It has increased its exports and manufactures, within a very limited number of years, to over $400,000,000 per annum, and when the Isthmian canal is built, the United States will give Great Britain com- petition in the open-door markets of Asia that will trouble not a little the British manufacturers. In our common markets to-day, Germany and the United States are the formidable competitors of Great Britain. Are these two great nations, are their institutions and their development, an evolution from the free trade ideas of Cobden? Not at all. These competitors of Great Britain have been created by a stringent and effective protection, and without the inauguration, adoption and continuance of that policy, these nations would never have attained the position they occupy to-day. Let us give some little attention to the effect of protection in the United States, the country with which we have the most intimate trade relations, with which we must in the future have the most intimate trade relations, the country that will have more influence on our destiny than all the rest of the world, in all probability. 16! FISCAL RELATIONS MR. CLARKE Notwithstanding the preference? MR. CHARLTON Notwithstanding any other influences which may intervene. The protective policy of the United States, I am free to say, has wrought many evils in that country. AN HON. MEMBER It is doing so now. MR. CHARLTON Yes, I admit the truth of that assertion. These evils have been wrought by the fact that the protective policy of the United States, the instrument they use, they applied with too great rigour; that, where moderate duties, such as we have in Canada, were sufficient, they adopted extravagant duties; where a thirty per cent, duty was enough, they would have, perhaps, sixty per cent, or seventy-five per cent. And manufacturers in the United States, where they have been able to combine, have been in a position to charge the domestic consumer very much higher prices than they could afford to export for, and did export for. These evils are the consequences of the application of the system in a way which was beyond the means required for the development of the industries of the country. But, notwithstanding this, it would be folly to deny or to attempt to minimize the effects which protection has produced in the United States, a coun- try which, to-day, is the greatest manufacturing nation on the face of the globe; a country which last year produced more goods than Great Britain and France combined; a country which produced, last year, $13,000,000,000 worth of manu- factures; a country which, last year, exported $400,000,000 worth of manufactures; a country which is increasing its export of manufactures with marvellous rapidity. All these things, whether they make a desirable consummation or not, are the results of the system of protection which has been in vogue in the United States for over forty years. It would be interesting to see what the condition of the American export and import trade has been anterior to the period of protection and succeeding the adoption of protec- tion. I draw the line between the two periods at 1875. True, the Morrill tariff was passed in 1861, but the Civil War 162 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION and. the inflated currency prevented the system of protection from having its full effect at once. The full results of protec- tion were not attained until the country had emerged from the difficulties attendant upon the war and had resumed specie payment. And so I take the year 1875 as the begin- ning of the period when protection was in full force and the results fully attained. From 1790 to 1874 is a period of eighty-four years. During that period there were fifteen years when the United States had a balance of trade in its favour, the aggregate amount of these balances being $152,723,000. During the same period there were sixty-nine years when the balance of trade was against the United States, and the aggregate amount of these balances was $2,150,000,000. Now, from 1875 to 1901 is a period of twenty-six years. During that time there were twenty-two years when the balance of trade was in favour of the United States, and four years when there was an adverse balance. The favourable balances aggregated nearly $5,000,000,000, while the adverse balances aggre- gated $69,000,000. In the last four years the favourable balances of trade in the United States aggregated $2,354,- 000,000. Last year, the balance of trade in favour of the country was $664,500,000, and of that amount Canada pro- vided $71,000,000. These are conditions which, I think, must convince any candid mind that protection has wrought certain results in the United States; that, whatever may have been the abuses of the system, however crude and improper may have been the application of the details of the system, it has made the United States the greatest manufacturing nation on the face of the globe. It has placed the United States far in the van among the nations of the world in the production of manufactures. In 1860, the census returns of that year gave the production of manufactures in the United States as $1,885,861,000. In 1890, the production of manufactures was $13,000,000,000. The increase of manu- factures in this period was at the rate of 688 per cent. In 1860, the population of the United States was 31,000,000; 163 FISCAL RELATIONS in 1890, it was 76,000,000. The increase of population in that period, therefore, was 145 per cent. These figures tell their own story, and that story is that protection has not been a failure in the United States; that story is that the United States has become the wealthiest nation in the world, the greatest manufacturing nation in the world, perhaps the most powerful nation in the world, a nation with its industries developed to the fullest extent, a nation supplying its own wants and seeking the markets of the world, a nation with an educated class of operatives, capable of performing a great amount of work for it is said that, notwithstanding the high rate of wages in the United States, the dollar will purchase more work there in the line of manufactures than in any other country. Now, the United States has reached a position where these excessive rates of protection are unnecessary, where protec- tion can be dispensed with, as she can compete with every other country in the world on equal terms, and without favour either in her own markets or in the markets of the world. I have given more particularly and in detail the results of protection in the United States, but the fact that this policy has been adopted and is continued in Germany, Russia and France is evidence, I think, that it must be producing practical results in the same line, or it would be repudiated in those countries. Now, I come to the consideration of our own trade relations with the United States. I think, sir, the spirit of the Ameri- can policy towards us should affect the spirit that we show towards the United States and our policy towards them. I state as a fact in my belief that, whatever would be ab- stractly desirable, concrete conditions should govern our action rather than theories, and that the policy, the conduct, the spirit of the United States towards us should have a direct influence upon our action, conduct and spirit towards the United States. What have been the salient features of the policy of the United States towards Canada? In 1854, we secured from 164 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION that country a very favourable treaty. That treaty remain*, ed in operation for twelve years. Under its operation our export trade with the United States quadrupled, and our import trade with the United States increased in almost the same proportion. That treaty conferred upon both countries unmixed blessings. Although our exports to the United States were slightly in excess of our imports, that was owing to the existence of the Civil War in the United States, and an abnormal demand for animal products and farm pro- ducts. Yet, it is certain that, when the war had ended and matters had adjusted themselves to their usual level, our importations from the United States would at least have equalled our exports to that country. Now, that treaty was abrogated in 1866 without cause, abrogated in a fit of spleen, abrogated in face of the fact that to offset the exhibition in the Canadian Assembly at Quebec of a little pro-Confederate feeling, we had sent 40,000 men to fight in the Union armies, and that the great mass of the people of Canada sympathized with the North. I say, in view of these facts, that that treaty was abrogated avowedly because of some little exhibition of sympathy with the South in the Canadian legislature. Canadians made an effort to avert the loss of the treaty. They admitted that it might perhaps be advisable to enlarge its provisions, to include among the articles for reciprocal interchange, certain manufactured articles. They were ready to consent to any proposition within reason rather than have that treaty abrogated. They were spurned; no pro- positions were entertained; the fiat of the United States had gone forth that the treaty must be abrogated. The feeling in the country with regard to the Alabama matter, and some other matters, gave a hostile tinge to sentiment that rendered it impossible to secure any arrangement that would save the treaty. Now, for thirty-five years since the abrogation of that treaty, what has been the policy of the United States? They have continually and continuously, consistently and per- 165 FISCAL RELATIONS sistently, followed a policy of repression. They have sought to shut out our imports from their markets. It has been their fixed and deliberate design to do this no question about it. We sent to them, in 1866, $44,000,000 worth of the pro- ductions of Canada; we sent to them in 1901, aside from precious metals, less than that amount trade had remained stationary during all these years. That was their policy towards us. What was our policy towards them? We had a scale of duties of about fifteen per cent, on their manufactured articles, we raised those duties in 1876 to seventeen and a half per cent.; we raised them under the policy of protection that was in vogue from 1878 to 1896 to less than one-half the rate of duties they imposed upon our exportations to that country; and to-day, under a Liberal policy, with as large a reduction made in our duties as is possible to make larger perhaps than is advisable to make their duties are still as high again as our own. And in consequence of that, while our exports to the United States have remained station- ary, our imports from the United States have risen from $28,000,000 in 1866 to $119,000,000 in 1901. While in 1866 we sold them $25,000,000 worth of farm products, in 1901 we sold them a little more than $8,000,000 worth; we had reduced our sale of farm products to one third of what it was in 1866. But, while we have given them a larger market for their farm products than they gave us, while we have increased our importations to threefold, almost fourfold, what they were in 1866, they still continue this deliberate policy of shutting us out of their markets. Now, what are we going to do? Of course our tariff to-day does not exactly suit the United States; they would rather have us remove all duties and give them absolute control of our market. But the tariff suits the United States about as well as they can ever expect any tariff of ours to suit them. It suits them so well that they have control of our markets for manufactures; it suits them so well that while we are their third best customer in the world, their custom, so far 166 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION as we are concerned, is of comparatively small value indeed. And what we want to do is to avoid earning their contempt by refusing to stand this kind of treatment. And how shall we do that? Well, we want to place ourselves in a good trading position, in a position where we have got something to offer in return for something that we ask. We have got nothing to offer now except that we might enlarge our free list, which is already too large. We might let down the bars, which are already too low, while our neighbour has a stake- and-rider fence hi front of us. But it is not desirable to do this. My honourable friend the Minister of Trade and Commerce, (Sir Richard Cartwright) I suppose, does not sympathize with my ideas. I would not expect that the honourable gentleman would do so fully, for I do not think that he would voluntarily incur the odium of inconsistency that would at- tach to him if he, who refused to advance the duties in 1876 by two and a half per cent, to allay the protectionist senti- ment, were to go as far as I am prepared to go to-day. I think he will maintain his consistency, nail his colours to the mast, and sink, colours and all, if it is necessary to do so. I was very much pleased with his speech the other night. I endorse fully his admirable forecast of what would probably have been the policy of the Mackenzie administration if it had continued in power. The common-sense policy for the North- West was holding the land for the settler and the con- struction of a Canadian railway to be owned by the govern- ment, and I think the country would have profited vastly by the continuance of Mr. Mackenzie in power, even if he did not raise the duties two and a half per cent. Then I admired the honourable gentleman's justification, plausible, to say the least, of the increase of the expenditure under this ad- ministration. I do not think that matter could have been presented in a better, a more ingenious, a more convincing light than that in which it was presented by him. I think, so far as the honourable gentleman and myself are concerned that we might honestly reach different conclusions in measur- 167 FISCAL RELATIONS ing the effect of recent developments and influences. It is not necessary for the Minister of Trade and Commerce to believe as I do; I respect his convictions. It is not necessary for me to believe exactly as he does, and I trust that he will respect my convictions. I look upon the character of our trade with the United States with deep resentment; perhaps he does not. That is a matter for us to consider calmly, fully and fairly. And just here, by way of parenthesis, I may refer to a story my honourable friend told, a story in which I figured to some extent as one of the characters. The honourable gentleman said that I was a very devout man, that I had stated on several occasions in the House that I was. Well, I wish to affirm, Mr. Speaker, that I never said on several occasions, or on one occasion, hi this House that I was a very devout man, and I have never claimed to be anything else than a very great sinner. It is very true, Mr. Speaker, that I have taken in charge, and to the best of my ability promoted and urged certain legislation in this House. One bill I did, after a long struggle, succeed in getting upon the statute-book. I took up another subject and I did not succeed with that. Now, I always realized, Mr. Speaker, I say this to you in confidence I always realized that in taking charge of these bills, that I was doing a most unpopular thing, that I was losing caste with my fellow-members, that I was making my- self a subject of ridicule. I felt that from the start, and I certainly did not go into this for the sake of popularity. I fought one bill persistently, and I think courageously, until I secured a success. I fought the other bill in the same way until I came to the conclusion that success was hopeless, and then I abandoned it. So far as any political return, or any return in the shape of popularity among my fellow- members was concerned, I never expected to get it, I never did get it and it has been to me, as far as my position in this House is concerned, undoubtedly a detriment. I felt that to be the case then and I feel it still. In regard to the story of my honourable friend it was not exactly correct. He has 168 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION a good sense of humour, but he was guilty of attributing the vision of some person to me. I told the story as being the vision that somebody else had. I never had a vision myself and I do not ever expect to have one. If I were asked to tell the story again and to make the application now, I should say that the probability would be that the person having the vision would see the souls hung up to dry, because they were too green to burn, of men who were satisfied with our present trade relations with the United States and intended to permit them to continue, and who had no idea of resenting the conduct of the country which treats us in such a manner. I gave very careful attention and consideration to the speech of the honourable leader of the Opposition (Mr. R. L. Borden). I must say, Mr. Speaker, that I entirely disapprove of his position on the reciprocity question. I am sorry to see an attempt to create hi this country a sentiment adverse to the securing of reciprocity with the United States upon fair and reasonable terms. We are two countries, existing side by side, with the same boundary for 4,000 miles, each of us possessing about 3,000,000 square miles of the North American continent, with railways binding us together, with watercourses serving as a boundary between the two coun- tries and inviting communication, with geographical condi- tions between the two countries knitting us closely together, with a similarity of races, laws, religion and institutions. Practically one people, nature designed that these two great countries should have intimate trade relations; and the ingenuity of adverse and hostile fiscal legislation has not been able to prevent a large development of intercommuni- cation between these countries. If we place the fiscal rela- tions of these two countries upon a mutually fair basis we shall have an enormous development of commerce, and one which would be profitable and advantageous to both peoples alike. We have obtained a very satisfactory development of trade with Great Britain. We have built up an export trade in farm products with that country of a most satisfactory 169 FISCAL RELATIONS character. We owe to Great Britain fair treatment, fra- ternal treatment, but it is not necessary for us to confine our attempts to create a profitable market to one country, or one hemisphere; and while Great Britain with her 40,000,- 000 inhabitants is a good market, we compete in that market with all the nations of the world, and we compete upon con- ditions which place us, in some cases, at a disadvantage. We cannot reach the markets of England as easily as can France, or Germany, or Russia, but the United States with 76,000,000 inhabitants is at our doors. We can reach the markets of that country with a facility and ease that no other country can. We have here almost within telephone call yes, within telephone call teeming millions of people in great centres of population and markets that we can reach more readily than even the states of the West. For people to say that we do not want trade relations with this coun- try, that we do not want reciprocity, that we will throw the whole thing over and sacrifice this great American trade, is preposterous nonsense. What we want of the United States is not non-intercourse, not repression, but fair play, a chance to get into their markets on as good terms as those on which they get into ours. MR. CLARKE How do you hope to get it? MR. CHARLTON If we cannot get it, we can do the other thing. If we have to do the other thing we will do it, but I would deprecate it. I would adopt the other course only as a last resort. There is one thing to be borne in mind in connection with this American trade. If we adopt a system of protection in Canada, we do it for the purpose of manu- facturing in our own country the goods that we import from abroad, of having in our own country the artisans who pro- duce these goods, so that we can feed them. One thing that affords us a cause of complaint against the United States is that we import over $60,000,000 worth of manufactures from that country, and we are not allowed to send to them even a small portion of the food that the operatives who produce these goods consume. What we want is a chance 170 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION to reach that already created market. If we go to work to create a market we can do it, but it will not be as valuable a market, and it will take years and a vast sum of money to make it. If we can get access to the market of the United States, to the market that has been created by a period of forty years of protection, will it not be better to attempt to do that than to attempt to create a market ourselves? The condition of trade between these two countries at the present time warrants us in saying to the United States: "Give us reciprocity in natural products; not that we will promise you any mitigation of our tariff system; we will not agree to put a single article more on the free list; we will not agree to reduce our duties; we are entitled, on the basis of the conditions as they exist to-day, to recip- rocity in natural products. If we can get it, it is all right; if we cannot, we cannot get what we are entitled to." If we can get it what would be the result? Would it be worth while? Some honourable gentlemen on the other side of the House will say no, I presume. I cannot agree with that view of the case. If we could get reciprocity we would have free coal. We imported last year nearly 3,000,000 tons of bituminous coal for manufactures and railways, and this paid a duty of fifty- three cents per ton. If we had reciprocity this coal would come in free and we would send to the United States a much larger amount than we send now. We sent last year nearly $5,000,000 worth of coal to the American market; we would vastly increase that business. If we had reciprocity in natural products we would have the competition of American buyers here for the pur- chase of all the articles we sell for export for wheat, for oat- meal, for flour, for cheese, for butter, for meats, for fish. And the competition thus created in the matter of wheat, for instance, would be worth more to the producer in Canada than a five per cent, preferential duty in England would be. It would have the effect of raising the price of wheat to a greater extent than five per cent, preference, because it brings in active competition, and it would be impossible to 171 FISCAL RELATIONS create a ring to put the price down as now is sometimes the case below the level at which it should be. We would have an increased price for lumber to the extent of the duty we now pay. We would have a vast trade in quarry products. We have, all along the northern shore of the Great Lakes, quarries of sandstone, freestone, granite, or marble; and on the other side of the lakes we have vast cities like Duluth, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, that would furnish a market for millions of dollars' worth of these quarry products where we now do not sell a ton. We would have a great market for our mine products; a market for millions of tons of iron ore, besides what we need to use ourselves. We would have an increased and better market for fish; and we would have a market for our farm products, and all kinds of products, in these great cities which have congregated in them many millions of people within easy reach of us. We would have a market in these cities at American prices whereas now we have to sell, if we sell at all, less the exorbitant duties charged. We would probably have free pulp and free paper, in exchange, possibly, for free pulp-wood. These are a few of the advan- tages that would accrue to Canada from reciprocal free trade in natural products. Our trade with Great Britain has been built up by the adoption of business methods, by cold storage, by pushing our trade intelligently, efficiently, energetically. The same course pursued with regard to the United States, if we had access to that market, would build up an enormous trade for us with that country, and would add incalculably to the wealth and prosperity of Canada. My honourable friend, the leader of the Opposition, tells us in his resolution that he is in favour of " reciprocal trade preference within the empire." What does that mean? What would literally "reciprocal trade preference" be between Canada and Great Britain? Great Britain admits everything we send there free of duty manufactures, natural products, anything and everything. A reciprocal 172 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION preference for us would be to admit free everything coming here from England. Is that what is meant by the resolution? Of course that is a policy that would be highly satisfactory to England, but would it be satisfactory to Canada? That is literally a reciprocal trade preference between the two countries. You cannot have it. We never can have it. What does the leader of the Opposition mean? Does he mean that England is to readopt the Corn Laws? MR. POPE Yes. MR. CHARLTON Well, I hope that is correct. I would not object to seeing the Corn Laws readopted and preferential duties imposed on wheat and lumber in favour of the colonies. But does any man here suppose that England is going to do that that is, to the extent of affording us any tangible advantage? Five per cent, would be a mere bagatelle, a bauble. Ten per cent, might be of some little advantage in wheat and lumber, but anything less than ten per cent, would not be worth consideration. Then as a corollary and necessary adjunct to this policy of reciprocity in preference within the empire comes the ques- tion of imperial defence. A great many men are so ardent in their imperial predilections that they want to see some kind of a legislative or defensive union existing between Great Britain and her colonies; some central authority that will designate what we shall pay and what we shall do. Now, Mr. Speaker, I believe Canada should preserve absolute autonomy. The union between this country and Great Britain is a union of sentiment. The aid we have given to Great Britain in her emergency of the South African war has been voluntarily rendered. Sir, while we are ready to make sacrifices, while we cherish the feelings we do to- wards the mother country, we can never allow the mother country, or anybody else to say how much we must do. It must rest upon our own voluntary decision. We realize the importance of this imperial connection. We realize the importance of the English market that takes eighty-two per cent, of our agricultural products. We can- 173 FISCAL RELATIONS not afford to let Great Britain be blotted out. Why, sir, if it comes to a question of life and death, Canada would give her last man and her last dollar to avert that calamity. But we cannot put ourselves in a position in which we shall be deprived of the initiative in deciding what we shall do. We have already made sacrifices, sacrifices of greater con- sequence than is generally imagined, for imperial purposes. The Canadian Pacific Railway is really an imperial road. Every dollar expended in that road accrues to the advantage of the British empire. That is a military road; a military avenue of the greatest importance to England. If the time ever comes when the question arises as to whether this coun- try shall be blotted out or not, we shall have to do the business of defending ourselves to a large extent. That emergency will never confront us, except in case of war with the United States. And in case of war with the United States is it to be supposed that Canada would make smaller sacrifices, would make less exertions, than England would? Why, sir, we would have to put forth superhuman exertions. The brunt would fall upon us. I repeat that Canada should never put herself in a position where she would lose her autonomy. We have the resources for a great nation; we will become a great nation. It should be our object to make this a na- tion that will be an example to the world a nation possessing the best institutions and the best laws and the freest popu- lation. We have a territory that gives us room for 100,000,- 000 people. We do not want to play second-fiddle to any one. We do not want to be put into a position of a fifth wheel to a coach in any combination. So much for these questions of reciprocal conditions within the empire, of reciprocity with the United States upon reasonable and favourable conditions, and of imperial defence. Now, it has been said, Mr. Speaker, that really this great import trade from the United States is a trade that we cannot dispense with; that although it is very large yet all these imports are indispensable to us; that we take them from the United States because we have to have them, and that 174 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION there is no help for us ; that they may take more or they may take less from us, but we must take from them all that we now import. Now, our total free imports from the United States amount to $56,000,000, or, eliminating coin and bul- lion, $53,549,000. Of this list of articles that we import free from the United States the indispensable articles include the following: Raw Cotton $4,731,812 Tobacco Leaf 1,720,589 Wool 389,289 Hides and Skins 2.432,297 Anthracite Coal 7,923,950 Coke 679,915 Hardwood and Manufactures of Axe Handles, Spokes, Felloes, etc 1,500,000 Miscellaneous articles 2,000,000 Total $21,377,852 Thus there are $21,377,000 worth of indispensable arti- cles which we import from the United States out of the free list of $53,500,000; and on that free list there are the follow- ing articles which we can dispense with: Indian Corn $6,484,181 Flax Seed 662,696 Miscellaneous Articles 1,000,000 Free Manufactures 18,000,000 Total $26,146,877 This leaves $6,000,000 of the imports on the free list un- classified. Possibly one-half of these we could dispense with also. We import from the United States $65,000,000 worth of manufactures, of which $22,000,000 are free of duty. We can produce in this country at least $40,000,000 worth of that list. We can shut off the imports of Indian corn, flax seed, meats, and a lot of other things in the food line. If we adopt a policy towards the United States as stringent as theirs is towards us, we can reduce our imports from the United States by from $50,000,000 to $55,000,000, and bring down our list of imports to the lean and beggarly dimensions of our list of 175 FISCAL RELATIONS exports. Sir, we do not desire to do this. We would rather increase our exports to the United States by $55,000,000. This diminishing of our imports is a heroic remedy which we may adopt if we can do no better; but we want to do better if we can; and the terms of my resolution submitted on the twenty-fourth of February, are directly along that line. It proposes to give to the United States the same status in our markets that England enjoys, if they give us the same treatment that England does, that is, the free admission of our natural products. It proposes to give to the United States a disability of forty or fifty per cent, more taxes than Great Britain would pay, if they do not give us the same as Great Britain gives us. It is a plain and simple remedy. We are not called upon to impose it just now; but we may as well talk it over a little among ourselves; we may as well talk it over a little with the United States. I have thought it desirable to present these views wherever an opportunity presented itself. I have done it at various places in the United States before influential audiences, and I have never done it without producing a marked effect. I have never done it without having had the assurance given to me that this question had not been understood, that my views were correct, and that the United States ought to do exactly what I suggested give us free trade in natural products and if they did not do that they would have no reason to complain if the very policy which I have foreshadow- ed were adopted. We want to continue these missionary efforts in the United States; and if the American people come to understand the case, they will take a different position from what they have taken in ignorance of actual conditions. They have been led to suppose that the United States market was essen- tial to Canada, that we lived and moved and breathed in their favour. We want them to understand that while the United States takes eight per cent, of our exports, Eng- land takes eighty-two per cent; we want to let them know that we can get along without them; and if we take pains 176 NATIONAL SELF-PROTECTION to present these views to the American people, we shall have a state of sentiment created in that country that will be favourable to a settlement of our trade relations on a basis that will be reasonable. For these reasons I have not lost hope that the Joint High Commission has not yet exhausted its efforts or ceased its career of usefulness. I am in a position to say that it has had a career of usefulness. I cannot, of course, disclose to the public what was done. But I am anxious to see that Joint High Commission meet once more. I am anxious to ascertain, as a result of that meeting, whether these questions can be satisfactorily adjusted or not. When we have de- finitely settled that, one way or the other, we shall know what course we ought to pursue; and if we cannot get fair play, we can at least place ourselves in a position where we shall not merit and receive the contempt of the American people. These views and arguments are submitted simply for con- sideration. As I said before, while I would have been pleased to see the government make some concessions to satisfy the demands of the aggrieved industries of this country, in two or three cases at least, yet I understand how difficult and dangerous a task it is to re-open a tariff. And so I accept the situation. But I have placed my views before the House, and I will leave my statements and arguments to have such weight as they may with the members of the government. And when the time comes, after the conference has met, when we shall know more definitely than we do now where we stand, then the government will take its course and decide on its line of conduct, and every member of this House can decide whether he can support or whether he must oppose the policy so adopted. 12 177 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION FOR many years the favourite answer of political opponents to any argument I might put forward was the declaration that I was a " Yankee," and a traitor to Canada. My early association, and, in later life, my business connections, gave me, I believe, a clearer view than many Canadians have of the advantage of favourable trade arrangements with the people of the United States, and, as in other matters so in this, I spoke my mind freely. I was one of the most ardent supporters of proposals to send envoys to Washing- ton to negotiate a reciprocity treaty, honestly believ- ing that, if approached in a frank, friendly and businesslike way, the American authorities would readily concede the desired change. When the Liberal party came into power in Canada in 1896, I certainly expected reciprocity to follow. Though disappointed at the delay, I recognized that the accumulated difficulties of many years were not to be overcome without some expenditure of time. I felt sure of success when the International Commission was appointed in 1898, and being one of the four Canadian representatives, I was glad to think I should have a part in the good work. But I found that American officials and politicians did not repre- sent what I believed to be the sentiment of the 179 FISCAL RELATIONS American people. Consequently I began, in 1899, a propaganda in the United States in favour of reci- procity. As a convinced and avowed protectionist, I had no hesitation in telling the Americans that Canada would not forever follow a profitless course of one-sided liberality in fiscal matters, but would keep her own markets by a tariff, if she could not by concessions gain a place in American markets. My first address on this line was before the Merchants' Club of Chicago, on February 11, 1899. I addressed similar bodies in New York, Washington, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and many other American cities, and always, as well as I could judge, with the greatest acceptance to my hearers. The reciprocity movement in the United States was immensely helped by this work. One result of the movement was the assembling of the National Reciprocity Convention in Detroit, in December, 1902. Several Canadians, including myself, were guests of the convention. The session was brought to a close with a great ban- quet at the Fellowcraft Club, given, on the tenth of December, by the Detroit Chamber of Commerce in honour of the delegates to the convention. This function was attended by such men as Governor Cummings of Iowa, Ex-Governor John Linn, of Minnesota, and many others of the best and the most representative American citizens. I had the honour to be the first and principal speaker of the evening. The speech, as here given, is from the verbatim report made for the Chamber of Commerce, with slight amendments. 180 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION Detroit, December 10, 1902. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Chairman : I think the time is at hand when we shall all realize that it was an epoch in our history when we were permitted to attend and take part in a convention in which so much was accomplished for the fur- therance of reciprocity. The North American continent seems to have been fitted by Providence for the greatest theatre of Anglo-Saxon development. If the great world power of the future does not send forth its potent influences from this centre, if here are not massed the forces that will control the destinies of the world, I do not read correctly the signs upon the horizon of the future. But, if a broad comprehension of proper and truly desirable conditions does not lead to the adjustment of relations, commercial, political, and social, between the United States and Canada, upon the enduring foundation of mutual interest and advantage, the complete realization of the mighty possibilities of the future will not be attained. Can any sound argument be urged in favour of ending the system of free trade that exists between all the states of the American union, and substituting for it tariffs and restric- tions upon trade between the various states or between groups of states? If not, then can it be shown that the policy governing trade between the various states of the American union is not one that can be applied with the same satis- factory results to trade between states of the American union and provinces of the Canadian Dominion provinces inhab- ited by the same race, with substantially the same institu- tions, and with ethnic, geographical and business affinities with the great republic quite as strong as those existing be- tween the various states themselves? As I said the other night at the Board of Trade meeting, in Tonawanda, N.Y., the policy that was adopted in 1866 by the American government was on all fours with the Scotchman's principle of doing business, and that was : " Tae gie nae thing for nae thing, an' dom little for saxpence." 181 FISCAL RELATIONS (Laughter.) We are kindred people, and I tell you, Mr. President, that Great Britain will make any sacrifices for the sake of having good relations with the United States. The day has long passed when any animosity of feeling was entertained by Great Britain towards this country, and the English people feel and it will be well when the American people feel as thoroughly as the English people do that these two nations have, aside from themselves, no natural allies, and that England, subdued and obliterated from the map of nations, would be a calamity greater than any other which could befall the United States. She is your buffer state, and she shields you from attacks of European powers, and were that nation obliterated the great republic would have to make a supreme struggle for its existence. England accepts the Monroe doctrine and accepts it gladly. She says to the United States: "We have a little territory up north of you; of course you don't want that, but the rest of the continent we have nothing to do with, and all we ask of you is to maintain a sort of decent regard for appearances and not take your meals too often." (Laughter.) In Canada we have settled down under the Monroe doctrine as under the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. We are afraid of no intervention from any other power, we know the United States would not permit it. We are not going to inquire why. That is not necessary. As for Canada, of course we are right up here against you, and we take a view of the colos- sal power of this nation at close range. We have not any feeling of envy whatever. We have a feeling of emulation. We would like to make history by developing our resources and carrying the star of empire westward, and planting new settlements and settling our territory with millions of people. We are going to do it, and in doing it we are going to imitate your example and follow in your footsteps. The condition of affairs between these two countries at the present moment is unsatisfactory, perhaps more unsatis- factory than you imagine. Four years ago on the eleventh of next February, I made an attempt to reach American 182 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION public sentiment in an address at the Merchants ' Club of Chicago. I felt encouraged by the reception of that address and by the kindly remarks of those leaders in business who came to me and said that I had made an address that was calculated to give a better understanding of the condition of things existing between the two countries, and that if the facts I had set forth were generally understood, they believed it would result in a change in the condition of things. Still I seemed to confront a dead wall a wall of indifference and misunderstanding, a wall of prejudice and hostility towards Canada, arising from a misunderstanding of the conditions that then existed. I am happy to say that there has been a rapid change since that time, and I feel encouraged with this magnificent demon- stration to-night, and at the gathering of this convention in historic Detroit where a reciprocity convention met many years ago and separated without accomplishing anything in the line of bringing the two countries together. I do not believe history will repeat itself in this respect. Something less than fifty years ago, when Canada was smarting under the sense of having lost her advantage in the English market through the repeal of the British Corn Laws, and was casting about for some substitute, a Reciprocity Treaty was negotiated and went into effect between Canada and the United States in 1854. That treaty remained in operation till August 12, 1866. It was abrogated, under the provisions of the treaty, by twelve months' notice being given by the United States government. Under that treaty there was an increase of trade. The trade between the two countries quadrupled in twelve years, and the last year 1866 the exports of Canada to the United States were $44,000,000, and the imports from the United States $28,- 000,000; while the imports from Great Britain were $16,000,- 000 and the exports to Great Britain $40,000,000. There was a considerable balance of trade in favour of Canada, but the fact that only $3,500,000 worth of farm products were exported to Britain direct, furnishes satisfactory evidence 183 FISCAL RELATIONS that a large proportion of the exports of Canada to the United States consisted of breadstuffs and other exports passing through the United States, the Americans taking their charge for transportation and commission out of the prices; and it we could arrive at the volume of that class of business, it is my opinion that the balance in favour of Canada would be found to have been little, if anything. That year Canada exported to the United States $25,000,000 worth of farm products. Last year we exported to the United States $7,000,000 worth. That year we imported from the United States $28,000,000 worth. Last year we imported $120,000,000 worth for consumption. That year we imported from Great Britain $40,000,000 worth, and last year $49,000,000 worth, but that year we exported to Great Britain $16,500,000 worth, and last year $109,000,000. These figures indicate the direction trade has taken. We felt I was in Canada at the time we felt that we sustained a great disaster in the abrogation of that treaty. We felt that one reason that had weight with the American government in abrogating that treaty was a reason not founded on fact. That was the allegation that Canada had sympathized with the South in the Civil War. It is true there was an element in the population of Canada that had sympathy with the cause of the South. It is equally true that there was just such an element in the northern states. The difference was that here there was military law, and in Canada they could make as much noise as they liked. (Laughter.) We had 40,000 men serving in the Union army (Applause.) We had two-thirds of the population of Canada sympathizing with the North. But the minority that sym- pathized with the South drew upon our heads the indignation of the United States, and the abrogation of that treaty was the result. So we had to cast about for something else to do, and Uncle Sam, since August 12, 1866, has been the great force for promoting British imperialism. If he had advised us to be- come imperialists, we might have disregarded it, probably 184 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION would. But he has done worse than that he has forced us in that direction. The Liberal party came into power in 1874, and we said : " Now, one will go down into Egypt, and see what he can do; the friends of the United States are now in power in the Dominion, and we will go down and get a treaty of reciprocity." We sent one of our foremost men, the Hon. George Brown, to Washington, and a treaty was negotiated with the state department, and that treaty placed natural products on the free list. It made all agricultural implements free, and there was a list, in addition to that, of over forty manufactured articles that were free. It provided for the construction of a canal from above the Lachine Rapids to Lake Champlain a canal having twelve feet of water, designed to connect the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Welland canal with Lake Champlain and the Hudson and it made stipulations that the United States should enlarge the canal from Whitehall to Albany to the same depth. That meant that Canada was considering New York, for cer- tain purposes, its seaport, and was making provisions to afford facilities for taking trade from Montreal to New York. The signs of the times could not be read by the United States Senate. The treaty was turned down, and the history of North America took on a new phase; the forces that would have irresistibly tended to make the two peoples one were turned aside, and in place of the common-sense policy of freely trading with each other, a policy of repression was introduced; and may the forces that brought that curse upon America be ever held up to reprobation! There was nothing for Canadians then but to do the best we could without regard to the United States. We realized that an attempt to get trade relations with the United States would prove futile, and we proceeded to seek for other mar- kets. We proceeded to develop our trade with Britain, and the result is that we have built up an enormous trade. The result is that our sympathy and our loyalty reaches out to and centres in Britain. The result is that three-quarters of our total farm exports are sent to Great Britain, and the 185 FISCAL RELATIONS government is providing cold storage and lavishing money in order to protect this trade, and our farmers are catering to the tastes of the British customer, and have forgotten all about the United States. They don't know there is anything here specially worth seeking for, and you cannot arouse their interest in the American market, because they do not know that there is such a market promising any advantage to them. I suppose I won't weary you I see before me a number of business men if I give you a few figures, and I will say with regard to these figures that they are fresh. They are given to the public for the first time to-night. Last year our import percentage of total trade with Great Britain was twenty- nine per cent. We imported twenty-nine out of every hun- dred and exported seventy-one. Our imports from the United States, not counting precious metals, made sixty- five per cent, of our total imports. Our import percentage from the United States, eliminating the precious metals, was seventy- two per cent., and our export percentage thirty- eight per cent. Our import percentage of total trade with France was eighty-three per cent., and with Germany eighty- one per cent. These figures show that we have a very heavy balance of trade against us with all nations except Great Britain. Our trade was unsatisfactory with the United States, France, and Germany, and in the highest degree satisfactory with Great Britain. Last year we imported from Great Britain for consumption $49,000,000. We exported to Great Britain $109,000,000. Last year we imported from the United States $129,000,000, of which $120,814,000 was for consumption. We exported to that country, in- cluding gold from the Klondike, $66,567,000 leaving a bal- ance of trade against us of $54,000,000. But eliminating from our exports precious metals, amounting to $43,000,000 we have $77,814,000 as the actual balance of trade against us. Thus it will be seen we bought of the United States three dollars' worth for every dollar's worth that we sold to them. Of course it does not follow that if you buy more 186 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION than you sell you are poorer. But it does follow, if you are dealing liberally with a customer and impose no restrictions in the way of his selling to you, and he imposes restrictions in the way of your selling to him, that the trade is not satisfac- tory, and that is the character of our trade with the United States to-day, and has been the character of that trade for more than a generation. Last year we bought of dutiable goods from England $35,- 000,000, of free goods $14,000,000. Our duties upon the total imports were seventeen per cent., and on the dutiable imports twenty-four per cent. Last year we bought from the United States of free goods, $60,632,000, and of dutiable goods, $60,181,000. Our duty upon the total imports was twelve per cent., and upon dutiable imports twenty-five per cent. Our duties on United States goods were five per cent, less than on those we imported from England, and our duties on dutiable imports from the United States, notwithstanding the preference in favour of England, were but one per cent, higher than on English goods. When we come to consider what will be the terms of our future trade policy, and the United States asks us what we are going to give, and what we are going to do, our reply will be: "We will give you an abstinence from reprisals if you remove the cause, and an adoption of your own policy if it remains as at present. We will not continue the policy of charging you twenty-five per cent, duties on dutiable imports while you charge us fifty per cent. We will not continue a free list of $60,000,000." So, when the time comes to take this matter under consideration we shall simply say to you that we have not been exacting the conditions against you which you have exacted against us, and now if we continue these broad, liberal conditions that have been in force we shall ask of you in return the free admission of our natural products. Last year we exported $94,000,000 worth of farm products. Of this amount we sold to Great Britain $79,500,000 worth, to the United States $7,027,000, and to all the rest of the 187 FISCAL RELATIONS world $8,000,000. We sold to Great Britain three-quarters of our total exports of products of the farm. We sold to Britain eleven times as much as we sold to the United States. Last year we imported from the United States $15,487,000 worth of farm products for consumption, and the year before we imported $20,000,000 worth. Last year imports fell off because the corn was scarce, and so imports were abnormally low. Last year we imported from Great Britain $2,207,000 worth of farm products, almost entirely of hemp, hides, and wool, and last year we imported from all other countries of the world $2,500,000 worth of farm produce. Now, Mr. Chairman, the general impression in the United States has been that we are dependent upon that country for a market for our farm products. We do not know any- thing about the markets there. I have a list here of the ar- ticles we buy for consumption in Canada from the United States in excess of our sales of the same articles to that country, and it embraces corn, cornmeal, oatmeal, seeds, small fruits, broom corn, oats, wheat, wheat flour, hemp, horses, hogs, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, lard, bacon, hams, salt beef, salt pork, hides, skins and wool. So when you come to put natural products upon the free list the ad- vantages would not be all on one side. We have in British Columbia, the Klondike region, and the Yukon region, a great mining country, and a large popu- lation raising very little food. Most of the food consumed has to be imported. It can be sent more economically from Washington and Oregon than from our own wheat-fields east of the Rocky Mountains. The Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, have a million inhabitants, and if we had free trade their lumber and fish would come to Boston and New York, and almost every dollar's worth of the food they buy would come from the United States. Ontario and Quebec would buy millions of dollars' worth of corn for fattening stock, and the mining fields of New Ontario would draw their food supplies largely from the United States. 188 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION I wish to direct the attention of manufacturers to one fea- ture of the trade between these two countries which should be suggestive to them. Last year we bought of the United States $69,500,000 worth of manufactures, $21,000,000 worth of which were free. We bought last year of Great Britain $41,600,000 worth of manufactures, $7,900,000 worth of which were free. We bought of the manufacturers of the United States $27,800,000 worth in excess of our purchases from Great Britain, and we bought from the United States last year, in excess of our purchases from the manufacturers of all the world including Great Britain, $10,000,000 worth. The United States has control of our market for a great variety of manufactures. The question that confronts you is not whether this market shall be extended and it will be extended if we get free trade in natural products but whether you are to retain this market. We are confronted with your wall of fifty per cent, duties, and we have con- cluded that if we cannot get reciprocity in natural products we will have reciprocity in tariff. (Applause.) When you refuse to meet us with fair trade concessions, then we will apply the process of legislative strangulation to this $69,000,- 000 worth of manufactures, and proceed to manufacture about $50,000,000 worth ourselves. And we shall do it with the aid of your own manufacturers. (Applause.) We have a magnificent concern going up in Hamilton now, a branch of the Deering establishment of Chicago. Put the tariff in the right shape and we will cut off this sort of profit to our- selves and add it to your own business. We propose to sell to the operative who makes the goods for our farmer the foods he consumes, and if we cannot sell it to the operative in the United States, we will set the operative at work on our own side of the line and sell the foods at home. I say these things not in a feeling of animosity or of boastfulness, or undue criticism, but I wish you to know the fact, to know that we have suffered these things at the hands of this country, not because it was an intentional thing on their part, but simply because they did not know what our grievances were 189 FISCAL RELATIONS and what the actual condition of trade was. We want you to know it now, and then we will abide by your decision and act accordingly. As I said a moment ago, the Canadian farmer knows of the markets of the United States only as a matter of history some old gray-headed man whose recollection goes back to 1866 will tell his sons and his grandsons about the intimate trade relations that existed between the two countries, the dependence of Canada upon the United States for a mar- ket, and the drawing nearer and nearer together of these two people in the bonds of mutual interest. If the Recip- rocity Treaty of 1866 had continued until 1902, I don't know whether the stars and stripes would be floating over Canada or not, but I do know that you would not have known the two countries apart. (Applause.) And so the farmer hears about these things as Jacob heard about the corn in Egypt in the time of Joseph, but he does not have any practical knowledge about them. He does, however, have some practical knowledge of the fact that what he raises goes to Great Britain, and that the gov- ernment is making grants to buy cold storage plants, and is making every effort in its power to divert the trade to Great Britain, with the result that Britain takes three-quarters of our farm products. The farmer has no objection to ob- taining access to the American market, but it is not expected that it is going to do him any great amount of good, and so there is a growing indifference in Canada in regard to recip- rocity. That is the thing that pains me, because I have thought for twenty-five years that we should have closer relations, and have earned odium by saying so, and have been stigmatized as an annexationist, and called the American representative in parliament. The manufacturer in Canada of course does not want reciprocity in natural products, because he is afraid it may lead to some concessions that may be inimical to his interest. The transportation interests are not exactly sure about this thing. They foresee that it will cause intimate relations 190 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION between the two countries, and they are afraid it will divert the trade they seek to control. The imperialist does not want it; it will interfere with his dreams of an organic union of the British empire with an imperial parliament at London and local legislatures in the several colonies. Then the far- mer, he does not care; and the miner and the lumberman, and the fisherman, they want it. That is about the condi- tion of things. The United States has produced this result by its own action. It is entirely and exclusively responsible for the condition of things, with regard to public sentiment, that exists in Canada to-day. The influences in Canada that look askance at the idea of closer relations with the United States, and that dream of imperialism, imperial federation and preferential trade, all these influences are arrayed against the proposition for reciprocity. The time has come, sir, when this question is about to be settled. There is an adminis- tration in power in Canada now that is in favour of reciprocity. That administration will meet you half way. That ad- ministration may be supplanted by the opposite party at the next general election. The movement in favour of high protective duties in Canada is buttressed and strengthened by a feeling of animosity that exists in that country against the United States because of the character of your trade policy; and if the government of the day is not able to make a flank movement and get behind that sentiment by being permitted to hold out expectations to the people of Canada that reciprocity is obtainable, in all human probability that sentiment will sweep the decks, the party will go out of power, and the hopes of reciprocity are gone. We have arrived at a point where if the United States desires to make trade arrangements with Canada on fair, equitable, mutually advantageous terms, it wants to find it out pretty soon, and go to work to get it. Just now, Mr. President, Canada is entering upon a new era. Some of us have known for a good many years that we possess vast resources. None of us has known how vast they 191 FISCAL RELATIONS are. None of us knows yet. But we know that we can sup- port a population of 100,000,000 souls. We know that we have room in the Canadian North-West for 50,000,000. Last year Manitoba furnished 50,000,000 bushels of No. 1 hard wheat from 2,000,000 acres of land. There are 250,- 000,000 acres more, just as good, that have never been plough- ed. You can figure up what the possible production of that country is. You can go from Winnipeg west to the Rocky Mountains and you will pass for most of the distance through a magnificent prairie country, all of which can be, and is being, made tillable land. And as you go, just consider that north of you lies the valley of the Saskatchewan, a river 1,000 miles long, with a valley averaging 200 miles wide. Then you must realize that north of the Saskatchewan is the valley of the Athabaska, a river flowing north and belonging to the great Mackenzie system. Then think of such a valley as the Peace River north of Athabaska, entering into Lake Athabaska, a sea of water about like Lake Erie a river with 900 miles of navigable water draining a great extent of the best land hi Canada, and with the best climate for wheat in Canada. You can start from the boundary line and travel north as the crow flies 600 miles, and you are passing through the wheat belt the entire distance. Then there are minerals, iron, coal, petroleum, gold and silver. Even in Labrador nature has compensated us for the severity of the climate by giving us 20,000 square miles of iron ore enough to supply the furnaces of the United States for about 300 years. If you want to share in the handling of three or four hundred million bushels of wheat annually, if you want to share in that business, don't put on custom house duties and all these little arrangements to make it a dead sure thing, so far as your action will govern, that it will go by the St. Lawrence River. Get out of this miserable rut you have been travelling in, and step in with us and help us to develop the land, and reap with us the benefits that will accrue from the settlement of that country. (Applause.) The government of Canada 192 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION wants to make a fair arrangement. You would have got better terms thirty years ago than to-day, but you can get better terms now than you can five years hence. I lis- tened to my friend the governor, here, to-day, (Governor Cummings of Iowa,) with the utmost delight. He is just the kind of protectionist I am. Perhaps I may appear ego- tistical, but I am that kind of a protectionist that believes in the protection of the industries, and in the development of the resources of the country, in living and letting live. Now, sir, with reciprocity in natural products, whatever is imported into the United States, or whatever is imported into Canada from the United States, articles of which both countries have a surplus for export, it does not matter what extent there is in the movement of those goods, wheat or anything else, the price is practically settled by the price received for the surplus exported. If you went into Canada and bought 50,000,000 bushels of wheat and brought it into the United States, you would simply displace 50,000,000 bushels of American wheat that would go abroad, and the chief difference in regard to price would be in our favour in one respect. We would thus introduce into our North- West American competition in the purchase of wheat to break up rings that existed among our own buyers, and our farmers would receive a higher price, but it would not affect the American farmer at all. With regard to articles imported into this country for consumption, the fears of the American farmer are ground- less. There is not an article on the list of which we would be likely to send to the United States two per cent, of the pro- duction of the United States, for consumption. I will illus- trate this by stating one fact with regard to eggs. That would be one of the largest exports, if they were on the free list. Now if there was free introduction of eggs into the American market, and you got the entire Canadian output, you would receive from us only 139,000,000 eggs annually, which would be less than two eggs for each of your popula- tion less than one omelet for each man, woman, and child is FISCAL RELATIONS during the year. Do you think this would destroy the egg market of the United States? I haven't time to go through the list, but I assure you that the whole list of agricultural products to be brought to the United States for consump- tion would bear about the same proportion. We sat down and argued this question out at Quebec, the Joint High Commission having charge of the discussion of trade relations. Dingley, Fairbanks, and Kasson on the one side, and Cartwright, Davies and myself on the other. I spent an hour in dealing with the lumber question, pointing out that the previous year we exported 500,000,000 feet, which was equal to one-eightieth of the production of the United States 500,000,000 feet against 40,000,000,000 feet equal to one and a quarter per cent, of the total amount. I said: "Will that insignificant portion affect the price?" The next day Mr. Dingley said to me: "Charlton, I have been thinking over that lumber argument. That is quite a new thing gave me some new ideas. Admitting that your facts are correct, your deductions are correct. I admit it would make no material difference in the price of lumber. But," he said, "you will have a harder time convincing the United States Senate of that than you have had convincing me." Well, Mr. President, here we are then, summing the thing up, we have been buying from you three times as much as we have sold to you. The whole policy of this government has been to exclude our products from your market. Our trade is worthy of your consideration. Do you want to lose it, or do you want to retain it? Do you want to meet us with a fair arrangement, or do you want to continue your method of business, and force us to follow your example, and give you the same kind of reciprocity that we have received? Do you want us to say to you: "If we can't play in your backyard, you can't play in ours"? That is the question before the people of the United States. It is an important question. It is a question that has to do with the interest of 80,000,000 of people in this country, and 5,000,000 of 194 NATIONAL RECIPROCITY CONVENTION people in Canada. It is a question that has to do with the future interests of unborn millions. It is a question the set- tlement of which will affect the destiny of these two peoples, heaven only knows how far. It is a turning point in the policy that should govern these two countries. And I am happy to believe, Mr. President, that the questions that are involved are beginning to be understood by the American people, and with their acuteness, and with the rapidity that is characteristic of the American people in seizing upon facts and arriving at conclusions, I haven't the slightest doubt that this question is nearing a solution that will re- dound to the advantage of all the people that inhabit the 7,000,000 square miles that are under Anglo-Saxon domi- nation in North America. (Applause.) 195 BRITISH PREFERENCE AMERICAN RECIPROCITY THAT Canada's trade relations with the world are not now upon a permanent basis is believed by everybody. What change shall be made, is the question. In the session of 1903, suggested tariff changes for the improvement of home trade condi- tions, also the Chamberlain preferential trade agita- tion, and also the manifestly improving chances of reciprocity with the United States these three propositions at least confronted the Canadian people. It was under these conditions that the following speech was made. It was delivered in the House of Commons in the course of the debate on the budget : House of Commons, April 21, 1903. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: The financial statement pre- sented to this House a few days since by my honourable friend, the Minister of Finance, (Hon. W. S. Fielding) is a statement different in character, in some material respects, from many that preceded it. It has attracted wider attention than any statement of a similar kind in the history of this confederation. It was looked for with interest in foreign countries, and certain features have aroused great interest in the United States, Germany and France. This statement presented to the House and the country the record of a period of unexampled prosperity. It is a record of increasing wealth, expanding commerce and abundant revenues. For these we should thank divine Providence, and not permit ourselves 197 FISCAL RELATIONS to believe that we created the conditions by which we profit and that a higher power has nothing to do with shaping our destinies and development. The statement of the Minister of Finance gave a reflex indication of the thrill that now stirs this nationality with a sense of new-born power, and we may approach its consideration in a spirit of thankfulness that the affairs of this country are in such a prosperous condition, and realizing also that we are upon the threshold of an era of great development which will require prudent statesman- ship for its wise direction. There are certain features in this financial statement which give me great satisfaction indeed. The imposition by Ger- many of discriminating duties against Canada as a punish- ment for the preferential duties in favour of Great Britain granted by Canada was an act entirely without warrant. The two countries are on an entirely different basis as regards their commercial relations with us. Great Britain is our mother state and we have advantages in her markets not accorded to us by Germany. No duties are levied in the one case, heavy duties are levied in the other, and the assump- tion by Germany of the right to discipline us because the mother country, which gives us a free market, is treated dif- ferently from the German empire by our tariff, was a high- handed and indefensible act. When we take into consideration the state of the trade with that country, the character of this act becomes more apparent. Our imports from Germany last year amounted to $10,919,944. Our total exports to that country were $2,692,578. The percentage which our imports bore to our total trade with Germany was eighty-one per cent. Our exports of the produce of Canada, however, were $1,298,634. If we count these alone, leaving out of consideration exports of goods which came to us from outside countries and were merely sent from those countries to Germany through Canada, we find that our percentage of exports to our total trade was eighty-nine and four-tenths per cent. I cannot but ap- prove most heartily of the action of the honourable Minister 198 BRITISH PREFERENCE of Finance in imposing discriminating duties against that country. And the action of the Canadian government in resenting that move on the part of Germany has aroused the attention and won the approval of the world, outside of Germany. It is instinctively felt that, in taking this course, we have simply stated our rights and asserted our dignity. I see it stated in the newspapers that the German govern- ment proposes to impose a prohibitive tax on Canadian im- ports. This surtax imposed by our government seems to have led to some earnest use of surtax on the part of Germany, and the feeling against us, I presume, is very strong. Well, sir, I should say to the government: If the German govern- ment wishes to embark upon this course of action, meet them upon their own ground; and if they prohibit the entry of our exports of $1,300,000, and we prohibit the entry of their ex- ports to us of $11,000,000, then, after trying the thing a while, let the German financiers and economists figure out what the balance of loss or gain is on the transaction. I think we can stand it, and I feel disposed to say that it is a good time to assert our sense of the unfair usage to which we have been subjected. I repeat, the government's course in this matter meets my unqualified approbation, in fact I admire the cour- age which has marked its attitude. Now, in listening to the remarks of the honourable leader of the Opposition (Mr. R. L. Borden), and also in perusing the remarks of the honourable member for St. Mary's divi- sion, Montreal, (Hon. Mr. Tarte), to which I had not the pleasure of listening, I find that exception is taken to the course of the government in failing, at this juncture, to enter upon a revision of the tariff, and the assertion is made that the condition of our affairs is of a character to render it proper and necessary to enter upon such a revision. It strikes me, Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, that the reasons assigned by the Minister of Finance for deferring action upon the tariff, except in the few inconsiderable instances in which he has changed conditions, are good reasons. We do not know, at the moment, what the premises are 199 FISCAL RELATIONS upon which we shall be called upon to act. As the Finance Minister says, we have the question of preferential trade not yet definitely settled. We do not know what may come of it, but the outcome must necessarily have a very material bearing upon the course which we may pursue with regard to tariff legislation. Then we have the probable re-assembling of the Joint High Commission, and negotiations with the United States relating to proposals to have enlarged trade relations between these two countries. We must base our tariff largely upon the relations between Canada and the United States which may be established as a result of these negotiations. For these reasons without expressing at the moment any opinion as to the abstract propriety of protection or free trade I hold that it is the part of prudence to refrain, at present, from definite action until we know the terms we shall have to confront and the conditions we shall have to meet. In regard to the British preference, my honourable friend from St. Mary's division, in his speech last night, held that this question is already closed, that we have a decisive answer from the British government. Well, at all events, I am quite disposed to agree with this honourable gentleman as to what will be the outcome of this question. I do not believe to- day, and I never have believed, that we could obtain from Great Britain preferential treatment in her markets to any material extent. I think that the experience that we have had with the preference we have given to Great Britain for the last four or five years warrants us in the expectation that there will be no response to that concession. And I think that when we examine into this case, we shall be warranted hi arriving at the conclusion that Great Britain is not hi a position to offer us any preference in her market under any conditions whatever. The reasons that lead me to this conclusion are based upon the scrutiny of British trade returns. These returns show the insignificance of Great Britain's colonial trade as compared with her foreign trade. For instance, I find that in the year 1901, the last year for which we have the returns, the total imports into Great 200 BRITISH PREFERENCE Britain were 531,990,000 sterling. Of this total, 416,416,- 000 were imports from foreign countries, or 79.73 per cent. The imports from Greater Britain, that is from all the British colonies and dependencies, amounted to 115,574,000 or 20.27 per cent. Great Britain's total imports from Canada, according to these British returns, amounted to 19,854,000, or 3.7 per cent, of the total. Now, when we take the exports from Great Britain, we find that the total for 1901 was 347,864,000. Of this amount, foreign countries took 234,- 745,000, or 67.4 per cent., while Greater Britain, that is the colonies and dependencies, took 113,119,000, or 32.06 per cent., of which the Dominion of Canada took 9,250,000, or 2.6 per cent. Now, when our trade with Great Britain is so small that the imports she receives from us are only $3.70 for every $100 of her total imports, while, of every $100 of British exports Canada only receives $2.60, it strikes me as unreasonable to suppose that England will engage hi a system of discrimi- nation in our favour against the vast bulk of her trade with foreign nations. Great Britain cannot meet our wishes; such a course would be ruinous to her foreign trade, and would immediately involve her in a commercial war with foreign countries. Mr. Chamberlain, at the conference last year, put a low estimate on the value of our preference of thirty- three and a third per cent., and did not consider it equivalent to a preference in our favour on breadstuffs to the extent of even four per cent. That is, a preference by Canada of thirty-three and a third per cent, on all her imports was not equal to a preference of four per cent, on a partial list of im- ports into Great Britain. When this breadstuff tax was put on in England, I anticipated without doubt that exception would be made in favour of Canada; and I confess to a feeling of great surprise when the result proved that the English gov- ernment did not intend to give us that four per cent, preference on breadstuffs as a return for the thirty-three and one-third per cent, preference which we gave on all our imports from Great Britain. 201 FISCAL RELATIONS I imagine, nay I am almost certain, that there is a reason which does not appear upon the surface, and that reason is, not that Great Britain did not desire to do this, but that it was not considered prudent to do so; that it was known that if this were done it would result in hostile action upon the part of foreign governments. And so we had in this small matter of a four per cent, preference and England's declination to give it to us in return for a thirty-three and a third per cent, preference, a proof that England will be deterred from any such action as granting to Canada a preference, by con- siderations outside of the matter of her trade relations with her colonies. Mr. Chamberlain, in the course of his remarks so far as we have them, asserted that our preference had not to any appre- ciable extent stimulated trade with England. Well, I beg to differ with Mr. Chamberlain in this matter. This prefer- ence has had two effects. In the first place, it has arrested the decline in our trade with England, a decline which was making rapid progress when this preference was adopted. In the second place, it has led to an expansion of that trade, and a brief examination of the returns will prove this beyond perad- venture. The following figures give our imports from Great Britain for the years named: Year Imports 1893 $43,148,000 1894 38,717,000 1895 31,131,000 1896 32,500,000 1897 29,412,000 1898 32,500,000 1899 37,060,000 1900 44,789,000 1901 48,000,000 1902 49,250.000 We had gone down from $43,000,000 to $29,000,000 before this preference was adopted, between the years 1893 and 1897 ; and we have gone up from $29,000,000 to $49,000,000 be- tween 1897 and 1902, after the preference had begun to work, showing an increase of $20,000,000, or forty per cent, in those 202 BRITISH PREFERENCE five years, against a rapid and regular decrease in the preceding term which these figures reveal. The idea of English statesmen, Mr. Speaker, is one that, in my opinion, we can never meet. I assert, as I have done before, that it is my firm conviction that we should never have given a preference, for the reason that the condition of Eng- land's trade with foreign countries and regard for her own interest will prevent her giving us a preference in return. But there is an idea abroad about a zollverein, free trade within the empire. Well, could we arrange matters upon that basis ? absolute free trade, the admission of all British products to her colonies free of duty. That scheme may meet with the approbation of the British people, but it is one that cannot be wrought out. It is not a matter, at all events, that looms up in the near future as one that can be arranged. Now, with regard to the preference on grain, amounting in round numbers to four per cent., I assert, Mr. Speaker, that free admission to the American market for our wheat and other cereals would be worth more to our producers than an English preference of four per cent. I assert that the free introduction of American competition, on the part of Ameri- can grain buyers and millers with our own grain buyers and millers, to the wheat-fields in the North- West and to other portions of Canada, would result in greater advantage to our producers of grain than this preference in the English market. I think that we may conclude that our aspirations for an advan- tage in the form of a preference will never be realized, that we come up against the hard-headed common sense of English statesmen and public men, who realize that it cannot be given. England will not permit a considerable tax upon raw material. The competition between England and her commercial rivals is too keen; the competition with Germany, the com- petition with the United States, is so keen that a due sense of what is necessary in England's interest's will deter her public men from saddling upon her people this or any addi- tional burden in the shape of a tax upon raw material, es- 203 FISCAL RELATIONS pecially one in the shape of a tax upon bread. We had better dismiss our dreams in this regard, and let the preferential question drop. The present preference is purely sentimental, it is a sentiment that is not convertible into current coin. We have not even been able, hi return for this sentimental pre- ference, to get the cattle embargo removed. We have not the slightest concession granted to us hi return for the pre- ference of thirty-three and a third per cent.; and its only good effect, if it has a good effect at all, is that it lessens our own burden of customs taxation upon certain lines of imports. I shall not to-day enter upon an extended discussion of the question of protection. I do not think that at this juncture in our public affairs a discussion of that question as an ab- stract theory will have practical results, because it is nothing more than academic. As I said before, we have the decision on the part of the government to let the matter of revision of our tariff stand over until we know what the conditions will be when we are called upon to act. That being the case, it is unnecessary, and a waste of time in my opinion, to enter upon a discussion of the principles of protection versus free trade or a revenue tariff policy. I shall have something to say, Mr. Speaker, with your per- mission, upon the question of reciprocity with the United States. That question has filled a large place in Canadian fiscal discussions, since long before confederation. The desire for closer trade relations led to a treaty securing for us reci- procity in natural products away back in 1854. We enjoyed the benefits that resulted from that treaty until 1866, when the treaty was abrogated. We know, those of us who take the pains to look up the history of Canada during that period, what the practical result of reciprocity was to Canada. We might draw from the experience of that period lessons as to what would be the probable result of a similar line of policy if entered upon again. And so satisfactory, in the opinion of the Canadian public, was the result of that period of re- ciprocity, that Canada has earnestly sought for a renewal 204 BRITISH PREFERENCE of that condition of affairs for many years since then. We sought strenuously to avert the abrogation of the treaty in 1866. Emissaries from this country visited Washington a few months after the treaty was abrogated. After the Liberal party came into power in 1874, one of its first acts was to despatch a commissioner, the Hon. George Brown, to Washing- ton, who, in conjunction with Lord Thornton, the British min- ister, negotiated with the state department a reciprocity treaty. That treaty was not ratified by the United States Senate. Various other attempts were made, and we have only been debarred of late years from making these attempts by the ap- parent hopelessness of the efforts which have been put forth. The question is one the importance of which has sunk some- what in public estimation for the last two or three years, but it is a question which is as important to Canada to-day, per- haps, as it ever has been. It is a question which has probably to receive again the consideration of the government of this country, and the consideration of the government of the United States; and if it does receive that consideration, it will be under circumstances, in my opinion, more conducive to a favourable result than have existed since the abrogation of the treaty in 1866. The honourable leader of the Opposition, in his speech a day or two ago, asked the reason of the enormous increase of our American imports. Well, the reason is quite obvious. We have maintained a moderate tariff policy towards the United States and the rest of the world ever since this Dominion came into existence. Our duties have from time to time been advanced, but they are still at a rate which does not mater- ially impede importation from the United States or any other country; at a rate which, of course, has afforded some protec- tion, which has led to the development of large manufac- turing interests, but still is not at all prohibitive. Now, our frontier stretches alongside of the United States for 4,000 miles. The people of the United States, our neighbours, have a very thoroughly developed manufacturing system, the most extensive in the world. Although England exports more 205 FISCAL RELATIONS manufactured goods, the supply of the domestic market of the United States amounts to much more than the total manufactures of Great Britain. They have reached the point where they are capable of supplying their own require- ments, and have a large surplus available for export. Necessarily, they are seeking foreign markets. Their con- ditions as to soil and climate and the wants of the people are similar to our own, and they have succeeded in making a long list of articles which exactly suit our wants and which cannot very well be obtained elsewhere. The facility for getting goods there is so much greater than across the ocean that this in itself would act very powerfully in the direction of securing the trade to them. Our merchant can call up by telephone his correspondent in New York, or Boston, or Phil- adelphia, asking him to make a small shipment of goods. Those goods will be on their way in a few hours, and they will be here in two or three days. To sort up his stock he can buy as little or as much as he pleases. The advantages are so great that we have developed an enormous import trade from the United States. If the Americans had afford- ed us the same facilities and the same reasonable kind of treatment that we have afforded them, there would be no question raised to-day as to whether our trade relations were on a satisfactory basis; there would be no question raised as to whether we should enter upon the kind of policy that they have been pursuing towards us. The honourable leader of the Opposition says that our tariff should be put up as a preliminary to negotia- tions put it up, he says, and if they do not give us what we ought to have, we would then have the very tariff we ought to have. It is my conviction that this course, adopted at this juncture, would have exactly the opposite effect to that which the honourable leader of the Opposition supposes it would have. If we were to enter upon a revision of the tariff such as we would perhaps desire to have in case we received no adequate concessions from the Americans, it would be a tariff of a character which would 206 BRITISH PREFERENCE create irritation, that would very likely defeat the object we had in view. It would be practically saying to them: Here we have done this; you do what we want or we will keep this tariff in force. I do not think that would be prudent or politic. The time is near at hand, in my opinion, when we are certain to get concessions that will be entirely satis- factory, and so I am thoroughly convinced that it would not be prudent to enter upon a course such as we might enter upon, in all probability such as we would be justified in entering upon, if no concessions are made. Our relations with the United States must necessarily large- ly govern our tariff policy. It is the country with which we have the largest amount of trade, it is the country with which our trade relations at the present time are most unsatisfactory. The adjustment of this tariff policy is a matter of so much im- portance that we do not want to enter upon that adjustment rashly, or without a full knowledge of the conditions. We want to move slowly and cautiously, we want to move with certainty. In regard to my own feelings about this matter, I am pretty well known in this House to be an advocate of reciprocity. I commenced that advocacy long ago. I dare say my right honourable friend the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier) will remember that I was chosen by Mr. Mackenzie in 1875 to defend the Brown Draft Treaty when the attack was made upon that treaty in this House by the Opposition, headed by Sir John A. Macdonald, and since that time I have been undeviating in my support of the policy of enlarged trade relations with the United States. I have always believed, I believe to-day, that nothing will secure greater advantages to Canada than to remove the absurd restrictions which exist between these two countries, and to adopt a broader and more reasonable trade policy between the two great Anglo-Saxon commonwealths of the North American continent. But I have felt, and that feeling grew stronger when the Joint High Commission met at Quebec and Washington, and when I, in common with my brother commissioners, was 207 FISCAL RELATIONS brought more closely into contact with the question of the trade relations between Canada and the United States, that we have not been fairly treated, and I have had a sense of resentment at their policy. I have been actuated in the posi- tion I have taken upon this question by the belief that if we could not get what was fair from that country, we had better set up housekeeping for ourselves, and adopt a policy which we, under normal conditions, might not deem it advis- able to enter upon. Last session I introduced a resolution in this House. I introduced it for a twofold purpose. In the first place, I believed that what was set forth in that resolution repre- sented the feelings of the great majority of the Canadian people, and I thought that the formulating of this resolution would have a tendency to demonstrate whether my view upon that matter was right or wrong. I thought in the second place and perhaps this was the consideration that had the most weight with me that if that resolution did repre- sent the feelings of the mass of the Canadian electors, it would be very well to have the United States public men in a position where they could consider the question with a knowledge of our feelings concerning it. I put this resolution upon the Hansard largely for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the United States the fact that Canada realized that the treatment we had received from the United States was unfair; realized that we had submitted to that treatment for many years without protesting, and proposed in the future to re- verse the action we had pursued; and in the event of failing to secure concessions from the United States that were reason- able and just, that we proposed to adopt the policy fore- shadowed by this resolution. MR. CLANCY Would the honourable gentleman pardon me. Did the honourable gentleman endeavour to get an expres- sion of this House at that time hi order that the United States would know that that was the policy to be adopted? MR. CHARLTON No, Mr. Speaker, I did not introduce that resolution with the intention of asking the House to give an 208 BRITISH PREFERENCE expression of opinion by vote. On the contrary, I definitely stated that the resolution was tabled for the purpose of having mature consideration by the House and by the country; that it was a matter of so much importance that I did not ask hasty action, and that in fact we had not reached a position when action could be taken with a clear conception as to what was the best course under the circumstances, and under circumtances that might develop. The resolution was as follows: " That this House is of the opinion that Canadian import duties should be arranged upon the principle of reciprocity in trade conditions so far as may be consistent with Canadian interests ; that a rebate of not less than forty per cent, of the amount of duties imposed should be made upon dutiable im- ports from nations or countries admitting Canadian natural products into their markets free of duty; and that the scale of Canadian duties should be sufficiently high to avoid inflict- ing injury upon Canadian interests in cases where a rebate of forty per cent, or more shall be made under the conditions aforesaid." Or, that our minimum rate of tariff should be high enough to afford as great a degree of protection as was afforded at present; and that forty per cent should be added to that rate which was sufficient to protect our industries in the case of all countries without discrimination or naming any that failed to admit our natural products free of duty. Now, I think, Mr. Speaker, that resolution outlines in the rough the course that it would be proper for us to pursue if conditions continue as they are. It outlines in the rough the very conditions we have adopted within a few days with regard to Germany. And, even if we were to make a reci- procity treaty with the United States, and that country placed itself upon the same footing as England does in ad- mitting our natural products free of duty, I think the same resolution could with propriety still be put on our statute- book, discriminating against other nations that failed to treat 209 FISCAL RELATIONS us in the manner in which we should then be treated by the United States and Great Britain. And with regard to this position, Mr. Speaker, while my ad- vice is, as Mark Hanna said some time ago: " Stand pat on the tariff question;" yet, I will state that I think " Pat" is inclined to make a move unless things take a reasonable and desirable shape. And, while I sincerely desire to secure a treaty which will be to the advantage of this country and the Untied States, yet if we fail, if we are to have meted out to us the same treat- ment that we have had meted out to us for the past thirty years, I go for drastic measures. And I think that I may point to the highly significant remarks of the Finance Minister, who said that the government would be governed by existing conditions ; and while he believes hi free trade yet they must be governed to some extent by what was done by their ad- versaries. I give the Finance Minister credit for being too good a politician to resist a great popular movement for the resenting and punishing of a line of conduct towards us such as has been carried on for many years past. The repressive policy entered upon by the United States in 1866, I wish to say a few words about. I noticed in the North American Review the other day, an article from the Attorney-General of Nova Scotia which gave the exports and imports from and to the United States during the period of reciprocity, they will require some revision by the Attorney- General of Nova Scotia before he has them just right. When the reciprocity treaty went into operation in 1854, we had the governments of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the two Canadas, four different provincial governments. I have had the returns compiled from the American sources of information and from the Canadian sources. In the Canadian returns I found it impossible to secure the figures for Prince Edward Island. This, of course, would be inconsiderable, and would not materially affect the result. Thejimport and export statistics for the period from 1854 to 1866 inclusive, derived from Canadian sources are as follows: 210 BRITISH PREFERENCE Imports from the United States, 1854 to 1866 inclusive $332,927,000 Exports to the United States, 1854 to 1866 in- clusive 259,875,000 Balance of trade in favour of United States $73,052,000 The American returns for the same period give somewhat different results. According to the American figures the imports from all British America, Newfoundland and British Columbia included, are as follows: Imports from the United States, 1854 to 1866 inclusive $343,326,000 Exports to the United States, 1854 to 1866 in- clusive 318,760,000 Balance of trade in favour of United States $34,566,000 The balance of trade by the American returns is $34,566,000 and by the Canadian returns $73,052,000. Now, the American people in abrogating the treaty in 1866 were governed to some extent by the impression that the treaty was working against them; that the balance of trade was against them and in favour of Canada. This was the case in the last year; it was the case because the notice of the abrogation had been given a year in advance, and there was great pressure to rush into the United States everything that it was possible to get in during the time that was left, before August, 1866. But the operation of the treaty during all the period that it was in force, was to the advantage of the United States, and gave to that country during that period a substantial balance of trade in its favour $73,000,000, according to our returns; $34,000,000, according to their returns. The abrogation of the treaty was an act of folly on the part of the United States and an act of unfriendliness as well, and the policy pursued since that time and up to a recent period has been dictated, in my opinion, by the belief that the inflicting upon us of a repressive policy would drive us into the arms of the republic. The truth is, Mr. Speaker, that we were obliged to seek new markets. The truth is that the abrogation of the treaty 211 FISCAL RELATIONS revolutionized the trade of Canada, gave a new face to the history of this continent, and turned aside the forces that were setting powerfully in the direction of bringing these two peoples together. It put in place of these forces other forces that repelled the countries from each other, and brought them to the position they occupy to-day. In 1866 our direct exports of farm products to Great Bri- tain were $3,544,000, and to the United States, $25,042,000. In 1902 our direct exports of farm products to the United States were $7,694,000, one-third of what they were in 1866, while to Great Britain they were $80,661,000, a twenty-two fold increase during the same period. And so our whole fiscal history was reversed. New conditions were introduced, conditions which the Americans were not aware of, which they have only recently become aware of. All this time they have been living hi a fool's paradise, supposing that we were dependent upon them for a market, and that they could exercise the same influence on sentiment in Canada which they did in 1866. Our total export trade last year in animals and their products was $59,163,209; and in agricul- tural products $37,152,688, a total of $96,315,897. Of this amount Great Britain took $80,661,501, or 83.7 per cent.; the United States took $7,694,478, or 8 per cent. ; and all other countries, $7,967,918, or 8.3 per cent. So that England last year took over four-fifths of our total export of farm products to all the world. This is a condition of things greatly different from what existed in 1866, when the United States took $25,000,000 and Great Britain less than $4,000,000. Under these conditions it is not surprising that the Canadian farmer has practically forgotten about the American market. The benefits that he enjoyed by free access to that market during the existence of the reciprocity treaty are largely a matter of history to him. He realizes in a sort of abstract way that two markets are better than one, but he has not that keen desire for access to the United States market that he would have if he were aware of the conditions that would exist 212 BRITISH PREFERENCE if the restrictions were removed. So that, in debating this reciprocity question to-day, we have to recognize a certain degree of apathy with regard to it as existing hi Canada as well as in the United States. We have opposed to this treaty, I think we may say, the manufacturing interest; we have probably opposed to it the transportation interest; and we have opposed to it the political influence which is represented by the people in this country who believe that nothing good can come out of the United States, and who do not want to have anything to do with the Americans. We have in favour of this treaty a sort of passive feeling on the part of the agriculturists, and keen desire for it on the part of the lumbermen and the fishermen. These are the forces arrayed for and against the proposition to secure better trade relations with the United States. We have some developments of our trade in farm products for I am dealing with this question largely from the f armer' s standpoint that are rather singular, rather unexpected, to those who have never examined the question, and are rather suggestive. Last year, while we exported to the United States $7,694,478 of farm products, we imported from that country for consumption, according to the unrevised list which I have and which will not be varied very much by the revised list, $15,437,213, or somewhat more than double the amount we exported to that country. Among our imports of agricultural and animal products where our purchases for consumption exceeded our sales to the United States, were the following articles: Corn, oats, wheat, wheat flour, corn meal, oatmeal, seeds, small fruits, tobacco leaf, broom corn, hemp, flax seed, horses, hogs, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, lard, bacon, hams, salt beef, salt pork, hides, skins, wool, and some minor articles. All that list of articles we im- ported from the United States for consumption, in excess of our exports to the United States for consumption in that country. Well, that is rather a suggestive list. Very few people would imagine that this country, which was believed to be dependent 213 FISCAL RELATIONS on the United States for a market, would show such a condition of trade in farm products. If natural products were on the free list, and there was free interchange between the two countries of all the products of the farm, the balance of trade would be very slightly in favour of the one country or the other. Now, after this period of more than thirty years of trade relations such as I have described, we had a culmination of affairs in 1902 in our trade with Great Britain and with the United States, which I will briefly allude to. Last year our total imports from the United States were $129,000,000. In 1866 they were $28,794,000. Last year our total exports to the United States were $71,177,000, and the apparent balance of trade last year hi favour of the United States was $58,592,000. Last year our total imports from Great Britain were $49,435,000, and our total exports to that country were $117,320,000, and the balance of trade in favour of Canada was $67,884,000. But a revised statement of our trade with the United States and our trade with other countries, taking into account the imports and the exports of precious metals, would vary that statement, and it is interesting to note how our trade with the United States would stand on that basis. Last year we imported from the United States $6,062,000 in coin and bul- lion. Our total imports from that country, less this coin and bullion, were $123,732,000, and our total exports to the United States were $71,177,000. Our exports of precious metals were: Coin and bullion $1,635,000 Gold dust and nuggets 19,677,000 Silver and silver ore 2,055,000 Or a total of precious metals of $23,367,000, which, deducted from the total exports, left our exports of domestic products, and products not the produce of Canada, $47,829,000. If we deduct the $2,894,000 of exports not produced in Canada, it leaves our exports $44,825,000. My honourable friend from South Oxford (Sir Richard 214 BRITISH PREFERENCE Cartwright) yesterday afternoon, in criticizing the statement of the honourable leader of the Opposition with regard to this very point, wanted to know what difference there was between the exports of precious metals, or farm products, or any- thing else. It was, he said, an exchange of what we wanted to sell for what we wanted to buy, which was true enough. But all the nations treat the precious metals on a different basis from ordinary exports. We raise wheat, corn, bacon, cattle and all the products of the farm for sale. We have to dispose of them. But gold and silver are quite different in their character, and all the nations are seeking to strengthen their gold reserve. There is not a nation which does not look with disfavour on the exportation of gold. We may at least make a distinction between the class of pro- ducts we raise for the purpose of selling, and the precious metals which it might be in our interest to reserve here as a financial basis a basis for credit and banking, and the various pur- poses for which gold is used. After deducting this export of precious metals and count- ing the $47,829,000 as our actual exports, we have a balance of trade against us and in favour of the United States of $75,- 925,000. That balance of trade has swallowed up our $67,000,- 000 of favourable balance with Great Britain and left about $8,000,000 to provide for somewhere else. This is not a healthy and desirable condition of trade. The United States, year after year, has had enormous balances of trade in its favour, and the result is it is one of the wealthiest nations in the world; $600,000,000 is no unusual balance in its favour. I look upon it as disastrous to our interests to permit the present condition to continue. These tables, then, present the following salient points: First, we have an enormous expansion of exports of farm products. Next, we find that Great Britain takes over four- fifths of the farm products of this country. Next, we find a great shrinkage in the export of farm products to the United States a shrinkage of two-thirds of the amount exported in 1866. Then we find that there has been nearly a fivefold 215 FISCAL RELATIONS expansion of our import trade from the United States since 1866. We find next that we have had a stationary export trade with the United States. If we deduct the precious metals, we exported to the United States in 1866, including inland short returns, $44,000,000 worth, not including the precious metals. We exported last year of the products of Canada, not including precious metals, $44,825,000 worth. So we have on the one hand an import trade from the United States fivefold greater than in 1866, while our export trade to the United States remained at practically the same amount. We find that, in the thirty-six years that have elapsed since 1866, we have increased our imports from Great Britain $9,370,000, or 23i per cent. It will be interesting to glance for a moment at our free list, which is a large one. It amounted last year to $84,314,- 877. Of this amount the United States sent $60,879,347, of which $6,000,000 was coin and bullion. Now, we must take from the United States raw cotton, anthracite coal, hides probably, flax-seed and some other articles. But we can reduce that free list by one-half if we desire to do so, and do so to the advantage of our own industries and to the dis- advantage of American industries. The United States had 72 per cent, of our total free list with the entire world last year rather favourable treatment of a nation that has treated us as the United States has done for a generation past. Now, a word or two with regard to the import of manufac- tures. The question may be raised it was raised yesterday of the classification of manufactures imported. In the tables I have referred to, whether the classification is entirely right or not, it is the same in the case of both countries, so that the comparison must be as reliable as though something were taken from or something added to the list of each. The following figures show the amount of our imports of manu- factures from Great Britain and from the United States for the years given : 216 BRITISH PREFERENCE Imports of Manufactures From Great Britain United States 1898 $26,243,651 $41,510,312 1899 31,187,387 49,362,776 1900 37,328,311 60,473,221 1901 36,469,135 62,643,640 1902 41,675,602 69,536,613 In the last year, 1902, the manufactures free of duty from Great Britain amounted to $7,988,819, while the manufactures free of duty from the United States amounted to $21,195,092. This latter sum goes to swell that enormous free list of $60,000,- 000. The increase in our imports of manufactures from Great Britain hi the four years I have quoted amounted to $15,432,000, or 51 per cent., while the increase from the United States was $28,026,000, or 67 per cent. And this increase has gone on, notwithstanding the operation of pre- ferential duties, and the United States manufacturers are obtaining a stronger and stronger hold upon our market, their natural advantages enabling them to do so. And all this time the United States has refused to give us the considera- tion which our liberality towards them would naturally call for, liberality which they have availed themselves of to bring about the results I have shown. Now, with regard to the rate of duties, in every respect the United States seems to have had advantageous conditions for selling goods to Canada. The duties paid last year upo i United States goods amounted to $15,155,136. This is 11.75 per cent, upon the total import from the United States, or 12.54 per cent, on the imports entered for consumption. The duties paid on the imports of British goods for the same year were 17.04 per cent. The duties on the goods from all other coun- tries were 26.5 per cent. The rate on the goods from all countries, including Great Britain and the United States, was 15.26 per cent. The dutiable goods imported from the United States considered by themselves paid an average of 25.18 per cent.; the dutiable imports from Great Britain paid an average of 24 per cent., and the dutiable imports from other countries paid an average of 37.79 per cent. This 217 FISCAL RELATIONS would make the duty on the dutiable imports from Great Britain slightly lower than on those from the United States. The honourable member for South Oxford reminded us last night and his statement was a correct one that not all the British imports that were dutiable were given a discrimination of 33J per cent., but that this applied to only about $28,- 000,000, upon which the duty amounted to about 19 per cent. I have only to say, in connection with that, that the reduction of duties by the operation of the discrimination to 19 per cent., is about 8 per cent, lower than it ought to be. If the discrimination were abolished the duty would go up 8 per cent, and the cry we have from our woollen interests of insufficient protection would be ended. In our argument about this matter we have developed the fact that Canada is an excellent customer for the United States. The truth is, she is the third largest customer for the general line of exports from the United States, and the largest customer for manufactured goods exported from that country. If we compare our standing in this respect with that of Latin America with its 60,000,000 inhabitants, we shall be some- what surprised with the result. Last year the United States exported to Mexico and Central America, with a population of 14,000,000, goods to the amount of $45,924,000. These are countries almost as closely allied to the United States by geography and nature as Canada is. Last year the United States exported to all South America $38,074,000 worth of goods; and to all the West India Islands, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, British, French this excludes Cuba and Porto Rico goods to the value of $17,020,000. That is to say, to all this enormous region from the northern boundary line of Mexico to Cape Horn, embracing every island in the West India group, excepting Cuba and Porto Rico, the United States exported less than she exported to Canada, by no less than $19,796,000. And, excluding the West Indies and in- cluding all of Mexico and Central and South America, her exports to these countries were less by $36,814,000 than her exports to Canada. It is beginning to dawn upon the Ameri- 218 BRITISH PREFERENCE can mind that Canada is a market worth looking after, that it would be well to take into consideration whether they should not examine a little more closely into trade matters between the United States and this most excellent customer to the north of them. We have had a full generation of repression, of bad feeling, of hostile tariff legislation nearly all upon one side. We are now rounding out that period, and we have to see what the culmination of these conditions is. If these conditions are to continue, what are we to do? First of all, as I imagine, we have to find out whether they are to continue. That is a question of so much importance that we must make no mistake about it. We want to ascertain what we may settle down upon and rely upon as likely to be permanent conditions; and when we have ascertained that, then our line of conduct, so far as my opinion goes, would be clearly defined. We are either to get fair play from nations now treating us unfairly, or we are to meet them with their own weapons. That may not be profitable for the time being, it may inflict upon us a little inconvenience, it may raise the price of some things a little higher, but in my opinion that is the true policy to pursue. We want to look to ulterior results, and we want to apply ourselves to a line of conduct with something in view that we are aiming at and that we can only get by asserting our rights. Again I refer to the significant utterance of the Finance Minister when he states that, notwithstanding what his abstract principles may be, we have to take note of what our customers and surrounding nations do, and govern ourselves accordingly. Now, as I have said, we have dealt with Germany already. We knew where we stood ; we knew that we had received the most unfair and overbearing treat- ment from the overlord of that empire. We knew we had to assert ourselves. That we have done, and we have done it like men; and if the overlord wants to adopt a retaliatory policy and exclude our imports from Germany, I would look upon it with serene indifference; we would simply exclude 219 FISCAL RELATIONS his goods from Canada and inflict eight times as much injury upon that country as we receive in return. Now, it is necessary to inquire in a discussion of reciprocity : Is reciprocity desirable? If it is not desirable, we do not want to waste any time on it. If it is not desirable we would simply say to the United States when they make us overtures : " We don't want to meet you, we don't want any reciprocity; we have decided what we want to do; you go your road and we will go ours." Would that be a wise course to pursue? Mr. Speaker, this continent, with its seven odd million square miles under the dominion of English-speaking people, inhabited by 85,000,000 of people speaking the English tongue, this continent has vast, almost inconceivable resources and possibilities of development. This continent, inhabited by English-speaking people, will inevitably exercise a potent, if not a controlling influence upon the affairs of the world. This great region is now in the possession of two branches of that great stock, with an interesting experiment in one branch of it in the fact that one state in its domain is inhabited by people of French extraction. We have most interesting problems before us. There is one thing that we can rely upon, and that is that in the interest of the world at large, in the interest of every man, woman and child that lives upon this continent to-day, or that will live here in the future, it is in the highest degree desirable that the relations between these two states should be amicable, friendly and intimate, and that the seeds of discord that have been sown for the last thirty years should not be allowed to produce their fruit of disaster, but the two peoples should be brought to a con- dition of harmony and good feeling. So much for this continent. Then we have a wider scope of influence for the English-speaking people. We have North America with its capabilities of supporting five hundred mil- lions of people, and in my opinion it will have that number speaking the English tongue, within the next hundred and fifty years. We have in addition the great empire of which we form a part, the empire with its colonies and its influences 220 BRITISH PREFERENCE ramifying the world, the empire upon whose dominions the sun never sets, the empire that stands to-day almost isolated among the nations of Europe. We have the relations of that empire with the United States to take into consideration, a matter of transcendent importance. Sir, the relations existing between Canada and the United States will have an important, and, it may be, a controlling influence upon the relations that will exist between these two great nations. And so when we say that this is a question of little moment, that we don't care whether we have good relations or evil relations between these countries, why, we are taking a most short-sighted, a purblind view of the great field of future oper- ations. We are taking a view of our own responsibilities which is far beneath the importance that belongs to them. If we can in any way institute and consummate any policy that will bring together these people, that will put an end to this bickering and animosity, we shall have accomplished something for humanity, something for the liberty of the world. For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I stand for reciprocity. I stand for it because I believe that there is something in it higher than the price of codfish, than the price of wheat, than the balance of trade. I stand for reciprocity because I believe the infinite possibilities of the future will be pro- moted and developed by bringing together these two peoples. Well, now, what are the prospects? MR. HEYD Very poor. MR. CHARLTON Very poor, my honourable friend says. My honourable friend from St. Mary's division (Hon. Mr. Tarte) says that we have been working for reciprocity for twenty-five years. Well, I would remind him that he that waits long finally succeeds. It is true that our applications for reciprocity have not been met with that degree of favour which we would desire. But I have reason to believe that times are changing; and when our Conservative friends speak slightingly of this, and when they take a position opposed to reciprocity, when they say: " You cannot get it, what is the use of trying?" I do not sympathize with that position at all. The condition 221 FISCAL RELATIONS of public opinion in the United States as regards Canada is constantly improving. Those who know the developments of the Joint High Commission, which I am not at liberty to enter upon in detail, know that even then, there was sub- stantial progress made towards the settlement of questions between these two countries, progress that would probably have given us a treaty that we would have considered at that time as satisfactory. That the intervening Alaska question and the indignation of the British commissioners at the course pursued by the United States broke off those negotiations for the time being, I think was a very fortunate thing for Canada. I believe that when the commission reassembles, as I as- sume it will, we shall reassemble under conditions much more favourable to the securing of a desirable treaty than existed when the commission dispersed. I believe that the condition of things has vastly improved, that the Americans have be- come disabused of their false impressions in regard to Canada, that they know that instead of dealing with an obscure colony they are dealing with a country possessing the resources of an empire, with a country that will become a vast and powerful state. They were ignorant of these matters because the facts had never been brought to their attention. The progress of the campaign of instruction instituted three years ago has been most satisfactory, and instead of supposing Canada to be a narrow strip of frozen country stretching along their frontier they know now that it is a country of enormous re- sources, that the cultivable land stretches to Slave Lake and that there are 300,000,000 acres of fertile land, 3,000,000 of which only are now under cultivation. They understand that this country is about to enter upon the race of progress, and run that race with giant strides; and under- standing this perhaps I may be competent to judge to some extent of the changes in American public sentiment in my opinion, the time is more propitious than it has been since the making of the treaty of 1854 for securing a treaty with the United States. 222 BRITISH PREFERENCE My honourable friend from St. Mary's, Montreal (Hon. Mr. Tarte) thinks, as I read the report of his speech last night, that it is not best to wait for results. The principle of pro- tection he says is too firmly rooted, even among the farmers of the United States, to permit us to hope for reciprocity. I would remind him that the reciprocity sentiment has taken firm hold of the great West ; that the Republicans of the great Republican state of Iowa, headed by their governor, Cummings, have taken strong ground in favour of radical tariff revision and reciprocity; that a large share of the Republican voters in other western states share these sentiments, and that the entire Democratic party of the United States vigorously upholds them. Do not lose tune, he (Hon. Mr. Tarte) tells us; do not wait to see what may be the outcome of these nego- tiations that are approaching; proceed at once to state your policy; assume that you know all about it, get your tariff fixed and go ahead. He says that the right honourable leader of the government has promised to send no more reciprocity delegations to the United States. I do not understand that the Prime Minister has done that. Canada has maintained a most dignified attitude in this matter. When the commission left Washington in 1899 the assertion was made by the Cana- dian head of that commission, the Premier of this country, that Canada was not going back to Washington asking for reciprocity again. He said : " We have been seeking for im- proved trade relations, we know how desirable it is to have an improvement, we know how much these trade relations could be improved, we have exhausted our patience and our resources in the effort to improve them, and if you reach the point where you understand this question and realize that a treaty is desirable, you can intimate that fact to us." Well, they have done that. My honourable friend from St. Mary's, Montreal, says that Senator Fairbanks's letters came very conveniently at this season. What does he mean? Does he mean there is collusion between Senator Fairbanks and the Prime Minister of this country? Does he mean that Senator Fairbanks was employed to write letters to the Prime Minister 223 FISCAL RELATIONS which give colour to the supposition that the commission might sit again for the purpose of affording the Premier and his government a pretext for deferring action on the tariff? Does he mean that? I do not think he does. I do not imagine that he does. But, if he does mean that, he is en- tirely mistaken. These advances have come from the Ameri- can government; they have come from Senator Fairbanks at the instigation of, and by the direction of, the President of the United States an intimation and an invitation to the Canadian government to meet the American commissioners again for the purpose of renewing the negotiations that were broken off in February 1899. Now, shall the commission meet? Or shall we proceed to fix our tariff and ignore the probability, nay, the certainty of this commission meeting, if we but respond to the invitation of the United States? I should say, certainly the commission should meet. If the United States has made overtures to us, if they have given us an invitaton to renew these negotiations, they have done it for a reason. They have done it because they desire a settlement, they have done it because they realize that the position of matters, as it exists to-day between Canada and the United States, is not desirable, and, realizing this they ask us to meet them for the purpose of entering upon negotia- tions looking to the possibility of settlement and adjustment of these questions. We are not warranted in assuming that it is not worth while to accept. The fact that the invitation is given, the very fact that this advance is made by them with the full knowledge of the indignation that exists in this coun- try in regard to their treatment of us, with the full knowledge that we have reason to complain, is a sufficient warrant, in fact an imperative reason, why we should accept the invitation. Now, if we go down, what should be the proper basis of an arrangement? We might as well discuss this matter pretty fully, because I am not sure but that the Premier would be glad to know something about public opinion as it relates to this matter. What should be the basis of the arrangement 224 BRITISH PREFERENCE in regard to reciprocity between these two countries? I am accused I have seen the accusation in Conservative papers time and time again that in the course of some speeches I made before chambers of commerce, merchants' exchanges, and bankers' conventions in the United States, I have made propositions that were detrimental and inimical to the in- terests of Canada and that have given away the case. MR. GOURLEY Hear, hear. MR. CHARLTON The honourable gentleman (Mr. Gourley) says, hear, hear. I will tell the honourable gentleman how far I have gone. I have said that reciprocity in natural products, so far as my views go, is an essential feature of any arrange- ment we may make; no palliatives, no concession upon this thing and upon that, but reciprocity in natural products all along the line. If we should get to that point the Americans would ask : " What would you give us in return?" We will say : " We will abstain from changing our tariff so as to apply the process of strangulation to your export trade with Canada. If you give us free trade in natural products we may possibly, in addition to the retention of the moderate features of our tariff, now so favourable to you, abolish the British preference, and make your position under our tariff laws the same as that occupied by Great Britain." My honourable friend (Mr. Gour- ley) can judge whether I have given away our case, and he can judge whether or not we can obtain reciprocity on that basis. It will be advantageous to us. I suppose I may be optimistic on this subject. I have mingled with American public men, with the leading American statesmen, I know the beat of the American pulse. I think the American people realize that they have pursued a fatuous and absurd policy towards Canada for thirty-five years. They are prepared to adopt a new course, to bring about improved relations between the United States and Canada, and they are prepared to do what is fair to consummate that arrangement. As to the effect of reciprocity, fortunately we are not left without some criterion to go by, without some experience to teach us what the probable outcome of such a policy would 15 225 FISCAL RELATIONS be. When the American union was formed in 1787, it adopted the policy of free trade between the then thirteen states com- prising the union, and that has continued to be the policy of that nation from that day to this. From tune to time new states were added; from time to tune new territory was acquired; finally the bounds of that nation stretched to the Pacific and to the Gulf of Mexico, and embraced the Mississippi valley ; and yet, with all the diversity of climate, of production, of interests that existed in that country and they are world- wide almost with all the apparent reasons for protecting one section against another, protecting the farmer of New England where he had to struggle to produce crops, against the farmer of Illinois who had but to tickle the soil with a hoe and it laughed with the harvest; notwithstanding all these diversities of conditions which my honourable friend would say undoubtedly required the intervention of the tariff tinker and the protectionist, notwithstanding all this, that country has lived under free trade for a century and a quarter, and has prospered under free trade; this great zollverein extending from ocean to ocean and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Can- adian boundary, has prospered as no nation has prospered before. And to-day the domestic commerce of that country reaches the enormous sum of $40,000,000,000, sinking the foreign trade of any nation in Christendom into utter in- significance by comparison. That is the result of free trade, of the free interchange of all products between all the sections of that nation, with all its diversities of climate and conditions. Now, I would like to know why the same conditions that apply to the forty-five states of the American union cannot be extended between that union and this confederation with the same result; of course we cannot carry it so far, we cannot have absolute free trade at present at least. We must have a tariff on certain things for revenue, but we can have absolute free trade in the productions of the soil; and to the extent that we reach out towards free trade, to that extent we shall share the blessings that that country has derived from the practical operation of this principle. 226 BRITISH PREFERENCE MR. CLANCY That sounds like unrestricted reciprocity. MR. CHARLTON Yes, it does, and unrestricted reciprocity would bring very good material results probably. We are not ready for it, but let us go as far as it is prudent; let us take the half-loaf, if we cannot use more, and enjoy the prosperity and the blessings that will come from it. Now a word with regard to reciprocity in natural products. We want free admission to the American market of our farm products and our lumber and our ores, and for what reason? It is not that we may depress the American prices to the level of our own, but that we may secure the American prices, and put the difference between the prices we get now and the price we would get then, into our own pockets. Our exportation of natural products to the United States is so insignificant, and will be so insignificant in comparison with the great bulk of the products of that country, that very little effect can be produced by it. In discussing this matter before the National Reciprocity Convention, I instanced the case of eggs. Last year we exported 11,590,000 dozen of eggs, and 237,000 dozen of these went to the United States. We could not increase that export fifty per cent, if we were to try. How much would that amount to in the United States? Why, Mr. Speaker, it would amount to less than two eggs per annum for each inhabitant of the United States. That would have a very disastrous effect on American prices, would it not? I have no time to go over the entire list of farm products that may be exported to the United States for consumption in that country, but any who take the trouble to do so will find that our exports in any of those articles would no more affect prices in the United States than could our export of eggs. The whole thing is a bugbear. The American farmer is frightened about Canadian competition which he has no reason to fear at all. As to the Canadian farmer, he need not be frightened about American competition, because he is a producer and an exporter. Now with regard to the question we were discussing a mo- ment ago, about the concessions we might make to the 227 FISCAL RELATIONS United States in return for free trade in natural products, as I said then I repeat now, that I should strenuously take the ground that we should make no more concessions; that we have made all the concessions that can be reasonably asked for. The only thing I would hold out as an induce- ment would be, not the promise of further concessions, but the assurance that we will withdraw what we have done if we do not get fair play; that in place of a free list of $60,000,000 we will make it $30,000,000; that in place of buying $69,000,000 of manufactures, we would manufacture $40,000,000 or $50,000,000 worth of them in our own country. This would be the inducement that the American would need to convince him that he had better adopt the scheme that we propounded. MR. GOURLEY Would the honourable gentleman allow me to ask a question? Why is it necessary for us in this Can- adian parliament to be forever disgracing ourselves by appealing to these people across the way, who have treated us like a lot of desperadoes for the last twenty years? MR. CHARLTON We are not appealing to these people ; these people have appealed to us. They have sent us an invitation to meet them; we are talking that over; we are arriving at a decision as to what we shall say when we meet them; how far we will go and where we will stop. MR. GOURLEY They would kick us from the continent to-day if they could. MR. CHARLTON We have reached that point where they are appealing to us; where they have realized that they are sacrificing their opportunities and have pursued a policy which has not been a just policy, and that the day has come when our own action unless they give us fair, neighbourly treatment will deprive them of the advantages they might enjoy. Now, Mr. Speaker, we talk about protection. I am opposed to the sacrificing of any existing interests in Canada. I want to see our manufacturing interests prosperous, and I will go just as far as any man in advocating the manufacture of goods 228 BRITISH PREFERENCE here, if we cannot get fair play in trade. But I have a broad enough view of this case to realize that, since 1861, the United States has been constantly and consistently pursuing a policy of building up a home market, and that the result of that policy is that they have created a home market which bears a proportion to their population greater than we could create by the most stringent system of protection in fifty years. If we could with one stroke of the pens of the commissioners appointed by this country and by the United States, secure access to that market, which for fifty years has cost the people of the United States untold millions, would it not be to our advantage to get it? I think it would. I think it would be just as good a scheme as to go through with all the pain, and sweat, and toil, and blood-letting that that nation has gone through since 1861 in creating that market. And now, Mr. Speaker, a few words about the transpor- tation question and the market situation. We have some very productive wheat-fields in the North- West, and a crop of 60,000,000 bushels was garnered last year from less than one-hundredth part of the area of that country adapted to the growth of that grain. Now, we are confronted with the problem : How are we to afford that country an outlet to the markets of the world, and shall we throw any impedi- ments in the way of the producers of that country reaching any market they may desire? The Western farmer will raise wheat for sale, and, like a shrewd business man, he will want to sell that wheat wherever he can find a customer. He will be able shortly to raise all the wheat that he can find customers for, so that it would be the height of folly to interfere with his efforts to reach any market he desires to reach. We want to secure the carrying trade of that country, but it is incumbent upon us to endeavour to do so by fair compe- tition. We do not want to resort to export duties, or other unjustifiable repressive measures, in order to force the volume of the productions of the North- West through particular channels. There are going to be hundreds of thousands of settlers from the United States in that country, and they will 229 FISCAL RELATIONS naturally resent the idea that they cannot sell wheat wherever they can find a sale for it. They will not have the prejudice which my honourable friend (Mr. Gourley) entertains against dealing with Americans. They will know that the friends they left across the line are of the same blood as the people of the country they inhabit, and they will want to trade with them. There are several reasons why we had better let them do so. In fact, we cannot prevent it, unless we impose arbitrary restrictions of some kind, such as export duties. The Americans have the game in their own hands. They can remove the duty on grain, and in my opinion they will shortly do it. The miller of the western states desires access to our sources of supply. I am told that the millers of Min- neapolis can handle 40,000,000 bushels of Manitoba and Western wheat. This wheat will be wanted by the millers at Minneapolis, or other milling centres in the United States, to mix it with the softer grades grown in the United States. Then, the American milling interests want access to this mar- ket for the purpose of stiffening prices for the purpose of introducing the system that is in force in the United States. American millers tell me that wheat from Canada and Argentina, when it goes to market must be sold, as there are no facilities for holding it. They are constantly met by competition of this kind, which lowers prices; and they want to get into this market with their hundreds of millions of capital for the purpose of competing with the Canadian buyer, buying the grain at higher prices than it would otherwise command, in order that they may hold that grain or the flour into which it is ground, until they are ready to sell it; in that way controlling the market, and preventing bear operations and lower prices. In both of these cases it is in the interest of the North- West and in the interest of Canada that they should get into that market. For these reasons, free trade in wheat and the introduction of American competition in the purchase of wheat in the North- West, would do those producers more good than a four per cent, preference on their wheat in Eng- land. 230 BRITISH PREFERENCE The present value of the American market for wheat is relatively small, but its prospective value is almost limitless. Changing conditions in the United States are worthy of con- sideration. First of all, there is the gradual failure of their wheat-lands. I can remember the time when the chief crop of Illinois was wheat, when enormous shipments were made, when the elevators of Chicago were bursting with the products of the Illinois wheat-fields. To-day there is not enough wheat raised in Illinois to provide bread for one-half the inhabitants of the state. The farmers have gone out of the business; their wheat-fields have become exhausted; their crops are of another kind. The same holds good with regard to Iowa, with its two and a half millions of inhabitants. The same will soon hold true of Minnesota, of the two Dakotas, of Kan- sas. The wheat production of these states is diminishing, the soil is becoming exhausted ; and while the wheat production of the United States is growing less and less, the population of the country is rapidly increasing the urban population out of all proportion to the rural population. Take, for instance, the North Atlantic division, as it is called com- prising the states of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with a total population, according to the last census of 21,000,000. Of this population 13,600,000 are in towns of 4,000 inhabitants and over. In the state of New York, out of a population of 7,268,000, 5,176,000 live in towns of 4,000 inhabitants or over. Here, Mr. Speaker, are these vast centres of population, 5,000,000 and more in the single state of New York, 13,500,000 in the North Atlantic division, living in towns of 4,000 and upwards, and the population rapidly increasing and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec nearer to those centres of population than any other producing region on the continent. To reach these centres the farmers of Illinois, Michigan, Wis- consin, and Iowa, have either to cross our territory or to go past it on the south side of the lake ; and our North- Western farmers will have just as good facilities for reaching those cen- tres as the American farmers of the far West. 231 FISCAL RELATIONS This is a question the importance of which we only begin to realize when we study it carefully, in the light of all the facts; not taking the superficial view that some take, or the prejudiced view of those who think it is be- neath the dignity of a Canadian to deal with an American at all, but looking at the facts from a common-sense stand-point, with a realization of the great possibilities that lie before us in the near future. The United States will soon become a food-importing nation. Its vast manu- facturing interests are being developed with wonderful rapidity, its urban population is increasing out of all propor- tion to its rural population, and the time is near at hand when that country will require from Canada, or other countries, a portion of its food supply. These two countries are geo- graphically one. The province of Quebec is geographically as nearly allied to the New England states as to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. The province of Ontario has its nearest route to the sea across American territory. The very boun- daries between the two countries for a part of the distance serve to bind them together, as where the St. Lawrence forms a great common highway from Duluth eastward to the point where the boundary leaves that river. Our North- West is geo- graphically a part of the Mississippi valley, a part of the same country that sweeps up from the Mississippi to the Arctic Ocean, a great continental slope to the north without interrup- tion of mountain range, and which can be reached most con- veniently and economically by railway communication from the head of Lake Superior at Duluth and from St. Paul and Chicago. This being the case there are these great natural facilities which invite communication, which invite trade, and which invite the breaking down of the barriers that exist between the two countries, and the absurd prejudices which some entertain. There is in progress at present a great movement for inter- esting American capital in industrial and financial operations in the Dominion. I have friends in the West; I hear from them frequently, and I learn that the movement which is 232 BRITISH PREFERENCE on foot for removal to the Canadian North- West promises to become an exodus. I hear that the banks of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas are being de- pleted of their deposits by men who are investing this money in the Canadian North- West. Those who can sell their Illinois farms for $100 an acre, their T owa farms for $70 an acre, and their Kansas and Nebraska farms for $40 or $50 an acre, and invest this money in the Canadian North- West in land equally as good or better at $5 or $10 an acre, are appreciating the advantages of that exchange. They are selling their lands and flocking to our North- West by the thousands. They are a class of settlers who understand the conditions and are familiar with the work they have to perform. They have gone through the experience once and can go through it again. And a farmer with half a dozen sons can sell his farm in the United States, and with the proceeds give each of his sons just as large a farm in Canada as the one he left. I tell you, sir, we are having a movement in the investment of American capital hi our country of which we do not realize the magnitude. We should promote this movement and be ready to avail ourselves of its results; and nothing will promote it more rapidly than the adoption of reciprocity between the two countries. Our vast resources are attracting attention. The period of narrowness and exclusiveness and bitterness and ignorance, which characterized certain portions of the public in both of these countries is passing away, and in place of it is coming a broader spirit, a catholic spirit, a spirit of toleration, a spirit of mutual conciliation which will bear excellent results in the interests of both countries. New conditions, vast possibilities confront us. We hardly stop to realize their magnitude. When this North- West, where hundreds of thousands are to settle in the near future, with its 300,000,000 acres of arable land, of which 3,000,000 are now under cultivation, this North- West that can increase its production a hundred fold, when the resources of this country are developed, when its fields wave with harvests, when its surface is covered 233 FISCAL RELATIONS by farms and towns and cities, then we shall see the fruition of the promise we have to-day. And those who have the prescience to look into the future with a compre- hension of what is coming, will see their dreams realized, and a great nation established on the northern portion of this con- tinent. We shall then look back to the past if we live to see that day and wonder at the narrowness and littleness and bitterness displayed by people in the old days before the broad horizon had opened before them. Nevertheless, so long as the present American tariff con- ditions continue, this rosy picture will not be realized as soon as it otherwise would. If we cannot get a treaty such as I think we can, we have simply to do what I said would be the alternative we have simply to mould into shape our own resources, work out our own destiny, and build up as we best may the superstructure of our own nation. And whatever may be the outcome, whether we get that mitigation of trade conditions which we hope for, or whether we find that present trade conditions are to be perpetuated, I do not apprehend that we shall find Liberals in this House seriously disagreeing. There is a good deal of latitude of opinion allowed here, and the government, while it permits this, will, in my opinion, be confronted by a condition of things that will result in popular demand of such volume and potency, in connection with this question of trade relations, as will lead it to bow to the wishes of the people. We will direct our course by the developments that are confronting us, that are near at hand. And, I repeat, I approve most highly the course of the government in awaiting the development of events, in waiting for the few months that will enable us to judge definitely and absolutely what is the proper course to be taken. Canada desires to participate in the commercial activities of this continent. If we cannot obtain this privilege we shall have to shape a destiny of our own. The parting of the ways is just ahead. Providence will decide the matter. We cannot tell what the decision will be, or upon which of the paths we 234 BRITISH PREFERENCE shall enter, whether upon the path of participation in the benefits of free and liberal trade relations covering Anglo- Saxon America, or the path of exclusion, imitation of the policy of the other country, and retaliation upon it for what it has perpetuated and imposed upon us. Let us await the future calmly, resolutely, if you will, without fear or care as to what the result will be, determined that we shall be governed by those conditions and developments, and shall view from a patriots standpoint, whatever, in our belief, the necessity of our country requires from us in the line of action. 235 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AMONG the speeches made by me in the course of the propaganda in the United States was one before the Chamber of Commerce of Boston, on December 10, 1903. That address was afterwards revised and condensed, and published as an article in the North American Review for February, 1904. In the intro- duction to this volume I have already acknowledged the kindness of the publishers in allowing me to use that material as the basis of this report of the speech. Boston Chamber of Commerce, December 10, 1903. MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN Between the Gulf of Mexico and the republic of Mexico on the south, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, stretches a vast territory, over 7,000,000 square miles in extent, with resources of soil, mine, forest and fisheries many times in excess of present development, bounded on the east, west and north by oceans; impregnable if united in purpose; inhabited at the present moment by 84,000,000 English-speaking people; the home of the highest form of civilization, and possessed of the most advanced condition of human liberty. What shall be the future of this most favoured of all continental areas? Shall this early morning of its history advance to a splendid noonday of power, development, and mutually advantageous relations, with ultimately 400,000,000 of our race dwelling together in peace and unity? Or shall we deliberately shape the conditions of the present in such a manner as to estab- lish two rival, mutually repellant and possibly hostile powers, swayed by prejudices and animosities, and spurning 237 FISCAL RELATIONS the conditions that shall bear the blessed fruits of peace, harmony and mutual advantage? For, this vast area, united in so many ways, is divided in the political allegiance of its people. The southern portion is the home of the greatest nation on earth in wealth and power; and one of the greatest in population and advancement, the United States. The northern portion is organized politi- cally as the Dominion of Canada, a dependency of Great Bri- tain; insignificant at present in population and wealth as compared with its great neighbour, but mighty in its hope of progress along the line in which the United States has led, and already entered upon a course of industrial and political advancement which challenges the attention and admiration of the world. It is about the future of this territory thus united hi so many ways, and thus divided in political organization that I am to speak to you to-day. In the history of the two countries there was a period of twelve years, from 1854 to 1866, when their trade relations were of a mutually advantageous character, and were exerting a powerful influence hi the creation of community of interest and the broadening of mutual relations. This favourable condition was due to the fact that a reciprocity treaty existed between the two countries, arranged in the first year of the period referred to. The Civil War in the United States gave rise to circumstances that aroused unfriendly feeling towards Canada, based upon misapprehension as to facts, for the great majority of Canadians were friendly to the union. A mistaken impression that the treaty was much more favour- able to Canada than to the United States was also enter- tained by the majority of Americans. For the period during which the treaty was in force, the balance of trade was decidedly in favour of the United States. According to Can- adian trade returns, the total imports and exports, 1854 to 1866 inclusive, were: Imports from the United States $332,927,000 Exports to the United States 259,875,000 Balance of trade in favour of the United States . . . 73,052,000 238 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE These returns did not include Prince Edward Island, New- foundland, and British Columbia. According to American returns, the total exports and im- ports to all of British North America, 1854 to 1866 inclusive, were: Exports to British America $343,326,000 Imports from British America 318,760,000 Balance of trade in favour of the United States . . . 24,566,000 It is true that for the last three year*: of the reciprocity period the balance of trade turned, at first slightly, and for the last year decidedly, hi favour of Canada. This was due to the abnormal demand for horses, and certain lines of agricultural and animal products, caused by the Civil War, and to the forced export of 1865-6, under the stimulus of the twelve months' notice of abrogation of the treaty; but the operation of normal conditions would have assured the main- tenance of trade balances favourable to the United States. During this period of free trade in natural products, there was no extensive export of manufactures to Canada, as is the case at present; and the condition of things in this respect now existing would, with free trade in natural products, give to the United States a much larger relative balance of trade. Another circumstance that caused the favourable balance of trade to the United States to appear much smaller than was actually the case, was, that no inconsiderable por- tion of the exports from Canada to the United States consist- ed of products passing through the United States for export, the direct export trade of Canada with Great Britain by the St. Lawrence route being at that time very small as far as related to farm products. Following the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty in 1866, came an attempt to renew reciprocal trade relations in 1874 through a reciprocity treaty negotiated by the British minister, Lord Thornton, and the Canadian commissioner, the Hon. George Brown, with the United States state depart- ment. This draft treaty put natural products on the free list, and enlarged the provisions of the treaty of 1854 by 239 FISCAL RELATIONS putting upon the free list all kinds of agricultural implements, and a list of thirty-seven other classes of manufactures, in- cluding gray cottons, denims, tickings, tweeds, satins, leather and leather goods, printing-presses, and types, engines, cab- inet-ware, carriages, wagons, and other wheeled vehicles, iron bar, pig, nails, spikes, etc., locomotives, printing-paper, railroad cars, steel, wrought or cast, etc. This treaty failed of ratification by the United States Senate. The result has shown that this action was a blunder of the most serious character, so far as American interests were concerned. Under either the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 or the proposed Reciprocity Treaty of 1874, the irresistible tendency of trade would have been to create an American system, and to bring forces into play that would have caused the two peoples to become practically one. The influence exerted by the continuance of such a policy until the present time would have been one strongly tending towards unification. Fortunately for the British imperialist, American statesmen were blind to the good influence that good relations and community of interest would exert, and deliberately entered upon a repressive policy designed to throttle trade so far as related to Canadian exports to the United States. Had the proposed Reciprocity Treaty of 1874 gone into oper- ation it would have brought Canada and the United States into business and social relations so intimate that it is an interesting question to what extent the blending of the two people in interests and affinities, political and social, would have gone. The United States Senate took occasion to give an example of supreme folly by refusing to ratify this treaty. Succeeding this abortive attempt to secure a broadening of trade relations between the two countries, came a period of absurd fiscal legislation by the United States, as relates to Canada, and under which we are still living. This legis- lation dwarfed the export trade from Canada to the United States, which, after first eliminating from the returns gold, bullion, and coin, is scarcely greater in 1903 than it was in 1866. The scale of duties seems to have been designed to 240 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE prevent the sale of Canadian products in the American market. During all this period the Canadian fiscal policy has been liberal and the Canadian tariff rates moderate, so moderate indeed as scarcely to offer an obstacle to the growth of the American export trade to Canada. From 1866 to 1876, the duty upon the great bulk of Canadian dutiable imports was fifteen per cent., and from 1876 to 1897, seventeen and a half per cent. For the year 1903, the Canadian duty upon total imports from the United States was twelve and a quarter per cent., and upon dutiable imports from that country twenty-four and a half per cent., while the average scale of American duties was twenty-four per cent., upon total im- ports and forty-nine per cent, upon dutiable. From 1874 onward, Canada was forced, by her failure to gain admission to the markets of the United States, to secure markets for her products elsewhere. The great success attending her efforts in this direction is illustrated by the trade returns of 1903 as contrasted with those of 1866: Canadian export of farm products. 1866 1903 To the United States $25,042,000 $9,200,000 To Great Britain 3,542,000 97,200,000 To British Colonies 1,297,000 4,458,000 To other countries 19,000 3,075,000 $29,900,000 $113 ,933 ,000 One of the unexpected trade developments of late years is the growth of an extensive demand, in various parts of Can- ada, for American farm products, and the fact that this de- mand has turned the tide of trade in this line in the direction of Canada. The Canadian market for American farm pro- ducts is found in British Columbia, in the Yukon and Klondike region, in the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and in the lumbering and mining regions of Ontario; and, for Indian corn, hides, flax- seed, wool, tobacco leaf, etc., in all parts of the Dominion. In the fiscal year 1902-3, the importation of farm products into Canada for consumption, from the United States, was as follows: Dutiable farm products, $6,909,000; free farm pro- 16 241 FISCAL RELATIONS ducts, $14,672,000 a total of $21,581,000. The same year the export of farm products to the United States was $9,200,000, the Canadian excess of imports above exports from the United States being $12,381,000. The dutiable portion of the imports was subject to the same rates of duty, substantially, as were imposed by the United States upon articles of the same class imported from Canada. This con- dition of the trade leads to the conclusion that if free trade in farm products existed, the importation by Canada from the United States for domestic consumption would equal ex- port in the same line to the United States for consumption. This, of course, would not apply to wheat, flour and other articles of which both countries have a surplus for export, as the United States in importing such products would export either these or a corresponding amount of United States products, and they would thus practically act as a factor securing for American transportation routes, millers, dealers and commission men a profitable and in every way desirable trade. The total imports of Canada from the United States for 1902-3 were $144,763,000; the total exports $71,209,000; the balance of trade against Canada being $73,554,000. Of the exports, $18,807,000 consisted of precious metals. The imports for consumption were $137,605,000, and exports the produce of Canada $67,766,000, which included Klondike and Yukon gold. The total imports of Canada from Great Britain for 1902-3 were $59,080,000; the total exports, $131,200,000, the balance in favour of Canada being $72,120,000. The imports of Canada from the United States for this year exceeded the imports from Great Britain by the sum of $85,683,000. The exports of Canada to Great Britain exceeded the total ex- ports to the United States by the sum of $59,991,000. The total trade of Canada for this year was, with the United States, $215,972,000; with Great Britain, $190,280,000; the difference in favour of United States being $25,692,000. The Canadian free list for American imports last year amount- 242 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ed to $69,485,000, and embraced the following articles and amounts: manufactures, $23,000,000; forest products, lum- ber, etc., $4,986,000; Indian com, $3,250,000; flaxseed, $1,303,000; tobacco leaf, $2,241,000; hides and skins, $2,612,- 000; wool, $307,000; sundry agricultural products, $2,030,- 000; sundry animal products, $2,267,000. The same year the American free list upon Canadian imports covered saw-logs pulpwood, nickel-matte, hop-poles, undressed furs, grease, animals for breeding purposes, shingle-bolts, and a few minor articles. The non-progressive character of the Canadian export trade to the United States is shown by the fact that, while the export hi 1866 amounted to $44,000,000, the export in 1903, less precious metals and articles not the produce of Canada, was no more than $48,959,000. On the other hand, a com- parison of Canadian import returns from the United States will show remarkable increase as the following table will de- monstrate : Canadian imports from United States for consumption. 1866 $28,794,000 1900 $109,844,000 1890 52,291,000 1901 110,485,000 1896 54,574,000 1902 120,814,000 1903 137,600,000 The expansion has been a remarkable one since 1896. The disparity of increase between the export and import trade of Canada with the United States is attributable di- rectly to the character of the tariffs of each country. Since 1866, that of the United States has been practically prohibitive, the spirit hi which it was formed being apparently the desire to buy little and sell much, and to refuse to meet all countries upon the basis of a fair exchange of commodities. During all the years since 1866, American tariff rates have not gone lower than twenty-four per cent, on total imports, and forty- nine per cent, on dutiable imports, except possibly for the brief period during which the Wilson Bill was in force. During the same period, Canadian tariff rates have not been higher than twelve and a half per cent, on total imports, and twenty- four and a half per cent, on dutiable imports from the United 243 FISCAL RELATIONS States; and, in consequence of the operation of these tariffs, the antipodes of each other in character, United States ex- ports to Canada have swelled to a vast volume, and Canadian exports to the United States have been held at a standstill. It is the fruits of these two tariff policies that have given rise in Canada to a strong protectionist movement, which seems certain to result, so far as the United States is concerned, either in the adoption of the American system by Canada, or in a lowering of tarn? barriers by the United States. It is a significant fact that, while the exports of the United States to Canada during the reciprocity period consisted to a moderate extent only of manufactured articles, the exports for the last six years have consisted of manufactured articles to an extent of over one-half of the entire amount, thus clearly indicating that if the balance of trade from 1854 to 1866, with free trade in natural products, and no demand hi Canada for American farm products, was in favour of the United States, now, with a heavy Canadian demand for such products and with a vast demand for manufactures, free trade in natural products would not prevent a heavy annual balance of trade in favour of the United States. The following table, showing the Canadian importation of manufactures from Great Britain and from the United States since 1898, will be of interest, especially when taken in connec- tion with the fact that Canada has given a tariff preference to Great Britain, first of twelve and a half per cent., 1897 to 1898; then of twenty-five per cent, to 1900; and of thirty- three and one-third per cent, since that tune. Canadian Imports of Manufactures. From Great Britain. From United States. 1898 $26,243,000 $41,510,000 1899 31,187,000 49,362,000 1900 37,328,000 60,473,000 1901 36,469,000 62,643,000 1902 41,675,000 69,536,000 1903 50,473,000 76,291,000 This great increase in the sale of manufactures by the United States to Canada between 1898 and 1903, in the face of the 244 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Canadian perference in favour of British imports, gives evi- dence of the strong hold that the American manufacturer has upon the Canadian market, and of his ability to meet all competitors in that market upon equal terms. The Dominion of Canada is the third largest customer of the United States among the nations of the world, and is the largest customer for manufactured goods. In the year 1902, the exports of the United States to Canada exceeded by $36,814,000 her total exports to Mexico, the Central Ameri- can states, and all of South America from Panama to Cape Horn. The question whether this great market is worth making an effort to retain, is worthy of the serious consideration of American statesmen. That there is danger of its being serious- ly curtailed does not admit of doubt. Canadians are restive under present trade conditions. Their purchases from the United States last year, leaving precious metals, coin and bullion out of the calculation, were $280 for every $100 sold to that country. Their great balance of trade against Great Britain was used up hi discharging the United States' balance against them. This state of matters cannot be continued. One remedy, that of broadening and making more liberal its trade policy, can be applied by the United States. An- other remedy, that of making its own trade policy the counter- part of that of the United States, can be applied by Canada. In the near future, unless the United States applies the remedy at her disposal, Canada will be morally certain to imitate the American example and oppose stringent legislative restric- tions to the natural course of trade. This preferential scheme is now engaging the attention of the Canadian public. Various circumstances predispose Canadians to look upon it with favour. There is soreness over the Alaskan boundary settlement. There is a sense of injustice suffered at the hands of the United States in the character of their trade policy towards Canada. There is a charm about the idea of receiving preference over foreign countries in the British market, and the proposed policy 245 FISCAL RELATIONS appeals strongly to the Canadian sense of loyalty. The day has now come for the United States to abandon a wrong posi- tion and retrace false steps, and it is already high noon of that day. No fear need be entertained of being too liberal with Canada. The greater the liberality of treatment the more satisfactory will be the results. The policy should be to draw Canada to the United States and not, as heretofore, to repel that country and constantly widen the gulf of separa- tion and estrangement. American statesmen should at once decide, without hesitation or haggling, to offer Canada re- ciprocity in all natural products, in return for the substantial continuance of present Canadian tariff conditions. This would be a return to the tariff conditions of the old reciprocity period, with general trade conditions so radically changed that now Canada is a large importer of farm products for con- sumption, and that the United States is an exporter on a large scale of finished wares to Canada two conditions that did not exist hi the period between 1854 and 1866. American farmers and lumbermen have hitherto opposed the free importation of Canadian lumber and farm products. Their fears as to the reduction of prices consequent upon free importation is a bugbear. No such effect as they fear would follow. In the case of products of which both countries have a surplus, such as wheat, flour, meats, etc., free interchange would not affect prices in the United States, for market rates are determined by the price received for the surplus. Had the entire wheat surplus which Canada had for export last year been sent to the United States free of duty, prices would not have been depressed in the slightest degree. The Can- adian wheat so imported would either have been exported or would have displaced a corresponding amount of American wheat and flour for export. The result would have been that the competition of American buyers in Canada would have resulted in higher prices for the Canadian producer, while Americon transportation routes, millers, dealers, and commis- sion men would have benefited by increased trade. In the case of Canadian products imported into the United 246 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE States for consumption, it will be found upon examination that the volume of imports is so insignificant in amount, com- pared with the volume of American production, as to be in- capable of influencing American prices. The total export of eggs last year from Canada to all the world did not amount to one per cent, of the American production, and would not have made two eggs per annum for (Jjtch inhabitant of the United States. The total export o'f Canadian lumber to the United States, including what went through in bond for export, was only two per cent, in amount of the production of sawn lumber in that country for the same year. Taking, for the purpose of making a comparison, the United States census returns of 1900 and the Canadian export returns of 1902, the proportion of Canadian export to American pro- duction hi various products, on a dollar basis, was as follows : wheat, 1 to 700; oats, 1 to 5,500; barley, 1 to 2,400; pota- toes, 1 to 1,700; hay, 1 to 200. The Canadian export of live animals compared with the value of stock in the United States was as follows : horses, 1 to 3,000 ; cattle, 1 to 5,000 ; sheep, 1 to 200. The absurdity of supposing that Canadian exports under these relative proportions, or even if the export was increased tenfold, can produce any appreciable effect upon American prices, is too apparent to need enlarg- ing upon. Free trade hi natural products, and all other products, has continued in the United States since the constitution was adopted. In that country there is great variety of soil, climate, productions, and cost of production, but free trade has been found to be mutually advantageous to all the states. The same policy will apply with equal force to Canada. The Chamberlain proposition for colonial preferential trade creates a complication in the reciprocity issue at the present time. Last year Mr. Chamberlain spoke almost contempt- uously of the Canadian preference hi favour of Great Britain, of thirty-three and one-third per cent., and declared that its effects were disappointing, and that it was chiefly valuable as an evidence of loyal sentiment. This estimate of value 247 FISCAL RELATIONS was wide of the mark. The preference had actually rescued the British export trade to Canada from practical extinction. This trade had gone down from $68,000,000 in 1873 to $29,000,- 000 in 1897. The effect of this Canadian preference has been to bring this trade up to $59,000,000 in 1903. For the sub- stantial benefits it has conferred, Great Britain has not made the slightest return, has indeed scarcely made an acknowledg- ment. Canadian cattle are scheduled and must be slaughtered upon arrival, and Canada was given no preference when the registration tax of about four per cent, upon grain was im- posed. Now Mr. Chamberlain proposes a preferential tax upon certain articles for the benefit of the colonies. He calls this proposed tax a moderate one, which it certainly is. The limit is to be two shillings, sterling, per quarter of eight bushels, upon wheat; a corresponding tax upon flour; five per cent, upon eggs and dairy products; and a duty, amount not stated, upon fruit and wine, in neither of which would Canada have much interest. In return for this preference, Mr. Chamber- lain informed his hearers at Glasgow, Canada would be ex- pected to abstain from entering upon new lines of manufac- turing not already established, and to give Great Britain substantial advantages in competition with foreign states. No recognition is made of the present Canadian preference. It is, apparently, to count for nothing; and yet last year it effected a saving of duty to the British exporter of $2,700,- 000 as compared with the regular tariff rates. The proposed Chamberlain preference on the Canadian exports for 1902 would amount to $3,600,000; but it is doubtful whether colonial products would be enhanced hi price to the amount of the duty, as compared with prices that would obtain if no duty was imposed; and it is probable that the present Can- adian preference is a full equivalent for the preference pro- posed by Mr. Chamberlain. In the event of Mr. Chamberlain's proposed policy being en- dorsed by the British electorate, so far as the proposal to pro- tect British industries from foreign competition is concerned, Canadian sympathies and good wishes will go with him and 248 BOSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE his party, and it is not to be supposed that Canada will object to preferential treatment in the British market. All will turn upon the question of what the privilege will cost; and, when the tune comes to attempt to adjust details, we shall step from the realm of sentiment to that of hard prosaic fact, and it is more than possible that the reconciliation of imperial and colonial expectations and views T^ll be found to be a task that cannot be accomplished by the best efforts of those who will be called upon to attempt to harmonize imperial demands with colonial interests. At this juncture, there will also be the possibility of another complication arising. Sixty-eight per cent, of Britain's export trade is with foreign countries, thirty-two per cent, with her colonial empire, including India, less than three per cent, of this latter amount being with Canada. Is it not more than possible that the hostility of the United States and other foreign powers will be provoked? No objection can reasonably be made to the adoption of the protective system by Great Britain; but a preferential system between Britain and her colonies may not be viewed with the same degree of complacency; and, whether justly or not, complications may arise of a most embarrassing and undesirable character. The advantages offered to Canada by Mr. Chamberlain's proposal for a moderate preference on half a dozen articles, would be trivial compared with the advantages that would fall to Canada from reciprocity with the United States hi natural products. Reciprocity is preference. If the United States removes the duty from any article hi favour of Canada and retains that duty against other countries, then Canada will have a preference in the American market to the extent of that duty. Under this view of the case, the American prefer- ence on wheat would be twenty-five cents, British six cents; American preference on flour twenty-five per cent., British preference eight per cent. ; American preference on eggs, cheese, and butter, an average of twenty-five per cent., British pre- ference five per cent. ; and beyond the list of articles covered by the proposed British preference, would be barley and other 249 FISCAL RELATIONS grains, beans, potatoes, turnips, hay, lumber, ties, posts, tele- graph-poles, cattle, horses, sheep, poultry, meats, garden vegetables and roots, fruits, ores, stone, lime, cement and many other articles upon which the American preference to Canada would be expressed by the rates of duty now levied. To sum up the matter in a sentence: the proposed British preference is sentiment; American reciprocity in natural products would be business. Providence seems to have designed the North American continent as the home-centre of Anglo-Saxon power. The resources of the territory upon this continent in possession of the English-speaking race are enormous and are not yet fully comprehended. The entire region would form a vast, compact and unassailable empire. The policy of the near future will shape the destiny of this mighty land. The best and most effective efforts of the political leaders of the United States for more than a generation have been of a character to promote discord, to destroy harmony and community of interest, and to secure the establishment of two nations, one pressing to the utmost every advantage of position and preponderating wealth and influence, the other smarting under a sense of ungenerous treatment. Is it advisable to continue these conditions? Separate autonomy is not incon- sistent with harmonious relations, with common purposes and unity of action. Shall the great future of this favoured continent be one of harmony, where justice, truth, good-will and mutually advantageous relations shall prevail? Heaven grant that it may; and let all thoughtful, well-meaning men in the two countries realize that the words and actions of Canadian and American jingoes are not in the interests of the future myriads for whom we are now laying down the lines. 250 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS SABBATH OBSERVANCE IN 1885 I introduced in the Dominion parliament a bill to secure the better observance of the Lord's Day. From that time until 1895, when the repeated vote of the House had shown that public sentiment was utterly unprepared for any effective legislation on the subject, I carried on this fight. The speech here given was one of the latest of a series extending over the period named. It was delivered on the motion for the second reading of the bill. House of Commons, May 2, 1894. MR. CHARLTON This bill, Mr. Speaker, is based, of course, upon religious considerations. The Sabbath was set apart in the first place to commemorate the creation of the world; it was set apart by the Creator and hallowed by Him. The only institutions that were transmitted to posterity from the possessions of man's first estate of innocence were the Sabbath and marriage; and when the time came to inaugurate a greater event than the creation of the world, when the time came to redeem man, the hallowed day was changed from the seventh day of the week to the first, and re-establish- ed as a memorial of redemption. And thus it stands to-day, recognized by nearly all Christian Churches recognized by the Catholic Church, recognized by almost every Protestant Church as the day set apart by Divinity to celebrate that great event, the greatest of all events in human history. Now, Mr. Speaker, I propose to present this bill not from the religious standpoint, except incidentally. I propose to present this bill as a measure designed to secure for the people 253 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS of this country their civil rights, and their religious rights as well, under the law. The aim of the bill is not to prescribe religious observances; it will not interfere with the belief or religious observance of the Mohammedan or the Jew, the pagan or the infidel. It will prescribe to no man what his religious belief, or his religious conduct, or his religious obser- vances shall be. It is designed to secure to the labourer the right of rest on the first day of the week; it is designed to secure the right to the Christian labourer to enjoy religious observances or ordinances upon the first day of the week, and, unfortunately in many cases, unless the law steps in and protects him in that right, it is impossible for him to exer- cise it. The foundation for action in this bill is, first, that the bill is in the interest of human liberty, and second, that it is in harmony with divine law. Now, while we may not be called upon to legislate with regard to religion and morality, while we may not make a man's religion or a man's standard in morals something that will determine whether he shall be a member of this House, or of any other body, or not, religion and morality, nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, have very much to do with the interests of the state. George Washington, in his farewell address to the American people, used this remarkable language: "Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who would labour to subvert these great pillars of human happi- ness." Now, the state, while it is not called upon to dictate what a man's religion shall be or what a man's religious observances shall be, ought not to sanction that which promotes irreligion and vice. The state is not justified in sanctioning and pro- moting obscene plays, the introduction of obscene literature, gambling or vice of any kind. It is the proper function of the state to prohibit all those usages and practices; and no civilized state, whether there be a connection between church and state or not, would be performing its duty if it permitted 254 SABBATH OBSERVANCE any usage which promoted irreligion or which created or in- creased vice. All human law rests upon the Decalogue: Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour; thou shalt not commit adultery these are the foundations of civil law. And the Decalogue, Mr. Speaker, is not of partial obligation it is a symmetrical whole; and the state cannot observe part of the Decalogue and disregard part of the Decalogue. If it gives heed to the sixth or the seventh or the eighth commandment, it must give heed also to the fourth, which is part of the symmetrical whole. Now, although there is no union of church and state in this country, there is nevertheless some intimate connection between the civil institutions of the country and religious obligations. No state can be entirely divorced in its laws and usages and institutions from this obligation. St. Paul said with regard to the empire of Rome, " There is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God." Men cannot sever the connection that exists between religious obligations and civil institutions, whether there is a union of church and state or not. Christianity has stamped its distinctive features upon the civilization of this century, upon its political, social and religious institutions the teach- ing of the great prophet of Nazareth leavens all phases and all functions of society; and the contrast that exists between the civilization of the nineteenth century and the civilization of Rome under Nero and Caligula is entirely due to the opera- tion and influence and the formative power of Christianity brought to bear upon the society of our age. So, sir, we are bound, in the consideration of this question to give the requirements of the higher, the divine law, due consideration. As I have said, the state cannot dictate the creed, the mode of worship or the religious observances of the people. But just as truly the state should not promote in- fidelity, the state should not dishonour God's law. It is just as absolutely debarred, if governed by correct principles, from doing the one thing as it is from doing the other. The 255 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS state should protect the rights of conscience. The state should protect every citizen within its bounds in the exercise of religious liberty. And I hold that the state may properly provide such laws as public necessity and the public good require. I lay this foundation, because every provision of this bill rests upon it. I proceed next to the consideration of the question: Have we any precedents for the legislation that is proposed hi this bill? Is this some new scheme hitherto untried? Is it a new theory that is propounded here for the first time? Is there any precedent for the action proposed in this bill? I answer, Yes, not only one precedent, but multitudes of precedents. A law of this kind was first put upon the statute-book of England in the reign of Edgar, in the year 958. Between that year and 1854, there were thirty laws placed upon the statute-book of Great Britain with regard to Sabbath obser- vance, more or less stringent in their character, but all con- ceding the principle that the state could properly legislate with regard to Lord's Day observance. Shortly before Queen Victoria's inauguration, a Royal Commission was appointed to examine into the question of Sunday observance in England, to traverse the whole field of investigation, and report as to the character of such laws, to report as to the character of Sunday observance, to report as to whether additional legislation was necessary, to report whether legis- lation of this kind was justifiable. This commission was struck in the year 1832; it was a special commission, con- sisting of twenty-nine members, among whom were Sir Andrew Agnew, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Robert Inglis, Lord Viscount Morpeth, Lord Viscount Sandon and Sir Thomas Baring. Many celebrated men were members of this commission. The evidence taken fills some two hundred pages. They proceeded to summon witnesses medical men, employers of labour, manufacturers, merchants, all classes of business men in England. They made an exhaustive examination of all the questions bearing on this matter. I shall give two of three extracts as indicating the character of their report. 256 SABBATH OBSERVANCE In paragraph 23, the following language occurs: "In recommending a general revision and amendment of the laws for the observance of the Sabbath it should be ob- served that Sunday labour is generally looked upon as a degradation, and it appears in evidence that in each trade, in proportion to its disregard for the Lord's Day, is the immorality of those engaged hi it." Now that statement, if you will pause a moment to consider it, is pregnant with suggestive truths that labour done on that day is looked upon as a depredation, and that Sunday labour promotes immorality. Paragraph 24 declares: "The workmen are aware, and the masters in many trades admit the fact, that were Sunday labour to cease, it would occasion no diminution of the weekly wages." I shall read one more extract from the report of the commis- sion, and one extract from the evidence given before that commission. At paragraph 29 of the report, I read: "The express commandment of the Almighty affords the plain and undoubted rule for man's obedience hi this as in all other things; and the only question, therefore, is, hi what particular cases should the sanctions and penalties of human laws be added to further and enforce this obedience to the divine commandment; a question which should be approached with much seriousness of mind, when the obligations of legislators to promote, by all suitable means, the glory of God and the happiness of those committed to their charge is duly weighed." These extracts correctly indicate the character of the report made upon this question by this commission in the year 1832. I would just produce one item of evidence given before the commission by John Richard Farre, M.D. : "The researches in physiology by the analogy of the work- ing of Providence hi nature, will establish the truth of revela- tion, and consequently show that the divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man. This is the position in which I would place it, as contradistinguished from precept ,7 257 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS and legislation; I would point out the sabbatical rest as neces- sary to man, and that the great enemies of the Sabbath, and consequently the enemies of man, are all laborious exercises of the body or mind, and dissipation, which force the circulation on that day hi which it should repose; whilst relaxation from the ordinary cares of life, the enjoyment of this repose in the bosom of one's family, with the religious studies and duties which the day enjoins, not one of which if rightly exercised tends to abridge life, constitute the beneficial and appropriate service of the day. The student of nature, in becoming the student of Christ, will find in the principles of this doctrine and law, and in the practical application of them, the only and perfect science which pro- longs the present, and perfects the future life." So much for the report of this commission, and the character of the evidence given before them, which led to their recom- mendation that the Sunday observance laws of England should be made more stringent. If we turn from Great Britain to the various colonies, we shall find that scarcely one English colony is without some kind of an enactment with regard to Lord's Day observance. I believe there are only two of the forty-four American states that have not upon their statute-books laws of a similar character. Precedents are abundant, and I think, Mr. Speaker, we may fairly come to the conclusion that the laws were warranted by divine authority and by human need. If human need had not required the placing of such laws upon the statute-book, surely we should not find thirty statutes in Great Britain, we should not have over forty American states with laws of that kind, we should not have every Eng- lish colony, with perhaps one or two exceptions, with laws of that kind ; and the universality of those laws, and the length of time during which they have been in force, and the result of those laws in all the cases I have referred to, render the conclusion inevitable that the laws were warranted and that they were justified by experience. If we look at the character and progress of states and na- tions that have enacted and lived under these laws, one of 258 SABBATH OBSERVANCE the most powerful arguments bearing upon their propriety and necessity is furnished. Take the Anglo-Saxon race itself, a Sabbath-observing race from the commencement, with 6,000,000 people in 1700, with 20,500,000 in 1800; the English language the fifth among the languages of Europe in the year 1800, spoken in that year by 20,500,000 people, spoken to-day by 115,000,000; risen from the rank of the fifth language in Europe in 1800 to the first language in Europe in 1890; spoken by 60,000,000 more people than the French language; spoken by 36,000,000 more people than the German language. Surely there is some cause for the won- derful progress of this race. Its institutions must have been of a good character, its laws must have been well adapted to secure national growth and prosperity. In my belief nothing marks the contrast between Anglo-Saxon states and contin- ental states more pointedly than the laws of the Anglo-Saxon states with relation to Sabbath observance, to obedience to divine law, and to rendering obedience and homage to the will of Him who rules nations, by whose edict nations prosper or nations are brought low. The Scotch are prominent above all other people for their observance of the Lord's Day. I do not suppose that there is a race on the face of the earth whose progress has been more remarkable, whose influence is more widely extended, that has made a better figure in science and litera- ture and material advancement than the Scotch people. They inhabit a little country, with a limited population, but the leaven of their influence has reached the ends of the earth; it is felt in this Dominion, in the United States, in every British colony, and in proportion to their number their in- fluence is vastly greater than that of any other race on the face of this globe. It is not because of the superiority of the race or of any natural advantage, but it is in consequence of their stability of character, firmness and persistency in adhering to their rules in regard to religious matters, espec- ially Sabbath observance, a characteristic which they have displayed during the last two hundred or three hundred 259 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS years. We may safely follow those precedents and examples because the whole course of experience with respect to them points in one direction, and in one direction only, and proves that this course has been pre-eminently a success. It may be necessary to say a few words with respect to the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week. I judge that this is necessary from the fact that last year one of the leading newspapers of this city contained an editorial in which it combatted the position that the law with respect to Sabbath rest had any application now, or if it had any application it referred to Saturday and not to the first day of the week. And our honourable friend, who sits behind me, took the same ground that we were arguing for the enactment of a law requiring the observance of a day for the observance of which there was no sanction or require- ment in the divine law. I do not think it is necessary to enter into an extended disquisition on this point. Suffice it to say that the Catholic Church has accepted the first day of the week as the Lord's Day, and the Protestants have accepted it, with one or two trifling exceptions, and the change of the day is held to rest upon the example of the early Apostolic Church. Recently a manual of worship of the early Christian Church was found hi one of the Greek convents of Constanti- nople. That manual gave the order of worship among the early Christians and dealt with all the religious observances, and it required strict observance of what is termed the Lord's Day, or the Day of the Lord, as a day of rest and religious observance, when the people should be gathered together for the purpose of breaking bread. The early Chris- tian Church adopted that day. Now, the institutions of the Christian Church were fixed, not by chance, but by the direction of the Third Person in the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, (the apostles were commanded to tarry at Jerusalem for that Spirit till it came, and it was poured out upon them at Pente- cost) who directed the apostles in laying the foundation of Christian institutions. So the Catholic Church and all other churches that recognize that day are following the example 260 SABBATH OBSERVANCE of the Apostolic Church, and that Apostolic Church was gov- erned in its decision by the influence of that power that our Saviour promised to send to direct them and instruct them, and bring to mind and remembrance all things He had said unto them. Let these remarks suffice for this branch of the question. Now let me say a word with respect to the propriety of the choice of this day from a civil standpoint. Of course, for obvious reasons, it is necessary ,^o have a uniform day. One body might observe Saturday, another Friday and an- other the first day of the week, and the result would be great confusion in civil employment. The lawyer at the bar might observe one day and the judge on the bench another; the clerk in the store might observe one day and the customer another; the locomotive engineer might wish to lay off on Saturday and the fireman on Sunday. Such a lack of uni- formity would produce great confusion. So the necessity of enacting one day as the legal day of rest and thus following the example of the Christian Church, is apparent, and that day should be the day of the week as laid down by the Christian Church. I wish to refer to some of the authorities for the observance of this day. And I take into account the fact that I have many friends in the province of Quebec who are somewhat sceptical as to the propriety of legislating for the observance of this day; not because they do not recognize the day, not because their church does not recognize the day, but because they have some doubt as to the propriety of this House of Commons interfering in this matter. I desire to quote cer- tain Catholic authorities for the purpose not only of strength- ening my position, but of influencing the convictions of my fellow-members who are Catholics. I take the liberty of reading what the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, said about this matter of Sunday observance hi one of his deliverances to the church of which he is the head. His Holiness said : "The observance of the sacred day which was willed expressly by God from the first origin of man, is imperatively demanded 261 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS by the absolute and essential dependence of the creature upon the Creator. And this law, mark it well, my beloved, which at one and the same tune so admirably provides for the honour of God, the spiritual needs and dignity of the man, and the temporal well-being of human life, this law, we say, touches not only individuals, but also peoples and nations, which owe to Divine Providence the enjoyment of every benefit and advantage which is derived from civil society. And it is precisely to this fatal tendency, which to-day pre- vails, to desire to lead mankind far away from God, and to order the affairs of kingdoms and nations as if God did not exist, that to-day is to be attributed this contempt and neglect of the day of the Lord. They say, it is true, that they intend in this way to promote industry more actively, and to procure for the people an increase of prosperity and riches. Foolish and lying words. They mean, on the con- trary, to take away from the people the comforts, the con- solations and the benefits of religion; they wish to weaken hi them the sentiment of faith and love for heavenly bless- ings; and they invoke upon the nations the most tremendous scourges of God, the just avenger of His outraged honour." These are the words of the head of the Catholic Church. These are weighty words; these are words of wisdom; these are words that every man, whether Catholic or Protestant, hi this Dominion may well heed; these are words directly warranting the action proposed on this occasion, to ask by legislative enactment to some extent the honouring of this day for which His Holiness speaks. I have here expressions on the same line from Cardinal Taschereau, from Archbishop Fabre, from Cardinal McCloskey, from Cardinal Gibbons, from Archbishop Ireland, from Archbishop Riordan, from Archbishop Goss, from Bishop Keene, of Richmond, Va., from the Bishop of Buffalo. All these Catholic prelates take exactly the same position some of them in a more pronoun- ced way that is taken by the head of their church. As to the Protestant clergy, it is unnecessary to quote from them; it is only necessary to say that all are in favour of legislation that will secure a better observance of this day for the public benefit and for the civil government of man. As for jurists, SABBATH OBSERVANCE I might quote Lord Mansfield, Sir Matthew Hale, Blackstone, Justice Field, Judge Thurman. I have an extract from a statement of Judge Kelly, of Minneapolis, which is so per- tinent to the case and is so recent that I will place it upon record now. Judge Kelly says: "The Puritan taught and enforced a strict, very strict observance of the Sabbath Day. And he made that day the corner-stone of his political fabric. I am not a Puritan, nor a descendant of the Puritan. I am Southern born and Southern reared. By blood I am Irish, and by faith, Catholic. All the traditions of my life have been adverse to the Puritan and his teaching. But for all that, I thank God that the Pilgrim Fathers left Leyden and landed at Plymouth, and that the impress of their presence and labours here have been left in the character of every American state. If, perhaps, they were in their ideas about the Sabbath too severe, that very fact has made the impress more lasting." This is the language of a judge in one of the western states, and an Irish Catholic. Then with regard to statesmen, I might quote Disraeli, Gladstone, Argyle, Bright, Shaftesbury, Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, Harrison. And of our own statesmen I could quote Mowat I am afraid I could not quote the words of some gentlemen who are interrupting me on the other side of the House. As to labour leaders and organi- zations, I might quote Henry George, T. V. Powderly, P. M. Arthur, and the American Federation of Labour. There is not a great labour organization, I believe, upon this continent that has not placed upon record its desire for Sunday rest by resolution formally passed, and through its recognized head. As to religious organizations I will quote from one only; I will quote the following from the circular of the Third Catholic Plenary Council, assembled at Baltimore: "And the consequences of this desecration are as manifest as the desecration itself. The Lord's Day is the poor man's day of rest; it has been taken from him, and the labouring classes are a seething volcano of social discontent. The Lord's Day is the home day, drawing closer the sweet do- mestic ties by giving the toiler a day with wife and children; 263 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS but it has been turned into a day of labour, and home ties are fast losing their sweetness and their hold. The Lord's Day is the church day, strengthening and consecrating the bond of brotherhood among all men, by then* kneeling together around the altars of the one Father hi heaven; but men are drawn away from this blessed communion of saints, and as a natural consequence they are lured into the counterfeit communion of socialism, and other wild and destructive systems. The Lord's Day is God's day, rendering ever nearer and more ultimate the union between the creature and his Creator, and thus ennobling human Me in all its relations; and where this bond is weakened, an effort is made to cut man loose from God entirely, and to leave him, ac- cording to the expression of St. Paul, ' without God in this world/ (Eph. ii: 12). The profanation of the Lord's Day, whatever be its pretext, is a defrauding both of God and His creatures, and retribution is not slow." The case could not have been put in better form than that. Now, Mr. Speaker, there has been manifested a growing discontent among the labourers of Europe and the labourers of America because of the exactions of capital, and because of the gradual loss of their privileges as regards the day of rest. These labourers have felt instinctively that the de- mand of corporations and employers that compels them to labour seven days out of seven was trampling upon their just rights. Whether they had religious scruples of not, whether they believed hi God of not, whether they believed that the Lord's Day was of divine origin or not, these men have in- stinctly felt that as a civil right, they were entitled to one day's rest out of the seven; and this agitation has begun to produce fruit. There was formed in Geneva in 1861, the Sabbath Observance Federation. The operations of this federation at first attracted little attention and produced little results. But at the time of the holding of the World's Fair at Paris hi 1889, attention seems to have been called to this question by the example of the United States and of Great Britain with regard to their exhibits. These exhibits at the Paris exhibition, as well as the exhibits of all the British colonies, 264 SABBATH OBSERVANCE were closed on Sunday, and this was an object lesson which seems to have produced a powerful effect on public sentiment in Paris. In connection with this fair, an International Congress of Weekly Rest was held at Paris under the authorization of the French government from September 24 to Sep- tember 27, 1889. This national congress made recommenda- tions with regard to Sunday rest by passing resolutions ad- vising legislation with reference to this matter, and recom- mending the securing of Sunday rest to the labourer by legis- lative enactment. This international congress was followed by the International Labour Congress which was convened by Emperor William II, of Germany, at Berlin, in March, 1890, less than a year after the congress at Paris. The Inter- national Labour Congress which sat from the fifteenth to the thirtieth of March, also passed resolutions in favour of Sunday rest.^ The resolutions of these great congresses bore fruit. Germany passed a law in 1891, and again in July, 1892, and in that law, the prosecuting of certain employments was pro- hibited on the Lord's Day. Clerks in all callings were only employed five hours on the Lord's Day, while work in mines, manufactories, workshops, tile shops, dockyards, and building- yards was prohibited. Austria passed laws of a similar character in 1884 and in 1885. Hungary passed a law of a similar character in 1891, and the association of newspaper editors and printers has maintained a severe struggle to bring to an end the printing of newspapers on Sunday, with good prospect of success. Belgium passed a law in 1885, and the law was further amended in 1889. By this law letter delivery was curtailed more than one-half; 1,500 freight trains were discontinued on Sunday, the freight depots were closed, postmen were free every Sunday, and the service was performed by persons specially engaged, and various other provisions were made for securing Sunday rest for employees. Thus man's right to Sunday rest was recognized in Belgium. Denmark passed a law in 1891 which released 100,000 265 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS Sunday slaves from their labour on that day. Spain, almost the last country we would dream of in connection with Sunday rest reform, passed a law in February, 1892, and under the provisions of that law, Sunday rest was made obligatory in every government establishment in Spain, and Sunday labour in all factories was prohibited for persons under eighteen years of age. France passed a law on February 16, 1892, and again on November 2, 1892, and by these laws contractors were prohibited from compelling labour upon Sunday, women and children were secured their Sunday's rest, and this provision of the law, curiously enough, I wish to call the attention of my honourable friends to this fact guaranteed women and children one day's rest a week; not the Sabbath nor the Lord's Day, but simply one day's rest a week. The legislators did not dare to use the expression Sunday rest, as they were afraid to seem to make concessions to the Catholic party, who were demanding this legislation, but they gave a law guaranteeing one day's rest a week; and this indicates pretty clearly what the Catholic sentiment of France is with regard to the matter the fact being that the Catholics have become ardent friends of the labour Sunday rest movement. Through the influence of this movement the government has closed its freight depots on the railways after 10 a.m. Sunday; postal deliverers have been reduced one-half; Sunday fairs in many instances have been deferred till Monday, and in the French army Sunday is kept strictly as a day of rest. Holland passed a law in 1889 dealing with the Sunday rest question. Sunday work for women and children in factories is forbidden. A large proportion of Sunday freight trams has been discontinued. Postmen and telegraph employees are free on Sunday. Railway employees have more or less Sunday rest. Elections on Sunday have been discontinued. The civic guard does not drill that day. And no Sunday papers are issued. Italy is moving in the direction of a Sunday law, under the advice of the pope, and the influence of the Congress of 266 SABBATH OBSERVANCE Workingmen's Societies, and other leagues and organizations. A law is in course of preparation in Russia itself for securing a cessation of labour on the Lord's Day. Norway has a law in the same direction. Sweden has a similar law. In Switzer- land almost every canton has a Lord's Day law and prohi- bition of Sunday newspapers. Now, here are the fruits of this agitation in these continental countries where, a few years ago, there was scarcely a whisper of legislation with regard to Sunday observance. We have now such laws hi Germany, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Holland, Russia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland; and surely Canada can never claim to be the moral leader of this continent or a moral leader in any sense, if we lag behind in this matter, and refuse to place a law of the same character upon our statute-book. Last fall there was held at Chicago the most remarkable of all the Sunday rest conventions or congresses as yet held in the world the International Congress on Sunday Rest, which met on the twenty-seventh of September, and remained in session three days. This congress was attended by leading statesmen, public men, journalists, jurists AN HON. MEMBER And priests. MR. CHARLTON Yes, priests and preachers; and Arch- bishop Ireland was one of the most active among them. Leading men were there from all sections of the civilized globe, and the expression of opinion with regard to this matter was of the most unmistakable character. The arguments placed before the public through the medium of that International Sunday Rest Congress are unanswerable. And, to my mind, among the best papers presented to that congress were those of Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Ireland. That inter- national congress has given to this movement in the United States an impetus that will be sure to tell in the near future. It is conceded on all hands that the rights of labour cannot be secured without the intervention. of law; it is conceded that the law must step in, or the labourer is powerless. It has been shown that the advocacy of Sunday labour comes not from 267 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS the men who perform the labour, but from the men who pocket the dividends, and who profit by trampling on the rights of the individual. It has been shown, furthermore, that the labourer is not a free agent in this matter. He reaches home Saturday night too tired to continue to work, yet too poor to quit; and he is compelled to work. Unless the law pro- tects him in the right he desires to enjoy, he is at the mercy of those corporations who wish to coin money out of his life- blood, his sufferings and his loss, to make dividends by de- priving him and his family of every religious privilege and every natural right. Now, sir, we have in all parts of the world at the present time labour troubles and unrest; we have to-day 200,000 miners on strike in the United States; we have an army of disaffected men marching on to Washington; we have bomb-throwing in almost every capital of Europe; we have society trembling on the verge of great social upheavals; and we are all standing in dread of the changes that may speedily come. Has all this trouble and unrest come because we have been dealing with the disaffected classes on the basis of Christian privileges and Christian us- age, and have found these insufficient? No, sir; it is be- cause we have disregarded those injunctions; it is because modern society disregards the principles of Christianity and the commands of its founder. The remedy for all these diffi- culties lies in the application of Christian principles, which will make better masters and better men. Unless these prin- ciples are applied, these social upheavels will continue. And the first step to take in applying them is to recognize God's law, that the Sabbath Day is to be remembered and kept holy, and the labourer is to be secured in the possession of his right to enjoy that day as a day of rest. Now, I propose to inquire : Do these Sunday laws that are proposed violate any of the true principles of human liberty? It is claimed that they do. It is claimed that it is an unjust interference with a man's natural right to say that he shall not be permitted to labour, that he shall not be permitted 268 SABBATH OBSERVANCE to employ labour, that he shall not be permitted to do just as he pleases with regard to such things. If a Sunday ob- servance law is an infringement of any just and true prin- ciple of human liberty, then, of course, we cannot pass that law. The question is: Is it such an infringement? On this point, I wish to refer to just three authorities, though I might refer to hundreds. I wish first to refer to Blackstone, who we all know is a very eminent English authority. With regard to the Sunday rest he says: " It is of admirable service to a state, considered merely as a civil institution." Mr. Justice Field, of the United States Supreme Court, one of the foremost jurists of this continent, in giving a de- cision in California some years ago, when he was chief-justice of that state, said: " The legislature had the right to make laws for the preser- vation of health and the promotion of good morals, and so to require periodical cessation from labour, if of opinion that it would tend to both." Archbishop Ireland said hi my hearing, last September, at Chicago, with reference to this matter: " I know well we cannot ask the interference of the civil law for mere religion's sake. This consideration is often urged against enactments of Sunday laws. But Sunday is more than a religious day. Sunday is the safety of society, the safety of the nation. Sunday is the inheritance of those who are disinherited from the wealth of the world. Sunday is the day needed by the masses of our people. On this ground I appeal to our lawmakers to aid us in preserving it from desecration." Noble words, these, carrying conviction to every man who is open to conviction words pronounced by one of the highest ecclesiastical authorities on this continent, and one of the foremost and purest men in the world. We have in these declarations by jurists and ecclesiastics the foundation laid for the vindication of the assertion that Sunday laws do not violate the principle of human liberty. SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS In conclusion, in urging this branch of the subject, I may say that it is proper for this legislature, or for any legisla- ture, to impose any degree of restraint necessary for the general welfare. All laws impose restraints. Laws against theft impose restraint; laws against murder impose restraint; laws against any crime impose restraint. Any restraint that it is necessary to impose for the purpose of securing the public weal is a restraint which the lawmaker has a right to impose; and, if it can be shown that this restraint with regard to Sabbath observance is calculated to benefit society, this legislature has the right to impose it. I propose to inquire briefly into the question: In what respect is a Sunday rest law necessary in the public interest? I answer that it is necessary in many respects. It is necessary, first, as a sanitary regulation We have the power to make quarantine regulations. We appoint health officers who impose restraints, who interfere with indi- vidual liberties, and they have the right to do so in the public interest. We have the right, as a sanitary regula- tion, to abate a nuisance of any kind, detrimental and pre- judicial to health. We have the right to regulate the hours of labour. We can pass a ten, or an eight, or a twelve-hour law. We can exercise the most arbitrary powers in connec- tion with food inspection, as a sanitary regulation. We can order the destruction of infected clothing and diseased cattle. We can do anything that the public good and safety require. And I say that the Sabbath observance law, as a sanitary regulation, is in the public interest. On this point, the Royal Commission, appointed in 1832, reported* " This commission took the testimony of medical men as to the utility of Sunday rest in repairing the waste of physical energy. The impression produced by this testimony was profound. All concurred hi the opinion, fortified by ex- periment and experience, that the respite from toil one day in every seven was essential to man and beast as a condition of the highest development. Other inquiries as to economics and the interests of manufacturers, operatives, and of the 270 SABBATH OBSERVANCE people in general, led to the same conclusions. And for sixty years the laws unchanged have continued to bless a great people." So I come to the conclusion that this law, as a sanitary regulation, is justified upon the ground of public necessity. In the next place, I come to the conclusion that this Sun- day observance law is necessary hi the public interest, be- cause it has a tendency to promote good morals and social purity. Now, what rests upon the morals of the individual? If there be no private virtue, how can you expect public vir- tue? If there be no public virtue how can you expect sta- bility in our institutions? Is the state not interested in se- curing a condition of things that will promote private vir- tue? Will the state permit the unrestrained introduction of obscene literature? Will it permit the placing before the public of obscene plays? Do we establish reformatories and houses of correction? What is our justification for our ex- penditure on these? Our justification is that all this is neces- sary hi order to promote public virtue. A law which, above all others, will promote good morals and social purity is a law which should pass. Permit me hi this connection to make two quotations from the proceedings of the Interna- tional Sunday Rest Congress at Chicago. Prevention is al- ways better than cure. A policy that will promote social virtue and purity is a policy of prevention, the prevention of evils that result from vicious courses. And in connection with this matter one of the most eminent doctors of law, Dr. Butler, hi his address at Chicago, said: " The practical solution of these questions has been reached by dealing with the Day of Rest as an accepted and essential part of the established order of Christian civilization, de- manded by the physical, moral, and social needs of men, and requiring the exercise of the power of the state to pro- tect its citizens in its enjoyment, and to compel its observ- ance so far as may be necessary to that end, wholly aside from any attempt to enforce its religious observance." Cardinal Gibbons, hi the same connection, said: 271 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS " How many social blessings are obtained by the due observ- ance of the Lord's Day? The institution of the Christian Sabbath has contributed more to the peace and good order of nations than could be accomplished by standing armies and the best organized police force. The officers of the law are a terror, indeed, to evil-doers, whom they arrest for overt acts; while the ministers of religion, by the lessons they inculcate, prevent crime by appealing to the conscience, and promote peace hi the kingdom of the soul." A third reason for the enactment of such a law is that it gives higher education, and in that sense supplements the efforts made in our public schools. The public take an in- terest in educational matters. It is felt to be a part of the duty of the legislature of a state to see that the children under its care do not grow up in ignorance, and provisions are made for their education. These provisions are, in the main, for secular education. Now, a man may be a very highly edu- cated man, and his education may only increase his powers for evil. The Sunday observance law steps in and offers to supply the deficiency of secular education by giving to the child the opportunity for that higher education which is given in the church and in the Sunday School, and by the re- ligious instruction, which will not be given if the Lord's Day is not observed. Now, intelligence is a good thing, and the fear of God is a good thing. If the public school gives edu- cation in the line of intelligence, and the higher education of which I speak is given in the church and Sunday School, the state is doing its full duty, and only its full duty, if it per- mits this higher education to supplement the education given in the common schools. A fourth reason for enacting such a law as this is the fact that the law is calculated to secure the rights of conscience, and religious liberty. Now, we profess in this country to have religious liberty; we profess to regard the rights of con- science. It would be considered an outrageous thing if any law was placed upon the statute-book which interfered with the free exercise by any citizen of his rights of conscience and 272 SABBATH OBSERVANCE religious liberty. There is no member of this House but would raise his voice against such an outrageous enactment. But, sir, there are scores of thousands of men in this Dom- inion, there are more than a million of men on this continent who cannot exercise their rights of conscience, whose reli- gious liberty is denied them, who are obliged to work on the Lord's Day, and have no remedy, and can have no remedy until the law steps hi and protects them. The object of this law is, not to say to these men that they must go to church, not to say to them that their religious observances must be according to this rule or according to that, but to say to them: You may go to church, and the state will protect you in your right to go to church, the state will see to it that you shall go to church if you want to, and no human power shall pre- vent it. That is the object of this law not to interfere with religious liberty and the rights of conscience, but to secure religious liberty and the rights of conscience. Without this law, these rights cannot be secured; without this law there must be thousands of men in this Dominion who cannot and will not exercise these rights which we here hold are theirs, and in the exercise of which the law should protect them. At the Sunday rest congress there was a gentleman of the name of Beach who was sent to the congress by the Penn- sylvania Railway to read a paper. He went on, sir, in a very plausible way to state that the roads were quite in favour of diminishing Sunday labour as far as it was possible, but there were seasons of the year when there was great pres- sure on the roads, and there was such a thing as emergency freight. Here would be a steamer at New York going to sail on Tuesday, and some shipper away back in the western states had some freight he wanted to send by her; and, in order to get it there in time, they would have to send it over the road on Sunday, and, consequently, it was necessary to do a very large amount of Sunday work. When I followed I showed that there was certain emergency work upon a farm: Here was a farmer with grain standing in the field, when it looked as if it might rain on Monday, and he felt the 273 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS pressure of an emergency to put it in the barn the day be- fore. But it was not held that he had the right to do so, and no Christian society would bear him out in the assertion that he had the right to do so. I was followed by Mr. L. S. Coffin, a member of the Iowa Railway Commissioners Board, who was at Chicago as the representative of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Brotherhood of Railway Train- men, the Order of Railway Conductors and the Order of Railway Telegraphers, numbering in the aggregate 110,000 men. Mr. Coffin differed from Mr. Beach, and showed most conclusively that the statements made by that gentleman with regard to the railway companies would not hold water. He said there was no such thing as emergency freight, no such thing as perishable freight since the introduction of the refrigerator car system; delay only involved the use of a little more ice. He showed that stock in the cars was all the better for the rest on Sunday. If the railway was pressed with work in the fall it was a con- fession that there was a dearth of motive power, and instead of violating God's command and compelling their men to work on the Lord's Day, they had only to add one-sixth to their working force and one-sixth to their rolling stock to overcome the difficulty. He said that it was the cupidity of the railway stockholders and of the management that dis- regarded the rights of labour and failed to provide sufficient working force and rolling stock, that denied labour its Sun- day rest. The next reason, Mr. Speaker, why a Sunday observance law is in the public interest, is that it secures good homes. Daniel Webster once truly said that the good home was the bulwark of the state. Now, a good home that graduates an honest, industrious, virtuous, God-fearing son as a voter, lies at the foundation of the state's prosperity and perman- ence. The bad home that graduates the vicious man who has no regard for God, and no regard for morality, and no re- gard for principle, is doing its utmost to sap the foundation of the state. And, if a Sunday observance law is calculated 274 SABBATH OBSERVANCE to secure good homes and it is generally proved that its practical operation is to promote that end we need no other reason than that fact as a justification for the passing of such a law. Now, the state ought not to be indifferent to evil influences . I wish to read a short extract, which shows how this com- pelling of men to work on the Sabbath is looked upon by the labourer himself. This Mr. Coffin, to whom I have alluded, in speaking of this matter of men being compelled to work in the railway yards and on the trains without being secured their Sunday rest, spoke of a man in the city of Keo- kuk, Iowa, whom he had asked how often he had been in church in the last five years. The man said: "For five years I have lived at Keokuk; for five years I have been every Sunday in the yards, making up trains and getting in cars, and for these five years I have not been inside of a church on Sunday. My wife, thinking that if I had to work it was her duty to stay at home and get me a good dinner, for those five years has not been inside of a church on Sunday. My children do not go to Sunday School. And when I have been in the yard with those cars I have thought it over, and have come to this conclusion: It is the almighty dollar that everybody is after and they don't care a for us." Now, that was this man's process of reasoning. The lack of a law securing to that man his Sunday rest had kept him out of church, had kept his children out of church and Sun- day School, had kept his wife out of church, and in conse- quence of this failure to protect them, they were existing and the children were growing up in a condition of semi-heathen- ism. What kind of a Christian nation is it that turns a deaf ear to the cry of scores of thousands of people who ask simply that there shall be a law passed that will secure to them a right which God has given to men, and which the state can and should secure to them? In the sixth place, Mr. Speaker, this law is quite consistent with the principles of human liberty and is demanded by hu- 275 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS man necessity and the necessities of society, because it pro- motes temperance and obedience to the law that is, its di- rect tendency is to dimmish crime. Now, we all deplore the evil of intemperance, and we discuss the possibility of putting an end to it. We discuss prohibition, we discuss high license, we discuss one remedy and another. But the best remedy, and you and I both know it, Mr. Speaker (Hon. Peter White), is to reach the individual man, to reach his convictions, to reach his conscience; and a Sunday observance law is right in the direction of reaching that man and bringing him under the influences that will produce the desired effect. Now, we provide jails for criminals. Would it not be a great deal better to keep the man out of jail? We pay an enormous sum for the administration of justice. Would it not be a great deal better to have less justice to administer? We punish crime, not from any feeling of revenge, but we punish crime to deter others from committing crime. Would it not be well to adopt some more effectual method to keep men from committing crime? We are a terror to evil-doers, and we should be a praise to those that do well, and we should attempt to do well ourselves. We cannot attempt it in a better way than to obey the commands that a higher power has placed upon us, and conform to the institutions that He has established. The enactment of a law which will bring people under religious influences, which will give them Sun- day quiet and Sunday rest, will, so far as the state is able to produce that result, make these men and women, and boys and girls, better individuals, and better members of society. I hold that this law is of a character calculated to promote temperance, to promote obedience to law, and to diminish crime; and no other reason than that is necessary to justify the passage of such a law. In the last place, this law is justified because it is a law that promotes the welfare and prosperity of the state. We meet here and we discuss the tariff discuss it at great length, greater length than necessary, sometimes; we discuss law; we charter companies; we discuss policies. What do we do 276 SABBATH OBSERVANCE all this for? Why, the professed reason is that we wish to promote the public good, to increase the prosperity of the state, that is the excuse for holding these sessions. If we did not do that, or attempt to do it, we would not be discharging our public duty. Now, if this law will promote the welfare and prosperity of the state, it is a wise, just and beneficent law, a law justified upon the ground of public necessity, a law that needs no other reason to justify its passage. Now, who says this law will not promote pros- perity? Who says this law will not make better individuals of the people of the country? Who says it will not promote material prosperity, and place it upon a higher moral plane, and in every way act to strengthen the nation and make it more powerful and prosperous? Nobody can say so. We waste time here on a thousand schemes, and the whole of them combined are not so well calculated to secure the result we are talking about as this single law. Now, sir, I have given seven reasons, any one of which would warrant this law. Why not promote by legislation morality, thrift, cleanliness, public health, self-respect, in- dividual and national prosperity, and respect for human right? We can promote all these things by this law, we can promote all these things more effectually by this law than by any other. SOME HON. MEMBERS Hear, hear. MR. CHARLTON These honourable gentlemen say, " Hear, hear," perhaps in a tone of irony. I tell you, Mr. Speaker, that if any man believes there is a God and I am not talk- ing to those who do not if any man believes there is an overruling Providence, if any man believes that it is a divine command to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, if any man believes in respect for, and obedience to, God's law, and in laying the foundations of our public institutions and public education hi that law if any man believes this, he cannot but believe that this law is the best calculated of all laws to secure the prosperity and welfare of the state. Now I come to the provisions of this bill. It is not 277 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS a drastic bill, it is not a puritanical bill; it is a bill that fails to meet the expectations of the greater portion of the Christian people of this country. The word "religion" is not in the preamble of this bill, the word " religion " is not in the body of it. It makes no provision whatever for religious observance; it does not profess to interfere with the right of any citizen of Canada in regard to religious observance. One of the aims of this bill is to secure re- ligious rights. Another aim, and the chief aim, is to secure civil rights, to check the influences that are at work now, and that threaten our national welfare. For that purpose, this bill proposes three or four simple things. It proposes, in the first place and perhaps some of my honourable friends will be shocked at a proposal so puritanical and absurd it proposes to put an end to the publication of Sunday news- papers in this Dominion. The provision is this: "Whoever shall, on the Lord's Day, either as proprietor, publisher, or manager, engage in the printing, publication or delivery of a newspaper, journal or periodical, and who- ever shall, on the Lord's Day, engage in the sale, distribution or circulation of any newspaper, journal or periodical, shall be deemed to be guilty of an indictable offence." Now, I pointed out a short time ago that Sunday news- papers are not published in Great Britain, they are not pub- lished in Switzerland, they are not published in Holland. An effort has been made, and the effort will probably prove successful, to secure a law in Hungary by which their pub- lication will be prohibited there. One of the American journalists, Mr. Bennett, of the New York Herald, I believe, spent a great sum in finding out that the British people would not tolerate a Sunday newspaper. The Sunday newspaper is an institution of modern date. I can well remember when the first Sunday newspaper was published in the United States. There are nearly seven hundred daily newspapers published on Sunday in the United States at present. One of the greatest American editors, Horace Greeley, denounced the Sunday newspaper as a so- 278 SABBATH OBSERVANCE cial demon; and so it is. Its influence upon the religious and moral life of the United States is most disastrous. It tends to sap every good influence that exists in the country. It banishes the Bible, it banishes religious reading matter, it banishes all solid literature from the family. It begets a lower tone of sentiment. Triviality, superficiality, and im- morality are the characteristics of the Sunday newspaper. A man who reads the Sunday newspaper is a superficial and trivial being, to the extent of the Sunday paper's in- fluence upon him. The Sunday newspaper is the sworn, avowed enemy of the Sabbath. It makes no concealment of its desire to break down the Bible. It defies and opposes the Sabbath at every step of its career. A newspaper in a city may not have the voluntary choice whether it will issue a Sunday edition or not. If a news- paper is issued on Sunday, another newspaper is compelled to follow suit or fall behind in the race of competition, and upon hundreds of publishers the necessity of publishing a Sunday edition is forced by the fact that other newspapers publish Sunday editions. Under the old American Sabbath which prevailed at the time of the Centennial Exposition, that exposition was not open on the Lord's Day; at the time of the Paris Exhibition the exhibits of the United States were not open, nor were they at the Vienna Exhibi- tion. But we notice the influence of the Sunday news- paper in the intervening years by the fierce indignation displayed against the principle of Sunday closing at the Chicago Exhibition. We notice that every Sunday news- paper in the United States derided and belittled that senti- ment of the thirty or forty millions of people who petitioned against the opening of the exhibition on the Lord's Day. We know the influence of the Sunday newspaper in the United States has been most disastrous, most debasing, most demor- alizing, and that its existence hi that country is a great evil. The Sunday newspaper is the anti-Christ of America; itself a violation of divine law, it is the enemy of all divine law; and unless it is put down the Christian religion will be put 279 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS down; within its theatre of operations it is a question be- tween Christian institutions and this engine of the devil. We propose to prohibit the publication of Sunday news- papers. We propose to follow the example of the mother- land, an example of many hundred years, which has carried her over all her difficulties. I wish now to refer to one or two authorities contained in the International Sunday Rest Congress papers, with res- pect to the publication of Sunday newspapers in the United States. My first authority is J. W. A. Stewart, D.D., and my second is His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Dr. Stewart says: " In the name of all that is sacred, let six days suffice to ding it continually in my ears that I belong to sense and to tune; let there be one day on which the 'still small voice' may be heard, which whispers that I belong to eternity and to God. The spiritual man does not stop to ask whether the Sunday newspaper is a sin; he instinctively says it is an im- pertinence. After he has given six days of thought and tune to temporal things, it comes and does its best to drown that voice which tells him of his higher destiny; it comes to pre-empt his thoughts and his hours, and to drive away prayer and the Bible and holy meditation. I say, to the spiritual man it is an impertinence." Cardinal Gibbons says: " A close observer cannot fail to note the dangerous inroads that have been made on the Lord's Day hi our country within the last quarter of a century. If those encroachments are not checked in time, the day may come when the religious quiet, now happily reigning in our well-ordered cities, will be changed into noise and turbulence; when the sound of the church bell will be drowned by the echo of the hammer and the dray; when the Bible and the Prayer Book will be supplanted by the newspaper and the magazine; when the votaries of the theatre and the drinking saloons will out- number worshippers; and salutary thoughts of God, of eternity, and of the soul will be checked by the cares of business and by the pleasure and dissipation of the world." 280 SABBATH OBSERVANCE I repeat that we do not want this American institution in Canada. We do not want that condition of things which has dragged the United States down from the position of a nation which was once known for its regard for the Sab- bath to a nation which permitted its great Columbian Ex- position to be opened on the Lord's Day, and is rapidly declining from the proud position it once occupied as a Christian, Sabbath-keeping nation. It is said by some that we have not the power to deal with this question, this question of overwhelming impor- tance which threatens the religious and moral life of the nation. I do not believe it. I believe, that, as the parlia- ment of this Dominion, we have power to make a criminal offence of any act calculated to injure this country. We have the right to make a criminal offence of theft, arson, murder and assault, and we have the right to make criminal a thing which is infinitely worse than individual instances of those acts. I affirm that the consequences of publishing Sunday newspapers are worse than those following a single case of murder, arson or theft. I tell this House that the consequences of the introduction of the system, looking at the experience of the United States and judging, not by theorizing, but by the actual results following this great out- rage on God's law, are of a character so grave and serious that the government is warranted in dealing with this question. Is it to be said that the central power of this country, pos- sessing power over copyright, over the mails, over the im- portation of impure literature, is incapable of stretching forth its hand and dealing with the greatest danger which threatens the people of this country? Why should we go for national rather than local control? Because we want to make Canada the moral leader of this continent. We want to set an example to the neighbouring nation and we desire to place ourselves right where that country is wrong. Let Canada take this course, let Canada grapple with this evil and take heed of the results which have followed it in the 281 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS neighbouring nation, and, forewarned, let Canada place her- self in a position where she will be forearmed. The second provision of the bill is with respect to the clos- ing of canals from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock in the evening on Sunday. A great many people think this is a surrender of principle, and that the canals should close during the twenty-four hours. However, the provision will be one that will prevent the quiet and sanctity of the Sabbath being interfered with so far as worship is con- cerned, and is one that should be adopted, as this country does not want to place itself in the position of committing breaches of a divine law. Section three of the bill is with respect to railway traffic. This bill has been submitted to all the railway men of this country. In 1890 letters were received from Mr. Van Home and Sir Joseph, then Mr., Hickson, with respect to this bill, and the manager of the Grand Trunk made certain sugges- tions which are embodied in it. I assume, and I have a per- fact right to assume, that the bill is satisfactory to the rail- way managers, because no protest has been received from any of them since 1890, and the bill has been submitted every year since that time. The provisions with respect to railway traffic, I am sorry to say, are perhaps not of a very important nature. The question was surrounded by diffi- culties. It was found practically impossible to deal with the question of through trains without inflicting serious consequences upon the railways. Their business connections with the American roads render it necessary for them to conform in this matter to American usage to some extent; at least, it is held that that is the case, and I presume it is correct. AN HON. MEMBER You are making a compromise. MR. CHARLTON My honourable friend says it is a com- promise of the principle. This is an attempt to secure all that is practicable in the line of the principle. We might easily fail in asking more than we can get. All great reforms are secured step by step and item by item, and if the choice 282 SABBATH OBSERVANCE is placed before us either of securing something that is tan- gible and something that will lead to something more, or demanding all and receiving nothing, I hold that it is pru- dent and proper that we should take a practical course and not stand on a theory that will wreck our attempts to do anything in the matter. Now, Mr. Speaker, this provision with regard to railway traffic goes as far as it is possible to go at the moment by positive legislation, and it places be- fore the United States and upon the United States, the respon- sibility of continuing the evil of through freight traffic, by offering to them reciprocity in legislation upon this matter and declaring our readiness to abate this part of the evil if the United States will render it practical to do so by con- current action. This is the provision: " At such time as the laws of the United States shall make corresponding provision, no through freight hi transit from one point on the frontier of the United States to some other point on the said frontier, shall be allowed to pass over Canadian roads on the Lord's Day, except live stock and perishable goods." As soon as the United States will make corresponding regulations we place before them this proposition. We greatly strengthen the hands of that element in the United States that is agitating for railway reform. We go as far as we can without inflicting ruinous consequences upon our own roads, and we take a step which, in my opinion, will speedily secure for us the realization of what we desire by the acceptance on the part of the United States govern- ment of the offer which we make, to act in co-operation with them for the purpose of putting an end to freight traffic on the Lord's Day as far as it is possible to do so. The bill, so far as it stands now, deals with local traffic. It prohibits local freight traffic, it prohibits local passenger trains; it leaves other trains with their necessary connection, as it was thought necessary to do so. I may say, with reference to the provision of this section, that this bill was submitted to a special committee three 283 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS years ago. Upon that special committee were representa- tives of all the railway interests hi this country, and these points were thoroughly discussed. The difficulties that^stood hi the way of this arrangement were all raised and met, and the provisions of the bill were necessarily made to meet the objections of those men, or the report of the measure could not have been secured. I repeat that the bill, so far as it refers to railway traffic, makes the best provision that under the circumstances it was possible to secure. The last provision of the bill is with regard to excursion trains, and it prohibits excursions by train, or partly by train and partly by steamboat, on the Lord's Day. This pro- vision was introduced into the House several years ago, but the bill failed to pass. A member of this House at that time, the Hon. Mr. Bowell, sent the bill to a friend of his, Mr. Wood, in the Ontario legislature, and Mr. Wood intro- duced hi that legislature that same bill, and it was passed and is now the law of Ontario. This section provides: "Excursions upon the Lord's Day by steamboats plying for hire, or by railway, or hi part by steamboat and in part by railway, and having for their only or principal object the carriage of passengers for amusement or pleasure and to go and return the same day by the same steamboat or railway or any others owned by the same person or company, shall not be deemed a lawful conveying of passengers within the meaning of this Act; and the owner, superintendent or per- son by virtue of whose authority and direction such excur- sion is permitted or ordered on the Lord's Day shall be deemed to be guilty of an indictable offence, provided that nothing hi this section shall be deemed to prohibit the ordi- nary carriage of passengers authorized by provincial statute." That is the provision with regard to Sunday excursion trains, and that is, as I have said, now the law of Ontario. There is, I believe, some pressure on the part of the public to induce railway managers to relax the policy they have hitherto pursued in regard to Sunday excursion trains. The great railway managers of this continent are opposed to 284 SABBATH OBSERVANCE Sunday excursions, and they are desirous, I believe, so far as practicable, to give their employees Sunday rest, and the primary objection to the Sunday excursion train is found in the fact that one class of employees is robbed of its Sunday's rest hi order that another class of employees may have a day of frolic. This was very happily set forth by Archbishop Ireland hi his address at the International Sun- day Rest Congress at Chicago, when he said: "The opponents of the Sunday strive to have us believe that the violation of Sunday rest is more or less in the interest of labour. When the question was agitated whether or not the exposition should be kept open on Sunday, the chief reason put forward was hi the interest of labour. It turned out afterwards that 16,000 men were to be employed seven days in the week, so that other labourers could visit it on Sunday. Labour is most concerned in the sacred observance of Sunday." And labour is concerned in the prohibition of Sunday excursion trains. Labour is concerned hi the prohibition of anything that may act as an entering wedge to deprive the labourer of his Sabbath rest. No labourer actuated by proper motives would desire to rob his fellow-labourer, the engineer, the fireman, the brakeman, the conductor of the excursion train, of his Sabbath rest, in order that he might have a frolic upon that day. And if Sunday rest is to be preserved, the principle must be respected by all labourers, and will be respected by all labourers. No labourer with a true sense of what is at stake, will require any other labourer to lose his Sunday rest, feeling that he himself may be the next to suffer. The opening of the British Museum on the Sabbath has been systematically opposed from the commencement by the labourers of London. They realize that the opening of that museum and the consequent requiring of those in charge to lose their Sunday rest would be apt to react upon them- selves, and, with instinctive realization of what is at issue, they have uniformly opposed the opening of that museum on Sunday. 285 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS With regard to Sunday excursions, Mr. Speaker, let us see if they are desirable in themselves apart entirely from the consideration of men being robbed of their Sunday rest in order that an excursion may be obtained. In the first place, Christian people necessarily avoid the Sunday excur- sions; in the second place, the worst class patronize them, so far as my observation goes, and they are too often a satur- nalia of drunkenness and vice. In the city of San Francisco, where there is no Sunday law, the police were obliged to suppress the Sunday excursion as a public nuisance. Sun- day excursions would go to the suburbs of San Francisco, and a crowd of male and female hoodlums would terrorize the suburbs all day. Then the trains would get back at night filled with a drunken rabble, the lights were turned out, and the scenes became so scandalous that the police of the city suppressed a Sunday excursion train as they suppressed a brothel. The planters of Louisiana were obliged to petition the legislature of that state to prohibit Sunday excursion trains because they led to a sulphurous Monday and a blue Tues- day, and their employees worked only four days in the week. It is the uniform testimony of employers of labour, that the efficient labourer, the happy, clean, self-respecting labourer, is the man who stays at home on Sunday, goes to church and Sunday School, and comes up to his work on Monday morning fresh and alert and ready to grapple with his duties; while the man who goes on a Sunday excursion is demoralized and bedraggled, if not worse, on Monday morning and is unfit to go to his work. Petitions have been presented to this House deprecating the passage of legislation of a religious nature, assuming that a measure of this kind is a measure to secure some kind of religious usage, or some kind of law that will affect a man's religious standing. Those petitions do not meet the case; this bill is not one of the character they assume. It does not propose that the state shall legislate with regard to any religious observance. It does not propose that the state 286 SABBATH OBSERVANCE shall say that Armenians are right or that Calvinists are right, or that the doctrine of the Trinity is right, or that Unitarianism is right; it does not propose to say one word about religious observances or tenets or ordinances. The bill plants itself squarely and unequivocally on the principle that the state does not dictate to men what their religion shall be, but guarantees to them the enjoyment of the privi- leges of the religion that they believe in. And that is all there is in the measure. Now, I wish to call attention to the significant character of the opposition to this bill, and to all bills of a kindred character. Not that some good men do not oppose the bill ; not that some conscientious men a great many of them do not oppose it. But I affirm that you can find no bad, vicious element of society in favour of this bill. The hood- lum, the anarchist, the thief, the brothel-keeper, the brothel inmate, the saloon-keeper, the drunkard every vile, satanic element in society is opposed to this bill. I call upon the men who oppose this measure to take notice of the society and associations in which they are placed. The bearing of this question, not upon religious life primarily, but upon national life, is a matter of very great importance to us. The highest requirements of statesmanship are involved in the consideration of this bill. The question is, will this bill have a tendency to lay broader and more securely the foun- dations of the state that we are building on the northern part of this continent? The question is, will this bill pro- mote religious liberty? Will it promote public virtue? Will it promote good morals? Will it promote temperance? Will it promote obedience to law? Will it promote respect for God's commandments? Will it have a tendency to secure to the inhabitants of this country that higher education which must go with secular education if we are to turn out men properly equipped for their duties as citizens? These are the questions involved in the consideration of this bill questions of statesmanship higher than the consideration of a tariff or the question of the establishment of an experi- 287 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS mental farm, or the usual questions surrounding any proposal as to a public measure. These are questions of the highest possible importance in their bearing upon the future of this nation, not only in this decade and the next decade, but in all succeeding decades as long as this nation shall have life. There are upon this continent to-day, 70,000,000 of English-speaking people. There will be upon this continent a hundred years from to-day, in all human probability, 375,000,000 of English- speaking people. How are all these people to be educated? In what way are the foundations of the future to be laid? What is to be the character of the influence to be exerted by these English-speaking races upon the world? What kind of a nation are we to build here, with our vast natural resources and capability of supporting 100,000,000 people? Shall we stop to consider these questions? Shall we realize that upon us devolves the responsibility of building for the future? And shall we take into considera- tion this measure hi the spirit in which we ought to consider it? Shall we consider that God has not laid upon us an un- reasonable demand, and never did? He never required of man anything that was not in man's interest. He never required of man anything that man would suffer by per- forming. And he requires of us, as a legislature, attention to this matter in the light of our responsibility to Him, in the light of our responsibility to the people of this country. He requires our attention to this with a due sense of the importance of this question and the respon- sibility that rests upon us. The wisdom of the Infinite is a safe guide, and we cannot despise the means which He has appointed to secure national wealth and prosperity, without invoking upon our own heads the disasters that will be sure to follow the disregard of His commands. For that reason I press this bill, believing it to be in the highest interest of Canada, believing that I am justified in urging its passage in the warmest manner. I present it to the kindly and judicious consideration of every member of this House 288 SABBATH OBSERVANCE the leader of this House, and every one of his followers and the gentlemen who sit in Opposition and I ask that it may receive that consideration which the importance of the ques- tion demands. 289 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES THE union of the three Canadian Presbyterian Churches, completed in 1875, made 'the Presbyterian Church in Canada. This union greatly increased the power of the Presbyterian body. The united church became the possessor of six theological colleges, of which at least three were unnecessary ; and consoli- dation was urged by many of the ministers and elders. Discussion in the General Assembly from time to time called attention to the redundancy of colleges, until 1886. The agitation then ceased, but was revived in 1902. The General Assembly at Ottawa, in 1901, accepted a report in favour of a proposal to confer with the trustees of Queen's University on the question of changes in the constitution. The General Assembly in Toronto, in 1902, accepted the report of the committee appointed at Ottawa. This action, if finally approved, meant that the university would be secularized and thus lost to the church. At this Assembly I had a motion in favour of the consolidation of the colleges, which, of course, was lost. When the General Assembly met in Vancouver, in 1903, we found that the trustees of the university were still willing to have the Dominion parliament 291 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS pass the bill which had been prepared, the passing of which was necessary in order to carry out the plan of secularization. Protest against the scheme was made by myself and others. There was a keen debate; and, as a decision had not been reached when the hour for adjournment came, further dis- cussion had to be postponed. Afterwards, my motion in favour of college con- solidation was considered by the Assembly. The debate on the Queen's University question was also taken up in due course. The two discussions resulted in the appointment of a special committee to take my motion and the Queen's University bill into consideration and report to the Assembly. The deliverance of the Assembly, made by the acceptance of the report of this committee was, in brief : " The Assembly deprecates the proposed severance of Queen's University from the Presbyterian Church, and will promote an endowment for the university, if it retains the connection already existing : That the moderator appoint a commission, with Assembly powers, to confer with the trustees and adopt means to secure the necessary aid for the university : If it is advisable to have a guarantee of adequate mainten- ance, the commission shall refer the question to the Presbyteries of the three central Synods before taking final action : That the consideration of the question of the theological colleges embraced in Mr. Charlton's resolution be deferred." It is now evident that Queen's University will, 292 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY under the blessing of God, become a still greater Christian institution, with ample resources and ever- widening influence ; and, in good time, if God permit, we hope, in part through the means of this univer- sity, to have better facilities for theological education than the church has ever yet possessed. No one speech of mine covers this whole question, nor has any full report of those speeches been pre- served. That here given is an orderly presentation of the views laid by me before the General Assembly at Vancouver in the course of the discussions that took place there. General Assembly, Vancouver, June 10, 1903. MODERATOR, FATHERS AND BRETHREN: In justice to my- self and those who sent me here, and in justice to this vener- able Assembly also, I cannot allow this measure for the secu- larization of Queen's University to proceed further without expressing the dissent I feel. I deem it all the more my duty to give my opinion because there has been an appear- ance of unanimity in our proceedings in this matter which does not, I am confident, reflect the true feeling of the church. We who do not approve the course proposed may have erred by remaining silent; but, if so, it is all the more necessary that we should speak out clearly now. Not only am I strong- ly opposed to the scheme before the Assembly, but I have a counter-proposition to make which, I believe, will afford a far better solution of the problem that confronts us. The Presbyterian Church in Canada is entering upon a new epoch, and is confronted by greatly increased oppor- tunities and responsibilities. Its field of operations is chang- ing from provincial to continental proportions, and great efforts will be required in the immediate future to keep up with the work it has so nobly begun and carried forward in what will become a centre of power the Canadian West. 293 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS Many of those whom I now address, like myself, have crossed the continent to attend this meeting, the first meeting of the General Assembly held at this western extremity of the territory which, hi the providence of God, has been com- mitted to our charge for the maintenance and propagation of what we believe to be divine truth. We have traversed almost illimitable stretches of prairie. We have been awed and inspired by the grandeur of mountain and canyon. We have imbibed broadened conceptions of the vastness of Can- ada and of those boundless resources which are the assurance that the growth of our population will go on for years in ever-increasing ratio. We have caught glimpses of a des- tiny for our country which is yet a dream. We are able, therefore, to dismiss prejudices and comparatively small interests to embrace half a continent in the sweep of our vision, and to realize that the educational institutions of the church must be made meet to perform the great work that the near future will demand from them. The theological schools of the church have done good work a great work indeed, when measured by the extent of their endowment and resources and a goodly number of great and learned men have been instrumental in the per- formance of that work. For many years it has been evident that the number of schools was greater than the needs of the church demanded, and that in consequence resources were scattered and efficiency impaired. The excessive number of these schools, judged by the standard of actual church re- quirements, was originally due to the division of the Pres- byterian Church in Canada into three separate bodies. The union of these bodies in 1875 should naturally have been followed by a consolidation of theological schools to such an extent as the best interests of the united church required. This desirable result did not follow. All of the schools were retained and to some extent their continuance served to keep alive the old differences and jealousies that had existed be- tween the separate Presbyterian bodies of Canada. At the present moment there are five Presbyterian theo- 294 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY logical colleges in Canada, leaving out of account Morin College of Quebec, which is practically defunct. These col- leges last year had an aggregate of twenty-three professors and fourteen lecturers. The total number of students in attendance was 230, and the total number of graduates fifty- nine, or an average of less than seven students and less than two graduates to each professor and lecturer. It is evident that all of these students could have been accommodated in one school, and that one-half of the professors and lecturers, if concentrated in such a school, would have performed the work of the five schools much more thoroughly and with a greater scope of instruction than has been given, and at a large saving in expense to the church. The purpose of the church for the immediate future should, in my opinion, be to have one great university, and one adequately endowed and thoroughly equipped theological school connected with it. For many years past a large number of Presbyterian students in theology have drifted away to Princeton and other American schools because of superior educational ad- vantages offered, and, having completed their education, a considerable proportion of these students who graduate in theology remain hi the United States and enter the service of the Presbyterian Church in that country. Our aim should be to lose no time in establishing theological schools as amply endowed, as well equipped, and ranking as high hi scope and efficiency of instruction as the best of the Presby- terian schools of the United States. Nothing short of this should satisfy our aspirations, and every obstacle in the way should be made to stand aside. At present Knox College is affiliated with Toronto Uni- versity, and the Presbyterian College of Montreal with McGill University, while a movement is on foot to separate Queen's University from all connection with the Presbyterian Church. If this is done the theological students at Montreal, Queen's and Knox will receive their arts course in universities over which the church has no control, where the teaching may become pernicious, and where the young men designed for 295 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS the ministry in our church may be brought under Unitarian, agnostic, or infidel influences. Presbyterians, therefore, should be alive to the vast importance of a controlling hand hi the university work of our students, coupled with the broadest and most liberal spirit compatible with such control. The way for a great Presbyterian university is open and easy. Queen's is an historic institution, with a well-earned and enviable reputation, the idolized alma mater of a great host of graduates; an arts university, a medical school, a divinity school, and a mining school combined. It is a Presbyterian institution. Why be guilty of the incompre- hensible folly of throwing it away? Rather let the church at once proceed to place it upon that footing of efficiency, and command of resources, which apathy and indifference on the part of the church itself has led the trustees of the uni- versity to believe was to be looked for only through severance of the connection with the church, and appeal for provincial aid as a non-denominational university. At Winnipeg we have a theological school affiliated with a university under Christian control that will rapidly develop into a great theological institution, growing with the development of the North-West and for many years to come furnishing the church hi that region with ample provision for the instruction of students in theology. As to the question of the consolidation of the Presbyterian theological schools, the one at Winnipeg is properly placed, and no doubt has before it a great and useful future. We may reasonably anticipate that the great country which it will serve will take care of it and keep it to the front in all respects. As to the Halifax school, perhaps it would not be reasonable to expect that our Presbyterian brethren of the Maritime Provinces will consent to have it merged into a great school in the province of Ontario, and that must be left a question for them to decide. As to the theological colleges at Montreal, Kingston and Toronto, their consoli- dation would mean the creation of one of the greatest and most efficient theological seminaries in America, to which 296 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY would flow liberal contributions that are now withheld be- cause of dissatisfaction with the insistence upon retaining three partially and insufficiently endowed schools that cannot offer the facilities of great institutions, or by their excellence give thorough satisfaction, or awaken enthusiasm. These three colleges last year had fourteen professors and eight lecturers, a staff but slightly in excess of the requirements of one great school. They had hi all 158 students, and out of that number graduated forty-five; or seven scholars and two graduates for each professor and lecturer. All of these colleges were dependent to a greater or less extent upon voluntary contributions from the church to help pay running expenses. Not one of them is adequately endowed or equipped. All of their professors and lecturers are inadequately paid; all of them are setting business prin- ciples and common sense at defiance in clinging to separate existence for three schools where there is an adequate field for but one. It will not be claimed that the 158 students of these three colleges could not be cared for by one. At least twice that number would fail to overtax the resources of one great seminary, and it may safely be predicted that at least twice that number could speedily be drawn to a divinity school that possessed the combined resources hi men and means now possessed by the three separate schools. Knox College possesses an endowment of $310,000, and buildings and property to the value of $180,000; total $490,- 000. Montreal College possesses an endowment of $255,000, and buildings and property to the value of $160,000; total, $415,000. Grand total of resources of Knox and Montreal, $905,000. Add this sum to the endowment and property of Queen's Theological College and the resources for a great divinity hall are on hand, and if more is wanted, a great church, thankful to God that the jealousies of rival schools and the division of educational resources has given place to a great seat of learning amply equipped for the work of a noble and aggressive church that has an empire to conquer for Christ, will freely give all that is required. 297 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS We confront new conditions and we must rise to their level. With a heroic devotion which few of us fully compre- hend, our leaders and missionaries have kept abreast of the pioneer in the North- West, and have kept the blue standard on the advance line. Nearly 1,200 churches and missionary stations in that great land are the evidences of their devotion and zeal. The promise of the future is one of hope and abun- dant reward. The necessary means are sanctified devotion, energetic effort, the liberal hand, and the blessing of God. Can we not in the spirit of devotion to the interests of our church, and of self-sacrifice if need be, upbuild that tower of strength for the Presbyterian Church in Canada a great university, and two theological colleges that in character and efficiency shall equal any similar institutions in the world? I can readily believe that there is not a member of this Assembly, or of the great church this Assembly represents, but will say that the prospect I hold out is a most alluring one. I can readily believe that but for difficulties in the way or but for objections which I have not yet dealt with, not a single voice would be raised against the proposal I have put before you hi a general way, a proposal which, if I am spared, I shall have the honour of laying before you in de- finite form, in accordance with the notice of motion I have given. Let me consider those difficulties and those objec- tions, that we may see whether we must yield to them any part of the inspiring hope for the future which I have pictured. My great plea is that our theological students may receive their whole college training under religious auspices and surrounded by religious influences, assured of freedom from Unitarian, agnostic or infidel influences. As against this, I have heard it argued that, in the first place, to keep Queen's as a religious establishment would be to remove a possible religious influence from Toronto and McGill Universities, making them centres of thought devoid of religious sentiment and Christian ideals; and, in the second place, that our stu- 298 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY dents in Queen's would grow up in unnatural severance from the world, making them unfit to cope with the problems of contemporary thought which others have to face. As to the first of these objections, I can only say that we as a church are not responsible for universities other than our own. As citizens, and especially as professors of religion, we are in duty bound to do all in our power to keep all our public institutions as pure and as influential for good as we can. The question is how we can best perform this duty. My own opinion is that we shall best perform it by letting our own light shine clearly. If we maintain the highest religious standards in the institutions under our own control and if we see to it that the men trained for God's service in our church are trained under the best religious conditions that we can provide, we shall best promote the cause of re- ligion in connection with the educational institutions of our country. This may be a question of policy upon which we can freely differ, but my own opinion on the subject is quite clear. As to the second objection that our divinity stu- dents ought to be brought in contact with the actual condi- tions of the world in order to fit them to meet and solve the problems of contemporary thought it seems to me that I have only to appeal to the immemorial policy of the church to be sustained by the Assembly in the position I take. It has always been assumed that the church, and not the world, was the training-school for those who are to do the work of the church. If we are to reverse that policy, how far shall we go in the opposite direction? I suppose it will not be suggested that we are to encourage our students to face the problems of contemporary thought in the saloon and the brothel. But shall we provide for their association with those whose views of religion we hold to be pernicious, or perhaps even worse those who have no views at all upon this one vital subject? The propagation of error is insidious and the degrees of advance often almost imperceptible. The agnostic or deist professor instills the poison of error deftly but surely. He 299 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS has the confidence, the affection of the student, and to throw the student in the way of such influences is a criminal dis- regard of his interests for time and eternity. And so the vast majority of Presbyterians in Canada comprehend the importance of keeping their children out of the way of evil, and of false teaching. Notwithstanding the exercise of the utmost care, children and youths will learn more than is ne- cessary from "adverse conditions," and there will be no lack of meetings with " the actual problems of contemporary thought" hi the domains of doubt and error, of false doctrine, and debasing influence. Assuming that we who advocate the retention of Queen's as a religious institution advocate, as a necessary part of our scheme, the maintenance of that institution on its pre- sent site, (Kingston, Ontario,) those who oppose our views say that Kingston is not the best place. This, it seems to me, is a wholly subsidiary question, and one that can be settled, when the time comes, either by a majority vote or by a compromise that will be satisfactory to all concerned. It is a question upon which I do not pretend to hold a strong opinion. On the whole, however, I am inclined to believe that the best interest of the church could be served by con- centrating our work at Kingston. We have there a certain establishment. So far as the mere question of expense is concerned, on the face of it, the weight of argument would be in favour of building upon the foundation already laid. That, however, is a question of calculation which could be gone into at the proper time. But around the stone and brick which we have at Kingston cluster memories and associations which are part of the very life of our church, and which I would not disturb except for the strongest rea- sons. It is said that Kingston is too small a place for a great university. I never had the advantage of a college training, and, recognizing my limitations, I would be guided in such a question largely by the opinions of college-bred men. But, as a practical man, I cannot close my eyes to the fact that such universities as Oxford, Cambridge, Cornell, 300 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY Princeton, and others are established in comparatively small places. Nor can I fail to see that continuity to a great city is not necessarily or in every way advantageous to the life of a student, especially a student hi halls of learning the dom- inant influence in which is religion. I believe it would be better to concentrate around Queen's as it at present exists. But I believe also that it would be better to concentrate any- where, rather than to continue our present wasteful and ineffec- tive methods. If the main question is settled right, the minor questions will almost settle themselves. But have those who favour the removal of Queen's from Kingston and the merging of it with some other institution considered the difficulties that they will have to face? Of course, if it could be carried out, the process of swallowing by confederation and the loss of identity would settle the question. There would then be no more Queen's University quarrels, for there would be no Queen's University to quarrel about. Queen's University was founded in 1841. It has a history which is, at least, hi the highest degree respectable. Thousands of graduates look upon it with a depth of affection which, I venture to say, has been inspired by no other insti- tution of learning in Canada. From its halls have issued a host of men who have entered upon life's battle with high aspirations, and have achieved eminence hi church and state. Around its walls cluster fond memories. It is a proud land- mark hi the history of Canada, honoured hi popular estima- tion in its birth and in its career. Obliterate Queen's! Why, this proposal is not a solution of the problem; chiefly for the reason that it cannot be done. Every one of the 840 students hi the university would protest. Every living graduate of the university in Canada would say, No. Kingston would say, No, in fact you might as well talk about obliterating Kingston; and last of all the trustees of the university would to a man say, No. If we are to go to Kingston with a proposal to remove the university to Toronto for confederation with the Toronto University, we might as well save ourselves the trouble. Queen's has been generously aided by the muni- 301 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS cipality of Kingston. Catholics have united with Protest- ants in voting that aid. Individual subscriptions, especially on the part of students and graduates, have been given to render the continuance of Queen's at Kingston a certainty. The proposed solution is utterly impracticable even if it were desirable. The question of ways and means must be considered, frankly and honestly, in this as in other problems. But this is a question which, except hi the most general way cannot be considered at this time and in this Assembly. I have already indicated my answer to any objections that may be raised on this ground. In the first place, we can do better with our present resources by concentrating our efforts; and, in the second place, the success of one great college and the confidence and enthusiasm which that success would inspire would greatly increase the means at the dis- posal of the church for the maintenance of the institution. I do not deny for a moment that the greater number of stu- dents attracted, and the more extensive work to be done, would probably make it necessary to spend every dollar that could be raised. But we are not working, like a commercial company, for a dividend or a surplus. If we do our best work and meet our expenses, we reach the true balance that should exist between the income and outgo of such an estab- lishment. To me the throwing away of such an institution as Queen's University, after the tremendous labours we have undergone to create it, and in view of the work it has done and can do for the church, is an act of incredible folly. I cannot see what we are to gain by this abandonment, except relief from further effort and surely that is no gain to a church devoted to the Master's work. It seems to me that those who regard this change as an advantage are moved by con- siderations which do not affect the church as a whole, and which should not be given undue weight in deciding this great question. I can understand that the proposal to affiliate Queen's with Toronto University would settle some 302 QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY questions which have perplexed those able and honoured men to whom has been particularly committed the work of the church in the education of men for the ministry. The importance of that work in the eyes of this Assembly is shown by the fact that we have called to the performance of it our very ablest men, and that we have given those men a vastly preponderating influence in our councils, especially in the dis- cussion of such matters as that now before us. We have al- ways believed, and have acted upon the belief, that if these men were united in opinion on any question of education, the Assembly need not hope, even by careful discussion, to bring out any suggestion of improvement. It is to this feeling, and not to conviction that the course now proposed is the best one for the church, that I attribute the apparent unani- mity of our proceedings thus far on this subject. But,' while I have often joined with others in deferring to our leaders in educational matters even when I was not convinced that they were right, I cannot remain silent when an irrevocable step is about to be taken, a step that I believe to be disastrous, yes, and worse than disastrous, a deliberate refusal to embrace and improve our opportunities. It must not be supposed, because there has not hitherto been a pronounced and vigorous manifestation in favour of college consolidation, and retention of Queen's University, that such a feeling was not a widely extended one. Hitherto the college influence has been a dominant one in our Assemblies. The arrange- ment of business has been largely shaped by the college in- fluence, and discussion of the college question has at least not been invited. Last year I gave 'notice of motion upon the college question hi the Assembly at Toronto. I waited for days for it to be put upon the order of business by the business committee, and at last, near the close of the Assem- bly, twenty minutes were allowed for the discussion of the question, and it was understood that this meagre allotment of time was not pressed for by the college representatives. At the expiration of the time given, Professor Patrick and others vainly asked that more time should be allowed for the 303 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS discussion of a question of such importance. I then men- tally resolved that, God permitting, I would be heard from again in relation to the matter. This resolution I now carry into effect, believing that I am warranted in battling again hi favour of consolidating the colleges and Queen's University under Christian auspices. The educational affairs of the Presbyterian Church in Canada are again under appellate consideration by this General As- sembly. The decision upon the consolidation of the colleges, we may assume, will not be given at once. The Queen's University question, however, is now ripe for settlement. The decision with regard to the bill now before parliament, and awaiting the action of this Assembly, will decide whether Queen's University shall be secularized or whether it shall remain in the Presbyterian Church. Should it be sundered from the church, that step will be irreparable. I fervently believe that this Presbyterian university will be of great and growing importance to the church in the work it is doing for its Master. It is the duty of every delegate, hi a supreme question like this, to act upon his own opinion of what will serve the true interest of the church and enable it to carry on the great work it has to do. It is with that feeling of re- sponsibility that I have spoken. I leave the matter with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and may God grant us wisdom to deal rightly with this great question. 304 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES THIS is one of several addresses upon similar subjects that I have delivered before religious gatherings of various kinds. This one was repeated several times. The largest audience to hear it was at a meeting in the Dominion Methodist Church, Ottawa, which I addressed at the request of the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Eose. Is man to live beyond the grave or does death end all? This is the question of momentous importance, overshadow- ing all other problems of time. We can form opinions as to the probable course of life here, and can call to our aid in doing this the experience of others, but death limits man's field of observation, and our own unaided intelligence cannot penetrate beyond. To all who have passed the meridian of their days, it be- comes evident that life is in a measure a failure, if there is nothing beyond it. The rewards of labour and effort here are elusive, and unsatisfactory, and when the closing scene comes, the retrospective view gives little to satisfy the high aspirations of the soul. The idea of spiritual extinguishment as an accompaniment of death is a horror, of great darkness, from which the mind instinctively recoils, when we^part from those who are dear to us. "Love will dream and hope will trust That somehow, somewhere, meet we must." Whether there is a future state, and if so, then what the nature of our existence in that state will be, are questions that may reasonably demand our careful consideration, and 20 305 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS if there is any evidence bearing upon the question, whether real or assumed, it is entitled to our candid examination, for our interest in the matter is deeper than words can express. That there is a Supreme Intelligence may be assumed to be self-evident. The hosts of heaven in their endless and perfectly- timed movements, the world with its animal "and vegetable life, its bursting flowers and ripening fruits, the pro- cesses of growth, the changing seasons, the wonderful evi- dences at every hand of originating design, and the operation of carefully-devised natural laws, forbid the conclusion that all is the result of chance. Man instinctively recognizes the existence of intelligence and power superior to his own. The instinct of worship is well-nigh universal, whether in the realms of pagan super- stition, or in the more advanced ceremonials of the mono- theistic races. With these rites of worship of every character are associated desires ranging from the crude and sensual wishes of the savage, to the lofty spiritual aspirations of the enlightened man. If all things have not come by chance and there is a Supreme Being, who created all things, and commands all the forces of nature, we may readily reach the conclusion that He is a beneficent being from the character of the provisions made for the welfare of His creatures. If this God has not only created the beast, but has also created man, and has endowed him with the intellectual powers that he possesses, it is not an unwarranted stretch of the imagination to suppose that some form of revelation as to the requirements of the Creator in the present life, and as to whether man's interests reach beyond the grave, would be given. Such a revelation would naturally be expected, and without it the work of the Creator would seem to be incomplete. If a revelation was to be given, it would be impossible to devise a better method than the one we suppose has been adopted. Personal appearance and message from angelic envoy, the awe-inspiring utterances from Sinai, the words of divinely inspired prophet, lawgiver and messenger, the 306 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES assumption of the form of humanity, and the careful teaching, by precept and example, of the triune God, in the person of the Son, and the active spiritual influence of the third person in the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, all form a gradually ascend- ing scale of effectiveness and power in the unfolding of divine teaching and purpose that man would be incapable of sug- gesting, much more, of improving upon. The Bible professes to contain God's message to man. This claim entitles it to fair consideration. Thorough ex- amination and study will demonstrate the nature and charac- ter of the internal evidence that it affords. Much of the criti- cism of this book is not founded upon accurate knowledge of its contents, or its teaching, and is dictated by prejudice or ignorant misconception, rather than by conviction founded upon proper rules of evidence and a desire to arrive at the truth. The student of the Bible does not need to be assured that it is a wonderful book, a perennial fountain of knowledge. Its matter never grows trite or stale. New beauties are continually developed. Its freshness and interest is never destroyed by constant reading. It is a matchless compendium of history, laws, precepts, prophesies, poetry, biography, revelation and religion. It is able to satisfy the deepest wants of our nature, and it deals authoratively with the duties of the present, and with the interests of the future. Man never, in the true sense, civilized himself. He may acquire a veneer of polish, but, unaided by divine revelation, he is only capable of reaching a civilization such as that of Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, Athens or Rome, and the evolution of society ends in debasing superstitions, distorted concep- tions of truth, lack of lofty ideals, trivial aims and purposes, effeminacy, selfishness, cruelty, vice and corruption. It is a part of Christian belief that God brought the influence of His teachings and His truth to bear upon the fortunes of the world through the medium of a chosen people, who re- ceived His oracles, and witnessed to the truth, and through whose agency the message of heaven was transmitted to man. 307 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS The history of this peculiar people furnishes an intensely interesting study. Through all the ages since the exodus from Egypt, its separate existence has been preserved. Its kings and conquerors, its prophets and poets, its conquests and reverses, its connection with religion and revelation, its loss of a national home, and its retention of identity, give to it a history peerless and unique. A Lilliputian critic now and again enlarges upon the alleged mistakes of Moses. Criticism is an easy task, fault-finding requires the smallest possible equipment of brain, but the reputation of Moses is likely to survive these attacks, and his position in the esti- mation of men is not likely to be lowered by them. As a geologist he cannot be fully comprehended even by the schools of the present day. Looking back into the aeons of chaos and star-dust, he indited a true cosmogony. The creative action in the beginning for matter is not self-existent is described in the words, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The nebulous mass of star-dust and vapour, out of which the earth, air and sea were to be evolved by condensation and cosmic change, is described in the single, all comprehensive, sentence, " The earth was without form and void." The condensation of vapour and its gathering into seas, the formation of the earth's crust through the cooling of the surface of the molten mass, and its upheaval above the waters through the agency of the fires beneath, are fittingly described in the words, "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." The removal of the pall of vapour and darkness, the letting in of light from the firmament of heaven, the ordaining of the sun to rule by day and the moon to rule by night, and the division of time into day and night, times and seasons, when the evening and the morning were the fourth day or period, all of these and other successive stages of development are boldly outlined. The cosmogony of Moses, and the revelations of science, so far as they go, are in accord, but Moses is still in advance of science. 308 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES Moses dealt with ethnic affinities, and we have in Genesis x. 2, something of deep interest to us, as to the ethnology of the future. Mention is there made of the coming appearance of Gomer, the Celt; Magog, the Slav; Madai, the Indo-Iranian; Javan, the Greco-Roman; and Tiras, the Teuton. One step more and this prophetic and wonderful reference to the future development of families and races of mankind would have reached the Anglo-Norman and the Anglo-Saxon. The Hebrew people emerged from a condition of slavery in the land of Egypt. While in bondage, they were not with- out knowledge of the true God through the traditions of their fathers concerning revelations made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They emerged from the land of Egypt a quasi- community of 3,000,000 fugitive slaves, under the command of Moses, the divinely prepared, and divinely ordained leader. To this horde the law was given from Sinai, and statutes and ordinances were given, under divine prompting, by Moses. This great host of escaped bondmen speedily became a com- munity and gradually took on the form and institutions of a nation. In government it was a theocracy, for God was king, a democracy, for all were equal, and a fraternity, for there were no beggars. Religion was the foundation of its institutions, its laws were the Decalogue and the Mosaic code. Seventeen offences were declared to be capital crimes. In England 175 years ago, there were 200 capital crimes on the statute-book. By the Hebrew law, idolatry was punished with death. This was necessary, as no greater crime against the life of the nation could be perpetrated, the purpose of the law's existence being to witness against idolatry, and for the truth. Female chastity was strictly guarded. In the prosecution of its conquests some heathen nations were ex- terminated, and the severity of the conqueror may seem unduly great to us in this age; but it must be remembered that no possible compatibility could exist between the hea- then institutions of the Canaanitish nations and the mono- theistic institutions of the Jews, and the very life of the latter depended upon the avoidance of contact with the former, and 309 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS with exposure to the seductive temptations of obscene heathen rites and the worship of strange gods. When this peculiar people were duly installed in the pro- mised land, their institutions embodied features which pro- vided against many of the evils of the present day. The land was divided equally among the people. This inheritance in a sense was inalienable, for at the expiration of every fifty years, the Jew who might have forfeited his inheritance by debt or other cause, returned to its possession. Justice was dispensed with due regard to the highest principle of equity, and the bribery and corruption prevalent among heathen judges was almost unknown. The spirit of the administra- tion of justice is embodied in the injunction contained in the Mosiac law, Leviticus xix. 15. " Ye shall do no unrighteous- ness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty; but in righteous- ness shalt thou judge thy neighbour." It is true, there was a system of servitude, but it differed widely from the slavery of modern days, was limited to a period of six years, and the servant, at the expiration of the term of servitude, was en- titled to reward and endowment, as provided in Deuteronomy xv. 12-15: "And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an He- brew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out from thee thou shalt not let him go away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine- press; of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day." The culture and religious status of this people was im- measurably superior to that of the surrounding nations. They worshipped one God. The Decalogue was the foundation of Jewish law. Literary culture evidently reached an advanced stage, as evidenced by the song of Miriam, the Psalms of 310 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES David, the prophecies of Isaiah, and the writings of Solomon. This people performed an important duty for mankind through the direction and in the hands of Providence, and from its ranks sprang He who was Prince of Peace, and who, "having passed through the vale of suffering, was to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied." Moses, about whose "mistakes" we have heard from men whose name and reputation will die with the generation in which they live, was, in truth, the founder of the most remarkable nation in history, and was in every sense the king of legislators. The dispassionate and candid seeker after truth, when engaged in the study of the Bible, with the purpose of arriving at a conclusion as to its authenticity and credibility, should give special attention to the prophecies, especially to those relating to the Jews, to Jerusalem, to Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre and Egypt. The limits of a lecture will not permit of entering upon this inviting field at any length, but these prophecies will furnish conclusive evidence of the ex- istence of foreknowledge in the prediction of events ages before their fulfilment. The great city of Nineveh, which lay entombed for 2,200 years before its ruins were excavated, had its doom accurately portrayed in Nahum, more than 100 years before its destruction. Babylon, the mighty capital of the teeming millions who inhabited the valley of the Euphrates, whose soil, under the extensive system of irriga- tion they adopted, yielded a return to the labour of the husbandman exceeding the rich returns made to the culti- vators of the valley of the Nile, and which was denominated in sacred writ, in view of its great fertility and wealth, the "Caldees' Excellence," has lain in waste and desolation cen- tury after century, with its mighty capital mounds of rubbish covered with soil, and overgrown with vegetation, as was foretold with minute and wonderful accuracy by Jewish prophets ages before the fulfilment of the event. It was predicted of opulent Tyre that fishermen would spread their nets where the commerce of the Mediterranean, at the time of 311 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS the utterance of the prophecy, centred. Egypt, too, with her catacombs, her lost civilization, and her melancholy re- mains of a mighty past, is a standing proof that inspiration was able to foretell its doom, while the nation was yet in the zenith of its power. The most striking and interesting of all the prophecies, however, and those that bear most directly and intimately upon the question of divine revelation, and the truth of Christian assertion and doctrine, are the Messianic prophecies. The first prediction, bearing, perhaps, somewhat obscurely upon the coming of the Messiah, is contained hi Gen. iii. 15. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Ages after this, but nearly 1,700 years before the coming of Christ, Jacob, when giving his parting benediction to his sons, and his predictions as to the events of the future, declared (Gen. xlix. 10), "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Age after age, Jewish prophets, priests, rulers and people looked for the coming of this Shiloh, or Messiah, as the mo- mentous event that was to prove the fulfilment of the hope of Israel, and were ever in a condition of exalted expectancy and hope. Five hundred and thirty-eight years before His birth, the date of His coming was predicted by Daniel (Dan. ix. 25 and 26). Seven hundred and ten years before His appearance, the place of His birth was predicted by Micah (Mich. v. 2). Seven hundred and forty years before His birth, Isaiah announced His divinity, styling Him the "Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace," (Isaiah ix. 6). His vicarious sufferings were foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah liii.); His crucifixion was predicted (Psalm xxii. 16). Many of the incidents of His life were also clearly predicted, such as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zech. ix. 9) uttered 480 years before His coming, his betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. xi. 12), the casting of lots for His ves- 312 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES ture (Psalm xxii. 18), his death with malefactors (Isaiah liii. 9), the desertion of His disciples (Zech. xiii. 7), the pur- chase of the potter's field (Zech. xi. 13), and the piercing of His hands (Zech. xii. 10). It is needless to say to those who have studied this question that these predictions were, in due time, literally fulfilled. In the fulness of time, as holy writ informed us, Christ came. It was indeed the fulness of time. The world had never stood in greater need of His services. The conditions under which He could enter upon His mission had never been more favourable. Empires had risen and fallen; war had swept over the portions of the world known to history; race after race and nation after nation had gone down into the vortex of ruin; and, at last, one great power dominated the world, and one language was the common medium for ex- change of thought amongst civilized men. The time had come when the propagators of a new faith could go from city to city, and nation to nation, remaining under the protection of the Roman power wherever they went, and could reach Jews in all the great commercial centres of the world, in their own language, and heathens in the language of Greece or of Rome. Christ's avowed mission was to save men; to regenerate society; to introduce a new order of things; to overcome and banish the vices of heathenism; to elevate mankind, and bring man to a clearer knowledge of divine truth. We now arrive at that point of the consideration of our subject, where all the events of the past centre, the point where one claiming to be the Shiloh, the Messiah, stood upon the stage of human action. The question as to whether the claims which he set forth are well founded or whether, on the contrary, he was an imposter, is one of momentous importance to us all. The close examination of all the evi- dence bearing upon this point, is a matter of the highest con- sequence. If Christ is what He claims Himself to be, no man can afford to be ignorant of or doubtful as to the fact. If, on the contrary, He is an imposter, the fabric of Christianity 313 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS with its fruits, the perfect ethics of its founder, and the bles- sings conferred by its doctrines, all remain a mystery. ^The teachings of the four gospels and their accounts of the work of Christ are perfectly colourless. They attempt no analysis of His character, no description of His appearance, nothing of a personal nature relating to Him. They are a bare, unemotional, strictly literal record of facts, actions, and teachings. We are left to form our estimate of Christ's character and personality from what is told of His actions, and not from a description given by those who were associated with Him. In giving consideration to the teachings of the Messiah, the first point that strikes the reader is that these teachings are authoritative. He quotes no precedent as an authority for giving a commandment, or stating a doctrine. It is a simple, "I say unto thee." Everything rests upon the foun- dation of His own divine authority as the Son of the Father. Another striking feature is that these teachings were presented with no accessory aid of pomp, or parade of power. He stood in the simple majesty of the truth, and He left the truth to make its own impression without extraneous aids. We gather from these teachings, and from the record of facts treasured up and transmitted to us in the gospels, a satis- factory amount of knowledge as to the character, teaching and conduct of Christ. With regard to His character, Lowell has truthfully said that He was the first gentleman, and the first democrat. His conduct in His intercourse with His fellowmen furnishes us with a model which is perfect in every respect, and the imitation of which cannot lead us astray in our intercourse one with another. He paid no deference to rank, or station, or title, and conversed with the woman of doubtful character at the well of Samaria, as freely and upon as friendly terms as He would have done with Herod, Pontius Pilate, or any other exalted personage in the Roman empire. His as- sociates, to a large extent, were the common people. The harlot could not only go to Him for instruction, for reproof, 314 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES' and for aid in an attempt to lead a better life, but was wel- come to go. The people heard him gladly, because He ap- pealed to their sympathies, and an indefinable something assured them that He had a fellow-feeling with them, and was in a sense one of themselves. His life was a sinless one. While His education and environment as a Jew had brought him into contact only with the narrow views and beliefs of His age, He was as broad in His sympathies and His teachings as humanity itself, and His ideals and ethics were infinitely in advance of the school of teaching which pertained to the enunciation of doctrine by the scribes and lawyers of that day. He was all-wise and the possessor of boundless com- passion, which led Him to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to bless little children, and to give the benediction of hope and love to all mankind. The teaching of Christ furnishes a perfect system of ethics. Its scope was so wide as to embrace all races and all men. Its catholicity in this respect was entirely at variance with the spirit of the age in which He lived, and the race to which He belonged. His command to His disciples, "Go ye, there- fore, and teach all nations" did violence to every prejudice of the Jew, and even to the prejudices of His own disciples for the time being. His precepts were characterized by a spirit of tolerance and forgiveness, and no evidence has ever been given that He cherished feelings other than those of kind- liness towards His enemies. Even when being subjected to the cruel death of the cross, He prayed for those who were inflicting this torture upon Him. " Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." As to His conduct, He resolutely and persistently refused worldly power and wealth. These were promised to Him in the hours of His temptation in the wilderness. The multi- tude who hung upon the words of His lips, amid acclamations and enthusiasm, urged Him to become their king. He voluntarily made choice of a condition of poverty, and could truthfully declare that "the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." His spirit was one of unvarying and bound- 315 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS less benevolence, and He went about the world doing good, healing the bodies, and seeking to save the souls of those with whom He came in contact. His associates and disciples were unlettered men. They were chosen by Himself. There was undoubtedly a purpose in the choice of the kind of men who were selected. It was His design to allow truth in its majesty to prevail without being buttressed by other in- fluences. He designed that the weak things of the world should confound the things that are mighty. It would not have been in consonance with His purposes to select as His assistants the great or the powerful. His disciples were humble men, chosen from the ranks of the people, and were educated for the work which it was designed they should per- form under the eyes of their great Master. We are called upon to consider whether the origin of the system of Christianity was mythical; or whether it was tra- ditional, with gradually enlarging scope of claims; or legend- ary, with dim and indefinite inception and shadowy ac- cretions of statement as time progressed. To all of these suggestions we must unhesitatingly answer, No. The events and teachings recorded in the New Testament are too dis- tinct and positive, and are too fully corroborated by con- temporaneous history, to admit of the hypothesis of mysti- cism, tradition or legend. We have the history of a career and statements of doctrine transmitted to us with distinct- ness and accuracy. The next inquiry that confronts us is this: Is the whole thing a fraudulent invention? If we were to attempt to account for the events which the gospels narrate, and the religious teachings which were presented by them to the world, upon the ground of fraud, we should be obliged to confess that the character of the religion taught, and the method adopted in teaching it, was singularly maladroit and inap- propriate, if the acceptance and success of the fraud were sought for. A fraudulent religion would, in the very nature of circumstances, have sought to please and attract the people, and would not have embodied teachings directly contrary 316 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES to every prejudice of Jew and Gentile alike. The inventor of a false religion, the perpetrator of a gigantic fraud, would hardly have rejected wealth and power. He would never have run the risk of repelling possible friends by the promise of tabulation and sorrow to those who followed Him, or by deferring rewards for their faithful service to the life beyond the grave. He would never have made His commands and precepts the antipodes of natural desires and hopes, and He Himself would have shrunk from meeting persecution, and death in vindication of His teachings. Never would He have purposed to conquer the world by the cross. The knowledge of these features in the life and teachings of Christ is absurdly inconsistent with the belief that His religion, His life, all was an imposture and a fraud. And if Christ had been a mere man, and had set out upon a task of imposing a false religion upon the world, was there any mere man of that day who was capable of the invention of a character such as the gos- pel portrayed the character of Christ to have been? The in- ventor of a character and the founder of a system or creed must comprehend the nature of his invention. How absurd, then, to suppose that any mere man could have invented a system so deep, so far reaching in its teachings, and so wonder- ful in its character, that, after the search-light of eighteen centuries has been turned upon it, the depth of its mysteries and the utmost scope of its teachings have not been reached. The world to-day is incapable, as it was nineteen hundred years ago, of thoroughly comprehending its character. In fact, only the Divine Being would have been capable of in- venting such a character as that of Jesus. Taking into ac- count the nature of the system which He introduced and of the precepts which He uttered, the theory of an invention, with dishonest and deceptive purposes, must be dismissed. Jesus as a mere man was under no influence of education that could have fitted Him for such a task. The imposture, if it was an imposture, was one which was destitute of a definite or adequate object; for no inventor of a false religion designed to influence mankind, would persistently have predicted His 317 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS own death as a malefactor, nor would have died uncomplain- ingly upon the cross, without an effort to extricate Himself from the circumstances that brought Him to that position. The scene of the crucifixion and the circumstances attend- ing that event, demonstrated the bitter hatred of the Jews towards Christ, and the utter inadequacy of the scheme if his intention had been to impose upon the people, and estab- lish a false religion. The crucifixion brought out naturally, and without the possibility of premeditation or previous ar- rangement, circumstances that fulfilled in the most striking manner the predictions made long before by Israelitish prophets, such as the casting of lots by the Roman soldiers for the possession of His cloak, His crucifixion between two thieves, the desertion of the disciples when He was first arrested, His burial in the tomb of the rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, his betrayal by Judas for a reward of thirty pieces of silver, the purchase by the Jewish authorities of the potter's field with this money, when surrendered by the con- science-stricken traitor, and the piercing of Christ's hands by the cruel nailing to the cross. When He was laid in the tomb, in the evening of the sixth day of the week, it is evident that His disciples had given up all expectation of future action in His service, and, like sheep without a shepherd, considered their cause utterly lost. The predictions made by Christ Himself regarding His rising from the dead on the third day, seem to have been forgotten or entirely misconstrued by His disciples, though the Jewish high priest and his associates remembered them. Fearing that an attempt would be made to steal away the body of Christ, and then make the claim that He had risen from the dead, they posted a strong guard at His sepulchre to prevent the consummation of such a purpose. We have the record of the appearance of the angel of the Lord, the intimidation and terror of the guard and their flight into the city, and the rising of Christ from the dead. Human eyes did not witness this miraculous transformation, but witnesses were early at the sepulchre on the first day of the week, and were informed 318 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES by the angelic visitants that Christ was risen. Christ, Him- self, according to the records, appeared to Mary in the early morning and then to Peter, and to Cleopas and another of His followers on the afternoon of the day of His resurrection when on the way to Emmaus, and He was made known to them at their evening meal in the breaking of bread. He appeared to the disciples gathered together in fear and tremb- ling in a place of hiding, on the evening of that day. Other appearances are recorded. Among them a second appearance to the disciples gathered together on the second Lord's Day, and the appearance to the 500 in Galilee. Mention is made of the teachings of Christ at various times during the interval between His resurrection and His ascension, as recorded in Acts i. 3, "To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." These appearances rest upon the testi- mony of the apostles. They were, if true, a fulfilment of Christ's own prophecies concerning Himself, and of other prophecies contained in the Old Testament. Christ is claimed to have united in His own person the human and divine nature. The miracle of the assumption of humanity was not inferior to the miracle of the resurrection from the dead. And, if we accord to Him the divine power which is claimed, the resurrection from the dead was not an undue or incredible exercise of that power, and was not an unnatural transition from the position of the Godman in the flesh, to the condition of the glorified Redeemer who was to take His place in the heavens, as King of kings and Lord of lords. As to the various miracles recorded in the gospels, nothing beyond mere reference is required. If the miracle of the resurrection is admitted, their acceptance calls for only a minor exercise of faith, while, if the resurrection is denied, time would be lost in seeking to establish the authenticity of these subordinate instances of the alleged exercise of the divine power of Christ. 319 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS In courts of law, in the records of history, in all statements made as to alleged facts, much depends on the character of the witnesses; and the evidence upon which we are asked to believe that Christ rose from the dead, is worthy of our careful consideration. Who were these witnesses? Is there anything in their record that would tend in the slightest degree to cast doubt upon their credibility? Did they at any time, or in any manner evince desire or purpose to make false statements or deceive the public for mercenary or dishonest purposes? On the contrary, they were most remarkable for their self- sacrificing spirit, for probity, truthfulness, self-denial, and desire to promote the interests of their fellowmen. They were, in short, men of whom it is impossible to believe, from what we know of their character and career, that they would designedly have invented or sought to give currency to a fraud. So far from having received advantage from the testimony they bore, or of having even the prospect of se- curing advantage, they did this, at the outset, with the full knowledge that this evidence would be received with in- credulity; that the story of the resurrection would be to the Jew a stumbling-block and to the Greek, foolishness; that their motives and even their sanity would be called into question; and that the tide of opposition to the doctrine they taught would rise fierce, vindictive and cruel. These men voluntarily gave up all hope of respect, of position, or ad- vantage in any sense with their race and nation. The cost of their evidence from the very outset was to be proscribed, despised and persecuted in consequence of their adhesion to the cause that they espoused, and the result in the case of all but one, was to die the death of the martyr. With these and the great teacher Himself, if their pur- pose had been to perpetrate and establish a fraud, it is reason- able to suppose that an effort would have been made to have it a popular one, and the perfect system of ethics taught by them was entirely incompatible with a fraud or with fraudulent intent. We know of the devotion and courage of these early followers of the Master from other sources than their 320 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES own writings and evidence, and we know that theirlabours as evangelists and teachers were prosecuted with sublime courage and devotion. This work was performed without the aid of influence or wealth. These men were poor and subsisted upon the fruits of their own labours, and possibly, in part, upon the scanty contributions of their converts. We know, too, that the condition of the world at this moment was one which might well seem to have barred the hope of success in propagating a religion which demanded purity of morals, love of one another, the spirit of forgiveness towards enemies, and love of God, and which condemned covetousness, idolatry, immorality, untruthfuhiess and every sin which was character- istic of the heathen society of that age. The swift feet of these poor, despised teachers, bearing the gospel message, rapidly traversed the Roman empire, and the truth as it was in Jesus was soon heard in the synagogues of the Jews, in all the commercial centres of the world, and by the heathen populace in all these great cities. At an early day the truth found a lodgment in the capital of the empire itself, and made rapid progress hi securing converts. It is well to consider the character of the people among whom converts were made. Debased by all the vices of heathenism, destitute of all know- ledge of the truth, looking with indifference upon vice and crime of every kind, including murder and infanticide, it was from this seething mass of pollution, that the gospel snatched its converts, and created them anew. Perhaps the most wonderful incident of the progress of the gospel, was the conversion of Saul. This conversion, with all its attending circumstances, impresses one with the belief that the religion of Christ must have been founded on truth, and must have been what it claimed to be, both as regards the doctrine taught, and also as regards the character of the being who formed the central figure in this religion. Saul possessed great intellectual power, and his scholastic attainments were of the highest order. He was a vessel meet for the Master's service, and possessed the attainments neces- sary to make that service in the highest degree effective. 21 321 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS He was, as we know, a fierce persecutor of the followers of Christ. Wielding the power of the Sanhedrim with the con- nivance, if not with the direct assistance, of the Roman power, he had done all that it was possible to do to stamp out this supposed heresy in the city of Jerusalem. And, on his way to Damascus, clothed with authority to continue his venge- ful career against the gospel, he was arrested at high noon by an apparition, brighter than the mid-day Syrian sun, and brought to a knowledge of Jesus through actual contact with His infinitely majestic personage. The whole course of his life was changed. He voluntarily abandoned his high position in Jewish society, and accepted the condition of a meek and lowly follower of the cross. His fruitful labours were prosecuted in many lands. He was emphatically the apostle to the Gentiles. And after a life of devotion to the truth, during which he had gone through hardships innumer- able and dangers most appalling, he at last underwent death by decapitation at the hands of Roman executioners, having, in the midst of his poverty and wretchedness, separated from his friends, and in a loathsome prison, consoled himself with the reflection that, "he had fought a good fight, he had finished his course, he had kept the faith." The progress of Christianity and its transforming power, is the greatest of all miracles. The sect, or church, at the outset was weak and insignificant. For generations it did not command the support of the titled or great. Its fol- lowers were poor and despised people. Their strength lay in their devotion to the cause they sought to promote, and in their indifference to dangers and persecutions. When Christianity had obtained a foothold in the capital of the Roman empire, it found a condition of things which might well seem to render it impossible to make headway or secure any degree of success. The society of this great capital was polluted to the core. At the close of feasts and bachanalian revels, philosophers, poets, senators, nobles, generals, courte- zans and dancing girls lay drunk together upon the floor. The sports of the populace were cruel and bloody. One hun- 322 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES dred thousand spectators often assembled in the great Colos- seum to witness the battle of gladiators, and the hurling of victims into the arena, where hungry lions and tigers stood ready to tear them limb from limb. The court of Nero and of other emperors out-Sodomed Sodom. Every conceivable form of vice, iniquity and debasement was practised. The city was filled with divorced wives. Chastity was almost unknown. Murder was rife. Parents, even of better families, destroyed their children, or exposed them to die a lingering death, if they were not rescued for purposes worse than death. Against the power of this open inferno, a few poor, despised followers of Christ threw down the gauntlet and entered upon the field, seeking for, and confident of, conquest. Their doctrine made rapid progress, thousands of converts were made, and the government of Nero sought to stamp out their religion in torture and massacre. Christians wrapped in tunics steeped in tar were crucified, and the wrappings ig- nited to make bonfires. The dungeons reeked with the fever-stricken victims of this persecutor. Christians were driven to take refuge in dens, in caves, and in the catacombs. Christian captives were reserved for destruction by wild beasts, as an amusement for the fierce Latin populace, and the emperor, surrounded by prostituted vestals, by brazen harlots, and by baser men, jeered at their sufferings. Chris- tian virgins were subjected to nameless outrages, and hurled to the jaws of lions. Rome was a dream of pandemonium, and yet in less than three centuries from the birth of Christ, the Nazarene had conquered, Rome was a Christian city, Constantine was its emperor, and the cross was the emblem of her iron legions. This doctrine of Jesus, it is evident, was too wonderful for man's invention, its progress from the small beginning was too great to be accounted for by natural causes or human effort. The seal of God is stamped upon its origin, the hand of God is manifested in its progress. Consideration of the theme which has formed the subject of these brief and imperfect observations, would be incom- 323 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS plete without reference to the offices and mission of the Holy Ghost. The doctrine of the Christian faith is that the one Godhead consists of three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the three being one Person. The wonderful scheme of salvation provided for the sacrifice of the second person of the Godhead, after He had first assumed the form and nature of man. His mission was to proclaim the message of heaven to man; to bring in the new dispensation, of which the Mosaic dispensation was the forerunner or introduction; to bring to humanity a knowledge of the truth; and to pur- chase for humanity a participation in the blessings of redemp- tion. This mission, so far as its public manifestation was concerned, continued for a period of less than four years. During this time the precepts, parables, commandments, ad- monitions and teachings that were designed for the higher education of man, were uttered. The men who accompanied Him, as has been previously stated, were unlettered, or, at least, not learned men. Humanly speaking, these men were not capable of reproducing in their majesty and purity the truths to which they were listeners, and the precepts which constituted the burden of the teaching that was given to them. The Saviour promised that another influence should be given them, a teacher and comforter, who should appear and lead and instruct them after His departure. One of these predictions is contained in John xvi. 26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Before Christ led His disciples to Bethany, and ascended in their presence to His throne on high, He had given them a command, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which they had heard of Him, and He promised them that they should receive power after the Holy Ghost had come upon them, and should be witnesses for Him in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. This promise was fulfilled upon the day of Pentecost following, when they were 324 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES all with one accord in one place, and the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them. They were then, under the permis- sion and direction of their Master, to undertake their functions as teachers in all lands. And, through all the subsequent work in the cause of Christianity in carrying it to the heathen, in founding churches, and in establishing its doc- trine the direct influence and interposition of the Holy Ghost has been accorded to God's people, down to the present day. That this interposition was direct and authoritative, we may gather from various portions of the New Testament. For instance, in Acts xiii. 2, "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Under the influence and inspiration of this Holy Spirit, the teach- ings of Christ were brought to vivid remembrance, and His apostles were enabled to make faithful record of them. Under the same influence, the foundations of the Christian Church were laid, its doctrines promulgated, its structure erected and its powers developed. The transforming power of Christianity, in the case of the individual, may properly be considered a satisfactory evidence of its divine origin. Under its influence sanguinary and barbarous tribes have been made devout and consistent Christians, and the worst and most abandoned of men have become models of Christian propriety and most desirable members of society. To its influence society to-day owes all that is valuable in the character of its institutions. It has elevated the position of women, it has given civil and religious liberty to mankind, it has provided a system of ethics fault- less and perfect. Its precepts, if obeyed, will remedy all the evils of which society complains. It will establish that perfect equality and that regard for the rights of others which will, if fully practised, put an end to selfishness and cor- ruption, and all the evils that now create disturbance and difficulty in the civilized world. If it is wished to take a comprehensive view of the outcomefof its influences, it is only necessary to compare the government and condition of 325 SPEECHES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS society in such nations as Great Britain and the United States, with corresponding conditions in China, India and other heathen nations. The progress of Christianity is more than marvellous. It is now the dominant religion of the world. The commercial, financial, naval, and military power of the world is possessed almost exclusively by Christian powers. It has brought not only light and immortality, but enlightment and material progress in its train, and it is going forward conquering and to conquer. The only reason now why it is not the universal religion probably is, that its nominal supporters are not awake to the magnitude of their duty, and have not performed that duty by giving adequately of their substance, and of their personal influence and example to the support and advance- ment of the religion of which they are nominal professors. In conclusion, then, it may be said, that through all the incidents of doubt and speculation, of fear, and inability to accept fully the story of the cross and the claims of the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, the candid mind must, upon full and candid investigation, reach the conclusion that this religion is a verity; that there is a God; that God created man in His own image and likeness; that in His own way, governed by His own infinite knowledge and in pursuance of His own purpose, He has brought to bear upon humanity the influences which have led to that evolution which marks the difference between the barbarian and the man of the nineteenth cen- tury. It is evident that He illuminated by direct revelation the darkness that veiled humanity ages ago; that He inspired prophets and teachers to proclaim His message; that He miraculously maintained in existence a peculiar people who were to be the custodians of His oracles and ordinances; that, in the fulness of time, the, to us, inconceivable miracle of the transformation of one of the persons of the Godhead into the likeness of man took place; that this Godman gave to us authoritative teachings, the character of which admits of no doubt as to the source from which they emanate, and the binding nature of which we are bound to recognize; that this 326 A LAYMAN'S VIEW OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES Godman laid upon us no injunction that was not reasonable, that was not in fact absolutely necessary for our welfare, both physically and mentally; and that the requirements of His law are all to our advantage, and cannot be disregarded without consequences of the most serious nature. Having reached this point, we must believe that, in due time, this Divine Being suffered a shameful death, as a sacrifice for sin. It is not for us to say why this was necessary; it is not for us to measure or attempt to measure the depth of human guilt which rendered it necessary for the Son of God to redeem us through His own sufferings. We are forced to the belief that it was done; and we are forced to the further belief that Christ rose from the dead. The evidence upon all these points is complete and unanswerable. An object for palming off a fraud of this kind upon the world, if fraud is alleged, does not exist. No mercenary or material purposes to be obtained by the perpetration of a fraud can be suggested. The only possible hypothesis upon which we can judge of this matter is that what is claimed is true. From the standpoint of this conclusion as to Christ's divinity and resurrection, the pro- gress of His cause and the triumph of Christianity follows as a matter of course, for " He is to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied." He is to have the reward for which He suffered. His power is infinite, He is the Lord God of Hosts, the King of kings, and in His own good time, He will triumph over His enemies, and the world will be Christ's. 327 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY THE hard times of 1873-9 brought to the front many advocates of change in matters of government. One of the most prominent schools of thinkers some say " tinkers " was that advocating irredeemable currency. The most prominent men in their ranks was Mr. William Wallace, M.P. for South Norfolk, a Conservative in politics. Even after his friends came into power in 1878, Mr. Wallace continued to advocate the adoption by the government of his pet theory. On April 26, 1880, the Finance Minister, Sir Leonard Tilley, proposed a measure to limit the issue of Dominion currency and change the basis of the reserve to be held against it. Mr. Wallace felt called upon to refute some statements of the Finance Minister, and spoke at some length. I being a strong advocate of gold-based currency, and being, as representative of North Norfolk, Mr. Wallace's next-door neighbour, was looked to to reply. This I did, and the speech, as reported in Hansard, is given here in slightly revised form. House of Commons, April 26, 1880. MK. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker : With reference to the matter more immediately before the House the proposition of the government to increase the legal tender currency of the country I shall have very little to say, further than to ex- press my conviction that the step taken by the honourable 331 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES the Minister of Finance (Sir S. L. Tilley) is in a dangerous direction. Danger always threatens a government that en- gages in the issue of legal tender paper. There is nothing to restrain the government, which may first enter upon this policy with proper restrictions, from exceeding those res- trictions. There is nothing to restrain it from entering upon a course with reference to paper money that may prove ruinous. I will cite one or two authorities on this subject, which, I am sure, will commend themselves to the House. I will first quote from Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, who placed the finances of that country on a firm basis, and restored them to good order after the Revolutionary War. He says: "Paper emissions by the government are of a nature so liable to abuse, I may say so certain to be abused, that the wisdom of the government will be shown by never trusting itself with so seducing and dangerous a power." The only authority in addition which I will cite is that of another Finance Minister of the United States, who has led to a victorious conclusion the attempts to resume specie payments in that country. I refer to John Sherman, who said in a speech upon the currency question in the Senate, January 24, 1870: " So there are a multitude of other questions that might be drawn into this discussion. The question of a choice between greenbacks and bank-notes might be drawn into it, but we have avoided any reference to it, because I believe the judg- ment of the country is gradually settling down to the con- viction that a note issued by a government cannot be a proper agency of circulation. Other nations as well as our own have often tried the experiment of maintaining a circulat- ing note issued by the government, and they have uniformly found it to fail. It is impossible to give a currency issued by a government the flexibility necessary to meet the move- ment of the exchanges; and, therefore, experience has shown that a note issued by a government, and maintained upon the guarantee of the government alone, does not form a good 332 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY circulating medium, except during a suspension of specie payments. It must have a flexibility which will enable it to be increased in certain periods of the year, and to flow back again into the vaults of the banks at others. I am convinced, although it is unnecessary to dwell upon that point here, that in time it will be wise to retire our United States notes and all forms of government circulation, and depend upon notes issued by private corporations, amply secured beyond peradventure so that in no case can the note- holder lose, and to subject the banks to regulations applicable to all parts of the country, making them free, so that the busi- ness of banking will be like the business of manufacturing, blacksmithing, or any other ordinary occupation or business of life, governed only by general law." It is a well-known fact that the ablest financiers of the United States are in favour of retiring the greenback circu- lation entirely, and confining the bank-note circulation to the issues by the National Banks. I must hold, if the govern- ment insist upon this policy, that the specie reserve is too small. A reserve of fifteen per cent, on the issues is not suf- ficiently large to give that confidence, as to character and redemption of those issues, that the public should have. I shall now proceed to consider some of the points raised by the honourable member for South Norfolk (Mr. Wallace). Although the danger arising from the agitation in favour of irredeemable currency may not be great, yet it would be folly to underrate the gravity of the changes that the gentle- men engaged in the agitation seek to bring about. It is a peculiarity of mankind that we always find a considerable portion of the population ready to embrace any creed or theory, to believe any delusive promise that any political quack may make, if he offers relief from hardship, hard times, or any of the ills that pertain to humanity. And it is this peculiarity of the human mind that renders such agitations dangerous. I have been struck, not only to-day, but upon all occasions when I have heard this policy advocated, by the poverty of invention which characterizes its advocates. I have been struck with the fact that their arguments are old 333 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES arguments revamped. They are the very arguments that were used in France in the time of the George Law; they are the very arguments used in the French Assembly in 1790; they are the very arguments used in the American colonies; they are the very arguments used in the American confederacy when continental money was issued; they are the arguments of all the men who have sought to resort to a worthless issue of irredeemable paper money in all ages, and which have been refuted over and over again by reason and by the logic of facts. It is a matter of surprise to me that any gentleman with the ability which the honourable member for South Norfolk unquestionably possesses should have the courage to stand up in the House of Commons and advocate an old heresy which has brought ruin and distress upon the countries that have tried it. I propose to fortify my position to-day by citing the testimony of men of great eminence. I will also cite the testimony of events, and I think I shall succeed in proving to this House, and the country, that the reasoning of the honourable member is fallacious and utterly unreliable. I will first quote the testimony of Mr. Francis Horner, chair- man of the bullion committee of the English House of Com- mons in 1811, than whom there is no higher authority on this question : " The several successive steps which have been observed in every country that allowed its currency to fall into a state of depreciation, are coming upon us faster than was to have been expected in this country, and as there will be no re- covery after bank-notes are made a legal tender, the discus- sions which precede such a measure are evidently of the last importance." And the report of the bullion committee of which Mr. Horner was chairman, was in substance as follows: "The substance of the resolutions may be stated as fol- lows: the Act which suspended specie payment ought to be repealed and the bank forced to redeem its notes as soon as due caution would permit. To facilitate resumption the 334 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY smallest notes were first to be withdrawn. It was thought that after two years no notes of less than 5 should be al- lowed to circulate." It may be comfortable to my honourable friend from South Norfolk, to be able to point to that precedent of folly set by the British House of Commons, which at once gravely proceeded to declare that a paper issue was equal to specie, when at that moment it stood at fifteen per cent, discount. But the views of Mr. Horner prevailed after the country had experienced the hardships and ills resulting from an irredeem- able currency, and, ten years from that time, the Bank of England resumed specie payments. I will next quote the eminent legal jurist Judge Story, and I think no legal gentle- man here will be disposed to dispute the weight of his opinion. With reference to the continental currency issues, that gentle- man said: "They entailed the most enormous evils on the country, and introduced a system of fraud, chicanery, and profligacy which destroyed all private confidence and all industry, and all enterprise. " Chief-Justice Marshall, speaking for the Supreme Court of the United States, on the subject of irredeemable paper money says: "Such a medium has always been liable to fluctuation. Its value is continually changing, and those changes, often great and sudden, expose individuals to immense loss, are the source of numerous speculations, and destroy all con- fidence between man and man." In a letter from Richard Henry Lee, President of Congress, to George Washington, November 19, 1785, occurs the fol- lowing paragraph: " Is it possible that a plan can be formed for issuing a large sum of paper money by the next Assembly? I do verily believe that the greatest foes we have in the world could not devise a more effectual plan for ruining Virginia. I should suppose that every friend to his country, every honest and 335 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES sober man, would join heartily to reprobate so nefarious a plan of speculation." To this Washington replied: "I have never heard, and I hope never shall hear, any serious mention of a paper emission in this state; yet such a thing may be in agitation. Ignorance and design are pro- ductive of much mischief. The former is the tool of the latter and is often set to work suddenly and unexpectedly. Those with whom I have conversed on the subject in this part of the state, reprobate the idea exceedingly." Benjamin Franklin, in reference to this matter, bears the following testimony: " I lament with you the many mischiefs, the injustice, the corruption of manners, etc., that attended a depreciated currency. It is some consolation to me that I washed my hands of that evil by predicting it in Congress, and proposing means that would have been effectual to prevent it if they had been adopted. Subseqeunt operations that I have executed, demonstrate that my plan was practicable; but it was unfortunately rejected." The name, of no public man of this century will command greater respect than that of Daniel Webster. In commenting on the objects in view in framing the American Constitution, he said : "The establishment of a sound and uniform currency was one of the greatest ends contemplated in the adoption of the Constitution. If we could explore all the motives of those who framed and those who supported the Constitution, we should hardly find a more powerful one than this." Upon another occasion, in referring to the same subject, Webster uses the following language : "A disordered currency is one of the greatest of political evils. It undermines the virtues necessary for the support of the social system, and encourages propensities destructive of its happiness. It wars against industry, frugality and economy, and it fosters the evil spirit of extravagance and 336 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY speculation. Of all contrivances for cheating the labouring classes of mankind none has been more effectual than that which deluded them with paper money. Ordinary tyranny, oppression, excessive taxation, these bear lightly on the hap- piness of the community, compared with the fraudulent currencies and the robberies committed by depreciated paper. Our own history has recorded for our instruction enough, and more than enough, of the demoralizing tendency, the injustice, and the intolerable oppression of the virtuous and well-disposed, by a degraded paper currency authorized by law or in any way countenanced by government." Henry Clay, in reference to this subject, says : "If there be in regard to currency, one truth, which the united experience of the whole commercial world has es- tablished, I had 'supposed it to be that emissions of paper money constitute the very worst of all conceivable species of currency. " Andrew Jackson makes use of the following language on the subject: "There never was, nor ever could be, use for any other kind (than redeemable currency) except for speculators and gamblers in stocks; and this to the utter ruin of the labour and morals of the country. A specie currency gives life and action to the producing classes, on which the prosperity of all is founded." Salmon P. Chase, the father of the greenback and legal tender system of the United States, and, no doubt, a great authority with the honourable member for South Norfolk (Mr. Wallace), in 1862 used the following language: "The secretary recommends no mere paper money scheme; but on the contrary, a series of measures looking to a safe and gradual return to gold and silver as the only permanent basis, standard and measure of value recognized by the Constitution." Annual Report of the Secretary of the Trea- sury, 1862. This gentleman was no believer in fiat money. He re- commended the temporary suspension of specie payments 22 337 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES under a great national exigency, but with the distinct pledge that the people should be ultimately paid in gold, provision for which, and for the payment of the interest on the bonds in gold, was made by the enforcement of the payment of duties in coin. My quotations from eminent men may appropriately be concluded with an extract from Macaulay's "History of England," as follows: "The evils produced by a bad state of the currency are not such as have generally been thought worthy to occupy a prominent place in history; yet it may well be doubted whether all the misery inflicted on the English nation in a quarter of a century by bad kings, bad ministers, bad parlia- ments, and bad judges, was equal to the misery caused in a single year by a bad currency." Those men are all dead and gone; their record is made up and their opinions are worthy of our consideration. I have quoted authoriteis than whom no higher can be quoted on questions of finance; and the opinions of those who have made financial questions their study almost unanimously agree with those I have quoted. You will scarcely find a work on political economy that does not hold the views that I have enunciated here; and among all the experiments with ir- redeemable money and those experiments have been numer- ous, and tried in various ages of the world there are but two instances in history where such emissions have been redeemed, where they have not brought either utter ruin or great dis- aster on the countries that have permitted them. These two instances are, first, England; and second, the United States. In only one of those instances, that of the United States, was the paper currency made a legal tender. The issues of the Bank of England were never largely increased, but were kept within proper limits; and yet, notwithstanding the confidence of the public that those issues would be ulti- mately redeemed, and the fact that the Bank of England professed to be able to redeem in gold at any time, the notes were depreciated thirty per cent. In the United States 338 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY there was a distinct promise on the part of the government that its issues should be redeemed in gold; and the volume of paper issues was carefully restricted, yet the discount on those notes became enormous, the premium on gold being at one time above 180 $100 in gold being worth $280 in this cur- rency notwithstanding that the majority of the people had undoubting faith that the notes would be redeemed as pro- mised. This is one evidence of the small effect that the pro- mise of a government will have in maintaining the value of the currency when not immediately redeemable in gold. I have one instance further in illustration of this principle, it is that of the National Banks of the United States. Every bank was compelled to deposit with the government $100 in gold-bearing bonds, the interest payable annually in specie, to secure an issue of $90 in currency, and yet, notwithstanding that these notes were thus secured, they were as low as the United States greenbacks. This shows the effect produced when a currency is not instantly convertible into gold. I think we may come to the consideration of the practical operation of the system and dismiss all those fine-spun theories and volumes of words about money, capital and labour, values, etc., and take the plain facts as they stare us in the face, which show that in every instance where the theory has been tried, disaster has resulted. I may repeat some things I said last year in reference to this matter. It would not be improper to reiterate them a thousand times, until every Canadian knows that actual trials and ample experience constitute the most powerful and convincing arguments against this scheme. The Ameri- can colonies made the most ample trial of an irredeemable paper currency. Almost all of them issued money endorsed by the state, the result being the same in all cases. In Con- necticut, in 1749, $8 in currency was only worth $1 in silver. In Rhode Island, in 1769, $1 in silver would purchase $26 in legal tender of that colony. In North Carolina, in 1840, $1 in silver purchased $14 of legal tender. In 1740, in South Carolina, $1 in silver would purchase $8 in, legal tender. 339 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES In 1749, $1 in silver would purchase $11 of legal tender in Massachusetts. During the period of those paper money experiments, great disaster and great derangement in business existed in those colonies and industry was prostrated. We have, further back in history, many cases proving very conclusively what the operation of legal tender paper money always was. In China, in the ninth century, its government issued fiat money, a currency stamped upon mulberry bark, the value of the money depending upon the size of the pieces ; and it was to be received and pass current on pain of death. But it was found, notwithstanding, impossible to keep the money afloat, and it ultimately became utterly worthless. One of the most useful lessons supplied with regard to this question is the experience of the United States in the first years of her history. Notwithstanding the lessons the colonies had furnished of the evils of irredeemable currency, under the pressure of the necessities created by the Revolutionary War, Congress emitted a large quantity of paper money. The notes were to be paid in Spanish milled silver dollars. The credit of the country was pledged for their payment. The first issue was made in 1775, of $2,000,000. Eighteen months later, the notes stood at fifty per cent, discount. In October, 1779, $1 in silver would purchase $30 in continental money. At this juncture certificates redeemable at the end of six years, and bearing interest at the rate of five per cent, were issued, and the privilege was given to fund continental money in those certificates at the rate of $40 in continental money to $1 in certificates. This was practically going into bank- ruptcy and paying two and a half cents on the dollar in a new promise to pay. Before the end of 1780 these certificates sank to one-eighth of their nominal value, at which rate $320 in continental currency was equal to $8 in certificates or to $1 in silver. Shortly after this $1,000 in currency equalled $1 in silver, and almost immediately afterwards the currency became utterly worthless. The issues of the continental states were $241,000,000. 340 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY It was a currency abundantly cheap and fulfilled all the conditions that the honourable member for South Norfolk requires, being without value and easily obtained, though the promise to pay in silver would, in his opinion, be an objection. The consequences of the issue of this mass of currency were most disastrous, and an attempt was made to come back to a solid basis. Property was swept away under execution for debt without satisfying the claims, and, in some states, stay laws were enacted which prolonged the difficulty. In Massachusetts it was wisely determined to get rid of the evil as soon as possible. This occasioned the breaking out of the Shays Rebellion, which threatened the stability of the institutions of that state. All these were evils of a class which invariably manifest themselves under similar circumstances. With reference to England, the Bank of England suspended in 1797. As I stated a few minutes ago, there was no over- issue of notes. The Bank of England never increased its circulation beyond the limit that was deemed safe at the suspension, when its issues were fixed upon a specie basis. There was no lack of faith in the ultimate redemption of the notes of the bank, and the bank professed to be ready to resume specie payment at various times when the govern- ment did not deem it prudent to permit it to do so. But in 1814, even under these circumstances, the difference be- tween the Bank of England notes and gold was thirty per cent. 3 17s. lOJd. in gold being worth 5 4s. in notes of the Bank of England. Even under these circumstances serious derangements to business resulted in England; legiti- mate trade became uncertain and spasmodic; there were violent fluctuations in prices; prices of the necessaries of life rose much more rapidly than the price of labour; there were labour riots in various parts of England; and, when specie payment was resumed, this same labouring class was again subjected to great hardships by the fact that the price of their labour fell more rapidly than the price of the necessaries of life, so that they were first injured by the rapid rise of the 341 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES necessaries of life, and the slower rise in the price of labour; and, secondly, after the return to specie payment, by the slow decline in the necessaries of life and the rapid fall of the price of labour. It was especially disastrous to widows and orphans, to recipients of salaries, and to persons pos- sessing fixed incomes. Such has always been found to be the case in countries where the abandonment of the specie standard, or the debasing of coin has led to the depreciation of the currency and the nominal enhancement of the prices of the necessaries of life. The extract I read a moment ago from Macaulay graphically depicts the misery that existed in England from this cause. Macaulay declared that the misery from one year of bad money exceeded that caused by bad harvests, bad laws, bad kings, and bad judges, for twenty- five years. I come next to the consideration of two great and signifi- cant lessons afforded us by the experience of France with this class of money. In 1716, George Law, an enterprising Scotchman succeeded in inducing the French government to embark in a scheme of which he was the author, called the "George Law Scheme." A bank was established. The issues of that bank were founded on the credits of the state, and upon lands. Its issues amounted to three milliards of francs. An enormous inflation and fictitious prosperity in- toxicated the people of France. This state of things lasted for four years, and then came the collapse. George Law fled for his life, and France was subjected to twenty-five years of derangement, distress and misery in consequence of this experiment. This was not sufficient. In 1787 the French Assembly again embarked in a similar scheme for the relief of the public necessities. Although that subject has often been referred to, I ask the indulgence of the House while I refer to it again, because no lesson is more conclusive in its teachings as to the folly of resorting to an issue of irredeemable paper money than the experience of France under the issues of the assignats in the period of the French Revolution. The first issue was made in 1789. It was made 342 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY against the protests of cool-headed men of the French As- sembly, who cited to their fellow-countrymen the experience of France under George Law, and predicted that the same evils would visit France again in an aggravated form. Des- pite their protests and warnings, the French Assembly pro- ceeded to issue assignats based upon the value of the church estates. The first issue was 400,000,000 francs; the next issue, in 1789, was 800,000,000 francs; the next issue, in January, 1790, was 600,000,000 francs. When this point was reached, capital began to shrink from investments, and business in France became gambling. In 1792 the assignats stood at thirty per cent, discount. Then the debtor class and it is from the debtor class that the pressure generally comes for cheap money invaded the Assembly and demanded an increase of the issue of assignats, in order that they might the more easily pay their debts. Further issues were made. It was by this time found almost impossible to carry on the French government. Salaried clerks could not live upon their salaries and resigned in shoals. Then the Assembly stepped in and attempted to control the prices of the necessaries of life by passing "maximum laws," providing that the price of wheat, oil, wine and other articles should not exceed certain sums, laws fixing the prices of all the commodities that entered into daily consumption. As a matter of course these laws were inoperative, and were set aside by the inexorable law of supply and demand. In 1793, the purchase of specie was prohibited, and the penalty of engaging in a trans- action of this kind was six years in irons. In that year the sale of assignats below their normal value was prohibited, and the penalty for this crime was twenty years in chains. Frenchmen began investing their means in foreign countries, and this was prohibited by the Assembly under the penalty of death. In 1796, 5,337 francs in assignats were worth 34 francs in silver, and soon after 100 francs in assignats were worth 5 sous. In the same year the French Assembly re- sorted to the scheme which is generally resorted to under 343 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES like circumstances it went into bankruptcy. It agreed to pay three and a third cents on the dollar in new promises to pay. It funded the assignats hi mandats in the proportion of 30 francs in assignats to 1 in the mandats. These man- dats soon declined, so that 1,000 of them would only purchase 1 franc in silver. At that rate the original issue was worth in the proportion of 30,000 to 1 in silver. Speedily the whole mass was repudiated, and the entire issue of 45 milliards of francs became a total loss. The testimony of history is, that the Bastille, the guillotine, and the wars that France engaged in during that period, all combined, did not inflict the evil upon France that was inflicted by the issue of the assignats. The Assembly now passed an edict permitting the circulation of any kind of money. Frenchmen were anxious to see real money once more, and goods were sold at an enormous sacrifice in order to obtain money that had an actual value. Hoards of gold and silver were now brought out of their hiding-places, goods were cheap; exchange turned in favour of the country, prosperity returned, and, during all the wars of Napoleon, France carried on her vast military operations upon a specie basis. I might cite the case of the Confederate states of America, where in three short years the currency went down until it required $300 in currency to purchase $1 in silver, and then it became utterly worthless. In Italy, the forced circulation of paper money is but of recent date, but it is already heavily depreciated and the country is in a state of financial confusion. The same state of things exists hi Spain, in consequence of a depreciated and irredeemable paper currency. The same state of things exists in Turkey, where the currency is in a perfect medley of debased coins and worthless paper. Tur- key is now attempting to return to a specie basis; having tried an irredeemable currency and found it disastrous. The South American states are almost all labouring under the same difficulties to-day. The rate of discount has reached, in those states, as high as $400 in currency for $1 in silver. The little negro state of Hayti, even, has found the honour- 344 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY able gentleman's panacea, and it requires $500 there to buy your breakfast. So much for the testimony of history. These instances might be multiplied but those I have cited are sufficient to cause us to pause before adopting a principle which has been so uniformly disastrous in its results hi all countries where it has been tried, and that during many centuries. There have been only two instances in all human history where the result of an irredeemable money issue has not been ruinous, and hi each of these cases the government solemnly declared that its paper money emissions though nominally irredeemable, were to be paid in gold, and that ruin did not result was due to the fact that the people had faith in the promise of the government being redeemed. The honourable gentleman (Mr. Wallace) has at some length given us his definition of money. "Money," he told us, "was a creation of the government." Well, sir, is it true that governments can create money? If it is true that govern- ments can give value to that which is worthless, then the honourable gentleman can, perhaps, make out his case. But I deny that the government can create money or that it can create anything that man will accept as value. What is money? It must have one requisite to commence with, and that is value. Money is an invention some 4,000 years old. Man has tried various expedients. Before arriving at that stage of advancement where he could make use of money he resorted to barter. After trying barter he advanced a stage and used as money various articles possessing value. The Africans use cowrie-shells, copper, wire, etc., the Indians wampum belts. Man finally reached that point where a wise and judicious selection of the article that was to pass as money was made, and for wise reasons the precious metals were selected as that aritcle. Now, we need to bear in mind that there is a vast difference between specific purchasing power, and general purchasing power. Any article that has value has a specific purchasing power. If its owner can find a person who wants it and has some other article that he 345 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES wants, an exchange can be made, and each of the articles in that case possesses a specific purchasing power. Neither of them, however, can be used as a purchasing agent except upon the principle of barter, neither of them has a general purchasing power. Money possesses a general purchasing power. Everything that possesses value is convertible into money, and money in turn can be converted into anything that possesses value. The precious metals were selected for this purpose, and I wish to call the attention of the House to some reasons that had weight in leading to this selection. One of the main reasons undoubtedly was their quantity. The quantity could neither be increased nor diminished by an act of govern- ment. The quantity was sufficient for all purposes of com- merce and could only be slightly and gradually increased. There have been only two considerable changes in the value of precious metals during the period of which we know any- thing about their production. The one was hi the sixteenth century, when the value of silver was affected by the produc- tion of the mines in Mexico and Peru. The second was in the nineteenth century when the value of gold was affected by the discoveries of that precious metal in California and Australia. The precious metals were chosen for money be- cause they are universally valued. It requires no edict of a government to give to gold and silver a value. Gold equal- izes values all over the world. It also possesses a uniformity of quality. Gold mined to-day is of exactly the same quality as gold mined long ago. Silver mined in Nevada possesses exactly the same quality as silver mined in Siberia. Of what- ever age, and wherever produced the quality of gold and sil- ver is identically the same. Another quality the precious metals possess is that they are convenient and portable. Another quality is that they can be divided and subdivi- ded. No matter how small the piece, its value is exactly in proportion to its weight. Another quality is that it is prac- tically indestructible a coin in constant use will last, it is said, 2,400 years. 346 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY The honourable gentleman stated that it was the govern- ment stamp that gave value to this money. That is a pre- posterous assertion. It is the government stamp that gives evidence as to its value. A thousand sovereigns in a mass, or a thousand eagles in a mass, are worth just as much as they were worth when in coins. The government of Great Britain charges thirty-two one thousandths of one per cent, for coinage, while the United States coins free. The bullion of the United States is worth exactly as much when not coined as when in coin. The statement of the honourable gentle- man, that the coin depends for its value on the stamp of the government, is on a par with the other absurdities to which he has given utterance in this House. The stamp of the government is merely an evidence of its value. It is simply for the sake of convenience that governments have been deputed to fulfil this duty of stamping on coins their weight and value. How long have these metals been used as money? Is it an invention of to-day, or does it date back to the period of the French Revolution? or to the days of the continental states of America? or to the days when the Chinese had fiat money consisting of mulberry bark? No; from the earliest records of history the precious metals have fulfilled the func- tions they fulfil to-day. The experience of forty centuries is certainly worthy of consideration. If mankind has ad- hered regularly to one system, it certainly is a pretty con- clusive argument that there must be some good reason for adherence to that system. A good deal has been said by the honourable gentleman about standards of value, measures of value, mediums of exchange, and so forth, and I wish to draw the attention of the House to the distinction that should be drawn between a standard of value and medium of exchange. A check drawn by any honourable member of this House for $1,000, provided there is confidence that the man has that amount of money in the bank, and confidence that the bank is able to pay that amount, is a good acceptable medium of exchange for $1,000. Not that that is its intrinsic value, but it represents that 347 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES value somewhere. A measure of value or a standard of value is something different. A cheque is not a standard of value; neither is a bank-note, nor a government bond a standard of value; but all of these represent value which the public faith believes is lodged somewhere. A standard of value is something that possesses value. Gold and silver have been chosen by civili p /ed nations, and barbarous nations as well, to discharge for 4,00<) years the functions of a stan- dard of value; and a bank-note or bill of exchange merely represents that the maker of that bank-note or bill of ex- change owns so much of that standard of value, which is payable on his demand. In the course of this discussion much has been said about irredeemable money, and I wish at this point to define briefly what irredeemable money is. Irredeemable money is a currency which promises to pay something in the future. The promise usually made is to pay in gold. The degree of discredit that attaches to irredeemable money is governed by its volume and the degree of faith entertained as to its ultimate redemption; and the point of utter worthlessness is reached when faith in the ability to pay is finally lost. The scheme we are dealing with to-night, as propounded by the honourable member for South Norfolk (Mr. Wallace), is not a scheme of irredeemable money, I am sorry to say, it is a scheme even worse than this. The currency advocated by the honourable member is a currency that commences where an irredeemable currency ends. An irredeemable cur- rency ends at utter worthlessness, and that is the point where fiat money begins. The honourable gentleman in his speech says that money that has an intrinsic value is not fit to be money. Well, he certainly advocates the adoption of a currency that has no intrinsic value. He advocates the adoption of a currency that promises to pay nothing. It is a currency that never will be discredited, because no promise is given. It will not read "The Dominion of Canada pro- mises to pay one dollar." It will read, "This is a dollar." We will suppose that the manager of the Grand Trunk road 348 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY or the manager of the Great Western Railway should issue what might be termed locomotive paper affirming that "This is a locomotive/' it would be absurd. If it announced that they would furnish a locomotive on demand, we might consider it. Some follower of my honourable friend might go into the live-stock business, and he might issue a piece of paper affirming, "This is a jack-ass." It would more clearly express the character of the issuer than the character of the paper. My honourable friend tells us that one ad- vantage this money will possess is that it will be non-export- able, that you cannot take it out of the country, and that the country cannot be made poorer by the exportation of this money. There are various other articles that are non- exportable. Bad bacon, musty wheat, rotten eggs, and al- most everything you can mention that is worthless, is non- exportable; and it is for the same reason that the currency that the honourable gentleman proposes to issue will be non- exportable. He also says it will help to maintain the insti- tutions of the country, and check emigration, the reason probably being because the people will be so poor that they cannot get out of the country. I do not deny that a government can give to its currency a buying power, and whatever device man may adopt, gold will in all cases, mea- sure the value of his device. The advocacy of this scheme is either stupid or it is im- moral. There may be debtors in the community who desire in this way to defraud their creditors. Should this system ever obtain in this country, we would see the old system of barter introduced again. Such was the case in the Confed- erate states of America. It was no unusual thing for persons to stipulate that their services should be paid for in produce. The same would undoubtedly be the case here in the event of the adoption of this system of currency. The honourable gentleman did not raise the claim to-day, but he did on a former occasion, that this scheme would make the rates of interest low. Exactly the reverse, however, would be the case. Invariably, under the operation of a scheme of ir- 349 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES redeemable money, interest becomes exorbitant. The reason of this is not far to seek. With a fluctuating currency not only the usual rate of interest is charged, but a further rate is added, sufficient to cover the probable depreciation in the currency during the period of the loan. This was the case in the United States during the greenback era. To my own personal knowledge, the best names could seldom obtain bank discounts in the interior at less than thirteen per cent, per annum. Since resumption, however, money is easily obtained at from six to eight per cent, per annum. During the days of wild- cat banking in the western states, forty per cent, was no unusual rate of interest, and cases are known where ten per cent, per month was paid. Such a currency constantly depreciates, and when the lender parts with it he naturally demands a rate of interest that will give a reasonable re- turn for its use, and leave an ample margin to cover its depreciation when he shall receive it again. There is an opinion that in this country, and in various other countries, the amount of circulating medium is insuf- ficent for the wants of the people. It is undoubtedly true that in France, and in some of the continental states of Europe the amount of currency in circualtion is larger per capita than in England, or the United States, or in Canada. The mode of business is different in some countries from others. In the United States, in Canada, in Great Britain, people deposit money in savings banks and other institutions; and their payments are usually made by cheque, which is an evidence of the possession of money. In New York, in London, in Chicago, not five per cent, of the daily transac- tilns are performed with currency. A man draws his cheque, passes it over to another who endorses it and passes it over to the bank; that cheque performs a dozen payments per- haps, and finally goes to the bank. In France business is done in another way; they use currency in transactions to a great extent; they do not deposit in savings banks to the same extent. Almost every peasant or farmer has a small hoard of money laid away, and business is done largely by 350 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY actual payment of specie or currency. For this reason a larger amount of currency is required than in England or the United States, where they depend more upon the opera- tions of those great facilities of exchange, banks, and the bank clearing-house. The honourable gentleman need not bor- row any trouble about not having a sufficient amount of currency in the banks. The banks of Canada are, in fact, unable to obtain circulation for their money. A man who wishes to draw money must have security of personal charac- ter and credit to place in the hands of the bank, and then he can have it without any difficulty. Now I propose to refer to one practical lesson worked out before our eyes in our own generation: the greenback period in the United States, commencing in 1862, and ending as recently as January 1, 1879. The experience of that country will afford us many useful lessons, although there is a very great difference between the principles adopted by them, and the principles my honourable friend intends to adopt. That country issued a currency repayable in gold, which it was believed would be payable in gold, a currency which has been paid in gold. But here we are to have a currency which will never be paid in gold, a currency which will be worthless from the commencement. The effect under even these mitigating circumstances, the effect even where the currency was one not immediately payable in gold, although ultimately so payable, was expansion, resulting as will always be the case on the adoption of such a currency system most disastrously to the creditor class. Who are they? They are all to whom debts are due; all who have more debts due to them than they owe. It includes nine-tenths of the workingmen of the country. It includes in the United States 8,000,000 labourers earning annually $2,500,000,000. It would include in this Dominion some 600,000 labourers, earning annually some $200,000,000. To this army of credi- tors in the United States, an average of $100,000,000 is at all times due. It includes 700,000 policy-holders in life insur- ance companies. It includes an army of 2,400,000 depositors 351 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES in the banks of the United States, against about 200,000 debtors who borrow money from the banks. Thus it will be seen that the benefits of inflation were reaped by a few at the expense of the vast majority of the people of the country. What was the effect in that country upon all those having fixed incomes? Money was lowered in value; persons with fixed incomes, persons with salaries, were sorely pinched, and had great difficulty in obtaining the necessaries of life under the expansion, and with the depreciation in the value of money and the advance of prices that resulted. Another marked influence was exercised in the United States on the labouring class, in addition to that exercised upon them as creditors. While their wages advanced slowly, the prices of the necessaries of life advanced rapidly. By reliable tables it has been shown that the necessaries of life advanced in price one hundred per cent, while wages only increased fifty to sixty-two per cent. The consequence was, that as the system proceeded the difficulties of the working-class relatively became worse and worse, and when the tide turned, when the United States had determined to return to a specie currency, the price of gold fell. Then the wages of the labourer quickly descended to the level they had originally held, while the necessaries of life, on the other hand, followed the decline by slow degrees; so that the labouring people were, therefore, again the great sufferers. They were ground between the upper and nether millstones, first by the rapid advance in the price of food and necessaries, compared with the advance in the price of wages; and second by the rapid decline in the price of wages, compared with the decline in the price of food and necessaries. While the depreciation was in progress, business confidence was, in a great measure, destroyed; foresight as to the future became impossible; business became literally gambling; no man, no matter how astute, could foresee the fluctuations of the gold which actually governed all values. The goods of the importer were to be paid for in gold; his sales were in currency. No human fore- 352 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY sight could tell him what margin should be charged to cover advance in premium between date of purchase and date of realization upon sales; and business, from the force of cir- cumstances, became gambling. Another feature, and a most remarkable feature in con- nection with this state of things, was that the exact amount of money in circulation was known. There was no law of fluency in operation; gold could not be used as money, and would not flow in from other lands it was an article of commerce. The result was that great operators were enabled to get possession of great sums of currency, and create artificial stringency. It was repeatedly done. These men temporarily locked up large sums of money to create stringency and panic. The market for stocks and produce was completely controlled by them. Black Fridays and spasmodic fluctuations were the result, and these large operators swallowed up the small operators by scores. Such fortunes as those amassed by Vanderbilt, Scott, Stewart and Gould, were built up by these means. These gamblers made the nation's necessities, its hopes, its very despair, counters in their game. Another result was wild specula- tion; extensive production of things for which there was no demand; wasteful extravagance; a shoddy aristocrary; a morbid desire to become rich without labour. The creations of great fortunes by this system and the robbery of the public and the nation by bold stock-gamblers, led to the raising of a popular cry against privileged classes and the bond- holders. The people instinctively felt that they had been robbed, and the greenback or fiat money heresy would never have received the support it did but that a portion of the people thought of paying a debt which had cost the holders so little by resorting to a fraud, infinitely greater than the frauds of the war period, and by cancelling bonds with worthless currency. I desire, sir, to examine for a moment the effect of this system upon debt and taxation, and to direct attention, first, to the manner in which loans were made in the United 23 353 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES States. They required means to carry on their war operations ; the country was a borrower. Secretary Chase unwisely de- termined to maintain the price of American bonds nominally at par by depreciating the currency that was received for them. Had he borrowed gold, placing his bonds upon the market at such discount as was necessary to float them, he would in the end have been infinitely better off. A bond of $100 at one time cost but $40 in gold, and the great bulk of the debt was contracted when $100 in currency was worth less than $60 in gold. The government is paying these bonds at par in gold. The investors receive, in many instances, 150 per cent, in gold more than they invested in gold. This borrowing at par, in a currency which was to be repaid, principal and interest in gold, added enormously to the debt of the United States. Had the secretary borrowed only in the equivalent of gold, and placed his bonds in the American markets at such price as they would command, the debt would have been $900,000,000 or $1,000,000,000 less than it was, and to-day the United States, with the taxation it has paid, would have been entirely out of debt. The United States has had an ample experience in irredeemable money. The mo- ment Richmond fell the agitation commenced for a resump- tion of specie payment; and on the first of January last year, they returned to a specie currency. And what has been the result? Men who held the views of my honourable friend from South Norfolk, believed that resumption would prove disastrous to the United States. Were these prophecies fulfilled ? Was the United States injuriously affected ? No, it was not. On the contrary the great majority of the people of the United States had been waiting for many years for that juncture to arrive. Capital had been waiting for the time when there would be some assurance that the gambling era had ceased; and when that assurance came, when resumption was made certain, the wished-for revival came. And was that revival spasmodic or temporary? No, on the contrary, after a lapse of nearly eighteen months since the resumption of specie payment in 354 IRREDEEMABLE CURRENCY the United States, this revival may be considered a per- manent thing. That country has entered upon a career of prosperity which will eclipse any previous period of her his- tory; and I have no hesitation in saying and it cannot be doubted by any reasonable man that this revival of business and this great prosperity is due wholly to the resumption of specie payment in that country. Is the United States likely to go back to the greenback system after having so many years' experience of it and having abandoned it? Is it likely to go back to irredeemable currency? What is the status of the greenback party of the United States? There is at this moment enough lunatic asylum capacity in that country to hold the whole of them. Our industries and our commerce need rest and certainty. Capital, to my certain knowledge, has already abandoned Can- ada and sought investments elsewhere, owing to the uncertainty surrounding the money question. It is high time the govern- ment ceased to coquet with this question; it is high time the honourable the Minister of Finance (Sir S. L. Tilley) should give an authoritative expression of opinion on the views advan- ced by those who favour a fiat currency. A prudent farmer will not hire a man who has burned the barns of all those who have ever employed him; and a prudent nation will not adopt a system fraught with such ruinous consequences as is this irredeemable currency system. The experience of history, the dictates of reason, the declarations of the wise and great, forbid us to believe that a fiat money is better than a currency based upon specie. I am firmly impressed with the belief arrived at, after a careful study of paper currency experi- ments, after careful consideration of the laws governing money questions, after a practical knowledge of the business experience of the United States during the period of suspen- sion in the country since 1862, that a credit currency is a device which never fails to be calamitous in its consequences, and rarely fails to entail ruin. I cannot condemn too strongly the insane recklessness or the inexcusable ignorance of the Utopian dreamers and designing knaves who advocate a 355 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES measure which would bring upon us calamity and distress. I would my words could reach every farmer, every artisan, every labourer, every man who earns his living by toil in shop or field; for their interests are dependent on an estab- lished credit, a stable currency, and steady means of pay- ment. Honest labour has nothing to gain from shifting values, fluctuating prices, or impending collapse. Specie has a uniform and intrinsic value the world over. It is the bed-rock as a standard, sure and steadfast. Rag-money is a delusion, and bitter will be our experience, terrible the les- sons by which adversity will teach us our folly, if we insist upon learning in the school of fools, and refuse to be taught by the experience of others. I hope that the crude theories advanced by this class of financiers and political economists, so often exploded in practice, and so often shown in theory to be utterly without foundation, may never be adopted or tried in this country. 356 POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN the session of 1903 I introduced a bill to amend the Dominion Elections Act so as to put down bribery and corruption in elections. The nature of that bill and its history are given more fully in a note at the conclusion of this chapter. In moving the second reading of the bill, on April 2, 1903, I made the following speech, as reported in Hansard. House of Commons, April 2, 1903. MR. CHARLTON Mr. Speaker: In moving the second read- ing of this bill, I may perhaps be permitted to make a few observations bearing upon what I conceive to be the necessity for some enlarged scope of the Elections Act as regards offences, and increased stringency as regards punish- ments. The purity of the electorate lies at the very founda- tion of free institutions. A pure, patriotic electorate will ensure to a country the continuance of free institutions and good government. A celebrated American poet has said " The crowning fact, The kingliest act Of freedom is the freeman's vote." He does not refer to the vote of the man who keeps that article for sale; he does not refer to the venal vote, the pur- chasable vote; but he refers to the vote of the man who esteems his franchise a priceless heritage, and will exercise it according to his convictions and beliefs relating to public policy and the conduct of public affairs. The necessity for the maintenance of this condition of things is one the importance of which we cannot over- 357 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES estimate. In this country there are being laid the foundations of a nation a nation which may hope to attain great prom- inence in the affairs of the world, a nation which may hope to have an enormous population, great wealth, and a first- class influence among the nations of the world. But our hopes as to the future can hardly be realized if we permit the virus of corruption to infect the blood of the public. If we permit this, we shall simply have entailed upon us the consequences that have invariably followed political corrup- tion and the debasing of the electorate. The expression is frequently used: "We are devoted to measures, not men." But measures cannot be carried into operation without men. We must have men who are the incarnation of good measures in order to carry these meas- sures into effect; and we can hardly have that class of men where the vote of the country is purchasable. If an elec- torate is for sale, if it is a question of the amount of money expended as to who shall be elected as its representative, then the very foundations of our institutions are swept away. The man who so far forgets his duty as a citizen as to pur- chase his election by expenditure of money, is a man who is likely to take measures to recoup himself for the expense which he has incurred; and the electorate which has chosen such a man as its representative has no right to expect any other line of conduct. Our future depends, I have said, on the purity of the electorate; and if the system of corrupting the electorate cannot be stamped out, of course the evil will grow rapidly in magnitude. If the lavish expenditure of money is to be a necessary feature of running an electoral contest, then it becomes a matter of primary importance to political parties to provide funds for election purposes, and there is an inevitable tendency to corrupt practices on the part of the government in power. We had an instance of this in 1872, when the government in power felt the necessity of securing a large sum of money for the approaching election contests of that year; and the method adopted by that government, 358 POLITICAL CORRUPTION the sale of a great public charter, was one of a most demoral- izing character, which remains and must remain a blot on the history of this country. The influences which led to that violation of the proper rules of public conduct will be at work now and at all times hi the future, if we have a purchasable electorate and are unable to stamp out this evil; and these influences will naturally lead to actions on the part of gov- ernments that cannot be condoned or excused the scaling of subsidies, rake-offs, methods which politicians do not need to be instructed in or to have alluded to; there will be a powerful incentive that will lead governments to resort to these means to obtain money. In order to secure purity of administration, we must have purity hi the electorate; and in order to have purity in the electorate, we must adopt means to stamp out absolutely the influences and the evils that are growing in magnitude in this country, day by day. As to the extent of electoral corruption, I do not know how great it may be. As to whether it is a crime to increase this extent of electoral corruption, I have no doubt whatever. It is a crime of the first magnitude, and a crime that we ought to adopt methods, so far as we possibly can, with which to stamp it out. As to the extent of electoral corruption, I say I do not know how great it may be. I suppose I need not attempt to instruct any member of this House with regard to that matter. I dare say we are all well aware that it is an evil of considerable extent, if not of great extent, in this Dominion. I presume we are all aware that very many ridings are influenced in the elections by the corrupt expen- diture of money, that there are ridings where the result of the election is merely a matter of how much money is spent, and which party will spend the most. There are ridings which ought to be disfranchised owing to the thorough, absolute corruption of the electorate. As to which of our political parties is the worst, naturally the Conservatives will say that the bulk of this work is done by the other side, and naturally the Reformers will take the opposite view; but I think it will be found that one is just 359 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES as bad as the other. Each one spends all the money it can. Instead of vieing with each other in these corrupt practices, we had better vie in the attempt to put them down. If we study the question we can find the means to put them down and thus confer untold blessings upon the country. At present the candidate who prosecutes his canvass on pro- per lines, who avoids the improper expenditure of money, is, in nine cases out of ten, heavily handicapped. He is clogged in the race, and many a man who would refrain from this kind of work, is compelled to do it in order to meet similar influences which are working against him. Elections can scarcely be run under present conditions without the expenditure of money. What should be the object of our law governing elections? Its primary object should be to put an end to these practices by adopting mea- sures that cannot fail to do so. We should not hesitate to apply drastic remedies. We should increase the number of offences and the severity of sentences and punishments, and if we do so to a sufficient extent I believe we shall succeed in stamping out the practices. I am informed that in most of the states of the American union electoral corruption has been absolutely stamped out. That has been the case in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. Three weeks ago there was a trial in the city of Buffalo concerning the election of a sheriff. The sheriff was charged with having promised an office and some emoluments to a friend for his assistance in the election. He was liable, on conviction, to be sen- tenced to five years in the penetentiary, but escaped on the verdict of "not proven." The law of that state is now in such shape that it is perilous to indulge in any of these illicit practices. The man who pays a bribe puts himself at the mercy of the scallawag who takes the money. This is so perilous that the practice has ceased. I believe that we can reach the same result here. Our present law does not go far enough, and I propose some amendments which will have the effect of giving it the requisite extension. Perhaps the promoters of that law 360 POLITICAL CORRUPTION intended it to go as far as necessary. But it has not put an end to corruption. On the contrary, corruption is spread- ing rapidly and the influence of this condition of things shows itself in other lines of public life. The best elements of the country are alarmed. Men of all parties deplore this con- dition of things and ask whether there is not some remedy. Can we not put an end to this evil which threatens the well- being and stability of our state? The amendment I am about to submit creates in the first place a few more offences. In that respect the original Act is not as comprehensive as it should be. It also increases the penalties to such an extent that infractions of the law, if the accused be convicted, involve not only a loss of money, but loss of liberty. These are penalties which will make crime odious and cause every man to shrink from its con- sequences. Without further general remarks let me call the attention of the House to the provisions of this bill. Section 108, law 1900, relating to Dominion elections gives a number of offences in detail, as set out in subsections A to I. I propose to add three more subsections, J, K and L. Subsection J is as follows: " (J.) Every person who by abduction, duress or any forcible or fraudulent device or contrivance, impedes, prevents or otherwise interferes with the free exercise of the elective franchise by any voter, or compels, induces, or prevails upon any voter to give or refrain from giving his vote for or against any candidate at any election;" Subsection K is as follows: " (K.) Every person who, being an employer, pays his employees the wages or salary due, in pay envelopes, upon which there is written or printed any political motto, device or argument containing threats, express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such employees, or within ninety days of a general election puts or otherwise exhibits in the establishment or place where his employees are engaged in labour, any handbill or 361 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES placard containing any threat, notice or information, that if any particular ticket or candidate is elected or defeated, work in his place or establishment will cease in whole or in part, his establishment will be closed up, or the wages of his employees will be reduced, or other threats, express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of his employees;" The following is subsection L: " (1.) Every person who, being an officer or employee of Canada or of any province thereof, directly or indirectly uses his authority or official influence to compel or induce any other such officer or employee to pay or promise to pay any political assessment, or " (2.) Being an officer or employee of Canada or any pro- vince thereof, directly or indirectly gives, pays or hands over to any officer such officer or employees, any money or other valuable thing on account of, or to be applied to, the pro- motion of his election, appointment or retention in office, or makes any promise or gives any subscription to such officer or employee to pay or contribute any money or other valuable thing for such purpose or object, or " (3.) Prepares or makes out or takes any part in preparing or making out any political assessment, subscription or contribution, or sends or presents any political assessment, subscription or contribution to, or requests its payment of, any such officer or employee;" These are the three subsections which I propose to add to section 108 of the law of 1900, and I propose to change the character of the punishment as follows: "And every person so offending " that is, committing any of the offences in this alphabetical list from A to L, " is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprison- ment for a term not exceeding two years, and shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars to any person who sues therefor, with costs, and shall be disfranchised for a period of seven years, or, in case the offence is committed by a corporation, it shall forfeit its charter. 362 POLITICAL CORRUPTION " Provided always, that the actual personal expenses of any candidate, his expenses for actual professional services performed, and bona fide payments for the fair cost of print- ing, advertising, bill posting and rent of halls or rooms for meetings, shall be held to be expenses lawfully incurred, and the payment thereof shall not be a violation of this Act." The following section I have copied from the penal code of the state of New York, and upon it I would rely more than upon any other provision of the bill for putting an end to the evils I am speaking of. This would be substituted for sections 134, 135 and 136 of the present law. It would be a section general in its character, more comprehensive, more easily understood, terser and more epigrammatic. It is to be inserted after section 108, and would be numbered 108a: "A person offending against any provision of the next preceding section of this Act " that is against any of subsections A to L of section 108 " is a competent witness against another person so offend- ing, and may be compelled to attend and testify on any trial, hearing, proceeding, or investigation in the same man- ner as any other person. The testimony so given shall not be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, against the person testifying. A person testifying shall not therefor be liable to indictment, prosecution or punishment for the offence with reference to which his testimony was given, and may plead or prove the giving of testimony accord- ingly, in bar of such indictment or prosecution." Now, under this section, the man who is bribed may bring an action against the briber, and the penalty is $500, or less at the discretion of the court, payable to the complainant; and any number of men who have been bribed may be sub- poenaed as witnesses and may give their testimony under the provision of this Act which exonerates them from all con- sequences, civil or criminal, in relation to this matter. It is found, that, in the state of New York, under the provisions of this Act, the business of bribing men to vote a business which is carried on with a certain degree of impunity under 363 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES our laws is one of which the consequences are so grave, the act so perilous, the briber being so completely at the mercy of the parties who take his bribe that parties conclude not to go into it. So the money is not forthcoming and the agents are not there to distribute it. In fact, the business cannot be carried on with safety, and there is an end to the whole thing. We have to adopt something of this kind if we are to cope with this evil in Canada. And if this section 108a is put in our law, it will absolutely put a quietus on the whole business of buying electors at the polls. The fine go- ing to the informant, it will be an inducement to him to bring the briber to book. The briber will be so completely at the mercy of the bribed that there will be an end of the whole business. " (4.) Section number 126 of the said Act is repealed, and the following is substituted therefor: " (126.) Any person who, while a candidate for the House of Commons either before Or after nomination day, is guilty of bribery, fraud, or wilful violation of any election law, shall be forever disqualified from holding an office of trust or profit under the government of Canada, and shall be disfranchised for the period of seven years next after his being so found guilty." This is copied from the penal code of the state of Penn- sylvania, and renders any candidate who is guilty of bribery or fraud ineligible to office for life. " (5.) Section 142 of the said Act is amended by substituting the words 'seven years' for the words 'one year' in the fifth line thereof." The provisions of this Act will necessarily require con- sideration and argument in committee. I shall not detain the House longer with arguments on the bill, the general features of which I have attempted to make clear. I beg to move the second reading of this bill. Following my speech on electoral corruption, April 2, 1903, there was a full discussion. Then the bill was read the 364 POLITICAL CORRUPTION second time, and the House went into the Committee of the Whole upon it. On the eighth of April there was another discussion in Committee of the Whole. On the fourteenth of May, on motion of Mr. Fielding, a special committee was appointed to consider the measure and report. This committee was composed of Messrs. Casgrain, Russell, Baker, Demers (St. John and Iberville), Northrup, Thompson, Fielding and myself five Liberals and four Conservatives. When the committee organized, I was made chairman. Many meetings were held. There was no feeling between the two political parties as represented on the committee; all desired a bill that would ensure pure elections. An officer of the department of justice attended every meeting of the committee as counsel and took part in the discussions. The committee also had the assistance of the law clerk of the House of Commons. The members of the committee gave much time and care to the investiga- tion of the facts and the consideration of the measure designed to meet the conditions. They decided to report an amend- ed bill. Every detail of this measure was unanimously approved, except that providing for compulsory voting, and on that point only one member stood opposed. A brief summary of this amended bill is here given: "Any elector who, without sufficient reason or excuse, fails to vote is to be disfranchised for six years. "Returning officers, deputy returning officers, clerks and poll-clerks who engage in or connive at corrupt practices are liable to imprisonment, without the option of a fine, for not less than six months and not more than twelve months, and to disfranchisement for seven years. "An abstract of offences and penalties under the election Jaw shall be posted at polls and other conspicuous places. " Immediately after the receipt of the writ of election, the returning officer shall send by mail to each elector a printed abstract of offences and penalties under the Act, which abstract shall be carried in the mails post free. "Intimidation of employees by .employers, whether in- dividuals or corporations, is prohibited, under penalty of 365 MISCELLANEOUS PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES disfranchisement, fine, imprisonment, or loss of charter, as the case may be. "Any person who ; offers, promises, gives or procures any money, office, employment or other consideration for a vote shall be liable to fine or imprisonment. "Any person who receives any such promise or gift of money, as a consideration for voting shall be liable to fine or imprisonment. " Any person who, being an officer or employee of Canada or of any province thereof, directly or indirectly gives or re- ceives contributions, subscriptions or assessments for political purposes shall be liable to fine or imprisonment. "Any person who has given or received a bribe shall be a competent witness against any other person so offending, and may be compelled to attend court and testify. Pro- vided that, if such person has answered truly all questions asked by the court, he shall be entitled to receive a certificate of indemnity, and the testimony so given by him shall not thereafter be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, against him, and he may plead such certificate of indemnity in bar of such proceeding. "Any alien or other person, not being a voter, who resides outside of Canada shall not canvass for votes. "In case of an indictable offence under the Act, where it is feared that the accused will endeavour to avoid arrest, it shall be sufficient to charge generally that he has com- mitted an offence under the Dominion Elections Act." On the eighth of October, Sir Wilfrid Laurier moved that my bill as amended by the special committee be transferred to the government orders. Carried. On the tenth of Octo- ber this amended bill was discussed by the chairman and members very fully. On the twentieth of October there was another discussion, chiefly upon compulsory voting, when an amendment was proposed to that section. The House again went into com- mittee on the bill on the twenty-third of October, when the bill was withdrawn. Compulsory voting seemed to be distasteful to the majority of the House. The committee asked that such parts of the bill as were acceptable to the 366 POLITICAL CORRUPTION majority should be passed, but the discussion had occupied so long a time, and it was then so late hi the session, that it was deemed impossible to amend the bill and make it law. In the session of 1904, the bill to amend the Dominion Elec- tions Act of 1900 bill No. 3 of the session of 1903 was not proceeded with. It is greatly to be regretted that the attempt to enact a law that would stem the tide of corruption which now threatens the country has not been successful. We have now reached a condition of affairs in Canada in which a large percentage of the voters care little for character and talent in a representative, but vote for the man with the most money. It is repugnant to an honourable man to subject himself to danger of defeat in an election by one who has nothing but free expenditure in bribery to recommend him. If the proportion of corrupt and debased voters continues, and the law is not improved, only candidates fit to appeal to the debased element will offer themselves. All engaged in politics will thus become hateful and comtemptible to honest and patriotic men. Let us hope that men of all parties will soon unite in an overwhelming and irresistible move- ment to stamp out political corruption and to secure for Canada a purer government than she has ever known. 367 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE HAVING been asked many times to speak to the young about the life in the world which they were about to face, I prepared an address on this subject which has been repeated in many places, especially to graduating classes of collegiate institutes and other educational bodies. I have had the satisfac- tion of being told by some of those who have listened to me that my words would have, or had had, a good effect upon their lives. Collegiate Institute, Lindsay, Out., June 14, 1900. Life is a mystery. Its commencement, its continuance, its ending all is a mystery. We cannot measure its subtle forces, or account for its origin. We do not even under- stand ourselves. Mental processes and bodily functions are facts, the existence of which we realize, but the cause, and the method of exercise of which we do not comprehend. " I am; how little more I know! Whence camel? Whither do I go? A centred self, which feels and is ; A cry between the silences." Abstruse questions, however, we do not need to attempt to investigate. We should give our attention to what is revealed and leave the hidden things to God. Though life is a mystery, it is a reality, and He who formed the mind on the lines of His own image and likeness, has given it the power to marshal facts, to acquire knowledge, and with the aid of reason, of conscience, and of His revealed will, to shape 371 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES and guide aright the course of individuals and of communi- ties. Man learns from the experience and the teachings of others. He learns also in a more vivid and practical way from the lessons of his own experience, and he may and should learn from the revelations of infinite wisdom, espe- cially designed for his guidance. His career in life will inevitably present a shifting panorama of events and adven- tures, experiences, successes, failures, sorrows and joys. His life, if imperfectly written here, will with truth and minuteness be embalmed in the records that are to be un- folded when we shall be called upon to answer at the bar of omnipotence. The story of youth's aspirations and hopes is as old as the story of life and its experiences. This story deals with the flush of dawning manhood, and the fascinating ambition for high achievement. Stern realities will in due time dispel illusions, and rosy dreams will give place to sober, perhaps to sad, experiences. The buoyant spirit of life's springtime will surely be chastened by care and labour; but it is well that aspiration should be lofty, and that the young man's ambition should reach beyond that which is easily obtained. The old man pauses in a long, and perhaps a weary career to take a retrospective view of his life's journey. He re- members the expectations of his early years, and as he reviews the record of his life, he will be certain to feel a sense of disappointment and possibly of failure because of scanty achievements, the importance of which his own estimate will tend to minimize rather than magnify. This will not necessarily imply, however, that his achievements have not been noble and satisfactory. The candid verdict of mature years can hardly fail, however, in almost every instance, to be that failures have been more abundant than successes, and that the dreams of youth have not been realized. The contemplation of the great sweep of the human flood of the ages is instructive, and in a sense almost appalling. Hundreds of millions have acted their small part in the great 372 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE drama of time, and are gone. How few have left a record of their existence, or are known in history, or to those who have succeeded them. How scanty is the number of suc- cesses, how numerous the failures. Among the great host there have been honest lives and shameless lives, possessors of respectability and victims of wretchedness and want, people who were intelligent and people who were ignorant, depraved and debased. The flood of time has never made a pause, the irresistible current has swept, and continues to sweep on. It bears upon its bosom the great seething mass of humanity to the abyss of forgetfulness. On the whole, progress has been made, the world grows better, but still the record of the past is melancholy and unsatisfactory. The individual young man or young woman should strive to take a broad and comprehensive view of humanity's duty and opportunities, and should decide to contribute his or her small quota to making the world better and hap- pier. A noble and a virtuous life is a desirable and happy one, and when I speak of conditions of success, I do not mean alone accumulation of property and attaining to places of trust or honour. All of these are desirable, are indeed necessary concomitants to progress, but beyond and above these lies that kind of a life which will ensure happiness and divine favour in the present, and the greater reward of the future. I am to speak to-night on conditions of success in life. It is a wide field. I shall only touch upon some of the salient points bearing upon the securing of the reasonable and pro- per desires of men and women. Success in life, it is obvious, must first be provided for, to a great extent, through the proper discharge of the duty of the parent. The mind of the child, of the boy, or the girl is plastic, impressionable, taking on colour, form and texture from the influences surrounding it. It is not necessary to enlarge upon the necessity for moral and religious teaching, and the laying of good foundations. Home training should be thorough, 373 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES systematic, conscientious. The duty of the parent should not be deputed to the Sunday School teacher, or to the preacher. Sunday School influences and the influences that eminate from the church are wholesome and desirable, but they are subordinate to the influences that should centre in the home, and come from the teaching of the parent. The work of the home properly done, the young man in due time reaches that interesting period in his history: the beginning of manhood. He is called upon now to assume, to a certain extent, his position as a factor in society, account- able first to his God, and then to himself and his fellowmen for his conduct. He will naturally revolve in his mind the question of the selection of a profession, or a calling in life, and it will be fortunate, if at this juncture, false pride does not step in to influence his decision. His education up to this point will have been incomplete if his parents have not impressed upon his mind the importance of industry, and have not taught him to work. The ability to work in every case is one of the most important of all the branches of education. In no pro- fession or calling upon which one may enter can he hope for success unless he possesses industrious habits, and has deter- mination and courage. He is now commencing to lay the superstructure of the future, and happy is he if he can lay it upon a good foundation, given by proper home training. The first condition of success then, I would say, is industry. Of course it is necessary to combine with this the fear of God, which implies and includes honesty, sobriety and morality. It is an old adage that "Honesty is the best policy/' the adage may fairly be considered an axiom. Duplicity and fraud may possibly win momentary successes, but in the end the result of their adoption and use will always be a disas- trous one. Sobriety is one of the chief requirements of success. In- temperance is a vice which renders hope of success futile; and the blandishments and seductive influences of society which lead in this direction are more treacherous than the 374 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE song of the siren. Never imagine, young man, that you can tamper with this evil, and cast off its thraldom at pleasure, for this is a deadly delusion. It is easier to refuse the intox- icating cup, and to remain in ignorance of what it is, than to cease the use of the dangerous beverage after its use becomes habitual. "Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." Beware of this serpent. Morality is necessary to success. The vicious and licen- tious young man has entered upon the path that leads down to death. The hopes of his friends, unless he reforms, will be blasted. His success in life, is, in the higher sense, at least, unobtainable, if he is the victim of the vices which come under the general classification of immorality. When the young man enters upon his career, his friends of course wish him God-speed, and all must look upon him with interest. His ambition will have free play. The results achieved will be in fair proportion to the nature of his efforts, and the quality of his work. At this juncture it is well for him to beware of miscalculations, and never to underestimate not only the primary importance, but the absolute necessity of industry. "There is no royal road to learning," is an old and true adage. There are very few royal avenues to posi- tion or fame. The king may be born to a throne, the lord may be born to a title, the heir may be born to a fortune; but none of these even will grace his position or secure the respect of his fellowmen without attention to the ordinary condi- tions of success. These exceptional advantages, however, matter little to the vast majority, who have their own way to make. They have been born to a condition where their own efforts and their own merits will decide the extent of their success. History has numberless instances of those who have entered life poor, and apparently handicapped with great disadvantages, who have had neither inherited wealth, nor influential friends, to aid them in their careers. Daniel Webster, who worked upon a rocky, unproductive New Hamp- shire farm with his father, who entered college and fought his 375 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES own way by teaching school in the winter to earn the means to pay his tuition in the summer, entered upon the study of law and was obliged to practise the strictest economy, both as to food and raiment, and rose to great eminence and intellectual power. When you start hi life, don't contract debts. Pay as you go, and only buy to the extent that you have means to pay. Do not become surety for others. It may be done as an act of friendship, but it will pretty surely lead to estrangement. If you are tempted to do it, refer to Prov. xxii, 26, " Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts," and take Solomon's sound advice. If you become surety and ultimately have the debt to pay, you will be bad friends with the one whose note you signed. Decline to endorse. Keep your money and be bad friends at the commencement, if it is necessary. When the young man or young woman passes beyond the sphere of home influences, the importance of conformity to religious usages and requirements should never be lost sight of. To each, I would say, identify yourself with some church, continue your attendance at Sabbath School, and interest yourself in its work, and avail yourself of the great advan- tages that flow from religious associations and from com- panionship with religious, church-going people. This course will secure respectability, it will shield you from temptation, and it will confer temporal benefits as well as spiritual bless- ings. Read the Bible. It is a wonderful book, given by the inspiration of God as an infallible rule of conduct for all. An ordinary book you read once, an extraordinary book perhaps two or three times. You cannot read the Bible often enough to deprive it of its freshness and its power. Do not be content with reading a chapter or two each Sabbath, but read it habitually, day by day. It is an inimitable portrait gallery of great warriors and lawgivers, statesmen and sages, prophets and saints. It hides no faults. It presents its characters in their true light. It calls things by their right 376 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE names, and mercilessly turns the white light of divine scrutiny upon the loathsome crimes and pollutions of sinful man. If you want a record of deeds of heroism, adventures stranger than fiction, achievements in the face of which romance seems tame, read its historical portions. If you want the best specimens of poetry extant, read Isaiah and the Psalms. If you want the best manual of business precepts and moral teachings that were ever penned, read the Book of Proverbs. If you aim to be a writer and want to form a style, terse, epi- grammatic, lucid and powerful, take this book as your model. If you want a priceless inheritance; deep yearning after things high and noble; the looking forth with supernatural vision to the majesty and glory of things not seen but never- theless real and eternal; knowledge of the great King, who became a little child and assumed the guise of poverty that He might get nearer to our sympathies and better under- stand our weaknesses and wants, and who then triumphed over the King of Terrors, flashed forth before the astounded eyes of his followers in real glory and ascended to His throne in heaven; read the New Testament, and pray that the Holy Spirit, the instructor, will open your eyes to behold its wonderful teachings with vision undimmed. Education of course is an important matter, and that degree of education which is necessary for discharging the ordinary duties of life is furnished in our common schools to-day. The advantages of classical education are over-estimated. In some positions of life an education of this character is not only unnecessary, but possibly within certain limits, a detriment. Not all of the great men of our day and time have had the advantages conferred by a collegiate course. Henry Clay, the great orator of a generation ago in the United States, had the most meagre of common school ad- vantages. Abraham Lincoln, the foremost figure, perhaps, of the nineteenth century, attended the most common of common schools for less than a year of his life. Alexander Mackenzie, one of the purest, loftiest and most competent of all the public men that Canada has produced, had only the 377 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES educational advantages conferred by the Scottish parish school. Practical and useful education consists rather in the lessons learned in our actual contact with men and things than in the abstract studies of a scholastic course. Let your education be practical. By no means neglect that which is essential, good style, good diction, facility of expression both in conversation and in writing, and mathematics; but the dead languages, and a few other studies can be dispensed with, without great loss, unless you are fitting yourself for some special calling, requiring these acquirements. The choice of a calling is, of course, a matter of great im- portance. Do not be particular about having it specially genteel. If you feel disposed, enter upon the gospel ministry. This is the noblest of all professions, but success, or even justification for entering this calling, requires devotion and spiritual attainments and gifts that come from a deep and sincere conviction of the over-mastering importance of the work. It is not necessary to be a doctor or a lawyer, in order to occupy a good position in society, and it is very question- able whether the choice of either of these professions, as matters now are, will bring a very large degree of emolument and worldly success. The average mechanic in these days probably earns as much money as the average lawyer or doctor. There are no particular reasons, as far as I can see, why his calling should not be considered just as respectable. There is a tendency for young men to leave the farm on which they have been reared. The farm is a good school for a successful career in life. There the young man learns to work. He develops strength and self-reliance, and his work on the farm is not a bad preparatory course for any of the pursuits not connected with the profession of agricul- ture. But too many of our young men leave the farm. The true aristocrat is the man who owns the acres which he tills, and is out of debt and surrounded with the comforts which industry and intelligence will naturally procure for him. His position is one of absolute independence. Great gains will not be suddenly acquired, but steady accumulations 378 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE will result from the industrious pursuit of his business, and he will be spared anxieties and the uncertainties which render the lives of many business men anything but desirable. A very small proportion of farmers fail in the business, if they attend to their pursuits with due diligence and care, while not less than fifty per cent, of merchants fail, at one time or another, in the course of their business careers. I would say, boys, stick to the farm, if there is any reasonable prospect of your owning enough land to ensure a good livelihood. The true aristocracy of the future in America will be the possessors of the soil. Perhaps, here, I should say a few words about the choice of a calling in the case of the female. I have never been able to draw the line between what constitutes genteel occu- pation and its reverse in the case of females, so long as all are honest and honourable. I consider any kind of respect- able work genteel, in the true higher sense. Many avenues are now open to young ladies, of which they were not for- merly able to avail themselves. In fact there are few of the callings in life, except those requiring the exercise of strength and involving exposure and hardship, to which women are not eligible. They can become clerks in stores and other business houses, stenographers, operators, dressmakers, and last, but not least, housekeepers. With regard to this latter class of female employees some strange notions exist, and these notions are the parents of prejudices of a most absurd and unfounded nature. If I had the power, I would abolish the expression, " servant girl," and give to these workers the proper appelation of " housekeepers." Why the care of a house, upon the proper performance of which the welfare and comfort of a family depends, should be considered a menial occupation, while stitching dresses, acting as clerks, etc., is considered higher work, is beyond my comprehension. I think the art of housekeeping should be placed at the head of the list of female employments. I well remember that, when I was a boy, these distinctions had no existence. The daughters of farmers, where there were more girls at home 379 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES than were required to do the work, took positions with other families where help was needed. They were designated not servant girls, but hired girls. Their social position was as good as that of the daughters of their employers. Girls of of the very best families, intelligent and refined, were not above accepting occupation in this line. They were as likely to marry the sons of their employers as otherwise. There was no servant girl question then, no difficulty about obtain- ing efficient assistance. Now the free-born Canadian or American girl has objections to accepting employment under conditions which relegate her to a position of social inferiority. I sympathize with her in the spirit she manifests. I pity the class of mistresses who mourn over the difficulty of obtaining satisfactory assistance in their houses, simply because they insist upon retaining and aggravating the con- ditions, which are false and unnatural in a free country, where all its citizens are equal before the law. Having chosen a profession or occupation or entered upon any line of work which suits you, remember the primary conditions of success, before alluded to, which are, industry and faithfulness to the interests of your employer, and the rendering of good, faithful service. I will give you one secret, which will be sure to secure success. That is to make your services indispensable to your employer. Do not be a time-server, anxious to escape from your work as soon as the hours you are expected to devote to it are past. Step out of your way to do anything that will be of service to him. Look after his interests as sedulously and as carefully as if they were your own. Anticipate wants and requirements if possible, and while courteous and modest, be efficient and intent upon doing everything that lies in your power to make the interests of the concern with which you are connected successful. You need not fear that your services will go un- noticed or unappreciated, or that they will fail to command just recognition and recompense. Such a course will lead to advancement in service, and in due time, in all probability, to a share in the business with which you are connected. 380 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE One observance, among many that might be mentioned, I consider of vital importance, not only to the spiritual wel- fare, but to the physical well-being of the worker, and that is Sunday rest. Never allow any infringement that can be reasonably and properly avoided, to be made upon this privilege, which God has given to the one who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow. It is a religious duty; it is a phy- sical necessity, its enjoyment should be considered a civil right. No blessing that God has given to toiling mankind is of greater importance. Men who abstain from labour on that day are unquestionably benefited by it. One of the secrets of Gladstone's retention until late in life of his marvellous intellectual powers was the fact that he always rested upon the Lord's Day. Of course the great majority of young men and young women naturally expect, when the proper time shall have arrived, and a suitable opportunity offers, to enter upon the state of matrimony. The Bible declares that it is not good to be alone, and that he who gets a wife gets a good thing. The welfare of society and the good of the individual are served in the highest sense by this institution. But while it is freely asserted that matrimony is a good thing, still the entering upon this state is a matter of great impor- tance, and calls for the exercise of care and good sense. It may be done recklessly, and in a way to ensure bitter and lamentable results, and each individual contemplating it should carefully consider all the circumstances and all the conditions that are necessary to secure the blessing that it is calculated to bestow. The young woman whose suitor is a dissipated young man, living under the thraldom of the drink habit, may imagine that her influence will reform that person, and may marry with the expectation that he will be reclaimed from his vicious courses. Alas, the result, in nine cases out of ten, will be bitter disappointment and humiliation. It is no objection to a young man to be poor, if he has the means of obtaining a livelihood, and is upright, intelligent and industrious, but the vicious young man, with a full line of 381 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES vices, is a good character to keep clear of. He should be asked to reform first, and give evidence, by a life of morality and decency, that he is fit to be entrusted with the fate of a woman before he is permitted to wed. The young man should think of matrimony as soon as his circumstances will admit of the maintenance of a wife and family, and will do well if he selects a respectable, intelligent girl of good family and habits, religious in her convictions and tendencies, and capable of discharging her share of the duties that will devolve upon her, which will include of course, the proper care of a house and the proper management of the house- hold affairs naturally devolving upon the wife. Accomplish- ments, so called, are well enough as a sort of accompaniment, but not as a foundation. The girl who understands embroid- ery, and is tolerably proficient with the piano, but who is ignorant of bread-making and the ordinary line of duties pertaining to the care of a household, is just about as fit for accepting the position of wife to a young man who must make his way in the world, and has little to start with, as are soda-water and whipped cream for a steady diet. In all these matters let both the young man and the young woman give due consideration to the dictates of reason and sound common sense, for their proper application to all questions will be likely to lead to judicious decisions and the selection of a proper course. As to the management of affairs, certain general rules may be laid down, which are practicable in all cases. Good judg- ment is a quality of which some men possess a larger share than others, the ability to seize upon opportunities that offer is more fully developed in some cases than in others; but patient industry and perseverance will always secure satisfactory results. In the arrangement of the scale of expenses, one evil should be avoided at all hazards, and that is the evil of spending more than is earned. If a man lives within his income, although the sum he lays by may be small, he is a prosperous man, and will make headway, and in the great majority of cases more rapid headway than might be 382 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE expected. On the contrary, if he lives beyond his income, he will land in difficulties very speedily, and if the course is continued, his career will inevitably be a wretched failure. Somebody has said that a surplus of a dollar a year means progress, prosperity and the attainment of wealth, while a deficit of a dollar a year means difficulty, embarrassment and bankruptcy. I may safely give to all, then, a general rule, which will secure most satisfactory results: be industrious, be persevering, and spend less than you earn. Political honours bulk large in the eyes of the majority of men. An ambition for a distinguished career, as a servant of the public, in the capacity of legislator, judge or other official, is not an unworthy one. Some men are needed who are pre- pared to give to their country good, honest service, actuated by high principles, and free from sordid motives and considera- tions of gain at the public expense. It will be well, however, to bear in mind that the fruits of such a career will almost in- evitably be disappointing, and that the task of serving the public is in some respects dangerously liable to be a thankless one. Such a career almost inevitably interferes with success in business affairs, and has a tendency to bring one to a condition akin to poverty. It has been suggested to me that I should deal with the concrete as well as with the abstract, and that I should relate some of my own experiences in connection with the subject we are dealing with at this time. I naturally shrink from such a course, fearing that it might be considered egotistical, and yet I realize that there are many things in my own experience, a knowledge of which might not be without advantage to younger men, who are pressing forward over the same field of life's experiences that I have pretty well traversed already. I will endeavour to give a few of these points, merely with a view of illustrating some of the admonitions and exhortations which I have already given. I was fortunate enough to be the son of a moderately poor man. My grand old father, who was neither the owner of riches, nor the victim of poverty, was the possessor of a vast 383 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES fund of information, a man of excellent education, and deeply imbued with religious principles. I look back upon his life and work, so far as it related to my own education and training, with the deepest reverence and thankfulness. While my school advantages did not reach to the extent of a collegiate course, my educational advantages at home could hardly have been surpassed. Much of my early life was spent upon a farm in a new country, where the rugged work of chopping, logging, and clearing land, had to be performed. Part of my life in my youth was spent in a town. When I had nothing better to do, I worked in a printing office, read law a little, and served a short apprenticeship in the mer- cantile business. My father came to Canada when I was twenty years of age. The next four years of my life were spent upon a farm, and were, I am free to say, the happiest years of my life. In 1853 I went from home to the state of New York, with the intention of proceeding to the territory of Minnesota to cast in my lot with the settlers of that new country. Before starting for Minnesota, I ascertained that Mr. Gray, of Lynedoch, Ont., had relied upon my joining him in opening a country store, in accordance with some talk we had had the previous year. I returned and embarked upon this business in the early summer of 1853. I went to Lynedoch with the sum of seventy dollars. Mr. Gray fur- nished the material for a building, and we constructed it largely with our own labour. Our cash capital was $1,000, which was borrowed. We opened our store in due time, and our expectations as to business were more than realized. I had looked around through the region tributary to the locality where our store was located, and was im- pressed with the evidences of latent wealth in the great forests of pine and other timber. I decided that a successful business could be done upon the basis of this natural forest wealth. In this expectation I was not disappointed. The first year after opening our store, we entered upon an arrange- ment with an American lumber firm to buy saw-logs for exportation from the mouth of Big Creek to the United 384 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE States. Our business was managed with the utmost economy. My experiences as a woodsman enabled me without difficulty to cut wood in sled lengths in the woods, haul it to the yard hi the rear of our store, and at intervals, when not employed in the store, I cut the supply of wood requisite for both the store and the dwelling-house which was attached. When we commenced the business of receiving saw-logs in the winter, it fell upon me to attend to their measurement and putting them in skid-ways in the creek. At night I posted books, and kept the clerical work of the concern in order. My experience in a law office enabled me to draw up contracts and perform other services for the firm of Smith & Westover, with whom we dealt, and who were making contracts with farmers in our section. After a period of three or four years, Mr. Westover of this firm proposed to me that I should retire from the store and take charge of their business in Canada. This I did in the year 1859. I entered their employment fully realizing that a future lay before me, if I was worthy of it, and fully understanding also the necessary conditions of success. I determined to make my services valuable to them, and spared neither brain nor physical effort to do so. In the winter I laboured from dawn of day till ten o'clock at night, while the sleighing continued. I mastered the details of the business, such as I had not already mastered, with facility and despatch. I looked after their interests with the same earnestness, forethought and desire to secure suc- cess, as if it had been my own. I traversed the valley of Big Creek on foot from Lynedoch to the lake, twice a week, during the running season, and kept thoroughly conversant with all the details of work in every branch of the operations. I never sought to impress my employers with the knowledge that I was doing the utmost that lay in my power to promote their interests but I 'allowed my work to speak for itself, not entertaining any anxiety as to whether I would receive due credit or not. This position continued for two years. Smith & Westover then sold their Canadian interest to a former partner, Mr. 25 385 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES James Ramsdell. Extensive credit had to be given, and no doubt some fears were entertained as to whether Mr. Ramsdell could manage the business with a sufficient degree of success to ensure payment of the sums left upon account. Now came the reward of efforts to serve faithfully my employers, which had resulted in their belief that I was a competent and honest man. They insisted, as a condition of sale to Mr. Ramsdell, that I should be taken into partnership on equal terms, and my employers, upon retiring from the business, lent me the amount of capital that was necessary to keep up my portion of the venture. This was my introduction to a profitable business upon my own account. I did not owe this to the philanthropy or generosity of Messrs. Smith & Westover, it was purely a business transaction. I had acquired their confidence and had impressed them with the belief that I was a competent man to manage the business, and they insisted that I should be taken into the partnership, purely for the reason that they desired to secure their pay. The business of Ramsdell & Charlton was a highly successful one. I gave to it the same effort that I had given to the management of the business of Smith & Westover, and I certainly was not more earnest and painstaking in my own affairs than I had been in the management of theirs. In due time Mr. Rams- dell desired to retire from the business, and I bought his inter- est. Success hi the management of the timber trade con- tinued and increased. It is unnecessary to follow my busi- ness career further. I have only to say that I have given to it earnest attention, and have worked without shrinking from the exertions that were necessary to keep up every depart- ment of my affairs, and to prosecute vigorously and energeti- cally whatever lay before me to do. I make these statements for the purpose of influencing the young men who are about to embark upon a business career of their own. The oppor- tunities that fell hi my own way, perhaps may not confront those whom I am addressing, but opportunities will be afforded to all who have the industry, the energy, and the capacity to avail themselves of them. There are of course accidental 386 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN LIFE circumstances. Take advantage of the accidents. There are openings that require a little courage and industry. Walk into the openings. There is a living and a position in Canada for every hard working, intelligent, honest man. I have before recounted some of the conditions of success, and I will here again say that not the least important one is to live within your means, and to esteem work a privilege as well as a duty. I do not know whether there is more enjoyment in a life of activity and labour, than in one of idleness and ease, for I have never tried the latter, but I am quite well con- vinced that the former is more conducive to enjoyment, and it goes without saying, that it leads more surely to prosperity and a good position. I need say little about my public career. My critics will deal with that question, some of them perhaps with undue generosity, others again possibly with scant justice, but the verdict must be made up without my assistance. I have only to say, in connection with this question, that if I have achieved any degree of distinction or success, it has been the result of industry and close application; that I realized at the outset of my parliamentary career that a vast amount of digging had to be done, solid, hard plodding, in many cases dry, uncongenial work, statistics had to be mastered, public questions thoroughly considered, history of public move- ments studied, the course of events and policies closely scan- ned, large stores of information upon a great variety of sub- jects acquired, preparations made for debate, not only relating to points one wished to advance, but an array of facts held ready to meet any possible contingency or attack. Whether my life as a public man, in its results, has been worth the efforts that have been expended, I would hardly venture to say. Rewards, if I had been seeking merely for position, might seem inadequate, but if I can bring myself to feel that my efforts in any direction have been of service to my fellow- men and my country, and that my course has been above the sordid, mercenary spirit of the mere political trickster and seeker for favours, I think that I shall arrive at the conclusion 387 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES that, notwithstanding disappointments and defeats, and misrepresentations and malignant attacks, and scant recog- nition of services, I have not laboured in vain, and perhaps would not shrink, with all the experience I now possess, from entering upon the same course again. And, now, in conclusion, I have but to add that our young country needs for its development true womanhood, and earnest, honest industrious manhood. We want good citizens, honest, God-fearing men and women, who realize the gravity of the great problems of life, who understand the necessity for carrying out the purposes of Providence by their own efforts as labourers, in a physical, and in a spiritual and men- tal sense. I have spoken of the conditions of success in life. That success in a greater or lesser degree is obtainable by all. Its conditions are plain, easily mastered, easily applied. I hope my words may prove of service to many, and that my own experience may be some slight incentive to effort in the directions I have indicated. I wish for you, one and all, suc- cess in life, and the wisdom to enable you to apply the condi- tions necessary to obtain that result. 388 ABRAHAM LINCOLN IF I were asked, " Who is your hero ?" I would probably answer, "Abraham Lincoln." This lecture on the life of the great president was prepared in 1893, and delivered once or twice in my own county. It was first given outside on December 12, 1898, at a meeting in the Hamilton House, Washington. The Hon. Nelson R. Dingley, was in the chair, and the audience included many notable Americans. The speech was repeated before the Marquette Club, Chicago. I had the honour to be the principal speaker of the evening, among the other speakers being the Hon. Whitelaw Eeid, Peace Commissioner, Paris ; General Woodford, late United States Minister to Spain ; Mr. Dawes, Collector of Cur- rency, and the Hon. Mr. Ogden, United States Senator from Texas. Chicago, February 13, 1899. ME. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: History has its important epochs, and each of these periods, standing out boldly in the declining light of the past, and arresting atten- tion by its distinctive features and prime importance, has its great names, its master spirits, who have performed famous deeds, and have secured the attention of mankind, often not so much because of the possession of transcendent talent, or exceptional force, as because of exceptional opportunities, and the concurrence of circumstances that developed latent 389 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES power, and the endowments of brain and spirit that would else have slumbered in obscurity. America has given to history many eminent names. Two of these rank with the most exalted of earth's famous men, whether of antiquity or of modern days; and in the case of neither has the guerdon of fame been purchased at the cost of outrage, or of selfish and insatiable thirst for power. Neither has trampled upon the rights of his fellow-men, neither has earned the execration of humanity or sinned against its rights. George Washington may fairly be said to have been an English gentleman. He was born and reared in a British colony. He was English hi education, instincts and tastes. He served with distinction under the British flag. He prided himself upon English descent, and when he took up arms in defence of his fellow-colonists he did so under the belief that he fought for the principles of English liberty; and the cause he espoused received the sympathy of a very considerable portion of the English people. Abraham Lincoln on the contrary was a typical American; typical in a sense peculiar to his own day and generation, for the conditions of life under which he was reared, and which were to a more or less marked extent, characteristic of the period of his own early years, and of all the previous years of American life before and after the Revolution, have well- nigh ceased to exist in even the newer sections of the United States. Nurtured amid scenes of absolute poverty, with scanty allowance of the educational advantages furnished by the most common of common schools, a total stranger to the refinements of good society, a rude unkempt boyhood spent amid boisterous and ignorant, though manly and self-reliant, pioneers, a home in a rude cabin hi the midst of a little clear- ing surrounded by the deep solitudes of the primeval forest, a father who belonged to that class of Southern men known as poor whites, with nothing in his environment to sweeten a lot of hardship, and call into play the dormant powers of a keen and powerful intellect, how wild at that time would have 390 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Seemed a prediction that the day would come when the gaze of the world would be upon him, and he would soon become the bearer of liberty to more than four million human beings. Abraham Lincoln did, however, acquire an education superior to his surroundings. He spent, altogether, about a year in backwoods common schools, and learned reading, spelling, arithmetic, and a little grammar. At home hi boy- hood he had three books, the Bible, "Pilgrim's Progress/' and "^Esop's Fables." He read and studied these books. The analytical and logical features of his mind were early shown by his attempt to summarize statements, and, in his own way, give conclusions by record of impressions and inferences. These records were made upon paper when he could obtain it, and at other times upon pieces of board or wood, or the inner bark of trees. There is a proverb, " Beware of the man of one book." Lincoln was a boy of three books, and his knowledge of these gave him a solid foundation upon which to rest future acquirements. His thirst for reading increased as he grew, and he made a practice of borrowing books wherever he could obtain them, and of making a copy of what he esteemed to be choice passages. Lincoln's birthplace was Hardin County, Kentucky. He was born February 12, 1809. His father was of Virginian descent. His mother's maiden name was Nancy Hanks. She was of refined nature and possessed some education. When she died her last words to her nine-year old boy, and his sister, Sarah, two years older, were to express the hope that they might live as they had been taught by her, to love their kindred and to worship God. In 1816, Lincoln's father moved to Perry County, Indiana, and settled in the woods sixteen miles back from the Ohio River. In 1818 his mother died, and in December, 1819, eleven months after the death of his wife, his father married Mrs. Sally Johnson, of Hardin County, Kentucky. She was a woman of some education, of much force of character, and of a religious cast of mind. She took a deep interest in, and manifested a sincere affection for 391 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES the ungainly, motherless boy to whom she became step- mother, and Lincoln always entertained warm affection and high regard for her. The worldly possessions of Lincoln's father were few, in fact he was wretchedly poor, so poor that he lived in a mere hovel in Kentucky, and the first winter in Indiana was spent in a log shed open at one side. The next summer, a log house was put up and this was occupied for two years before it was furnished with doors, windows, or a floor. A roof kept out the ram, and blankets and deer skins hung up at door and window openings served as a partial protection against wind and cold. Into this home Lincoln, the father, brought his second wife. The new mistress soon had doors, windows and a floor put in, and great improvements were made in the family's mode of life. She brought three children of her own, and the house, eighteen by eighteen feet, afforded but scanty room. Young Lincoln's bed of corn husks gave place to one of feathers, but he still had to reach his lodging place in the loft by climbing upon pegs driven into the wall. When between seventeen and twenty years of age Lincoln made a trip to New Orleans on a flat boat; and he worked for a time on a ferry boat on the Ohio River. He also worked for a tune as a clerk in a general country store at Gentryville near his father's place. Here he came into contact with the people of the region roundabout, and his ready wit, and flow of humour, made him a general favourite. During this period Lincoln went to the county seat at Boon- ville to watch the progress of a murder trial which was exciting great interest in that part of Indiana. John Breckenridge, of Kentucky, was employed as counsel for the defence. He was a lawyer of talent, and his address to the jury, hi summing up the case, was a powerful effort. Lincoln had never before listened to a polished oration, and he was completely cap- tivated by the charm and force of the eloquent speech of Breckenridge. When the court adjourned he pressed through the crowds and extended his hand to the great lawyer with warm, though possibly uncouth expressions of gratification 392 ABRAHAM LINCOLN and appreciation. With a cold stare at the tall awkward- looking young fellow, the haughty Kentuckian declined to respond to the salutation and contemptuously walked past his ardent young admirer. Many years afterwards he called upon Lincoln in the White House, and was reminded by the latter of the time when their relative positions were so dif- ferent. Although his opportunities were so meagre, Lincoln was in reality a hard student, and spent his leisure moments in reading. He picked up a vast amount of knowledge, and could make ready use of his pen. A couple or more of his essays, written before he was of age, were published by his friends. He wrote rhymes too, and indulged hi rude but effective satire, and hi many ways gave evidence that he was more than an ordinary young man. His opportunities, after he was sixteen years of age, improved, as he was able to get the reading of a newspaper from the merchant at Gentry- ville, and to borrow a greater variety of books. After he reached the age of eighteen he cultivated the art of public speaking, and he was in the habit of addressing gatherings of his young friends, and of haranguing the trees in the woods in the absence of a more appreciative audience. But I must not linger upon the incidents of Lincoln's youth. He grew to stalwart manhood accustomed to all kinds of farm labour, an axeman, a rail splitter, a sinewy giant six feet four inches in his stockings, with a grip of steel. He was able to rise from a stooping posture with a weight of 600 pounds upon his shoulders, and had acquired the reputation of being a character not to be trifled with. In 1829 Lincoln's father moved to Illinois and settled in Sangamon County. Here young Lincoln and Dennis Hanks split the rails with which to fence fifteen acres of breaking. He did something at storekeeping hi New Salem, and made a failure of it. He helped to build a flat boat and went down on it to New Orleans with a cargo of produce. While there he attended a slave auction and saw husband and wife sep- arated, and a beautiful quadroon girl sold from her mother. 393 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES As they came away he said to his companions, " If I ever get a chance to hit that thing I will hit it hard." He served as a volunteer hi the Black Hawk war. He fitted himself for, and worked for a time at the business of surveying, and then he drifted into law towards which his studies had for some tune been directed, and found hi it a congenial sphere of action for his tastes and his powers. He travelled the circuits from court to court with judge and members of the bar, as was the custom hi those days, and his associations were with men of local distinction. Strongly marked individuality was the common feature of character then, and Lincoln was thrown into the company of lawyers, old and young, some of of whom had already made their reputations, others of whom were fighting for their spurs. At the bins of county towns they took up their quarters together on court weeks, and their intercourse in the court room and out of it was of a character to sharpen the wits, and demand the instant com- mand of mental powers. Many of the cases were placed hi the hands of counsel only a few hours before coming to trial. The tune for preparation was short, decisions as to the course to be taken had to be made almost on the instant, and the spur of the moment relegated to the background the calm reflection and careful study of the office, with law library, reported cases, and precedents to consult. Lincoln daily acquired power as an advocate at the bar. He possessed hi marked degree the ability to apply a laugh- able anecdote to the illustration of a point, and his analytical powers were almost phenomenal. He had a full command of vigorous Anglo-Saxon, and could put his points with striking force, and rude eloquence, more effective than academic polish. Gradually he attained a position at the head of his profession. He was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1834 and served four terms; and hi 1846 he was elected to Congress for one term. He was then a Whig hi politics, and his keen sense of justice led him to denounce the Mexican war in no measured terms. His attitude upon this question made huii unpopular in his district and he did not seek re-election. 394 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Lincoln from the outset was popular with the people with whom he came in contact, and even the roughs respected and liked him. Before his first successful contest for the legis- lature, and when he was about twenty-four years old, he received a challenge to wrestle with Jack Armstrong, the bully of the Clary Grove boys, who were a tough, lawless lot of ruffians. Lincoln's friends would not hear of his declining the challenge and the match came off. Lincoln was too much for Armstrong and the friends of the latter attempted foul play. Lincoln's blood warmed up and he lifted the big bully from his feet by the throat and shook him like a rag. The result was that Armstrong and the Clary Grove boys were ever afterwards his fast friends, and voted for him to a man. A brief reference to the encroachments of the slave power and to the position of parties upon the slavery question will be necessary before entering upon the consideration of Mr. Lincoln's career after he became a prominent figure in national political movements. In the early years of the republic slavery was not defended. Its existence was deprecated as an evil, and men of all parties united hi expressing the hope that the nation would, in due time, be relieved of the disgrace. The institution had never taken deep root hi the New England and the Middle States, and was abolished there at an early day. The first political action of Congress bearing upon the question was the ordinance of 1787, which provided a territorial government for a vast extent of country north of the Ohio, and now comprising the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The claim of the state of Virginia to this territory was sur- rendered to the United States. Slavery was permitted to take possession of the country south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. In 1803 the United States purchased from France the territory of Louisiana. This purchase conveyed undisputed title to all of the country, not then held by Spain, west of the Mississippi up to the British possessions. 395 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES In 1820 the territory of Missouri, which formed a part of the vast region ceded by France, applied for admission into the union as a state with a constitution permitting African slavery. A fierce contest ensued over the question of the admission of this applicant for the privileges of statehood with slavery as one of its institutions. The matter was settled by a compromise, under the provisions of which the applica- tion of Missouri was granted with the condition that slavery should be excluded from all of that portion of the territories of the United States north of a line extending west from the south-west angle of the state of Missouri. It was hoped that the vexed slavery agitation would be set at rest by this arrangement. By this time the development of the cotton business had made slave-holding extremely profitable. The institution had ceased to be considered a national disgrace, and the Slave Power had assumed an aggressive attitude, and sought in every possible way to strengthen itself. Gradually the conscience of the North became somewhat aroused about the great crime against humanity. William Lloyd Garrison commenced the publication of the Liberator in 1831. The American Anti-Slavery Society, with Arthur Tappan as its president, was organized in 1833. Abolitionist lecturers began to traverse the free states, and hi many places were mobbed and maltreated. The Slave Power stood a unit in Congress and held the balance of power, and both of the great parties truckled to it and did its bidding. Popular attention was aroused, and heated discussion was the order of the day. The Abolition or Liberal party was organized in 1840 and put a candidate in the field for the presidency. As a political factor it was insignificant; as a moral power it was mighty. The South called the church to its aid, and the prostitutes of the pulpit, North and South, pronounced slavery a divinely ordained institution, the legal, religious, and logical outcome of the curse upon Canaan. Whittier published the "Voices of Freedom" in 1849, and gradually impressions as to the enormity of slavery began to deepen in the minds of the better classes of Northern society. 396 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Meanwhile, able leaders wielded the interests of the Slave Power with consummate skill. Predatory bands of adven- turers were sent into Texas. The country was wrested from Mexico and a republic established. In 1845 Texas was annexed to the United States. The North looked with jealousy upon the rapid territorial expansion of slavery, but the proposed measure was carried without difficulty, and 250,000 square miles were added to slavery's domain. Follow- ing as a consequence of the annexation of Texas came the Mexican war, and the acquisition of New Mexico, Utah, and California. In 1846, when the proposal to grant the president money to defray the expense of negotiating a treaty of peace with Mexico was under consideration, representative David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, offered a resolution afterwards known as the Wilmot proviso, and recognized as one of the important incidents in freedom's great preliminary battle. It was as follows: "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory on the continent of America which shall here- after be acquired by, or annexed to the United States by virtue of this appropriation or in any other manner what- soever; except for crime/' This resolution passed the House but was rejected by the Senate. It was submitted to the national conventions of each of the great parties hi the summer of 1846, and by each it was rejected. The result of this political action was the formation of the Free Soil party, whose convention met at Buffalo, August 9, 1848, with delegates from all the free states, and Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The new party nominated Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, and on the election of that year polled 291,000 votes. As one of the outcomes of the Mexican war the slave oli- garchy intended to seize upon California as slave territory. The discovery of gold frustrated this design by causing a great influx of men from the free states, and, in 1850, the 397 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES country applied for admission into the union with a con- stitution prohibiting slavery. The struggle in Congress over the admission of California was a fierce one. John C. Calhoun moved the rejection of the application. The dispute was finally settled by a compro- mise. California was admitted. Territorial governments were granted to Utah and New Mexico not prohibiting slavery. The slave trade was abolished in the district of Columbia, and the odious Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was passed. Under the provisions of this measure fugitive slaves could be arrested anywhere in the North. Citizens could be summoned to aid hi the arrest; failure to respond, or the rendering of aid to the fugitive was punishable by fine and imprisonment, and a higher fee was paid the marshal in case of conviction than in case of release. This infamous bill outraged and thoroughly aroused the conscience of the North. In a few months Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" appeared. It was read by millions. Its graphic power of delineation, its fascinating presentation of the horrors of slavery, and its resistless appeal to justice and humanity, produced an indescribable effect, and it was a factor hi sealing the doom of slavery, the potency of which has never been overestimated. As the opposition to slavery gathered volume, the arrogance of the Slave Power increased. The Free Soil sentiment of the North did not demand the abolition of slavery, but did de- mand that it should not be allowed to extend, the hope being that as the soil became exhausted by the culture of cotton and tobacco, the system would die for want of food to feed upon. The slave oligarch understood the situation, and revolved hi his mind schemes of conquest that did not stop short of the Isthmus of Panama. The purpose of the South was that freedom should be sectional, slavery national; that every- where in the territory of the United States slavery should be permitted to go where not prohibited by state law. Behind this lay the purpose to declare that as slaves were recognized 398 ABRAHAM LINCOLN as property by the Constitution, no state law could debar the master from exercising his right anywhere in the United States. Robert Toombs, of Georgia, declared in the Senate that the day would come when he would call the roll of his slaves under the shadow of Bunker Hill monument. Could he have lifted the veil that hid the future and looked upon the blood-soaked battlefields and the devastation of the rebel- lion, his kindred and his class crushed and beggared, and every slave made free, the insolent threat would not have been a matter of history. In 1852 the Free Soil party, with John P. Hale as its nom- inee, polled 157,000 votes. The falling off from 291,000 hi 1848, perhaps induced the South to believe that opposition to slavery in the North was growing cold. Resolutely moving forward to the accomplishment of its purpose, the Slave Power secured the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska bill in May, 1854. This bill was introduced by Stephen A. Douglass, of Illinois, who aspired to the presidency and believed the favour of the slaveholder essential to success. It tore to shreds the sacred old Missouri compromise of 1820, and introduced the principle of squatter sovereignty, allow- ing the settlers in a new territory to vote slavery up or down in the language of Judge Douglass as they pleased. Immediately upon the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the southern conspiracy began to develop. Border ruffians from Missouri invaded Kansas at the first territorial election and secured control of the territorial government. The North was aflame with indignation, and emigrants from the New England, Middle and Western States poured in, armed for battle. Numerous societies were formed in the North under the name of Emigrant Aid Societies, the aim of which was enlisting and arming of semi-military settlers for Kansas. In a few months a rival territorial government was formed and hostilities commenced. Old puritan John Brown, who was, a little later on, to meet with sublime courage his fate on the gallpws near Harper's Ferry, made his name a terror to slavery's minions. The progress of events in Kan- 399 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES sas was the subject of stormy debates in Congress, and an incident connected with these was the brutal assault upon Senator Sumner by Preston Brooks of South Carolina. The assault was a stealthy, murderous one, and Sumner was nearly done to death. The attempt to secure the expulsion of Brooks from the House failed. He then resigned and was triumphantly re-elected. The fierce tiger-like spirit of the slaveholder shone out conspicuously hi this incident. I cannot take time to trace the incidents of the stirring Kansas drama. Suffice it to say that the South in this her first passage at arms with liberty was driven to the wall and Kan- sas was made Free Soil. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill led to the forma- tion of the Republican party in 1856. It absorbed the Free Soil party, the Free Soil wing of the old Whig party, and the Barnburner or Free Soil wing of the Democratic party. Its first convention met in Philadelphia, June 17, 1856. Its ringing platform declared that the constitution conferred upon Congress sovereign power over the territories, and that in the exercise of its rights it should prohibit those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery. It placed in nomination, John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton, and in November, secured a popular vote of 1,341,000. The South had by the Kansas-Nebraska bill, secured all the aid that Congress could, for the present, give, and it now proceeded to use the United States Supreme Court for its purpose in connection with the famous Dred Scott case. Dred Scott, a coloured man of Missouri, held as a slave by an officer in the United States army, brought suit to recover his freedom on the ground that he had been taken by his master to Illinois, and afterwards to Fort Snelling, Minn., where by the law in each place he was free, and that having once been legally free he could not again be legally held hi slavery. The case was carried on appeal to the United States Supreme Court, Roger Brooke Taney, chief-justice. The decision of the court, rendered hi 1857, was that Scott was not entitled to his freedom, and that not being a citizen, 400 ABRAHAM LINCOLN he was not even entitled to bring suit in a Federal court; the decision further set forth that for more than a century negroes whether slave or free, had been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either hi social or political relations, and were so far inferior that they had no right which the white man was bound to respect. The court then went beyond the record and gratuitously affirmed that Congress had not the power to exclude slavery from the territories, Justices McLean and Curtis dissenting. Thus the legislative branch of the government had opened all the territories as a battleground between freedom and slavery, and the judicial branch of the government had decreed that Congress had not the power to exclude slavery from the territories. The slaveholder courted a contest, and was prepared at any cost to make slavery the dominant power. Would the North submit? The decision rested upon the conscience of the free states and the will of God. I now turn again to Abraham Lincoln in his Illinois home, where, keenly observant of transpiring events, he gradually attracted the attention of his fellow-citizens by his masterly grasp of affairs, rising step by step to a position of national importance, and giving occasional evidence of his purpose to attain the highest position hi the gift of his countrymen. Upon retiring from Congress in 1848, Mr. Lincoln was offered the governorship of Oregon, but chose to again turn his attention to the practice of law in which he gained additional distinction. He also gave some attention to literature and sedulously cultivated the study of politics. Lincoln's attitude upon the compromise measure of 1850 was one of uncompromising hostility, especially as regarded the Fugitive Slave Law. The Kansas-Nebraska bill aroused the indignation of Mr. Lincoln. He very neatly characterized the sin of slavery by saying that a man never lost his right to property stolen from him, but if he were stolen he lost his right to himself. In October, 1854, during state fair week, at Springfield, 26 401 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES Mr. Douglass came down from Chicago and addressed an immense meeting in defence of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. His speech was sophistical and plausible, and was loudly applauded by his friends. The following day, Mr. Lincoln answered him with crushing effect. Douglass and his friends were startled and Lincoln's friends surprised. In 1855, Mr. Lincoln was a candidate before the legislature for United States senator. A combination of factions made his election doubtful, and he magnanimously threw his influence hi favour of Lyman Turnbull, who was elected. During the year a free negro of Illinois, who had shipped as a deck hand on a Mississippi steamer, was arrested in New Orleans as a fugitive. Having no free papers he was thrown into jail and in due time would be sold into slavery to pay his jail fees. Lincoln made efforts with the governors of Illinois and Louisiana to secure his release, and failed. No legal power for that purpose existed. In great indignation Lincoln said to the governor of Illinois, " Governor I'll make the soil of this country too hot for the foot of a slave whether you have the power to secure the release of this boy or not." The promise was kept. Late in May, 1856, a state convention of opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska bill met at Bloomington, 111. Stirring resolutions against the bill and against the encroachments of slavery were adopted, and the new party was formerly chris- tened the Republican party. Lincoln was present and was called upon to speak. All who heard him that day ever remembered the mighty effort. Upon all present the impres- sion made was indelible. His tall form seemed to stretch up a foot higher and in his imposing and defiant attitude he was like one inspired. The shadow of a great contest was upon him, and with prophetic prescience he gauged the magnitude of mighty issues. He was at once recognized as a great leader; the man competent above all others to mea- sure swords with Douglass, and from that moment the Re- publicans of the West began to consider whether Lincoln would not make a good candidate for president, while people 402 ABRAHAM LINCOLN in the east began to enquire what manner of man this might be. In the succeeding canvass for Fremont, Lincoln made fifty speeches in Illinois and other states. In 1858 occurred the great contest between Lincoln and Douglass, in the form of a joint debate, at various points in Illinois. It was a foregone conclusion that when the Re- publican State Convention met at Springfield, hi June, it would nominate Lincoln for the United States senatorship. He made careful preparation for the speech to be delivered before the convention, and when it was written he invited the opinions of a dozen or more of his most intimate political friends. The exordium of the speech he had desired to insert hi his Bloomsburg speech of 1856, but he had been dissuaded from doing so by his friends. The tune had now come, he believed, to make the declaration he desired. The passage was as follows: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to be dissolved, I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become either one thing or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest hi the belief that it is hi the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South." When the speech was read to the friends whom he desired to consult, it met with general disapproval. Only Herndon approved. He said, "Deliver that speech as read and it will make you president." He afterwards said that he did not realize the force of his prophecy. Mr. Lincoln heard all objections thoughtfully and then replied, " Friends this thing has been retarded long enough. The time has come when these sentiments should be uttered, and if it is decreed that I should go down because of this speech then let me go down linked to the truth. I will deliver it as it is written." The convention numbered a thousand men. It met on 403 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES the sixteenth of June and unanimously adopted the following resolution : "That Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States senator to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglass's term of office. " On the following day the speech was delivered to the con- vention and a vast concourse of people. The immediate effect was what had been predicted. His friends were alarmed, it was too radical, and the timid were scared. Up to this time Se ward's "higher law" utterance had placed him at the head of the advanced anti-slavery sentiment of the North, but Lincoln's "house divided against itself" senti- ment soon placed him hi that position. The speech probably lost him the United States senatorship. A Democratic majority was returned at the autumn election, but he most likely anticipated this and was aiming for a higher place. Douglass had returned from Washington, and in Chicago on the ninth of July he delivered a speech intended as an answer to Lincoln's. Soon after Lincoln sent him a challenge to hold joint meetings. The terms were arranged for and the chal- lenge accepted. Seven meetings were arranged in August and the early autumn. Douglass was well informed, well versed in political his- tory, brilliant and full of sophistry and strategy. Lincoln knew the tactics of his opponent. His strong points were common sense, direct statement and inflexible logic. Every- thing was analyzed, every statement laid bare. Deep con- viction and honesty were apparent to all. The listener might admire the brilliancy of Douglass, but the logic of Lincoln was carried home. The speeches were fully reported in the newspapers east and west, and the nation followed the contest with keen interest. At Freeport, when pressed by Lincoln for an answer, Douglass refused to endorse the Dred Scott decision. The friends of Mr. Lincoln thought he had made a mistake and forced Douglass to explain away one of the worst counts against jhim. In taking that ground Douglass strengthened 404 ABRAHAM LINCOLN himself before his own constituents, and in the immediate senatorial contest, but he lost his hold upon the South, and, as the sequel proved, destroyed his chance for the presidency. The year 1859 was spent by the impecunious western law- yer in efforts to repair his broken finances by assiduous atten- tion to business, and in continued study of political affairs. His fast extending reputation created a desire in New York to see and hear him, and in October he received an invitation to deliver a lecture in that city. He accepted the invitation and decided to speak upon the political questions of the day. The speech was a masterly review of the slavery question from the foundation of the government. Most careful and thorough preparations were made. It was delivered in Cooper Institute, February 27, 1860. William Cullen Bryant was chairman. The great hall was crowded with a critical audience lawyers, politicians, editors, statesmen, poets, preachers and business men. Curiosity, rather than expecta- tion of hearing a speech of remarkable power, had drawn a great crowd together. All were expecting a first-class western stump oration interlarded with the swagger and humour of the border. All knew that Lincoln was not college-bred and possessed few advantages conferred by schools. The tall awkward-looking man of the West was introduced by the scholarly and polished chairman, and he evidently felt a little trepidation in the face of the vast and brilliant audience. He afterwards confessed that he was greatly abashed over his personal appearance. His new suit of black was ill-fitting and plainly showed the creases where it had been packed in his valise, and the collar of the coat on the right side had an unpleasant way of flying up when he raised his arm. Gradually he opened up his subject, and while he forgot about the collar, light dawned upon the minds of his hearers. They speedily realized that before them stood a great master at whose feet they sat as learners, and who was speaking not to them only but to the American people. When Mr. Lincoln sat down he was greeted with thunders of applause. He had captured his audience and achieved a 405 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES dazzling success. The next morning his speech was reported hi full hi the leading New York dailies. And the Tribune said of him, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience." The speech produced a profound sensation throughout the country, and Mr. Lincoln returned to his home hi Illinois with a well- earned national fame. The Republican National Convention was called to meet at Chicago, May 16, 1860. On the ninth of May the Re- publican State Convention of Illinois met at Decatur. Mr. Lincoln's friends determined that the action of the state con- vention should prepare their candidate for the national one. When the great crowd of delegates had packed the huge temporary structure erected for their accommodation, the chairman came forward and said, "There is an old Democrat outside who has something he wishes to present to the con- vention." There was a roar of assent and the door swung open, when a strong old man marched in shouldering two fence rails, surmounted by a banner inscribed hi large letters, "Two rails from a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks hi the Sangamon bottom, hi the year 1830." The sunburned muscular bearer of the rails was John Hanks himself, a plain unlettered Western pioneer. He and the rails were fitting representatives of the old days of privation and poverty. The effect was electrical and Abraham Lin- coln the rail-splitter was accepted as the incarnation of labour, and the representative of human equality and possible advancement. A great outburst of applause followed. It was not the passing impulse of a fickle multitude, but the first gathering of an irresistible wave of enthusiasm which swept over the great concourse at Decatur, and thence to Chicago, and over the free states. The convention was captured, and it instructed the Illinois delegation to vote for Lincoln at Chicago. When the National Convention met, Mr. Lincoln received the nomination on the third ballot. His nomination was received with unbounded enthusiasm. During the exciting 406 ABRAHAM LINCOLN scenes of the convention, Mr. Lincoln remained quietly at home in Springfield. When the news of the result was re- ceived he calmly put the despatch hi his pocket, saying, " Gentlemen there is a little woman at our house who is more interested in this despatch than I am, and, if you will excuse me, I will take it up and let her see it." Following the nomination came the great presidential canvass of 1860. The feverish excitement and activity grew hi intensity every day. The great contest between slavery and freedom was rapidly approaching, and, amid the resist- less march of events, few comprehended their real significance. Four candidates were in the field Lincoln, Douglass, Brecken- ridge and Bell. The Democratic Convention had met at Charleston on the twenty-third of April and had split upon a resolution pledging the party to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court in all matters pertaining to jurisdiction over territories and the power of territorial legislatures. Douglass received the regular nomination at Baltimore, on the eighteenth of June, and Breckenridge received the nomina- tion of the seceding faction at Baltimore on the twenty-third of June. Bell was the nominee of the Constitutional Union party. The breaking up of the old Democratic party had made the election of Lincoln highly probable if the choice did not go to the House of Representatives. The speakers and newspapers of the South gave warning that if Lincoln were elected the disruption of the union would follow, but the majority of Northern voters believed that these threats were mere electioneering vapourings. Buch- anan's Cabinet was a nest of disunionists and traitors, and while the canvass was hi progress , Floyd, the Secretary of War, a Southerner, caused a large proportion of the arms and munitions of war belonging to the government to be removed from Northern to Southern arsenals, while the Secretary of the Navy ordered the available naval force to distant seas. The deliberate purpose of all these move- ments was to leave the nation defenceless at home, when the hour came to strike at its life. 407 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES The result of the election on the sixth of November was to give Lincoln 180 of the 294 electoral votes. Breckenridge had 72, Bell 30, and Douglass 12. Lincoln lacked over 930,- 000 votes of having a popular majority. The Slave Power was vanquished at the polls. Liberty had its innings, but men instinctively felt that troubled days were coming. And they asked themselves, when wisdom, courage and prudence were to become such necessary qualities in the nation's leader, would these qualities be found to be the endowment of the Western rail-splitter who was now to have a task of such enormous difficulty to perform. Four months must elapse between polling day and the inauguration of Lincoln, and during that period it seemed possible to wreck the government, for its sworn enemies were at the helm, and they proceeded to complete the work of robbing the arsenals, scattering the navy, and, so far as it was possible, destroying the credit of the government. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the union, Mississippi followed, January 9, 1861 ; Florida, on the tenth of January; Alabama, on the eleventh of January; Georgia, on the nineteenth of January; Louisiana, on the twenty-sixth of January; and Texas, on the first of February. Delegates from the seven seceding states met at Montgomery on the fourth of February, and on the eighth of February, they announced to the world a provisional government under the name of the Confederate States of America. Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, on the fourth of March, was an imposing affair. The address was a last appeal for peace. It- was moderate and kindly hi tone. It was largely an argument addressed to the seceding states. To the Southern people, he said, "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors." He firmly de- clared his intention to preserve the union and to hold, occupy and possess property and places belonging to the government. In the light of subsequent events it can truly be said that Mr. 408 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Lincoln's inaugural address was a state paper equal in all respects to the occasion and the crisis. When Mr. Lincoln took the oath of office, Jefferson Davis had been president of the Southern Confederacy fourteen days. In May following, the Confederate capital was removed to Richmond; Virginia of which Richmond is the capital having seceded in April. It was predicted that Mr. Lincoln would be a mere figure- head under the guidance of Steward, his Secretary of State, and other strong men, but it was soon found that he was to be president, indeed; and he immediately became, and never ceased to be, a heroic figure, overshadowing all who were around him. On the twelfth of April, the first rebel shot was fired upon Fort Sumpter, in Charleston harbour, and on the four- teenth of April, the small garrison was compelled to haul down the stars and stripes and surrender. To the government this event was a relief. It shattered the policy of delay hitherto pursued, which Mr. Lincoln had decided could not be con- tinued with advantage or abandoned without peril. The action of the Confederacy set the hands of Lincoln free, and on the very day Fort Sumpter surrendered, a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers was drafted and on the following day issued. Throughout the North the assault upon the flag at Fort Sumpter produced one of the grandest popular uprisings recorded in history. From Maine to California rose, spon- taneously, the tide of indignation and of resolve to maintain the union and uphold the authority of its rulers. No man who witnessed that mighty outburst of popular enthusiasm and devotion to liberty and law can fail to remember vividly how impressive were all the circumstances, how grand the united voice of free millions. Could the waste, the carnage, and the sorrows of the next three years have been distinctly known, perhaps the spirit of the North would have faltered then, but as the grand drama unfolded, its purpose never for a moment gave way, and even when battle, dungeon and 409 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES disease had claimed their ghastly tribute of brave men, and two-thirds of the women of the North were in mourning, resolve never weakened and courage never failed. On the morning of the sixteenth of April, the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts state militia mustered on Boston Common equipped for action. On the seventeenth it was on the cars for Washington. On the eighteenth it marched down Broad- way, New York, between excited multitudes singing that strange refrain: "John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave But his soul is marching on." On the nineteenth it was assaulted by the mob in Baltimore, when imprisoned hi separate squads in the cars, and some blood was shed. The regiment made its way through to Washington, and then the secessionists of Maryland severed communication with the North by burning railroad bridges and cutting telegraph wires. Communication was soon opened by General Butler with the Massachusetts 7th, and with Colonel Lefferts with the crack New York 7th. The latter regiment entered Washington on the twenty-fifth of April. As their faultless lines of gleaming bayonets streamed down Pennsylvania Avenue to pass in review before the president, the hopes of the Washington secessionists that the capital might be seized before succour could come, faded away. The Battle of Bull Run was commenced on the eigh- teenth of July, and ended on the twenty-first, in a panic and route of the Union soldiers. The action was fought with general good conduct on both sides till the panic occurred, which the Confederates were hi no condition to follow up. In July a special session of Congress convened. It meant business, and the defeat at Bull Run was like an explosion that scattered to the wind all thought of hesitation or delay. On the sixth of August it adjourned having voted $500,000,- 000, and 500,000 men. In Canada party feeling about the great struggle which 410 ABRAHAM LINCOLN had now fairly opened, ran almost as high as in the United States. Much premature merriment was indulged hi by secessionist sympathizers because the raw and ill-disciplined levies were not equal to veteran troops. I remember, soon after the Battle of Bull Run, hi reply to a reverend gentleman (Mr. Ball), who sneered about bloodless battles and whole- sale footraces, I suggested that he wait till tune was given to make soldiers out of raw material and he would probably not sniff the air hi vain for the scent of blood. And 20,000 stark corpses on the field of Gettysburg; the terrible carnage of Chickamauga and Franklin, the blood-soaked trenches of Vicksburg, the hell of the seven day's Battle of the Wilder- ness, a score of sanguinary battlefields where Saxon met Saxon and the percentage of loss was much greater than upon any of the great battlefields of modern Europe, hi due tune gave ghastly proof that the forecast was true. I have neither purpose nor time to trace the events of the great conflict that followed the incapacity of McClellan and other generals, the changing fortunes of war, the dealing with foes hi the rear as well as with foes hi the front the surmounting of financial difficulties, the creation of an iron- clad navy, and the revolutionizing of naval warfare, the creation of a veteran army of a million men, diplomatic relations and perfidious neutrality, unreasonable demands from friends of liberty who had not patience to wait for the ripening of events, and malignant misrepresentatives from foes within and without. Through all the changing scenes Lincoln bore the nation upon his shoulders, and, with con- summate skill and sagacity, shaped the nation's course. Clearer than those of any of his generals were his conceptions of the proper line of military action to be adopted. More comprehensive and accurate than those of any of his advisers, or any of the statesmen of the land, was his knowledge of the political situation, his estimate of the outcome of events, and his appreciation of the significance, and the far-reaching results of the battle shocks that shook a continent and claimed the attention of the world. No emergency arose and 411 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES found him unprepared. He had thought the matter all out in advance and the best available remedy was ready. He possessed prescience. He traced every movement of the armies, watched every phase of the conflict, kept record with delicate precision of the pulse beat of public sentiment, weighed all the forces, material and immaterial, allied and opposed, and was emphatically and positively master of the situation so far as finite man could be. He kept jealous and unfriendly foreign nations at bay, and at the outset decided upon a determined foreign policy and informed all foreign governments that the recognition of the Confederacy or the breaking of the blockade would be accepted as a declaration of war. This proved sufficient to restrain any desire to act in that direction, for raw levies soon became disciplined armies, and the monitors were an unknown naval quantity. France, indeed, sought to take advantage of the opportunity by seizing upon Mexico, but when the war drums of the rebellion were hushed, a mere expression of displeasure from the American state department caused the empire of Maxi- millian to dissolve like the morning dew. Mr. Lincoln had the confidence of the people and was en- throned in their affections. He was felt to be a man of the people and was familiarly styled "Father Abraham," or "Uncle Abe." This popular confidence in him is well illus- trated by the story of a German farmer, who, when driving into town one day shortly after Mr. Lincoln's death, saw the staring poster of a theatrical company billed to give a play, entitled, "Rebellion in Heaven." The title was given in bold capitals. Attracted by the words the German paused, "Rebellion in Heaven," said he, "mine Gott ist dat so?" And then, after a moment's reflection, "Oh! Well, never mind, Uncle Abe is dare." Mr. Lincoln's keen sense of humour often shone forth not- withstanding the pressure of cares that rested upon him. The plans of the monitor had been entrusted by Ericson to C. W. Bushnell and by him laid before Mr. Lincoln, who approved of the scheme. They were then laid before the 412 ABRAHAM LINCOLN naval department, Mr. Lincoln being present. A number of naval officers and experts were assembled to sit in judgment. They almost unanimously gave opinion averse to the practi- cability of the plan. At last Rear- Admiral Smith, chairman of the board asked Mr. Lincoln what he thought of it. He answered, " I feel a good deal about it as the fat girl did when she put her foot in her stocking. She thought there was something hi it." Mr. Bushnell and his associates obtained the contract for a trial monitor, and she was built. On March 8, 1862, the iron-clad Merrimac steamed out from Nor- folk to Hampton Roads, and destroyed the frigates Cum- berland and Congress, and then retired preparatory to going out to sea. A spasm of dread seized upon the country. It seemed as though Washington and every seaport on the Atlantic coast lay at her mercy. That night the trial monitor arrived in the Roads. The following day she vanquished the Merrimac. "There was something in it." The naval con- struction of the world was revolutionized, and in one day all the war vessels of the naval powers became antiquated except the two that fought near Norfolk. That the war was a battle between slavery and liberty, and that either slavery or the commonwealth must die, was a fact that the majority of the people were slow to believe. Mr. Lincoln had known it from the beginning, and he was waiting until the nation comprehended the situation and would sanc- tion radical action. In August, 1861, General Fremont had issued a proclamation declaring the slaves free within certain specified limits in Missouri. This proclamation was dis- allowed as being an act exceeding the authority vested hi the commander of a department. Wherever the Union troops entered upon rebel territory the slaves came streaming into the Union lines. General Butler solved the question of what was to be done with them. Ac- cepting the Southern theory that they were property, he declared them contraband of war and set them free. This action was approved by the president. Lincoln had decided to destroy slavery as a military ne- 413 * PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES cessity and by virtue of his authority as commander-in- chief. He waited for the proper hour with faith in God that it would come in His own good time. He prepared a draft of his Emancipation Proclamation and called a full meeting of his Cabinet about August 1, 1862. He realized that a difficult task was before him perhaps he instinctively shrank from it. His Cabinet was composed of representative men and their reception of the proclamation would indicate pretty correctly the probable attitude of the nation. When all were assembled he trifled for a few moments, perhaps for the pur- pose of studying his own powers. He read them a chapter from a humorous work by Orpheus C. Kerr and laughed heartily at his drolleries. The members of the Cabinet looked at each other with disapproval and felt that their personal dignity was in peril. Suddenly the president's demeanour changed. The humorist vanished, and a stern solemn man stood before them. He abruptly announced his purpose and read the paper he had prepared. He then told them that he had not called them together to ask then* advice but that suggestions would be in order as to time and mode of carrying his purpose into effect. No record of the debate that followed was kept. Mr. Blair was opposed. Mr. Chase wished it made strong on the point of arming the blacks. Mr. Seward approved, but doubted the expediency of issuing it at that juncture military operations had been unfavour- able, and it might now be looked upon as the last measure of an exhausted government. It was decided that the publication should be delayed until it could follow some decided military success. Dark days followed, and August closed with the second Bull Run. Then Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland. These were terrible days of enforced waiting to Mr. Lincoln. He decided that if McClellan should drive Lee from Maryland the proclamation would be issued. The battle of Antietam was fought on the seventeenth of September, and Lee was repulsed. Lincoln at once called the Cabinet together and told them that the tune for hesitation had gone by, emancipation must become the declared policy of the gov- 414 ABRAHAM LINCOLN eminent and public sentiment would now sustain it. A de- mand for it came from the best friends of the government. Mr. Lincoln reverently added in a low voice, " I have promised my God that I will do it." Mr. Chase who sat nearest him said, "Did I understand you correctly, Mr. President?" Mr. Lincoln replied, "I made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee should be driven back from Maryland I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slave." The proclamation was issued September 22, 1862. One hundred days were given for the rebellious states to return to their allegiance and, hi default of their doing so, the pro- clamation was to take effect January 1, 1863, when all slaves hi states then hi rebellion against the United States should be thenceforth and forever free. Following the proclamation in a few weeks came the re- moval of General McClellan from command. During the autumn a circular letter was issued to the army on the subject of Sabbath observance as follows: "The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest; the sacred rights of Christian sailors and sol- diers; a becoming deference to the best sentiments of a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine Will, demand that Sunday labour hi the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity." On January 1, 1863, the final Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Its grand closing sentence was hi these words: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon the ground of military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favour of Almighty God." In the first week of May came the battle of Chancellors- ville, with a Union loss of 17,000 men. All night long, follow- ing the reception of the terrible news, Mr. Lincoln paced his room hi anguish of soul. There would be thousands of houses of mourning where stricken ones would look reproach- fully towards him. The news, he felt, would stimulate the hatred of America's foes abroad, and of the Copperheads of 415 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES the North. Then came the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee with his victorious army, and night seemed to be closing in around the cause of the Union. A sudden and fierce excite- ment swept over the North. The governor of Pennsylvania called for 60,000 men. A draft was in progress and had been resisted, all opposition to it at once ceased. Lincoln hurried up movements under Meade, and stimulated by letters and despatches the movements under all of his commanding generals. On the thirtieth of June, the entire rebel army was concentrated towards Gettysburg and was almost within striking distance of Philadelphia, and the citizens of that city found themselves throwing up earthworks and digging trenches for its possible defence. A day's march from Lee the Federal army was concentra- ting. The decisive hour had come, the supreme crisis of the the rebellion, and every man in the North knew it and waited for the shock with bated breath. On Sunday, the first of July, the advanced corps of Lee and Meade met at Gettysburg, and commenced the struggle for em- pire. At the end of the first day the dearly bought advantage was with the Confederates. All through the hot hours of the second of July and on into the night, the contest con- tinued with varying success. On the third of July, the fighting began with the light, and che bloody tides of battle turned in favour of the Union forces. In the afternoon Lee determined to strike a desperate and decisive blow. The Confederate reserve, the best troops hi the Southern army, 18,000 strong, hitherto fresh and untouched, deployed under General Pickett, the Ney of the Confederate army, and were hurled upon the Union centre. Two hundred cannon played upon the Union ranks as the glittering lines of steel swiftly swept over the intervening valley. The charge was magnificently made, it ended in pitiless and pitiful slaughter, in rout and rum. Confederate soldiers crawled up on hands and knees under sheets of shot and flame to surrender. The futile charge ended the invasion of the North. The men engaged in the battles numbered 155,000, and the loss 416 ABRAHAM LINCOLN of both armies was 46,000 men a grim illustration of the severity of the fighting. On the fourth of July Vicksburg surrendered to Grant. A few days later Port Hudson surrendered; the Mississippi was open and the Confederacy cleft in twain. The tide had turned and the end was in sight. But the Confederacy was not yet conquered, and it proceeded to put its last man under arms. The most desperate fighting of the war followed, but it is not necessary further to trace military events, culminat- ing in the surrender of Lee. On the nineteenth of November a national cemetery was dedicated at Gettysburg, and Mr. Lincoln's speech upon that occasion is one of the most remarkable specimens of oratory extant. It closed with the words: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." In 1864, Mr. Lincoln was again a candidate for the presi- dency. His opponent was General George B. McClellan. When the polls closed he had a majority of 411,000 on a total vote of 4,015,000, and 212 out of 233 electoral votes. On March 4, 1865, Mr. Lincoln again took the oath of office which was administered by Chief -Justice Chase. His inaug- ural address was delivered under circumstances presenting a striking contrast to those surrounding him on the occasion of his first inaugural. Four years had wrought mighty changes in the nation and in himself. Then all was doubt and un- certainty. The nation had practically neither army nor navy, and was ignorant of its own strength and resources. Now Mr. Lincoln was the head of what was at the moment the greatest military and naval power in the world. The South was so far crushed as to be able at best to strike but a few more impotent blows. The nation was saved. Not an acre of its territory would be lost. It had learned to trust itself, for its baptism of blood and fire had demonstrated its 27 417 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES power and the stability of its institutions. It had secured the respect of the world and its status among the nations. God had led its ruler and itself through a furnace of fire, and he at least had come forth pure gold. The address was more than an inaugural. Its tone and language would have been more befitting a Hebrew seer than a modern statesman. Through it ran an undertone of sadness. It solemnly recognized the justice and mercy of God and bowed submissively to His will. It affirmed the determination to finish the work they were in, and promised charity for all, and care for the widows and orphans of those who had borne the battle. With lofty trust in God and re- cognition of the perfection of all His purposes and decisions it declared: " Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that the mighty scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid with another drawn by the sword as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are just and righteous, altogether. 7 ' It was a farewell address. The shadow of a great tragedy was creeping on, and Lincoln stood upon the border of the shadowy land from which his voice should never reach back to the multitudes who then listened to the utterances which shall never lose their place upon the page of history, or cease to impress the hearts of men. Late in March Sherman's triumphant sweep through Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Southern Virginia terminated with the meeting of his forces with those of Grant before Richmond. A council of war attended by Lincoln was held on the twenty-eighth of March, and then with bewildering rapidity the blows were delivered that beat the Confederate armies to the dust. On the third of April, Mr. Lincoln entered Richmond. The wearied, half -starved people gladly received the Union troops 418 ABRAHAM LINCOLN and the coloured people received him with wild rejoicings. His feelings so completely unmanned him that he was unable to address them. On the ninth of April General Lee and the Confederate armies surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, and the great struggle was at an end. Mighty armies were on the eve of disbandment, and shot-riddled battle flags were to be stored away in museums and arsenals while the grim veterans were to resume peaceful avocations. Popular rejoicing and thanksgiving were heartily joined in by all the people. Sud- denly there came a change over the spirit of the revellers, and those who shouted for gladness were in deep tribulation. No sons of the prophets had come forth to warn them. " Knowest not thou that the Lord will take away thy Master from thy head to-day?" Like a crash of thunder on the morn- ing of the fifteenth of April came the news that at ten o'clock the previous evening Abraham Lincoln had fallen by the bullet of a stage-mad assassin at Ford's Theatre, Washington. At half-past seven on the morning of the fifteenth he died. On the fourteenth of April the North had been rejoicing beyond the bounds of reason. The fifteenth presented one of the most remarkable spectacles in history. All the bells in the land tolled. All business, except the purchase of crepe, ceased, and men came together in public meetings by common impulse to give public expression of grief. The sixteenth of April was Sunday and funeral services were held in nearly all the churches of the Union. Every- where grief sought every possible form of public expression. The body of Lincoln was embalmed and it was determined to send the remains to his home in Springfield, 111., for interment. On the twenty-first the funeral train left Washington. Its 1,500 miles progress to Springfield might not inaptly be termed a funeral triumph. The guard of honour was com- posed of veterans who had distinguished themselves by acts of great bravery. The train proceeded from city to city through almost continuous lines of sorrowing multitudes. At the principal cities on the route, the beautiful funeral 419 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES car passed through some of the streets escorted by citixen soldiers and societies, and the body lay in state for a few hours while the hushed masses filed past to take a last look at the face of the great president, the strength of whose hold upon their hearts they had not realized till he was gone. The pageant surpassed all powers of description. On the third of May the train reached Springfield. More than four years before Mr. Lincoln had gone forth from his humble home to grapple with the deep problems of fate. He was never again to look in life upon the beautiful prairies that lived in his heart and smiled in his dreams. And now, with strains of solemn music, tolling of bells, boom of minute guns, imposing military honours, and prayers to the God who had led him and his people in ways they know not of, his body was laid to rest. In due time an echo of the national sorrow came back from nearly all foreign lands to convince the American people that the reputation of their great ruler was world-wide, and that his great qualities were universally appreciated. I might say that this is the end but no; the influence of noble actions and a grand life will go on forever. I might utter a lamentation over the grave of one who was snatched from life in the very hour of victory, just when weary body and brain could rest from deep anxiety and consuming toil, and could enter upon the enjoyment of hard-earned recompense and precious fruits. Instead of this I will say, " God doeth all things well." Happy Lincoln! He had reached the realiza- tion of cherished hopes. The accursed institution, which in early manhood he had threatened some day to hit hard, had died by a bolt of divine vengeance hurled by his hand. The dark clouds of sorrow and disaster had rolled away and peace was once more king. The blood of a hundred battlefields was to be the seed of more perfect liberty and brighter human hopes. In the prime of intellectual and physical power he fell. His fall emphasized the nobility of his life and set forth in bold relief the extent of his services to his country and to humanity. No cloud rests upon his reputation, no spot tar- 420 ABRAHAM LINCOLN nishes his record. Had he lived, the difficulties of reconstruc- tion might have betrayed him into weaknesses or mistakes, and, in any event, his peerless record could not have been made brighter. His career illustrates in a most remarkable manner the unique possibilities of American life. And as we bid adieu to the consideration of the remarkable features in the life of Abraham Lincoln, we cannot but realize that the great gulf between the squalid cabin of the penniless poor white of Kentucky and the topmost crest of earthly fame and power was traversed by this man who was born to the estate of a coarse, unlettered pioneer, and who died an un- crowned king, grander in character, mightier in achievement than either Cromwell or Washington. 421 DAVID LIVINGSTONE DAVID LIVINGSTONE was a pioneer of two great movements which I regard as inevitable and provi- dential : the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the spread of Anglo-Saxon influence. I fol- lowed the struggle of the heroic Livingstone to lift Africa to the light, and watched it with sympathy and inexpressible exultation. The lecture here given was prepared for my own people, and was first delivered in Lynedoch in 1875. It has been repeated many times, both in my own county and elsewhere. In speaking, I have usually left the body of the speech as it was written in 1875, but, in beginning, have usually made some introductory remarks on the progress of Africa and the condition of things there at the time of speaking. This has been done in the present case. David Livingstone was a missionary and an explorer. He was truly a pathfinder who led the way where the country of South Africa was to become a British empire. It is more than a quarter of a century ago that Dr. Livingstone died in the centre of Africa, with no companions except the black attendants. Since the time Dr. Livingstone died at the headwaters of the Congo, great explorations and events have given better knowledge of the dark continent, and immense value even now has been found for the African possessions, especially in Great Britain. 423 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES At the time when Livingstone died, Cape Colony was be- lieved to be a province of little value except for its strategic, naval, and sea-trade position. It was founded by the Dutch in 1652; was taken by the British in 1796; was ceded to the Netherlands in 1803; was again occupied by the British troops in 1806, and the final extinguishment of the title of the Nether- lands was made in 1814. The Dutch crossed the Orange River in 1835. In 1848 the Transvaal republic was erected, and the Orange Free State was founded in 1854. The whites of the interior of South Africa up to the time of Livingstone's death, were mostly herdsmen, farmers and hunters. The fabulous riches of South Africa were not known by the great explorer. The diamonds of Kimberly, and the gold of the Witwaters- rand have given a new phase to the affairs of the British empire in Africa. Before railway communication, the ox- teams and the clumsy wagons were the means of travel, and they occupied weeks or months in their leisurely journeys to and from the interior. Since then, railway lines have de- veloped the country, and brought in agriculture, grazing, mining, and other interests. Late events in South Africa were to a great extent un- expected, and a movement, supposed to be of small value, suddenly became one of great importance. To Great Britain the war in South Africa was necessary. The Dutch element must be under the control of the British authority, whose institutions and liberty came with their pacific and generous policy. It was necessary to decide whether South Africa should be Dutch or British. It was decided it should be British. It would have been well had this determination on the part of Great Britain to settle South Africa been taken earlier. The desirability of securing colonial possessions in Africa was not fully understood by Gladstone. Neither political party in Great Britain then knew of the importance of securing Africa before other European nations saw the value of the unoccupied territory that is to become of such 424 DAVID LIVINGSTONE immense importance. The explorations of Livingstone, Stanley, and other British explorers should have given, as their fruits to Great Britain, possession of the Congo valley, and of all that part of Africa south of the equator except the Portuguese possessions in Angola on the west side, and Mozambique on the east side. North of the equator, the lamentable mistake of the British government that sacrificed Gordon, and lost Khartoum and the Soudan, had in due time to be retrieved by Kitchener and the Egyptian and Soudanese soldiers in the battle of Omdurman, and the smash of the power of the Mahdi. A mistake like the one which resulted in the sacrifice of Gordon will not be made again. It is not intended to permit more loss of territory to Britain in Africa. The valley of the Nile reaches from the delta to the equa- torial lakes. Khartoum will, in time, become a great capital, the middle point within the stretch of thirty-two degrees of latitude from the Mediterranean to the equator. Already a railway nearly reaches from Alexandria to Khartoum at the junction of the White and the Blue Nile. Great schemes to be carried out by the British and Egyptian governments, the expenditure of $150,000,000 for irrigation in the Blue and White Nile valleys will give the Soudan an immense ad- ditional cultivable area, which millions of men will, in due time, make of greater importance and value than even the fertile fields of Egypt whose rich harvests for more than six thousand years have given a teeming population food from its prodigal soil. The line, now nearly ready to Khartoum, will continue south to the great Victoria Nyanza, or till it connects with the line from the south. The railway from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean westward to the great lake of Victoria Nyanza, a distance of 700 miles, is nearly completed, and with steamship navigation of the lake, which is one of the great fresh water bodies of the world, will open up one of the most delightful regions in Africa, that of Uganda and Ankori. Livingstone was the first civilized man who saw, in 1855, 425 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES the wonders of the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi, which river he had first seen in the heart of the continent in 1851. With the opening years of the twentieth century the railway system from Cape Colony and Natal has crossed Victoria Falls, 1,000 miles from the Cape, and the road is to push on to Tanganyika Lake and onward to meet the road which passes from Khartoum south to the equator. When the two lines reach each other we shall have a continental railway travers- ing Africa from the north to the south, and the romance of a dream will have become a mighty reality. The late " darkness" of unknown Africa upon which the explorers have dwelt, will with the next generation almost completely disappear, and enlightened Africa will enter upon a career of civilization whose future will reach beyond our most sanguine expectations of to-day. From what has al- ready been done, we may well believe that Africa will be the theatre of wonderful events, and a country of immense im- portance. Railway lines will traverse all parts of the conti- nent, while the great Congo, its imperial river, and many other streams and lakes will afford facilities for commerce by steamer navigation. British influence is the dominant force in these vast African regions, for Britons hold their own in the valley of the Nile, the Zambezi valley, and the greater part of South Africa. Railway lines within British influence in Africa reach for thousands of miles, and throw the railway operations of all other countries in Africa in the shade. The missionary and the explorer with their indomitable energy have been, and still are, directing forward and onward the sweep of British power. Among all the proud names of British leaders we speak of him as our Greatheart Livingstone, who laid the founda- tion of an empire, and who was a God-chosen Christian worker for the coming of the kingdom of Christ. His will stand as the noblest name among those who have sown the field of Africa's enlightenment, and in the abundant harvest that will be reaped, the largest sheaves will be of his garnering. 426 DAVID LIVINGSTONE Livingstone was of Highland Scottish blood and was born at Blantyre, near Glasgow, in 1813. At the age of ten he was put to work in a cotton factory as a piecer. With a part of his first week's wages he purchased a Latin grammar. In securing his education he never received a farthing's aid from any one. He attended medical and Greek classes in Glasgow, and sat under the divinity lectures of Dr. Ward- law. After completing his medical and divinity studies he joined the London Missionary Society. It was his intention to go to China, but he was providentially prevented by the Opium War, and he embarked for Africa in 1840. The first nine years of Livingstone's life hi Africa were spent in missionary labours at Mabtosa and Kolobeng, about 600 miles north of Cape Town, and in diligent studies of African languages and manners preparatory to the career of discovery upon which he was soon to enter. During this period he married a daughter of Dr. Moffat the African mis- sionary. When he was at Mabtosa in 1843, Livingstone had an encounter with a great lion that was the terror of the Bakatla. He emptied the two barrels of his rifle into its breast, but while he was reloading the lion sprang upon him throwing him to the ground. One bone was crushed and eleven wounds were inflicted hi the upper part of the arm. The lion then attacked a native hunter who was of Living- stone's party, seizing him by the thigh. The bullets from Livingstone's rifle had already done their work, however, and his paroxysmal strength exhausted, the lion fell dead. In June, 1849, Livingstone, in company with Oswell and Murray, started on his first exploring expedition, and crossing the Kalahari desert reached Lake Ngami hi August. Upon coming to the lake they passed a fine stream flowing from the north. The doctor enquired from the guides from whence it came. They replied, "From a country full of rivers so many that no one can tell their number and full of large trees." This, says the doctor, was the first confirmation of the statement he had heard from the Bakwains, who had been north, that the country was not the large sandy plateau 427 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES of the philosophers who had printed on their maps of Central Africa: "Sandy deserts, unexplored." The doctor's object in this journey was to open communication with the Mokololo, a tribe living about 200 miles south of Lake Ngami, of whom he had heard from certain Bakwains who had been among them. He was unable, however, to procure guides, and was compelled to return to Kolobeng. In 1850, Livingstone, with his wife, three children and native attendants, again crossed the Kalahari desert with oxen and wagons, with the intention of opening communica- tion with the Mokololo. When beyond the desert he and two of his children were prostrated with African fever, and he was obliged again to return to Kolobeng. He was soon followed by messengers from Sebituane, the chief of the Mokololo, who had heard of his attempts to reach him and was anxious to open communication with the white men. Sebituane had sent presents to the chiefs on the way to induce them to assist the doctor when he came again. In 1851, Livingstone accompanied by Mr. Oswell and his wife and children started on his third attempt to reach the Mokololo, and, profiting by his previous experience, he this time succeeded. The opening up of communication with the Mokololo was, perhaps, the most important event in Dr. Livingstone's African experience. They were delighted to meet him, and Sebituane came more than a hundred miles to welcome him. The Mokololo were a tribe who had migrated from south of the Kalahari. They possessed immense herds of cattle. Sebituane had subjugated the black tribes pos- sessing an immense tract of country, and was an African Julius Caesar. The great desire of his life was to open communication and trade with the whites. In June, 1851, Livingstone discovered the Zambezi in the centre of the continent. It was at the season when the river was at its lowest, yet there was a breadth of nearly half a mile of deep flowing water, while, at the period of its annual in- undation, it rose twenty feet. In 1852 Livingstone went with his wife and children to 428 DAVID LIVINGSTONE Cape Town and saw them safely embarked on a homeward- bound vessel for England. He then turned his face to the interior on what proved to be a long and toilsome journey, and one rich in important results. He reached the Mokololo capital in May, 1853, and found that Sebituane was dead, and that his son Sekeletn reigned in his stead, and was as well disposed towards the whites as his father had been. Although intent upon discovery and a keen observer of na- ture, Livingstone never relaxed his efforts to lead the heathen with whom he came in contact to a knowledge of Christianity. "Most of the native tribes," he said, "listen attentively to instruction conveyed to them in their own language, but it is difficult to give an idea to a European of the little effect teaching produces." "They listen," he says, "with respect and attention, but when we kneel down and address an Un- seen Being, the position and the act often appear to them so ridiculous that they cannot refrain from bursting out with uncontrollable laughter. Nevertheless the missionary efforts in Africa have been productive of a vast amount of good, and great numbers of the natives have been Christianized." To a European the abundance of animal life in Africa is wonderful. The rivers swarm with fish, hippopotami and crocodiles. Myriads of waterfowl frequent the sedgy marshes. Elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and many varieties of antelope roam over the plains. Lions and tigers lurk in the thickets; monkeys and apes chatter in the branches; and venomous serpents are numerous. After making one preliminary excursion up the Zambezi in canoes, Livingstone persuaded Sekeletn to despatch a party of Mokololo, well armed, and provided with ivory for trade, to Angolo on the west coast, a distance of about 1,500 miles. The party numbered twenty-seven. Some were to proceed up the Zambezi in canoes, and some were to travel along the bank with oxen. They started in November, 1853, and after passing through a beautiful country of great agricultural capabilities, and finding the river interrupted by rapids and cataracts, they diverged from its course late in December, 429 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES and followed a westerly tributary, the Leeba, to its source, which they reached in February. From this point they struck directly for the coast and reached the Portuguese town of Loanda, May 31, 1854, having been six months and twenty days on the way. Livingstone came into the town, emaciated, weakened by fever, and clad in rags. He was kindly cared for by Mr. Gabriel, the British consul, under whose hospitable roof he passed through a severe illness. After experiencing great kindness from the Portuguese authorities, the bishop of Angola, and the business men of Loanda, as well as from Mr. Gabriel, Livingstone left Loanda in September to return to the interior of the continent. His party was loaded with presents of goods from the govern- ment and merchants. On the return journey as well as in coming to the coast, the valley of the Loango, which crossed their line of march at right angles, was passed. From the elevated plateau above it the mighty valley lay spread beneath them like a vast panorama, furnishing a view magnificent alike for its extent, for the luxuriance of its tropical vegetation, and for the beautiful blending of mountain, forest, river and plain. After the usual dangers, toils, and sufferings, the party reached Linyanti in September, 1855, a year after its depar- ture from the coast. On the way the doctor had suffered from his twenty-seventh attack of fever. A great meeting of all the people was called to receive the report of the party and the articles sent as presents. The Mokololo related the incidents of the trip which naturally lost nothing in telling, and declared that they had finished the whole world and turned only when there was no more land. Livingstone, who had thought it his duty to conduct his party back from the west coast rather than go to England, now proposed that the Mokololo should furnish him an escort to the east coast, and that the party should remain at the mouth of the Zambezi till he went to England and returned. The proposal was accepted and a hundred and fourteen Moko- lolo warriors volunteered for the expedition. The distance 430 DAVID LIVINGSTONE to be traversed was about 1,500 miles. The party started November 3, 1855. Livingstone, in this, as well as in the previous expedition, was almost entirely dependent upon the bounty of the Mokololo. A few days after starting down the Zambezi he discovered the great falls of that stream. It is called by the natives Mosiontunya, or "Sounding Smoke," and was christened by Livingstone, Victoria Falls. Like Niagara it is a stupendous cataract. The perpendicular descent is 320 feet. From Victoria Falls the party kept north of the Zambezi. Their route to the coast lay between 15 and 18 south. For several hundred miles they passed through a beautiful upland country intersected by numerous valleys and streams. Scattered trees grew upon the grass- clad hills and vales, and gave the country a park-like ap- pearance. The gentle slopes and charming valleys of this region have an altitude above the sea level of about 5,000 feet. It was afterwards found by Livingstone to be abundant- ly supplied with coal and iron. It is salubrious, fertile and admirably adapted to be the home of civilized man. The native tribes were found to possess few of the negro types of physiognomy, and to be of a bronze or brown colour. In consequence of native wars large districts were depopulated. The party was abundantly supplied with the flesh of ele- phants, buffaloes, antelopes and zebras. Natural fruits, too, were abundant and varied. One tree called the Moshuka yielded a fruit resembling a pear in taste. It was found in prodigious quantities and yielded the party no inconsiderable portion of their subsistence. At night when encamping each man knew his own place and his own work. No time was lost, when the party halted, in fixing sheds and building camp fires. Each took it hi turn to pull dry grass to make the doctor's bed. After supper, the sinewy Mokololo would lie basking in the comfortable heat of the fires discussing the incidents of the day's march or the killing of the last elephant. The roaring of the lions beyond the circle of light was their nightly serenade. The doctor neglected no opportunity to improve the minds of his people with suitable 431 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES religious instruction, and morning and evening prayers were always offered up. In March, 1856, the party reached Tette, a Portuguese trading-post 300 miles from the mouth of the Zambezi, where Livingstone's joy at again coming in contact with civilization was enhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen. At this place he left his retainers and proceeded to the mouth of the river, where he found Her Majesty's brig Frolic upon which he took passage. When he reached her deck he found himself at home in everything except the use of his mother tongue. Sixteen years of almost entire disuse of the English language had made him sadly at a loss in its use. The doctor's important discoveries created a sensation in Christendom, and, under the auspices of the government and the Royal Geographical Society, an expedition was fitted out for the purpose of exploring more fully the Zambezi region. This party was under the control of Dr. Livingstone, who was assisted by his brother Charles, and by Dr. Kirk. The expedition sailed from England in March, 1858, and reached the mouth of the Zambezi in May. The little steamer Pioneer, which was brought out in sections, was sent up the river to Tette where the Mokololo manifested great joy at seeing their leader again. During his absence six had been murdered and thirty had died of smallpox. The remainder, except those who had married and settled down, were attached to the expedition till they could be sent to their own country. I can dwell but briefly on the six years' work of this ex- pedition. A short distance above Tette the navigation of the Zambezi was found to be interrupted by the impassable Kelrabasa rapids. The Shire, an important affluent from the north entering the Zambezi below Tette, was found to be navigable for 200 miles when further progress was prevented by a series of cataracts, five in number, having an aggregate descent of 1,200 feet, which were named the Murchison Cataracts. Four expeditions were made up the Shire and a boat was transported past its cataracts. Lake Nyassa, one 432 DAVID LIVINGSTONE of the inland seas of Africa was discovered in 1859 and was partially explored. The Shire was found to be its outlet. The country in the upper Shire valley and around the lake was found to be an upland region densely populated, and well watered by springs and clear, cool streams. On the southern shores of the lake was an almost unbroken chain of villages. In 1860 the doctor and his party returned with the Moko- lolo to their native country. Their route passed through the magnificent mountain region where the Zambezi at Kel- rabasa rushes with railroad velocity down steep inclines and chafes and foams against opposing rock, and on through the beautiful valleys and over the fine highland region that Livingstone had passed in coming from the interior to the coast. The party numbered nearly one hundred. They were abundantly supplied with game, and obtained cornmeal, palm wine and native beer at the villages. They travelled leisurely and enjoyed the trip. Here is a very pretty camp picture given by the doctor. "A dozen fires are nightly kindled, these being replenished from time to time by the men who are awakened by the cold, and kept burning till daylight. Abundance of dry hard wood is obtained with little trouble and burns beautifully. Every evening one of the Batoka plays his Sausa and continues it far into the night. He accompanies it with an extempore song in which he rehearses their deeds since they left their own country. At times an animated political discussion springs up. The whole camp is aroused and men shout to each other from different fires." The doctor asserts that the European constitution has a power of endurance, even in the tropics, greater than that of the hardiest African. He thinks there must be something in the appearance of white men frightfully repulsive to the natives of Africa, for, says he: " Upon entering villages previously unvisited by Europeans, if we met a child coming quietly and unsuspectingly towards us, the moment he raised his eyes and saw the men in bags 28 433 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES he would take to his heels in an agony of terror. Alarmed by the child's wild outcries the mother rushes out of the hut, but rushes back again at the first glimpse of the same fright- ful apparition. Dogs turn tail and scurry off in dismay, and hens abandoning their chickens fly screaming to the tops of the huts. The so lately peaceful village becomes a scene of confusion until calmed by the assurance of our men that white men do not eat black folks." Next to the white men, the greatest objects of curiosity were a couple of donkeys which the party were taking up as a present to Sekeletn. Great astonishment was invariably manifested when one of these began to bray, and when both brayed in unison the interest felt by the astonished specta- tors must, the doctor thinks, have equalled that of the Lon- doners when they first crowded to see the famous hippopota- mus. In due time the Mokololo tribe was reached, and the rem- nant of the party who had gone with the doctor four years before returned to their homes. Mrs. Livingstone joined her husband in 1862. She was soon prostrated by fever and died. Her grave is under a mighty baobab tree at Shu- panga, on the lower Zambezi. The kind hearted sailors mounted guard over her grave night and day to keep off the prowling hyenas that sometimes disinter the dead. She had presided over a delightful home at Kolobeng, 1,000 miles north of Cape Town; had exercised a happy influence over the rude native tribes of the interior, had shared her hus- band's dangers and privations in many of his journeys, and had returned to share them again. In that far heathen land her body rests in hope; and, doubtless, for her labours of love she has her reward. A vast amount of interesting and valuable information concerning the Zambezi region was collected, and its geol- graphical features were pretty well ascertained. The exten- sive delta of the river was found to be admirably adapted to the cultivation of sugar cane and indigo. The enormous stretch of country beyond the coast range, including the Ny- 434 DAVID LIVINGSTONE assa basin, was found to be variously adapted to pasturage, or to the culture of cereals particularly maize and rice tobacco and cotton. The upland districts were well watered and possessed a healthful climate. Great regions of this country were abundantly supplied with iron and coal, and the natives were found to possess copper, tin and gold. Cot- ton was found to be cultivated and manufactured by the natives in a rude way, and this region may yet rival the southern states as a cotton country. The entire territory drained by the Zambezi, is, with the exception of the delta, admirably adapted to become the home of untold millions of civilized men. Its area cannot be less than 800,000 square miles. Dr. Livingstone's acquaintance with African tribes was perhaps more intimate and thorough than that of any other man who ever lived, and he enter- tained a higher opinion of their character and capabilities than any other traveller of whom I have read. Perhaps the tribes of the Zambezi region and of the great lake region to the north of it are superior to those of other sections of the continent. He tells us that in all the interior tribes that he visited he never saw a really black person. Different shades of brown prevailed, and a very common style of feature was the ancient Assyrian face, as seen in the monuments brought to the British museum by Mr. Layard. Men of remarkable ability have arisen among the Africans from tune to time, some of whom have attracted the atten- tion and excited the admiration of large districts by their wisdom; but the total absence of literature leads to the loss of all former experience. They have their minstrels too, but tradition does not preserve their effusions. The doctor men- tions one, apparently a genuine poet, who sang their praises in blank verse, each line containing five syllables. The cultivation of the soil was found to be, on the whole, most creditable to the industry of the people. They raise vast quantities of maize, and sorghum or dura, imbibe great quantities of native beer, and sometimes get drunk on palm wine. They smelt and work iron of excellent quality but in 435 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES a crude way, and display great skill and taste in the manufac- ture of implements and weapons. During the dry season the trees are denuded of foliage, and it is a singular fact that sometimes before the return of the rains, while the earth is still parched with long-continued drouth and the grass is sere, the trees of the forest put forth bud and blossom in anti- cipation of the coming ram. The primitive African faith, Dr. Livingstone says, so far as his knowledge extends, seems to be that there is an Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, and that He has given various plants of earth to man to be employed as mediators between him and the spirit world, where all who have died continue to live. Their ideas of moral evil, where they are uncon- taminated by the slave trade, differ in no respect from ours, but they consider themselves amenable only to inferior beings, and not to the Supreme. Dr. Livingstone returned to England from the Zambezi expedition hi 1864, and again returned to Africa in 1865. The discovery of Lakes Albert Nyanza and Victoria Nyanza, and of their connection with the Nile system, excited the liveliest curiosity among all interested in African geographical questions. The most easterly of these great lakes, the Vic- toria Nyanza , discharges its waters into the Albert Nyanza by the river known as the Victoria Nile. The Albert Nyanza had been visited by Sir Samuel Baker, who had coasted down its eastern shore from about latitude 1 N, for nearly a hundred miles. From its northern extremity in latitude 2 40' issues the White Nile, a bold majestic river. To the south of where Baker struck the great lake it extended for an unknown distance. South of this great inland sea about 400 miles from where Baker first saw its blue waters was the north end of Lake Tanganyika, which stretched from that point southwards over 400 miles. Were the Victoria and Albert Lakes the source of the Nile? Or did Tanganyika, and, perchance, other great bodies of fresh water contribute their quota to the rushing tide of the mysterious river of Egypt? This was the great geographical 436 DAVID LIVINGSTONE problem of Africa that remained to be solved. Livingstone believed that the source of the Nile had not yet been dis- covered. The volume of the White Nile, as it issued from the Albert Lake, was, as he supposed, so much greater than that of the Victoria Nile as to lead him to believe that the Albert Lake must receive a great supply of water from some other source. He suspected that Lake Tanganyika belonged to the Nile system, and at the age of fifty, after twenty-five years of African experience, during which time he had made the vast additions to the geographical knowledge of Africa to which I have alluded so briefly, he set out with the laud- able ambition of crowning his achievements by becoming the discoverer of the very fountains of the Nile, and of setting at rest all speculation upon a question which had puzzled geographers since the days when the stones for the pyramids were hewn from the quarries of Assouan. On January 28, 1866, Dr. Livingstone arrived at Zanzibar. After the tedious delays in preparation incident to African exploratory travel, he started from the mouth of the Rovuma River, 300 miles north of Zanzibar, on the fourth of April. His outfit was a simple one furnished by the government and the Royal Geographical Society. His party consisted of thirty-six men, thirteen of whom were Sepoys from Bom- bay, and ten Johanna men. He also had six camels t three buffaloes, three mules and four donkeys. His route lay up the valley of the Rovuma to its head waters, and on from thence to Lake Nyassa. The selection of Sepoys for the ex- pedition proved a very unfortunate one. In manliness, powers of endurance, honesty and devotion to their master, they proved far inferior to the native Africans. They shirked their work, plundered the goods, beat the animals to death, disobeyed orders, delayed the progress of the expedition, and turned out to be an unmitigated lot of filthy, thieving mis- creants. It is evident that the kind-hearted doctor should have dealt with them in a firm imperious manner. His kindness was entirely thrown away upon them. Four months were spent in making the march to Lake Nyassa, a distance 437 ' PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES of between 500 and 600 miles. Soon after reaching that lake the worthless scamps, together with the almost equally vicious Johanna men, returned to the coast and spread a report of the doctor's death. On the eighth of August, the following entry occurs in the doctor's journal: "We came to the lake at the confluence of the Misinje, and felt grateful to that hand which had protected us thus far on our journey. It was as if we had come back to an old home I never expected again to see, and pleasant to bathe in the delicious waters again, hear the roar of the sea and dash of the rollers." From Lake Nyassa the party proceeded in a northerly direction bearing considerably to the west. After leaving the Nyassa region the journey became very toilsome and difficult. Heavy rains impeded their progress and great difficulty was experienced in getting carriers. The country had been harried by slave raids, and was now afflicted by famine. The doctor suffered severely from pinching hunger. Part of the time he subsisted almost entirely upon mushrooms, and his dreams at night were of savory and abundant repasts. On December 31, we find the following entry in his journal: "I shall make this beautiful land better known, which is an essential part of the process by which it will become the pleasant haunts of men. It is impossible to describe its rich luxuriance, but most of it is running to waste through the slave trade and internal wars. We now end 1866. It has not been as fruitful or useful as I intended. Will try to do better in 1867, and to be better." Early in January he crossed the watershed between the Zambezi valley and the great basin of Central Africa. On January 26 a carrier deserted, stealing the load he carried, in which was the entire stock of medicines. This was a ter- rible blow. The doctor says, " I now felt as if I had received the sentence of death." He again refers to it saying, "The loss of the medicine box gnaws at the heart terribly." It was indeed a great disaster. In consequence of it the doctor's health was undermined and his death hastened. He 438 DAVID LIVINGSTONE soon afterwards suffered from rheumatic fever, then African fever, and then pneumonia. Often he would fall insenible at the close of the day's march. But, even with broken health and flagging spirits, his indomitable soul urged him on during his subsequent wanderings in the prosecution of his work. Pursuing his course northwards, beset by difficulties and sufferings, he next came to the Chambezi River, and was kindly received by the native chief Motoka. He thus des- cribes an interview with him. "We passed through an inner stockade and then to an enormous hut, where sat Motoka with three drummers, and three or more men with rattles hi their hands. The drummers beat furiously, and the rattlers kept tune to the drums. I refused to sit on the ground and an enormous tusk was brought to me. The chief saluted courteously. He had a fat jolly face and legs loaded with brass and copper leglets." Deceived by the similarity of the names Chambezi and Zambezi, the doctor supposed that he was on an affluent of the latter stream, and pushed on to the north. He after- wards became aware that it was an affluent of the great Lualaba which flows to the west of Lake Tanganyika, and that he had crossed it not more than a hundred miles above where it flowed into Lake Bemba or Bangweola, one of the then unvisited inland seas of Africa. He afterwards went to Bangweola by a weary and circuitous route, and again re- turned to its shores to die. Had he at this time followed down the Chambezi much precious time would have been saved, and possibly he would have been enabled to deter- mine whether the great Lualaba belonged to the Congo or the Nile system. But in ignorance of the fact that the stream he was leaving behind him was the head of a lacustrine river of vast volume and unknown length, he pushed on north- wards for Lake Tanganyika, beset by discouragements and difficulties, and greatly enfeebled by disease. On April 2, 1867, he reached the brow of the plateau overlooking Tan- ganyika. The firing of guns by the members of the party in advance announced that the goal of this stage of their jour- 439 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES ney had been reached. Upon reaching the brow he saw the deep blue waters of the great lake gleaming in the sunlight, 2,000 feet below him and stretching far to the northward. The lake lay hi a deep cup-like cavity, and, on either side into the far distance, stretched the grand mountain walls, draped hi the wild luxuriance of tropical vegetation. The sides were very steep, and in places the rocks ran the entire 2,000 feet sheer down to the water. Nowhere was there more than three miles of level land between the foot of the cliffs and the shore. Beside their path the Aeasy, a stream of considerable volume, rushed down and formed cascades by leaping 300 feet at a time. The flashing waters, the green- wood trees, the frowning rocks, and the brilliant red clay schists, caused the most stolid of Livingstone's followers to look in wonder. Antelopes, buffaloes, and elephants abound- ed on the steep slopes, and hippopotami, crocodiles, and fish swarmed hi the lake. Guns had never been known there, and game was easily secured. In this paradise of the hunter and the lover of nature's beauties, Livingstone remained for six weeks trying to pick up flesh and strength. During that time the lake continued to appear to him as one of surpassing loveliness, a beautiful gem of the wilderness. Livingstone now determined to turn west and make his way to Lake Moero, a large body of fresh water of which he had heard from certain Arab traders, and which was found to lie about 160 miles west of the south end of Tanganyika. Soon after starting hi this direction he fell in with a party of Arab traders going in the same direction. His letters from the Sultan of Zanzibar secured kind treatment from them. Owing to the country in front of him being made impassable by wars caused by the depredations of the Arab slave traders, he was compelled either to wait, or to abandon his journey. He chose to wait and was detained more than three months before he could proceed. After this delay, a wide de*tour to the north was necessary before the journey could be resumed. This will give a very good idea of the vexatious delays to which African travellers are subjected. Much of the country 440 DAVID LIVINGSTONE versed in reaching Lake Moero was through beautiful valleys with a large native population. The clumps of trees assumed a great variety of forms and often reminded the doctor of Eng- lish park scenery. Most of the journey was made in company with the Arab trader Hamees and his companions. They were gentlemanly Moslems and were very kind to the doctor. Lake Moero was reached in November, 1867. It was found to be about a hundred miles long and seventy broad, flanked by ranges of mountains on the east and west. It receives the great river, the Luapula, at the south end, and the Lualaba discharges from it at the north end. After making as extended an examination of Lake Moero as possible with the means at his command, the doctor and his party went to Casembe's domains to the south-east of the lake. He was given a grand reception by that chieftain, who was found to have a playful way of ordering the ears and hands of his loving subjects to be chopped off for slight offences. Casembe's chief wife had European features and a light brown complexion. She was very attentive to her agriculture and was usually carried to her plantation in a palanquin. Cassava was the chief product, and great care was devoted to the cultivation of sweet potatoes, maize, sorghum, millet, ground nuts, and cotton. After the visit to Casembe the doctor again visited Lake Moero. After leav- ing Lake Moero the second time the doctor went north, in- tending to make his way to Ujiji, on the east side of Tan- ganyika, hoping that stores and medicines from the coast would be await ing him there. After traversing a part of the distance, he was brought to a stand by the flooded con- dition of the plains which it was necessary to cross to reach Tanganyika, and having heard while at Casembe's that a large lake called Bemba or Bangweola, lay ten days to the south of Casembe's town, he determined to turn southwards, re- trace his steps to Casembe's, and proceed from there to the lake. He carried this resolution into effect, April 14, 1868. He was deserted by all his followers but three. After various adventures, he discovered Bangweola, one of the greatest of 441 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES the African lakes, on the eighteenth of July following. With a singular absence of enthusiasm and self-gratulation he makes this entry regarding it: "On the eighteenth, I walked a little way out and saw the shores of the lake for the first time, thankful that I had come safely hither." Canoes and a native crew were procured and several large islands in the lake were visited. In form and size the lake bears a strong resemblance to our own lake Ontario, and the Lualaba, its outlet, is, like the St. Lawrence, a mighty river. From Bangweola, Livingstone made the best of his way to Ujiji on Tanganyika. The journey took nearly eight months. The latter part of it was made in company with the Arab trading party with whom he had previously been. For several weeks before reaching Lake Tanganyika the doctor was too ill to walk and was carried by his attendants. His disease was pneumonia of the right lung, and fever. He says that when he thought of his children and friends these lines ran through his head perpetually: " I shall look into your faces, and listen to what you say, And be very near you, when you think I'm far away." His heart yearned to see the breezy hills of his native Scotland and the faces of the dear ones far away. He was brought to Ujiji, March 14, 1869. Livingstone had ordered goods and medicines to be sent to Ujiji for him from Zanzibar, but, unfortunately, they had been made way with in all directions. He found less than one-quarter of the stock which had been forwarded from the coast, and the medicines, of which he stood in greater need than anything else, had been left behind. Ujiji was a nest of Arab traders of the very worst character. They re- fused for a long time to forward Livingstone's letters to the coast, fearing, probably that their crimes would be exposed. He found the use of tea, and the wearing of flannel next to the skin very beneficial in his disease, and his cough soon ceased. The great curse of Africa is the slave trade, and it has been 442 DAVID LIVINGSTONE the curse of that unfortunate continent since the earliest ages. Livingstone was familiar with it in its most revolting aspects. He had witnessed the pillage, the ravage, and the murder, which were the daily and inseparable accomplish- ments of this worst form of piracy. He had seen the peaceful, agricultural tribes, who needed only the fostering care of a just and beneficent government strong enough to secure their rights in order to gain their rapid increase and advancement, scattered like sheep by an inroad of wolves. He had seen peace- ful and populous districts utterly depopulated by murder, captivity and famine. As the California emigrant route can be traced over the great plains of the West by the bleaching bones of dead oxen and horses, so might the routes of the slave caravans be traced by the festering bodies of the un- buried dead, knocked on the head when their strength failed, or left to die of famine. He had seen, time and again, the processions of hapless victims of a great crime pinioned by the slave stick, and had viewed groups of abandoned captives, whom the murderous bludgeon had spared, lying in confused heaps, famine stricken, and idiotic from suf- fering, with the vultures waiting near to pick their bones. Upon his first visit to the Lake Nyassa region he found it a beautiful land densely populated by a thriving race of agri- culturists whose garners were full and whose condition was one of Arcadian simplicity. On a succeeding visit he found this fair land depopulated. A slave raid had been made by a robber tribe, instigated and aided by the Arabs and Portu- guese, and almost the entire population had been killed, swept into slavery, or destroyed by the famine caused by the destruction of their crops by the invaders. Corpses were swept down the Shire in such great numbers that the over- gorged crocodiles could not devour them, and it was necessary frequently to clear the bodies from the paddlewheels of the steamers. At every stage of Livingstone's African explora- tions he was confronted by that great waste of human life, that most prolific source of human misery, the African slave trade. 443 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES In view of the great enormities and horrors of this traffic of which few men had seen more, Dr. Livingstone could only pray, "Oh, Lord, how long!" His great philanthropic heart sent the hot tides of indignant blood tingling to every vein. He calls it the great open sore of Africa, and declares that until that monster iniquity, which has so long brooded over that continent, is put down, lawful commerce cannot be estab- lished. Africa's best friends hope that England will occupy Egypt and thereby secure the command of the vast valley of the Nile, the key to the possession of eastern and interior Africa. The crescent would then be supplanted by the cross, a powerful and just government would protect the weak, the peaceful, and the industrious, from ravage and foray; the robber tribes would be awed into submission; the slave trade would be suppressed; the open sore would be healed; lawful commerce with its attendant blessings would reach Africa's mighty rivers and inland seas; and the hope of those who look for the day when Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God would be fulfilled. Warm clothing, proper food and rest, so far restored the doctor to health that he tired of inaction. The country to the west of the north end of Tanganyika in the valley of the great Lualaba was entirely unknown. Vague and wonderful reports reached Ujiji of the Manyuema who inhabited this region, and of the abundance of ivory among them. Incited by these reports the Arab traders of Ujiji were fitting out a well armed trading party to visit the country for the purpose of trading for ivory and slaves. Not being able to equip an independent expedition, and wishing to visit the country before it had been rendered unsafe by the bad blood stirred up by the Arab depredations, the doctor determined to attach himself to the Arab party. He had no other hope of reaching this coun- try before his long-delayed supplies should come from the coast and enable him to organize an expedition of his own, and he was not without expectation that his presence among the Arab traders would be a salutary check upon them. His great object in the proposed journey was to descend the 444 DAVID LIVINGSTONE great river Lualaba and ascertain whether it was an affluent of the Congo or of the Nile. He left Ujiji on this journey July 12, 1869, nearly four months after his arrival. This was, perhaps, the most adventurous of all his journeys, and the country he visited is in many respects the most romantic and interesting in Africa. On the twentieth of November he was within ten miles of the great Lualaba on the waters of one of its tributaries, and had but to obtain canoes to proceed with his exploration of the great river. But the atrocities of the Arabs had aroused the hostility of the natives, and he was obliged to retrace his steps for a long distance, and then strike north with the intention of reaching the river lower down. An adverse fate seems to have mocked his attempts and baffled his efforts. Again his attendants, except the faithful three, Susi, Chuma, and Amoda, deserted him. His own health was broken and he often suffered from fever. In July, 1870, he was confined to his hut and continued confined for eighty days, with obstinate ulcers on the feet, a disease common to the country, caused by wading through marshes and muddy jungles, and having the feet cut by the leaves of a poisonous grass. The doctor recovered so far as to be able to walk in October, 1870. He was then compelled to wait until the following February for a caravan of Arab traders from the coast which was to bring him his letters, supplies of goods, and some ser- vants. During these weary days of waiting, Livingstone inci- dentally mentions that he read his Bible through four times. When, at last, his servants arrived he found them to consist of ten worthless Banian slaves from Zanzibar. They brought him one letter out of forty and a very small portion of his goods. The balance was left at Ujiji where those to whom they had been entrusted remained to squander them. The doctor now started again for the Lualaba, February 16, 1871, and suc- ceeded in reaching that river, on the thirty-first of March, at Nyangwe, a point considerably below the one where he first came near it. He wished to descend the river in canoes to its junction with the Lomane, and to ascend that stream, which 445 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES was represented to be of great size to its source; examine Lake Lincoln, then return and descend the Lualaba far enough to determine whether it was the Congo or the Nile. His worth- less Banians did not wish to go on, and mutinied. They plotted to take his life if he did start, and excited the super- stitious fears of the natives, who, influenced by their lies, and by the secret hostility of the Arabs, refused to furnish Livingstone with canoes. (How different the situation of Stanley who carried his own boat.) The Arabs procured canoes and proceeded down the river four days, where they found it passed through a mountain dyke. The foremost canoe was engulfed in a dangerous rapid and lost, and the rest of the party returned. The doctor measured the width of the river, and made careful soundings. He found it to ex- ceed a mile and a half in breadth, and to be from twelve to twenty feet deep, with a current of two miles per hour. Wearied with waiting, an event transpired in July, 1871, which so completely disgusted and disheartened Livingstone that he determined to return to Ujiji. A hideous and un- provoked massacre was perpetrated by the blood-thirsty Arabs for the purpose of intimidating the Manyuema. The victims were chiefly women who had assembled in thousands at the market town where Livingstone had his quarters. A great number were shot down, and in the panic that fol- lowed hundreds rushed into the river and were drowned. The ostensible cause of the attack was the theft of a string of beads. In addition to the massacre, seventeen villages were burned. By this time the Manyuema had learned to distinguish Livingstone from the Arabs. They called him " The Good One." His horror and disgust now compelled him to sever his connection with the Arabs, and forego for the present his hopes of exploring the Lualaba, and on the twen- tieth of July he set forth for Ujiji. Soon after starting he was ambushed by the Manyuema, and for five hours fought his way through a jungle path, and was in great peril. He says that he escaped because the good hand of the Lord was upon him. He reached Ujiji, October 446 DAVID LIVINGSTONE 23, 1871, to find that his goods and medicines had been stolen. Not only was he in destitution, but his health was completely shattered, and he was, as he himself expresses it, a "mere ruckle of bones." The prospect was a dark one indeed, but help from an unexpected source was near at hand. Mr. Stanley, of the New York Herald expedition, was already within a week's march of him. On the twenty-eighth of Octo- ber, Susi came running at the top of his speed and gasped out "An Englishman! I see him! " and off he darted to meet him. An American flag at the head of the caravan told the doctor of the nationality of the stranger. He says, "The news that Mr. Stanley had to tell me who had been fully two years without tidings from Europe made my whole frame thrill the terrible fate that had befallen France; the telegraph cable successfully laid in the Atlantic; the election of General Grant, and the death of good Lord Clarendon. Appetite re- turned, and instead of the spare tasteless two meals a day, I ate four times daily, and in a week began to feel strong/' Livingstone and Stanley, with native canoes and crews, went from Ujiji to the north end of Tanganyika, and pretty thoroughly explored the east shore between the two points. They found a river flowing into the lake at its north end, and could find no outlet to confirm the doctor's suspicion that it drained into the Albert Nyanza. Livingstone now determined to have the necessary sup- plies and men sent up from the coast, and then proceed to Lake Bangweola, passing to the south of that lake, and con- tinuing westward to latitude 10, longitude 24, where in- formation derived from various sources led him to believe he would find four great fountains one forming the head of the Lufira, and one the head of the Lomane corresponding with the Nile fountains of Herodotus one forming the head of the Zambezi, and the head of the Kafue, the two rivers that, according to ancient tradition, flowed into inner Ethiopia. We now know that Livingstone was mistaken. The true source of the Nile has been discovered by Stanley to flow into the Victoria Nyanza. Livingstone was on the headwaters 447 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES of the Congo, a greater river than the Nile. When Living- stone was compelled to return to Ujiji and adopt the new route hi search of the four fountains, it was as if an explorer in America, after making his way from the north shore of Lake Ontario to the mouth of the Ohio with the intention of ascending the Mississippi to its source, should be compelled to return to Toronto say, and make his way to the source of the Mississippi by passing north of Lakes Huron and Superior. On December 27, 1871, Livingstone and Stanley left Ujiji, the latter for Zanzibar, and the former to wait at Unyan- yembe till Mr. Stanley could send goods and servants selected from among freemen at Zanzibar to enable Livingstone to complete his explorations. Unyanyembe was reached on February 18, 1872. Mr. Stanley strongly urged the doctor to return with him to Europe, but the latter could not think of leaving his work unfinished. On March 14th, Stanley and Livingstone parted, and, five months later, the supplies and the men from the coast came. Stanley had sent fifty-seven men and boys, who proved to be a reliable and trustworthy party. With the least possible delay, Livingstone set forth on his last journey. He marched his party out of Unyan- yembe on the afternoon of August 23, 1872, and proceeded towards Tanganyika. A month later he was prostrated by his old enemy, dysentery. In December he was seriously ill. The rainy season had now set in, and every day he was drenched to the skin. At the New Year he was crossing the flooded streams flowing into the north-east side of the lake and the spongy bogs on either side of them. Enormous floods of rain continued to pour down. On the first of Feb- ruary he was still entangled in the flooded marshes of the country. The Chambezi was reached on the twenty-fifth of March. The whole country was flooded, and the eminences on the plain rose here and there above the waters like islets. In early April the country was still a lake. The doctor continued to fail in strength. His men bore him upon their shoulders through submerged marshes and bogs, and over flooded plains. 448 DAVID LIVINGSTONE They were faithful and true and did all in their power to alleviate his sufferings and forward his journey. When on dry land, as at times they were, he rode a donkey. From the first of January till the middle of April, the party struggled on over flooded plains, through marshes and bogs, crossing the innumerable small streams that enter the east and south side of the lake. During all this time their life was semi-amphibious. Living- stone constantly failed in strength, and became sadly weaken- ed and emaciated, but, with indomitable courage, pushed on towards the cherished goal of his ambition the fabled foun- tains of the Nile. On the twenty-first of April, he was no longer able to ride the donkey and was carried in a litter, but he still pressed on. They had now partly escaped from the flooded district. Progress was slow and the doctor suffered excessively. His men were frequently obliged to set him down as the motion of the litter distressed him, and he often seemed to be dying. On the twenty-seventh the last entry was made in his journal. They now halted and built huts at Chitambos. The end was at hand. In a rude grass hut in the very heart of Africa, with the surf of one of the great inland seas of that continent singing the "slow sad song of the sea" near at hand, surrounded by African servants only, with no civilized hand to smooth the pillow of pain, with no child at hand to stand at a father's bedside and receive a father's blessing, with scant store of those appliances so necessary for the sick man's com- fort, a knight greater than Bayard awaited his summons. His toils were ended, his journeys accomplished. No more would he confront the dangers of the thirsty desert, the deadly swamp, and the tangled forest; no more heroically face with a handful of followers the savage foe. Where the tangled web of all the intricate lines of his explorations converged, there the adventurous journeys of thirty years were to end with the noble life which had been dedicated to the advance- ment of the highest requirements of science, and to the task of preparing the way for lifting a vast continent from barbar- ism and brutality. a 449 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES His servants did all that lay in their power for the doctor. At nightfall on the thirtieth of April, they silently took to their huts, except those whose duty it was to watch, and these sat around the fires. All felt that the end could not be far off. About midnight Livingstone called Susi to his side. He directed him to place water and medicine near him and then retire. About four hi the morning Susi was roused by Majwarra with a request to come to the master's side, for, said he, "I don't know if he is alive." Chuma and others were aroused and they went immediately to the hut. Passing to the inside they saw Livingstone kneeling, apparently in the attitude of prayer, and they drew back. Pointing to him Majwarra whispered, "When I lay down he was just as he is now, and it is because I find that he does not move that I fear he is dead." The men then drew nearer. He was kneeling beside his bed, his head buried in his hands upon his pillow. For a moment they watched him. He did not stir. One then advanced softly to him and put his hand upon his cheek. It was enough he was dead dead on the field of honour dead with the harness on and in the very midst of the work to which he had given his life dead in the innermost heart of heathen Africa, with his form bent as when, hi sup- plication to the King of kings, he had passed away. When Livingstone's death was made known to the party in the morning, a consultation was held as to what was to be done. The men cowered around the watchfire presenting a remarkable group. Susi and Chuma who had been with Livingstone from the time he left Zanzibar in 1866, placed the matter before them. The men whom Stanley had en- gaged for Livingstone, in reply to the question of what was to be done, said : " You are old men in travelling and hardships; you must act as our chiefs, and we will promise to obey you." From this moment Susi and Chuma were leaders of the cara- van. Upon further consultation the noble fellows deter- mined that the body of Livingstone must be carried to the coast, and this extraordinary resolution was fully carried out. The body was rudely embalmed by the use of brandy 450 DAVID LIVINGSTONE and salt. All of the doctor's notes, journals, and instru- ments, were carefully inventoried by Jacob Wainwright, who could write, and were safely brought to the coast; not a line or an article was missing. It was necessary to conceal the character of the package containing the body owing to the prejudice of the native tribes against having human remains transported through their territories. The caravan took up its march about the first of June, and, avoiding the terrible marshes through which they had come, they passed around the west end and to the north of Lake Bangweola. Where they crossed the Luapula it was four miles wide. After various adventures they reached the coast hi February, 1874. It was a wonder- ful journey, and afforded a striking proof of the courage and fidelity of those tried companions of Livingstone through all his wanderings Susi, Chuma and Amoda and of the men selected by Stanley. Dr. Livingstone's journals have been preserved entire; not a day's entry is missing. The entries were often made on slips of newspaper with the juice of plants, and could only be deciphered by the use of powerful magnifying glasses. As published, his last journals will be an uninteresting work to the general public. The matter is fragmentary and dis- connected. They were daily jottings never intended for publication. From them a full and interesting account of his journeys would have been compiled, had Livingstone lived. They are indistinct, scanty on many subjects of which we would fain know more, and, in many cases, difficult to follow. The body of Livingstone was accompanied to England by Susi, Chuma and Jacob Wainwright. It was laid at rest among England's noble dead, in Westminster Abbey. The inscription on his tomb has these words, written by him about a year before his death: "All I can add in my loneliness is, may Heaven's rich blessing come down upon every one, American, English, or Turk, who will help to heal the open sore of the world." Being dead he yet speaketh. A well-spent life leaves pleasant recollections. An heroic 451 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES life stirs with the spirit of emulation the souls of brave men. Such lives are, fortunately, not rare. But the life that unites in one the bravery of the tried soldier, the pluck of the in- domitable worker, the stubborn endurance that clings with deathless tenacity to a purpose, the meek, forbearing spirit of a humble Christian, and the lofty faith of an apostle, is a rare life indeed. Such a life was Livingstone's. The precious years of his manhood were given to Africa. He pointed the path to her vast and fertile interior; explored her rivers and her seas; discovered her vast treasures of iron and coal; pointed out the susceptibility of her native tribes to improvement, and laboured to bring them to the knowledge that saves from death. The com- bined labours of explorers in this century have done very little more to add to our knowledge of Africa than have the labours of this one man. His life was a life of disinterested self-sacrifice, and when Africa shall emerge from the night of heathenism, and rise from the dust of degredation; when the day comes, as come it will, when the sails of peaceful com- merce shall enliven the blue waters of Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza; when steamers shall navigate all the navig- able reaches of the Nile, the Congo, and the Zambezi; when the thunder of the express train shall awaken the echo of the Mokololo and the Manyuema land, then Africa will pay homage to the name of that dauntless missionary, who yielded up his spirit on the far off shores of the great Bangweola. "God alone Beholds the end of what is sown; Beyond our vision weak and dim, The harvest time is hid with Him. Yet, unforgotten where it lies, That seed of generous sacrifice, Though seeming on the desert cast, Shall rise with bloom and fruit at last." 452 GEORGE WASHINGTON As a Liberal, my sympathies were always with the great Whig cause in colonial America, and one of the men whom I most honoured was the great general who turned the rebellion of 1776 into a revolution and so founded the United States of America. The speech here reported was delivered in the Masonic Temple, Bay City, Mich., on March 14, 1899. The occasion was a meeting in com- memoration of the death of Washington, which took place in 1799. It was a Masonic demonstration, the " Father of his Country " having been a leading member of the Freemasons. Bay City, Michigan, March 14, 1899. Men often possess great qualities without impressing that fact upon their fellowmen. The circumstances surrounding them are not of a character to call these qualities into exer- cise and the individual himself may be partially unconscious of the capabilities which he possesses, and which will be called forth in action. Others, who are possessors of great qual- ities are brought under the influence of circumstances which call these powers into action, when there is not only the man for the occasion, but the occasion for the man. Among the world's great men, who were so fortunate as to meet the occasion that called into action their latent powers, was George Washington. He possessed great powers of endurance, a broad comprehensive mind, firmness of purpose, courage, and high devotion to his duty both to God and to man, 453 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES and his career furnishes one of the brightest pages of human history, insomuch that even the high encomium, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," was well deserved. Washington died just at the close of the last century, on December 14, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, at his family home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, which has become of late years almost a Mecca for his fellow-countrymen, who visit this home of his choice, and place of his death, with feelings of reverence for the memory of this great man. In the Mount Vernon homestead, the original condition of fur- niture, furnishings and building has been as nearly as possible restored, and the room in which the great man breathed his last, with furniture, bedding, and family Bible upon the table is shown to the visitor. Washington's only education was furnished by the schools of the neighbourhood in which he was born, and his school acquirements went little beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and surveying, though later in life he paid a little attention to French, but never attempted to speak or write it. He made surveying his profession, and became very proficient in the work. He was employed by Lord Fairfax, an English nobleman, who had vast estates in the great valley of Virginia. Lord Fairfax had taken up his home in Virginia, attracted by the beauty of the country, the abundance of game, and the frank, cordial character of the Virginian people. He was a keen sportsman, and fond of fox-hunting in the saddle. In this sport young Washington joined, and his bold and skilful horsemanship commended him to Lord Fairfax, and led to his selection by that nobleman to survey the country in the Shenandoah, or Great Valley of Virginia. Just as Washington had completed his sixteenth year, March, 1748, he set out upon this surveying expedition. For three years the work was prosecuted among the magni- ficent forests of oak and maple, and the small clearings of squatters in the splendid valley of "The Daughter of the 454 GEORGE WASHINGTON Stars/' the Indian signification of Shenandoah. At the age of seventeen, Washington received the appointment of public surveyor, which conferred authority upon this surveys, which to this day stand without question wherever they are found upon record. The foundation of Washington's future fortune, so far as he acquired one, was the knowledge thus obtained of the character of the wild lands in the interior of Virginia, of which he afterwards became a large pro- prietor. Washington participated in the hostilities between the English and the French, and held commands of responsibility and importance. His first commission was received when he was nineteen years of age, when he was appointed adjutant, with the rank of major. The struggle between the French and English was of far-reaching importance. The stake was that great region west of the Alleghany Mountains, embracing the valleys of the Ohio and its tributaries, and the great country east of the Mississippi, and south of the Canadian provinces. In the valleys of the Alleghany and Monongahela, French and English interests had already come into collision. English traders had been arrested or warned to leave the country by the French, who had already penetrated into this region. A marvellous spirit of adventure and daring was shown by the early French colonists of Canada. The Frenchmen seemed to affiliate naturally with the Indian tribes, and to be at home in the wilderness. At an early day, French voy- agers, hunters, traders, and priests had penetrated to the farthest extremity of the region of the Great Lakes, had explored the course of the Mississippi, and of the Alleghany and Ohio, and had established military and trading posts at Mackinac, St. Louis, Vincennes, and later at Detroit, New Orleans, Duquesne, and other points. La Salle and other master-spirits of the French colonists had a clear perception of the value and great natural resources of the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries, and of the region of the Great Lakes. While the English colonies 455 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES stretched along the seaboard of the Atlantic, the far reaching purpose of the French was to confine the sphere of English occupancy to the Atlantic slope, and to hem them in from the rear. At this period the American colonists were awaken- ing to a comprehension of the nature of French designs, and a knowledge of the value of the territory that France sought to appropriate. Looking back now upon the incidents of this period, it may be seen that there was absolutely no solution of the problem possible, except the destruction of the power of either England or France in America. At the time when Washington was commissioned, in 1751, a great struggle had become inevitable. A little more than two years later, hostilities broke out, though a formal declara- tion of war between Great Britain and France did not come until 1755. The northern colonies of Britain were engirdled in the rear by a line of fire, ravage and slaughter. Then followed Braddock's defeat in 1755, and the defeat of the English at Ticonderoga in 1758. Then came the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Niagara by the English in 1759, and the shattering of the French colonial empire in America by the capture of Quebec by Wolfe in September of that year. The Saxon and the Celt had decided the question of the ownership of a continent; by the arbitrament of arms, the Saxon had triumphed and the Celtic power was crushed hi the dust. Washington had a clear perception of the importance of this struggle, and of the value of the country west of the Alleghany Mountains. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, in the autumn of 1753, decided to send a special messenger to the headquarters of the French commander at a military post on French Creek, a western tributary of the Alleghany River, which was situated above Venango and fifteen miles from Lake Erie. Washington was selected for this arduous task. He crossed the Alleghany and then proceeded north- ward and visited the French commander, Chevalier Legardeur. Washington reached this post, December 11, 1753, and started upon his return journey on the fifteenth of December. 456 GEORGE WASHINGTON The journey was one of great hardship and peril. A part of it was made through trackless woods, surrounded by foes, with one companion, with short rations, through deep snows, and over swollen streams. Washington keenly noted the force and equipment of the French at the posts he visited, and the general features of the country, and he saw and reported upon the importance as a military position of the portion at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, where Pittsburg is now situated. His report of his mission and journey, when made public, excited great interest, and secured for him the reputation of being a daring and resource- ful man. The services Washington rendered during the French war it is unnecessary to recount in detail. He led the advance which captured Fort Duquesne, November 25, 1758, and performed various signal services which attracted for him the attention and respect of his fellow-citizens, and impressed them with the belief that he was a man full of resources and courage, and the possessor of excellent judgment. You will not be surprised, I trust, at my audacity, in mak- ing the assertion that Washington, although, in a sense, the father of the American republic, was a typical English gentleman. His family is supposed to have dated back to the days of the Conquest under William the Norman, and was an eminently aristocratic one. Washington was thor- oughly English in his tastes and predilections, and, to a certain extent, shared the aristocratic proclivities of his house. He bore the commission of the English king, and served, before the Revolution, in the English cause. Throughout his life he could scarcely be named as a shining example of demo- cratic tendencies and manners, as he was always punctilious and dignified, and a strict observer of official etiquette. When the rebellion of the thirteen colonies took place, they were not destitute of experience in self-government, and were fortunate in the possession of great leaders. For over a hundred years, the various colonies had been slowly evolving institutions of a Liberal and Republican character, and the 457 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES sentiments which underlie free institutions and the formation of free governments were widely, if not universally, dissem- inated. The Puritan element of New England had exercised its influence in the shaping of public sentiment, and the securing of respect for the over-ruling authority of Providence, and had in numberless ways leavened the lump of public senti- ment of the thirteen colonies with salutary effects . The influence of Puritanism upon the destinies of America has been of the most potent and beneficial character, not only prior, but also subsequent to the American Revolution. The imperial policy towards the colonies before the Revolu- tion was one of selfishness and harshness. These colonies were held to be adjuncts to the empire, their special duty being to furnish positions for the scions of the British aris- tocracy, and business to English commercial houses and manufacturers, and to English shipping. Harassing and unreasonable regulations were laid upon the commerce of the colonies. Manufacturing in most lines was forbidden, as it would have a direct tendency to interfere with English mono- poly in the supply of such articles. The colonies in their trade with other nations were harassed by restrictions, and subjected to ruinous disadvantages. At last the time came when England, in an evil hour, undertook to impose taxa- tion upon the colonies without granting them representation or securing their consent. This violation of the principles of free government at once raised a storm. A long record of disabilities, exactions, and wrongs had developed a state of public sentiment which was not to be trifled with. The re- sult of the attempt to impose stamp duties and other forms of taxation, without representation, is a matter of history. A protracted war and disruption of the British empire followed. The first general Congress of the United States was held in 1774, and strong resolutions against imperial exactions and tyranny were passed; also a petition to the king and an address to the people of England. At the third session of this general or Continental Congress, a Declaration of Inde- pendence was issued, July 4, 1776. The hour had been 458 GEORGE WASHINGTON reached when a great crisis was to be precipated, and an event, fraught with untold consequences to the whole world, was to be placed upon the annals of time. With the issuance of this declaration, a new and luminous star in the constel- lation of great nations was launched upon its career. This Declaration of Independence at once attracted the notice of the civilized world. Philadelphia was the forum from which the apostles of human liberty spoke, and humanity was the audience. When it became evident that war with the motherland was inevitable, and after the appeal to arms, April 19, 1775, at Lexington and Concord, the Continental Congress in June, 1775, unanimously elected George Washington commander- in-chief of the armies of the Revolution. The war was con- ducted by Washington under every possible disadvantage. He himself had no personal experience in the handling of large bodies of men. Congress was destitute of all the attri- butes of an efficient government. It had neither power of taxation nor the right to compel individual obedience. The country was nearly destitute of the materials of war, it had no foundries, no arsenals, no navy. It was without friends among the powers of Europe, and its credit was a minus quantity. Under these circumstances, it was inevitable that in carrying on the war, frequent reverses should be met. The battle of Bunker Hill raised the hopes of the colonists. Some notable victories were won, several reverses were sus- tained. Valley Forge winter encampment in 1777, with the sufferings of the troops from hunger, cold and lack of cloth- ing seemed to presage the failure of the colonies. Through the night of disaster and suffering, Washington clung with sublime courage to his purpose, and made the best of his resources and opportunities. Later in the struggle France rendered America assistance, not from love of the cause of the young republic, but from a desire to humble and weaken her hated rival, England. But the triumph of American arms was largely due to the steadfast qualities and high character of Washington. The successful issue of the struggle 459 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES seemed, in the early stages of the conflict, to be highly im- probable. The finances of the country were, from almost the very outset, in irretrievable confusion. In respect to a military chest, the sinews of war were almost entirely lacking. Troops were badly clothed, insufficiently fed, and scarcely paid at all. To tide over these difficulties continental money was issued in volumes proportioned to its depreciation, and to an extent sufficient to satisfy the cravings of the most ardent advocate of fiat currency, and was redeemed by the standard process of reaching the condition of absolute worth- lessness and being repudiated. When the war ended, and independence was the reward of all the struggles and privations of the contest, the great qual- ities of Washington received full recognition. It was realized that his fortitude and steadfastness, his high devotion to duty, and his indomitable courage had triumphed over difficulties, which, to a man of less heroic mould, would have seemed insurmountable, and he received from his grateful fellow-countrymen, the full recognition of his great ser- vices. After the Revolution came a period of quasi-national life under the articles of confederation, and lasting about ten years. During this time the country fell into a condition approaching anarchy. Congress had no power to collect revenue, each state being independent in this respect within its own territorial limits. Recommendations of Congress were practically without weight, no revenue accrued to the treasury, the European debt, principle and interest, remained unpaid. Indian tribes scourged the frontier, foreign govern- ments held the United States in low repute, the separate states enacted conflicting laws for imposing duties upon commerce, discontent was universal. This condition of things led to the calling of a convention of delegates, which assembled in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786, to take into consideration the trade of the United States, and to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations might be necessary to their own interests and permanent harmony. This con- 460 GEORGE WASHINGTON vention recommended the appointment of a convention com- posed of delegates from all the states. This convention was duly appointed, and it convened at Philadelphia the following May, under the sanction of the Continental Congress. Wash- ington was president of the convention, which framed the Constitution of the United States. This Constitution was given to the people of the United States, on September 17, 1787, and in due time was ratified by the states, and went into opera- tion in 1789. It is a remarkable document, and is as perfect an embodiment of the theory of human government as was ever devised without gradual development, and the aid of practical experience at every stage of growth. In practice, it has been found to possess defects, and to lack elasticity, but it has served its purpose well. During this period of the history of the United States the country was fortunate in the possession of public men of great attainments. Men of the stamp of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton gave tone and direction to the formative period of American institutions. All of these men, and others who might he named, rendered important services to the state. Alexander Hamilton was a brilliant man, with intellectual power and wonderful capacity for work. His services on behalf of Washington during the war, in military, diplomatic, and political affairs were invaluable, and after the adoption of the Constitution, under the administration of Washington, his financial abilities enabled him, in the position of secretary of the treasury, to rescue the country from grave financial confusion and embarrassment. Washington was chosen the first president of the United States. He served two terms with great ability and accep- tance to his fellow-countrymen. A nation had been formed and launched upon its career, under his eye, and with his participation in the progress of events. The shaping of its early course was a matter of the utmost delicacy and mo- ment. Washington and his advisers performed this task with consummate ability. The foundations of the nation 461 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES were wisely laid, its affairs were prudently administered, its course was skilfully directed. Washington's farewell address upon the close of his second term of office hi September, 1796, was replete with wise advice, and wholesome admonition. One of its passages is worthy of special mention: " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happi- ness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. A mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity." In this address, Washington gave sound advice with refer- ence to entangling alliances with foreign nations, and this advice has hitherto been faithfully observed by the United States. It is as appropriate to-day as when it was first uttered, taken in the scope, and with the intention that actuated "the father of his country," in its utterance. It would not, however, necessarily bar from such arrangements of special character as might be necessary for preserving national interests and promoting national safety. For instance, the present condition of cordial good-will existing between the United States and the motherland is a natural and proper condition of affairs. Their interests, so far as the rest of the world is concerned, are in most respects iden- tical. The institutions of the United States are practically English institutions. England is a mother of nations, and has stamped the individual characteristics of her evolution of free institutions and free citizenship upon all the nations she has founded, the United States included. It would not be in the interests of England to have the power of the United States subverted by a combination of other powers. With equal truth, it may be asserted that it would not be in the interests of the United States to have the same fate befall England, as a result of the same combination. In many 462 GEORGE WASHINGTON respects the truth is beginning to be recognized that these two great exponents of human liberty must stand or fall together, if they do not prefer the swifter and more certain fate of fall- ing separately. No combination that could be formed against England would be a combination, that would treat with jus- tice, or with any other feeling than with one of enmity, the United States of America, if England's power were destroyed. The old feeling of enmity that existed between England and the United States should exist no longer. The causes of the Revolution are no longer a feature of England's policy towards her colonies. A powerful party hi England recog- nized the justice of the American cause when Washington led her armies in revolt, and the result of the Revolution was to bring a sudden and complete reversal of England's policy towards her colonies. Since that time her colonial policy has been one of magnanimity and generosity. She now gives to them the greatest scope for the establishment of free institutions and the control of their own affairs. It seemed at the time an irreparable disaster to England, when the great country which now forms the republic of the United States was wrested from her grasp. It may, how- ever, have been, and undoubtedly was a calamity that had its compensating advantages. The United States started upon a separate career, with higher incentives to acquire power and secure rapid progress, and with a fairer field for success. The colonial policy of England was rudely set at rights, and a new policy was speedily entered upon to the great advantage of every colony under her flag. She was obliged to turn her attention to other quarters of the globe, and find vent for her energies, and her spirit of adventure and expansion in other directions. There followed the laying of the foundation of what will be a great empire in Australia and the adjacent islands. Then came also the acquisition of South Africa, where, undoubtedly, notwithstanding the present difficulties, a great British state could be established to the benefit and advantage of that dark continent. There came also the acquisition of the Indian empire, bringing 463 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES under the sway of British rule three hundred million human beings. Later came the acquisition of Egypt, and the con- quest of the Soudan, which extends English rule from the Mediterranean Sea south over forty degrees of latitude to the remotest source of the Nile. This extension of British rule furnishes one of the most signal proofs of the beneficent character of English sway over barbarous and inferior races. Canada has been developed and endowed with the heritage of free institutions and an admirable form of government, and there the foundations of one of the great states of the future have been laid. In the good providence of God, the two na- tions now have reached that position, where with concert of action the destinies of the world will be shaped by English- speaking men. In the case of the United States, it is clearly evident, as we look over the history of the past, that expansion was inevit- able. The genius of American institutions, the enterprise and courage of the American people rendered it impossible that their powers should be confined within narrow limits. I cannot believe that Washington would have resisted any single step that has been taken in the line of expansion upon this continent. These steps have in their sequence, been as follows : (1). The acquisition of the country north-west of the Ohio River, as one of the results of the Revolutionary War. (2). The acquisition, by purchase from France, of that vast region west of the Mississippi River known as Louisiana, in 1803. (3). The acquisition of Florida in 1820. (4). The occupation and acquisition of Oregon, which was first occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company and narrowly escaped falling into the hands of Great Britain. (5). The annexation of Texas in 1846. (6). The acquisition of California, Western Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, by treaty, in 1848, after conquest in 1846-7. (7). The acquisition, by purchase, in 1848 and 1853, of Arizona. 464 GEORGE WASHINGTON (8). The acquisition, by purchase from Russia, of Alaska, in 1867. (9). The acquisitions, last year, by combined conquest, purchase and annexation, of Porto Rico, the Sandwich Islands, the Philippine Islands, and the suzerainty of Cuba. I have never been able to divest myself of the belief that the American policy of acquisition and expansion should have been carried still further, and that when Africa was being partitioned among the powers of Europe, the United States should have secured a share of that continent, in view of the fact that it has millions of the coloured race among its inhab- itants. When Stanley made the descent of the Congo and laid bare the heart of darkest Africa, had the United States, in place of Belgium, secured possession of that country, as it might have done on the ground that the explorer was an American citizen, its advantages to the United States, in my opinion, would have been of the greatest importance, and it would haVe afforded a congenial home for American coloured people, and possibly a solution of the race problem. The conditions as relating to commerce and naval opera- tions, are of such a character as to have rendered impossible any proper forecast of the course of events one hundred years ago, or any clear definition at that time of a proper policy that would apply to present conditions. Insular possessions then appeared undesirable, and likely to entail costs and responsibilities entirely out of proportion to their value. With the development of the modern steam marine, has come the necessity for establishing coaling-stations at convenient points where the commercial operations of the nation reach. Without these, a naval powe r is handicapped, and its naval resources may be rendered useless. The United States has fairly embarked upon its career as a great exporter of manufactured products. It has, since almost the commencement of its existence as a nation, been entitled to take rank as a great commercial power; and before the breaking out of the slave-holders' rebellion, it led the world in the amount of its tonnage. This year the amount 30 465 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES of exports of manufactures from the United States, will reach the sum of $400,000,000, $100,000,000 of which will be iron and steel. The rapid expansion of the manu- facturing interests of the United States renders foreign markets necessary. The geographical position of the United States, upon the eastern coast of the Pacific, puts the com- mand of the commerce of that great ocean within its grasp, if the proper measures are taken to secure the prize. The possession of the Sandwich Islands is a necessity, if the Unit- ed States is to control, or to take the leading position in the commerce of the Pacific Ocean. The possession of the Philippines will confer great advantages not only in the con- trol of the market of 10,000,000 people, and of the products of a marvellously fertile region, but in the strategic and com- mercial position of these islands in relation to the commerce of Asia, and hi their great military importance as a base of naval operations. If the United States is to be a great com- mercial power it must of necessity be a great naval and mil- itary power, and the possession of coaling-stations and impor- tant military positions becomes a matter of necessity. This great nation with its almost infinite command of resources, its wealth and its enterprise, should no longer seek to remain in a position of isolation. It must take its position as a world- power and assume its responsibilities in the world's affairs. It must exercise its potent influence in the world's movements, and if wisdom governs the counsels of Great Britain and the United States, the two nations will control the world's des- tinies. We may conclude that Washington, with the possession of of the knowledge which we now possess, would necessarily have modified his views as to various public questions. The country should heed his admonitions and adopt their spirit, while varying the mode of their application as the circum- stances of the day require. It is necessary and prudent to follow old paths so far as these ways are demonstrated to be safe and proper, and Washington's memory may and should be held in reverence, both for the great qualities and great 466 GEORGE WASHINGTON services of the man, and for his deep interest in the welfare of his country and his excellent advice to its future rulers and public men. The Almighty Ruler has been favourable to this land. With a high hand He has brought it through many trials and tribulations, and placed it in a position of enviable prominence among the great nations of the earth. Sad will be the day, if it ever comes, when the nation forgets the God whose bless- ings have crowned its career with success. The future of the land of Washington is radiant with hope. Its power, vast as it is, seems destined to be greatly increased. The second centennial anniversary of the death of Washing- ton is not unlikely to see this great country inhabited by 250,000,000 people, without taking account of the population of future acquisitions. This enormous aggregation of human- ity, with its probable development in arts, and science, and with its vast accumulations of wealth, is almost beyond our comprehension, and the contrast between the probable con- dition of affairs at the dawn of the century one hundred years hence, and the condition of affairs at the present time, we may believe, will be as striking and impressive as is the contrast now presented between the condition of affairs at the present moment and in 1799. To few men is given the meed of imperishable fame. Still more limited is the number of those who command the blessing and the reverence of mankind, and whose names will, through all the ages, recall memories of virtue, patriotism, fear of God, and noble, unselfish service to country and humanity. In this glorious category of radiant names, encircled with the halo of noble purposes and mighty achievements, will stand forever, peerless and beautiful in the list of the immortals, the names of Washington and Lincoln. These men were ver- itable evangels of liberty. They stand in the advance guard of heaven's chosen leaders in the mighty sweep of resistless progress. To the memory of Washington we bring our offering of reverence and high appreciation to-night. Hu- manity may thank the Infinite Disposer of human events, 467 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES for the gift of such a leader in the cause of liberty and truth. Ancient Rome would have enshrined such a name in the list of her demigods. America should cherish the memory of Washington in the future, as in the past, and set forth his virtues, his services, and his character, as a lofty example for the emulation of her sons. 468 AMERICAN HUMOUR I RECOGNIZE a good story as a friend and helper in the work of bettering humanity. I have given many addresses in light vein to my people, and the following is one of them. Who shall compute the value of laughter to plodding, care- harassed man? Who shall weigh its cheerful influence on the physical and mental well-being, or compute its worth in the standards of commercial values? " It gives to beauty half its power, The nameless charms with all the rest, The light that dances o'er a face And speaks of sunshine in the breast. If beauty ne'er has set her seal, It well supplies her absence too ; And many a cheek looks passing fair, Because a merry heart shines through." Solomon declares that to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven : " A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." We know full well that our time to weep comes with unwelcome frequency, that sorrow may at any time cast its shadows over us, and that few indeed of our joys are unalloyed by something that reminds us of frailty and mortality. Shadowy forms hover around the half-opened portals of the future, and cast sinister shadows over the path along which we advance, hopeful but afraid. And alas! the time to die, how soon it will come; who shall escape the dread transition which all the generations of men preceding us have undergone? And yet, why should we 469 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES dread the messenger who opens the door to what may be, if we strive for it, a better life beyond. Blessed be the fact that notwithstanding all our sorrows, and our ills, there is yet a time to laugh. Whenever that time comes it will not hurt any of us to do it, either in a moral or physical sense. Do not make such a sad mistake as to fear an innocent laugh. The puritanical moroseness that frowns upon all mirth and all enjoyment; that locates its road to heaven through the self-righteous region of ascetic austerity; that mistakes cold formality of demeanour for virtue, bigoted intolerance for religion, sanctimonious groans and sighs for the evidence of new life, and the innocent laugh for the sure evidence of natural depravity, is not, it seems to me, the fruit of faith, hope and charity. God is not vengeance, not des- pair but love. I cannot believe that He requires of us a life of rigid austerity, and of careful avoidance of mirth. On the contrary I believe that all things not sinful hi their nature and tendency, that can be made to promote our en- joyment are not only proper but commendable, and that a hearty laugh, whether provoked by ludicrous incident, witty repartee, or redundant spirit, comes nearer to being an act of worship than an act of sin. From the foregoing reasons I am lead to believe that, hi treating of American wit and humour, in dealing in facetiae and pleasantry, in aiming to please rather than to instruct, to excite a laugh rather than to move the ponderous mental machinery called the reflective faculties, I am at the least transgressing no law of our moral being. Wit and humour seem to be resolved into tolerably well defined national types. Scottish humour and Irish humour differ widely. The heavy German type has few characteris- tics in common with either, and the American type differs widely from all. It seems to take its characteristics from the broad sunny land in which Americans dwell, from the grandeur of the mountains, the beauty of the prairie, the sunlit sur- face of the lake, the vastness of the rude and savage forest, and the charm of the landscape where the eye rests in succes- 470 AMERICAN HUMOUR sion upon meadow, and cornland, and golden grainfield. It is sometimes subtle and keen, sometimes rude and primitive as the mountain wild. It is sometimes characterized by whimsical quaintness, as in the case of the Vermont stage driver who, in answer to the remark of a passenger on the box with him when passing over the Green Mountains, that the road was terribly steep, replied, "Yes, Mister, lightning couldn't go down this ere mounting without breechin' on." It is sometimes characterized by stupendous exaggeration of statement, as in the case of an old Western New York pioneer who, many years ago, went out after pigeons with an old blunderbuss of a fowling-piece heavily loaded with snipe shot, and who was a little too long in firing at a flock as they rose, and consequently bagged no birds. The old sinner ex- plained his failure by averring that " as the flock riz he fired a leetle too low to kill any birds/' but that he felt compen- sated for his failure in that respect inasmuch as he had shot off more than two bushels of legs. American humour is often homely and smacks of the squat- ter's cabin and the hunter's camp. It is sometimes so subtle as to escape the detection of the foreigner. At times the point is merely the play upon a word. A case in illustration is that of an eminent lawyer at Kalamazoo, Mich., who was often bored by long visits from an individual who had spent some years on the western plains, and the burden of whose stories and experiences consisted in very improbable narratives of Indian fights. One day the lawyer, after being bored by an unusually long and tedious account of an Indian foray, interrupted his tormentor by enquiring, "I say, Jim, were them Indians hostile Indians, or did they fight on foot?" But whether the sally of wit and flash of humour comes from the camp-fire of the trapper, the cabin of the pioneer, the counting-room of the merchant, the sanctum of the editor, the library of the scholar, or the assemblage of statesmen, it is from the crudest essay at wit in the miner's camp of far-off Montana, to the keen and polished shafts of Mark Twain sure to be characteristically American. 471 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES Notwithstanding that the American has a keen appreciation of humour he is usually silent and reserved. This is a fact that will strike the traveller at a glance. One may travel from New York to San Francisco and scarcely have a word addressed to him. The silent self-poised Yankee will seize upon the humorous, enjoy the joke with keen relish, and then relapse into silence. This is his characteristic on the great routes of travel, but when at home, and not engrossed by the cares of business, he is more communicative. It is very singular that, notwithstanding American appre- ciation of humour, a really good humorous paper, it is said, has never been published in America. Several attempts have been made, but all have proved partial failures. Arte- mus Ward once said that he was unable to see why the comic papers should not once in a while publish a joke. My lecture will necessarily consist of anecdotes, humorous sayings, ludicrous incidents, etc. Those which I have used have been culled from a great variety of sources. Many I have found passing current as small coin in conversation, none of which have been in print. Many have been stored up in my memory for a score of years, and many are gathered from the papers and periodicals of the day. No work on American wit and humour similar to Dean Ramsay's work on Scottish wit and humour is in existence, so far as I know. Scattered and heterogeneous material must be brought to- gether, and I can claim for my lecture only the merit of being a mosaic work, composed of such of these floating fragments as I have chosen to fit together. I shall endeavour to give characteristic anecdotes relating to the American masses, the American pulpit, the American bar, the American press, and the coloured element, and will either group anecdotes of each class together, or give them indiscriminately as may best suit my purpose. If any of my auditors can find a solemn side to any of them, they are under no obligation to laugh, and can be as solemnly decorous as the audience in a rural town in Maine once was who re- ligiously believed it was decidedly wrong to laugh in meeting, 472 AMERICAN HUMOUR and refused to give even a smile at the mirth-provoking comedy of a travelling theatrical troupe, one of the old dea- cons present informing the leader on the following day that he had " tarnal hard work to keep from laughing right eout." The laugh does not always come in at the expense of the Western man however. I had recently from the lips of an eye-witness the following incident where the greenhorn was not the one who had cause to feel cheap. A pleasure party had gone from Cairo up the Cumberland River to Nashville, and were on their return. Among their number was a wag- gish fellow whose pranks and jokes had kept the entire company in constant merriment. One day the boat landed at a wood-yard, and, as she approached the shore, the wag espied a tall lank Kentuckian, uncouthly dressed, with a coonskin cap on his head, and apparently just from the woods, standing near the landing-place. Every thing relat- ing to his appearance gave him an unmistakable air of green- ness, and he was evidently intending to come on board. Pointing out the gigantic greenhorn to his companions, our waggish friend desired his party to keep their eyes on that big fellow, if they wished to see an astonished greeny. He then hurried over the gang plank, and coming stealthily up behind the Kentuckian fetched him a hearty slap on the shoulder, at the same time saying in a loud voice, "You are the very fellow that I have been looking for!" Incontinently the Kentuckian dropped his carpet-bag, came to the right- about-face, raised his huge fist, and nearly knocked the wag into the river; then looking around, he quietly asked, "Is there anybody else here that's been a-looking for me to-day?" A badly swollen eye confined the wag to his state-room for the remainder of the trip. Speaking of Cairo reminds me of a little story, as Mr. Lin- coln was wont to say. At a certain hotel there, they were not, at the time to which I refer, noted for despatch in filling or- ders for meals. If a hot dinner was ordered a long time was taken to cook it. In 1863, a certain gentleman stopped there and sat down at table with an elderly gentleman who 473 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES ordered squirrel. He waited some time for his dinner but was nearly through, and the old gentleman was still waiting for his squirrel. At last his patience was exhausted and he beckoned the head-waiter to him and said, "Has the man got a good gun?" "What man?" asked the waiter. "The man that has gone to shoot the squirrel that I ordered," said the old gentleman with great gravity. Very soon after that question was asked, the old gentleman had his squirrel. One day some years ago, when taking dinner at a hotel in Bay City, Michigan, I was amused at a quaint rebuke ad- ministered to a tardy waiting-girl by a commercial traveller. An unreasonable length of time had been taken to fill his order. When at last it came, he said, " My dear young lady, I would have sent you a letter if I had known your address." Americans excel in exaggeration and hyperbole. Ordinary lightning moves rather slow, so they have the article greased. Their fast express trains are lightning expresses. The Yankee mind is quick and acute. A Yankee pursues his purpose with tireless energy, and draws upon the reserve stock of vital force more liberally than the Englishman would deem prudent. To the advantages of education he is apt to add a supreme contempt for the mere conventionalities of life. His own individuality is always prominent. He is never hat- ter, or baker, or milliner, or starch maker to Her Majesty, or the president, or any one else. In place of fawning upon the occupant of place, the possessor of power, the creature of fortunate chance, he is more likely to assert his own equality, offensively, and with a total disregard of the rules laid down by Chesterfield. Fitz-Greene Halleck, in his ode to Con- necticut hits his character in the lines: " He loves his land because it is his own, And scorns to give aught other reason why: Would shake hands with a king upon his throne, And think it kindness to His Majesty." If you meet the Yankee as an equal he is your friend. If you put on airs, he is your foe. If you are disposed to 474 AMERICAN HUMOUR mind your business he will not interfere with you. He will ask no more questions than you do, and if circumstances require or permit the use of exaggeration in a friendly en- counter of wit, the Yankee almost always understands how to wield the weapon. As an illustration of the style in which this purpose is accomplished, I will give one anecdote. An American, lately in London, who was badgered by his English friends on almost every topic, at last determined to go it on the Mississippi steamboat style, and brag down everything. His first chance occurred at an exhibition of paintings, where a picture of a snowstorm attracted general admiration. "Is not that fine?" asked an English friend. "Could you show anything as natural as that in America?" "Pooh!" answered the American, "that is no comparison to a snowstorm picture painted by a cousin of mine a few years since. That painting was so natural, sir, that a mother who incautiously left her babe in a cradle sleeping near it, on returning to the room, found her child frozen to death. ' Sometimes the cat is let out of the bag quite unconsciously by young ladies, but not very often. The for owing will explain how it was done in one instance. Two young misses discussing the qualities of some young men, were overheard to say: "Well, I like Charlie, but he is a little girlish; he hasn't got the least bit of a beard." "I say Charlie has got a beard, but he shaves it off." " No, he hasn't any more than I have." " I say he has, too, and I know it, for I have felt it prick my cheek." As instances of jolly rural greenness the two following will do. The one is of a Kansas girl, who was standing hand in hand with her lover, with eyes and mouth agape, watching the incoming of the first train on a new railroad. The loco- motive was quiet till it came into the d6p6t, but when the whistle blew as the engine was stopping, the girl burst out with the exclamation, "Why, la! she came right plum in afore she bellered." 475 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES The other is of a girl who lately took her first ride on a street railroad in a western city. The conductor as he passed her held out his hand for the fare, but she did not understand, so he said to her, "Your fare, Miss," to which she replied with indignation, "Well, if I am fair, I don't want none of your imperance." The following is an instance of giving an answer to a ques- tion very fully, and at the same time of satisfying an in- quisitive Yankee as completely as it is possible to do. "Look here, squire, where were you born?" said a per- sistent Yankee to a five-minutes' acquaintance. "I was born/' said the interrogated, "in Boston, Tremont Street, No. 44, left hand side, on the first day of August, 1820, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Physician, Dr. Warren. Nurse, Sally Benjamin." The Yankee was completely answered. For a moment he was stuck. Soon however, his face brightened, and he said, "Yaas, waal I calculate you don't recollect whether it was a frame or a brick house, dew ye?" Who among my hearers has not at some period of his life been kept awake by the snoring of some one who had got the start of him hi getting to sleep, and has not, as the weary night wore away, become more and more fidgety, and wake- ful, till it was difficult to resist the inclination to get up and wring the nose of the offending party? Good old Deacon Andrews having occasion to spend a night at a hotel, was assigned a room in which there were three single beds, two of which already contained occupants. Soon after the light was extinguished, a man in one of the other beds began to snore so loudly as to prevent the deacon from falling asleep. The tumult increased, as the night wore away, until it became absolutely unbearable. Some two or three hours after midnight the snorer turned himself in bed, gave a hideous groan, and became silent. The deacon had supposed the third gentleman asleep, until at this juncture he heard him exclaim, "He's dead! Thank God, he's dead!" While a state fair was in progress at Rochester, New York, 476 AMERICAN HUMOUR not long since, a gentleman who was a local Methodist preacher and also quite an extensive farmer and stock raiser, and who was exhibiting some stock at the fair, after apply- ing at various hotels for accommodation, finally found one where a room with two beds in it, was left. This was given to the gentleman with the provision that the landlord should put in another guest if he desired. Towards midnight, a rap came at the door, and after some vigorous pounding the inmate was awakened, who at once called out, "What do you want now?" The reply came, " I want to put a man into that room with you." The inmate said, "What! Another?" "Another," said the landlord, "why you are the only one there, aren't you?" To which the inmate replied, "You must have lost track of things, for there is in this room at this mo- ment, a Methodist minister, a stock drover and me." The combination character was left undisturbed. As an illustration of the waggish use of the susceptibility of some English words to render double meanings, the fol- lowing is not bad. Jones accosts Smith with, " I say, Smith, where have you been for a week back?" Smith answers, " I haven't been anywhere for it. I haven't got a weak back." The prattle and artless sayings of the juveniles is a never- failing source of delight to the household where their presence is as sunlight, and their laughter as music. Fond parents and friends are often able to see wit and drollery in the ut- terances and acts of children, where the critical and un- sympathetic stranger is unable to discern either. Often the subtle influence, the sparkle of infantile wit is evanescent and refuses to be reproduced. The drollery of act or word eludes the grasp, and the utterance or incident seems puerile when brought out in the form of a second edition. Many good things, however, are told of American children, and es- pecially of the more advanced children styled " Young Ameri- ca." My treatment of the subject in hand would scarcely 477 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES be complete without the introduction of a few anecdotes belonging to this class. First comes one of a little Pennsylvania girl seven years old, who was reproved by her grandmother for playing out- of-doors with the boys. "You are too big to play with the boys now," says grandma. "Why grandma," answers the little girl with all imaginable innocence, "the bigger we grow the better we like them." Grandma took tune to think. This was an artless confirma- tion of the truth fully as old as the art of making bread. My next juvenile anecdote illustrates the tendency of "Young America" to acquire assurance and independence of action at a very early age. A little boy, perhaps six years, was fond of visiting the room of a lady who was staying at his father's house in one of the beautiful villages of western New York. One day when he was in her room, lying in his usual position on the floor, she asked him to get up and shut the door, which he declined to do. "Why Charlie," said the lady, "I should think you would be willing to do it for me. If you wanted me to do anything for you, I would do it." "Would you? "he asked. "Yes, certainly!" "Well then" and he gave her an arch look "won't you please close that door for me?" Here is one which shows the impression made upon the juvenile mind by the style of preaching known as the energetic style. A little four-year-old girl went with her aunt to a revival meeting. The preacher was very earnest in his delivery, and she was much interested. "Mother," she said when she came home, "I have heard such a smart minister, he stamped and pounded, and made such a noise, and by and by he got so mad he came out of the pulpit and shook his fists at the folks, and there wasn't anybody that dared to go up and fight him." Sometimes the fancies of children are exceedingly laugh- able, as in the case of the wee chap who was one day dis- 478 AMERICAN HUMOUR posing of some bread and milk, and who suddenly turned to his mother and said, "Oh, mother! I'm full of glory. There was a sunbeam on my spoon and I swallowed it." The coloured juvenile branch is entitled to just one little story. Here it is. During the palmy days of slavery a little negro boy of ten summers was playing with his mas- ter's son, a lad of about the same age. The white boy threw a rotten apple at the negro boy, which took effect between two very large-sized lips, and liberally bespattered the rest of his face. The little contraband spit and sputtered for a moment, and then indignantly marched off exclaiming, "Massa Horace, I take dis countenance right in, and show it to your fader." The recent Civil War in the United States was tolerably productive of witty sayings and humorous incidents. There were very few officers in the army who were not made the victims of practical jokes, or who did not figure hi some good story, and the boys around the camp fires on the eve of battle or at the close of a weary day's march, laughed at jests and incidents that were sometimes funny, and sometimes rude. Among the stories told of General Thomas is one of an incident which occurred when he and his chief-of-staff, General Garfield, were inspecting the fortifications at Chat- tanooga hi 1863. They heard a shout. "Hello, Mister! You! I want to speak to you," and General Thomas found that he was the person addressed by an uncouth backwoods East Tennessee soldier. He stopped, and the dialogue which ensued was as follows: "Mister, I want to get a furlough." " On what grounds do you want a furlough, my man." "I want to go home and see my wife." "How long since you saw your wife." "Ever since I listed; nigh onto three months." "Three months! Why, my good man, I haven't seen my wife for three years." The East Tennesseean stopped whittling for a moment and 479 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES stared incredulously. At length he said, "Well, you see, me and my wife ain't that kind." Few army officers had better stories told of them than General A. J. Smith. On one occasion he was sought out by a "Secesh" farmer who made grievous complaints about the depredations the "Feds" had committed on his hen- roost. The general asked, "How do you know it was my boys who stole your chickens?" "In course I know it was them. Afore you and your fel- lows came here I'd a hundred of the prettiest fowl you'd find in old Mississippi, and now there ain't more'n a dozen left." "A dozen left! That settles it. If my boys had been the thieves they would never have left a dozen hens." An Indiana colonel was leading his regiment into action for the first time. The bullets were flying around in the most indiscriminate manner, when the colonel halted his command and thus spoke: "Soldiers of Indiana, much de- pends upon you to-day. Soldiers of Indiana, do your duty. Soldiers of Indiana, no dodging the balls, but stand up like men." Just then a shell came screeching by very near the colonel. He involuntarily dodged, but instantly recovering himself, exclaimed: "Dodge the big ones, boys, dodge the big ones, but don't dodge the little ones. Indiana expects that you will not dodge the little balls." It is very natural to glide from the field to the Cabinet, from the soldier to the civil leader, and to reproduce some of the witty and humorous things which the executive head of the nation, during that momentous struggle, was in the daily habit of saying or doing. Abraham Lincoln was a pure, an upright, and a tender-hearted man, and faithfully strove to bear the mountain of responsibility that rested upon his shoulders during the war. He could always answer an argument or illustrate a case with a story 'that was just to the point, and his love of the humorous undoubtedly gave elasticity to his mind, and lessened the weight of his cares. Some of his jokes and stories were capital specimens 480 AMERICAN HUMOUR of American humour, and will long be treasured up. I will find room for three or four. Theodore Tilton relates that one night during the last week of Mr. Lincoln's life, when extremely busy, and wearied as well, he was called to the reception room to see Mr. Speed, then attorney-general. He had called to introduce a friend, and seeing the wearied look on the president's face he began to apologize. "I am very sorry," said Mr. Speed, "very sorry, Mr. President, to disturb you." "Speed," said he, "you remind me of a story of H. W. Beecher. One Sunday as he was going to church, he saw some boys playing marbles in the street. He stopped and looked at them very hard. 'Boys,' he said presently, 'boys, I am scared at what I see.' ' Then,' replied one of the young Americans, 'why don't you run away. 7 ' Mr. Lincoln, referring to his propensity for joking, was wont to say that the best thing on himself he had ever heard was one day in the cars between Baltimore and Washington. In the seat ahead of him sat two old Quaker ladies, who were discussing the probable termination of the war. "I think," said one, "that Jefferson Davis will succeed." "Why does thee think so?" said the other. "Because Jefferson is a praying man." "And so is Abraham a praying man," objected the other. "Yes, but the Lord will think that Abraham is joking," she replied conclusively. The Honourable Wm. Hubbard of Connecticut once called upon the president hi reference to a newly-invented gun, concerning which a committee had been appointed to make a report. The report was sent for, and when it came it was found to be of the most voluminous character. Mr. Lincoln glanced at it and said, " I should want a new lease of life to read this through." Thro whig it down upon the table he added, "Why can't a committee of this kind occasionally show a gram of common sense? If I send a man to buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell me his points, not how many hairs there are in his tail." 31 481 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES No nobler reply ever fell from the lips of a ruler than that uttered by President Lincoln in response to a clergyman who ventured to say in his presence that he hoped the Lord was on their side. "I am not at all concerned about that," replied Mr. Lincoln, "for I know that the Lord is always on the right side, but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." At the White House one day some gentlemen were present from the West, excited and troubled about the sins of omis- sion and commission of the administration. The president heard them patiently, and then replied: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the Niagara River on a rope, would you shake the rope or keep shouting out to him, 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter. Blondin, stoop a little more. Go a little faster. Go a little slower. Lean a little more to the north. Lean a little more to the south'? No! you would hold your breath as well as your tongues, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The government is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in their hands. They are doing the very best they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence and we will get you safe across." The ministerial profession is justly considered the most honourable and sacred of any, notwithstanding the fact that congregations generally consider it necessary to secure humility in their pastors by keeping them miserably poor, and with a total lack of preparation against the days of failing health and old age. Ministers are generally men who appreciate a joke, have a keen eye to the bright side of things and a fine sense of humour. A Methodist minister in a small Western village had the misfortune to be placed in charge of a stingy, quarrelsome congregation who nearly starved him, and made his life miserable with their contentions. When the tune came to preach his farewell sermon he closed the discourse as fol- lows: "Brethren, the time will come when we will stand 482 AMERICAN HTMOUR before the Judge of afl the earth. When the time comes for me to appear, and give an account of the deeds done in the body, I can imagine that I will be asked how I performed my doty to the lambs of His flock at ShoretowiL To this pfnHfrff^ JaipjfcBfOj what answer shall I make? What an- sver can I make? I can only say, *O Lord, yon bad no lambs at flbooefam. The ******* of that Doting a great drouth which prevailed in Eastern for rain. On the last day's service before the drouth he prayed that the bottles of heaven might be un- and the rains poured forth. On the following Toes- raining, and rained almost without inter- idL As m too little or too much of a faiessiag, m the people of comae nored as fondly as though done nothing bm rain since the day they the !!'< i addremed the throne of grace on the bath morning, he refe-rred to the rain qtkestia* a* follows: lad, wfc* we ket addressed the* from this place, we heaven Tnigfrt be uncorked a*d the O Lord, to be throw Ik PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES a more emphatic solution than in the instance of a practical- minded parson of the old school in one of the eastern states, among some of whose parishioners had sprung up an en- quiring spirit concerning certain theological questions upon which they were rather in doubt. One of these rustics, wishing to have his foggy intellect cleared up on a certain matter, called upon the minister, who asked, "Well, my man, what brings you here?" "If you please, sir, I want you to explain to me what a miracle is. I can't quite make it clear." "You can't, eh? Well just step outside for a moment, and I will talk to you presently." Out went the enquirer, and waited patiently. Presently the minister came noiselessly behind his parishioner's back, and dealt him a sound blow on his doubt-haunted skull. "Hullo! What's that for?" exclaimed the skeptic. "Did you feel that?" calmly enquired the parson. "Feel it! Danged if I didn't." "Well, my man, if you hadn't felt that, it would have been a miracle. Good-morning." The young man was satisfied with the illustration. Sometimes incidents occur in church that are intensely ludicrous. I have one of this kind in my mind now. A pious Methodist sister who was in the habit of shouting, "Glory to God! Hallelujah!" whenever anything was said in church that excited her devotional spirit, attended ser- vices in a Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, one Sabbath several years ago. One of the deacons gave her a seat very near the pulpit. The minister commenced his sermon, and grew more eloquent as he proceeded. At last he said some- thing that electrified the sister, and she shouted "Glory to God!" to the great astonishment of the congregation as well as of the minister. A deacon approached her and told her that such actions were not allowed there. She took no notice of him, but was all attention to what the man of God was saying, and as he proceeded he waxed warmer and warmer, and the sister gave another shout at the top of her voice, 484 AMERICAN HUMOUR "Glory! Glory to God!" which disconcerted the minister, and he looked at the deacon, who came and told the sister if she did not stop he would remove her from the house. He took his seat beside her, and the minister continued for a short time, when another " Glory to God! Hallelujah!" from the pious sister disturbed the decorous congregation. The worthy deacon now took hold of the disturber of congregational peace to put her out, but she straightened herself stiffly, and would not budge, so he called another deacon to his as- sistance, and they made a chair of their arms, and set her in it, and started for the door. When about half way up the middle aisle, she threw up her arms and shouted, "Glory to God! I am more honoured than my Master. He rode on one ass, while I am riding on two." One more incident of the ludicrous nature. One Sabbath a few summers ago, as Mr. Beecher was about to commence his sermon in Plymouth Church, a stout, fatherly looking man was endeavouring to make his way through the crowd to get within a better distance of the distinguished orator. At that moment Mr. Beecher's voice rang out the words of his text, "Who art thou?" "Who art thou?" again cried the dramatic preacher. The stout party thinking himself in the wrong perhaps for pressing forward, and believing himself to be personally addressed, startled the brethren, and non-plussed their reverend chieftain by replying, "I'm a hog merchant from Cincinnati, sir. I hope you ain't mad. There ain't nary a cheer, or else I'd a sot down." The coloured element in the ministerial ranks of America is an ever-fruitful source of oddity and humour. The emo- tional nature of the negro, combined with his ignorance, is certain to lead to speech and incident not calculated to pro- mote a reverential feeling in the more cultivated white. The coloured minister is often unable to read, or at least such used to be the case, and in attempting to repeat texts from memory great liberties were unconsciously taken with the Word. During the war, Uncle Peter, a sable minister was appointed 485 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES chaplain of one of the coloured regiments. One Sunday he was invited to preach to some company visiting at head- quarters. It would be rather difficult to find the text that he took in the Bible. It was as follows: "Repent of your sins and be saved, for it is written, though your sins be as black as scarlet, and as red as treason, yet shall you be cleaned; and I say unto you dat though hi de morning you be as green as de grass that groweth, in de evening, you shall flourish away, and be gone." Says the Psalmist, "He makes my feet like hind's feet." A negro preacher rendered it hen's feet, and proceeded to say that a hen on the roost when it falls asleep tightens its grip on the pole, so as not to fall off "and dat's how true faith, my breddern, holds on to de rock." In slavery days plantation preachers often possessed gifts of language, and powers as exhorters, of no mean order. One of these preachers on a Georgia plantation was allowed by his master to visit other plantations on his preaching tours, and he acquired a great reputation among his fellow- slaves. One day his master said to him, "Sambo, I hear that you are a great preacher." Sambo replied, " Yes, massa, the Lord do help me powerful sometimes." "When you are preaching to these plantation niggers," said the master, "what subjects do you preach about?" "Oh!" said Sambo, "I preach about sin and misery, "and God's love and the devil's tricks on poor darkies, and about heaven, where we ought to want to go, and hell, dat we ought to try to keep out of." "Do you ever," the master inquired, "preach practical sermons, and condemn besetting sins?" Sambo hesitated a little and replied, "I don't just know what you mean, massa." "Well, you know," said the master, "that these darkies are very great thieves, and are guilty of robbing henroosts, and stealing pigs, and garden truck. Now do you ever preach against these particular sins?" 486 AMERICAN HUMOUR " No, not exactly/' replied Sambo. "And why don't you?" said the master. "Because you see, massa," said Sambo, "if I did dat it might cast a coldness over de meetings." A little story which I once heard related by my old partner hi the timber trade, Alonzo Chesbrough, and which amused me very much, may as well come hi at this point. There lived in Lockport, N.Y., a waggish good-souled fellow whom we will call Sam Jones. Sam's brother Silas had gone to New York many years before, and amassed a fortune and now lived hi a splendid mansion on Fifth Avenue. After many years of separation Sam concluded to go and visit Silas. He found him living hi grand style, with negro waiters, cooks and coachmen. Upon his return to Lockport, Sam was asked how he found Silas, and if the stories about his wealth were correct. Sam replied that, so far as he could judge, Silas was poor. Surprise was expressed at this, and Sam was asked what business Silas was in. His reply was that Silas, poor fellow, was living up on Fifth Avenue, keep- ing a nigger boarding-house. The sayings and acts of tipsy people often afford amuse- ment to their fellow-men. In Connecticut some years ago lived a thirsty old fish named Joe Phillips. He was a vender of fish, and was drunk whenever he had the means to procure liquor, but was a man of good education and much wit. His eldest son, who was also rather inclined to the flowing bowl, wished to go on a whaling voyage, so old Joe furnished him with money, and the boy started for New Bedford to ship, but while there got on a spree, and spent all his money. He then concluded that he would like to give up his proposed voyage and return home, so he wrote to his father for the wherewithal to return. Old Joe being a little " set up " at the time of the receipt of the letter, went to the telegraph office, and sent the following message, " If you want to come home, sell your oil." A New York gentleman returned home one night about four a.m. hi a state of intoxication, and his wife, who was 487 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES sitting up for him, scolded him severely for the state he was in, and for being so late. To her assertion that it was past four o'clock, he replied, " No such thing, Sally, no such thing. Heard the clock strike myself, and know better, when I was coming round the corner heard it strike one several times.' 7 How many brilliant intellects have been blighted by the withering influence of strong drink! How vast the host of talented men who have been made drivelling imbeciles, and consigned to a premature grave, by this spirit of the damned! Who can look upon the pitiable wrecks of the gifted and the strong without a feeling of commiseration for the victims, and a prayer to be delivered from the toils of the fell destroyer. Tom Marshall, of Kentucky, was a melancholy illustration of the evil influence of strong drink. As an orator, he prob- ably never had a superior in the United States; and, but for intemperance, he could hardly have failed to achieve an eminent position. In the closing years of his life his powers as an orator seemed undimmed, when his condition was such as to permit of his standing up. Tom's style of putting down disturbers of his meetings was always witty and effec- tive. Once, when addressing a large audience in Buffalo, some one in the hall, every few minutes, called out, " Louder, Louder!" Tom stood this for a while, but at last turning gravely to the presiding officer said, "Mr. Chairman, at the last day when the angel shall with golden trumpet proclaim that time shall be no longer, I doubt not, sir, that there will be in that vast crowd, as now, some drunken fool shouting 'Louder! Louder!'' The house roared, and Tom went on with his speech uninterrupted. On another occasion, when addressing a political meeting, Tom was rudely interrupted by an Irishman in the crowd. Happening to know the individual's name Tom stopped, and fixing his eye upon him said, "Oh, I know my friend. That is Tim Murphy, he who spells God with a little g, and Murphy with a big M." The Irishman subsided. The legal profession in all countries is rich in racy incidents 488 AMERICAN HUMOUR and mirth provoking stories. I will give a few, and am sorry that time will not allow of giving more. There was a very testy old gentleman, who for several years held the office of justice of the peace in one of the eastern cities. Going down one of the principal streets one day, one of a crowd of boys spoke to him in a way that did not come up to his honour's idea of the deference due him. "Young man," said the justice, "I fine you five dollars for contempt of court." " Why, Judge," said the offender, "you are not in session." "This court," replied the justice thoroughly irritated, "this court is always in session, and consequently is always an object of contempt." J. Meredith was for many years a leading lawyer of New Hampshire. Between him and Judge Chambers great in- timacy existed, and the two were much given to playing jokes upon each other. Among the cases to be tried in a court, over which the judge presided, was one for theft. The prisoner was aware that the proof against him was too positive to admit of doubt, and he intended to plead guilty and throw himself upon the mercy of the court. When the case was called the prisoner appeared without counsel. In such cases it was customary for the judge to appoint counsel, always selecting from the younger and least-known members of the bar. As Meredith was the most eminent lawyer in court, here was a chance to play a joke on him, and settle up some old scores a chance too good to be lost. So Judge Chambers appointed him to defend the prisoner. Mr. Meredith thanked the judge for the compliment, and accepted the appointment, remarking that, as the case was new to him he would like a few minute's private conversa- tion with his client. "Certainly," replied the judge, at the same time directing the sheriff to show them to a private room. On their leaving, the judge, with a peculiar smile which Mr. Meredith well understood to be the outward manifestation of an inward chuckle over the sell, expressed the hope that he would give his friend some good advice. 489 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES Locking the door of the room to which the sheriff conducted them, Mr. Meredith asked the prisoner if he was guilty. "Guilty/ 7 was the frank reply. "Do you see the woods yonder?" said Mr. Meredith point- ing out of the window. "Yes." " Well, beyond them is a small stream, which is the divid- ing line between the two counties; once over that brook you are out of the jurisdiction of the court, and if you are guilty as you say you are, I advise you to lose no time in passing that line." No sooner said than done. Out of the open window he jumped, and ran as if for dear life. The court, get- ting impatient, sent the sheriff for them. Returning with- out the prisoner, the judge asked Mr. Meredith where he was. "May it please your honour," he replied, "as we were leaving this room for a private consultation, you kindly expressed the hope that I would give my friend the prisoner some good advice, and learning from him that he was guilty, and acting in accordance with your suggestion, I advised him to cut and run, and the last I saw of him, he was streak- ing it for the adjoining county as though the very evil one was after him." As a means of creating impressions, of conveying informa- tion, of moulding opinion, and of educating the masses, the pulpit, the platform, and all other agencies are overshadowed by the newspaper press of America. A few thousands may listen to the speaker, but the millions of America are the audience of the writer for the press. Many capital stories illustrative of the notable traits of character of nearly all the leading editors hi the country, are told. I have only space, in conclusion, for two or three. A very good story is told of the late George C. Prentice, the witty and gifted editor of the Louisville Journal. Mr. Prentice was connected with the newspaper press for about fifty years, and the story gives us an inkling of the intensely 490 AMERICAN HUMOUR personal and bitter character of south-western editorials fifty years or so ago. Prentice was a college friend of the celebrated Horace Mann, and, on one occasion, he requested the latter to supply his place for a short time as editor-in-chief of the newspaper he was then conducting. Mr. Mann consented, and was directed by Mr. Prentice to make his articles as strong as he was able. Mann had just completed a "leader," when Mr. Prentice returned, and he read the article aloud to him. He had done his best to be severe, and flattered himself he had succeeded. "Good," said Mr. Prentice, "very good, now let me finish it." He sat down and began with these words, "Thus far we have restrained our feelings." Editors are often accused of being captious hi the choice of articles, and of rejecting some possessed of merit, while giving place in many instances to inferior ones. With the pressure of MSS. often thrown upon them by those who are anxious to figure hi print it is no wonder that the examination of articles is often hasty, and that injudicious selections are sometimes made. Good things are frequently got off on editors, relating to rejected MSS. Disappointed aspirants for literary honours are naturally inclined to feel sore to- wards the editorial fraternity. Some wag at Richmond, perhaps one of this class who had an old grudge to pay, lately sent to one of the Vermont papers as original, an ex- tract from the " Song of Solomon," and the editor introduced it by styling it trash, and saying that it was a fair specimen of the poetical effusions which were daily thrown into his waste basket. My last specimen, but one, of American humour, will re- late to that prince of American editors, Horace Greeley. It was a peculiarity of Mr. Greeley never to be disturbed by personalities that were addressed to him by small-beer politicians or persons who failed to succeed in inducing him to turn the circular stone that was accounted needful to give an edge to their little axe. On a certain occasion one of these persons entered his private office to express indignation at 491 PLATFORM AND LITERARY ADDRESSES a Tribune editorial. Mr. Greeley was writing, and though violently accosted, never looked up. The angry politician roared out, "Horace Greeley, I charge you with betraying the best interests of your party. You are a secret foe to Radicalism. You do us more harm than you do good. Confound it! If you'd go over to the Democrats body and soul, it would be the best thing you could do. You stay with the Republicans and stab them in the dark. You are the worst enemy Radicalism ever had in this country. I once thought you honest, though I knew you to be a fool. Now I'll swear you are a scoundrel and an idiot." Here he paused again for breath, as he had several times before, expecting Greeley to make some defence, or at least to reply to his ferocious charges. But he was disappointed. The veteran journalist still scribbled at his editorial. The politician attempted to give vent to another burst of indigna- tion, but he was so mad that he couldn't speak, and after a splutter of epithets he hurried to the door. Greeley then lifted his head for the first time and called out in his high shrill voice, "Don't go off in that way, my friend. Come back and relieve your mind." One anecdote of early mining days in California will close our list. I had it from the lips of Bret Harte, when lecturing in Canada on "The Argonauts of '49." A family which numbered among its members several young ladies had moved into one of the California mining towns. These were Christian girls, and they established a Sunday School and gathered together as many children as possible. One Sunday morning one of these young ladies, on her way to her Sunday School, overtook a mule team consisting of six mules attached to a heavy freight wagon, the wheels of which were stuck fast in a quagmire. The driver was lashing his mules, and swear- ing passionately. The young lady felt impelled to stop and reprove him. "My friend," said she, "you shock me." The driver paused, and asked how. " Why, " said she, " you are violating two of God's command- 492 AMERICAN HUMOUR ments. You are breaking the Sabbath, and you are swearing dreadfully." With innate politeness, the mule driver lifted his hat, and said/' Miss, do you call that swearing? Why you ought to hear Bill Sykes exhort the impenitent mule." I believe that it is not Solomon who says that "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men," but the saying is given on good authority, nevertheless. As a rule it is safe to distrust the man who never laughs, who wishes to exchange the sunlight that covers the earth with its flood of glory for the melancholy shades of night. Dark- ness comes sure and soon, but no law prohibits the enjoy- ment of the sunshine while it is day. Sorrows beset our paths, annoyances fret our spirits. The cares of earth in- vite us to bow down and be troubled, but God's blessings are greater than all, and ever invite us to be grateful and of a cheerful mind. Let us laugh rather than cry whenever we can freely make our choice. "A merry heart maketh the face to shine, and contentment is the true riches." The hunger of ambition, the thirst for wealth, the spirit of envy, the desire for revenge, all torture the mind, and leave it clouded, enfeebled, and borne down to earth by the weight of grovelling impulses. The fierce passions are our enemies, but cheerfulness is a physician and a friend. Innocent mirth is commendable. Don't look upon it with suspicion. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Cultivate cheerfulness more assiduously than you labour for gold, and remember that hs whose cheer- fulness is the fruit of the Christian's hope, is rich indeed. 493 INDEX ALBERT Nyanza, Lake, 436, 447 Antietam, battle of, 414 Assignats, issued in France, 342-4 B BAKER, Sir Samuel, 436 Bangeweola, Lake, 439, 441, 442 Battle of the Wilderness, 411 Blair, Hon. A. G., Minister of Rail- ways and Canals, his resignation, 3; his objections to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, 8, 9, 15, 24; his speech in Vancouver, 9-11 ; advocates government ownership, 13; refers to running rights, 17; advocates improvement of the Intercolonial Railway, 20; his es- timate of the cost of the Grand Trunk Pacific, 25 Boers, 89-90, 91, 109 Bonding privilege, the, its abroga- tion, 8, 47-8 Borden, Mr. R. L., leader of the Opposition, 36, 169, 199 Bourassa, Henri, seconds Mr. Charl- ton' s resolution of conciliation, 99 British Preference, 200-4, 245, 247- 50 Brown, Hon. George, sent to Wash- ington to negotiate a reciprocity treaty, 117, 118; his success, 120, 127 Bryant, William Cullen, 405 Bull Run, battle of, 93, 410, 414 Bunker Hill, battle of, 459 Butler, General, 413 CANADIAN Pacific Railway, 22; its contract contrasted with that of the Grand Trunk Pacific, 59-68; its earnings, 70 Cape Colony, 424 Cartwright, Sir Richard, 151, 153 Chancellorsville, battle of, 94, 415 Charlton, Mr. John, an account of his life, viii.-x; early years, 384; settles in Lynedoch, and opens a country store, 384; goes into the lumber business, 384-5; the firm of Ramsdell & Charlton formed, 386; parliamentary life, 387 Chickamauga, battle of, 411 Christian Evidences, 306-27 Clay, Henry, 377 Confederate States, 408, 409 Constitution, the United States, 461 DAVIS, Jefferson, 409 Declaration of Independence, 458 Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, 456 Dominion Elections Act, proposed amendments to, 361-4; the amended bill, 365-6 Douglass, Stephen A. (Judge), intro- duces the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 399; defends the bill, 402; his joint debate with Lincoln, 403, 404; nominated for president, 407; defeated, 408 495 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES E EMANCIPATION Proclamation, 414, 415 Exports, 183-4, 186-8, 198, 201, 211, 212, 213-18, 238-9, 241-5 FIELDING, Hon. W. S., Minister of Finance, 77, 160, 197, 365 Fleming, Sir Sandford, 14, 15 Fort Sumpter, 409 Free Soil party, 397, 398, 399, 400 Fugitive Slave Law, 398, 401 G GETTYSBURG, battle of, 93, 411, 416, 417 Government, the, considers three propositions re Grand Trunk Pacific, 34, 35; adopts a policy, 36, 37; its twofold object re Grand Trunk Pacific, 39-40; re- tains running powers, 53; its financial supervision of the Grand Trunk Pacific, 54-5; its joint supervision as to letting of con- tracts, etc., 57; its action re the South African War, 78-94 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, its need, 5, 6; its running rights, 17; conditions of contract, 19 ; quality of its construction, 22-3, 37; its eastern terminus, 24; its cost, 24, 25; its stock, 26, 59; its length, 32; the country's need of it, 32-3; why its ownership by the govern- ment was objected to, 34; its supervision, 35; its physical fea- tures, 40-2; as to its route, 42-3; its business prospects, 44-6; its financial basis, 48-52; its stan- dard of construction, 57; various provisions in the contract, 57-8; 496 its contract contrasted with that of the C.P.R., 59-68 Grant, General, 417, 418, 419 Greenback period in the United States, 351-5 H HAMILTON, Alexander, 461 IMPORTS, 175, 183-4, 186-8, 198, 201, 202, 211, 213-18, 238-9, 241-5 Intercolonial Railway, the, 21, 22, 31, 32, 47 Irredeemable Currency, 333; argu- ments against, 334-7; its results in the American colonies, 339-41 ; in France, 342-4; in other foreign countries, 344; defined, 348 K KANSAS-NEBRASKA Bill, introduces the principle of squatter sove- reignty, 399; leads to the forma- tion of the Republican party in 1856, 400; arouses the indignation of Lincoln, 401; a state conven- tion of its opponents meets at Bloomington, 402 Kimberley, 92 Knox College, affiliated with Toron- to University, 295; its endow- ment, 297 LADYSMITH, 92 Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, his motion to ratify the agreement with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company, 3; advocates the road from a national and commercial standpoint, 25; the Grand Trunk Pacific scheme a credit to, 71 INDEX Lee, General, 414, 416, 419 Lincoln, Abraham, his education, 390-1 ; his parents and birth, 391 ; early years, 392-3; moves to Illinois, 393; studies law, 394; in the Illinois legislature and in Congress, 394; refuses the gover- norship of Oregon, 401 ; his joint debate with Douglass, 403, 404; his speech at Springfield, 403-4; lectures in New York, 405; nomin- ated for president, 406; his in- auguration, 408; calls for volun- teers, 409; his Emancipation Proclamation, 414; his second inaugural address, 417; his assas- sination, 419; the funeral, 419-20 Livingstone, David, birth and edu- cation, 427; first years in Africa, 427; first explorations, 427; dis- covers the Zambezi, 428; sends his wife and children home, 429; visits the Mokololo, 429; makes an excursion to the west coast and back, 429-30; discovers the Vic- toria Falls, 431 ; sails for England, 432; heads a party under the aus- pices of the Royal Geographical Society to explore the Zambezi region, 432; its six years' work, 432-6; death of his wife, 434; sets out to discover the source of the Nile, 437; his ill health, 438-9; reaches Lake Tanganyika, 439-40; makes his way to Lake Moero> 440-1 ; visits Casembe, 441 ; dis- covers Lake Bangweola, 441; makes his way to Ujiji, 442; leaves Ujiji to descend the Lualaba, 445-6; returns to Ujiji, 446; sets forth on his last journey, 448; his death, 450; his body taken to the coast and thence to England, 451-1 Louisiana, purchased from France, 395 Lumber, its transportation, 15, 16; its exportation, 194 Lumber duties, export duty on logs objectionable to Americans, 131-2; concessions suggested, 133; duty on sawn lumber, 134; terms not complied with, 135; export duty repealed, 135; free lumber provision, 138-40; boom duty, 144-8 M MACDONALD, Sir John A., 120, 133-4, 135, 154, 156, 207 Mackenzie, Alexander, 377 Maf eking, siege of, 91, 92 McCleUan, General, 411, 414, 415, 417 McKinley BiU, 131, 132, 133, 135, 149 Meade, General, 416 Merrimac, the, destroys the frigates, Cumberland and Congress, 413 Mills BiU, 132, 137 Moero, Lake, 440-1 N NYASSA, Lake, discovered, 432-3, 438 O ORANGE Free State, 424 PLUMB, Mr. J. Burr, opposes a recip- rocity treaty, 117, 118, 119 Presbyterian Theological Colleges, proposed consolidation of, 296-9 Protective policy, a, 152-4, 156; effect of in the United States, 161-4; in vogue from 1878-96, 166; purposes of, 170 497 SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES Q QUEEN'S University, its secular- ization proposed, 293, 295; rea- sons for opposing the measure, 295-6, 302-4; its removal from Kingston for confederation with Toronto University discussed , 301-2 R RECIPROCITY, in natural products, 171-2, 176, 187-8, 190, 193, 227; Mr. Charlton's speech in favour of, 181-95; its desirability, 220; its prospects, 221-3; the basis of, 225; the effects of, 225-6 Reciprocity Treaty, proposed, 117; rejected by the United States Senate, 117, 118, 240; treaty of 1854 abolished, 119, 239; its re- newal sought, 120, 239; objec- tions to, 121-2, 213; its advan- ages, 123-4, 125-6, 213; con- cessions for, 124-5; the treaty of 1854, 165, 183-4 Repressive policy, the, 210, 211, 240 Republican party, inaugurated, 400, 402 Rhodes, Cecil, 105 SABBATH Observance, objects of the bill, 253-4; precedents for the proposed bill, 256-60; authori- ties for, 261-4; laws passed for, 265-7; character of proposed laws for, 268-70; reasons for the pro- posed laws, 270-7; provisions of the bill, 277-8, 282-4; opposition to the bill, 287 Scott, Dred, 400-1, 404 Sherman, General, 418 498 Slave Power, the, 396, 397, 398, 399, 408 Slavery, 395; its territory limited, 396; its expansion, 377; in cer- tain states, 397-8; fought for in the territories, 401 ; its death, 420 South Africa, British title to, 80; its five provinces and two terri- tories, 82-5, British policy in, 85; railways in, 85-6; British pos- sessions in, 86; character of Brit- ish rule in, 89 South African War, causes of, 83-5, 91, 106; its difficulties, 105; its outcome, 106 Stanley, Henry M., of the New York Herald, 447; goes with Living- stone to the north end of Lake Tanganyika, 447; discovered the true source of the Nile, 447; leaves Ujiji for Zanzibar, 448; he and Livingstone part, 448 Success, conditions of, 374, 377, 380, 383, 387 TANGANYIKA, Lake, 436, 439, 440 Tarte, Hon. J. I. 199, 223 Thompson, Sir John, 145, 146 Tilley, Sir Leonard, 331, 355 Transvaal, the, 424, Tupper, Sir Charles, 77 U UNITED States, its Constitution, 461 ; its expansion, 464-5; its future, 467 VICKSBURG, battle of, 411, 417 Victoria Nyanza, Lake, 436 "Voices of Freedom," 396 W WALLACE, William, M.P., 331 INDEX Washington, George, his education, 454; employed by Lord Fairfax, 454; appointed public surveyor, 455; receives his first commission, 455; sent as special messenger to French Creek, 456-7; captures Fort Duquesne, 457; a typical Englishman, 457; elected com- mander-in-chief of the armies of the Revolution, 459; his good qualities recognized, 460; presi- dent of the convention which framed the U.S. Constitution, 461 ; first president of the United States, 461; his farewell address, 462; his death, 454 Webster, Daniel, 375-6 White, Hon. Peter, 133 Wilmot proviso, 397 Wilson Bill, places Canadian lumber upon the free list, 129; introduced in 1893, 136; its paragraphs 673 to 683, 136-7; its free-lumber provi- sions retained, 140; an attempt to break up its free-lumber provi- sions, 145-7; becomes law, 148-50 499 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY