NEW
IN
Edited by J, 0, MILL!
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
•
THE
NEW ERA IN CANADA
Reproduced by kind permission of the Editor of Punch.
CANADA!
Ypres! April, 1915 Courcelette! September, 1916
Vimy Ridge! April, 1917
THE
Ni IA IN €AJ
AYS DEALING UPBUILDING OF S COMMONWF
Edited By
I O. MILLER
<*c,>»l of RirtUy
THE
ESSAYS DEALING
WITH THE UPBUILDING OF THE CANADIAN COMMONWEALTH
Edited By
J. O. MILLER
Principal of Ridley College
LONDON PARIS - TORONTO
J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. 1917
Copyright, Canada, 1917, by J. M. DENT & SONS, LIB.
p
1033
INTRODUCTION
THE purpose of this book is two-fold :
1. To awaken the interest of Canadians in problems which confront us as we emerge from the adolescence of past years into the full man- hood of national life.
2. To urge that the test of national greatness lies in the willing service to the State by its citizens and to point out, so far as possible, opportunities for service.
This is, indeed, a New Era in Canada. The inspiration and the impetus for the coming years find their vitality in the unselfish service and unstinted sacrifice of her sons upon the battle- fields of France and Flanders. By the shedding of their blood they have
"brought us for our dearth, Holiness lacked so long, and Love and Pain.
Honour has come back as a King to earth, And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again, And we have come into our heritage."
Democracy has triumphantly vindicated itself when brought to the crucial test of war; the cross is henceforth the symbol of service. But Democracy has yet to prove its power to survive, as the ideal of human systems, by meeting the
5
221675
INTRODUCTION
test of peace and prosperity. There are those who doubt its capacity to endure. Such are not the contributors to this book.
The strength of the State is in the service of its citizens, be it forced or voluntary. The final triumph of Democracy can only be assured by the willing subordination of the individual to the State, for the common good. That is the lesson Canadians have to learn in the New Era, a lesson made easier for them by the heroic example of Canadian youth in war and the devotion of those who willingly gave them to a noble cause. The chief purpose of this book is to suggest oppor- tunities for national and civic service.
The writers of these essays are responsible only for their individual contributions ; but it will be found that, in spite of diversities of opinion and belief, there is throughout the book a strong com- mon bond of unity — the will to serve.
The thanks of the editor are gratefully extended to those who have graciously granted permission for the insertion of copyrighted poems, " The Dead " and " Peace," by permission of the liter- ary executor and Messrs. Sidgwick & Jackson, publishers, London.
The profits from the sale of this book are to go to the Canadian Red Cross Society.
CONTENTS
PAGE
DEMOCEACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS 13
STEPHEN LEACOCK, M.A., PH.D., Professor of Political Science, McGill University, Montreal,
The New Era of Democracy — A Discredited Plutocracy — Weaknesses of Democracy — Origin of Modern Democ- racy— Primary Conception of Democracy — The Democratic Structure — Difficulties of Democratic Theory — Reasons for the Failures of Democracy — Unforeseen Tendencies — Efforts at Improvement — The Letter Killeth; the Spirit Giveth Ldf e.
THE FOUNDATIONS OP THE NEW EEA. ... 37
SIR CLIFFORD SIFTON, Chairman, Canadian National Conservation Commission.
The Franchise and Naturalization — Parliamentary Rep- resentation— The Patronage Evil — Purity of Elections — Reform of the Senate — The Right to Amend the Constitu- tion— Limitations to Legislative Powers of Parliament — Conclusion.
OUE NATIONAL HERITAGE 61
FRANK D. ADAMS, D.Sc., F.R.S., Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, McGill University.
The Setting of Our National Life — The Question Plainly Stated — Illusions — The Natural Resources of the Dominion — Agriculture — Forests — Mines — Fisheries — Water-powers — Results and Conclusions.
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT 103
SIR JOHN WILLISON, LL.D., Chairman, Ontario Unem- ployment Commission; Editor, Toronto "Daily News."
Tests for Voters — Soldiers and the Land — An Inter- Imperial Policy — Volume of Immigration — Relation to Unemployment — Place on the Land — A Duty and a Privi- lege—^Conditions in Different Provinces — The Cost of
7
CONTENTS
PAGE
Undesirables — American Experience — Value of Good Advice — Faulty Statistics — Advantages of English — Bet- ter Regulations — A Definite Imperial Object — General Recommendations.
EAST AND WEST 131
SIR EDMUND WALKER, LL.D., C.V.O., President Cana- dian Bank of Commerce.
Build One Great Commonwealth — Matters of Disagree- ment— The Grievances of the West — Interest Bates and Credit — Agricultural Loans — The Railroads — Prices and Distribution of Goods — The Tariff — A United People — Education.
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTEY 161
G. FRANK BEER, Member, Ontario Unemployment Com- mission, Highway Commission, etc.
Development of Our Resources — The Canadian Tariff — The Effect of the Tariff on Export Trade — Trade Bal- ances— A Board of Industry — The Importance of Market- ing Ability — The Coming Problem of Employment — Palliatives for General Unemployment Worthless — With Whom Lies Responsibility — Can Present Wage Rates be Retained? — Production and Marketing National Problems — Organized Marketing — A Substitute for the Munitions Board.
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY 193
NEIL MCNEIL, M.A., D.D., Archbishop of Toronto.
Religion and Politics — Parties and Races — Present State of Representative Government— Other Centrifugal Forces.
WOMEN AND THE NATION 211
MARJORY MACMURCHY, Member, Ontario Unemployment Commission; author of " The Woman — Bless Her''
Paid Workers Not the Chief Concern — Women in Skilled Employments — Training in Primary Employments — Care of Children as a National Interest — Primary Employ- ments are National Service — The Government and the Work of Women.
8
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION 229
GEORGE M. WRONG, M.A., Professor of History, Univer- sity of Toronto.
The French Language in Ontario — Historical Review — Defective Teaching of English — The Policy of Using Eng- lish in All Schools — Antagonism Between Ontario and Quebec — The Eacial Strife in Ottawa — The Situation in the West — The Situation in Ottawa — The Judgment of the Privy Council.
OUE FUTUEE IN THE EMPIEE: CENTEAL AUTHOEITY 263
A. J. GLAZEBROOK, Canadian Editor, "Sound Table Magasine."
What is the British Empire! — Centralization — Theories of Imperial Organization — Canadian Ideals — Foreign Affairs — The Bound Table Studies.
OUE FUTURE IN THE EMPIBE : ALLIANCE UNDEE THE CEOWN 279
JOHN W. DAFOE, Editor, Winnipeg " Free Press."
The Future of Canada — Our Nationhood a True Evolu- tion— The Curtis Plan — Practical Difficulties — The True Line of Development.
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFEAGE IN CANADA 303
MRS. H. P. PLUMPTRE, Secretary, Canadian Bed Cross Society.
War and Citizenship — War and the Enfranchisement of Women — A Change of Heart — Influence or the Suffrage? —Why Should Sex Determine the Suffrage! — The New " Culture " — The Claim of Democracy — Woman Suffrage from the Historical Standpoint — Woman a Non-Party Voter — Suffrage and the Aborigines — Suffrage and the Immigrant — Importance of the Immigration Official — Some Considerations and Conclusions — War Has Given a New Idea of Citizenship.
9
CONTENTS
PAGE
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE. . . 333
PETER MCARTHUE, M.A., author of " In Pastures Green," etc.
The Lordly Voter — The People and the Government — A New Public Opinion — Moulding Public Opinion — A Disquieting Prospect — Men Not Policies — The Outlook.
THE BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES 349
J. O. MILLER, M.A., D.C.L., Principal of Eidley College.
Present Conditions — Evils of Inefficiency — The Civic Survey — Civic Exhibitions — Town Planning — Civics as a Science — Divorce of Administration from Legislation- Civic Nostrums — A New Profession of Civic Adminis- trators— Assessment and Taxation — The True Functions of a City Council — Public Utilities and Municipal Owner- ship—The City as Land-owner — The Citizen and Civic Service.
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH. ... 383
HERBERT SYMONDS, M.A., D.C.L., Vicar of Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal.
The Church and the New Era — The Nature of Faith — Faith and Reason — The Meaning of a Religious Revival — Ideas Involved in Religious Revival — The Message of Love and Service.
OUR NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR 409
STEPHEN LEACOCK, M.A., PH.D., Professor of Political Economy, McGill University.
What are We to Do? — Efforts that Lead Nowhere — Fruitless Exports — Economy of Real Effort — Real National Organization — National Taxes and National Loans — Campaign of Thrift.
10
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
THE AWAKENING
How like a giant stretching in the sun, We have slept through the ages; even we Whom the gods moulded for a people free,
And made tremendous for the race not run.
See we have slept a magic cycle round, And In the dream we have imagined much; Felt the soft wings of years we did not touch,
Dallied with somnolence that deadens sound.
With untried strength what we have done is done. The wandering, drowsy brain has vaguely stirred, As though from out infinitude it heard
A great voice speaking from behind the sun.
Closer and clear the calling, strangely loud, And the great country, rousing from long sleep, Murmurs to its own soul, as deep to deep
Beckons a day's new dawn, so sure and proud.
These were the visions of a passing night, Visions now caught in bugle notes of flame, And lo, through storms of war we hear our name
Called by an angel, terrible and bright.
Katherine Hale.
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
THE present war carries with it, among other things, the vindication of democracy and the final discredit of autocratic monarchy. The battle-glory of France has hallowed anew the name of republic. In England the people rule. The monarchy is a mere form, revered for its history and its associations, but no longer serv- ing even to conceal the plain fact of democratic sovereignty. Russia, in the very travail of the war, is being born into freedom. In Germany and in Austria and under the banner of the Turk the ancient tyranny of a thousand years stands for its last fight. Out of the wreck and downfall of it there will arise, somehow, at no great dis- tance of time, the republics of Central Europe, that may yet redeem the shame of the Hohen- zollerns and the Hapsburgs.
Autocratic monarchy stands condemned. It is a sin against the light. Even on its own ground and with its own weapons it is beaten. Democ- racy has proved that it can fight. After the shock and confusion of the first treacherous onslaught, there ceased to be any doubt of the final issue.
THE NEW ERA OF DEMOCRACY
We are entering, then, upon an era of demo- cratic government. The British Empire, whether in the form of one great commonwealth or as a
18
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
group of allied states, is obviously destined for democratic rule. It is not likely, indeed, that any of the British peoples will wish to adopt the actual form of a republic. Our monarchy, if it can be shorn of its German affiliations, will wear us well enough. But of the almost universal desire in the British countries for popular sov- ereignty there can be little doubt. Even the regime of caste and hereditary privilege which still disfigures British government in the parent isles is destined to go down. The senseless anachronism of a house of hereditary lords can form no part of a truly democratic common- wealth or a truly united empire.
In France there can be no backward step. In 1913 a royalist revolution was still a possibility — an imminent one, as some have told us. Such outlook as it had is eclipsed once and for ever by the glory of the national defence. France has at last taken the republic to its heart. The after- thought harboured against it has vanished. It can fight. The monarchy lost Sedan. The republic conquered at the Marne.
The future lies and can only lie with democ- racy. The time is therefore ripe, at the opening of the new era that follows the war, for an exam- ination of the principles of democratic govern- ment and a review of its past history. It is only by an appreciation of its peculiar strength and its peculiar weaknesses that we can be safe- guarded against future disaster.
14
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
A DISCREDITED PLUTOCRACY
This is all the more needful in so much that in the era that has just closed popular government was falling under grave suspicion. Everybody knows that by the opening of the twentieth cen- tury many persons both in the United States and the British countries had grown to distrust Democracy and all its works. It began to appear as a mere change of masters. It was the rule of the plutocrat in place of the rule of the king. Feudal privilege, it seemed, had vanished only to give place to the power of money. The old tyranny was exchanged for the new. An elected legisla- ture began to seem a mere bundle of crooks; a city council an associated group of robbers ; popu- lar government in general to mean nothing but plunder. The mass of the people appeared as much enslaved by the great "interests" as they had been under the by-gone kings. Of democracy there was nothing but fine phrases. A constitu- tion was but an empty gourd, sounding hollow. The whole machinery of popular elections and legislatures and courts showed itself, in reality, merely a huge engine of corruption. Worse than that. The new government of the money power was without a soul. It knew nothing of the ancient pride of place and race that dictated a certain duty towards those below. The creed that was embodied in the words noblesse oblige has vanished with the nobility. The plutocrat, unfettered by responsibility, seemed as rapacious
15
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
and remorseless as the machinery that has made him.
Thus did many an honest man, in the welter of our commercial corruption, begin to look back with a wistful regret to what seems in the soft haze of retrospect the sturdy, honest government of a king. Before the war he might even babble of unseen Germany, as he imagined it, with its clock-work regularity, its feudal kaiser and its negation of popular sovereignty.
WEAKNESSES OF DEMOCRACY
Thus there had been drawn up, or at least framed unspoken in a thousand doubts and after- thoughts, a sort of general indictment of democ- racy. The change from autocratic rule to the rule of the people was viewed as only a change from the frying-pan to the fire. Few indeed have had the intellectual hardihood to make an open denunciation of the rule of the people — few, that is to say, in the free countries, and apart from the lip service of the German parasite, ready with pen and ink to turn the neurotic ravings of a crack-brained sovereign into a theory of the state. Here and there a voice was heard. Thomas Carlyle, Sir Henry Maine, and a few others denounced democracy as doomed to failure. But Carlyle's thoughts, volcanic as they were in their expression, were often little else than a form of indigestion, and Sir Henry Maine had lived over- long in the unchanging East. But more and
16
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
more widely had the vague distrust and the unframed accusation spread from mind to mind that democracy was being condemned by its works. The rise of the great trusts, the obvious and glaring fact of the money power, the shame- less luxury of the rich, the crude, uncultivated and boorish mob of vulgar men and over-dressed women that masqueraded as high society-~-the substitution, shall we say, of the saloon for the salon — all this seemed to many an honest observer of humble place as but the handwriting on the wall that foretold the coming doom. Many framed their thoughts — though they could not have named them so — in terms of the Aristotelian cycle, as if all human institutions must run their course in the fashion of an orbit or circle, from bad to worse and so back to good again: from king to mob, and from the mob to the deliverer who made of kingship once again the thing that it had started with. Thus would modern democ- racy appear, in the vast sweeping orbit of the world's history, as a mere phrase, or transit, giv- ing place of necessity to the old kingship, or at least the rule of the strong under some newer name.
Such speculations and such forebodings were nowhere more in place than in Canada. The nineteenth century had seen us emerge from the tyranny of stupid kings and wooden governors into the sunlight of free government. Its close had witnessed the emergence of the new tyranny
17
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
— the money power, the political " machine," the interests. One might well have asked before the war whither we were drifting. To many it seemed as if the country were falling under the rule of the great corporations, the railroads and the banks ; as if our free democratic government, wrested after so many efforts from those who ruled us, had given us only the rule of the capitalist. For bread, a stone.
It is worth while to ask, then, why it has been that democracy — triumphantly vindicated by the war and evidently the only hope of the future — should have developed in the nineteenth century faults and shortcomings that almost bid fair to endanger its existence.
Let us turn back to consider briefly its origin and its history.
ORIGIN OF MODERN DEMOCRACY
Modern democracy as a theory of government came into the world as a result of the Protestant Reformation. It was, as the phrase runs in busi- ness, a by-product. The essential idea of the Reformation (particular controversies apart) was the assertion of the right of the individual to judge for himself the meaning of the Scrip- tures. This is often wrongly stated as the right of the individual to judge for himself in matters of religion. Such a thing was never contem- plated by the reformers. The right to be an unbeliever was as abhorrent to Luther and to
18
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
Calvin as it was to Bishop Bonner or to Torque- mada.
Nor had the leaders of the Reformation the least idea of applying the right of individual judgment as against the king and those in authority. Luther and Calvin knew nothing of popular sovereignty, of liberty and equality, of individual right. For both of them, obedience to the Prince was a cardinal doctrine. "Those who maintain that restraint accords not with the Christian law," wrote Calvin, " betray their pride and arrogate to themselves a perfection of which they do not possess the one-hundredth part. Princes must be obeyed, by whatever means they have become so, and though there is nothing they less perform than the duty of princes."
But the spiritual side of their creed compelled the reformers to make one notable exception to the rule of plenary obedience to the prince. No man must obey any command that was contrary to the commands of God. The individual citi- zens, said Calvin, "are subject to their rulers, but subject only in the Lord."
Similarly Luther had declared that no obedi- ence was due to the Pope, " a mad wolf," against whom the whole world should take up arms, while all who defended him " must be treated like robbers, be they kings or Caesars."
PRIMARY CONCEPTION OF DEMOCRACY
But the breach that was made in the solid wall of authority by this exception proved fatal. It
19
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
widened till it brought down the whole fabric in ruin. Obviously enough if the subject refuses obedience to any command that violates his duty to his God, and if the subject himself must judge without the interposition of the priest and the Church, what is and what is not his duty to his God, then the whole doctrine of obedience falls to the ground. Every man obeys only as far as he thinks he should obey. In place of revealed duty and the sacredness of authority there rises up the individual, judging, and compelled to judge, for himself, the primary conception of Democracy.
John Milton, in his "Tenure of Kings and Magistrates," carried the dogma of Luther and Calvin to its plain, logical conclusion. "The doctrine that kings are accountable to none but God," he wrote, "overturns all law and govern- ment. Man is born free and in the image and resemblance of God Himself. Nothing is more agreeable to the law of nature than that punish- ment should be inflicted on tyrants."
It was inevitable that this doctrine once for- mulated should have demanded and brought about an entire reconstruction of the general conception of the state and its relation to the citizens. The theory of individual rights and the "social contract" rose naturally out of the wreck of the older, theological conception of an anointed king and an obedient subject. Between the time of Milton and the French Eevolution it ran its course, changing with each decade till it passed
20
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
from the speculation of the philosopher to the current creed of the market-place. All the world knows, or has imbibed unconsciously, its formula- tion at the hands of Rousseau and its embodiment in the American Declaration of Independence of 1776, and the Revolutionary " Rights of Man " of 1789.
The outline of the theory of democratic govern- ment thus formulated is amazingly simple. It first clears the ground by setting aside entirely the idea that God has set up kings and princes and rulers by a special act of divine authority that must be neither questioned nor examined. It removes, or does its best to remove, the " divinity that doth hedge a king." Not that the democratic theory is necessarily atheistic or anti- Christian. Many of its exponents of the eight- eenth century, it is true, were notoriously opposed to revealed religion of any sort and substituted for it a "code of nature" as a guide to moral conduct. Hence there was set up an antithesis (altogether false) between democracy and Chris- tianity : an unfortunate fact which helped to lead the wilder of the French revolutionists into the wilderness. But there need have been no such contrast. The American leaders of the democratic movement — as Washington, Jefferson and Madi- son— were Christians almost to a man. Tom Paine, exalted as the author of " The Crisis " and "The Rights of Man," an apostle of American freedom and a soldier of the American revolu-
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tion, fell into poverty and disrepute as the punishment for his " Age of Reason."
Indeed to the rational mind it is difficult to see in what possible way democratic theory is antag- onistic to religious belief. It is just as easy to believe in a God who commands that all men shall be equal as in a God who commands obedience to a witless prince.
THE DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURE
On the ground thus cleared of the debris of feudalism and divine right, the democratic struc- ture was erected. As its foundation point it takes the individual man, equal in political rights to every other man, each man to count as one and as one only. "We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, lib- erty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." So run the inspiring words (for whether true or not, there is inspiration in them) of the Declaration of Independence.
Thirteen years later the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) strikes the same note. "All men are born and remain," so it declares, " free and equal in privilege. The object of every political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man, and these rights are liberty, property, security and
22
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
the right to resist oppression. Law is the expres- sion of the general will, and all citizens have the right to participate, either in person or by repre- sentatives, in the making of it."
Thus the government of the commonwealth and of all the subordinate parts of it is to be entrusted to the elected representatives of the people. Vox populi, vox Dei; and the voice of the elected legislature, or convention, becomes the very embodiment of the popular will — sover- eign, incontrovertible, incapable of wrong. Gov- ernment by the people and for the people becomes the last word of social wisdom.
DIFFICULTIES OF DEMOCRATIC THEORY
There is no need to point out here in detail the obvious difficulties and shortcomings of the theory, nor to indicate the strange political inconsistencies of those who framed it. We need not remind ourselves that Jefferson, who penned the Declaration of Independence announcing the equality of all men, and Patrick Henry, who denounced the tyranny of George the Third, were slave-holders ; that the French constitutionalists of 1789 carefully limited the right to vote to people of a certain substance; and that none of the leaders of the time — a little sect or two apart — included women in the equality of privilege allotted to man.
Nor is it necessary to illustrate the extra- ordinary difficulties of a theoretical character which surround the doctrine. That all men are
23
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
equal sounds in flat contradiction to the observed facts of life. Equal in body and brain they cer- tainly are not — neither by birth nor by equip- ment. Equal in moral worth, or in physical cour- age, in capacity for sacrifice — still less. In art or music and in the scope of the imagination, not at all. One falls back upon the idea that they are, or at least should be, equal in political rights. But is even this an undeniable proposition? In a community of ten, why should six crooks out- vote four honest men? Would it not be better in any state that those men should rule whose worth and power, whose public virtue and whose private merits best fit them for the task?
So does the theory of democracy, when be- sprinkled with the acid of criticism, threaten to dissolve into mere sediment.
Yet, in spite of all, the obstinate conviction remains that there is — to state in very simple language — "something to it." If men are not equal in body or brain or moral worth, should they not at least be held equal until proven other- wise? Is it proper that any man should have as a birthright — as hundreds of men, some wise and some foolish, still have in England — the right to rule over their fellow men? And if the best are to be selected as the rulers, how can we select them except by a plain vote of the people, since otherwise we fall back into the very evil of rank and privilege that we are seeking to avoid.
And thus the democratic theory thrown out at the door, flies in again at the window. But the
24
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
discussion is needless. The present war has shown for ever and ever the potential horrors that accompany the system of autocratic mon- archy, of feudal rule and dynastic ambitions. It ought to inspire every just man with a passion to rid the world of every vestige of personal monarchy and hereditary rank and aristocratic privilege that still encumbers our progress. The future lies with democracy or it lies nowhere.
REASONS FOR THE FAILURES OF DEMOCRACY
How then are we to account for what seemed to be the failure, or at least the relative failure, of democratic government in the nineteenth cen- tury? There can be no doubt that it did not live up to the expectations of its founders. Contrast the optimism of the makers of the Declaration of Independence, or the generous ardour of the Wordsworths and the Shelleys who greeted the rising dawn of freedom in Europe, with the cyni- cal disillusionment of the ordinary voter of to-day. It is clear that something must have gone wrong.
A glance at the successive phases assumed by popular government during the last century may help to make clear the nature of the difficulty and to indicate the direction in which to seek its solution.
In its early years the supreme embodiment of free government was found in the elected legisla- ture or convention. A meeting of all the people, except in the toy republic of a Swiss canton, was,
25
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
of course, impossible. In any case it seemed needless. If the people came together and elected delegates, and if these delegates presently sat together in deliberation, then their actions, desires and decisions became those of the people themselves. Hence the extraordinary confidence imposed in America, during the first two genera- tions of the republic, in conventions and legisla- tures. The executive branch of the government had been discredited by the tyranny of the crown. The legislature, or its fellow the convention, stood for and embodied the will of the people. The constitution of 1789 was made in a conven- tion and ratified by conventions. There was no popular vote. The early state constitutions heaped power upon the legislature, just as the state constitutions of to-day as carefully remove it. Indeed the constitutions were little more than a gift of power to the legislature. They were written in few words; that of New Hampshire, for example, would go nicely into three pages of print. An " up-to-date " constitution of the pres- ent time is about twice as long as a four-act play. It contains an intricate code of regulations all bearing evidence of the fact that the democratic legislature has fallen from its high estate. But in the earlier years confidence was complete. The only attempts at improving popular government were made in the direction of carrying to the full logical extent the principle of democratic rule by an assembly elected by all the people. The " Jacksonian" democracy of 1830 differed from
26
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
the democracy of Washington and Jefferson only by its sweeping suffrage and its removal of the debris of privilege and class rule that were still found, in the form of property qualifications and such, in the structure of American government. In France the Second Republic of 1848 typified the same ideas. In England the petition of the Chartists, calling for the ballot and annual par- liaments as a remedy for penury and starvation, voices, not without pathos, the same supreme faith in the magic of an elected assembly.
UNFORESEEN TENDENCIES
But as the century progressed democracy began to develop what the late Mr. Godkin so shrewdly called its unforeseen tendencies. It turned out that an elected legislature was by no means impeccable. It could be led astray. It could be bullied. It could be washed from the moorings of common sense by the flood-tide of hysteria. Worse than all, it could be bribed or even, as time went on, it could be bought outright. It could be purchased and pocketed just as completely and effectually as the rotten boroughs of the unreformed House of Commons in Walpole's time.
With each decade the situation grew worse. The progress of modern invention brought into being the colossus of modern industry, integrat- ing a hundred little trades and spreading wide across the map. The stock company rose and swelled into the corporation, living on legislative
27
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
favours as its daily food. The representative of the people, with his salary of six hundred dollars, was called upon to control the corporation with its six, or sixty, million. The representative was tempted and he fell. The legislature hired itself out to the corporation. Business and politics joined hands. Both of them appeared as parallel avenues towards pecuniary success.
Meantime, an even worse thing was happening. The increasing complexity of politics and the increasing complexity of its industrial back- ground rendered organization more and more necessary. Spontaneous effort and voluntary service was no longer adequate to operate the cumbrous machinery of a huge democratic repub- lic. The political parties that had originally come together by natural agreement were con- verted into political machines. There arose a jungle growth of conventions and committees, platforms and pledges, that were no part of the original scheme of the fathers. The professional " politician " appeared, tainting with his impure motives the very word that named him. He and his henchmen and subordinates, the men " on the inside," operated the machine and divided the spoils. The politician, the government contrac- tor and the saloon thug who guarded the entrance to a political "primary," became the Three Graces of Democracy.
The mass of the people struggled valiantly in the net or lay inert in its meshes. Then as cor- ruption grew apace and professional politics
28
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
stole away the birthright of the nation, the clamour began to rise for an alteration in the form of democratic government, for some revi- sion of the system that should render graft and corruption impossible. The cry was raised for direct rule by the people, for cutting loose from the legislative assembly and for relying upon a popular vote for the ratification, or even the initiation, of the law. Thus the Referendum and the Initiative became the twin hopes of modern Democracy struggling vainly against corruption. They have formed one of the staple demands of every popular and radical party that has arisen in the last forty years. They have appeared in such varied forms as the English parish meeting, the Canadian plebiscite of, 1898, the Oregon plen- ary referendum, and a hundred and one other general votes of the people, municipal, provincial or national. The constitutions of South Africa and Australia, and all of those recently adopted in the United States, were created after this fashion. The direct vote bids fair to replace representative government. The people's dele- gate, all powerful in 1776, is sinking to the level of a mere clerk, drafting laws for the electorate to accept or reject. With the direct law is com- ing the "direct primary" — the nomination v of candidates by popular vote without the aid (at least such is the theory of the matter) of the political machine. The same tendency is seen in the setting up of people's magistrates — judges, that is, whose decisions can be recalled or
29
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
reversed by a vote of the people, and executive officers who are no longer to be servants of the legislature, but to stand for the people directly. These new officers of democracy — under the name of commissioners, controllers, and such — are spreading right and left in democratic coun- tries, as the latest thing in constitution-making. To them is given great power and great responsi- bility. They are no longer sheltered, as was the assemblyman of the bygone days, beside and behind a hundred of their fellows. They stand in the white light of responsibility, isolated and conspicuous. They must walk straight or fall.
To aid them in the effort to be honest, large salaries are attached to their offices. In the days of the fathers, assemblymen received about six hundred dollars a year, and many judges drew no more than a thousand : an up-to-date commis- sioner thinks ten thousand dollars small and even twenty scarcely generous. The new commissioner is to be put — such is the pathetic purpose of mod- ern democracy — beyond temptation. He is to be given so much that he will steal no more. A hun- dred years ago small salaries were viewed as a bulwark against political corruption-. Now the same misguided faith is placed in large salaries.
There can be no doubt of the result. A large salary can no more in and of itself prevent cor- ruption than a small one. The new system of democracy, unless it can be inspired by a better
30
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
civic virtue than the old, will go the same way. For the moment, indeed, the new broom sweeps clean. Mayors and controllers and commis- sioners at salaries of ten thousand dollars per annum are busily at work, large with responsi- bility and power.
Referendums sweep over the voters in a flood. Direct democracy is replacing everywhere the older representative government. But when the first novelty of public effort has passed we shall realize that without a change of spirit the new system is as bad or worse than the old. A ten thousand dollar crook will replace a six hundred dollar thief. Corruption will convert itself only into bigger figures. Responsibility and power will mean merely greater opportunity to steal. The people themselves, if devoid of civic virtue, can be just as completely bribed and bought and corrupted as their representatives. The last state of the commonwealth will be worse than the first.
THE LETTER KILLETH ; THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE
The truth of the matter is very simple. The form of government can avail nothing if the spirit is lacking. Democracy is undoubtedly the best form of government : it is the only form of government that consists with enlightenment and progress. But even democracy is valueless unless it can be inspired by the public virtue of the citizen that raises him to the level of the privi- leges that he enjoys. Crooked voters set good government at nought. It is an ancient and oft-
31
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
quoted adage that no spring can rise higher than its source. It is nowhere more true than when applied to government. For honest government we must have honest people. Without that there is no hope.
Here then is indicated the peculiar task that lies before us in Canada in the New Era which is opening, and of which the present volume voices the opportunities and the aspirations. We must manage to create as the first requisite of our commonwealth a different kind of spirit from that which has hitherto controlled us. We must bring into being somehow that last and greatest of national assets, honest public opinion. That is what we need. That is what we have never had. Wealth and resources and the incoming of a vast population, all these are obviously ours. These do not make a nation. Not out of these was Athens made, and not with these did Scot- land engrave its mark deep in the record of the history of mankind. We have gone astray in the wilderness on the false estimate that we have placed upon wealth and mere pecuniary success. We have tolerated with a smile the bribery of voters, the corrupting of constituencies, the swollen profits of favoured contractors, the for- tunes made in and from political life, the honours heaped upon men with no other recommendation to their credit than their bank accounts. Our whole conception of individual merit and of national progress has been expressed in dollars and cents.
32
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS
Here then is the opportunity and the task before us. The democratic nations, and ours amongst them, will emerge from the present con- flict with a new faith in the possibilities of free government if inspired by the spirit of freedom. Our men who return from the war will come home to us with eyes that have seen things as they are, that have looked steadfastly in the face of death, that have seen and known real great- ness and cannot be deceived by the tawdry glory of wealth. We must see to it that we make for them a future Canada, worthy of their patriotism, and worthy of the monuments that shall mark in distant lands the resting-places of those whose sacrifice is complete and who shall come to us no more.
Stephen Leacock.
33
THE
FOUNDATIONS OF THE
NEW ERA
TO A CANADIAN LAD KILLED
IN THE WAR
0 NOBLE youth that held our honour in keeping, And bore it sacred through the battle flame, How shall we give lull measure of acclaim
To thy sharp labour, thy immortal reaping?
For though we sowed with doubtful hands, half sleeping, Thou in thy vivid pride hast reaped a nation, And brought it in with shouts and exultation,
With drums and trumpets, with flags flashing and leaping.
Let us bring pungent wreaths of balsam, and tender Tendrils of wild-flowers, lovelier for thy daring,
And deck a sylvan shrine, where the maple parts The moonlight, with lilac bloom, and the splendour Of suns unwearied; all unwithered, wearing Thy valour stainless in our heart of hearts.
Duncan Campbell Scott.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE
NEW ERA
THE decade which follows the declaration of peace will open a New Era for our Dominion. Though the war has not seriously disturbed our institutions or laid bare any grave defects in our national economy, we may rest assured that the heart-searchings, the sacrifices and the close encounter with the grimmest realities of exist- ence will exert a deep influence on our national development. We have suddenly sprung into being as a nation, full-orbed, vigorous, self- reliant and determined. We have been baptized into nationhood with the blood of our sons, shed in the greatest struggle the world has ever seen and in the noblest cause for which men have ever fought.
There will be a New Era. In it a national super- structure will be erected. What are to be the foundations on which this superstructure is to be built? Upon the answer to this question depends the future of Canada. Surely we may hope that a young nation born amidst the shock of warring peoples, a nation whose sons have sprung to arms at the call of the oppressed, and who have made the supreme sacrifice for human liberty, will not fail to scrutinize closely the principles of its polity and strive to cast out everything that threatens its moral health.
The signs are already evident. Province after province has sought to abolish the liquor evil,
37
221675
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
that fruitful mother of moral and physical degen- eration. While our sons have been fighting in Europe the moral leaven has been working at home. Conventions of earnest-minded citizens have been held to consider schemes of social improvement. Men who scoffed a few years ago are the foremost now to demand reform. Many of them have given their sons to die a violent death in battle for a noble ideal, and they will not readily permit themselves to be influenced by any except the highest motives. Assuredly these strivings will be followed by momentous results.
THE FRANCHISE AND NATURALIZATION
The foundation of Democracy is the franchise law under which its people register their will, the method in which the franchise is exercised and the machinery of government by which the wishes of the people are carried into effect.
Whatever be thought of the wisdom of the policy the fact is that for good or evil we have adopted what is practically manhood suffrage. The principle of property qualification in our parliamentary elections has been pretty well eliminated. There seems no reason to doubt that womanhood suffrage will follow. Already a por- tion of the Dominion has adopted it, and it seems inevitable that the remainder, with the possible exception of Quebec, will do so in the near future. If the franchise be granted to women it should be on the same terms as to men. If property qualifi- cation is not required for men there is no reason
38
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
why it should be required for women. Very soon, therefore, we may look to the adoption of uni- versal suffrage. As to the effects, it is likely that they are exaggerated both by advocates and opponents. It is unlikely that women suffrage will accomplish all the good predicted by its advocates, and equally unlikely that it will bring about all or any considerable part of the woes predicted by its opponents. On some questions of a moral and sumptuary character it may have a decisive influence, and in such cases the influence is almost certain to be extremely beneficial.
The question of naturalization of aliens demands prompt consideration and decisive action. Experience of the operation of the nat- uralization law indicates that, in some cases at least, the provisions are not sufficiently stringent. Amendments should be made before "after the war " conditions arise. The law should be framed to meet these conditions and should be in force when they arise. A clear distinction should be made between immigrants who speak English or French as their mother tongue and those who speak any other language. In the case of English and French-speaking immigrants the law might well be left as it is, but in the case of all others the applicant for naturalization should be required to reside at least five years in Canada and possess a working knowledge of the English language or (if settling in Quebec) of the French language.
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
We should also make strict provision against any increase in racial strife in the future. While it is true that on the whole our citizens of Ger- man and Austrian extraction have been loyal, it would be the height of folly to admit in the future people of enemy countries as settlers. The people of the enemy countries have countenanced an aggressive war carried on with extreme brutality and in defiance of the principles of humanity as recognized by the civilized world. The principles of humanity, hatred of cruelty and intolerance of the violation of the sacred rights of the person, are the most precious principles which have been evolved by the long struggle which has resulted in the establishment of what we know as modern freedom. These are the principles, perhaps the only principles, that are really worth fighting for. These are the principles for which our sons have actually fought and died. They must never be compromised. Our people cherish a deep and righteous resentment against the nations that have deliberately violated them. The story of Belgium, Serbia and Armenia are written in let- ters of blood which can never be effaced. It is most sincerely to be trusted that those primarily responsible for the inhuman and monstrous viola- tion of human rights will be brought to punish- ment. No sentimental nonsense should stand in the way of stern retribution. In any event, how- ever, our course is clear. We have no place within our borders for those who have trodden underfoot the most sacred ideals of modern
40
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
civilization. Canada should bar her doors against the German, the Austrian, the Turk and the Bul- garian, and no person of any of these nationali- ties should be admitted to Canadian citizenship.
PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION
We have some patent defects in our representa- tive system. Among these admittedly is the gerrymander. The general principle of demo- cratic rule is that the wish of the majority must prevail. It is the only practicable principle. Yet the method of applying the principle may be improved. It is applied now in about the crudest possible manner. No fair-minded man, removed from a heated political atmosphere, defends the gerrymander. No one can defend a system whereby a popular minority elects a majority of the representatives, or by which a very small popular majority elects an overwhelming major- ity of the representatives. Still less can anyone defend a method of arranging constituencies which is deliberately calculated to bring about these results. This is a radical defect in our rep- resentative system, and means should be taken to get rid of it. There are undoubted difficulties in the way of reform, but they are not insuperable. It is perfectly feasible to work out a plan for grouping members, with recognition of the prin- ciple of proportional representation, in such a way as to bring about a much more exact and just representation of the people. There can be no doubt of the beneficent effects of such a
41
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
change. It would greatly diminish the personal bitterness and scandal-mongering in election campaigns ; it would raise the standard of repre- sentation and it would permit the entrance into public life of many men of high character and notable gifts who at present are hopelessly excluded. The elaboration of the details of such a reform is a matter of time and thought, but it is quite within the realm of possible achievement.
THE PATRONAGE EVIL
Another of the evils which democratic govern- ment has to encounter is that of political patron- age. Perhaps there is nothing that makes the average citizen, who is not an active politician, so pessimistic in regard to improvement as an encounter with this peculiar development of popular government. A public-spirited man takes an interest in some matter which he regards as of vital interest to the public. He sees what ought to be done. Possibly in company with some associates of like mind he tries to get the right thing done. He runs up against a stone wall. The right thing is not done. On the contrary, something is done which is obviously the wrong thing. The explanation given is that political considerations have prevailed.
We can never hope to be entirely free from political patronage. It is inherent in the popu- lar and representative system. It is part of the price that we have to pay for free government.
42
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
We may, however, very greatly minimize its effects.
The effects of the patronage evil are more directly felt in relation to appointments to the public service and to contracts let by govern- ments.
The inside Civil Service at Ottawa is a good service and is controlled by a good Commission. The only abuses consist in small jobs perpetrated by members of the Government, not because they wish to do so, but because they are induced to do so by party pressure. These jobs mainly take the form of securing appointments to the service in contravention of the principles of the Civil Service Act, in voting money to civil servants through favouritism, and in employing officials payable out of special votes without Civil Service qualifications. All of these things are evils, and tend to demoralize the Service. Especially are they discouraging to honest and competent offi- cials who ask for no favour and want only that to which the law entitles them. It is a simple matter to remedy these evils if anyone were suffi- ciently interested in the public welfare to take it in hand. The Civil Service Act should be tight- ened up so that no appointments could be made except by the Commission. Provision should also be made by rule of the House of Commons that no supply bill should contain a vote of public money to any official except his legal salary, and that no supply bill should authorize the employ-
43
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ment of officials except in pursuance of the terms of the Civil Service Act.
The case of the outside Civil Service is much more important. Only a comparatively small number of the outside service are under the Civil Service Act. The appointments of all of the others are controlled directly by the Government. There is no fixed standard of qualifications and there are no rules to govern promotion or prefer- ment. All of these outside officials should be brought under the Civil Service Act. New appointments should be made only from persons qualified by examination. Fixed rules should be adopted to govern promotions. Appointments and promotions alike should be made by the Civil Service Commission. This reform would at once open up an honourable and useful career to a large number of young men graduating from our universities and scientific and technical institu- tions. Many such young men, whose tastes do not lie in the direction of commercial or profes- sional life, would make admirable public ser- vants. Special courses of study could be provided, as is now done in the case of the inside service. In a very few years we should have a specially trained and educated outside service free from political interference, and the trials of the unfor- tunate member of parliament, who is now driven distracted by applicants for office, would to that extent be diminished.
As to patronage in connection with the letting of contracts there is already abundant legisla-
44
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW EEA
tion. It is sometimes evaded. Public opinion and a vigilant Opposition are the only thorough remedies. If, in addition, the editors of our periodicals would keep a close watch on parlia- mentary proceedings and be alert vigorously to criticize every case of flagrant departure from the principle of the law, it would exercise a salutary effect.
There are, of course, many miscellaneous instances of the evils of political patronage. The most striking case of recent years has just arisen in the County of Colchester, where the member for the county has tendered his resignation because the Minister of Railways refuses to allow the member to control an important appointment on the Intercolonial Railway. An official is required who possesses high qualifications Of a special character. The general manager of the railway, said to be an able and competent man, has nominated a person in whose character and qualifications he has confidence. The Minister of Railways has confirmed the general manager's choice. It is not alleged that the appointee is not the best available man. What is alleged is that the member for the County of Colchester, by virtue of his representation of the county, has the right to nominate for the appointment. The member for the county is a capable and energetic business man, but he has never had anything to do with the management of a railway. He now demands that he shall be allowed to over-ride the general manager of the railway in a matter of
45
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
technical management. It is understood that the matter is before Sir Robert Borden for decision. He is put in the cruel dilemma of having to decide between over-ruling his Minister of Rail- ways and the general manager of the Intercol- onial Railway, when they are both right, or, in the alternative, of losing the support of the mem- ber, who happens also to be the chief Government whip, and probably of losing the county to the Opposition as well.
The matter is mentioned here because it is a striking illustration of the troubles that arise when a government undertakes the management of large business affairs. The patronage diffi- culty is the real objection to what is called the nationalization of railways. The pressure of patronage is exerted constantly in support of unwise and unnecessary expenditure and against the application of sound business principles.
PURITY OF ELECTIONS
Intimately connected with the foregoing mat- ter is the subject of purity of elections. Let us face the facts. There has grown up in Canada, the United States and England, to say nothing of other countries, the practice of using huge sums of money for political purposes. More or less of the money is spent corruptly. The evil tends constantly to grow. The money is not, in any considerable proportion, subscribed by people who have in view the benefit of the State by the advancement of their own political principles.
46
Other motives largely prevail. Neither in Can- ada nor elsewhere is there distinction in regard to this matter between the political parties. Gen- erally speaking, all the parties use all the money they can get. I know a good deal about the con- duct of elections in Canada, something about the United States and England, and a little about France. There are differences of detail in the different countries, but the general result is the same. This evil is the bane of Democracy. It is the nightmare of every man in public life who is anxious to give good service to the state.
Why should we wait for any more public scan- dals before we reform this evil? It exists. Every- one knows it. Let us put our house in order and set an example for other countries to follow. If we adopt the measures in Canada which I advo- cate, I venture to say that within five years similar laws would be in force in the United States, in England, and probably in France.
It is a very simple matter if we really wish to do it.
Let the Dominion Parliament amend the Crim- inal Code by making it a criminal offence for any company holding a charter, under either Domin- ion or Provincial authority, any public contrac- tor, Dominion or Provincial, or any civil servant, to contribute money for political purposes or to reimburse anyone who has so contributed. Make it a similar offence for anyone to make a politi- cal contribution except to the legal agent of a candidate, or of a party, who shall be required
47
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
forthwith to publish full particulars of the con- tribution, both in the Canada Gazette and in a daily newspaper published in the county where the contributor resides. This will define the law.
Now as to enforcement. Appoint two public prosecutors with the same tenure of office as a High Court judge, one to be named by the Prime Minister and the other to be named by the leader of the Opposition. These prosecutors will be sworn to enforce the law and to prosecute for every offence where evidence can be procured to warrant it. They should be entirely independent of each other, having each the power independ- ently to prosecute to conviction for any offence against the act. They should be required, under a penalty, to investigate every case of alleged infraction of the law brought to their attention by a statement in writing from anyone whatever, and they should be required to report the result of every such investigation to standing commit- tees of the Senate and of the House of Commons. Such reports should state the result of the inves- tigation, the result of the prosecution, if insti- tuted, and, if prosecution has not been instituted, the report should state the reason why. Trial should not be by jury, but by a special tribunal of three judges.
There may be people who will scoff at the idea of putting a stop to illicit contributions of money for political purposes. They will say that it always has been done, always will be done, and cannot be prevented. I do not agree. I am cer-
48
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW EEA
tain that it can be prevented. I am certain that it can be prevented quite easily. The evil is not half so deeply rooted as people generally believe. Such a law as I have outlined above would accom- plish the purpose. There might be at first a few cynical violations of the act in the belief that the offenders would be protected; but, when the machinery of prosecution was really at work, and one or two contributors had begun to serve their terms, collections for political purposes would come to an abrupt termination. As to the possibility of securing the enactment of such a law, it is clear that public sentiment is ripe for it now. A dozen men of character and position will- ing to devote some time and attention to the work can force the enactment of the law within a very short time. Once enacted it is the kind of law that will take care of itself.
Apart from the franchise and the question of overcoming the gerrymander there is little need for changes with reference to our House of Commons. A few radical changes in rules and methods could be made with great advantage. They must come from the members themselves. Unfortunately the changes that have been made of late years have generally been for the worse, while obvious improvements have been neglected. The spirit of internal reform is not strong in the House of Commons. Perhaps some of the new members may be more alert to the possibility of improvement. .
49
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
REFORM OF THE SENATE
A good deal of more or less desultory discus- sion has taken place about the Senate. Such discussion as has taken place does not impress one with its depth. Some advocate abolition. That would be a serious mistake. The science of government is not new. It has had many pro- found students among the best minds of the world. Practically all of them agree as to the necessity of a second chamber. No nation should be under unchecked, single-chamber government. The democracy must rule, but it is expedient that, in critical cases, it should have an opportunity to think twice. According to my experience, the will of the people is very often better expressed after a check, and after a period of searching and critical discussion which generally arises from such a check, than it is in the first instance. It must also be remembered that, under our system, the power of the Cabinet tends to grow at the expense of the House of Commons. In Canada we do not notice this much, but it has become a serious problem in England. The Senate is not so much a check on the House of Commons as it is upon the Cabinet, and there can be no doubt that its influence in this respect is salutary. In twenty years at Ottawa, I have never known a case in which a Government was anxious to take the verdict of the people on a bill rejected by the Senate.
The problem of a second chamber has puzzled many countries and many statesmen. Widely
50
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
different methods of meeting it have been devised, but all are open to some objection. There is no counsel of perfection. All we can hope for is an instrument that, on the whole, will fairly well answer the purpose. Our Senate, as at present constituted, is by no means without its virtue and usefulness. We should strive to improve it. An elective Senate is open to serious objection. It is another representative body, a second House of Commons. Elective Senates are fruitful of dead- locks. One representative chamber is enough. Its will should ultimately prevail, because it directly represents the people.
Some improvements can readily be suggested in the present constitution of the Canadian Senate. <
I would fix an age limit not higher than sev- enty-five years. There are men who at seventy- five are in full mental vigour. Sir Wilfrid Laurier is one, Sir Charles Tupper was another. But these men are exceptions. Legislation should be based on the rule, not on the exception. The rule is that in Canada, under our conditions of life and climate, a man of seventy-five has passed the period of useful service. As to membership, it would add greatly to the Senate's dignity and independence if hereafter all Lieutenant-Gover- nors of Provinces, all Dominion Cabinet Minis- ters, all Provincial Premiers who have held office for three consecutive years, should, on going out of office, have the right, at their option, to be called to the Senate. A good deal can also be
51
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
said for permitting the state university in each province to elect two senators from its govern- ing body, not for life, but for a term of about six years. Where there is no state university the Provincial Legislature should designate the uni- versity to have the privilege. The appointed members should be diminished by a number equal to the number of the ex-officio members, not by cancellation of existing appointments, but by refraining from making new appointments when in the course of nature senators disappear. The total number would vary slightly, but that is not a serious objection. By these methods a body of men would be introduced who would hold their appointments, as of right, by reason of having held high administrative and political office, and who would possess wide experience and a broad political outlook. It is extremely likely that a Senate so constituted might be found to give general satisfaction, especially if certain func- tions, of a more or less important character, were committed especially to its charge.
THE RIGHT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION
One of the most important subjects for future consideration is that of constitutional amend- ments. We should have the power to amend our own Constitution. The Canadian Constitution is an Act of the British Parliament passed in 1867. Since that time a few trifling changes of an uncontroversial character have been made. It is undoubtedly a good Constitution, but no
52
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
human wisdom can devise constitutional provi- sions to meet every possible need of a complex and growing social organism.
There are pronounced defects in our Constitu- tion as it stands.
The law regarding prohibition of the liquor traffic is in a most unsatisfactory condition. Jurisdiction is divided between the Dominion and the Province. It should be all in the Domin- ion or all in the Province. I believe public opinion would almost unanimously support an amendment giving the entire jurisdiction to the Province.
Even after the late reference to the Privy Council, the law regarding the incorporation of companies is far from clear. No lawyer can tell exactly what is the law. It could be cleared up by a constitutional amendment of half a dozen lines.
Not long ago the people of Manitoba decided that they wished to govern themselves through the medium, inter alia, of the initiative and the referendum. Their Legislature passed an act to give effect to this decision. Now, however, the Manitoba Court of Appeals has decided that the act is unconstitutional. I have not had an opportunity of reading the decision; but, as the court is a good court and composed of good lawyers, there is an extreme probability that their decision is sound in law. If so the Consti- tution is wrong and ought to be amended. If the people of any province wish to govern themselves
53
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
with help of the initiative and the referendum, they should have the power to do so. It is their business and theirs only. Any state in the Ameri- can Union could get over this difficulty by con- stitutional amendment. We cannot.
We have no remedy in these matters unless our Dominion Government is willing to take up the matter, and unless it can induce the British Colonial Secretary to bring in an amendment to the British North America Act and get it through the Imperial Parliament. The Colonial Secre- tary is usually an able and well-informed man, but he is never versed in our business and social conditions, and he is therefore unable to decide these matters on their merits. Being fully aware of this he does not attempt it. He takes no action unless the case is obviously one of such necessity that there can be about it no difference of opinion. He would never dream of amending the Consti- tution to meet a case arising out of attack on a particular statute in the courts. We are there- fore without a remedy.
We ought not to be in the hands either of the Colonial Secretary or of the Imperial Parlia- ment. We should be in the hands of no one but ourselves. Canada is fully grown up, and its people are quite as competent to decide how they wish to be governed as the people of the United Kingdom are to decide for themselves similar questions. The question whether a constitutional amendment should be made concerns no one but ourselves, and machinery should be provided
54
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
whereby any changes desired by the people can be made. The absence of such machinery keeps throwing us back continually on the past. It blocks reform. It sterilizes political thought and action. Means should be provided whereby the social and political aspirations of the people may be crystallized in their Constitution.
LIMITATIONS TO LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF PARLIAMENT
This subject should not be discussed without reference to a particular phase which demands the most careful consideration. One of the defects of our Constitution is the absence of constitu- tional limitations on the powers of Parliament and the Legislatures. The subject has never been thought out and fully considered in Canada. I doubt if one in a thousand of our citizens has ever considered it at all. Not all lawyers by any means are clear upon it. The fact is, however, that within their respective spheres Parliament and the Legislatures are supreme. They can con- fiscate property without redress or compensation.
No legislative body in a free country should have such power. I know it will be said that any- one who advocates constitutional limitations is acting in the interest of the corporations and the capitalists. That is mere demagogism. Dis- honesty is no more defensible when practised by a parliamentary body than when practised by an individual. The Democracy of Canada can afford to be honest, and honesty in this as in all other cases is the best policy.
55
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
CONCLUSION
The foundations of the New Era should be the best electorate that we can get, the cleanest elec- tions that we can get, the best constitution that we can get, and the freest political thought that we can get.
Upon these foundations the superstructure should be reared. It should be a distinctively Canadian superstructure. We have much to learn from other and older lands. In art, litera- ture and science, in the application of scientific education to the improvement of industry and agriculture, we are yet in our infancy. We should seek to gather the world's knowledge and apply it to our own conditions. It should not, however, be a process of crude or slavish imita- tion, but of intelligent digestion and adaptation. Canada should set up a new ideal. We have the greatest opportunity of the ages. Practically every great modern nation is a failure in essen- tial features. It is not successful nation-building to create a cultivated and comfortable class, while the masses struggle for the barest neces- saries of life, under conditions which prohibit moral and physical development. Every one of the great nations has failed. Of all perhaps France has come nearest to success. But all, without exception, have slums, poverty and breed- ing-grounds of vice and degeneration. The growth of a proletariat goes on. It is regarded as a step in advance when the state pensions its aged citizens. Let us have a state where old-age pensions and charity doles are not necessary.
56
THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA
Will it be a matter of pride for us to boast that we are manufacturing for the world, if at home we allow conditions to arise which breed unem- ployment, poverty and vice? The ideal State is that in which all the citizens, without exception, have the opportunity of living a sane, clean and civilized life, partaking of at least all the neces- sary comforts provided by modern science, and enjoying the opportunity of spiritual and intel- lectual improvement. To build such a state should be the ambition of the young men of Canada. To achieve success there must be will- ingness to abandon out-of-date prejudice and to face and grapple with facts as they are. There must be sober and earnest combat with every false economic standard which militates against the ideal. There must be a determination to force political parties to get out of the ruts of the past forty years and initiate constructive legislation. None of the evils which afflict older countries has, as yet, secured a firm hold upon Canada. They can all be uprooted and destroyed. We are still the masters of our own destiny. May that destiny be a great and noble one.
" Thou too sail on, oh ship of state, Sail on, O union strong and great.
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith, triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee, Are all with thee."
Clifford Sifton. 57
OUR
NATIONAL
HERITAGE
IT IS NOT TO BE THOUGHT OF
IT is not to be thought of that the Flood
Of British freedom, which, to the open sea
Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity
Hath flowed, " with pomp of waters, unwithstood,"
Roused though it be full often to a mood Which spurns the check of salutary bands, That this most famous Stream in bogs and sands iShould perish; and to evil and to good Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung Armoury of the invincible Knights of old : We must be free or die, who speak the tongue That Shakspeare spake; the faith and morals hold Which Milton held. — In everything we are sprung
Of Earth's first blood, have titles manifold.
— W. Wordsworth.
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
THE SETTING OF OUR NATIONAL LIFE
IN these days, when the light of natural science penetrates into most departments of human thought and knowledge, the far-reaching influ- ence of the physical environment of a people upon its character and history is coming to be more generally recognized.
If we take the wings of the morning and the Barcan desert pierce, we shall not find among the inhabitants of the Garden of Allah those qualities which are developed in the nations which, going down to the sea in ships and occupy- ing their business in great waters, see the works of the same Lord and His wonders in the deep. Nor is to be expected that there will arise among our northern compatriots — the Esquimaux — wandering about in the Arctic snow fields, any notable school of the fine arts. They find that their surroundings compel them to concentrate their whole energy upon the cultivation of the fine art of keeping alive, and even in this, at the best, they achieve but an indifferent success. And even if it be not possible to go so far as Buckle in giving to environment the importance which he assigns to it in his " History of Civilization," it is impossible to escape from the fact that the slow and continuous pressure of environment, as represented by the physical conformation of a country, must, in the long run, be a very important
61
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
factor, not only in determining the history of the country, but also in moulding the character of its people. It is, therefore, of importance to glance briefly at the physical features of the Dominion which form the setting of the national life.
The Dominion of Canada stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the boundary of the United States to the North Pole, having an area of 3,729,665 square miles. The land, therefore, is one of great size, enormous distances, wide expanses and boundless vistas.
The country, however, naturally falls into cer- tain divisions. The salient physical features determining these are two great belts of moun- tains, which in a general way follow, respectively, the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and a great rocky plateau — the Laurentian Peneplain — which lies between them in the middle of the country.
The eastern mountain range, which is rela- tively low in average elevation, is a northward continuation of the Green Mountains of New Hampshire. From the boundary line of the United States it passes in a north-easterly direc- tion through the Province of Quebec to the extremity of the Gaspe Peninsula, being known in different portions of its extent as the Notre Dame and the Shickshock Mountains.
The great western mountain belt, which is much higher and more precipitous in character, consists — where crossed by the Canadian Pacific Eailway — of four subordinate parallel ranges
63
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
known, if enumerated from east to west, as the Rocky Mountains, the Selkirks, the Gold Ranges and the Coast Ranges. Between the two latter there intervenes the Interior Plateau, a belt of high but comparatively level country about five hundred miles long and one hundred miles wide. The remnants of a fifth mountain range, which has, for the most part, disappeared beneath the waters of the Pacific, are represented by Van- couver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands. This belt of mountains, with its intervening val- leys, speaking generally, constitutes the Province of British Columbia, which has been not inappro- priately designated as a Sea of Mountains.
While these two mountain systems give a marked accentuation to the marginal portions of the Dominion, the great Laurentian plateau is the dominant feature of the interior of Canada. It underlies more than one-half of the whole Dominion, having an area of about 2,000,000 square miles. It forms a great part of northern Canada and, narrowing toward the south, is thrust through central Canada in the form of a great blunt wedge whose thin edge occupies the country between the Georgian Bay and the Lake of the Woods, and to the south, passing just over the border into the United States, ends in the States of Michigan and Minnesota. The eastern boundary of this wedge-shaped area follows the north shore of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, and then continues across to the southern end of the Georgian Bay, while its west side follows the line
63
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
of the Great Lakes, starting from the Lake of the Woods and passing through Lake Winnipeg, Lake Athabaska, Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake, and on to the shore of the Arctic Sea.
It is a somewhat undulating rocky plateau, having an average elevation of about fifteen hun- dred feet above sea level, although there is a marked depression in the central portion, in which are gathered the shallow waters of Hud- son's Bay. It is studded with thousands of lakes and traversed by hundreds of streams great and small.
While clad with forest in its southern part and containing many valuable deposits of metallic ores, as well as many great water-powers and some farming land, the peculiar significance of the Laurentian plateau in its relation to the devel- opment of Canadian history lies in the fact that, speaking generally, it is a great tract of barren country incapable of supporting an agricultural population, and thus splits the Dominion into two parts, Eastern and Western Canada. It was not until a way had been blasted across it by the construction of the Canadian Pacific Eailway, and later by other transcontinental roads, that Western Canada may be said to have been dis- covered; and it is a natural barrier to free intercourse, close association, and hence mutual understanding, between the East and the West in the Dominion that necessitates, and will neces- sitate, on the part of Canadians, in order that it may be bridged over, not only much patience but
64
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
a sincere endeavour on the part of the residents of Eastern and Western Canada alike, to appre- ciate one another's point of view and to treat the same sympathetically when understood.
The eastern mountain range has also played in Canadian history a similar though less pro- nounced r61e, separating the Maritime Provinces from central Canada, until this barrier was broken through by the construction of the Inter- colonial Railway.
In fact, in Canada the " grain of the country " runs north and south, while the currents of Cana- dian life must and do run east and west, breaking through or overleaping these barriers set up by Nature.
Having in mind, then, these accentuating fea- tures it will be seen that the Dominion of Canada consists of five distinct or separate regions, each with its characteristic features which determine the course of its future development, as well as its ultimate possibilities and the part which it is destined to play in the New Era in Canada. These are :
(1) The Eastern Maritime Provinces, or Aca- dian region, comprising the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, with the eastern hilly or mountainous region of the Province of Quebec. A deeply embayed maritime region diversified in character and with very considerable areas of good arable land suitable for mixed farming and fruit grow- ing, great deposits of good coal, and the greatest
5 65
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
off-shore fishing grounds in the world. The eastern mountain belt separates this from the following division.
(2) The Eastern Plains. A great stretch of level land in the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario lying to the south of the Laurentian plateau. It is adapted to mixed farming, and on it at the present time more than half the population of Canada find their home. It is here also that the manufacturing industries of Canada are located.
(3) The Laurentian Plateau, just described.
(4) The Western Plains. These contain by far the greatest expanse of land suitable for agricul- ture in the Dominion of Canada. They comprise the wheat fields of the Dominion, but much of the land is also suitable for mixed farming, which is gradually extending over a greater area in the country. It is the part of Canada which must play the most important part in the future of the Dominion, for it is capable of supporting by far the largest settlement of any of the five regions, and it is on these plains that the population of Canada will eventually focus.
(5) British Columbia, witti a strip of Western Alberta. A sea of mountains washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean on the west. The most accentuated and beautiful part of the Dominion with, however, a relatively small amount of agricultural land which can be worked without irrigation. It has enormous forests, great mineral wealth, and also highly productive fisheries.
66
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
THE QUESTION PLAINLY STATED
One of the most distinguished representatives of the British Empire, and one who has enjoyed an exceptionally favourable opportunity for becoming familiar with the situation on this con- tinent, recently remarked that in his opinion the British Empire will one day centre in Canada. Whether this be so or not, it is certain that in the New Era, on the threshold of which she now stands, Canada will be called upon to occupy a much more prominent place among the nations of the wTorld, and one of the foremost places in the greatest empire which the world has ever seen.
This position will carry with it not only wider responsibilities but greatly increased burdens. Among these not the least will be the necessity of providing after the war for an expenditure which Mr. Flumerfelt, in a recent address before the Canadian Club of Montreal, estimated would reach not less than $100,000,000 a year. If Can- ada then is to be one of the great partners of the Empire, a question must present itself to every Canadian at this time, namely, Will Canada rise to the measure of her increased responsibilities? or, to employ the colloquial language of the present hour, Will Canada make good?
And here a brief digression may be permitted.
The great empires of former times — the Baby- lonian, Chaldean, Assyrian, and later the empires of Greece and Rome — loom up gigantic as we view them through the golden haze of the dis-
67
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
tant past. How does the British Empire com- pare in size with these great empires which ruled the world in former times? In making this com- parison there is no reference to greatness in the sense of mental achievements or moral excellence — a judgment on the basis of these qualities would be of great interest, but does not concern us here. The comparison desired is simply one of extent.
Now the greatest of all ancient empires was the Eoman Empire, and Gibbon tells us that when the Koman Empire was at its zenith, "it was supposed to contain about 1,600,000 square miles." The area of Canada at the present time is 3,729,665 square miles, i.e., it is more than twice the size of the greatest empire of former times. Even if we set aside the northern half of Canada, which is for the most part uninhabit- able, and consider only the southern half of Can- ada, it has an extent equal to the whole empire ruled by Home.
Canada, however, forms but a relatively small part of the empire. The area of the British Empire in 1913 was 13,154,000 square miles, or about one-quarter of the earth's surface. Owing to certain happenings the area of the empire during the past two years has been increased by something over 2,000,000 square miles. These figures give some idea of the significance of the statement that Canada will be one of the fore- most states in the British Empire, and will in virtue of this fact be called upon in the New Era
68
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
to share in the policy and government of the same.
What is the factor which is to determine whether Canada will rise to this higher status and play a worthy part as a vigorous strength- giving element in the empire of the future? This factor on its material side is represented by the natural resources of the Dominion and their proper utilization.
Every country, like every man, has given to it certain talents — these talents are its natural resources. A country may be blessed with ten talents, or may have but one, and it may develop these talents and thus achieve its proper destiny, or it may neglect or even waste them. On the use of these gifts the fate of nations — so far as this is influenced by material considerations — depends. Sir Clifford Sifton, in his Annual Address to the Commission of Conservation last January, remarked that "it has been found by hard experience that national safety demands that the nation should not only possess resources, but understand them and be able to utilize them economically." And so civilized nations to-day are anxiously taking stock of their resources. They have found that the practice of trusting to others for the necessities of civilized existence is fraught with both danger and uncertainty.
It is the purpose of the present essay to indi- cate the chief sources of natural wealth in the Dominion, and to inquire whether these at pres- ent are being utilized as fully as possible and in
69
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the best interests of national efficiency, bearing in mind that the Canada for which the present generation has fought is the Canada in which succeeding generations must live, and in which they are to develop that higher national life for which the labours of Canadians so far have merely prepared or, perhaps it may be said, rough-hewed, the way.
ILLUSIONS
In thinking of the resources of the Dominion it is well that Canadians should free their minds from certain illusions which cling about this sub- ject. Reference will be made to two of these.
In the first place, there is a tendency among orators in Canada who desire to infuse a stirring and patriotic element into a popular address, to preface this by reminding hearers that Canada has an area rather greater than that of the United States, "including Alaska," and almost identical with that of Europe. This interesting statement is always vigorously applauded because it carries with it the implication that Canada will one day have a population equal to that which can be supported by the United States, and that within its domain are to be found, potentially, the resources, the arts, and the industries of the entire continent of Europe. In an address deliv- ered in one of the chief cities of the Dominion not many years ago, somewhat along these lines, the speaker, wishing to impress upon his audience that the northern portions of Canada were sus-
70
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
ceptible of an enormous development, compared them with northern Russia. A large map of northern Canada was thrown upon the screen, and upon it was projected a map of Russia. Ref- erence was then made to the great export trade from the port of Archangel, which is situated on the Arctic Sea, and it was suggested that Canada might look forward to the development of similar mercantile activity on the corresponding shore of the Arctic Sea in North America.
Then the map showed that Petrograd, sur- rounded by a productive agricultural country, was on the same latitude as Fort Churchill, on Hudson's Bay. Other comparisons suggested that the Barren Grounds of northern Canada might be made, if not to " blossom like the rose," at least to meet with that very extended develop- ment which the territories of our Russian ally now enjoy. These comparisons, however, rest on the fallacy that a parallel of latitude as it goes around the world always passes over dis- tricts having the same climate. The fact is that northern Europe, on the same latitude, is rela- tively warmer than the northern portion of North America. Montreal, although on the same lati- tude as a point in the south of France, has a dis- tinctly different climate. The Lord Bishop of Keewatin, who in his earlier life spent some sev- enteen years as a missionary at Fort Churchill, and who is a very expert horticulturalist, has stated that when there he used his best efforts to develop a garden of some kind, and having
71
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
scraped up with great labour some earth from various scattered spots where that rare material was found to exist, he eventually established a garden. In this, however, after the most strenu- ous efforts, the only thing which he could succeed in growing was a crop of turnips. These, at their maximum development, reached the dimensions of an ordinary glass alley, and the crop had to be wrapped in an eiderdown to keep it from freezing solid before it could be placed in the pot prepara- tory to finding its place upon the table. Under such conditions it would be difficult to reproduce the capital city of our allies the Russians.
The Dominion has so much good land awaiting settlement and such abundant sources of unde- veloped wealth in its habitable parts that it is not necessary, nor is it advisable, to indulge in geographical gymnastics in order to impress others, or ourselves, with the value and impor- tance of our Arctic region.
The second illusion is that the resources of the Dominion are "inexhaustible." This statement is met with continually, although within the last year or so some remote suggestion seems to have instilled itself into the public mind that per- haps it requires modification. Thus in one of the most recent compilations giving general infor- mation concerning Canadian products Canada's resources are said to be "comparatively inex- haustible." As a matter of fact our resources are not inexhaustible, indeed nothing is inex- haustible. These resources need to be carefully
72
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
cultivated and conserved, and some of them, indeed, have already suffered serious depletion.
THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE DOMINION
The questions, then, which present themselves are the following :
(1) What are the character and extent of the Natural Resources of Canada?
(2) Are these Resources being used and devel- oped in a way to secure from them the best results to the nation?
The Natural Resources of the Dominion, as might be expected in so vast a land, are enormous in extent and very varied in character. They may be classified under five heads, as follows :
|
CO |
oc |
rH |
00 |
|||
|
OS |
oo |
CD |
co |
|||
|
CD |
oo |
o |
||||
|
iffl |
co |
o |
OS |
(^ |
||
|
rH |
co |
oo • |
oo |
|||
|
os rH |
rH OS |
CD |
iO |
co os" |
1 |
|
|
03 |
£ |
Ttl |
CD |
rH |
a |
|
|
03 |
^ |
|||||
|
^4 |
<u |
|||||
|
M) o |
CO |
co rH |
O |
0 co IO |
a |
|
|
Q |
ft |
• |
fl^* |
|||
|
^* |
OS |
CM |
oT |
CO |
B |
|
|
£ |
rH OS |
co IO |
°^ |
CO o |
CM |
« |
|
rH |
CM |
oT |
0 |
^_, |
||
|
?! |
VO |
*?t* |
to |
CM |
a |
|
|
o |
||||||
|
0 PH |
a |
|||||
|
-* |
O |
co |
rH OO |
g |
||
|
w |
IO CM |
1 |
IO |
CM rH t~- rH |
o 0 |
|
|
CO |
O |
IO |
CM |
CD IO |
O |
|
|
rH |
CO . |
IO |
CO l-H |
|||
|
OS rH |
os |
CM |
^ |
CO ^J* |
X3 |
|
|
*& |
CO |
1 -^ |
CD IO |
'J-* |
||
|
OS rH |
10 |
rH |
0 |
|||
|
* 0 O |
0 o |
0 IO |
rH CO |
1 |
||
|
kO |
o |
CD |
t£ |
|||
|
IO rH OS |
os" co CD |
o oo oo |
co rH 10 |
i |
1 |
|
|
OO |
CM |
oo |
r-l |
O |
||
|
M) |
[•*» |
CO |
CO |
|||
|
03 |
OS |
rH |
rH |
|||
|
M |
•5 |
|||||
|
*S |
* |
• ^ |
||||
|
h-3 |
o |
f^i |
10 |
OO |
0 |
|
|
o |
>M |
|||||
|
3 |
•**• |
CO o" |
s |
O co |
- |
CD |
|
rH |
oo |
t ^. |
CD |
o |
?-< |
|
|
!z; |
OS |
IO |
CD |
OO |
CM |
_^ |
|
H |
rH OO |
. CD" |
oo CM |
a |
s |
|
|
£j |
t*» |
rH |
rH |
o |
||
|
PH |
fl |
|||||
|
O |
* o o |
O o |
CM |
s |
1 |
|
|
IO |
0 |
OO |
||||
|
CO |
rH |
0 |
»* |
OS |
u |
|
|
rH OS |
t~ |
CM rH |
8 |
OO CO |
•S |
|
|
r"' |
CO |
^ |
10" |
CO |
,5 |
|
|
r— |
1-^ |
•«* |
CO |
" |
||
|
CD |
l-H |
rH |
.3 |
|||
|
MI |
09 |
1 |
||||
|
fei *!-S |
E |
t |
||||
|
0} ^ o Hi ^ 60 c3 0.9 W 'C'2'S aD_fl g |
3 CO 2 o |
1 |
.1 1 '-> p ! s -8 to 3 e3 |
'£ H |
||
|
•«*J we |
S |
s |
&4 &4 pS |
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
In this list they are arranged according to the value of their output in dollars, but there must be added to these another whose output, while of great value, cannot be estimated in this manner, and that is the water powers of the Dominion. In this enumeration manufacturing is not included, because it is not a natural resource, but is based upon natural resources and directly influenced
by them.
i
AGRICULTURE
There are two great stretches of agricultural land in the Dominion. These lie respectively on the eastern plain of Canada, along the valley of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes in the Pro- vinces of Quebec and Ontario; and in the great western plains of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskat- chewan. In other provinces the areas of arable land are relatively smaller, but in all the pro- vinces there is as yet an abundance of rich land awaiting the arrival of the settler.
The amount of arable land in the Dominion as a whole cannot be accurately determined at the present time, but an estimate based on the results of the most recent Government returns, places it at 440,951,000 acres. The area tilled is increas- ing rapidly year by year, and in 1915 amounted to 37,063,000 acres. This area embraces one of the greatest wheat fields of the world, as well as enormous tracts of land excellently suited for mixed farming of all kinds. It will yield under cultivation all the products of the cooler temper-
75
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ate zone. In the southern portions fruit trees flourish, and some crops, such as Indian corn and tomatoes, which cannot be ripened in Great Britain in the open, grow to perfection.
The average size of a farm in Canada at the present time is a little over one hundred and fifty acres. If in the future the rapid settlement of the country continues and the land suitable for settle- ment is all taken up and distributed in farms of this size to families consisting of an average of five persons, the Dominion will provide for an agricultural population of 14,700,000 souls.
These figures show how enormously the agri- cultural output of Canada can be increased with the influx of new settlers. But not only are more farmers required, but the individual farmer should increase his production. The Agricul- tural Survey of the Dominion, carried out for the Commission of Conservation by Dr. J. W. Eobertson, shows that if all the farmers in the Dominion would adopt the system and methods followed by the best ten per cent, of these farmers, the field crops of the Dominion could be doubled in ten years, while with the methods of inten- sive farming used in Europe, whereby smaller areas are worked more thoroughly, it would be possible for the agricultural land of Canada to support a very much larger population than that referred to above, and to yield an immensely •greater output. Looking towards this greater production, Doctor Robertson's reference to what has been accomplished in Denmark is of interest.
76
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
"When I was in Denmark about twenty-six years ago," he writes, "I then learned that the Danes had picked out the best farms all over the country, and during many years had given grants to hundreds of young farmers to go and live and work and learn on these farms. These young farmers brought back to their localities not simply a knowledge of the principles on which they could pass an. examination, but a working knowledge of systems, practices and methods. All Denmark was seeded down to the practice of the best farms. No farmer to-day in Denmark feels that he has done his duty if he has discovered a better method of raising a crop or feeding a cow until he gets all the others to adopt the same method. This is real co-opera- tion. Now what are some of the results in Den- mark? From being about the poorest nation in Europe, Denmark is now the most prosperous in the world of those whose main industry is farm- ing. It has become so in less than my lifetime by these methods I am indicating. What can we not accomplish if we follow similar methods? We have a better chance on this great continent by reason of our resources, our population and our opportunities. The Danes take from Eng- land more money than any other nation obtains for an equal quantity of butter, bacon and eggs, because of their superior qualities. For the superiority of their butter, bacon and eggs, they get as a premium more than we spend on our rural schools from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
77
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
As it is, agriculture occupies a relatively less important place among the industries of Canada than it did fifteen years ago. Large quantities of butter, eggs, mutton and lamb, pork, and other products of the farm, are now imported into Can- ada to supply the demands of the rapidly increas- ing urban population, while great stretches of fertile land remain uncultivated within easy access of large and profitable markets.
The agricultural production of Canada must be increased, not only on account of the necessity of developing a large export trade in the products of this great industry, but also on account of the fact that this increased production will tend directly to lower the cost of living, which is of vital importance to Canada if her manufacturing industries are to show a substantial growth, as they should do, in order that they may sustain their due share in the increased taxation which must follow the present war. To this end some steps must be taken not only to make farming fairly profitable, but to make farm and country life more attractive and interesting than it is at present in many parts of Canada. Thus in many districts in the East, but notably in the Western Provinces, owing largely to the manner in which the agricultural lands have been granted, the farms are separated by blocks of unsettled lands, and a sparse population is thus scattered over a great area, compact settlement being prevented by the high prices at which the unsettled lands are held. This isolates the settler, making access
78
OUK NATIONAL HERITAGE
to markets, schools and churches more difficult and expensive, and cuts him off from the social activities which contribute largely to the happi- ness and contentment of a population. As is well known, it is the loneliness of this life that is not the least among the causes which in Canada determine the flow of the rural population to the great centres of population.
It may be said that conditions will improve as time goes on, but in the meanwhile the newcomer is required. He is the maker of increased pro- duction, and these unoccupied lands, often the best in the district, stand as unproductive assets. A country that can enlist and send 300,000 of its sons to France with complete equipment and commissariat, and even 1,500 miles of railway communication, in order to save Canada, is surely equal to the test of devising some method of settling these men on the best of its vacant land when they return. To stand aside and advise others to go back to the land if conditions of farming do not provide a happy and success- ful livelihood, is devoting ourselves to the public weal with that same enthusiasm which was mani- fested by Artemus Ward in the case of a certain project for the success of which he informs us that he was willing to sacrifice all his wife's able- bodied relations. While these are pressing and very real problems, there is a certain influence at work throughout the Dominion which even now is tending to make farming not only more profitable but a much more interesting occupa-
79
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tion than it has been in the past. This is the educational work which is being carried out by the Dominion and Provincial Governments and by the great Agricultural Colleges. By these the farmer is introduced to new ideas, modern methods and to the achievements of modern science so far as they can be applied to agricul- ture. He is thus being gradually raised from the status of an unskilled labourer to that of a skilled and independent worker.
FORESTS
Among the natural resources of the Dominion next in importance to the products of the farm are the products of the forest. The forests and woodlands of Canada cover an area of approxi- mately 1,351,505 square miles, and have fur- nished immense supplies of timber and lumber from before Confederation down to the present time.
A sharp distinction must be drawn between " woodland " and " forest." The woodlands con- sist of country covered by trees often of no com- mercial value whatsoever, while the forest areas are those which contain stands of merchantable timber. Data on which a tolerably accurate esti- mate of the amount of standing timber in the Dominion may be based are now for the first time available. These have been obtained chiefly by the Forest Surveys carried out by the Com- mission of Conservation. The Forest Survey of Nova Scotia is completed. The returns for Brit-
80
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
ish Columbia have just lately been received. The surveys of the prairie provinces are partially completed and the results will be published shortly. The Commission is now about to under- take a survey of the forest resources of Ontario and Quebec, although concerning these we have some considerable knowledge from other sources, while the Provincial Government of New Bruns- wick is now engaged in making a comprehensive survey of the forest resources of that province.
The total stand of commercial timber in the Canadian forests is somewhere between five hun- dred and seven hundred billion feet board meas- ure. In addition to this the forests contain very large reserves of small spruce which is cut for pulp wood used in the manufacture of paper, which is now one of the more important of the Canadian industries.
The forest also supplies an immense number of railway ties, telegraph poles and posts, as well as the material for numerous manufacturing and chemical industries situated in different parts of the Dominion. The Canadian railways alone require some 20,000,000 ties per annum. These forest industries, if carefully developed, may be made to support a much larger population than they do at the present time, and one which is more permanent and less migratory in character.
The Canadian forests are often said to be inex- haustible. As a matter of fact, however, these forest surveys show that this is by no means the case, and that the Canadian forests now hold
6 81
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
only between one-fifth and one-fourth as much merchantable timber as those of the United States. Of this about one-half is contained in the magnificent forests of British Columbia, while the other half is situated in the forests of Quebec and Ontario. Mr. Craig and Doctor Whitford, who have just completed the Forest Survey of British Columbia for the Commission of Conservation, report that of the 250,000,000 acres of British Columbia, 92,000,000 are abso- lute forest land, and that of this area 33,000,000 carry merchantable timber. The remainder has been burned over and is now more or less covered with young growth. One-half of the 33,000,000 acres which carries merchantable timber has been partially damaged by fire, so that of the 92,000,- 000 acres of absolute virgin forest land in British Columbia only about 17,000,000 remain entirely uninjured by fire. The forest of British Colum- bia is part of the great forest which extends southward into Washington and Oregon. It is one of the two great tracts of merchantable vir- gin timber which still exist in the world, the other being the great pine forest of Russia. The forest of British Columbia could be made to yield without depletion about five times as much lum- ber as is being at present cut from it. To effect its full development it is necessary to secure a larger export trade. This is now being developed by commercial agents of the Government, and a number of ships, to be engaged exclusively in this export trade, are now being built.
82
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
The eastern forest has been seriously depleted by the axe of the lumberman. The first quality of white pine has already disappeared, and the time is not far distant when the supplies of spruce will not be more than sufficient for domes- tic use, and Eastern Canada will cease to have any supplies of merchantable timber for export. In 1874 Mr. Deferbaugh visited the Ottawa dis- trict, and in his " History of Lumbering in North America" he gives a very interesting statement concerning the condition of the trade in that great centre of the lumber industry at that time. He found that within a radius of ten miles of the City of Ottawa, twenty-four mills, nearly all of superior grade, were in operation, having a capa- city of 400,000,000 feet of lumber per year, and he reported that each of these mills had limits which it was estimated would produce abundant supplies of logs for twenty-five, fifty, or a hun- dred years, even if the mills were doubled in capacity. Now — forty-four years later — there are in the same area seven saw-mills which have a combined capacity of but 250,000,000 feet a year, while their output falls short of this figure. Most of the logs to supply these mills must now be brought from distances of fifty to a hundred and fifty miles from the mills, often requiring two years to drive them.
Both the eastern and the western forest have also suffered from the ravages of fire. A minimum estimate shows that the loss from this cause for very many years has amounted to between $5,000,-
83
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
000 and f 10,000,000 annually. Far more lumber has thus been burned than has fallen to the lum- berman's axe. Within the last few years, how- ever, public opinion has been aroused to the serious nature of this menace, and there has been a widespread movement to stop these forest fires. Thus the various lumber companies operating on the upper waters of the St. Maurice, acting in co-operation, have formed the St. Maurice Pro- tective Association, for the purpose of guarding their combined limits, embracing about seven and one-half million acres, from fire. The limits have been placed under a trained forester with an adequate staff. Hundreds of miles of paths have been cut through the forest connecting the vari- ous outlook stations which command the whole area. These are also connected by telephone, so that the fire wardens at any of the outlooks see- ing the smoke of a bush fire at any point can at once get together a sufficient number of men to extinguish the fire in its incipient stages. This organization has proved very successful, and last summer practically no serious fires took place in the Association's limits. A similar association, operating with equal success over larger limits situated on the Ottawa River and containing very valuable stands of white pine, is the Ottawa River Forest Protective Association.
In former times the sparks from the locomo- tives of railways were one of the chief causes of the destruction of the forests, but this danger has also now been practically eliminated, the Rail-
84
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
way Commission having enacted that the railways shall extinguish every fire which starts within three hundred feet of their tracks. So that, instead of first settling the question as to who started the fire before proceeding to extinguish it, the law now requires the rail way* company to extinguish the fire and then make a claim for damages against the actual offenders if it is proved that the fire was originated through other agencies than their own. In this great work for the con- servation of the Canadian forests the railway companies have heartily co-operated with the Government, with the splendid result above men- tioned. Now instead of travelling across the continent through a blackened waste, the green woodland and forest of young trees is everywhere springing up, while the dead " rampikes " repre- senting the original forest trees, towering up here and there above the younger growth, are eloquent of the former things which have now passed away.
In Quebec and British Columbia, settlers who desire to burn their slash must now obtain per- mits from the Government forest ranger, who supervises the burning and sees that it is carried out only under conditions where due precautions for safety have been taken. The tremendous devastation caused by the fires in Northern Ontario have recently aroused public opinion to such an extent that the Ontario Government have also undertaken to make their forest surveys effective and to introduce similar laws with ref- 85
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
erence to the disposal of slash made by the settlers when clearing the land. Great tracts of country, however, in the north are still unpro- tected, from which devastating fires may at any time sweep southward and destroy timber of great value.
Another most important step toward the pre- servation of the Canadian forests has been taken in recent years in the setting aside by the Domin- ion and Provincial Governments of great tracts of country as Forest Reserves. They lie chiefly about the head waters of the great rivers of the Dominion, and thus serve not only as perman- ent timber and game reserves, but also provide a valuable protective cover on the gathering ground of the streams feeding the river systems of the country. In these cases the forests act as great sponges in which the water which falls as rain slowly drains away, thus maintaining in the streams an equable flow of water throughout the year, preventing the disastrous floods which always follow the destruction of the forest and securing all the advantages of a normal flow for the rivers of the land.
In order to obtain the data from which to develop a proper system of forest management the Dominion Government is now making inves- tigations into the question of forest growth and reproduction, and also into the methods of utiliz- ing the products of the forest to the best advan- tage and with the least possible waste. This work is being carried on in part in the forest
86
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
itself and in part in the Government Forest Pro- ducts Laboratories, which are conducted in asso- ciation with McGill University. Canada is thus, in the treatment of her forest resources, gradu- ally ceasing to look upon the forest from the standpoint of the pioneer as an enemy to be destroyed, and is coming to recognize that in the forests there is a great source of wealth which must be conserved and developed so that from it the nation may obtain the highest possible returns, both now and through all the years to come.
MINES
The mineral deposits of the Dominion are so numerous and so varied in character that it is impossible here even to enumerate them. They include, in that portion of the country which has already been explored, not only ores of most of the metals but great deposits of the non-metallic minerals, as well as of building stones and every species of constructional material.
The great nickel, copper, silver and gold deposits of Ontario; the copper, gold, lead and zinc deposits of British Columbia; the asbestos and copper deposits of Quebec, are renowned. Furthermore, it is known from the explorations of the Dominion Geological Survey in the great hinterland of northern Canada, that the geologi- cal formations which carry the nickel and copper of Sudbury, the great silver and cobalt deposits of Cobalt, and the rich gold mines of Porcupine,
87
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
run in great belts through this remote land, and will undoubtedly yield abundant returns to the prospector when the country is sufficiently acces- sible to permit of close and continued search. This is true even of the farthest north. Doctor O'Neil, of the Geological Survey, who has spent the past two years in journeying to the shores of the Arctic Sea and there searching for the deposits of copper from which the Eskimos obtain the supplies of metallic copper to make their weapons and utensils, has just returned, and reports he found there one thousand square miles of country underlaid by rocks, all of which holds copper in small amount, while great addi- tional tracts of this copper-bearing territory are known to exist in adjacent areas, but still await careful examination. The percentage of copper hitherto discovered in these rocks is not suffi- ciently high to enable the deposits to be worked with profit, but the experience of other mining regions shows that in such an area rich segrega- tions of high grade copper ore will be found on further search. Thus it seems by no means beyond the bounds of possibility that even in this remotest part of Canada a great copper industry may one day arise. If a great mining industry could be opened up in that ultima thule, it would bring with it the development of all the other natural resources of that great region which now, on account of their remoteness, remain unused.
88
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
Canada has also, with the single exception of the United States, greater coal deposits than any other country of the world. These are situated in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. The central portion of the Dominion, from Montreal to Winnipeg, contains no coal deposits and, therefore, all the coal used in this part of Canada is imported from the United States. A wide field for the introduction of improved methods of working, and for closer utilization of the product, is presented by these coal fields, especially in western Canada. Among these may be mentioned the saving of the pro- ducts yielded in the coking of coal. These pro- ducts consist, in addition to great quantities of gas suitable for illuminating and heating pur- poses, of ammonia, tar, creosote, benzine, toluene, and other similar substances which form the basis of all manner of chemical manufactures, includ- ing the great aniline dye industry, explosives and fertilizers.
In Germany at the present time the burning of raw coal under any circumstances is absolutely forbidden ; coke properly crushed and sized being an excellent substitute, while the volatile con- stituents driven out of the coal during the process of coking supply to Germany the raw materials for the manufacture of the explosives required in the prosecution of the war.
Many of these chemical industries should find a home in Canada in the New Era, and, to quote the words of Sir Clifford Sifton in his presiden-
89
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tial address to the Commission of Conservation in January, 1916, " it may not be too much to pre- dict that before many years coke will be the fuel and that the by-products now dissipated in smoke will furnish the fertilizers which will render yet more productive the grain fields of the west."
FISHERIES
Canada, unlike most other countries, is not hemmed in by the territories of other peoples, but is, on three sides, bounded by the waters of the salt sea, while inland it is traversed by many streams and rivers which take their rise in thou- sands of lakes, among which are some of the greatest bodies of fresh water in the world. All these abound — or did abound — in fish and other living creatures useful to man and constituting another of the sources of national wealth.
It was, in fact, the fisheries on the Atlantic coast of Canada that, after the discovery of America, led men to brave the dangers of the great waste of waters, and, having plied their trade as fishermen, to form some of the earliest settlements in the Dominion and in Newfound- land. Their descendants and successors con- stituted that hardy seafaring population which has in the present war contributed so nobly to the manning of the British Navy.
There are no fishing grounds in the world so favourably situated or so suitable as a habitat for the most valuable species of commercial fishes. During fifteen years, from 1870 to 1885,
90
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
there was a rapid and steady advance in the yield of our Atlantic fisheries. During the next twenty- five years, from 1885 to 1910, however, but little progress was made, and since that time the yield has even somewhat fallen off. These fisheries suffer from a restricted market which, however, could easily be expanded if improved and modern methods of curing, packing and shipping were adopted, and the quality of the salted fish now supplied to the market were thus improved. Dur- ing the present war these fisheries have received a marked impetus owing to the large quantities of fish shipped from them to the allied armies in France. They have thus " done their bit " in the great cause.
The fishing industry of British Columbia, in value of annual output, is about equal to that of the Maritime Provinces, but offers a marked con- trast to it in many respects. Salmon and halibut are the chief fish which are taken. The former are netted when coming in from the sea to spawn in the rivers, chiefly the Fraser River, and they are thus easily secured. These salmon are for the most part canned for shipment. Year by year the canneries are increasing their output, while the nets across the mouth of the Fraser River form a veritable barricade. A careful study of the situation goes to show that the supply of fish is gradually diminishing under this intensive fishing. The conservation of this most important industry presents peculiar diffi- culties. The salmon coming in from the sea to
91
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
spawn in the Fraser Kiver pass by the coast of the United States on the south side of the Gulf of Georgia, and are there taken in enormous numbers, about double the Canadian catch, by the fishermen of the United States. The preser- vation of these fisheries is, therefore, an inter- national question, and there can be but little doubt that unless some agreement can be reached in the near future the industry will severely suffer.
The preservation and extension of the inland fisheries of Canada is a question to which the Dominion Government has devoted much atten- tion. These aims have been furthered both by enacting close seasons and by artificial breeding. In the case of the whitefish in the Great Lakes these efforts have undoubtedly resulted in an increased yield of fish. A similar policy prose- cuted with equal vigour in connection with trout, bass, sturgeon and other fishes would undoubt- edly result in a great increase of the available food supply of the inland waters of Canada.
WATER-POWERS
Another source of wealth with which Canada is blest in a pre-eminent degree is its water- powers. Some of these are situated in the far north and are, consequently, not available for use at the present. time. Eecent surveys, how- ever, which have been carried out by the Water- Powers Branch of the Department of the Interior, and by the Commission of Conservation, show
92
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
that, excluding those of the North- West Terri- tory, the Yukon, and the northern portions of the Province of Quebec, the water-powers of the remaining portion of Canada will yield no less than 17,746,000 horse-power.
Of this at the present time 1,712,173 horse- power, or about ten per cent, of the whole, has been developed. Two-thirds of this amount has been made available within the last ten years. Of this total 524,000 horse-power is situated in the Province of Quebec, 789,466 in the Province of Ontario, and 265,345 in the Province of British Columbia.
Not only is Canada fortunate in the possession of so large a supply of available water-power, but it is also fortunate in the fact that these water-powers are most conveniently situated.
As has been already mentioned, no coal occurs in central Canada, where most of the manufac- turing industries of the Dominion are at present located. Now, however, that the water-powers of the Dominion have been made available for use by the construction of long-distance transmission systems, it is found that practically every impor- tant centre of industry from coast to coast, with the exception of a few towns in the middle prairie provinces, is within easy reach of an abundance of water-power, sufficient not only to supply its present needs, but also for all anticipated require- ments in the future.
In fact, the favourable location of the water- powers of Canada is one of their outstanding
93
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
features. Where the coal supplies of the Domin- ion are absent the supplies of " white coal " take their place.
An abundant supply of cheap power is one of the first and chief factors in the development of an industry. This is true not only for manu- facturing but also in mining, lumbering, and even to a certain extent in agriculture. Abund- ant supplies of power are also required for the proper and efficient development of the com- munal life of the towns and great cities of the Dominion, where it is needed for lighting, trans- portation, water supply, and a hundred other purposes. This power will also eventually be used for the electrification of the railway systems of the country, at least over considerable por- tions of their lines. The great advantage to be derived from its use in the case of rural muni- cipalities is seen in the magnificent results obtained from the work of the Ontario Hydro- Electric Power Commission. These are the prim- ary and most important uses of power which lie at the very basis of civilized life in any highly- developed community.
But, in addition, an abundant supply of cheap power is the basis on which are built up great chemical industries. These are only just com- mencing to develop in Canada; conditions, how- ever, are favourable for their rapid growth. Among the chemical industries which can be easily developed with the abundant supplies of cheap power which are available, the manufac-
94
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
ture of the following substances may be men- tioned: Carbide of calcium, acetone, bleaching powder, cyanide, cyanamide, nitrate of lime, metallic aluminum, metallic sodium, metallic magnesium, as well as a hundred other products. For the purpose of the chemical manufacturers, however, the more remote water-powers should be employed, these not being needed for the imme- diate requirements of our great centres of popu- lation.
The mere development of electrical power is of little advantage to a country unless it is used in the country. A great station capable of supply- ing one hundred thousand horse-power when once installed can be operated by a dozen men and gives work to these alone. The power is only effective in developing wealth in a community and for the support of a large population at the points and in the country where it is used. Such being the case, the export of water-power by Canada is to be deprecated, more especially as it is the power from the best and most accessible water-powers which is now being sent to the United States. As has been well said, facilities make business, and cheap power is one of the prime facilities in manufacturing. If the water- power of the Dominion is kept in Canada it will bring the business to it. When exported it builds up the business of competing interests, and Can- ada will in the future require all the advantages with which it has been endowed by nature in
95
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
order to hold its own in the keen competition of the coming times.
It is sometimes stated that water-power ex- ported from Canada may be returned to the country so soon as a more pressing need arises for it. This statement, however, is not correct. The power so exported is employed in great industrial establishments which are built up by its use. In this way a vested claim, if not a vested interest, in the power is established, and when the time comes when it is desired to make use of the power in Canada these vested interests at once assert themselves, and trouble arises which in many cases threatens to result in international complications.
The following quotation from an address recently delivered by Dr. George Otis Smith, the Director of the Geological Survey of the United States, will show how this question of the need of the conserving the power supplies of a nation appears when looked at from the standpoint of the United States :
" Cheap power promises to be in some future century this country's largest asset in the indus- trial rivalry among nations. Our unsurpassed coal reserves, reinforced by these water-power resources, constitute a strong line of national defence in that they form the real basis for an industrial organization of the nation's workers. It is only through abundant and well-distributed power that the other material resources of the country can be put to their highest use and made
96
OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE
to count most in the nation's development. The people's interest in water-power is greatest in its promise of future social progress, and such an interest is well worth protecting."
This statement applies with even greater force to Canada owing to the absence of coal deposits in the central portion of the country, and should be laid to heart by all who are interested in the future development and welfare of the Dominion.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
And so the original question presents itself again, having found its answer.
The national heritage of the Canadian people is one of vast extent and of manifold and varied resources. The people of Canada are, however, just emerging from the condition of pioneers in a new country, to whom the natural wealth of forest, stream and mine seems boundless and who in the struggles incident to early settlement draw upon those gifts with but little thought for future times.
In the New Era, however, Canada must set its face toward higher things and take many long steps in the path of national efficiency if the coun- try is to worthily fill the place to which its mani- fold destiny is calling it. It must develop and at the same time conserve its resources, and must administer the national domain with the same initiative, care and ability that a great commer- cial corporation conducts its affairs, and this in
7 97
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the interest of the whole people and not of the few.
It is one of the grave disadvantages of demo- cratic rule that no government can take any far- reaching action in this direction unless it is supported by a strong public opinion. It is, therefore, a good omen that the people of Canada are now awakening to the importance of true conservation.
A conservationist is not a man who advocates the locking up of a nation's resources in order that they may be saved for some later generation, but he is one who sees in the natural resources of a country national assets which can be worked so as to yield a present increased profit, while at the same time their capital value is maintained and they are handed on unimpaired to our children and to succeeding generations.
It is only in this way that we can enable our successors to uphold the position which Canada must take in the Empire, and incidentally to pay the interest on the national debt which is now being accumulated.
The great menace in this country is that of public inertia — that accidia which Dante ranked so high among the sins of national life — the failure to recognize the gravity of the situation, and the lack of a public opinion which burns with the determination to have the right thing done and to have it done now, that victory may be secured, not only over the forces of nature, but over wrong ideals and ignoble ambitions.
98
OUK NATIONAL HERITAGE
Doctor Parkhurst, in one of his campaigns against Tammany, said :
"It is written that the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but I find they go much faster when they know someone is after them."
But with us it is not so much the pursuit of the wicked that is required, as that every Canadian should become possessed of the idea that if, in time of war, he must fight to the last ditch for Canada because it is his home, it is necessary that in times of peace he should put forth equal efforts to ensure that Canada is made a home worthy of the best traditions and of the future greatness of the Empire of which it is a part.
Frank Dawson Adams.
99
IMMIGRATION
AND
SETTLEMENT
LIFE'S SATISFACTION
THERE is a beauty at the goal of life,
A beauty growing since the World began, Through every age and race, through lapse and strife
Till the great human soul complete her span. Beneath the waves of storm that lash and burn,
The currents of blind passion that appall, To listen and keep watch till we discern
The tide of sovereign truth that guides it all; So to address our Spirits to the height,
And so attune them to the valiant whole, That the great light be clearer for our light,
And the great soul be stronger for our soul; To have done this is to have lived, though fame Remember us with no familiar name.
Archibald Lampman.
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
WHEN the war is over it will be necessary to consider the problem of naturalization and to establish more rigid control over immigration. I do not believe that the wide, fertile areas of Canada should be closed to desirable settlers from any free country. We shall need popula- tion in order to carry the burden of the war and to provide adequate support for the machinery of industry and transportation which we have created. But we should guard the franchise against elements which cannot be expected to sympathize with our ideals or institutions.
If we have bought freedom at a great price we should set value upon free British citizenship. We should require allegiance to Canada and the Empire. We should not tolerate a covert politi- cal obligation to any other country. We should not give the franchise too readily to immigrants who have never lived under free institutions, who are ignorant of the responsibilities of citizenship and who have barely established themselves in the country. Careless enfranchisement of alien groups breeds political corruption and lowers the whole average of citizenship.
There will always be competition between poli- tical parties for the support of every voting ele- ment. Once the franchise is granted it is not easily withdrawn. But we can extend the period during which the franchise is withheld from new-
103
comers and we can exercise more strict supervi- sion over the kind of people that are admitted to Canada. There is reason to think that the medical examination at Quebec is careless and unsatisfactory. Not a few people have entered the country who should have been excluded. Hundreds of those who came as agricultural immigrants have crowded into the centres of population.
There should be better inspection at ports of entry and at seaports in Europe before immi- grants embark for Canada. Deportation is an undesirable practice. There is something cruel and barbarous in shipping sick or diseased people out of the country. We have the right, however, to exclude such people and to make other countries support their sick and indigent. It is not vital that we should have a population of ten millions in three years or five years. It is vital that we should have a population physically and morally sound and equal to the obligations of free government.
TESTS FOR VOTERS
When the war is over we shall have to declare our attitude towards immigration from enemy countries and, for this reason alone, we must con- sider the whole question of immigration and citizenship. A further reason for a critical exam- ination of the basis of the franchise will be found in the probable concession of equal suffrage to women. In consideration of the great interests
104
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
involved, it may be necessary that the qualifica- tion for federal voters shall be fixed by the Fed- eral Government, and not, as it is now, by each province at its discretion. The voters in federal elections determine national character and the national destiny, and, in the future, national and Imperial considerations cannot be wisely ignored in settling the qualifications of citizenship. Many of the American States have a literacy test for voters, and more than once the President has had to veto an Act of Congress requiring a literacy test for immigrants. Possibly such tests would not be so urgently required if the period of quali- fication for citizenship could be extended. We should also have an Act such as is recommended by the Unionist War Committee on Naturaliza- tion in Great Britain, giving power to the authorities to revoke certificates of naturaliza- tion on grounds of public policy.
Immigrants from lands still under autocratic government, who can have no knowledge of the responsibilities of citizenship in a free country, should not have the franchise until they are able to speak the common language of the province in which they live, until they have some definite conception of the responsibilities of British citizenship, and some adequate knowledge of the questions upon which judgment has to be pronounced at the polls. There is no royal road to assimilation of immigrants, but at least we should not herd masses of people in the West, or in the cities, who cannot speak the English lan-
105
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
guage, and, therefore, will be slow to acquire any sympathetic knowledge of Canadian conditions or Canadian problems.
SOLDIERS AND THE LAND
We must be hospitable to people from Ally countries who have fought with the soldiers of the Empire in the common cause of freedom and civilization. We should make liberal provision for British soldiers who may desire to settle under their own flag and who, through service in the field, may have developed a distaste for indoor pursuits. Chiefly, of course, we should seek British immigrants. We shall have to pro- vide assistance in establishing such immigrants on the land. Particularly is this true of those who have been soldiers. After all, those who compose the British armies are very like the citizen soldiers of Canada. To-day there are few professional soldiers in the armies of Great Britain or the Dominions. These men, who are fighting as valiantly as ever men fought in human history, have been withdrawn from civil pursuits, and will return to civil pursuits in Great Britain, in the Dominions, or elsewhere, as soon as peace is restored. We can go far, therefore, to estab- lish British soldiers in Canada, and possibly for immigrants from any part of the Empire we can make exceptional provision.
It is doubtful if the old system of subsidies to steamship companies for securing immigrants should be continued. At least far more severe
106
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
penalties should be imposed upon steamship com- panies who bring in undesirable people. It is vitally necessary to establish an Imperial Migra- tion Board in London, as suggested by the Ontario Commission on Unemployment. This wouH ensure co-operation between the Imperial auth ?ities and the Dominion Governments in distributing population throughout the Empire and in determining whether immigration of par- ticular classes at particular seasons should be encouraged or discouraged.
In these matters there should also be greater co-operation between the Government at Ottawa and the Governments of the Provinces. Our obligation to immigrants should not cease when they land at Halifax or St. John or Quebec. We should be as anxious to have newcomers well established in Canada as we were to induce them to leave other countries. We should see that they are treated with sympathy and consideration when they land on Canadian soil, that they are carried to their destination under the direction of sympathetic public officers, that they are assured of necessary medical and hospital treat- ment during their first years in the country, and that, if they devote themselves to farming, they have wise and continuous instruction from agri- cultural experts. Those admitted to Canada who cannot speak the English language should have the assistance of interpreters who know their own language. They should have advice from officials who understand conditions in this coun-
107
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
try. They should be helped to secure employ- ment at fair wages and guarded against robbery by conscienceless dealers and speculators. In short, we should look chiefly for immigrants who will go upon the land, and we should regard our- selves as responsible for their welfare until they have a reasonably secure footing in the country.
The report of the Ontario Commission on Unemployment deals with many phases of the problem of immigration and makes valuable recommendations. The Legislatures of British Columbia, New Brunswick and Ontario are enacting measures which are substantially iden- tical with the Commission's proposals. The Koyal Colonial Institute adopted the Commis- sion's recommendation in favour of a Central Migration Board to supervise the movement of population within the Empire, and by an influen- tial deputation urged its advantages upon the Imperial Government. There is reason to believe that such a Board will be established. Doubtless its exact scope and authority will be settled at the Imperial Conference. The general conclu- sions and recommendations of the Commission are best stated in the exact language of the report.
AN INTER-IMPERIAL POLICY
The Commission recommends such reform in immigration as will make directly for the settle- ment of vacant agricultural areas, stimulate the development of the country's natural resources
108
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
and combat the universal tendency of population to concentrate in cities. It further advises such united action by the Imperial and Dominion authorities as will lead a greater proportion of British immigrants to the Overseas Dominions instead of to foreign countries, thus conserving the man-power and adding to the strength and wealth of the Empire. For these economic and patriotic reasons, the close of the war should find us ready with a courageous inter-Imperial immi- gration policy in which the Imperial, Dominion and Provincial Governments and railway and other great employing corporations will have a responsible share. For Canada the primary prob- lem is to bring the right sort of people to the land and to assist them in every way possible to make the land productive and themselves pros- perous citizens of the Dominion. If necessary, the Governments interested should furnish such financial assistance as will enable the newcomers to become within a reasonable time self-support- ing on the soil.
VOLUME OF IMMIGRATION
In the first fourteen years of the present cen- tury the number of immigrants into Canada was about 2,900,000, of whom 1,100,000 came from the British Isles, 1,000,000 from the United States, and the remaining 800,000 from many other countries, mostly European. The maxi- mum movement was reached in the fiscal years 1912-13 and 1913-14. In these two years, respec-
109
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tively, the arrivals numbered 402,432 and 384,878 from all sources. The influx having been stopped by the war, there seems to be no reason why it should not be resumed upon the conclusion of peace. There are indeed factors in the situation which may operate to swell the migration. Over against the destruction of human life are to be set the wreckage to property and the rousing of an adventurous spirit in the breasts of millions of young men, who will be inclined to seek their for- tunes in new lands, particularly in new lands under the allied flags — most of which are under the Union Jack. It is for Canada to be fully prepared beforehand to take advantage of a situation likely to prove so favourable.
RELATION TO UNEMPLOYMENT
In the problem of immigration is involved that of unemployment. The one cannot be solved apart from the other. Once immigration is dealt with satisfactorily, we shall have gone some dis- tance towards abolishing unemployment in Canada. The Dominion requires a heavy and continuous immigration movement to people its vacant areas, develop its material resources and utilize its railway and industrial plants. Mil- lions of men and women from other lands are required to increase production and meet the debt incurred in the creation of extensive trans- portation systems and in the prosecution of the war. Yet immigration, if improperly directed, or allowed to take care of itself, may easily lead
110
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
to widespread unemployment and want, as it has done in the past. The welfare of Canadian indus- try requires that skilled and unskilled labour shall be protected against undue and untimely invasion of workers from abroad. It will be necessary in the public interest to regulate the influx of artisans and labourers during periods of industrial expansion and to check the influx when a redundancy of labour exists.
PLACE ON THE LAND
Many of those in Canada who are from time to time out of work were not born in this country. A large proportion came from Europe and have not had time to make fixed places for themselves. Often the wrong kind of people have been admitted or, when the newcomers have been of the right sort, too many have been allowed to drift into a position of helplessness — for sheer lack of alert and informed leadership. This statement applies to immigrants from the British Isles and also to people from Continental Europe. Investigation has shown that a large proportion of the unemployed foreigners in our cities, many of whom we had to support two or three years ago, were engaged in agriculture in Europe and expected to go on the land in Canada. Disap- pointed in their own field, they readily found employment by the thousand upon the new rail- ways and extensive public works in course of construction for some years prior to 1914. When these undertakings were almost brought to corn- Ill
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
pletion, or came to a comparative standstill, thousands of foreigners flocked to centres of population and became public charges or bene- ficiaries of private charity. The cities in which these experienced yet farmless farmers congre- gate are only a few hours removed from millions of acres of fertile but unbroken land. For the future, immigration should be so directed and immigrants so handled as to prevent such separa- tion of complementary assets. Not only must we get agricultural immigrants, but after reaching Canada they must not be diverted from the land. There must be machinery whereby they may be taken to the land on arrival, and maintained there, if necessary, with the aid of agricultural credfts extended by the public treasury.
A DUTY AND A PRIVILEGE
After the conclusion of peace Great Britain, the British Dominions and allied countries will disband millions of armed men, a considerable proportion of whom may be available for settle- ment on the land in Canada. To all those who have fought the awful battle for human freedom and democratic principles, this country will owe a lasting debt. It is the duty, as well as the privilege, of Canada to offer them a home and the opportunity of earning for themselves a comfort- able living. The obligation to discharged British soldiers and discharged Canadian soldiers is especially pressing. If we wait until the end of the war nothing satisfactory can be achieved. A
112
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
grave economic and social crisis may result. As has been said by a member of the British Asso- ciation, " the machinery for providing ex-service men with land ought to be created without delay and be in operation before we have the men upon our hands." For this purpose, and for the gen- eral purposes of inter- Imperial migration and land settlement, the United Kingdom and the Dominions should be viewed as a single whole. It should be possible effectively to unite the Imperial and Dominion Governments in a policy which shall keep the movement of population more and more within the Empire and check the drain of population to foreign countries, and so conserve British manhood for the development of British territory and the support and defence of British institutions against future contingencies. All soldiers in the Japanese army are trained in practical agriculture two hours on three days of each week, so that they may have a desirable occupation and means of livelihood for them- selves and their families when the time for their discharge arrives. Settlement on the land of time-expired soldiers would be much assisted by the pensions of which there is a prospect.
CONDITIONS IN DIFFERENT PROVINCES
In any plan of Imperial co-operation the domestic interests of the United Kingdom must not be forgotten. It would not be fair or wise to depopulate the Mother Country, even in order to people the daughter States. The annual emi-
8 113
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
gration from the United Kingdom to all countries before the war amounted to nearly 500,000 people. The number of farmers and agricultural labour- ers in the United Kingdom is not excessive, but it should be feasible to utilize other elements in the population in the development of our natural resources. In the opinion of many who have studied the situation at first hand, it will be found practicable to train dwellers in British cities, towns and villages for successful careers on the land in Canada.
The varying conditions found in different parts of Canada may render the problem easier of solu- tion. Under intelligent management, newcomers will go to those parts of the country which are best adapted to their special needs and capabilities. Each province might specialize in a particular kind of colonization: Old Ontario in live stock, fruit-growing and other forms of intensive farm- ing, New Ontario in pioneer bush farming, Sas- katchewan in grain growing, Alberta in mixed farming. On1 the Pacific coast there is room for fruit farmers and cattle raisers, and during the first years of occupation these can partly pay their way by taking out logs and pulp wood. In the Atlantic provinces there is a place for farmers of moderate means to settle upon prepared or partly prepared farms.
THE COST OF UNDESIRABLES
Defects in the immigration system under suc- cessive governments have resulted in the admis- sion of undesirables, too many of whom have
114
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
become a permanent burden on the country. This has been the case particularly during the heavy influx of the past decade, which was checked by the outbreak of war. By far too high a propor- tion of the immigrants admitted have been dis- eased physically or were mentally unsound. Many of these have found their way to the ordin- ary hospitals, to hospitals for the insane, and to homes for the mentally defective. The charge thus imposed upon the public reaches startling figures, especially when the progeny of the men- tally defective is taken into consideration. The census of 1911 showed that about fifteen per cent, of the population of Canada had been born out- side of Canada. If these were as sound as the native population, the number of them who have been certified as defective or insane should not exceed one-sixth of all the patients in the asylums. It appears that they constitute a proportion far larger than this. Statistics issued by the Provin- cial Secretary of Ontario show that 445 out of 1,351 patients admitted to the asylums in this Province in 1914 were born outside of Can- ada. Of 22,664 admitted since the Government began to care for the insane, 7,366 came from abroad. In each case the percentage of non- Canadians is over one-third. Of 2,873 admitted to the Government homes for feeble-minded and epileptics, 504 were not native born. The cost of maintenance of these hundreds for the remainder of their natural lives is a grievous public burden. In the past few years the Government has sought
115
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
to minimize the evil results of such unsound immigration by deportation. During 1914 the number of deportations from Canada was 1,834. Of these 207 were insane, 376 were criminals, and 715 likely to become a public charge. But the cost of deportation is considerable, and the law does not authorize the deportation of those who have been in the country more than three years. It is noteworthy that, with a view to checking the inflow of mental defectives, the Hon. Dr. Koche, Minister of the Interior, has had an expert in Psychology added to the Immigration Staff at Quebec. Australia requires medical examina- tions of immigrants before they leave their homes in Europe.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
The United States suffers from the same cause. The presence of three thousand, or thirty per cent., of the feeble-minded children maintained by New York State in institutions is attributed to the refusal by Congress of applications for the adequate inspection of immigrants at the port of landing. The decline which has taken place in the volume of immigration since the war began has enabled immigration officers to make their inspection more effective and, as a consequence of this intensive scrutiny, the percentage of rejec- tions has risen from two or three per cent, to seven per cent. In the Congressional Record of 1912 it was stated that New York has spent $25,000,000 on alien insane, the result of insufficient inspec-
116
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
tion by the federal authorities at Ellis Island. The average life of an inmate of a hospital for the insane is eleven years, and in that time he costs the public between three and four thousand dollars. No less than seventy-four per cent, of all those in the State asylums are foreign-born or of foreign parentage.
Only experts in mental diseases are capable of detecting symptoms of insanity in many of those who, on landing, appear quiet and well-balanced, but who afterwards find their way to the asylums and prisons. The whole business of the inspec- tion of immigrants must be taken out of politics and brought up to a high standard of modern efficiency. A Public Health Service for Immigra- tion at home and abroad should be constituted. It should comprise only active physicians and nurses. Their tenure of office should be perman- ent and their compensation commensurate with the vital importance of the work to be performed, so that they would be induced to make it their life business. They could do their work at Euro- pean ports of departure, on board ship, or at Canadian ports of entry. Up to the present the perfunctory examination at some Canadian ports of landing has been made by local practitioners who have treated this1 work as a " side line," and whose political affiliations have played a part in their appointment. As a result, many diseased persons, especially those suffering from tubercu- losis, have been admitted. Steamship companies
117
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
may be induced to exercise more vigilance by a heavy increase in the penalties for non-observ- ance of the regulations.
VALUE OF GOOD ADVICE
Evidence has been placed before the Commis- sion which establishes the fact that numbers even of those who are free from disease and insanity fail in Canada for other reasons. From Europe come skilled workmen whose trades do not exist here, and who cannot readily adapt themselves to other trades. Inevitably, therefore, many who would have been artisans had they remained at home, have been occupied in unskilled labour at a meagre wage. Others possess so little power of adaptation that they fail altogether to adjust themselves to new conditions. These would have been well advised to remain in surroundings to which they were accustomed. In both cases need- less suffering is caused by the lack of good advice, and the cost of the failure falls on Canada. A fearless immigration policy should never hesi- tate to dissuade such individuals from coming. It is as much the duty of immigration agents in Great Britain to guard against those who for various reasons show no promise of success as it is to secure men of the opposite type. This phase of immigration has not been appreciated at its proper value.
Canada labours at present under the great handicap of not knowing at what rate her foreign- born population is increasing. In the ten years
118
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
between the census of 1901 and that of 1911, the number of immigrant arrivals was a little more than 1,700,000. At the census of 1901 the num- ber of people in Canada who had been borne else- where was returned as 700,000. There should have been more than 2,400,000 people not of Canadian birth in Canada when the census of 1911 was taken. The number returned in the census was less than 1,600,000. In other words, there was a deficiency of more than 800,000. Part of this deficiency, no doubt, can be explained by faulty registration in the Census Department and by faulty returns by immigration officials, but it is inconceivable that a large part of this deficiency should be due to either cause. We have no statistics as to the number who drift into the United States or return to their own country. In what proportion these influences were com- bined it is impossible to say, and the discussion which follows each successive census does not explain the discrepancy.
FAULTY STATISTICS
Our present methods leave us in darkness as to the conditions of our problem of assimilation. This would matter little if the proportion of those born outside Canada to the total population was a small one. Under present circumstances, how- ever, since, in all probability, more than one-fifth of the people of Canada were born elsewhere, it is vital that we should know to what extent new- comers remain in Canada after their arrival and
119
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
which races are the most migratory. At present our only means of knowing this lies in the tables compiled by the United States Department of Immigration, which relate entirely to American conditions. It will never be possible to handle Canadian problems of citizenship with full and accurate knowledge until the registration of departures from Canada is made with the same care and published with the same regularity as the registration of immigrant arrivals.
The volume of immigration has an important influence on conditions of labour in every indus- try. Fuller information will afford a valuable guide, not only for the work of the immigration authorities, but also for the Departments of Labour in dealing with the problems of Cana- dian industry. A complete separation between the control of immigration and of labour condi- tions is no longer possible. In order to realize their full efficiency, these two departments of the Federal Government must maintain a close relationship.
After the war the heterogeneous character of our population may be increasingly emphasized. Before the multitudes of newcomers can be assimilated and imbued with the Canadian out- look, effective agencies must be set at work. The schools and churches must do their part, and it should be possible to enlist the services of municipal governments, the Canadian Welfare League, commercial and industrial boards, labour organizations and other public bodies. Immi-
120
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
grants from foreign lands must be taught the meaning and value of the free institutions they enjoy under the British flag.
ADVANTAGES OF ENGLISH
The Commission agrees that while every con- stitutional right granted to any province or any element of the population should be respected and maintained, it is desirable that the whole people should speak the English language. Since this is an English-speaking continent, those who cannot speak English are shut out from many of the higher positions in business, finance and industry, and are handicapped in competition with their fellows who have no greater natural ability. In suggesting that English should have a preferred position, where constitutional rights do not interfere, there is no desire to reflect upon any other language or to prescribe what lan- guage should be spoken in the homes of the people. The view of the Commission is that, through ignorance of English, the earning power of considerable elements of the population is less- ened and their participation in Canadian affairs restricted. It is vital to Canada that, through a general use of English, foreign elements should be assimilated, while we must utilize the English language as the basis of a common national and imperial spirit.
In the United States a movement is on foot to secure this object, and the following are the
121
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
methods employed by firms in Detroit with this in view :
(1) A Preferential Policy. — Men were assem- bled and told that from this time on those that were going to night school and trying to learn English would be preferred — the first to be pro- moted, the last to be laid off and the first to be taken back.
(2) Compulsion. — Several companies made night school attendance for the non-English- speaking a condition of employment. The North- way Company established a factory school also, and then submitted to its men a threefold pro- posal: (a) to attend night school; (6) to attend the factory school ; (c) to be laid off.
(3) Popularizing the Idea. — The Cadillac Company, for instance, worked out a definite programme — to interest the leaders of the men and let them do the rest.
(4) A Bonus System. — The Solvay Company proposed a two-cent-an-hour increase for all non- English-speaking men that would attend night school.
BETTER REGULATIONS
The present system of subsidizing booking and shipping agencies requires complete revision. Possibly so drastic a step as the abolition of the bonuses can scarcely be taken, except by action in common with Australia and other competing Dominions, but the bonuses certainly furnish too powerful a temptation to dump upon the country
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
inferior classes of immigrants. The regulations requiring immigrants upon landing to possess a minimum sum of money also require revision. It is stated that the necessary amount is often lent them for the sole purpose of satisfying the authorities, and that, once past the inspectors, they return the money to the lender. Conditions for which the war is responsible may augment largely the supply of women for domestic service in Canada. The migration of these young women to this country should be under the special direc- tion of public authorities. On arrival here they should be sheltered in suitable hostels in charge of properly qualified matrons, and their subse- quent employment in private homes should be under Government supervision. The promoters of the proposed Imperial Protective Association in Great Britain have expressed a readiness to send fully qualified men and women to Canada, if proper arrangements are made on this side of the Atlantic for their reception and final employ- ment. No assisted passage should be given unless the name and address of a prospective employer are supplied to the immigration authorities, or the passage is authorized by the Provincial Board which has charge of this service. Private immi- gration agencies should be required to provide for women brought out by the agency a home where they can stay until employment is secured. The terms of agreement as to repayment of pas- sage money should be approved by the Provincial immigration authority.
123
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
A DEFINITE IMPERIAL OBJECT
The war has brought home to everyone the interdependence of all parts of the Empire. For the future, the consolidation and strengthening of all the British Dominions must be a definite objective. On an Imperial Board in close touch with every Government within the British Empire should rest the responsibility for disseminating in the United Kingdom detailed, authoritative, accurate and up-to-date information regarding opportunities in the Dominions. It should pass on the timeliness of emigration movements and upon the suitability of emigrants. It should dis- courage the indiscriminate migration which has been a feature of past years, and, when any one of the Dominions is suffering from widespread unemployment, should make impossible a large emigration till conditions have returned to nor- mal. The co-operation of the British labour exchanges and of employment bureaux and immigration boards in the Dominions should be secured. Receiving homes for immigrants would naturally form a part of the necessary Dominion machinery. Room could be made for co-operation by existing philanthropic societies, such as the Imperial Home Reunion Association, the British Naval and Military Emigration League and the Salvation Army. The British clergy, the British teaching profession and city and county authorities in the Old Land might also be enlisted in the work.
124
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
Farms for training farm help and future farmers could be established. As far as pos- sible Canadian farmers must be induced to hire men by the year and, in the case of married men, to provide them with a house and garden. Wherever adopted, this departure has more than justified itself, and if generally followed would materially enhance agricultural production by helping to solve an old and difficult problem. The release for occupation by selected immi- grants of lands held by railway and other cor- porations, the feasibility of nationalizing our forests and other natural resources, the practica- bility of developing new industries by and for the employment of immigrants, means for the train- ing of aliens to an intelligent appreciation of British ideals and Canadian citizenship — all these questions invite careful attention and study by the public authorities.
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
The Commission, therefore, recommends :
(1) That in view of the important effect of immigration upon labour conditions, either the Immigration Department should be placed in the Department of Labour, or provision should be made for close co-operation between these Departments.
(2) That more adequate provision should be made for inspection of immigrants ; that appoint- ments should be determined wholly by profes- sional and practical qualifications, and that the
125
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
officials so appointed should give their whole time and energy to the work.
(3) That immigrants, upon arrival, should be provided with printed statements, in their own language — explaining conditions in Canada ; the advantages of learning English ; their relation to banks, private and public employment agencies; the terms of land settlement in Canada ; openings for agricultural labour ; possible abuses to which they may be subject, and where they should go for advice.
(4) That careful registration be made of all who leave the Dominion, as well as of immigrant arrivals.
(5) That an Imperial Migration Board be organized in London, representing the British Government, and the Governments of the Domin- ions, with such Provinces and States in the Dominions as desire to be represented on the Board; the cost to be borne jointly by all Gov- ernments concerned.
(6) That the Board be responsible for the distribution of complete, impartial and up-to- date information regarding opportunities in the Dominions, the demand for labour in the differ- ent pursuits, occupations and industries, and the facilities and cost of transport.
(7) That the co-operation of the labour exchanges in the United Kingdom and of the public employment bureaux and immigration authorities in the Dominions be secured with this in view.
126
IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT
(8) That the Imperial Migration Board be given power to require returns and such other information as it thinks necessary from agencies and individuals in the United Kingdom and the Dominions, dealing with immigrants.
(9) That the Imperial Migration Board con- sider the whole question of inspection and report the best system to be adopted in the interests of the United Kingdom, the Dominions and the emigrants themselves.
J. S. Willison.
127
EAST
AND
WEST
UP-HILL
DOES the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow dark hours begin. May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before. Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you standing at that door.
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum. Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
0. O. Rossetti.
EAST AND WEST
AT the present stage of its development Canada is practically divided by the unsettled country north of Lake Superior into two great separate areas, which are generally referred to as the "East" and the "West." Many Canadians can- not believe that this division is only temporary, and they look forward with doubt to the future of a country in which the cohesion between the parts is so imperfect. The British North Ameri- can Confederation was, however, designed by men who could, in their vision of the future, foresee the filling in of the vast gap between the old Province of Upper Canada and the small settle- ments on the Pacific coast — a distance of about 2,400 miles — and this vast gap was far more thinly settled than New Ontario and the country north of Lake Superior are to-day. The doubters of to-day think that people will not settle on the great clay belt, just as the doubters of fifty years ago felt sure that settlers would never go in num- bers into our prairie country. By the time, how- ever, that Canada has twenty millions of people, instead of eight, these doubts will have dis- appeared and we shall begin to realize that this is one country with one destiny, and that, even if we use in our Federal Parliament two official languages, we have, except in one province, but one literature and one body of national aspira- tions and traditions.
131
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
BUILD ONE GREAT COMMONWEALTH
Before it is possible to consider intelligently and fairly any differences or disagreements that exist at the moment between the East and the West it is necessary to bear clearly in mind that we are all engaged in the task of building up what must some day be one of the great nations of the world, and that while we must try to be fair to each other as individuals and to pay proper regard to the rights of each community, we must never lose sight of the main aspects of the task we have undertaken.
There are many people now in Canada who are not Canadian by birth, and of these many are not British by origin. It may seem too much to expect that the latter will think of anything but their own particular interests, or that they will make a positive sacrifice for the sake of the coun- try as a whole, but those who have watched the children of the foreign-born parents in our east- ern cities should not doubt that they will eventu- ally become good Canadians. It is not too much, however, to expect from those who are the most intelligent, and who are the natural leaders among their own people, that they should care intensely about the future of the country in which their children are to live, and that for this reason alone they should not regard any public question merely from a personal or local point of view.
132
EAST AND WEST
MATTERS OF DISAGREEMENT
Starting, then, with the assumption that we are all working with the desire to build up one great commonwealth from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Great Lakes and the 49th parallel to the Arctic seas, and that, whether we put this desire first or second, it has a strong place in the conduct of our affairs, what are the chief matters about which we disagree? The utmost degree of harmony that we can expect in a modern democracy will involve the existence of at least two great political parties, and usually a more or less influential third party. Without that radical tendency on the one hand which causes legislative experiments of a novel or drastic kind to be made and that conservative tendency on the other which deplores change and doubts the wisdom of experiments, modern gov- ernment would doubtless end either in atrophy or anarchy. We must, therefore, expect always to have the want of harmony which arises from this fundamental difference in character, from differences of experience drawn from varying degrees of success, and from differing environ- ments.
The West believes that legislation in Canada is mostly in the interest of the East, and that our legislators, whether from East or West, are drawn from men more interested in the cities, in trade and in manufactures than in agricul- ture, and almost everywhere in Canada the farmer is disposed to believe that legislation is
133
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
mainly in the interest of those who dwell in cities. T place this first among the grievances to be con- sidered, quite apart from whatever, in the opinion of the West, may be its degree of urgency. I believe that to the extent that this feeling exists it is more fruitful in causing dissension and mis- understanding than are the facts themselves. There have always been farmers of distinct ability as legislators to be found among our mem- bers of parliament, but there are not as many as there should be, and the farmers are to some extent to blame for this. The country lawyer presents himself for their acceptance and they elect him. He doubtless does the best he can for his farming voters, but doubtless also he does not always understand their needs. The interests of agriculture in the West are so vast that among its farmers men have arisen quite able to take their place in the halls of legislation and to explain to the assembled wisdom of the country the needs of their particular section. Although it is regrettable, it is doubtless quite natural that they are, judging from their utterances, as desir- ous of obtaining advantages by legislation over their city friends as, according to them, the aver- age legislator is desirous of obtaining advantages over the farmer. I am not agreeing or disagree- ing with the view that agriculture does not receive at the hands of our legislators the consideration it deserves, but whether true or not, much mis- chief is done by the existence of such a view.
134
EAST AND WEST
No truth regarding our industrial condition is so widely accepted as the fact that agricultural and pastoral pursuits are the most vital to our prosperity. We admit that production in these directions depends upon the profit to the producer as it does in any other business ; we realize, how- ever, that the overwhelming majority of the farmers in the West have had to live, to learn their business, and to acquire the capital neces- sary to own a farm, all at one time. Because of the inexperience of some of them they receive, as a whole, more advice, both from those who know and from those who do not, than any other men in business in our country. This irritates some farmers, and affords many an opportunity for cynical retorts to bankers and other paternal guardians of agriculture; but, viewed with good nature, it is the clearest evidence of the deep and friendly interest which almost everybody has in the farm and all its surroundings. What is wanted is discussion, not animosity, argument, not suspicion, and especially a realization of the guiding principle that we are partners in the work of building up a country for the happiness and the prosperity of our children. The farmers of the West have demonstrated that in matters where co-operation is really practicable they are capable of co-operating sucessfully, and they can so organize their opinion as to make its influence powerful; this being the case, we cannot doubt that the issues which now cause dissension will be dealt with in some manner in the near future.
135
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
In this connection it is most gratifying to notice the formation of a Joint Committee of Commerce and Agriculture, from the meetings of which much good has already come.
THE GRIEVANCES OF THE WEST
The grievances which are most frequently dis- cussed are, first, the treatment accorded to the West by the various bodies who are supposed to represent the capital and power of the East, and who are, using a more- or less opprobrious epithet, called the " Big Interests." It is asserted that the railroads charge too high freight rates, that the banks and mortgage loan companies charge too high rates for money and make credit too difficult to obtain, that implement and other manufacturers charge excessive prices for their goods, and that this is partly due to the imper- fection of our systems of credit and distribution. The second main grievance which is constantly discussed is the high tariff and particularly the trade relations of our West with the United States.
INTEREST RATES AND CREDIT
Among the first set of grievances are those con- cerning interest rates and credit, and there has been considerable discussion of these subjects as a result of the creation of the Joint Committee of Commerce and Agriculture, under the auspices of which conferences have been held between farmers and bankers and between farmers and
136
EAST AND WEST
mortgage loan companies. I am told that before these conferences the farmers regarded the bank- ers and other business men as "animated only by the most narrowly and hopelessly selfish motives, and disposed to plunder the farmer to the last possible cent. On the other hand, many intelligent business men — while ready to do their part in an effort to co-operate in finding a remedy for those conditions which were susceptible of remedy — expressed scepticism of the possibilities of co-operating because of the selfishness and utter unreasonableness of farmers as a class." As the first result of these conferences much of this hostility and suspicion has disappeared, and the business men have discovered that many of the farmers' leaders are as large-minded and as capable as the best of the business men, that they claim to be striving only for fair play, and are too proud and independent to seek special favour, either by legislation or otherwise.
In all new communities where men are trying to draw wealth from natural resources, but have not yet accumulated much of what we call capi- tal, credit is hard to be obtained by those who need it the most, and, judged by immediate results, loans cost too much. This uncomfortable state of affairs is not, however, justly to be attributed to the lender or to any system of banking. Every country, of course, needs a sound system of bank- ing, but the needy borrower often wishes for one which is just the reverse. In Canada the banking charters run for only ten years at a time, while
137
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
for about fifty years in the United States the most important system of banking in the coun- try needed many reforms in the interest of the people, but they were practically unobtainable because the people, as represented in Congress, disliked the bankers and would not do anything to mend matters. In Canada at the decennial revision the system is discussed, and at every renewal of the Bank Act important changes have taken place, not, however, with the object of making banking more profitable except to the extent that a service which is better for the people will in the end be better for the banks also. Anyone who reads the evidence given before the Committee on Banking at Ottawa in 1913 must acknowledge that every grievance brought against the banks was answered frankly, whether every particular answer was entirely satisfactory to the West or not. Settlers in Canada will, in some cases, express their preference for some other system to which they have been accus- tomed, while others from the same country will express most vigorously their preference for the Canadian system. As a rule, such opinions reflect a personal experience and do not help to determine what is really best for the country.
Credit is sensitive, and what the banker wants is security for the repayment of his loan. His interest charge will be governed by the nature of the security offered him, by the cost of carrying on his business and by the extent to which the borrower's community possesses loanable capital.
138
EAST AND WEST
Security may mean commodities or bonds, so deposited as to be entirely in the bank's control ; it may mean the pledge of movable property still in the possession of the borrower, or the pledge of fixed property by mortgage ; it may mean only the unsecured promise of the borrower. Clearly, the borrower is just as much interested as the lender in the satisfactory state of these securi- ties, because the extent and the cost of the credit he is able to obtain will depend largely thereon, but he does not always act as if he realized this. If the borrower has a lax idea of what he may do with movable property pledged to a bank, although still in his possession, or if he encour- ages legislation which has the effect of piling up liens on mortgaged property ahead of the mortgage itself, he should not wonder if credit declines in extent and becomes more costly. Strange as it may seem, credit will increase in volume and decrease in cost in proportion to the quantity of loans which may safely be made on the mere name of the borrower without the pledge of anything else.
What is wanted in order to improve the rela- tions between the borrowers in the West and the banks is frequent discussion ; candid but friendly statement; the improvement of the Bank Act where it can be shown that it does not serve the best purposes of the community ; the recognition that, as the banks are trustees for the depositors, they have not the right to lend on anything but sound security; and the mutual effort of every-
139
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
one to create such provincial laws, such standards of business and conceptions of individual charac- ter, that credit will become cheap because losses from bad loans are no longer excessive. In such a new country as the West there is not only too large a proportion of men seeking to manage land or develop some other of our natural resources without adequate capital, but there are also too many bank offices which have not yet accumu- lated enough business to pay and too many young and inexperienced bankers in charge of them. Time and patience will cure this, but I fear there is no short road by legislation or by any other method.
AGRICULTURAL LOANS
In some countries land banking and commer- cial banking are closely connected, but happily in this country they are clearly separated. The air in Canada and in the United States is full of plans for an improved system of agricultural loans. For many years I have urged that the present system of borrowing a sum which actu- ally falls due every five years, and which, as a rule, the farmer cannot possibly pay, should be changed to one under which the loan would be repaid by an annual rent-charge ending in a certain number of years, the rent-charge bearing some relation to the annual product of the farm. The commercial banker always wants his money back fairly soon, because he must keep his capital liquid. The loan or trust company only desires
140
EAST AND WEST
to receive the interest — if the loan is well secured — and there is no real pressure upon the bor- rower to pay his debts. The farmer, therefore, often lets the year, and sometimes the years, go by without paying anything on the principal of his debt. A very little more added to the interest and paid on each interest day would have paid the debt in a generation. In such a case the farmer goes to bed to bear in the early morning hours the weight of the whole mortgage, and often it makes him a sour pessimist without a kind thought for anyone. If he had to pay a rent-charge equal only to the interest and the amortization, he could do it readily, and he would feel when he had made the year's payment that he was out of debt. He would no more feel that the next year's payment was a present debt than a shopkeeper who had rented premises for ten years would think he owed the whole ten years' rent at any one time. Legislation and some other things may be necessary to accom- plish reform, but we are all interested in a good system of agricultural lending, and out of the present discussion I hope a new day for the West- ern farmer as a borrower will arise. If he could settle down to the task of acquiring the full ownership of his farm over a longer series of years, but with lesser strain, he would be a happier citizen, he would have more to spend on improvements, and if, after making all the pay- ments due in any one year he still had money to spare, there are banks and other means of laying
141
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
by capital for a rainy day. I am told that many farmers, assured of their ability to pay off large sums annually, would not borrow in the manner suggested. The answer to this is that such farmers evidently do not need the aid of any improved system, and if they find the payment of principal so easy the rate of interest cannot be intolerable. I am concerned about those who find the mortgage hard and not easy to pay. I am also told that those who remember the old instalment mortgages in Ontario would not like loans in the form suggested. There is, however, no real ground for comparison, especially as the law throughout Canada now provides that where in the payments under a mortgage the principal and interest are blended the mortgage shall con- tain "a statement showing the amount of such principal money and the rate of interest charge- able thereon calculated yearly or half-yearly not
in advance."
•
THE RAILROADS
When we look at a map of the great Canadian West by some early traveller we see a vast area called the Fertile Belt, and a still greater area included as part of the Great American Desert. The latter part was thought to be useless for agriculture, whether valuable for pastoral pur- poses or not. The Fertile Belt was a mere pos- sibility for the future, its prospective value in money being placed at a few cents per acre — there being, indeed, practically no money value
143
EAST AND WEST
at all. The land was an opportunity for man's labour, and began to have value when he turned a furrow or put some cattle to graze on it; but he might cultivate the land and pasture cattle for ever without any result in money so long as there were no transport facilities. Throughout the history of the settlement of North America the venturesome pioneer has sought free or cheap land in advance of transportation facilities, and in his periods of tragical distress, because of the absence of a market for the plentiful products of his newly turned soil, he has been anxious to have his municipality, or his province, or any government to which he could appeal, promise almost anything to the equally venturesome ship, canal or railroad builder who would bring him relief.
If any citizen of Ontario recalls the history of the Trent Valley Canal, which is only now nearing completion, he will understand the tragedy of those early settlers who prayed for it during two generations, the grandchildren of whom are now seeing its completion long after its usefulness has been superseded by the rail- roads. The great Canadian West was of little use without railroads, and, while there are East- ern Canadians who talk glibly about excessive railroad building in Canada, Western Canadians know that between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains there is not only no surplus of railroad mileage, but that the inadequacy of their railroad facilities is still the cloud over many
143
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
new farming communities. Whatever follies of this kind may have been committed in other parts of Canada it is not necessary to refer to in this essay. The West keenly desired the building of the present railroads, and if it is true, as I hope it is, that we are all working for the future of this country, which is only another way of saying that we are all working for the future of our children, we must desire to see these railroads made as complete instruments of economic trans- portation as it is possible to make them. Unless we have that narrow kind of selfishness, which in the end means national suicide, we shall not wish to see our products transported to the great points of consumption in Europe by any but our own railroads and our own ships.
The West and the transportation companies, as good Canadians, have made a gentleman's agree- ment, which should avert such a misfortune to the country ; I am not forgetting, however, that a gentleman's agreement means that each shall play the game fairly. I have no intention of dis- cussing the merits of the situation as it exists — whether or not the railroads give as efficient a service as is possible and at as low a charge as is reasonable — my purpose is to urge that the railroad is a part of the social contract which holds the country together, that its owners are entitled to a fair profit, and that by action through the Railway Commission the producers or the shippers and the railroad companies should, from stage to stage, try to work out the
144
EAST AND WEST
difficulties with keen regard to their particular interests, of course, but as far as possible in the interests of the country as a whole. In order to have the railroads built, government aid was given freely, and because of this there are many who deny the right of the railroad builder to profit by his enterprise, but this is clearly not playing the game. What we must secure, if it be possible, is the fixing of fair rates of carriage, which shall, after paying the interest on all bonds, guaranteed by the government or other- wise, give a fair profit to those who own the rail- road. If we think we can do better by turning over the management and ownership to the people, or what is called government ownership, clearly that is what we should do, but we should not do this simply because we are impatient with the problems that confront us. We should do it only because we believe that by state manage- ment we can, after paying interest on our rail- road indebtedness, afford to carry freight at a lower rate than competing railroads with skilled management will carry it under the pressure of the Railroad Commission.
PRICES AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS
Another feature of the first series of grievances is the alleged high prices for all classes of goods, whether supplied by the implement dealer or the shopkeeper. Apart from the tariff, to which I shall refer later, prices should depend upon com- petition, credit and all that is connected with the
10 145
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
distribution of goods. A generation ago in Ontario every buyer of goods, whether he paid cash or obtained credit, was paying not merely for the goods he received, but for the bad debts made by the shopkeeper in selling to less trust- worthy customers. In a very large part of East ern Canada this is the case to-day, and where- ever it is so the shopkeeper must also, as a rule, buy on credit, and thus pay for the bad debts made by the manufacturer or the wholesale dealer. The buyer with the cash began to ask for discounts, and eventually the shop selling only for cash came into existence. Then it was discovered that the man with the cash had an enormous advantage over the man who needed credit; he could buy where he liked, while the other man was tied to the shop where he owed a bill. Thus to retain its customers the cash store must offer low prices and, what goes with low prices, effective and cheap delivery. Now Win- nipeg offers as brilliant examples of what can be done in prices and distribution in exchange for cash as any eastern city in Canada. The farmer who has the money or who has credit at his bank should buy with the ready cash, thus securing the keen competition for his trade and the low prices which come from such competition. When from the sale of his farm products he obtains cash, if he merely liquidates a standing account he has paid his share for those who never liquidate theirs, but when he can use his cash to buy direct
146
EAST AND WEST
he will find that he has, by taking credit in the past, been indulging in a very expensive luxury.
The West complains that there are too many banks, shopkeepers, implement agents, and middlemen of all kinds; that there is general inefficiency among them all; that credit is too easily granted ; that too little value is put upon cash payments as compared with credit ; that too little regard is shown for the fact that these middlemen have undertaken to supply the West with its requirements and should in all fairness do this as cheaply and as effectively as possible. In time the mail-order house, the shop selling only for cash, co-operative buying by the farmers and competition among those who sell on credit will cure this condition, but meanwhile the West has to pay for this want of efficiency and for the bad debts arising from the imperfections of the sys- tem. Surely the East should do its part to work out a plan which will lessen or put an end to this particular grievance.
THE TARIFF
This brings me to the second series of griev- ances: those connected with the tariff. It is, I think, to be regretted that those who discuss the tariff generally range themselves under the banner either of Free Trade or Protection, and discuss the subject either on abstract grounds, which have little relation to the facts, or on facts relating to their own fortunes, which have little bearing on the peculiar principles which
147
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
are at stake in Canada. The opinion of a Brit- ish free-trader as to what is good for Canada is of as little value as the opinion of a Canadian manufacturer, who is thinking only of the tariff in connection with his own business. Both of these extremists becloud the real issue and make it difficult for good citizens to get together on this complicated question. No thoughtful East- ern man can, however, remain indifferent to the fact that almost all our fellow citizens in the West think that our tariff has been built up by sucessive governments which have taken counsel mainly with the manufacturers, and have largely ignored the interests of the farmers. On the other hand, many people in the East think we have surrendered for ever the right to manufacture certain articles in order to please the farmer. With such extreme variance of opinion it is surely in the interest of peace and the future prosperity of Canada that we should create the machinery for a national solu- tion of the problem. Would it not be well to establish a Tariff Commission on which both Agriculture and Commerce would feel that they were fairly represented? If the incidence of the tariff is found to be unfair to the farmer and the wage-earner, after giving proper consideration to national as well as private interests, such griev- ances should be remedied as early as possible.
It is natural enough that men so strongly opposed to a protective tariff should go to the other extreme and demand actual free-trade, but
148
EAST AND WEST
it is probable that after a full discussion of the situation, both they and the extremists who favour high protection will be willing to abate somewhat their extreme views, and that a work- ing basis may be found which will do justice to the individual and not destroy the future of Canada as one nation.
The writer as a young man was an ardent free-trader, distributing Cobden Club pamphlets wherever the seed might thus be sown ; but he has spent over half a century in trying to do his share in building up a nation beside another country with twelve or more times the popula- tion and with nearly a century the start of us. Whether wisely or not, we have decided to become a nation of manufacturers as well as of agricul- turists, and we have also decided to build up our country without becoming a part of the United States. Our problem then is how Canada, exist- ing as she does alongside such a development of manufactures and of agriculture as that of the United States, can best do this. Here again, as I have already suggested, we must make a com- promise between the interest of the individual and that of the people as a whole. We must keep the implied social contract if that be reasonably compatible with individual success. If any West- ern man thinks that he owes no consideration to the railroads and none to the manufacturers, I fear I have nothing to say to him, but I have just as little concern for the manufacturer who treats the Western farmer as his legitimate spoil. We
149
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
have no right to make an article at all, if, after all things have been considered, the necessary protective duty makes the price oppressive; but the Canadian buyer, before he complains, must remember that taxes in some form must be paid, and that he cannot expect a low rate for East- bound freight if he does not encourage West- bound freight.
I am aware that he says he would rather pay direct taxes, but I notice that he also says that no income should be taxed that is under $4,000 per annum. It is hard to believe that the farmers of the Free Trade League platform really mean this. We all acknowledge the jus- tice of exempting from taxation whatever income is necessary to provide a bare living, but to exempt all incomes under $4,000 would save from taxation practically everybody but the very few who are unusually rich. More than ninety-five out of every hundred would escape. I do not believe that the well-to-do farmer wishes to escape all taxation for the support of the federal government, and I am quite sure that he does not wish that almost every dweller in towns and cities should also escape. I have no intention, however, of arguing the question, and there is not enough space at my disposal if I had. I only wish to warn the man who intends to deal justly by his country, while demanding justice for him- self, that the fair deal at which we seek to arrive will not be aided by the extremists on either side of the controversy. As I said earlier, what we
150
EAST AND WEST
need is frank and fearless discussion, with the recognition that the tariff should not be made just to suit any one class, but, as far as possible, to suit Canada as a whole. When it is next under discussion at Ottawa I hope no one will feel that the manufacturers have the ear of the Govern- ment, and I hope there will be agriculturists as well as other Western business men present, and that all will debate this great question in the broadest and most truly national spirit.
What is clear beyond argument is that agri- culture is stijl the most important of the pro- ductive forces in Canada, and that it should be a profitable field for those who desire to follow it as a vocation is also not open to question. The East will readily admit the truth of the state- ment, but it must also be ready to join the West in all reasonable measures to ensure profit in agricultural and pastoral pursuits when these are carried on with average intelligence. On the other hand, the West must not forget that the prosperity of other pursuits has helped to build and to sustain the towns and cities of the East, which constitute the most important markets the Canadian farmer possesses, and that in sustain- ing the cost of carrying on the affairs of the coun- try from the smallest to the most important, these urban dwellers have enormously lightened the burden of the agriculturist. Indeed, it is rather idle to argue about a modern nation which believes that it has a great future, and yet believes it can succeed by one industry playing
151
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
false with another industry. We must learn to get along together, and this we shall accomplish by argument and not by holding aloof while we abuse each other.
Let us learn what we can from the history of the United States. When the war between the North and the South was over, pessimists said that the East and the West would, sooner or later, separate over the tariff. In those days the West meant, for the most part, the Mississippi valley, for at first there was no transcontin- ental railroad, and for years there was only one. Farmers in States like Iowa hauled grain as far as a hundred miles to market, corn was some- times cheaper to burn than coal, and there are few ills that the men who founded the Western States did not suffer. But to-day, so far as East and West or North and South are concerned, the whole country coheres. They have plenty of troubles, of course, of other kinds, but if we recall their unsettled areas forty years ago, we may look forward confidently to the time when many of our areas, at present unsettled, will be peopled, and we may surely hope that our chil- dren will not see the East and the West working out of harmony, no matter what new social or political troubles we may develop through other causes.
A UNITED PEOPLE
It is pleasant to turn to other aspects of our national life in which there is either perfect har- mony or only that rivalry which springs from a
152
EAST AND WEST
desire for progress along similar lines. When the declaration of war in Europe came like a bolt from the blue there was no question of East or West in our conception of our duty to the Empire or in our realization of the dangers which threat- ened the liberties of the world. In the enlistment of our soldiers, in the vigour of our efforts to pro- duce everything necessary to carry on the war, in our liberal giving to every fund for the soldiers or their dependants, in our widened knowledge of the meaning of the Empire of which we are a part, we are as united as any brothers could be in an hour of sudden and great trial, and we shall remain so to the end, no matter what strain may be put upon our endurance. Only yesterday we were for the most part a new people, scattered over a new land, little tested as to our national feeling, trying by various agencies to make the West thrill with the legends of New France and to make the East follow the earliest pathfinders in their descriptions of our splendid prairies and of our magnificent mountains, and to arouse interest in the narratives of the Spanish and other adventurers by sea who first saw our Paci- fic shores. Indeed, the task of making each and every Canadian feel that the history of the romantic past of every part of Canada is his his- tory, had but begun. Now, however, in the great- est drama in the history of the world the men of our Dominion, acting together, have made the name of Canada famous for all time. Before the war, judged by many standards, we were not a nation. Now, Canada is credited with the per-
153
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
formance of great actions, both on the battle line and at home, which cause her to stand before the world stamped unmistakably with the hall-mark of nationhood.
Together we have carried out our share in this great war ; together we have incurred the cost of it ; together we shall share the burden in coming years both of that debt and of the pensions and other expenditures on behalf of our soldiers and their dependants. To do this we must pro- duce, both of raw products and of manufactured articles, more than ever before. We must, as far as possible, turn out our products at a lower cost and of a better quality than other nations. To this end the -East and the West should be meet- ing now, and they are doing so to some extent, in order to plan for the settlement of soldiers and others on the land, for the preliminary education of such men, for the establishment of systems of lending to them capital, and for the many objects which a practical commission, free from politics, could surely accomplish. We must have — and some of our Governments are moving in this mat- ter also — bureaus established with access to the laboratories in our universities, or with labora- tories of their own, or better still with both, where problems in physics, chemistry, metal- lurgy, or in any similar subject, may be solved for our manufacturers and other producers. In the fierce fight for commerce which will come after the war, the fittest will as usual succeed. Woe to Canada if East and West have not co-operated in preparing for the fray !
154:
EAST AND WEST
EDUCATION
In education the relations between the East and the West are happy and mutually helpful. The settlement of the East is older, and, there- fore, it possesses some advantages which are cheerfully recognized. The West is so vigorous that this condition may not last long, but by the time it has passed away many of the difficulties of the West will also have disappeared. The fact that higher education was, from the begin- ning, carried on or directed mainly by graduates of the universities of Eastern Canada naturally caused the atmosphere of the Universities of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia to be congenial to the shaping of their curricula and the establishment of their standards and methods on the lines of the East- ern universities.
The courses in Arts in the West, as in the East, follow British rather than American models, and they are so similar throughout Canada that little difficulty has been experienced in obtaining recog- nition in the older universities for work done in the newer. In the important universities of the East there have been for years many students, chiefly sons and daughters of former graduates, who come to take their college or professional course in the earlier homes of their parents. The number will be lessened in coming years, but it is hoped that for graduate and professional work it will long continue to be maintained.
Very great importance should be attached to the development of graduate work in the large
155
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA^
Eastern universities. As they become well equipped with laboratories and libraries the opportunities they afford for advanced work will soon be as great as those of the leading uni- versities of the United States. It is surely of national importance that these universities should attract Western graduates so that they may pass on to higher degrees in their own country. If they are educated in Canada instead of in the United States they will return to the West as living links to bind our country together. Several fellowships, worth five hundred dollars each with free tuition, have lately been estab- lished by Eastern Canadians, and to encourage this movement they are to be first offered to graduates of Western universities.
Each year for the last three years a conference of Canadian universities has been held for the purpose of considering the common problems of higher education in Canada, and hereafter this conference will continue to meet at least once every two years. The aim is to unify and develop the educational side of our national life, to facili- tate interchange of students, to consider how best the resources of the universities may be put at the disposal of the youth of our country, to enable our younger universities to draw upon the advan- tages of the older institutions of the East, and to give common utterance to educational needs which, without this concerted action, might not be fully considered or might long remain unsatisfied.
156
EAST AND WEST
There are many features of our national life affecting the relations between the East and the West to which I have not referred, but I have endeavoured to write with absolute fairness regarding such matters as I have ventured to review. As I wrote recently in a short article for university students, our responsibilities are enormous. We have been put in charge of one- third of the area of the British Empire. We have in racial origin, land, climate, laws, society, industrial energy and moral quality such an opportunity as has seldom come to any people. In the whole world we are the greatest hope of the home-seeker. If we will turn the energy we have shown in the war to the building of that Canada which our elements are intended to produce, we shall show the world a nation such as history has not yet recorded. This is not boasting — this is said in deep humility. I am sure that all the cards are in our hands, and I hope we may learn how to play them and thus win the greatest game since the foundations of society were laid.
B. E. Walker.
157
NATIONAL IDEALS
IN INDUSTRY
SAY NOT, THE STRUGGLE NOUGHT AVAILETH
SAY not, the struggle nought availeth, The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been, things remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke conceal'd Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright.
A. H. Clough.
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
CANADA in the past has not sufficiently recog- nized that the realizable value of its resources is dependent upon an industrial expansion propor- tioned to world requirements as well as to home demands. Agriculture and manufactures are equally natural and indispensable in a country so variously and richly endowed. Moreover, public and private advantage will follow a cer- tain order and proportion in their development.
National industries are simply a congeries of individual enterprises. The requirements of a village are easily ascertained and the activities of its inhabitants find an easy adjustment. With the growth of population, services assume a new division which not infrequently involves tempor- ary loss and inconvenience during the period of readjustment. As population further increases and distribution widens, it becomes increasingly difficult to proportion the application of capital and labour to the demand for specific commodi- ties ; but individual, and therefore national, pros- perity is dependent upon the success which follows these efforts.
Fluctuation of demand for employment, finan- cial crises and general business stagnation are simply the result of misdirection of capital and labour. A certain portion only of the national income can be invested wisely in " plant," and a ratio of production must follow such investment,
11 161
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
otherwise dislocation of enterprise, production and finance becomes unavoidable. Our experi- ence during 1913-14, as is now apparent, was the result of misdirected and disproportionate public and private expenditure. We spent within the preceding seven years not less than f 1,500,000,000 of borrowed capital without preserving a wise balance between immediately productive utilities and those from which the returns, as in the case of railways and municipal improvements, are slowly realizable. Dislocation will equally follow an excess of production in particular commodi- ties, although the same capital and labour might be profitably and permanently employed in other forms of production.
DEVELOPMENT OF OUR RESOURCES
It must be admitted that to secure a propor- tionate development of resources as varied and widely spread as those of Canada is not an easy task. It demands reliable and extensive informa- tion as to foreign requirements, adequate trans- portation and banking facilities, favourable trade treaties, trade and technical training for workers and a knowledge of modern languages on the part of those to whom is directly entrusted the sale of Canadian commodities in foreign countries. Nevertheless, when the possibility and impor- tance of such a truly national development are understood and appreciated, we may more reason- ably hope for stable prosperity and the successful solution of industrial and fiscal problems. The
182
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
strength of our economic structure is measured by the degree to which all productive services are proportioned and co-ordinated.
Manufacturers are so often told that agricul- ture is Canada's chief industry they are disposed to accept a protective tariff as not only natural, but indeed as an inherent right of industry in " an agricultural country such as ours." On the other hand, agriculturists so firmly believe they are the backbone of the country that it is difficult to persuade them that a backbone alone is only a museum exhibit. A placid acceptance of the theory that Canada is primarily an agricultural country has exercised a pernicious influence upon Canadian political thought and Canadian indus- try. Grain growing, cattle raising, and the varied activities of farming are not more entitled to be considered primary Canadian industries than are the manufacture of wood pulp, paper, lumber, and the finished products of which these are the constituents. So too of our mineral and fishery products; these are as primary to Canada as are cheese and butter. Credit and transporta- tion facilities are as essential to production as machinery or motive power.
The time has come when a new national policy should find its expression in measures designed with care to secure a truly " national " develop- ment commensurate with our resources. This will be found possible only if the whole structure of production and distribution is subjected to the critical business analysis now adopted by suc-
163
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
cessful individual enterprises. National indus- tries, private enterprise and public business are affected equally by maladministration and incom- petent leadership. When private enterprises are mismanaged the ill effects fall upon compara- tively few persons, whereas failure to conduct pub- lic business with wisdom and foresight involves loss and possibly hardship to millions. For this reason alone the standards now regulating pri- vate business should be equally or more rigor- ously exercised in the conduct of public affairs. If the far-reaching effects of public policy and administration were realized an informed public opinion would make it impossible for political leaders to retain incompetent ministers in administrative positions. It would be as diffi- cult for an unqualified business man to secure a public position requiring business experience as it is now for a man without medical know- ledge to secure an appointment as medical health officer. The truth is little serious effort has been made to study Canadian development or the administration of public business apart from personal or party interests which, while possibly wholly legitimate, do not form a safe basis for political or industrial leadership.
For many years Canada enjoyed a prosperity which engendered a cheerful but dangerous laissez faire optimism. The teaching of political economists might and indeed probably did apply to European conditions, but not to those in a " young," " richly endowed " and " rapidly devel-
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
oping" country such as Canada! An eminent Canadian justified our railway construction to the writer, despite its self-evident disproportion- ate expansion, upon the ground that railway experience in the United States and Great Britain was to an equal degree temporarily unfavourable. Our present lack of preparation for post-bellum industrial conditions would indi- cate that even yet we do not admit the necessity for preparedness — national as well as individual — in conformity with a wise political economy. The continued adoption of our present customs tariff is a further illustration of our lack of scien- tific method. For the future the need of an ever- increasing national income will alone justify the subordination of individual to community ideals. Our aim should be an organic progress in which producers, distributors and consumers, con- sciously find an ever-widening channel of com- mon interests. The object of this paper is to suggest one or two of the many steps which might, and in the opinion of the writer should, be taken immediately to advance this policy. The plan advocated is the adoption of national co-operative methods and ideals as a substitute for class and self-centred individualism. The benefits of the competitive system have already reached their apex. The future lies with that country which most wisely organizes its material and human resources, recognizing the solidarity of the interests of society in co-operative effort
165
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
and the conduct of public business. Democratic government calls for better, not less, organiza- tion.
THE CANADIAN TARIFF
Tariff policy has nominally divided Canadian political opinion, one party advocating import duties chiefly for purposes of "revenue," while the other has maintained the national importance of "protection." Since the same tariff for the most part served both parties, it is evident no serious effort was made to frame a tariff upon the principles underlying the policies advocated. One party was happy so long as no serious oppo- sition developed in agricultural circles ; the other was content to enjoy the approval of manufac- turing interests. One party inclined towards a reduction of duties, while the other favoured as a minimum the status quo. The present tariff is the result of political expediency. Political parties unite in their desire to use it for both revenue and protection, but without attempting to define the object and extent of the protection, and with apparent indifference to the fact that in the proportion the tariff affords protection its value for revenue purposes is lessened. Of equal or possibly greater importance is the fact that no adequate effort has been made to ascertain the effect of the tariff upon social well-being and national development.
Without attempting to exhaust the subject, one or two principles may be stated as illustrating a
166
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
treatment of the tariff which might serve to advance national interests.
There is little room for party controversy in the statement that commodities should be easily and cheaply procurable in proportion as they are indispensable to life and health. If, under a " low " tariff, it is not possible to manufacture in Canada articles required by the least well-to-do citizens, such articles should not be made scarce or dear as a result of the tariff. Moreover, neces- saries of life are indispensable to production, and commodities indispensable to production are not proper objects of heavy taxation. This is but an indirect way of stating that a " protective " tariff has natural limitations. It is a mere platitude to add that while Canada has to bear the present burden of national indebtedness luxuries should be heavily taxed, both by customs duties and otherwise. Tariff rates should increase propor- tionately with the cost and fineness of the com- modities imported. For instance, in the case of floor coverings, some form of which is required in Canada owing to the climate, cheap and sub- stantial carpeting should be admitted free or at a low duty, while higher grades should bear import duties in proportion to their costliness.
It is evident, moreover, that if the consuming public be called upon to pay for protection, it should be given to understand why, for what period, and for what ultimate purpose. An added cost to the consumer must be justified by some present or future national advantage. Possibly
167
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the period for which "protection" is granted should be definitely agreed upon, any extension being dependent upon comparative labour costs in production. Protected industries in this way would receive notice that they are expected to become self-dependent; that under special cir- cumstances their "protection" may be con- tinued; but that the industry must justify itself, since the purpose of the tariff is general and not individual advantage. The object is clearly not to ensure excessive profits for capital; the issue of watered stock by " protected" companies would therefore be considered as prima facie evidence of the necessity for tariff revision.
An argument frequently advanced for protec- tive duties is that industry in Canada is handi- capped since, owing to our smaller market, it is not possible to compete successfully with manu- facturers whose market is a hundred millions of consumers instead of only eight millions. It must, of course, be admitted that there are eco- nomic units of production, and possibly eight million consumers do not in every case provide a sufficient market for such a unit. What shall we say, however, of industries which have multi- plied until the factories engaged upon the same forms of production are numbered by the dozen or the score? If the economic unit of production referred to is ever to find its realization in Can- ada, will it be secured under the present system in which new capital is continually attracted to enterprises already established in order to share
168
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
the profits of those who would have us believe that at least in their particular industry an eco- nomic unit of production is not in sight and the necessity for protective duties as urgent as ever? One result of framing a tariff embodying a clearly defined policy would possibly be the weed- ing out of parasitic industries. If this is the result, it calls for no defence. The object of a wise protective system is not to bolster up ineffi- cient management, worn-out plants and anti- quated methods of production or marketing. Pro- tective duties should be based only upon the ascertained needs of efficient producers.
THE EFFECT OF THE TARIFF ON EXPORT TRADE
The importance of export trade is referred to elsewhere. It is sufficient at present, therefore, to refer to the fact that we can produce for for- eign markets only if we can sell our products profitably in competition with the world. Pro- tective duties can find no justification if the direct or indirect results place Canadian exports at a disadvantage compared with competing pro- ducts. Among the factors which govern this production are, (1), the cost and availability of raw materials; (2), the price of necessary machinery ; ( 3 ) , labour efficiency ; ( 4 ) , wage rates. It is obvious that the market prices of living necessaries are reflected in the wage rates paid to labour. If these from any cause are increased, production for export trade will be handicapped unless greater labour efficiency, favourable trade
169
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
treaties, advantageous freight rates, or other factors, offset the resulting disadvantages. The same is true in the case of raw materials and machinery. But there is an added factor which has not received sufficient attention from those affected. We should no longer consider personal or even provincial interests as of primary impor- tance. World markets are essential to Canadian prosperity and the total cost of the various fac- tors entering into products for export must not exceed that of our competitors. If, therefore, raw materials, necessaries of life, and other requirements for production, are made dear as a result of the tariff their increased cost will weigh with prejudicial effect upon the wage rates of Canadian labour. Conversely, the less the cost of the other factors entering into the products, the greater will be the margin available as pay- ment for labour. It is, therefore, of importance to Canadian labour that the requisites of eco- nomic production should enter Canada free of duty, unless otherwise procurable at a cost which will not jeopardize production for export. If, however, revenue requirements render the collec- tion of duties unavoidable, compensating meas- ures should be taken to stimulate the productive efficiency of machinery and labour. There is con- stituted an urgent demand upon the Dominion Government for the generous support of trade and agricultural and technical training. The use of labour-saving machinery should be greatly extended and the policy of scientific and indus-
170
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTEY
trial research already entered upon vigorously prosecuted in order that the increased market value of Canadian national production, either in quality or quantity — preferably in both — may offset the handicaps which otherwise may result from the operation of the federal tariff. For many years we have accepted a policy of protec- tion without taking the measures necessary to develop its logical economic accompaniment — a highly-organized and efficient system of produc- tion and marketing. It should be realized more fully that in the last analysis the protection which is secured to home industries by improved methods of production and marketing is the only sure and permanent protection.
TRADE BALANCES
Heretofore we have expected imports and exports to find a satisfactory adjustment by means of international trade. Whatever the merits of this method in the past, there is little reason to believe that it will serve equally well for the future. International trading will be seriously affected as an outcome of the war and will depend more than formerly upon trade alli- ances and an assured exchange of products. Large use will be made of tariffs as a means of economic rehabilitation, not necessarily as forms of reprisal, but to meet the necessities of the fin- ancial situation. A fiscal policy wholly justifi- able and desirable when adopted by a creditor country, may prove little short of suicidal under
171
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
other conditions. That an exchange of com- modities between countries may prove of advan- tage to each is not disputed; the fact remains that Canadian exports must for many years vastly exceed Canadian imports, owing to our past heavy borrowings, private as well as public. The Canadian tariff, therefore, must be made more manifestly a means of bartering products for products as the minimum of our economic requirements. Great Britain being the largest and most certain market for Canadian products, it may pay us better as a nation to purchase our foreign requirements there even at a slightly greater money cost. We may be able to buy, for instance, in the United States some commodities at a less immediate cost, but it does not follow that such purchases will bear the same ultimate cost. Great Britain will in future be less of a creditor nation than formerly. To the extent, therefore, that we direct our purchases to British markets we ensure the sale of home pro- ducts and stimulate their production. This sale and stimulus may well repay substantial tariff preferences; for trade balances should not be left in future to find as they can a satisfactory adjustment.
A BOARD OF INDUSTRY
As a first step toward the reforms advocated it appears desirable that provision should be made for the consideration of the tariff solely from the standpoint of fiscal requirements and national
172
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
interests. It may be found necessary for the Fed- eral Government to appoint a permanent Board of Industry, whose duty it will be to study the rela- tion and balance which should exist amongst our productive activities, having regard to the neces- sity for an accepted policy which will secure for Canada the largest available dividend. The necessity for the appointment of such a board will be apparent when it is realized that irrecon- cilable differences exist between East and West and between different classes of producers which may have serious results unless reasonable com- promises are brought about as a result of better understanding the problems common to each in connection with production and marketing. Intelligent public opinion can be united if the issues are not obscured by party catch-words and misrepresented because of inadequate and mis- leading information.
A protective tariff wisely designed may be made to strengthen the national structure, to enlarge opportunity and diversify employment. But protection is a narcotic as well as a stimu- lant. If not carefully restricted to national ends, it may be made to enrich individuals at the expense of the State, to weaken initiative and efficiency in industry, and to corrupt politics by the sacrifice of principles to party expediency. The present haphazard system of protection can not and should not remain as the national policy of Canada. Those who for patriotic reasons approve a protective tariff should unite in sup-
173
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
porting measures to prevent its abuses and reform existing irregularities. Such measures may, and doubtless will, be the subject of con- troversy, but difficulties will disappear whenever the national purposes of a wise protective policy for Canada receive clear definition. Equality of talent and income, even if desirable, are not obtainable by state action, but equality of oppor- tunity is an ideal of Democracy for which the people of Canada may well sacrifice selfish inter- ests and existing party divisions.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING ABILITY
Paradoxical though the statement may appear, the crux of production lies in marketing. An efficient selling system is the surest and speediest way to increase production ; and a reduction in the cost of selling is a direct road to foreign trade.
Without a too fine weighing of words, it may truthfully be said that under modern conditions marketing ability governs employment. This means something more, and something more immediately important, than that supply is gov- erned by demand. The object of this paper is not to discuss abstract truths. The "supply" with which we are concerned is the portion produced in our own country, and the "demand" which interests us is the proportion of world demand which can be diverted to Canadian products. We are considering the case of a country which must export $175,000,000 of products annually in excess of imports to pay interest charges. We
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
are discussing production and marketing for which we and not others are responsible.
Canadian salesmanship has not in the past kept pace with Canada's power to produce. It is doubtful if even during the period of greatest activity prior to the war we were producing more than three-quarters of our factory capacity. From the census returns of 1911 it would appear that in proportion to output Canada had an indus- trial plant 1200,000,000 in excess of productive requirements. Irregularity of factory employ- ment and idle plant were accepted almost heed- lessly as the inevitable concomitants of an industrial system. Nor did employers gener- ally acknowledge any responsibility for the under-employment or unemployment of men and machinery. As a solution of this problem export trade was under-valued, and even those regarded as industrial leaders expressed a doubt as to the necessity for such trade in the case of factory products. The opinion broadly held was that Canadian agriculturists should supply the exports and Canadian manufacturers should confine their attention to the resulting home market. Under present conditions no fallacy could be more harmful or prove ultimately more disastrous.
Fortunately this view was not universally held; some of our more efficient industrial organizations established a world market. Never- theless out of the total export trade of 1913-14, manufactures contributed only $57,000,000, or
176
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
thirteen per cent. For the twelve months ending December 31st, 1916, these exports increased to 1440,477,143.
The causes which led to this phenomenal speeding up of factory production are familiar, but the determining factor has not received suffi- ciently clear recognition. After making due allowance for the desire to aid in the war, and the effect of high prices, the outstanding explana- tion is found in the fact that a purchasing organi- zation for Canadian products had been created as a result of the war ; that the problem had been narrowed to one of production; that the selling having been all attended to there was no lack of capital to oil the wheels of industry and ensure that goal of industrial experts — capacity produc- ' tion.
It cannot be too clearly recognized that this has not been the result of Canadian sales effi- ciency, but was the distinct and obvious conse- quence of an Imperial purchasing organization. Canadian factories for the most part were like young robins with open mouths into which the Munitions Board dropped orders averaging a million dollars a day. The problem requiring the attention of Government and industrial leaders alike is how and where to find some agency which will replace the Munitions Board when its activities cease. If this can be found Canada's prosperity will continue, but if not it is not too soon to think about the consequences. In view of the new efficiency which is being
176
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
planned and to a large degree practised in Great Britain, the United States of America, and else- where, a return to former methods of marketing would mean the surrender of all that has been won.
THE COMING PROBLEM OF EMPLOYMENT
The question would be sufficiently grave if only the present staff of industrial workers were affected, but it becomes of infinite gravity and complexity when, in addition, the disbandment of an army of munition workers and soldiers, com- prising nearly one-quarter of the entire able- bodied male population of Canada, is to be con- sidered and provided for. It is no exaggeration to state that Canada must adopt a well-advised policy of preparedness or be faced by the greatest industrial crisis in its history.
The army of workmen is a potential purchas- ing as well as a potential producing market. If productively engaged, a considerable proportion of the products can and will be distributed among the workers in payment for services rendered or for commodities in exchange. The marketing of that portion of the products which must repay and replace the capital employed is, however, the factor governing the entire employment of workers and production of commodities. If under present conditions a foreign market is not found for this portion, the production which would find a ready market among the workers themselves will not be proceeded with. The
12 177
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
motive power for Canadian production after the war, as now, will be found in foreign markets. It is desirable that the collateral results of export trade, if the products exported be wholly of Cana- dian labour and Canadian raw materials, should be more generally appreciated. -Every dollar of such exports calls for a further production of commodities for home consumption. For each man engaged in the firing line of export trade another, or perhaps two, will find employment behind the lines.
If employment is not awaiting our returned soldiers there will arise a demand for public assistance, and no Government will refuse such a demand. If ^provision is not made in advance for their rapid re-employment payments to them by the Government will assuredly be made to the extent of many millions of dollars, and with dis- astrous results upon the habits and character of the recipients. At such a time the demand will be insistent that the Government supply employ- ment. If new capital can be obtained we may be stampeded into a policy of engaging upon public works which are of little, if any, productive utility. It is difficult to imagine a condition of public affairs more disastrous individually and nationally. The cost of adequate preparation, compared with the social and money cost of the best palliatives for the situation sure to develop, should now be the subject of more careful con- sideration.
178
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
PALLIATIVES FOR GENERAL UNEMPLOYMENT WORTHLESS
In the Report of the Ontario Commission on Unemployment the value of productive labour is contrasted with the futility of relief work as a remedy for general unemployment. " If a foreign market," state the Commissioners, "could be found for a larger proportion of industrial pro- ducts the regular channels of industry would again call for the existing reserve of skilled labour. This in turn would to a considerable extent provide employment for unskilled work- men. The amount of employment for such labour is largely determined by the activity of skilled workmen. In times of depression to plan 'work that anyone can do ' is to plan a palliative — it is self-contained and has no remedial power. To remedy a stagnation of business which reveals itself in a general lack of employment a stimulus must be supplied at the heart of industry. The value of undertakings having as their object the permanent solution of the problems of unemploy- ment may, therefore, be measured by the extent to which they call for the labour of skilled work- men." There is but one remedy for general unem- ployment— " stimulus at the heart of industry."
Possibly a fact of even greater importance is that as a remedy for industrial crises an ounce of "prevention" is worth infinitely more than the proverbial pound of "cure." Measures taken before a crisis develops — measures taken now — will prove of "greater remedial value than the
179
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
most energetic efforts directed to relief after the influences which disorganize the labour market are developed and united."
WITH WHOM LIES RESPONSIBILITY
There remains emigration as a solution for such a problem, but viewed from a national standpoint no remedy can be more costly. Yet for self-respecting workmen there are but two alternatives for unemployment — work or emi- gration. The question now urged for considera- tion is : // private enterprise does not absorb the workers seeking employment, can the State better afford to support them in idleness, or lose them by emigration, than to provide the leadership which will solve the problem of their employment?
As in time of war the responsibility for success lies chiefly with those in the higher commands, so in the coming time of peace that responsibility must be borne by those who occupy positions of industrial and national leadership. Failure to meet the coming problems of employment will be paid for in disappearing profits and in social if not in national disintegration. What has been done generously and effectively by the few in time of war must be done by the many, assisted, and if necessary led, by the Government if we are measurably to solve the problems of peace. For lack of preparedness where so much is involved public authorities and industrial leaders should in future be held to strict accountability.
180
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
Industrial leaders should take the time neces- sary to grasp thoroughly the significance of the spreading movement toward the state control of industrial and other services. The strength of this movement lies in the conviction of many that the present industrial system recognizes only the law of the jungle — power. If it be true that Canadian prices are fixed at " all the traffic will bear," which being interpreted means the maxi- mum made possible by monopoly or a protective tariff ; if the possession of power justifies, in the opinion of those who control industry, its exer- cise to secure labour at a price measured only by the necessity of workmen and workwomen; if profits have no moral measurement, then the present industrial system should and must be replaced by another which recognizes social and national responsibility. The dangers of indus- trial nationalization are great, indeed obvious, but the future well-being of ninety per cent, of the people justifies the adoption of measures neces- sary to secure ultimately a new and better standard of human relationship. Prophecy is always dangerous, but it requires little vision to become convinced that if other industrial standards are not accepted the movement toward state control during the ten years following the war will exceed that of all preceding years.
There remains a course safer, more intelligent, more democratic and more human. If industry is not to be gradually nationalized, the industrial leadership which now employs labour solely as
181
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
a means of profit-making must accept such leader- ship as a form of National Service in which the interests of labour will receive precisely the attention formerly centred upon capital. The practice heretofore has been to capitalize profits and profit-earning power. Under the new system these would be humanized and democratized instead of capitalized. Such a system involves no injustice to capital, but simply reverses the order of precedence. The stored labour of the past — capital — would be considered of secondary importance with the labour of to-day. No other course can offer equal incentive to increased pro- duction, increased efficiency and whole-hearted service. War debts and necessary public expen- ditures would bear but lightly upon the increase in national dividend which would result.
CAN PRESENT WAGE RATES BE RETAINED?
A reduction of present wage rates as a means of readjusting industrial conditions presents great difficulty. While it is true wages have been increased, this increase is not generally out of proportion to the higher cost of living, and a remedy will not be found chiefly, if indeed at all, in a resumption of the former scale of payments. It is in the interest of the State that the level of living and of home life now enjoyed by Cana- dian workmen should, if possible, be maintained. It is not in the interest of Canada that its living conditions should be lowered to the level of those countries from which men and women for the
182
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
sake of their children are prevented by poverty alone from emigrating. One of the greatest prob- lems facing Canada is to secure vast numbers of able-bodied workers to round out the develop- ment already made in railways, municipal improvements and industrial undertakings. If for no other reason, therefore, it would not be wise to lessen the attraction which Canada before the war had for those less favourably situated in other countries.
If, however, the present standard of living is to be retained, and employment for our workmen provided in Canada, these advantages can be secured only as the result of labour efficiency. High wages cannot be paid without a correspond- ing increased output. The interests of workmen, as shown in the Eeport of the Unemployment Commission of Ontario, "are better secured by the payment of steady wages for a large produc- tion than by the exaction of an artificial price for labour through the curtailment of production." In the near future there will be little market for the products of restricted or inefficient labour. The competition from Great Britain, from the United States, and even from Germany, will destroy the illusions of any who hold opposing views.
If, as is urged by labour leaders, the state should accept a wider responsibility for the well- being of its individual members, this responsi- bility can be borne only if in return labour accepts the resulting obligation for individual
183
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
efficiency. Labour leaders are not worthy of their trusteeship for the permanent interests of labour if they fail to direct workmen to the only road in which lies prosperity and security.
PRODUCTION AND MARKETING NATIONAL PROBLEMS
Production and employment are national as well as individual problems. In proportion as trade becomes international it calls for guidance and assistance from national authorities. This responsibility is already recognized in the crea- tion of a Department of Labour and in the appointment of Trade Commissioners. The Department of Trade and Commerce has also made arrangement with His Majesty's Govern- ment by which Canadians are privileged to con- sult any of His Majesty's consuls in foreign coun- tries on matters of trade. Responsibility for trade treaties and for adequate shipping facili- ties rests with Federal authorities. There remains, however, need for further progressive action.
Reliance upon chance or upon the business activities of other countries for the performance of necessary trade functions is an invitation to failure. And of all these functions salesman- ship is the one indispensable service which we must provide for ourselves. Other nations may finance our purchases, transport our products and insure their safe delivery, but to no other
184
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
nation can we look for a satisfactory selling organization. Private organization to do this effectively is within the power only of the strongest manufacturing companies. Such an organization calls for men of high character and thorough business training who are equipped with a knowledge of the language and busi- ness customs of the country to which they are assigned. Specific reports on the demand for individual products, particulars of tariff regu- lations and restrictions, competitive market methods and credit ratings, must all be avail- able. An efficient central selling organization can supply these services most economically, and only through such an organization can hundreds and possibly thousands of smaller manufacturers secure any share in the trade of foreign countries. The marketing of food products and materials for manufacture, as has been pointed out by the United States Federal Trade Commission, differs widely from the marketing of finished manufac- tured articles. " The former will sell themselves at some price, usually at a price broadly estab- lished in competitive world markets, but for fac- tory products, both staple and special, the manu- facturer must often create the demand for his particular goods." Demand does not operate automatically and from within, but can be both stimulated and guided from without. It is this which constitutes the necessity for a strong selling organization.
185
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ORGANIZED MARKETING
Organized selling alone can meet the competi- tion of the already established sources of supply and bear the initial expense of securing a firm foothold in foreign markets. The experience of Europe would seem to prove that some form of combination of producers and dealers may be made to facilitate greatly such trade. In Ger- many combinations of manufacturers and distri- butors are the rule. Cartels, syndicates, inter- locking relationships, and price agreements are found in a large proportion of the industries. In France similar combinations have been organ- ized in many industries. In England amalgama- tions and combinations of competitors are of frequent occurrence. In Belgium and in Austria- Hungary, before the war, the entire industrial system, as in Germany, was organized in cartels, syndicates, and price agreements. In Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Kussia and Japan similar conditions exist to a less degree. The formation of corresponding combinations has been strongly recommended in the United States. The organization of each separate Ameri- can industry for export trade is the object of a Trade Commission now sitting permanently at Washington.
The form which such an organization should take to meet Canadian requirements can not be decided upon without a most careful and thor- ough enquiry, and such an enquiry should be engaged in at once by the Federal Labour Depart-
186
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTRY
ment, the Department of Trade and Commerce, or other Government authority in co-operation with a carefully selected committee of industrial leaders and labour representatives.
A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE MUNITIONS BOARD
Eeference has already been made to the impor- tant functions which a competent board of indus- try might exercise in connection with national production. Service of equal value should be pro- vided for in connection with the problems of marketing. An effort has been made to show that only by the consideration of production and marketing, as constituting one problem, can the problems of each be adequately dealt with. The experience of the past two years has demon- strated the desirability, and indeed the necessity, of enlisting the services of successful and practi- cal business men to control and administer work of this nature. A nucleus for the board of indus- try proposed lies within the personnel of the present Imperial Munitions Board. To a board of this character might with safety be assigned the task of co-ordinating and strengthening the work of all Government departments now having to do with export trade. It may be found desir- able to bring under one control work now handi- capped by division and subdivision of authority. Careful investigation may prove the need for a reorganization of the work of our foreign trade representatives to bring them and Canadian pro- ducers into closer and more effective co-opera-
187
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tion. Powers equalling the great responsibilities involved would necessarily have to be given the members of the Board; but to men of affairs, experienced in industry, commerce and finance, and actuated by the desire "to serve," such powers may most safely be entrusted. It may be found of advantage to leave the negotiation of trade treaties, and the provision of adequate shipping facilities, in their charge, for these are inseparable and basic constituents of marketing. Through their effort and influence, the produc- ing and distributing forces of Canada may be successfully harmonized to secure " national " advancement. Half-hearted and unrelated meas- ures can not adequately deal with the situation already created by the war or find a solution for post-war problems. The task is a great one, the greatest ever presented for the consideration of Canadian industrial leaders, but the leadership which can be given by the members of such a board would meet with a response from West to East which would surmount all difficulties. The heart of Canada is sound, materialism is not dominant, public opinion is wholesome and may be mobilized for the advancement of a great national ideal.
But whether by these or other means, the duty of the Government of Canada clearly is to take the initiative, to call to their counsel representa- tives of the interests involved, and to plan now with definiteness and in detail for the period of readjustment and reconstruction of industry
188
NATIONAL IDEALS IN INDUSTKY
which inevitably must come soon. Preparedness for such a time is not the work of days or weeks, but will be the arduous and concentrated task of many months if it is to prove in any degree adequate. It is not the part of wise statesman- ship, nor yet of shrewd business foresight, to trust to haphazard solutions for problems of such importance, or to plead the pressure of other problems as an excuse for inaction. The whole teaching of the war is to this end.
G. Frank Beer.
189
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
THE DEAD
BLOW out, you bugles, over the rich Dead! There's none of these so lonely and poor of old, But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene, That men call age; and those who would have tfeen,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.
Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth, Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
Honour has come back, as a King, to earth, And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again; And we have come into our heritage.
Rupert Brooke.
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
AN argument often used by the advocates of Canadian Confederation, during the middle decades of the last century, was to the effect that a union of the Provinces of British North America "would give us nationality." In 1887 Sir Charles Tupper went to Washington to dis- cuss the relations of Canada and the United States, and the Secretary of State said to him: "The Confederation of Canada and the con- struction of the Canadian Pacific Railway have brought us face to face with a nation, and we may as well discuss public questions from that point of view." The union has given us nation- ality, and the chief centripetal forces which hold the Dominion of Canada together as a nation are :
(1) Loyalty to the British Crown.
(2) The Dominion Parliament and Adminis- tration, the Dominion Court of Appeal, the body of Dominion law and custom which has developed during fifty years, and all the central institu- tions which have grown out of the British North America Act.
(3) The Christian civilization of Western Europe inherited by the vast majority of Cana- dians.
(4) Churches which embrace two or more pro- vinces or races in their organizations.
(5) Educational systems which inspire Cana- dian patriotism with high civic ideals, and insti-
13 193
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tutions of higher education frequented by stu- dents of different provinces. In his " Studies in History and Jurisprudence " Lord Bryce says :
" The Prussian Government founded the Uni- versity of Bonn immediately after the recovery of the left bank of the Ehine from France in 1814, and the University of Strassburg immedi- ately after the recovery of Alsace in 1871, in both cases with the view of benefiting these territories and of drawing them closer to the rest of the country by the afflux of students from other parts of it, an aim which was realized. Indeed the non- local character of the German universities, each serving the whole of the lands wherein the Ger- man tongue was spoken, powerfully contributed to intensify the sentiment of a common German nationality throughout the two centuries (1648 to 1870) during which Germany had virtually ceased to be a State."
(6) The large number of people of the older provinces who settled in the newer provinces.
(7) The English language and the French lan- guage. The several groups of French-speaking Canadians in the other provinces are pledges that Quebec will never seek to secede.
(8) The transcontinental railways.
(9) Interprovincial trade.
(10) Business corporations, trade unions, fra- ternal orders, and women's societies, when they are interprovincial in organization.
(11) Political parties.
(12) The national sentiment which has devel- oped under the action of these forces, and is now
194
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
developing rapidly under the patriotic impulse of self-defence in war.
Canada cannot claim, as some nations can, that her people have a common ancestry, the use of a common language, or the enjoyment of a com- mon literature ; but, again to quote Lord Bryce :
" The importance of these factors has often been exaggerated. Some of the keenest Irish revolution- aries have been English by blood. . . . The Borderers of Northumberland and those of Ber- wickshire did not hate one another less because they were of the same stock and the same tongue. The Celts of Inverness-shire and the Teutons of Lothian are now equally enthusiastic Scotchmen, though they disliked and despised one another almost down to the day of Walter Scott. Mere identity of origin does not count for much, as witness the ardent Hungarian patriotism of most of the Germans and Jews settled in Hungary."
Belgium and Switzerland have proved that unity of race and language is not essential to national unity, atfid historical events have made these diversities unavoidable in Canada. It is more important, from the patriotic point of view, to consider those centrifugal forces which are avoidable. Some of them are but aspects of the forces which have been enumerated as centripetal.
RELIGION AND POLITICS
In its normal action religion is a unifying influ- ence in the State. It gives the sanction of con- science and of precept to law, and sanctity to the obligation of an oath. It hallows the relations of
195
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
family life. It develops education and character. It instils a spirit of self-sacrifice for an ideal. It places at the disposal of public authorities many means of relief or prevention in the crusade against social evils. It creates sympathy and co-operation on a large scale, and trains men and women in the management of organizations. It develops leaders and centres of social influence. On the other hand, in countries like Canada, where there are several rival Churches, religion is often the occasion of civil discord. The root evil in such cases, from the point of view of the nation, is habitual mistrust of one another by the opposing sides. Individual leaders may or may not deserve mistrust, but men do not mistrust one another in the mass for the sake of any one contemporary leader. The evil becomes national when whole masses of men distrust one another because of conflicts which their forefathers waged centuries ago in Europe. It is with diffidence that one ventures to suggest remedies, especially when, as in the case of the following, an educa- tional campaign would be needed to get them applied in practice.
(1) It may be assumed as an axiom that poli- ticians act habitually from political motives, and for the benefit of their respective parties, when- ever they meddle in religion in Canada or exploit religious antagonism. Hence, churchmen of all denominations should, in such cases, if they feel obliged to express dissatisfaction, direct their energies against the political party which it is
196
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
sought to benefit by religious agitation, and not against the religion which is utilized for that purpose, unless it is proved that the representa- tives of the religion concerned have conspired with the politicians. Why did Honor 6 Mercier, as Premier of Quebec, place a reference to the Pope in the preamble of his Jesuits Estates Bill? The purpose of the Bill did not require it. No denominational interest was served by it. Sir John A. Macdonald was convinced that Mercier's design in this reference was to embarrass the Government at Ottawa by the pressure that would be brought to bear upon the Dominion Premier to disallow the Act, at a time when the provinces were particularly sensitive regarding their relations with the Federal Government. It was a matter of party strategy ; but it raised the ghosts of three hundred years of denominational conflicts. The agitators were serving the purpose which Mercier wished them to serve. Mutual confidence between large bodies of the population was thereby weakened. The force of the agita- tion should have been directed against Mercier and the political party which he led.
(2) A frank facing of the historical questions involved in religious issues would help to lessen antagonism. It is not a paradox to say that men are more easily aroused by traditional memories of issues contested centuries ago than they are by questions of to-day. For every ten men in Canada who can be moved to action by the appeal of pres- ent social needs, there are hundreds more easily
197
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
moved to action by the appeal of dangers which may have been real in a former age, but are now imaginary. A noted Paris litterateur and uni- versity professor, Emile Faguet, wrote in 1902 :
" Europe dislikes France almost unanimously, and why? Why dislike a people which is not at all a danger to other nations, which has ceased to be a nation of the first rank, and which cannot disturb international politics? But, s'il vous plait, it is not the France of 1902 that Europe dislikes ; it is the France of 1802 ; it is not the France of M. Loubet, but of Napoleon I; it is not the France of Fashoda, but of Wagram. But, then, why hate for the past instead of hating whatever is formidable or hateful now? Because it is difficult to understand the present and easy to recall the past; because it is difficult to be intelligent and very easy to remember."
Since men are so inclined to live in the past and to seek motives of action in the past, it is well worth while to strive to describe the past as it was and as it differs from the partisan views which live in traditional memories.
(3) The most effective, and probably the easiest, way to meet sectarian as well as racial difficulties in the national life is to develop the sense of public responsibility in the people. Bids for votes at the expense of the true interest or the unity of the nation will continue to be made as long as the people respond to such appeals. The people cannot be expected to investigate the underlying principles of policy or to master the
198
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
details of legislation; but they can pass judg- ment on the concrete issues usually discussed, and they can distinguish between the leader and the demagogue, at least to the extent of knowing that a true leader does not raise questions which he knows, and they know, cannot issue in legisla- tion. The evil to be overcome is not ignorance in the people, but apathy. The love of self-govern- ment, for its own sake, apart from the immediate benefits it confers, is not a strong passion in any people. It is stronger in a small nation than in one with a large population, because when there are many millions of electors, each citizen feels that his lone voice counts for very little. Hence it is of vital importance to Canada that the sense of public responsibility be developed now, while it is yet a small nation, especially since the State is everywhere assuming control in spheres of life which were formerly left to personal discretion. Modern conditions have made this extension of State action necessary as a reaction against excessive individualism ; but there will soon come a time when a reaction against excessive State control will be equally necessary, if the people do not learn to be vigilant and energetic in the use of the franchise. It is easy to induce the State to extend its control. It is difficult to force the State to relinquish any control it has once assumed. A vigilant and energetic electorate is the hope of the future. The problem of the present is: How can vigilance and intelligent energy be developed in the electors? I see no
199
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
way except through the moral sense. It is the conscience that has to be cultivated in its bearing on public affairs. Mere appeals to prejudice or to sectional or personal interest will not be resisted unless the sense of duty turns them aside. The following circular, issued last year to the priests of this Diocese, will serve to illustrate what is meant by an effort to arouse conscience in the use of the ballot :
" Every priest is free to use his own judgment in polling his vote as a citizen ; but he is not free to use his position in the Church for the purpose of influencing others in favour of any party or any candidate. As pastor or curate he is politi- cally neutral. There may be times when the interests of the Church are involved in the issue ; but even then it is only the Bishop of the Diocese who can rightly say what action should be taken.
"The case is different in regard to the moral duties of citizens in election contests. On these the pastors should instruct their flocks some Sun- day before an election, confining their remarks to the following points :
" ( 1 ) The laws of the country, enacted for the purpose of safeguarding the freedom and the purity of elections, are to be obeyed. It is both our interest and our civic duty to obey them.
"(2) People who have the right to vote should vote, and vote conscientiously. It is not a matter to be treated lightly.
"(3) It is a sin to sell one's vote or one's poli- tical influence for money or for position or any other private gain. The right to vote is not our
200
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
property. It is essentially a public matter for the public welfare.
" (4) It is the duty of the elector to seek know- ledge about the candidates who solicit his vote. To. vote without knowledge, and simply at the bidding of others, is not to sell one's vote, but to give it away. He has no right to make of it a present to any one. It is his to use for the wel- fare of his country, and for no other purpose. This welfare includes educational, religious, fin- ancial, social, and other public interests."
PARTIES AND RACES
The two political parties which contend for power in the Dominion have a rightful claim to be classed as unifying forces. They develop leaders, promote intercourse between people from all parts of the Dominion, strive to express the general mind and needs of the nation, influence legislation whether in power or in opposition, and maintain organizations more or less perman- ent. In other respects they have to be classed as centrifugal forces. There is a somewhat general impression among the thoughtful that our party leaders preach national unity during non-elec- tion years, and national disruption during elec- tion contests. This is an exaggerated way of saying that parties exploit, and therefore develop, permanent antagonisms among the people for party purposes. The following paragraph on the Eiel Question is taken from Volume 30 of the " Chronicles of Canada " :
201
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
" Had it been only the resistance offered by the Red River settlers to Canadian authority which was in question in the seventies, time would soon have brought understanding and forgetfulness. That the half-breed settlers had just grievances, that the Canadian authorities bungled badly their first experiment in national expansion, all would have admitted. But the shooting in cold blood of Thomas Scott, an Orangeman of Ontario, by the order of Louis Kiel, lit fires of passion that would not easily die. And politicians fanned the flames for party ends. Neither party was guilt- less. At the outset in Ontario the Liberals played to the Orange gallery, while in Quebec they appealed to French prejudices. Sir John Mac- donald could attack Blake for frightening Riel out of the country and beyond the reach of jus- tice, by offers of reward for his arrest, at the very time that Macdonald himself was paying Riel out of the secret service fund to keep away from Canada."
Sir John A. Macdonald was able in his day to secure majorities both in Ontario and Quebec. No leader, even with his skill and personality, could achieve that result now.
Politicians follow the lines of least resistance when they appeal for support to racial, religious, sectional, or personal interests. It is easier to accomplish their purpose of party success in this way.
PRESENT STATE OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
One result is that representative government is falling into disrepute. How often one hears the
202
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
remark, in reference to questions which trouble the body politic, that they could be settled if poli- ticians would only refrain from using them as party weapons ! In a congress held a few years ago in Quebec, one of the speakers, Mr. Fortier, of Montreal, cited a series of careful studies which had been published regarding the agricul- tural and industrial development of the Province of Quebec, and asked why such accumulated knowledge was not utilized. Part of his answer is:
" Our energies have been wasted in idiotic party conflicts in wrhich men of reputed intelligence discussed with breathless interest the grave prob- lem as to whether Peter was a little more grit or a little more tory than Paul, whether candidate Francis would give a bridge to the county, or whether the bridge should give the county to candidate Francis."
On December 16th, 1916, Mr. J. W. Flavelle, Chairman of the Imperial Munitions Board, addressed these serious words to the Ottawa Canadian Club :
"There are grave conditions in this country. We have extreme party spirit everywhere. I have lived in Ottawa for a year. I could not conceive of any condition where party politics were more bitter or more insistent than they have been in the official circles in the City of Ottawa during this last year, as if it were a horse race that was on in place of a great war in which the very life of the nation is in peril. We have to live together in this country. We have one-third of our com- munity who are French Canadian people. We
203
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
of British birth and British aspiration and Brit- ish temper cannot sink them in the St. Lawrence and have them disappear. Nor can they — not- withstanding their viewpoint — live in a country other than with us. And God forgive us for party strife or sectionalism or any other fault whereby we fail to help one another to understand our points of view, and work one with the other for the common good of the State. And I would like to say . . . that if a general election is held shortly, a racial cry will be inevitable and Eng- lish will be pitted against French and French against English, and there will follow years of bitterness."
Modern Democracy did not come into existence because leading citizens in different countries devised it, advocated it, and fought for it. It came because the masses of the people were becoming tired of being drawn or driven into wars, or agitated or oppressed, by small groups of ruling men who sought additional territory or revenge for an insult or an advantageous royal marriage or national unity in religion under State control or a royal succession of their selection, or some other enterprise or policy remotest from the minds of the men in the ranks. The masses aimed at no definite form of government. They moved forward instinctively rather than ration- ally, in some countries through blood and slaugh- ter, away from respect for " superior classes " in society and from reverence for blood and birth, towards equality of rights and opportunities. The outcome is popular, representative govern-
204
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
ment, with suffrage more or less universal. The assumption is that representative government with frequent elections is identical with self-gov- ernment. So it would be if all the people took an energetic and conscientious interest in the selection and the work of their representatives. But the masses find that absolute monarchy, aristocracy, and plutocracy are not the only powers capable of drawing or driving them hither and thither. Their own selfish desires, played upon by groups of practised political manipulators, build up walls between them and self-government, and, in our case, between Can- ada and national unity. In meeting this new obstacle in the way of progress in democracy, the masses cannot expect much aid from the wealthy, who love their own ease, their own exclusiveness, their own gains, and have little time or thought for what they call " dirty politics," though there are some indications of a change for the better. They need an infusion of moral earnestness to enable them to take up the burdens of citizenship in a democratic form of society. From whatever point of view we look at the problem the inevit- able conclusion is the need of the masses to be imbued with the teaching of St. Paul that " all power is from God." Whether the power is exer- cised in the polling booth or in the Cabinet or on the Bench, it is the use of a divine gift for the common good. It is a trust from God for the nation. It involves duties as well as rights, and devotion to these duties is the measure of one's
205
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
patriotism. There is the duty of knowledge to ascertain what is best for the nation as a whole. There is the duty of vigilance to know what the elected representatives are doing. And there is the duty as elector to vote only for those who have the patriotism of conscientious regard for the nation's welfare. To learn these duties and prac- tise them is the way of escape from groups of politicians who play upon sectional or racial prejudices, and it is not an impossible task for disinterested leaders to impress these duties upon the minds of the people.
OTHER CENTRIFUGAL FORCES
The problem of East and West in Canada is dealt with elsewhere in this collection of essays.
The unequal distribution of wealth can become a disturbing, and even a disintegrating, factor in any nation. It is said that in the United States two per cent, of the people own sixty per cent, of the wealth, and sixty-five per cent, of the people own five per cent, of the wealth. Canada is moving in the same direction. " Captains of industry," as they are called, are necessary in modern methods of production. It is not from them as such that there is danger of plutocracy, but from the mani- pulators of the money markets. The kings of high finance may form an unseen government behind the visible government of a country ; and this unseen influence tends to become inter- national. One can imagine Canada becoming more subject to Wall Street than to Downing
206
CANADIAN NATIONAL UNITY
Street. Armies have invaded different coun- tries at the bidding of high finance. The finan- cial ideal is a hard-working, peaceful, well-fed humanity producing material for the activities of the stock exchanges. It is non-moral, non-patri- otic, non-intellectual. The J. P. Morgan syndi- cate of New York received securities to the value of sixty-three and a half million dollars ($63,500,000) for organizing the United States Steel Corporation. This was the commission secured through interlocking directorates, and, since the Steel Corporation controlled the market, it could and did raise the price of its products, thus reducing the purchase-value of wages. In 1908 the amount of "water" in the American Tobacco Company was sixty-six million dollars. During the twelve years ending in 1910 the Pull- man Company issued one hundred millions in stock dividends. By centralization, stock-water- ing, interlocking directorates, and other devices, groups of financiers disturb the distribution of wealth and widen the distance between employer and employed, until the antagonism between capi- tal and labour becomes a danger to the nation. Reforms through legislation can help, but cannot cure. The root of the social problem is in the heart of man, his ideal of life, his ideas of wel- fare, and his attitude towards God and fellow- men. The choice of the future seems to be either a return to Christian living in the use of wealth or a relapse to barbarism.
+ Neil McNeil,
Archbishop of Toronto. 207
WOMEN AND THE NATION
" WHEN I HAVE BORNE IN MEMORY "
WHEN I have borne in memory what has tamed Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart When men change swords for ledgers, and desert The student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed I had, my Country! — am I to be blamed? Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art, Verily, in the 'bottom of my heart, Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. For dearly must we prize thee; we who find In thee a bulwark for the cause of men : And I by my affection was beguiled : What wonder if a Poet now and then, Among the many movements of his mind, Felt for thee as a lover or a child!
— W. Wordsworth.
WOMEN AND THE NATION
IT may be news to the Government that the women of Canada experienced some disappoint- ment when they were not included in the scheme for National Service registration at the beginning of 1917. So far as the writer knows, there has been no instance of a united expression of regret from any organization or meeting of women. But, without doubt, the average Canadian woman, as an individual, wished that she had been called on, to this extent at least, for service by the Gov- ernment. If cards had been sent to men and women at the same time, the women would have been so glad to reply that the response from the men would have been increased. No wife or mother, who had sent in her own card, would have allowed her husband or son to overlook his. But, although disappointed at the time, these women are not discouraged. Hope by Canadian women for some form of recognized national ser- vice will last as long as the war.
PAID WORKERS NOT THE CHIEF CONCERN
If a question is addressed to the Government as to whether they are preparing to make the best use of women in national service, the Government in turn may inquire of what use, which would be helped by a registration, women can be to the nation at such a time as this? The problem is perpetually recurring in Canadian affairs as to
m
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
how far new work should be undertaken by the Government, or if it should continue to be left in the main to private organization. An effort* has recently been made to outline the economic and social contribution to the country which may be undertaken by Canadian women as private individuals. Some statistics and conclusions from this survey may help to show ways in which women can be of greater service to the nation through recognition by the Government of the national character of their work. It is unlikely that good statesmanship will assert that the Gov- ernment has no concern with the work of women except when they are employed in factories or other gainful occupations. The Government is concerned, of course, with the well-being of paid employees. But the unpaid employments of women are of vast importance to the state. No reasonable comparison can be made between the value of the paid and the unpaid occupations of women. The unpaid occupations of women are worth as much to the state as the paid occupa- tions of men.
Women will doubtless always do the bulk of their work as private individuals. But the good will and work of the individual woman must be linked up with the good will and work of the multitude of women workers in primary employ- ments, if the state is to move forward in a time of crisis. Women should improve their own primary employments. They cannot do so to
* " The Woman — Bless Her," by Marjory MacMurchy.
WOMEN AND THE NATION
the utmost without recognition by the Gov- ernment that these primary employments are national service, nor can women make any great advance in the efficiency of these employments without Government co-operation.
According to the Census of 1911, which may be accepted as a basis for this discussion, there are in Canada 3,387,771 women. Those between fifteen and eighty years of age, which includes practically the whole population of women cap- able of work, number 2,186,000. Married women number 1,251,182: single women, from fifteen to eighty, 746,000. In realizing the importance of the class of married women, it should be remembered that the majority of single women are between fifteen and thirty-five, and that from eighty to ninety per cent, of these women will marry. About 250,000 Canadian women belong to national organizations of women. Between five and six thousand are graduates of universities. Women in paid occupations number 364,821. Reckoning together married women and women in paid occupations, and even allowing for the fact that some married women are also in paid employ- ment, it must be recognized that the leisured class of women in Canada is very small. A fair estimate places this leisured class at 50,000. Allowance should be made for the fact that a large number of single women are fully engaged in work at home, although they are not in paid employment. Take, for instance, the number of daughters of farmers who live at home and are
213
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
not returned in the census as having any occupa- tion. It would be absurd to regard this class of single women as belonging to a leisured class.
Broadly speaking, therefore, we have in Can- ada: married women, engaged in home-making and the care of children ; women in paid employ- ments ; single women working at home ; a small leisured class; and girls and young women who are in training at schools and universities. Every woman can place herself readily in her own class, and should be able to identify her occupation, or should recognize that she is making no economic contribution to the life of the nation.
Before discussing the employment which would be most useful to the state for women in any of these classes, several points should be noted with regard to conditions of work affecting Canadian women.
The first is that it is advisable to take a practi- cal view in the choice of work. Anyone who is looking for employment should choose an occu- pation in which she has, by natural bent or training, an advantage over others.
A second point to be considered is the differ- ence in war work for women in Canada and in Great Britain. Although the war has made work advisable and indeed necessary for everyone, including women of leisure, any change in the employment of wromen in Canada is compara- tively slight. Few women, apparently, who were not at work before the war have gone into paid employment since the war began. This condition
214
WOMEN AND THE NATION
is largely explained by the fact that the great majority of Canadian women are either employed in home-making or the care of children, or they are already in paid employment.
The unemployed employable women of Canada are an extremely restricted class. If you go out into the streets of a Canadian city on a flag-sell- ing day, you will see them, some hundreds of girls and young women, selling flags ; these repre- sent our unemployed employable class. In addi- tion, the leisured class consists of a few single women living at home or boarding, a few married Women who do not keep house, and a few widows who have no home responsibilities.
WOMEN IN SKILLED EMPLOYMENTS
Skilled work for women is regarded with favour in Canada, but work involving physical strain is looked on with disfavour. Munition work is accepted as being so essentially war work of the most necessary kind that not many Cana- dian fathers and mothers would refuse to let their daughters engage in it. It is plain, however, that a large number of Canadian employers would rather not have women in munition factories if they can get on without them. What has hap- pened in Canada is not only that the number of women working on munitions has grown consid- erably, but also that numbers of women with some leisure, or at some sacrifice of other employ- ment, have offered themselves for munition work, and have been disappointed.
215
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
In the same way the Canadian standard of well-being, which is against physical strain for women, reacts unfavourably in the case of ordin- ary agricultural employment. All agricultural employment, however, of a lighter kind is looked on with approval. A few women manage farms, and this also is regarded favourably. But actual field work for women does not, under present conditions, please Canadians. So far nothing in the war has changed this point of view. The only gain in women's employment which can be readily seen as resulting from the war is that skilled employment for women has still further increased in general favour.
Canadian women themselves, by their efforts and good judgment, their willingness and fitness, should see that their opportunities for paid employment are maintained, and extended. This is one of the economic contributions which they can make both during the war and afterwards.
Outside the unpaid primary employments, the first great opportunity, therefore, for Canadian women in national service is in skilled work, and here three classes of women should find their duty. Women who belong to the small leisured class, and girls and young women in training, will do well to fit themselves for skilled employ- ment. No country in the world offers a more wonderful opportunity to women in occupations which require training. Even before the war it had become evident that no Canadian girl should be allowed to grow up without a skilled employ- ee
WOMEN AND THE NATION
ment of some kind. Since the war began the duty of patriotic women of the leisured class to con- sider seriously the question of training them- selves for skilled work has become evident. It is a mistake to suppose that a woman needs to be very young in order to acquire skill in any occupation.
Here it should be pointed out that no other occupations for women are as greatly in need of training as the primary employments of home- making and the care of children. If it can be said truly that it is impossible for the nation to do its best unless women of leisure become employed, it is a far more important truth that it is impossible for the contribution of women to reach its highest point if the primary employ- ments of women remain unskilled.
Again, if educated and trained women fail to study the big fields of employments open to women, the opportunity for women's economic and social contribution cannot be realized. Examples of these largest paid employments are domestic work and factory work. Thousands of women are at work in these occupations. But practically no women economists or sociologists are studying them. Where is the trained and certificated household worker that we ought to have? Only women can make her evolution pos- sible. One of the largest employments is fac- tory work; we know little about its effects on women. One class of factory may produce one type of worker. Another may make a different
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
type, not nearly as satisfactory from the point of view of the primary employments of women. Young women who are receiving a university training should prepare themselves to enter higher positions in such large women's employ- ments. What woman knows, for instance, how women are engaged as factory hands or how they are discharged; or how long they hold their positions or why they leave them? Women who undertake such work as that of making all this clear can render great economic service.
It is scarcely necessary to point out that it is to the advantage of any woman in paid employ- ment to be a skilled worker. To do skilled work is also the best way in which she can serve the community. Preparation for and the carrying out of skilled employment is, therefore, the duty of the average member of three classes of Cana- dian women : the leisured class, the class in train- ing, and the class of women already in paid employments.
There remains the great class of married women. The national organizations of Canadian women prove that middle-aged married women have a certain amount of leisure, that they crave employment, and that they have a genius for organization.
The war work of the past three years has con- vinced these women that there is a great good in productive work undertaken in co-operation with other women. They are not willing to go back to pre-war conditions. They continually
218
WOMEN AND THE NATION
ask themselves what arrangements can be made so that they may continue to do some useful pro- ductive work. " The work of my hands has proved to be of value/' these women say. " I am not will- ing to lose this feeling of satisfaction. This pro- ductive work and this co-operation with others for effective ends should be continued."
TRAINING IN PRIMARY EMPLOYMENTS
If these women would make the care of the home, and the care of children, skilled employ- ments, thus placing them on a higher level of efficiency than is possible in the position which these primary employments now occupy, they will give inestimable service to the nation.
These are the employments in which they have an advantage over every other worker. Since Canadian women have a genius for organization, why should not their organizations undertake the study of skilled work in the care of children and household economics? Let them study the relation between the purchasing skill of home- makers and the economic prosperity of the coun- try. Let them ask the Government to recognize and deal with the needs of home-makers and their households. Is the price of living at home to soar unchecked? It cannot be made a fair price until the woman at home who controls the family budget knows what that budget means multi- plied by all the other budgets of home-making women, and aims at securing the best interests of the consumer.
219
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
To make these occupations skilled employ- ments, the woman at home must interest herself in the education of girls. The girl should be taught what she needs to know. But it is lament- ably true that the average Canadian girl is not, under present conditions, properly trained for home-making and the care of children. If the Canadian woman will acquire this training, if she will make her own occupations skilled employments, and if she will see that Canadian girls are taught what they need to know — remem- ber over eighty per cent, of all girls marry — she will have advanced immeasurably her country's usefulness and happiness.
CARE OF CHILDREN AS A NATIONAL INTEREST
While we believe that Canadian women are ready for this great advance, it is not to be sup- posed that women are wholly responsible for the unskilled state of home employments. They have not framed the present system of education. For this, as in everything else, men and women together, the whole fabric of society, are respon- sible. Nor can women by themselves make the needed advance. They would be attempting the impossible unless strongly supported by public opinion. Why should not Federal and Provincial Governments establish Home Depart- ments to look after the development and well- being of the work of the home? In no govern- ment department is adequate attention paid to the care of children as a national interest. Nor
220
WOMEN AND THE NATION
should such things be regarded as matters affect- ing women only. The home and children are the joint business of men and women. A government department which will lead in the better care of children and will represent the interests of households as consumers may be part of the answer to the desire of Canadian women that their work should be organized along the lines of national service.
To help in this and in all other work in which women have a part we need leaders among women. But they must be women of training and skill, able to do work up to the level of a high world standard. Their training should be accurate and scientific; and in their leadership, while they should be able to give the happy impulses of character and personality, they should add as well the definite power of the efficient worker, whose absence has been so far a drawback to the women of Canada. What women in Canada have to do to-day is not the work of a man, but the work of a woman, in co-operation with men at work.
It surely must be regarded as a sign of lack of progress that the two most important employ- ments for women, home-making and the care of children, are not recognized as occupations by the census. They are the most important employ- ments for women in every way. In one sense the state may be said to exist for its homes ; and the greatest potential wealth of any country is its children. These truths are generally recognized,
221
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
and this makes it the more remarkable that little effort has been made to introduce skill and train- ing into these women's employments. If a girl becomes a stenographer she will receive more careful and precise instruction for her work than the woman has received who is caring for chil- dren— unless that woman is a trained nurse. Graduate nurses are the only class of women who have the benefit of such training.
A plea then is made that, for the economic and social well being of the nation, girls and women should be trained for the employments of home- making and the care of children. Over eighty per cent. — possibly ninety per cent. — of all women are engaged at some time in their lives in one or the other, or in both, of these occupations.
While business life has been revolutionized, this change is not more thorough than that in the economic position of the woman at home. The Canadian income last year was estimated at two billions. It is admitted that women spent one-half of this income. Few, indeed, of these women knew that they were exercising any eco- nomic effect on the life of the country, outside their own houses or apartments. The successful business of the country, which consists of the proper balance between producing, manufactur- ing, exporting, importing, the home and the foreign market, borrowing, paying and lending, can hardly be carried on successfully if the woman wTho buys is ignored. Is the farmer important? the manufacturer? the banker? the
233
WOMEN AND THE NATION
wholesale merchant? So is the woman. Nor is her place as an economic factor to be put at the end of the list. But we do not know that anyone is taking the trouble to inform her of national economics, or of the importance of what she can do to maintain and build the solvency and strength of the country.
PRIMARY EMPLOYMENTS ARE NATIONAL SERVICE
Many of what were once the industries of the home are now organized in factories outside the home, and the woman worker in paid employ- ment, generally speaking, has only followed her home work when she is employed in a factory. But in the factory her importance as a paid worker is recognized and she receives a more or less thorough training for her work. In some cases at least she is under the impression that she is more important economically to the coun- try when she is doing paid work than she would be if she were making a home. It is difficult to see how the right balance of importance is to be preserved in the judgment of communities unless there is some form of government recognition of the national service involved in the two primary employments of women.
Two recommendations of the Ontario Com- mission on Unemployment, with regard to the training of girls and the effect of paid employ- ment on the standing of the home employments, show that these vital questions' are intimately
223
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
associated with the prosperity and well-being of the nation.
The first of the recommendations is : " That practical education be more fully provided for girls in the schools of the Province, and that their training should include the study of food values, cooking, health, physical training, instruc- tion in the use of money, thrift, home economics, and the care of children, some knowledge of the making of clothes, and other practical matters, such as gardening and the advantage of self-help clubs."
A further recommendation deals with the standing of the home employments : " That since changes resulting from the development of many paid occupations are tending to interfere seri- ously with the position held by home-making employments, recognition should be given by educational authorities and the state to home- making and the care of children as women's occu- pations which require training, skill and a high degree of efficiency. Your Commissioners believe that such recognition will be to the advantage of home-making and wage-earning occupations and to the community."
The industrial employment of women is impor- tant. Their Red Cross and patriotic work is essential to the carrying on of the war. Their help in munitions is useful and desirable. They are aiding and will aid more extensively in agri- cultural production. But the Government and the nation must grasp the fact that the great
224:
WOMEN AND THE NATION
employments of women, in comparison with which all other women's employments appear insignificant, are home-making and the care of children. The well-being of the nation needs as never before better cared-for children. The way in which money is spent is more vital at the present time than it has ever been. The country does not wish its women to suppose that they are more important economically when employed in factories than when they are in the homes of Canada.
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WORK OF WOMEN
These home employments of women have been individualistic to a singular degree. The hour has struck when their national character requires that the Government should recognize the neces- sity for an increase in their efficiency. The right education of girls is in the hands of the pro- vinces ; but technical education is encouraged by the Federal Government, and this is education for the employment of half the nation. The establish- ment by the Federal Government of a Department of Home Economics, with similar departments in the provinces, and the further organization of Home-makers' Clubs for housewives in towns and cities, as well as in the country, would bring into direct connection with the Government women whose work is vital to the health and happiness, and in no small measure the progress, of the com- munity. Men and women together make the nation. National questions, such as child wel-
15 225
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
fare, national health, the food supply, national economy and national unity, women's employ- ments, and education, cannot be dealt with except through the intelligent co-operation of women. One may well feel a doubt if any national ques- tion can be solved to the best advantage unless the intelligence and work of women are combined with the intelligence and work of men. Men have been more fully tested and have been found effi- cient in public affairs. But it is likely that the public service of women will follow the same his- tory of gradual improvement as has been worked for in the case of men. Such an opportunity for national service, for all citizens alike, both men and women, has never been heard of in the world before, and is hardly likely to occur again, or to be met with the same spiritual eagerness. Now is the time for the forward step.
Marjory MacMurchy.
THE
BI-LINGUAL
QUESTION
THE FLOWERS
BUY my English posies!
You that scorn the may, Won't you greet a friend from home
Half the world away? Green against the draggled drift,
Faint and frail and first; — Buy my Northern blood-root
And I'll know where you were nursed :
Robin down the logging-road whistles, " Come to me!" Spring has found the maple-grove, the sap is running free; All the winds of Canada call the ploughing-rain. Take the flower and turn the hour, and kiss your love again !
Far and far our homes are set round the Seven Seas; Woe for us if we forget, we that hold by these! Unto each his mother-beach, bloom and bird and land; Masters of the Seven Seas, oh, love and understand.
Rudyard Kipling.
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN ONTARIO
IN politics, as in life, things in themselves trifling often cause more anxiety and heart- burning than the really great problems. The bi-lingual question in Ontario affects some schools in Eastern and Northern Ontario border- ing on the Province of Quebec and some schools in or near Sandwich in Western Ontario, where there is an ancient French settlement. Probably less than ten thousand children in all are directly touched by the issue. Yet, so sensitive is the public mind on questions of language and race that the two chief provinces of Canada have been deeply stirred by the strife, and prophets of evil have gone so far as to say that civil war between the French and the English elements may be the outcome of the dispute. Such extravagance of speech is little suited to the temper of the Cana- dian people. When the issue is understood it will be found to have in it nothing so grave that cannot be settled by the law both of reason and of the existing constitution of Canada.
In respect to questions of race, as to so many other things, the Prussian has furnished us an example of how not to do it. In the Province of Posen, a part of Prussia's spoils from the destroyed Kingdom of Poland, the captive people desired, of course, to have their native Polish as the language of their schools. This liberty, how-
229
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ever, Prussia was not willing to concede. A few years before the great war broke out the power of Prussia was being used to make the little children of Posen speak the German language. Not merely was it to be the language of secular teaching in the schools, it must be the language of prayer and, when the children refused to say the Lord's Prayer in school in the prescribed German, they were sharply punished. When par- ents withdrew the children from school, rather than accept this system, they were arrested, fined and imprisoned. Every Polish child must be taught in German, must pray in German, or the hand of mighty Prussia would be heavy on both child and parents.
Such methods are certain in the end to fail. To-day the Polish tongue is all the more dear to the people of Posen because stern efforts have been made to limit its use. We may be quite certain that if, in Canada, the attempt had been made to force the people of French origin to give up their speech, the language of France would now be even more strongly entrenched than it is. From the beginning, however, the new masters of Canada placed no limits on the use of the French language. It was assumed, as a matter of course, that French might be used. At first, upon this point, no constitutional guarantees were either asked or given. When, in 1791, Lower Canada received a separate constitution and, for the first time, an elected legislature, the right to use the French language was so little
230
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
questioned that it was not even mentioned. From the outset French and English were spoken with equal freedom in the legislature of Lower Canada.
HISTORICAL REVIEW
The time came, however, when, during a brief period, the right to use French was questioned. Largely as a result of the agitation carried on for twenty years by the master agitator, Louis Joseph Papineau, Lower Canada was in 1837 and 1838 the scene of a bitter racial strife. When the discontented elements took up rebellious arms, there was an acute crisis. The constitu- tion of Lower Canada was suspended and the pro- vince was governed under the despotic authority of a special Council directed by the Governor. In the end the legislatures both of Lower and Upper Canada were abolished and in 1841 the two provinces were united under a single parlia- ment. In most decisive terms the Act of Union provided for the official use of " the English lan- guage only." From the first, however, this pro- vision was inoperative. In the debates French members spoke in French, at their discretion, and in 1848 the clause was repealed by Act of the Imperial Parliament. French and English remained on an equality. French was used freely, not merely in the proceedings of Parliament, but also, without protest, in schools in Upper Canada or wherever there was a French-speaking popula- tion. " The French is the recognized language of
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the country as well as the English," wrote on April 24, 1857, the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, the Super- intendent of Education in Upper Canada. The same right was accorded to those who wished to use German. No hard and fast lines had as yet been drawn in regard to language in the schools of the English-speaking province. As late as in 1883 the regulations permitted a knowledge of French or German grammar to be substituted for that of English grammar.
When the union under one legislature of the two Canadian provinces was expanded in 1867 and a federal system was created for the whole of British North America, we have for the first time exact rights defined in respect to the use of the French language. In all federal official busi- ness the French and the English language were placed on a footing of complete equality. In the business of the Federal Parliament and of the federal courts any one who chose to use French was within his rights. Federal laws were to be issued in both English and French versions. At the same time, however, limitations were placed upon this dualism of language. Only the Pro- vince of Quebec was to be bi-lingual. For that province alone was it stated that French and English were on the same footing. By implica- tion English alone was to be the official language of the other provinces. Manitoba, however, was made bi-lingual when it entered the federation in 1870.
232
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
In spite of the limitations placed upon the use of French by the Federation Act of 1867, for a long time still no emphasis was placed by the Department of Education in Ontario on this pro- vision. The frontier between Ontario and Quebec is marked by the Ottawa River, and it was inevit- able that English-speaking people from Ontario should settle on the Quebec side and French- speaking people from Quebec on the Ontario side. The Counties of Prescott and Eussell in Ontario are bordered by the Ottawa River. In some dis- tricts the people were almost wholly French in origin; they spoke that language alone, used it in their schools and knew and learned no Eng- lish. This condition had existed prior to the federation of Canada, and for twenty years after that event no serious attempt was made to ensure that English should be the language of the schools on this frontier and also in the French districts at Sandwich in Western Ontario. By 1886 atten- tion had been called to the fact that in some of the schools of the French districts of Ontario English was not being taught. The experience of the working of the new federal union had by this time emphasized the position of Quebec as a bi-lingual province in which French was chiefly spoken and that of Ontario as an English-speak- ing province. In the provincial courts of Ontario, in the provincial legislature, in the provincial schools, it was regarded as beyond question that English, and English alone, had any rights in respect to official use. To permit the use of
233
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
French in the schools was considered as only an act of courtesy to meet special and transient conditions.
DEFECTIVE TEACHING OF ENGLISH
By 1885 the question of the English-French schools had been sharply debated, both in the legislature of Ontario and on the hustings. The question lent itself readily to passion and mis- understanding. Canada is a country in which the forces of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are so strong that each fears the power of the other. In the Province of Ontario, in particular, the Orange Order is powerful and well-organized, and this order, with the defence of Protestantism as its reason for existing, was opposed to the use of the French language in Ontario, because it was believed that this would include inevitably an extension of the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, to which the French Canadians to a man belonged. The Orange- men thus looked upon the problem as chiefly one of religion. In truth, however, the English-speak- ing Roman Catholics of Ontario were equally reso- lute opponents of the exclusive use of the French language in the schools of Ontario. For a long time a struggle had been going on within the Roman Catholic Church in Canada between the English-speaking and the French-speaking ele- ments. In the Province of Quebec the bishops, the traditions of the Church, the cast of thought in ecclesiastical matters, tall were French. In
234
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
Ontario the English-speaking Koman Catholics were resolved that the dominant influences in the Church should be as definitely English. It thus happened that powerful forces, both Pro- testant and Roman Catholic, impelled the Gov- ernment of Ontario to strong action. They had the support of every important influence in the province. The man in the street had no thought that Ontario should be anything else than Eng- lish-speaking; the Orangemen, for religious rea- sons, held the same opinion, and, by an odd accident, the Roman Catholics of Irish extraction also insisted that the principal language of all the schools should be English.
It was in 1885 that the Department of Educa- tion of Ontario took definite action to carry out this policy. Then it was required that in all schools in the French and German districts the pupils should be taught to read English. Up to this time there had been schools in which almost no word of English was ever heard. The new policy was carried out with some diligence and, within four years, that is by 1889, English was being taught in every school in the French-speak- ing parts of Eastern Ontario. To carry out this policy involved, however, a new difficulty. It was not easy to teach English to pupils whose lan- guage in daily life was French. Quite obviously a teacher who knew only English would be unin- telligible to pupils who knew only French. Thus it was necessary to have teachers who knew both languages and could explain English terms to
235
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
French-speaking pupils. Such teachers were hard to find. It is unhappily true that in the rural districts of Ontario the school teacher is badly paid and that, in consequence, the teachers are often mere boys and girls, who teach for only a short period before settling down in some other vocation. It was hard enough to secure efficient teachers when they were required to know only one language ; it seemed impossible, for the small pay offered, to get teachers who knew two lan- guages. The Government of Ontario appointed in 1889 a Commission to report on the problem of the French language in the schools. The Com- mission reported that the way to teach English to French-speaking pupils was by leading them to converse in English; that to effect this the teacher must know both languages, and that it would be necessary to establish a special training school for such bi-lingual teachers. This task the Department of Education undertook, and in 1890 it opened at the little village of Plantagenet, in the County of Russell, a small model school for the training of the few bi-lingual teachers who were required. Some thirty prospective teachers began their training. They were mere boys and girls, their ages ranging from sixteen to eighteen, and it was through them that the problem was to be solved of teaching English in schools where the language spoken in the homes of the pupils was French.
Enquiry showed that more than half the teachers in the bi-lingual schools remained in
236
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
their posts for only about a year. Their work was necessarily inefficient. Moreover, even of such teachers, the supply was still inadequate. Thus it remained true after 1890 that in some schools the pupils really learned no English. By this time, too, the French-speaking parents had become suspicious. They had no objection to the learning of English by their children, but they began to fear that this compulsory learning of English was really the beginning of a serious attempt to force, in the ordinary relations of life, the use of the English to replace the French tongue. Attacks in Ontario on the supposed designs of the Koman Catholic hierarchy were met by attacks in Quebec on the supposed designs of the Orangemen. Some of the Koman Catholic bishops in Ontario were resolute for limiting the official use of the French language in schools. A Commission which reported in 1893 on the state of the schools in the Counties of Prescott and Russell noted the fears of the French people and tried to remove them by showing that the learn- ing of English was not intended to supplant the use of French, but rather was designed to increase the efficiency of those who spoke French, by enabling them to use also English, the pre- vailing language in North America. The public discussions of the question went on. In 1905 the Liberals, in office for more than thirty years, were defeated and a Conservative Government was installed in Ontario. The attacks on the efficiency of the French-English schools con-
237
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tinued. A firm policy on the part of the new Government was demanded by many of its sup- porters, and in 1910 the preliminary to decisive action was taken by the appointment of a Com- mission to report on the whole problem. After prolonged enquiries the Commissioner, Dr. F. W. Merchant, an official of the Department of Edu- cation of Ontario, reported in 1912, and thus the last stage of the controversy was reached.
Much dispute had raged about the question whether the language of instruction to French- speaking pupils should be English or French. Dr. Merchant's report made clear that pupils who knew French, but not English, must be taught in the first two forms in the French lan- guage. When they reached Form III English should be the language of instruction. He found that many, though not all, of the English-French schools were inefficient. Naturally, when a pupil had to learn in school not merely the subjects of instruction but also the language in which instruction was given, his progress was slow. In eighty per cent, of the bi-lingual schools in East- ern Ontario English was not really in use, though it was superficially studied. The deplorable fact remained clear that many French-speaking pupils left the schools with an inadequate equipment for life. Moreover, some of the schools were isolated and the attendance was irregular. Certainly, too, not much could be expected when nearly sixty per cent, of the teachers had been in their positions for less than a year. Behind methods lay the
238
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
perennial problem of securing teachers. By this time training schools had been established at four points, Ottawa, Sturgeon Falls, Vankleek Hill, and Sandwich. But the Commissioner asked anxiously : " Prom what sources are these schools to secure an attendance?" The teachers must, he said, come from the French-speaking population. It happened, however, that bi-lingual young men and women were in much demand in other walks of life. The teaching profession was not attract- ing ambitious young people, and least of all were they likely to be attracted to troublesome and backward bi-lingual schools.
THE POLICY OF USING ENGLISH IN ALL SCHOOLS
The Report of Dr. Merchant brought from the Government of Ontario the action which fin- ally threw the matter into the courts of law. In June, 1912, the Department of Education issued Instruction 17. Controversy on the question of French in the schools had been acute, and there is no doubt that the terms of the Instruction were drastic, though they were somewhat soft- ened in the revised version issued in 1913. The Instruction makes clear two features of the policy of the Government. One was that all pupils in the schools must learn the English lan- guage and must begin to study it on entering the school. The other was that while, with French- speaking pupils, French might 'be the language of instruction, this use of French was to be, as a rule, in Form I only. The inspector might,
239
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
however, authorize the further use of French if pupils did not understand the English language. In the elementary schools of Ontario no Latin, Greek, German or any other foreign language is taught. French had never been taught, except in the few French districts. In Great Britain and the United States the same practice generally obtains, that foreign languages are not taught in elementary schools. The practice may be wise or unwise. Instruction 17 now showed that, as far as possible, it was to be carried out in the schools of Ontario. The clause most likely to cause strife was the one apparently requiring that the French language might be taught henceforth only in those schools of Ontario where "French has hitherto been a subject of study," and it might be taken by pupils only at the special request of parents or guardians. The clause caused indig- nation among the supporters of the use of French, for it seemed to decree that French might not be taught in any schools which should be estab- lished after the Instruction was issued. In no school might it be taught for more than an hour a day unless the inspector ordered an increase in the time. The aim of the regulations seemed to be to remove from the elementary schools as far as possible all teaching of a language other than English. Since Instruction 17 was issued it has been stated officially that other regulations of the department, not repealed by Instruction 17, permit the teaching of French and also of German in any school, new or old, where the
240
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
inspector recommends that this is advisable and the Department of Education accepts his advice. Thus, while the plea is justified that the teaching of French in the schools is restricted, it is not true that French may not be taught in any school where it was not already being taught in 1912.
It was not unnatural that the champions of French should proclaim their alarm and annoy- ance at the rigour of Instruction 17. French was the first European language to be used in Canada and, during more than two hundred years of the early history of the region which became the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario, it had an exclusive sway. It had unquestioned rights in the federal affairs of Canada and in the Province of Quebec. It had long been used in schools in Ontario. Yet now it seemed to alarmists as if a malignant attempt was being made to banish it from Ontario as a subject of study. All over the Province of Quebec the word ran that Ontario was implacably hostile to the French tongue and that its defenders must fight for their rights.
To stir up suspicion and anger between peoples who do not use the same language and who live remote from each other is never very difficult. It is a far cry from Toronto to Quebec, the capitals, nearly six hundred miles apart, of the two pro- vinces. Toronto is strongly Protestant, domin- ated in its municipal life by the Orange lodges; Quebec is as strongly Roman Catholic, the seat of a Cardinal Archbishop, the central home, dur- ing more than three centuries, of the missionary
16 241
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
activities in Canada of that Church. In the Legislature at Toronto French is never heard; in that at Quebec English is rarely heard, though the people of Quebec speak English much more generally than those of Ontario speak French.
ANTAGONISM BETWEEN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC
When the cry went out in the Province of Que- bec that its sister province, Ontario, was showing a bitter hostility to the French tongue and forcing English upon French-speaking children, a sullen anger extended far. The agitator and the poli- tician made no attempt to state the case fairly. What they did was to tell a proud people, tena- cious of their rights and customs, that Ontario was an arrogant and fanatical neighbour, bent on excluding from its borders the use of their language, the language of a noble literature and of the great French nation from which they sprang. Circumstances helped to inflame pas- sions. In 1911 there was a federal election in Canada. In provinces other than Quebec the issue was that of proposed reciprocity in trade with the United States. In Quebec reciprocity was half forgotten, and the election turned on the duty of Canada in respect to the defence of the British Empire. By 1909 the intention of Germany to dispute with Britain supremacy on the sea had caused widespread alarm throughout the British Empire. The Government of Canada had, in consequence, . adopted at that time the plan of creating a Canadian navy to be merged in
242
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
time of war with that of Great Britain. To this policy of assisting in British defence a new Nationalist party in Quebec was bitterly opposed. During the election of 1911 its leaders, MM. Henri Bourassa and Armand Lavergne, bitterly attacked the Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, for his naval policy. He was, they said, the ser- vile tool of British jingo leaders. Canada was not called upon to take any share in imperial wars; she should look after herself if attacked, but her responsibility did not extend beyond her own borders. Great Britain was trying to exploit Canada as a vassal state and to secure Canadian money and shed Canadian blood in her unjust and aggressive wars. One frantic Nationalist talked of shooting holes in the British flag as the symbol of tyranny and oppression.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier was defeated. A Conser- vative government came into power and was at once confronted with the naval question. Since the crisis was acute and the giving of prompt help was urgent, the new government of Mr. Borden laid before Parliament early in 1913 a proposal to vote $35,000,000 with which three " Dreadnoughts " should be built for the British fleet. This Sir Wilfrid Laurier opposed, favour- ing instead his original design of a Canadian navy. The proposed vote was defeated by the Liberal majority in the Senate. Canada did noth- ing to aid in naval defence, and in Ontario the cry was raised that this result was due to the sinister influence of the French Canadian leader,
243
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
Sir Wilfrid Laurier. If Quebec had shown anger about the language question, Ontario was angry about the naval question. If Quebec cried " Bigotry," Ontario cried " Disloyalty." Utter- ances of extremists in both camps lent sufficient plausibility to both charges, and a difficult and dangerous temper was aroused.
Then, in 1914, came the great war. It was soon clear that Canada would share in it to the utmost. From one end of Canada to the other was appar- ent the conviction that human liberty was at stake, that the whole future of the British Empire was involved, and that sacrifices on a vast scale must be confronted. This conviction was deep and spontaneous. Naturally the populous cen- tres, where thought is most active, first realized the facts of the situation, and it was from them chiefly that were recruited the first battalions to go overseas. It is also true and quite natural that the people in Canada who had been born in Britain and were themselves of British origin were specially prompt in offering as volunteers. The western provinces, where many old country people had settled, soon had under arms a larger proportion of their male population than had the eastern provinces. In these eastern provinces, including Ontario, with a sparse population, for the most part born in Canada, scattered over a wide area, and having little knowledge of condi- tions in Europe, the movement of thought in the villages and on the farms was slow. A year after the war had begun there were villages in Ontario
244
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
which were barely aware of the war. In time steady and tactful effort brought home to the smallest village the urgency of the need, and the response was satisfactory. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were even slower of movement than was Ontario, and slowest of all was the Province of Quebec. Outside of one or two cities, its people were native to the soil of Canada; they knew almost nothing of Europe, they read little, and they were not quick to understand a conflict remote from their own doors.
The situation in Quebec might have been slowly improved, as was that in other provinces, without any recrimination, but for a set of facts which made Quebec unique. In Quebec alone was there an active and open propaganda against the tak- ing by Canada of any part in the war. M. Henri Bourassa's journal, Le Devoir, carried on a bitter campaign against sharing in the war. He said that the chief care of the French Canadians should be to preserve their own land for their own enjoyment ; that, since they had no voice in governing the British Empire, they should think only of defending Canada ; that British navalism was as great a menace as German militarism and that neither England nor Germany had any right to dominate the world. "What," cried M. Bourassa, "about British tyranny over Boers, Irish and French Canadians?" He took up with great vehe- mence the claim that the French were being unjustly deprived of rights in Ontario. Thus it happened that the bi-lingual question came to be 245
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
linked in the minds of many people with venom- ous attacks on Britain, and the assertion that the terrible sacrifices of Canada in the war were unnecessary and mistaken.
THE RACIAL STRIFE IN OTTAWA
It was inevitable that sooner or later Ottawa should become the storm centre. In the federal affairs of the capital the two languages and races met on a footing of perfect equality. The lan- guage of parliament and of the federal laws and courts is indifferently French or English. A large number of the civil servants of the federal government use French as the language of daily life. Ottawa, and Hull, lying opposite to the capital across the Ottawa Kiver, in the Province of Quebec, have great timber and paper indus- tries, and in these industries a large number of French Canadians are employed. Not less than one-third of the population of Ottawa habitually speaks French. Thus it happens that though Ottawa lies in Ontario, the French who live there feel themselves to be on their own ground, with full rights to the official use of their own lan- guage. Canada has not followed the United States in creating for its capital a federal dis- trict ruled by the federal government and not under the control of any province. Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada, is a lesser city of Ontario, subject, in respect to its schools, to the jurisdiction of the government at Toronto and to the provincial law that English must be taught
246
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
to all pupils in the schools. It was not unnatural that such a situation should create a certain ten- sion of feeling. The French Canadians who worked in Ottawa, but had their homes less than a mile away across the river at Hull, were under no compulsion in respect to the learning of Eng- lish by their children. French, and French alone, was taught in their schools. Those, however, who had their homes in Ottawa came under the rule in Ontario that all the pupils must learn English. The question could not be divorced from racial passion. The facility of movement in modern life has had some unexpected results. In earlier days it often happened in European states, where people were isolated in their villages, that two districts, a few miles apart, would have separate languages. This caused little inconvenience, for the inhabitants of the districts rarely mingled. When, however, railways and steamships made travel easy, the resultant movement brought dif- ferent races into contact with each other. Peoples who do not understand each other are likely to suspect each other, and the last half of the nine- teenth century was marked by the outburst all over Europe of the racial strife which has become perhaps the most disturbing factor in modern politics. It was inevitable that a movement, world- wide in its range, should be felt in Canada. The Koman Catholic Church was torn by this strife. For a long time, in some of the semin- aries for the training of priests in Canada, French-speaking and English-speaking students
247
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
had met and studied together with little or no consciousness of racial discord. In the seminary at Montreal, kept by the powerful Sulpitian Order, were educated until recently most of the English-speaking priests from Ontario. Though the order was and is wholly French in its affilia- tion, many an English-speaking priest now work- ing in the Toronto diocese and in other Roman Catholic dioceses in Ontario was there trained, quite unconscious of any problem of race. Within the last dozen years all this has been changed. Gradually an atmosphere of vehement racialism crept into the institution. The English-speaking students began to feel uncomfortable, and to-day few English-speaking students from Ontario are to be found in the seminary.
In Ottawa the educational work of the Church was in time infected by this spirit. When, about 1860, Ottawa became the capital of Canada, the Roman Catholic Church founded in the new centre a university under the control of the Oblate Fathers. From the first the institution was on the French rather than the English model. No sharp distinction was drawn between second- ary and higher education. Schoolboys, youths proceeding to a degree in Arts, and mature can- didates for the priesthood, were all received in the university and provided for in its teaching. At first English was the prevailing language, and a good many members of the faculty were Eng- lish-speaking. In time, however, racial friction began. The order which controlled the institu-
248
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
tion was French. The influence of the English- speaking element was gradually weakened. The ablest of the English-speaking teachers were sent to other points and were replaced usually by men whose language was French. In 1915 came the final crisis, when all the English-speaking pro- fessors were dismissed. The institution then remained almost wholly French in character and, as a result, English-speaking students were forced to seek instruction elsewhere.
THE SITUATION IN THE WEST
If in respect to these institutions the French- speaking element triumphed, in other scenes they met with failure. The Canadian West had long been one of the chosen fields of French effort in Canada. It was a French Canadian explorer, La Ve>endrye, who, in 1743, penetrated to the prairie country from a trading post where now stands Winnipeg, and came at last in sight of the Rocky Mountains. All over the West French names on the map bear witness, to this day, to the labours of the early French discoverers. When, in 1870, the Province of Manitoba was created, the French and the English languages were placed on an equal footing. Time proved that in Manitoba the French were a minority steadily declining in power. Still, however, the highest offices in the Koman Catholic Church went to French Canadians. The bishop who ruled at Winnipeg was invariably a French Cana- dian. In 1890 the Government of the Province
249
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
of Manitoba abolished the official use of French and also the privileges of the Roman Catholics in respect to separate schools. Public opinion was stirred by the fact that not only the French, who had on historic grounds special privileges for their language, but newcomers from contin- ental Europe, claimed the privilege of having schools in which their own tongue was used. The climax came in 1916 when the new Liberal gov- ernment made the use of English compulsory in all schools. About the same time the strife between the French-speaking and the English- speaking elements within the Roman Catholic Church came to a head. When, in 1916, died the Roman Catholic archbishop, Mgr. Langevin, his see was divided, the French-speaking portion was placed under a French-speaking bishop, while to the City of Winnipeg was given an English- speaking bishop.
These incidents illustrate the effect which the modern world-wide strife of races has produced in Canada. In the schools of Ottawa the struggle of races was sharp. In the Province of Ontario, as the result of a long-established compromise, the Roman Catholic ratepayers, where their num- bers warrant it, have the right to establish schools in which the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church may be taught. These schools are kept up by a school tax, levied by the state on Roman Cath- olics, and are controlled by boards of trustees elected by the supporters of the schools. The Government of the Province of Ontario possesses
250
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
the right to inspect and regulate the separate schools as it does other state schools. As early as 1866 disputes became acute in Ottawa between the French-speaking and the English-speaking Roman Catholics in regard to the separate schools. In 1886 the Separate School Board formed itself into two committees, one to control the French-speaking, the other the English-speak- ing schools. The law did not recognize such a division, but it lessened friction and for a long time worked reasonably well. As a rule the Eng- lish-speaking committee paid higher salaries to teachers than did the French-speaking commit- tee, which drew many teachers from members of religious orders who worked for a small stipend. The French supporters outnumbered the English by more than two to one, but the French rate- payers belonged largely to the poorer classes and the English-speaking element paid the greater share of the taxes.
THE SITUATION IN OTTAWA
When the bi-lingual question became acute the French committee at Ottawa resented the provi- sion in the Ontario law that all pupils must be taught English. As a matter of fact, in some of the schools of Ottawa, English, if taught at all, was taught in a manner so perfunctory that it had no value. The French committee disliked inspection by the government at Toronto. When, by an accident of circumstances, the inspector was a Protestant, they declared it to be insulting
251
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
that a Protestant inspector should be sent to Eoman Catholic schools. When, however, a Roman Catholic inspector was appointed, they refused to admit him to the schools, since he was certain to find that they were not complying with the law in respect to the teaching of English. On October 12, 1912, the pupils of the Garneau school walked out when an English-speaking inspector entered. When Instruction 17, requiring that English should be taught in all schools in Ontario, was issued in 1912, the Ottawa Board definitely refused to obey it and remained obstin- ate in this decision. It appointed its own inspec- tor, proceeded to get rid of all lay teachers and to replace them by the less costly service of members of religious orders, some of whom, under the regulations in force in Ontario, were not qualified to teach in the schools. At the same time the Board proceeded with the plan for build- ing new schools and for borrowing large sums of money for this purpose.
The English-speaking element on the Board protested against these acts of defiance and, in the end, brought an action at law to restrain the Board dominated by their French-speaking col- leagues. Before judgment was given a dramatic crisis was reached. On April 29, 1914, an injunc- tion was issued forbidding, until the case was tried, the Ottawa Board to employ or pay teachers without legal qualifications or to pass by-laws for borrowing money, so long as the provincial regulations were not obeyed. The
Ml
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
answer of the Ottawa Board was to turn out the whole staff of teachers and to close for a time every French-English school in Ottawa and leave seven or eight thousand boys and girls without any means of instruction. Thus, in obeying the letter of the injunction, the Board committed a new act of defiance. A preliminary judgment in the case was given on September 11, 1914, order- ing the trustees to reopen the schools and to employ only legally qualified teachers. When the case was appealed, the Ontario Court of Appeal in July, 1915, confirmed the original judgment.
The Ottawa Separate School Board based their right to defy the authority of the Provincial Gov- ernment on the ground that the rights of the separate schools in Ontario were guaranteed by an Imperial Act of Parliament, the British North America Act, that the rights of trustees included the authority to determine what language might be used in the schools, and that no merely pro- vincial regulations had any authority to modify such rights. Believing itself strong in this legal argument the Board persistently refused to obey Instruction 17. At last, in 1915, the Legislature of Ontario passed a bill authorizing the Depart- ment of Education to hand over to a commission the powers of the Ottawa Separate School Board in conducting the schools. On August 4, 1915, three Commissioners were appointed. They assumed authority over the Ottawa schools and refused to accept any teachers not qualified to teach under the regulations of the Province of
253
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
Ontario. The testing came in the case of the Misses Deloges, whom the Ottawa Board had appointed, but who had not the necessary legal qualifications. When the Commission required them to withdraw from the school where they had taught they did so but their pupils retired with them. There were some stormy scenes in Ottawa. Mobs composed largely of women refused to per- mit entry to the schools of the teachers named by the Commission. Racial passions were all aflame. Happily, however, there was no religious passion as the struggle was between persons of the same faith.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL
It was inevitable that appeal should be made to the highest court in the British Empire, the Privy Council, and the final decision was given on November 2, 1916. The result was looked for with keen expectancy. On the whole the Privy Council confirmed the action of the Government of Ontario. It declared, indeed, that the appoint- ment of the special Commission to control the Ottawa Separate Schools was ultra vires. The law, it pointed out, gives to the electors who sup- port the schools the power to name trustees to control them. To put a special commission in charge of the schools would unjustly deprive those who supported the schools of the right of control. On the general question, however, of the right of the government of Ontario to deter- mine to what extent French, or any other lan-
254
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
guage, might be taught or used in the schools the Privy Council was emphatic. The rights guaran- teed by the British North America Act, which could not be altered by a provincial measure, were rights in respect to religious teaching, not in respect to race or language.
This pronouncement of the Privy Council will be found finally to have settled the bi-lingual question in Ontario. The controversy made clear that Ontario was determined that all the chil- dren in its schools should learn the English language. To this it is probable that few French Canadians would have objected had they been convinced at the same time that encouragement would be given to those who desired also to know French. Instruction 17 seemed, however, to have as an ultimate aim the entire abolition of French from the primary schools of the Province of Ontario. It must be admitted, and the Privy Council expressly stated, that Instruction 17 is obscurely worded. But persons in authority in Ontario declare that, if all the pupils learn Eng- lish, they would be glad that as many as possible should also learn French, and, considering the language of Instruction 17, such statements must be given weight. If new schools are established in French-speaking communities in Ontario the use and teaching of French in such schools will, as a matter of course, be allowed.
The controversy illustrates the danger inher- ent in appeals to racial and religious passions. Since Instruction 17 is obscurely worded the
255
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
simplest course would have been so to alter it that the obscurity should disappear. This step, however, the government feared to take. They ,knew that if they changed the regulation they would be charged with yielding to the clam- our of those who attacked the policy requiring all pupils to learn English. The assailants of the regulation, for their part, read into its obscure phrasing sinister designs against the French tongue. Mr. N. A. Belcourt, a Senator of Canada and a protagonist of the claims for the French language, urged with passion that the aim was wholly to proscribe the French lan- guage in the primary schools, and claimed that in this respect German was more favoured in Ontario than French. It is of happy augury that both Pope Benedict XV and the Koman Catholic Bishops, French-speaking and English- speaking, in .the dioceses affected have united to insist that the law governing questions of lan- guage in the schools must be respected, and at the same time to urge the opposing elements to show mutual consideration and forbearance.
Another effort at conciliation brings the com- forting reflection that special dangers arouse special efforts to counteract them. The strained relations between Quebec and Ontario led to a movement which has come to be known by the promising name of the Bonne Entente. In the autumn of 1916 a group of nearly a hundred men of affairs from Ontario visited important centres in Quebec and were received with marked cor-
256
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
diality. At banquets and public meetings mes- sages of good-will passed from one side to the other. In January, 1917, the men of Quebec made a return visit to Ontario. At a banquet in Toronto, the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, the prime ministers of the two provinces, the leader of the Liberal Party in Ontario, and many others in influential positions, dwelt upon the vital need of unity. Frank statement of the causes of strife and misunderstanding was not wanting, but the desire for co-operation domi- nated all the utterances. Business men find that peace is advantageous to trade and even the politician has learned that to stir up racial strife is to use a two-edged sword which may injure him who carries it. It is to be hoped that the current has set strongly towards peace and not strife.
The judgment of the Privy Council reaches beyond Ontario. It makes clear that, except in Quebec, the provincial legislatures have full authority in respect to the language to be used in the schools, and it can hardly be doubted that this will in the end mean that they will authorize the official use of English and English alone. From the first this has been the rule in the United States and so similar are the conditions of settlement in Canada that here also the same result is probable. The alternative in the west- ern provinces is not whether English alone, or English and French, shall have official recogni- tion. In the Province of Saskatchewan a formi-
17 257
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
dable section of the population speaks German, while very few speak French. If French were given official standing the demand on behalf of German could not be resisted and after German would come Ruthenian and other tongues.
It is not, however, to be forgotten that the French language has a privileged position in Canada, for in federal affairs it is on a perfect equality with English. This fact ought to in- volve that, in the work of education, French should have a special place. It is a shameful fact that the average citizen of Ontario knows almost no word of French. If he spoke the language of France and had the key to its noble literature his outlook upon life would be greatly broadened. There is a vast trade between the two provinces and it is surely in the interests of the alert busi- ness man of Ontario that he should know the language of the people where an important market is found. Unhappily when French is taught in the secondary schools of Ontario the work is usually done as if French were, like Latin, a dead and not a living tongue. In truth it should be taught as a spoken language by one who himself uses it and the aim of instruction should be facility of speech in French. There is an old tradition in Ontario that all students who enter upon a university course must have some knowledge of Latin. Probably this rule will not long endure. If, however, compulsory French were substituted for compulsory Latin the change would give French a standing in the
258
THE BI-LINGUAL QUESTION
schools in harmony with the bi-lingual character of federal Canada.
There must be no attempt to deprive the French-speaking people in Canada of any rights to the official use of their language which are guaranteed by the constitution. Nearly three hundred years ago French martyrs died within the Province of Ontario in unselfish missionary work for its pagan and degraded natives. French pioneers were the first discoverers of the Can- adian West, French traders began the mighty commerce of that region. If, in the past, French and English fought for this fair land, to-day they are linked together in a common allegiance, while the parent states stand side by side in a grim and passionate fight for the freedom of the world. This is no day for a racial quarrel between French and English. Probably there never was a time when the English-speaking world more admired the spirit of France or was more anxious to know the language of France than at this moment. Among all the countries of the world Canada is unique in having both French and English as official languages in its national affairs. It would be well if the Canadian people should carry out fully the spirit of this compact and enrich their knowledge and enlarge their outlook by becoming themselves bi-lingual.
George M. Wrong.
259
OUR FUTURE
IN THE EMPIRE
CENTRAL AUTHORITY
THE GIFTS OF GOD
WHEN God at first made Man, Having a glass of blessings standing by; Let us (said He) pour on him all we can: Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.
So strength first made a way; Then beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure: When almost all was out, God made a stay, Perceiving that alone, of all His treasure.
Rest in the bottom lay.
For if I should (said He) Bestow this jewel also on my creature, He would adore my gifts instead of me, And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature,
So both should losers be.
Yet let him keep the rest, But keep them with repining restlessness: Let him be rich and weary, that at least, If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.
O. Herbert.
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE : CENTRAL AUTHORITY
FOR something over twenty years a slowly increasing number of Canadians have been think- ing about the relation of Canada to the rest of the Empire. In our British Democracy changes come rather slowly, very important changes come only of more or less obvious urgent necessity. The years between 1870 and 1880 were, in the main, devoted to the great constitutional problem of making the Act of Confederation a reality. From 1880 to 1910 the physical machinery of federal unity was worked out by way of great transcontinental lines of railway, and with this came the increase of population necessary for their material justification. During all this period our eyes were turned inward. The South African war, momentous and menacing as it really was, seemed in Canada as very distant and carried with it little suggestion that the period of unreciprocated protection and hermit-like re- moteness from the disturbance of world affairs was coming to an end.
Our constitutional conflicts of the time before 1870 had left the usual heritage of battle cries. Warmed and comforted by the phrases of past struggles we apparently slept. But this period of thirty years was, after all, not a sleep but a time of national incubation, and the rude awakening of 1914 found us with a national life complete
263
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
except for the limits of constitutional develop- ment that we had set upon ourselves. There is nothing so soothing to the British mind as the dis- covery of a word or phrase that has the appear- ance of expressing our principles and aspira- tions. But while these seem adequate in periods of undisturbed quiet, the inevitable new growta of aspirations, which a vigorous nation matures under a surface appearance of indifference, deprives old words and phrases of their signifi- cance and demands new definitions. For example, the word autonomy carries with it even now to some minds an adequate description of the Can- adian constitutional position and implies a com- plete political development. Unfortunately it means neither the one thing nor the other. The word autonomy means the right of self-govern- ment, and while it is true that in Canada we have the right of self-government in purely domestic affairs, and while we possess indirectly a certain influence on some of the general policies of the Empire, we do not possess full national autonomy. It is simply a fact that we have literally no con- trol over the policies which determine whether we shall be at war or at peace. At present we are at war, actively and enthusiastically, but this has come through no act of ours, but only through the fact that we are British.
WHAT IS THE BRITISH EMPIRE ?
It seems impossible to treat the subject of this essay without being continually halted by words with an historical or political significance which
264
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
makes them the centre of controversy. We meet at the outset the instinctive dislike that many of us feel for the historical associations of the word empire. In point of fact the British Empire is not an empire at all, but an association of nations and countries governed for the most part under the most democratic forms known to history. Even with regard to India, it is the heartfelt ambition of the British to develop as soon as may be whatever can be matured in India in the direc- tion of democratic control. What we really have to deal with is not an empire or a project of an empire, not even a commonwealth, but the project of a commonwealth. It is absolutely vital to keep clearly before our minds that the route we take for a closer union of what we now call Empire must lead towards a democratic peace-loving organization.
CENTRALIZATION
Out of the moods of thought that have preceded the war, and out of the war itself, there has arisen in Canada a general determination that after the war the states of the British Common- wealth must be brought into closer relationship. From the point of view of one who believes in the desirability of a real union of the Empire, or, to use the preferable phrase, the creation of a genuine British Commonwealth, it is difficult not to feel that the various methods by which differ- ent kinds of people suggest the bringing about of some sort of closer union represent in reality stages of thought. It is my own conviction that
265
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
what we call co-operation is only a stage, perhaps a necessary stage, in the inevitable journey to unification, or, as some critics are fond of describ- ing it, centralization.
Let us turn for a moment to the present consti- tution of the Empire. It is in reality an extra- ordinary combination of extreme centralization with an almost anarchic lack of co-ordination. The control of the foreign policy of the Empire is to-day centralized in a small group of English- men, and is in fact almost in the hands of two people, namely, the Prime Minister and the Secre- tary for Foreign Affairs in the British Cabinet. These two men are able at a moment's notice, almost without consultation, to plunge the whole Empire into war as the result of international relations about which hardly anybody else has had the opportunity of knowing anything. The suggestion that the Governments of the Domin- ions have a certain influence in foreign politics is almost frivolous. What knowledge could they have of the deep game played for years by Ger- many in the Persian Gulf and the acts of the British Government in response? Any one of these might, however, have precipitated war, and the acts of the British ministers may have been absolutely necessary to preserve intact the frame- work of the Empire. Only those who share in the daily and hourly consultations and decisions in foreign matters continuously before the Foreign Office can have any control over the issues of peace and war. It is simply a fact that nearly
260
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
every member of the British Government is dis- tracted by a thousand details which have no rela- tion to the great issues of national life. With such labours he is incapable of giving continuous thought to any department but his own. The members of the Cabinet are unable to keep any salutary check upon the course of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Automatically he becomes a dictator, except when he insists on consultation and on sharing his responsibility.
THEORIES OF IMPERIAL ORGANIZATION
The books, pamphlets and articles that appear from time to time on the question of Imperial organization represent the picture which appears to each writer of the problem to be faced. Some, one might almost say, wilfully contract the area that they are willing to survey. Others feel that it is wise to attempt to face everything in view as factors in the settlement. Of works of the latter kind the most striking instance is Mr. Lionel Curtis' book, "The Problem of the Com- monwealth." Whatever exceptions may be taken to the suggested details that he sets out under the heading of " Solutions," the book as a whole is an illuminating statement by a man, frank and honest, and without a trace of political cun- ning. He proves, or believes that he proves, that it is vitally necessary to confront the whole prob- lem at once, with the implications involved in the idea of a fully developed British Commonwealth. He strongly believes that in the last analysis
267
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
Canadians will not ask for what is easy or for what is only profitable in the material sense. He is convinced that they will be willing to assume, along with a full British citizenship, the noble burden that has rested on Britain. This burden is no less than that of giving liberty, good gov- ernment, and the prospect of moral and intellec- tual growth to all the subjects of the British Crown. Some of them are so little developed in political stature that they must be for a time wards of Britain. To all of them, however, she aims to give growth in liberty and self-government.
This is certainly a noble vision. It is nothing less than of a great democratic commonwealth, constituting in itself a genuine experiment in internationalism, bridging the East and the West, and gathering a quarter of the population of the world into a single living organism, an organism devoted to progress in the highest sense of the word. It would have peace within itself, and its great strength and influence would be steadily exerted to prevent predatory wars. Though highly organized and effective it would yet be flexible enough and catholic enough to provide room for national differences and for the fullest development of local characteristics. But Mr. Curtis has not devoted so much space to the grandeur of his conception as to neglect the dif- ficulties involved. Indeed, perhaps the best thing in the book is that he endeavours to face all diffi- culties. But many of us will prefer not to outline a theory of a commonwealth as exhaustive as that
268
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
of Mr. Curtis. Mr. Z. A. Lash, in Ms very inter- esting book, "Defence and Foreign Affairs," proceeds on the assumption that a great part of the structure of government suggested by Mr. Curtis must be left for future consideration. For the needs of the immediate future he draws up a plan, simple and easy to understand. In his hands the Parliament suggested by Mr. Curtis becomes a Council charged with a task much more limited. Variety in point of view is all to the good. The problem is too intricate to be solved on the basis of any one theory.
CANADIAN IDEALS
Canada is before all things a democratic coun- try, and while it is right to insist on what is ideally best for Canada, it is essential to associate with this question the further one of what Cana- dians do desire. Those who have faith in the high quality of British democracy will be ready like myself to believe that the two questions can be not merely associated but safely trusted to become one. It is of the essence of democracy that its movement towards an ideal cannot be directed from without, but must result from a slow pro- cess of conviction reaching all or a large majority of the minds of the people. It would not be an over-estimate to say that, as a whole, Canadians not only desire to retain their British citizen- ship, but that they wish to move in the direction at least of a closer organization. There was per- haps a moment, so to speak, before the war when
269
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
some of us feared that the magnificent old Eng- land which belongs to history had, at least par- tially, faded, that there were even visible elements of degeneracy. The war has, however, effaced all that, and now the desire for closer union with the Mother Country, as with the other parts of the Empire, will not be modified by any distrust in the full manhood of the whole.
After all, when we Canadians talk of taking our part in an organization of the Empire, we may remember that this Empire is already ours as much as it is England's. Westminster belongs to us, and we are not talking of some exterior thing to be patched together out of heterogeneous elements hitherto estranged, but of a much more intimate process, the process of reorganizing our- selves so that the spirit of the whole empire may be expressed more adequately as a unit. The hor- rible efficiency of the Prussian system represents a form of centralization that is not true central- ization, but means only the dominance of a class. It would be wise to get away from the word centralization altogether and' to think of the problem as one of complete co-ordination. A fine spirit of trust is shown when many Cana- dians say that, after all, they are prepared to let the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary of the British Cabinet continue to be responsible for the exterior affairs of the Empire. This is probably the outcome of a quite sound conviction that after all these two men will in themselves adequately represent the spirit of a democratic
270
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
community, that they are not in the least likely to enter into outrageous adventures, and that they have the training and the tradition of the work to be done. Why, therefore, disturb what works well?
This spirit of trust is, no doubt, fine. It belongs, however, rather to the colonial status than to the mature conception of full self-govern- ment and of complete citizenship which is grow- ing up all over the Empire. This deeper view demands that those who control the issues of peace and war shall be more immediately repre- sentative of the British citizens who live in the outer Empire. It is less true that various solu- tions are suggested for this problem than that there are various shades of opinion, from the belief in a kind of organized alliance to a convic- tion that the only solution lies in the estab- lishment of a full unitary state. After all, the difficulties in all this gradation of solutions, except the final one, lie about the question of efficient action. If it were possible to look for- ward with confidence to the cessation of war, to the dis-establishment or abolition of all states with predatory instincts and powerful military and naval forces, the problem would be infinitely simpler. It is, however, impossible to believe that, even with the destruction of the Prussian menace, the final battle for liberty will have been won. If one could feel with confidence that when- ever the liberty of the world may be threatened all freedom-loving democracies would at once
271
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
stand to arms in its defence, there would perhaps be less need for the full organization of the forces of genuine liberty. But we know that the hoped- for unity is not real. We have seen the great English-speaking democracy on our south, in face of the greatest danger to liberty that the world has ever seen, unable, until the eleventh hour, to grasp the truth that everything that democracy holds precious has been in peril. If these things are true one conclusion seems inevitable. The problem is urgent and it deserves earnest study.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Among the many things that the great war has done is to give a distinct stimulus to the study of history and of the affairs of other countries. During the last two years many of us have given more thought to the general affairs of the world than we have ever done before. The whole sur- face of human society has been illuminated by the fires of passion, and never was there a time when the study of world affairs could be carried on under such favourable conditions. The com- prehension of world affairs is so closely asso- ciated with the problem of a British Common- wealth that it is interesting to notice the attitude of a certain section of thoughtful people in Eng- land towards the British Foreign Office. The Union of Democratic Control is a body organized for the purpose of trying to insist upon greater publicity in the conduct of foreign affairs. It believes that the more or less direct control that
272
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
democracy has come to exercise over domestic affairs can be extended to the highly expert busi- ness of the Foreign Office. There are, of course, various difficulties in the way, but perhaps the greatest of all is that the vast majority of people have very little knowledge of the facts upon which democratic action must be based. Under the presidency of Lord Bryce, a body called the " Committee for the Study of Foreign Relations " is making an earnest effort to make it possible for people in general to become acquainted with the problems associated with the various nation- alities and states involved in the circle of diplo- matic activities. It is issuing a series of small books and pamphlets written by informed per- sons and specially adapted for students, and it is organizing large numbers of student groups for the purpose of mutual education. In a small leaflet on the subject of the Study Circle are the following remarks :
"The Study Circle, because it recognizes the responsibility of the ordinary man, is the true democratic method of gaining knowledge. It is the co-operative principle applied to adult educa- tion. When each member of a group contributes his best on a given subject there is not infre- quently a resulting idea or series of ideas, quite new to all the contributors in the discussion. These results are vital, for they represent true progress to the group.
"The Study Circle, then, should be so con- ducted that each contribution to the subject or course of study shall be based on accurate know- is 273
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ledge, and presented with sincerity and judgment. Herein lies its secret. Conducted in this spirit the results of the study must serve to bring to all concerned new light on the subject under discus- sion, and go far to solve the problems presented."
There is no reason why this system of mutual education should not be used for any important subject. At the moment the external affairs of the nations of the world are clearly the most important, and it is natural, therefore, that this system should in the first place be applied to them.
THE ROUND TABLE STUDIES
Some six or seven years ago the system of study circles of the same intimate and democratic char- acter was adopted by an organization called the Round Table. The energies of this society have been devoted to the study of the problem of the British Empire. In each of the great British Dominions, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, groups have been established, mem- oranda exchanged and commented upon, and as time has gone on the group system of each Dominion has, as was natural, taken on certain characteristics of its own. Out of these studies has grown no dogma, but just a conviction that the present position of the British Empire involves a vital problem. As to how that prob- lem can best be solved, members of the Round Table differ widely. Mr. Curtis is careful, in his preface, to explain that his baok is in no sense a
274
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
statement of the conclusions of the Round Table. I am one of those who, though full of admiration for the breadth of vision shown in his book, are unable to see his " Solutions " are the only, or the immediately necessary, steps to a unification that will probably come by rather gradual stages. There is no subject upon which there has been more loose writing, loose thinking and loose talk- ing than the British Empire. It is an old saying that everybody knows all about religion and poli- tics. Both of these are high matters and require knowledge and earnest thought for their compre- hension. The truly democratic way of arriving at the settlement of a problem that involves not only the whole future of the British peoples, but probably the liberty and progress of the world, is that as far as possible every man and every woman who has the reasonable amount of leisure necessary should try to understand at least the elements of the subject. In the last analysis the question of the organization of a great British Commonwealth has nothing whatever to do with any party, Conservative or Liberal. It is bigger than all of them. Above all things we should refuse to be misled by catchwords and phrases and the familiar tags that litter the battlefields of partisan politics.
A. J. Glazebrook.
876
OUR FUTURE
IN THE EMPIRE
ALLIANCE UNDER THE CROWN
THE HAPPY HEART
ART thou poor, yet ihast thou golden slumbers?
O sweet content! Art thou rich, yet Is thy mind perplexed?
O punishment!
Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexed To add to golden numbers, golden numbers? O sweet content! O sweet O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labour bears a lovely face; Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!
Canst drink the waters of the crisped spring?
O sweet content! Swimm'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own tears?
O punishment!
Then he that patiently want's burden bears No burden bears, but is a king, a king! O sweet content! O sweet O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labour bears a lovely face; Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!
T. Dckker.
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE : ALLI- ANCE UNDER THE CROWN
THE Great War will leave nothing as it found it. In what manner will it affect the relations of the British Dominions to one another, and the position in the world at large of the British Com- monwealth? There has been long discussion and debate about the degree and character of the organization of the British peoples that is desir- able and practicable; and the war, there is gen- eral agreement, will bring this question into the arena of public affairs, and oblige the peoples of the various Dominions to deal with it by mak- ing in the not distant future a definite choice between two great conflicting principles of Empire organization. The precipitation of this issue is not wholly the result of the war, but is due in part to plans carefully laid by powerful social and political agencies which deem the time opportune to force a decision. To these the slow evolution of Empire in response to some inward and hidden motive has appeared as nothing but an aimless drifting towards disunion and dis- aster. Already active before the war, they have interpreted the manner in which the British Dominions have played their part in the great struggle as confirming their fears and strengthen- ing their resolution to urge wide and fundamental changes in imperial relationships; though pre- cisely opposite conclusions are drawn from these
279
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
facts by others and with apparently better rea- son. The Round Table group has recognized that the war must lead to a reconsideration of theories of Empire organization by those who in the past have shown interest in this question, and that there is a vast accession of thinking about this problem by many to whom it was formerly a mat- ter of little concern. Accordingly, Mr. Lionel Curtis, who is regarded as the directing mind of the movement, has taken the field with a definite, concrete scheme of Empire consolidation set forth in detail in " The Problem of the Common- wealth."
The problem of Canada's relationship to the other overseas Dominions and to the Motherland is not quite the same as the problem with which the people of New Zealand, of Australia, and of South Africa must deal; and between these Dominions there are divergencies in conditions which will react upon political opinion. It is not merely by chance that New Zealand is more receptive to the Round Table views than are Canada and South Africa. Canada has a wider range of alternatives than the other Dominions. She has the physical basis, the geographical location, and in some measure the political apti- tude for complete national independence. The road is also open to her, if she chooses to walk in it, to join a kindred and friendly nation, whose potentialities in wealth and power are not com- putable. Neither of these conceivable destinies comes within the scope of this discussion. They
280
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
are far below the horizon. If they ever emerge it will be the result of external pressure forcing Canada into relations alien to her desires. The inclination and intention of the great majority of the Canadian people is to remain a part of that assemblage of nations and peoples known under the general title of the British Empire.
THE FUTURE OF CANADA
There are three conceptions of Canada's future as a British country :
(a) As a province or integral part of a cen- tralized world-wide Empire, governed from a centre which must, for the next century at least, be London. This idea first took form in the Imperial Federation programme which proposed to open the British Parliament to proportionate representation from the Dominions. It was frankly a proposal to place the resources of the whole Empire at the disposal of a central govern- ment in the furtherance of imperialistic policies. It secured so little support from the overseas Dominions that as a conscious and definite propa- ganda it ceased to exist. But the school of thought of which it was the first tentative expres- sion has remained in being ; and it makes a new venture for the fulfilment of its hopes in Mr. Curtis' scheme. Though dressed out with a new and attractive terminology it is in spirit the same proposal.
(6) The development of our present status, by a continuance of the evolutionary process
281
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
which has been going on for the past eighty years, to complete nationhood : Canada, a nation with full sovereign powers, to be linked in per- petual alliance with the other British nations on terms of equality, under a common crown, with a common white citizenship.
(c) The continuance of the colonial status with a studied renouncement of external obliga- tions of all kinds. Canada's sole military respon- sibility under such a status would be defence of Canadian coasts and territory. A generation ago this was the common view of Canadians, though it was held almost unconsciously, because they had never given thought to the matter of national responsibilities. Already impaired by the rising tide of national consciousness this conception of national duty was blown into the air by the shock of the war ; but it is still cherished by the Quebec Nationalist group and commands a small follow- ing as well in the English provinces. Its advo- cates will either associate themselves with those who hold that Canada must be one of the allied nations or they will, of necessity, become advo- cates of complete independence, or even of union with the United States.
It is, of course, undeniable that the character of the peace to follow the war, which will be de- termined by the way the war ends, may power- fully affect the attitude of all the British peoples towards their relationships with one another. A complete German victory, carrying with it the overlordship of the world and the actual occupa- tion by Germany of those vast empty spaces with-
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
in the Empire, which have long inspired the cupidity of Berlin, is a danger that has passed. It is, however, conceivable that the war may not go forward to its logical conclusion, but may be ended by a peace that will leave the issue between Prussian militarism and Western Democracy unsettled. Since this would mean merely the suspension of the war, the relations, not only of the British peoples to one another, but of all the Entente Powers, would be conditioned by the need of military preparations against the resumption of the struggle. Under the pressure of fear and of military necessity the structure of the Empire might undergo strange modifications.
The discussion of the Empire's future in this article is based upon the assumption that the objects of the war, as set forth by the Entente Powers in their note to the United States Gov- ernment, will be substantially achieved ; and that with a re-drawn map of Europe, registering the crushing of Prussian militarism and the lib- eration of the enslaved nationalities of central Europe, the British nations may plan for a future from which the possibility of war cannot be entirely excluded, but which is not to be domin- ated and controlled by the consideration that preparation for war is our chiefest duty.
OUR NATIONHOOD A TRUE EVOLUTION
The constitutional development of Canada, its gradual transformation from a conquered colony, subject to direct control from London, exercised through military officers, to a self-governing state
283
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
exercising in fact sovereign powers, though still nominally subordinate, is full of significance to the student of Imperial consolidation. It has been a true evolution, proceeding step by step as though in furtherance of a plan thought out by some high intelligence, and tending steadily and surely to a goal lying plain before us. Now with but a single remaining step to be taken we are implored to retrace our path to cross-roads which we passed at least two, and perhaps three, gen- erations ago. Seventeen years ago Edward Blake, speaking in the British House of Commons out of an experience which included the premiership of the leading province of Canada, membership in a Dominion Government, the leadership of one of the great Dominion parties and membership in the British Parliament, expressed his reasoned judgment upon the project of a unified Empire and a central parliament in these words :
" For many years I, for my part, have looked to conference, to delegation, to correspondence, to negotiation, to quasi-diplomatic methods, subject always to the action of free parliaments here and elsewhere, as the only feasible way of working the quasi-federal union between the Empire and the sister nations of Canada and Australia. A quarter of a century past I dreamed the dream of imperial parliamentary federation, but many years ago I came to the conclusion that we had passed the turning that could lead to that ter- minus, if ever indeed there was a practicable road. We have too long and too extensively gone on the lines of separate action here and elsewhere
284,
OUB FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
to go back now. Never forget that the good will on which you depend is due to local freedom, and would not survive its limitation."
While, at an early date in the history of Canada as a British possession, a rudimentary measure of self-government in local affairs was conceded, the real reins of control were in the hands of an official group who regarded themselves as the true custodians of imperial interests and viewed with cold suspicion or positive enmity every movement directed towards enlarging the people's powers of self-government. Every step along this road they regarded as a danger to their ideal of a United Empire. We find in those days the origins of the two schools of thought which are still in conflict: those who believe there is a natural incongruity between national sentiment and imperial policy, and in proportion to their zeal for an imperial ideal discourage all move- ments and ideas looking towards the strengthen- ing of national feeling ; and those who give their first loyalty to the community to which they belong, believing that there is no necessary con- flict of interests between full national develop- ment and an imperial system dedicated to demo- cratic purposes.
British officialdom — to a much greater degree formerly than now — has been sympathetic to the first view, and from time to time has intervened, decorously of course, to discourage the movement towards nationalism. Sir Robert Borden said, very justly, in 1902 : " Step by step the Colonies
285
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
have advanced towards the position of virtual independence so far as their internal affairs are concerned, and in all the important instances the claim has been made by Canada, has been resisted at first by the imperial statesmen, and finally has been conceded, proving an advantage both to the Mother Country and to the Colonies."
An excellent example of the inability of the official mind to appreciate the cardinal fact that in this matter of imperial relationships logic and " good form " are not the determining factors is supplied by the speech made in the British House of Commons in 1844 by Lord Stanley, Colonial Secretary, in defence of the arbitrary policy then being pursued by Sir Charles Metcalfe, Governor of Canada. With inexorable thoroughness he pointed out that a Governor cannot be respon- sible at all times both to the Imperial Govern- ment and to the Canadian Legislature. "Place the Governor of Canada," he said, " in a state of absolute dependence on his Council and they would at once make Canada an independent and republican colony." His defence, regarded sim- ply as an argument, was unanswerable ; in point of fact it is still unanswerable. Nevertheless it embodies a fatal policy which, if persisted in, would have ended in the separation of Canada from Great Britain by force, or in the continu- ance to this day in British North America of colonies disunited, backward and discontented. There would be to-day no Dominion of Canada pouring out its treasures of men by the hundred
886
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
thousand and of money by the hundred million in defence of the British Empire.
As the political literature of the day bears wit- ness, Lord Stanley's denial of the practicability of responsible government and the approval of his views by Lord John Russell were received with frantic joy by an element in Canadian life, strong in numbers and still stronger in social and financial power. Since then history has repeated itself many times. Influences radiating from London have sought from time to time to check or discourage the march forward of Canadian nationalism in the supposed interests of empire, and these have never lacked the zealous co-opera- tion of strong Canadian groups in Canada. It is less than three years since an expressed inclina- tion on the part of a British Cabinet minister, Winston Churchill, to interfere in the consid- eration by Canadians of a highly controversial domestic question was thus joyously welcomed. Experience has shown, however, that despite the strength of the ultra-British group, the pro- gramme of National Canadianism goes forward ; and a position once occupied is never lost. Even the greatly threatened and much-abused Naval Service Act of 1910 is still on the statute book.
To avoid misconception, let me say that I do not solely credit one political party in Canada with furthering the policy of National Cana- dianism. Three of the landmarks along the road to nationhood were set up by Sir John A. Mac- donald : the declaration of fiscal independence in 887
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
1859, when the Canadian Government affirmed " the right of the Canadian Legislature to adjust the taxation of the people in the way they deemed best, even if it should unfortunately happen to meet with the disapproval of the Imperial min- istry " ; the participation by Canada in the nego- tiations leading up to the Treaty of Washington in 1871 ; and the refusal of the suggestion, made in 1885 by the British Government, that Canada should send troops to take part in a war which did not affect the interests of this country. Sir John A. Macdonald, for his time and generation, had a statesmanlike conception of true imperial relationships. In the Confederation debates, more than fifty years ago, he said : " England will be able to look to the subordinate nations, Can- ada and Australia, in alliance with her and owning allegiance to the same sovereign, who will assist in enabling her to meet the whole world in arms, as she has done before." What was actually in Sir John's mind was revealed in his attempt to have the confederation of British American colonies named " the Kingdom of Can- ada." As Sir John knew, sovereignty is implicit in a kingdom. This was known, too, to London officialdom, and they blocked his plan, supposedly out of deference to United States susceptibilities.
THE CURTIS PLAN
It is not within the scope of this article to enter into any detailed analysis of the Round Table scheme, but some brief consideration of salient characteristics of the plan is necessary.
288
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
"The Problem of the Empire" reveals an almost pathetic desire to respect what are appar- ently regarded as susceptibilities on the part of the Dominions overseas so far as this can be done by skilful phrasing; but with this goes a studied refusal to consider with sympathy and understanding the national movement in these Dominions.
Canadians — let me call them National Cana- dians to make the definition clear — are not much concerned with words or with theories ; but they are vitally concerned with facts. They are amused by the meticulous care taken by Mr. Curtis to use terms supposed to be agreeable to them.
Thus Mr. Curtis is careful always to salute Canada and the other Dominions as nations. Canadians know that Canada at present is, in essential qualities, a nation. Operating under a delegated and defined authority, it has its limi- tations and its humiliations; but these do not touch our vital interests. Moreover, Canadians know that it rests with them to take, at the opportune moment, the step that will carry them from partial to complete nationhood. They have not taken this step because the opportunity did not arrive, nor was the need urgent. Canadians have not been and are not impatient at a delay which leaves Canada in a state of subordination not seemly for so virile and powerful a people ; they have been content to await the convenient season when the formal step which should put the crown upon a century of constitutional devel- opment would come naturally, noiselessly, with-
19 289
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
out shock. But it may be necessary to hasten the process of orderly evolution, if advantage is to be taken of our present anomalous condition by the Curtis plan to urge us to give up the actual freedom of action and choice, which we now enjoy, for a new status which, while technically adding to our stature, actually degrades us from a state of sovereignty to one of permanent subordination.
Under the Curtis scheme Canada may be called a nation ; but the title will not make her a nation. A nation exercises complete rights of sovereignty within its boundaries, and externally meets other nations on terms of complete equality. Under its present status Canada can meet, roughly, the first test of nationhood, but not the second. Under the Curtis scheme Canada will meet neither of the tests ; she will cease to be a nation. What is now known as the British Empire is, as to form, a league of free British nations, bound together in seemingly haphazard fashion, but in reality by ties which have withstood, triumph- antly, the unbelievable strain of Armageddon.
There is one simple touchstone for every scheme of imperial reorganization : Does it place Cana- dian lives and Canadian treasure at the disposal of a body, legislative or executive, which the people of Canada do not control? If it does it means that Canada loses those elements of nationhood which constitute her strength and becomes, however relatively important, a subor- dinate part of a newly-constituted organism. No
290
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
such scheme can be made acceptable to National Canadians.
The Curtis proposition is that the British Empire shall be transformed into the British Nation, and that Canada shall abandon her national status and become a province in that nation. Nation or province? This is the issue.
" The Problem of the Commonwealth " reveals the fact that its supporters are awake to the diffi- culty of reconciling their scheme with the aspira- tions of the Dominions. Very skilfully they dis- guise its essential character behind a screen of fair words. Canadians (and the people of the other Dominions) are told that the adoption of the plan for a centralized Empire and a com- mon parliament means an enlargement of their powers of self-government. What it actually means is that Canadians will give up their rights of self-government in the matters that really affect them for the illusion of securing a measure of control over the foreign policy of the Empire. A far more effective measure of control can be obtained by the Dominions retaining their free- dom. With it they will preserve their right to deal as equals, having the strength of their peoples behind them, with the powers in London, which, in fact, will continue in charge of foreign policy, instead of as minorities able, in the last resort, to register only a futile protest.
The allotting of all questions of trade and immigration to the exclusive jurisdiction of the subordinate Dominion parliaments is an expedi-
291
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ent to escape an inescapable difficulty. It was but yesterday that our ears were dinned with the clamour of the contention that the future of the Empire involved certain disruption and damna- tion if all the Dominions did not agree to trade together in conformity with certain theories strongly held by a powerful school of imperial reorganizers ; now the adherents of Mr. Curtis, after weighing and testing Dominion sentiment, concede that complete autonomy in matters of trade by each Dominion is necessary to any scheme of imperial centralization. Immigration difficulties which have in the past led to con- flicts between Imperial and Dominion interests are resolved by a sweep of the pen, remitting the questions wholly to the jurisdiction of the Dominion parliaments.
Unfortunately, problems cannot be got rid of so readily. If the newly constituted Imperial Parliament is to deal with foreign policy it must, by the necessities of the case, possess the power to intervene in matters of trade and immigration when they threaten the peace of the common- wealth. In fact, trade and immigration consti- tute, for the Dominions, their foreign policy; it is only through questions arising from one or the other that Canada is in danger of becoming involved with other countries. Within the past twenty years Canada has had a serious clash with Germany over tariff matters, resulting in a ten years' trade war ; she has also had a diffi- culty, that might easily have become serious,
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
with Japan over Canadian restrictions upon Jap- anese immigration. Under a centralized form of Imperial government issues such as these, once they become possible causes of war, must become the concern of the central authority, which alone has the power to make war. Foreign powers aggrieved by the action of a British Dominion, will not be placated by a bland assurance from the Imperial Foreign Minister that the matter is beyond his jurisdiction. It might thus be demon- strated that, despite all the verbal safeguards of the imperial constitution, a subordinate parlia- ment could involve the Empire in war.
PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES
In the world of practical affairs it is the achievable which is the matter of first concern. The most ingenious paper-made constitution is not of much utility if it cannot, in the Carlylean phrase, be made to march. Mr. Curtis' scheme must, by political methods, be made acceptable to a majority of the people in each British Domin- ion before it can become a reality. Has Mr. Curtis the slightest idea of the political convul- sions that will attend any serious attempt to secure the adoption of his imperial constitution by the various Dominions?
It is incredible to Canadians that the people of the United Kingdom will ever consent that the historic parliament at Westminster — the Mother of Parliaments — should be shorn of its power and reduced to a glorified legislature, concerned
299
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
with the domestic and municipal concerns of Great Britain. "I greatly doubt," said Sir John A. Macdonald, as recorded by his bio- grapher, Sir Joseph Pope, " that England would agree that the Parliament which has sat during so many centuries at Westminster should be made subsidiary to a federal legislature." This, how- ever, need not be here discussed at length.
Equally impossible of realization appears to be that feature of the Curtis scheme which provides for the subjection of India to a board of direc- tion, made up of Great Britain and the newer Dominions. The rule of Great Britain is accept- able to the diverse races and powers of India. Between these ancient civilizations there are links of sympathy and understanding; there is the acceptance of the historic facts of conquest, control, responsibilities. To make India, with its principalities and its powers, its traditions and its historic loyalties, subordinate to these young and arrogant democracies, which deny to the Indians access to their dominions, would be to solve one imperial problem by creating a far greater one.
There are local conditions which may reconcile the Australasian Dominions to merging their nationhood with a vast new organization which, despite all disclaimers, is to be essentially mili- taristic in its spirit and in its outlook; but in two of the British Dominions, Canada and South Africa, the political difficulties in the way of the adoption of the Curtis plan appear to be insuper-
294
OUR FUTUEE IN THE EMPIRE
able. The injection of this issue into the domestic politics of South Africa will be the signal for political power to pass from Botha and Smuts to Hertzog: certainly a remarkable responsibility this for the Round Table people to assume in furtherance of their ideal of a centralized empire. Here in Canada there are certain political facts that Mr. Curtis and his supporters should have the moral courage to look squarely in the face. Their scheme appeals to only a portion — cer- tainly not to more than half — of the Canadians of British descent; to the remaining British Canadians it is anathema, as a denial of cher- ished political principles. To the non-British elements, comprising no less than forty-four per cent, of the population, it makes no appeal, except to a mere fringe affected by the social possibilities of the suggested innovation. If this question is forced into Dominion politics it will swallow all other issues. Until it is settled every- thing else will stand aside. The British Cana- dian community will be rent in twain. A national party, dedicated to the task of preserving Cana- dian nationality, will inevitably arise; and the policies of this party will naturally be determined in large measure by the non-British elements, who will constitute a considerable majority of its membership. The Canadian who would assist in bringing about so deplorable and dangerous a state of affairs in pursuit of a chimera is sadly lacking in political sense and practical vision.
295
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
Because Mr. Curtis is conscious that his plan will require strong political support to overcome the reluctance of the Dominions to surrender their separate national existence, he invokes an argument which would be very powerful — if it were rooted in fact. He confronts us with a momentous choice: "My plan or Separation!" Unless the people of the Dominions are willing to give up their national rights to a central par- liament they " must renounce for ever their status as British citizens." Indeed ! While Mr. Curtis was writing these words in England, British sol- diers from every portion of the far flung Empire, brought together by a realization of a common obligation, were dying side by side on the fields of France — giving for all time the answer to those of little vision and less faith who are blind to the glory and the greatness of our voluntary Empire. Canadians and the people of the other British Dominions will neither renounce their status as British citizens nor abdicate their rights of actual self-government.
THE TRUE LINE OF DEVELOPMENT
It is not necessary, at least at this moment, for those who hold that the only possible future for the British Empire is the development of the great Dominions to complete sovereignty, accom- panied by a perpetual alliance based upon a com- mon citizenship, to reply with a counter-plan to the fully formulated Curtis scheme. They do not concern themselves much about programmes and
296
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
definitions, provided the spirit that makes for British brotherhood burns clear. If the spirit is there — as it is : bear witness slopes of Hellespont and uplands of Picardy ! — such formal undertak- ings as may be necessary to make it visible to all men will in due time take shape. How they will be reached need not be a matter for speculation. They will be the fruits of conference and consul- tation in which the Dominions and the Mother- land will meet as equals; they will embody the common consent of all ; and they will perpetuate the conditions of equal independence which gave them birth. The Colonial Conference grew into the Imperial Conference; this in time will develop into that common council which will co-ordinate the powers of the British people and make co-operation practicable where co-operation is desirable.
Within a period of time — brief judged by the life of nations — the British Commonwealth will take definite form. It will comprise the British Empire proper, made up of the United Kingdom and its dependencies and adjuncts, and what are known as the Dominions Overseas. These Domin- ions will probably number only three: Canada, including Newfoundland ; Australasia, including New Zealand; and South Africa, embracing by far the greater part of Africa south of the equator. These Dominions may themselves be imperial in some measure ; that is to say, they may have their own dependencies: Canada pos- sibly the West Indian Islands; Australasia,
297
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
almost certainly the Pacific Islands; South Africa, conceivably sub-tropical areas in the dark continent.
To all the test questions intended to prove the impossibility of such an arrangement which may be posed one answer can be made : If the Domin- ions desire to live together the difficulties that will arise from time to time will be adjusted ; if they do not desire to keep together they will sep- arate, just as they would under the Curtis scheme if such conditions should arise. On this point the believers in alliance have no fears; they do not share the two cardinal hallucinations hugged by the Curtis adherents : that the tendency of the British peoples is towards disintegration, and that this tendency can be checked by formulas.
Foreign policy, which is supposed to be the irremovable obstacle in the way of an alliance such as is here suggested, offers no such difficulty when it is borne in mind that there is to be an alliance of sovereign nations. A nation can make war; and when it makes war its allies must co-operate with it or the alliance ends. In this alliance the British Empire, using these words in their strict sense, would be primus inter pares, and nine-tenths of the problems of foreign policy would fall within its jurisdiction. But it would be within the competence of any member of the alliance, in a matter of prime importance to itself, to involve the whole Commonwealth in war.
A profound difference between the believers in Centralization and in Alliance is in their atti-
298
OUR FUTURE IN THE EMPIRE
tude towards war. Behind the scheme of a cen- tralized empire lies the assumption that war is an abiding feature of human society, and that the first duty of nations will always be to be ready for it. The Alliance will supply ample facilities for providing for defence and preparing for war during the continuance of the dark ages, from which the world has not yet emerged; but it will be organized in the expectation and the hope — still cherished by the human heart despite the fearful disillusionment of this war — that the ultimate activities of the British nation will be in the fields of a permanent peace.
John W. Dafoe.
299
SOME
THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE IN CANADA
HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE
How sleep the Brave who sink to rest By all their Country's wishes blest! When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallow'd mould, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung: There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay, And Freedom shall awhile repair To dwell a weeping hermit there!
W. Collins.
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE IN CANADA
The best form of government is that which doth actuate and dispose every part and member of a state to the com- mon good. If, instead of concord and interchange and support, one part seeks to uphold an old form of govern- ment, and the other part to introduce a new, they will miserably consume one another. Histories are full of the calamities of entire states and nations in such cases. It is doubtless true that time must needs bring about some alterations. Therefore have those commonwealths been ever the most durable and perpetual which have often formed and re-composed themselves according to their first institution and ordinance. — Pyrn.
What are the qualities that fit a man for the exercise of a privilege such as the franchise? Self-command, self- control, respect for order, patience under suffering, con- fidence in the law, regard for superiors. — Gladstone.
WAR AND CITIZENSHIP
WAR subjects all political institutions to a searching test. In the life of the individual citi- zen it separates, as by a touchstone, the alloy of selfishness from the gold of self-sacrifice, and stamps a man before the world as a patriot or a shirker: revealing, though not determining, the quality of his citizenship. Nor is the test imposed upon institutions less severe.
To ensure success in war, every political con- sideration must be subordinated to that of saving the State ; and both individuals and institutions
303
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
are justified or condemned according to their con- tribution to that end. A natural consequence of this critical condition is a tendency to question the methods and the aims of institutions which, in peace time, go unquestioned, if they are not actively approved. Hence, in time of war, when actual warfare might have been expected to have engrossed the entire attention of the nation, there is also frequently a trying-out of new political, religious, and social expedients which, it is sup- posed, might tend to promote efficiency on the battlefield. Since war compels the State to demand from every citizen the disposal of his wealth and health, and even of life itself, ques- tions naturally arise as to the nature of citizen- ship, as well as of the grounds upon which the stupendous claims of the State are based; so that, though we might expect interest in political and social questions to be dormant in war-time, it is not infrequently peculiarly active. Such is the case to-day in Canada.
The public conscience is uneasy as to political corruption : the Churches are debating as to their efficiency and their message: great experiments in social legislation, such as prohibition, are being conducted, and there is a growing demand for a revision of the franchise.
WAR AND THE ENFRANCHISEMENT OF WOMEN
Among the unexpected results of the war, none has been more surprising than the impetus it has given to the movement towards the enfranchise-
304
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
ment of women. That women cannot bear arms in the service of their country has been advanced frequently as an argument against woman's suf- frage. But modern war is no affair of selected armies of males. It is the embattlement of national forces, in the field and behind the field ; and this war had not been waged for many weeks before it became apparent that the activities of women would have to be reckoned among the forces of any nation which desired to put forth its full strength.
The logic of a policy which, in an empire avow- edly organized for peace, disfranchised one-half its population because that half was not (sup- posedly) able to take its share in war, must be defended by its supporters ; it is here only neces- sary to record the change of view of some of the more important of them.
A CHANGE OF HEART
The editor of The Observer frankly renounces his error. He says : " In the past we have opposed the claim for the franchise on the ground that women, by the fact of their sex, were debarred from bearing a share in the national defence. We were wrong. Women are bearing their full share in the hospitals, in the munition factories, in all the departments of life in which they have taken men's burdens upon their shoulders in order to release men for the war. And more yet in the deep, uncomplaining heroism with which they are bearing their sorrows and giving their
20 305
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
all. Then can we any longer deny them the right to share in the future of the nation whose fate is entwined with their very heart-strings? We cannot."
Mr. Asquith, speaking as Prime Minister on the floor of the House of Commons, said : " Dur- ing the war, the women of the country have ren- dered as effective service in the prosecution of the war as any other class of the community. If you are going to bring in a new class of electors, on whatever ground of state service, none of us can possibly deny their claims."
"Where is the Anti-Suffrage case?" cries the editor of The Nation. " It is in ruins. The phy- sical force argument has broken down in the hour when it seemed to be carrying all before it."
If the case for the enfranchisement of women rests on the proving of woman's power and will- ingness to take her part in war, it would appear to be already won.
A favourite argument of the anti-suffragists has been that, though women should take their share in public affairs, they should do so rather by per- sonal influence than by the casting of the ballot, although certain incidents which have occurred during the war have shown the folly and the fate of women who attempt to translate this theory into practice.
This is a volte-face from the earlier objection to women's enfranchisement, which was based on the theory that women should not have political power of any kind because their place was in the
306
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
home and their views were represented by their men folk. The facts of modern industrial and business life have discredited this theory. How can those women stay within the home whose home life is limited to a bedroom in a boarding- house? How can the house-mother limit her interests to her own four walls when she finds that the municipality and the province divide with herself the management of her household affairs and the education of her children? And we have yet to find any considerable number of male voters who cast their ballots so as to repre- sent the views of their wives or sisters. Why should they? The views of the elector himself — not of his relations or dependants — should be expressed by his own vote.
The editor of The Spectator, long the champion of the anti-suffrage party, has recently aban- doned his active opposition to woman's suffrage and has adopted a position of reluctant neutral- ity. Like other neutrals, he is concerned rather with peace than justice. Mr. Strachey writes: " On the merits, we are now as before against the extension of the suffrage to women. We should therefore feel no slight relief if we learnt that the majority of women no longer asked for the franchise, but were content to exercise their influence indirectly rather than directly — for surely no one can now doubt the enormous indirect influence which is wielded by women. If, however, a majority of the women of this country press strongly for the vote, and if a
307
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
large number of the male electors are in agree- ment with them or neutral, then we are bound to say that we should not hold it wise to disturb and disunite the country by fighting the matter a outrance. There are certain causes in regard to which we would accept no compromise, and would fight for them to the last ditch. Chief of such causes .are the maintenance of compulsory ser- vice and compulsory training for all able-bodied citizens, and the prevention, through the referen- dum, of democracy being hamstrung by the caucus and the party manipulations of representative government. We admit that before the war we should have placed, and indeed did place, Female Suff rage in the catalogue of ' no compromise ' sub- jects. The war, however, has modified our view by altering our belief that some fundamental dif- ference of opinion might arise between the sexes upon an issue where action must be confined to the male, i.e., military action. Our acknowledg- ment of mistake here does not, of course, exhaust our objections to votes for women, but, rightly or wrongly, it does in our opinion render them non-fundamental."
INFLUENCE OR THE SUFFRAGE ?
Yet when a woman of social importance used her indirect influence with the War Office to secure her own ends, the editor of The Spectator refers to her proceedings as " an attempt to pull strings and flutter petticoats." And again, "It is not as though ' petticoat influence ' were a new
308
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
thing. We have all heard of it in true and false reports." We do not wish to do Mr. Strachey the injustice of insinuating that he advocated the use of woman's influence for selfish or discredit- able purposes ; but we suggest the reflection that all women are not good or wise, and that it is therefore better that their political power should be open, responsible and well-defined, rather than based upon a fluttering petticoat, however dis- creetly fluttered.
This contrasting of power and influence is no new thing. Fifty years ago John Stuart Mill urged Florence Nightingale to join a woman's suffrage society.
"This society," he writes, "is aimed, in my opinion, at the very root of all the evils you deplore and have passed your life in combating. . . . As I am convinced that the power (of legislation) is by far the greatest that it is pos- sible to wield for human happiness, I can neither approve of women who decline the responsibility of wielding it, nor of men who would shut out women from the right to wield it. Until women do wield it to the best of their ability, little or great, and that in a direct, open manner, I am convinced that the evils of which I know you to be peculiarly aware can never be satisfactorily dealt with."
Miss Nightingale was at first reluctant to join the society. First, because she was an invalid and, in her wisdom, had made a practice of never lending her name when she could not give her
309
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
work; but also because, as she expresses it, "I have never felt the want of a vote. If I had been a borough returning two members to parliament, I should have had less administrative influence. But I entirely agree, if I may be allowed to agree with so great an authority, that women's politi- cal power should be direct and open, not indirect. That women should have the suffrage, I think no one can be more convinced than I." In 1871 Miss Nightingale's name headed a memorial in favour of Jacob Bright's Women's Disabilities Bill, but even her influence was insufficient to secure its success.
Florence Nightingale was peculiarly well fitted to speak of the "influence" as opposed to the "power" of women. For many years after her Crimean experiences, she was the power behind the Throne, the Press and the Cabinet. Royal princesses, Viceroys of India, Prime Ministers and Secretaries of State were proud to be accorded audience in her invalid apartment. In London, as in the Crimea, she used her influence only for the promotion of human happiness, yet she herself recognized its danger. The " Night- ingale power," as her enemies termed it, was beneficial only when wielded by a Florence Nightingale. For most women the vote is a safer weapon, though for our part we do not think that the exercise of the ballot is necessarily exclusive of the exercise of influence.
310
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
WHY SHOULD SEX DETERMINE THE SUFFRAGE?
The war has also given a quietus to arguments against the enfranchisement of woman based upon her unlikeness to man. During the last two years women have proved themselves able to perform almost every duty performed by men; they are even, as a last resource in some armies, fighting in the trenches side by side with their husbands or brothers. Only tasks demanding the full strength of the strongest man have proved beyond them; and sometimes even these have been encompassed by an ingenuity of mind which has diminished the demand upon physical strength. Co-education and open-air holidays began to lessen the difference between boy and girl, the necessary emergence of women from the stuffy femininity of the drawing-room into the human life of industry and business has been accelerated — though not initiated — by the demands of war, and has disposed for ever of the theory that there is no place for a woman outside her home. We have made the discovery that, after all, every man has inherited something from his mother and every woman something from her father ; and that, between brothers and sisters who have common parents, common edu- cation and common conditions of life there is no middle wall of partition, dividing the fit-to-vote from the unfit. Every test — except the arbitrary one of sex — which can be applied to the potential voter will be found both to enfranchise some women and to disfranchise some men. We have
311
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
discovered that the fact of sex does not mark the line of division between the good and the bad, or the stupid and the clever, or the strong and the weak. Generations of specialized training and environment have left their mark upon both man and woman, directing the tendencies of men in one direction and of women in another. The difference in point of view thus produced is a chief argument for the enfranchisement of women ; her mental qualities are supplementary to those of men ; and union should spell strength for the Commonwealth.
THE NEW " CULTURE "
The new relation which is arising between the sexes is ascribed by Mr. Wells in his war novel, " Mr. Britling Sees it Through," to a new culture issuing from the North to meet and overwhelm the older view of life born on the shores of the Mediterranean. " Something is coming up in America and in England and the Scandinavian countries and Russia, a new culture, an escape from the Levantine religion and the Catholic culture that came to us from the Mediterranean. We are Northerners — the key, the heart, the nucleus and essence of every culture is its con- ception of the relations of men and women ; and this new culture tends to diminish the specializa- tion of women as women, to let them out from the cell of the home into common citizenship with men. It is a new culture, still in process of development, which will make men more social
312
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
and co-operative, and women bolder, swifter, more responsible and less cloistered. It mini- mizes instead of exaggerating the importance of sex. . . . It is just all this Northern ten- dency that this world-struggle is going to release. This war is pounding through Europe, smashing up homes, dispersing and mixing homes; it is killing young men by the million, altering the proportions of the sexes for a generation, bring- ing women into business and office and industry, destroying the accumulated wealth that kept so many in refined idleness, flooding the world with strange doubts and novel ideas."
A Canadian woman, well known as an expon- ent of this " new culture," sums up the woman's point of view of this new relationship in a few words, " Chivalry is a poor substitute for jus- tice." "Chivalry" in man, "influence" in woman, are traceable to the same source — sex- attraction. Capable of being employed to both the noblest and the vilest ends, this force is no basis for a superstructure of political, industrial and social relationships in which the best and the worst are alike included. Such a superstruc- ture demands a foundation of solid principles — justice rather than chivalry, responsibility rather than influence. And yet why should the choice be demanded? It is a " choice " between the bloom and the fruit; between the fragrance and the flower; common sense and experience alike teach that perfection demands both.
313
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
THE CLAIM OF DEMOCRACY
But the claim of women to the suffrage rests neither upon their efficiency in war, nor upon their approximation to man, nor even upon their complementary qualities of mind, but rather upon the right of every citizen in a democracy to self-government.
This is the bed-rock upon which the claim of women to the franchise is based. Class after class in the community has been enfranchised, as the justice of its claim to self-government first permeated and then dominated public opinion. Against the enfranchisement of each new class, the same arguments have been put forth; and have not been so much answered as submerged by the greater volume of the arguments on the other side; but in every case the basis of these arguments has been the insistency of the claims of democracy.
The arguments for and against the enfranchise- ment of women as advanced by both sides very frequently cancel one another. They are equally true and false generalizations from a particular or from a group of particulars. " Women are indifferent to the franchise " is as true, and as false, as " Women are determined to have the franchise."
" The female vote will purify politics " is only true if we assume that all women are both good and wise, and the male voter inferior to them on both counts.
314
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
The truth is that women can only be regarded as a class from one point of view — that of sex. Viewed from any other standpoint, woman, like man, is a human being of whose mental, moral and physical qualities it is safer to assume noth- ing save that each individual is sui generis. The exercise of political power is determined, not by considerations of the mental, moral and physical qualifications of the individual or the class, but by the essential element in the govern- ment of the State. If Canada is a democracy, then every citizen has a claim to self-government. But someone may ask " Are women citizens?" In reply, we would ask "Are they not so accounted by the policeman and the tax collec- tor?" Under the criminal law, indeed, the woman is presumed to be a "person" qualified to guard her own chastity at the pitiful age of sixteen years. It is only in the realms of the civil law — consecrated to rights and property — that the woman's claim to be a citizen or even a person is questioned.
The economic position of women has become of late years, and more especially during the war, a question of growing importance. After the war, not only will the returning soldier need his former place in industry and business but there will be a whole new class of partially disabled men, who will compete with women for the lighter kinds of employment. It would appear difficult, if not impossible, to safeguard the rights of the woman in industry and in business
315
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
except by the suffrage. Whatever may be the future of Trade Unionism after the war, it may be safely prophesied that an unenfranchised class of workers will be at an economic as well as a political disadvantage. After the war women will find themselves engaged in a fiercer struggle for existence ; and, at a time when com- petition between men and women will be keenest, the chances of marriage will have been greatly diminished by the slaughter of marriageable men.
WOMAN SUFFRAGE FROM THE HISTORICAL STANDPOINT
But the question of woman suffrage need not be dealt with only from the theoretical stand- point ; we must not ignore the fact that ten years ago when the women of Norway received the Parliamentary Franchise, the problem passed into the experimental stage. Since that time all the Scandinavian countries — Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark — have enfranchised their women, qualifying them also to hold the offices in respect to which they have votes. Within the British Empire, New Zealand and Australia, the Isle of Man and the Western Provinces of Can- ada have given to women a more or less restricted Parliamentary Franchise; while in the United Kingdom, women have, since 1869, been eligible to vote in municipal elections; since 1907 they have been also eligible for seats on city and county councils, and both Mr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George have promised that any enlarge-
816
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
merit of the franchise shall not exclude women. In the United States, thirteen States have granted women the full suffrage; and both can- didates in the late Presidential election declared in favour of the Federal Franchise for women but on conditions which seem likely to entail some considerable delay in obtaining it.
The day after the last paragraph was written a Conservative Government suddenly announced its intention of enfranchising the women of Ontario; before the proofs were corrected, the Report of the Speaker's Committee in Great Britain urged the enfranchisement of all women above the age of thirty-five and of all graduates (irrespective of sex) of British universities. So swiftly moves the van of public opinion !
What has been the trend of legislation since the enfranchisement of women gave an oppor- tunity for the expression of the woman's point of view?
On examining a summary of such legislation it would appear that women are using their power mainly in two directions. First, they are constantly striving to extend the scope of their own political influence, aiming always at the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. Secondly, they are carrying into the larger spheres of the state and the municipality, the care of those interests which were formerly con- served within the home. They are chiefly inter- ested in questions of education, the safety of the person, the health of workers, of food supply and
317
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
sanitation; in the removal of forces inimical to family life.
It would be untrue to suggest that all legisla- tion in the direction of reform, enacted after the enfranchisement of women, is due to the woman's vote. The extension of the franchise to women is generally — as in Western Canada — itself part of a general movement towards domestic " reform " in which it is hoped that the woman's vote will play an inspiring and conserv- ing part. The danger of such a " reform " move- ment is its liability to promote legislation which is the expression of the aspirations of the few rather than the opinion of the many. However good and necessary a law may be, it had better never be made than made and not obeyed; for it is public opinion, and not the police system which enforces the observance of law.
Moreover in the very multiplication of laws there is danger. After a somewhat wide exper- ience of many kinds of women's societies, one is impressed with the confidence reposed by women in rules. Almost every woman's society is weighed down by a cumbrous and minute consti- tution; the business in women's meetings is almost a ritual, and tends to distract attention from the object for which the society exists. Probably this minute attention to procedure is the result of the fear of being thought " unbusi- nesslike " which has haunted two generations of women ; but, corrected by the comparatively lax and hurried methods of men who are prone to
318
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
accept with extreme readiness the ipse dixit of the expert or official, it should produce the best results for the community.
It is too soon as yet to pronounce upon the results of woman's franchise as history exhibits them. Ten years is but as a day in the his- torian's eyes, and the causes of political events are too many and too intricate for it to be pos- sible to isolate any single event as the sole cause of any given effect. Is it too much to sug- gest that the world, as governed by men only, leaves something to be desired in the safety of its weaker members, in the education of its youth, in the happiness of its homes, and that the woman may help to make the task of government more sympathetic, more human? A danger of the future is that possibly this tendency may go too far, and that sympathy may develop into interference and fuss ; so that finding virtue in danger, it may leave her cloistered.
In legislation, as in the home and the school, the world needs neither the man's view alone, nor the woman's view alone, but the " man and woman " outlook on life.
" If we are to fix women's special contribution to politics and social work," says the editor of The [London] Nation, " we should say that they brought to the task more industry than men, more love of detail, a more intimate and affec- tionate view of life, and that their power to grasp its wider principles and forms of action will
319
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
probably expand in proportion as it secures larger fields for exercising it."
A dangerous contribution, perhaps, if not cor- rected by the man's point of view — his preference for " business relationships," for broad issues, for generous expenditures, for wide views of life, for self-conservation — but no sane person ever contemplated a state governed only by women.
WOMAN, A NON-PARTY VOTER
The enfranchisement of women contributes to the state a new class of voters unbound by the conventions of party politics. Although the for- mation of a " woman's party," as a permanent element in politics either in the electorate or in Parliament, would be regrettable, yet the enfran- chisement of a new class of the community with a certain solidarity of interest appears to afford almost the only chance of freeing political life from the tyranny of the " machine " and the canker of the patronage system. The electorate is at present enmeshed in a web of conventions and corruptions which render difficult the return to power of the best class of public men and which stultify the usefulness — nay, even the righteousness — of the few honest men whom the party machine selects for office.
If the women's vote could be so organized as to free Canadian public life from this system, women would confer upon Canada, in her young nationhood, the priceless gift of the fairy God- mother.
320
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
But the suffrage question in Canada, as in the United States, is complicated by two factors which are not present in this form in the older countries.
SUFFRAGE AND THE ABORIGINES
Canada's inhabitants may be roughly divided according to origin, into three classes : aborigines, settled inhabitants, and immigrants. Of these, the first contains the Indians and Eskimos, towards whom the Dominion Government has assumed the attitude of guardian. The Indian, regarded as a perpetual child, is not considered eligible for the franchise ; it is a remarkable com- mentary on his political position that the Domin- ion law affords a lower degree of protection to the Indian's squaw than to the womenfolk of the enfranchised Canadian. The question of the extension of the franchise to the Indians is already being agitated, but such action must necessarily be preceded by a general review of the position of the Indians, and for this the time is fully ripe. In New Zealand, the Maoris, both men and women, enjoy the Parliamentary franchise.
SUFFRAGE AND THE IMMIGRANT
But the problem of the political position of Canada's aborigines is small in comparison with that of her imported population, or immigrants. Those of British birth are immediately eligible for the suffrage ; all other immigrants must seek naturalization before casting a vote either in Pro-
21 321
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
vincial or Federal elections. No person can be naturalized until he (or she) has taken an oath of residence (five years in British territory, of which the last year must have been spent in Canada), and an "oath of allegiance" to the King ; and as the infant, lunatic, idiot or married woman are regarded as " under disability " of naturalization, no alien in this category can be naturalized and become eligible to cast a Parlia- mentary vote.
The danger of admitting to the country a large number of persons, alien in language and cus- toms, and enfranchising them merely on oath of residence and allegiance is obvious. The neces- sary term of residence may be spent in a colony or " ghetto " where the immigrant associates only with his compatriots and speaks only his native language. Or they may be spent in a lumber or mining camp in which like conditions prevail. Is such a man capable of casting an intelligent vote? Will he not almost certainly be the prey of the political " boss," and be driven like a slave to the polling booth to vote at the dictation of his master? Should he then be deprived of his vote? Certainly not. Perhaps the lure which has drawn him across the sea is the desire to share in the " liberty " of British institutions ; it is unfair to class him with the infant, the lunatic, the idiot and the married woman. It is also unwise to exclude from a land which needs labour the immigrant of sound body though uneducated mind. What then?
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
Canada gives herself five years in which to turn the foreign-born immigrant into a Canadian citi- zen. The pity is that this invaluable opportunity for education is not fully improved. In order to become naturalized, the immigrant is compelled to take an oath that his body has been resident in the Empire for five years, but in that period his mind may have continued to dwell in Italy or Galicia or Eussia. Each certificate of natural- ization records that there exists no reason why the said alien immigrant should not be granted " all the rights and capacities of a natural-born British subject." For what reason is the infant, the lunatic, the idiot excluded from the exercise of these rights and capacities? Is it not because these persons cannot, from lack of understand- ing, exercise the ordinary powers of the normal adult? Would not the same test applied to the alien immigrant exclude any person who, though able to converse to the judge's satisfaction in English or French, has not been presented with an opportunity to familiarize himself with the laws and customs of the nation of which he aspires to be a member? If the Government took proper precautions for the education of the alien immigrant during his years of probation (during which he might be considered in statu pupillari), the problem might be solved, for the public school system will take care of the next gen- eration— it is already becoming aggressively " Canadian " in speech and manners. And yet the public school system needs safeguarding in
323
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
some quarters. It is credibly reported that in certain " foreign " sections of the West, the National Anthem may not be sung in the schools, and the children refuse to salute the flag under whose folds their parents have sought liberty or riches. What possible justification is there for extending hospitality to those whose acts pro- claim them to be the country's enemies?
IMPORTANCE OF THE IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL
If, then, these probationary years be of such crucial importance, it follows that it is of pro- found consequence to Canada that the persons who represent Canada to her prospective citizens shall be men and women whose words and actions are actuated by the dual desire to secure the greatest happiness of the individual immigrant while safeguarding the common weal. The value of the foreigner as a citizen will depend more upon the conditions he finds in Canada than on those he left in his native land. The number and even the quality of our immigration laws will be of far less consequence during those five pro- bationary years of the alien immigrant, than the character and the quality of the men who administer them. Much of the " Canadianizing" of the immigrant must be done in small groups ; it must even be carried to the individual, if it is to be effective. Moreover, the process must be conducted by those who understand the value that the foreign immigrant, like the woman voter, may bring to the country by his sheer unlikeness
334:
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
to the Canadian whom we may regard as the " norm." If the newcomers can be absorbed into the nation in such a manner that they retain their peculiar racial gifts to be spent in the service of their new country, Canada will gain far more than the mere wealth-producing power for which she is looking. Italy will contribute her music ; Russia, her mysticism ; France, her devotion to duty; Germany, her spirit of discipline; Bel- gium, her economy; if only Canadians can con- ceive a plan by which these immigrants are pro- tected and instructed from the moment they set foot on a British vessel by those who realize what gifts these shabby pilgrims bear and understand how to preserve them for the good of Canada.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
We believe that when the extension of the fran- chise to woman is under discussion, the wider question also of the enfranchisement of the foreign-born immigrant might well be reviewed. If the principles underlying the British rule are worthy of perpetuation, there should be some well-defined policy for the political education of the foreigner before he aspires to full citizenship within the Empire.
Canada requires five years' residence in the Empire, the last year at least being spent in Canada, but neither provides nor prescribes any system of education. Why should not the foreign- born immigrant be required to acquaint himself
335
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
with the customs and the laws of the country in whose government he desires to share?
If it be objected that such a process of educa- tion would be expensive, we would reply that an outlay of money upon such an object would be an investment rather than an expenditure, paying interest in the form most conducive to national welfare — enlightened citizenship. Moreover, the cash expenditure might be reduced materially, if the Government would avail itself of the wealth of unpaid, voluntary service which the war has shown to be practically inexhaustible. Canada has not yet seen the advent of a statesman who knows how to utilize this valuable national asset. Too often we have seen, even during the war, vol- untary effort ignored or refused in favour of some new piece of political machinery by which the party may be strengthened and its " patronage " list prolonged. Canada needs less politicians with their eyes fixed on the next election, and more statesmen to provide for the needs of the next generation.
Again, the statistics of our charitable and cor- rective institutions furnish overwhelming testi- mony to the need of a more careful application of the moral, mental and physical tests to which the new-comer is subjected on arrival at the Canadian port or border. It would be better for all parties — except perhaps the touts of the trans- portation companies — if these tests were applied before the immigrant left his native land. But even under the present system of examination, it might be possible to detect and exclude a greater
336
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
proportion of "undesirables." An intelligent observer, who had had opportunities to see the procedure at the immigration receiving stations, both of Canada and the United States, remarked lately that it was just three times as easy for an " undesirable " to enter Canada as to get into the United States. To discuss the immigration laws and their administration is obviously beyond the scope of this paper, but " immigration " is in reality the somewhat inadequate name under which we disguise the important process of nation-building, and, as such, is closely related to the question of enfranchisement.
The artificial stimulus to population given by immigration creates new problems in citizenship for which the formulae of older political institu- tions provide no solutions. The United States has preceded us by a few years along the path Canada is now called to tread, and from the States we may gather both example and warning. In the region of state-aided voluntary effort and research, as well as in the munificence of indi- vidual citizens in providing for social experiments among her new citizens, America has led along a path we should be swift to follow. Such reports as those issued by the Immigration Commission of the State of California, for example, reveal a new phase in the science of civilization, and they are only a sample of a literature concerning or intended for the foreign immigrant.
On the other hand, we should learn from the existence of the unassimilated "hyphenate" American the folly of permitting the establish-
327
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
ment of the " ghetto " or the " foreign quarter," and of omitting to insist upon the political edu- cation of the immigrant. From America, also, we may learn the folly of allowing immigration to become a matter governed by competing trans- portation companies or greedy employers of labour. If immigration be really an artificial method of making a nation, it should not be left in the hands of companies whose avowed legiti- mate aim is the accumulation of wealth for the shareholders. The Government should control immigration, guiding and protecting the immi- grant, and placing in its immigration service men and women chosen because of their aptitude for the work rather than for their political affilia- tions. By our present immigration service and methods do we not show ourselves extraordin- arily careless in our stewardship both of British traditions and the vast potentialities of Canadian citizenship?
To-day is the day of opportunity for reviewing our methods and preparing for the new tide of immigration which peace will assuredly direct to our shores. For this task we need the ripest thought of our wisest statesmen, backed by an enlightened and instructed public opinion.
WAR HAS GIVEN A NEW IDEA OF CITIZENSHIP
Nor is it out of place now to consider the claim of the State upon its citizens in time of peace. The war has taught us to expect the State to make great claims upon us : we have been inclined to
328
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUFFRAGE
complain that the Government has hesitated to voice these claims with adequate insistence and clarity. The State has become more than a mere tax-collector or polling clerk. If we demand more from it, we are also prepared to give more to it. The demands of the State have created not resentment or resistance, but a new and affection- ate loyalty : exactly as the call of the Motherland has drawn closer to her the component parts of the Empire. Just as Canada, through the call of war, realizes as never before that she is the Empire, so the individual citizen makes the dis- covery that he is the State. " L'Etat, c'est moi " is proved true, though not in the sense in which Le Grand Monarque used the phrase. In war, we have found, through the State, the full devel- opment of individual citizenship: we have learned, in blood and tears, a new conception of democracy.
The recognition of this new ideal, the quicken- ing of this struggling spirit and the conservation of the nobilities of war in the languorous days of peace — these are the great tasks lying before our leaders in State and Church, in School and Press.
" We need a new conception of citizenship," writes Mr. Woodsworth in an article on " Nation Building," in a late number of the University Magazine. " More than all we need men of vision who can point us the way and men of devotion whom we can follow."
Are we wrong in thinking that Canada's con- ception of citizenship should be based upon the
329
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
inclusion of all those who may bring a contribu- tion to the State, welcoming diversity of gifts and differences of administration, finding in her women and her strangers new sources of strength and inspiration for the new life after the war?
Adelaide M. Plumptre.
330
PUBLIC
OPINION
AND
POLITICAL
LIFE
PEACE
Now God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping, With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers Into cleanness leaping, Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move, And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!
Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release
there, Where there's no 111, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Naught broken save this body, lost but breath; Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there But only agony, and that has ending; And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.
Rupert Brooke.
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
" THERE is no such thing as Public Opinion in Canada," said a friend to whom I mentioned the subject of this paper. His comment made me feel strangely cheerful, for I realized at once that in writing about what does not exist I could take all the latitude I wished and need not fear that I should make mistakes. If there are no facts to deal with I shall not be hampered in arriving at conclusions. The nebulosity of my theme makes it doubly attractive, so instead of being discouraged by the finality of his judgment, I am undertaking my allotted task in a cheerful and hopeful spirit. It promises adventure.
As public opinion in older and more com- pletely organized countries usually expresses itself in political movements, my friend was per- haps not so very far wrong when he decided that we have none. Certainly it does not reveal itself as a force that makes or unmakes governments. Paradoxical as it may seem, public opinion in Canada expresses itself largely in indifference to government. About the most illuminating remark that I have heard about Canada was made by a Canadian farmer to an American farmer whom he met at an hotel.
" You are ruled by a king," said the American. The Canadian was startled for a moment, and then replied with spontaneous sincerity :
833
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
" Why, we have forgotten that we are ruled at all."
Here, it seems to me, we have a true expres- sion of the spirit of Canada, and the reply quoted is a bit of public opinion that would be endorsed by all Canadians.
THE LORDLY VOTER
The outstanding fact of our political life is that every voter is a law unto himself. His state is kingly, and very few of the actions of the government affect him sufficiently to be felt. The consequence is that his vote is not a weapon to be used in defence of his liberties but a royal favour which he bestows on the party or candi- date of his choice. What does it matter to him what his party or his candidate does after elec- tion? They are what they are by grace of his favour, and so long as their conduct does not interfere with him in his everyday life, by reduc- ing his income beyond the possibility of con- vincing him to the contrary, he does not care particularly what they do. All that he asks is to be left alone.
The cause of this indifference on the part of the voter is not hard to find. The population of Canada is made up entirely of recent settlers and the descendants of settlers. People came to this country, and are still coming, to better their con- dition. Their personal affairs are of more impor- tance to them than the affairs of the country. Their success depends on their own industry and
334
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
enterprise rather than on government policies, and the consequence is that few have any outlook beyond their own farms or business concerns. To the vast majority political affiliations are heredi- tary, and they see no reason why they should trouble themselves to study public affairs and form opinions based on current events. Although this may seem deplorable to those who are inspired by great purposes it is the logical result of existing conditions. The man with progres- sive policies is merely one who is "troubling Israel " if he tries to summon public opinion to his support. On the other hand, the exploiter of the country's resources is given a free hand. If he can put through his schemes without bother- , ing the people they not only tolerate him but, in many cases, regard his accumulations of wealth with envy rather than with indignation. They, or their ancestors, came to the country to make their fortunes, and the man who makes a fortune is to be admired rather than questioned as to how he made it. Public opinion is with him.
THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT
When Canada was being settled and the foun- dations of nationality being laid, governments and ruling persons were of much less importance than historians would lead us to believe. It is true that the country had governors, cabinets and legislatures. They enacted laws, gave grants from the public domain, granted charters of vari- ous kinds that enriched the favoured, and other-
335
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
wise bestirred themselves for good and evil, as is the way of governments ; but the destiny of Can- ada was not in their hands. The future of the country depended on clearing away the forest and bringing the land under cultivation. This work was undertaken by poor and often ignorant people, whose one ambition was to establish homes for themselves where they and their chil- dren could live in freedom and comfort. Few of them were equipped, either by training or with tools, for the amazing task that they undertook. Many suffered from cold and hunger, but by ceaseless toil they did their work and gave us the Canada we have to-day. In many cases it could be shown that they did this in spite of the unnecessary and unjust burdens imposed upon them by their rulers rather than through any aid or instruction they received. Because of what they accomplished I take but scant interest in the history of Canada as recorded in books. It is the history that is written on the fields that is of absorbing interest, and it is the spirit of the pioneers still hovering on those fields that is the true spirit of Canada. The descendants of the pioneers take little more interest in matters of government than did their fathers. All they ask is not to be interfered with any more than is necessary and that they be allowed to go on with the work of establishing homes for themselves and their children. What is most worth while in Canada was not planned out by governments or leaders but was worked out by the plain
336
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
people. If they had leadership it was the same high leadership that led them from the oppressed countries of the old world to achieve freedom for themselves in the new.
A NEW PUBLIC OPINION
To-day, when Canada is facing a crisis and must make her choice for the future, it is inter- esting to find that once more the real authority has passed from governments and leaders and is about to make itself manifest through the plain people. There is one result of the great struggle in which we are engaged that was not planned and could not be either planned or foreseen by any leader. Although our Prime Minister and members of his Government have been called to London, where they have attended a conference on the affairs of Empire, there is in progress a democratic conference that is infinitely more rep- resentative of Canada. Many thousands of our Canadian boys are coming in contact with old- world civilization and ideals, and every mail from Europe is bringing us their conclusions. After a careful investigation, extending over many months and in different parts of the coun- try, I have no hesitation in saying that the greatest influence at present at work in Canada is the letters written home by the boys at the front or on their way to the front. Every week they are penetrating every community, and are being read and discussed by the friends and rela- tives of our soldiers. Some of them are printed
22 337
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
in the small country weeklies and are read by the people who knew the writers personally. Although these letters may be censored as far as war news is concerned, it is impossible to censor the feelings and impressions of the writers. These letters show how Canadians react to old- world institutions and ideas, and the effect on those who remain at home is tremendous. No matter what our representatives may decide or enact in the Imperial Conference, the public opinion by which their work must stand or fall is being created by the letters that are coming in thousands and hundreds of thousands from the boys who are abroad. And this is but just. These boys — our sons and brothers — are making the greatest sacrifices possible for Canada, and they have the best right to say what her future is to be. That their letters would shape public opinion is something that no one dreamed, but it is a fact that will soon be made clear to all. Not only will their opinions count in the final adjust- ment, but also the opinions of their friends and relatives whom they have unconsciously influ- enced. And it seems to me to be quite in keeping with the work done by our pioneer forefathers that the influence of our soldier boys should be overwhelmingly in favour of a more robust Cana- dianism. It is also satisfying to find that the public opinion being formed in this way is beyond the interference of either leadership or opposi- tion. It is a true and spontaneous growth of
33*
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
democratic power, and its influence on the future of Canada is bound to be far-reaching and salu- tary.
MOULDING PUBLIC OPINION
In trying to arrive at the laws governing pub- lic opinion it may seem rash and even undignified to turn from the philosophers and psychologists to the practical men who are doing things in busi- ness and politics, but in the search for truth it is not wise to overlook anything. When a witness in a business investigation describes himself under oath as "An Accelerator of Public Opin- ion"— as recently happened in New York — his case demands thoughtful, consideration. During the investigation the fact was brought out that this suave and competent gentleman had been earning a princely income for years by creating and stimulating public opinion in favour of busi- ness enterprises that needed legislative assist- ance. Being a competent journalist, a convincing orator and a skilled mixer he could with equal facility rouse the people to the point of clamour- ing for a new and unnecessary railway or develop an overwhelming demand for the repeal of the laws governing the manufacture and sale of oleo- margarine. His power to shape and control public opinion made his services eagerly sought for by captains of industry who wished to pro- mote new enterprises. Possibly if the public- spirited men who wish to put through great
339
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
reforms or to do things for the public good would condescend to sit at the feet of this glib Gama- liel they would learn much by which they could profit.
It is also interesting to turn from those who study the conduct of crowds and peoples to the advertising experts who create public opinion in favour of the commodities that are being offered for sale. Le Bon states that the forma- tion of public opinion is due to "affirmation, repetition, prestige and contagion." A study of advertising methods shows that although the advertising experts probably never heard of Le Bon they follow his methods with startling fidelity. They affirm the existence of certain qualities in the commodity whose sale they are promoting. They repeat this affirmation day after day and year after year and give it prestige by using the arts of the illustrator, testimonials from prominent people, and ample space in the best magazines and other publications. Some of them even go so far as to promote the "contagion" referred to by the psychologist. Probably the most notable example of this occurred when an American firm was promoting the sale of the " Encyclopedia Britannica." Their advertising expert used full-page advertisements in the daily papers that were marvels of learning and elo- quence. As he explained to an enquirer, he " employed college professors in reduced circum- stances to dig up the scientific material used and then put the ' holler' in it himself." In these
340
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
advertisements it was announced that the sale at a reduced price would close on a certain day. As the day approached the "holler" was so insistent that it got on the nerves of the public, and Hon. Arthur Balfour, at that time Prime Minister, referred to it jocularly from his place in Parliament. When the last day of the sale arrived forty thousand telegrams were sent out to all parts of Great Britain urging people to place their orders by telegraph so as not to lose this wonderful opportunity. The effect was in every sense "contagious." Stolid Britishers rushed to the telegraph offices to place their orders. Moreover, they told their friends about it, and others rushed to buy the books while there was yet time. Thousands of sets of the " Ency- clopaedia " were sold by this trick in one day, and the man who devised the scheme probably never heard of Le Bon or spent an hour in studying scientific mob psychology.
A DISQUIETING PROSPECT
One of the most surprising results of the great war is the use of advertising for the formation and shaping of public opinion. To-day the Brit- ish Government is the greatest advertiser the world has ever known. Sir Hedley le Bas, who had achieved a business success by the lavish and skilful use of advertising, suggested to the Gov- ernment that recruits could be secured in the same way. He was authorized to conduct a cam- paign for that purpose, and was so successful
341
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
that he is now practically Minister of Advertis- ing. He has not only raised armies by advertis- ing, but has sold issues of bonds, inculcated lessons of saving and thrift, and influenced pub- lic opinion in ways that will help to win the war. For the first time advertising has become a force in moulding public opinion for the pur- poses of government. The lesson he has taught is one that is bound to be adopted in future by all who wish to influence public opinion. In the last American elections the Republican party won in every State in which it used advertising, except one. This indicates that an advertising fund will probably be as necessary to future political par- ties as a corruption fund, and in the hands of skil- ful and unscrupulous men may become equally dangerous. Those who wish to promote reforms in future will probably collect funds for adver- tising purposes, and Demos will never again be quiet. Instead of having that large body of apa- thetic public opinion which le Bon regards as the soul of a nation, we may have a hectic and changeable public opinion that will be blown hither and thither by every whiff of advertising. In any case the moulding of public opinion will henceforth be a matter of scientific skill, and it is hard to imagine what the public will do, or how it will arrive at conclusions when diverse political parties shake it up with clamorous advertisements proclaiming their rival merits and virtues. Wells, in his forecast of the future in "When the Sleeper Wakes," predicts adver-
342
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
tising by talking machines and megaphones, and the plain citizen may yet be compelled to stuff his ears with cotton to protect his opinions from advertising influences.
MEN NOT POLICIES
If my friend who asserted that there is no public opinion in Canada had claimed that we have no political life I should have been much more inclined to agree with him. It is quite true that we have political parties and all the machin- ery of government and that the life of the country is frequently disturbed by roaring elections, but political principles that carry weight in other countries have been little more than names with us. Since Confederation the political life of the country has been largely dominated by the per- sonality of two remarkable men. Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier have bulked larger in the public eye than either Conservative or Liberal principles. They led their respective parties to victory, each retained power for many years, and each of them finally went down to defeat with his party. During their periods of power the ordinary work of the country followed its natural course without much reference to poli- tical affairs, and under both great business enter- prises prospered through legislative favours. As political life offers few opportunities to men of ambition or public spirit, their supporters in Parliament were constantly changing, so that beyond the recognized leaders there were few
343
who entered permanently into the political life of the country. Every election brought new men into prominence and sent others into retirement with a rapidity that makes a political review impossible in the brief space at my disposal. Moreover, the political methods used to achieve success involve the personal characters of too many men still living to offer a safe subject for comment at the present time. The charge has often been made that the conduct of public affairs in Canada has been unbusinesslike, and that we need "a business man's government." Anyone who carefully investigates the subject can hardly help arriving at the opposite conclusion. Our political life, such as it has been, has been mani- pulated altogether too much by the business interests of the country — by the railroads and industrial and financial corporations. Until both political parties are freed from their selfish influ- ence we are not likely to have any political life that will be worthy of thoughtful consideration.
THE OUTLOOK
There are indications, however, that both public opinion and political life will undergo a serious change in the near future. The war is developing problems that will profoundly affect the life of the people, but it is too early to predict what the result will be. Public opinion has already made itself felt in the wave of prohibi- tion sentiment that is sweeping the country, and it will doubtless make itself felt in dealing with
344
PUBLIC OPINION AND POLITICAL LIFE
the many questions affecting the future of Can- ada that are now forcing themselves on our attention. The extension of the franchise to women will also introduce a new factor into our political life which may give surprising results. At the present moment the political parties, ques- tions and leaders that were important before the war seem to belong to an era that is closed. Until an election is held it will be impossible to estimate the extent to which public opinion has been aroused or to forecast the policies with which we shall meet the world problems in which we have become involved. It is possible that the past apathy of public opinion will safeguard us from rash policies and that the unstable quality of our political life will enable us to build on new foundations a political power that will be ade- quate and enduring. In their private lives the vast majority of the people have shown them- selves to be sane, decent and resourceful, and if they are compelled by events to turn their atten- tion to public questions the result is bound to be beneficial. An aroused public opinion will soon give us a political life that is more in touch with the people than anything we have had in the past. The hope of Canada to-day rests with those who have hitherto taken but little or no part in the public life of the country. ,
Peter McArthur.
345
THE BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
OUR DEAD
OUB dead, they are ours and the Empire's
Till the last red sun doth set; — And may God, in His terrible justice, deal with us, If we forget.
Till that which we sent them to die for,
Till that dread struggle be won; Though the traitor and idiot cry out for peace, There can be none.
We are either on God's side or evil's, We are either perjured or true; — And that, which we set out to do in the first place, That must we do.
If we lie now unto our highest,
Prove traitorous unto our best, And soften the hand, which set out to conquer At God's behest;
If we fail in our vows in the slightest,
Our pride to dishonour is thrall: — For we stand to win all in this conflict, — Or else lose all.
For our dead are ours and the Empire's,
Till the last red sun doth set; — And may God, in His terrible justice, deal with us, If we forget.
William Wilfred Campbell.
THE BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
PERMANENT improvement in municipal govern- ment would appear to depend upon the following conditions :
(1) Recognition of the fact that in the last thirty years there has been evolving a Science of Civics, which has now reached a stage where it ranges itself alongside the other great depart- ments of Economics. It is only by the study of Civics as a science that we can hope for real progress in city betterment.
(2) Governmental investigation that will lead to a new Municipal Act and the establishment of a Canadian equivalent of the English Local Government Board.
(3) Education of public opinion that will result in the more active participation of leading citizens in civic affairs.
What are the modern ideals of good city gov- ernment? A well-managed city is one that is beautiful, healthy, convenient and cheap to live in. Beauty means scale, fitness, proportion; it means wide avenues, parks and recreation cen- tres; it means the tasteful grouping of public buildings and good architecture. Health involves abundant supply of pure water, good sanitation, abolition of congestion, plenty of air spaces, and the consequent reduction of those forms of vice that are the concomitants of squalor, — and a low
349
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
death rate. Convenience means scientific town planning. Cheapness means adequate provision of markets and gardens for home production ; and finally the reduction to a minimum of municipal taxation. All the best governed cities of the world have already achieved one or more of these ideals and are steadily pursuing others.
PRESENT CONDITIONS
The towns and cities of Canada have hitherto grown haphazard. Except in a few places of extremely rapid development in the West, there has been no attempt to lay down any plan for the city to grow to, and no effort to secure the adoption of a well-matured policy for its manage- ment in the years to come. How could it be otherwise with the method of civic government we have hitherto pursued? Under the best con- ditions the system of annual elections, with a constant change in the personnel of the council, has produced lack of continuity in management, confusion and waste of effort, of money and of human life. Under conditions less favourable, the municipality has sometimes been exploited for the gain of individuals and private corpora- tions. This is, perhaps, the darkest blot upon the government of our cities, because it is an axiom of civic morality that to exploit the city is to rob the poor.
A few years ago Town Planning was practi- cally an unknown term. There was no attempt to control public utilities, with the single excep-
350
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
tion of water supply. Factory sites and residen- tial quarters were, and still are, inextricably mixed up in most municipalities. The housing of the poor interested no one but the individual landlord. The purchase of land for parks and gardens and breathing-spaces was regarded as a form of luxury that no city was warranted in indulging ; these things were left to private bene- faction, as was the alleviation of poverty. It was the old bad time of individualism. The civic consciousness was not yet born.
Where there is no civic consciousness there is no vision. The result is a hand-to-mouth method of administration. This has hitherto been the practice of Canadian civic governments, a prac- tice largely caused by our present system. In the average smaller city the council strikes com- mittees each year. Follow the course of the average intelligent alderman. In his first year be may be a member of the Board of Works Committee ; in his second year he is elected chair- man, having proved his capacity. During this year he is the general manager of all the public works of the city, and does it well, or, if he makes a failure, the citizens know nothing of it. In his third year he becomes entitled, by seniority and ability, to the chairmanship of the Finance Committee, giving up the important department of Works just when he has it in good running order. He is now in a position to sur- vey the field and to make his plans for the future. If, after three yearly elections, he retain his
351
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
popularity, he may now aspire to the mayoralty ; or, as frequently happens, he becomes tired of aldermanic life, and retires to the pursuit of his own affairs. Is it any wonder that the chief mark of our municipal administration is — Ineffi- ciency?
There is no other corporation that so stands in need of skilful management as that of the city. The reason is plain. The great corporations, such as the railways and banks, are kept in check by their shareholders; their prime consideration is dividends. But the main shareholders in the city corporation are the wage-earners, the artisans and labourers — in a word, the poor. The city corporation may be likened to a great trust com- pany. It manages the estate of the poor, and the chief dividends it can pay to its shareholders are health, comfort, convenience and the elimina- tion of waste. There are in Europe towns and cities that do more than this ; that actually return to their citizens yearly cash dividends. But just because those most concerned in the wise admin- istration of their estate are the most needy and the most helpless, it is a shame to civilization when the affairs of the city are mismanaged.
EVILS OF INEFFICIENCY
Perhaps the worst of all evils from which our cities suffer, through inefficient management, is waste; waste of effort; of the people's wealth; waste of life. Every Canadian city can show numerous examples of waste of effort and money
352
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
in such matters as sewage, water supply, fire pro- tection and all other things that can only be clearly foreseen and provided for by unbroken continuity of oversight and intelligent town planning. It would be easy to fill many pages with instances of loss through waste. One of the most notable instances of waste of public money and effort is that connected with the water sup- ply of the City of Montreal. After spending 15,000,000, and proposing to spend an additional $5,000,000, that corporation found, through the public-spirited action of the eminent engineers of the city, who conducted a thorough investiga- tion of the scheme at their own expense, that the enterprise was doomed to failure, and that the money already expended was a dead loss. Little wonder that it is now proposed to take the ad- ministration of the affairs of Montreal out of the hands of the mayor, controllers and aldermen, and to place it in the hands of a commission. In the opinion of many of its leading citizens our largest Canadian city is a conspicuous example of inefficient municipal government.
But the war has taught us that waste of effort and! money is as nothing compared with the waste of human life. If we are wise we shall see that our supreme duty to our race for the genera- tions to come is to put every possible safeguard about the life and health of our people. Never before in world history was the life of the grow- ing boy and girl so precious as it is to-day. The main object of efficient civic administration is
23 353
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the life, health, comfort of the great mass of citi- zens. The great English cities have become so much alive to this aspect of civic government, that they are now pointing the way to the whole civilized world. The English have come nearer than any other nation to the scientific solution of the " housing " question in the idea of the " garden city," perhaps the greatest contribution of modern times to the well-being of urban popu- lations. So strongly has the idea of the " garden city" appealed to civic reformers that we are glimpsing a new ideal of the city, and it may be that the unbuilt cities of the future will not seek greatness or renown in numbers. The thought of what Canada may accomplish in city building, when she fills up her waste places, stirs the imagination at the prospect of an unique achieve- ment in human progress.
It is often said by civic politicians that it is useless to propose reforms which the citizens have no interest in demanding. It is a common- place of politics that the people get the sort of governors and government they deserve. There is no denying that there exists to-day in our towns and cities a general apathy about most matters relating to civic government. The people can be stirred up to fight a crying evil or to attain a single object that seems immediately desirable. But to keep them at a high level of enthusiastic interest in civic affairs has, so far, proved impos- sible. One reason is that the great mass of citi- zens have no belief that the city is managed in
354
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
their interests. They rarely see that anything is directly done on their behalf; where this is in reality done, the information is not put before them in a way they can understand. The great and immediate need of the moment is to stir up enthusiasm for good civic government among all classes of citizens. It is estimated that in the large cities, under average conditions, only about one-fourth of the electors take the trouble to vote at annual elections. The first problem in city betterment is to arouse and maintain the interest of all citizens in the management of their own municipality. It calls primarily for the unselfish service of the best minds in every community.
THE CIVIC SURVEY
Probably the best way to get a real understand- ing of the great subject of city betterment is by means of the Civic Survey. This is within the reach of every town and city. It can be ordered by the city council, or, under present conditions, can perhaps be better initiated by private citi- zens. Great good has already been accomplished by the partial survey achieved by a small body of men in the City of Toronto. Very remarkable results were attained in Springfield, 111., by simi- lar action on the part of public-spirited citizens. It needs only a little more publicity as to the remarkable results possible of attainment to induce the leading men and women in every civic centre of the Dominion to combine for the pur- pose of obtaining a civic survey.
355
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
What does the term "Civic Survey" really mean? It has so far generally meant enquiry into municipal finances, the obtaining of a clear statement of assets and liabilities; of the man- agement of revenues; of the possible control of public utilities ; of education ; of the housing of the poor ; of parks and breathing spaces ; and of a general preparation for town planning. But a complete civic survey would embrace much more than these, important as they are. Every city needs a systematic survey of its origin, its his- tory, its development, its present condition and its outlook. To be complete, such a survey should embrace not only material things, but also the common life, the institutions, and the tone and spirit of its people. The time is coming when we shall be content with nothing less than this. Here is a great and fascinating field for investi- gation by men and women who are looking for the pleasures of intellectual enterprise. There is evidence, not a little, that it is easy to arouse enthusiasm for the practical study of civic prob- lems. The Canadian Social Service Council has found that there is already arising in our towns and cities, especially in the West, undoubted evi- dence of growth of the community spirit. If such a spirit can be aroused to deal with specific evils, it can be kept alive to deal with questions of good government and civic betterment. When the small city of Springfield, 111., was aroused by a few citizens to undertake a civic survey, six hundred volunteer workers were rapidly enrolled,
356
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
and almost every sphere of civic management was investigated.
The movement for city surveys has in the past few years taken deep root in Great Britain. Sev- eral cities have already obtained remarkable results and a great extension of the movement was stopped only by the war. The following paragraph from a report of the British Sociologi- cal Society outlines some of its aims :
" We have during the past few years addressed ourselves towards the initiation of a number of representative and typical city surveys, leading towards civic exhibitions; and these we hope to see under municipal auspices, in conjunction with public museums and libraries, and with the co-operation of leading citizens representative of different interests and points of view. In Leices- ter and Saffron Walden, Lambeth, Woolwich, and Chelsea, Dundee, Edinburgh, Dublin and other cities progress has already been made; and with the necessary skilled and clerical assistance, and moderate outlays, we should be able to assist such surveys in many other towns and cities. Our experience already shows that in this inspiring task of surveying, usually for the first time, the whole situation and life of a community in past and present, and of thus preparing for the plan- ning scheme which is to forecast, indeed largely decide, its material future, we have the begin- nings of a new movement — one already charac- terized by an arousal of civic feeling, and the corresponding awakening of more enlightened and more generous citizenship."
357
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
CIVIC EXHIBITIONS
Interesting as would be the study, the scope of this essay precludes any attempt to describe in detail the field and method of a complete city survey. It must suffice to say that an indispens- able accompaniment of an efficient survey is the Civic Exhibition, for the information of city planners and for arousing and maintaining the interest of the general public. Every city should set apart a hall, or room, in the public library, or other civic building, for the collection of maps, diagrams and relief models, illustrating the his- tory, development, and present state of the city, in its material aspect, its industries, its climate, its educational interests, and its civic welfare projects, and to this collection the citizens should be asked to contribute.
Before any real progress can be made the whole subject of civics needs study. Never before was there so wide and fertile a field for investigation made possible to ordinary citizens without previ- ous professional training. What Canadian towns and cities need at the present time is co-ordinated Bound Table groups for the study of civic ques- tions. One institution of which Canadians have reason to be proud is that of the Canadian Clubs. These clubs have hitherto confined their activities to listening to addresses by leading men on varied questions of local, provincial or national interest. Why should they not become something more than listening clubs? Why not extend their use- fulness by becoming, as to their more thoughtful
358
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
members, Study Clubs? And why not enter upon the fascinating study of their own environment? Then every small town and village, and even township, might have its Canadian Club, with manifold opportunities for pleasant and profit- able mental employment, which is to-day the great need of the Canadian people, as a counter- foil to engrossment with material things.
TOWN PLANNING
Following upon the Civic Survey comes the important matter of Town Planning. The ten- dency at the moment is to reverse the order. Never was it so true as now that the world is too much with us, and we are always in a hurry to attain immediate results, regardless of their bear- ing upon future good. The efforts of our civic reformers seem at present to be centred upon town planning schemes. Crying as are the needs for scientific planning before our towns and cities attain to further growth, there is a danger of adopting too hurriedly ill-considered plans that may have to be recast at a later date at vast expense, or may even permanently injure the right development of a city. Town planning is as yet in its infancy, not only on this continent, but also in Great Britain and Europe. Many considerations which affected the new laying-out of European cities are now falling into disrepute; One of these is the housing question. It is safe to say that the old ideals of city building. being abandoned in some of their essential
359
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
tares. The English ideal of "garden cities" is attracting the attention of experts in civics all over the world, and will doubtless profoundly affect our ideas of the city of the future.
In view of the new civic ideals of the last quar- ter of a century, town planning is still a science in the making. It would be a serious mistake for any city to confide its town planning to amateurs, or even to city architects and engineers. Town planning is about to become an organized and regular profession. In England the Town Plan- ning Institute for the training of civic experts was established in 1914, and has entered upon a highly useful and honourable career. Its mem- bers are of two grades, the one investigating town planning as a constructive art, and the other city management on its administrative side. Both are united in the further study of the actual life and working of the city. These three branches con- stitute in the widest sense the great subject of Civics. On this continent we have, correspond- ing to the British Town Planning Institute, the Kussell Sage Foundation, which has already accomplished important results in many cities of the United States.
But the Canadian people are approaching nationhood, and there is even now stirring within them the new-born spirit and first pulsations of a distinct national life. In entering upon their heritage they will wish for the joy of finding solu- tions for their own problems in their own way. Most vital of all problems is that of the com-
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
munity life of the people, for it is in that life that they will receive the stamp and impress of what we call nationality. Every nation has con- stantly before it the ideal of its type. It is only by steady progress towards the realization of that ideal that any people cuu make a genuine contri- bution to world culture. It has been finely said : " The definition of culture in terms of ' the best that has been known and done in the world* is but half the truth, that which mourns or meditates among the tombs ; the higher meaning of culture is also nearer its primitive sense, which finds in the past not only fruit but seed, and so prepares for a coming spring, a future harvest."
CIVICS AS A SCIENCE
The great and numerous subjects connoted by the term Civics are of quite sufficient importance to constitute a department of instruction and investigation in our universities. If business men have found it wise to found university departments for the scientific study of Com- merce, it is at least of equal importance that Civics should also find its place in our highest places of learning. There is no doubt that city surveys, civic exhibitions, and the science of town planning, are generating a new educational move- ment in Great Britain and in the United States as well as in Europe, and we cannot afford to let such a movement pass us by. Already there is a School of Civics in Dublin, there is practi- cally another in Edinburgh, and the outbreak of
361
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
the war alone prevented a great extension of the movement in Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, and other places. A beginning might well be made in Canadian universities, until the pressure of public opinion demanded greater facilities, by the establishment of fellowships in Civics, linked to the present departments of Economics.
The study of Civics should thus proceed on two lines. First, for the training of experts in city surveys, town planning, administration, and fin- ance ; and secondly, for the arousing of the civic consciousness, by inducing all citizens to take an active interest in the betterment of their own municipality. Out of this interest, through much publicity in the press, through exhibitions, and through meetings for discussion, arises the idea of the personal service of the citizen to his city, and thus by progressive steps to the service of the State. This war, the most titanic of all struggles in the history of the human race, is a conflict between two eternally warring spirits: Autocracy and Democracy. Despite our deep faith in Democracy, we are bound to admit that it has not yet finally proved its power to survive. The mere winning of the war will not in itself be conclusive proof; there is more to be won. Democracy must win the souls of men from the absorbing pursuit of selfish ends to the idea of personal service, to the other man, to the civic community, to the state.
Under favourable conditions there are always plenty of men and women willing to serve the
362
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
community. So far as the government of our cities is concerned it must be admitted that the unwisdom of past legislation has been a fatal hindrance to individual civic service. Municipal laws should make it easy rather than difficult for the best and most honoured citizens to find their greatest satisfaction in civic service. At present the best men will not come forward to serve the city in any official capacity, as representatives of the people. This is a matter of common knowledge, upon which it is unnecessary to enlarge. Yearly elections, the ward system, pat- ronage, these are the three main evils of our present system. Towns and cities in Ontario are governed under a Municipal Act that is half a century behind the times. In the average Cana- dian town and city the government is conducted by a body of men constantly changing, in fact, subject to possible complete yearly change. These men are elected to represent specified local sec- tions, each jealous of its personal interests, and therefore subject to strong and continuous local, political pressure. They are almost always men immersed in private business affairs, who there- fore give to the city the fag ends of time and thought. Yet into the hands of such a body are confided not only civic legislation, but also all the intensely absorbing matters of civic adminis- tration. Even if the city council were solely a legislative body, our present system of annual elections would be fatal to real constructive progress. But when administration is added to
363
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
legislation under these conditions, the result is confusion, enormous waste, financial loss and strain, high taxation, and, worst of all, intense apathy and the obliteration of civic pride, the absence of community spirit, and the decay of ideals of social service.
Evidence of the truth of this is to be found in municipal election returns. The Mayor of Win- nipeg recently said : " Typical indifference is dis- played in Winnipeg by the fact that only on rare occasions have we had more than twenty per cent, of the resident qualified votes polled at an election, and on one occasion when a by-law was submitted to the people for a new water supply, involving the expenditure of $13,000,000, only eleven per cent, of the qualified electors turned out to vote for or against it." Similar evidence is afforded by the Bureau of Municipal Research of Toronto, which stated in a recent bulletin that in the election of 1916 only three votes out of a possible seven were cast in the contest for mayor, two of seven for controllers, and four out of nineteen for alder- men. The same apathy is in evidence in most of our large civic centres.
DIVORCE OF ADMINISTRATION FROM LEGISLATION
The basic principle that lies at the root of municipal reform is the divorce of administra- tion from legislation. It is the fundamental prin- ciple that governs the conduct of every great business organization. The railway corporation has its board of directors who visualize its future, direct its policy and make its laws. These are
364
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
carried into effect by its various departmental managers, whose positions are permanently secured to them, on the single condition of effi- ciency. It is the same with our banks and other financial bodies, and with our manufacturing companies. Similar principles govern the con- duct of all large business enterprises, both whole- sale and retail. One set of men to plan, to sur- vey, to exercise vision for the future ; another set of men to make a life-work of administration. The council, the head, the heart, the eyes, of the city ; the administrative body, the hands and the feet.
Municipal government in Canadian towns and cities has fallen into disrepute, because of the apathy of the greater half of enfranchised citizens, and because the men best fitted for civic affairs decline to take part in them. It is possible to induce such men to change their attitude towards civic activities by making these attractive. If the city council were solely a legislative body, as is practically the case in the best governed cities of Great Britain and the European continent, and if the present system of annual elections were changed, there would be little difficulty in bringing forward the best type of citizen for the honourable work of a "city father." What has driven good men out of municipal politics is abuse in the ward and in the press, by the ward- gang and the press-gang — that and the evils of the patronage system which permeates our whole political life, in the municipalities and in our Provincial and Dominion Parliaments.
365
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
If we were able to say to the men we really wished to see in civic life : You are asked to give time and thought to the upbuilding of this city by becoming a member of its legislature. You will be elected for three years, by the city at large. You will have nothing to do with matters of administration in any department; you will not be troubled with any question of patronage. The city needs the benefit of your ability and experience in guiding its policies, in controlling its expenditures, in guarding against waste, in protecting its health and providing for the well- being and happiness of the citizens, in planning for its future development. There is no doubt about the result of such an appeal. These are things that every good citizen would feel hon- oured in being asked to undertake. For such things he would be willing to make sacrifice of time and even of his private interests.
Divorce of administration from legislation. The city council to supervise, to plan, to legislate ; and a paid body of men to carry into effect the will of the council.
CIVIC NOSTRUMS
In the last two decades many plans have been suggested for the more efficient management of cities. The United States has led the way by the adoption of various forms of government by com- mission, and some Canadian cities are attempt- ing to follow this lead. In despair of its present system, the City of Montreal is now proposing to
366
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
put its affairs into the hands of a commission, and there is much to be said in favour of such a course, in a great emergency. There is also the plan of a city manager, which rests the control of administration in single hands. Any or all of these methods may prove temporarily successful. They originated with the City of Galveston, which found itself in desperate straits after its partial destruction in 1900 by a great storm. Commis- sion government was then founded as an emer- gency measure, and that so far is its chief value in the sphere of civic government.
No scheme of government can ever secure a permanent place in a free democracy that is out of harmony with the spirit of its institutions. No free people will ever consent to abrogate their inalienable right to control their own affairs, be they civic or, in the wider sense, political. It is of the genius of our people to act through their chosen representatives. The referendum, the ini- tiative and the recall are modern devices, which have their uses, but which have also, in the present state of society, clearly denned dangers. Propor- tional representation is in a different category. But a further stage in the evolution of democracy must be reached before we are ready to abandon the principle of government by elected represen- tatives.
In any event the problems of the modern city require for their solution much more than a body of administrators. Such a body lives and moves and acts in the present. Its chief function is
367
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
management; it is occupied with the details of daily business, and finds itself fully employed with the proper running of a vast machine. The city council is composed of the personal repre- sentatives of the citizens. To apply the good old English civic phrase in the largest way, it is the people's " Watch Committee." Its functions are to know the various phases of the city's life, to watch the movements of that life, to guard the interests of all classes, especially the interests of those least able to protect their own. Its func- tion is to conduct the city's survey, not once but many times ; to direct its town planning ; to make provision for future growth and further uplift; and finally to legislate. These are avenues of effort sufficient to employ the time and energy of the most active body of city councillors, and they embrace all that should be asked of men who give their services voluntarily to the city; for, of course, they would be unpaid. The joy of service such as is suggested is that it is freely given.
A^NEW PROFESSION OF CIVIC ADMINISTRATORS
With the divorce of administration from legis- lation there would arise a new profession, that of Civic Science, which would offer to educated citi- zens an honourable career. Our universities can- not long delay the consideration of providing such a course of training for their students. These specialists would be needed in every town and city. In the smaller municipalities two or
368
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
three such men could do the work of civic manage- ment, under the general oversight of the council. Probably a civil engineer, a solicitor and a treas- urer would suffice. As soon as the council passed the necessary legislation, all the details of admin- istration would be vested in the hands of these men, who might be called controllers, or adminis- trators, or commissioners. They would, as a body, make contracts, employ labour, appoint foremen or managers, and be held strictly accountable to the council for the efficient and economical management of their departments. The engineer would be over all public works, in construction and operation; the solicitor would be at the head of all general business, including that of the city clerk ; the treasurer would man- age the finances, prepare the annual budget, and also exercise control over matters of assessment, until we evolve something approaching a scien- tific treatment of that difficult subject. Efficiency of administration would be assisted by frequent publication of reports in the daily press, and perhaps by occasional bulletins.
In our larger cities the present Boards of Con- trol might be changed into bodies of paid admin- istrators appointed by the city council. All appointments might be made for periods of five, six, or seven years, with assurance of renewal on condition of fitness, and with the prospect of pension after long service. A large city would require a large number of controllers, one for each great department of public business. The
24 369
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
number would vary with the requirements, as is the case in management of every great corpora- tion. The cost of such a board of administration would be great ; but there is no doubt that in the long run there would be economy and a great sav- ing to the city, through continuity of direction and control of waste. To give a single example. Dr. Frank D. Adams, of McGill University, recently said : " It is a remarkable fact that there is no city in North America which has a proper map of its own territory. When a tunnel was being driven through Mount Eoyal, that the Canadian Northern Railway might reach the centre of the city, a sewer, with a wooden bottom, was encountered. The contents emptied into the tunnel in about five minutes, causing enormous damage. In the City of Providence, R.I., an uncharted drain, running full, was cut seven times by a new tunnel. Even in New York City a new subway cut an unknown drain, six feet in diameter and in full operation." This is a mild instance of inefficient management under present conditions.
ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION
The subject of civic assessment has been men- tioned as one of great difficulty. With a few notable exceptions, it is in a condition of chaos. Since the earliest days of our municipal corpora- tions there has been scarcely any improvement in methods of assessment, and there is to-day no uniform attempt to treat it as a highly technical
370
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
or scientific branch of municipal government. It is somewhat surprising that citizens of small means, proprietors of small holdings, those who live on stated salaries, and wage-earners, who form the mass of our citizens, should not long ago have been stirred up to demand the scientific direction of all questions of assessment, because it is they who most feel the burden of taxation. It is here that the establishment of a Department of Civics in every provincial government would be of inestimable benefit to the people. Such a department, under a cabinet minister, might well take such a question as assessment out of the hands of the municipalities. There is much to be said for the assessment of property by independ- ent assessors. At the present time no two muni- cipalities assess property on a uniform scale. The same confusion is found in the cities of the United States. In the State of Illinois, for example, property is required by law to be assessed at one- third of its value ; but in practice real property in Chicago is assessed at only one- quarter of its actual value. In Los Angeles the law requires assessment at full face value, but in practice it is less than half. In our smaller cities, towns and rural municipalities we go upon the principle that anyone with a common school edu- cation is fitted to become an assessor. Modern authorities are convinced that the whole subject of assessment needs special study, and a specially constituted authoritative body of specialists to take charge of it. Why, for instance, should not
371
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
a province be divided into districts, embracing rural and urban municipalities, over each of which there would be an assessment board? It is unnecessary to have yearly assessments; that method is out-of-date. In rural districts an assessment every three or four years would be sufficient ; probably the same method would suf- fice for towns and cities, with suitable provision for retroactive rates on buildings erected in the interval, and even for taxation of the unearned increment.
Such assessment boards would learn by con- stant study and experience how to deal with many questions of taxation that are now on a very unsatisfactory footing. Taxation of occu- pied land and vacant land ; buildings ; corpora- tions ; personal property ; business ; income — all have yet to be scientifically co-ordinated by expert method. Take the single instance of income. The citizen who has a stated salary pays the full tax with which it is chargeable. The professional or business man whose income varies has the opportunity to understate the amount justly taxable. In spite of every precaution there is in Europe, in the United States, and in Canada a vast amount of dodging of income tax. One reason is not far to seek. If a citizen pays taxes on real estate that he can sell for $10,000, but which is assessed for $5,000, he pays will- ingly; but if his income is $10,000 he feels the pinch of paying on the full amount while enjoy- ing a fifty per cent, discount on his real estate
BETTER GOVERNMENT OP OUR CITIES
taxes. It is a question needing investigation and experiment by expert assessment boards, whether it would not be at once juster, and at the same time more profitable, to assess incomes, that is the wages of personal labour, at a lower rate than real property.
THE TRUE FUNCTIONS OF A CITY COUNCIL
When the work of civic administration is fin- ally separated from that of legislation, then the city council will be set free to perform for its citizens a higher form of service. Released from the serving of tables, it would be the supreme function of city fathers to render into the con- crete the ideals of civic life and well-being. Lord Bryce has well said: "There is no influence in any community more potent and powerful for the accomplishment of good than that of the business men unselfishly banded together for the purpose of promoting the general welfare of the entire citizenship." That is a true vision of the aims of the city council. That these aims have not hitherto been realized in Canadian city govern- ment is largely due to the fact that we have made the conditions impossible. We have cabined and confined our city councillors to the performance of petty duties, under conditions that have denied to us the service of the men best equipped for civic service.
Thus it is that in our most enlightened cities progressive ideas, and attempts at reform and readjustment, come from the banding together of
373
THE NEW EKA IN CANADA
private citizens to perform what are the real functions of the chosen representatives of the people. The city council is the legislative body. It should be composed of men able and free to conduct, with the necessary expert help, their own investigations into all matters pertaining to the city's life and welfare. It should conduct the Civic Survey ; it should be its own Bureau of Municipal Research ; it should be the Town Plan- ning body ; it should be the city's League of Civic Improvement. It should be, by origination or adoption, the source and fountain of every good thing that reaches towards perfection of civic life, civic activities, civic environment. It should be constantly on the lookout for, and ever ready to utilize, the wisdom and enterprise of private citizens. This is no mere idle dream of the ideal city council. It is an accomplished fact in many of the best governed cities of the world.
It is only when a city's legislators are freed from all details of administration that they are able to take wide views of all that goes to make a city contented and prosperous. The prosper- ous are usually, as to their civic life, contented. The discontented are those who see little prospect of becoming prosperous. Hence the undertone of envy and hatred that is often the real cause of strikes and mob violence. The going wage gen- erally leaves nothing over that may make for what the wage-earner considers prosperity. The well-managed city can do much to alleviate dis- content among its mass of citizens by making
374
BETTEB GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
many of the conditions of life easy for them. There is no greater duty devolving upon the city council, if it would live up to its opportunities, than that of making the city a cheap place to live in.
PUBLIC UTILITIES AND MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP
It is impossible, within the compass of this essay, to go adequately into the economies of city management. Two factors may, however, be mentioned. One is the control of public utilities. In the past it has been the general rule to let the profit-earning utilities fall into private hands, while those which are a charge upon the city's revenues are under civic control. It would be difficult to estimate the loss to civic treasuries which has resulted from this sacrifice of public interests. While there has been a considerable awakening in recent years to the possibilities of revenue-producing utilities, much remains to be done in order that our cities may earn for their people a just return upon what is really the capi- tal investment of the whole body of citizens. The other factor is municipal ownership, on which there is much to be said on both sides. Profes- sional economists are! for the moment against it. Probably the main reason why municipal owner- ship has hitherto been inefficient and wasteful is that we have as yet paid no attention to the train- ing of a class of civic administrators. There is no reason to believe that there is any inherent weakness in civic administration of utilities as a
375
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
system. The experience of British and European cities is all the other way. What we lack is a thoroughly trained body of municipal experts. This we can obtain only through our universities and by the establishment of really comprehensive municipal departments in our provincial legisla- tures. In the meantime, the interests of the people demand that city councils should seek to obtain closer control of all public utilities, so that the city treasuries may no longer be deprived of revenues that belong to those who create them.
THE CITY AS LAND-OWNER
Not the least of the functions of the city coun- cil is that of conserving the property and increas- ing the corporate wealth of the city. There is nothing that appeals so strongly to intending citizens, or arouses the interest and enthusiasm of all members of a community, as low taxation. It is the piling up of civic debt with a steadily increasing tax-rate that is one of the main causes of apathy and active discontent. Perhaps the greatest single cause of loss of earned wealth arises from the exploitation of outlying lands by private speculators. The unearned increment in the value of lands adjacent to a city is created by the joint labour and enterprise of the whole body of citizens. To them it properly belongs. It is one of the few possible means of increasing the corporate wealth of the city. Yet we take no measures to preserve it for the people, but allow private individuals to build up huge fortunes by what is virtually robbery of the public domain.
376
BETTER GOVERNMENT OF OUB CITIES
How do the best-managed cities of the world deal with such a matter? In them the city coun- cil is constantly watching the city's growth and surveying its surroundings. When the time is ripe, it buys in the open market property that will eventually come within the city limits. This land is surveyed for streets, sewage, water sup- ply, illumination and street railway traffic. These improvements are made as they are needed. Then the city sells the sub-divided lots at the enhanced value, and the increase goes into the city treas- ury. Until we learn that the private exploita- tion of the unearned increment is a crime against the city, we cannot be said to have mastered the first principles of the conservation of civic wealth.
The experience of English and European cities in /their efforts for civic improvement goes to prove that it is in the interest of every city to own much of its land. Many of the French cities are large land-owners. The German cities have gone farther than any others in this direction. The City of Frankfort owns 12,800 acres within the corporation — over half — and 3,800 acres out- side; Berlin owns 39,000 acres; Munich 13,600. Mannheim owns over half the land within the city limits. A few years ago Ulm owned three-fifths of its land; now it owns four-fifths. Since the rise of the town planning movement in England there is plenty of evidence of the advantages of municipal ownership of land. A report on the town planning schemes of Greater Birmingham says: "It is becoming more and more evident that town planning will only be partially success-
377
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
fill until the corporation owns the land. . . . Ownership of land not only disposes of difficulties with regard to town planning schemes, but also assures that the community will get the full bene- fit of its work and expenditure in years to come. . . . Another driving force will be the con- stantly increasing pressure of the rates and the search for fresh means of income. All schemes of land valuation and taxation are merely an attempt to get at the increased value of land created by the activities of the community, but no scheme is so perfect or complete as the actual control of the land itself. Hence, by one means and another, we a^e slowly being driven to face the problem of land purchase."
Apart from questions of economic and other- wise efficient city management, there is another advantage in the municipal ownership of land, and that is in the housing of the poor. The latest trend in civic betterment is towards the develop- ment of "garden cities." If th§ city owned the land it would be no difficult matter to lay out districts for working-men's cottages, with open garden areas instead of unsightly back fences, with plenty of beauty spots and breathing spaces, and attainable at a low cost.
THE CITIZEN AND CIVIC SERVICE
Efforts for the better government of Canadian towns and cities must come from within. It is a healthy sign that in many places a beginning has been made. But people are slow to be aroused to
378
BETTEE GOVERNMENT OF OUR CITIES
combined action, where the objects aimed at are chiefly altruistic. It remains for the finer spirits in the community, men and women of vision and large sympathy, to stir the people to an active interest in projects of general beneficence. It is work upon which the churches might well unite. After all, the ideal city of the Apocalyptic vision was to be a city upon earth, a city of men and women, living out their lives under ideal condi- tions ; the city that twenty centuries later we are still dimly trying to visualize.
The civic conscience is slowly awaking to the call of social service. Already it has set on foot many activities that make for better social con- ditions than civilization has yet known. So far the tendency has been to attack evils that lie upon the surface. These are often effects which have their causes deep down in the life of the community. To deal effectively with these causes requires the whole-hearted service of large num- bers of leading men and women in every city. To them at this time the call comes with an insist- ency that cannot be ignored. The duty of the service of the individual to the city is no new ideal for modern democracy. It was finely set forth by Plato over two thousand years ago; though now perhaps it appeals to us with fresh emphasis :
" When they have reached the age of fifty, those who have come through successfully, and have gained all the prizes in practical life and in thought, will now be led towards their goal ; and
379
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
compelled to lift up the soul's eye to the Source of Light, and seeing the Very Good, will use it for an example to set in order, each in turn, for the rest of his life, his own city, and his neigh- bour's, meanwhile himself spending the greater part of his time in thought. But, when his turn comes, he will labour at politics, and become a magistrate for the city's sake, not as an honour, but as a necessary duty. And so, and not before, when they have trained a succession of other men of like character, and have left them in their places, to be guardians in their stead, they will withdraw to the Isles of the Blest, there to dwell ; and we shall make the City set up tombs to them and services as unto canonized saints, if Delphi permit; or, if not, as at least to men of saintly and divine nature.
" ' You have finished off your Governors in fine style, Socrates, with your Sculptor's chisel.'
"'And Governesses, too, Glaucon,' I said. 'You are not to imagine that anything I have said refers to men more than to women.' "
J. O. Miller.
nso
THE
OUTLOOK
FOR
RELIGIOUS
FAITH
INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY
THE thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction; not indeed For that which is most worthy to be blest; Delight and liberty, the simple creed Of childhood, whether busy or at rest, With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast: — Not for these I raise The song of thanks and praise;
But for those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections Which, be they what they may, Are yet the fountain light of all our day, Are yet a master light of all our seeing;
Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make Our noisy years seem moments in the being Of the eternal silence; truths that wake
To perish never; Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour,
Nor man nor boy,
Nor all that is at enmity with joy, Can utterly abolish or destroy!
Hence in a season of calm weather,
Though inland far we be, Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither, And see the children sport upon the shore, And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.
W. Wordsworth.
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
MANY and varied are the opinions held regard- ing the future of religion. Widespread is the somewhat paradoxical view that whilst church membership and church attendance are every- where decreasing, the age is by no means irreli- gious, but that there are many indications of a deep-seated need and yearning for something that religion alone can supply. At the same time there is a feeling abroad, which it is to be acknowledged finds expression within as well as without the fold, that the old forms of the church are not sufficiently adapted to their environment. The new wine of our age cannot be contained in the old wineskins.
We are wont to describe our period as a time of transition. But we must remember that all times are times of transition. Human life is never for a moment stationary whether we think of the individual or the community. New aspects of life, new points of view, are as continuously coming into the horizon of experience as new scenery meets the on-flowing river. Yet as the waters of the river may flow for many miles with a placid, almost imperceptible movement, and then rush rapidly on for a space, so the development of human life, with its concomitant changes, is more obvious at one period than at another. It is in such a period of rapid change we are living, and the process is likely to be
383
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
accelerated by the war, and it is not to be sup- posed that religious conditions will be exempt from the process.
The word religion is often used in different senses, with consequent confusion of mind. In the following pages it is used in its widest sense as including three more or less distinct things, viz. : ( 1 ) The personal experience of communion with God; (2) theology, or the intellectual formulations of such experience, and (3) the Church, or the social expression of religion in common worship. In discussing, therefore, the outlook for religion, we shall have in mind each of these three departments of religious life, for the ideally perfect religion would include per- sonal experience, theology, and the Church. I shall, however, try to make it clear at every point in the discussion which of these three depart- ments is under discussion. The object of the paper, then, will be to survey the present situa- tion and to discuss the conditions upon which religion may adapt itself to the changing circum- stances of our times.
THE CHURCH AND THE NEW ERA
It will scarcely be questioned that there is to-day much dissatisfaction with the present state of religion, and yet it may be questioned whether the clergy, of all denominations, were ever before such a right living, sincere and devoted body of men. There is much activity
384
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
displayed in congregations ; innumerable confer- ences are held in which every phase of religion is discussed. New schemes, revivals, missions, courses of sermons, elaborate or popular music, advertising, are all in turn or together tried, with results that are, on the whole, disappointing. In spite of everything, the churches are felt to be wanting in healthy vitality. Their feverish energy is regarded as a pathological symptom. It testifies to the indifference of large masses of the people in every walk of life. In certain quarters the churches meet with severest criticism. The intellectual element in our society regards the churches as almost hopelessly out of date. The masses regard the church as in the main a kind of club or society for the well-to-do, and, in some countries, as the opponent of social progress. The popular newspapers give the smallest pos- sible space to reports of church meetings, and give even that little grudgingly, because they know that the great body of their readers care little or nothing about the questions discussed at such gatherings.
Yet I believe there is no active opposition to the Church. The clergy are respected. There may be a feeling in some quarters that a clergy- man's work is not " a man's job," but of any deep- seated hostility or contempt there are but few signs. All the more reason is there to ask the question, " What are the roots of the dissatisfac- tion within and without the Church to-day?" 25 385
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
The most general answer suggested to this ques- tion is that the Reformed Church of to-day is not sufficiently adapted to its environment. Its forms of thought, its modes of worship, its out- look and attitude are those of the long-past Refor- mation period. But it cannot be too strongly urged that we are not living in that period. One result of this general failure of the Church to adapt itself to its environment is a feeling of uncertainty about many of the doctrines confi- dently proclaimed from the pulpit or expressed in the service. Now, uncertainty is fatal to the enthusiasm which is the life of the Church. The Church is weighed down with traditions, which are as much traditions of the elders and as injuri- ous to her progressive life as those which our Lord denounced in His day. Consequently the thoughtful man tends, in ever-growing numbers, quietly to drop out of the Church. He makes no fuss about it. He does not even care enough about the Church to try to help forward the work of its adaptation to environment. Rightly or wrongly, he regards the Church as hopelessly bound hand and foot by all sorts of out-worn symbols, Thirty-nine Articles, Westminster Con- fessions, and the like, which voice the conceptions of the sixteenth, but emphatically not of the twentieth, century. Thus arises dissatisfaction with the Church, or indifference to it arising out of the conviction that, in spite of the money given to it and the congregations that attend it, the Church is not leading or inspiring the age. Thence
386
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
comes the cry that we are living in a " New Era," and that the Church must shape her message to its needs.
THE NATURE OF FAITH
We are dealing with "The Outlook for Reli- gious Faith," and it must be clearly understood that religious experience and religious creeds are both matters of faith. There is a stage in the development of men when the appeal to faith is despised. The youth just beginning to think for himself catches up, with not unnatural pride in his budding intellect, some such tag as " I won't believe anything I cannot prove," or "We are living in the Age of Reason, not in the Dark Ages of Faith." He asks, therefore, for proof. If he is a religiously-minded youth he becomes inter- ested in the arguments of philosophy or the con- clusions of the Higher Critics, and is pretty sure to find that his looked-f or complete demonstration of religion is not forthcoming. Disappointment awaits the man who seeks to base his religious life upon the single foundation of intellectual proof. But later on, often in response to felt needs, the enquiring youth reopens the question of faith, and a wider experience and analysis of life show him that virtually all the most impor- tant things of life rest upon a basis not of demonstrated truth but of conviction or faith. The man who makes an investment does so on grounds of faith, not of demonstration. He chooses his doctor or his lawyer on similar
387
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
grounds. He selects the particular steamship line by which to cross the ocean upon the same principle of faith. There is indeed no other way. He cannot be quite sure of his bank, or of his lawyer's or his doctor's opinion, or of his steam- boat's security. He finds that he is living in a world of such a kind that every day he is com- pelled to break his own rule to believe nothing he cannot prove. The higher he advances in the scale of human experience the more surely is he submitted to the conditions of faith. Friendship is in the last resort based upon faith, and the best happiness that comes from friendship is due to this fact. It is the joy of giving and receiving confidence, or faith, that gives its blessing to friendship, and it is obvious that the benediction of marriage is proportionate to the completeness and the unbrokenness of this perfect faith.
Seeing, then, that we actually live in a world in which we continually do and must act upon faith, it ought not to surprise us that faith is the ruling word in religion. It is necessary to be perfectly clear about this at the outset of any profitable discussion of religion. But the word faith is often used in two distinct senses, with not merely resultant confusion, but much injury to the Church. Faith per se is really a kind of faculty ; it is the power of being convinced. Con- viction is something far more than assent. A man's whole personality is involved in convic- tion. His emotions, his intellect, his will, are all involved in the deeper convictions and especially
388
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
in the moral convictions of life. Faith when it has to do with a person is near akin to love. It is a confidence which leads to action, which influ- ences life, which craves for friendship. Faith in Christ, as the Supreme Guide and Master of Life, is, in its intensest experiences and activities, the highest possible application of the common fac- ulty of faith. The outlook for such a faith must be a matter of deepest importance.
But this use of the word faith is often con- founded with the systematic statement which we call a Creed or Confession of Faith. The two things are related but by no means identical. Faith is an inner experience. The Faith, or Creed, is an attempt to set forth the content of experience, and, as in the case of the earliest creeds, it may include certain historical state- ments, or statements believed to be historical. Now it is perfectly clear that a statement once believed to be plain history may in time come to be regarded, either as unhistorical, or as not in strictness belonging at all to the historical order. When we examine attempts to state in logical form the contents of religious experience, it is equally clear that no one generation can give perfect expression to all religious experience, for the forms in which we express religious or any other inner experience are sure to change with advance of knowledge or change of mental out- look. Hence there is a continual conflict between those who have the conservative temperament, and are not greatly impressed by changed condi-
389
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
tions of thought, and those who are what we call "up-to-date." Traditional statements of faith become deeply rooted in the affections of men, and the utmost aversion to change is experienced. Hence religious controversy, heresy trials, perse- cution. But in all thought on our subject, and in all discussion, it is of first-rate importance to distinguish between faith as the equivalent of conviction and " The Faith " as a statement of articles to be assented to, that is, a Creed.
It must not, however, be concluded from any- thing that has been said that there is no relation whatever between faith and reason. The man who has an investment to make brings to bear not only his own reason but that of his financial advisers upon the probabilities of its success. Men do not choose their banks or their doctors or their lawyers without good reason, nor do we make friends with or marry just anyone at all without consideration. But in the last resort these processes fall back and finally rest upon not rational demonstration but conviction. Just so reason has a very large and important func- tion to play in religion, and particularly in the formulation of religious experience or the making of creeds.
FAITH AND REASON
It is a fact that to many reason seems out of touch with creed or confession. There are in our Churches two sets of confessions: those which come from the pre-mediseval age and those which
390
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
were drawn up in the Reformation period. The early creeds, it is well to remember, were not deliberately drawn up by councils with a view to the complete expression of Christianity. They are the result of a long development, and deal for the most part only with matters that were the subject of vehement controversy. It is because such a creed, for example, as the Mcene grew through centuries into its final shape that it will long outlive the far more recent Confessions of the Reformation era. Nevertheless, as Doctor Sanday has pointed out, " In drawing up the creeds, the ancients went upon a number of assumptions that we can make no longer. They assumed the strict inerrancy of all the Scrip- tures; they assumed the literal accuracy of all the Old and New Testaments alike. . . . They thought of the sky as a solid vault resting on pillars; they thought of the sun and moon and planets as fixed in concentric spheres, which revolved within one another. They believed that irregularities occurred in the order of nature without any of the limitations we should set to them now." There is, moreover, a much greater intellectual gulf between educated and thought- ful people to-day and those of the Reformation period, than between the men of the Reformation and the theologians of the fourth and fifth cen- turies of our era. The theory of Development and the rise of Historical Criticism have not merely resulted in the rewriting of all Natural Science and History, but have revolutionized our
391
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
methods of study. It is for this reason that we must realize that we are no longer living in the Reformation period, and that the Confessions of that period can no longer have an authoritative control over our thinking or our preaching.
It is out of these indubitable facts, which it is folly to ignore, that the need for a restatement of the content of Christianity is urgently felt. It would be possible to fill a volume with quotations in support of this statement. I will give but one from the pen of a leading theologian of the Angli- can Church, Canon Streeter, of Oxford. In the preface to the famous volume of essays known as " Foundations," he writes as follows : " The world is calling for religion ; but it cannot accept a religion if its theology is out of harmony with science, philosophy, and scholarship. Religion, if it is to dominate life, must satisfy both the head and the heart, a thing which neither obscur- antism nor rationalism can do. At such a time it seems most necessary that those who believe that Christianity is no mere picturesque survival of a romantic past, but a real religion with a real message for the present and the future, should set themselves to a careful re-examination and, if need be, re-statement of the foundations of their belief in the light of the knowledge and thought of the day."
It is impossible, and would be out of place in such a volume as this, to enter into a detailed description of the contributions which the mod- ern methods of study are making to this attempt
392
THE OUTLOOK FOK RELIGIOUS FAITH
to re-state Christianity in terms of our own age, just as the men of the fourth century and the men of the Reformation period stated it for theirs. But upon one point I must write with some fulness, because upon it depends the value of such practical propositions as I may offer at the end of this essay.
Christianity in its origin was not a dogmatic religion. It is not primarily the religion of a creed. It does not begin with propositions that can, in strictness, be described as theological. The fashioning of creeds came later. Why and how these things came about the prolonged study of Christianity from the historical side has made clear. Two important points are to be noted in this connection.
(1) In its origin Christianity is of the Jews. Christ was born under the Law. He was a Hebrew, and His life was lived among Hebrews and His appeal was to Hebrews. He is steeped in Hebrew ideas and in Hebrew methods, in spite of the fact that He was, like many of the Hebrew prophets, despised and rejected of His own people. Now the Hebrew religion was never based upon a creed. There is no creed in the Old Testament. Of course the Hebrews believed many things about God, but they never formu- lated them into a series of statements which became terms of membership in the Hebrew Church. The Hebrew is not speculative or abstract. He is practical and concrete. He is a person in whom will power predominates above
393
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
the emotions and the intellect. A key word of the Old Testament is "righteousness," and right- eousness is conformity to the will of God. The Hebrew prophet looked for a kingdom of God upon earth in which righteousness and peace should prevail. In its method and form Christ's teaching follows the prophetic model. Its first word is "The Kingdom is at hand." Its most characteristic teaching is ethical, although its ethics spring out of the love of God and with it are ever connected. In this kingdom our Lord's own position is central. He is its King, albeit a meek and lowly King, and those who would be members of the Kingdom must be His disciples. But from first to last there is nothing that pro- perly can be described as a system or a creed.
(2) The second point to be noted is that it was not until Christianity made its appeal to the Gentile world that the idea of creed begins to emerge. It was inevitable that the Greek should ask speculative questions, and that as time went on these speculative questions should become more and more difficult. One question led on to another. To them some answer had to be given, and it was in the face of this necessity that the Nicene and finally the so-called Athanasian Creed were shaped. The Greek mind was, in its methods, almost at the antipodes of the Hebrew, and there- fore Christianity could not but undergo vast for- mal changes when it left its parent soil and sought to establish itself in so different an environment.
394
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
This process of transformation was necessary. Only thus could Christianity make its way in the Greek thinking world. " Primitive Christianity," it has been said, "had to die in order that the Gospel might live." The student of the history of Dogma will agree that in the controversies of the first four centuries the Church was right, and the Nicene Creed is a truly magnificent summing up of three hundred years of hard thinking.
But my point is that this process of defining the indefinable was not " primitive," but that it was a process of "adaptation to environment," and therefore its results ought not to be imposed upon every successive generation as the ultimate test of a Christian. The world moves. New environments are certainly arising, and there is a continuous call for fresh adaptations. Although the modern man may have no difficulty in acknow- ledging Christ as the Lord of his spiritual and moral being, even in the simplest of our creeds there are things hard for him to accept. That the Greek mind should make a permanent contribu- tion to Christianity was to be expected, but that its results should be stereotyped for all genera- tions cannot be admitted. The needs of our own age cannot be supplied by the provision that was made for those of other times and other manners.
THE MEANING OF A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL
Since the outbreak of the war there has been much talk of Religious Revival. But as to the precise meaning of this term there has been much
395
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
uncertainty. To remove this we have made spas- modic and partial attempts, but so far as it is ever possible to judge the results have not been successful. The National Mission of Repentance and Hope in England was upon a large scale and was a well organized effort that could not fail to be productive of some fruit. Yet we venture to think the real nature of such a revival as our times demand has not been adequately expressed, because all the conditions of the times have not been considered which render such a revival necessary. We have heard of the falling off in church-going, of the luxuriousness of the age, of its worldliness and of its love of pleasure. But, if our diagnosis of the age is approximately true, the Church's failure (so far as it is a failure) is not due to these causes alone, but to her failure to meet the spiritual needs of serious and earnest men. To one who will look below the surface the serious problem for organized Christianity is not the absence of the worldly or the pleasure-loving, but of the unworldly and the serious, and it may even be added of the religious.
Such a revival of religion as this " New Era " calls for must go far deeper than even the National Mission of Repentance and Hope in England. Perhaps we may find some guidance for the present and the future from a considera- tion of the past.
In the nineteen hundred years of the Christian era there have been but three periods or crises which may be compared with ours. There was
396
THE OUTLOOK FOE RELIGIOUS FAITH
(1) the period of the origin of Christianity, (2) that of the Middle Ages, and (3) the Reforma- tion. Our era is one which calls for a revival that will bear some comparison with these. Now, shall we be far astray if we assert that the chief contribution of religion to these periods was a new idea, a seed-like thought, which was sown in an environment prepared for its reception, and which forthwith sprang up and branched out into many directions and bore not only rich but varied fruit. Historians of Christianity have delighted to show how remarkably the conditions of the first century of our era were adapted to the reception of the Christian idea of a universal as opposed to a national religion. That was the new idea which came to St. Peter when, with a kind of astonishment, he cried, " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh right- eousness is accepted with him." It was this new idea which came to that "Hebrew of the Hebrews," St. Paul, and made him count all things but loss for the sake of the one communion and fellowship, wherein there is "neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free."
It was again the idea of the City of God that burned in the mind of St. Augustine when the City of Rome and all it stood for was crashing to ruin under the assaults of the barbarians. It was this idea which gave new birth to the old Empire under its new form of the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Church with its
397
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
profound conception of unity, through which bar- barian Europe was Christianized, civilized and organized throughout the Middle Ages. And when that " one good custom " threatened to cor- rupt the world the great assertion of the worth and of the right of the individual soul started Europe upon a new line of development with its splendid results. Always the idea underlies the lasting revival or the new development.
It is, as it seems to us, the fresh idea which is lacking to all the present-day efforts for a revival of Christianity, and it is this which dooms them to sterility, or, at best, to kindle a blaze of sensa- tional fireworks which soon burns out, leaving no lasting light or heat.
The idea which shall give birth to a fresh and living movement of Christianity must be suffi- ciently in harmony with the scientific and philo- sophical ideas of our age to win the support of thoughtful "men of good will." "We can do nothing against the Truth." The lesson of the fate of Galileo stands, and the Church has never fully recovered the bad effects of her assaults upon the various scientific advances of the nine- teenth century. Even to-day the authorities of the Church, whilst they have ceased their active opposition to the modern movements of thought and the modern increments of knowledge, ignore them rather than undertake the heavier task of studying them with a view to the correlation of the old faith with the new intellectual environ- ment. To engage in this study is, however, the
398
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
necessary condition of a lasting revival of reli- gion. Every effort that opposes this condition or ignores it leaves the thoughtful person cold.
IDEAS INVOLVED IN RELIGIOUS REVIVAL
The first note of a revised religion for the twentieth century must be Universality or Cath- olicity. This is indeed an essential note of Chris- tianity. It is for all the world. We may observe that this was the note struck at the beginning of each of the great religious periods of the past. " For all the world," was the primitive message. The Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Church were conceived of as, in idea, at least, including all mankind. Even the Reformation which, in some ways meant division, had as its fundamental proposition the assertion of the rights of all men to free access to God. What- ever else a religious revival may include, it must begin with the note of universality.
In the second place, any revival which is to be effective for our age must have the notes of Liberty and Breadth. And this is in the main a fresh note, and one not altogether pleasing to the ecclesiastical mind. It requires, therefore, some explanation and defence.
The mediaeval world and the world of the Reformation period, in spite of the plea of the Reformation for a kind of liberty, both believed in an authority that was absolute and infallible. With the one it was the Church, with the other the Bible. But in experience all claims to infalli-
399
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
bility have broken down. A recent writer has very truly said that "we have no more reason, a priori, to look for infallibility in the sphere of intellect, as the result of that operation of the Divine Spirit which we call inspiration, than we have to look for impeccability in the sphere of conduct, as the result of that parallel operation of the same spirit which we call grace. In prac- tice we find neither the one nor the other: the Church, the School of Saints, is yet the home of sinners: the Church, the pillar and ground of the truth, has yet been endowed with no miracu- lous exemption from liberty to human error." Moreover, the modern conception of human life as a process of development renders the notion of infallibility irrelevant to the modern mind. What we may say and, as I venture to think, all that we may say, is that just as we may believe, in spite of imperfect morality amongst Chris- tians, that " the heart of the Church has beaten true upon the whole, and still beats true, to the moral ideas of her Divine Master; so we may believe, in spite of Robber Councils and Erastian Confessions, and the chaos of sects and parties in modern Christendom, that the Church has been and is being guided into an ever-deepening appre- hension of Divine truth."
The plea for liberty and breadth may, however, be grounded upon a more positive basis than the negative one of the failure of both the Roman and Protestant ideas of authority. We have already shown at sufficient length that Chris-
400
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
tianity is not in its essence a dogmatic faith. It is personal trust and confidence in its Founder and a willingness to follow Him. It is quite true that, having for so many generations thought of Christianity as a Creed rather than a Life, we find it hard to extricate ourselves from this mode of thinking; but the obstinate facts remain that our Lord might have formulated, but did not formulate, a Creed, and that He ever placed the practical, in a word, life itself, above the theoreti- cal. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Further, a consideration of our daily experience proves to us that no Church has any monopoly of genuine followers of Christ, nor is any Church exempt from flagrant sinners by reason Of its orthodoxy. Nay more, we find, amongst many who cannot assent to any of the various creeds in their entirety, the genuine spirit of Christ, a sincere love of truth, an uprightness of life and willingness to live for the common good which are at any rate a large part of Christianity. It is indeed a difficult ques- tion to decide where to assign the limits of free- dom, but we may be sure that He who sternly rebuked His disciples when they forbade one who refused to follow them; that He who told the story of the two sons whose father bade them work in the vineyard and found the truer s'on in him who, in word but not in deed, refused to go ; that He who laid such firm emphasis upon fruit- 26 401
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
bearing, and found in it and in the possession of the spirit of Love the marks of His true disciples, would fix no narrow bounds to the kingdom of heaven upon earth.
Moreover, this age is one which judges men by the spirit in which they live, and in doing so is nearer to the mind of the Master than were some previous ages. And in view of the vastness of the task of transforming this modern world into a Christian Society, this age realizes the necessity for unity of spirit of all " men of good will " and co-operation in work. Unless the Church can include in its programme a large measure of liberty and breadth it is hopeless to look for an enduring revival of religion.
In the third place, the Church must devote itself more frankly and completely to the general good. Its message will, as ever, be a message of salvation, but it will look for Salvation through Service, and this it is clear enough was Christ's way. The Church's task is to build up on earth the kingdom of heaven — the kingdom of right- eousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost — by inspiring men to the love of God and guiding them to the service of men. The two great com- mandments are still, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. It is at this point that the Church is least adequate to its task, and it is owing to this fact that so much of the best social service of our day is organized and conducted from outside the Church. The Church is still in the trammels
402
THE OUTLOOK FOE RELIGIOUS FAITH
of its dogmatic limitations. It knows not, as does a Jane Addams, how to love and labour for man as man. It still reduces and hampers its own efficiency by labelling men, as Catholic or Protestant, Anglican or Methodist, Christian or Jew. The Social Settlement seeks to serve man as man, and herein it is closer than the Church to the Divine Master. In men's hearts to-day there is kindling as never before the humani- tarian spirit. It is at least a half of Christianity, and the revival of religion in the Church, if it is to come at all, must give unlimited opportunity to this spirit.
The great problems of to-day are nearly all social in their character. They all resolve them- selves into one, the problem of the common good. But the Churches are hindered in their pursuit of the common good by their love of the partial good, i.e., the Denominational gain. The denom- inational motive adulterates the purely Christian motive. It is out of the recognition of this amongst other facts that the Church Unity move- ment has arisen. Exactly what form it may ulti- mately take it is not possible to say, but it is highly desirable that without waiting for formal unity the spirit of fellowship and of common effort should be stimulated.
It seems certain that after the war a great effort will be made to build on a sounder basis than heretofore the international fabric. The key- word of this effort will be "The Common- wealth of Nations," and the problem will be to
403
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
harmonize the national with the universal spirit. What part or lot will the Churches have in this movement? It is indeed of the essence of the Gospel message. But in their divided and mutu- ally antagonistic condition, the various branches of the Church are enfeebled almost to the point of paralysis. The situation of the Church is indeed more perilous than its leaders appear to realize, and the great opportunities that will open to the Church in the near future will soon pass, never to return. For how can the warring branches of the Church bring peace and good to the warring nations of the world?
THE MESSAGE OF LOVE AND SERVICE
In the Book of Revelation the Seer sees in a vision four living creatures round the throne of God, full of eyes before and behind. Without ceas- ing they cry, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come." Past, Present and Future, all are His. And the living creatures endowed with eyes before and behind look back upon the past and forward to the future. The figure has its lesson for the Church. Some there are who have eyes only behind, and who ardently gaze upon the past but have no vision of the future. Some with equal ardour have little consciousness of the past and no regard for it. They have eyes only in front. But humanity and humanity's history are one long development, and the past is ever con- tained in the present. It is the Spirit that gives
404
THE OUTLOOK FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH
unity to history. The forms continually change. The fullest and frankest study of religion in its myriad forms strengthens the conviction that it is an enduring and a growing element in human nature. Man is a religious animal. The task of the Church, therefore, is not to hand on a change- less tradition, like the family jewels in a casket, but rather to guide and direct mankind along the paths of the spirit that lead onwards to eternity. Adaptation to environment is a condition of vitality in the Church, as in the world of nature. Yet we need eyes behind as well as before. We need, when we look backwards, to seek the les- sons of the past to guide us in the future. The past reveals to us the timeless element embodied in the changing elements of custom, of knowledge, of conditions. The retrospect strengthens our faith in Him who sits upon the throne, the Eter- nal Source from whence all things come, and to which all things return. Out of this conviction comes the inspiration of hope which cheers the worker on his way. But the retrospect shows us that the object of our faith and our hope is Love. That object has throughout the Christian cen- turies been symbolized by the Cross ; and clearer than ever for the man of to-day stands out the figure of One who is hanging from a cross. But the modern mind puts a new emphasis upon the meaning of the symbol, and relegates to the back- ground older theories of the atonement which found their sanction and appeal in a by-gone age. For us the Man, upon the cross signifies the per-
405
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
feet Sacrifice of Love — the Supreme Sacrifice of Service to the human race. It is the irresistible appeal of this sacrifice of love and service that induces men of our day to offer themselves, souls and bodies, a living sacrifice, acceptable to God as a reasonable service. It is the only appeal that will henceforth move men to this decision. "The New Era" will be an era rooted in faith and inspired by hope, but the faith will be in Him who said, " A new commandment give I unto you that ye love one another," and who symbol- ized the life of the Church in the words, " I am in the midst of you as he that serveth." For the rest this faith, though reverencing the creeds and confessions of the past, will trust to the con- tinued guidance of the living Spirit of God Who has thus far brought humanity along the way of life.
Herbert Symonds.
406
OUR
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
CHARACTER OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR
WHO is the happy Warrior? Who is he
That every man in arms should wish to be?
Tis, finally, the man who, lifted high, Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye, Or left unthought-of in obscurity — Who, with a toward or untoward lot, Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not, Plays, in the many games of life, that one Where what he most doth value must be won: Whom neither shape of danger can dismay, Nor thought of tender happiness betray; Who, not content that former worth stand fast, Looks forward, persevering to the last, From well to better, daily self-surpast: Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth Forever, and to noble deeds give birth, Or he must go to dust without his fame, And leave a dead unprofitable name, Finds comfort in himself and in his cause; And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause: This is the happy Warrior; this is he Whom every man in arms should wish to be.
W. Wordsworth.
OUR NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
THE months through which we are now passing are critical for the fate of the British Empire. The war has lasted over two years and a half. There is no sign of an end. Our enemies have devastated Belgium and enslaved its people. They have overrun Poland and taken to them- selves its vast resources in corn and food. The iron of Lorraine, the salt mines of Galicia, and the oil fields of Roumania are in their hands. They stand firmly entrenched on the western front from the sea to Switzerland. Their own coastline from Holland to Denmark has thus far proved impregnable.
As against this we have done much. German commerce is driven from the sea. The German colonies are conquered. France has placed in the field one-sixth of her population. England has raised an army of five million men. From over- seas a steady stream of transports crowded with our troops moves towards the heart of the Empire. The whole of the neutral world is under contribution to our arms. Its factories are turned to arsenals. British wealth that represented before the war some twenty billion dollars in its foreign investments is being traded for the munitions of war.
In the moral sense the Allied peoples have done still more. Belgium's defiance of tyranny, the
409
THE NEW EEA IN CANADA
grim devotion of those whom we used to call the light-hearted people of France, and the cheerful gayety of the " stolid " English — the nation that will not retaliate, that still plays fair when mur- der and piracy are turned against it, that buries with military ceremony even the raiders who have slaughtered its children, that hurls its bombs in Flanders as a new form of cricket, and turns even its dangers and its heroism into a form of sport — these are the things that have called forth the admiration of the world.
As against this the German brow is dark with the shame of the torturer and the murderer. There are cries that echo to us from the wastes of the Atlantic, and that will echo still through centuries of time.
But we only deceive ourselves if we hide the fact that the fate of the war — and with it all that is best in the world — hangs in the balance.
WHAT ARE WE TO DO ?
Our soldiers in the field have done, and are doing, all that heroism can inspire and all that endurance can fulfil. Are we doing our share at home? We go about our tranquil lives scarcely disturbed. Here and there, the swift dart of death, that strikes "somewhere in France," reaches, with its double point, somewhere in Can- ada, a mother's heart. We pause a moment in our sympathy, and pass on. To and fro we go about our business. We pay our easy taxes, and subscribe to our so-called patriotic loan, so issued
410
OUR ORGANIZATION FOB THE WAR
that the hungriest money-lender in New York is glad to clamour for a share of it. We eat, drink, and are merry, or, at least, not sad, professing a new philosophy of life as our sympathies grow dull to the pain and suffering that we do not share.
Are we, the people of Canada who are at home, doing our proper part to help to win the war?
If a war were conducted with the full strength of a nation, it would mean that every part of the fighting power, the labour, and the resources of the country were being used towards a single end. Each man would either be fighting or engaged in providing materials of war, food, clothes and transport for those that were fighting, with siich extra food and such few clothes as were needed for themselves while engaged in the task.
This is a war economy. This is the fashion in which the energies of a nation would be directed if some omniscient despot directed them and controlled the life and activity of every man.
A nation so organized, if it were possible, would be multiplied as ten to one.
EFFORTS THAT LEAD NOWHERE
In place of it look about us. Thousands, tens of thousands, millions of our men, women and children are engaged in silly and idle services or in production that is for mere luxuries and com- forts and that helps nothing in the conduct of the war. They are making pianos, gramophones, motor cars, jewellery, books, pictures, clothes in
411
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
millions of yards and millions of dollars, that are mere needless luxuries, furniture that could be waited for, new houses where our old ones would still do, new railroads that lead nowhere — in short, a multitude of things that have no bearing whatever on the great fight for life and death which is going on in the world without. Such people, though they work fourteen hours a day, are but mere drones in the hive as far as the war is concerned. Every crippled soldier that comes home and looks upon our so-called busy streets feels this by instinct, with something, perhaps, like hatred in his heart.
These workers pay their taxes, it is said. By levying taxes on what they made we get the revenue that helps to pay for the war. Quite true, as far as it goes. But follow this poor argument in its tracks and you will see that it goes but an inch or so and then falls. It springs out of the perpetual confusion that arises in people's minds by mixing up the movement of money to and fro which they see and think they understand, with the movement and direction of the nation's production, which they do not. The so-called War-Tax is but a small part of a man's earnings; let us say, for the sake of argument, one-tenth. This means that nine-tenths of the man's work is directed to his own use and only one-tenth for the war. Or let us put the case in the concrete. Let us suppose that the man in question makes pianos. The net result of his
412
OUR ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
work is as if he gave one-tenth of his pianos to the Government. With that tenth there is no quarrel. The Government can exchange it for foreign gunpowder; this is the same, at one remove, as if the piano made gunpowder. But the other nine-tenths is all astray. This the piano man exchanges for wheat, vegetables, meat, clothes, and so on ; thus, as far as this nine-tenths of the man's work goes, he is a mere drone or parasite feeding himself and clothing himself, but not helping to fight the war at all. Worse than that. The farmer who raised the food is a parasite, too. For although food is a war material, this particular piece of food is not. The farmer who raises food and exchanges it for pianos, pianolas, victrolas, trotting buggies, books, moving pictures, pleasure cars, and so on, is just as much a war-drone as the man who made them.
In other words, the further we look into the case the worse it gets. Since food is a war material we might have supposed at first sight that our vast agricultural population was really employed in working to win the war. Indeed a lot of nonsense to this effect has been spoken and printed during the past few years. If all our farmers were working directly for the Govern- ment, if all that they produced were handed over to the Government, and if they themselves received out of it only enough food and clothes to keep them going, indeed, they would be doing
413
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
war work. For the Government could either use the food to feed the soldiers or sell it to the for- eigners for the munitions. But this is not the case.
FRUITLESS EXPORTS
Exactly the same argument applies to the export trade. It is often thought that if such and such a thing is manufactured in Canada and sold abroad, then since this brings money into the country with which we can buy war material to pay soldiers, the export trade is a direct con- tribution towards the war. Sheer fallacy and confusion, if not worse. Export in private hands pays only its tax to the Government, not its product. The export workers exchange their nine-tenths of what they make, for their own con- sumption. Here, again, drone trades with drone, and the country profits — apart from its little tax — nothing.
The truth is that in all these things individual greed and selfishness obscure the issue. War brings with it the peculiar phenomenon of war prosperity. This, economically, is one of the most distressing things conceivable. Here is the interpretation of it. It is as if an industrious farmer and his family had worked hard for a generation and amassed flocks and herds, barns and buildings, and good stores of provisions and grain ; then, in a moment of insanity, had set to work to burn the buildings, and in the warm light of the flames kill and devour the animals, and
414
OUR ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
gorge themselves with the grain and fodder, throwing the rest away. In this mad orgy one son of the family, more idiotic even than the rest, rubs his silly hands before the burning home and leers : " Father, it is warmer here and nicer, and there is more to eat, than in the old days when we worked hard and had but little food. Father, we are prosperous. We have done a good thing." Then presently the fire burns down into ashes and the night comes and the dark. And where the grain once stood and the meadows smiled in the sun, the wolves shall howl again in the gloom of the forest. And where the homestead was, there will be graves. Such is the interpretation of war.
The farmer and the family are the nation, and the idiotic son laughing beside the fire is the war theorist talking of the boom of trade.
But people either do not, or will not, know this. They still want their industry and its inflated gains, and War Prosperity with the flush on its hectic face and War Pleasure with its strident laugh, dancing away the midnight hours. In and through it all moves smug hypocrisy, sug- gesting the little words and phrases that are to salve the soul ; teaching the manufacturer to call himself a patriot as he pockets his private gains, and to shout for trade, more trade, that he may cram his pockets the fuller ; teaching the farmer that his own fat, easy industry is war itself, and that he may count his fatted cattle in the light of his stable lantern and go to bed a patriot;
415
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
teaching all the drones and parasites, the law- yers, the professors, the chefs and the piano players, the actors and the buffoons, that in going on with their business they are aiding in the conduct of the war.
"Business as usual," shouted some especial idiot at the outset of the war.
The cry was like to ruin us.
ECONOMY OF REAL EFFORT
What then are we to do? By what means can we change from an economy of peace and indus- trial selfishness to an economy of effort and national sacrifice?
There are two ways in which this can be done ; one that is heroic and impossible, another that lies easy to our hand.
The first is the method that nations adopt only in their despair, only in the last agonies of for- eign conquest, as when Richmond fell, or when the Boers fought on in grim desperation across the naked veldt. Here national production ends, save only for necessary food and war supplies. Private industry is gone. Luxury is dead. All of the nation's men are gathered into a single band. They do as they are told. They fight, they work, they die. Its women are in the fields; or they are making bandages; they tend the sick; they pray beside the dying.
Thus can a nation stand, grim and terrible, its back against the wall, till it goes down, all in one heap, glorious. In the wild onslaughts of the
416
OUR ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
great conquests of the past, nations have died like this.
But for us, here and now, and in the short time that we have, this is not possible. Outside inva- sion could force us to it, in a jumbled wreck, with no choice of our own. But to accomplish this at a word of command inside our present complex industrial system is not possible. It is too intri- cate, too complicated, to be done by command from above. To enlist every man and woman in an industrial army, to direct their work and assign their rations — in other words, to create an ideal national war machine — is a task beyond the power of a government. Years of preparation would be needed.
REAL NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
What we do must be done from below, using, as best we can, the only driving force that we know — the will of the individual. We must find a means that will begin to twist and distort our national industry out of its present shape till it begins to take on the form of national organiza- tion for war.
To do this we must exchange war prosperity for war adversity, self-imposed and in deadly earnest.
The key to the situation, as far as we can unlock it, lies in individual thrift and individual sacrifice. Let there be no more luxuries, no wasted work, no drones to keep, out of the national production.
27 417
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
Every man, to-day, who consumes any article or employs any service not absolutely necessary, aims a blow at his country.
Save every cent. Live plainly. Do without everything. Eise early, work hard, and content yourself with a bare living. The man who does this — if he uses the saved money properly — is doing war work for his country. He may wrap his last year's coat about him and eat his bread and cheese and feel that he, too, is doing some- thing to show the world the kind of stuff that is yet left in it.
But he must use his savings properly. That is the whole essence of the matter.
Let us see what this implies. If the idea of National Thrift were really to spread among us, there would be no more purchases of mere luxur- ies, or things that could be done without ; no more motors, no theatres (save where the work is vol- untary and the money for the war), no new clothes — they would become a badge of shame — no books, no pictures, no new furniture, no new carpets, no victrolas, and for our children no new toys save such as can be made by the affectionate industry of a father working overtime with bits of stick and cardboard.
Such a programme would threaten to wipe out manufacturers and knock down dividends like ninepins. At first sight, a manufacturer, reading such an article as this, turns pale with indigna- tion and contempt. Let him wait. Let us follow the money that is saved a little further and see what happens to it.
418
OUK ORGANIZATION FOE THE WAR
NATIONAL TAXES AND NATIONAL LOANS
Every cent of the money that can be gathered up by national thrift should be absorbed by national taxes and national loans. Our present taxes are, for war-time, ridiculously low as far as all people of comfortable, or even of decent, means are concerned. And they are made with one eye on the supposed benefit to industry. We need a blast of taxation — real taxation, income tax and all, that should strike us like a wave of German gas. As things are, we should go down before it. Armed with the new gas helmet of national thrift we could breathe it easily enough and laugh behind our goggles.
Over above the taxes we need a succession of government patriotic loans, not money-lenders' loans at market and super-market rates, but patriotic loans in the real sense, at a low rate of interest, let us say four per cent., and issued in bonds of twenty-five dollars, with a dollar a year as interest.
The people, one says, will not subscribe. Then, if not, let us perish; we do not deserve to win the war.
But they will subscribe.
If, under the auspices of our Government, a national campaign for thrift and investment is set on foot; if we give to the ideas all the pub- licity that our business brains can devise, if we advertise it as commerce advertises its healing oils and fit-right boots and its Aphrodite corsets, then people will subscribe, tumultuously, roar- ingly, overwhelmingly.
419
THE NEW ERA IN CANADA
If not — if that is the kind of nation that we are — let us call our soldiers home from the western front. They are fighting under a misunderstand- ing. The homes that they are saving are not worth the sacrifice.
CAMPAIGN OF THRIFT
But first let the Government — of the domin- ions, the provinces, the cities and the towns— itself begin the campaign of thrift. At present vast sums of money are being wasted in so-called public works, railways in the wilderness, cement sidewalks in the streets, post offices in the towns — millions and millions that drain away our eco- nomic strength. In time of peace these are excel- lent. For war, unless they have a war purpose, the things are worse than useless. The work of the men who labour at them is of no value, and the food and clothes that they consume must be made by other men.
Let us be done with new streets and new side- walks, new town halls and new railways, till the war is done. Let us walk in our old boots on the old boards, patriots all, with dollar pieces jing- ling in our pockets adding up to twenty-five for the latest patriotic loan.
Let us do this, and there will pour into the hands of the Government such a cascade of money that the sound of it shall be heard all the way to Potsdam.
And here enters the last step to be taken under National Thrift to convert ourselves into a war
430
OUR ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAR
economy. The Government goes with its money to the manufacturers and interrogates them. What can you make, and you, and you? You have a plant that has made buggies and fancy carriages. These our people will not buy because now they walk. But what is it that you can make? — can you turn yourself to making trucks, waggons? You, that made boots and have lost half your trade, what about a hundred thousand boots for the army? You, that made clothes, what about doing the whole thing over in khaki?
The needs of a War Government are boundless, endless. The list of its wants is as wide as the whole range of our manufactures. The adjust- ment is difficult. Not a doubt of it. It cannot be done in a day. But with each successive month the process would go on and on till we would find ourselves, while working, apparently, each for himself, altered into a nation of war-workers, every man, in his humble sense, at the front and taking his part.
Meantime we at home are doing nothing, or next to it, for the war. While we go about our business as usual, men are breathing out their lives for us, somewhere in France.
What shall we do?
Stephen Leacock.
[NOTE. — This paper was written by Professor Leacock for the use of the Government, which has printed a quarter of a million copies. It has attracted considerable atten- tion in England, and especially in the London Times. Pro- fessor Leacock has very kindly allowed me to use it here. — EDITOR.]
421
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below
211937
Form L-9-15m-3,'34
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA
AT
LOS ANGELES LIBRARY
1033 Miller -
A 000886986 9