Addresses

EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

BEING ADDRESSES DELIVERED BEFORE THE EMPIRE

CLUB OF CANADA DURING ITS SESSION

OF 1908-1909

EDITED BY

J. CASTELL HOPKINS, F.S.S.

SIXTH YEAR OF ISSUE

ILLUSTRATED

TORONTO

WILLIAM BRIQOS

Copyright, Canada, 1910,
THB EMPIRE CLUB OF CANADA.

CONTENTS

PAG8

Principles of the Club --- 5

Imperial Defence 11

Mr. Howard D'Egville, Hon. Secretary Imperial Feder-
ation (Defence) Committee, of London, England.

Religious Contributions toward Imperial Unity - 19

The Rev. Canon H. J. Cody, D.D., LL.D., of Toronto.

The Australian Commonwealth 30

The Hon. George W. Ross, LL.D., Senator of Canada,
Toronto.

British Diplomacy 40

Mr. R. S. Neville, K.C., of Toronto.

Present Conditions and Future Prospects in India - - 58
Prof. G. S. Brett, M.A., of Trinity University, Toronto.

The Present Crisis in Turkey - -.- - - -67
Dr. Sydney H. Gould, of Constantinople, Turkey.

The Germany of To-day - - 79

Prof. L. E. Horning, PH.D , of Toronto University
(Victoria College).

The Constitutional Problem in Russia - - 91

Prof. James Mavor, M.A., of the University of Toronto.

India and British Honduras 102

Brig. -General E. J. E. Swayne, C.B., Governor of British
Honduras.

Imperial Citizenship - - -no

The Rev. C. S. Eby, D.D., of Toronto.

The Menace of Socialism 120-

Mr. E. J. Kylie, M.A., of Toronto University.

A Canadian Cable to Japan : Its Commercial and Imperial

Value - 129

Mr. R. S. Neville, K.C., of Toronto.

The Position of Prince Edward Island - - - - 134
The Very Rev. A. E. Burke, D.D., LL.D., of Charlotte-
town.

4 CONTENTS

PAGE

The Judicial Committee of the Provincial Council - 142

Mr. J. M. Clark, M.A., LL.B., K.C., of Toronto.

'- Naval Defence for Canada - 158

His Honour John A. Barren, K.C., County Judge of •
Perth.

Milton as an Empire Builder 168

Mr. George Hunter Robinson, M.A., of Toronto.

The Mineral Resources of Canada 189

Mr. R. W. Brock, M.A., PH.D., Director Geological
Survey, Department of Mines, Ottawa.

Australian Political Development - - - - 197

The Hon. J. H. McColl, Senator of the Commonwealth
of Australia.

Industrial Education - (212')

The Hon. R. A. Pyne, M.D., Minister of Education for V^X
Ontario.

Some Considerations of Railway Regulation - - - 220
Mr. S. J. McLean, PH.D., Member of Dominion Rail-
way Commission, Ottawa.

MR. D. J. GOGGIN, M.A., D.C.L.

President of the Empire Club of Canada, 1908-9.

PRINCIPLES OF THE CLUB.

The object of the Club is the advancement of the interests of
Canada and a United Empire,

CONSTITUTION.

1. The organization shall be called The Empire Club of Canada.

2. Membership shall be open to any man of the full age of
eighteen years who is a British subject.

3. Honourary members may be elected from time to time upon
the recommendation of the Executive Committee at any open
meeting of the Club.

4. Candidates for membership shall be proposed and seconded
by two members of the Club in good standing, and shall be elected
by a two-thirds majority of those present at any meeting of the
Executive Committee.

5. The fee for admission shall be the sum of One Dollar, pay-
able annually in advance. No member in arrears for fees or dues
shall be considered to be in good standing, or shall be eligible for
office, or have the right to attend at any meeting 01 -the Club.
Honourary members shall be exempt from the payment of fees,
but will not have the privilege of voting or holding office.

6. The officers of the Club shall consist of an Honourary Presi-
dent ; a President ; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Vice-Presidents ; a Treasurer;
a Secretary, and ten other members who together shall constitute,
with the officers before mentioned, the Executive Committee, all of
whom shall be elected by ballot. Two auditors shall also be
elected at each annual meeting.

7. The Club shall hold general meetings weekly from October
to May, both inclusive, in each twelve months, with such intermis-
sion as from time to time maybe decided upon. Nominations
for office shall be made at the second general meeting of the Club
in October of each year, and the elections shall take place at the
next succeeding meeting, and this latter meeting shall be deemed
to be the annual meeting. At the annual meeting a report of the
year's proceedings and work shall be submitted by the President
and this report shall be accompanied by a report of the Treasurer
duly audited.

8. In the event of any office becoming vacant by death, resigna-
tion or otherwise, the vacancy thus caused shall be filled by the
Executive Committee, and the person so selected shall hold office
until the next annual meeting.

6 Principles of the Club.

9. The duties of the officers shall be those customary to such
positions in similar organizations.

10. One week's written notice shall be given of all annual or
special meetings to the members of the Club.

11. Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be called by the
President, or on a requisition signed by three of its members.
Special meetings of the Club may be called by the President, and
shall be called on a requisition signed by twelve members, and
stating the object of the meeting. This object to be also stated in
the notice calling the meeting.

12. The President's and Treasurer's Annual Reports, together
with the list of members and the Constitution of the Club, shall be
published in pamphlet form immediately after the annual meeting
in each year.

13. This Constitution may be amended at the annual meeting
or at a special meeting called for that purpose, subject to a two-
thirds majority vote of the members present.

14. Fifteen members in good standing shall constitute a quorum
at any meeting of the Club, General, Annual or Special ; six mem-
bers shall form a quorum of the Executive Committee, and the
presiding officer shall have a casting vote.

AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION.

CLAUSE n.

"The active membership of the Club shall be limited to five
hunderd, and membership shall be open to any man of the full
age of eighteen who is a British subject."

CLAUSE vi.

"That the election of officers of the Club shall take place at a
general meeting of the members, to be held in the month of May
in each year, at a date to be decided upon by the Executive Com-
mittee, and this meeting shall be deemed to be the annual meet-
ing. A committee to nominate the officers for the new year shall
be appointed at the meeting next preceding such annual meeting,
and such committee shall report to the annual meeting. That
Past Presidents of the Club shall be ex-officio members of the
Executive Committee."

THE EMPIRE CLUB OF CANADA.

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
1903-4.

President -
1st Vice- President
2nd Vice- President
3rd Vice-President
Hon. Secretary -
Hon. Treasurer -
Literary Secretary

Lieut. -Colonel James Mason.

Prof. William Clark, D.D., D.C.L.,LL.D.

Mr. Hugh Blain.

Mr. James P. Murray.

Mr. J. F. M. Stewart.

Major J. Cooper Mason, D.S.O.

Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Editor of Annual Volume - Prof. William Clark, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D.

Frank Darling,

Capt. E. Wyly Grier, R.C.A.,

Robert Junkin,

Committee.

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh,
W. E. Lincoln Hunter,
Noel Marshall,
F. B. Poison.

Alex. Fraser,
Wallace Jones,
H. C. Osborne,

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

President -
ist Vice-President
2nd Vice-President -
$rd Vice-President
Hon. Secretary -
Hon. Treasurer
Literary Sec'y and Editor

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh,
Major E. Wyly Grier,
Robert Junkin,

1904-5.

Lieut. -Colonel James Mason.

Prof. William Clark, D.D.,D.C.L., LL.D.

Mr. Hugh Blain.

Mr. James P. Murray.

Mr. J. F. M. Stewart.

Major J. Cooper Mason, D.S.O.

Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Committee.
Frank Darling,
W. E. Lincoln Hunter,
Noel Marshall,
F. B. Poison.

Alex. Fraser,
Wallace Jones,
H. C. Osborne,

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

President -
ist Vice-President
2nd Vice- President
3rd Vice-President
Hon. Secretary -
Hon. Treasurer -

1905-6.

Prof. William Clark, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D.

Mr. James P. Murray.

Mr. Robert Junkin.

Mr. J. F. M. Stewart.

Mr. W. J. Green.

Mr. L. A. Winter.

Literary Sec'y and Editor - Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Alex. Fraser,
S. Alfred Jones,
J. Castell Hopkins,

Committee.

Major J. Cooper Mason, J. M. Clark, K.C.,

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh, Major E. Wyly Grier,

H. C. Osborne, W. H. Orr,
Dr. E. Clouse.

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

1906-7.

President - - -

ist Vice-President

2nd Vice-President

jrd Vice-President

Hon. Secretary -

Hon. Treasurer

Literary Secretary - - }

Editor of Annual Volume - Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Mr. James P. Murray.
Mr. J. F. M. Stewart, B.A.
Mr. J. M. Clark, K.C.
Mr. H. C. Osborne.

'Mr. E. V. Portway.

Committee.
H. S. Pell,

Alexander Fraser,

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh, J. Castell Hopkins,

D. J. Goggin, D.C.L.,

W. J. Green,

Lieut. -Colonel James Mason,
8

E. Clouse, M.D.,
G. H. Muntz,

E. K. Richardson, M.D., J. R. Roaf,
Major J. Cooper Mason,

Prof. William Clark.

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
1907-8.

President Mr. J. F. M. Stewart, B.A.

ist Vice-President Mr. D. J. Goggin, M.A., LL.D.

2nd Vice-President - Mr. Elias Clouse, M.n.

3rd Vice-President - - - Mr. James R. Roaf.

Hon. Secretary - - - -}

Hon. Treasurer - - j-Mr. D. J. Goggin, M.A., LL.D.

Literary Secretary

Editor of Annual Volume - - Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Committee.

E. M. Chadwick, K.c. J. M. Clark, K.C.,

F. B. Fetherstonhaugh, J. Castell Hopkins,
Rev. Dr. T. C. S. Macklem, G. Harold Muntz,
Dr. W. H. Pepler, Dr. E. K. Richardson,
W. A. Sherwood, A.R.C.A., Lieut-Col. J. Mason,
Prof. William Clark, James P. Murray.

OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
1908-9.

President - . - . Mr. D. J. Goggin, M.A., LL.D.

ist Vice-President - - Dr. Elias Clouse.

2nd Vice-President - - Mr. James R. Roaf.

3rd Vice-President - - Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Hon. Secretary - - -\

Hon. Treasurer - - - I Mr. J. F. M. Stewart.

Literary Secretary - - J

Editor of Annual Volume - Mr. J. Castell Hopkins.

Committee.

J. M. Clark, K.c., F. B. Fetherstonhaugh, G. Harold Muntz,

Dr. W. H. Pepler, Dr. E. K. Richardson, W. A. Sherwood,

Prof. G. Oswald Smith, J. M. Foster, D. J. McDougald,

R. S. Neville, K.c. , Lieut. -Col. J. Mason, Prof. William Clark,
James P. Murray.

Hon. President, 1893-1
LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL, G.C.M.G.

Hon. Af ember, iSg^-igog :

RT. HON. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.
9

MR. HOWARD D'EGVILLE.

Hon. Secretary Imperial Federation (Defence) Committee,
of London, England.

EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

An address by MR. HOWARD d'EcviLLE, Hon. Secretary Im-
perial Federation (Defence) Committee of London, England
before the Empire Club of Canada, September 25th, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen:

I consider it, gentlemen, a great honour and privilege
to be permitted to come here to-day to offer a few remarks
upon some aspects of a great question, and in doing so I
wish it to be clearly understood that I come forward in
no dogmatic spirit, but merely to place before you some
broad aspects of our Imperial position, in order to pro-
mote that consideration and that discussion which can
alone tend to the solution of the problems of our Empire.
Indeed, my main purpose in coming to the Dominion
was to investigate the views of prominent Canadians
upon questions of closer co-operation, although I have
accepted, somewhat naturally, the opportunity of
addressing meetings which has been so generously
afforded me, in order to bring myself in closer contact
with a greater number of the people who think along
the lines upon which some of us are thinking at home,
and the lines upon which I am desirous of gathering
information.

In approaching the question of closer union of the
Empire one's vision is apt to be obscured by certain
minor issues, but the real issues, and the only issues
which are worth considering, are plain and straightfor-
ward issues ; and their solution must, and will, involve
nothing more nor less than the future of our Empire and
our race. Any student of the present position must be
struck with the extremely anomalous position of the
present state of affairs. You have one country — the

11

12 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

United Kingdom — directing, practically alone, the for-
eign relations of the whole Empire; relations the con-
duct of which may involve the whole Empire in war.
On the other hand, you have the other countries of the
Empire having no joint partnership in that defence, the
maintenance of which, especially the Navy, is the sole
guarantee of the existence of the Empire. The present
position is easily explainable — first, on account of the
wide, geographical nature of our Empire; second, on
account of the extraordinarily rapid growth of the great
Dominions which we regard as over-sea. Fifty years
ago the United Kingdom was probably right in desig-
nating these states as colonies. Now she has to reckon
with them as nations ; nations which will exercise a large
and increasing share upon the external policy of our
Empire.

Canada, if we just glance at the beginning of the
century, was, we find, a struggling, isolated settlement.
She is now a great Dominion, stretching from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, having a population larger than
England in Elizabeth's time, and more than some Euro-
pean states at the present day; having a sea trade
equivalent to more than half the sea trade of Great
Britain at the beginning of last century, and being one
of the first shipping powers of the world. We have to
reckon with the great position that the Dominion now
occupies; it demands our recognition. We must under-
stand her desire to assume responsibility and her deter-
mination to realize her own destiny in the Empire, if
possible ; her own destiny, in any case. I think the feel-
ing of a great many in Canada has been voiced by
Kipling, who perhaps more than any other person has
fathomed the soul of the Empire, when he said :

We've drunk to the Queen — God bless her ! —

We've drunk to our mothers' land ;
We've drunk to our English brother,

But he does not understand ;
We've drunk to the wide creation,

And the Cross swings low for the morn's
Last toast, and of obligation,

A health to the native-born !

Imperial Defence 13

I venture to think that the question of the native-
born is one of the most pregnant factors in the Imperial
position. I venture to think, also, that we who have
studied the question in the Old Country both understand
and sympathize with those national aspirations; that
loyalty to the soil of Canada, loyalty to that fair Cana-
dian land of which you are so proud. While we are
proud to think that each of the individual nations is
loyal to itself, as we in the United Kingdom are loyal
to ourselves, there is a loyalty which is somewhat wider
than loyalty to the native, earth, or loyalty to the United
Kingdom — a larger loyalty, which implies a faithfulness
to that great Empire to which we all belong. The senti-
ment upon which that loyalty rests I for one do not fear
to count upon, for it has its limits only with the British
world. It has been proof against defects of any logical
system ; it will prove the main element of cohesion in a
system of Imperial co-operation. Therefore, loyalty to
our own individual countries is not inconsistent in the
least with the true Imperialism which, while recognizing
that each country must have the fullest scope for the
development of its own individuality and for the conduct
of its own affairs, recognizes that there must be an equal
co-partnership for common Imperial objects. For that
to take place the United Kingdom must cease — in fact,
has ceased — to regard the great Dominions as children.
She recognizes that they are great nations; that they
are sons which must be taken into partnership and added
to the efficiency of John Bull & Sons ; otherwise they
will set up as independent houses.

Now, gentlemen, one of the first indications of this
would be the establishment, I venture to think, of separ-
ate Colonial navies, under separate Colonial control. The
desire for this, which has been manifested in some
quarters, is due to those national aspirations to which I
have referred; also to a determination and a desire to
get control over the money which is being spent, and
the desire to see something for that expenditure. And
the splitting up of naval forces is contrary to the teach-
ing of history and to the canons of all naval strategy,

14 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

for the sea is all one, and it is only by one Navy that
we can defend our position upon the sea. Predominance
of sea force by a single Navy has been the history of
the Empire, the determining factor in the situation from
the days, for example, when all attention was concen-
trated upon the Napoleonic countries, where the master
of many legions was practically the master of the land
surface of the then habitable globe. The sole reason
why he was prevented from really bringing an end
to the British position was the naval supremacy of the
British. That was spoken of by the great naval writer,
Captain Mahan, when he said, referring to Napoleon:
" The British ships stood between him and the Empire
of the world."

The South African War was a military war ; attention
was concentrated upon the military asoects, but not one
man could have been sent from these shores to fight in
South Africa unless we had maintained command of the
sea. And home and colonial soldiers, when fighting the
Empire's battles in South Africa, knew that the ocean
rolled between them and their home ; and in that
supreme effort, 7,000 miles away, they also knew that
their rations and their supplies, from all quarters of the
globe, would be as regular and as safely delivered in
the heart of South Africa as at the railway station in
England. Therefore, the necessity, which is pointed to
as the great necessity of the Empire, is, first of all, one
fleet under one control ; second, a strong army, for the
purpose of over-sea service outside the shores of the
separate countries. What may be done with regard to
the latter is not at present very clear, but probably inter-
changeability of troops and officers is the most satis-
factory method that can be adopted at the present
moment. All attempts at local and fragmentary
defence will be the most expensive and the least effec-
tive method of co-operation. Unity of command and
discipline is essential both for the Navy and the Army of
the Empire.

What is at present being done by the great Dominions
is probably known to you as well as it is to me. For

Imperial Defence 15

example, in Canada one finds some action being taken
with regard to Halifax and Esquimalt. Australia is
waking up to the great necessities of the present situa-
tion, and her Prime Minister, Mr. Deakin, is taking
effective steps to organize a sea force in combination
with the Admiralty at home, and that sea force will be
under the control of the Admiralty in time of war, and
will be provided by Australia. Mr. Deakin realized the
position when he said : " Australia would lie open to the
first comer but for the supremacy of the British nation
on the high seas." The great burden imposed on the
people of Britain was telling upon everything in that
country, and Australia could not expect to receive the
privilege of protection without bearing a share of the
cost. Mr. Deakin realized that there was something
outside of Australia's shores ; that the rise of the power
of Japan and the United States was altering the surface
of the waters of the globe ; was showing that in the not
far-distant future we should have to face the possibility
of war in the Pacific, rather than in the Atlantic, seas.
For example, sixteen years ago only three great nations
had first-class battleshios, and they were confined to
European countries. Now six nations have first-class
battleships, and they are in the Pacific area as well as
the European. This points to the necessity of com-
bination between all parts of the Emoire in every way,
to develop their resources for meeting, the exigencies of
the future; not for purposes of aggression, but for
securing the safety and conserving the interests of those
great territories which have been added to our charge.

I would venture to remind you that we cannot defend
the Empire upon voluntary and spontaneous effort.
The sentiment which actuated those who went to fight
for the common flag in South Africa was a magnificent
one, but the disadvantage of relying upon spontaneous
effort in the future is this: First of all, that it takes
time to give effect to any such co-operation ; second,
that it is impossible to rely with certainty on exactly
what will be available. This was very well shown in a
few words by that great Imperialist, Hon. Joseph Howe,

16 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the Nova Scotian statesman. When referring to this
question, he said, in one of the most remarkable pas-
sages, I think, in the history of any statesman: "If
there are anv communities of British origin anywhere
who desire to enjoy all the privileges and immunities of
the Queen's subjects, without paying for and defending
them, let us ascertain where and who they are.' Let us
measure the proportions of political repudiation now in
a season of tranquillity, when we have leisure to gauge
the extent of the evil and to apply correctives, rather
than wait till war finds us unprepared and leaning 'upon
presumptions in which there is no reality."

I venture to think that Canada will soon recognize
that, while she has been growing in size, other nations
have been growing, too, and other nations have been
growing, too, in power. Thev are preparing in deadly
earnest for the welfare of the future. Germany in ten
years has trebled her expenditure upon the navy; the
United States in ten years has quadrupled hers ; and
though the United Kingdom has aimed, with grim
determination, to maintain at all costs the integrity of
the Empire, we must realize that, looking forward little
more than a generation, her resources will be taxed to
the utmost to meet the exigencies of a world-wide state.
Indeed, we have already been forced to enter into an
alliance with a naval power — Japan. And, while the
United Kingdom is prepared, as you all know, to face
the responsibility alone, she is not calling upon the great
Dominion for contributions to a poor-box. It is no
question of her ability in the future that she would wel-
come effective combination. In the words of our great
statesman, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain : " We do want
your aid in the administration of this vast Empire. It
is yours as well as ours, and I venture to think — in fact,
I know — that the statesmen of the United Kingdom
would welcome suggestions from the over-sea Dominions
as to the lines upon which it would be acceptable for
them to co-operate for the defence of the Empire."

My Committee hopes that by gaining a knowledge of
the attitude here it mav assist in the determination and

Imperial Defence 17

in the solution of the lines upon which it may be possible
to co-operate for the naval and military security of the
Empire in the future; and we believe that when Canada
and the thoughtful people of Canada give attention to
this question, as you are doing, they will realize that
the greatest efficiency and the greatest economy will be
for Canada to take a share in the maintenance of the
traditions, avail herself of the stored-up knowledge of
centuries of history, and take a joint partnership in the
ownership of the greatest Navy the world has ever seen.
But before anything effective can be accomplished there
must be, of necessity, some better machinery for con-
solidation. By the rise of foreign Powers, to which I
have referred, and the growth of the Dominions, the
latter are constantly being brought into contact with
world questions, and they must claim an increasing
voice in the regulation of the foreign policy of the
Empire. At present the Colonies have no constitutional
voice, and are apt to think their interests are being
subordinated to the situation in Europe; and, on the
other hand, the United Kingdom realizes that foreign
questions almost entirely arise from our colonial inter-
ests. In fact, as an ex-Foreign Minister, Lord Rose-'
bery, put it : " Our foreign policy has now become a
colonial policy, and is more dictated from the extremi-
ties of the Empire than from London itself."

Here, again, of course, it is a question of defence,
for the Navy is the only force which gives any weight to
our Ambassadors speaking to other nations in a foreign
country. The immediate point as regards the consoli-
dation must be that that consolidation should be sys-
tematic; that it should, not be a mere reference to those
Dominion representatives who happened to be over in
the United Kingdom at the time, but that, perhaps, there
should be the institution of a regular Imperial Office in
London, outside the Colonial Office, having representa-
tives there of the over-sea Dominions, who would form,
as it were, Secretaries to the Prime Ministers in the
various Colonies ; and we should then have a real Intelli-
gence department working between the Imperial Con-
2

18 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

ferences, co-ordinating and collecting information, which
would be dealt with when those Conferences met. Or,
again, we might have, so far as representation is con-
cerned, more frequent Imperial Conferences, or possibly
the institution of an Imperial Council, which, in the first
instance, would be advisory, and which would deal with
questions of foreign policy and of defence. It is upon
these questions of representation, largely, which I desire
to seek ooinions in this country, as to what really would
be satisfactory, so far as the feeling of the Dominions is
concerned ; and I believe that Canada has determined
that the best opportunity will be afforded her for her
own scope and for working out her own destiny within
the Empire, and not without.

I do not believe, for example, that the view which
was expressed not long ago by Sir Frederick Borden is
the view of the Canadian people when he said : " Canada
has no need of protection by sea, because she depends
upon the Monroe Doctrine of the United States." I
venture to think that this is not the sentiment of the
Canadian people. But those gentlemen who agree that
the maintenance of the Empire is worthy of the highest
efforts of the greatest statesmen, and is worthy of some
mutual sacrifices, I hope may possibly co-operate with
us in the Old Country in forming a Committee out here,
which may keep in touch with our thought at home. It
would fitly consist of those persons who believe as I
believe; who have, I should say as I have, and as many
of us in England have, a profound faith in the future —
a belief that the Dominions will rise to that high level of
unselfish patriotism which will put the cause of each
individual state second to the cause of our common
Empire; which will subordinate its own ideals only to
the ideals and to the good of a united whole; for only
by those means, I venture to think, will Canada realize!
her destiny and enable the Empire to realize its great
future.

THE REV. CANON H. J. CODY, D.D., LL.IX.

of Toronto, Ont.

. RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD
IMPERIAL UNITY.

An address by the REV. CANON H. J. CODY, D.D., LL.D., before
the Empire Club of Canada, on November 5th, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

Sometimes we are apt to overlook the most important
things just because they are the deepest things — the
things about which we feel most strongly. And, after
we have spoken of trade and commerce and defence,
we perhaps forget to mention, though we do not forget
to think of, a factor that is stronger and deeper than
any of these — the religious factor. For, after all, man
is a religious animal ; that is one of the best definitions
that can be given of him — he is fundamentally religious.
And if the deepest thing about a man is his attitude^
toward the Supreme Being, then that attitude must tell
upon all his activities. Has this attitude toward the
Supreme Being had any bearing at all upon the growth
and maintenance of the idea of an Imperial unity? It
seems to me that when you go far back to the days of
King Jeroboam, in the history of Israel, you have a
political leader appreciating the value of religious unity
to ensure political unity. He felt at once that if the
people in his land went up to another religious centre to
worship, the political unity that he was trying to main-
tain would no longer be possible. He recognized the
value of religion as a factor in political unity.

When you come to the days of the Roman Empire
you find, gradually, the different national religions locally
breaking down. Every Pagan religion is local, and
cannot be a universal religion. When the Roman Empire
swept away national barriers national religion went.
What remained? Did the wise heads of the Roman
Empire think that they could maintain a political unity
without a religious unity? Not for a moment; and

19

20 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

gradually there was introduced the worship of the
genius of the Empire that speedily took a more concrete
form, and everywhere throughout the Roman Empire
men worshipped the Emperor. He was deified. Past
Emperors were deified. So you have, as modern
researches show, that remarkable phenomenon of
Emperor-worship. It was the feeling of the Roman
Empire after some religion that would bind the whole
realm together. Later on, when Julian, the apostate,
strove to revive Paganism, he appreciated the growing
power of Christianity as an aid to unity, and he tried to
organize a paganism on the basis of a universal religion ;
and he tried to have Neo-platonism adopted as a religion
to be a centre and force of unity in the whole Roman,
Empire.

When you come to the mediaeval days, as Professor
Bryce, now Ambassador to the United States, has dem-
•onstrated in his great treatise on the Holy Roman
Empire, there were two great concepts that dominated
— the concept of the Holy Roman Empire, the continu-
ation of that world-wide and universal Empire, and side
by side with that, the Holy Roman Church. On the
civil side the Emperor was the head; on the religious
side the Bishop of Rome was the head. But there was
the idea that you cannot have a world-wide Empire
without a world-wide religious bond — the Holy Roman
Church. Go back to the early days of English history;
it may be a surprise to some to know that the principle
that united the various dismembered Saxon tribes in
England was a religious principle. There was a unity
of the Church in England long before there was a
political unity. It was through the Church that the
union occurred. The Church is an older English insti-
tution than the civil power. So much by the way of
general introduction as to the influence that religion,
has been recognized to have on the general subject of a
national or Imperial unity in different ages.

We have to-day the idea of Imperial unity. Now,
so far as the British Empire is concerned, that is of
comparatively recent growth. It is one of the most

Religious Contributions to Imperial Unity 21

remarkable phenomena in the history of the world that
a little island should gradually have overspread practi-
cally the whole world. This Empire has been built
up ; no, it has grown up, like Topsy. It was not trained,
it " growed." It has grown up almost in spite of itself,
not from any settled national policy, not as a result of
some great deep-seated public design or policy, but
primarily to find an outlet for an overflowing, vigor-
ous population that went everywhere, bringing with it
its ideals of home and its restless spirit of commercial
enterprise. At first we virtually stumbled upon the
best unoccupied parts of the world. We blundered into
our Imperial heritage. That is so in regard to India.
It seems almost a happy accident that any representa-
tives of England or Scotland or Ireland ever came to
India. Nobody realized the prize or thought of seizing
it at the outset. When Australia was discovered some
British representatives thought that the country was
hopeless for lack of water; that its climate practically
forbade habitation.

We know what was thought of Canada. I am sure
that in the old days the Government at home thought
very much of Canada what Louis the Fourteenth
thought of it — a few acres of snow and ice, and Indians
and buffalo. So far as there was any Colonial policy
at all, that policy was bad. But in so saying, we are
only saying that the Colonial policies of all European
countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
were bad also. The only difference is that in England
we learned wisdom from our mistakes. Whereas, once
upon a time there was a greater France, and a greater
Portugal, and a greater Spain, there is now only a
Greater Britain. That period of bad Colonial policy
was followed by a period of utter indifference, the cut-
the-painter period. Let the Colonies go their own way ;
they are not contributory to the general welfare of the
Empire ; their loss will not be felt ; it may be better for
themselves! That period has gone, and we are living
to-day not in a period of apathy, scarcely in a period
of sympathy; there is a period of growing enthusiasm

22 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

for the idea of Imperial unity, a general scheme of Im-
perial administration that is compatible with the ful-
lest measure of self-government for the individual com-
munities. Liberty and equality rule under the British
flag.

Now the Empire has been built up by the sword, I
suppose it could not live without the sword; but it does
not live by the sword. Other Empires have been based
upon armies, or on constitutions, or on the will of a
single parliament, or even on trade; but the British
Empire rests upon the intelligence and integrity of the
men who are the constituent parts thereof; and the
Empire that has accrued to us, I am sure, is not a mere
aggregation of bodies that trade together, but it is
sacred as being the noblest example that yet has been
known of free, adaptable and just government. That
is the idea of Imperial unity that is now with us. What
are the elements that are tributary to it? There is the
fact that we are under one Sovereign; the golden
crown of a peace-loving and peace-making King is the
golden link that binds us all together. There is the
element of defence — that is a tributary element. The
Empire has almost been born again since the South
African War. There is common origin ; we have come
i from one stock ; we speak one tongue ; we have one
[^ glorious and splendid literature. We are now seeking
to get more and more of a common trade. There is
a difference of opinion as to how far that may go, but
we are aiming at something more in the line of com-
mon trade. We have common social and political ideas.
Wherever the English-speaking folk have gone they
have carried with them ideals like these; reverence for
home, for family life ; some tradition of honesty in busi-
ness life; some respect for law; some sense of duty;
some patient force to change the laws when we will,
in constitutional ways; some deep-seated regard for
freedom and for justice; some belief in education; and
deepest of all, I think, in these elements that go to make
up the idea of an Imperial unity, is the element of a
common Christian religion.

Religious Contributions to Imperial Unity 23

In the Empire, of course, there are millions of peo-
ple who are not of the Christian faith. They have
come in, and while not subject races, they are races
more or less governed by English-speaking persons, by
representatives from the Old Land. We are specially
emphasizing, of course, the English-speaking element
in the Empire. How has this religious element, this
common religion, been carried to all narts of the Em-
pire, and how is it contributory to the idea of Imperial
unity? In the first place, whenever the emigrants
went to any part of the Empire they carried with them
the ministrations of religion. All the British branches
of the Christian religion have had their preachers and
pioneer ministers going to the uttermost parts of the
earth and ministering to the wants of the people. That
was a tie binding all the Colonies to the Mother lafid.
In the second place, the various Church organizations
that have been formed in the different parts of the
world, while reasonably autonomous themselves, are
bound by their sacred traditions to the little Island across
the sea.

If a man came from Ireland and was a member^ of
the Roman Catholic faith, he remembered all the scenes
and all the stirring events in the history of his own race on
its religious side. If a man were an Englander, he still
looked back to Oxford and Cambridge as the old his-
torical training centres for his clergv, to Westminster
Abbey and St. Paul's as the ideal temples of his faith.
He was, by his very traditions, bound to think back
and to think across the sea. If a man is a Presbyterian,
what are the names that evoke his deepest enthusiasm?
He thinks of the training schools of Glasgow and Edin-
burgh and Aberdeen, and all the stirring scenes and
heroic struegles in the historv of his own Church. Is
he a Methodist? The very name takes him back to
old Oxford and he thinks of John Wesley; he makes
his pilgrimage there or to the Red Chapel in London,
and sees the pillar contributed from every part of the
British Empire. Is he a Congregationalist? His mind
leaps back at once to the old traditions, and he is proud

24 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

that Oliver Cromwell was the great champion of inde-
pendence and toleration of thought. Is he a Baptist?
He thinks of those early heroes who did fight and suffer
for liberty of speech and thought, for religious tolera-
tion. He thinks of John Bunyan, and he is proud as
he thinks of him.

There has been world-wide missionary enterprise
carried on in all the heathen parts of the Empire. Now
some have difference of opinion on the subject of the
validity and worth of foreign missions. I do not want
to enter upon that discussion. I am inclined to think
that the day is past when you can make a good cause
against them. That is my frank opinion on the subject.
And the idea of Imperial unity is simply making it im-
possible for anybody to have a local and provincial re-
ligion. You have got at least to be as wide as the Em-
pire, and when you come to religion there is a wider
word even than Britain, and that is the word man. But
look in India. There in India has been going on for
some generations now a process of disintegration of
the ancient faiths. There is wide unrest in India. I
heard Mr. Bryce three years ago speaking at a great
meeting in ' London. It was a meeting in connection
with the English Presbyterian Church. And he had
just come back from a long visit to India. He refer-
red to this disintegration of the old faiths, and he said
that, in his judgment, this was the time and opportunity
and call to the Christian Church in all its branches, to
go in and give a religion that would be sane and true,
in place of a non-existent religion. The old religious
beliefs were gone from the educated classes and there
was as yet nothing to take their place.

Mr. Bryce said, " Go in and try and win India to the
Christian faith." One could quote testimony from liv-
ing statesmen without end to that same effect. I had
the opportunity when I was in England last June of
speaking to the Lieutenant-Governor of one of the
great Provinces. His words were almost identical:
" No Governor of India who has been there for years
and knows the people and the conditions will stand up

Religious Contributions to Imperial Unity 25

and condemn missionary work. It is regarded as be-
ing one of the greatest safeguards for the peace of
India." Gentlemen, do you remember this: that after
the Mutiny there was a discussion as to whether the
missionaries had not caused the Mutiny? And these
facts were proven — that it was precisely those Brah-
man Sepoys who had been kept by the authorities from
Christian influence who mutinied. In the second place,
that in those parts of India where most missionary
work had been done there was no mutiny. Third, that
those great officers, like the Lawrences and the Ed-
wards, and that magnificent company of heroes, were
the men who were the most out-and-out Christians.
They were the men who stopped the Mutiny and saved
India for the British Crown. And while the British
Empire gives the widest toleration and is no propagan-
dist, it remains true in those classic words of Lord
Lawrence that " Christian things done in a Christian
way will never cause trouble. It is unchristian things
done in the guise of Christianity that cause the mis-
chief." Those words are true to-day.

In Africa, gentlemen, you have Eastern Equatorial
Africa under the British Crown to-day; Uganda, that
whole community, a great nation, rescued from the
heart of darkest Africa by missionary enterprise. In
the South Sea Islands there has been a complete moral
transformation. If anyone wants testimony on that
point read Robert Louis Stevenson, and vou will find
from him the highest possible tribute that could be paid
to the moral and civilizing and transforming influences
of the work of Christian missionaries. Everybody
knows the transformation in New Zealand. The
Maoris, a few generations ago wild men, to-day a
Christian people. The result of all this has been to
bring together in an intelligent way a contribution
towards the creation and maintenance of the spirit of
a common love of Imperial unity. Four elements con-
tribute towards this unity. First, religious gatherings.
There have been Pan-Presbyterian Councils. Congrega-
tional Councils, Eucharistic Conferences, Pan-Anglican

26 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Congresses. Of course, they are wider than the Em-
pire, but they include the Empire, and I want just for
a few minutes to say a word or two about some Im-
perial features that struck me in connection with that
Pan-Anglican Congress in London last June. It is that
side of the thing that will appeal to anyone as a citi-
zen of the Empire. In connection with the Imperial
features of that matter, may I say a word about the
personnel. There were some two hundred Bishops of
the Anglican communion there from all parts of the
Empire.

I stood on the steps of old St. Paul's Cathedral and
saw the great procession sweep down and come out of
the front of St. Paul's. It seemed to me that this, in
a sense, was the unfolding of the Empire, as those
Bishops walked according to their Provinces, one sec-
tion of the Empire in one of its religious phases after
another appearing before you. Here you had the
Bishops from India, eleven men, some of the brainiest
and most statesmanlike men in the whole Empire; here
you had men from Africa — Bishop Tucker of Uganda
and Bishop Tugwell of Western Africa, the latter
fighting the men at home on the subject of the drink
traffic, which is ruining and debauching the natives
there ; and he was making a strong fight for the sal-
vation, moral and physical, of that people. And strang-
er than any of these were two negroes, as black as they
could be, who forty years ago were slaves, and were
rescued i and trained in schools, and now took their
place among their brothers as Bishops in the wide
Anglican communion. To me it was a most thrilling
sight from the Imperial as well as the religious point
of view. They came from South Africa, from the
Indies, from Australia, from the islands in the South
Sea, from New Zealand, our own Canadian Bishops,
and the Bishop of Newfoundland — and I would like to
suggest that before Sir Wilfrid gets through building
the nation and finishing the Grand Trunk Pacific he
brings in Newfoundland; I believe it is the next great
step in Canada's advance. The mere personnel of these

Religious Contributions to Imperial Unity 27

men was an unfolding of representatives from every
part of the Empire.

The second feature that struck me was this — the Eng->
lish hospitality; the home feeling that was engendered.
We all felt we were at home, and they tried to make us
feel at home. The Prince of Wales, who is the repr'e-1
sentative of Britain beyond the seas, received all the
representatives from every quarter of the Empire, and
then the King and Queen graced the gathering with
their presence, and to them we were presented — black
men, and white men, and yellow men, Hindoos and
Japanese and Chinese, as well as the missionaries from
every part of the British Empire. The home feeling
was there. What will that do to increase this feeling
of unity in the Empire? Who can begin to express
it? A third feature growing out of this w.as that be-
fore the mind of the English people you had, as it were,
in panoramic view, set forth the actual religious work
that is being done in every part of the British Empire.
In that old church of Saint Lawrence down by the
Guild Hall in the heart of the city, a series of services
were arranged, whereby representatives from every part
of the Empire spoke to the city men about their needs.
The Bishop of Pretoria, of Bloemfontein, of Auckland
in New Zealand, of Columbia on the Pacific Coast, the
Bishop of the Falkland Islands, the Bishop of Lahore
from India — men speaking about and embodying the
needs and the actualities of the Empire. When these
things come to the mind of the English people at home
in sections, it does not make the same impression ; but
when you have volley after volley fired, and men from
every part of the Empire meeting together, and almost
at once, representing their countries, what an enormous
effect it must have in making the idea of Imperial
unity a reality.

And then a fourth feature was the joint dis-
cussion, with joint experiences, of the common
problems of every part of the Empire. We
all have the problem of social reform in its
various aspects. Was it not something that would

28 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

tend to bind all parts of the Empire together when
men in Australia told about their experiences, of their
experiments in the labour problem; when men from
New Zealand came to describe their experiments in
arbitration, their anti-gambling laws; when men from
South Africa told of their social difficulties and the
race problem? That race problem was discussed from
every conceivable point of view. One thing that
emerged was this — that no statesman can afford to
overlook the enormous contribution which religion is
making in solving the race problem ; smoothing off the
asperities and bringing all the diverse races of the Em-
pire into something like harmonious working. It re-
quires a great deal more than political force to do that.
You need far deeper forces, and I am sure it was recog-
nized by the authorities in England that the Churches
in their various parts of the Empire were making no
small contribution to lessening the danger that arises
from racial hatred or racial antipathy. The result of
this Congress was a marvellous contribution towards
the idea of Imperial unity.

It would not be right or fair to stop with that word.
I have not said a word about the American represen-
tatives, nor about those who were working outside of
the Empire, but whenever, gentlemen, we touch the
sphere of religion, we get far beyond national bounds,
even beyond the Imperial bounds, and what was made
even clearer than the idea of the unity, religiously, of
the Empire, was the potential unity of the world. _The
cosmopolitan spirit was abroad. The true cosmopolitan
spirit is never antagonistic to true patriotism. We do
not want to be like that famous man, his name I shall
not mention, of whom it was said, " he was the cosmo-
politan friend of every man's country but his own."
The true cosmopolitan soirit is not inconsistent with
the spirit of patriotism, and I believe that the spirit of
Imperial unity has in the past been enormously aided
by religion; that in its purity, in its ennobling elements,
it will be conserved by the spirit of religion. And these
great free peoples in the Empire will be enabled with

Religious Contributions to Imperial Unity 29

enthusiasm and safety to work together, side by side;
to hand down unimpaired to their children's children
the glorious inheritance they have received, to hand it
down increased and enhanced; and these free peoples
will be ready to stand shoulder to shoulder to forward
Britain's great mission of peace and goodwill, of free-
dom and justice in the world. William Watson apos-
trophised the Colonies, the free places in the Empire,
at the time of the South African War in words that
are historic: ".The British Empire is just beginning
its world-wide mission. Young is she yet, her world
task just begun by you, the Colonies. We know her
safe, and know by you, her veins are million, but her
heart is one."

THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.

An address by the HON.' GEORGE W. Ross, LL.D., Senator of
Canada, before the Empire Club, on November lath, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I was delighted to notice that your President an-
nounced a series of addresses on the various Colonies
and dependencies of the British Empire. It is a very
fruitful field, and I am sure the lectures will be exceed-
ingly instructive. It is well for us to compare our
trade relations with the Empire and with the Colonies
of the Empire, and with foreign countries, so that we
can really understand the sources and fluctuations of
these relations; and I think it is also important that we
should study the constitution of other Colonies, the;
difference between a self-governing Colony and a
Crown Colony, and a military Colony, or out-post, in
order that we may see in what various forms the people,
the Anglo-Saxon race, has developed itself.

The Australian Commonwealth is very interesting.
You notice the term Commonwealth. We have taken
for our designation the Dominion of Canada. I do not
know, if it was put to vote, which this audience would
prefer. Sir John Macdonald wanted us to be called
the " Kingdom of Canada." That proposition was
withdrawn at the request of Lord Derby, for he
thought that a kingdom right here beside the Americans
would not quite suit, and it was considered better to
call it the " Dominion of Canada," and since that time
New Zealand has taken the same title. Since that time
also, His Majesty has incorporated the title of Canada
in "his official title, for he is King of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of British
Dominions beyond the Seas. Before, if he were King
of the kingdoms beyond the seas, he did not say so, but

30

THK HON. GEORGE W. Ross, LL.D.

Senator of Canada, Toronto, Ont.

The Australian Commonwealth 31

he says so now. The Australian Commonwealth is a
country of great area, 2,900,000 miles in extent, only
about 800,000 square miles smaller than Canada; as
large as eight or nine Germany s or Frances, and about
twenty-four times as large as the United Kingdom- of
Great Britain and Ireland. It has a population of
4,000,000 as against our 7,000,000. It carries a nice lit-
tle round debt of $1,200,000,000 as against our debt of
$250,000,000, so we can afford to throw a good deal of
money around yet before we are as much involved as
Australia. It has some very large cities, too. Sydney,
486,000 of a population, on the east coast; Melbourne,
526,000; so our cities have to grow a little yet before
they will rival the large cities of Australia.

The constitution follows very closely the termin-
ology, as well as the outline, of the counstitution of
United States; much more so than ours. We tried to
get reasonably far away from the American constitu-
tion. We formed ours at the time when they had
just passed through a Civil War and when we thought
we had discovered some weaknesses in tiheir constitu-
tion and that we could improve on it. The Australians
have followed the American constitution more closely.
For instance, they call what we know as a Province, a
State; what we call House of Commons, they call
House of Representatives; what we call Privy Council,
they call a Cabinet. These are the terms used in the
United States for the corresponding offices or func-
tions. The outstanding features of the Australian con-
stitution may be briefly summed up.

In the first place, the Senate consists of six represen-
tatives from each State. We are not so represented.
In the United States you know that the Senate consists
of two representatives from each State, no matter
whether the State is large or small. Australia is a lit-
tle more generous, and sends six from each State.
There are in Canada those who believe that our Senate
should be similarly constituted. As it is now, Onjtario
sends twenty- four; Quebec, twenty-four; the Mari-
time Provinces grouped, twenty-four, and the re-

32 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

maining fifteen are scattered among the Western
Provinces. The Senate is elective in Australia
for a period of six years, half the number retir-
ing at the end of a period of three years. The
United States Senate is appointed by the States. Ours
is a nominative Senate. The House of Lords is a nom-
inative and hereditary Senate. The German Senate is
elected annually, and so on. The Australian Senate is
elected by each State as one electoral division. They
have no electoral divisions for each centre, so that if
any of you go to Australia and run for the Senate, the
whole State will have to vote for or against you. That
is supposed to bring out the best men. When we had
an elective Senate in Canada, a Province was divided
into districts, and each district sent its representative.
It requires a tolerably tall man to be seen all over a
Province. The term of the Senate is for six years.
That is, generally, the constitution of the Senate. No
property qualification is required. The same qualifica-.
tion for a Senator does for an ordinary member of the
House of Representatives.

One striking feature of the Australian constitution,
and in that respect it resembles the American constitu-
tion, is that the powers of the Provincial Legislatures
are not defined. I think we made a mistake in defining
the jurisdiction of our Provinces. In framing the
United States constitution, the Central Government
can do so and so, and what the Central cannot do is
relegated to the State Government. We said the Cen-
tral can do thus, and so on, and the local Governments
can do thus, and so on, and what is left the Dominion
Government, or Central Government, can do, and in that
respect there has been considerable confusion. For
instance, we have concurrent legislation in education.
The Provinces manage the schools, but if tlrere is any
interference with the principle of religious education
the Dominion interferes; did interfere in 1896 with a
great deal of trouble. The State Legislatures in Aus-
tralia deal entirely with education, and there is no in-
terference by the Central Legislature. It is the same in

The Australian Commonwealth 33

agriculture. Both the Dominion and Provinces can
deal with agriculture, also immigration. There is no
such mixture in the United States or in the Legisla-
tures of Australia. Another important point is that the
Central Government cannot veto the legislation of the
Province. We may pass as good a law as we please in
the Queen's Park, but if it does not suit the Central
Government at Ottawa they may veto it. And we have
had a great deal of trouble in former years ; for in-
stance, the Streams Bill, which was vetoed by the Cen-
tral Government. The Central Government cannot
veto the legislation of the State Governments, and I
think that is right. That is the law of the United
States — Congress cannot veto the legislation of a State.
If the legislation of a State is ultra vires and exceeds
its jurisdiction it is for the Courts to say so, and it is
the Supreme Court of the United States which has
that power, and the Federal Court of Australia has a
similar power.

Another curious thing is that while the Central Gov-
ernment cannot veto the legislation of a Province, the
Imperial Government can. The history of that is that
the various Provinces or States of Australia retained
all the power they had on entering confederation, ex-
cept what they gave to the Central Government, and
one of the powers they had before they entered confed-
eration was that the Sovereign could veto the legisla-
tion of the States. That power the King retains.
Whether they are better off by that veto being in Lon-
don than we are by having ours in Ottawa, one can-
not tell. Another peculiar thing is that the Governors
of the States are not appointed by the Central Govern-
ment as in Canada. Our present Lieutenant-Governor
and all his predecessors owed their appointment to the
Governor at Ottawa. The Provinces or States in Aus-
tralia have Governors appointed by the Sovereign, so
that in that respect there is a material difference. Then
the House of Representatives, that is what we call the
House of Commons, is elected on the same qualifica-
tions as the Senate. The representation of the House
3

34 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of Commons is double that of the Senate. For instance,
there are seven States; that would make forty-two
Senators. There are eighty-four members in the House
of Representatives. Our representation, as you know,
turns upon the unit which we get by dividing the popu-
lation of Quebec by the number 65, being the number
of representatives that the Province of Quebec had at
the time she entered Confederation.

The Province of Ontario lost a number of members
at the last decennial distribution because, relatively, our
population had not increased as fast as the Province
of Quebec. If we are to keep our representation in the
House of Commons, our ra,tio of population must in-
crease, and in that way only can we be fully repre-
sented. There is no such danger in Australia, for at
all times the population represents twice the number of
the Senate. The unit there is obtained in a simple
way — just by dividing the number of Senators into the
population of the whole of the Commonwealth, and the
unit will apply to the larger and to the smaller Province.
There is provision in their constitution that no State
or Province shall be unrepresented in the Legislature.
The term of a member of the House of Representatives
is three years. Our Parliament is five. Practically it
has been four. We have had only three Parliaments'
since Confederation in which Parliament ran its full
term of five years. The English term is seven years,
and rarely runs more than three or four years. — the
average in the last hundred years amounts to about four
years and a few months. If a member of the Senate
or House of Commons is absent for two months, con-
secutively, from his place, he vacates his seat unless he
is absent by leave. If that law was applied to Canada,
I think there would be a few vacancies ! The indemnity
is $2,000, practically the same as the indemnity in Can-
ada.

When the writ is issued for a general election in
Australia, the law requires that Parliament shall meet
within thirty days of the return of the writ. That is
a provision of the constitution, and a very good one it

The Australian Commonwealth 35

is. The object is to see that the Commonwealth is
not for any long period of time without a Parliament.
In England, Parliament is called within thirty-five days
of the issue of the writ. The elections pass over there
in about twenty to twenty-one days. England insists
that for only as short a period as is practicable shall the
Empire be without a Parliament. We may be for a
long time without a Parliament, the greater part of a
year, indeed. In Australia, as in Canada, Parliament
must meet at least once every year. I spoke of the
constitution of the Senate — six members to each Prov-
ince— and of the House of Commons. We have two
elective Houses there. The theory of government under
the British system is that both Houses should not be
constituted after the same principle. That is the theory
of the British Parliament. That was the theory of the
old Parliament of Canada, and is the theory of the pres-
ent one. That is the theory of the United States, prac-
tically, for, while the members of the House of Repre-
sentatives are elective, the members of the Senate are.
appointed by the State Legislatures.

Now comes the provision in the State Legislatures
whereby a dead-lock may be overcome. Some people
are very much afraid of a dead-lock in the Legislature.
It is a very inconvenient thing under any circumstances,
and we have had it in our Legislature years ago. Mr.
Gold win Smith says that, it was dead-lock that gave us
Confederation. I do not know whether he was right
or not, but it looks as if it were the case. In two
years we had no less than five different Governments
in Canada. A dead-lock in Canada is now overcome in
two ways. Our constitution provides that when the
House of Commons and the Senate disagree the Gov-
ernment may recommend the addition of six Senators,
providing that by the appointment of six the deadlock
would be overcome. If the dead-lock cannot be over-
come in that way, that is, if the majority against the
proposal is more than six, then Senators could not be
appointed to overcome the dead-lock, so that when the
majority is over six, there is no way of overcoming it.

36 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Either party must yield, and, as the Senate has the last
word, the House of Commons has to yield. Now, in
Britain if there is a dead-lock, the King may appoint
as many members of the House of Lords as he pleases.
In the case of the difficulty over the Reform Bill in
1832, the King- was asked to appoint a sufficient number
of Lords to overcome that difficulty, and after a great
deal of coaxing he agreed to do so, but the Lords ab-
sented themselves and allowed the Bill to pass. So that
the number was not appointed, and the dead-lock was
not overcome, a wise precaution on their part.

In Australia, if there is a dead-lock — that is to say,
if a bill is rejected twice in the same Session, an inter-
val of three months elapsing between the rejections, or
if a bill of the House of Commons is rejected two Ses-
sions in succession — the Governor may cause a dissolu-
tion of both Houses. A general election is held. Then
the two Houses meet and if the dead-lock still con-
tinues between the two, then the two Houses meet as
one body and whatever the majority may be, meeting as
one body, overcomes the dead-lock. It is a very simple
process. It is more effective than ours. Ours is only
effective within a small area. A dead-lock in Australia
can be overcome no matter what the difficulty is. The
constitution of Australia is amended in a very peculiar
way. You know how our constitution is amended. All
we have to do is to pass a bill or send a draft of a bill,
which is agreed to practically by the Parliament of
Canada, to the British House of Commons, and they
adopt that amendment. We have had only four amend-
ments to our constitution so far, none of them impor-
tant.

The constitution of the United States, as you know,
is amended as follows : Two-thirds of the representa-
tives of the Senate and the House of Representatives
agree and three-fourths of the States concur in that
agreement. In that way fifteen amendments have been
made to the constitution. That is a tedious process.
In Australia it is done in this way: Two-thirds of the
Legislature must agree to a certain amendment. It is
then referred to a population vote. A majority of the

The Australian Commomvealth 37

voters in each of the States must vote for it and that
majority must represent a majority of the whole elec-
torate of Australia, so that you go through a very laby-
rinth in form in getting an amendment to the constitu-
tion of Australia; but they wanted to have a perma-
nent constitution. In the preamble, they said they were
forming an " indisolluble federal union." I think they
succeeded. In Australia a Minister can only hold his
seat in the Cabinet for three months, unless he can find
a constituency to stand at his back. I think that is a
very good provision. In Canada and England, a Minis-
ter can hold his seat pretty nearly as long as they will
let him whether he has a constituency to represent or
not. In England a Minister has held his seat for two
years without representing any constituency.

The provision made for the financial maintenance of
the States is different from ours. You know how, our
Provinces get their money. Of course they get some
from succession duties, a local tax, some from corpora-
tion dues, forest and timber dues. They get some of it
from license fees and so on. But they get a consider-
able block from the Dominion in a special grant. We
in Ontario get nearly two million dollars now. In the
United States, the States are supported entirely by
State tax. In Australia, the Central Government col-
lects all the taxes, all the customs dues, and holds one-
fourth for its own use, and pays the other three-fourths
over to the Provinces according to population. The
Central Government here collects all it can by way of
duties and tariffs and gives the Provinces a very small
amount, about three per cent, of what it collects. In
Australia they pay over seventy-five per cent, of what
they collect to the various States for their maintenance.
In order to get over the difficulty of free commerce be-
tween the different States, the constitution provides for
an Interstate Commerce Commission. The United
States appointed one a few years ago, about 1885, and
it has been a great advantage, for it regulates railway
tariffs and charges. We have a Railway Commission
that serves the same purpose.

38 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Australia was wanied by the experience of the United
States and has adopted an Interstate Commerce Com-
mission from its inception. They have in the United
States constitution, also, a provision that no religious
test is allowed for an appointment, nor can the State
prohibit any form of religious worship. You will find
almost the exact words in the United States constitu-
tion which are to be found in the constitution of Aus-
tralia. We have no such provision in our Canadian
constitution. Of course we are not afraid that there
will be any disqualification in Canada of a religious
kind. It is remarkable that Canada led, in this respect,
the British Empire. As far back as 1774, it was pro-
vided by the Quebec Act that there should be no re-
ligious test in appointment to office, although in Eng-
land, at the same time, and away down to the Catholic
Emancipation Act, no Roman Catholic could be elected
to Parliament; nor could a Roman Catholic hold a seat,
or a commission in the Army. The Catholic Emanci-
pation Act swept away these disabilities, and a curious
thing it was that no person could take a degree in Ox-
ford or Cambridge unless he subscribed to the Twenty-
Nine Articles.. Australia has followed our lead. And
in another respect Canada has directed legislation. We
abolished slavery in 1793, and it was not until consid-
erably later that it was abolished in the British Empire
generally, and in 1863 in the United States.

The Australian Senate has no power over a Money
Bill except to reject the whole Supply Bill; nor over
customs or excise laws except to reject them. In the
United States, Money Bills originate in the House of
Representatives, but, strange to say, although I think
it was intended by the founders that the Senate should
not interfere with them, under another provision the
Senate has the power to amend a Money Bill and has
the power to amend the tariffs and customs, so that
when an Appropriation Bill is sent up from the Senate
it may be greatly modified before it is passed. We can-
not increase the Supply Bill of the House of Commons
of Canada one dollar, nor can we reduce it. We can

The Australian Commonwealth 39

turn it out. In Lower Canada, previous to the Rebel-
lion, it was a common thing to stop the Supply Bill,
and that was one of the ways in which the crisis was
precipitated and the constitution of Quebec repealed.

Here is the difference in Australia: Although the
Senate cannot amend a Money Bill it can send recom-
mendations to the House of Representatives asking for
certain amendments, which the House may adopt or re-
ject as it pleases. We in Canada have not even the
power to recommend a reduction or an increase. Our
position is the same position as the House of Lords.
Another difference between the Australian Common-
wealth and that of Canada is that the criminal law
originates with the States, and each State may have a,
Criminal Law of its own. There may also be as many
different criminal laws in the United States as there
are States in the Union. In Canada, which I think has
a better system, the Criminal Law is under the control
of the Central Government, and the law of divorce is
under the control of the Central Government mainly.
As to the law of divorce, however, there was a divorce
court in British Columbia and Nova Scotia prior to
Federation and they still exercise jurisdiction. Resi-
dents outside these Provinces have to apply to the
House of Commons for a repeal of their marriage obli-
gations. In Australia divorce is under the control of
the Central Government, so that there are uniform laws
in Australia, as there ought to be in Canada, and as
there is not in the United States, for each State there
has the right to regulate its own laws of divorce.

I have not gone into all the details as I might, but
have given you the main features and you can see
wherein the Australian constitution corresponds to
ours, and perhaps some points of difference between it
and the United States.

This view of Australia will enable us to see better
where we are, and by pursuing these investigations we
can become better informed in regard to modes of gov-
ernment, and perhaps appreciate all the more the Gov-
ernment which we ourselves enjoy.

BRITISH DIPLOMACY.

An address by MR. R. S. NEVILLE, K.C., of Toronto, before
the Empire Club of Canada, on November i8th, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

On the eve of the battle of Arbela, Darius sent envoys
to Alexander the Great to sue for peace. Alexander
sent back this message : " Tell your Sovereign that the
world will not permit two suns nor two Sovereigns."
The next day he overthrew Darius and made himself
the overlord of the known world. This idea of universal
dominion cursed the world from the fall of Babylon
to the fall of Napoleon. It had its highest exempli-
fication in the Roman Empire, which turned the world
into a vast prison-house, within which resistance meant
death, and from which there was no escape, except
to the fens and forests' beyond the pale of organized
society. But the great Empire fell. Slavery destroyed
free labour; a false economical system and oppressive
taxation ruined the middle classes; the heart was eaten
out of the Empire and it became an empty shell, already
useless to mankind, before the so-called barbarians in-
vaded and dismembered it.

But the idea of universal dominion was not dead. It
survived in theory in the Holy Roman Empire. It was
aimed at by Charlemagne; by Charles V.; by Philip of
Spain; by Louis XIV.; and certainly it was threatened
by Napoleon Bonaparte. Now the aggressive Imperialism
which aims at the establishment of universal dominion
upon the ruins of the national liberties of the civilized
world is the kind that has made the word " Imperialism "
offensive to all freedom-loving men. It is always fol-
lowed by the loss of individual liberty, and is incompatible
with human freedom in any form. Circumstances, as
well as inclination, ordained that the English people

40

British Diplomacy 41

should oppose a monopoly of power. England was re-
peatedly invaded and conquered up to the year 1066, and
in all cases, except that of the Romans, the conquerors
and their kin remained in the country. These experiences
taught all that the sea was the most convenient kind of
highway for an invader, and that an enemy must be
beaten before he landed, not afterwards. Control of the
Narrow Seas became the cardinal principle of British
policy, and, as occasion demanded, this control had to be
extended — first to the Mediterranean, and afterwards to
the waters of the world, wherever British possessions,
British trade or interests, or British subjects, required
protection.

But control of the Narrow Seas could not be maintained
by so small a people against a united Europe or Western
Europe. Whenever, therefore, any one Power en-
deavoured to gather into its hands all the resources of
Europe or Western Europe, both sympathy for the
liberties of others, and a sense of national danger, im-
pelled the English to oppose the would-be monopolist of
power. The struggle was long and often fierce, and
throughout it all British diplomacy played its> great part.
Various combinations were formed from time to time as
occasion required, and one by one monopolistic forces
were checked or destroyed, while the nations were pre-
served. There was gradually built up a doctrine known
as the " Balance of Power," and, after the fall of
Napoleon, it came to be recognized by the great Powers
as the international law of Europe. This new principle
of balance prohibits any one Power from obtaining poli-
tical supremacy over a prostrate world, and recognizes
the right of every great civilized race or nation to work
out its destiny according to its own ideals and genius.
On this principle the modern world has been built, and
international stability maintained. During the last
generation it has been represented on the Continent by
the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy on the
one side, and the Dual Alliance of France and Russia on
the other; while Great Britain has stood outside with
one naval arm in the Mediterranean and the other in the

42 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

North Sea, the arbiter of the European balance, and the
umpire of the world.

Yet there are nations which do not willingly assent to
the doctrine of Balance ; only the world has grown larger
than in the old days, and no one Power is in a position
to assert universal sway. So certain Powers have sought
to apply the principle rather to continents or hemispheres
than to the whole world. Thus, since the consolidation
of the German Empire, we have seen Germany encour-
aging Russia to take Asia for her share, and leave the
former Power to work her will in Western and Southern
Europe. Germany has deliberately adopted the policy of
dominating the Latin nations, and this policy, if success-
ful, would lead to the control of all Europe west of Russia,
and to that of the Mediterranean Sea. In the end the
German Colossus, astride of Europe and the British high-
way to the East, would be ready to hurl the weight of
Western Europe against the British Isles. In Asia,
Russia marched eastward, adding new dominions to her
empire yearly, till she held most of western, central and
northern Asia, and placed the Bear's paws on the very
walls of China. Then she commenced to establish her
great naval and military bases on the Pacific. Once
dominant there, with Japan at her mercy, China would
fall. When China was digested, it would be an easy
matter for Russia, in possession of the resources of the
entire continent north of the Himalayas, to drive the
British out of India.

It is the business of statesmen to provide for the future,
and Britain looked about for some means of maintaining
the Balance of Power in Asia. Japan was the only efficient
Power, besides England, which had vital interests at
stake. At the time of the Boxer troubles Britain had
recognized the efficiency of the Japanese troops, and she
knew the mighty force of Japanese patriotism. She,
therefore, entered into an alliance with Japan by which
she agreed to keep off the European Powers and give
Japan an opportunity to fight Russia alone and save her-
self from prospective destruction if she could. Japan was
victorious, and the Russian advance was checked. Im-

British Diplomacy 43

mediately England entered into a new agreement with
Japan, by which the two Powers jointly guaranteed the
integrity of China. Thus the national liberties of the
East have been preserved, and Great Britain has paid
back to Asia the debt of Western Europe which had been
owing since, five hundred years before, Tamerlane saved
the West from the great Ottoman Turk. Though Ger-
many raised the cry of the Yellow Peril and denounced
Great Britain as a traitor to the white races', yet the other
great nations of Europe and America having interests in
Asia and the Pacific have one by one followed her diplo-
matic example and made agreements with Japan. Once
more British diplomacy has triumphed, and the Pacific
world now promises peaceful progress, international
stability, and fair play to all.

As to modern Europe, when it lay bankrupt and bleed-
ing at the feet of Napoleon, Great Britain gave the
broken nations aid in soldiers and subsidies, sailors and
ships, revived their spirit, and finally succeeded in restor-
ing their national liberties. Before that she had given
aid. to Frederick the Great, and it is safe to say that no
Prussian king would be emperor of a united Germany
to-day had it not been for William Pitt. In more recent
times Great Britain has prevented Russia from marching
through Sweden and Norway to an open port on the
Atlantic. It has been her policy to maintain these
nations, and Denmark, Holland, and Belgium, from
aggression on the part of Russia and Germany. Since
the Franco-Prussian War she has three times, if not four,
saved France from another overthrow at the hands of
Germany. Portugal is her ancient ally, and owes her
small strip of territory on the Atlantic coast to British
support. Great Britain is now the supporting friend of
all South Europe, while Russia is crippled, and is co-
operating with the southern nations to maintain stability
on the Mediterranean. She favours a confederation of
Balkan States into a powerful nation that will be able to
secure peace and safety there. She supports resolutely
the new' constitutional government in Turkey. She took
hold of Egypt less than a generation ago when that

44 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

I

country was bankrupt financially, politically and morally,
and in a state of anarchy, and has restored peace, order
and prosperity there. Mummy-land is being modernized,
and is now far the most prosperous country in the Levant.
She has saved Persia and Afghanistan from the Russ.
India had been the prey of different conquerors from
time immemorial till Great Britain gave it order and
justice and an opportunity to work out a great destiny if
its people have the genius.

With regard to Africa, Great Britain controls the land
entrance through Egypt, and by her navy every other
gateway into that continent. If any other nation were
in her position there would be an effort to create a
monopoly of power, but Great Britain invites all the
nations of Christendom having interests there to assist in
the up-btiilding of the African peoples. Instead of the
two hundred years of war which distressed America, we
see these nations under British leadership advancing, arm
in arm, developing the resources of Africa, putting down
slave-trading and other barbarous practices, and intro-
ducing law and order and Christian civilization. The
Boer War was necessary to remove a system of govern-
ment that was an anachronism and a stumbling-block to
progress, and to-day the defeated Boers are loyal sub-
jects, living under happier conditions than they ever knew
under their late Republic, and collaborating with the
other colonies in the organization of a united Britisfi
South Africa. From what has been said it will be seen
that every nation in the Eastern Hemisphere owes its
political position and national liberties largely to Great
Britain.

Now we turn to America, and we shall find that the
Western Hemisphere has received still greater advan-
tages. Spain acquired title by discovery. By the same
right Portugal acquired the East. The Pope confirmed
their titles, and divided the non-Christian world between
them, giving Africa and the East to Portugal, and the
Western Hemisphere to Spain. Then Spain took Por-
tugal captive, and thus acquired title to both the East
and the West. England had no need of colonies in those

British Diplomacy 46

days. When Henry VII. came to the throne the popula-
tion was about 2,500,000, and not more than 5,000,000
at the death of Elizabeth ; but as the great extent and vast
resources of the New World became known, England
realized that if it were allowed to remain the possession
of one or more European Powers she would ultimately
be crushed like an egg-shell between the hostile con-
tinents. In self-defence, therefore, she was obliged to
combat monopoly in the Americas. France was, in a
less degree, under similar stress, and the three nations
came to be the chief competitors for American territory.
England was willing to share with the others, but when
France and Spain became well established in America,
they entered into a secret treaty under which they were
to divide the Western Hemisphere between them. One
was in possession of the countries on the Gulf of Mexico,
the other of the St. Lawrence Valley. France com-
menced to extend her forts through the Ohio and Missis-
sippi valleys, with the view of surrounding the English
Colonies on the Atlantic coast and crushing them or driv-
ing them into the sea. Spain, having a secret under-
standing with France, became suddenly aggressive, and
under pretence of enforcing an old treaty that had long
been neglected in practice, she seized British ships trad-
ing with Spanish countries in America, not only in Span-
ish waters, but upon the high seas. Many of these were
Colonial vessels, and both Home and Colonial merchant
traders cried aloud for protection. But England was
hushed to sleep by Walpole, until prolonged clamour
woke her up and forced the Government to go to war
with Spain in 1739.

This war was not very glorious, for the army and navy
had been neglected, and England was ill prepared. But
the spirit of the people was aroused. They swept Wal-
pole and his un-English policy away, finally put Pitt in
the saddle, and in about twenty years finished the fight
for Northern America and India, and placed their country
at a height of power never attained before. France was
not only beaten out of North America, but was humiliated
by the terms of the treaty of peace. Resentment

46 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

entered into the hearts of her people, and the spirit of
revenge rose to a national passion. It found its embodi-
ment in Beaumarchais, whom the people of the United
States scarcely ever mention, but who did more
to help that country achieve independence than
any other non-military man. With French and
Spanish money he supplied the Americans with
30,000 rifles and oarer 200 cannon during the
early part of the struggle. He sent them vast stores
of tents, provisions and equipment of all kinds, while his
French military lieutenants were organizing the Colo-
nial army. Without his aid Colonial resistance would
have broken down in the first two years of the war, before
France openly espoused the Colonial cause. Then
Spain followed the lead of France; Holland became a
belligerent ; the other Powers organized the " Armed
Neutrality," and England stood alone against the world.
It was a European war, and France had her revenge in
the independence of the United States just twenty years
after the cession of Canada to Great Britain.

Diplomacy at this point entered a new phase in
America, for the boundaries of the new republic had to
be defined. The Americans demanded the cession of
Canada, but England refused to desert the Canadians and
Loyalists who had stood by her in her hour of trouble,
and refused to make the cession. The Americans then
claimed that their northern boundary should shoot off
from the St. Lawrence at the point where it is cut by
the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude — not far from
Cornwall — in a straight line to the south end of Lake
Nipissing. This would have given control of the Great
Lakes and the richest part of Ontario to the United
States, and made a transcontinental British North Ameri-
can dominion impossible. Being vital, it also was refused
But the great question was, How much could England
hold? The Americans had warned the Mother Country
that there could be no lasting peace unless all Canada was
ceded. In the face of this threat the question was most
urgent, How much could England hold? She had, say,
70,000 French-Canadian subjects, and a few thousand

British Diplomacy 47

poverty-stricken Loyalists. The population of the new
republic was 3,000,000, most of them energetic colonizers
sprung from the greatest of colonizing Powers. The odds
were enormous, and the continent was empty. Great
Britain remembered the fate of France, that had been
ruined in America by the lure of the Mississippi and
Ohio valleys, and by the attempt to hold them with
Canada as a base. She knew that she was much less
favourably placed than France had been. The mouth of
the Mississippi was in hostile hands. Hundreds of miles
of wilderness lay between settled Canada and the Ohio
country. The waterways were choked by the rapids of
the St. Lawrence and by the falls of Niagara. England
was 4,000 miles distant. The Americans lay between,
and they had fought for this great interior — it was one
of the causes of the war. England might as well have
tried to dam Niagara as hold the Americans back from
this empty and, to her, inaccessible wilderness. How much
can I hold, said she, for my handful of Canadians and
Loyalists? She was confronted by the possible and the
impossible, and finally decided to take advantage of the
Great Lakes and the waterways' as natural barriers and
try to hold the country on the north. By this arrange-
ment she provided for the inevitable expansion of the
United States, and made sure that it should be westward
and not northward.

At the same time she did full justice to her handful
of Canadians, for she reserved for their future use a
hinterland several times larger than the entire United
States, which then extended only to the Mississippi.
The arrangement satisfied the national needs of the
United States, but not their ambition, and we found these
natural barriers our salvation in the war of 1812-14.
When Napoleon came upon the world's stage and France
had taken back from Spain the Louisiana territory, he
sought to establish a great Napoleonic empire in America.
But Nelson beat him off the Atlantic, and to save Louisi-
ana from the British he sold it to the United States. This
doubled their territory and quadrupled their ambition.
The boundary had soon to be drawn westward to the

48 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Rocky Mountains, but on what basis was it to be fixed?
In 1783 neither Government had known where the source
of the Mississippi was, and they had guessed at it, only
to find later on that they were far astray. This may be
fortunate for us, for if it had been as far north as was
supposed it is not unlikely that the line would have been
drawn straight west from it. As it was, there was room
for compromise and a fair partition. The British north
was empty, and British population in its westward march
could never keep pace with that of the United States on
the south; yet England looked to the future and pro-
posed the 49th parallel. She said to Uncle Sam, " I will
divide fair. You take the south ; I will keep the north."
It was so settled, and again full justice was done to her
British subjects, for they had reserved for them a far
greater West than that of the United States, which did
not then include their great South West, subsequently
acquired.

But the Oregon country was left open for future agree-
ment. The United States claimed all west of the Rocky
Mountains from the 42nd degree of north latitude to
54 degrees 40 minutes — the southern boundary of Alaska.
Into it they sent an expedition and settlers, not because
their territory was full or overflowing with inhabitants,
but for the political purpose of strengthening their claim
by possession, and holding it if necessary by force on the
spot. In the '40*5 the controversy became acute, and it
had to be settled. Again Great Britain said, " I will
divide fairly by extending Line 49 to the western
coast." But this time the United States flatly re-
fused. The spirit of war was aroused, and the country
rang with the cry, " 54-40 or fight." But John Bull knew
his map. The question was not that iof a crooked boun-
dary fence-post or of a barren rock on the Alaskan shore.
It was that of a Pacific frontier to a transcontinental
dominion. That dominion might then be unformed and
empty, but Mr. Bull has foresight and political perspec-
tive. No one knows better than John what is worth fight-
ing for, though he has more sense than to exhaust his
resources in fighting for trifles. The Pacific frontier was

British Diplomacy 49

no trifle, and he said : " No ; Line 49 is my best
proposition." In the end the 49th line was fixed upon as
far as the coast, and then the boundary was deflected
southward below Vancouver Island, and it is entirely due
to firm British statesmanship and diplomacy that Canada
has now her splendid Pacific Province and Pacific fron-
tier.

In the same decade the United States made unjust war
upon Mexico and robbed her of 850,000 square miles,
including California, Texas, and several other states.
Mexico had no powerful Mother Country at her back.
That is the difference.

Now turn to the far north-west. About 1670, if I
remember correctly, the Hudson's Bay Company charter
was issued, giving it the trading rights in the country
tributary to Hudson's Bay and to the waterways that
flow into it. The grant was indefinite, but by no stretch
of imagination could it be claimed that it gave title to the
Yukon River basin, which was beyond the Rocky Moun-
tains. Along came Mackenzie and traced the river that
now bears his name to its mouth in the Arctic Ocean,
thus establishing in Great Britain the title to the Macken-
zie River basin. Russia was in possession of Alaska.
Who, then, owned the Yukon? It used to be the rule
that the nation which discovered the mouth of a river in
an open continent had a sufficient claim to the whole river
valley. On this principle France had been able to claim
the Mississippi and St. Lawrence valleys. Then Eng-
land set up as a counterclaim that the nation that owned
the coast owned the hinterland. Under this rule, as
possessor of the Atlantic coast, England claimed the in-
terior beyond the Alleghany Mountains. But in the case
of Alaska, Russia had title by both rules, for she held
both the mouth of the Yukon and the entire coast. By all
principles of international law Russia, ,therefore, was
entitled to the whole Yukon valley or river basin. The
range of mountains that divides the Yukon and Macken-
zie valleys was the legal, as well as the natural, boundary
between British and Russian territory, but in 1825 British
diplomacy outmatched Russian, and secured a treaty

50 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

defining the boundary quite differently. Instead of
taking the natural divide between the Mackenzie and
Yukon valleys, the line is defined from the south, run-
ning northerly from a point on the Pacific coast a short
distance, and then turning north-westerly and running
across n degrees of longitude to the 141 st meridian,
and then north to the Arctic. This gave to Great Britain
the upper portion of the Yukon Valley, out of which
we have recently taken over $100,000,000 in gold and
organized our " Yukon Empire." How did it happen ?
The Russian diplomatists had one central thought, and
that was control of the coast. They wanted it placed
out of Great Britain's power to interfere with Russian
fishing or trading establishments on the coast or on the
adjacent islands. The British diplomatists gratified them
with this shell of the Yukon nut in order that Great
Britain might get the rich meat of the interior. So the
agreement was made, and Russia was conceded a title
to a strip along the entire coast to which she
had a just claim, while Great Britain was given
a title to a large tract of the interior to which
her claim was very weak indeed. There was no
misunderstanding, however, about the meaning of the
treaty. It conceded to Russia control of the coasts,
heads of inlets, and all, only giving certain rights of
passage to Great Britain. Russian and British maps
both showed this intention, and the United States maps
followed the others; but when Canada came to have an
interest, and particularly after the great gold discoveries
in the Yukon, she sought to place a technical construc-
tion upon certain words of the treaty and give it a
meaning no one else had thought of, because she wanted
a port of entry into the Yukon country.

Now British diplomacy had done its work with regard
to Alaska in 1825. What remained was merely to find
the meaning of the treaty about which there was a ques-
tion raised bv Canada. This was properly the work of
a iudicial tribunal. When the parties could not agree,
arbitration was decided upon. The arbitrators on the
British or Canadian side were named and approved by

British Diplomacy 51

the Canadian Government. The British Government
does not claim the credit for the excellent appointments
made, nor had it or British diplomacy any responsibility
for the result. When the whole evidence was laid
before the arbitrators it was found that on the merits
the decision must be against Canada on the matter of
chief importance, namely, the control of the heads of
inlets, and, therefore, of a port of entry into the British
Yukon. The decision in some other minor respects was
a compromise between the doubtful contentions of the
litigants. This is often the case even in the adminis-
tration of ordinary justice when a court is composed of
more than one judge, or where there is a jury. It is
always the duty of courts and juries when they can
agree on the main issue, to find a solution of their diffi-
culties, if any exist, on matters of little moment. When
judges or juries agree about matters of importance it
would be a farce if they split on trifles. I only mention
these ordinary court practices because you are familiar
with them. An international tribunal of arbitration is a
judicial body of higher responsibility. It is appointed
after diplomacy has exhausted its resources and failed,
and from it there is no appeal. It is not merely the
court of last resort; it is the last resource of civilization
to maintain peace.

A disputed boundary is one of the most dangerous of
international disputes. The attempt to arrest a prisoner
or perform any one of a hundred common acts may
bring the police or local officials or citizens of the two
nations into collision. Blood may be shed before the
government of either countrv is aware of it, and when
once blood starts to flow it is hard to stop. More than
once in the past Canadian and United States troops have
confronted each other on our frontiers on account of acts
performed on disputed territory, the boundaries being
unsettled. In the Alaska case, the main issue having
been decided against us on the merits and some of the
minor issues solved in the spirit of compromise, there
rame the final question of the possession of four islands.
The United States claimed that the line should run south

52 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of them, giving them to Alaska. Canada claimed that
it should run north of them, and that they belonged to
her. On this issue the arbitrators were at first equally
divided, and a deadlock was threatened; but, finally, the
United States commissioners offered a compromise,
giving the two large islands next to the continent to
Canada, and the two small ones farther out to the United
States. These were but barren rocks, not worth the
powder that would set one gun off, and the title to them
was doubtful. It was clearly, therefore, a case in which
refusal to accept the proposal of the United States,
rather than leave the whole boundary dispute unsettled,
would have .been an act of criminal folly unparalleled in
modern international relations. Yet when Lord Alver-
stone agreed to this settlement a shout of indignation
went up from Canada that echoed throughout the civil-
ized world. Surely our people must have misunder-
stood. I hope they will yet do justice to Lord Alver-
stone. History .surely will.

Now, my time is so nearly exhausted that I shall only
mention the dispute about the north boundary of Maine,
which was settled by the Ashburton Treaty in 1842,
before I make a few final remarks upon the Monroe
Doctrine. I can the more readily pass lightly over the
Maine boundary because I discussed it in the Canadian
Courier in the issue of September I2th last (iqo8). To
that article I must refer you for particulars, only men-
tioning here the conclusion which I arrived at there,
namely, that the result of all the diplomatic negotiations
between Great Britain and the United States, ending
with the Ashburton Treaty, respecting the boundary in
question, was that Canada got 5,000 square miles of
territory to which she had no title. The " huge wedge "
mentioned in our school books, which divides the Prov-
ince of New Brunswick from the Province of Quebec,
is not the result of any blunder on the part of Lord
Ashburton. That wedj?e was driven northward bv the
British when the south was British and Canada was
French. Tn the middle of the eighteenth century the
British claimed that their territory extended all the way

British Diplomacy 53

from Florida to the banks of the St. Lawrence. . The
French disputed this extreme claim at the north. Then
Great Britain conquered Canada, and the question ceased
to be international and became intercolonial or interpro-
vincial. When Great Britain set up her new Govern-
ment at Quebec after the conquest, she necessarily
defined its jurisdiction, and the boundary was then fixed
along the northern highlands that separate the valleys
of the St. Lawrence and St. John, running westward
from Chaleurs Bay. That boundary, then settled, con-
tinued till the American Revolution swept all south of
it out of the Empire. It was, therefore, British diplo-
macy, culminating in the Ashburton Treaty, that pushed
the boundary southward to the St. John River and gave
us the intervening 5,000 square miles referred to.

The Monroe Doctrine is neither American in origin
nor in principle, and accords with British policy in other
parts of the world. The French Revolution gave an
impulse to liberty throughout Europe, and after the fall
of Napoleon the crowned heads of Austria, Prussia,
France and Russia formed what has been known as the
Holy Alliance; for it was an attempt to regulate the
government of the world in accordance with the doc-
trines and practices of the Christian religion as these
autocratic sovereigns understood them. As time passed,
the chief objects of the Alliance were revealed to be
the maintenance of monarchial institutions in their
absolutist form, the quelling of all democratic uprisings,
and the protection of their own dynastic interests. The
revolutions in Naples and Piedmont were put down, and
absolute monarchy was restored in Spain with the aid
of a French army 100,000 strong. Great Britain
was no party to the Alliance, and, though a monarchy,
had no sympathy with absolutism. She demurred to the
proceedings of the Alliance, and then protested; but
when she found that the allies, or some of them, planned
to interfere on the side of Spain and re-subjugate the
revolted Spanish countries in America, she began to act
more resolutely.

Her first step was to lay the whole matter before the

54 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

United States of America and invite their co-operation.
This was the work of George Canning, who had been
appointed Foreign Secretary in 1822. He believed that
if Great Britain and the United States would come to
an agreement and jointly announce their opposition to
the project, it would be abandoned without war. Mr.
Canning, therefore, began negotiations with Mr. Rush,
the American Minister at London. " I am persuaded,"
said he, " there has seldom in the history of the world
occurred an opportunity when so small an effort of two
friendly governments might produce so unequivocal a
good and prevent such extensive calamities." But Mr.
Rush had no authority to enter into an agreement, and
all he could do was to report to Washington, and send;
over the correspondence that had passed between him-
self and Mr. Canning, and await instructions. But
communication was slow in those days, and the Presi-
dent of the United States was some time consulting with
his leading statesmen. So many weeks passed without
any reply. In the meantime the continental plan became
so far advanced that Canning decided not to wait for
American co-operation, and on the responsibility of
Great Britain alone he gave notice that she would oppose
the expedition with all her force. Trafalgar was still
fresh in the mind of Europe, and the whole project was
at once abandoned.

Thus was Europe prevented from imposing despotic
government upon any American country, or transferring
thither its military establishments. Thus were all the
nations then existing in the Western Hemisphere pre-
served from European aggression. This is the Monroe
Doctrine practically exemplified, and it was in effective
operation while the Washington statesmen were still
considering its adoption. When finally they had made
up their minds there was nothing practical left for them
to do except to make a declaration. They, therefore, for-
mulated a policy of " Hands off America," and President
Monroe set it forth in a message to Congress. It was
received with enthusiasm, christened after Monroe, and

British Diplomacy 65

remains to-day the kernel of the foreign policy of the
United States. One of Jefferson's letters to the President
fully acknowledges British leadership. He said that
while Europe was labouring to be the domicile of des-
potism, " our endeavours should surely be to make our
hemisphere that of freedom. . . . One nation most
of all could disturb us in this pursuit. She now offers
to lead, aid and accompany us in it. By acceding to her
proposition we detach her from the bonds, bring her
mighty weight into the scales of free government, and
emancipate a continent at a stroke, which might other-
wise linger along in doubt and difficulty."

At the time of Monroe's message (1823) the United
States had not yet rounded out its territory, nor grown
to a position of great power, and without British sup-
port no such defiance of Europe could have then been
thought of. The objects of the policy were partly com-
mon to both nations, but some were purely British.
Both were opposed to despotic power and desired none
but free nations in America. Both had immense terri-
tories in North America, unsettled or sparsely settled,
that would be endangered if European military establish-
ments were placed on their borders. But Great Britain
had separate interests. She had fallen heir to Spain's
South and Central American trade, which she desired
to retain and knew that she would lose if these Spanish-
American countries fell under the control of European
powers; for their trade policy was to exclude foreigners
from their possessions. And, further, Great Britain
knew that European military encampments on the_bor-
ders of the United States would compel that country, in
self-defence, to maintain a great army of its own, and
this would be as dangerous to British possessions, if not
more so, as the European armies. Her policy was,
therefore, to make it wholly unnecessary for the United
States to become a strong military power.

All objects have been completely fulfilled. Every
nation is free in both the North and the South; the
territories of both Great Britain and the United States

56 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

have been free from attack by any non- American power ;
Great Britain still retains the trade, and militarism in
this hemisphere was scotched in its infancy. Great Bri-
tain has consistently adhered to the Monroe Doctrine,
and every British statesman endorses it to-day. Can-
ning's splendid policy has been justified by results. The
co-operation of the two nations has produced, as he fore-
saw, unequivocal good, and prevented extensive calami-
ties. At first the burden was all on our Mother Country,
but as the United States has grown to power, Great
Britain has encouraged them to assume more and more
of the responsibilities. Yet to this day the United States
has never been in a position to enforce the doctrine
against Europe,' and but for Great Britain we should
long ago have seen different nations fighting for South
America as they long did for North America.

Now, we have taken scarcely a bird's-eye view of the
political world, yet we have surely seen that Great
Britain has been, as the British Empire is to-day, the
greatest secular force for good that ever existed in the
history of the world. In her diplomacy abroad, as in
her system of Government at home, she has opposed
tyranny, befriended freedom, and lighted the paths of
progress. Under her international leadership, since the
fall of Napoleon and the establishment of the doctrine
of " Balance of Power," there has been no general war,
though such wars were common before, and the world
and every human interest have advanced more in 100
years than in any 1,000 years of previous history.

As to Canada, Great Britain conquered it 150 years
ago, at great cost of blood and treasure, and has made
it a free gift to us, with all its revenues, for all time to
come. Gradually she has extended its borders, fenced
it about, held it for us, though empty, against all the
land-hungry nations of the world, and guarded every
vital interest. In 125 years since the Treaty of 1783
we have had 122 years of peace, and to-day we find
ourselves in possession of one of the greatest countries
ever possessed by a people, with two wide ocean fron-

British Diplomacy 67

tiers, the greatest inland waterways in the world, a
transcontinental chain of organized provinces, and no
one thing lacking requisite for our national greatness.
History shows no parallel. It could not have been
accomplished by any but the Mistress of the Sea, and
only by her through broad statesmanship, splendid fore-
sight, and skilful diplomacy unsurpassed in any age or
in any part of the world.

PRESENT CONDITIONS AND FUTURE PROS-
PECTS IN INDIA.

Address by PROFESSOR G. S. BRETT, M. A., of Trinity University
Toronto, before the Empire Club of Canada, on November 26th,
1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

The subject upon which I am to speak to-day is an
extraordinarily large one, and, as you are well aware,
extraordinarily complicated. I have spent in India four
and a half years. During that time I was not engaged
in any occupation which would directly bring me into
touch with political factors or with administration. .But
I think it is extremely probable that those who are not
immediately engaged in the government of the country
have opportunities of understanding some of the forces
that work in the country better, perhaps, than those who
are immediately engaged in it. The spirit of the Indian
people is such that it is almost impossible for an official
to discover what are their real opinions. They will,
however, talk freely to others who they think are in
sympathy with them and who are not likely to make use
of that information in any direct official way.

I will first try to explain what is the general condition
of the country in respect of the forces which make either
for progress or the opposite, and which, at any rate, exist
in the country more or less permanently. It will be
necessary to a certain extent to bring out points which,
I think, are rarely, if ever, noticed in the . ordinary
reports of events in India, and particularly to throw
emphasis on certain sides of life and character which
strongly affect the situation, but are as a rule ignored
in journalistic circles and newspaper reports.

In the first place, we hear a great deal about race-
hatred, and I think there is a strong tendencv to sup-
pose that you can roughly divide the country into the

58

Present Conditions and Future Prospects in India 59

British and the rest. We hear of the small handful of
British who hold this country without sufficient appre-
ciation of the power which, after all, backs them up. If
we had to deal with the question of India from the point
of view of ethnology, we should find it an extremely
complex subject. If we take it from the political point
of view, it is much less complex. A very large majority
of the actual living beings in India count absolutely for
nothing as political factors; and, roughly speaking, for
the purposes of our present analysis, I should say that
we could not do better than regard the situation as prac-
tically a division of Hindus versus the rest.

Let me explain in what sense I say that. I lived in
India during the year 1906, which has been, of the last
ten years, undoubtedly the climax of sedition and of
unrest. Since then the country has steadily gone back
from that extreme. In that year, in April and May,
there arose definitely in India the idea that it would be
possible to have an "India for the Indians," and this
became a popular watchword for a time, eagerly
taken up, with no very great understanding of its sig-
nificance. Before very long, however, a sudden and
complete revulsion of feeling came, because it was dis-
covered that, politically, India for the Indians meant
India for the Hindus. The Mohammedans, who had
thrown their caps in the air at first, immediately began
to change their tactics and to be, if anything, rather over-
anxious to protest their loyalty to the British Empire.

There is a large amount of racial division in India and
of what I may call blood-feeling, but this antagonism is
just as strong between certain factors among the Indians
themselves as it is between the Indians and the British.
We have at present nothing like a prospect of uniting
the Hindus, especially the old class, with other races
which are just as much foreign elements as ourselves.
The result is that on the British side we can definitely
rank all those who have arrived in India by conquest or
by immigration. The Mohammedans cannot be relied
upon to back the schemes of the Hindus ; neither can the
Parsees. If you divide up the really valuable factors in

60 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the situation, ignoring all this talk about millions and
millions (as if it had any significance), you will find that,
so far as interests are concerned in the country, British
rule has very much more behind it than the mere number
of British people in the country, or even the British
forces at its disposal.

The second aspect of this question is that any division
of the country .according to races is really only partial,
and must be supplemented by the division of the country
according to interests. And you have many distinct
interests in that country, but there is one of paramount
importance, namely, the trade interest. The whole ten-
dency of progress in India is undoubtedly towards a
development of its own internal resources and trade. In
spite of the nationality to which a person mav belong,
he may have interests based upon trade which overrule
his natural propensities in the way of blood and birth.
I could illustrate that in many cases by citing examples
of the great Swadeshi movement. The word means
'•' one's own country ;" it implies the principle that all
products sold in the country should also be produced in
the country. This trade interest gives us as a British
nation a very strong hold over what is already and will
be in the future still more, an extremely influential part
of the population. It throws upon our side in any par-
ticular crisis the conservative element, which naturally
wants to avoid anything even analogous to the great
events of 1857. So that these two points must be kept
in mind : First of all, that the division of the country is
not such a simple thing as between the British and non-
British ; and secondly, all racial distinctions can be oblit-
erated by other interests.

The Indian temperament is unstable, much more so
than you can imagine. They are sensitive to a degree
which it is almost impossible for you to appreciate and
impossible for the average Englishman to estimate when
he first goes out there. There was a young professor in
one College, who, becoming extremely annoyed with one
of the classes, denounced its members as geese. To call
a man a goose here would be looked upon as very mild

Present Conditions and Future Prospects in India 61

abuse, but it was not taken in that sense. The whole
class seceded and left the College; the matter was taken
up in the local papers, and it was proclaimed abroad as
one of the greatest insults the British Empire had put
upon the Indian nation. It is difficult to get an under-
standing of the degree to which an Indian is sensitive,
because he can conceal his feelings entirely. I remember
one British official talking to a native whom he had
greatly offended; he thought he was mollifying him;
when, in reality, the native was, internally if not exter-
nally, white with passion. Such expressions of feeling
they can entirely conceal, so that it is difficult to estimate
the effect of your words upon them. The Indian is polite-
ness carried to an extreme, and this characteristic is not
to be regarded as unimportant by any means. You know
that however good a plan may be, very often a large
percentage of the success which it attains is due to the
tact with which it is managed. If that is the case here,
where you can give a man credit for being honest, even
if he appears rude and bluff, it is so to a much greater
degree in India, where they value smoothness and
urbanity of manner quite as much as good results.

The average individual who is projected into India to
manage that country is a young civilian out of one of our
universities. I think we strike there the truly important
point, and one which has not been sufficiently attended
to, namely, the question whether we supply the right
material for the administration of that country. We
choose men along the line of intellectual achievement
rather than men who have tact and some rudimentary
ideas of governing the provinces of which they are to
have charge. We have absolutely no guarantee that the
man we send out is fit for the position. It is one of the
standing paradoxes of India that the method has pro-
duced so many great administrators, considering the way
in which the strictness of the official svstem practically
prevents any one man from being passed over, no matter
what his capacities may be. Promotion is regulated
strictly according to seniority.

On the British side you have the Civil Service, the

62 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Military Service, and the rest — the rest including traders,
planters and stray individuals who may turn up from
time to time. The military, as a rule, have very little
touch with the natives. The remainder are certainly in
many cases not our best representatives. They have a
thorough dislike for the people among whom they live;
they are taken very often as representatives of British
methods, which are also largely exemplified by the indi-
vidual known as " Tommy Atkins," and they certainly
tend to produce very great irritation. A civil servant is
representative of another factor in British treatment of
India which is also far from receiving proper attention.
He represents the British ideal, and the British ideal of
efficiency is not only opposed to that of the Indian, but
is one which he is incapable of properly estimating. The
civil servant sets himself to work out a plan. He is
assured that he is attaining the good of the country, cer-
tain of the honesty and righteousness of his own methods,
but he does not consider the extent to which the indi-
vidual with whom he is working values merely sympathy
and attention to the trifles and details of politeness. Even
in working out his own policy the civil servant is apt to
become to the native obviously self-righteous; and, not
only that, he is apt to override, in attaining what are
merely.material gains, those which the Indian would rank
as spiritual. This may seem to you rather trifling, but
the point of view which one gets from living in India is
such as to make one appreciate those elements.

An intelligent Hindu came to me one day and said he
was a student of English politics. He said he was sorry
to know that England was in such a state of unrest and
revolt. He had been reading about the suffragette move-
ment. Very often a casual newspaper report gives you
just about as much sense of the proportion of things in
India as that youth derived from his reading of the Eng-
lish papers. Departing from these points, there is an
entirelv different aspect of this question, and one which
you will doubtless consider the most important — the ques-
tion of sedition. That, again, is very often looked upon —
and I am sorry to say it is certainly looked upon by the

Present Conditions and Future Prospects in India 63

officials in India itself — as a matter of education. But
that is not so. The sedition is not necessarily in any
sense territorial. It is not an expansion of anything.
But, on the other hand, it is an intention. It is measured
by the extent to which the individuals, who in India have
always historically counted for nothing, are beginning to
be valued for themselves, and that increases the forces of
the nation and even its numerical value. This sedition
is based undoubtedly upon education, but it is not by any
means a thing which we can put down as the fault of
education. We cannot say if there were no education
there would be no sedition. Although we are responsible
for the education which has begun in that country, it- was
begun with a definite political policy and the knowledge
that it meant greater value to Britain itself in that coun-
try. It rapidly got entirely out of hand so far as the
British Government was concerned ; and you have only
to study the history of education in India to find that
the country very soon got hold of its own education;
that it realized that it must give it a Western turn, and
then held out, in spite of the action of the Government
to the contrary. When the Government tried to stop
entirely the great progress being made in the learning of
English, the only result was that the students left the
colleges and went to private institutions ; and if we again
tried to divert the channel of education it would be
immediately restored by going to Japanese colleges and
institutions instead of those of the West. We are
incapable of controlling that, and I doubt if we really
want to. Education is itself one of the greatest factors
in quelling sedition.

We want to know exactly what it is that produces these
appearances of sedition in India, because you must
remember that what we hear of that awav from India is
not by any means the most important element, but the
noisiest. I have spoken of the trading interest; and
there is another — the native official interest. The native
officials feel that they might rise higher in the way of the
administration or judicial offices if they had not the
British in their way. They have the money and they

64 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

have the brains, and they have, also, to an extent which
is not possible in any other class, a lack of scruple in
their methods. Their stake in the country is a matter of
stipends, and they feel that the British are in their way.
That class, consisting chiefly of the legal element, are
interested in sedition, and they find their readiest instru-
ment in the masses of the people who are ignorant.
Much of the active sedition in the north of India was
aroused by the secret emissaries sent round to explain
to the people that the plague from which they were
dying was due really to the poisoning of the wells by
the British. And that fired the whole of North India
as nothing else could have done. It is that sort of thing
which education will steadily tend to eliminate. As the
mass of the people acquire their education, become
better able to judge, they will be able to judge not only
the British Government, but also those in their own
country who are at present capable of thus exploiting
them for their own means.

While I would defend the character of the average
Indian in many cases, you have to admit that he has not
been trained or raised to the height at which he can
comprehend the value of abstract principles. He looks
at things from his own point of view, and he considers
that the end justifies the means. Education will tend
steadily to strengthen the moderate party, and this does
not mean retrogression in any sense, but that it will
enable us to avoid the catastrophe which might be
taken to threaten us at present. It is certain that every
day that we can keep away from any actual explosion
of an extensive sort is a day that makes it less and less
possible for that explosion ever to take place. On the
other hand, of course, education is furnishing new prob-
lems. Education is enlarging the country in the sense
of making its separate individuals more and more valu-
able, intensively increasing the value of the country;
and it is doing that by raising up every day more and
more individuals who are capable of holding the highest
and most important offices in the country. As those
numberg increase, it is only natural that the cry should

Present Conditions and Future Prospects in India 65

arise, " Let us have all posts for ourselves, and let us
occupy them." And I do not think that anybody whose
opinions are not warped would wish to deny that the
claim is perfectly just. Neither can we deny that it is a
perfectly just claim for India to want to hold more of
her own property and her own trading1. While there
are individuals who seem to think we should use violent
means to stop this progress, those who look at the mat-
ter from the standpoint of the statesman must see that
it is a perfectly just claim. The crisis comes in judging
the extent to which it is possible to satisfy that claim.
We shall be able to satisfy it in one direction and not
in another.

It is impossible for the British Government at the
present time to give up its administrative superiority
simply for the sake of the Indian. Take the Civil
Service. It is open to a native who can qualify, yet he
cannot occupy a civil post as an Englishman can occupy
it. He must be on one side or the other, and if he is
on neither he is looked upon as a hypocrite by both
parties. It is impossible for such administrative power
to be vested in Indians born and bred. On the other
hand, there is a large sphere of development possible in
local and municipal administration which would afford
positions for many natives. I think for the present the
outlet of that claim for administrative power will come
in the direction of widening the bases, so to speak,
rather than trying to take separate individuals up into
the higher ranks.

The further question remains as to what we can do
with the higher ranks, and there, again, the whole trend
of the country points to an enlargement of that body
which rules the country. That is rather a different
thing from the Indians' clamour for either an Indian
parliament or representation. The representation might
come very easily if we knew what to represent them in.
It would be a great mistake at present to attempt to
create an Indian parliament On the other hand, I do
think it is possible for them to be more dependent on
themselves and less dependent on Britain, not merely in
5

66 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the way of reducing our superiority in numbers in the
administrative section, but rather in decentralizing the
work from London to Calcutta. We could then elect
into the Government a larger number of Indian repre-
sentatives than is possible in a Viceroy's Council at
present. That process of establishing the Government
of India, not in the sense of breaking away from Britain,
but rather of localizing power and giving the people a
part in the solution of its problems, would be an advan-
tage.

There is one great factor in this question, and one
which I would like to mention, and that is that through-
out India I am quite certain there is a tone which is not
the tone which precedes great catastrophes. There is
nobody in India who flatters himself that if he could
once get at the British Government he would discover
anything behind it which the British Government desires
to hide. There is no system recognized by the Indians
as more upright and straightforward than the British
Government. They do not feel that it is a case of
breaking down some secret opposition. They feel if
they could arise and break the British Government they
would have done nothing but break themselves and
destroy their own Government. The best people in
India are doing all they can to hold together the country
so that it will be possible for the British Government to
make reform its own purpose, go about it in an orderly
way and ultimately achieve a self-government for the
people, which will have to come slowly if it is to be per-
manent.

MR. S. J. MCLEAN, PH.D.

Member of Dominion Railway Commission, Ottawa.

THE PRESENT CRISIS IN TURKEY.

Address by the REV. DR. SYDNEY H. GOULD, of Constanti-
nople, before the Empire Club of Canada, on December 3rd, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen,' —

I am going to speak on the Turkish problem. There
is nothing which reveals the strength and the power of
our Empire to-day more than the fact that no problem
can occur in this world in which the British Empire is
not directly interested. And more particularly is it so
in that old historic field of military and diplomatic con-
flict— the Levant, the Turkish Empire. Eleven years
ago I was on my way to Palestine, .and as a medical
man it was necessary that I should go to Constantinople
and take the diploma of the Imperial Faculty of Medi-
cine. I saw on the walls of the streets in that city the
marks of bullets where hundreds of Armenians had
been driven into the Golden Horn. Within the past
two or three months I have seen great crowds of Mo-
hammedans, and Christians, and Jews, surging through
the streets of the chief cities in the Turkish Empire
crying out : "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity."

I left Jerusalem last March. There were two build-
ings in that city where during centuries for a Jew to be
seen meant death. One was the great temple of Solo-
mon. To-day we find that a Jew is one of the memi'-
bers elected to the Turkish Parliament — a Jew, a Mo-
hammedan, and a Christian. We have to account for
that great change. Ten years ago the Armenian mas-
sacres— only last spring intense racial and religious
hatred between the different stratas of population — to-
day we see the Reform Party in power and these two
elements in the population all banded together with
one cry upon their lips, and that cry " Union and Prog-
ress;" union of all the various elements of*vhich the
Turkish Empire is and has been composed; and prog-
ress for that decrepit Empire which many decades ago
was first described as " the sick man of Europe."

67

68 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

It is my privilege to-day to try and disentangle! the
operative causes which have brought about these
changes. As we look at them we find they fall into two
classes — on the one side, there are the constructive
causes, which, operating from within or without, have
tended ,to strengthen and reinforce and build up the
influences leading toward reform. That is one of the
classes. On the other side we have the contrary — the
disruptive or destructive causes, and, under this head, I
would include those influences which, issuing from the
old regime, from the abuses of the old regime, were
reflected back upon it, disintegrated it, and finally
brought about its destruction. What are the construc-
tive causes which were mainly concerned in the great
revolution, the so-called bloodless revolution, in Tur-
key? I would beg to protest against the use of that
word which we see so frequently in the newspapers —
the " bloodless " revolution of Turkey. There has prob-
ably been as much bloodshed in connection with that
revolution as in any revolution in the pages of history.
And the first of the operative causes was undoubtedly
the influence and the vitality and the power of the Re-
form Party — the Young Turkish Party. And the sources
of this party, the origin of Turkish freedom, may be
traced back to that great Britisher, Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe, who at the time of the Crimean War was
British Ambassador at Constantinople. I know, also,
what the Young Turks have endured — imprisonment,
drownings by night, exile. We are bound to ascribe to
those men to-day a large measure and meed of admira-
tion, not only for the fertility of their resources, but for
the strength of their convictions.

I would put in the second place the educational work
of Christian missions. There are few people in (the
West to-day who realize that, for the last half-century
at least, practically the whole educational work in the
Turkish Empire has been in the hands of Christian mis-
sionaries. We on the east side of the Jordan have a
day school, and two or three years ago tl.e Turkish
Government endeavoured to interfere with it. We met

The Present Crisis in Turkey 69

them on this ground — "We were here before you were."
It was established in 1855. The Turkish Government
came in fifty-five years ago. In the third place, Eng-
land's work in Egypt reflects the influence of that
wonderful work which England has done, and is doing
to-day. There are grievous flaws in that work, for
which England will very soon have to pay the cost in
the spread of a movement of unrest similar to that in
India at the present moment; but we cannot, in
endeavouring to sum up the position of affairs in the!
Turkish Empire, do anything else but ascribe a very
large share in that movement to the influence of the
men — the noble men, the self-denying men — who have
laboured from year to year to reconstruct that ancient
land of Egypt, who have turned that country into one
of the most prosperous to-day on the shores of the
Mediterranean, a country which is now the model of
all the countries in the Levant.

In the fourth place, I should put the building of
railwrays. I read an article a little while ago in the
Outlook, in which the writer made this remark:
" You cannot build a railroad without creating an in-
fluence," and I think that remark applies with particular
force to Turkey, and with special force to two railways.
The first is that great railway of Bagdad, which, cross-
ing Asia Minor, is to descend into the Valley of Messo-
potamia, and reach the Persian Gulf. The strategic end
of that railway is quite clear; its commercial end is also
equally evident. There was along with it this creative
influence of which I have spoken. It was an influence
not intended by the promoters of that railway, which
was originally backed by German funds; but the build-
ing of that railway has probably done more than any
other one thing to overthrow German predominance in
the councils at Constantinople, because the action taken
in building it was the visible influence of the political
power of Germany at the headquarters in Constanti-
nople. And I may speak freely — I am speaking without
any maliciousness whatsoever — when I say the influence
of Germany in Constantinople has always been viewed
with the greatest suspicion and with very intense hatred.

70 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

The second railway commences at Mount Carmel,
and goes up to Damascus and right down east to the
River Jordan. It is a wonderful railway, because it is
the only railway which has no capitalized fund. It is
built entirely by subscriptions of the faithful Moham-
medans throughout the world. It was opened as far
down as Medina, the sacred city, where Mohammed's
tomb is, on the first of last September. I read an
account of the speeches, published in The Times. One
of them was delivered by the Nationalist leader in
Egypt, who gave utterance to this remark : " I thank the
Prophet that he has not permitted this railway to reach
the place of his burial before the proclamation of the
constitution in Constantinople." The people realized, I
think, throughout the building of that railway that it
was impossible further to stem the tide of Western in-
fluence, of Western liberalizing thought, of Western
progress ; though they recognized at the same time that
many of these were in deadly opposition to the funda-
mentals of their own religions.

We pass from the constructive to the disruptive, those
causes which, issuing from the abuses, as I have said, of
the old regime, were reflected back upon it, and largely
brought about its overthrow. And the first is the posi-
tion of Christians before the law. The Mohammedans
divide the whole world into two great houses. There
is the House of Islam on the one hand, and on the other
the House of War, and all Mohammedan countries are
included in the House of Islam. All non-Mohammedan
countries are included in the House of War. That is the
fundamental thing which marks off the whole Moham-
medan world to-day from contact with the rest of the
world. There is no equality before the law between a
Christian and a Moslem subject of the Turkish Empire.
A year ago a man was brought into my hospital, a
Christian, with the lower part of his leg shot to pieces.
It was well known who did it — a Christian member of
the same clan — but the friends of the man who had
done it went to a local Mohammedan and got him to

The Present Crisis in Turkey 71

go before the judge and swear that it was not this man
who did it, but the wounded man's own son, and the mere
fact that he swore to that effect counted for more than
all the oaths of the Christians. The consequence was
that the wounded man was in my hospital with his leg
shot to pieces and his own son was thrust into prison
for having done the deed.

In the second place, there is the mal-administration
of justice. The chief judges in the Turkish Empire of
the past could only be appointed for three years. They
could not be re-appointed to the same position in the
Provinces; neither could they be transferred from one
position to another in the Provinces. At the end of
three years they were compelled to return to Constanti-
nople and literally purchase another position ; so you see
they had to line their pockets pretty thoroughly during
the three years. A native told me this story, and the
stories of natives reflect the conditions of a country
better than any other feature we can lay our hands
upon. He said a man who was very well off was going
down the street one day and met one of his friends, also
a man in a former position of wealth. He was clothed
in rags. " Hello ! what has happened to you ?" " Oh !"
he said, " I had a suit before the judge, and I lost it."
The man met another of his friends, formerly in a good
position, and he said, " What is the matter with you ?"
for this man was almost naked. He said : " Oh ! I was
the other party to that suit, and I won it, and this is the
result." About two years ago a man in a village in
Galilee borrowed another man's horse to go on a jour-
ney, and he over-rode it, or from some other cause the
horse died. The owner sued the man. They went
before the judge, and the outcome was this: The man
who had borrowed the horse and lost it paid the judge
15 napoleons. The man who had loaned the horse and
lost it paid the judge 20 napoleons. One man sued
another for some wheat that had been destroyed, saying
that the goats of this man had invaded his land and
eaten the wheat. The defendant in the case brought
witnesses to prove that he could not possibly be the

72 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

responsible party, because, he said, " I have not got any
goats at the present time, and I have not possessed them
for some years." The end of the case as far as that man
was concerned was this — he was fined for not keeping
goats. Now, gentlemen, it may seem absurd, but these
are facts — simple facts- — in the administration, or rather
the mal-administration of justice, or the administration
of injustice, in the Turkish Empire.

And then we had the chronic and nascent rebellions
which have distinguished that Empire throughout the
past decade or two. We have heard about Macedonia
and Armenia, but very few of us have heard about the
greater troubles in a Province of Arabia. About three
years ago I met a military attache from the Embassy at
Constantinople, and he told me that in one rebellion
there the Turkish troops had lost 80,000 men, with all
their equipment, all their artillery — everything. It would
be no exaggeration to say that 65,000 or 70,000 men
died of starvation. Two years ago this winter, or three
years ago, they started a regiment from Jerusalem, in
the .midst of the rains, to go down and gain the East
Jordan Plateau, and march down to this district,
a march of five or six hundred miles ; and the
only things they had in the way of commissariat con-
sisted of a few bags of unground wheat in a waggon.
And the irony of it was that that waggon could go only
a distance of six hours. Beyond that there was no road.
No tents, no food — nothing at all but just a few bags of
unground wheat for a regiment of 1,000 men.

Then we had the spies and the secret police. It is
impossible, again, for anyone in this favoured land to
realize the state of affairs in this respect in the Turkish
Empire. The Empire was infested from one end to the
other with spies and secret police, and the -merest whisper
of any political intrigue or of a person possessing liberal
ideas in the way of politics was sufficient to fasten the
grip of these men upon a man's throat, and he simply
disappeared. They could arrest any man in any place
at any time, and simply put him out of sight, without
any trial whatsoever. And the prisons of Turkey were

The Present Crisis in Turkey 73

simply crammed full with some of the best men, with
dozens of the best men of the best families in the Turk-
ish Empire. Acre, where I lived for five years, was one
of the places of exile, and in that town there was one of
those awful prisons. It was practically underground.
I have gone in there to those underground places, with-
out light, without ventilation except through an opening
in the vaulted roof, and have seen the prisoners thrust
in so tightly that they could only have a little narrow
mattress about two feet wide and six feet long, and
these mattresses were spread all over the floor as tightly
as they could be placed. A room which should, perhaps,
contain about twenty-five men would have thrust into
it seventy-five or one hundred — the living, the dying,
and almost the dead together.

After the proclamation of the amnesty I read of the
return of one of the Reformers. He was a member of
one of the leading families of Constantinople, and fifteen
years ago he was suspected of having some political
opinions. He disappeared. For fifteen years he was
out of sight and ken of his friends and family. When
the amnesty was proclaimed, a few months ago, that
powerful Turkish family required six weeks before they
could trace the whereabouts of the father of the family.
They finally found him in a prison on the edge of the
Syrian Desert. The vessel was on the way; it was
coming up from the Sea of Marmora. They went down
v/ith bands to welcome the return of the exile. The
ship came into the dock, and, to their sorrow, they
beheld the emaciated wreck of a man borne off upon a
stretcher. For years he had been in a prison where they
were put so tightly that there was not room for all to
lie down at a time. I have seen the inside of those
prisons, and I know the unutterable abomination of
them.

And then we had the taxes. The system of taxation
was simply indescribable. The taxes, of course, were
farmed out. A widow of Mount Lebanon had some
olive trees. The officials came to collect the taxes.
She said: "There is the tenth, the legal tax." They

74 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

said : " We want taxes for the wheat." " But/' she said,
" I have no wheat ; that is the only piece of ground that
I have." They said: " If the olive trees were not grow-
ing there the wheat would, so you must pay for both."
Dozens in Palestine simply cut down their olive trees
as the only way of getting out of such extortion as that.
Then, again, we had the degradation of the authori-
ties through the continual issuing of ultimatums by
Western Powers. The Mohammedan has a strong mili-
tary pride, and is very sensitive, and, along with this,
there was a growing sense of impotency, especially along
military and naval lines.

I was in Palestine when they sent a squadron to greet
the German Emperor. The Emperor came and departed,
and about two days after he had gone the squadron
arrived. So we find all along the line, and also the
insatiable appetite for more money. Always a call in
the local circles for more funds. To show the methods
of the Central Government I have here two coins. Some
millions of these coins were minted at the value of 40
and 10; their value now is I to 10. They put the coins
into circulation and then they debased them. They did
not redeem them; they simply left them in the pockets
of the people. Two or three years ago we were simply
swamped with counterfeit coins — quarter-dollars. The
Governor was changed ; and when a new Governor
comes we look out for surprises, and we have had three
in one year. He declared that these coins were counter-
feit, as they were; but when they began to investigate
they found that the previous Governor was one of the
gang who had been making them, and the new man was
in a quandary. He could not very well denounce his
predecessor, and so they performed the same operation
again. Thev said : " Yes, they are quarter-dollars ; but,
instead of being worth 6 piastres, we will allow them to
remain at 4."

Then we had the last of the destructive causes — the
neglect of the army. This is where they made their
great technical error. The second in command of the
9th Corps left at Acre at the time of the troubles in

The Present Crisis in Turkey 75

Armenia received an order to go to Asia Minor and
take charge of the operations there. He said : " I am
so many months in arrears of my stipend, and I won't
go unless you pay me." They replied : " Fay yourself
from the Acre treasury." He went to the treasury and
found two coins, and it takes sixteen of those coins to
make 5 cents! Then the legal pay of the conscript was
one Turkish dollar a month for a private. Their term
of service was five years, and at the end of five years
almost every one of them would be three in arrears.
They would go to the headquarters, and the official would
say : " This is only a Province in which you have per-
formed your military service. I will write you out) an
order on the Central Government, where you will get
your money." And then, perhaps, a thousand of these
men would go back to the Suez Canal, to the Govern-
ment at Bayreuth, and present these orders. The official
there would say : " You ought to have been paid down
where you did your military service; but I am a ve^yi
merciful man, and, out of compassion, I will do this for
you: This is for 60 magedas; I will give you 15 for it."
The man had no alternative. He took his 15, and the
other rascal cashed it for 60. Can you wonder that the
army turned around and overthrew the old regime?

What are the difficulties to-day? I can only mention
them; I cannot explain them. What are the difficulties
in the way of a reform party? There is, first of all, the
fundamental divergence between the Mohammedan law
and the Reform programme. Take it in the way of their
liberty of conscience. It is dead in the teeth of the law
of Mohammed to talk of equality. I have already shown
you that by the law of Mohammed there can be no
equality between a Mohammedan and a non-Moham-
medan; it is quite impossible. The other day I was
impressed by seeing the proclamation of the Shah of
Persia that he did not intend to call again the Parlia-
ment recently granted in that Empire. He said : " I do
not intend to call it again, because it is incompatible.
Constitutional government and Mohammedan law are
mutually exclusive one of the other." He was compelled

76 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

to retract that dictum by the power of the British and
the Russian Ministers, but the position of the reaction-
aries in Persia is the one which represents the funda-
mental Mohammedan law.

And then we have the baneful results of the past
regime — a rule by racial hatred. We have the fact that
the Turkish Empire to-day is made up of a series of
incompatibles — Mohammedan and Christian, Armenian,
Turk, Bulgarian, Jew, Syrian, Arabian — races which
never have coalesced, and it seems very doubtful if they
ever will. And we have the paralyzing influence of
Mohammedan practices and ideals. Every one of these
points would almost constitute a lecture or an address in
itself. The Mohammedan practises sensualism — the
degradation of women and girls and children. These
things obtained throughout the whole Turkish Empire,
and were the real secret of why the Turk has no initia-
tive; why he simply sits down as the sick man of the
East, while other races are marching on in the path of
progress and prosperity.

And then we have the ever-present military danger.
If one section of the army could overthrow the old
regime, another section might be able to overthrow the
new just as soon as it is made worth their while; and,
if they cannot overthrow it, they can induce a condition
of civil war. A military attache at Constantinople told
me at one time, that some of the military experts of the
British Army had gone up into Bulgaria, and they had
come back very much impressed with the military pro-
ficiency and efficiency of that remarkable race, the only
race which has ever passed through the mill of despot-
ism for some centuries and issued with the independence
of character, with the power of initiative, with executive
forces increased rather than diminished as the result of
their experience. He told me, also, that at the time of
the last Macedonian crisis, when it was expected that
war would be proclaimed between Bulgaria and Turkey,
the reserves of the Bulgarian army simply turned out en
masse ten days before they were expected, and as one

The Present Crisis in Turkey 77

man they appeared at their headquarters. The whole
nation is bound together with a spirit of esprit du corps
not equalled except in the Japanese. They are the
Japanese of the nearest East. We must remember, in
sizing up the prospects of the Reform Party, that the
Bulgarian nation is still a divided nation. Personally, I
believe that the Bulgars will give the Turk no rest until
the nation stands as a united nation, as they did before
the time of the Turkish conquest.

We must mention the want of any moral balance. As
I said before, I am keeping away from missionary lines,
but I believe the unrest in India to-day is due to one
fact — Western education without the Western balance
which comes from that hidden sphere, call it ethical, or
spiritual, or moral, or whatever you may ; and the same
results, the same influence which has brought about
those results in India are operative to-day in Egypt,
and I believe in a very few years we shall see the same
state of affairs in Egypt as we see to-day in India —
simply because the Western system of thought and of
education is a destructive one when brought into contact
with Eastern education and thought and morality. It
is thrown in upon these people without anything to
balance it; without any moral, or ethical, or spiritual
foundation upon which to build such a vast and mighty
structure. What shall we say, then, after this brief
review of these very urgent and verv critical questions,
as they are at the present time? We see some grand
achievements in the past; we see great possibilities in
the future ; but we see looming up great dangers, which
threaten to abrogate the achievements of the past and
to overthrow or to annul the possibilities of the future.
There is one thing which I feel I must mention to this
Club, and that is the re-establishment, the re-ascendancy
of British diplomatic influence and power in Constanti-
nople. I have been for some years coming into contact
with the tribes of the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula,
that great sub-continent, and it has impressed me again
and again — the word and the honour of England, It

78 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

stands in the whole of that great sub-continent to-day
unparalleled and unapproached by that of any other
nation.

And to-day, wherever there is degradation in the
world — wherever there is oppression or extortion — the
eyes of the oppressed turn to one quarter, as the magnet
draws the iron, and that is always England. It is always
to England that they look as the model of freedom, of
equity, and of square-dealing. And to-day that flag
which floats through the four quarters of the globe,
from the rocky bastions of Gibraltar, up the Nile, along
the great rocky scarps of the north-west frontiers of
India, from Hong Kong, from the antipodes in the east
and in the west, in the north and in the south ; that flag
which there is no sea so vast that it does not cross, no
sea so lonely that it does not flap to the breeze ; that flag
to-day stands as the emblem to hundreds and thousands
and millions of all that they aspire tq in the way) of
progress, in the way of equity, and, as I have said, of
square-dealing. And, to use a common phrase, it is " up
to " the men of the British Empire to realize those
aspirations, to stand before the nations of the world as
worthy of their flag, as worthy sons of the worthy
pillars of the Empire in the past.

THE GERMANY OF TO-DAY.

Address by PROFESSOR L. E. HORNING, PH.D., of the Uni-
versity of Toronto (Victoria College), before the Empire Club of
Canada, on December loth, 1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

The man who wishes to understand the Germany of
to-day will have to go a long way back in history in
order to get at the sources of the movements that are
now so important in that land. Three factors must be
taken into account — you must follow carefully the his-
tory of Prussia to its present greatness; you must fol-
low the history of the little District of Brandenburg,
which began even earlier than Prussia to engage the
attention of Europe; and you must study the history of
the family that has from 1415 been continuously on the
throne, and that boasts of nineteen rulers, averaging
twenty-six years apiece, a record not surpassed by any
ruling family. It is one of the greatest dynasties that
Western Europe has seen.

Furthermore, to understand the problems of to-day
in Germany, you must follow the history of Church and
State, and their relation to each other. You must know
the relations of the nobility, or the upper classes, to the
Church and the relation of the Church to these classes ,
and when you know these, you will find that they were
combined for a number of centuries to rule for weal
or woe the whole central part of Europe. Then you
must also follow the rise of the middle classes which
began to assume great importance in the eighteenth
century, and culminated in horrible fashion, as far as
the French were concerned, in the Revolution of 1789.
That event, which marks the crest of one of the waves
of middle-class life, is the revolution that did away
with the power and strength and importance of the
nobility. And, in the nineteenth century, in England,
France, Germany, Italy and Austria, we have the rise

79

80 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of what is sometimes called the fourth class, that is, of
the people from whom the Socialists largely recruit
their followers. We in Canada may be thankful that
we are untrammeled by the history and traditions of
the various classes in dealing with our forms of these
same problems.

The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, the wars for the
liberation of Germany, and for the overthrow of Napoleon
in 1812 to 1815 ; the wars leading to the unification of
Germany — in 1864 with Denmark, in 1866 with Austria,
and in 1870 and 1871 with France — are all of them more
or less direct outcomes of this movement backward
and forward, this ebbing and flowing of the tide of
national growth and national development in which the
lower classes were to be some of the prime factors.
The War of 1870 and 1871, which assured to Prussia
the headship of the German Confederation and the
leadership of the central part of Europe, opened out to
the German people a vista of their coming greatness,
dazzling in the extreme. Because of the immense in-
demnity paid by France at the close of the war, Ger-
many was flooded with a wealth that she had never
known before, with the result that there began at once
a remarkable increase in her industrial output in all
departments, which has brought about a complete revo-
lution in the whole life of the country, its evolution
from an agrarian or agricultural state to a nation of
manufacturers. And you all know, you business men,
how important Germany is to-day in commercial mat-
ters. Sixty per cent, of her population is dependent
upon her industrial weal. That shows you to what
great importance her industry has come, and it has all
come within thirty-five years. Englishmen, who had
had undisputed commercial possession of sea and land
up to this time, did exactly what Englishmen are apt
to do when somebody comes along whom they have
never expected to meet as competitors and rivals; they
suddenly woke up, with a sort of unpleasant surprise,
to the fact that there was somebody at their elbow,
pushing them out, in a great many instances, of what

The Germany of To-Day 81

they thought was their undisputed right and property.
What is the result? There is growing up on the side
of the Germans an industrial rivalry that inevitably
leads them to misinterpret a great many of the moves
of England; and on the part of the Englishmen it has
led to irritability and shortness of temper, so that they,
too, naturally take umbrage at the moves of Germany.
This has been going on for a number of years. To-
day it is getting dangerous. The Germans feel that
they must have all the openings they can find through-
out the world; Englishmen feel that they must be up
and doing to maintain their hold on their commerce;
thus there is brought about a sort of armed neutrality,
but you see how naturally and easily one may explain
this rivalry of these two great nations, which is fraught
with so many grave possibilities for the future. What
is necessary for us as Englishmen, and what will be
necessary for the Germans as Germans, is to be very
careful to have wise heads in control of affairs in both
countries, so that no unnecessary friction may result.

Industrially, Germany is in difficulties, because she
must have outlets. But that is not the sole problem
she has to solve. There is the very troublesome Polish
question, which is as old as our era, or nearly so. In
the years from 375 to 500 there was a shifting to and
fro of the tribes and nations in the central part of
Europe — Slavs and Germans and Romans — with the re-
sult that the old Roman Empire was dismembered. Its
place was occupied in large measure by the German
tribes, who in turn, during the succeeding centuries,
were driven forward by the incoming Slavs. In the
twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
the Germans made heroic efforts to re-colonize the ter-
ritory that had been won by the Slavs, between the
Elbe and the Vistula. Thus it came that there was a
strip of land, which you might extend right down to the
Adriatic Sea, where the people fought backward and
forward with varying success, but with the result that
the Germans, chiefly by the aid of the Teutonic Knights,
did re-colonize a large portion of the district. The land
6

82 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

they re-conquered is now a part of Prussia, originally
the name of a small piece of territory in the north-
eastern corner of the Germany of to-day, and the Prov-
ince of Posen is still largely Slav, that is, Polish.

The question is a difficult one. The Poles are
always ready to fight against Germany and Russia for
the re-establishment of an independent kingdom. They
are very tenacious of their language, quite rightly so
I believe, and they are thoroughly well supplied with
money by the Catholic Church to over-bid and out-buy
the Germans, who wish to get possession of large tracts
of their territory and settle them with German-speaking
colonists. The question of how to rule conquered
countries has not been solved by these Continental
nations. England is the only country that knows how
to exercise such government. I was in Germany when
the question of the South African Confederation came
up, and found it very instructive to read the comments
of various influential oapers in reference to the grant-
ing of a constitution to the Transvaal and the Orange
Republic. They did not see how it was possible, did
not know how it was possible, could not dream of how
it could be possible for the English Government to hand
over such lately conquered countries of different race
to be ruled by themselves under British procedure.
They do not understand it to-day. The reason why the
Germans are having so much trouble in Africa is that
they are ruling the negroes in the way they rule their
own German subjects, who have been taught for cen-
turies to obey and march to orders. This Polish ques-
tion is very important. The Germans are trying to
blot out the language of the Poles by decrees of Par-
liament, which will scarcely be possible, but they have
gone so far that even the school-children are engaged
in striking against the authority of the Government.
Think of such a thing under British rule!

In Denmark they have troubles, and there is the
Danish party in both German Parliamentary Houses.
In Alsace and Lorraine, which have for centuries been
a fighting ground between the southern Germans and

The Germany of To-Day 83

the French, they are also having their troubles to satisfy
the people of these newly-acquired territories. All of
these are internal political questions that are very
important, very difficult to deal with, and all of which
require patience.

The geography of Germany brings problems in its
train. The Empire is made up of twenty-two different
States and three large cities that had been independent
for centuries. Great numbers of the citizens of these vari-
ous States still feel that it would be better to be inde-
pendent than to have this greatness of Empire, and loss
of traditional privileges, thrust upon them. That be-
ing so, how can vou expect these oeople to be held to-
gether with a thoroughly well-knit bond of union, such
as is growing between England and her component
parts? If you go back in English history to the union
of Scotland with England, or in later days to the Irish
question, you will see that we have had in part some of
the same problems with which the Germans have still
to deal. There is a natural line of cleavage between
the north and the south, and what appeals to the north
German is very likely not to appeal to the south Ger-
man, who is of an entirelv different temperament. In-
ternally these people are divided, and it is not possible
to expect a well-cemented Empire in a single day; such
a process takes years, often centuries. They are very
patriotic, they are building up a great industrial State,
and the necessities of these industrial problems are going
to contribute to the cementing of the union in a way
mere political considerations would not do.

There is still another question of internal politics,
that of the constitution, to which I will refer in a few
moments Permit me now to turn to the Colonial
policy. Time will not permit me to do more than re-
fer to it and to link it, as it must be, with the greait
industrial evolution to which I have referred. Whether
Germany will ever have colonies, in the sense that
England has them, is a question which must be left to
the future. As you know, most of the desirable land
in the world has already been pre-empted. Outlets for

84 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

her wares she must have — but colonies — time alone
will tell.

In foreign politics the Eastern question is very inter-
esting, as well as very old. From the Conquest of Con-
stantinople by the Turks in 1453 down to the present
it has been one of the playthings of European poli-
ticians. It has been called by one name or another, but
it is still with us in the newest form, Slav vs. Teuton.
The dismemberment of the Turkish Empire was begun
in 1827, when the Kingdom of Greece took new form.
The Crimean War of 1854 prevented Russia from reach-
ing Constantinople, but Austria, driven out of Italy in
1866, began to look in the same direction. In 1878,
as a result of the Berlin Treaty, the further dismember-
ment of Turkey was proceeded with and several inde-
pendent States were formed — Servia, Bulgaria, Monte-
negro, etc. Roumania was made independent, and
given its own king. Two Slav States were given to
Austria for occupation and regulation, viz. : Herzego-
vina and Bosnia. Austria has a large Slav population
in its eastern part (Hungary), so that there is now a line
of cleavage between Slav and, German right through
the centre of the Austrian Empire. For long years it
has been the hope of every German that with the death
of Emperor Franz Joseph the German part of Austria
would fall into the German Empire under the leader-
ship of Prussia. Hungary and the Slav Provinces
would then naturally make a Slav confederation. Sev-
eral times when talking with well-educated men in
Leipzig two years ago, I heard all this thoroughly dis-
cussed. But Austria, instead of dying gracefully, has
shown a great deal of liveliness on her -death-bed, with
the result that she has, within these two months, pro-
claimed the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to
the Austrian Crown, thus putting a stop to the ambitions
and dreams of the young Servians, a Slav people, and
creating for herself another step down toward Con-
stantinople and that eastern outlet that she has been
wanting so long to obtain.

Finally, permit me to refer to a problem that is en-

The Germany of To-Day 86

gaging the attention of Germans to-day and which is
of paramount importance, viz. : the question of the
constitution. When the Emperor and the Church went
hand in hand, as they did through all the centuries
from the twelfth to the sixteenth, there grew up an
alliance that has since been hard to sever, with the re-
sult that even to-day the ordinary German feels that
the Church is in league with the upper classes, and
that it is hostile to the interests and ambitions of the
lower. That is the reason, a perfectly sane, sensible,
historical reason, why the great mass of the people,
from whom the Socialists at present recruit most of
their adherents, are opposed to the Church. When in
the nineteenth century these people found that they had
no longer to fight the upper classes — because these had
really been done away with by the Revolution — but
found they had to fight the middle classes, the conflict
became extremely bitter.

It is one of the conundrums of history why these
middle classes, who had finally, after long struggle,
won their rights from the upper classes, should not be
perfectly willing to give to the people below them their
own rights, political and otherwise! The history of
the nineteenth century, especially of the latter part, is
the tale of the efforts on the part of the lower classes
to get the same equal rights which the middle classes
at present possess.

When you study history from 1848, because the
Revolution of 1830 had not concerned the lower classes,
from that time down to the present you will find that
what we call the Socialist Party were really advanced
or Radical Liberals. But if you try to follow the history
of the various parties that are to be found in the Ger-
man House of Commons, you will be dealing with a
very intricate and very confusing problem. There is
one characteristic of the German which we all admire —
he simply does not follow anybody else. He thinks in-
dependently and for himself, and he always allows other
men the privilege of being of another mind. That is the
characteristic of the German professor and of the Ger-

86 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

man student. That is the essence of Liberalism", or
freedom, when you interpret it in the widest sense pos-
sible, and that makes it very hard to follow the history
of parties and of the efforts to attain to representative
government on the part of the German people. In one
Parliament you will find seventeen or eighteen parties,
and in the next the same number, only that some that
were in the first have separated into two or three sec-
tions each, and each section has fresh affiliations in the
new Parliament, probably under a new name, only to
again change affiliations and names after four or five
years. One is very apt to become lost in the resulting
confusion ; but the general trend is toward a more rep-
resentative government. They have their constitution,
but the trouble is that all through this fight for liberty
and parliamentary freedom, as 'known in Englani,
Prussia, which stands for law and order, and did so
much to unite Germany into one whole, is in this re-
spect the most behind-hand of all the twenty-two king-
doms. The Prussian King has always clung to his Di-
vine Right, and that is the trouble with the Emperor
to-day. There was a very good reason for these lulers
standing for their Divine Right. The people, who had
lived and fed their hopes on the progress of the Consti-
tutional development of England and America, were
fighting for what they considered their political rights.
The Church and the Emperor, with glorious examples
behind them in history, were fighting for what they
considered their privileges and rights, and the clash is
coming — the clash has not come yet to the full ex-
tent— but I believe firmly it is imminent. In a very
few years, at anv rate, they will be in the midst of it,
and then it is a question whether the Emperor will be
able to give in gracefully enough to allow the natural
course of development in German democracy to have
its wav. The day of Democracy is coming all over the
world, in a sense that we have not yet dreamed of.
Nothing can stop it. Judging from the development
of history nothing can stop the onward march of the
idea that every man has a right to his full share in the

The Germany of To-Day . 87

government under which he lives. Therefore it seems
to me that, put it off as long as you like, some day the
various Radical parties in Germany will see the neces-
sity of union for political ends. It is very unfortunate,
to my mind, that the Socialists have been dealt with so
severely and unfairly. There is absolutely no justifica-
tion for the treatment meted out in the last few years
to a party that numbers one-fourth of the voters of the
land. Nothing can prevent these people from gaining
their rights in time, and let us hone that the revolu-
tion will be bloodless and not, as it was in 1789, horror-
striking and terrible.

These questions of the industrial and political de-
velopment of Germany are, of course, the main ques-
tions to-day. There are other questions, however —
the relation of nation to nation, for instance — which are
also fraught with a great deal of danger. A few years
ago, as a result of the immense influence gained for
Germany by the Franco-Prussian War there was formed
the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria and
Italy. That alliance has naturally gone the way of all
the earth, because Italy was not wealthv enough to
bear its share of the burden; Austria was having its
own trouble with its Slav population ; therefore Ger-
many has had to bear the brunt alone. When Germany
wanted coaling ports for her fleets, which she has been
so anxious to build, she seized the first pretext for in-
termeddling with European politics, and the Moroccan
question originated. Out of that case Germany did not
come with altogether flying colours. Then she has
been trying, through the Bagdad Railway, which runs
down through Asia Minor, to create an outlet there for
some of her commerce ; and she has been also trying to
gain for herself territory in Africa that will give her
some room for surplus population. This territory in
Africa led her into trouble in the Boer War, because the
Emperor, who had his eyes on Africa, was very anxious
that the English should not gain the Orange Free State,
but should be kept out of it at all costs, and it is per-
fectly well authenticated that German officers, perhaps

88 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

without sanction, were aiding and abetting and encour-
aging the Boers to continue the opposition to England.

Whether all men see eye to eye on the Boer War,
or agree as to the injustice of England's position, it
seems to me that it was inevitable, and that the result
has been for the best. The very liberality with which
England has treated those Republics has given evidence
that her ambition or her designs were not altogether
discreditable.

The telegram of the Emperor to President Kruger
was one of the most recent causes of friction between
England and Germany. Of course you saw or heard
of the letter in the Daily Telegraph, or the interview
a couple of months ago, explaining that Germany had
really stopped France and Russia from combining
against England at that dangerous juncture. I have
read that explanation, and of the relation of Germany,
France and Russia at that time, and yet I am not led
to believe that Germany was altogether disinterested.
We have also the statement of the Emperor that he con-
tributed a plan of campaign, which was marvellously
like that which the English followed. That is, of course,
something that may or may not have been. Personally,
I do not think that Lord Roberts followed any plan
but his own.

. I am probably safe in saying that few of us dreamed
that our King Edward would develop into such a
thorough-going diplomat as he has proved himself to
be. We have every reason to be proud of his work.
Without shedding a drop of blood, he has cemented
Europe into what may be called a peaceful family of
nations, first of all encircling and isolating the only
nation from which there is to-day any real trouble to be
expected. That is a terrible thorn in the side of the
Germans. Read the comments in the various newspapers,
national and provincial, as I read them a year ago,
and you will see who is the bold, bad man — the silent
Edward, as they call him. And every cartoon, and
there are plenty of fine cartoonists in Germany, which
deals with these questions, has this silent man in the

The Germany of To-Day 89

background. He is an untold force; he knows how to
hold his tongue.

The German Emperor is a man of a different stamp.
Believe me, I have just as high a respect for his; great
abilities as any German can have. I think there is no
country in the world in which I would rather live, if ,1
were not in England or English possessions, than in
Germany. You have to be a little careful there with
political thought, just as we have to be here with re-
ligious thought. But if you want to be up-to-date to-
day on religion, or politics, or commerce, or science, of
any kind whatever, you have to study and know the
German people, their language and their methods.
We have to go to Germany to study even the English
language. There is no doubt about it, gentlemen, the
most important language for us in the world, outside
of our own Mother-tongue, is our sister-tongue, the Ger-
man. We must reckon with it at every turn. A few
years ago we could go here and there all over the world
and find the Union Jack flying, but we did not find the
German flag. To-day it does not matter where we go,
the very finest ships that are sailing the seas are flying
the German flag, and the most rapid and most thorough
progress that is being made in commercial lines is made
under their tutelage and under their guidance.

The German recognizes science in a way that Eng-
lishmen have no conception of, and we Englishmen will
have to waken up, as we have not wakened up, to the
fact that the German is the most progressive nation on
the face of the earth to-day. I appreciate and love the
Germans naturally and with good intent and thorough
right. I have enough German in me to make me very
susceptible of influence from their side ; but I am Can-
adian, as all of you are. I am Canadian because my
father and my grandfather and great-grandfather were
born in this country — among the first settlers. I am
English because I love the English Constitution and the
political freedom that is granted under that Constitu-
tion ; but I am German in spirit, and in thought and in
love, because I love the scientific freedom and the pro-

90 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

gressive spirit that animates every mother's son of them,
from the East to the West and the North to the South.
I respect the German Emperor and believe he is thor-
oughly honest and upright in his views, and that he be-
lieves he is called of God to his great office. It will be
hard for him, a young man in the prime of life, to re-
sign the privileges that have come down through the
ages to his family. It will be next to impossible for
him to give them up. But I most firmly believe that it
will be necessary for him to do this, because I beliievev
above all kings and classes and rulers, there is the De-
mocracy that has to be reckoned with in this twentieth
century of our era. I hope and believe that the demo-
cratic progress in Germany will not be stopped, will
not be hindered, will not be delayed beyond what will
be necessary to ensure solidity of, growth. On the
other hand, wise provisions for the development of
German Democracy, with a wise yielding on the part
of the German Emperor, will make it possible for Ger-
many to remain, where she undoubtedly stands to-day,
in the very fore-front of the nations.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM IN
RUSSIA.

Address by PROFESSOR JAMES MAYOR, of the University of
Toronto, before the Empire Club of Canada, on December, I7th
1908.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

A former President of the Empire Club, Colonel
Mason, was good enough to ask me, some years ago,
to give an address about Russia, and I did so at ithei
time when Russia was engaged in the war with Japan.
During the four years which have intervened much
water has flowed under the bridges, and many things-
have happened in Russia. The particular aspect of
Russian development which I am to talk to you about
is the Constitutional aspect. It may seem strange, but
as a matter of fact Russia is now a constitutional coun-
try ; that is to say, it has a Constitution of a kind. That
Constitution is being frequently disregarded by the au-
tocracy, but at the same time it exists, and the revolu-
tion has, in a sense, already occurred. That revolution
has not been unattended by bloodshed. There has been
much bloodshed, but the bloodshed has been rather
apart from the revolution.

Let me endeavour to convev to you some idea of the
actual course of events. While the war was going on
there was, of course, tremendous excitement among
the people. The merchants, the artisans, the peasantry
and the nobility were all equally excited, and they were
all inclined to blame the bureaucratic Government for
its share in the disasters. They blamed the military ad-
ministration for inefficiency, and blamed the Govern-
ment for putting into positions of authority and influ-
ence people who were not fit to hold them. That was
the popular view. There was not the faintest differ-
ence of opinion among the classes at that time. That
spirit, that state of mind, continued after the war was
over, and was particularly acute during the last stages

91

92 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of the war, when defeat after defeat overwhelmed the
Russian arms. This state of mind, then, developed into
a more or less chronic oppositionalism ; that is to say,
everybody, all classes of the community, as well as the
newspapers, came out more or less strenuouslv in op-
position to the Government. It was a time when the
Censorship was in full force, and many newspapers
were suspended. But the newspaper that was suspended
one day came out the next day under another editor-
ship and another name. Mere suspension was an in-
adequate remedy, and the Government got into the
habit of letting the papers alone. In 1905 the press
generally seized liberties, as it was termed; that is,
they simply issued the paper without paving any atten-
tion to the Censor whatever. And the paper made its
appearance, and circulated, and the damage was donej
before the Censor had time to get out of bed in the
morning.

Now you see that a Government carried on under
circumstances of that kind was in a very powerless con-
dition, because the law was simply disregarded. More-
over, the law was disregarded by the Government itself,
although the ordinary Courts pursued their course in
the ordinary way, and criminals were tried, etc. There
were many things done by the Czar himself without the
knowledge of his Ministers; many things done by the
Ministers without the knowledge of the Czar, or at all
events in contradiction to previous Manifestos of the
Czar himself; and the ordinary course of law was dis-
regarded, practically, to a very large extent. The local
authorities were confused, and did not know exactly
what to do, whom to obey, whether the Minister of the
Interior, or some Secretary of State who took upon
himself to interfere with the Minister of the Interior.
During the latter days of his power, M. Witte was in
the habit of doing that kind of thing. He interfered
with nearly every administrator. Governments, of
course, got into hopeless and complete discredit, and
everybody felt that some great change must take place.
What kind of change would it be?

The Constitutional Problem in Russia 93

The year 1905 is the important one to study — a won-
derful year in which there was a tremendous intel-
lectual and political movement in Russia, particularly
intellectual, and in which the newspapers were the
best, the most brilliant and ably conducted in the world.
The press poured out copious volumes of books
which told frankly about the Government, in
which the previous revolutionary propaganda assumed
a very pale aspect indeed, because everything was osten-
tatiously denounced and expounded. In 1905, then,
that was the state of mind, and the close of the year
brought a series of events of a more or less disastrous
kind, beginning with October. On the I7th of October,
old style (Russian dates are thirteen days behind ours),
the Czar issued a Manifesto which announced that in
a short time a Constitution would be given to^ Russia,
and a representative Assembly would be convened.
And on the evening of that day there were great demon-
strations in St. Petersburg. All the intelligent people
turned out and prolonged the meetings far into the
night — until the morning. Everybody thought Russia
was to be completely changed, the long-desired event
had taken place, and without any bloodshed they would
speedily slide into a new epoch.

On the iQth of October, two days afterward, riots and
violent disturbances took place in very many different
parts of Russia. What was the meaning of that?
People were not surely going to reject the proposals
which were made on behalf of the Government, were
not going to insult the Czar by throwing back the Mani-
festo he had issued. These manifestations were after-
ward proved in the Douma to have been deliberately
organized by the reactionary party. It was gross, out-
rageous, scandalous — one of the most mischievous things
that has ever taken place in the history of Russia, to
organize, deliberately, action of that kind at the very
moment when everybody was hoping for the future, and
a general feeling of peace and of amity to the Czar
existed. That moment was put an end to by the disturb-
ances whjch had broken out in so many of the towns of

94 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Russia. There were organized attacks, not only upon
the Jews, but also upon the members of the Liberal
groups generally. They provoked throughout Russia, in
the minds of all persons, and almost without any discrim-
ination, excepting in the extreme revolutionists, the im-
pression that Russia was not ready for a Constitution,
that Russia was not ready for representative govern-
ment, that it would be a dangerous thing, indeed, to
extend the concessions which were being made ; because
whenever a concession was made disturbances immedi-
ately took place. You can see what the effect of that
would be upon people not well informed, and at a time
when it was impossible to make any immediate or thor-
ough enquiry into the circumstances. During the fol-
lowing days reprisals occurred, and late in December
there occurred the armed uprising in Moscow, which
was put down only after considerable trouble, and at
the expense of the burning of a part of the city.

There came in January the Douma. Meanwhile there
had been, apart from these overt disturbances, a great
amount of discussion as to the character of the repre-
sentative assembly. In the first nlace, many of the
parties wanted a constituent assembly — that is to say,
wanted a convention to be called together at the capital ;
a convention of notable persons in the country, in order
to discuss and -decide what should be the form of repre-
sentative government. But the Czar, under the advice
of his Council, decided not to adopt that plan, but
directly to convene a representative assembly, devised
on plans decided upon in the Cabinet — that is to say, in
the Cabinets of the Ministers. There were no fewer
than five projects which were developed during the
later months of 1905. I need not detail these five pro-
jects, although they differed in important respects; but,
generally speaking, these were the difficulties which were
encountered. In the first place, there was the immense
size of Russia, involving consideration of parts of the
country widely differing in physical geography and pro-
ductivity and character of population.

You know that Russia is considerably larger than the

The Constitutional Problem in Russia 95

United States and Canada put together, including
Alaska, and its population is one-half larger than the
combined populations of the United States and Canada.
These things make it tremendously difficult to organize
any uniform government. Besides that, Russia having
been built up, not having grown up like the United
States, for example, which grew out gradually from a
centre, and where there is no very definite consolidation
of different races in different parts, although there is a
certain amount of it. In Russia it is otherwise. Here
is one race, one solid knot of Finns, in the north-western
part of Russia. South of that there are the Baltic
provinces, with their several populations, and the
German population intermingled with these peo-
ple; and then, again, south and west of the Baltic
provinces there is Poland, with its alien popu-
lation and an intense feeling of nationality, without any
sympathy with the Russian people in general. And
there are -also the Lithuanian populations, and south of
these again there are the Great Russians, which repre-
sent the nucleus of the Russian people. And south again,
occupying a large part of the most fertile portion of the
whole country, there are the Little Russians, with a
strong feeling of nationality; and then come the Cau-
cases, with a still more intense feeling of nationality
and determination to uphold it.

Russia has only kept the Caucasus by means of a large
force of troops; and when you come across the Caspian
Sea to the outlying Asiatic peoples you find altogether
different races, having different religions, with a very
large portion Mohammedan and some belonging to the
Greek Church; you find innumerable tribes — very, very
large groups of men — constituting each of them a hard
and solid knot in the country; not distributed about the
country, but constituting distinct and different tribes
with a different language from the rest of the people,
with altogether different ideas and temperaments. You
can see, therefore, what a difficult problem it is to gov-
ern a country like that in such a way, for example, as
the United States or Canada is governed.

About 1 88 1 there had been a considerable amount of

96 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

discussion as to the character of the constitution which
Russia must ultimately have. A friend of mine told me
about that time that the Grand-Duke Constantine had
his mind very much drawn to this matter and had
studied it very carefully, and that a part of his studies
was devoted, curiously enough, to the constitution of
Canada and the British North America Act; and he
thought it might be possible to apply that Act to Russia,
that Russia might be divided into five provinces, and
that each of these provinces might have a Parliament,
with a great Imperial Council at St. Petersburg. He
never developed that idea very fully, and the subsequent
events of 1882 — the assassination of Alexander II. and
the reaction which followed — swept out of sight alto-
gether any idea of constitutional discussion. And, curi-
ously enough, this matter has never come up again.
During all these discussions I have gone over most of
the important papers on the subject and there is abso-
lutely no reference to any suggestion of dividing Russia
into several great provinces. And all parties are united
on the idea of having one Imperial Douma, one Imperial
House, and not a number of houses. Of course it is
quite true that the extreme difficulty is in dealing with
these antagonistic races. If the Poles had Imperial rule
in the same sense as Ontario has in regard to the Domin-
ion, then the Polish House would unquestionably be,
inevitably and always, in hostility to the rest of Russia.
It would be a concentration. That is the view that is
taken, not merely by the reactionary groups, but by the
others; even the Socialists strongly disapprove of a
special Polish Party or House.

Let me now give you some idea of the great com-
plexity of the parties which existed in the first and
second Doumas, and which, to some extent, also exists
in the Douma of to-day. In the first place, on the ex-
treme right of the President of the Douma there are the
so-called Righters, or Right Parties. Then there are
what are known as the Black Hundred, or extreme
Russian Party of reactionaries, prepared to go to any
length, even to the extent of organizing counter-con-
spiracies and counter-revolutions, to attain their objects.

The Constitutional Problem in Russia 97

Then next to these there come the Octrabists, or ad-
herents of the Manifesto of October 17, a rather con-
siderable group of more or less moderate and well-mean-
ing persons; and then there are minor groups having
a certain solidarity of interest. Apart from these small
groups there come the Constitutional Democrats. That
is a very interesting group, at all events in the first and
second Doumas, because they express the bulk of intelli-
gent opinion in Russia. The Constitutional Democrats
were Liberals who proposed to attain all the legitimate
ends of the revolution by strictly constitutional means.
The Cadiette Party, as they were called, then came,
as it were, in the centre, and formed a very large part
of the first Douma. And then to the left of these there
came the more or less revolutionary parties — the Social
Democratic, and the so-called Toil Group, or Labour
Group, partly peasant and partly artisan. To the extreme
left there were a few isolated Social Revolutionaries.
That was the composition of the first Douma.

You can see that it was an impracticable body to
make anything out of. These numerous parties could
only become influential by combining together, and they
would not combine; it would be more or less discredit-
able to combine, as they found themselves so extremely
divided in points of view. The first Douma was quite
an impracticable body, though when it was dissolved
there was a great outcry about it in Russia and Europe ;
yet although it was a rather deplorable thing that the
first experiment in representative government should so
speedily come to an end, nevertheless in a very short
time people accepted the dissolution of the Douma quite
quiescently, because they began to feel that, after all, it
was more or less a failure. It was a failure in this
way, that the representatives of numerous groups who
went into the Douma did not go there as representing the
groups — were not sent there to represent the groups — but
to represent the population ; and it became very apparent
that though the Constitutional Democrats did represent
the constitution of the Democratic party, yet they did not
represent the people who sent them there. Similarly,

the members of the Toil Group, one of the leaders of
7

98 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

whom had been a workingman in London and New York,
and a social agitator more or less in both places, did not,
of course, represent the peasants. He was not himself a
peasant. He was a small landed proprietor. He was
elected in his village as a night-watchman, in order to
give him a domiciliary status, so that he could be elected.
He was more an American than a Russian ; and, as a
matter of fact, the Government knew these things very
well, and these things were more or less indefensible.

The peasants were very ignorant; they could not send
their own members with any effect into the Douma 01
Parliament, and they had to take the materials that were
offered to them. And the materials were not always of
the most appropriate character. The Douma was dis-
solved, and the effect of that dissolution upon the coun-
try, which might have been extremely disastrous, was
not so. I mean to say that it passed over very quietly,
for two reasons. In the first place, the people were ex-
hausted and tired with the violent disturbances in the
two capitals, particularly in Moscow, and they were not
prepared for another outbreak if it had so happened.
But these things can never be arranged, of course. If.
on the morrow of the dissolution of the Douma, the
troops at Sebastopol, as they did before in the Baltic,
had revolted ; and those at Cronstadt had revolted ; and
numerous revolts had taken place, as they had taken
place at different times; and if the Moscow uprisings
had taken place ; if these things had occurred, all at
once, there would have been a tremendous outbreak ;
because these things, taken singly, were exceedingly im-
portant, and if they had been taken collectively it would
have been a dreadful business. That would have been
visibly and demonstratively a revolution, but it did not
fall out that way.

Violence took place before the Douma was in exist-
ence at all, and the result of the dissolution of the
Douma was not unfavourable to the Government. Then
the second Douma was called. It was called on the
same electoral law, but the resources of civilization were
not quite exhausted and the persons in authority in
Russia had evidently been studying the American prin-

The Constitutional Problem in Russia 99

ciple of the gerrymander, because the second elections
were gerrymandered with great skill, and the undesir-
able elements, most of them at all events, were left out,
with the result that the second Douma was better than
the first. Still, it contained a great many of those
career-makers who had been filling the first Douma, and
again, after a short experience, the second Douma was
dissolved. There came a new law. The Czar said in
his Manifesto : " We regret that the Douma has been
unsuccessful. We must have another Douma and it
must be elected under a new electoral law, in which the
non-Russian elements must not have a predominant
place;" that is to say, in which the Poles and the
Armenians and the other numerous non-Russian races
should not have as much influence as they had under
the previous law. And that new electoral law was so
devised that it threw an increasing amount of power
into the hands of the landlords. Under the first electoral
law the peasantry had a verv great deal of power, a
great deal of influence, and they were given that influ-
ence because it was supposed that the peasantry were
conservative. But it was seen that they sent not
peasants into the Douma, who would do no harm ; that
is to say, persons who were quite inarticulate — the
peasant talks to you continually but in quite an ineffec-
tive way; he is very curious and very interesting, but
not particularly coherent or consecutive. He is continu-
ally asking questions which he does not expect you to
answer, and the rulers knew that it was quite harmless
to allow any number of peasants in the Douma. But
persons who were able debaters, much abler debaters
than the adherents of the Right, who usually were mili-
tary people who did not know anything about military
affairs, had been chosen by the peasants, and therefore
it was very important that they should be excluded.

The peasants were given less and less power in the
second and third Doumas, and the result was that the
third Douma was elective under a law which threw a
good deal of power into the hands of the landlords.
One of the great difficulties in the whole question, apart
from the difficulty of race, is the completely divergent

100 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

interests of the agrarians and the industrials. Out of
140,000,000 of Russian population there are about
100,000,000 of agriculturists, and about 15,000,000 of
industrials. The actual number of working men in
Russia is about 3,000,000, and the population depending
on them 10,000,000 or 15,000,000. These industrial
people live in towns under very unfavourable factory
conditions. Large numbers of the working men live
in barracks under most unsanitary conditions, and they
are quite predisposed to strike whenever it is suggested
to them that they should strike.

The peasantry wanted one thing; they wanted more
land, and that is a large question. The working prole-
tariat— that is to say, the working man without capital
in the cities — they did not want more land. They were
not interested in the question. The peasants' cry is :
" Go away and let us have the land. We do not want
any landlords. We do not want any taxes. All we want
is to be allowed to cultivate the land in our own way."
That, of course, is a demand which cannot in any coun-
try be granted. It simply could not be done. The work-
ing men in the towns have come to be affected very
seriously by the propaganda of collectivism that has
been carried on by the Socialists for some years. They
have got it into their minds that the only way of having
good factory conditions is for the factories to belong1
entirely to the Government, and the factories therefore
must be seized by the Government, and all industry car-
ried on by the Government. So much has been done
by the Government already that there is some excuse
for that idea on the part of the working men. The
peasants say : " We do not care about that at all ;" but
when the urban artisan says, " Well, of course,
if we nationalize the factories we shall have to national-
ize the land," the peasant says, " What ; nationalize the
land? No, the land is mine; that would be monstrous.
Nationalize anything you like, but you must not nation-
alize the land. It would deprive the peasant of his land
and cause him to work for you. We want to work for
ourselves."

There is a hopeless divergence between the urban

The Constitutional Problem in Russia 101

proletariat point of view and the peasant point of view.
The peasant's extreme point of view led to those disas-
trous revolts in 1905. The peasants very naturally said :
" Well, we are going to have a representative Assembly.
We are going to send peasants to the Assembly to repre-
sent us, and when they get there they will have to do
what we tell them, and we may as well anticipate what
they are going to do, and take the land now." So they
said to the landlords, " Gentlemen, we have no further
use for you. You may go away any place you like and
leave us the land." Many of the landed proprietors did
so — were obliged to do so. The most sensible way for
the time being was to submit to the peasants ! The land-
lords complained to St. Petersburg; punitive expedi-
tions were sent down ; Cossacks whipped and robbed
the people and committed inexpressible crimes of other
kinds, and so on. From these expeditions there grew
up a natural crop of violences of another kind, and ever
since, during the past three years, in every Russian
newspaper there has been a report of the assassination
of a major official, or a minor official, or some local
official, who has been particularly active in these pacifi-
cations; so that, during the three years that have
elapsed since 1905 there has been, particularly in con-
nection with these punitive expeditions, a carnival of
assassination and murder.

You may say that that kind of thing cannot possibly
go on continuously, and that the Russian Government
is at an end as an autocracy. The Czar in his own in-
terest must supply lightning-conductors — he must have
some people who will take the charge of the people from
his own head. Therefore, he must have a capable Coun-
cil of Ministers, which, indeed, he has at the moment,
although there is a tendency toward reaction just now
that is more or less inevitable from the general circum-
stances of the case. One hopes that after this trouble
is over the country will pass into a more or less peace-
ful state, because the problems that are to be worked out
cannot be worked out in a sudden way, but only gradu-
ally and by the application of statesmanlike ability and
insight.

INDIA AND BRITISH HONDURAS.

Address by BRIGADIER-GENERAL E. J. E. SWAYNE, C.B.,
before the Empire Club of Canada, on January 4th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

This is the second time I have come to Toronto. The
first time was in the summer, when I had the oppor-
tunity of seeing the Golf Club, the Yacht Club, the
Hunt Club, and all those beautiful places around To-
ronto which make it so well-known in England. The
country around about reminds me of Devonshire. This
time I have the honour of being invited to this Club,
an honour which I very much appreciate, because I
know that the men of Toronto who come here are men
of weight in business, and men who can ill spare the
time. I was sent to Canada by the Imperial Govern-
ment owing to its having heard that a large number of
British subjects from India, who have a special claim
upon the Government as being British subjects, were
destitute, or likely to become destitute this winter in
British Columbia. On my arrival in the country I found
the trade conditions had so improved on the Pacific
Coast and they had become practically absorbed, and
that all or nearly all were receiving good wages.

As regards the political question which is involved
in the presence of this East India Colony in British
Columbia, I do not propose to say anything. I am in
the position of British Governor of a small Colony, and
it would be best if I left that question aside ; but I may
say that, so far as the East India Colony is at present
concerned, the question has solved itself. As regards
the advent of more people, I do not know what will be
done. The people there have work, they are satisfied,
are loyal and able to do the work required of them.
Naturally, in the wake of the better men have come a
number of riff-raff, as is always the case, but on the

102

India and British Honduras 103

whole the colony there is able to do that portion of the
work which all industries, at their commencement, re-
quire in the way of some cheap form of labour, cheaper
than can be got under the employment of a restricted
class of labour. Whether they are to remain or not, I
have nothing to say. All I can say is that they are
British subjects, and I know Canadians will always
give British subjects fair play.

Moreover, the men there belong to the righting races
of India, at least the greater part of them ; for instance,
the Sikhs, who come from the northern part of India.
In religion these people have not progressed as far as
Buddhism, but they have had their day in India, and a
great and brilliant day it was. They aimed at making
themselves a position in the Punjab and they did so.
They managed to get together a band of men who were
devoted to their objects of purity of life and steadfast-
ness of resolve. These are what now mark the Sikhs
out for our notice. They at one time fought us in a
way that no other Indian peoples have fought us. We
met men whom we found it was an honour to fight,
men whom we only subdued owing to internal dissen-
sions. In one case, one regiment had twenty-four offi-
cers lying dead on the mess table after the action was
over. Since that day the Sikhs have been absolutely
loyal to us. During the days of the Mutiny, when we
had such a struggle to regain our position in India, it
was the Sikhs who gave us their support; not only the
Sikhs of our own provinces, but the native chiefs who
were in alliance with us ; they threw in their lot with
us, and it was chiefly due to that assistance that we
were able to regain our position in North-western
India.

The Sikhs have not got the same class prejudice as
the rest of the natives of India, and therefore when it
was desirable to employ British Indian troops outside
the limits of India, it was the Sikhs who were called
upon. In olden days the nations of India looked upon
it as a penal thing to have fo go out of India. It was
against their caste to cross the ocean. We employed

104 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Sikhs, who had no class prejudice, and the rest of the
people have followed. We have had no difficulty in
employing the Indian army outside of India, and it is
due to the Sikhs that this has come about. They have
a special claim upon our protection, and I trust that
those who are now in British Columbia will receive
that fair play which I know Canadians will give them.

Regarding our position in India to-day, a great deal
has been said in the press, and a great deal of exaggera-
tion has been uttered. At the same time, undoubtedly,
elements of unrest exist, but as long as our native army
is loyal, and the Sikhs are probably the most loyal por-
tion of it, I am certain that we are able to cope with
any situation that may come up. The agitation is due
to our beneficent rule. We have given to India our
Western ideas of education; we have tried to give them
the advantages of the education which we have in
Europe; and knowing, as we do, that representation
must follow education, we have tried to train the people
of India to District Boards and Municipal Councils, so
as to take their part in self-government when the time
is ripe. The process must be a slow and difficult one.
When you realize the enormous distances, the differ-
ences in religion, in race, even in colour, between the
different parts of India, you will see how difficult it
is to apply representative institutions to that country.
You find difficulty in many countries where there is a
division of race or even of language.

You know the trouble that has been caused in Turkey
by the fact that Mohammedans and Christians are
under one rule. To bring representative institutions,
therefore, to a country like India, which possesses
people as radically different from each other as the
North of Scotland is from the South of Turkey, is a
matter of extreme difficulty. You cannot talk about
representative institutions in connection with a country
like India as if it were one country having one race and
one people in it. It has dozens of races absolutely dif-
ferent from each other, races only kept from cutting
each other's throats by the dominance of British power.

India and British Honduras 105

If England were to leave India to-morrow, of which
there is no probability, these races would be cutting
each other's throats and anarchy would result. This
the Princes of India know perfectly well, and in any
difficulty we may now have we know that we shall have
the Princes of India' with us. They have independent
States. Practically half the acreage of India is under
their control. They have millions of subjects and their
position is secure simply because we keep an even bal-
ance of justice between the different hatreds of the peo-
ple. If we were to leave, these hatreds would break
out, and those Princes would be insecure. We can
count upon their co-operation. Also, this agitation hasj
been chiefly confined to the Hindus, and the Mohamme-
dans absolutely oppose the Hindus in matters of religion
and would therefore not join in with them.

We can count on their co-operation. In India we
have 75,000 British troops, 158,000 native troops, 30,000
reserves and 20,000 Imperial service troops. We also
have 130,000 native police and some 30,000 volunteers,
some of whom are pure white and some coloured. They
chiefly comprise railway volunteers and people in the
civil department, employed under the Government of
India; so that we have altogether some 420,000 natives
in our employ under arms, whether as police or as
troops, and on the other hand we have 75,000 British
troops. The strength of our civil administration and
the loyalty of our native army cannot be over-rated.
The latter may be wholly depended upon to cope with
all situations which may turn up. The present agita-
tion is an educative result. I am sorry to say that in
nine cases out of ten an education is gone in for because
the men acquiring it wish to obtain some government
position. It is only in the case of the native Princes
that they go in for education because they want to raise
themselves intellectually. The average man goes in for
it because he hopes to get a government billet, or else
because he hopes to go to the bar, or on the native press.
In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred these men must
be disappointed. There is only one position in a hun-

106 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

dred which these men can hope to get. We govern the
country as a dependency, and we must do so as long as
we are there. We did not give the scope to educated
men of ability which is given in other countries. This
must naturally be so. In the native States such scope
is given, and at present I can see no agitation in the
native States, owing to the fact that education has not
yet been extended on the scale that we have extended
it because of the knowledge that the native chiefs have
that such extension, without proper scope to which it
can be applied, would be harmful in their States. It
is partly due to this cause that the agitation has not
developed in the native States, and partly to the fact
that thev have more scope in the government of those
States than is the case under direct British rule.

I think I have perhaps said enough as regards the
East Indies and our position there. I will turn now to
British Honduras, the needs of which Colony brought
me to Canada to see whether I could obtain a number of
your East Indian labourers. We are satisfied
that the East Indians would meet our needs, because
we have had them in British Honduras before, in the
palmy days of sugar. When that industry was gone,
most of these natives returned to their homes. A few
remained, were given land grants, and are settled peace-
ably in the country. They are too few, however, for
our needs, and besides these small communities we
have only the mahogany-cutting population to depend
upon. Mahogany, hitherto, has been the mainstay of
the country. The logs are cut in the forest and floated
down the rivers, and at the mouth of the rivers they are
chipped and squared for the English market, and sent
away. Where the chips settle in the mud of the delta
and the sea coast, there solid land is formed. As I told
the people in Ottawa, and it is a fact, when the ma-
hogany cutters are chipping the logs, they have been in
the habit of drinking their tot of rum, and in the course
of time the mahogany chips and rum bottles settled,
and now a city is solidly built upon mahogany chips
and rum bottles. You may dig down a well 50 to 100

India and British Honduras 107

feet, and you will still find mahogany chips and rum
bottles. It shows with what solidity our work is done !

The original settlers were buccaneers. The many creeks,
and islands, and rivers and lagoons gave most happy
retreats to the buccaneers, and there are many stories
of treasures being buried on the outlying reefs. Some-
times we hear of an American party which has char-
tered a yacht and come to explore for treasure, and on
several occasions the police have gone out after them, .
to be in time just to be too late. They found the people
gone, and they found old broken-up boxes; therefore
it is to be presumed that the treasure hunters did not
go away empty-handed. The creeks and rivers of the
Colony permit penetration into the very heart of the
country. Some of them can be navigated for over 100
miles and, recently, by blasting channels, we have en-
abled motor-boats to navigate them; and the main river,
connecting as it does with the frontier, is now carrying
150 tons of freight a week, while a great development of
trade is taking place with beneficial results to the
revenue of the Colony.

The lower parts of the rivers are swampy, but as
you go inland the country rises and becomes thoroughly
healthy; it is covered with dense forests, and thorough-
ly fertile. It is the most fertile country I have ever
come across under tropical suns. In the bush you find
cocoa growing wild. It has been cultivated and ex-
ported, and we receive top prices for our cocoa. We
find custard apples wild, and orange groves which have
gone wild owing to their former development having
been stopped by the protective duties in the United
States. We had a large number of what they call
orange walks, and they throve at one time, but the
United States shut us out, and we have no other out-
let, so the orange industry failed. It was too far to
send them to England. I want to get a connection
between Canada and British Honduras, so that you will
be eating British Honduras oranges here.

We grow bananas to a large extent, and our bananas
have a more keeping quality than those of the South,

108 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

and are able, therefore, to travel better. As a matter of
fact, bananas are exported to England — a sixteen-day
journey. We could put our bananas into Montreal, and
St. John, and Toronto, fresh and fit for the market. We
receive 25 cents a bunch now in British Honduras, and
when they get to New Orleans they are marketed for
$1.25 a bunch. It is owing to the isolation of the Colony
that we are only able to get 25 cents a bunch. I hope
by increasing the production of the country to get better
prices. As long as we get those low prices we have to
depend upon cheap labour. We must get cheap labour,
and that is why I want the East India coolies if I can
get them. On the Pacific Coast they are getting too
much for me, but probably not more than they ought to
have. As far as we are concerned, we cannot pay high
prices for our labour at present, although we will later
on, when we are developed. We have also sugar. It is
protected at present by a one-and-a-half cent tax per
pound. Owing to the shortage of labour, we cannot pro-
duce sugar so cheaply that we can export it. British
Guiana has received much money from time to time, and
they can produce cheap sugar. The big factories have
found it cheaper to purchase sugar from the independent
coolies than to grow it themselves.

We can take, in British Honduras, 5,000 tons of flour
a year from Canada, if Canada will send it, and I believe
Canada can send it to us. We can take 2,000 tons of
pork; and, although Canada cannot export pork at
present, she will in the future. I think that the sugar
refineries of Canada will probably require our sugar in
the future. It is only a question of labour which ham-
pers us at present. Cocoanuts, of course, we have, like
all other tropical Colonies, and we export about five mil-
lion a year. Every year large plantations are being put
down, and are very remunerative. You get your crop
after a year. We have been selling large tracts of land
to capitalists, on condition that thev must cultivate them
and provide their own labour. Rubber grows in the
country, and it is tapped by the native Indians in a very
unskilful way. We are getting plantations made scien-

India and British Honduras 109

tifically, and in the future Honduras rubber will figure in
the market. We have a particular plant, which
should have a great commercial future. It is
an oil nut. They are very big palm trees,
very graceful, and grow in dense groves, 80 to 100
feet high, and the most beautifully-formed clusters of
nuts hang around the top of the tree where the leaves
begin. Each tree would probably give nearly a ton of
nuts in a year. These nuts are covered by a hard, leathery
skin, which has been found difficult to break up for
commercial uses. The nut requires a machine in order
to express the oil; but a machine of the right kind has
not yet been found. Many men have been experiment-
ing, and some big concerns have got the matter in hand
in England, and when a suitable machine is found to
extract the oil economically and commercially, then that
oil is going to be a very important source of revenue to
the Colony. It is a good, clear oil, used for cooking. It
is sweet, and is an oil which, I am sure, will take the
market when we can put it on the market in proper quan-
tities at a fair price.

IMPERIAL CITIZENSHIP.

Address by the REV. C. S. EBV, D.D., of Toronto, before the
Empire Club of Canada, on January 28th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I want to speak to-day as briefly, and say in as few
words as possible, what thoughts I have, even though
the result may appear to be very broken fragments, ele-
ments of thought that are incomplete. I have been told
that in addressing an audience I must not take anything
for granted; but to-day I will have to take a very great
deal for granted, and appeal to the intelligence of my
hearers as I, perhaps, go with seven-league boots from
point to point. Perhaps, also, the way in which I shall
treat this subject will be different from what you had
expected ; and yet even though it may be entirely differ-
ent, it may not be without its meed of helpfulness or of
suggestiveness. The more I study the great questions
that come up in the papers and magazines and are other-
wise brought to our attention, the more I feel that almost
every question is becoming Imperial, or, even more, inter-
national. And, then, that the only solution to all of
these questions is in the citizen, in the individual man,
the intelligent man, who is at the basis of the fabric of
our institutions.

Take, for instance, the local unemployed question that
we have here, a thousand unemployed, seven hundred
of them with wives — between two and three thousand
children involved. On the other hand, the question in-
volved, the difficulties connected directly and indirectly
with that movement, are not local, but are of interest to
the Mother Country, to every nation in the Empire, and
to every Empire in the world. It is an international ques-
tion of interlacing interests that cover not only this land,
but all lands ; so that, side by side, you have the develop-
ment of an Imperial question that we must look at from

110

Imperial Citizenship 111

an Imperial standpoint, and realize the fact that the voice'
we hear around the City Hall extends to the outermost
edges of the civilized world. I think that Canada, with
all her advantages in a thousand ways that I do not need
to enumerate, with her intelligent citizenship in particu-
lar, ought to help to solve this and other problems of a
similar character.

What is Imperial citizenship? Is it the assumption of
authority of one set of men over another, or is it not
rather the realization of an inheritance which brings
responsibilities and obligations with it to each individual
man that we ought to translate into our life? To illus-
trate this — there are two types of Englishmen abroad.
We have all met them; but, of course, there is only one
type of them here. A friend of mine in England a while
ago was asked by an English artist why it was that the
Englishman was so terribly disliked, discounted, abroad.
" Will you be mad now if I tell you the reason?" asked
my friend. " No," he said. " Very well ; the reason is
that they are so confoundedly disagreeable." This type
was illustrated a few days ago by a man who came
fresh from the Old Land, and was welcomed here in Can-
ada, amongst numerous others who came and were also
down and out, not having enough to put on or enough to
eat. They were helped very nicely by the Welcome
League and other friends. One man remarked : " How
very nicely these colonials are receiving us." " Why, of
course! What else should they do? We owns 'em."
You have there a specimen of insularity expanded into
imperialism — littleness made big in its materialism, but
without the soul that was needed to fill the larger role,
and ridiculous in the smaller sphere. On the other hand,
you have, in another type of Englishman, the finest speci-
men of man on the face of God's earth. One illustration
was given by an Ambassador at the capital of the neigh-
bouring Republic — Lord Pauncefote, I think it was.
Somebody was going to meet him at the train, and wanted
to know how he could recognize the Ambassador from
Great Britain. The answer was : " He is a tall man,
and you will find him helping some poor old woman."

112 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

And so it was. There you had a man who was a true
nobleman, and not simply a man representing the
Empire; but in everything he did he acted as a noble-
man— the large ideal working out into every detail of
life.

Another thing — there have been two great revolu-
tions in human life, human history, human thought, that
we have to face, out of which a new world has been
born — a new era begun, into which we are now entering.
One of these revolutions came by the invention of the
telescope and the discovery of all that the telescope
uncovered ; the entire removal of the old ideas of cos-
mogony, the opening out of the infinite svstem, or sys-
tems of the heavens and all that it meant to the complete
overturn of human thinking as it was a few hundred
years ago. The second came only during the last cen-
tury, for which preparation had been made in previous
centuries, and that was the development of the micro-
scope that found the infinitely small. By means of the
scientific imagination the unseen elements of the infinitely
small — the atoms of the universe — have been read, and
read in such a way as to open unnumbered books, solve
unnumbered problems, and turn the whole human mind
into an entirely different channel.

Instead of the despot of a God we have found a
Father. Of course, that is not new, but it is scientific
to-day as it never was before. Instead of the creation-
ism of an infinite workshop we have the development out
of the infinitely small into the infinitely large, and a great
law of evolution running through the whole into which
we fit, which we want to understand; and the more we
understand it the better we can understand both the
infinitely large and the infinitely small in every depart-
ment of being. Take those two lines of development
and you have the discovery of the greatness of every-
thing that man touches in this world, and the line along
which the Imperial thoughts of men do their work to-day
instead of in the old, despotic type. I was struck with
this in a wonderful way by Joseph Chamberlain's remark
in speaking about the different elements in our great

Imperial Citizenship 113

Empire. He said : " The thing that will hold us together
and make us strong is simple self-sacrifice — getting to
understand wherein we can give up something in order
that we may gain something larger for ourselves and
for a very great many more." The infinitely small super-
ficially appears to rest upon the infinitely great; the
individual upon the whole. On the other hand, the whole
rests upon the unit ; and it is the development of the unit
and the combination of the units to-day that will make
the whole whatever it is. So that we want to have
citizenship developed in the unit, and that citizenship
made Imperial in its sweep.

A man is measured by the self-conscious citizenship
of his life, the world that he recognizes as his world, and,
on the other hand, a citizen is what a man can translate
out of the world in which he lives into his own person-
ality and power at home. Let me analyze that. I belong
to all that is under my hat; that is a little empire in
itself, with all its powers. I want to bring together and
understand the laws whereby they can all be unified into
one. No man can live alone; there are others round
about him who are just like himself; and, to leap over a
great many other points where one might stop, we have
a municipality. Every man in the municipality is neigh-
bour to other men ; there are some things that are mine,
and some things that are thine, and some that are ours
together. Every unit ought to understand what things
are ours and what are the other man's, and wherein we
blend the one with the other to make the municipality
what it ought to be. The individual gives up something
in order to gain that which everybodv gains by unity,
and the municipality is the result. Then each munici- '
pality touches on other municipalities. In order to reach
a larger whole these municipalities, perhaps, give up
something in order to combine the whole into one great
province. Another development occurs, another set of
ideas ; some things are left behind that are not brought
into the provincial parliament or the provincial thought,
but if a man stay simply as a municipal man he is paro-
chial. The province combines with other provinces in
8

114 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the Dominion ; each province may give up something, but
they combine in certain great common ideals and proj-
ects, impossible to a single province, and unite for a
common good; the Dominion is born, and you have a
situation for the development of a citizen who has
expanded out of the parochial and provincial into a
national man.

Go on a little further and you find in the midst of this
great Empire — that has been brought together by a cer-
tain line of historical development under the Providence
of God — one nation not, perhaps, touching the other, but
distant, apart. Yet there are common elements all
related to one great common centre and related to each
other with common ideals, combining in one great whole
of thought that which is not to be found inside of a
municipality or a province or a nation by itself. Thus the
Empire becomes a united entity, built on an ideal, and
productive of a larger type of man. For this new type
of man there is a larger ideal and a larger work in the
great whole of the planet in which we find ourselves, and
thus an Imperial consciousness is awakened in each indi-
vidual. There you have the elements that go to make up
a real Imperial citizenship in so far as the nurely political
side of the question may go. And just here I might say
that every one of us, as Canadians, or citizens from any
other of the nations combined in the Empire, when we
come to realize the advantages that we have as a part of
the Empire, it is not for us to try to shirk any of the
responsibilities that ought naturally to come upon us,
but to take hold of the question and study it from the
Imperial standpoint, and also from the position that we
hold in the Empire, in order to carry out to the fullest
all that really ought to be expected of us.

There you have an outline of the idea; and, beyond
that, of course, you have also the fact that as an Empire
we are in connection with other Empires in the great
whole of this planet and of humanity ; and in the same
sense that we are combined as nations in one great
Empire, giving up certain things for the advantage of the
whole and gaining thereby a larger mutual advantage

Imperial Citizenship 115

from others with whom we are in contact, so, also,
beyond the interior relations of the nations within our
Empire, there will be the cultivating of the friendliest rela-
tionship with all the Empires of the earth, and, in so far
as possible, combining one with the other to make one
great international whole. In some things we have been
— are to-day — combined. Financial, educational and
other questions go not only through our own Empire,
but through other nations of the earth. On every line
possible we ought to cultivate the spirit of co-operation
and mutual helpfulness, and by that means I believe we
will solve the question of war and militarism. Those
things will pass away when we can look each other in the
face and talk as brothers. With the growth of inter-
nationalism of this type, little by little the spirit that has
created the militarism and the antagonism now to be
found in so many lines beween nation and nation will
pass away, and a real brotherhood will be the result.

Every step in this process that I have indicated im-
plies a certain amount of giving up on our part. As
Joseph Chamberlain said, "a certain amount of self-
sacrifice;" but in every case the giving up has always
involved a very much greater amount of advantage to
us every step of the way. The further we go in the
same direction the more we make the idea of co-opera-
tion Imperial, and carry it out into the relations of one
Empire with another; the sooner we will come to that
time when millions — thousands of millions — of dollars
will be saved for human betterment that are now spent
on militarism, and otherwise absolutely wasted, because
we look at each other as enemies instead of as friends.

Then the other side of the thought is this: That the
development along which everything is now moving and
tending — in the touch of one nation with another, in the
advance of higher thinking, of literature, and financial
arrangements, and commerce, and missions, I may say
also — indicates that in every way the world is getting to
be very close together. All the tendencies of the times
are toward the development, not of an imperial emperor,
not of an imperial aristocracy, not of imperial princely

116 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

men of money, that shall dominate others as the per-
manent end or ultimate goal of man, but everything
points to the development of the individual man to lift
the lowest out of the slums and let them understand that
if they are citizens of one little spot in an empire they
are citizens of the empire as a whole. The very educa-
tion in that idea, if we could bring it home to our young
men, to our schools, to our young fellows that are com-
ing to their majority and just going out into
political life, will make them realize that politi-
cal life means a very great deal more than merely
voting as their fathers voted or for " the party " ; they
will see that they are citizens of an Empire with all
these different strata of activities into which every indi-
vidual has a right to enter ; and, if he does not enter, he
is shirking the duty of life and losing that which will
make him the largest kind of a man.

We want to emphasize the possibilities of this develop-
ment of our young men in our citizenship of the present
day, so that they shall not be simply workers in sectional
lines of reform, temperance, church propaganda, or
social ideals ; or, on the other hand, become mechanical
parts of the machinery of one political party or the other,
where a man is made to feel that he belongs to a section
rather than to the whole. What we want to do is to
develop the fact of the individual citizen having not
only rights and duties and privileges running through
from the municipality in which he lives, through the
province and the Dominion and the Empire and through-
out the world. If we can only do that, as Mr. Balfour
said a little while ago — I give this quotation perhaps not
verbally, but it struck me at the time, and I think I can
give you the idea — " If we could get every individual to
realize his share of responsibility for the Empire we
would do more to enlarge the sweep of the human mind
and the uplift of human character than all the books he
could read." The Imperial idea of citizenship is a life of
personal effort for largest service. Get the idea into the
mind of the young man as he is blooming into manhood
that there is something more before him than making a

Imperial Citizenship 117

little money, or making a home, or living within the
narrow range in which he is found, or that his great
work on this earth is to get out of it as soon as possible
and away to heaven.

Get every young man to realize that the whole uni-
verse is round about him, with forces to develop man-
hood within him that shall express itself in personality
and in municipal affairs, in provincial affairs, in Domin-
ion affairs, in Imperial affairs, in affairs that touch the
world. To teach men to look at every little thing from
that large standpoint will create a magnificent type of
man, and solve a thousand difficulties that otherwise
would be unsolvable. The other day I noticed a quota-
tion from Principal Hutton in an article that he wrote to
the University Magazine. I did not see the original, but
I was very much struck with the quotation. It referred
to Canadian citizenship and the development of the
Imperial spirit in Canada, the situation in North America
as between the United States — an independent nation
that threw off the "yoke" of Great Britain — and Canada,
which still remains as a Colony under the Crown. Plato
looks at these conditions from his distance, and he says
that the type of citizenship that you can develop in a.
Colony, of faithfulness and patience and loyalty, were
very different things from the aggressive, manlyy
strengthening, virile forces that you develop in an inde-
pendent land that has thrown off a yoke, and where men
feel that they are absolutely free to develop something;
on their own lines. That was Plato's idea. The ques-'
tion in my mind is : Is it necessary for Canada to have a
rebellion and a war and bloodshed and struggle and a
division from the old mother and the family of nations
in which we find ourselves in order to develop a real,
large, high-toned, aggressive type of Canadian citizen-
ship? And my feeling is that we need nothine of the
sort.

I believe that it is possible for us to develop here in
Canada those virile, manly, large powers that will make
the strongest kind of an Empire by simply enlarging the
scope of our thinking and getting ourselves and our

118 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

young men to understand the heritage into which we
have entered, and the splendid development that lies
before us if we will only prepare for it and learn how to
understand the times in which we live and the oppor-
tunities that are at hand, and to lay hold of these things
so as to develop what we have into what it might be
and must be with the highest kind of intelligence ; with
practical work on the line of citizenship, for the locality
in which we live, and for every stage in that larger whole
in which we are citizens. Every one of us should take
part, and throw in all that we can contribute, and if
each man contributes only a little, that will not be the
only result, for every effort of every man to think
imperially will raise that man; and to thousands on
thousands that are thinking that way there will come a
greater manhood and a larger worth for the very place
in which we live.

I would like to refer for a few minutes to this ques-
tion of the unemployed. I am an independent man,
looking at this not from the standpoint of the unem-
ployed, although in order to understand it one has to try
to put himself in the place of the under-dog; nor do I
understand it perfectly from the standpoint of the finan-
cier and of those who have control of the development
of affairs in this Canada of ours. I am trying to look
at it from the standpoint of a thinker, with absolute
sympathy for everybody; and from this Imperial stand-
point, and the larger standpoint, if possible, of the
human race, I would like to see a great many people in
Toronto who have the means and have the knowledge
put their minds together in this Imperial way and try as
far as possible to solve this question. The situation at
present appears to be a labour problem, involving the
lower strata of workers; but there is a certain element
in the movement preparing for better things. The more
it becomes intelligent and expresses its wants the better.
It is bad, of course, if it goes to extremes; but there is
this about it, all the trouble of the labour side of the
unemployed, from the high-class, well-paid men down
to the lowest, is becoming more and more a national, an

Imperial Citizenship 119

Imperial, an international question, until all other lines
are effaced and labour stands for itself, a world-force to
be reckoned with.

On the other hand, the financial world is not confined
to one place. I have been noticing lately the published
reports of your banking system, and a certain amount of
thinking has come to my mind. It is not simply Toronto,
Ontario, the Dominion, the Empire, but the wide world
is one great world of finance ; and I have been wonder-
ing, as I look at these reports, if there is not a something
in connection with it that is rather on the line of a
suction pump that sucks the wealth up and up where
it will stay, and the more a man has, or an institution
has, the bigger power it has to suck up, to hold, and to
multiply, instead of having some means of suction up
and suction down, producing a circulation that would
make things a little better all round. If there were_only
a way out of the upper regions down into the lower
places, so that the multitudes would not be sucked dry,
but have an opportunity of getting and giving, there
would surely be a better chance to cultivate a higher
type of citizenship out of what are now derelicts of
men. I would like you to look at that question, and see
if you cannot take hold of it, and solve it in an Imperial
fashion.

THE MENACE OF SOCIALISM.

Address by MR. E. J. KYLIE, M.A., of Toronto University, be-
fore the Empire Club of Canada, on February 4th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I am afraid this is a rather alarmist subject which I
present to you to-day. Perhaps you will feel that it is
too alarmist, too much of a scare headline, so to speak,
because, as a matter of fact, socialism is as yet not a very
great factor in Canadian life. But, as you are well
aware, in the older countries of Europe — in Germany,
Belgium, Italy and France — socialism is steadily advanc-
ing in influence and in numerical strength, and you must
have been struck the other day by the fact that a full
socialist programme had been accepted at the British
Trades and Labour Congress. I am well aware that the
majority was a small one, but the vote marks the end of
a long struggle, and disproves the contention that the
English workingman is by nature an individualist.

I think I may take it for granted that socialism, if not
I in Canada at least elsewhere, is a powerful movement.
That does not prove, however, that it is a menace. Per-
haps, indeed, socialism, like a disease, is the more dan-
gerous the less clearly it is understood. So that, even at
the risk of dispelling some of its terrors, I must try to
help you understand it. Socialism, in essence, means
either robbery or religion. I discard for the moment all
the definitions as to its means and measures. Socialism
means, in essence, either robbery or religion. As it is
proclaimed by the ordinary street orator, it means rob-
bery, it means confiscation, it means the plunder of the
| rich for the benefit of the poor. This kind of socialism,
i which I denominate as robbery, is justified — for every
^movement, however irrational, must have some intellec-
'tual basis — by the economic theories of Carl Marx.

The Menace of Socialism 121

According to the economic theories of Carl Marx, the
value of every article, say of this glass, is determined by
the amount of labour put into it ; hence the value of this
glass can be compared with the value of this knife by
the relation between the amount of labour put into the
manufacture of the articles. The value of every article
is determined by the amount of labour consumed in it.
But over and above that real value of every article is
the difference, the surplus, between the real value and
the market, or selling price. That surplus value goes,
not to the labourer who makes the real value of the
article, but to the capitalist who organizes labour and
controls the instruments of production. Logically,
according to this, there should be no surplus value, but
if there is any, it obviously should go to the labourer.

That' is all very simple, but it leaves us asking one or
two main questions. In the first place, what is labour?
Is it merely manual toil — work with the hands? There
are very few of my audience at the present moment who
do work with their hands, and yet they would reject
with scorn the accusation of idleness. But if labour is
all work, then how is the labour-value of this glass to be
compared, say, with the labour-value which our President
here is devoting to the orthography of the word
" labour " itself? How are these various sorts of labour
to be compared? Can anything determine their worth
but demand? Further (I shall not detain you very long
with these questions), let me ask, what is caoital? What
is this silent, fluid thing, gaining strength and volume
from infinite, hidden sources, which sweeps resistlessly
into every new enterprise? Is it not the saving, the
thrift, or the fruit of the thrift, of all the people? Is it
not greater than any capitalist, or group of capitalists,
who simply try to swing and guide it into their own
channels? The startling truth is that, as a result of
the growth of stock companies, more and more capital
is actually held by the working classes. Capital and
labour are not, and cannot be, divorced.

If, however, the economic defence of popular socialism

122 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

is weak, its moral supports are strong1. It is largely an
emotional or sentimental movement. It arises out of the
natural yearnings of the human heart. The toilers who
work with their hands everywhere — educated enough to
be disillusionized, and deprived too often of other consola-
tion, forced to endure, if not oppression at least the con-
stant spectacle of wealth misused — are rising up in their
might to shake off the yoke. There can be no question
about that. They mean war; and the weapon is not any
longer the bow or the arm of the individual, but the
ballot-paper. They mean war, revolution. In their view,
if society is turned upside down, turned over, what is at
present a rough, uneven surface will become smooth and
even. I need scarcely dwell on the absurdity of the
view from every intellectual standpoint, but there it is,
and there is the menace of this popular socialism — the
hope that society, turned over by means of revolution,
will be smooth and even. That is the first and most
serious menace of popular socialism.

But I must ask you not to attempt to meet this menace
by oppressive measures. You cannot kill a fallacy by
persecution any more than you can destroy a ghost by
cremation. You can meet it only by argument. Best of
all, you can deprive socialism of its sentimental and
moral strength bv real sympathy. So far I have dwelt
exclusively upon the real menace or danger of this
popular socialism, tjijs uprising <of the masses, this
warfare of class and class, which in the end must mean
rebellion. No permanent society can be based upon
robbery or confiscation.

Contrasted with this popular socialism, with this
socialism of the street, is intellectual socialism, which I
have denominated as religion. The relation between the
two resembles the relation between popular science and
real science, between popular hygiene and real hygiene.
And I must ask you again not to despise intellectual
socialism because you consider popular socialism, in all
its forms, menacing and ridiculous. I venture on a
rather daring statement, perhaps, but we do not reject

The Menace of Socialism 123

the principles of Christianity because we are not satis-
fied with all the human embodiments of it. Socialism,
like science, is a changing thing — constantly shifting its
base. This popular socialism is the slough which is cast
off by intellectual socialism in its development. This
intellectual socialism, for which, as you will perceive, I
have very great sympathy, is a religion, is a creed, a
faith, a belief in the future of mankind as an ideal
democracy.

In that democracy government and law will depend j
ultimately on the mass of the people, and that mass of (/
the people, that body of the people, will be lifted up by
the equal opportunities for advancement afforded to
every member of it. Out of that level body of the people
afforded these equal opportunities will arise those who,
by service to the State, must be distinguished with dif-
ferent rewards. Equality of opportunity and inequality
of reward is the creed of the intellectual Socialist. Logi-
cally, our present society, an individualist society, should
offer equal opportunities to every individual, or should
at least try to do so. Individualism has no other justi-
fication. If it does not offer an equal chance to the indi-
vidual, it fails in my judgment. As a matter of fact,
wealth, influence, property, education even, are trans-
mitted in our society from father to son, from genera-
tion to generation, and the result is that in our present
society (perhaps less as it is constituted here than in
older countries) barriers of education, morals even, and
manners and traditions, are erected between class and
class, and it is a comparatively rare thing for a man to
leap over those barriers.

It is said that out of 1,000 people who die in Great
Britain, 941 leave less than 200 pounds. I am not
concerned with the 941. They are dead. But I am
concerned very much with the children of the 941
in their struggle with the children of the 59.
One answer is, " Pension them off." That is what is
done in the Old Country; but I do not think anyone
accepts that as a final solution of the difficulty. Would

124 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

it not be fairer to start those people nearer a level than
to conduct them gently to the grave? It is with the
/object of putting people as nearly as possible on an
I equality that the intellectual Socialist, the Socialist for
I whom socialism is a religion, is prepared to take over
all property. That property he will lease out on leases
terminable with the life of the lessee. Or he would
even venture to have the State undertake the perhaps
almost impossible task of production and distribution.
Of course I admit that economically this seems impos-
sible, but there are a few things to remember. At the
present time we do not allow complete liberty of produc-
tion. We check production by our Factory Acts, by our
conservation of national resources. We do not allow
perfect liberty of consumption. Only the other day we
cut off that liberty ; we infringed upon it to a very great
degree in this city, by our bill, or motion, or by-law,
for the reduction of licenses.

In economic theory every individual should have the
freest liberty of buying whatever he wishes, no matter
how destructive it may be to himself. We put the wel-
fare of the community above the interests, or what
seem to be the interests, of the individual in this case.
We abandon out and out the economic theory. The
problem of distribution it is harder to solve. The goods
of the world are distributed by the simple medium of
price. As soon as prices fall and no profits follow, the
salesman withdraws his goods from the market. The
Socialist State will have to regulate, to adjust I should
rather say, the supply to the demand. I see no way of
doing that, but the Socialist will answer that he will
reward effort, and further that he will reward disagree-
able labour at a higher rate than agreeable labour.
That means, in other words, that the oeople who dig the
drains and construct the railways in the Socialist State
will be rewarded at a higher rate than those who per-
form the comparatively agreeable tasks discharged by
most of my friends before me.
. , The interest of that question (and I want to digress

The Menace of Socialism 125

for a moment) is very great, because as a matter of
fact we are failing before the task of getting the dis-
agreeable work of the world done. Who are going to
build our railways and dig our drains in another gen-
eration? We have used, hitherto, the inhabitants of
Southern Europe, but they are becoming less and less
available, and some of us are demanding Oriental labour.
We recognize that we must bring on new supplies.
Ultimately, we shall have to accept the fact that we must
educate all the people and then trust to their public
spirit, to improved machinery, to get the disagreeable
work of the world done. That is precisely the position
of the intellectual Socialist; with that object in view he
would attempt to reward this disagreeable labour at a
higher rate than agreeable labour. He would substitute
for private ownership, practically speaking, public own-
ership.

There again it is not likely that in the future history
of the race private ownership will be completely aban- \J
cloned. The question remains: Is the motive of acqui- "
sition, is the motive behind private property, the highest,
the ultimate motive for the race? That is the question
the Socialist is trying to answer. The Socialist is
anxious to transfer the struggle for existence from the
purely economic sphere, if that struggle must go on.
He would assume that finally the economic struggle
should go by the board, and that men should put into
competition for public service the same energy, the same
selfishness, which characterizes at present their struggle
for gain. Is that hoping too much, that men will in the
end rise to something higher than the simple motive of
acquisition? Well, a great deal of the best work in the
world is at present done out of far other considerations
than those of private gain. Similarly, the intellectual
Socialist would substitute for current ideas of liberty,
which make1 it mean self-assertiveness or right of
aggrandizement; he would substitute for these false
notions the true idea of liberty as harmony with the
State.

126 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

I dare say this sketch of the religious Socialist looks
to you rather hazy, like romancing, very vague. As a
matter of fact, its safety lies in its vagueness. So long
as it is vague, and talks about devotion to the State,
and the rest, I do not think anyone can quarrel with it.
Its danger begins when it descends to details. The
Socialist, not satisfied with urging his ideals, begins to
work them out in great detail for the whole community.
There his difficulties begin, and the danger of intellectual
socialism appears. No one can determine in detail what
future society will be any more than you can determine
what kind of knowledge man will ultimately acquire.

There is a second aspect of this danger; this concep-
tion is entirely a matter of spirit, of public spirit, but the
Socialist is inclined, even the intellectual Socialist, to
trust too much to the letter, to the law. You know just
as well as I do that the authors of the French Revolu-
tion were sincere believers in liberty, but as soon as
they began to force that upon everybody ; to placard the
walls and the streets with " liberty and equality," liberty
and equality disappeared; the liberty and equality in
the French Republic of to-day are too often a mockery
and a sham. That is the point. Liberty and equality,
all things of that sort, are not names, but principles,
with which one must start.

Lastly, even this kind of socialism attaches too much
importance to the State, too much importance to the
community, too much importance to the thought of
" all." That is very dangerous, it seems to me. It
emphasizes what is really, of course, at the bottom a
false antithesis between the State and the individual.
We over-emphasize the individual. The Socialist
attaches too much importance to the State. Suppose I
lived in a Socialist State, and wished to secure an article,
the manufacture of which I knew was dangerous to the
workers. Could I put the burden of deciding that upon
the State, even a Socialist State? Could I do that?
Would not the responsibility of buying that article
depend as much upon me, in a Socialist State, as it does
now? Must not the conscience of the individual agree

The Menace of Socialism 127

ultimately with the conduct or the conscience of the
State? Is not that the solution? Is the Socialist not
laying too much stress upon the community, where, I
admit, we are laying too much stress upon the indi-
vidual? To trust so entirely to the State, as does this
religious socialism, seems to me to constitute an actual
menace.

Those are the main dangers of socialism from its two
aspects, whether you consider it as robbery and confisca-
tion or as religion, or both.

Perhaps I ought to say a word in conclusion about
the practical measures which, it seems to me, we should
be perfectly safe to adopt. There is no doubt that laws
and institutions do help to promote morality. We must
allow the letter to express the spirit. There is a great
deal in assisting social movements by active reforms. I
should favour, along with Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the
extension of profit-sharing as the solution of the eco-
nomic difficulties. I know that these attempts, conducted
for the most part by thoroughly unselfish employers, are
often met with distrust and suspicion, but this should
not destroy faith in their value.

As a second practical measure I should very strongly
urge the acceptance, the belief in, free education. I do
not see any other means of providing that equal oppor-
tunity which is necessary, inevitable, in democracy, than
free education. Education must be the flail to separate
the wheat from the chaff. You say, " We agree : we
accept that." But do you? We are face to face with
what we conceive to be a reaction against education, a
great doubt, indeed, in the public mind. Is that doubt
justifiable? How is society going to find a way out, if
it comes to distrust education? We are face to face
with the problem of educating more people than we can
properly handle, and the easy solution is accepted of
raising the fees to reduce the number of pupils. We are
at once attempting to measure intellectual things in
money terms, by money measures. Does that appeal to
you as the ultimate solution? Would not it be much;

128 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

fairer in the interests of education if we raised our
educational standards, kept our fees down to the mini-
mum in the interests of every class, and thereby
reduced our numbers? When I say free education, do
not accept so readily the saying that we all believe in
education.

As a last answer to the challenge of socialism, I
should most clearly and firmly insist upon the respon-
sibility of the individual to the community; that is to
say, upon public service. This is no doubt a common-
place, the need for public service on the part of those
who are engaged, particularly in commercial pursuits,
but we cannot escape from it on that account. It seems
to me that the wheel comes around again full circle,
land brings us back to the responsibility of the individ-
ual. These questions of property, etc., would solve
themselves if the individual was actuated by the right
motives to the community; so that it rests with us, not
with the Socialist, to meet the menace of socialism, to
deprive the Socialists of their arms, and gain a victory
biy some sort of compromise, some kind of reasonable
settlement between what are now, I am afraid, two
extremes, State action and individual freedom.

A CANADIAN CABLE TO JAPAN; ITS COMMER-
CIAL AND IMPERIAL VALUE.

Address by MR. R. S. NEVILLE, K.C., of Toronto, before the
Empire Club of Canada, on February i8th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

Some two or three years ago, in looking into the ques-
tion of cable communication throughout the world, I
observed that the North Pacific Ocean and the northern
countries of Asia adjacent thereto are the only impor-
tant parts of thev commercial world which are not served
by British cables. The reason for this is obvious ; for the
great trade of Japan is of recent date and the enormous
trade between Great Britain and China has been served
by cables that pass from Great Britain through the Medi-
terranean, Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean around to
Hong Kong and Shanghai. Foreign cables of modern
date then connect with Japan and Eastern Siberia.

Canada and Japan have made more progress in recent
years than any other countries. The expansion of the
commerce of each is phenomenal, and yet the commerce
of each is in its infancy. From an international point
of view Japan is young, like Canada, but in reality she
is an ancient community and has a great population
ready at hand to carry on all her undertakings. In her
new fields of activity in Manchuria and Corea she has
ample scope for her unbounded industrial, productive
and expansive energy. Canada has much greater re-
sources and is rapidly acquiring the population necessary
for their development, and these two countries face
each other on the North Pacific as Great Britain and
Canada face each other on the North Atlantic. A great
trade between this continent and Japan will rapidly
develop and Canada should use every means to obtain
the full share to which her geographical position and
9 129

130 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

her capability entitle her. One of these means, and a
very important one, is speedy and cheap telegraphic
communication, and it must be acquired if we are to
compete successfully with the United States. A Can-
adian cable to Japan is therefore necessary to the proper
development of the commerce of Canada upon the
Pacific Ocean, and a glance at the map would indicate
that the North Pacific is the one< part of the world
peculiarly suited for Canadian enterprise and develop-
ment.

For some years, too, we have been discussing the
question as to how we can contribute something which
would be of advantage to the Empire, and, at the same
time, consistent with our much-vaunted autonomy.
This project gives us an opportunity; for the cable
would be under Canadian control and would be of
immense benefit to the commerce of Great Britain
with the northerly countries of Eastern Asia; it would
also complete an all-British line of telegraphic communi-
cation between Great Britain and her Eastern ally; and
would be the only all-British line between the two coun-
tries. It would be the shortest and cheapest of all the
lines for commercial use, and in time of war it would
be hard for European enemies to reach. Besides, there
would be no stations in mid-ocean on either the Atlantic
or Pacific which would be open to attack, and it is very
difficult to cut a cable lying on the bottom of the deep
sea. It would be, therefore, the safest from interruption
in time of war of all the lines in existence ; and if Great
Britain and Japan were called upon to fight side by side
pursuant to the terms of the Treaty between them, this
line would be the means of directing the combined
operations of the fleets and armies of the allies. It
might be the only possible line; for the other cables
would be more accessible to an enemy and could be
easily cut and communication interrupted.

It has been predicted that the next great international
struggle will be in the Pacific. That struggle has been
so far put off through the wise diplomacy of Great
Britain and through the Japanese alliance, and we know

A Canadian Cable to Japan 131

that Great Britain is using all the means in her power
to secure the peaceful development and international sta-
bility of all the countries which border upon the greatest
of our oceans. Nevertheless, it is a danger-zone, and
British interests in that part of the world are so enor-
mous that apart altogether from the Anglo-Japanese
Treaty, Great Britain could hardly be an idle spectator
while other nations fought for the great prizes, commer-
cial and territorial, that, without British interference,
other nations might win. One may safely conclude,
therefore, that both in peace and war; for offence, for
defence, and for commerce; a Canadian cable to Japan
would be a worthy contribution to the strength and
interests of the whole Empire, while, at the same time,
it would be most of all valuable to develop Canada's
own legitimate North Pacific trade.

The cost would not be great. The world's submarine
cables, long and short, have cost about $800 a mile.
Deep sea cables alone have averaged higher. The
American cable to the Philippines, 6,912 miles, cost
$12,000,000, but on account of its great length it had
to be laid in sections, necessitating stations at different
islands and a number of expensive " shore ends." Shore
ends, of course, are very costly and often extend many
miles out from land before they reach water deep enough
to ensure the cable's safety from injury through the
action of the tides. Besides, a long section of the
American cable was laid over a mountainous bottom,
which added greatly to the expense. The cable from
Vancouver to Australia has also several stations ; but
it cost only about $1,100 a mile. A Canadian cable to
Japan would require no intervening stations, and the
British Admiralty charts, giving the soundings, show
the bottom of the North Pacific to be favourable for
cable laying. It is practically certain, therefore, that
the cable would be cheaper than the Australian cable.
Probably $1,000 a mile would cover the cost, and by
taking the nearest points between Canada and Northern
Japan, or possibly the Kurile Islands, the distance could
be reduced to less than the length of the span of the

132 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Australian cable between Vancouver and Fanning
Island, 3,600 miles, which is now the longest distance
between stations in any operating cable. The Japanese
Government would be interested and, no doubt, would
wish to control all connections from the main landing
station to their system of land lines of telegraph.
Canada's expense would end with the first Asiatic station.
Indeed, if Japan were approached she would probably
agree to share the responsibility for the whole line. But
assuming that Canada should pay all the cost, a single
line could be built for less than $5,000,000.

Apart from the national and imperial benefits derived,
the cable ought to be a good investment. It would be
thousands of miles shorter than the line of communica-
tion from San Francisco, via Honolulu, Guam and the
Philippines or Bonin, to Japan. Not only, therefore,
would the initial cost be much less, but it would be much
speedier and therefore cheaper to work. The speed of
a cable is in inverse ratio to the square of the distance,
and for this reason every cable on the Atlantic between
Great Britain and this continent, whether British or
American, has its American landing station in Canada
or Newfoundland. A direct line to the United States
was once projected, but the company was forced to
change its plans and land in Canada because a long cable
cannot compete with a short one. The Canadian line
across the Pacific would have the same advantage, and
for the same reason must attract most of the business
from all parts of North America to Japan. It must be
remembered, too, that the business of all the north-
eastern Asiatic mainland with this continent would be
gathered to this line over the Japanese Government and
other foreign cables. A second line would probably
soon be required, but only when business demanded it,
and had grown large enough to make it profitable. The
more the better as long as the lines pay.

I shall not take your time to consider the life of a
cable, its maintenance and its renewals. These, however,
can be approximately determined from the experience
of existing cable companies throughout the world. I

A Canadian Cable to Japan 133

need only say that the character of the bottom of the
North Pacific Ocean is favourable to long life and
economy in repairs. Nor will I venture to discuss the
question of public ownership. But it must be noted that
the public ownership of a cable between distant parts of
the same Empire is a question quite distinct from public
ownership of a line between different nations. It has
been found that it is easier for a private company to
obtain facilities for doing business in foreign countries
than for Government agents to do so. Foreign Govern-
ments are shy of political telegraph lines. But if a
private company is to build and operate a cable the
Government should make sure, when it grants it land-
ing rights, or a subsidy or guaranty of any kind, that
the landing stations are located where they can be
defended in time of war; that there shall be an agreed
efficiency of construction and service; that Government
messages shall have priority and reduced rates ; that the
rates shall be subject to the International Telegraph
Convention; that the Government may operate the line
in time of war, subject to compensation; that the line
shall be controlled by British subjects, and that the con-
tract shall not be assigned or sublet without the Govern-
ment's consent.

I have in my possession a sketch of the Pacific Ocean
showing the American line from San Francisco, via
Honolulu, Guam and the Philippines, to Shanghai, from
which American messages have to reach Japan over a
foreign line. It also shows a projected branch from the
main line at Guam direct to Japan, via Bonin. It also
shows the present line from Vancouver to Australia and
New Zealand, and finally it shows the suggested Canadian
cable to Japan with alternative landing places on the
Canadian side at Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands
and similar alternative landing places at the Japanese
end, either in the Kurile Islands or in the northermost
of the large islands of the Japanese Empire.

THE POSITION OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

Address by the VERY REV. A. E. BURKE, D.D., LL.D., of Char-
lottetown, P.E.I., before the Empire Club of Canada, on February
25th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I am sure, although I have always felt great pleasure
in being an Imperialist myself, that this is the first oppor-
tunity in which I have been called upon formally to speak
to men who are banded together with the prime object
of propagating Imperialistic thought and Imperialistic
theory, with the view, I suppose, of something practical
in the end — that these component parts of the Empire
might all be bound together more solidly, and that under
the beneficent rule of Britain we should all arrive at
that height of civilization, at that plentitude of adminis-
tration which is the ideal of Anglo-Saxon communities.

I remember the story of a poor fellow who happened
fo be a little bit addicted to the " drop," and after being
converted by the assiduous attention of his minister, on
account of something or other fell by the wayside.
Unfortunately, the minister happened to come round
that way and found him in a state of stupour; and his
minister was very much disgusted with him indeed. He
said, " Sandy, what is it?" And the old fellow, wak-
ing himself up and regaining consciousness as far as he
was able, replied, " I dinna ken whether it was a wedding,
or whether it was a funeral, but it was a most extraor-
dinary success." I feel a little bit like Sandy, because
I am being very suddenly awakened from a kind of
stupour down at my office ; but I hope not from any such
influence as that ascribed to the Scotchman.

So far as the Maritime Provinces are concerned, I
am very glad to come from there. Although some of
your people designate us as shreds and patches, we are
glad to be a portion of this great Dominion, and are
proud of the part our men have played in the formation

134

THE VERY REV. A. E. BURKE, D.D., LL.D.

The Catholic Register, Toronto.

The Position of Prince Edward Island 135

of the Dominion. To develop their potentialities, all
the Provinces of Canada must of necessity be in a state
of contentment; they must feel that they are received
into the family of Confederation upon some kind of
amicable terms ; that there is no Federal Administration
which is positively against their interests provincially ;
in order that they themselves can in every way develop
and feel that family instinct which compels them to do
their best work.

In the Maritime Provinces, the two greater divisions
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick entered the Con-
federation with the other Provinces. My little Province,
while it was the cradle of Confederation, did not enter
into it when Confederation was effected first. It
is true that the Fathers of Confederation came down to
us at Charlottetown, because everybody knows that
Prince Edward Island is one of the most beautiful parts
of the Dominion — if you will excuse my humility, I
would say the most beautiful part — and there Sir John
Macdonald and the other Ontario leaders, seeking, I
suppose a little relaxation from their politics, came to
debate with Sir Charles Tupper this grand Confedera-
tion. Our people were very sympathetic with regard to
it. Our leaders were delegates to the great Quebec Con-
ference, but when Confederation was enacted we were
not in the partnership of the Dominion, and we were not
in it because we felt that in that great Confederation our
insular interests could not be well attended to; that we
could not have the means of development; could not
participate in the great fiscal policy and the system of
transportation which the country must necessarily have;
and therefore we were by ourselves, having built a rail-
road for ourselves, having all that we required there,
having settled our land question among the first Pro-
vinces and our currency question with all the other ques-
tions which agitated greater communities than we were;
and we were perfectly happy with a low tariff of our
own and able to administer our own affairs.

As with the case of Newfoundland, so it was at that
time with Prince Edward Island, and Sir John Mac-

136 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

donald came back to us time and again with the invitation
that we should enter the Confederation, and when our
delegates came back and our Parliament refused to enter
upon the terms which were then accorded, a new propo-
sition was made to us again and again. And lastly,
when, after the persistent efforts of Sir George Etienne
Cartier, we undertook to listen to the voice of the siren,
terms of union were made for us which were altogether
special in our case. We felt that communication with
this mainland was necessary whereby we could partici-
pate in the great life of this continent; that every por-
tion should have one system, one sufficient and exact sys-
tem of communication whereby the commercial interests
and the other interests of the country could be properly
served. So far as we were concerned, we were an island.
We said we would not come into the Confederation
unless they could take away that insularity of ours.

Sir George Etienne Cartier declared that he would do
everything possible for us, give us better monetary
terms ; but as to the communication, we were anxious to
have more specific terms and, ultimately, we came in
under a most specific term indeed; yet the letter of that
term and even the spirit of that term have not yet been
carried out. Our people were still diffident, and they
said to these people proposing union, " How are you
going to be able to give to this Province that system
of daily communication which you promise to us and
without which we will not be able to participate in the
life-stream of the Dominion?" Cartier said to us,
" Come in ; there is nothing impossible to the Privy Coun-
cil of Canada." And everybody knows that the Privy
Council of Canada is a powerful body when it wishes
to do anything in the interests of the country; when it
has motive sufficient to do those things which appear
gigantic it finds it is easy to overcome them ; and some
of the greatest works of the world have been carried out
by this little, young Dominion of ours.

We went into Confederation under specific terms.
That arrangement reads in these words, and is embodied
in our constitution : " That the Dominion of Canada

The Position of Prince Edward Island 137

shall assume and defray the charges for sufficient steam
service for the conveyance of mails and passengers, to
be established and maintained between the Island and the
mainland, winter and summer; thus placing the Island
in continuous communication with the Intercolonial Rail-
way and the railway systems of the Dominion." We have
gone in under that compact. We have been in from 1873
to this year of grace 1909, and we are largely in the
same position to-day as we were when we came in. There
has been improvement in the matter of navigation, but
navigation will never effect the terms of Confederation,
and consequently you have heard from time to time, per-
haps you have heard my own name connected with it,
of a project which we believe the only salvation of our
Province, and which will fulfil the terms of the Confed-
eration under which we came into the Dominion. I
speak of the great tunnel project which has been talked
of for a long time, and which is another tunnel to an
island beside the one which you in Toronto have built
to an island. I remember the last time I was here, pass-
ing through the city, I read in one of your dailv papers
the headline, "The Tunnel to be Built to the Island,"
and my heart palpitated with joy. The first thing I knew
it was something my friend Mr. Haney was doing in
order to give the people of Toronto a greater amount
of water to mix with the other things they were taking.
In Prince Edward Island we feel that the terms of
Confederation can never be carried out by navigation.
We have had upon that point a great manv Committees
of the House of Commons, who have from time to time
adjudicated upon this matter, and in the Session of 1883
we had the Report of a Committee of the House then
composed of three representatives from Prince Edward
Island, two from the mainland, and other representatives
of the House. All members of this Committee had
special knowledge of the obstruction to navigation in the
Straits by ice in the winter and spring seasons and were
qualified for the Report which they made. After a long
and careful consideration of the subject, the examination
of persons, papers and records, the Committee reported on

138 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the i8th of April, 1883, in the following words: "It is
the unanimous opinion formed by the testimony of wit-
nesses of large practical experience that no steamship
can be built capable of keeping up continuous communi-
cation in mid-winter."

How have the Government attempted to carry out
their terms of the Union? We have been in conflict
from the time we entered into Confederation. We have
had to make addresses to the King (the Queen it was in
those days) ; we have had to pass Minutes in Council;
to send delegations to the Court of St. James, and, after
one delegation there, when our own Premier and a mem-
ber of the Cabinet, who is now Senator Ferguson of
the Dominion Senate, had attended and made represen-
tations, the Earl Granville wrote back and declared that
it was necessary that the Dominion Government should
do something to carry out these terms of Confederation ;
that British Columbia had entered under particular terms,
with only a very sparse population, but because the
honour of the Dominion had been pledged the Govern-
ment had spanned the whole continent with steel railways
and the Canadian Pacific Railway had been built ; and
stated that it would be a good thing, in order to carry
out the spirit and intent of the terms of Confederation
with Prince Edward Island, if something of the same
kind should be done.

I will read the extract from Lord Granville's Report:
" There seems to be reason for doubt whether any satis-
factory communication by steamships can be regularly
maintained all the year round, which makes it all the
more important that the proposed tunnel should receive
full and favourable consideration on the part of the Gov-
ernment of Canada. The establishment of constant and
speedy communication by rail would be a great advantage
to the Province and the Dominion, and I should propose
that the development of the traffic on the Island railway
and of the capabilities of the Province generally should
produce a great direct return on the expenditure. It
would reflect credit on the Dominion Government if,
after connecting British Columbia by the Canadian Pacific

The Position of Prince Edivard Island 139

Railway, it should now be able to complete its system of
railway communication by an extension to Prince Edward
Island."

Because of these words the first real steamer of any
consequence was built. That steamer was called the
" Stanley," was built in 1888, and she commenced and
plied for a time and gave us hope that ultimately we
might effect a successful system of communication
between the Province and the mainland. At the nearest
point of contact we have six and a half miles, more or
less, of distance, but it is not there that the communica-
tion takes place in winter. It is between Georgetown and
Pictou that these boats ply, a distance of some forty
miles, and at certain seasons of the year, when the ice
becomes congested, it is impossible for any steamship
to go through it. If they make them so tremendously
heavy they will not be able to operate. We have three
steamers, a great one being built at a cost of half a mil-
lion of dollars, and we have every day reports that the
Island has been for weeks without communication. In
1905, when I myself, with some others, came from my
Province to represent our claims, appointed by the people
of my Province, we had been some sixty days without
communication with the mainland; and that when we
had the best steamers for the purpose of ice-breaking
that could be made. If we built them heavier then they
would not have water enough to operate in. It has
come to be the conviction of every man who thinks, that
this steamship communication can never solve the ques-
tion. The great project of the tunnel, if taken up,
would relieve the grievances of that Province.

What has been done on the line of the tunnel? We
had in our country a patriotic man who not only believed
in his own Province and had a great share in its material
advancement, who was a representative in the Senate of
Canada — the late Senator Howlan, afterwards Governor
— and he it was who, in the first place, thought out this
matter of a tunnel. It was thought to be an enormous
project altogether and as something we could not prac-
tically think of. However, he brought it up to a practical

140 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

stage in which the Government made a grant, and borings
were made in the Strait. The whole bottom of the
Strait was examined, and then the geologists began bor-
ing so that they would find out the kind of formation
through which the tunnel was to be oushed, and the
late Principal Dawson and some other gentlemen, who
were well qualified to undertake the case, discovered
that the formation was the most acceptable and suitable
possible for this construction. We know that tunnels
are being pushed everywhere. Down there we have a
natural locus for a tunnel. It can be built at a cost of
$10,000,000, and we have your own tunnel builder here,
Mr. Haney, who says that he will build it any day for
that sum, and if he does that and if we make the expendi-
ture I think the people of every part of the Dominion
will see that it should be taken up as quickly as possible
and pushed to a favourable conclusion. There have been
certain borings made, but some say they are not sufficient,
and I understand from Sir Wilfrid Laurier that he will
undertake to see that that system of examination is com-
pletely carried out, with the end, we hope, that in a short
time the tunnel will be commenced.

We have in that whole system of steamship communi-
cation an expenditure, besides what the Province has
secured from the Dominion, of some $998,500 and we
have a contra-account against the Dominion of $300,000,
and about $30,000 for up-keep, which would make $330,-
ooo, leaving a difference to the Government, if they
built the tunnel, of about $600,000 a year. That being
the case, I do not see, from a business point of view, why
we do not have the tunnel. Sir Charles Tupper and Sir
John Macdonald, when they were in power, gave us
great encouragement on this question, especially before
elections. I need not mention that Sir Wilfrid Laurier
was as big a sinner as any of them on this point. There
is a copy of a letter in which he says, " I have your
favour of Feb. 2, and I hardly thought that an expres-
sion of opinion as to the construction of a tunnel to con-
nect the Island with the mainland should be required.
Every man who has given any attention to the considera-

The Position of Prince Edward Island 141

tion of things, to the necessities involved by the Island's
entering into Confederation, must admit that such a
tunnel must be constructed if the thing is reasonably
practicable. The first thing is to make the ordinary
investigations and form an estimate." He has had plenty
of time, and I hope these debts of honour will be paid;
that Prince Edward Island as an integral part of this
Dominion will have what she went into Confederation
for, and that every man here will help to make us a con-
tented part of this Confederation.

There are a great many other things which I could
say upon this question of communication, but I know
that I should not take up any more of your time. I have
had a sympathetic audience before me, and anything I
have said for my little Province, anything that can be
done which will make it contented, will be the same
thing as when you have in your own bodies any ills.
When one of the members suffers, all the members suffer.
Even though Prince Edward Island is a small Province,
when it suffers then we have discontentment in other
places, and I may say that the fact that the Island which
forms a Province has not been as contented as she might
be under her Confederation terms may have had
something to do with the aloofness of that other grand
island which we would like to see in this Confederation
as quickly as possible, so that all might go to form a
great Empire.

THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY
COUNCIL.

An address by MR. J. M. CLARK, M.A., LL.B., K.C., before the
Empire Club of Canada, on March ist, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

Canadians have cordially joined in the celebrations of
the centenary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, one of
the truly great men of the nineteenth century. How far
from attaining his noble ideals of justice and liberty have
been the people of the United States is sufficiently indi-
cated by recalling the significant fact that, only a short
time ago, innocent men, instead of being permitted to
enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, were
cruelly lynched in Lincoln's own town. Observers have
frequently remarked on the notable contrast between the
administration of justice in the mining camps of Canada,
and the lawlessness and uncertainty of life manifest
in similar districts in the United States. These are not
merely isolated instances, but symptoms of fundamental
differences.

So marked indeed is the contrast between the adminis-
tration of justice under British institutions and that
under the United States system that President Taft
recently stated that " the administration of the criminal
law in all the States of the Union is a disgrace to our
civilization."

In his address of the 8th December last, President
Roosevelt said, " It is discreditable to us as a nation that
there should be difficulty in convicting murderers."

My object is not to criticise the institutions of the
United States. Many features of their constitution
could be studied, and some of them copied in this coun-
try, with benefit to Canada. But I desire to point out an

142

MR. J. M. CLARK, M.A., L.L.B., K.C.

of Toronto.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 143

advantage which is frankly conceded by thoughtful
observers from the United States, and to urge that stremi-
ous efforts should be put forth to maintain the advantage
which the British system of the administration of justice
gives us, especially as it is clearly a prime factor in mak-
ing emigrants from the United States loyal Canadians
and patriotic British subjects.

The difference to which I have alluded is not acciden-
tal, but part of the far-reaching consequences of causes
which it is possible to ascertain.

Some, though not all, of the founders of the United
States Republic were led away by the superficial phil- "
osophy which became current about the middle of the
eighteenth century. That resulted, in France, in a terri-
ble tyranny exercised in the name of liberty and culmi-
nating in a military despotism; in an equality, not the
noble British ideal of equality before the law, but the
equality of exposure to violence and injustice; in a fra-
ternity which practically meant the fraternising possible
in the tumbrils en route to the guillotine. Misled by
vague words which did not connote realities, the people
of the United States violently broke the course of the
orderly development of British justice and liberty, broad-
ening down from precedent to precedent. The develop-
ment of which Dr. Broom justly says, "no weightier
story can elsewhere be read, nor has any passage yet
been gathered from the annals of the world yielding for
the cultured intellect a nobler lesson."

The right of personal liberty, private property, and
freedom of speech were secured. In England, as Tenny-
son well says, " a man may speak the thing he will." But
the crowning glory of the British system is that men are
ruled by law, not by caprice.

It has indeed been said that the distinguishing charac-
teristic of British institutions is the rule, supremacy or
predominance of law.

In an interesting article in the January number of the
Quarterly Review, p. 302, Prof. A. V. Dicey, the latest
successor of Blackstone at Oxford, says : " We inherit
institutions built up by generations of statesmen and well

144 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

worth defence. Our constitution, resting as it does on
the unquestionable supremacy of the civil power and the
universal rule of equal law, is, with all its defects, the
strongest, the freest, the most pacific — we may venture to
say the most humane — form of government which has
ever existed in any great State or Empire." We are apt
to take what Prof. Dicey calls the universal rule of equal
law as a matter of course, but it is the result of a long
struggle, and can only be maintained by constant vigi-
lance and effort. The forces which make for lawlessness
in the United States are making themselves felt on this
side of the boundary, and we must not take it for granted
that true liberty founded on law will be continued unless
the struggle is also continued.

In evolution it is said that there is always a danger of
reversion to inferior types. So in matters of government
there is constant danger of the usurpation of arbitrary
power. Among us this is manifested largely in the
expression of a desire to have matters of property and
right determined according to the methods of barbarous
chiefs, who tried accused persons summarily without
regard to rules of evidence or technicalities of procedure,
and without any expense of appeals. So that, according
to current views, Mr. Hampden should have been snuffed
out by the remark that the amount demanded of him as
a ship-money institution did not justify the expense of
the legal proceedings he occasioned, and that the costs
were out of proportion to the 2os. involved.

Mill (in " Representative Government," p. 4,) says:
" Political institutions (however the proposition may be
at times ignored) are the work of men, and owe their
origin and their whole existence to human will. Men
did not wake up on a summer morning and find them
sprung up, nor do they resemble trees which, once
planted, are ' aye growing ' while men are sleeping. In
every stage of their existence they are made what they
are by human voluntary agency."

During the reign of Victoria the Good. Rudyard Kip-
ling foresaw the threatened danger of the tyranny of
socialism and uttered a strong warning against the des-

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 14*

potism of arbitrary power. In his poem on the " Old
Issue," he said: —

" All we have of freedom, all we use or know,

This our fathers bought for us, long and long ago.

" Ancient right unnoticed as the breath we draw,

Leave to live by no man's leave, underneath the law.

" Lance and torch and tumult, steel and grey goose wing,

Wrenched it inch and all and all slowly from the King.

" So they bought us freedom, not at little cost,

Wherefore we must watch the King, lest our gain be lost.

" Howso great their clamor, whatso'er their claim,

Suffer not the old King under any name.

" Here is naught unproven, here is naught to learn,

It is written what shall follow if the King return.

" He shall mark our goings, question whence we came,

Set his guards about us as in freedom's name.

" He shall break his judges if they cross his word,

He shall rule above the law, calling on the Lord.

" He shall peep and mutter ; and the night shall bring

Watchers 'neath our window lest we mock the King.

" Strangers of his council, hirelings of his pay,

These shall deal our justice, sell — deny — delay.

" Cruel in the shadow, crafty in the sun,

Far beyond his borders shall his teaching run.

" Sloven, sullen, savage, secret, uncontrolled,

Laying ori a new land evil of the old.

" Long forgotten bondage dwarfing heart and brain,

All our fathers died to loose he shall bind again.

" All the right they promised, all the wrong they bring,

Stewards of the judgment, suffer not this King."

One of the crowning features of the British system
under which we in Canada live is the final authority in
matters of law of the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, or, to speak more accurately, of the King
speaking on the advice of the Judicial Committee of
the Privy Council. According to Blackstone, under the
British constitution the King is the fountain of justice
and general conservator of the peace of the Empire. By
the fountain of justice the law does not mean the author
or original, but only the distributor. Justice is not
derived from the King as from his free gift, but he is
the steward of the public to dispense it to him to whom
it is due. Blackstone quotes Bracton for the proposition
10

146 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

that for this very purpose was the King created and
elected, in order that he might render justice to all. Ad
hoc autem creatus et electus ut justitiam faciat universis.

In the early days of arbitrary power monarchs some-
times decided cases personally, but it has long been
settled that justice must be distributed through the
regular courts. The last attempt to evade this salutary
rule was that of James I., in the celebrated case of
Evocation, when Coke stoutly replied to the monarch
that he could only in such matters speak through his
courts (per curiam), observing that the law was the
golden metwand and measure to try the causes of sub-
jects. In the following reign of Charles I. (in 1604)
it was enacted that all questions of property, etc.,
" ought to be tried and determined in the ordinary
courts of justice and by the ordinary courts of law."

Time would not permit to trace out the very inter-
esting history of the jurisdiction of the Judicial Com-
mittee of the Privy Council. It must suffice to say that
it was established in its present form in 1833 by an
Act introduced by Brougham, one of the greatest of
law reformers. This Act has been from time to time
amended. The only one of these amendments on which
we need comment is that passed in 1895, authorizing
the addition of five members of the Judicial Committee
from Canada, Australia and South Africa, and other
parts of the British Dominions. These five must be, or
have been, judges of certain specified Canadian, Aus-
tralian or South African courts, or of some other super-
ior court in His Majesty's dominions, to be named by
competent authority, and must be members of the
Imperial Privy Council.

The Judicial Committee is to be distinguished from
the House of Lords — and by the House of Lords I
mean the judicial body, not the legislative body of whose
membership we have been able to judge in Toronto by
such men as Morley and Milner. The judicial body
known as the House of Lords is composed largely of
the same judges as sit in the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council, and has a jurisdiction defined by an

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 147

Imperial Act passed in 1876. While the judges are
largely the same, there are some important distinctions
between the two tribunals. In cases argued before the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, while the cases
are really decided by the judges who hear the argu-
ment, the order is the order of the King in Privy Coun-
cil on their advice. Some important consequences follow
from this. The Privy Council advises the Crown, and
in doing so it is bound not to record dissentient opinion.
This was provided for in 1627, and the prohibition was
reaffirmed in 1878. Only one set of reasons for judg-
ment is given. One of the greatest living authorities
on jurisprudence, Sir Frederick Pollock, states as the
criteria of just laws in a civilized community, " gener-
ality, equality, and certainty;" and the rule which pre-
vails in the Privy Council, it is obvious, tends greatly
to promote all these, and especially the desirable quality
of certainty. The House of Lords is bound by its own
decisions in accordance with the rule laid down by
Blackstone, that the duty of the judge is to abide by
former precedents. This rule is not binding on the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which must
decide in each instance according to the very right and
justice of the particular case before it.

At present it is undeniable that there is among us a
certain degree of superficial public clamour against
appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
but a short reference to our history will, I think, be
sufficient to show how unjustified such clamour is. As
you all know, before Confederation there was a sort of
partnership between Ontario and Quebec, which con-
stituted the old Province of Canada. The Confedera-
tion Act provided that the questions arising out of the
division and adjustments of the debts, credits, liabilities,
properties, and assets of Upper Canada and Lower
Canada should be referred to the arbitrament of three
arbitrators, one chosen by the Government of Ontario,
one by the Government of Quebec, and one by the
Government of Canada. After the arbitration so pro-
vided for had proceeded a certain distance, the Quebec

148 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

representative claimed that the views of the Dominion
arbitrator were unduly favourable to the Province of
Ontario, and refused to continue to attend the proceed-
ings or to join in the award. Considering the conse-
quent ill-feelings that might have been aroused by such
a controversy, it was extremely fortunate that there
was such a tribunal as the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council to whom the dispute could be referred.

It was so referred, and it is interesting to know that
one of the counsel for the Province of Quebec was Mr.
J. P. Benjamin, who had been Secretary of State in
the Confederacy during the Civil War in the United
States. Notwithstanding a very able argument by Mr.
Benjamin, discussing exhaustively the basic principles
of arbitration, the Privy Council decided in favour of
the validity of the award. The Lord Chancellor who
presided at the time was Lord Cairns, and it is worthy
of note that Mr. Benjamin has put himself on record
that, although he knew well the great judges of the
United States and of Europe, as well as those of Bri-
tain, he considered Lord Cairns as the greatest judge
before whom he had ever pleaded.

Then the older among us can recollect the tremendous
excitement caused by the boundary dispute between the
Province of Ontario on the one hand, and the Dominion
of Canada on the other, to which the Province of Mani-
toba became a party. The feelings aroused by that
dispute were very angry ones. There was an attempt
at local arbitration, but the award of the Canadian arbi-
trators was repudiated. It was again fortunate that
there was such a body as the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council to whom the dispute could be referred —
a unique tribunal, weighty and authoritative, composed
of eminent judges in whose ability, learning, unsus-
pected impartiality, and freedom from local proclivities
the people of this country had, and continue to have,
the utmost confidence. The whole matter was decided
by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; and it
is curious to note that the ultimate decision was based
upon the fact that what is now the Province of Ontario
was formerly included in what was formerly Quebec.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 149

Ontario in that case relied upon the French title, the
Dominion relying largely upon the title of the Hudson
Bay Company. The fact that our title to the rich lands
of the disputed territory is traced^ through the French
title which was transferred to Great Britain suggests at
once the fact that Ontario is now enjoying the benefits
of the British blood and treasure so freely expended
under the inspiration of the magnificent Imperial con-
ception of Chatham.

The taxpayers of England, Scotland and Ireland are
paying the principal and interest of the consideration for
the lands which we in Ontario are now enjoying. The
title is still in the Crown, which is one and indivisible
throughout the British Empire; but the administration
of these vast assets, notwithstanding the fact that the
taxpayers of the Mother Country are paying the con-
sideration, has been handed over to the people of this
province. This was in accordance with the wise and
statesmanlike policy recommended by Lord Durham ;
but the bald recital of the facts shows that the people of
Ontario hold these lands not merely for our own grati-
fication, not merely for the benefit of the Dominion of
Canada, but, above all, in trust for the whole British
Empire.

We may apply to ourselves the eloquent words used
by Lord Roberts in his famous speech:

" We are links in a living chain, pledged to transmit
intact to posterity the glorious heritage we have received
from those who have gone before."

The decision of the Privy Council, though accepted
by the Dominion, did not end the dispute. The Domin-
ion set up that while the territory in dispute had been
decided to be within the boundaries of Ontario, yet
that the title to the lands had been transferred to the
Dominion by the Indians. This involved the whole
question of the Indian title, and the relations between
the Crown and the Indians. It was shown, in that
case, that the British authorities had always dealt justly
with the Indians; and, while they did not permit the

150 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Indians to sell or transfer their interests to outsiders,
they never dealt with lands claimed by the Indians until
such lands were surrendered by the Indians by a formal
contract, duly ratified in a meeting of their chiefs or
headmen convened for the purpose. The decision
declared, as we all know, that the lands belonged to
Ontario by virtue of the British North America Act;
but that, seeing that the benefit of the Indian surrender
accrues to her, Ontario was directed to relieve the
Crown and the Dominion of all obligations involving
the payment of money which were undertaken by the
treaty. The question of the liability of Ontario in this
respect is at present in process of adjustment.'

Another very interesting question in regard to the
relations with the Indians, called " The Indian Annuity
Case," was settled by the Privy Council. In the Treaty
of 1851, made at Sault Ste. Marie, the Indians were
promised increases of their annuities if the lands sur-
rendered produced funds sufficient for that purpose. At
Confederation the Dominion, subject to certain pro-
visions, assumed all the liabilities of the old Province
of Canada, of which this was one; but contended that
Ontario, having received the increased proceeds from
the lands, must provide the funds to pay the increased
annuities to the Indians. The arbitrators before whom
the matter came decided that Ontario, having received
the benefit of the increased proceeds from the lands,
must bear the burden of the increased payments to the
Indians; but the Privy Council decided that the Con-
federation Act might be regarded as a compact, and
that the highest equity was to observe the terms of the
bargain under which these increased annuities were
liabilities to be paid by the Dominion.

Another notable case between the Ontario and the
Dominion was the famous Mercer Case, in which the
Privy Council decided that the right of escheat belonged
not to the Dominion, but to the province, under the term
" Royalties " in Section 109 of the British North
America Act. This apparently simple decision involved
consequences of far-reaching importance, as was' shown

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 151

subsequently in what is known as the Precious Metal
Case — a dispute between the Province of British Colum-
bia and the Dominion of Canada, where the Royal Mines
were held to belong to the province.

The Privy Council have decided many important ques-
tions, not only such as those I have referred to, dealing
with questions of boundaries, assets and liabilities, but
also even more important questions of legislative juris-
diction and executive power. These cases dealt with
such matters as insurance contracts, liquor and other
licenses, powers of taxation, legislative power over
property and civil rights, and the status of the Lieuten-
ant-Governor, who, it has been decided, represents not
the Governor-General who appoints him, but the Crown,
for provincial purposes. Another very interesting case
dealt with the property and legislative rights of the
federal and provincial authorities in regard to fisheries,
and the beds of navigable and other waters. Many other
constitutional problems quite as difficult and important
as any that have been settled remain to be solved.

It is worthy of note that during the discussion of the
bill to establish the Supreme Court of Canada it was
Sir John A. Macdonald who contended for the right of
appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
This bill is popularly associated with the name of that
great advocate, the Hon. Edward Blake, but the records
show that it was introduced by Hon. Mr. Fournier. Mr.
Blake's connection with the bill was that by a series of
very able state papers he persuaded the Imperial authori-
ties not to veto the bill, as at first they were inclined to
advise the Crown to do.

It is worthy of remark that the honoured dean of the
legal profession in this province — Sir ^milius Irving —
took an important part in the discussion of this bill, and
also in the solution of most of the constitutional prob-
lems to which I have referred. His great services,
which have resulted in benefits and savings to the prov-
ince amounting to many hundreds of thousands of
dollars, in addition to the other results achieved, have
been fittingly recognized by the King.

152 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Before this digression, which I am sure you will
pardon, I was proceeding- to point out what is too well
known to require argument, namely, that the earlier
decisions of our Supreme Court would have rendered
our constitution quite unworkable. In saying this I do
not overlook the great services to Canada rendered by
the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court of
the United States has also done great work for that
country, but on several occasions it would have been of
great advantage to the United States if there had been
such a body as the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, to whose impartial decision various disputes
might have been referred.

I quite agree that our Supreme Court should be
strengthened. The salaries of the judges should be a
greater fraction than they are of those given to the
directing heads of our great financial, transportation
and business institutions. I would say that the salaries
of our Supreme Court judges should at least be doubled.
Without discussing the matter in detail, it can be cited
as an historical fact that, as the result of a series of
appeals to the Privy Council, our present system was
established. Some, including the late Sir John A. Mac-
donald and Mr. Christopher Robinson, thought the
Privy Council had gone too far in the direction of
extending provincial jurisdiction; and it is noteworthy
that their views have been largely adopted in the new
draft constitution of South Africa, which has recently
been submitted for consideration to the present South
African legislatures. The draft Act of Union recom-
mended by the South African National Convention pro-
vides that " there shall be no appeal from the Supreme
Court of South Africa, or any division thereof, to the
King in Council, but nothing herein contained shall be
construed to impair any right which the King in Council
may be pleased to exercise to grant special leave to
appeal from the appellate division to the King in Coun-
cil. Parliament may make laws limiting the matters in
respect of which such special leave may be asked, but
bills containing any such limitation shall be reserved by

MR. R. S. NEVILLE, K.C ,
of Toronto, Ont.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 153

the Governor-General for the signification of His
Majesty's pleasure."

That member of the Privy Council who perhaps took
more part than any other in the solution of the difficult
problems submitted from Canada is described by the
Right Honourable Mr. Haldane in n Juridical Review,
1899, Pa§fe 281, where, referring to Lord Watson, he
says, " with him law and justice turned out in the end
to be invariably the same thing. He was a great servant
of the Empire. He did much to make stronger one of
the real links which binds and unites its parts. Not
many of those who talk glibly about Imperial Federa-
tion took the trouble to turn into the shabbv doorway
at the Whitehall end of Downing Street, and go up the
worn lead-covered stair, through the faded curtains,
into the plainly furnished room where the supreme tri-
bunal of the Empire sits. Had they gone there any
time during the last fifteen years they would have beheld
at his best one of the greatest lawyers that ever sat
upon the British Bench, devoting his splendid powers to
the spread throughout that Empire of faith in the justice
of the Queen."

In the debate on the Commonwealth of Australia Con-
stitution Bill in the Imperial Parliament, in 1900, Mr.
Haldane advocated a great Imperial Court of Appeal to
take the place of the House of Lords and the Privy
Council. He argued that " there is a body of common
traditions, common doctrines, common tendencies, just
as there is a bodv of common law, which is the general
heritage of our Empire ;" and, further on, said : " I feel
that it is almost inherent in a constitution such as ours,
shared by different parts of the Queen's Dominions,
preserving the common elements to which I have
referred, that there should be some means of a common
interpretation. I feel that there is implied in our con-
stitution, when it reaches a certain stage of development,
that there should be a common tribunal which would be
a real link, because it would be the property, not of one
part of the Queen's Dominions nor of the people in
them, but of the people throughout the Empire."

154 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

While I regard it as certain that the time will come
when this magnificent ideal will be realized, I think
there are other matters of Imperial organization and
co-operation of more immediate and pressing importance
and necessity.

If time permitted, it could be shown that the Privy
Council had rendered signal service to our jurispru-
dence, of which I shall onlv give one very recent
instance. The controversy between the coal and steel
companies has aroused widespread interest. The judg-
ment appealed from, granting specific performance,
would have necessarily involved the superintendence of
a coal mine by the courts for a period of ninety-nine
years, and the maintenance of that judgment would, I
think, have created a very mischievous precedent.
Examples could be multiplied to show the fallacy of
the argument that, even if we abolished aopeals to the
Privy Council, the decisions of that tribunal would still,
to a certain extent, guide our courts, not by reason of
Imperial power, but by the Imperial power of reason.

I would not presume to appear as in any way defend-
ing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, but it
is worth while to notice that much of the local news-
paper criticism is founded on a complete misapprehen-
sion of the facts. Take the King case, about which there
was much comment. If anyone cared to look up the
facts it would be found that what took place there was
that the courts in Canada granted the defendant com-
pany a new trial. The case came before the Privy
Council, and what the Privy Council did was to give
leave to the plaintiff to cross appeal, and then there give
a final decision that substantial justice had been done,
and that the company, having had their day, to use the
ancient legal phrase, the verdict of the jury should be
enforced without any further trial or delay, and that the
company should pay all costs.

Then we have the case of our Toronto Street Rail-
way. Of course, in every litigation one of the two
parties must be defeated. In that case, after the agree-
ment had been made between the City and the Railway

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 155

Company, an Act was passed by the Ontario Legisla-
ture. If the object had been simply to confirm the
agreement, and avoid any difficulties owing to infor-
malities or irregularities, then the simplest principles
of draftsmanship would have prevented any difficulty.
The subject of the law would have been the agreement,
and the only predicate necessary would have been sup-
plied by the words " ratify and confirm." Instead of
this, an Act dealing with the agreement was passed by
the Legislature. The Privy Council gave effect to that
statute as expressing the sovereign will of the people.
The statute was a clear violation of sound principles
of legislation. Mr. Justice Gwynne long ago pointed
out that retroactive legislation interfering with con-
tracts was inconsistent with true liberty. Such a power
of legislation, it may be remarked by the way, though
claimed, like all vicious legislation, to be in the inter-
ests of the people, will, in the nature of all things,
almost invariably be against the public interest, and for
the benefit of some skilful promoter or manipulator.
The true conclusion from what has taken place is,
therefore, not that there is any justification for an attack
upon the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, but that
sound principles of legislation should be observed.

Then it may be asked: Should there not be Law
Reform? I say, certainly; but one of our ablest judges
has shown that the term Law Reform, as currently used,
is a complete misnomer. Shakespeare classed the law's
delay with the insolence of office among the ills we
know, etc., and prefer to those we know not of. And
in the days of Queen Elizabeth, Parliament passed a
statute — 8 Elizabeth, c. 5 (1565) — for the avoiding, as
well of long and tedious suits as also of great charges
and expenses in prosecuting them, and enacted that all
litigants should have such expedition in their suits as
their nature and qualities do require; but that this
injunction is obeyed, as far as the Privy Council is con-
cerned, may be sufficiently indicated by the fact that
before the Lord Chancellor left for his vacation last
summer all arrears of work were disposed of by the

156 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and by the
way he spent his holiday in Canada, performing the
notable feat of escaping- newspaper interviews, Empire
and Canadian Clubs.

In the future, as in the past, modifications in the law
will become necessary to meet the exigencies of modern
life and modern progress. At present the most urgent
matter is to remedy the loose and irregular methods in
which is manifested what Mr. Bryce, the British
Ambassador at Washington, has designated the mania
for legislation.

As every practitioner knows, many of the difficulties
arising in litigation are from the faulty draughting of
statutes. To take one example, Mr. Justice Osier says
(re Lennox, 6 Ontario Law Reports, 233), referring to
certain Acts which it was the duty of the Court to con-
strue, " I do not think that much light is thrown upon
their construction as we now find them, though by a
scrutiny of the previous legislation, much of which is
of an extremely disjointed, inconsecutive character,
abounding, as indeed do the present Acts, in verbal
practical inconsistencies."

In Great Britain, where the Imperial Parliament has
had an experience of over 600 years in such matters, the
difficulty is met by employing a highly skilled drafts-
man with a competent staff. A notable measure of law
reform would be the adoption of a similar system here.
The multifarious duties imposed on Cabinet Ministers
here, as in Great Britain, render it necessarv that they
should be relieved of such details, which should be per-
formed by highly trained and specially qualified men.
The present system of Judicature is founded on the
great law reform conceived by the genius of Lord
Cairns, and completed by his illustrious successor. Lord
Selborne. It was introduced into this province by Sir
Oliver Mowat, greatly assisted by the scrutiny and keen
criticism of Mr. Matthew Crooks Cameron, both great
lawyers.

Since I promised to prepare this paper two able
addresses have been published in The Canadian Law

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 157

Times dealing with the same subject; one by the Hon.
Wallace Nesbitt, K.C., and the other by Mr. J. T.
Small, K.C., both showing considerable research. Mr.
Small has demonstrated that our whole system has
worked so satisfactorily that in three years there were
only six appeals from our Court of Appeal to the Privy
Council, or in the proportion of only one case in five
hundred tried.

The first Act of the first Parliament of Upper Canada,
which met at Niagara in 1792, replaced the laws of
Canada, as the French system was called, by the laws
of England, thereby introducing into this province the
gladsome light of British jurisprudence. The same
Parliament provided for appeals to the Privy Council,
and what has been well called the sacred right of appeal
has ever since been carefully guarded.

The system existing at Confederation was continued
until changed by competent authority. I shall not dis-
cuss the legal effect of the local legislation I have
referred to, further than to point out that it furnishes a
complete answer to those who say that the jurisdiction
of the Judicial Committee, of which there are two
Canadian members, has interfered with local self-gov-
ernment, but would say that it shows the right of appeal
to the Privy Council has always been regarded as
important, and, indeed, as the birthright of British sub-
jects. It is also regarded as an important security and
safeguard by British foreign investors. Nor shall I dis-
cuss 'the bill which has been introduced into the local
Legislature, but would conclude by saying that we
should not too hastily strike at what we have the best
authority for designating one of the best links by which
we can maintain the unity of the Empire.

NAVAL DEFENCE FOR CANADA.

Address by His HONOUR JOHN A. BARRON, K.C., County Judge
of Perth, before the Empire Club of Canada on March nth,
1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I shall not waste my time, and especially your time,
in making any preliminary remarks. I will, however,
only hope that when I shall have finished you may be
one-tenth as much in accord with me as I am pleased
to-day at the opportunity given to me by your worthy
Chairman and the Empire Club in reaching, if possible,
beyond the four corners of this room a t>eor»le who do
not seem to understand one iota of what is meant by
naval defence, and therefore, not understanding, remain
indifferent and apathetic. And you business gentlemen
know much better than I do that if you want to achieve
success in anything where mind rubs against mind,
then the greatest force against you in achieving that
success is apathy and indifference.

According to Herr Rohrbach, the great political
writer, Germany's population to-day is about 65,000,000
of people. In ten years it will be about 80,000,000,
because, as has been said, " The Polish part of the Ger-
man population breed like rabbits, and the Germans,
they breed like hares;" so that in about ten years' time
Germany will doubtless have, as Von Biilow says, a
population of 80,000,000 of people. This enormous
population is squeezed into a congested space of 300
souls to the square mile. Her African possessions offer
land room for scarcely 100,000 of the overflow. Ana-
tolia, Mesopotamia, and South America still offer
numerous but undesirable possibilities, and her condi-
tion is such that she becomes instantly covetous at the
least opportunity for political expansion. She regards
with considerable concern the exodus of her people

158

Naval Defence for Canada 159

and looks with envy at England's ability to retain the
fealty of her subjects across the seas. Of the 300,000
German-speaking people in Southern Brazil in 1899 not
300 are to-day citizens of the German Empire.

Elbow room is a grave problem for Germany, and if
she ever fights Great Britain it will be in response to
the ungovernable demand for bread and room from her
ever-increasing millions. To-day, if permitted, Oriental
peoples would swarm over North America with surpris-
ing rapidity, and at the present time the danger zone
extends beyond Japan, with its 40,000,000, or China,
with its 400,000,000, and reaches the still more remote
and densely populated portions of India. A nation
whose people are cramped for room wants land, because
land means food, and food means life. So territorial
acquisition is still a profitable policy common to all
countries having political ambition. Years ago Great
Britain was wise, and happily for us to-day, what she
took she held, what was ceded she kept, and what she
discovered she rarely abandoned. A people, gentlemen,
with instinctive love of offspring, striving for better-
ment, fail now to comprehend that the laws of nature,
which apparently give to every man a rigtfit to such
waste portion of the earth as is necessary for his sub-
sistence, must yield to the laws of nations; and
especially do the Japanese fail to see why exclusive laws
are made by us in Canada who ourselves displaced
others, put here before us by the hand of Providence.
And so in search for sustenance they bitterly resent our
restrictions. This fact necessarily excites sympathy,
but it should not diminish prudence, for even Utopia,
for economic reasons, limited its cities in size and popu-
lation, and so, in obedience to the law of self-improve-
ment, Canada forbids transplanting of Oriental
roots in Canadian soil.

But, gentlemen, who will assert that our laws of
exclusion would be other than a cobweb of protection
were it not that foreign eyes see Great Britain stand-
ing behind Canada as the Big Policeman? We are told
that " the law does not enact what it cannot enforce,"

160 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

and Canada, busily absorbed in working out her destiny
under the aegis of the mightiest fleet the world has ever
seen, does not stop to reflect that respect for her restric-
tive laws is due in a great measure to the power of
Great Britain to enforce them should our own strength
prove insufficient. Gentlemen, the prestige of Great
Britain is to-day the great corner-stone of Empire, and
Canada should jealously watch that she does nothing
to weaken it. It is this that sustains and holds us safe
while we are upbuilding, and it is this that protects
us from the evil consequences of foreign ambition —
an element in the character of all nations which, accord-
ing to Petrarch, is the greatest of the five great enemies
of peace. And yet, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen,
Great Britain's sea power, confronted as it is to-day
with a threatened German hegemony of Europe, would
utterly fail of its purpose were it not for the policy of
Lord Lansdowne, perfected by Sir Edward Grey — a
policy which can be summed up in two words "semper
paratus."

Is it not strange, then, that a gentleman in Peterboro
(Mr. J. S. Ewart) recently should say: "We have
learned the stupid fallacy of the frequent assertion that
the way to secure peace is to be prepared for war?"
Mr. Ewart's words, however, contradict his own asser-
tion, because if, as he continues, " Europe is restlessly
ready for war and there is now no better chance for it,"
why, I ask, is there not war? The answer is that the
nations of Europe, and especially Britain, are prepared
for war, and therefore we have peace. But, gentlemen,
is not the lesson of practical experience a safer guide
than the views of any idealist untutored in the ways of
diplomacy, as Mr. Ewart undoubtedly is? Was it not
when Philip of Macedon saw that Greek was ill-pre-
pared to fight for Greek, that he then was able to subju-
gate the entire Hellenic race? Was not the Norman
conquest made easy because Harold dispersed the fleet
which Edgar the Peaceful had previously acquired?
Did not Henry VII. so well equip his squadrons that
for a long time peace was undisturbed? Was it not

Naval Defence for Canada 161

the pitiful plight of the "Beggars of the Sea," as we
are told, that encouraged the Armada? When, gentle-
men, in mid-ocean, Mason and Slidell were taken from
a British ship, and war became imminent, was it not
the ready arm of Great Britain that forced the United
States to recede from their untenable attitude?

In the dispute with Spain over the Falklands, _was
not England's display of force more effective than any
and all the representations made to the Court at
Madrid? Is it not to-day the King of Peacemakers
who, with a Neptune and a St. Vincent, still greater in
size and displacement than a Dreadnaught, completes
a group of eight homogeneous ships? Then, gentle-
men, it is President Roosevelt who says that " a first-
class fighting navy is the most effective guarantee for
peace the United States can have." And President Taft
has just expressed exactly the same opinion. It is Lord
Roberts who says that " an efficient army is an essen-
tial condition of peace and security." It is the present
German Chancellor who says that " the moment Ger-
many decides to reduce her equipment, peace would be
seriously threatened." It is Mr. Deakin, the ex-Premier
of Australia, who says that "they who prepare for war
in point of fact do so only to preserve peace." It is
the Poet Laureate who sings to us :

" Nor you nor we would others wrong,

We only claim to hold our own ;
For this we arm, for this keep strong,
Safe-guarding Justice on her throne."

So I might go on. I have said enough, I think, to con-
vince ordinary mortals that if a condition of prepared-
ness as a means of preserving peace is a stupid fallacy,
as Mr. Ewart says, then not only does history belie itself,
but there are many great men who are also very stupid
men, but whose urgings nevertheless are safer to fol-
low than the altruistic ethics of men who pay too great
an adoration to human understanding, and for whose
resurrection long, long hence, when "Mercy and Truth
are met together, and Righteousness and Peace have

162 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

kissed each other," the Empire Club, I have no doubt,
most earnestly and devoutly pray.

Within the last ten years Canada has become a treaty-
making nation. Canada practically makes the treaty,
England signs it — but who maintains it? Not Canada,
but England. We are apt to under-prize this fact. It
is now, I think, generally conceded that the life of a
treaty ends when a nation is strong enough to break it.
It is only the cruder cynics who delude themselves with
its sanctity. History proves that international alliances
endure for so long as the interests of allies coincide.
Russia entering the Dardanelles is an instance of this,
and the Bosnian frontier at this moment is another.
Let us ask ourselves a question. How long, think you,
would a Canadian treaty last if Canada stood alone to
enforce it? To this question the Trent affair supplies
the answer. Now, enlarged powers, which we rightly
demand, bring enlarged responsibilities. We cannot
have our cake, and then refuse to pay for it. They are
a contemptible people who, while they glory in their
growing autonomy, decline to share its obligations. It
is a mean man who boasts of manhood and yet omits
to protect his hearth, his home and his family.

Side by side with national expansion is a constantly
increasing risk of political entanglement, and once
friction starts the strongest arm often is not the first to
allay it, but more often is the first to fire a gun. Mr.
J. S. Willison has said that, " if the weaker nation is
likely to be the more sensitive, it is certain to answer
quickly to considerate treatment from a powerful neigh-
bour;" but as to that treatment Lord Bacon has said
that "no virtue is so delinquent as clemency." And I
fail to find in history when the powerful nation ever
extended considerate treatment to the weaker one except
an expectant benefit of some kind was hidden within
the leaves of the olive branch. It is our earnest prayer
that Canada may never bring trouble to the Empire,
but once a blow is struck, whoever originates the quar-
rel, and Great Britain as the great nerve-centre becomes
involved, the heart's action instantly throbs through the

Naval Defence for Canada 163

whole system of Empire, and while each part is liable
to attack, each part must be prepared to resist attack.

It is one of the consequences of Empire that, as all
must benefit in common, all must suffer in common.
We have so long1 been accustomed to the glories of
peace that we pursue our avocations day by day as if
immune, and forget that in any war in which Great
Britain fires a gun an enemy can attack us or any other
of England's possessions, and that when such happens
the Monroe Doctrine cannot be invoked to save us from
destruction, as some strangely seem to think; for while
this Doctrine proposes the integrity of American soil
from governmental occupation by a foreign power, it
does not apply to temporary occupation incidental to
warfare. Now, shall Canada take sanctuary behind
Britain's guns, or will she prove herself possessed of
that nerve and pluck land strength and greatness, on
having which at all times she justly prides herself? I
hear it said, gentlemen, that it is folly to prepare when
danger is not in sight. History proves that strength
discourages and helplessness invites attack, and that
while the glories of peace are being chanted, then it is
that calamities come, and to all nations the wide world
over the message of the Gospel is sent — "Wherefore,
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
Democracies cannot learn too soon that campaigns are
won and lost long years before they are fought. Can-
ada, then, must in some way aid that great tree of
Monarchy, which, like the tree of Nebuchadnezzar, has
its trunk large and strong to support its branches and
its leaves. How, then, is this to be done? A frequent
writer in the Fortnightly suggests a contribution from
Canada to the British Navy of 1,500,000 pounds.

Now, a grant of money is the " one purse " method.
It would be a " pay and do nothing policy." It would
take from us our control of our expenditure, and Canada
would oppose it. It would be an ignominious method of
shirking a responsibility. Our share of the burden must
be on self-respecting lines which will not permit us to
buy with a subsidy a freedom from responsibility, and

164 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

we must also remember that a community which pro-
vides for its security from external attack only by a
money payment will surely lose the capacity for self-
defence, and become in time a soft and effeminate
nation. Besides, gentlemen, we feel to-day the quick-
ening sense of national life. This would kill it. And
as one writer says, " It would give us no other means
of meeting an enemy than with a bribe." Besides,
again, Canadian boys, your boys, may desire a life on
the sea, and Canadian mothers, your wives, their
mothers, would ill rest content with the lost opportuni-
ties this method would involve. If it be said the
Imperial Navy supplies this loss the answer comes from
Australia that Australians won't leave Australian
waters, and parents will not as a rule send children
away alone to the other side of the world at the early
age required for entry into the British Navy. In prac-
tice, gentlemen, it fails to work satisfactorily. Mr.
Deakin, the ex-Premier of Australia, has so stated, and
from an Admiralty standpoint it meddles with the strat-
egic movements of British ships.

The Cape Colony plan of giving a ship is less objec-
tionable, but still objectionable. While we would spend
our own funds, we would part entirely with the forces
created by such funds, and we would still see the indig-
nant frown on Canadian faces because we forsook
Canadian boys and diminished their opportunities in
life. A gift "in kind" may pay an obligation, but it
shrivels up individuality and pays the debt at too great
a cost. In all that Canada does, Canada must never
lose sight of herself or destroy her own identity. Again
there is the Newfoundland plan of training men for
Imperial service. This, I think, was Sir Wilfrid
Laurier's tentative offer at a Colonial Conference, but
cui bonof At best it is a waste of energy, because
Great Britain has, waiting at the gangway, a supply
greater than the demand. When he was first Lord of
the Admiralty, Viscount Goschen congratulated Eng-
land on the fact that the Admiralty could pick and
choose among the men and boys who offered themselves

Naval Defence for Canada 165

at the recruiting station. Since then the attractions of
the lower deck have become so improved that the num-
ber of men is increasing far beyond the proportion of
means of employing them, and especially so since it
has been discovered and so reported by a Committee
of the Admiralty that " the wastage of ships now
exceeds the wastage of crews and so sets free officers
and men from employment." In the face of this recog-
nized fact we would be laying up for ourselves the wrath
to come of Canadian men sickened with delayed hopes
and bitter disappointments.

There is next the Hoffmeyr proposal of a preferential
tariff, but that is only a method of raising funds, and
leaves unsaid what to do with the funds when they are
raised. There is also the Natal method of contribut-
ing coal; but Heaven forbid, gentlemen, that Canada
should ever become simply a coal-heaver for a British
ship! But may I point out that from our autonomy
comes the true, rational and logical plan for Imperial
aid and our own defence — a plan, too, that is reason-
ably within our financial reach. Canada, let us remem-
ber, may not attack. Great Britain does that. The first
battle-cry must come from the quarter-deck of a British
ship. Six years ago the centre of gravity of maritime
power in Europe was shifted from the Mediterranean
to the North Sea. The Atlantic and Pacific fleets
became a shield round Britain's coasts. The overseas
were left to defend themselves for, powerful as the
British Navy is, it is not omnipotent, and certainly it
is not omnipresent.

Now, what does our autonomy tell us to do? It tells
us to do as Australia does, and that which Australia
does Canada should do, mutatis mutandis. What does
Australia do? She undertakes to give 1,000 men,
if possible all Australians, to British ships, 400
of whom are to man two cruisers in Atlantic waters.
In addition to that, England provides two more to be
cruisers for training purposes. In addition to that, pro-
vision ,is made by the Commonwealth for a system of
submarine or torpedo-boat destroyers, as suggested at

166 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the London Conference. In addition to that, provision
is made by Australia and she maintains nine submarines
and six torpedo-boat destroyers. These are all to be
built by Australia at the expense of Australia, manned
by Australians, and she undertakes to do that in a short
period of three years' time. Why cannot Canada do
exactly the same thing subject to her changed condi-
tions? Australia is insular, it is true, but Canada has
its thousands of miles of unprotected coasts, and the
mighty St. Lawrence is an inviting opportunity to an
enemy. It may be that a hostile fleet would not cross
the Canadian waters unless we first were beaten badly
at sea, but one or two cruisers would unquestionably
appear, and it is appalling to think what terrible havoc
and destruction such could do to a defenceless seaboard.
Again, Canada on the Pacific rs close to the Asiatic
peril, and while from our physical conformation our
defence may always require to be a maximum of militar-
ism, yet without a large minimum of navalism Canada, if
attacked by sea, would present a sad and sorry spectacle.

A local naval force is as much necessary in home
defence as is a military force. Each form of defence
is correlative of the other and without naval armament,
according to Admiral Colomb, a fortress is bound to
fall if properly attacked by sea. Without naval defence
an enemy could bottle up our exports and in breadstuffs
alone $40,000,000 a year would go no farther than our
coastal harbours. This is the answer to those who say
that the money required for naval defence might be
better spent in raising wheat, and barley and oats.
What availeth riches if they benefit us nothing? As
Solon said to Croesus, who showed him all his treasure,
"Yes, sir, but if another should come with better iron
than you he would be master of all this gold," and so
we ask for Canada naval defence, " lest robber State
with readier steel pounce on the precious store by
stealth."

A local naval defence contributes to Imperial strength
because, as a chain is no stronger than its weakest link,
so is Empire no stronger than its weakest part. By

Naval Defence for Canada 167

strengthening that part you add strength to the Empire,
and local strength then becomes Imperial strength; or,
as the Premier of Australia has said, " Local defence
is Imperial defence at a particular spot, but none the
less Imperial on that account." Writers in England
who argue for contribution in money ask: "Of what
avail is the presence of a few cruisers in Canadian
waters ?" The answer is : "Of more avail than if there
were none." The big ships are not always on the far-
off spots, and the recent concentration policy, as inexor-
able as once was Rule 19, suggests that they may not
be. The Admiralty, however, regards a local naval
defence as of much value. Lord Tweedmouth at the
Conference said : " There is, I think, the further
advantage in these small flotillas that they will be an
admirable means of coast defence ; and that by the use
of them you will be able to avoid practically all danger
from any sudden raid which might be made by a cruis-
ing squadron." And possessed of expert opinion such
as this, we need not fear, gentlemen, what prolific
writers may say to the contrary, or what man may do
unto us.

I have said Canada must preserve her own identity.
Our fleet in time of peace should be under our own
political control. In time of war it should pass under
the strategical command of the Admiralty. This would
be Canada's aid to the Empire — that Empire which will
long continue to be the strongest guarantee of peace,
if every one of its constituent democracies forthwith
begins to realize the wider obligations of true ' naval
defence. And so, gentlemen, shall Canada do some-
thing or do nothing, and run the risk of sending her
sons out in the defence of their country " with the dice
heavily loaded against them " ?

MILTON AS AN EMPIRE BUILDER.*

Address by MR. GEO. HUNTER ROBINSON, M.A., of Toronto,
before the Empire Club of Canada, on March i8th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

Readers of Punch doubtless noticed, a few months
ago, a full-page cartoon "Our Honoured Dead," by
Partridge, relating to the Milton Tercentenary, where
Shakespeare and Milton, in the picturesque costumes
of their time, are depicted as shades revisiting the
glimpses of the moon, engaged in the following colloquy :

Shakespeare: — "Talking of posterity, they did say
something about a national theatre for me, but nothing
seems to happen. What have they done for you?"

Milton : — " Oh ! I'm all right. Every three hundred
years they give me a banquet at the Mansion House."

Shakespeare : — " Lucky dog."

In this imaginary scene the artist was endeavouring
to administer a mild rebuke to the City of London, the
chief city of the Empire, and the greatest city of the
world, in that after the lapse of three hundred years
in which the fame of Shakespeare and Milton had been
steadily growing, there had been erected in it no material
memorials adequate to their genius and position in the
world of literature. The project of erecting a national
theatre to commemorate Shakespeare in the scene of his
greatest triumphs, as was done a few years ago in his
birthplace — Stratford-on-Avon — had been for some
years before literary London, but for some reason or
other it seemed to languish. Possibly the half-indignant
query of John Milton, who himself preferred to live in

* Adapted from his Paper, "Milton : The Man and the Poet."

168

MR. GEORGE HUNTER ROBINSON, M.A.,

of Toronto, Ont.

Milton as an Umpire Builder 169

the printed page and in the minds of readers — select
though few it might be — had had a paralysing effect
upon the enthusiasm 'of those who would have liked to
see some visible, external memorials to the men of
thought as imposing and suggestive as those that deserv-
edly commemorate the men of action in St. Paul's,
Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square:

" What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones
The labour of an age in piled stones?
Or that his hallowed reliques should be hid
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,
What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thyself a livelong monument

And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie,

That kings for such a tomb would wish to die."

Be this as it may, it is gratifying to learn that the
project of a national theatre to Shakespeare in London
has within the past few weeks taken definite shape. It
is now announced that the project is to be pushed to an
early completion and that in this memorial theatre will
be acted the poet's masterpieces, as well as those of
other English dramatists, living and dead. The theatre
will be controlled by a board of trustees chosen from
men prominent in literature, drama, music and educa-
tion. While London will in this way wipe away the
reproach of seeming neglect of the greatest English
dramatist, it must be evident that Shakesneare, as far
as present-day fame is concerned, is the " luckier dog "
compared with Milton. Shakespeare still lives in Strat-
ford-on-Avon, whither thousands of pilgrims go every
year to pay homage to his memory. He lives on the
well-trod stage illuminated and dignified by such inter-
preters as Irving, Terry and Beerbohm Tree, not to
speak of many others, and he lives also in the printed
page — the joy and solace of thousands in all lands who
never enter a theatre. But Milton lives, and will con-
tinue to live, almost wholly in the printed page, and in

170 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the minds of men. His dramatic writings are but very
few, and though full of exquisite beauties are .not
adapted to the stage. Like Tennyson's dramatic pro-
ductions they are best enjoyed in an easy chair at home.
Their very names, indeed : " Samson Agonistes,"
"Comus," "Arcades," are "caviare to the multitude;"
and it may safely be said that for one that has read
"Samson Agonistes," ten thousand have seen "Othello,"
or " The Merchant of Venice," or " Midsummer Night's
Dream," presented on the stage. Unquestionably while
Milton is, by the voice of the critical world, the more
consummate artist for a variety of reasons, some of
which have been hinted at, Shakespeare has been, and
will continue to be, the more popular personality.

Last summer on a quiet holiday in August, when the
great city of London was swarming with visitors from
all lands, I stood alone with the sexton in the old church
of St. Giles, Cripplegate, where a slab in the floor marks
the resting place of the author of "Paradise Lost," not
far from that of his father. Outside, within the narrow
grounds, was a fine statue of the poet, erected by the
munificence of a private citizen. Around the walls
were memorials of the gallant Sir Martin Frobisher, one
of the heroes of the Armada, and a first exolorer of the
Polar Seas ; John Foxe, the author of the " Book of
Martyrs;" Bishop Andrews, one of the translators of
the Authorized Version of the Bible; John Speed, and
others less known to fame; but within the church itself
and its immediate precincts all was silent. To relieve
my astonishment at the absence of visitors the sexton
said: "This is an exceptional day. Sometimes we do
have quite a few — chiefly Americans." Not many days
after I was almost pushed and jostled in a crowd — I
shall not say of " Philistines," but still a crowd — bent
on " doing " the half-dozen Shakespeare show-places
in Stratford-on-Avon. Many o.f you have been there,
and you will easily recall among other proofs of the
poet's world-wide fame, pencilled on the walls of a
house the thousands of names whose owners hoped in
this way to appropriate some of the fame that attaches

Milton as an Empire Builder 171

to the dwelling place which had sheltered the great poet.
Happily this road to cheap immortality is now forbidden
by the custodians of that disfigured shrine.

Yes, truly, to borrow "Mr. Punch's" phrase, Shakes-
peare is the "luckier dog" — that phrase is enough to
make Milton turn in his grave — if it conies to counting
material memorials. But in fact there is not the least
fear that the world will willingly let die either of these
great names. The banquet ; at the Mansion House,
mentioned by " Mr. Punch " is only one significant
proof of many that might be cited, that the memory of
the great Puritan poet, at least in some quarters, is
fresh and green after the lapse of three hundred years.

Perhaps just here, by way of refreshing your memo-
ries, and of furnishing an appropriate background for
the hurried and imperfect sketch of Milton as a nation-
builder that can be given in the few minutes at my dis-
posal, you will permit me to recall the main incidents
of the poet's life and times.

John Milton, the son of John Milton, scrivener, was
born Friday, December 9, 1608, in the Bread-Street
home in the very heart of Old London, not far from St.
Paul's Cathedral. It is interesting to recall that at
that date Shakespeare — whom very probably Milton as a
boy had often seen — had lately produced " Antony and
Cleopatra," Bacon was writing his " Wisdom of the
Ancients," and Sir Walter Raleigh his " History of the
World," when, too, the English Bible was hastening
into print. He was the third of six children, only three
of whom survived infancy. His father was a man of
great probity, business ability and unusual culture, and
he spared neither time nor money to secure for the
future poet, whose rare gifts he early discerned, the
benefits of a thorough education in all the learning of the
time. His mother is described as a " woman of excellent
charity." The whole story of nations and men leaves us
in no doubt that this well-ordered and cultured home
must be regarded as the starting point of that career in
which Milton was enabled to accomplish so much in the
way of light and leading for his own and succeeding

172 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

generations. That home is a typical example of that
kind of fundamental institution upon which alone the
fabric of free communities and states can be erected
and preserved.

In 1625, the year in which James I. died, when the
dramatist Fletcher died of the plague, and the Thirty
Years War was raging in Europe, Milton entered
Christ's College, Cambridge, where he remained till July,
1632, taking his M.A. degree, having taken his B.A. in
1629 — the ever memorable year of his " Nativity Ode."
The next five years he spent in studious retirement at
his father's house. On the death of his mother, in 1638,
he went abroad, visiting, in very pleasant circumstances,
Paris and the chief cities of Italy, whither his rising
fame as a poet had preceded him, but allowing nothing
to divert him from the cultivation of his powers and
observation of social and political conditions and insti-
tutions. On his return to England, occasioned by the
coming political storm which ushered in the Long Parlia-
ment with its train of momentous consequences, he
undertook at his own house the education of his nephews
and some other youths.

But the burning religious and political questions that
then agitated England — some of which have not yet
been finally settled — soon engaged his pen. The year
1641 may be described as the " Pamphlet Year," for in
it were published " Of Reformation in England,"
" Prelatical Episcopacy," " Reason of Church Govern-
ment," and " Animadversions." This was the year of the
execution of Strafford, the Grand Remonstrance, and
the Impeachment of the Twelve Bishops; and the very
titles of Milton's pamphlets indicate the line along which
the nation was moving in the tremendous struggle for
civil and religious liberty.

For the next thirty years Milton was almost wholly
engaged in political controversy, and his voice as a poet
was almost silent. In 1665, the year of the Plague,
" Paradise Lost " was completed and " Paradise
Regained " begun. In 1670 " Paradise Regained " and
" Samson Agonistes " were published. In 1674 his death
took place, November 8, and his burial, November 12.

Milton as an Empire Builder 173

It is thus obvious that Milton's life falls into three
well-defined stages:

(1) A period of thirty years — 1608-1638 — from his
birth, including his studious youth and period of edu-
cation, culminating in the journey to the Continent. In
this period — that is, while still a young man — he had
written and published, amongst other things, those
monuments of his genius and consummate literary
workmanship more lasting than brass : " L' Allegro," " II
Penseroso," " Comus " and " Lycidas."

(2) The Controversial Period, which lasted from his
return to England in 1639 till the Restoration of Charles
II. in 1660 — almost a whole generation.

(3) The Calm Period preceding his death, say from
1660 till his death in 1674. During this period, when
the poet was totally blind, were produced, as already
mentioned, " Paradise Lost," " Paradise Regained,"
" Samson Agonistes," and some prose works.

Reverting now to the Tercentenary Celebrations com-
memorative of the man and his literary works, I shall
not take up time with any detailed account of the pro-
ceedings in connection therewith at Cambridge, London
and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. It must suffice
merely to mention that at Christ's College, Cambridge —
the poet's college — there was open for some months an
exhibition of Milton portraits, MSS. editions, and
personal relics, succeeded by a Banquet at which a large
number of distinguished literary men from all parts of
the kingdom were present, and which was followed by a
performance of " Comus " in the New Theatre.

London, the poet's birthplace, surpassed itself in doing
fitting honour to the memory of her greatest son. At
the Banquet alluded to by the Punch artist, and held
at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor presided, and
amongst others the Italian Ambassador and the Ameri-
can Ambassador acclaimed the debt their respective
nations, in common with England, owed to Milton.
The volume of Papers read at the Tercentenary under
the auspices of the British Academy, and another volume

174 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of Memorial Lectures, read before the Royal Society of
Literature of the United Kingdom, besides innumerable
articles in the Reviews, Magazines and Newspapers,
sufficiently attest that very general interest was felt in
the occasion, and that the opportunity was not lost for
honouring the dead and educating the living. Nor
should I omit to mention the religious service, repre-
sentative as it was of the Establishment and Noncon-
formity, held December 9, in Bow Church, Cheapside, at
which the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs attended in state,
besides representatives of Foreign Embassies and Lega-
tions, and men of eminence in Literature, Music, Art,
Politics and the Church. The Bishop of Ripon, preach-
ing from Jer. xi : 4-5, compared Milton's dreams and
ideals with those of " the man with a measuring line in
his hand." The British Museum authorities also
embraced the occasion to arrange a " Milton Exhibi-
tion," in which amongst many objects of great interest
to lovers of Milton might be seen next to copies of the
first and second editions of " Paradise Lost " the MS.
of Tennyson's glowing tribute in " Alcaics " to Milton,
beginning :

"O mighty-mouthed inventor of harmonies,
O skill'd to sound of Time or Eternity,
God-gifted organ-voice of England
Milton a name to resound forever."

The dominant chord in the London celebration was
admiration, coupled with gratitude, for the extraordinary
genius of the man, his consummate literary workman-
ship, his immense learning, his enlightened and whole-
hearted devotion to the cause of civil and religious
liberty, his fearless and unswerving advocacv of what
he conceived to be the truth, and his unblemished per-
sonal character. It was universally felt and acknowl-
edged that though London had unequalled reason to be
proud of the long roll of her other poet-sons — Chaucer,
Spenser, Ben Jonson, Herrick, Pope, Gray, Keats and
Browning — not one of them, nor indeed all together, had

Milton as an Empire Builder 175

shed such imperishable lustre upon her as the author of
" Paradise Lost."

The Milton Tercentenary was also appropriately cele-
brated in many other places in the British Isles, of which
I can mention only a few. At Birmingham there was
a numerously attended celebration under the auspices of
the Free Church Council, over which Sir Oliver Lodge
presided. At Hereford the Bishop, Dr. Percival,
arranged a united commemoration in the Cathedral
Library by people of all the Christian churches. " Mil-
ton," the Bishop said, " offered them the spectacle of
both a supreme personality and a dedicated life. He
served no mistress but truth, and he lived for nothing
less than the highest."

In the United States Milton celebrations were numer-
ous and enthusiastic, and large space was given to the
Tercentenary in both the secular and religious press.
The chief New York celebration was at the Episcopal
Church of the Ascension. Dr. Greer, Bishop of New
York, and Rev. Percy Grant, the rector, officiated. Mr.
Howells, Mr. R. W. Gilder, Mr. H. W. Mabie, Dr.
Lyman Abbott, and other leading writers were present.
Poems of Milton were sung and recited. At Columbia
University Macaulay's Essay on Milton was read by
President Butler.

It would be no rash assumption to suppose that the
Tercentenary was not allowed to go unnoticed in Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, the' Cape and other over-seas British
possessions, but at this writing it is too early for any
news as to how the day was observed in those distant
countries.

So far as I have observed in Canada, the Tercentenary
was allowed to pass without any public notice, except
references to the British celebration and some eulogistic
editorial comments in the press. Some pulpits also
embraced the opportunity to pay a tribute to the genius
of Milton, and to acknowledge the debt of gratitude
due to that great Puritan for his sturdy fight for civil
and religious liberty. Nevertheless, I think it is to the
shame of this great University city — the leading Eng-

176 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

lish-speaking city in the Dominion — that it should be
behind New York and other United States cities in doing
honour to the memory of the greatest epic poet in the
English language, and one of the stoutest defenders of
individual and civil liberty in the whole history of man-
kind.

Last summer, amid much popular enthusiasm, fanned
by royal, vice-regal, gubernatorial and parliamentary
patronage, not to speak of grants from the public
treasury, lavish honour was done at Quebec to the
memory of explorers and great military commanders
who had a conspicuous share in the making of Old
Canada. No patriotic Canadian would seek to pluck one
leaf from the wreaths laid upon the tombs of Champlain,
Wolfe and Montcalm, but I am bold to say that there has
been a manifest lack of pure patriotism in our failure
as a country to do honour to the memory of a man
whose life and writings have inspired our patriots and
scholars and citizens to make a good land to live in, the
land which Wolfe won for us. Nay more, I am sure
that Wolfe, who said that he would rather be the author
of the Elegy in a Country Churchyard than the captor
of Quebec, would, if he were alive to-day and living
amongst us, have been among the first to lead the way
to honour the man thus described by Gray : —

" Nor second he that rode sublime
Upon the ser.iph-wings of ecstasy,
The secrets of the abys,s to espy.
He passed the flaming bounds of place and time :
The living throne, the sapphire-blaze,
Where angels tremble while they gaze,
He saw; but blasted with excess of light,
Closed his eyes in endless night."

Mr. President and gentlemen, I shall never cease to
regret that the patriot-poet, whose works have a con-
spicuous place on the curricula of our universities; a
portion of whose greatest poem, ably edited by our
present Superintendent of Education, was studied by
hundreds of pupils in our high schools and collegiate
institutes some years ago ; selections from whose master-

Milton as an Empire Builder 177

pieces have always occupied a prominent place in our
school readers for the formation of g-ood taste and high
ideals in the youth of our land; whose poetical works
occupy an honoured place, and are more or less read as
the sublimest and best models of style in thousands of
our homes, and which afford to many a man immersed
in business a refuge and distraction from its cares — I
shall not, I say, cease to regret that at this particular
juncture Canada has failed to do appropriate honour
to one of the three greatest epic poets in all history, and
that Toronto failed to lead the way. By this neglect we
have actually " lifted a spear against the muses' bower."
We should have remembered, even in these piping times
of peace, that

"The great Emathian conqueror bid spare
The house of Pindarus, when temple and tower
Went to the ground; and the repeated air
Of sad Electra's poet had the power
To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare."

A few weeks ago, in order to do honour to a London
music hall celebrity, a number of his countrvmen escorted
him, with pipe and drum, to our City Hall, where, we
are told, he was accorded an enthusiastic reception by
our Mayor and Aldermen. It is a far call from Harry
Lauder to John Milton, but it is nevertheless not to be
supposed that if our Chief Magistrate and Council
imagined they were upholding the reputation of our city
for culture and refinement in thus gracing a wandering
minstrel they would have hesitated, if there had been
anyone to show them the way, to give their countenance
to any scheme for expressing- Canadian gratitude for a
share in the glory of him who " waked to ecstasy the
living lyre," the common heritage of all English-speak-
ing people, and for uniting with the capital of the Empire
in paying a grateful tribute to the memory of its greatest
son. How unfortunate for our reputation and for the
gratification of these innocent desires that the Sage of
the Grange, oppressed by the burden of fourscore, could
not inaugurate and conduct such a movement!
12

178 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

But all this by the way. Perhaps you would allow me,
in conclusion, very briefly to correlate what I have been
stating in the way of narrative and opinion to the avowed
aims and objects of the Empire Club. What, it may be
asked, has Milton to do with our special objects? Much
in every way, I would say.

Firstly, our English literature, along with our English
language, is one of the chief cements of our Empire.
The best of our literature is our poetry, no small portion
of which gives expression to the national ideals and senti-
ments, and thrills the national heart both to do and to
suffer for country and humanity. He has but a slight
acquaintance with literature and history who would dis-
pute the claim of a modern poet:

We are the music-makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams,
World-losers and world-forsakers

On whom the pale moon gleams ;
Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties

We build up the v/orld's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story

We fashion an empire's glory.
One man with a dream, at pleasure

Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure

Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying

In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing

And Babel itself with our mirth,
And o'erthrew them with prophesying

To the old of the new world's worth,
For each age is a dream that is dying,

Or one that is coming to birth.

Let Mammon and Belial flout these claims as merely
the frenzy of a poet's dream, and though all their sons
and daughters should dare to say " No !" to the age-long

Milton as an Empire Builder 179

question, " Is not the life more than meat and the body
than raiment?" the poets, even in mundane things, are
right. Bear witness to their power as world-movers and
world-shakers : Amphion building the walls of Thebes to
the sound of his lyre ;

"Blind Thamyris and blind Mseonides,
And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old;"

Dante shaking Florence to its centre ; and, to be brief, in
modern times, Rouget de L'Isle, with his " Marseillaise,''
inflaming the French people to overthrow an empire;
Campbell, with his " Ye Mariners of England " ; Burns,
with his " Scots Wha Hae/' and countless others in
every age and country who have nerved the patriot's arm
and cowed the tyrant's heart.

Now, Milton in this aspect has a pre-eminent claim
upon our admiration as one of the greatest builders and
preservatives of our Empire. He is our greatest epic
poet; and, as such, his name early, through selections,
becomes familiar to the boys and girls in our primary
and secondary schools. In the colleges and universities
much critical study is given to longer portions, and thus
the golden thread of his poetry becomes interwoven with
the very tissue of the country's intellectual life. As
Homer was the national poet of the Greeks wherever
they were scattered, so in a similar way Milton and our
other great poets are a bond of union between the several
parts of the Empire. The more Milton is read and
studied, whether in school, college, or the home, the
greater will be the love and admiration on the part of her
children for the Old Land — the mighty mother of our
Imperial race.

Secondly, Milton was a pure patriot. An occasion
called — and in the stormy times in which he lived it often
called him very loudly — he gave his time and pen to the
service of his country, and he gave it most unselfishly,
without expectation of fee or reward, except the approval
of a good conscience. Be it remembered that it was no
fault of John Milton's that Oliver Cromwell, in the

180 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

eighteen years of his protectorate, grasped almost regal
authority, and in destroying a tyrant he himself set up a
tyranny. Milton was not the first, nor was he the last,
man who was doomed to disappointment in what is
evolved from political revolution. No doubt, as one of
his biographers has well observed, he saw, with sorrow
and alarm, the ancient constitution, its settled methods
and its substantial safeguards exchanged for one life
exposed to countless assaults. But we may be sure that
he felt in his very soul that Cromwell, as Lord Protector,
stood between England and anarchy, and that, as
authority had come into the hands of the kingliest man in
England, valiant and prudent, magnanimous and merci-
ful, he was not idolatrously bowing down to a form of
government he had himself helped to overcome.

As a recent writer has put it, Milton began by thinking
that a new earth could be created by a besom ; that one
had but to sweep prelates and kings into a sawdust pan,
and there was not only an end of slavery, not only a
beginning of liberty, but Paradise in full fruit. Milton
in 1650 abandoned such notions. In time he had seen
that the all-important thing is what he called " the inner
liberty." If a man's soul is in chains it may be of little
use freeing his body and giving him political power. It
may be but substituting a tyrant with many heads for a
tyrant with one head — a hydra for a scorpion.

Milton thoroughly learned his lesson as to what liberty
is — how it is to be maintained and defended — and it is a
most salutary process for the twentieth century to trace
every step of Milton's progress. He was, I repeat, a
great patriot. He loved England, was proud of her, and
was ready to die for her. In the " Areopagitica " he bids
his countrymen remember the stuff of which they are
made : " Consider what nation it is whereof ye are ; a
nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious and
piercing spirit ; acute to invent, subtle and sinewy to dis-
course, not beneath the reach of any point the highest
that human capacity can come to." Is not that a trumpet
blast to stir the blood and nerve the hands of empire-
builders both to do and to suffer great things?

Milton as an Empire Builder 181

Thirdly, he had a passionate, unquenchable love of
freedom and liberty for all mankind. His prose works,
especially the " Areopagitica," " Tenure of Kings,"
" Eikonoclastes," and " Delineation of a Commonwealth,"
reveal him as a devotee of public liberty, freedom of
thought, freedom of expression, freedom of the press,
and, above all, of religious freedom. The Lord Advocate
of Scotland — Thomas Shaw, K.C., M.P. — in a recent
address on "Milton — The Man and Apostle of Freedom,"
summarized the matter by saying that Milton defended
religious liberty against prelacy, civil liberty against the
Crown, liberty of the press against the Executive, liberty
of conscience against the Presbyterians of his day, and
domestic liberty against the tyranny of the canon law.
Since Milton's time Nonconformity, instead of being a
byword and an obloquy, had become an honour for all
who freely served their Master.

It is a far call, indeed, from Canada, 1909, to the Eng-
land of 1609; and though many abuses have been swept
away in these three hundred years, many shackles on
civil and religious freedom have been broken, would it
not be the veriest folly to believe that tyranny can never
lift its hateful head, even in our country, and that there
will never come a time when freemen will not need to
prick their hearts up by the messages that come to them
through the mists of years from the patriots of long ago ?

I know not whether there is less political, social and
religious corruption to-day than in last century, when
Wordsworth surveyed, with his calm, clear gaze, the con-
dition of things in England; but I dare say it will be a
long time yet, judging by our public press, before we can
dispense with the tonic that the study and contemplation
of Milton supplies to individuals and communities:

" Milton ! them shouldst be living: at this hour ;
England hath need of thee : She is a fen
Of stagnant waters ; altar, sword and pen,
Fireside, the hercic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men :
Oh! raise us up, return to us again,
And give us manners, freedom, virtue, power.

182 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart;

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:

Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,

So didst thou travel on life's common way

In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay."

There are not wanting those who have disparaged
Milton's prose writings, as having had practically no
effect on British affairs, while they kept the author's
mind from its loftiest and truest exercise. Not so
thought Mirabeau, whose theory of royalty, according to
the doctrine of Milton, formed, as an acute writer has
pointed out, one of the battle-cries of the Revolution.
And to-day a growing number of students peruse the
prose writings with the feeling that their doctrine and
spirit which helped forward one revolution in England
have yet to play their part in that other — slower, more
peaceful, but not less decisive — which is yet needed for
the complete establishment of liberty in England and in
her Colonies. I refer not so much to those hideous types
of slavery seen not so long ago in the labour of women
and little children in coal mines, nail-making and other
industries far beyond their strength — happily things of
the past — but more especially to those kindred enormi-
ties of our own day, whether practised by capital on
labour or by labour on capital, wherever might makes
right and hunger makes slaves. Politically, wherever the
British flag flies man is free ; but in many cases men and
women are born in chains, live in chains, and die in
chains. Happily, we in Canada are free from many of
the terrible problems that vex the legislators of the
Mother Land ; but how long will it be, with our incoming
millions, unless our people are trained to see and value
what Milton calls the " inner liberty " — before we shall
have the worst conditions of the Old World repeated
here in an aggravated form?

I am, in saying this, as none know better than your-
selves, only taking up the parable of the men of sanity
and vision amongst us. But, while there mav be danger,
I am sure we need not give way to fear. I like the atti-

Milton as an Empire Builder 183

tude of a writer in the December Contemporary, who
has been dwelling on the poet Swinburne's words of
cheer for the Italians and Russians, and John Ruskin's
magnificent work in awakening the sympathies and ele-
vating the moral standards of the community, striking
notes that went to the very conscience of the masters of
industry :

" Modern men have opportunities given to no other
age. And, to be just to ourselves, there never was an
age that thought out its problems with a keener mind,
with a deeper reverence, and a nobler determination to
face the unknown with a cheer. There it is that hope
lies. But modern men will eventually have to come back
to Milton's solution — call it religious solution or a psy-
chological solution, or what you will — the recognition of
the fact that it ultimately lies with each personality,
whether he or she will grasp liberty and live. The choice
of life or limbo lies, in the end, with the individual. It is
the business of modern men to give the individual the
opportunity of making a just and an everlasting choice."

Fourthly, Milton is a perfect antidote against .that
subtle corrupting influence in men and nations which the
most eloquent writer of the nineteenth century chose to
call " the contagion of the Anglo-Saxon race." What
was meant by this startling phrase, so offensive to our
social and national pride? Nothing more or less than
the blind worship of Mammon, whereby all the prose, all
the vulgarity amongst mankind, as seen in the tendencies
and aims, the view of life and the social economy of the
ever-multiplying and spreading Anglo-Saxon race, would
invade and overpower all nations. The true ideal would
be lost and a general sterility of heart and mind would
set in.

This prophet had in view, no doubt, in the warning
given, Great Britain and her colonies, but the United
States still more. There, as a profound observer has
pointed out, the Anglo-Saxon race is already most numer-
ous, there it increases fastest, there material interests are
most absorbing and pursued with most energv, there the
ideal— the saving ideal — of a high and rare excellence

184

seems, perhaps, to suffer most danger of being obscured
and lost. The " average man " is too much in evidence
there; his performance is unduly magnified; his short-
comings are not duly seen and admitted.

I shall not labour to prove this proposition with regard
to our neighbours. It is nothing but what the deepest
thinkers in the United States have themselves been say-
ing for years ; but what concerns us most is : Is it true,
or even partly true, with respect to Canada? I shall cer-
tainly not be so rash as to bring a railing accusation
against Canada that might not with equal justice be said
of the whole civilized world. But what, for instance, I
am constrained to ask, are we to augur from that porten-
tious intrusion into modern journalism, the " social and
personal " column, wherein the ignoble strife of the
madding crowd for publicity is gratified and fostered by
the chronicling of their petty ambitions and pettier per-
formances, more than sufficient every morning and even-
ing, if those philosophers could be persuaded even to
glance at them, to make Democritus laugh and Heraclitus
weep? What of other manifestations of the prevalence
of low ideals in domestic, social, and public life? The
unanimous voice of the Press in its sober moments, of
the Pulpit, and the Bench is:

" The world is too much with us ; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers ;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon."

Against this mammon-worship and the failure to set
and maintain high ideals Matthew Arnold — himself no
mean poet — more than twenty years ago found in Milton
a saving influence ; and I cannot do better towards sup-
porting my present proposition than to summarize Mr.
Arnold's observations. He pointed out that excellence is
not common and abundant ; on the contrary, as the great
poet long ago said, excellence dwells amongst the rocks,
hardly accessible, and a man must almost wear his heart
out before he can reach her. " If to our English race,"
said he, " an inadequate sense for perfection of work is

Milton as an Empire Builder 186

a real danger, if the discipline of respect for a high and
flawless excellence is peculiarly needed by us, Milton is,
of all our gifted men, the best lesson, the most salutary
influence. In the sure and flawless perfection of his
rhythm and diction he is as admirable as Virgil and
Dante, and in this respect he is unique amongst us.
Shakespeare is divinely strong, rich, and attractive, but
sureness of style Shakespeare himself does not possess."

Once more : " The mighty power of poetry and art is
generally admitted, but where the soul of this power at
its best chiefly resides very many of us fail to see. It
resides chiefly in the refining and elevation wrought in
us by the high and rare excellence of the grand style.
We may feel the effect without being able to give our-
selves a clear account of its cause, but the thing is so.
Now, no race needs the influences mentioned — the influ-
ences of refining and elevation — more than ours; and in
poetry and art our grand source for them is Milton."

To vindicate this pre-eminent claim for Milton, and
to realize the importance that should be given to him in
the mental equipment of Canada, it should be borne in
mind that the ancient classics are, and will remain, a
sealed book to thousands of readers, and, as the years go
on, to millions. It is absolutely certain that if this host of
readers are ever to gain any sense of the great power
and charm of the great poets of antiquity, the way to
gain it is not through translations of the ancients, but
through the original poetry of Milton, who has the like
power and charm, because he has the like great style.
Through Milton they may gain it, for Milton is English
— this master of the great style is English.

This realization of high and rare excellence in work-
manship is, Mr. President and Gentlemen, another reason
why Milton has been, and why he may continue to be for
all time, an immense force in empire-building. We need
to learn from him, and others like him, that impatient,
slipshod, slovenliness of workmanship can produce noth-
ing permanent or beautiful in arts, or crafts, or literature,
or character-building in men, communities, and states.

Fifthly, not only is Milton our supreme master of the

186 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

great style, but his themes are of supreme importance,
and come home to the hearts and business of all man-
kind. Not his the amorous lay of love-sick poets, but the
eternal theme of how to justify the ways of God to men.
The tremendous tragedy of a lost paradise and the super-
nal joy of redemption for the race are the subjects of
his greatest works, and these themes must be of supreme
interest to the world as long as time shall last. What-
ever may be a man's special cult, the broad facts remain
that English-speaking people are a Christian people, and
their ethical system is based on the Bible. That book, it
is the merest platitude to say, has had an immense influ-
ence in shaping the destinies, the morals and manners of
the English people, and will continue to hold no second
place. Milton has done immense service in drawing atten-
tion to that sacred book. Indeed, it is impossible to read
him intelligently without familiarizing ourselves with its
story, its ethics, its history'. And in this way, even while
we are reading " Paradise Lost " and " Paradise Re-
gained" for the mere poetry, we are inevitably drawn to
think of our eternal concerns, as well as our relations to
the things of time and sense. It matters but little that
Milton's belief in the Bible as a book is not the belief of
the higher critics, that his ontology does not square with
any of the creeds, that his mingling of Scripture history
and pagan mythology confounds the unities, that his cos-
mology is contrary to all modern astronomy, that his
treatment of spiritual entities is whollv anthropomorphic
— notwithstanding all these and scores of other blemishes
that the critics have discovered, the broad fact remains
that Milton discerned and taught with matchless energy
and eloquence, and in almost divine poetry, the essential
truth that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of
earth are within us. His sublime genius throws a golden
light over everything he touches. Like the great snn he
illumines the clouds that gather about him, and his
powers, irradiated by the Divine Spirit, which he invoked
to aid his adventurous song, pour floods of radi-
ance over hills of difficulty and valleys of humiliation,
upon the meanest clod and the highest mountain, .over

Milton as an Empire Builder 187

waste places and Edens, everywhere warming, invigorat-
ing, fructifying; and, like that sun, everywhere and for
all time publishing to every land the work of an Almighty
hand and proclaiming to all mankind the hand that made
us is divine. I hold, then, for this reason, also, that the
more we read and study Milton the better citizens of
Canada, the better empire-builders, we shall be.

Lastly, Milton was not only a great poet, great prose
writer, great controversialist, great patriot, great
scholar, but he was a good man — with some faults and
failings, we must admit, but nevertheless a good man,
desirous of living, as he himself says it:

"Ever in the great Task-Master's eye."

Many years before he began to write " Paradise Lost "
he had in a single sentence revealed the secret of his
power as a poet and his dynamic influence as a citizen and
man in his own and subsequent times — " He who would
not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter, in
laudable things ought himself to be a true poem — that is,
a composition and pattern of the best and honourablest
things; not presuming to sing high praises of heroic
men or famous cities, unless he have in himself the
experience and the practice of all that which is praise-
worthy."

No one can justly say that he was a very lovable soul.
Life to him was ever a very serious matter ; and he passed
his time in the lonely grandeur of his genius. He had not
the personal charm which we imagine Shakespeare had;
but we may be sure that he was not the fanatical, malig-
nant Commonwealth's man, the advocate of doctrines
fatal to the peace of society, the man of doubtful piety,
the knave in politics, the bad husband and worse father,
so described by the controversialists, poetasters and lam-
pooners of Charles II. 's time. "The oernicious book of
that late villain Milton " is the way I find, in the Athe-
nceum of December iQth last, Milton's state papers to be
printed in Holland were described by the then Principal
Secretary of State, writing to the Secretary of the Eng-

188 EMPIRE CLUS SPEECHES

lish Embassy at The Hague. Every species of calumny
and abuse was heaped upon Milton by the Stuart kings
and their tools, but no one at this late day need hesitate
to take Wordsworth's estimate of the man just quoted
in preference to the portraits drawn of him by court
sycophants and routine intermeddlers with politics, sup-
ported by " the trencher fury of rhyming parasites."
Milton is not a beacon to warn, but a star to guide.

Notwithstanding all his faults and failings, for the
reasons I have adduced and others that will occur to you,
I hold it is our duty, as members of this Empire Club,
not only to continue to read John Milton ourselves, but
to encourage and persuade all others who would prove
themselves good citizens, not merely of Canada and the
Empire, but of the whole world, to make him a constant
companion. The message that comes to us and to every
man and woman from the best of his prose and all of his
poetry is the parting message of Spirit in " Comus " :

" Mortals that would follow me
Love Virtue; she alone is free.
She can teach you how to climb
Higher than the sphery chime;
Or if Virtue feeble were,
Heaven itself would stoop to her."

MR. R. W. BROCK, M.A., PH.D.

Director Geological Survey, Department of Mines, Ottawa.

THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF CANADA.

Address by MR. R. W. BROCK, M.A., PH.D., Director of the
Geological Survey, Department of Mines, Ottawa, before the
Empire Club of Canada, on March 25th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen; —

I feel that there are few of us here in Canada who
realize the importance of mineral resources to the indus-
trial and material prosperity of the country. There are
few who realize the influence which mining has upon
the extension and expansion of civilization. It is, how-
ever, an historical fact that in any considerable region
of the earth the impulse for the first development and
the foundation for its civilization has been furnished by
its mineral resources. It was the lead and the copper
of Spain which brought the ships of Tyre and the gal-
leons of Carthage. It was the tin of Cornwall that laid
the foundations of the British Empire. It was the gold
and silver that brought the Spaniards to the shores of
South America. It was the gold of California which
gave the United States its trans-Mississippian empire.

Not only this, but you can measure the degree vof
civilization of a nation by the extent to which it uses
its mineral resources. In Canada we are just commenc-
ing to realize the importance of our mineral resources
and our mineral industry; our mining is just beginning.
The reason for that is not far to seek. Europeans who
came over to America found that it was a country of
excellent agricultural possibilities. The first duty of
the pioneer was, of course, to provide a food supply.
As the population slowly increased fresh acres lay at
hand to be brought under the plough, and so in Canada
we became an agricultural people. Now, minerals early
attracted attention. One excursion of agriculturists into
the mining field is usually satisfying, and the results are
not, as a) rule, sufficiently encouraging to establish an
industry. We had not the expert mining engineers to

189

190 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

direct, nor the skilled miners to win. If an expert were
employed in the early days, the chances were that he was
a practical miner who had gained his experience on a
California rocker. Under his able direction farmers'
boys made holes in the rocks. In recent years we have
been developing a technical class, and we have been
developing some expert miners ; so that we may now be
said to be fairly started on our career as a mining
country.

In speaking of the mineral resources, I must make a
confession: I do not really know anything about the
mineral resources of Canada! But, for that matter,
neither does anyone else. This is due to the fact that
we have only a small population, which is distributed
along the southern portion of the country. The greater
part of Canada is unprospected and unexplored, but a
sufficient development has taken place to enable us to
state that Canada is a country of vast mineral possi-
bilities. The exploratory work done by geological sur-
veys has furnished an idea of the general geological
conditions. It enables us to roughly indicate the areas
which will probably be found to be mineral-bearing, to
presage the character of the mineral resources, and to
confidently assert that Canada is destined to become one
of the great mineral-producing countries of the world.
We can say that we have in Canada one of the greatest
tracts of unprospected mineral land in the world. Since
the geological conditions are known, we can compare
these conditions with those obtaining in the United
States, where mining development is very much farther
advanced, and where the mineral resources are, to a cer-
tain extent, known.

If we find geological conditions in Canada similar to
those of a producing district in the United States, it
seems fair to assume that the mineral resources will also
to an extent be repeated. Any hesitancy which we might
feel about applying this principle disappears when we
consider the results of the developments already attained
in the districts in Canada, and compare these develop-
ments with those of similar districts in the United States

The Mineral Resources of Canada 191

at the same stage in their history. One of the greatest
mineral and industrial centres in the world is situated
along the Appalachian region. The north-eastern part
of this province lies in Canada, forming the south-eastern
part of Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. In the
Maritime Provinces and Quebec we find practically the
same minerals that have made the Appalachian States
the great mineral-producing countries that thev are. In
Nova Scotia, which is perhaps the best develooed portion
of this district in Canada, we have the great coal
deposits ; we have iron and gold ; we have valuable build-
ing stones and cement; and some minerals that have
been developed to a lesser extent, such as manganese,
antimony, etc.

At no point either in the United States or in Canada
has the complete development of the mineral resources
taken place. Its best development is in the State of Penn-
sylvania. The annual production of Pennsylvania
amounts to rather more than $9,000 per square mile. In
Nova Scotia, under its present development, the mineral
production is only about $1,000 per square mile, but the
annual production of Pennsylvania amounts to about $67
per capita ; in Nova Scotia about $46 per capita. If you
take into consideration the more intensive production
which follows the larger population and industrial
development, you will see that Nova Scotia compares
favourably with Pennsylvania ; that it is fair to assume
that Nova Scotia has about the same mineral resources,
proportionately, as the richest and best developed State.
New Brunswick is known to contain a great variety of
minerals, but the development has not been extensive. I
feel confident in stating that some of you will live to see
important industries in New Brunswick. The south-
eastern portion of Quebec is known to be a very rich
mineral country. There you have the largest asbestos
deposits in the world, which furnish about go per cent,
of the total world's supply; also important chrome-iron,
copper, and pyrite industries.

The next section of the country that forms a distinct
geological province, with distinctive minerals, is the

192 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

southern portion of Ontario and the St. Lawrence
Valley. This does not contain great deposits of the
metallic minerals, but it has important resources in the
non-metallic, such as building materials, clays, cement,
petroleum and natural gas. It is very similar, geologi-
cally and in area, to New York State. New York State
is very much better developed, so that its mineral pro-
duction may be compared, not to that of the whole of
Ontario, with its silver, nickel, etc., but to the present
condition of the whole of Canada, which shows you the
extent to which a mineral industry may be developed.
The next portion of the country is a large area which
extends from Newfoundland along the northern bank of
the St. Lawrence, around the Great Lakes, and forms
a big " V " towards Hudson's Bay. This area is under-
lain by what is known as pre-Cambrian rocks, and these
rocks are noted for the great variety of minerals which
they contain. I will not take up your time enumerating
the list, but merely say that it practically covers all the
minerals and precious stones used in the arts. This dis-
trict is for the greater part unexplored. It forms over
half of Canada — 2,000,000 square miles. Only the
southern portion of it is known. Of this portion only a
part has been prospected. A small tongue of these rocks
extends into New York State, and there is situated a
very extensive and varied mining industry.

Another tongue extends into Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota. In this area are found the great copper
mines of the Lake Superior district and the great iron
ranges — the greatest yet known in the world. In Canada
we know very much less about the country, even of the
southern fringe, than is known of these areas in the
States. But we know of the gold in the Lake of the
Woods and Rainy River country; the great iron ranges
which extend from Minnesota through the northern
part of Ontario into Quebec; the silver of the Thunder
Bay district ; the copper rocks found on the north shore
of Lake Superior; the great nickel-copper mines in Sud-
bury; the silver district of Cobalt and the Montreal
River. We also know of the largest corundum deposits

The Mineral Resources of Canada 193

in the world; perhaps the greatest feldspar deposits;
probably the richest mica district in the world. Since
the greater part of it is unexplored, and the larger part
totally unprospected, we cannot make very definite state-
ments concerning it. We know, however, that in the
southern (United States) portion there is the greatest
iron district in the world, which has produced over 400,-
000,000 tons of iron, and which is estimated to produce
at least 1,500,000,000 more. There is, also, the greatest
copper camp, which has produced four and a half billion
pounds of copper, and is annually increasing its output.

In Canada we have the chief nickel mines in the world,
and what is apparently about to prove the world's
greatest silver camps. From what we know of the
northern country I think we can safely say it is quite as
valuable as the area which extends into the States. We
also know, from the results of the geological explorers,
that patches of these pre-Cambrian rocks are scattered
all over this northern area. We also know that they
have found the same minerals in the northern part of
the country as are so valuable and productive in the
south. We are safe in assuming that in this northern
country we have vast mineral resources which will be
available for future generations.

Continuing westward we come to the great plains
which extend from Manitoba through Alberta to the
mountains. This is, of course, primarily an agricultural
district, but besides furnishing a good market for the
products of the mine, it is also rich in non-metallic
minerals. You have along the southern edge the materi-
als for cement, and other structural materials. You have
practically this whole area underlain by lignites, which
are useful for local purposes and which will be useful
for power in gas-producers. Towards the mountains
you have the higher grade of coals. This area will prob-
ably prove to be one of the greatest natural gas fields
known. Farther north we have good reason for believ-
ing that there is a very valuable and extensive petroleum
field. Along the northern edge of it you have the
remains of petroleum which has escaped to the surface,
13

194 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

forming vast areas of what are locally known as the
" tar sands." These contain about 10 per cent, of bitu-
men. These tar sands cover an extent of about 1,000
square miles, about 150 feet in thickness. There is in the
area which has come under Mir. McConnell's observa-
tion about six and a half cubic miles of bitumen. Farther
west, of course, we get into the Cordilleras, which extend
from South America through Mexico and the United
States, British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska. They
have no parallel so far in the world for continuity, for
extent, and for the variety of their mineral resources.
They are, of course, best developed in Mexico and the
Western States. We have about 1,300 miles in length
of the part which is in Canada, with a width of 400 miles,
and we have practically the same geological conditions.

The Cordilleras in Canada have been developed only
along the southern edge of British Columbia, and a little
prospecting for placer gold along some of the main
streams. They are highly productive all through from
Mexico to Southern British Columbia. They are also
found to be very valuable at certain points along the
coast and in Alaska. We are perfectly safe, then, . in
assuming that the entire section of the Cordilleras will
be found to be highly productive. We are quite safe in
assuming that in the Cordilleras in Western Canada we
are going to have one of the greatest mining districts
in the world.

If we take and compare, as we did Pennsylvania and
Nova Scotia, the best developed State in the western
Cordilleras with the best development in British Colum-
bia, we will find the comparison is quite as favourable.
Colorado is the best developed State, and only about
half of the State is included in the Cordilleras. Allowing
its territory to be one half in the Cordilleras it has a
production of about $1,200 per square mile, or about
$132 per capita. British Columbia, of course, as it is
only developed along the southern part, has a very small
production per square mile — as a matter of fact, about
$76; but the production per capita of British Columbia
is greater than that of Colorado — $145 per capita. I

The Mineral Resources of Canada 195

think, then, that we are quite safe in asserting that in
the western Cordilleras we have one of the greatest of
mineral fields.

It is fortunate for Canada that our mineral possibili-
ties are so great. The conditions in the northern part
of the country are not favourable to settlement. The
conditions in this great area of the western Cordilleras
are not favourable for settlement. The agricultural
possibilities are not sufficiently attractive to cause farm-
ers to take up the land. In the northern part you have
not timber resources. For the opening up and develop-
ment of that part of the country we are dependent en-
tirely upon the mineral resources. And the same holds
true with regard to a great part of British Columbia.
But the history here will, I think, be exactly similar
to that of the Western States. The Western States
would never have been settled by an agricultural popu-
lation had they not been first opened up and transpor-
tation facilities provided by the mining industry. When
a local market and transportation facilities were afforded
they learned dry farming and irrigation, which has trans-
formed the American desert into a garden. The same
thing has taken place in southern British Columbia.
There you have the fruit-growing industry assuming
importance which never would have occurred but for
the mining. That condition is going to hold over quite
an extensive area in the northern part of the Province.
Once it is opened up by mining, and a local market is
provided, settlers can go in and earn a living until they
get accustomed to their surroundings, learn how to make
a successful living in comparison with what is consid-
ered1 more favourable sections. The farther north we
have a population the better will be the stock, so that
not only from an industrial standpoint, but from a higher
standpoint of Canadian citizenship, it means a great deal
to the country.

There is one other point in connection with the mineral
industry that I would like to emphasize. It was brought
out by Earl Grey in a speech made at the dinner of the
Mining Institute in Montreal, and that is the importance

196 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of the mineral industry with regard to transportation
facilities. He said : " Although the mining industry is
at present in its infancy ; although our annual production
is quite small (only about $87,000,000, which is not more
than one-fifth of the agricultural products), yet the min-
ing industry furnishes nearly twice as much tonnage
to the railways as the agricultural. In the United States,
where the mining industry is more highly developed, it
furnishes considerably more than half the total tonnage
of the United States railways. What that means to
farmers and manufacturers and everybody, with regard
to the improvement of transportation facilities and
improvement in freight rates, I do not need to mention."
There are other points which must be considered in
dealing with the mineral resources of the country, and
that is that the value is not to be estimated in dollars
and cents; that they furnish a raw material for a hun-
dred other industries; that they furnish materials on
which labour is expended; so that the products of the
mine, before they are utilized by men, have increased
many-fold in value. The mineral resources of the coun-
try, then, I think we may say, are second to none; and
I think that all of us who have the interests of the coun-
try at heart should take an interest in helping along the
legitimate development of this great industry.

THE Hox. J. H. McCoLL.

Senator of the Commonwealth of Australia.

AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT.

Address by the HON..J. H. McCOLL, Senator of the Common-
wealth of Australia, before the Empire Club of Canada, on April
I5th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I count it a very great honour to have the privilege,
in my flying visit to Toronto, to be able to soeak to a
gathering such as this, and it will be one of the happy
incidents of my tour through America and Canada that
I have been able to speak to you and come in touch
with those who represent the business and the life and
soul of this city. My remarks will represent my own
personal opinions, based upon my own personal experi-
ence, and therefore I do not wish you to take what I say
as speaking officially. My remarks are a hasty sketch,
and it was not till this morning that I put some notes
together. If you will bear these things in mind, I will
proceed.

First of all I want to say that there is, and I hope
there will ever be, an increasing community of interest
between Canada and Australia. We have the very warm-
est feeling for our brethren over here, and I am sure
that feeling is reciprocated. We are of the one language ;
we have a common loyalty; we are a common race; we
have in our veins the same scarlet thread of kinship.
The very diversities that exist in climate and situation
and in products should form another bond of interest,
because we dovetail into your needs here. When you
are full and plenty we are scarce; when you are scarce
we are full and plenty, and therefore this should bring
about a closer bond of union between the two countries.

Our past, however, has been different from yours.
Here you had a land in which you always had oeople, and
plenty of them. Whoever might have been the origi-
nal inhabitants, there were always people. Later on you

197

198 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

had people who came over from the Continent of Europe,
and who settled here, one nation after another. They
came and took possession, and they fought a number of
battles. Canada has been a great battle-ground, and the
reflex influence of these battles has not been confined to
Canada only, but has had a great effect on the Empire
to which we belong, and on the other nations on the other
side of the water away to the east. We have therefore
developed under different conditions to what you have.
You have had here many races ; you have had fine types
of those races ; and you are approaching, I feel sure, now
to having a type of your own — approaching homogeneity
in the races that have come and settled in this country.

We are quite different. Our people came there to that
great lone land in the southern sea, a land which has
been existing for untold ages, for, while it is the youngest
land developed mentally, it is the oldest land geologically,
our friends the geologists tell us. Nations have waxed
and waned while our great country — larger than the
United States, four-fifths the size of Canada — waited to
be peopled. In due time, under the guidance, I have no
doubt, of Divine Providence, it was peopled, and peopled
by the race best fitted to develop it, best fitted to make
it a land not only for the good of the race there, but
for the good of all the peoples of the earth, no matter
who they might be. We had there a few wandering
nomads, very, very low indeed in the scale of civiliza-
tion, who had no settled place of abode, who built their
places of bark and leaves, and moved about from time
to time as the necessities of their animal needs compelled
them to do. We had nothing in the way of difficulties
from aboriginal inhabitants to encounter. We had a
very even climate. Our total variation is only 81
degrees; here you have about 150 degrees. We have a
soil fitted to produce anything that is produced in any
part of the world, except, perhaps, in the extremely
cold regions. We have no blizzards, no diseases, no pests,
no wild beasts, no enemies: we have had no wars.

You see this land came down to us as a great trust
from Providence to be used for the good of humanity

Australian Political Development 199

as a whole. We came to ideal physical and racial con-
ditions, under the shadow of the flag of the mightiest
Empire and the mightiest race that has ever ruled in
the world. That is the land that was last found, last occu-
pied, last developed ; and, looking at it in all its fairness
of conditions, all its freedom from difficulties of environ-
ment, where could more ideal conditions be found for
working out the great social, political and industrial
problems which the complex situations of the day pre-
sent to every land for investigation and solution? All
the nations to-day are experimenting, more or less,
socially, industrially, politically, ethically, and they are
finding everywhere that the new wine will not fit in the
old bottles; that we have to re-adjust our conditions in
accordance with the trend of humanity as a, whole ; and
1 say that in that land from which I come we have had
opportunities of trying these new experiments, perhaps
under more favourable conditions than in any other land
on the face of the earth.

All these new experiences, all this matter of readjust-
ment, are connected with politics. It is in the arena of
politics that these things have to be done, that these
experiments have to be made, that these battles have to
be fought, that these problems have to be solved. And
so the work which is going on in this newest of lands,
with an untrammeled environment and without any com-
plexity of races, should be of interest to our brethren
here in Canada, and to our Anglo-Saxon race throughout
the world. Many peopk decry politics, but we should
remember that politics is the most important thing we
have to consider. Past politics is just the history of to-
day, and the politics of to-day will be the history of the
future ; and, therefore, you see, while we are engaged in
politics, though some think it is a bore and a nuisance,
we are really making history — everything that we do
and every step we take. Politics is a science that every
man and woman interested in the country should study
as much as he or she can.

To get to Australia. It was first claimed as a British
possession by Captain James Cook in August, 1770.

200 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Formal possession was only taken of it by Governor
Phillip on August 2.2., 1788. There was, however, no
political development (and that is my subject to-day) until
about 1851, and very little then. It was, up to about that
time, ai Crown Colony, presided over by a Governor sent
from home, and who acted entirely under the direction of
the Imperial Government. The discovery of gold in
1851, however, worked a great revolution. The popula-
tion in 1841 was 320,000; in 1851, just as gold was dis-
covered, 437,000. But in ten years more it was 1,168,000.
You can see the rush of people that went over to this
new land, lured by the desire for gold and to better them-
selves. You can imagine the class of men who went
there. They were the hardiest of adventurers, tired, per-
haps, of the conditions of the old lands in which they
were; and they Went to this newer country to make a
home and a fortune for themselves and their families.

Representative government was not given to any of
the Colonies until 1856, when it was accorded to Victoria
and to New South Wales; and from that time our poli-
tics actually began. And here I may say that the gen-
erosity of Great Britain to her Colonies is to be marvelled
at. We all know how generous she has been ; she has
given us absolute liberty of self-government. She gave
us the land, and said : " Do the very best you can with it
for yourself and your race ;" and we are left practically
untrammeled in anything we choose to do. And this
ought to be recognized by citizens of the British Empire
wherever they are. At first there were no political par-
ties. Men were too busy looking for wealth to bother
about politics, and the first political lines were drawn on
the land question. The surface deposits of gold were
very rich, but were soon worked out. Then thev would
go down from the surface one or two hundred feet, but
that in time would be worked out. Then they went down
below the old river-bed formations---they got worked out.
Then the country found itself with a large population,
with the gold falling off, without manufactures, without
industries, and without anything for the people to do.
Then arose the cry of " Unlock the land !"

Australian Political Development 201

The shrewd men, many of them Scotch, had got all the
land they could lay their hands on. There is a proverb
there that the English have all the money, the Irishmen
all the billets, and the Scotchmen all the land. That was
the first cry that divided political parties. A battle
ensued for settlement, and men ranged themselves on
one side or the other, and the first terms used were Con-
servative and Liberal, and the land was the first battle-
ground. The next battle-ground in politics was the tariff.
A little later on it became obvious that manufactures
would have to be established. It also became obvious
that without some assistance in the shape of a tariff men
would not put their money into manufactures, and thus
the question of protection came up for discussion in our
country. Those who had come in from England came
with free trade ideas. Those from other countries came
with protectionist ideas. But, strange to say, the terms
Conservative and Liberal were differently applied to what
they were in the old lands. With us the Liberals were the
protectionists; the Conservatives were the free traders.
Up till the establishment of the Commonwealth, Conserv-
ative simply meant free trader and Liberal meant pro-
tectionist. These were the main dividing lines until
about 1885 and 1890. During this time the most marked
political incident in our career was the establishment of
the ballot, which has found its way to almost every
nation in the world where there is representative govern-
ment. This proposal for the ballot revolutionized elec-
tions, and gave the usual impulse toward democracy.

Another factor that largely influenced Australia was
our development of local self-government. We began
right away and formed our local bodies.. First of all
they were simply road-boards, but the principle extended
to villages, towns and cities, and these local bodies gave
the people a spirit of local self-reliance. They did not go
running to the Government for everything they wanted.
These local governing bodies were also a training ground
for our parliamentarians. So we go on until 1881 to
1890. The Labour Party came into prominence after the
great maritime strike, about the end of the eighties, and

202 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

the main plank they put forward was direct representa-
tion of the workers in Parliament. They had a number
of other planks, but felt that if they could get direct
representation in Parliament they could do anything they
pleased.

We have had a great deal of industrial legislation;
and, while the Labour Party are inclined to take the
credit, it does not belong to them. It has come really
from the Liberal Party in Australia in the various States.
Some of that legislation has been founded on the legisla-
tion brought over from the Old Country. Much of it,
however, is peculiar to Australia. Almost the first
instance of it was the recognition of an eight-hour day
for miners in all mines, and for women workers and for
children. And though it is not now a statutory day's
work in all occupations, it is practically recognized: and
when you hire a man for a day, unless you have some
special arrangement, eight hours is supposed to be his
day's work. I may make an exception in regard to
farmers; they make their own arrangements. The first
factory act was in 1873, and gradually there has been
growing from that time until now Government interfer-
ence between the employer and the employee. This
interference, which has culminated in acts of parliament,
has regulated hours of labour in a great many callings.
In Victoria we have the shops regulated, the factories
regulated. We have the various trades regulated — the
conditions under which workers are to work. In the fac-
tories they must provide buildings fitted for men and
women and children to work in, a certain amount of air-
space, and the economic and sanitary conditions must
be clean and good and reputable.

The question of wages is also a matter that has come
under the Acts; accommodation; safety of employees in
regard to hazardous occupations; and there has been,
right through from that time, both in our State and in the
Commonwealth, careful legislation, a general care, for the
workers, both male and female, and also for the young
people who are working. The rise of the Labour Party
is, perhaps, made too much of. They have been an

Australian Political Development 203

>

impelling force, but they have not had a majority in the
parliaments, except for a very short time in one or two
cases. In New South Wales and Victoria and Queens-
land they have not had a majority, but they have been an
impelling force, and they have influenced legislation to a
considerable extent, because they put before the people
ideas of bettering their condition, and ideas of more work
and more pay and less hours, which, of course, are attrac-
tive, and the legislators have found themselves compelled
to some extent to follow and support the legislation pro-
posed. Credit for most of it is due to the Liberals.

Among all this legislation probably the most effective
and the most satisfactory is the Victorian system. In
the Factory Act of 1894 provision was made for wages
boards. If a trade wants to come under that Act, they
apply to Parliament; arrangements are made by which
an election is held among the employers and employees.
Five only are elected, and they sit at a table and they have
at the head a chairman. If they can agree between
themselves, they select him mutually. If not, the Govern-
ment appoints one in six weeks. The chairman is not
connected with the trade at all, and is chosen as a level-
headed man who will not show any party spirit. We
have found that system, which has been working since
1894, most satisfactory. While there was a little friction
at first, we have had no strikes, no trouble. If any diffi-
culty arises in a trade it goes to the Board, and the
advantage is that the men on both sides of the table know
the business that they are talking about, and,
with an impartial chairman, he generally comes
in the middle and compromises. In New South
Wales, where they had a Conciliation Arbitration
Act, they are superseding that Act and adopting
our Victorian system. Workers have had better con-
ditions, somewhat better pay, and the cost of articles
has not risen to any great extent to the public; and,
while employers have, perhaps, a little less profit, they
are well satisfied, because they are free from the trouble
of strikes and lock-outs, and these are the things which
interfere so seriously with trade.

204 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

One of the most important steps taken in connection
with politics was the passing of female suffrage. That
was brought into force in South Australia, where we had
had a Liberal Government for some years, in 1894. West
Australia followed in 1900, New South Wales in 1902,
Tasmania in 1905, Queensland in 1906, and Victoria,
while one of the most Liberal, did not get it until last
year. And now we have female suffrage in every one
of the States, and on the drawing up of the Common-
wealth Act in 1902 they gave the women the vote all
over the Commonwealth for Federal members. I know
that this is a matter that has been discussed here to some
extent, and it was discussed over there. Personally, I
have always supported it. I have always failed to see
why one half of the world, who have to obey the laws, a
great number of whom, too, go out and earn their own
living, should not have a voice in the selection of the men
who make the laws they have to obey. I have always
looked upon it as a right that women should have a share
in the choosing of their representatives. That is my own
personal opinion.

Furthermore, in these changed conditions that are
coming in all civilized countries ; where governments are
interfering more and more, not only with the trades and
the professions, but with the home; where they won't
allow a man to have a dirty backyard or to bring up his
children in ignorance or disease — in all these things I say
it is necessary that we should not only have the stern
rule of man, but I say we should also have the sympathiz- ,
ing feeling of women as well. The nations, if they are to be
fathered by these paternal governments, then, I say, they
ought to be mothered as well. We have had this work-
ing in Australia for some years, and we find that our
political meetings are carried on in a more orderly way ;
that women come with their brothers and husbands, and
they have a keen intuition. For the first election or so
women's vote was not given in the same ratio as the
men's. That is gradually altering. At the last Common-
wealth election they were not so many per cent, behind
the men in their vote, and at one or two bye-elections

Australian Political Development 205

they were fully equal, and in one case had a larger pro-
portion than the men. The result has been that really
they are cleaning politics up, and one thing they are very
careful about and that is the character of the men they
vote for. A man now stands very largely on his char-
acter, and if there is a breath of suspicion that he is not
living a good, straight, clean life, he stands no chance
whatever.

Coming to the Commonwealth, I cannot deal with the
constitution, although it is very interesting. It was a
people's business from first to. last. First of all, it was
decided that a Convention should be elected, ten from
each State. They met, framed the draft of constitution.
That was sent to all the State parliaments, passed through
each parliament clause by clause, returned with all the
suggestions and amendments of the various parliaments,
reconsidered by the Convention, and then the clean draft
was brought out. But that did not end it. It was then
sent to the people for their approval, " Yes or no ; do
you accept it or not?" It was accepted by overwhelm-
ing majorities. Then it had to go through the British
Parliament in the same manner, and then past the law
officers of the Crown at home; and so, you see, we are
the heir of all the ages. We have been able to take
from all the constitutions of the world, and we have got
what Mr. Joseph Chamberlain called " the most com-
plete democratic instrument that ever was written on the
earth." It received the royal assent in July, 1900, and
the inauguration took place in January, 1901. Parlia-
ment met on the 2Qth of April, 1901.

Federation had been talked about since 1849. Many
attempts were made, but it was not until it became a
people's question that success attended the efforts to
bring federation about. Powers that had to go to the
federation were definitely stated ; different from Canada.
What is not definitely mentioned in our constitution
remains with the States. The formation of our federa-
tion was unique. It was entirely a voluntary union,
springing from deep conviction of national unity. There
was no external pressure, no foreign complications. It

206 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

was just that the people saw the folly of disunion and
th£ advantages of nationhood. When formed, political
parties were mixed. The Labour Party was the only
compact one. We drifted into a three-party system —
the Government Party, the Opposition, and the Labour
Party. The Labour Party had the balance of power,
and, of course, exercised, a very strong influence. The
consequence has been that we have had a number of
changes of Government, and that, with the exception of
the first Government, we have not had one Government
altogether which had a solid party of supporters at its
back. Therefore, they have had to lean more or less to
those who held the balance of power and give way to
them to some extent.

What the future will bring one can scarcely say.
We have a Labour Government in at present, and the
leader (Mr. Fisher) is a fairly honest man. Of course,
he will have to follow his party's programme ; and, while
I would not like to prophesy, I think that the chances
are that the other sections of the House will probably
join together after the House meets in May or June next
and form a united party as against the Labour Party,
and put forward a national Australian programme.
We had our foundation work to do first, then the tariff.
Our tariff was a stupendous work. We had six different
tariffs before. We had to take all these different tariffs
and weld them into one whole. It took us nineteen
months to get that tariff through. We had to formulate
our Civil Service. There is no patronage in our system.
Politicians have nothing whatever to do with it. No
man's position there depends on what political oarty is
in power. Entrance depends entirely on merit. The
chance is given to the son and daughter of the poorest
people in the country, if they have the ability, as well as
the richest. The Prime Minister could not put a lad into
our public service, no matter what he could do, nor would
he try to do it.

In Australia we have a strong conviction, which we
have carried into effect, that all public utilities should be
publicly owned; that they should not be made a means

Australian Political Development 207

of profit to private people, or be used as a means
of gambling, as many of the railroad stocks are in
America to-day. Our waterworks, railways, tram-cars,
etc., are under control of the Government, or under the
cities in which they are running. We have found this
system to work well. You must, however, understand
that politicians have nothing whatever to do with it.
We put our railways under a Commission. Mr. Tait, a
Canadian, has taken over our railways in Victoria, and
from a deficit of one thousand pounds a day we are
now paying our way. The politician has no right to
interfere. The State determines as to what lines shall be
carried out. But the fixing of wages and every matter
of detail is entirely in the hands of the Commission and
without interference by anybody else. We say, " You
take it and manage it as a business proposition ; pay your
way, and whatever you have over you can give to the
public in greater privileges or reduction in freight rates."
We have another question which is of great interest
and importance, I suppose, to Canada, and that is our
legislation with regard to the inferior races. We have
looked around and seen what has been the effect of the
introduction of these races into other lands, and we
find that in every case it has not been the means of rais-
ing those races up to our own level; it has been the
means of dragging our own people down to theirs.
They marry when they mix; they have children some-
times when they do not marry — children who have the
contempt of both races, with the vices of both and the
virtues of neither. We saw that here would be an influ-
ence that would work harm ; and we took the thing right
at the start and our legislation says, " You shall not come
in." Nothing can enable an Asiatic to come over there
and make his residence. He can come for two or three
years for the purpose of study, but he only gets a permit
renewable from year to year to the extent of three years.
Whether we are right or wrong we thought that we had
better settle it at first, and we believe we will have a
stronger country, a sounder country, a country in which
we will have a more general level, socially, industrially

208 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

and morally; and that we will have people with whom
our children can mix when young and marry when they
get more advanced in years, and we believe that with our
advantages in other respects in time there will come to
us the immigration from other lands which we need.

This question of defence! We feel that we have not
been doing what we should have done with the Old Land.
We have had an arrangement with Britain by which we
pay her 200,000 pounds a year, and she provides a fleet
and takes so many of our men. We felt that was unsatis-
factory, that while we were doing something we were
not encouraging the Australian naval sentiment. We
want to encourage an Australian-Imperial naval senti-
ment. We have a sea-girt land, but we want to give
our young people facilities to get out on the ships, and
so we will, I think, this year break off that agreement
with the Old Country, and instead of paying them
200,000 pounds a year, which, while it is something to-
ward the expense, does not quite meet the requirements ;
what will take place will be this. We will say : " We
free you from this agreement. We will not ask you to
keep your ships in these waters, but we will look after
our own coasts. We will build submarines and destroyers.
They will be here when you want them. We will pro-
vide coaling stations and docks, so that your fleets may
come in and make repairs instead of having to go back
to the Old Land or other places." We believe that while
this will cost us more money we will render the British
Marine a greater service than by simply the payment of
a paltry two or three hundred thousand a year.

As regards our land forces ; we have some 22,000 men
in the ordinary forces, mostly volunteers. There is a
permanent artillery, but not very many. We have some
43,000 men in rifle clubs. They are attached to the force,
so that they have to come up once or twice a year for
drill, and the Government gives them their ammunition
at half price. We are bringing military training into
our schools. We have miniature ranges. A lad is taught
to use a rifle, and when he gets eleven or twelve he is
given a rifle and taken out to the ranges. They have

Australian Political Development 209

their drill and shooting practices; and sometimes go
away 100 miles or more to shoot with other schools;
and so we are developing a nation of rifle-shots. The
youngsters look on it as a sport, and it takes the place of
their other sports, and they throw themselves into it with
abandon. We have in these Cadets the nucleus of a
force which will be trained in military drill and discipline,
and also they will be encouraged in a patriotic spirit by
being taught that they are doing all this not for mere
pleasure ; but that in the future they may be fit and ready
to defend their country if the necessity should arise.
And we have found this Cadet system to work admirably.
It brings the youngsters under discipline. They are bet-
ter and straighter for the work they get in this Cadet
system.

I noticed yesterday in the paper some teacher condemn-
ing this system in Toronto. I think he is wrong, and if
we could only get him over there and show how the sys-
tem is working, I thing he would alter his opinion very
quickly. Then we have a senior Cadet force, which takes
boys from sixteen to twenty-one, and by that time they
can go into the Militia. We do not wish to encourage a
spirit of militarism ; we want a plain, homely, sound force ;
but we believe we will thus encourage a spirit of patriot-
ism that will be there when the call comes. We were
not paying enough, $1.50 per capita, and I think Canada
ought to pay a little more than $1.00, which is all she
pays at present. (A Voice: What about the Dread-
naughts?) I am unable to say what has been done re-
garding the Dreadnaughts, as I have been away for some
time and have not seen our papers. The mere matter
of the cost of a Dreadnaught is not considered. But if
it is looked upon as an example, something that will be
a sort of warning to the outsiders to say " hands off !'
the Dreadnaughts will be there. When the call came in
South Africa, Canada sent troops, Australia sent troops,
and the other nations got a lesson then that they will
never forget.

We have an old-age pension scheme which will apply
to all Australia, coming into operation July next, under
14

210 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

which sums of $2.50 a week downwards will be given to
men and women of 65 years of age, and they will be al-
lowed to earn up to $5 a week over and above that if they
can. They must be 65 years of age, but if incapacitated
before, then they can apply and come under the provision.
We believe that this is a great humanitarian step to take.
These old men and old women have borne the heat and
labour of the day. Although it is a great expense it is in
the right direction, and I believe a blessing will follow
any country that will take in hand its aged so that they
will be absolutely sure that in their later davs they wijl
have enough to keep them without becoming paupers. It
is given as a right to the citizen and not as a dole of
charity. We have also provision for invalid pensions,
but no date has been fixed. Immigration will be dis-
cussed this Session.

We have an educational system free of charge, com-
pulsory and secular. At the same time we inculcate rev-
erence for the Divine Being. Our Courts of Justice, we
are glad to say, are like those of Canada, pure and unsul-
lied, and no suspicion of favouritism or party feeling is
ever launched against any Judge, no matter where he sits.
Our people look to their representatives to have a high
standard of personal character, and our aim of legisla-
tion generally has been liberal, progressive, humanitarian.
We are trying to keep the purity of the race and the gen-
eral well-being of the people as a whole constantly before
us. We are not looking to have our people wealthy.
Probably you would not find more than ten millionaires
in all Australia. We want a happy and contented people,
enjoying the pleasures of life, at the same time doing
their duty to their families and the State — a high standard
of civilization and of comfort. I do not say that we are
better than others, but we are going in that direction. An
American politician called at Stonewall Jackson's house
and he saw Stonewall Jackson's bodyguard. He said to
him : " Jack, do you think your master has gone to
Heaven ?" " Oh, yes, sir, I am sure, sir." " Well, why
do you think so ?" " Well, sir, his head was always sot
that way." While we are not doing much, while we are

Australian Political Development 211

blundering along as the Anglo-Saxon does, our heads
are " sot that way," and we are trying to reach the
ideal which I have endeavoured so briefly to sketch out
to you to-day.

The desirability of better acquaintance between Canada
and Australia must be patent to everyone here. These
great outlying regions, areas of the British Emnire, must
sooner or later become more and more a factor in Imperial
affairs. I, myself, am an Imperialist, and we have a very
strong Imperial spirit there. While we have a section
who will cry out about the British Crown and all that, you
have only to mention the old Flag and the Empire and
the King to evoke in any meeting a cheer that will drown
any opposition that might be raised. And while Canada
and Australia and South Africa may each pursue her own
development there is room to hold together and never
forget the great old country in the northern sea which has
done so much for us. We should all make for Anglo-
Saxon unity. I trust we will rise to be worthy of the
glorious traditions of our past ; that our heritaee will be
prized by every one of us ; and that we will seek to show
in our public and private capacities that we value our
loyalty, our race, our heritage, and the privileges that all
of us enjoy.

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.

An address by the HON. R. A. PYNE, M.D., LL.D., Minister of
Education for Ontario, before the Empire Club of Canada, on
April 2nd, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen, —

I can assure you that I am delighted to have been so
honoured as to have the opportunity of saying a few words
here to-day on a branch of education that is attracting
a great deal of attention all over the world — Industrial
Education. You have all, I have no doubt, read the works
of the celebrated Lord Lytton. When I read one of his
works, " The Coming Race," I thought what a wonderful
perception the author must have had when he wrote it,
because it seemed to me that he was really prophetic;
that he was predicting something that would take place
after his time. In that book he describes a subtle sub-
stance, a fluid that is going to accomplish great results
for the human family. If he were alive to-day he would
see in the ways in which electricity is put to use a condi-
tion almost analogous to that which he describes in that
book. Unless it was an inspiration, it certainly was very
far-seeing. And then we have the celebrated De Quincy.
He did not speak in that way, but rather from experience,
and told all his fellow-men never to indulge in more than
eighteen ounces of laudanum, because he did not think
it was safe for anybody but himself. Educational matters
of all kinds are largely dependent in every country on the
changed conditions that are continually coming up.

Education is a subject that I have often said seems to
have no finality, goes on ad libitum, for all time ; constantly
changing. And it is these constant changes that bring
about the great struggle in every country to-day — the
effort to get a system of education that is going to be the

212

THE HON. R. A. PYNE, M.D., L.L.D.

Minister of Education for Ontario.

Industrial Education 213

best for that country. We find ourselves in every Province
of this Dominion vying one with another in trying to do
something on the line of educational progress, and the
great difficulties and complexities that surround all these
questions are present to nearly everyone. Every gentle-
man in this room has seen marvellous changes in his own
short life brought about in our own city. We all remem-
ber the old horse cars, and the transformation by electricity
brought away from the great cataract, Niagara Falls.
These were all things in the air, and I had the experience
once of hearing Mr. E. E. Sheppard, when he undertook
to become chief magistrate of this city. He said that
he hoped and believed he would live to see the day when
electricity would be brought from Niagara Falls to run
every wheel in this great city, and said he hoped to see the
houses lighted and heated by electricity ; and every enter-
prising newspaper of that day the next morning said
Sheppard certainly was full of ideas, but some of them
were most visionary and would never come about.

I do not know that I could point to anything in which
the changes are more marked than in our own trans-
portation problems in this Dominion and in this Prov-
ince. The changed conditions I speak of are
in relation to the greatest industry that we
have up to the present time in this Dominion
and Province; I refer to the great agricultural
industry because it is the chief one; it is the real back-
bone, as it were, of this Dominion. Look at the changes
there. Every gentleman here knows, or has some idea
of, the old pioneer way of tilling the soil, and the rude
implements of fifty years ago, or twenty-five years ago —
yes, gentlemen, of ten or five years ago. What would
anyone say to-day of an agriculturist who was under-
taking to compete in any line of agriculture with his
neighbour, using these old pioneer implements? He
would be laughed at, and he could not compete. So it
is in everything else. In this age of progress every
industry is marching on, and I do trust that in this Prov-
ince of Ontario the educational progress will be on a
par with the great progress we see in the industrial life

214 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

of this country. Inspector Maxwell of New York, one
of the great educationists of our time, said that the chief
difficulty he found in that Empire State of New York
was to do something in an educational way that would
wake up the people. They were living in a state of
lethargy, half-asleep. You have to do something terrible
to wake the people up and make them realize the condi-
tions that surround them.

We have not done a great deal in this Province, but
I have had the satisfaction of seeing the rural parts of
this Province very much awake and alive. You remem-
ber two years ago when we brought in that bill fixing
a minimum salary. The farmer at once got his club
out, and you remember how farmers were stirred all
over this Province. I believe we are reaping the benefit
of that policy to-day, because salaries have increased,
and there is some tendency to make the teaching pro-
fession permanent, and not a stepping-stone as it was
in the past. Inspector Maxwell was quite right in that
if you once get the people awake and alive they are
prepared to help themselves in the great progress that
everyone looks forward to. You may have the finest
buildings, the finest equipment, but if you have not got
a first-class teacher in your school or in your establish-
ment, it all goes for nothing. The teacher is the impor-
tant lever in education; in fact, it is around him that
the whole matter centres, and, if you have not got a
thoroughly trained and up-to-date teacher, nothing in
the way of buildings or equipment can compensate for
that.

I might say a word or two here on the industrial
line regarding agriculture and what we are doing with
a view of attracting the youth of this Province to that
great pursuit. A short time ago we started out by
establishing in eleven High Schools throughout the
Province an agricultural department, manned by a
graduate of the Agricultural College of Guelph, and of
literary and scientific training as well, and we look for-
ward to the time when in every county of this Prov-
ince we will have an agricultural department attached

Industrial Education 216

to some High School where it will become, as it were,
a centre. These teachers, as well as attending to their
class work, are expected to give lectures here and there
through the county, of interest to the farmers, and to
bring subjects before them in a scientific way that will
give them ideas — improved ideas — and I think, in the
end, add very much to their income and the production
of the Province.

When I was away last year I took the opportunity
of spending my holiday in some of the technical schools
of the Old Country, of Glasgow, Scotland; of Belfast,
Ireland; as well as schools in England. I was very
much struck, too, by the condition of agriculture in
France. It was really wonderful. For many years in
France they have had attached to their rural schools
what they call a garden plot, where elementary agri-
culture, botany, and I suppose agricultural chemistry,
are taught, and they see the practical demonstration of
it; and I am told that as a result of these schools, the
products of the field and garden in France have almost
trebled in the last ten years, and the French people
themselves hardly realize the reason why their agricul-
tural products have so increased; it is no doubt due to
that system. I am told that there are in France over
20,000 of these school-garden plots, and I regret to say,
in this great agricultural Province of Ontario, up to
the present time, we have only about a dozen school-
garden plots in the whole Province. There is certainly
a great opportunity here to advance that important
industry of agriculture.

Of course, as I said, when you go about, and see the
practical workings of technical education in other
countries, you are very much struck by the amount of
money that is involved and being expended, and I may
say here that everyone knows, and must admit, that if
you improve any condition in life, you have to do it by
an increased expenditure. I do not see any other way.
We may reach a great many artisans and mechanics
through our travelling libraries or through the libraries
of this Province by seeing that there is a class of litera-

216 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

ture that will help these people in any direction or line
of industry in which they may be engaged. You can do
a great deal in that way, but if we are to have great
technical colleges and technical schools such as we see
in Glasgow and Belfast, we must spend the money.
In Belfast I saw the linen industry treated from begin-
ning to end in a practical, scientific way; from the
growing of the flax to the manufacture of the article;
bleaching, dyeing, printing — all this sort of thing done
in one establishment. In Manchester I saw the great
cotton industry treated in the same wav with the excep-
tion of the growing of the cotton, which, of course, has
to be imported. Every feature of the process of manu-
facture is put within the reach of the mechanic
or the artisan interested in it, so that he can
improve himself. These were wonderful establishments
— the one in Belfast costing, I think, half a million
(one hundred thousand) pounds and a large sum, too, for
maintenance. In London I saw some establishments
that were perfectly marvellous to me, and revelations.
In industrial lines I saw children thirteen years of age
able to make almost complete boots and shoes. It was
really wonderful, and those children are getting a train-
ing which is going to be of great advantage to them-
selves and the country they live in.

It is important when we consider the great cost of
technical education, and knowing the resources of our
own Province and the other Provinces, that for techni-
cal education we ought to look to the Federal authori-
ties for financial aid and help. I believe that is the
correct thing, for the simple reason that the Federal
authorities, the Federal Government, the Federal Par-
liament, are the people that build around the country
the great tariff wall, and they make you and me pay a
duty on every yard of cloth that we use, and on nearly
every article of wearing apparel. I am a protectionist
to the hilt, but I say it behooves the people that put up
that tariff wall to take some of that indirect taxation
and give it back to the people in technical education,
so that behind that wall they may have the artisan and

Industrial Education 217

the mechanic capable and trained and able to work up
the raw product which Providence has given each Prov-
ince. In making a statement of this kind in Brantford
during the campaign, a gentleman said, " That is im-
possible," and he threw the British North America
Act at me, that all things educational come under Pro-
vincial control, and that the Federal Parliament had
nothing whatever to do with education, and I said to
him : " I don't want them to have anything to do with
education, because the educational side of it should be
worked out by the Provincial authorities who know the
conditions, who know the natural products and the
environment of their own Province. Let them work
out the great scheme of technical education, so that as
in Belfast and Manchester, where cotton and linens and
iron receive direct and specific attention, so in this
Province, or Quebec, or any other, the industry which
might be called an indigenous industry, will be the
one that will receive particular attention from the
Dominion's financial aid to Provincial systems of tech-
nical instruction."

There is another matter that struck me, and which I
think could be done in this Province with a view to
aiding the great mass of young people. Take the boys
and girls who leave the public schools at fourteen years
of age owing to the compulsory school law and Truancy
Act, and who go to the shop or factory to earn their liv-
ing. Their school days are over then at the age of
fourteen, and I think that the State should make some
provision to place within their reach the advantage of
free public school education carried farther than the
end of their course at fourteen years of age ; and I think
we could establish what might be called a continuation
evening school, because you see these young people,
the great masses of them in factories, leave their places
of business at a time of the day when the door of the
public school has swung shut and there is nothing more
they can get in the way of free public school instruc-
tion. So I think these continuation evening schools
might be established, at any rate in every city and in

218 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

every accumulation of people, for these young people;
and let me tell you I am sure as I live that the boy at
fourteen and fifteen begins to realize that he was not
particular enough in the days that he spent in the pub-
lic school, and would like to have some school to go to
in the evening where he could improve himself along
industrial lines. I believe such schools would be popu-
lar, and meet something that is very much needed
where that side, the cultural side of life, could be con-
tinued, fitting them much better for the industries of
life.

It is said that in Germany they have these continua-
tion schools. I am also told that they have them in
Japan. These countries, we all know, have made won-
derful strides and have come very near, at any rate, to
industrial supremacy amongst the nations of the world,
and I believe it is due to this increased facility for edu-
cation that they bring before their people. There is
another matter about which I might say a word or J:wo,
and that is the position we are in to-day in industrial
life regarding that most important thing that really took
the place of education some years ago — that is appren-
ticeship. There is no apprenticeship to-day. It is
impossible, owing to the changed conditions of industrial
life. There is no chance for a boy, as in the years gone
by, to become an apprentice and learn his trade. What
happens now in the great industrial establishment ? When
he goes in the foreman takes hold of him and says:
" Here's a machine I want you to learn." The boy gets
familiar with that, and that is about all he gets, if he is
there twenty years. He becomes expert and understands
the machine and is able to work it in such a way that it
is more productive, and there he is kept.

With the apprenticeship of long ago the boy was put
alongside a journeyman, and the journeyman taught
him all he knew, and another taught him all he knew,
until he knew every side and every branch in the whole
process of the industry connected with the factory he
was in. That has all passed away. The boy has not
a chance now, although I am told that in the Baldwin

Industrial Education 219

Locomotive Works they have a foreman of apprentices,
whose business it is to watch every boy in the whole
establishment, and see to it that he is transferred from
this machine to that, and that he goes from one depart-
ment to another department until he gets an opportunity
to understand the whole trade from end to end. Now
great changes are about to take place, and the corpora-
tions that control some of these industries are beginning
to look ahead, because they find great difficulty when
some old employee passes away. Who are they going
to get, with his peculiar knowledge in that factory,
having gone from the bottom to the top, to take his
place? I am told there are instances in this city, in
some of the large industrial concerns, where the whole
thing depends and the whole responsibility rests on the
shoulders of two or three men who have been trained
in a particular branch. We have not a foreman in any
branch of the Soo industries who is a Canadian. These
places of responsibility and skill and technical knowl-
edge are nearly all filled by foreigners imported into
our country. It is very hard on our own people that
they do not get an opportunity to learn industrial occu-
pations.

I do not know, Mr. President, that I ought to detain
you longer with this mixed-up haphazard address I am
making, more than to say that we all, I think, look for-
ward to this Province of Ontario being a great indus-
trial, as well as agricultural Province. In this whole
Confederation a kind Providence, by putting waterfalls
and streams all over it, has made it admirably suited
for that purpose, and that being the case, I think it
behooves us that have the responsibility of education
on our minds and on our hands, to ask the people of
this Province to join in every way in strengthening
the hands of the authorities in our technical schools
and on our school boards, to try and carry out something
in the interests of the masses of our people. I hope to
see this the great industrial hub of this whole Domin-
ion, and that this Province will largely do the manu-
facturing for the great West and North-west, that now
are coming into such prominence.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS OF RAILWAY REGU-
LATION.

An address by MR. S. J. McLEAN, PH.D., member of Dominion
Railway Commission, Ottawa, before the Empire Club of Canada,
on April 29th, 1909.

Mr. President and Gentlemen,' —

It gives me much pleasure to be present at your meet-
ing to-day. I have known of the work of the Empire Club
for a considerable time. While I have never had the
privilege of attending any of its sessions before I know
the value of its work. Last fall, when my friend Dr.
Goggin cornered me and asked me to address you, to
inflict some remarks upon you I should say, I thought
possibly I might acquire merit in absentia. My life is
rather a moving one, and I thought possibly the inten-
tion might be taken for the deed. However, on account
of the accuracy of your telephonic connection, when I
arrived in town Dr. Goggin was on my trail, and I am
here. I have chosen the topic " Some Considerations
of Railway Regulation " for the reason that when I
have exhausted my time, and possibly my audience, I
shall not at least have exhausted the subject.

The subject of transportation, to my mind, is the
most important single economic question in Canada to-
day. It is not necessary to go into any details of ampli-
fication. You are all confronted by the fact, in your
various vocations and interests, that Canada has been
re-made by its transportation facilities. No country in
the world has, in proportion to population, contributed
more generously to the 'development of transportation
systems by rail and water than Canada, and it is sig-
nificant that at a very early date in the historv of Canada
the idea of a systematic policy in regard to attracting
traffic from the adjacent republic was entered into. I
remember some years ago coming across a letter writ-

220

Some Considerations of Railway Regulation 221

ten in 1821 by Col. By, drawing attention to the fact
that by the proper development of the St. Lawrence
route, traffic from the States adjacent to the Great
Lakes might be drawn down that route for export by
way of our own seaports. It is significant that even at
that time the idea of a consecutive policy was present in
the minds of Canadians. We have had to wait quite a
while for the proper development of our route in that
respect.

As regards the work of railway development: in an
old country a railway is simply an accessory to the
existing trade. In a new country a railway is a colo-
nizing factor. The railway has gone ahead of population,
pulled population after it. It was my fortune in 1901,
in connection with some work which I had the honour
of doing for the Government, to traverse a great part
of the Canadian North-west. Recently I was back
through that section, and it was a source of surprise and
pleasure to see the development of the country, to find
in sections where formerly there was hardly any popu-
lation, in sections with no population in fact, now thriv-
ing towns. One section which was then unsettled has
now a railway traversing it — a railway which is known
as the road of a hundred wheat stations.

The importance of railway development is recognized
in every change of industrial life. Railway development
has been aided by the development of our corporation
system. We all know that the corporate svstem of man-
agement has great advantages from the financial stand-
point. By the accretion of small sums of capital, works
that could not otherwise be conducted have been carried
out. We can take that for granted, but in connection
with the problem of corporation organization there
comes up the further question of the relations of cor-
porate management to the public. We recognize certain
distinctions between ordinary mercantile corporations
and corporations that are affected by public use; and
there has developed in different countries a body of
law dealing with corporations which are affected by
public use. So I wish to draw attention to some consid-

222 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

erations bearing upon the question of public policy in
regard to railway corporations, confining what I have to
say, for the most part, to Canadian conditions.

In the development of a railway regulative policy we
have, as in many other things, to go to Great Britain.
In the world to-day we have two general systems of
policy in regard to railway control. We have in Great
Britain, Canada and the United States adopted the
policy of private ownership plus government control.
Broadly speaking, in the rest of the world a system of
government ownership and management prevails. I am
not concerned with the discussion of the merits of either
system. I am simply accepting the fact. In England,
as early as 1854, it was recognized that difficulties arose
in connection with the question of the relation of railways
to the public. At first in the earlier Acts it was thought
that the competitive conditions which governed ordinary
trade would govern railways as well. The idea (I am
probably carrying coals to Newcastle in mentioning it)
was that the railway bed would be free to all in the
same way as a canal was free to different carriers, and
that the railway bed might be used by the rolling stock
of an individual in return for payment or tolls, and that
by competition on that roadbed rates would be regu-
lated. In 1844 it was recognized that difficulties were
in the way — the necessity of unified management and
the impossibility of separate control. There also came
up preferences and discrimination between shippers, so
in the Act of 1854 the undue preference was legislated
against. It was found in the development of railway
regulation in England that the enforcement of the undue
preference clauses of that Act through the courts, as
was the earlier intention, had some defects. It was
found also that there were difficulties in the way of
regulating railways directly by Parliament; that is to
say, by passing general statutes, because these general
statutes did not allow sufficient discretion to deal with
the individual conditions. And so we find in 1873, and
later in 1888, the organization of the Railway and Canal
Commission in Great Britain.

Some Considerations of Railway Regulation 223

The legislation which was incorporated in the Acts
of 1873 and I$88 has had a great effect upon the
development of regulative policy in Canada and the
United States.

In referring for a moment to the conditions of rail-
way regulation in Great Britain and the United States
the central facts in the regulative policy are those of
rates and of the relation of the regulative body to the
courts. The rate problem is fundamental in our modern
industrial life. Variations in rates affect industrial
profits, affect the direction of industrial enterprises.
Variations in rates determine the flow of traffic, and
determine what section or sections of the country shall
be developed. We find, in connection with the rate
policy of our railways in the North-west, that the
expanding traffic and population of that country are being
recognized in that rates are being made to cater to dif-
ferent outlets. Our difficulty in the North-west has
been that, as Sir William Van Home has said, " we
have been enlarging the hopper without properly enlarg-
ing the spout."

Recently the Canadian Pacific, for example, has
recognized the development of western traffic by giving
a rate to move grain from Alberta to the Pacific coast,
what has been called the ABC route (Alberta and
British Columbia). And I was informed recently that
between December ist and the latter part of February
two million bushels of wheat had moved from Alberta
to British Columbia. That wheat will go to Europe
and be shipped to British points. That particular
example will be, I take it, sufficiently pertinent to
attract attention to the fundamental part that the rate
plays in connection with the development of industry.
The rate problem, then, is something fundamental to
every large business enterprise ; and every shipper, and
every producer, is concerned in the question of rates;
not only the question of whether there is a discrimina-
tion, whether one man obtains a preference at the
expense of another, but there is also the question of the
level of the rates.

224 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

In England the general policy has been to deal with
the question of undue preference or discrimination, giv-
ing the regulative body no control over individual rates
in this; that is to say, the regulative body is concerned
with relative unreasonableness, not with the question of
the reasonableness of the rate per se. The old policy
was to place certain maximum rates in the charters of
railways, and there are decisions on record that any rate
which is within the maximum fixed by the statute is
per se a reasonable rate. In the legislation of 1888,
which amended and expanded the regulative legislation
of 1873, no power over an individual rate was given to
the Railway Commission except in the question of
through rates. In 1894 legislation was passed empower-
ing the Commission to investigate the reasonableness
of the rates increased since 1892. That has been con-
strued by the English Railway and Canal Commission
in a narrow way.

In the United States, as the result of a long period of
agitation, an Act was passed in 1887 directed especially
against discriminations. There are also prohibitions in
regard to unreasonable rates. The American Commis-
sion for a time claimed the right to exercise jurisdic-
tion in regard to the reasonableness of particular rates,
and direct reductions of them ; but later by court decis-
ions it was held that the Commission did not possess
any power to reduce individual rates for the future.
That was subsequently amended by legislation of 1906,
under which the Commission has regulative power over
individual rates for the future. In both countries there
comes up the question of the relation of the regulative
body (the Commission) to the courts. In England the
decision of the Railway and Canal Commission is final
as to the question of fact, and there may be one appeal
on a question of law. In general, where there has been
an appeal from the Commission, it has been decided in
a comparatively short time by the courts, generally
within a period of six months.

In the United States, on account of the division of
powers under the constitution, the Interstate Commerce

Some Considerations of Railway Regulation 225

Commission is not a court. It ,has no final power.
Before the amendment of 1906 many delays took place
in connection with the enforcement of the various orders
of the Commission. A case might be heard before the
Commission and the railway might be unwilling to be
bound by its decision, and the whole question might run
the gamut of the courts up to the Supreme Court. In
one case eleven years elapsed between the order given
by the Commission and the decision of the Supreme
Court, and all the Supreme Court decided was that the
Commission was not justified in its finding on the facts.
Under such circumstances as those the petitioner might
be dead before a decision was reached. In dealing with
the question of regulation in Canada we had to recog-
nize the experiences of other countries — of .Great Britain
and the United States. I may refer, then, to the juris-
diction of the Commission in Canada, and briefly state
what we have been attempting to accomplish.

Under the organization of our Commission, which,
since the amendment of last year, now consists of six
members, the power of the Commission is final on a
question of fact. On any question which, in the opinion
of the Commissioners, is a question of law, the finding
of the Chief Commissioner is final. There may be an
appeal on a question of law or of jurisdiction to the
Supreme Court. Then, again, there may be an appeal
from the Commission to the Governor-in-Council. Or
the Governor-in-Council may of his own motion over-
rule the order of the Commission and direct what action
shall be taken, and the action so directed to be taken
shall be the order of the Commission.

The reason for the latter provision is the . desire to
maintain the principle of responsible government. In
the earlier days of railway legislation in Canada the
right to exercise general regulative powers was reserved
to the Parliament of Canada; for example, the power
contained in the Railway Act prior to 1888, giving
Parliament the right to reduce rates, but not so as to
produce less than 15 per cent, of a dividend on the
investment. As a result of the investigation of the
15

226 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

Royal Commission, 1886 to 1888, the Act was amended
and that particular provision I referred to struck out of
the Act, and a varied jurisdiction in regard to matters
of rate discriminations, safety appliances, etc., was con-
ferred on the Railway Committee of the Privy Council,
which was responsible to Parliament. Under the amend-
ing Act of 1903, the powers hitherto possessed by the
Railway Committee of the Privy Council, plus certain
additional wider powers, were conferred upon a Com-
mission. By giving the Governor-in-Council a control
over the Commission the principle of ministerial respon-
sibility is maintained.

As to the power over rates the Commission has
power to declare a rate unreasonable. It has power to
declare what shall be a reasonable rate. It has a
thorough-going power over rates which is not possessed
either by the English Commission or by the United
States Commission ; because, as I indicated in the case
of the English Commission, there is only a limited
jurisdiction over individual rates which have been
increased subsequent to 1892. In the United States the
jurisdiction is limited by the court control. In the case
of Canada the decision of the Commission is final on a
question of facts; that is to say, the rate regulation is
a matter of fact. Of course, if there is some material
point of law involved, then there comes the question
of the matter going to the Supreme Court, as in the
matter of commutation rates, which involves the ques-
tion as to whether certain powers conferred upon the
railways by section 341 of the Railway Act were con-
trolled by section 77 of the Act dealing with discrimina-
tion. Some very important legal points are involved,
with the result that such cases will go before the
Supreme Court. We have a control over the rates
which exceeds that possessed by any other railway
regulative commission in the world.

As regards discriminations we have powers there,
wide powers, similar to those I referred to as existing
in the English Acts. We have also control over the
question of classification, which, as you will know, is

Some Considerations of Raihvay Regulation 227

fundamental in rate-making, because a change in a class
means a change in the rate, and the power to regulate
ra,tes without power to regulate classification would
be giving with the right hand to take away with the left.
Our jurisdiction is not limited to questions of rates
alone. We have a very diversified jurisdiction in other
respects. It occurred to me that it might be of interest
to you to have brought before you a brief summary of
what we have had before us in this city.

In three days' sittings here we have had some thirty-
seven cases, and in these cases some thirtv-seven differ-
ent points have been involved. It is just bv accident,
however, that you find this identity of number. We had
to consider such questions as culverts, highway cross-
ings, drainage under tracks, railway sidings, dangerous
level crossings, inter-railway relations where one rail-
way crosses another, the question of the cost of protec-
tion— as of installing inter-locking devices, de-rails — land
damages, applications by independent telephone com-
panies to have telephones installed in certain railway
stations, delay in shipments, and last but not least, one
in regard to the viaduct. That may be taken as a fairly
comprehensive summary of the kind of work that comes
before us. We have jurisdiction regarding rates, regard-
ing highway crossings, inter-railway relations, safety
appliances, speed of trains, telephone rates, telegraph
rates, express rates, sleeping-car rates, and other powers
which would be too tedious to enumerate.

The Commission may not be composed of philoso-
phers ; we certainly are peripatetics. In my own experi-
ence, since early in January I have travelled not far
from 9,000 miles. We are all in the same box. It was
recognized in the Royal Commission of 1886-88 that one
defect in the existing policy of railway regulation was
that all those who had complaints to bring up had to
have them dealt with at Ottawa before the Railway
Committee of the Privy Council. It is true that recom-
mendation was made that some subordinate officials
might be appointed on behalf of the Privy Council to
go out and take testimony, and on the basis of this

228 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

testimony the matters might be dealt with in Ottawa.
This recommendation was not carried out. We, how-
ever, move from place to place. For examole, when
we were in Edmonton early this year a farmer came
before us having a complaint that he had fenced off a
certain portion of the right-of-way of a highway, by
consent of his neighbours, and he complained that the
wires had been cut by engineers of a railway company,
and as a result some of his cattle were killed on the
tracks. We have no jurisdiction with regard to ques-
tions of damages. I refer to this case to show that the
farmer came before us in Edmonton and exnlained his
case, and I wish to say that in a small matter like that in
the older days he would have to present his case in per-
son or by counsel before the Railway Committee of the
Privy Council — a matter of considerable expense.

Take the question of highway crossings. Our peri-
patetic organization enables us to pick out some centre
and to hear various cases about highway crossings, dis-
putes about protection, etc. We give our earnest atten-
tion to the matter of crossings, and our decentralized
organization enables us to get closer to the seat of com-
plaint. In the latter part of January I had the privilege
to travel with the Chief Commissioner on a six weeks'
trip through to Victoria. In the six weeks we handled
three hundred and thirty applications. Our record was
at Medicine Hat — four cases in forty-five minutes. In
going through on that trip we had the opportunity to
meet the individuals who had complaints, representatives
from different farmers' associations, snippers' associa-
tions, some cases represented by lawyers, some cases
represented in person. In the last year, ending March
3 ist, 1909, the Board has handled about eleven hundred
formal applications. I have not in mind just how many
informal applications, but the number would be about
three of the latter to one formal application.

The attempt in connection with the Commission work
is to arrive at substantial justice. That is all human
justice can be between the parties, and to do this as
promptly as possible. Some cases which come before us

Some Considerations of Railway Regulation 229

are not very complicated — a matter, it may be, regarding
the planking at a highway, a question of fact. Others
are more complicated and require a longer period of
deliberation, special reports from officers, etc. ; but we
attempt to get at results as quickly as possible, always
keeping in mind substantial justice to the parties as repre-
senting the general public, because we recognize that in
a question, say, affecting rates, delay defeats the remedy.
I have referred in passing to the eleven-year period
which elapsed in one case in the United States, but that
is an extreme case. But on an average the cases
appealed from the Interstate Commerce Commission,
and which go to the Supreme Court, prior to 1906 took
about four years to settle. The remedy was defeated by
the length of time required in the process.

Rapidity of settlement is not the only thing. Rapidity
plus injustice is the worst thing; but if you can get at
the facts and get a relatively speedy solution, conditions
are better, and I have often found that people are more
interested in a speedy solution than in getting every
point settled in their favour. We recognize that we
have complicated matters brought before us, and we give
as careful consideration as is possible for fallible human
beings to all the facts brought before us. We have had
only a limited experience. The life of the Commission
began in 1904. We have been gradually developing
precedents in regard to certain lines of regulative policy.
We know that we have made our mistakes, in which we
are in harmony with the rest of humanity, but we are
attempting to give careful, serious attention to the gen-
eral interests of the public — not the public construed in
a narrow sense, because we have to recognize that any-
thing which is unfair to a transportation company is, in
the long run, detrimental to the interests of the public.
If we should take up a policy which meant that a rail-
way company was to be deprived of the legitimate return
upon its investment, in the long run, by retarding invest-
ment, it would react upon the development of the coun-
try. Some years ago, in a report "which I made to the
Government of Canada, I made the statement, which I

230 EMPIRE CLUB SPEECHES

take the liberty of quoting, that " any regulative policy
which results in depriving a transportation company of
a legitimate return upon the investment is as detri-
mental to the public as any policy which endeavoured to
obtain high rates upon an improperly inflated capitaliza-
tion through arbitrary discriminations and other mea-
sures."

In the development of the work of the Board Canada
has been fortunate in that the Commission has possessed
strong chairmen. The late Mr. Blair, with whom it was
my privilege to be associated in various special investi-
gations was a man who brought to the work of the
Board a wealth of administrative ability. You all know
the legal ability, the judicial acumen of the late Mr.
Commissioner Killam. In regard to the present chair-
man, it would be a matter of bad taste for me to attempt
to pass any opinion upon one of my colleagues. You
are in a better position than I am to estimate his work,
but I am permitted to say — it is within the bounds of
good taste — that no man could work for a pleasanter
colleague or work with a more considerate man, and a
man with broader ideas of the proper application of
work in connection with the detail matters that come
before us.

I would say, again, that we are even yet in a forma-
tive period. We started with a wide jurisdiction. The
jurisdiction has been made wider. Possibly some awk-
ward questions may be referred to us ; we must struggle
with them. You will remember that we are attempting
to work out, as I have said, substantial justice. We
may fail sometimes, but we are trying to hold the bal-
ance as even as we can, recognizing that the proper
development of a regulative policy in regard to railways
is a measure which is in the truest interests of Canada.

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF

THE EiMPIRE CLUB OF CANADA

1908-09.

Adams, A. Andrew.
Adams, E. H., M.D.
Adams, J. H.
Annesley, F. C.
Archibald, W. P.
Armstrong, H. D. P.
Auden, Htnry, M.A.

Bain, W. A.
Baker, Geo. A.
Beardmore, A. O.
Beatty, E. P.
Beatty, H. A., M.D.
Beatty, J. G.
Beatty, S. G.
Beatty, W. H.
Beatty, Capt. Jas. P.
Beer, G. Frank.
Beer, S. G.
Begg, H.
Beith, Wm.
Bicknell, Harry.
Binfham, G. D.
Black, J. A.
Black, R. G.
Black, S. W.
Blain, Hugh.
Bond, C. H. A.
Bongard, R. R.
Bowers, A. S.
Boulter, Geo. E.
Bradford, S. H.
Bredin, Mark.
Brett, Prof. G. S.
Brigden, Geo.
Brock, A. Forster.

Broughall, Rev. J. S.
Brown, Frank E.
Brown, Dr. J. Price.
Brown, W. E.
Bryson, Ed.
Buck, W. A.
Bull, Thos. H.
Burns, Stephen W.
Burrows, Acton.
Byers, F. D.

Campbell, Lt.-Col. A. G.
Campbell, A. R.
Campbell, Geo. C.
Campbell, Sheridan.
Candee, C. N.
Carrie, W. H.
Carstairs, John Stewart.
Cawthra, W. H.
Chadwick, E. M.
Chadwick, R. E. C.
Chapman, Geo. A.
Chisholm, W. C.
« Clark, Dr. C. D.
Clark, J. M., K.C.
Clark, Prof. W.
Clouse, Elias, M.D.
Clutterbuck, Dr. H. E.
Cochrane, A. R.
Code, J. R.
Cody, Rev. H. J.
Cook, Dr. W. R.
Cooper, Jno. A.
Cory, C. D.
Cowan, H. B.
Cowan, J. W.

231

232 Members of the Empire Club of Canada

Craig, W.
Crane, Samuel.
Croft, Wm., Jr.
Culver, Frank L.
Cumberland, Barlow.
Curran, Alfred H.
Curry, J.

Dancy, R. C.
Darling, Frank.
Davidge, F. C.
Davidson, Lt.-Col. J. I.
Davis, B. N.
Davison, R. C.
Deacon, G. P.
Denison, A. R.
Denison, Col. G. T.
Dewart, H. H., K.C.
Dinnick, O. G.
Donovan, A. E.
Douglas, W. A.
Drummond, A. T.
Dudgeon, Tr-os.
Dusseau, L. V.
Dymond, F. R.

Earngey, W. D.
Eastmuir, A. L.
Eby, Rev. C. S.
Eby, J. F.
Ellis, Harry.
Ellis, John F.
Ellis, P. W.
Ellis, W. G.
Embree, L. E.
Essex, Alfred.
Evans, A. Kelly.

Fahey, J. M.
Fahey, Wm.
Fairweather, Alan C.
Farewell, F. L.
Fetherstonhaugh, F. B.
Fetherstonhaugh, J. E.
Fitzpatrick, Alfred.
Fleming, Atwell.
Forster, J. W. L.
Foster, Chas. C.
Foster, J. M., B.A.
Fotheringham, J. T.

Fox, W. C.
Foy, J. J., K.C.
Francis, G. L.
Fraser, Alexander
Fraser, W. P.
Freyseng, E. J.
Frind, Max A.
Fullerton, J. L., K.C.

Galbraith, S.
Gait, T. P.
George, Jas.
George, W. K.
Gilbert, A. T.
Gilverson, A. E.
Gladman, J. Geo.
Goggin, Dr. D. J.
Gooch, F. H.
Goodman, A. K.
Gormaly, J. H.
Graham, W. B.
Grant, J. C.
Green, Miles W.
Green, W. J.
Greer, A. Monro.
Gregg, Robt.
Griffin, Watson.
Groveley, Col. John.
Gurney, Edward.

Hairston, P.
Hales, James.
Hall, F. Asa.
Hall, John E.
Hall, John T.
Hall, W. H.
Hamley, H. T.
Haney, H. J.
Hardy, Dr. E. B.
Hargrave, Dr. H. G.
Hargreaves, John.
Harman, George.
Harris, John.
Harris, Lloyd.
Hart, Dr. J. S.
Harvey, F. R.
Hawken, Jas.
Hayes, F. B.
Hay wood, James.

Members of the Empire Club of Canada 233

Heath, Stewart.
Heaton, R. P.
Hector, Robt
Henderson, James.
Henderson, S.
Hill, E. C
Hitchins, W. R.
Hoare, W. H.
Hodson, F. W.
Holcroft, C. F.
Holloway, Thos. W.
Hopkins, J. Castell.
Horn, C. C
Horton, R. R.
Howson, H. B.
Hughes, Geo.
Hughes, James L.
Hunter, Capt. A. T.
Hunter, Henry.
Hunter, Dr. John.
Hunter, Lincoln.
Hutchins, L. V.

Ireson, Charles.
Irvine, W. J.
Ivens, Richard.

Jackson, E. H.
Jackson, H. R.
Jaffray, Robt.
James, Thomas B.
Jarvis, Aemilius.
Johnston, Alfred.
Johnston, W. G.

Kearns, R. J.
Keens, Jas. H.
Kennedy, A. H.
Kimmerley, P. G.
Kirkpatrick, A. H. H.
Kirkpatrick, G. B.
Kynoch, James.

Land, R. E. A.
Langmuir, John M.
Langton, Thos., K.C.
Larkin, P. C.
Law, Commander F. C.
Lawrence, E.
Lawrence, Henry A.

Lemon, W. E.
Lennox, E. J.
Levescont, Capt. R. G.
Lindsay, G. G. S.
Lockhart, R. R.
Loftus, J. T.
Lorsch, D. G.
Levering, W. J.
Lowndes, Chas.
Lyon, N. D.

McConkey, T. G.
McCormick, H. D.
McCulloch, Graydon.
McDougald, D. J.
McDougall, D. H.
McEachren, J.
McFall, Dr. Wm. A.
McGhie, James H.
Mcllwraith, Dr. K. C
McKay, D. H.
McKechnie, J. B.
McKee, Dr. Jas. F.
McKenzie, Dr. J. J.
McKinnon, J. S.
McKnight, Jofin.
McLaughlin, M.
McLeod, Norman.
McMartin, D.
Me Master, Arthur W.
McMichael, S. B.
McMichael, S. W.
McMillan, H. T.
McMurchy, A.
McMurty, J. Arthui.
McNair, Malcolm.
McNaught, W. K,
McPherson, W. D.
McTaggart, W. O.
McWhinney. J. H.
MacKenzie, S. H. P.
MacNab, Rev. A. W.
Macdonald, Dr. A. A.
Macdonald, Dr. W. A.
Macdonell, A. C, M.P.
Mackay, John.
Macklem, Rev. T. C. S.
Maclaurin, E. A.
Maclean, Frank W.

234 Members of the Empire Club of Canada

Macpherson, Alex.
Mallory, Dr. Fred R.
Manchee, L. W.
Marks, A. H. S.
Marshall, N.
Mason, Lt.-Col. J.
Mason, Major J. C.
Mason, T. G.
Massey, John.
Matheson, Robt.
Matthews, W. C.
Mearns, F. S.
Meredith, Chas. H.
Meyers, Major D. C.
Miller, J. B.
Millman, Dr. Thos.
Mills, Dr. J. A.
Miln, Jas.
Milne, John.
Monk, G. W.
Montague, Hon. W. H.
Morine, Hon. A. B.
Morren, R. W. S.
Morton, Ed. L.
Morton, Geo. F.
Mulholland, R.
Muntz, Gerald.
Muntz, G. Harold.
Muntz, R. G.
Murray, Jas. P.
Musson, L. G.
Myers, C. F.

Nasmith, Cfias. B.
Nelson, J. R.
Neville, R. S.
Newman, T. A.
City Editor News.
N-'cholls, F. W.
Nicol, Geo. B.
Nonnabell, J. C
Nordheimer, S.
Norman, Thos.
Northway, A. G.
Northway, John.
Northway, Wm. E.

O'Brien, H.
O'Neill, Jas.

Oram, J. W.
Orchard, Maj. W. H.
Orr, W. H.
Osborne. H. C.
Osborne, J. Ewart.
Osborne, J. Kerr.
Owen, L. C.

Parker, Robt
Parker, W. G.
Parmley, A. H.
Paterson, Harry.
Patton, J. C.
Paul, Dr. Edgar W.
Peaker, Dr. Ed.
Pearcy, Gilbert
Pearson, James.
Pellatt, Lt-Col. H. M.
Pepler, W. H.
Perry, J. B.
Portway, E. V.
Potts, Frank H.

Quarrington, Geo. K.

Raney, W. E.
Rawlinson, H.
Richardson, E. K.
Richey, H. B.
Risdon, Dr. E. F.
Roaf, James R.
Robertson, P. L.
Robertson, Thos.
Robinette, T. C
Robins, W.
Robinson, Gee. H.
Roden, Thos.
Rogers, J. F.
Routh, H. V.
Rowlin, Frank A.
Rust, C. H.
Ryan, C

Scott, Chas. W.
Scully, Hugh D.
Secord, H. C
Shapley, W. H.
Shaw, W. H.
Sherrard, H. A.
Sherwood, W. A.

Members of the Empire Club of Canada 236

Sheyck, Dr. W.
Simpson, Dr. G. K.
Simpson, H. C.
Simpson, Jas. A.
Sims, P. H.
Small, J. T.
Smith, Dr. Andrew.
Smith, C. Q
Smith, T. J.
Smith, George H.
Smith, G. O.
Smith, Lt.-Col. H.
Smith, Capt S. F.
Snider, G. A.
Snowball, George M.
Soence, F. S.
Spence, Dr. James.
Sproatt, Henry.
Stanley, Frank J.
City Editor The Star.
Steele, R. C
Stephens, J. H.
Sterling, George A.
Stevenson, George.
Stevenson, G. S.
Stewart, J. F. M.
Strathy, J. R.
Strathy, Winder.
Stupart, R. F.
Sutcliffe, John I.
Sutherland, H., jr.
Sutherland, H.
Sutton, T. E. P.
Svlvester, Dr. G. P.
Symons. Harry.
Smith, R. S.
Sparrow. John W.
Stark, William

Taylor, Edmund.
Taylor, R. L. D.
City Editor The Telegram.
Thomas, A. W.
Thompson, Hon. J. E.

Thomson, J. P.
Thorburn, Dr. James.
Tindall, W. B.
Tomlin, H. C
Trent, B. W.
Trethewey, W. G.
Taylor, J. H.

Vander Voort, M. P.
Veitch, C. F.

Walker, Gardner.
Walsh, J. E.
Wainwright, A. C. L.
Wansborough, C. C.
Ward, Fred, R.
Warren, Walter.
Watson, George F.
Webb, A. E.
Weldon, R. J.
White, H. T.
Wickett, S. R.
Wickham, H. J.
Wildman, J. F.
Wiley, H. A.
Wilkie, D. R.
Wilks, A. J.
Williams, H. H.
Wiltshire, H. Horace.
Winter, L. A.
Wood, W. A. P.
Woodland, C. W. D.
City Editor The World.
Wreyford, Charles D.
Wright, Alex. W.
Wright, E. F.
Wylie, N. A.
Wise, Frank.

Yearsly, O. J. B.
Young, Prof. A. H.
Young, Charles F.
Young, Theo. E.
Young, Henry T. S.

f Empire Club of Canada,

5000 Toronto

E6 Addresses

1908/09

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