CHAPTER VI
CANADA
From President Washington's first administration until a comparatively recent period American public men have not been unmindful that permanent European domination of Canada was undesirable for the United States. In the last century startling events have brought home to thoughtful Americans the apprehension that the territory to the north of them might be susceptible of developments which would prove hostile to their security and safety. The apprehension was made particularly great by events leading to the Mexican War, and again during the American Civil War of 1861-65. The peace of America doubtless may be endangered by events in a Canada not independent. In possible foreign complications in which America may be involved, unless some closer coalition meanwhile take place, Canada will be a point of danger for America. Happily, any disturbance due to such possible conditions seems at the moment postponed. Nevertheless, there are latent forces at work in the great Canadian problems which forbid Americans to remain indifferent to the fate of their Northern neighbor.
Closely allied in origin, condition, and disposition, native Americans and the native British Canadians present characteristics which are markedly similar. A common language, as Bismarck said, the greatest possible bond between separated peoples living under different governments, a common jurisprudence, political and educational institutions not dissimilar except in the single Province of Quebec, but above all a close and almost interdependent agriculture and commerce, all tend irresistibly to draw Canada and the United States together. With no safe winter ports of her own in the Atlantic basin, the economic interests of Canada and the United States are in all essentials the same.
But Canada has been far-distanced in national wealth and population by the United. States. Canada remains relatively a poor state at the present time. The notable over-exploitation of her resources has caused the internal and the economic problems of Canada to come to be such as to compel a large and intelligent portion of her population to recognize that Canada cannot much longer remain as she is. Canada must draw closer either to England or to the United States. Tradition would reconcile the British part of her population to the proposed scheme of "imperialistic federation with England and her dependencies." But their personal interests dictate that Canada should draw closer to the United States. The prolific descendants of old French Canada would no longer offer a substantial resistance to some union with the United States. They perceive that their coreligionists have been safe under the Government of the United States and that their church is protected there, while in western Canada it meets with a marked hostility.
The serious problem of the future of Canada is never very far from the thought of intelligent Canadians of all antecedents and all schools of political opinion. No American who has made a close study of the political literature and the state of the politics of Canada can fail to recognize that some speedy political change is now in order in Canada. This change will doubtless be much facilitated by the present Great War. Mr. Bonar Law prophetically said in December, 1915, "After this war the relations between the Dominions and the Mother Country can never be the same again." This is generally recognized by Canadians.
There have been times in the last century when Canada could have come closer to the United States with little opposition from England or from Canadians, but no cordial response to the proposal was made in America. The close and changing majorities of political parties in the United States have disinclined the average American politician to view with favor any near political union between the United States and Canada. If Canada were to be incorporated in the United States, and the different Canadian Provinces were to become States, what would their politics be? This question has not been lost sight of by American politicians. If the Canadian States should all incline to one great political party in the United States, the balance of parties would be disturbed, and one or other great political party might lose power at Washington for a very long period. This has been the real reason of the indifference of American politicians to any closer political union between Canada and the United States. Forty years ago it was the recognition of this attitude of American politicians that disinclined many public men in Canada to favor openly any movement looking to a closer political union between Canada and the United States. The average Canadian politician was not then willing to risk his political future in view of the cold reserve of the American fraternity. Yet this was the period in which the merger of Canada and the United States could have been most easily effected.
But, while long quiescent, such questions will not down in Canada. Even at the present moment they are being discussed, particularly in the Province of Quebec, with much interest and ability. "Independence" or "Imperial Partnership," together with the tertium gaudens, "Union with the United States," are favorite topics with a large and important class of polemical Canadian writers. In England the same topics are being much discussed by such writers as Mr. Lionel Curtis ("The Problem of the Commonwealth," The Macmillan Company). Singularly enough, in America these same subjects are receiving scant attention in any quarter. The reasons for the more marked Canadian interest in these questions so important to her future are not far to seek. The internal politics of Canada are, if anything, now in a less elevated and satisfactory state than internal politics in the United States. What Sir Charles Dilke said in 1890, "that the tone of politics is, on the whole, higher in Canada than in the United States," is no longer true. The efficiency of the governments of the large cities in Canada is also more unsatisfactory than it is in the large cities of the United States, where the municipal resources are greater. But above all other reasons for a certain manifest inquietude in Canada is the apprehension occasioned by the exploitation of the natural resources of the country with the public funds. After the confederation of the Canadian Provinces and their quasi-independence, all the adventurers of Lombard Street seem to have taken up their abode in the Dominion of Canada. The expense of the present war to Canada bids fair to bring the results of this excessive exploitation to a speedy and accurate reckoning. The financial condition of Canada is, in fact, such that it can be saved only by the speedy intervention of England or the United States after this war shall end. That the financial rehabilitation of Canada should be undertaken by the United States alone would be more consistent with the policy of "America for the Americans." It would amply repay either America or England to assist the development of Canada, for in the end it is destined to be a prosperous country.
That the projected imperial federation, by which all the countries having close political relations with England shall be federated into one great imperial state, with England at the head, will be in the interest of the United States ought not for a moment to be admitted by Americans. Imperial federation would, if anything, be even less desirable for the United States than would be the independence of Canada under some neutralization guaranteed by the great European powers. It ought to be of profound interest to the people of the United States that either the independence of Canada or its absorption in some great scheme of British imperial federation is destined to come about very speedily after the present war. That it is so destined is now generally admitted both in Canada and in England. If the present war produces no other changes in the British Empire, it is at least certain to produce some change in the international status of Canada,
If Canada should become actually sovereign and independent,—and this is a consummation not only in the interest of the Canadians themselves, but the best solution for the United States,—any guaranty of the neutralization of the new power by European powers would be most undesirable for the United States. With an absolutely independent Canada commercial treaties and some definitive offensive and defensive alliance could be made by the United States. It would be highly necessary for the United States that the arrangements be made speedily. They would not at first be rejected by an independent Canada, for her foreign relations would be on the same plane as those of the United States, while the United States would furnish to Canada her natural or primary markets.
The "Imperial Federation League," the program of which imports the political, military, and economic reorganization of the entire British Empire, was founded in the year 1884. Ever since, with varying fortunes and support, the project has continued to grow. With the close of the present war the negotiations for federation will be ripe for consummation. In any such reorganization of the British Empire, Canada, from its geographical position, will necessarily have a leading place. Canada is much nearer to both Europe and Asia than is the United States. As early as 1764 it was suggested by Thomas Pownall, one of the very few able administrators up to that time sent by England to the North American colonies, that the seat of Government of the British Empire should be transferred to America. This premature suggestion long afterward attracted the attention of Mr. Gladstone, who considered it highly interesting. Portugal acted on Pownall's suggestion and transferred its dynasty to its Brazilian Empire. With the inevitable alterations in the diffusion and extent of the population of the British Empire, it is not impossible that the project of Pownall may some day be revived. But whether revived or dismissed, imperial federation will necessarily alter essentially the entire military program of the British Empire. Imperial arsenals, dockyards, and fortifications in Canada would become inevitable. That they would excite the lively apprehensions of Americans there can be no justification for doubting. Imperial federation would, indeed, be little less menacing to the permanent peace of America than the independence and neutralization of Canada under some guaranty of the great European powers. Imperial federation would permanently intrude European questions into the foreign policies of America. Canada would then necessarily become a participant in every European, Asiatic, and African problem of the federated empire.
That a speedy change of some kind in the political status of Canada is under way is apparent not only from the public utterances of Mr. Bonar Law and the imperialists in Canada and England, but from the Canadian evolutions of the last fifty years. The official construction of the Canadian militia laws in 1855, 1862, 1868, 1883, 1899, and 1904; the English colonial conferences of 1887, 1902, and 1907; the Canadian naval program of 1910 in aid of Great Britain—none of all these things has received the attention in the United States which its importance to them deserves. Proud of its inherent strength, America has remained strangely indifferent to a program which some day is destined to move it profoundly.
There is in Canada an important part of the population who favor absolute independence of Great Britain. These "nationalists," as they term themselves, think that a self-governing state ought not to be dependent or subordinate in any respect. It should be free to control its own destiny. The nationalists argue that it is to the interest of Canada to control its own policies and foreign relations, and that Canada can fulfil its high destiny only by entering the family of nations as a completely sovereign state. If the absolute independence of Canada should ever be realized, it probably would be the best solution of the Canadian problem for the United States. The territory now embraced in the United States is already so extended that its proper and efficient government is not free from difficulties. To enlarge the number of States of the Union any-further would not diminish its problems or promote the more efficient government of the United States, while it might menace the permanency of the Union. With an independent republic of Canada relations could easily be established which would increase the safety and the prosperity of both Canada and the United States. Canada, from its extent and the character of its population, is naturally a democracy and likely to remain such. The United States, if well governed, is likely to continue indefinitely a republic. Monarchical institutions do not and cannot flourish in such countries as Canada and the United States unless artificially fostered.
On the other hand, some kind of union of Canada and the United States would much simplify the collection of revenue under the protective system, as well as the plans for the defensive warfare of both countries. Closely allied, the two countries would be in an insular position, separated from the rest of the world by vast seas. With a great navy and a moderate standing army, the two countries combined could resist the aggression of the entire world. Probably the desirable results indicated could be attained without political union if Canada were an independent state and in a position to enter a league of the republics of North America. The British scheme of imperial federation would frustrate any such desirable league.
That between Canadians and Americans there is at present the most friendly feeling is a fact the value of which cannot be overestimated. That a period of general good feeling should be availed of to place both nations in a position reciprocally advantageous is evident. The common problems for the two countries are of more importance to them than any other, and their proper solution will call for a high order of statesmanship in both Canada and the United States. With Europe both Canada and the United States have minor interests, but with each other their interests are reciprocal and of paramount importance.
After the present World War is at an end the problem of adequate labor for Canada is likely to become acute. There is at all times insufficient labor in Canada. Ever since the day of Sir Alexander Gait, an able Canadian, schemes for the increase of labor have formed a part of Canadian policy. One of the most powerful Canadian arguments against conscription at the present time is that it will stifle European emigration to Canada. Deprived of immigration for a long period, suggestions of Indian and coolie labor will fall no longer on unwilling ears in Canada. Under imperial federation the hitherto insoluble problem for the British Government concerning the disposition of the surplus labor of India would tend to make its introduction into Canada reasonable certain. That such a policy would be actively resented in the United States is not doubtful. The Asiatic problem is in the United States fundamentally and primarily a labor problem. If Asiatic laborers should swarm in either Canada or Mexico, they could not long be kept out of the United States. This is only one additional reason why the problems of Canada should continue to interest the people of the United States.