CANADA TO-DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 283, 29 November 1937, Page 8

CANADA TO-DAY.

PLACE IN EMPIRE.

VARIED NATIONALITIES. PEACEFUL NEIGHBOURS. The status of Canada in international a flairs was explained to Auckland Kotaiians to-day by Mr. W. Frederick Bull, Trade Commissioner. Canada, he said, as a country was American geographically, British politically, largely French in origin, yet world wide in its international preoccupation*. There were 11,000,000 people in Canada, of which 5.700.000 were of British origin, 3.300,000 French, and 2.000.000 other races. The French »roup were direct descendants of (So.ooo French colonists abandoned by France in 17H3 by the Treaty of Paris. FrenchCanadians ha<T been allowed to survive as French-Canadians, thanks to their relicion and tTielr language, and it was ow'nnr to their birth rate that they had been able to increase to «uch a prodigious proportion. At one time the birth rate in Canada was a« high a« 80 per 1000. The death rate at one time was very high, but was now down to 10 per 1000 giving a rate of increase of 20 per 1000 ayiinst 11 per 1000 for Canada as a whole. The British group had been t-teadily added to hy immigration and as many as 200.000 immigrants per year entered Canada early in thi« century. This number had now dropped to 13,000 last year.

Canada has advanced from a purely agricultural country to a great industrial country and now ranked with the five leading trading countries of the world. Canada was American, due to its geographical location, its physical nature and its whole atmosphere, but at tlie same time Canada was British through her position in the Empire. Canadians were forced to be international rather than provincial. They were much closer to the Americans than the economic intimacy of any other two countries, such as Germany-Austria and Belgium-France. Canada had the full benefit of all the technical progress of the United States, and although hampered by a smaller home market, had been able to compensate for this. Canada had a dual personality as she was geographically American, but at the same time was the only country in America which had maintained direct relations with Europe. Canadians knew and liked the Americans, and Canada could lm of great service to the Empire by interpreting the American spirit to the Mother Country and by drawing the United States close to the Dominions.

In proposing the vote of thanks, Sir Clutha Mackenzie expressed the viewthat Canada and the United States had set a fine example to the rest of the world in demonstrating that as neighbours they had been able to live side "by side in 'peace over the last hundred vears.