AMERICANISING CANADA.

Grey River Argus, 27 June 1914, Page 8

AMERICANISING CANADA.

* \N iMPCRftVL, PROBLEM. - (Per Independent Cable . Service). - LONDON^ June 15 The Trirontn correspondent of "The T'tnc<i'V tenets that papoi th. s week 1 v<r\ rot^nent article on the Americanising tondenc\ in Canadian life, which rutrht to .^vercise some :nfluprlce on the decision -of the question of 1 Canadian nncranne postage by the -British Post Office . The tevt for tho art cle i=; an extract from a r ancouver paper, which said: "There mn wOl he nnothrr Bntnm arxl Cimdi cnn^l^nnt reproduce any ■ other land wuhout treason to her own great oppoitunitv to express herself." » t{ Thc Times' coi respondent goes on o tvploio the fashion nh : ch is prevalert ncrr-of resaidipg Canada as being bound by hisxonc association, by tradition, and by common interest and sen^ tlmt it to the -Mother Country- This -«vvas a fact, he says when a dominant lEnßlish and French population possessed the countn when French Canadian^ possessed the balance of power in rojitic^; but thiough the enormous influx of immigrant \lur ng the -past decade or two an entirely new state of affairs has beeji produced and- it is not so certain that the new people can be moulded into a common devotion for the Emp re. "Is it so certain" he asks "that thcv^will never, be attracted by the vision of an independent Canadian Republic?" • SOME SPEAKING FIGURES. Referring to icensus figures^ ,tihe correspondent goes on to show that out of a population or 7,200,000 at' last c< n 3 us, only 1.323.000 are English 1,050,000 Irith and about a million Scots, whili of other^race-s there were : — F icntli ' 2,054^000 Germans • • 393j000 Austro-Hungarians . ' 129.000 • Scandinavians .. 107,000 t Russians and Poles . 76,000 Jews . . . 75>000 Various ••- . . 350,000 Four-fifths of the people of the Pro vince of Quebec are (French", and onetwelfth of those of Ontario. One- ■ th_rd of the yopTilation of -Manitoba •ire of European extraction/ not British?; one-thjird of that of Alberta, and Mao-fifths -of that of Saskatchewan. Th'cn, again, in Saskatchewan 'and Alberta there are nearly 'half a' million people who have come over from the United States, a nd many of rniom are of foreign origin. ,They must seriously affectthc conditions of the West "They can havr- no natural' loyaity to Great 'Britain,", says the! correspondent, "no enthusiasm for the British Empire, no inherited conception of British' ideals Even,'' now 1 the Fr'-nch and foreigrr elements nearly balance the population of British orisfi n- The French* are passive loyalists and devoted Canadians, but they are not generally favourable to closer political co-operation with the MotheT ' Country. During the war in South Africa,-, the attitude of the French Canaelians closely resembled " that of the. Irish" Nationalists. Whq^ doubt that any movement to •etablish Cana--1 dian Republic would have support in Quebec V READING AND SPORT. In the r reading the peqple of Canada look toward'; the United States to an extent which appals many Imperialists. The foreign colonies the, West arc followed by,the-publica- ' 'tions which they were in the habit of reading before they crossed the l ; ne ; ' and many English-speaking Americans '■ ' naturally continue trt read 1 their United States papers. "Moreover, ,a mul t'tdo" of Canadians read perhaps by preference sporting papers,' weekly journals and magazines from the' neighbouring country. All the Cana

1 Jian daily pap-«s givo columns of space to reports ot games in the Ame ncan' Baseball Leagues and theie < an Internationalt, League wh-ch ein bip'.cs Toronto and Montreal Twcniv years' ago 200 o^3oo "was *«i large attedangc at; a bas.cball-game jn Toronto now fiom 5000 to 12,000 attend the international contests. 3 1 There 1? one sign of grace, .how ever, The good old ircime-ot bowls which I-, piacticalh unknown m the United S atCb 3 plaicd fat and wide throughout Canadi. With th;s exception, we aio told, "dm ing the last tjuaitei of a centun sports in Canada have lost som thing of thl? ancient Bntish flavj our and rave become ,far more ehaxac--1 teitistically Canad an and American in ongin, piactice -and temper' Then in tjnc mattci of news there I v the notorious faci that Canadian nc\\-,_tjom Euiope jjcneially comes through American tistcs rather than w.th any id: ( a of subserving the British connexion. While Canadian pap 1 ers receive cclumns about every movement of President Wilson in the matter of Mexico, the correspondent says the Ulster problem in Giea{ Britain has been almost ignored^ "•which is noi at all satisfactory <to Canadians. I The oigamsation 'or 'a parcel post sCivice jn Noith Afner ca has tended to promote the Amencanisation of fc he Canadians, A\hn are able to, do* m-thc United States muck of the shopping which a Br tis>i ■community might be expected ro do in England. 1 - ~ ' / TR ,DES 'ORGANISATION. . Finally, there is The organisation of trade unions, which is- iiiternat onal. I The headquarters of the great unions' to which Canadian^ workmen^ belong arc in the United States, and there I is, moreover, a steady uncrea&e m th? number of American 'industries Which are starting branch factories in Canada and sending thithefr managers and foremen — men of great alertness and ab lity who naturally leave their ampres sion -upon their' fellows. "Canada orcup*ie<s n,o such isolated position a§ Australia or New Zealand or South Africa. In Europe move--1 ment of population. is obstructe<l by d 'fferences of language customs, and conditions. Canada and the United States have common traditions 'andcom mon institutions, a common language and a common faith, r They are se r paratrfl for hundreds of niles ov an "nvisible boundary. Into the Dominion pour multitudes who v> "iJl qii'rkly develop a Canadian patriotism. What attitude w 11 they take towaids Great Brita n and the' Empire? I h^rs are elements in Canada, to which a a i>hpeal against Imperialism an c rde a-"d v/lio know no Moth€i\Coi ntr. . article has attracted -D--.icer-able attention both in Ingiand and Canada, and Js ciuoted especially in j connexion with the present postal Besrotiaiion< between Great* B-imn and the Dom-nioi>,s.