[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11201, 25 August 1898, Page 2

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

BY THE RIGHT lION SIR CHARLES W. DILKE, iiarfc., M.P. Author of "Greater Britain," &c.

ni.— THE DOMINION. That the upper part of the continent of North America should contain side by side two-territories-of- equal size,, of .which one has 15 .fairies the population of the other, andjnore. than 15 times the wealth, would at first sight seem to imply the ultimate absorption of the less rich and populous by the other, and the merging of the Canadian Dominion into the neighbouring federation of the ..United States. On the other hand, Canada is a hard morsel to digest. She has two dominant peoples who now- ■ live in friendly fashion side by side within her constitution ; the intensely Roman Catholic and French population of Lower Canada; and the United Empire Loyalists, the descendants of the men who left the colonies which now form the United States, rather, than renounce their allegiance to the.. British Crown. Neither of these two peoples can look forward with pleasure to absorption in the United States, arid sensible citizens of the great American republic are equally unwilling to look forward on their side to the swallowing .of the country upon their north. The- United States are Hardly likely to continue to grow, as compared with.Canada, at the same rate in the future as they have grown in the light of this comparison in the past. Take our own emigrants', for example. Although they have left our own shores for Canadian ports in large numbers, the bulk of these •■ emigrants undoubtedly have crossed the border and have gone to swell.the still larger emigration which took place directly to the United States. The attraction of the better labour market, and of the greater towns, the earlier development of the railways of the United States, the greater, freedom of life,—many attractiqhs.^concurred to draw the. people to the south. But the better land of the United States has been taken up. The good land of Canada is'becoming known. The Canadian winter as it comes to be understood is less terrifying to immigrants 'than it was, and Canada, although it can never rival the United States in population or m wealth, will to some extent gain in the comparisons of the;cfuture. The mineral wealth oi Canada, Which is flow'believed ■by ttie'best authorities to'be- very great, is partly unknown in the contrast \yith^,|thebetter-khowi] United States^ but probabilities'.ttiucH ;,in : clihe' us" to' tlie'view that mineral developrn'ent • arid .manufacturing deyelopnient, wjl: in-.a-not distant future be rapid on tht Canadian, side of the border. . The.-Dpminipr of Canada .13: not what it might have beer if we had known-what we now know at the time" of the boundary negotiations with tht United States ; and there is no heaviei charge .among *11 the heavy charges that may be brought against British Government in relation to the colonies than that which ' arises from'the* ignorance arid neglect which were shown both^ in' the negotiations ol 1842, and in two.other cases which now concern boundaries of the same Dominion ' , There probably are few of my readers who need.to b.e reassured upon the subject*of the loyalty ;to the British connection of the E'rench-'Canadian people. Until the wretched events which -occurred not long ago in South Africa, there was /every reason to believe that, in that part of the world, a colony; of which the bulk of the inhabitants were of a foreign race, would settle down in the happiest ■ relations between British and Dutch; and in-perfect attachment to British rule.- .It is still our hope and belief that this will be 50... If we entertain a confident anticipation, of, the kind it is.largely on account of. our historical. and personal .knowledge of what has occurred in Canada. We'conquered the French-Canadians at the end of a terrific struggle for mastery in the new ■world between Great Britain '■• and France, — a/struggle which raged over .Europe, India, "* and America, as well as the high .seas. .A great number of years after tho. conquest of Canada, ~we had so little understood how good . relations, which had been brought about' for -a 'time,- should be-preserved,' that o.ur".FrenchTOanadian; subjects-.actually,rose in arms for;.their. liberties* their tongue, and their religion, at the beginning ..of the Queen's, reign.- They are; how,--under ;the admirable^ institutions:whiqh in .t>ui!<late: born' insdom we have' cpnf erred, 'upon them-, perhaps tHe. mpst loyal, of all the jiebjile's under the"British Crown, and'theyI.'.'are!'so in spite of the fact, that they have remained intensely French, proud of their race and of its history-, and deeply attached,to their tongUß-and to its literature. So far is tSiss affection carried that both the revolutionary flag and the revolutionary.anthem of France; are popularin Canada in spite of the intense Roman Catholic feeling- of the population. The problem Which-we have solved in Canada is even more difficult than that, which has been solved" by the same means; in Switzerland.' '.. The Swiss liad to bring together fierce "Itbinatt Catholics ■ and ferocious ' Protestants. . They had to f<oce religious wars, extending into recent times. They had three races—German,^ French, and Italian; and three tongues. But their people were all Swiss in-sentiment, or at least not German, for there was no Germany except the Empire, -against which they had fought. Their■ French- were not French, ,for there had always been a French-speaking borderland in Switzerland; in Savoy, in Frahche "Coriite, in Lorraine, in. the bishoprics, and in. the Walloon' part 1 of the seven provinces which had not been historically French. Their Italians,, were not Italians, for there was no Italy.', Our difficulty was equal as.regards religion, and vastly greater as regards race and, tongue, .because the French-Canadians werej-- as. they are, -French in nationality. The double allegiance of the Frerich-Oana-' dfansvin- the present'- day,- mi'the brie'hand;! to' the British''Grpwiv arid' to Hhe-'liberties:! which'they enjoy under it, arid^' on the:otlheiv, listedI', not to a foreign Power^'which r 'thiyi-| regard as foreign, but to their own race'&nd i literature, is one of the most ./interesting-. spectacles that the world affords. .;' The desire of the French-Canadians to le- | maijiJPrencb.in spirit kept them.on joxii. side , during our wars with our American colonists, ' who were their old enemies; and it-is highly probable that the Province of Quebec and the French* element in the Canadian north-west will always remain rather British than American-in sympathy. Their distinct institutions, and their religion—virtually established in- Lower Canada, and supreme in education-r^w'ould be menaced by absorption in the United States with its common-school system. But there is something more than i this. The French Canadians belong not to ! modern or Republican France, but to France i of-the old days of the kings and church before the revolution/. They are, even when they call themselves Liberals, as do the majority, and are nicknariied "Les Rouges," j Conservative-in turn of-mind, -and this isl even a" stronger tie to the British Crown than ' that, -which * has been- named above. Their Conservatism. of spirit forms a bond which would endure even if the common-school system should, under Roman Catholic in- j fluence, come to be modified in portions of ! the United States, of which, However, as | yet there seems little probability. ..Just, as : the population of Alsace, of purely German j race, supplies Paris with its most patriotic i "French" or anti-German element, so.. tl<e ' French population of Canada supplies the] Dominion'with an element as patriotically! British as even-the Undted Eiripire Loyalists j themselves. -. . . . j Upper Canada was itself settled by men | who(gaye\ up their nomes and a'large part of; their property to hmintain their allegiance to the British"flag: who went out into the ■■wilderness,' in the shape of unbroken' forest. of what was then Western Cariada, in order | to remain in their own empire. The sturdi- i ness and energy of the United Empire ori- j ginal'population" has been thoroughly.main- j tamed, and the rivalry between the Scotch j immigrants, the United Empire Loyalists, j and the French Canadians is friendly rivalry • of three very distinct groups of 'men . nil ; -equally-patriotic, and well affected'to 'our rule. I should be going somewhat beyond t!>o sphere of these' articles if I were to attempt j to draw an analogy between a possible staC& of things in Ireland and the actual state of things in Lower Canada, but I may. be vl- j lowed to say that we have shown; under i compulsion, a.successful liberality with re- j gard to religious toleration, or something more than toleration, in tho Province of Quebec, .which we have never been willing to display, and are not yet-prepared to grant ' in the case of Roman : Catholic Ireland. It is impossible to deny that the Roman Catholic Church "in French Canada is not only predominant, but is, actually privileged and possesses, in fact, a stronger position than ■ in any Roman Catholic country in the world —even than in Belgium itself witb its cleri-

cal administration. The Roman Catholic Church is not nominally established in. Quebec, but is more powerful than is any State Church, while remaining wholly unfettered by ties imposed in Roman Catholic States— by the Concordat of Trance, or similar laws. It is an interesting fact that the Roman Catholic population has grown .gigantically in Canada, as the French there are a prolific race. Since Federation there has been a great decrease of that friction, in the fringes dl French Canada, between the Protestant and Roman Catholic population, which formerly existed; and since a very long period of Conservative rule has given place to the rule of the Canadian Liberal-party under a French-speaking Prime Minister. (who is, however, as eloquent in the English as in the French' tongue) friction seems still further to have diminished., - ■.'. -The -\veu-k point in the position is that the Dominion takes insufficient military steps ftp* its own protection. There is universal liability to military service in a .militia* as in the United States; but, even more than in the United States, this is a mere paper liability, and the organised militia are, coilsidering.the immense length of the"Canadian . frontier, a small,- as th'e i s;'ariBr .sbmßwh'ajb*'b'i."S dwindling, force. It has 'long; been.'..the ■ policy of successive British Governments ■-to '■ withdraw all troops from the Dominion cxi cept from two' extreme (points—fHalifax and I Esquimalt, which are coaling stations 01 naval bases for the fleet. But the great risk of Canada in the ev.ont' of war would be in the centre of her enormous line of common frontier with the United States. The-feel-ing in Canada upon the subject of defence is somewhat foggy, sphere is a strong desire for independence of policy and for self-re- | spacting- national existence.' On the othei | hand, there is a suspicion that, anything like a policy of armament would produce distrust and possible hostility on the southern frontier. The cure would.seem .to'be. in a .prudent and peaceful organisation of the milltif force upon a scheme more, similar to thai which is a complete'success1 in Switzerland and on so purely a defensive footing thai there could be'in it no possible suggestion o: offence. . '; .'. The strength of the Dominion may. be" indefinitely augmented by further minera discoveries.. The deposits of gold,; of iron and of other minerals already known t( I exist within her -soil, are very rich, but th< I most valuable of her - gold-fields-• lies so fai j north that the rigour of: the ■ climate - pre j vents that rush of population which woulc ! elsewhere long ago have taken'place. The ex ! traordinary rapidity of the development o: t the far western states, of. .the United States ; through the discovery of surface gold ir ' California in 1848,. and,, the...consequent con- \ | tinuanee of quartz gold-mining,' in the'.saiuf 1 district, the development :pf-, Victoria.,, anc that of the Transvaal,' through isimilar dis; coyeries, have 'shown- the world -what golc 'does for' rapid increase1 ;of 'population; 'witl: ! resultant' increase of 'agricultural' prosperity, jin a new country. British Columbia is fill! of gold, silver, copper, and coal, and the Lake Superior district of the Dominion oi ! silver and iron; while the discovery of gold J veins in the province of Ontario is now continuous.- . ;:■■:-'. . The Jubilee ceremonies of 1897 m London popularised the figure of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, aid his speeches in Paris formed the; weightiest of modern, discouragement to" our foes in nil parts of the world. The disappointment produced in England by the speeches of the Prime, Minister of New South Wales, [ and by the attitude, of the Australian colonies with regard to the-maintenance of 1 the British fleet, were balanced by the exultation with which the people of the United . Kingdom learnt the ■-story of the Canadian ; Dominion. ,'r ' - * "•''.'' '••■ ,•'■'•' ..'"'■'.■ 'CJHAKLES. W. DILKE.