England, Canada and the Great War Part 12

"Considering that the world at large is greatly interested in the maintenance of England and France as first cla.s.s Powers on account of their services in favour of Human Civilization and Liberty;

"Considering that the German armies have accompanied their military operations with untold barbarous acts, by the murder of priests, of peaceful citizens, of wounded soldiers, of religious women, of mothers, of previously criminally outraged young girls, of old men, of young children, with the destruction by fire and otherwise of Cathedrals, Churches,--monuments of the Christian Art,--of libraries--sanctuaries of Science--of historical monuments, the legitimate glory and pride of Human Genius;

"Whereas the German Government is guilty of the murder of thousands of persons, men, women and children, by the sinking of merchant vessels--the Lusitania, for instance--by its submarine ships, without giving the notices required by International Law;

"Whereas from the very beginning of the war, the Allied Nations, England, France and Russia, have jointly agreed, in honour bound, to require, as the essential peace condition, the cessation by all the belligerent Powers of the crushing and ruinous militarism prevailing before the opening of the hostilities, by the fault of Germany's obstination to constantly strengthen her military organization both on land and sea;

"Considering that England and her Allies are struggling for the most venerable and sacred cause:--_outraged Justice_--; that, being a British Colony, _Canada is justly engaged in the present cruel and deplorable conflict, for the defence of the Right and the true Liberty of Nations; that our Canadian soldiers are valiantly fighting with those of England, France and Belgium for the great cause of sovereign importance--the protection of the world threatened by Germanism_;

"Considering that England, to which the political life of Canada is bound, and France, to which the French Canadians owe their national existence, _have to fight for sacred interests in a war of endurance_ requiring the incessant renewal of all the energies of the most ardent patriotism, the victims of which falling on the field of honour have the merit of giving their lives _for Justice_";

"Considering that, though wishing the restoration of peace as soon as possible, and earnestly praying Divine Providence to favour the world with the blessings of peace, more and more urgently needed after this a.s.sault of abominable barbarism against Christian Civilization lasting for the last four years, the Allies are absolutely unable to terminate the war by giving their consent to conditions which would not protect Humanity against the direst consequences of the militarism fastened by the German Empire on the Nations so anxious to bring it to an end;

"Be it "Resolved":--

"That this meeting approves of the free and patriotic decision of the Federal Parliament to have Canada to partic.i.p.ate in the so very Just War which England, France, Belgium, the United States and Italy are fighting against the German and Austrian Empires, allied in an effort to dominate the world;

"That this meeting's strong opinion is that, on account of the terrible crisis menacing the British Empire and Civilization, it was the bounden duty of Canada to intervene in the war for the safety of the Mother Country and her own, for the salvation of Liberty and _of the sacred cause of outraged Justice_;

"That this meeting desires to express her admiration and profound grat.i.tude for the braves who enlist in the grand army which the Canadian Parliament has ordered to be organized for the defence of the cause of the Allies, which is also that of the civilized world;

"That this meeting also concur in the opinion that Canada is in duty bound to continue to partic.i.p.ate in the present war until the final victory of the Allies, which will guarantee to the world a lasting peace and put an end to German militarism which has been the direct cause of so much dire misfortunes for Humanity."

The italics of the above draft "Resolution" are quoted from the writings and speeches of leaders of French Canadian Roman Catholics.

There was no need of calling meetings to adopt the preceding "Resolution" with its well defined preamble. It had been approved, in all its bearings, at the outset of the hostilities by the unanimous decision of the Canadian Parliament, by the almost unanimous consent of public opinion, by the religious, social, commercial, industrial and financial leaders of the country. It had been so approved by the four hundred thousand brave Canadians who rallied to the Colours; by the subscribers, by thousands, to the national war loans.

Since writing the above draft "Resolution", its full substance has been almost unanimously approved by the Canadian people in general elections, the two contending political parties entirely agreeing so far as the Justice of the cause of the Allies was concerned, differing only as to the best means for Canada to adopt to achieve final victory.

Without entering into any considerations respecting the divergence of the views of the leaders of political thought, in the still recent electoral campaign,--from which it is more advisable for me to abstain in the interest of the cause I am defending--I may be allowed to remark that only a small remnant of the "Nationalist" element dared to reaffirm his hostility to Canada's intervention in the conflict and to avow his opinion _that the country had done enough_.

What did those irreconcilable "Nationalists"--so few in numbers as the event ultimately proved--mean by their a.s.sertion that _Canada had done enough for the war_? According to its literal wording, it must have signified that no more sacrifices should have been incurred for the triumph of the Allied cause. If it was so, the conclusion to be drawn from such sayings was that, to put an end to any further Canadian contributions, orders should be given to bring back the Canadian Army from Europe, and to send home all the forces still on Canadian soil. It is plain that even if the new Canadian Parliament had decided not to increase our contribution of man-power, in order to maintain the efficiency of the Canadian divisions at the front, large sacrifices would have had to be made to keep on the theatre of war the forces which were still in the field.

To refuse to partic.i.p.ate in the war would have been deserting the flag at the hour of danger, and a total misconception of our plain duty.

Giving up the fight, once engaged in the struggle, before triumphant victory, or irremediable defeat, in the very thick of the battle so heroically carried on by the Allies, would have been sheer cowardice--bolchevikism of the worst kind.

Whether they meant it or not, those few "Nationalists" dared not openly propose the recall of our troops. The solitary "Nationalist" candidate who had the nerve to face the electorate was defeated by a very large majority.

No better proof of the weakness of the hold of the doctrines of "Nationalism," on sound public opinion, is required than the decision of its most outspoken advocate and leader, Mr. Boura.s.sa, to refrain from being a candidate in any const.i.tuency, and to advise all his supposed friends to do likewise. No one was deceived, with regard to this decision, by the reasons, or rather excuses, given to explain it.

Evidently, if the "Nationalist" group and their leader had been confident of the support of the large number of electors whose opinion they pretended to represent, they would certainly not have lost the chance to show their strength, and the opportunity to elect many candidates of their persuasion to enter Parliament free from any party allegiance but that of their own element. But any one somewhat posted with the currents of public opinion in the Province of Quebec, knew very well that if pure "Nationalist" candidates had been nominated in all the const.i.tuencies of the Province, running between the regular party nominees,--ministerial and opposition--the average number of ballots cast for them would scarcely have reached ten per cent. of the French Canadian votes, less than two per cent. of the whole Canadian electorate.

It was moreover highly probable that, had they tried the game, they would not have even succeeded, in two-thirds of the const.i.tuencies, in inducing citizens of sufficient standing to accept their nomination and their political program. Once engaged in such a hopeless electoral contest, they would have had either to humbly retire from the field, or to await the doomed day by nominating men of no weight whatever. Both alternatives would have led them to an equally disastrous defeat.

UNJUST "NATIONALIST" GRIEVANCES AGAINST ENGLAND.

At the end of the very first page of Mr. Boura.s.sa's pamphlet, ent.i.tled:--_What do we owe England_?--in French:--Que devons-nous a l'Angleterre?,--The following lines are found:--(_Translation._)

British Imperialism, in its concrete and practical form, can be defined in ten words: =the active partic.i.p.ation by the Colonies in the wars of England=. It is almost precisely the definition I gave of it as early as the days of the African war. It is exact.

Considered from a larger point of view, from its profound causes and far reaching consequences, British Imperialism calls for a more ample definition. Its object is to have Great Britain dominate the world by means of the organization and concentration of all the Military Forces of the Empire--both Sea and Land Forces--; it means the gradual annihilation, or at least the enslaving of all the divers nationalities const.i.tuting the British Empire, in order to bring about the World's supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, of her thoughts, of her language, of her political conceptions, of her commerce and her wealth. Its object is to crush all compet.i.tions, all internal and external oppositions. It is the German Ideal; it is the Roman Ideal. It is the Imperialism of all countries, at all times, enlarged to the limits of the monstrous pretensions of Pan-Anglo-Saxonism.

All the propositions of the above quotation do not bear, for one single instant, the light of historical research, of reason, even of common sense.

I challenge Mr. Boura.s.sa, and any one else, to read the speeches and the writings of all those who have studied the great question of the future of the British Empire, and to detect therein one single word to justify the a.s.sertion _that the organization and concentration of all the Military Forces of the Empire have for their object to help England to dominate the world_.

I have already abundantly proved that England never aspired to dominate the world. I answered Mr. Boura.s.sa's unfounded propositions as follows:--

1--I will surely be allowed to say that for nearly the last fifty years, I have done my best efforts to keep myself well informed with the opinions expressed by the most authorized political men of the Mother Country--of all parties--by the most renowned publicists, by the most distinguished writers of the great English press. I have yet to read one sentence leading me to suppose that the mind of any one of them was haunted by the foolish hope of Great Britain's domination of the world.

Many of them have spoken and written to persuade their countrymen of the growing urgency to consider the most effective measures to be adopted to defend the Empire, in view of the efforts of other nations--notably Germany--to strengthen their military organizations. No one advised them to incur the most heavy sacrifices _in order to dominate the world_.

They had too much political sense to believe that such a ridiculous scheme could ever be carried out.

2--What the "Nationalist" leader calls British Imperialism never had for its objective _the gradual suppression, or at least the enslaving of the divers nationalities const.i.tuting the British Empire_.

Such an a.s.sertion is nothing less than a stroke of the imagination which recent history utterly refutes, proving, as it does, the very reverse, as follows:--

A--The creation, by Imperial Charters, of the great autonomous federal Canadian, Australian, South African Dominions.

B--The federal system adopted for the Dominion of Canada purposely for the protection of the French Canadians whose special interests are entrusted to the Legislature of the Province of Quebec.

C--The South African Union Charter is the guarantee of the Boers'

control of the future of that vast stretch of country, by means of the two fundamental principles of the British const.i.tutional system:--government by the majority combined with ministerial responsibility.

No Empire in the world grants as large a measure of freedom as the British Empire does, to the various national groups living under the protection of her flag.

3--British Imperialism, contrary to Mr. Boura.s.sa's a.s.sertion, was never deluded by the wild dream _of a world wide supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, of her thoughts, of her language, of her political conceptions, of her commerce and her wealth_.

Surely, I have yet to learn that Great Britain has dreamt, and is dreaming, to impose _by Force_ her "mentality," her language, her political inst.i.tutions to China, to j.a.pan, to Russia, to France, to all the South American Republics, to Italy, to Spain, to Germany, to Austria-Hungary, to Turkey, &c., which, considered as a whole, represent, any one must admit, a pretty large part of the universe.

4--Mr. Boura.s.sa's a.s.sertion that England aspires to dominate the world, _economically_, _commercially_, is most positively contradicted by the history of the last eighty years. Who does not know--and I cannot for a moment suppose that Mr. Boura.s.sa ignores it--that, nearly a century ago, Great Britain, finally rallied in favour of a Free Trade Policy, has opened her market free to the products of all the nations of the world. Is that not a rather strange way of aspiring to an economical domination! And whilst all the countries of the earth, the British colonies as well as foreign nations, can freely sell their goods in the British market, they protect their own markets by high customs duties--in some cases almost prohibitive--against British goods.

National commercial statistics are opened to the "Nationalist" leader's perusal as to any one else. If he had referred to them, he would have learned that the Foreign Trade of Great Britain, in 1913, the year preceding the outbreak of the war, amounted to $7,017,775,335; exports were valued at $3,174,101,630; imports totalized $3,843,673,695, exceeding the exports by the large amount of $669,572,065.

By looking at the figures, Mr. Boura.s.sa would only have had to call upon his common sense to draw the conclusion that England was certainly not moving along an easy road to the commercial domination of the world by maintaining a policy resulting in an import trade larger, by an annual average of nearly twenty per cent., than her exportations.

Before the war, Germany, by rapid strides, had succeeded in attaining the second rank amongst the great trading nations, coming next after Great Britain. In the same year--1913--her Foreign Trade totalized $5,351,500,000, divided as follows:--Imports $2,801,675,000; exports $2,549,825,000.

The really wonderful industrial and commercial expansion of Germany, during the last forty years previous to the war, offered another opportunity to Mr. Boura.s.sa to show his spite against Great Britain. He would have been sorry not to make the best of it. Calling into play his fertile imagination, he unhesitatingly charged England with deep rooted jealousy of Germany's trade success and the guilty intent to crush it out of existence.

To this absurd a.s.sertion--not using the word offensively, being always determined to be courteous in any discussion I engage--I answered by quoting the figures of the reciprocal relative external British and German trade. In 1913, Great Britain sold to Germany goods to the amount of $203,385,150, and bought German products for a total value of $402,055,285. Great Britain's exports to Germany were then only about fifty per cent of her imports from the same market. It is indeed difficult to detect in such trade relations between two nations any sign of the intent, on the part of the country buying from the other double the value of her sales to her, to dominate her people commercially.

Any one knowing all the circ.u.mstances and the causes that imposed upon Great Britain the duty of taking part in the European struggle, cannot help being shocked at Mr. Boura.s.sa's accusation _that England has incidentally been brought into the conflict only through the frantic desire of her business men to use it to crush the commercial compet.i.tion of Germany_. No serious men could have entertained such strange notions.

And the "Nationalist" leader certainly charged the political leaders and the business community of England with sheer madness.

With all right minded men, the world over, I have long ago reached the sound conclusion that universal economical domination is only a chimerical idea absolutely outside of all possible realization. England does not indulge in any such extravagant dream, being too well aware how vain it would be.

May I ask my readers--and Mr. Boura.s.sa has been one of them,--to join with me in a short general review of the economical progress of the world, in its broadest lines, rising, for this purpose, as should be done in all cases, superior to all national and local prejudices. A grand natural scenery is always better appreciated from the mountain top. Equally so, questions of universal import must be considered from the heights of the n.o.blest principles inspiring the Christian desire to promote the general good of Mankind. Considered from this elevated standpoint, very short-sighted indeed is the man who fails to see THAT THE ECONOMICAL PROGRESS OF THE WORLD, AGRICULTURALLY, INDUSTRIALLY, COMMERCIALLY, IS BOUND UP WITH INTELLIGENT, ENERGETIC AND PERSEVERING LABOUR; THAT IT IS THE OUTCOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS OF ALL THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION, TO THE CONSTANT INCREASED PERFECTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL ARTS, TO THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF CAPITAL, ACc.u.mULATED BY JUDICIOUS SAVINGS. It is bound with the improvement of means of transportation by land and sea; with the much enlarged facilities of the exchange of all kinds of products; with the superior management,--the result of a much wider experience--of all the inst.i.tutions distributing credit; with the energetic development of all the resources which generous Providence has profusely provided the earth for the good of Humanity. It is more than useless to expect economical progress from disastrous armed conflicts which, in the course of a few years, nay, only a few months, destroy the acc.u.mulated wealth of many years of incessant labour.