CHAPTER XIX

Moved by G. R. R. Cockburn, Esq., M.P., seconded by H. J. Wickham:1. That the Executive Committee having had brought to its notice telegrams from England published during the past week in the daily papers stating that the Council of the League in England contemplated carrying resolutions tending towards its dissolution, would ask (as it conceives it has the right to do) to be advised at once of any steps proposed to be taken in that direction.2. The Canadian Branch of the League was formed at a meeting held in Montreal on the 9th May, 1885. At that meeting the resolutions passed at the Conference held in London on the 29th July, 1884, and at the inaugural meeting of the League held on the 18th November, 1884, were accepted, and a resolution was then carried forming a Canadian Branch of the League, to be called the Imperial Federation League in Canada.3. Among the resolutions of the League in England so accepted were the following:—(1) That the object of the League be to secure by federation the permanent unity of the Empire.(2) That British subjects throughout the Empire be invited to become members and to form and organise branches of the League which may place their representatives on the general committee.4. Canada then was, and is to-day, face to face with momentous questions involving its whole political future. The Earl of Rosebery then and until recently President of the League, in a speech at Edinburgh on the 31st October, 1888, quoted from a speech delivered in the American Senate by Senator Sherman these words:“I am anxious to bring about a public policy that will make more intimate our relations with theDominion of Canada. Anything that will tend to the union of Canada with the United States will meet with my most hearty support. I want Canada to be part of the United States. Within ten years from this time (and I ask your particular attention to this), within ten years from this time the Dominion of Canada will, in my judgment, be represented either in the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, or in the Congress of the United States.” Such language he thought worthy of attention, and then Lord Rosebery went on to say: “My plan is this: to endeavour so to influence public opinion at home and in the Colonies that there shall come an imperious demand from the people of this country, both at home and abroad, that this federation should be brought about.”5. To bring about a solution of the questions above indicated on the lines laid down by Lord Rosebery has been, since the formation of the Canadian Branch and up to this time, its constant and anxious care, and many of its members have, at great personal sacrifice, devoted themselves to securing the permanent unity of the Empire, with Canada as an integral part.6. Much work has been done, but much more remains to be done. The most enthusiastic of our members would be unable to say that the objects of the League have been accomplished, or that the question above referred to especially affecting Canada has as yet been solved.7. The dissolution of the League in England would therefore be nothing less than the desertion of the Canadian Branch at a critical period in its history, and would further appear necessarily to involve the destruction of the Leagues branches both in Canada and elsewhere. To those at least who are unfriendly to our aims, it will seem that the great cause, of which this branch may without exaggeration be said to bethe representative in Canada, has received a heavy blow indeed at the hands of its friends.8. Under these circumstances the Council of the League in England will, this committee is convinced, appreciate the necessity and propriety of consulting the Canadian Branch of the League, and of duly notifying the members resident in Canada, of the Executive Committee and of the Council of the League in England, before taking any such step as that above referred to, a step to which this committee has seen the first and only reference in the public Press.

Moved by G. R. R. Cockburn, Esq., M.P., seconded by H. J. Wickham:

1. That the Executive Committee having had brought to its notice telegrams from England published during the past week in the daily papers stating that the Council of the League in England contemplated carrying resolutions tending towards its dissolution, would ask (as it conceives it has the right to do) to be advised at once of any steps proposed to be taken in that direction.

2. The Canadian Branch of the League was formed at a meeting held in Montreal on the 9th May, 1885. At that meeting the resolutions passed at the Conference held in London on the 29th July, 1884, and at the inaugural meeting of the League held on the 18th November, 1884, were accepted, and a resolution was then carried forming a Canadian Branch of the League, to be called the Imperial Federation League in Canada.

3. Among the resolutions of the League in England so accepted were the following:—

(1) That the object of the League be to secure by federation the permanent unity of the Empire.

(2) That British subjects throughout the Empire be invited to become members and to form and organise branches of the League which may place their representatives on the general committee.

4. Canada then was, and is to-day, face to face with momentous questions involving its whole political future. The Earl of Rosebery then and until recently President of the League, in a speech at Edinburgh on the 31st October, 1888, quoted from a speech delivered in the American Senate by Senator Sherman these words:

“I am anxious to bring about a public policy that will make more intimate our relations with theDominion of Canada. Anything that will tend to the union of Canada with the United States will meet with my most hearty support. I want Canada to be part of the United States. Within ten years from this time (and I ask your particular attention to this), within ten years from this time the Dominion of Canada will, in my judgment, be represented either in the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, or in the Congress of the United States.” Such language he thought worthy of attention, and then Lord Rosebery went on to say: “My plan is this: to endeavour so to influence public opinion at home and in the Colonies that there shall come an imperious demand from the people of this country, both at home and abroad, that this federation should be brought about.”

5. To bring about a solution of the questions above indicated on the lines laid down by Lord Rosebery has been, since the formation of the Canadian Branch and up to this time, its constant and anxious care, and many of its members have, at great personal sacrifice, devoted themselves to securing the permanent unity of the Empire, with Canada as an integral part.

6. Much work has been done, but much more remains to be done. The most enthusiastic of our members would be unable to say that the objects of the League have been accomplished, or that the question above referred to especially affecting Canada has as yet been solved.

7. The dissolution of the League in England would therefore be nothing less than the desertion of the Canadian Branch at a critical period in its history, and would further appear necessarily to involve the destruction of the Leagues branches both in Canada and elsewhere. To those at least who are unfriendly to our aims, it will seem that the great cause, of which this branch may without exaggeration be said to bethe representative in Canada, has received a heavy blow indeed at the hands of its friends.

8. Under these circumstances the Council of the League in England will, this committee is convinced, appreciate the necessity and propriety of consulting the Canadian Branch of the League, and of duly notifying the members resident in Canada, of the Executive Committee and of the Council of the League in England, before taking any such step as that above referred to, a step to which this committee has seen the first and only reference in the public Press.

Not long afterwards we learned that a small faction, principally those who had managed to destroy the League, had formed a new organisation, had taken over the office, appropriated the records, lists of members, subscription list, &c., and adopted the same trade mark or title cover used for pamphlets. They also assumed the name “Imperial Federation (Defence) Committee,” and began circulating literature, pamphlets, fly-sheets, &c., all pointing out the shortcomings of the Colonies, and demanding cash contributions to the Army and Navy. This was done in a spirit that aroused a good deal of hostile feeling in Canada, and did much more harm than good to the cause they seemed to advocate. Had they desired to destroy the movement in Canada, they could not have taken more effective steps to secure that result.

This intrigue has been the most puzzling circumstance connected with the history of the Imperial Federation movement. I have never been able, even after the most careful inquiry, to reach with confidence the real cause of such peculiar conduct. At one time I thought that as Lord Rosebery had become Premier the existence of the League might have becomeembarrassing to him, and that he had been in favour of doing away with it, but Dr. Parkin assured me that this could not be, as Lord Rosebery referred to the question some years after when Dr. Parkin was his guest at Mentmore, and asked him why the League was dissolved, and Lord Rosebery said that he regretted its dissolution very much and could never understand it.

My own impression, although it is, of course, not capable of proof, has always been that a few free traders on the committee were alarmed at the progress the Canadian members were making in spreading views in favour of preferential tariffs, and in reference to which Sir Charles Tupper had been rather aggressive.

The destruction of the League would have been useless unless steps were taken to prevent its revival, and to destroy, if possible, the League in Canada. Hence the adoption of the name, address, trade mark, etc., under which to flood Canada with publications tending to arouse great hostility among our people. This was the condition in which I found affairs only about ten months after I had been elected President. The outlook was most discouraging, and caused a great deal of anxious discussion among the stalwarts in Toronto. We decided to summon a meeting of our most influential men to consider the situation, and decide whether we also should dissolve, or whether we would continue the struggle.

The meeting was held on the 3rd January, 1894, and after full discussion it was decided to fight on, and with the assistance of Sir John Lubbock, who had sent a communication to us asking us to co-operate with him, to endeavour to resuscitate the League in England.

The ninth annual meeting of the Imperial Federation League in Canada was held in the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, on the 29th May, 1894, and in the notices of motion printed in the circular calling the meeting was one by Lt.-Col. Wm. O’Brien, M.P., as follows:

Resolved, that the first step towards arriving at a system of preferential trade within the Empire should be for the Government of Canada to lower the customs duties now imposed upon goods imported from the United Kingdom.

And another to the same effect by Rev. Principal George M. Grant:

Resolved, that this League is of opinion that as a first step towards arriving at a system of preferential trade within the Empire, the Government of Canada should lower the Customs duties now imposed on goods manufactured in and imported from Great Britain.

These notices exactly foreshadowed the policy adopted by Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s Government in 1897.

Another resolution was carried to the effect that a delegation should be elected by the Executive Committee to confer personally with the City of London Branch and similar organisations, and agree upon a common course of future action. Accordingly on the 6th June, 1894, the Executive Committee appointed “Colonel G. T. Denison President, Larratt W. Smith, Esq., Q.C., LL.D., President Toronto Branch, George E. Evans, Esq., Hon. Secretary of the League in Canada, John T. Small, Esq., Hon. Treasurer, H. J. Wickham, Esq., Chairman of the Organising Committee, J. L. Hughes, Esq., J. M. Clark, Esq., andProfessor Weldon, M.P., to be the delegation, with power to add to their number.” Messrs. Clark, Small, and Weldon were unable to act, and Sir Charles Tupper, then High Commissioner, Lord Strathcona, and Lt.-Col. Septimus Denison, Secretary and Treasurer of the London Ontario Branch, were added to the delegation.

This was the turning point of the movement, and led to the organisation of the British Empire League and the continuance of the struggle for Imperial consolidation. The account of this mission, its work in England, and the subsequent proceedings of the new League, and the progress of the movement for Imperial Unity during the succeeding years, will be dealt with in the following chapters.

I left for England on the 27th June 1894, arrived in London on the 9th July, and at once called upon Sir John Lubbock, M.P., now Lord Avebury. I breakfasted with him on the 13th, when we thoroughly discussed the whole question. I pressed upon him the urgent need there was that we should have a head office in England, and how important the movement was in order to spread and maintain the Imperial sentiment in Canada. He was most sympathetic and friendly, and said that if it would be convenient for us he would gather a number of men favourable to the idea to meet us at his house a week later, on the 20th July. I wrote to the members of the delegation, and gathered them the day before at Lord Strathcona’s rooms on Dover Street, and secured the attendance of Sir Charles Tupper, who was then High Commissioner for Canada, and also a member of our League, and we added him to the committee. We discussed our policy at considerable length, and arranged to meet at Sir John Lubbock’s in St. James’s Square the following morning at eleven a.m.

I happened to be breakfasting at the United Service Club that morning with Lord Roberts and General Nicholson, and Lord Roberts hearing that I was goingto Sir John Lubbock’s, said that he had been asked to attend the meeting, but had not intended to go. I prevailed upon him to accompany me.

Sir John Lubbock had a number of gentlemen to meet us, among whom were Sir Westby Percival, Agent-General for New Zealand, the Hon. T. A. Brassey, Messrs. C. Freeman Murray, W. Culver James, W. H. Daw, W. Becket Hill, Ralph Young, H. W. Marcus, and others. Sir John Lubbock was in the chair and Mr. Freeman Murray was secretary. As chairman of our deputation, I put our case before the meeting, following the lines agreed upon at the conference at Lord Strathcona’s rooms the day before. I spoke for about forty minutes, and naturally urged very strongly the importance of preferential trading throughout the Empire, as a practical means of securing a permanent unity, and I insisted that we should make the denunciation of the German-Belgian Treaties one of the definite objects of the League.

The City of London Branch had prepared a programme of a suggested constitution, which contained nearly all the clauses afterwards agreed upon as the constitution of the British Empire League. Our Canadian delegation accepted all their suggestions, but we insisted on a clause referring to the German and Belgian Treaties. Our English friends were evidently afraid of the bogey of Free Trade, and seemed to think that any expressed intention of doing away with the German and Belgian Treaties would prevent many free traders from joining the League. I urged our view strongly, and was ably assisted by speeches from Sir Charles Tupper, Lord Strathcona, and Sir Westby Percival. Our English friends still held out against us. At last I said that we had agreed with all they had advocated, had accepted all their suggestions, but that when we asked what we considered the most important and necessary point of all, the denunciation of the German and Belgian Treaties, we were met with unyielding opposition, that there was no object in continuing the discussion, and we would go home and report to our League that, even among our best friends, we could not get any support towards relieving us of restrictions that should never have been placed upon us. Mr. Becket Hill seeing the possibility of the meeting proving abortive, suggested an adjournment for a week. Mr. Herbert Daw immediately rose, and in a few vigorous sentences changed the tone. He said that the Canadians had agreed with them in everything, and that when they urged a very reasonable request they were not listened to. He said that was an unwise course to take, and urged that an attempt should be made to meet our views.

Sir John Lubbock then said: “Perhaps I can draw up a clause which will meet the wishes of our Canadian friends,” and he wrote out the following clause:

To consider how far it may be possible to modify any laws or treaties which impede freedom of action in the making of reciprocal trade arrangements between the United Kingdom and the colonies, or between any two or more British Colonies or possessions.

I said at once that we would accept that clause, provided it was understood that we of the Canadian Branch should have the right to agitate for that which we thought was the best, and the only way, probably, of unifying the empire. We claimed wewere to have the right to work for the denunciation of the treaties with the view of securing preferential tariffs around the Empire, and that in so doing we were not to be considered as violating the constitution of the League, although the central council was not to be responsible for the views of the Canadian Branch. That settled the matter at once, and the League was formed. Difficulty was found in deciding upon a name. We wished to retain the old name, but the arguments in favour of a change were so great that we yielded to the wishes of our English brethren. A number of names were suggested, most of them long and explanatory, when Mr. James L. Hughes suggested that as the object was the maintenance of the British Empire why not call the League simply “The British Empire League.” This appealed to all, and it was at once adopted, so that Mr. Hughes was the godfather of the League.

It was then arranged that a meeting of the old City of London branch of the Imperial Federation League should be called at the London Chamber of Commerce. It was held on the 26th July, when several of us addressed the meeting, and an organising committee was formed for undertaking the work of the reconstruction of the League. It consisted of the Canadian deputation and the following gentlemen: The Earl of Derby, Earl of Jersey, Earl of Onslow, Earl of Dunraven, Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar, Lord Brassey, Lord Tennyson, Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., Sir Algernon Borthwick, Bart., M.P., Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., Sir Westby Percival, Sir Fred Young, Major General Ralph Young, Lieut.-Colonel P. R. Innes, Dr. W. Culver James, Messrs. F. Faithful Begg, M.P., W. Herbert Daw, E. M. Headley, W. Becket Hill,Neville Lubbock, Herman W. Marcus, John F. Taylor, and Freeman Murray.

Addressing this meeting at some length, I endeavoured to show the importance of settling the North-West, as well as other portions of Canada, with a population of British people if possible, who would grow grain to supply the wants of the mother country. I stated that a preferential tariff against the United States would keep our people in Canada, and would cause settlers from Great Britain to make their homes in that country; and that in a very little time the North-West Territories would be occupied by a large population of loyal people, who would be devoted to the Empire, and would be able to supply all the bread-stuffs that England would require. In order to impress that upon the audience, I drew their attention to the fact that if England was engaged in a war with continental countries, say, for instance, Russia and France, it would cut off the supply of wheat from the former country; and that if hostilities were also to break out between the United States and England, it would confine the mother country’s wheat supply to India, Australia, and Canada; that the distance was so great that it would take an enormous naval force to keep the sea routes open, and that these would be constantly liable to attack and interruption unless England had absolute command of the sea.

I then went on to say that I was aware that there was a strong feeling in England that there was no possibility of a war with the United States, but warned the meeting that they must not rely upon that belief, and I quoted several facts to prove my view.

Within eighteen months the Venezuelan Message ofPresident Cleveland, followed as it was by the warlike approving messages to Mr. Cleveland from 42 out of the 45 Governors of States, proved how easily trouble might arise.

Mr. James L. Hughes also addressed this meeting, and we were strongly supported by a member of the Fair Trade League, who used some powerful arguments in favour of some steps being taken to improve the position of the “Food Supply.” He was answered by Mr. Harold Cox, Secretary of the Cobden Club, who said that my proposition was one that would abolish Free Trade, and substitute Protection for it. In spite of his appeal to the intense prejudice of the British people, at that time in favour of Free Trade, the idea of an Imperial Preferential tariff seemed to have considerable weight upon those who heard it expounded.

Lord Tennyson was present at the meeting and spoke to me afterwards, approving of much of my speech, but regretting I had spoken so freely about the United States. I replied that the very fact of his criticism was a strong proof of the necessity for my speaking out, and told him I would send him some publications which would enable him the better to appreciate our view. This I did. He has been a strong supporter of the British Empire League and acted on the Executive Committee from the first.

I addressed a large meeting at Hawick, Scotland, on the 17th August, 1894, and for the first time in Scotland advocated our Canadian policy. My friend Charles John Wilson organised the meeting. I spoke in much the same strain as in London. Although my remarks were well received it was evident that free trade opinion was paramount, and that I did not haveany direct support in the meeting. One member of the Town Council told me at the close that, while they were all free traders, yet I had given them food for thought for some time. At the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire held in London in July, 1906, my friend Mr. Charles John Wilson, who spoke at my meeting in Hawick in 1894, was a representative of the South of Scotland Chamber of Commerce, and made a powerful speech in favour of the Canadian resolution which endorsed Mr. Chamberlain’s policy of preferential tariff, and his Chamber of Commerce voted for it.

The organising committee appointed at the London meeting took a considerable time in arranging the details. Lord Avebury told me that he had considerable difficulty in getting a prominent outstanding man as President, and that the negotiations took up a great deal of time. He wished to secure the Duke of Devonshire, and he being very busy, could not give much time, and only agreed at length to take the position on the understanding that Sir Robert Herbert who, for many years had been the Permanent Under Secretary for the Colonies, and was about to be superannuated, should undertake to act as chairman of the Executive Committee and attend to the management of the League.

When all was arranged, a large meeting was held at the Mansion House on the 27th January, 1896, the Lord Mayor in the chair, and then the British Empire League was formally inaugurated, the constitution adopted, and a resolution, moved by Lord Avebury, carried:

That the attention of our fellow-countrymen throughout the Empire is invited to the recent establishmentof the British Empire League, and their support by membership and subscription is strongly recommended.

It may be mentioned that when our deputation reported to the League in Canada the arrangements we had agreed to, it was suggested that an addition should be made to the constitution by the insertion of what is now the second clause of it. “It shall be the primary object of the League to secure the permanent unity of the Empire.” This, of course, had been well understood, but the Canadian League desired it to be placed in the constitution in formal terms. The request was made to the committee in England, and it was at once acceded to.

A special general meeting of the Imperial Federation League in Canada was held in the Tower Room, House of Commons, Ottawa, on the 4th March, 1896, to consider the annual report of the Executive Committee, and the recommendation therein contained, that the League should change its name to that of the British Empire League in Canada, and affiliate with the British Empire League.

As President of the League I occupied the chair. Among those present were: Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., G.C.M.G.; Sir Donald Smith, K.C.M.G.; the Hon. Arthur R. Dickey, M.P.; Senators W. J. Almon, C. A. Boulton, John Dobson, Thomas McKay, Clarence Primrose, W. D. Perley, and Josiah Wood. The following members of Parliament: W. H. Bennett, G. F. Baird, T. D. Craig, G. R. R. Cockburn, Henry Cargill, George E. Casey, F. M. Carpenter, G. E. Corbould, Dr. Hugh Cameron, Emerson Coatsworth, D. W. Davis, Eugene A. Dyer, Thomas Earle, Charles Fairburn, W. T. Hodgins, A. Haslam, Major S. Hughes, DavidHenderson, Charles E. Kaulbach, J. B. Mills, A. C. Macdonald, J. H. Marshall, James Masson, J. A. Mara, W. F. Maclean, D’Alton McCarthy, G. V. McInerney, John McLean, H. F. McDougall, Major R. R. Maclennan, Alex. McNeill, W. B. Northrup, Lt.-Col. O’Brien, H. A. Powell, A. W. Ross, Dr. Thomas Sproule, J. Stevenson, William Smith, Lt.-Col. Tisdale, Thomas Temple, Lt.-Col. Tyrwhitt, Dr. N. W. White, R. C. Weldon, R. D. Wilmot, W. H. Hutchins, Major McGillivray, William Stubbs, J. G. Chesley, A. B. Ingram; and Messrs. S. J. Alexander, Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., N. F. Hagel, Q.C., James Johnston, Thomas Macfarlane, Archibald McGoun, C. C. McCaul, Q.C., Joseph Nelson, J. C. Pope, E. E. Sheppard, J. G. Alexander, J. Coates, Joseph Nelson, McLeod Stewart, R. W. Shannon, Major Sherwood, Major Clark, Dr. Kingsford, Dr. Beattie Nesbitt, Prof. Robertson, Dr. Rholston, Lt.-Col. Scoble, Captain Smith, George E. Evans (Hon. Secretary), and others.

I moved the adoption of the annual report, which contained a copy of the constitution of the British Empire League, and recommended that the Canadian League be affiliated with that body.

As to the question of changing the name of the League, I said:

That the Canadian delegation had urged the retention of the name Imperial Federation League, but the arguments in favour of the change were so great that we felt we had to yield to the wishes of our English brethren. The word Federation was objected to by some, and there is no doubt that to attempt to prepare a fixed and written constitution for a federated Empire, with all its divergent interests, would be a very difficult thing to do. If a dozen of the very ablestmen in all the Empire were to devote any amount of time and their greatest energies to prepare a scheme for such a federation, and succeeded in making one practical and workable under existing conditions, might not ten or twenty years so change the conditions as to make a fixed written constitution very embarrassing and unsuitable? Such a method is not in accord with the genius of the British Constitution. The British Constitution is unwritten; it has “broadened down from precedent to precedent,” always elastic, always adapting itself to changing conditions. So should the idea of British unity be carried out. Let us work along the lines of least resistance. The memorial included in the report urges a conference to consider the trade question. A conference might arrange some plan to carry out that one idea; in a year or two another conference could be called to consider some other point of agreement. Soon these conferences would become periodical. Soon a committee would be appointed to carry out the wishes of the conferences in the periods between the meetings; and then you would have an Imperial Council, and Imperial Federation would have become evolved in accordance with the true genius of the Anglo-Saxon race. Let us take one step at a time, and we shall slowly but surely realise our wishes.

These remarks outlined the policy that the Executive Committee had agreed upon, and foreshadowed much that has since occurred.

Mr. Alexander McNeill seconded the adoption of the report, which was carried unanimously.

Sir Charles Tupper then moved the first resolution:

Whereas the British Empire League has been formally inaugurated in London with practically the same objects in view as the Imperial Federation League, this meeting expresses its sympathy and concurrence therewith, and resolves that hereafter the Imperial Federation League in Canada shall be a branch of the British Empire League, and shall be known and described as the British Empire League in Canada.

In his speech he gave a short sketch of the progress of the old League, and pointed out that it was an important fact that this organisation had committed itself to the policy of removing the obstruction to preferential trade with Great Britain which existed through the treaties with Belgium and Germany.

Mr. D’Alton McCarthy seconded the resolution. He also spoke of the work of the old League which he had founded in Canada, and of which he was the first President. He said:

That no mistake was made in forming the League, because at that time, twelve years ago, the feeling was towards independence or annexation. The League did very much to divert public opinion in the direction in which it was now running. As to the treaties between Great Britain and other countries, he did not look upon them as an obstruction but as an impediment. For his part he was prepared to do anything to advance Canadian trade relations with England at once, without postponing it until those treaties were terminated by Great Britain.

This last sentence shows that at that time he was contemplating the adoption of the policy of a British Preference, which I believe in the following year, with Principal Grant’s assistance, he succeeded in inducing Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his Government to adopt.

The constitution, by-laws and rules for the governance of branches were then adopted, and the work of the old Imperial Federation League in Canada has since been carried on under the name of “The British Empire League in Canada.”

I have always felt that this success of our mission to England was most important in its result, or at least that its failure would have been very unfortunate. The collapse of the Imperial Federation League had disheartened the leading Imperialists very much, and the deputation to England was an effort to overcome what was a very serious set back. Had we been obliged to come home and report that we could get no one in Great Britain sufficiently interested to work with us, it would necessarily have broken up our organisation in Canada, and the movement in favour of the organisation of the Empire, and a commercial union of its parts, would have been abandoned by the men who had done so much to arouse an Imperial sentiment. The effect of this would have been widespread. Our opponents were still at work, and many of the Liberal party were still very lukewarm on the question of Imperial unity.

Our success, on the other hand, encouraged the loyalists, and led the politicians of both sides to believe that the sentiment in favour of the unity of the Empire was an element to be reckoned with. Sir John Macdonald had made his great appeal to the loyalty of Canada in 1891, and had carried the elections, the ground having been prepared by the work of the League for years before. The general election was coming on in 1896, and it was most important that the Imperial sentiment should not be considered dead.

After Sir John’s death the Conservative party suffered several severe losses in the deaths of Sir John Abbott and Sir John Thompson, and in the revolt of a number of ministers against Sir Mackenzie Bowell, who had been appointed Prime Minister. Theparty had been in power for about eighteen years, and was moribund, many barnacles were clinging to it. My brother, Lt.-Col. Fred Denison, M.P., was a staunch conservative, and a strong supporter of the Government, but for a year before his death, that is during the last year of the Conservativerégime, he privately expressed his opinion to me that, although he could easily carry his own constituency, yet that throughout the country the Government would be defeated, and he also said he hoped they would. He was of the opinion that his party had been in long enough, and that it was time for a change; and he held that the success of the Liberals at that time with their accession to office, and the responsibilities thus created, would at once cause them to drop all their coquetting with the United States, and would naturally lead them to be thoroughly loyal to a country which they themselves were governing.

About the 1st January, 1896, President Cleveland issued his Venezuelan message in reference to a dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela. It was couched in hostile terms, and was almost insolent in its character. Among European nations it would have been accepted almost as a declaration of war. This was approved of by the United States as a whole. Nearly all the Governors of States (forty-two out of forty-five was, I believe, the proportion) telegraphed messages of approval to President Cleveland, and many of them offered the services of the militia of their States, to be used in an invasion of Canada. This aroused the feeling of our people in an extraordinary degree, and in all Canada the newspapers sounded a loyal and determined note. I was anxious about several papers which had opposed us, and had even advocated independence or annexation, but indignant at the absolute injustice of the proposed attack upon Canada they came out more vehemently than any. TheNorfolk Reformerstruck a loyal, patriotic, and manly note, while Mr. Daniel McGillicuddy of theHuron Signal, who used to attack me whenever he was short of a subject, was perhaps more decided than any. He said in his paper that he had always been friendly to the United States and always written on their behalf, but when they talked of invading the soil of Canada, they would find they would meet a loyal and determined people who would crowd to the frontier to the strains of “The Maple Leaf Forever” and would die in the last ditch, but would never surrender. Mr. McGillicuddy had served in the Fenian raid in the Militia, and all his fighting blood was aroused. This episode of the Venezuela message ended the annexation talk everywhere, and Mr. McGillicuddy has been for years a member of the Council of the British Empire League.

I had but little influence myself in political matters, but I had great confidence in Sir Oliver Mowat and the Hon. George W. Ross, and among my friends I urged that they should be induced to enter Dominion politics, as their presence among the Liberal leaders would give the people of Ontario a confidence which in 1891 had been much shaken in reference to the loyalty of the Liberal opposition. I was much pleased to find that before the election in 1896, arrangements were made that Sir Oliver Mowat was to leave the Ontario Premiership, and support Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the Senate.

In the early spring of 1896, while the Conservative Government were still in power, I wrote to LordSalisbury and told him what I thought would happen, first that the Conservatives would be defeated, and secondly that the Liberals, when they came into power, would be loyal and true to the Empire, and that he need not be uneasy, from an Imperial point of view, on account of the change of Government. I knew that with Sir Oliver Mowat in the Cabinet everything would be right, and I felt that all the others would stand by the Empire.

In 1897, during the Jubilee celebration in London, I saw Lord Salisbury, and he was much gratified at the action of the Canadian Government in establishing the British Preference, and said that they had been anxious about the attitude of the Liberal party, until Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s first speeches in the House after his accession to office. I laughingly said, “You need not have been anxious, for I wrote telling you it would be all right and not to be uneasy.” His reply was, “Yes, I know you did, but we thought you were too sanguine.”

As soon as the new Government were sworn in, we endeavoured to press our views of preferential tariffs upon them, D’Alton McCarthy and Principal George M. Grant exerting themselves on that behalf, and during the autumn of 1896 a deputation of the Cabinet consisting of the Hon. Wm. Fielding, Hon. Sir Richard Cartwright, and the Hon. Wm. Patterson travelled through the country inquiring of the Boards of Trade and business men as to their views on the question of revision of the tariff.

Our League naturally took advantage of this opportunity to press our views upon the Government, and urged Mr. Fielding and his colleagues very earnestly to take steps to secure a system of preferential tariffs.A curious incident occurred on this occasion that is worth recording. While our deputation were sitting in the Board of Trade room in Toronto waiting our turn to be heard, a manufacturer was pressing the interests of his own business upon the Ministers. It was amusing to hear him explain how he wanted one duty lowered here, and another raised there, and apparently wanted the tariff system arranged solely for his own benefit. There was such a narrow, selfish spirit displayed that we listened in amazement that any man should be so callously selfish. Mr. Fielding thought he had a good subject to use against us, so he said to the man, “Suppose we lower the duty say one-third on these articles you make, how would that affect you?” “It would destroy my business and close my factory.” “Then,” said Mr. Fielding, “here is a deputation from the British Empire League waiting to give their views after you, and I am sure they will want me to give Great Britain a preference.” The man became excited at once, he closed up his papers and in vehement tones said, “If that is what you are going to do, that is right. I am an Imperial Federationist clear through. Do that, and I am satisfied.” “But what will you do?” said Mr. Fielding. “It will ruin your business.” “Never mind me,” he replied, “I can go into something else, preferential tariffs will build up our Empire and strengthen it, and I will be able to find something to do.” “I am an Imperialist,” he said with great emphasis as he went out.

I turned to someone near me and said, “I must find out who that man is, and I will guarantee he has United Empire Loyalist blood in his veins.” He proved to be a Mr. Greey, a grandson of John William Gamble, who was a member of a very distinguished UnitedEmpire Loyalist family. I am sure this incident must have had some influence upon Mr. Fielding, as an illustration of the deep-seated loyalty and Imperialism of a large element of the Upper Canadian population.

The members of our League were delighted with the action of the Government in the Session of 1897, in establishing a preference in our markets in favour of British goods. It will be remembered that we had been disappointed in our hope that Lord Salisbury would have denounced the Treaties in 1892, when the thirty years for which they were fixed would expire, but five years more had elapsed and nothing had been done. I believe the plan adopted by our Government had been suggested by Mr. D’Alton McCarthy, our former President, and in order to get over the difficulty about the German and Belgian Treaties, the preference was not nominally given to Great Britain at all, but was a reduction of duty to all countries which allowed Canadian exports access to their markets on free trade terms. This of course applied at once to Great Britain and one of the Australian Colonies (New South Wales). All other nations, including Germany and Belgium, would not get the preference unless they lowered their duties to a level with the duties levied by Great Britain. The preference was first fixed at one-eighth of the duty just to test the principle.

Shortly after this was announced in our Commons, Kipling, who saw at once the force of it, published his striking poem “Our Lady of the Snows,” which emphasised the fact that Canada intended to manage her own affairs:

Daughter am I in my mother’s house,But mistress in mine own.The gates are mine to openAs the gates are mine to close,And I set my house in orderSaid Our Lady of the Snows.. . . . . . .

Daughter am I in my mother’s house,But mistress in mine own.The gates are mine to openAs the gates are mine to close,And I set my house in orderSaid Our Lady of the Snows.

. . . . . . .

Another strong point was illustrated in the lines:

Favour to those I favourBut a stumbling block to my foes,Many there be that hate us,Said Our Lady of the Snows.. . . . . . .Carry the word to my sisters,To the Queens of the East and the South,I have proved faith in the heritageBy more than the word of the mouth.They that are wise may followEre the world’s war trumpet blows,But I, I am first in the battle,Said Our Lady of the Snows.

Favour to those I favourBut a stumbling block to my foes,Many there be that hate us,Said Our Lady of the Snows.

. . . . . . .

Carry the word to my sisters,To the Queens of the East and the South,I have proved faith in the heritageBy more than the word of the mouth.They that are wise may followEre the world’s war trumpet blows,But I, I am first in the battle,Said Our Lady of the Snows.

This poem pointed out to Great Britain that Canada had waited long enough for the denunciation of treaties which never should have been made, and which were an absolutely indefensible restriction on the great colonies.

At a meeting of the council of the British Empire League in Canada held in May a week or two after the Annual Meeting in Ottawa, a resolution was passed:

That the President and those members of the Canadian Branch who are members of the Council of the League in England be hereby appointed a deputation (with power to add to their number) from the League in Canada to the League in the United Kingdom; and that they be instructed to lay before the members of the Parent League the views of the Canadian Branch on matters of national moment, such as the organisation of a Royal Naval Reserve in the colonies, and also to express their opinion that, as a guarantee of the general safety of the Empire, vigoroussteps should at once be taken to provide that the British food supply should be grown within the Empire.

The deputation consisted of the following: The Hon. R. R. Dobell, M.P., George R. Parkin, J. M. Clark, A. McNeill, M.P., Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., John T. Small, Sir Sandford Fleming, K.C.M.G., Lieut.-Colonel George T. Denison, D’Alton McCarthy, Q.C., M.P., Lord Strathcona, H. H. Lyman and J. Herbert Mason.

I left for England via Montreal on the 31st May, 1897, and expected to arrive in Liverpool a day or two before Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was to sail some days later from New York on a fast ship. We were delayed for some days by fogs, and did not arrive in Liverpool till after Sir Wilfrid Laurier had left that place. He had arrived in the old world for the first time of his life, and at once fell into the hands of the Liverpool merchants and business men, at that time generally free traders. He had not a colleague with him and naturally was affected by the atmosphere in which he found himself, and in his speech at the great banquet given by the British Empire League with the Duke of Devonshire in the chair, he made a few remarks in reference to preferential tariffs for which he was severely criticised at home. I joined the party at Glasgow two days later, and Sir Wilfrid, who seemed pleased to see me, had a long talk with me between Glasgow and Liverpool on the special train which took the party down. On the following morning the Liverpool papers had cables from Canada giving an account of the discussion in the Canadian House of Commons over the cabled reports of Sir Wilfrid’s speech. He was attacked vehemently by AlexanderMcNeill, our champion in the House, on one point of his speech at Liverpool, and Sir Richard Cartwright and his colleagues, in defending Sir Wilfrid, did so on the ground that the reports of what he said could not be taken as correct, and asking the House to withhold comment until the full reports should be received. This was a desirable course to adopt, for cable despatches have so often conveyed inaccurate impressions.

The real secret of the trouble was that in the busy rush of his work as leader of the opposition, and then as Premier, Sir Wilfrid had not been able really to master the question, but he soon grasped the subject, and his later speeches were very effective. His reception by the British people was wonderfully favourable, and the impression he made upon them was remarkable. He stood out from all the other Premiers—and there were eleven in all—and he was everywhere the central and striking figure.

On the 5th July, 1897, a meeting of the British Empire League was held in the Merchant Taylors Hall. The Duke of Devonshire was in the chair and made an able speech welcoming the Premiers from the colonies. He was followed by Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon, Premier of New Zealand, Sir William Whiteway, Premier of Newfoundland, Mr. G. H. Reid, Premier of New South Wales, and Sir Edward Braddon, Premier of Tasmania. Sir Wilfred Laurier had not been able to attend, and as President of the League in Canada I was called upon to speak. As to the treaties, I said:

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