Chapter 29

The General Election of December 1917, passed quietly, making no change in the political situation, although there was a strong feeling in Quebec against conscription, which was the dominant issue in that province. On that question the Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King supported Sir Wilfrid Laurier in his opposition to compulsory service, being one of the few English Canadian Liberals to do so. In fact several of them had already joined Sir Robert Borden so that a Coalition Government could be formed. It was largely owing to Mr. King's support of Sir Wilfrid on this issue that the former was chosen to {468} succeed the latter as leader of the Liberal Party in the Convention held at Ottawa August 5-7, 1919. The country, however, was too intent on the struggle before it to worry about politics. If it did anything it placed Sir Robert Borden more firmly in power to carry on the task before him, especially endorsing the Military Service Act (Conscription) which had been passed on August 29, previously.

It is true that the people were stunned by the disasters which occurred in 1916 and 1917 when the Parliament Building at Ottawa was burned and Halifax was almost razed to the ground by the explosion resulting from the ramming of an ammunition ship. But outside of the great toll of life these losses could be repaired and were speedily made up in the erection of new Parliament Buildings and the creation of a more modern city of Halifax to dominate the entrance of the great highway from the East.

Early in the autumn of 1914, the Bank of England, realizing that it would be impossible for American firms to ship gold to London in payment of maturing indebtedness there, announced that deposits of gold by such firms with the Receiver-General at Ottawa would be regarded as if received by the Bank at London. Under this arrangement many million dollars of the precious metal were shipped to the Dominion Capital, where a Branch of the Royal Mint had already been established in January, 1908. The amount in the vaults at Ottawa during the war became almost twice the total amount held by British financial institutions in 1913. As part of it was raw gold, the Ottawa Branch of the Royal Mint {469} had to construct a new refinery in 1917 which had a refining capacity of one million ounces of fine gold per month. The Branch Mint had thus a larger capacity than any other Mint or gold refinery in the world. Shilling blanks were also produced for the Royal Mint in London as well as silver and bronze pieces for Newfoundland and nickel-copper pieces for Jamaica.

Later on the gold was returned to the United States when the British exchange became unfavourable owing to the huge purchases made in that country. Many Canadian business men at this time advocated a moratorium, but the Government steadfastly resisted such a suggestion until ultimately it was found unnecessary.

Financially, the Canadian people from 1915 to 1919 were not unmindful of their national obligations. Six domestic loans were issued during the war period amounting to 2,203 million dollars, while War Savings Certificates accounted for another 12 1/2 millions.

On the announcement of the Armistice in November, 1918, the Government with the same energy and foresight which characterised their entrance into the conflict, began to demobilise the army which they had sent overseas. Within six months the bulk of the men were back in their homes. The opportunity was then taken of offering to the returned men land grants and loans for the purchase of farming implements. Up to the end of 1920, over 3 1/2 million acres had been disposed of in this way. In the Western Provinces alone about one million acres of it are under cultivation {470} by returned men. As a result of this action, new careers have been provided for men whose love of outdoor life was stimulated by their military experience. It has at the same time opened up from virgin soil fresh tracts of rich, arable land. As for pensions, up to February, 1921, the Dominion has paid out 82 million dollars and her annual pension bill now represents over 33 million dollars. Truly Canada is a country "fit for heroes to live in."

All this, however, has been accomplished not without some internal difficulty. At Winnipeg in May, 1919, some thousands of workmen came out on strike for more pay, shorter hours, and the principle of collective bargaining. Rioting took place among some of the more disorderly elements. But after negotiation by the Hon. Arthur Meighen and a fellow minister, aided by strong measures on the part of the Mayor and ex-Service men, the rioters returned to work.

But the great work of construction and restoration has progressed. In September, 1917, the Quebec Cantilever Bridge, one of the engineering triumphs of the world, even larger than the famous Forth Bridge, was completed at a cost of 15 million dollars. The special importance of this structure is, that by connecting the Government railway lines on the south of the River St. Lawrence with those on the north, it shortens the distance between Halifax and Winnipeg by two hundred miles. The necessity for good roads has not been overlooked. Parliament authorised under the Canada Highways Act of 1919, a grant of 20 million dollars, {472} for the purpose of road construction and improvement. This sum allotted to the various provinces is granted on condition that the amount should be supplemented by the provinces themselves. The 250,000 miles of public highways will therefore be extended gradually but effectively in the future.

In the same year, there occurred the death at Ottawa of one whom Canada could ill afford to lose; a statesman whose prestige at home and abroad stood out on the pages of the Dominion's history. Nominally the leader of the Liberal Party, Sir Wilfrid Laurier was more than that. He was a great national figure. As a statesman of broad imperialistic views, as an orator of brilliant gifts, as a zealous guardian of all that he considered to be for Canada's best interest, he will rank high among the makers of the Empire.

Fortunately the visit of the Prince of Wales came at a time when the Dominion badly needed royal encouragement. Arriving in the late summer of 1919, he was enthusiastically received. As the Quebec Bridge had just been completed he formally opened it for traffic, and later on, as a good Mason, laid the foundation stone of the tower of the new Parliament Buildings at Ottawa. Becoming enamoured with the possibilities of the two new provinces in the Northwest, he purchased a ranch of 1,600 acres in Alberta, under the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, proceeded to stock it with horses and cattle of the best English pedigree, and engaged a number of ex-Service men to manage the property. If there had been any doubt in the minds of the western settlers about His Royal {473} Highness, this removed it. To-day east and west vie in acclaiming the present Heir-Apparent to the British throne with an affection as genuine as it is evident.

When the Dominion Government, owing to the exigencies of war, began to impose restriction on the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating liquors in Canada, the old question of Prohibition came to the fore again. It was remembered that a plebiscite in favour of it had been carried on September 29, 1898, but never taken advantage of by the Federal authorities; Temperance organizations throughout the country took it up, and in order to meet the popular clamour the various provincial Assemblies passed some form of legislation which resulted in the country going "dry." Quebec, however, has only agreed to an amendment of the Canada Temperance Act by which the Dominion Government can prohibit the importation of intoxicants, but cannot prevent the province from making and selling under Government control such wine, spirits or beer as the people may desire. British Columbia afterwards voted for Government control in October, 1920.

In July, 1920, after nine years of power laden with some of the heaviest responsibilities ever imposed upon a Canadian statesman, Sir Robert Borden was compelled to resign the premiership through ill health. His efforts for the autonomy of the Dominion, consistent with Empire unity, culminating in her inclusion as a separate and equal nation at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919, and the right to appoint her own Minister at Washington {474} will make for him a prominent place in the history of Canada.

The leadership of the Coalition Government which was elected in 1917 passed to the Hon. Arthur Meighen, who was Minister of the Interior in the Borden administration.

A year afterwards, having completed the full tenure of office, His Excellency the Governor-General, the Duke of Devonshire, returned to England, and was succeeded by General Lord Byng of Vimy, the hero of the Canadian soldiers in the war.

When the Annual Imperial Conference was called in July, 1921, the acting Premier, the Hon. Mr. Meighen, repaired to London to gain some insight into the many intricate problems which came before the Council. On his return home he decided that the political situation demanded a general election. In this, no doubt, he was influenced by the rise of a Progressive Party, or as it is better known, the United Farmers' Organisation.

Starting as a purely agrarian movement the U.F.O. became a co-operative society, finally growing into a strong political party in provincial and federal politics. Ontario and Alberta soon fell to their prowess, and it was thought that the same result would happen in the Dominion arena. The ideas advocated by the new third party were a more modified protection to home industries as opposed to the decidedly protectionist policy of the Coalition Government; opposition to the return of the Government controlled railways to {475} private ownership; stimulation of immigration along definite lines; and the creation of means whereby capital for production could be supplied to settlers on safe and sound lines.

Whether the Progressive party will continue to be a factor in Canadian politics is for the future to decide. The net result of the general election of 1921 was the almost complete disappearance of the Coalition party and the meagre election of the out and out Liberals under the Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King, who had been a minister in Sir Wilfrid's cabinet some ten years previously. The number of Progressives elected did not come up to the general expectation, but they represent a considerable number, in fact being second in strength to the party called upon to form the Government. Their leader, the Hon. T. A. Crerar, who had resigned from the Coalition Cabinet of Sir Robert Borden two years previously, is a leader of some force and ability. But Mr. King has surrounded himself with a cabinet of considerable Parliamentary experience, so there is every reason to expect that the Liberal Party will be in power for the usual life of a Parliamentary term.

Perhaps the most outstanding event of the year in which Canada was interested, was the Disarmament Conference at Washington, where she was represented by Sir Robert Borden. If it did anything, it certainly paved the way for saving billions of dollars by restricting the construction of capital ships, and in this Canada was no mean factor.

But before all, it is domestic problems which concern the Dominion particularly. No country {476} realises better than she does that it is coal and comfort which will attract settlers from the Motherland to till her fields, build up her factories and engage in the trade which makes a nation truly great. As Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba have no coal mines, "white coal" is a vital necessity. Not long ago the Dominion Water Power Branch took a census, and found that Canada has available nineteen million horse-power. Of this practically 90 per cent. of the Central Station power is derived from water power, 95 per cent. being in the above-named provinces, which have to import their coal supplies from other provinces and the United States. As far back as 1911 the Province of Ontario realised this, and began to arrange for the building of the Chippawa-Queenston Power Canal and plant, which represents an investment of almost a hundred million dollars. The plant will have a capacity of 650,000 horse-power, which will be distributed throughout Canada and possibly the neighbouring States, and will be an important addition to the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Transmission System which was inaugurated at Kitchener, Ontario, in October, 1911.

Elsewhere in the Dominion the fuel problem is being met by fresh discoveries. In the Mackenzie River district gushers of oil have been struck, in one case producing a flow at the rate of 1,000 barrels a day. Already several large companies are operating in that district.

As for comfort, not only Canada but also the world realises that the day of hand power is past. Without agricultural implement machinery driven {477} by motor force, it would be impossible for the great Northwest to yield the harvests which she does without a labour to which new settlers would be unaccustomed. By means of the hydro-electric commission homes are warmed in winter, lighted all the year round, as indeed are the cities, towns and villages, and cooking for the family accomplished with a modicum of trouble. Electric railways connect communities and settlements. The telephone is in almost everyone's home. So that with the pianola, the gramophone, and other means of diversion, the winter nights are not what they were to the people in the years of the nineteenth century.

In railroad facilities Canada, if anything, is fifty years ahead of her time, so well are they developed. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, from Monckton, New Brunswick to Winnipeg and thence to Prince Rupert, B.C., which was commenced in 1905, and finished in 1915, was leased on its completion to the Grand Trunk Railway Company for fifty years. Owing to the war, and the financial difficulties in which the constructing company found itself, the system of 22,000 miles of line was taken over by the Government in 1921, after an arbitration which excited much comment on both sides of the Atlantic. The decision regarding it was given by the Canadian Grand Trunk Arbitration Board at Montreal, headed by Sir Walter Cassels, and one of the members of the Board was no less a person than ex-President Taft, now Chief Justice of the United States. As a conspicuous result of political action the {478} construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway is still more the subject of politics than of history, and it is quite likely to remain in that phase for some time.

The year 1921 will also be memorable for the work of the joint American-Canadian Commission appointed to investigate the possibility of the proposed Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterways. It was estimated that the initial cost of canalising the St. Lawrence River, constructing six dams in the rapids and improving the St. Claire and Detroit Rivers will be 253 million dollars, the up-keep requiring 2 1/2 million dollars annually. Fortunately considerable revenue can be made through the sale of the five million horse-power obtained from the dams which will pay a large part of the carrying charges. The great value of such a public work is in the relief from congestion on the railways, particularly the American, at crop-moving time. One of the most important results will be that Port Arthur, Ontario will virtually become a seaport.

In all this work of expansion and progress the women of Canada have taken their place. This was recognised when the War Committee of the Borden Cabinet called a Conference of representatives of women's organisations in February, 1918. The initiative was rewarded by a closer co-operation on the part of these societies with the Government, especially in connection with the conservation of food, the compilation of a National Register and the increased production in industrial occupations. Later in 1918, an Act was passed by which Canadian {479} women received the Federal electoral vote on the same basis as men. In addition to electing a woman as member of the provincial legislature, the British Columbia Assembly had the honour first of choosing one of the fair sex for Speaker which, however, was declined, Mrs. Mary E. Smith, the Labour candidate-elect, maintaining that she could be more useful as a private member than either as Speaker or a member in the Government. When Mrs. Irene Parlby was similarly successful in Lacombe, Alberta, she was not so modest when Premier Greenfield offered her a position without portfolio in the United Farmers' Cabinet. To those who have the feminine movement at heart, these instances will certainly be a source of much encouragement.

But, perhaps, the west of Canada is more willing to depart from the established order than the east. Then, again, the conditions are different. The maritime provinces have been living in peace and amity with their neighbours for many years. The immigration problem, carrying with it different races, conflicting ideas and unsatisfied ambitions, does not present itself in the same way. Halifax and Quebec, where immigration is concerned, are mainly ports of entrance, and intending settlers are generally Europeans.

It is not the same at Victoria and Vancouver. This was recognised in 1907, when the Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux was sent by the Dominion Government to Tokio to make representations to the Japanese Government regarding the restriction of its nationals from emigrating to Canada which was resulting in {480} racial riots. The Nippon Cabinet received the _démarche_ in the right spirit, and so any cause for misunderstanding was removed. That was why the Dominion of Canada adhered to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty when it was renewed in 1913, and why the Japanese battleship _Asama_, after grounding on the coast of Lower California, was refitted at Esquimault. At that naval station in 1914 Canada had only one small cruiser of 3,600 tons, the _Rainbow_, used more for revenue purposes than for any idea of defence or offence. The new Canadian Air Board, by the introduction of aircraft on the Pacific Coast to assist in preventing opium smuggling, has almost removed the reason for retaining even that vessel. But it is still equipped as a training ship for the Royal Canadian Navy which, after the close of the war, was strengthened by the addition of three cruisers, the _Aurora_, _Patriot_ and _Patricia_.

Fortunately the naval treaty between the British Empire, the United States and Japan, signed in February, 1922, will at least remove any doubt about Canada's pacific intentions in her developments of the west. By that agreement the above nations will respect the _status quo_ in regard to fortifications and naval bases on their coast territories. No new ones are to be established. Moreover, no measures shall be taken to increase the existing naval facilities for the repair or maintenance of naval forces.

Thus with prosperity at home, and peace with those abroad, people of the land of the Maple Leaf and the Beaver will look upon the twentieth century {481} as peculiarly their own. But in doing so it will not be without a wrench to see old institutions alter and in some cases pass away. One of these is the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, which in November, 1919, became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provision being made for the absorption of the Dominion Police which during the Great War acted as a secret service to counteract enemy plots against the country. Recently the force has been bitterly opposed by Labour, on the ground that its real purpose is to break strikes, an objection originating in the force's very efficient action during the Winnipeg riots. Otherwise there would be no grounds for its disbandonment except economy, before which even history and tradition must bow.

The growth of labour organisations in Canada, however, ranks _pari passu_ with that of the large cities. To gauge the extent one has only to mention that in 1911 there were 133,132 members in the labour unions, but in 1920 there were 373,842, or almost three times as many. Of the definite groups the railway employees stand first, representing 23.45 per cent. This explains why the railway situation in Canada is always a matter of no small interest to the people. As most of the organised workers are members of international unions, which cover the whole of the United States and Canada, their electoral power may be readily estimated. In justice to them, it must be said that labour, as compared with that in other countries, is remarkably safe and sane. During the war, trade union restrictions were subordinated to the country's {482} need, and now that it is over the one desire in the ranks is to keep industry on its feet, so that there may be a busy and contented Dominion. If at times there is a louder outcry against immigration, it is largely owing to the idea that the new-comers cannot be assimilated under existing conditions. But every Canadian, irrespective of class or calling, recognises that if the premier Dominion is to maintain its position and prestige in the Empire--and for that matter in the world--there must be more population.

In these days some people are inclined to speak of the near disappearance of free land in Canada. If by free land it is meant that there is no longer the liberty to settle at random without any qualifications for so doing, then there is truth in such a statement. But the history of Canada during the past two decades proves that if the Dominion is to prosper, there must be settlers who either have the necessary farming knowledge or the ability to acquire it. In either case the Government or the Railways will grant land as near free land as it can be made.

To train young farmers in the science and practice of agriculture, colleges and experimental farms have been established, and both Canadians and new-comers have taken advantage of them. For instance, in 1874 there were twenty-eight students at the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. To-day the total enrolment is about 2,400. It can be seen, then, that there is a real desire upon the part of the rising generation for a scientific knowledge of farming, without which even virgin {483} soil cannot yield indefinitely. It is admitted that there may be more comfortable conditions in other countries, but Canada still remains the land of opportunity towards which the people always extend a beckoning hand.

When the grain is on the stalk, and the fields of wheat extend as far as the eye can see, the glowing red sun sinks beneath a golden horizon at the end of a summer's day. But, like young Canada, it rises again the next to breathe life on the land and destiny of the Empire's Great Dominion.

[1] Speech, House of Commons, March 13, 1900.

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INDEX.