CHAPTER XIII

THE YEARS 1888 AND 1889 THE WORK OF THE IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE

After the inauguration of the Imperial Federation branch in Toronto on the 24th March, 1888, the members were much encouraged by the result of the debate in the Dominion House of Commons on Sir Richard Cartwright's motion in favour of unrestricted reciprocity with the United States. The vote was taken at half-past four on the morning of the 7th April after a discussion lasting for many days. The resolution was defeated by a majority of 57 in a house of 181 members. The Commons of Canada then sang "God Save the Queen."

The _Mail_ attacked me on the 26th April, 1888, on account of my statement that the originators of commercial union were traitors, and threatened that if I did not desist from acting in that way I should be removed from the position of police magistrate. Replying the next day in a letter to the editor I repeated:

that Commercial Union originated in treason, and that it emanated from a traitor in New York. This view I still hold and will express whenever and wherever I feel disposed. . . .

I went on to say:

I do not look upon this question as a political or party question. It is one affecting our national life. It is a foreign intrigue to betray us into the hands of a foreign people, and it behoves every Canadian who loves his country to do his utmost to save it from annihilation.

I did not ask for the position of police magistrate; it was offered to me by cable when I was in England. I accepted it at Mr. Mowat's request. I feel under no obligation whatever to the country for the office. I feel I am giving good service for every dollar I receive. I did not want the office at the time I was appointed, and can live without it whenever I choose to do so, and all the traitors in the United States and Canada combined cannot make me cease to speak for my country when occasion requires . . . on questions affecting the national life, I shall always try to be in the front rank of those who stand up for Canada.

On the 7th May, 1888, the Toronto branch sent a deputation to Lord Lansdowne, Governor-General, to present a memorial praying his Excellency to invite the Australian Governments, and the Government of New Zealand to join the Canadian Government in a conference to devise means for the development of reciprocal trade and commerce.

_The Imperial Federation Journal_ published this memorial and Lord Lansdowne's reply, and spoke of the energy and _élan_ which the Canadian branches were displaying, and then added prophetically, "They have, if we mistake not, set a ball a-rolling that will be found ere long too big to be described in the half dozen lines of print that is all the great English newspapers have so far seen fit to devote to the subject."

The organisation of new branches of the League followed rapidly the successful meeting in Toronto. On the 2nd April, 1888, a strong branch was formed at Brantford, Ontario. On the 16th April another was formed at St. Thomas, another about the same time at Port Arthur, on the 4th May another at Orillia, while a very successful meeting of the Ottawa Branch was held on the 22nd April, to carry a resolution in favour of discriminating tariffs between the Colonies and the Mother Country.

On the 4th June there was a rousing meeting of the branch of the League at Halifax, Nova Scotia, at which a resolution was unanimously carried in favour of reciprocal trade between the colonies and Great Britain. At this meeting the late Archbishop O'Brien, one of the ablest and most patriotic men that Canada has produced, made a most eloquent and powerful speech against commercial union or annexation, and, speaking of the men advocating these ideas, he said:

There are, however, others of this section less worthy of respect. They are men who have not courage to face great national problems, but think it wisdom to become the Cassandra of every noble undertaking. These men have for leader and mouthpiece Goldwin Smith, the peripatetic prophet of pessimism. Because, forsooth, his own life has been a dismal failure, because his overweening vanity was badly injured in its collision with Canadian common sense, because we would not take phrases void of sense for apophthegms of wisdom, he, the fossilised enemy of local autonomy and the last defender of worn-out bigotry, has put his feeble curse on Canadian nationality and assumed the leadership of the gruesome crowd of Missis Gummidges, who see no future for Canada but vassalage to the United States. Let them, if it so pleases, wring their hands in cowardly despair; but are we, the descendants of mighty races, the inheritors of a vast patrimony, the heirs of noble traditions, so poor in resources or so degenerate as to know no form of action save the tears and handwringings of dismal forebodings? It is an insult, and should be resented as such, to be told that annexation is our destiny. The promoters of Imperial Federation are called dreamers. Well, their dream is at least an ennobling one, one that appeals to all the noble sentiments of manhood. But what are we to say to the dreary prophets of evil, the decriers of their country, the traitors of their magnificent inheritance? They are not dreamers: they are the dazed victims of a hideous nightmare, to be kindly reasoned with when sincere, to be remorselessly thrust aside when acting the demagogue. The principle of Canadian nationality has taken too firm a hold on our people to permit them to merge their distinct life in that of a nation whose institutions give no warrant of permanency, as they afford no guarantee of real individual and religious liberty.

This extract from the speech of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Halifax indicates clearly how the Canadian feeling was being aroused by the attempts upon the national life of Canada.

In the summer of this year the United States Senate refused to endorse the Fisheries Treaty which had been agreed upon by President Cleveland and the British authorities. This was followed by a Retaliation proclamation, or at least by a message to Congress, asking for powers to retaliate upon Canada, by cancelling the bonding privileges which we have been using for very many years. The Retaliation Act was passed after a most hostile discussion against Canada. This threat was received by our people in the most unflinching spirit, and the matter was soon dropped by the United States Government.

In October, 1888, the Toronto _Globe_, evidently with the object of accustoming the minds of the Canadian people to the idea that the question of Annexation or Independence was a live issue, and one to be discussed and considered with as much freedom and propriety as tariff reform or temperance legislation or manhood suffrage, called for letters discussing the advantages or disadvantages of annexation or independence. It was the same scheme that Goldwin Smith had endeavoured to work in the National Club.

On the 6th October I wrote a letter to the _Globe_ on the condition and prospects of Canada, and said:

Events are crowding upon us faster than we are aware. Let us look back over the past few months. First came the Commercial Union movement, apparently originated by a Canadian in the interests of Canada, but which is now shown to have been a Yankee plot worked by a renegade with the object of producing annexation. Then came the repudiation of the Fisheries Treaty by the Republican party, followed by the Retaliation proclamation of the Democratic President; then came the almost unanimous passage of the Retaliation Act in the United States House of Representatives after a long succession of speeches by members of both political parties violently abusive and unreasonably hostile to Canada. Then came the speech of Senator Sherman exposing the hostile policy of a hundred years. Then the discussion of negotiations for annexation in the Committee of Foreign Relations, and to-day Senator Sherman's interview, in which he says, "Political union is necessary or war is inevitable." At this moment the Presidential election is being fought out on the question as to which party is most hostile to England and Canada, and unless a marked change comes over the people of the United States, it will not be many years before we shall be fighting for our existence as a free people on this continent. Senator Sherman's last warning is straight to the point, and cannot be overlooked or misunderstood.

I then went on to urge that we must forget all party differences, that we should unite in the face of the common danger, that a firm and united front might save us all the horrors of war, pointing out that "at the Trent affair if there had been treason in Canada, or the least sign of division in our ranks, we would have had war."

A number of letters in favour of annexation appeared in the _Globe_, and I became much alarmed, for the writers signed their names. I felt that if the discussion went on unchecked it would in time have a certain effect upon the wobblers and the unreliable. I had studied carefully the American Revolution, and was of the opinion that the whole success of that movement was due to the fact that the loyal men, and the law-abiding men, did nothing themselves, but relied upon the constituted authorities to check a movement that in the end robbed them of their property, deprived them of all their civil rights, and drove them penniless into exile. I felt that as far as I was concerned I would leave no stone unturned to prevent such a fate befalling Canada through supineness or indifference.

At the annual dinner of the Caledonian Society of Toronto, on the 30th October, 1888, I responded to the toast of "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers." The _Empire_ of the 31st October reported my speech as follows:

Colonel Denison launched forth a few hundred words which made the Scots fairly jump with enthusiasm, He referred in the first place to the achievements of Scotchmen in the British Army, and then spoke about the Canadian Volunteers. Canada at this moment, he said, is passing through a very critical crisis in her history. She will be called upon to preserve her national life within the next three or four years. (Someone ejaculated "Oh! Oh!") It's all very well to say "Oh! Oh!" said the Colonel. I tell you things are crowding upon us very fast. Within the past two months we have seen one thing after another showing a most bitter and hostile feeling towards this country on the part of the United States. Only this very evening came a telegram from Washington, saying that Cleveland is going to issue his retaliation proclamation immediately. Let him do it. (Cheers.) I have every faith in Canada. We have got everything on this northern half of this continent to make this a great country. We have the country and the people, and we can hold our own. All that is necessary is for us to be true to ourselves. (Cheers.) Then let us have confidence in ourselves and in our future. I am sorry to see that a few have not sufficient confidence in our future. I hope our volunteers will mark these traitors in this country, and put them in the rear when trouble comes. I do not like to see letters in our papers advocating annexation. It is nothing but rank treason. (Cheers.) There is one thing about it though, gentlemen, when these men come out, and put their names to annexation papers, they can be marked. We can put "ear marks" on them, and when trouble comes we will know who the traitors are. (Ringing cheers.)

And I went on to say we were putting their names in a list.

The _Globe_ was evidently much put out at my action, and not daring openly to take the opposite view, relieved its feelings in a long article heaping ridicule upon me and upon the Rev. Mr. Milligan, who had spoken sympathetically with me at the same dinner, and intimating that I was anxious for war with the United States. I wrote in reply to this:

I believe the United States to be very hostile to Canada; I believe they always have been. I believe they will endeavour to destroy our national life by force or fraud whenever they can, with the object of absorbing us. This has been my view for years, and I feel that the history of the past is strong evidence of the correctness of my opinion, if the events of the last two months are not absolute proof of it.

I have always warned my fellow-countrymen of this danger. I have always striven to encourage a healthy Canadian national spirit, a confidence in ourselves and in our future. I have endeavoured to give courage to the faint-hearted and the timid, and have always urged that Canadians of all classes should stand shoulder to shoulder ready to make any and every sacrifice for the State. I have felt that doubts and misgivings, the preaching and talking of annexation, were of all things the most likely to induce the Yankees to attack us. In 1812, the belief that we were divided, that the traitors were in the majority among us, and that we were ripe for annexation, had much to do with bringing on a bloody and severe war. The unanimity and courage displayed by our people at the Trent affair, the bold and unbroken front then shown by the Canadians saved us from war at that time.

To-day every word that is said in Canada in favour of annexation, or that shows a want of confidence in ourselves, is being vigorously used in the United States to create a widespread belief in that country that we are ripe for annexation. This dangerous mistake will pave the way to war, and this is why I so strongly resent a line of action that is so fraught with danger to our country.

Talk of my wanting war! The idea is absurd. It is the last thing I want. I hold that we have a free Government, that we have the fullest political, religious, and personal liberty. Our country is one of the most prosperous, if not the most prosperous, country in the world, and we have every hope of a great national future. If we had war it would cost the lives of thousands of our best. It would destroy our property, ruin our business interests, throw back our country twenty years in progress, burden us with an enormous debt, and if completely victorious we could not be freer, or have greater liberty or advantages, than we have to-day. We have no reason to go to war, unless we are driven to defend and preserve all we hold dear. No one appreciates this better than I do, and on that account all my efforts have been in the direction of preserving peace.

If war comes you will probably be still carrying on the newspaper business on King Street, your annexation correspondents will (if at large) still be spreading fears and misgivings in the rear, if not traitorously aiding the enemy, but I will have to be on the outpost line, exposed to all the hardships and trials of war. I know enough of war to hope that the Almighty may give us peace in our time, but rather than my country should be lost, I hope when the day of trial comes that God may give me courage to make any and every sacrifice in the interests of my native land.

I have been abused and attacked, threatened and ridiculed by Canadians for speaking out for Canada, but while I live nothing shall prevent me from doing what I believe to be the duty of every true Canadian.

One member of the Ontario Government met me on the street about this time, and took me to task for speaking so strongly on the question of Commercial Union and Unrestricted Reciprocity. I gave him an emphatic reply that I would follow my own course in the matter. Another prominent gentleman, since a Senator, and now a preferential tariff supporter, also spoke to me on the street, and said, "Certainly people should be allowed to discuss annexation or independence as they liked." I denied this vehemently, and declared they could not have either without fighting, and I told him plainly that if he meant to secure either he had better hang me on a lamp-post, or otherwise, if it became a live issue, I would hang him. I had made up my mind that if there was to be any of the work that the "Sons of Liberty" resorted to in the United States before the Revolution, we of the loyal party would follow their example and do it ourselves. Sir Oliver Mowat, then Premier and Attorney-General, once spoke to me, advising me not to be so violent in my language. My reply was that if the matter became dangerous I would resign my Police Magistracy one day, and he would find me leading a mob the next. Sir Oliver Mowat was a thorough loyalist, and at heart I think he fully sympathised with me.

Early in November, 1888, there was a large Convention of Dentists held in Syracuse, New York State, which Dr. W. George Beers, of Montreal, attended. At the banquet a toast was proposed, "Professional Annexation." Dr. Beers replied in an eloquent, loyal, and manly speech, which voiced the Canadian feeling. It was copied into many Canadian papers, and printed in pamphlet form and circulated broadcast throughout the country.

He told them: "Just as you had and have your croakers and cowards we have ours, but Canada is not for sale. . . . Annexation as a serious subject has received its doom, and in spite of the intoxication of senatorial conceit on the one side, and the croaking of malcontents and tramps on the other, Canada is loyal to the Mother Country from whose stout old loins both of us sprang." And after describing the extent and resources of the British Empire, he said: "Sharers in such a realm, heirs to such vast and varied privileges, Canadians are not for sale."

During December, 1888, I spoke at a large meeting at Ingersoll on the 6th with Mr. J. M. Clark, on the 11th at Lindsay with Mr. James L. Hughes, and on the 20th at a meeting of the Toronto League.

In 1889 the work went on very vigorously. Dr. George R. Parkin, one of the most eloquent and able of our members, who had been lecturing in England on behalf of the parent League, made a tour through Canada, and the Imperial Federation League arranged a series of meetings which he addressed with great eloquence and power. He was then on the way to Australia, where his energy and enthusiasm helped on the spirit of Imperialism among the people of that colony and New Zealand, and gave the movement an impetus there which has not been lost. This was helped by some speeches delivered in Australia in 1888, by Principal George M. Grant, the greatest of our members, one who never lost an opportunity of doing all he could for the cause.

It was an interesting fact that at one of Dr. Parkin's meetings at St. Thomas he was accompanied by Mr. E. E. Sheppard, who, it will be remembered, was one of the early advocates of Independence, and who had flown an Independence flag over his office in 1884. Mr. Sheppard had been won over by the arguments of our League to advocate Imperial Federation as a practical means of becoming independent, and had become a member of our Committee and a very powerful advocate of our cause.

In Canada the League was very active this year. On the 11th January, 1889, Mr. D'Alton McCarthy and I addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting at Peterboro. On the 17th January I attended a Sons of England Banquet at St. Thomas, organised as a demonstration against Annexation and in favour of Imperial Unity, where I responded to the principal toast, and made a strong appeal against Commercial Union and in favour of Imperial Consolidation. On the 9th February, A. J. Cattanach, Commander Law, J. T. Small and I went to Hamilton in Imperial Federation interests. On the 18th February, Dr. Parkin spoke at St. Thomas. On the 29th March, 1889, J. Castell Hopkins and I addressed a large meeting at Woodstock. I spoke at the St. George's Society Banquet, Toronto, 23rd April. On the 11th May, there was a large meeting at Hamilton addressed by Principal George M. Grant. The Annual Meeting of the League took place at Hamilton the same day, and the early difficulties of the movement are well evidenced by the fact that at the Annual Meeting of the League only eleven representatives were present, viz.: D'Alton McCarthy, M.P., President, in the Chair; Thomas Macfarlane, F.R.S.C., representing Ottawa Branch; Principal G. M. Grant, President Kingston Branch; Henry Lyman, President Montreal Branch; H. H. Lyman, Treasurer; J. Castell Hopkins, one of the Hon. Secretaries; Commander Law, Secretary Toronto Branch; D. T. Symons, Lt.-Colonel George T. Denison, J. T. Small, and Senator McInnes. On the 21st May, Principal Grant delivered an address in Toronto, and another on the 16th August at Chatauqua, near Niagara-on-the-Lake, both powerful appeals in support of the cause.

The Commercial Unionists made violent attacks upon the League, ridiculing it and its objects, and caricatures were often published making light of our efforts, while many Liberal newspapers, led by the _Globe_, attacked us at every available opportunity.