319. Sir Wilfred Laurier's

attitude

the legislative bond which now unites the provinces comprising the Dominion, and the liberality with which the guarantee for the cost of its construction was given by the Imperial Parlia ment is a new proof of the hearty interest felt by the British people in your prosperity. . . .

In a speech delivered in the Canadian Parliament in 1888 Sir Wilfred Laurier advocated the establishment of trade reciprocity with the United States, and the fol lowing extracts illustrate his attitude toward Canadian independence and his view of loyalty to Great Britain.

Sir, the one great objection which we have heard from al quarters on the other side of the House has been the cry o disloyalty. That cry came as a lugubrious knell in all the toward Great speeches we have heard on this question. The objection wa taken that to admit importations from the United States free of duty while we tax the importations from Great Britain would be disloyal. . . .

Britain

Loyalty to
England does

not demand
business
sacrifices

Sir, if this objection means anything, it simply means tha if we find it to be to our advantage to adopt reciprocal fre trade with the United States, we should forego the advantage because we are a colony of England. That is the proposition made by gentlemen on the other side. I denounce such a proposition; I repudiate it; I denounce it as unmanly, a anti-Canadian, and even anti-British. To pretend, Sir, that ou colonial allegiance demands from us that we should be deterred from the spirit of enterprise, that we should refuse to extend our trade and to increase our prosperity according to the bes methods which commend themselves to our judgment, to pre tend that this is loyalty, I deny; and if I were to characterize the sentiment in the only language in which it ought to be characterized, I would say this is not loyalty, but that it i mere flunkeyism. We are a colony of England, it is true; bu we are a colony not by force, but by choice; and if we are a colony to-day, it is because we are convinced that at the present day our colonial dependence is quite compatible with

ces comprising guarantee for perial Parli Dy the Britis

rliament in ablishment and the fol Canadian

t Britain.

rd from all the cry of in all the jection was States free itain would

means that

procal free advantage roposition

ce such a

manly, as , that our

deterred

to extend

the best

t, to pre-
racterize
ht to be
hat it is

ue; but
we are a
at the

ble with

the largest measure of national advancement and material prosperity. . . .

The objection of the honorable gentlemen opposite would Disc have been a much stronger one, at least in my eyes, if it had tion Eng been made from a different standpoint. If instead of telling us not that we have not the right to propose to discriminate against gene England, they had said it would not be generous to England to discriminate against her, the objection, to my mind, would have been far stronger; and if I am not trespassing beyond the limits of good taste in speaking my own individual sentiments, I would say that this is a consideration which gave me much concern. . . .

com

Sir, I am a subject of French origin, and, as I have often Loya stated, and you, Mr. Speaker, agree with me, - there is Cana no more loyal race of men under the British crown on the American continent than her Majesty's subjects of French origin; loyalty is natural to you, men of British origin; it flows in your blood; you have inhaled it from the hearts of your mothers. But I tell you that gratitude has worked in the hearts of my countrymen feelings of the same nature which are implanted in your hearts by your origin or your birth. With all my soul I say, let my tongue adhere to the roof of my mouth if it were ever to speak an unkind word of England; let my right hand wither if it participated in anything which would be unfair to England. But this is not a question of sentiment. This is a question of duty, and if you put it in the light that I have to choose between the duty I owe to England and the duty I owe to my native land, I stand by my native land. And there is not an Englishman with an English heart in his bosom that will not say the same if he is a true-born Briton.

shre

Sir, England would treat us with contempt if we were to Eng act otherwise than we are acting. England expects from us appr that we will do the best we can for ourselves, and she will take busi care of herself without any assistance from Canadian Tories. meth I am quite sure of one thing. It is quite possible that John Bull may grumble, but in his grumbling there will be as much pride as anger, and John Bull will feel flattered if there is an offspring of his so much like the old gentleman that he will

320. The

not lose any occasion to earn an honest penny. John Bull will feel flattered if he finds that scion of his a true chip of the old block.

Section 90. The Australasian Colonies

The English people in the Australasian colonies have long been making radical experiments in social reform, and in some of the colonies the labor parties actually control the government. A sympathetic American observer gives the following summary of what he regards the leading principles of the labor-reform policy in New Zealand.

The following principles [are now established] as the basis principles of of New Zealand civic life:

social reform

in New Zealand

The land

Labor

1. That the taxing power is to be used not merely for revenue but to advance the public good, by encouraging enterprise, breaking down monopoly, aiding the diffusion of wealth, etc.

2. That the people have a right to the increased value of land resulting from public improvements and the development of the country, and that every individual has a right to the use and a share in the ownership of the earth, the land and all its wealth belongs to the people.

3. That the gradual nationalization of the soil, through resumption and leasing of land with limitation of area, and rents and taxes to take the unearned increment for the public use, is a just and practicable method of dealing with the land problem.

4. That government should guard the interests of labor even more carefully than those of capital, for the hours and conditions of labor mold manhood and citizenship, and determine the vitality of the people and their leisure for intellectual and civic development.

5. That the law should recognize the principle of the living wage, and secure to every worker a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

y. John Bl

true chip cf

ies

onies have ial reform.

ctually con n observer

s the lead

v Zealand. I

as the basis

merely for

raging en

ffusion of

d value of elopment to the use nd and all

through

area, and

e public

the land

bor even d condietermine

tual and

he living

or a fair

6. That the right to work is a clear corollary from the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the latter privileges being of questionable value without the former, and the State must open the way to employment for those in need of it.

7. That direct employment is more just and economical, and better for the workers, than the contractor system; wherefore the latter must be abolished from public work.

8. That coöperative methods have proved superior and shall be established in public work and fostered in private business.

9. That the substitution of judicial decision in place of set- Peace tlement by conflict shall be extended to disputes between settle labor and capital; industrial peace and the administration of dispu justice in labor difficulties belonging with the other objects of judicial procedure.

10. That industrial power is a public trust, and the public interest is the dominant interest in business as in politics.

II. That the control of industry should be in a body representing all three parties in the production and distribution of wealth, labor, capital, and the public, the principles of democracy, partnership, and majority rule applying to industrial life as well as to political life, and aristocratic and arbitrary control being as bad in one case as the other.

12. That economic freedom and independence are essential to full political liberty.

of lab

13. That veterans of industry shall have pensions as well as Old-a veterans of war; any orderly person who has put years of pensi labor into the development and enrichment of the country having a right to a reasonable subsistence after his days of work are done.

14. That public utilities should be constructed, owned, and Publi operated by the people.

15. That public railways shall be run for service, not for profit, and the management kept in touch with the people.

16. That the fundamental test of a railway system or any other institution, industrial or political, is not its financial results, but its human results, its effect on the public good, its relation to manhood, morals, government, civilization, and progress.

utilit

17. That farmers and workingmen have a right to use the government in which they are partners, to get loans at low interest; and that government lending abolishes usury, prevents oppression, and aids the diffusion of wealth.

18. That banking and credit shall not be left to private manipulation, speculation, and monopoly, but shall be controlled by the State in the interest of all; the nationalization of credit being as important as the nationalization of the soil. 19. That private monopoly of vital interests is contrary to the public welfare, and the State is in duty bound to manage banks, take railways, operate coal mines, buy up patents, and do all other acts necessary to prevent it.

20. That a nation as well as a family has a right and a duty to keep itself sweet and clear of contamination, a right to keep its soil and its civic partnership for those who are fit to be free and self-governing, and who will not lower its intellectual and spiritual level or dilute its civilization.

21. That the question of license or prohibition shall be left to local option under the referendum, and that taxation of land values for local purposes shall also be left to local option through the initiative and referendum.

22. That sex has no essential relation to the right of selfgovernment, wherefore women shall have the franchise on the same terms as men.

23. That equity demands political equality and self-government in municipal affairs as well as national.

24. That in politics and industry, as in science, experiment is the best method of arriving at truth, guiding the experiments by the light of the principles evolved from past experience.

25. That one object of the law should be to remove all needless barriers and artificial disabilities.

26. That accident and misfortune should not be left to fall with crushing weight on innocent individuals, but that burdens not resulting from the wrong conduct of those affected should be spread over the community like taxes, in proportion to ability to bear them.

27. That legislation should be in the interest of the whole people, not of a special class or party.