England, Canada and the Great War
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Title: England, Canada and the Great War
Author: L. G. Desjardins
Release date: October 18, 2011 [eBook #37792]
Language: English
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[Chapter numbering is as in the original publication, omitting chapter
numbers XXV and XXVI. (note of etext transcriber.)]
ENGLAND, CANADA AND THE GREAT WAR
BY
Lieutenant-Colonel L.-G. DESJARDINS
Ex-member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec
and of the House of Commons of Canada.
QUEBEC
Chronicle Print.
October 1st, 1918
PREFACE.
Even since the issue, last year, of my book:--"_L'Angleterre, Le Canada
et la Grande Guerre_"--"_England, Canada and the Great War_"--a second
edition of which I had to publish, a few weeks later, to meet the
pressing demand of numerous readers--I have been repeatedly asked by
influential citizens to publish an English edition of my work.
A delegate from Quebec to the National Unity--or
Win-the-War--Convention, in Montreal, I had the pleasure of meeting a
great many of the delegates from Toronto and all over the Dominion. Many
of them insisted upon the publication of an English edition.
Having written that book for the express and patriotic purpose of
proving the justice of the cause of the Allies in the Great War, and
refuting Mr. Bourassa's false and dangerous theories, I realized that
the citizens of Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, who strongly
advised an English edition to be circulated in all the Provinces,
appreciated the good it could make.
I consider it is my imperious duty to dedicate to my English speaking
countrymen this volume containing all the substance matter of my French
book, and the defense a truly loyal French Canadian has made of the
sacred cause of Civilization and Liberty for the triumph of which the
glorious Allied Nations have been so heroically fighting for the last
four eventful years.
As I say, in the Introduction to this work, I first intended to write
only an English resume of my French book. But once at work writing down,
the questions to consider were so important, and the replies to the
Nationalist leader's inconceivable theories so numerous, that I had to
double and more the pages I had thought would be sufficient for my
purpose. I realized that many points, to be fully explained, required
more comments and argumentation that I had at first supposed necessary.
Moreover, since writing my French book, most important events have taken
place. To have the present English volume up to date, I had to consider
recent history in its very latest developments, and reply to the
Nationalist leader's last errors, which by no means were not the least.
When once a man has run off the path of reason and sound public sense,
he is sure to rush to most dangerous extremes, unless he has the moral
courage to acknowledge that he was sadly mistaken.
I trust that the English speaking readers of this book, will not, for a
single moment, suppose that I am actuated by the least ill-feeling
against Mr. Bourassa personally, in the severe but just denunciation it
was my plain duty to make of his deplorable Nationalist campaign.
For many years past, I have ever been delighted in welcoming promising
young men to the responsibilities of public life. I remember with a
mixed feeling of pleasure and regret the occasion I first heard Mr.
Bourassa, then a youth, addressing a very large public meeting held on
the nomination day of the candidates to a pending bye-election for the
House of Commons of Canada: Pleasure at the recollection of what I
considered a fairly successful beginning of a political career; deep
regret at the failure to justify the hopes of his compatriots and his
friends through an uncontrollable ambition always sure to deter, even
the best gifted, from the safe line of duty, well understood, and
firmly, but modestly, performed.
Passion, aspiring and unbridled, is always a dangerous counsellor. Mr.
Bourassa could have had a useful political life, if he had realized that
public good cannot be well served by constant appeals to race
prejudices, and by persevering efforts to achieve success by stirring up
fanaticism.
The result of the unpatriotic course he has followed, against the advice
of his best friends, has been to sow in our great and happy Dominion the
seed of discord, of hatred, of racial conflicts.
Unfortunately, for the country, for his French Canadian compatriots, and
for himself, he was deluded to the point of believing that the war would
be his grand opportunity.
Instead of using his influence to promote the national unity so
essential under the trying circumstances with which Canada and the whole
British Empire was suddenly confronted, he exerted himself to the utmost
to prevail on his French Canadian countrymen to assume a decisive
hostile stand to the noble cause which Britain had to fight for, in
order to avenge the crime of the violation of Belgium's territory, to
protect France from German cruel invasion, and to prevent Autocratic
power from enslaving Humanity.
Such a misconception of a truly loyal man's part was most detrimental to
the good of Canada's future, to the destinies of the French Canadians,
and to the political standing of the publicist who was its willing
victim.
And to-day he finds himself in this position that he has no other choice
but that of pursuing, at all hazards, his unwholesome campaign against
all things British, or, boldly retracing his steps, to go back on all he
has said and written to support inadmissible views, vain ideas, and
passionate prejudices.
The latter course would certainly be the best to follow in the interest
of his country, of his French Canadian countrymen, and of his usefulness
as a public man. But, however much to be regretted, he seems utterly
unable to overcome the prejudices which have taken such deep root in his
heart and mind.
Prejudice, constantly cultured, soon develops into blind fanaticism,
closing the intellect to the light of sound logic, to the call of duty,
to the clear comprehension of what is best to do to promote the public
good.
However seriously guilty he may be, the public man, so swayed by a
fanatical passion, is sure not to rally to the defense of the superior
interests of his countrymen when they are threatened by a great
misfortune.
I cannot help deploring that after giving good hopes of a life
patriotically devoted to the increasing welfare of Canada, by doing his
share in promoting the best feelings among his countrymen of all races,
classes and creeds, one of my kin, really gifted to play a much better
part, has been so sadly mistaken as to exhaust his activities in forcing
his way to the leadership of a group of malcontents unable to overcome
their racial antipathies and listen to reason, even when their country
and the Empire to which they have sworn allegiance are destructively
menaced.
He has nobody else to blame but himself for the failure of his political
career, due to his misguided efforts in thwarting the happiness and
prosperity which our great Dominion would certainly derive from the
persevering union of all the citizens enjoying the blessings of her free
British institutions, to work out her brilliant destinies by their
intelligent labours, their hearted patriotism in peace times, and with
their undaunted courage and their self-sacrificing devotion in war
days.
After a somewhat prolonged spectacular display in the House of Commons,
as member for the electoral division of Labelle, he felt instinctively
that he had exhausted what he considered his usefulness, and was doomed
to a dismal failure. He retired from the Dominion political arena, to
try his luck in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec. No
wiser a man by experience, he challenged the Leader of the parliamentary
majority to a truly duellist struggle on the floor of the House. He
thrusted at his opponent with the vigour of a combatant certain to
conquer. All those who witnessed this encounter, must remember how
completely overbearing confidence, proudly asserted, was overcome by
calm and superior argumentative power, sound and clear political sense.
True parliamentary eloquence easily brought to reason pedantic and
bombastic oratory. The first throw--_le debut_--went decidedly against
the Nationalist leader. A beaten fighter from this very first day, he
met with as complete a failure in the provincial political arena as he
had done in the federal one. Wisely indeed, he retired from
parliamentary life, after realizing that debating power cannot be
acquired by demagogic speaking.
The Nationalist leader next limited his efforts to the tribune, to the
public platform. All remember the time when he was periodically calling
great popular meetings held in _Le Monument National_, Montreal, where
he preached his Nationalist gospel with vehement talking. This new
experiment could not last. It soon subsided. And the Nationalist leader
is since addicted to pamphleteering of the worst kind as I will show in
this book.
Deeply moved by the dangers of a most mischievous campaign, I considered
it my bounded duty to do my utmost efforts to prove how utterly wrong
were the views which those pursuing it with passionate energy wanted to
prevail, and to show the sad consequences it was sure to produce.
Having first addressed myself to my French Canadian compatriots to
persuade them how much detrimental to their best future the Nationalist
campaign was sure to be, I am to-day laying the case before my English
speaking countrymen, at the urgent request of many of them, in order to
fully acquaint them with the refutation I have made, to the best of my
ability, of Mr. Bourassa's erroneous theories and wild charges against
England and all those who patriotically support our mother country in
the great struggle she has had to wage after doing all she possibly
could to maintain the peace of the world.
I ardently desire that the reading of the following pages, will
contribute to the restoration of harmony and good will, for a while
endangered by the Nationalist campaign, in our wide Dominion, to whose
happiness, prosperity and grandeur we, of both English and French
origins, must devote our best energies and all the resources of our
unwavering patriotism.
L. G. DESJARDINS.
Quebec, October 1st, 1918.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
--INTRODUCTION 1
I --WHO ARE THE GUILTY PARTIES? 25
II --THE PERSISTENT EFFORTS OF ENGLAND
IN FAVOUR OF PEACE 29
III --THE CALL TO DUTY IN CANADA 40
IV --RECRUITING BY VOLUNTARY SERVICE 46
V --INTERVENTION OF NATIONALISM 49
VI --WHAT DO WE OWE ENGLAND? 51
VII --CANADA IS NOT A SOVEREIGN STATE 55
VIII --GERMAN ILLUSIONS 67
IX --THE NATIONALIST ERROR 68
X --HAD CANADA THE RIGHT TO HELP ENGLAND? 71
XI --THE DUTY OF CANADA 74
XII --THE SOUDANESE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN
WARS 77
XIII --BRITISH AND GERMAN ASPIRATIONS
COMPARED 87
SUB-TITLE--CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLY 93
" --TRANSPORT 97
" --THE AIR SERVICE 98
" --THE FINANCIAL EFFORT OF
GREAT BRITAIN 100
" --ACHIEVEMENTS OF DOMINION,
COLONIAL AND INDIAN
TROOPS 101
XIV --THE VERITABLE AIMS OF THE ALLIES 104
SUB-TITLE--THE ONLY POSSIBLE PEACE
CONDITIONS 111
XV --JUST AND UNJUST WARS 116
SUB-TITLE--A "NATIONALIST" ILLOGICAL
CHARGE AGAINST ENGLAND 125
" --OTHER "NATIONALIST" ERRONEOUS
ASSERTIONS 128
" --INCREDIBLE "NATIONALIST"
NOTIONS 131
" --CANADIAN FINANCIAL OPERATIONS
IN THE UNITED STATES 134
XVI --"NATIONALIST" VIEWS CONDENSED 139
XVII --LOYAL PRINCIPLES PROPOUNDED 143
SUB-TITLE--UNJUST "NATIONALIST"
GRIEVANCES AGAINST ENGLAND 150
XVIII --IMPERIALISM 164
XIX --AMERICAN IMPERIALISM 177
XX --BRITISH IMPERIALISM 189
XXI --THE SITUATIONS OF 1865 AND 1900-14
COMPARED 194
XXII --BRITISH IMPERIALISM NATURALLY
PACIFIST 198
XXIII --BRITISH IMPERIALISM AND POLITICAL
LIBERTY 207
XXIV --IMPERIAL FEDERATION AND "BOURASSISM" 216
SUB-TITLE--CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
OF INDIA 227
XXVII --THE FUTURE CONSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS
OF THE EMPIRE 231
SUB-TITLE--NO TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION 235
" --COLONIAL REPRESENTATION 236
" --THE FAR OFF FUTURE 247
" --A MACHIAVELLIAN PROPOSITION 251
" --A TREASONABLE PROPOSAL 259
XXVIII --OUTRAGES ARE NO REASONS 267
XXIX --HOW MR. BOURASSA PAID HIS COMPLIMENTS
TO THE CANADIAN ARMY 277
XXX --RASH DENUNCIATION OF PUBLIC
MEN 288
XXXI --MR. BOURASSA'S DANGEROUS PACIFISM 302
XXXII --A MOST REPREHENSIBLE ABUSE OF
SACRED APPEALS TO THE BELLIGERENT
NATIONS 307
XXXIII --A CASE FOR TRUE STATESMANSHIP 321
XXXIV --AFTER-THE-WAR MILITARY PROBLEM 324
XXXV --THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED
STATES IN THE WAR 334
XXXVI --THE ALLIES--RUSSIA--JAPAN 348
XXXVII --THE LAST PEACE PROPOSALS 357
XXXVIII --NECESSARY PEACE CONDITIONS 372
XXXIX --CONCLUSION 383
APPENDIX--A 411
APPENDIX--B 421
England, Canada and the Great War
INTRODUCTION.
Canada, as one of the most important component parts of the British
Empire, is going through the crucial ordeal of the great crisis which
will determine her destinies jointly with those of the whole world.
Instantly put under the strain, four years ago, by the outrageous
challenge of Germany to human civilization with the criminal purpose of
universal domination, she was fully equal to her unbounded duty.
Conscious of her sacred rights, she at once realized that the
constitutional liberties which she enjoyed in the freest Empire of all
times, could not be more patriotically exercised than for the defence of
the sacred cause which united in a gigantic effort England, France and
Russia, soon to receive the support of Italy. By an almost unanimous and
enthusiastic decision she rallied to the flag around which all the
Dependencies of the Empire gathered from the five continents. Never a
more inspiring array of loyal subjects, owing allegiance to a
Sovereignty, was witnessed in the wide world.
Through the trying days of four full years of the greatest war which
ever saddened the life of the human race, Canada has nobly, gloriously,
done her duty. Several hundred thousands of her devoted sons have rushed
to the front to fight the battle of Liberty, of Right, of Civilization.
Thousands of them have heroically given their lives for the triumph of
the cause which, if finally triumphant, will brighten with freedom,
prosperity, human happiness and undying glory, the destinies of many
generations.
The struggle is not over. The battle is not yet won. Victory is in sight
but unfortunately still so far distant, that it is still calling forth
the undaunted exertions of all those who have pledged their faith to
rescue the world from the cruel thraldom of German militarism.
Two years ago, at the critical period which culminated in the undecided
military operations which, though rendered illustrious by the glorious
defence of Verdun, made it plain to the Allies that success would only
be the reward of a much more prolonged effort of untold sacrifices, I
undertook to write the book entitled in French: "_L'Angleterre, le
Canada et la Grande Guerre_."
Several of the most influential and widely circulated News-papers of
Montreal, Toronto and Quebec, have kindly published highly appreciative
Reviews of the French Edition of my book, concluding with the request of
the publication of an English Edition, which, they affirmed, would be
conducive to the public good. I have received many letters and verbal
demands to the same purpose.
It is my duty to answer to a call daily becoming more pressing.
I now offer to the English reading public a condensed edition of my
work, with the title "_England, Canada and the Great War_." I concluded
not to issue a complete English Edition of the French volume. Instead of
translating my book, I considered it more advisable to write an English
synopsis of its contents. Undertaking such a work, I realized more than
ever how important it is for the Citizens of Canada to be able to speak
and write the languages of the two great races of the Dominion. Knowing
well my own deficiency in this regard, I hoped, however, to write the
following pages with enough clearness to have my views well understood,
trusting to the kindness of my readers to excuse the inadequacy of my
command of English.
A few words explaining the reasons that prompted me to write the French
book will, I am confident, be kindly appreciated by my readers. A close
observer of the daily impressions which the events developed by the war
were creating in Canada, I felt more and more deeply grieved at the
persistent and unpatriotic efforts of the leaders of the Nationalist
school of the Province of Quebec, and their henchmen, to sway my
French-Canadian countrymen from the clear path of duty. I undertook
earnestly to do my best to stem the threatening wave of disloyal
sentiments and racial conflict they were stirring up throughout the
land. "_England, Canada and the Great War_" was the result of the very
careful study of the numerous questions therein considered and of the
patriotic impulse which led me to publish it.
I dedicated the volume to my French-Canadian countrymen by a letter from
which I translate the following:
"It would surely be vain to conceal how serious was the situation
imposed upon our country by the sudden outbreak, in August, 1914, of the
greatest war of all times. It was dominated by the supreme fact that
Canada was a component part of one of the most powerful Empires whose
destinies were to be determined, for good or ill, for many long years,
by the terrible conflict suddenly opened, but, for a prolonged period,
prepared by those who dreamt of conquering the world."
"Great Britain, our Sovereign Metropolis, had done her utmost to protect
Humanity against the misfortunes which endangered her future, for the
maintenance of peace. She had failed in her noble efforts. At the very
moment when, against all the most critical appearances, she was still
hopeful, she had, all of a sudden, to face the terrible alternative,
either to submit to national dishonour by complying with the violation
of solemn treaties which bound her as much as Germany, or to unite with
France and Russia to avenge Justice outrageously violated, sworn
international Faith, Civilization perilously threatened."
"Could she hesitate for one single moment?"
"Our Mother Country has done that which her most imperious duty
commanded her to do. She accepted the challenge of Germany with the
patriotic determination inspired by the most sacred cause. All the loyal
subjects of the British Crown have applauded her decision to rush to the
defence of invaded Belgium and France, to reclaim their national honour
and her own, and to protect her Empire against the German armies."
"With the most inspiring unanimity and admirable courage, all the
British Colonies have rallied around the flag of their Sovereign
Metropolis to share the glory of the triumph of Right and Justice. At
the very front rank, Canada has nobly done her duty. Her decision was
most spontaneous and decisive. She was not deterred by fallacious
subtilties, deducted from pretended conventions, out of age and
opportunity, to hinder her laudable and patriotic course. Throughout the
length and breadth of her vast territory, all minds shared the same
view, all hearts were united and beating with the same powerful
sentiment."
"The decision of Canada to participate in the present war was taken by
the constitutional government of the country, sanctioned by Parliament,
approved by public opinion, glorified by the hundreds of thousands of
brave volunteers who courageously answered the call of duty."
"Views with which I cannot concur have been expressed and given full
publicity. They challenge discussion. It is my undoubted right to
criticize them."
"Since the beginning of the present war, Mr. Henri Bourassa, in addition
to the daily publicity of his journal "_Le Devoir_", has developed, in
two principal pamphlets, the theories of his "_Nationalism_". They are
respectively entitled: "_Que devons-nous a l'Angleterre?_" "_What do we
owe England?_" and: "_Hier, Aujourd'hui, Demain_" "_Yesterday, To-day,
To-morrow_"."
"In earnestly searching out the real causes of the war, the
responsibilities of the belligerent nations, their respective
aspirations, the duty imposed by the irresistable course of events upon
the British Empire and consequently upon Canada, I was incessantly
called upon to consider the very strange propositions contained in those
pamphlets."
"It was with great surprise that I read, for instance, as the heading of
one of the chapters, the utterly false proposition that: "_The
Autonomous Colonies are Sovereign States._"
"And these most extraordinary affirmations that the _King of England has
not the right to declare the State of war for Canada, without the assent
of the Canadian Cabinet; that Canada could have participated in the
present war as a Nation_."
"It is my bounden duty to affirm that almost all the propositions
contained in the two above mentioned pamphlets are wrong according to
international law and to constitutional law, erroneous in their
historical bearings, contrary to the true teachings of the past."
"Mr. Bourassa persistingly trying to convince his readers that the
precedents of the Soudanese and the South-African wars have forced the
British Colonies to participate in the present one, I considered it my
duty to make, in two separate chapters, a special study of those
military campaigns which, in both cases, were so felicitously terminated
for all parties concerned."
"I cannot close this letter without expressing my profound regret that
Mr. Bourassa has thought proper to use most injurious language adding
outrage to the falsity of his opinions. At page 121 of his pamphlet:
"_Yesterday, To-day, To-morrow_", any one can read, no doubt with
astonishment, that Mr. Bourassa charges our countrymen of the British
races with being _ignorant, assuming, arrogant, dominating and rotten
with mercantilism_."
"Such ridiculous and insulting words to the address of our countrymen of
the three British races are surely not calculated to increase Canadian
harmony."
"This book, written for the express purpose of assisting you to form for
yourselves a sound opinion about the terrible events so rapidly
developing, was inspired by my loyalty to the Empire whose faithful
subject I glory to be, by my devotion to Canada and to my countrymen, by
the affectionate recollection of France I will cherish to my last day.
"During the last fifty years, either as a private or as an officer of
the Canadian Militia--my service as such having lasted more than forty
years--as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of
Quebec, and as a member of the House of Commons of Canada, I have often
taken the oath of allegiance to the Sovereign of Great Britain. From my
early youth, I had learned that under the aegis of the British Crown, the
citizen of the Empire could be true to his oath, and enjoy the precious
liberty of expressing his opinion. But I had also soon realized that
during the lifetime of a Sovereign State, days of peril might occur. I
had easily come to the conclusion that in those trying moments the loyal
duty could be very happily reconciled with the most sincere love of
political liberty.
"In defending with the most sincere conviction the sacred cause of the
Allies, I am doing my duty as a free subject of the British Empire, as a
citizen of Canada and of the Province of Quebec, as a son of France, as
a devoted servant of Justice and Right. I am true to my oath."
I desire to call the special attention of my readers to the complete
sense of the last paragraph just quoted. I most decidedly wish its
meaning to be fully understood by all, as I intended to convey it to my
French Canadian compatriots. I have never concurred in the subtle
distinction so often made between the several notions entertained by
many respecting their duty towards the Empire and Canada separately.
Having witnessed, for the last fifty years, the admirable evolution and
natural growth of the British constitutional system over a fourth of the
globe, developing into the freest Empire that ever existed, my mind was
more and more impressed with the conviction that loyalty to the
Sovereignty presiding over such a magnificent national heritage could
not be of two different kinds. A free British subject, whether living in
the United Kingdom, or in any one of the Dependencies of the Crown,
cannot be at once loyal to the Empire at large and disloyal to any of
its component parts; or, _vice versa_, loyal to the particular section
of the State where he is living and at the same disloyal to the Empire.
Such a false conception of the duties of loyalty, if it could be spread
successfully throughout the Empire, would undoubtedly lead to its rapid
dissolution and complete destruction. Genuine loyalty cannot agree with
exclusive and rampant sectionalism, with local, racial or religious
prejudices and fanaticism.
The few lines of the preceding closing paragraph of my letter dedicating
the French edition of my book as aforesaid, express my own conception of
the true loyalty of a faithful subject of the British Sovereignty, who
has the clear vision of the meaning of his oath of allegiance. In
consequence, first, I affirm my duty as a subject of the British Empire;
second, as a citizen of Canada; third, as a citizen of my own Province
of Quebec. And then, taking a wider range of the duty of any man towards
his ancestors' lineage, I declare that under the cruel circumstances of
the case, I also consider it is my duty to defend France against her
deadly enemy. Further enlarging the vision of duty to its fullest
extent, I say that I am bound to defend the cause of the Allies by
proving that I am a loyal servant of Justice and Right.
Surely I could not emphasize in terms more pregnant my loyalty to the
cause of the British Empire, of France, and their Allies, of Liberty and
Civilization. I confidently hope they will persuade my readers that this
book was written with the most sincere and patriotic desire to help
rallying my French Canadian compatriots to the defence of the British,
French and Canadian flags, which must together emerge triumphant from
the gigantic fight against the most threatening wave of barbarism the
world has ever had to contend with at the cost of so great and heroic
sacrifices.
When the first French edition of this book was issued, in January of
last year, matters respecting the prosecution of the war had not yet
required the serious consideration by Parliament and the country of the
question of conscription to maintain to their proper efficiency the
Canadian divisions on the firing line. Consequently, I was not then
called upon to consider that most important subject. When I had to
decide about publishing a second French edition--the first being
entirely exhausted--I at first thought of adding to my work a few
chapters respecting the most notable events developed by the gigantic
struggle shaking the world to its very basic foundation. Foremost
amongst them were the Russian sudden Revolution, the solemn entrance of
the United States into the great fight, the imperious necessity of the
military effort of the Allies far beyond that which had been foreseen,
in order to achieve the final victory which will be the only adequate
reward of their undaunted determination not to sheathe the sword before
Germany will agree to restore peace upon the only possible conditions
which will efficiently protect humanity from any other attempt at brutal
universal domination. The question of conscription in Canada was the
natural outcome of the progress of the deadly conflict between
Civilization and barbarism, constitutional Freedom and despotism,
democratic institutions and autocracy.
I soon realized that I could not properly do justice to such grave
subjects in a few pages added to my first book. After mature
consideration, I considered it was my duty to undertake to write a
second volume. I have so informed the public in the _Advertisement_
which prefaces the second French edition of the first. This second
volume I will soon issue, also intending to publish an English synopsis
of it, if that of the first volume meets the kind appreciation I hope of
my English speaking countrymen.
However, pending the publication of the second volume, I think it is my
duty to express now my views, in a summary way, on that much discussed
question of obligatory military service. Let me preface by saying that
they are not new, having originated in my mind more than thirty years
ago. The military necessities of the present war have, of course, given
them more precision and clearness.
Deeply conscious of the sacred duty of all truly loyal British subjects
through the present prolonged world crisis for the life or death of
human Liberty, I had to consider conscription from the double
stand-point of a free citizen of Canada and of my military experience
acquired in the course of a service of over forty years.
Most strongly and convincingly opposed to the militarism of the
atrocious German type--the curse of Humanity--I have always
believed--and do still more and more believe--imbued, I hope, with the
true sense and principles of democratic institutions, that the greatest
boon that could be granted the world would be that the admirable
Christian law of peace and good-will amongst men would prevail for all
times, and save the nations from the cruel obligation of keeping
themselves constantly fully armed at the great cost of the best years of
manhood, and of their accumulated treasures. But unfortunately it has
not yet been the good luck of man to reach the goal of this most noble
ambition. Instead of a steady advance in the right direction, he has,
for the last fifty years, experienced a most dangerous set back by the
predominating influence of German militarism, developed and mastered by
the most autocratic power to the point of threatening the liberties of
the whole world.
Need I say that, as a purely philosophical question of principle, I most
sincerely deplore that the political state of the world has been and is
such that national safety cannot be, in too many cases, properly assured
without the law of the land calling upon the manhood of a country to
make the sacrifice of part of the best years of enthusiastic youth, and
requiring from the nation, as a collective body, the expenditure, to an
untold amount, for the purposes of defence, of the accumulated savings
of hard work and intelligent thrift.
Fortunately, the two continents of America, so abundantly blessed by
Providence, had, until the present war, been able to pursue their
prosperous and dignified course free from the entanglements of European
Militarism.
Even England, in all the majesty of her Imperial power, her flag
gloriously waving over so many millions of free men, protected as she
was by the waves which she ruled with grandeur and grace, had succeeded
in avoiding the curse of continental conscriptionism.
Between permanent conscription, despotically imposed upon a nation under
autocratic rule, and temporary military compulsion freely accepted by a
noble people for the very purpose of saving Humanity from military
absolutism, there is, every one must admit, a wide difference. I have
been, I am, and will be, to my last day, the uncompromising opponent of
autocratic conscription, which I consider as a permanent crime against
Christian Civilization, and the ready instrument of barbarous
domination. To temporary compulsion I can agree, as a matter of
patriotic and national duty, if the circumstances of the case are such
that without its timely use, my country which has the first and
undoubted right to my most patriotic devotion, at the cost of all I may
own and even of my life, for her defence, would fall the prey to
despotism which would bleed her to death to sway the world.
Such is the ordeal through which Canada, the British Empire, in fact
much the greater part of the universe, are passing with torrents of
blood shed to rescue Mankind from the domination of German militarism.
If Germany could have her course free; if she could reach the goal of
her criminal ambition, nearly the whole world would be, for many long
years, in the throes of the most abominable conscriptionism.
If after the enthusiasm of voluntary military service has exhausted
itself from the very successful result of its patriotic effort, is it
not a duty for all loyal citizens to accept temporary compulsion, to
save their country from the horrors of defeat at the hands of the most
cruel enemy which has ever shamed the light of the sun since it shines
over the Human race blessed with Christian principles and moral
teachings.
To the present generation of young men, strong, healthy, brave, let us
say: be worthy of the times you live in, be equal to the great task
imposed upon you, accepting with patriotism the sacrifices you are
called upon to make, never forgetting that temporary compulsion for you
means freedom from permanent conscription for your children and
children's children in years to come.
It is from the very height of such lofty considerations that I have made
up my mind about this much vexed question which will, we must all
earnestly hope, be more and more well understood and eventually settled
to the everlasting good of the country once for all delivered from the
exasperating menace of German despotism.
I must reserve for the second volume of this work, the fuller expression
of my views of what should be the military system to be maintained in
Canada, after the very wide experience we will have derived from the
present great war. All I will add now is that ever since the early
eighties of the last century, after many years of voluntary service in
the Canadian Militia, I had fully realized that it is no more possible
to make a real soldier by a few days yearly training, for three years,
than you can make a competent lawyer of a young man studying law for a
fortnight in the course of three consecutive years.
Since the federal Union of the Provinces we had spent much more than a
hundred million of dollars for the training of our militia, with the
appalling result that when came the day of getting ready for the fray,
we had not two thousand men to send at once to the firing line. The
first thirty thousands of the brave men who enthusiastically volunteered
to go to the front had to be trained, at Valcartier and in England,
several months before being sent to face the enemy whose waves of
permanent divisions of armed men had overrun, like a torrent, Belgium
and northern France. Of course, our boys fought and died like heroes,
but nevertheless we at last learned, at our great cost, that soldiers no
more than lawyers, doctors, merchants, transportation managers, bankers,
business men of all callings, farmers, sailors, etc., can be qualified
in a day.
When the time shall come to consider what will be the requirements of
our military organization, after this terrible struggle is over, I hope
none will forget that war is a great science, an awful and very
difficult art, so that we shall not deceive ourselves any longer by the
illusion that an army can be drawn from the earth in twenty four hours.
Our most efficient military commander cannot entertain the foolish
delusion of Pompey, so crushingly beaten by Caesar, at Pharsalia, that he
can raise legions by striking the ground with his foot.
If our future national circumstances turn out to be such, after the
restoration of peace, that we will not be called upon to make heavy
sacrifices for defence--let Providence so bless our dear country--it
will then be much more rational to save our money than to squander it on
a military system which cannot produce military efficiency.
The future can be trusted to settle favourably its own difficulties. For
us of the present generation, we have to attend to the imperative and
sacred duty of the hour. Let no one shirk his responsibilities, waver in
the heavy task, falter before the sacrifices to be patriotically and
heroically accepted. To deserve the everlasting gratitude of future
generations, we must secure to them the blessings of permanent peace in
a renovated world freed from the tyranny of autocratic despotism.
Surely, I will be permitted to say that, undertaking to write _England,
Canada and the Great War_, I fully realized my bounden duty to study all
the questions raised by the terrible struggle, unreservedly, absolutely,
outside of all party considerations, of all racial prejudices. A party
man, in the only true and patriotic sense of the word, during the
twenty-five years of my active political life, as a journalist and a
member of the Quebec Legislature and of the Parliament of Canada, it
became my lot in the official position which I was asked to accept and
which I loyally filled, to all intents and purposes, for many years, to
train my mind more and more to judge public questions solely from the
point of view of the public good. I do not mean to say that partyism,
well understood and patriotically practiced, is not productive of good
to a country blessed with free institutions. But certainly in the course
of a progressive, intelligent and eventful national life, ennobled by
Freedom happily enjoyed, times occur when it behooves every one to rise
superior to all other considerations, however important they may be, to
serve the only one worthy of all sacrifices: the salvation of the
country. Never was this principle so true, so imperative, than on the
day when the world was so audaciously challenged by Germany to the
deadly conflict still raging with undiminished fury.
That most important question of military obligatory service, brought up
by the pressure of the imperious necessities of military operations,
lengthening and intensifying to unforeseen proportions, was for many
weeks considered by Parliament. Surely, no one for a single moment
entertained the idea that, however desirable and imperative it was for
the representatives of the people to be of only one mind so far as the
prosecution of Canada's share in the war was concerned, constant
unanimity of opinion was possible respecting the various measures to be
adopted to that end. Parliament sitting in the performance of its
constitutional functions, with all its undoubted privileges, could not
be expected not to exercise its right to debate all the matters
constitutionally proposed for its concurrence and approval. I must
certainly and wisely refrain from any comment whatsoever upon the
lengthy discussion of the Military Service Act in both Houses in Ottawa.
Having received the Royal Assent, the Bill is now the law of the land.
All will patriotically rejoice to see that without waiving their right
to pronounce upon the deeds and the views of those who are responsible
to them, the free citizens of Canada will cheerfully accept the new
sacrifices imposed by the obligation of carrying the war to a successful
issue, praying to God to bless their patriotic efforts, and even with
the true Christian spirit, to forgive guilty Germany if she will only
repent for her crimes, and agree to repair a reasonable part of the
immense damages she has wrought upon trodden and martyred nations.
I hope,--and most ardently wish--that all my readers will agree with me
that next to the necessity of winning the war--and, may I say, even as
of almost equal importance for the future grandeur of our beloved
country--range that of promoting by all lawful means harmony and good
will amongst all our countrymen, whatever may be their racial origin,
their religious faith, their particular aspirations not conflicting with
their devotion to Canada as a whole, nor with their loyalty to the
British Empire, whose greatness and prestige they want to firmly help to
uphold with the inspiring confidence that more and more they will be the
unconquerable bulwark of Freedom, Justice, Civilization and Right.
After having so fully expressed my profound conviction of what I
consider to be my sacred duty as a loyal British subject, I feel sure I
will be allowed to ask my English-speaking countrymen not to judge my
French compatriots by the sayings and deeds of persons, too well gifted
and too prone to injure their future and that of the whole country
itself, but utterly disqualified and impotent to do them any good.
Need I affirm that my French Canadian compatriots are loyal at heart, a
liberty loving and peaceful people, law-abiding citizens, fairly minded,
intelligent, hard working, industrious. They have done, they are doing,
and will do, their fair share for the progress and the future greatness
of our wide and mighty Dominion. To all those who desire to appreciate
their course in all fairness and Christian Justice, I will say: do not
fail to take into account that like all other national groups they are
liable, in overtrying circumstances, to be in a certain measure wrongly
influenced by deficiencies of leadership, but depend that they cannot
be, for any length of time, carried away by unscrupulous players on
their feelings. Some of them were deceived by persistent efforts to
persuade them that England was, as much as Germany, guilty of having
precipitated the great war which has been the curse of almost the whole
world for the last four years. The accumulated remembrance of their
staunch loyalty and patriotism during more than a century and a half
will do much to favour the harmonious relations of all Canadians of good
will who, I have no doubt, comprise millions of well wishers of the
glorious destiny of our country.
May I be allowed to conclude by saying that my most earnest desire is to
do all in my power, in the rank and file of the great army of free men,
to reach the goal which ought to be the most persevering and patriotic
ambition of loyal Canadians of all origins and creeds.
And I repeat, wishing my words to be reechoed throughout the length and
breadth of the land I so heartily cherish:--I have always been, I am and
will ever be, to my last breath, true to my oath of allegiance to my
Sovereign and to my country.
CHAPTER I.
WHO ARE THE GUILTY PARTIES?
Any one sincerely wishing to arrive at a sound opinion on the great war
raging for the last four years, must necessarily make a serious study of
the causes which led to the terrific struggle so horribly straining the
energies of the civilized world to escape tyrannical domination. The
case having been so fully discussed, and the responsibilities of the
assailant belligerents so completely proved, I surely need not show at
length that the German Emperor, his military party, the group of the
German population called JUNKERS, are to the highest degree, the guilty
parties of all the woful wrongs imposed upon Mankind and of the
bloodshed unprecedented in all the ages.
The German Empire had for many years decided that it would not alone
attempt to dominate the world. It wanted a partner to share the
responsibility of the crime it was ready to commit at the first
favourable opportunity, but a docile partner which she could direct at
will, command with imperious orders, and crush without mercy at the
first move of resistance. That plying tool was found in the complicity
of Austria-Hungary, for years under the sway of Berlin diplomacy.
No sane man, if he is sincere, if he is honest, can now, for a single
moment, hesitate to proclaim that between Germany and Austria-Hungary,
and the group of nations henceforth bearing the glorious name of THE
ALLIES, Right and Justice are on the side of England, of France, of the
United States, of Belgium, of Italy, of Canada.
Where is the man with a sound mind, with a strong heart, beating with
the noble impulses of righteousness, with a soul dignified by lofty
aspirations, who ignores to-day that for fifty years previous to the
declaration of war, in August 1914, Germany had been perfecting her
military organization for a grand effort at universal domination?
All my life a close student of History, I was much impressed by the
constant Policy of England to maintain Peace during the last century.
When the World emerged from the great wars of the Napoleonic Era, she
firmly took her stand in favour of peaceful relations between the
nations, trusting more and more for the future prosperity of them all to
the advantages to be derived from the permanency of friendly
intercourse, from the ever increasing development of international
trade, prompted by the freest possible exchanges of the products of all
the countries blessed by Providence with large and varied resources. Her
statesmen, so many of them truly worthy of this name, however divided
they may have been with regard to questions of domestic government and
internal reforms, were most united about the course to be followed
respecting foreign relations. Perhaps more than all others having a say
in the management of the world's affairs at large, they fully realized
that no nation could prosper and successfully work out her destinies by
systematically trying to injure her neighbours. No independent country
can become wealthier, happier, and greater, by spreading ruin and
devastation around her frontiers.
The most convincing evidence that England was constantly favourable to
the maintenance of peace amongst the great Powers of the World, for the
last hundred years, is found in her permanent determination not to be
drawn into the vortex of European continental militarism, so powerfully
developed by Prussianism. She could have organized a standing army of
millions of men. She would not. True, during the few years which
preceded the present hurricane, some of the most eminent of England's
military officers, notably, foremost amongst them, Lord Roberts, seeing,
with their eyes wide open, the aggravated dangers accumulating on the
darkening horizon, warned their countrymen about the threatening waves
which menaced the future of the world. But British public opinion, as a
whole, would not depart from her almost traditional policy of
"_non-intervention_". For nearly a century, Great Britain maintained her
"_splendid isolation_", trusting to the sound sense which should always
govern the world to protect Mankind against the horrors of a general
war. Never was this great national policy better exemplified than during
the long and glorious reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. For more than
fifty years, she graced one of the most illustrious Thrones that ever
presided over the destinies of a great Empire, with sovereign dignity,
with womanly virtues, with motherly devotion, with patriotic respect of
the constitutional liberties of her free subjects. When she departed for
a better world, she was succeeded by the great King and Emperor--Edward
VII.--who, during the few years of his memorable reign, proved himself
so much the friendly supporter of harmony and good will amongst the
nations that he deserved to be called "THE KING OF THE PEACE OF THE
WORLD."
CHAPTER II.
THE PERSISTENT EFFORTS OF ENGLAND IN FAVOUR OF PEACE.
In 1891, Lord Salisbury, then Prime Minister of England, witnessing the
constant progress of Prussian militarism on land and sea, and fully
conscious of the misfortunes it was preparing for Humanity, ordered an
official statement to be made of the extravagant cost of the European
military organization, and sent it confidentially to the German Kaiser,
who took no notice of it.
In 1896, Lord Salisbury lays before the Czar of Russia all the
information he has obtained on the question of militarism in Europe. On
the 28th of August, 1898, the Emperor of Russia addressed to the world
his celebrated Manifesto in favour of peace. It urged, first, the
necessity of a truly permanent peace; second, the limitation of military
preparation which, in its ever increasing development, was causing the
economic ruin of the nations.
The conferences of The Hague in favour of an international agreement for
the maintenance of peace were the direct result of the initiative of the
British Prime Minister, who foresaw the frightful consequences for
Humanity of the enormous development of militarism by the German
Empire.
All the great Powers of Europe and America, together with the secondary
states, at once heartily concurred with the proposition of the Czar of
Russia. Unfortunately, there were two sad exceptions to the consent to
consider the salutary purpose so anxiously desired by those who valued
as they should all the benefits the world would have derived from an
international system assuring permanent peace. Germany and Austria, the
latter already for years dominated by the former, opposed the patriotic
move of the Emperor of Russia, suggested to him by Great Britain. They
agreed to be represented at the Conferences for the only object of
thwarting the efforts in favour of a satisfactory enactment of new rules
of International Law to henceforth protect the world against a general
conflagration, and to free the nations from the crushing burdens of a
militarism daily developing more extravagant.
Ministerial changes in Great Britain in no way altered this part of the
foreign policy of the Mother Country. In 1905, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman
became Prime Minister of England. He was well known to be an ardent
pacifist. Deprecating the mad increase of unchecked militarism, he said,
in his ministerial program:--
"_A policy of huge armaments keeps alive and stimulates and feeds the
belief that force is the best, if not the only, solution of
international differences._"
On the 8th of March, 1906, Lord Haldane, then Minister of War, declared
in the British House of Commons:--
"_I wish we were near the time when the nations would consider together
the reduction of armaments.... Only by united action can we get rid of
the burden which is pressing so heavily on all civilized nations._"
The second Conference of The Hague which took place in July and October,
1907, was then being organized. Russia was again its official promoter.
Well aware of the uncompromising stand of Germany on the question of
reduced armaments, she had not included that matter in the program she
had decided to lay before the Conference. The British Government did all
they could to have it placed on the orders to be taken into
consideration. A member of the Labor Party, Mr. Vivian, moved in the
House of Commons, that the Conference of The Hague be called upon to
discuss that most important subject. His motion was unanimously and
enthusiastically carried.
Informing the House that the Cabinet heartily approved the Resolution,
Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, said:--
"_I do not believe that at any time has the conscious public opinion in
the various countries of Europe set more strongly in the direction of
peace than at the present time, and yet the burden of military and naval
expenditure goes on increasing. No greater service could it (the Hague
Conference) do, than to make the conditions of peace less expensive
than they are at the present time.... It is said we are waiting upon
foreign nations in order to reduce our expenditure. As a matter of fact,
we are all waiting on each other. Some day or other somebody must take
the first step.... I do, on behalf of the Government, not only accept,
but welcome such a resolution as this as a wholesome and beneficial
expression of opinion._"
In July, 1906, a most important meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
took place in London. Twenty-three countries, enjoying the privileges,
in various proportions, of free institutions, were represented at this
memorable Congress of Nations. In the course of his remarkable opening
speech of the first sitting, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister,
said:--
"_Urge your Governments, in the name of humanity, to go into The Hague
Conference as we ourselves hope to go, pledged to diminished charges in
respect of armaments._"
A motion embodying the views so earnestly pressed by the British
Government was unanimously carried.
On the fifth of March, 1907, only four months before the opening of the
Second Hague Conference, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, affirming the bounden
duty of England to propose the restriction of armaments, said, in the
British House of Commons:--
"_Holding the opinion that there is a great movement of feeling among
thinking people in all the nations of the world, in favor of some
restraint on the enormous expenditure involved in the present system so
long as it exists.... We have desired and still desire to place
ourselves in the very front rank of those who think that the warlike
attitude of powers, as displayed by the excessive growth of armaments is
a curse to Europe, and the sooner it is checked, in however moderate a
degree, the better._"
Unfortunately, German hostility to reduced armaments prevented any good
result from the second Hague Conference in the way of checking
extravagant and ruinous military organization. There was sad
disappointment in all the reasonable world and specially in England at
this deplorable outcome. Mr. Campbell-Bannerman expressed it as
follows:--
"_We had hoped that some great advance might be made towards a common
consent to arrest the wasteful and growing competition in naval and
military armaments. We were disappointed._"
Unshaken in her determination to do her utmost to protect Civilization
against the threatening and ever increasing dangers of German
militarism, England persisted with the most laudable perseverance in her
noble efforts to that much desired end. But all her pleadings, however
convincing, were vain. Germany was obdurate. Finally, on the 30th of
March, 1911, speaking in the Reichstag, the German Imperial Chancellor
threw off the mask, and positively declared that the question of
reduced armaments admitted of no possible solution "_as long as men were
men and States were States_."
A more brutal declaration could hardly have been made. It was a cynical
challenge to the World. Times were maturing and Germany was anxiously
waiting for the opportunity to strike the blow which would stagger
Humanity.
Through all the great crisis of July and August, 1914, directly
consequent upon the odious crime of Sarajevo, England exhausted all her
efforts to maintain peace, but unfortunately without avail.
Knowing very well how much England sincerely wished the maintenance of
peace, the German Government was to the last moment under the delusion
that it could succeed in having Great Britain to remain neutral in a
general European war. They were not ashamed to presume they could bribe
England. Without blushing they made to the British Government the
infamous proposition contained in the following despatch from Sir E.
Goschen, the British Ambassador at Berlin, to Sir Edward Grey, the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs:--
Sir E. Goschen to Sir Edward Grey (Received July 29).
Berlin, July 29, 1914.
(Telegraphic.)
I was asked to call upon the Chancellor to-night. His Excellency
had just returned from Potsdam.
He said that should Austria be attacked by Russia a European
conflagration might, he feared, become inevitable, owing to
Germany's obligation as Austria's ally, in spite of his
continued efforts to maintain peace. He then proceeded to make
the following strong bid for British neutrality. He said that it
was clear, so far as he was able to judge the main principle
which governed British policy, that Great Britain would never
stand by and allow France to be crushed in any conflict there
might be. That, however, was not the object at which Germany
aimed. Provided that neutrality of Great Britain was certain,
every assurance would be given to the British Government that
the Imperial Government aimed at no territorial acquisitions at
the expense of France should they prove victorious in any war
that might ensue.
I questioned his Excellency about the French colonies, and he
said he was unable to give a similar undertaking in that
respect. As regards Holland, however, his Excellency said that,
so long as Germany's adversaries respected the integrity and
neutrality of the Netherlands, Germany was ready to give His
Majesty's Government an assurance that she would do likewise. It
depended upon the action of France what operations Germany might
be forced to enter upon in Belgium, but when the war was over,
Belgian integrity would be respected if she had not sided
against Germany.
His Excellency ended by saying that ever since he had been
Chancellor the object of his policy had been, as you were aware,
to bring about an understanding with England; he trusted that
these assurances might form the basis of that understanding
which he so much desired. He had in mind a general neutrality
agreement between England and Germany, though it was of course
at the present moment too early to discuss details, and an
assurance of British neutrality in the conflict which present
crisis might possibly produce, would enable him to look forward
to realisation of his desire.
In reply to his Excellency's inquiry how I thought his request
would appeal to you, I said that I did not think it probable
that at this stage of events you would care to bind yourself to
any course of action and that I was of opinion that you would
desire to retain full liberty.
Our conversation upon this subject having come to an end, I
communicated the contents of your telegram of to-day to his
Excellency, who expressed his best thanks to you.
To the foregoing outrageous proposition, the Government of Great Britain
gave the proud and noble reply which follows, for all times to be
recorded in diplomatic annals to the eternal honour and glory of the
Ministers who incurred the responsibility of, and of the distinguished
diplomat who drafted, that memorable document:--
Sir Edward Grey to Sir E. Goschen.
(Telegraphic.)
Foreign Office, July 30, 1914.
Your telegram of 29th July.
His Majesty's Government cannot for a moment entertain the
Chancellor's proposal that they should bind themselves to
neutrality on such terms.
What he asks us in effect is to engage to stand by while French
colonies are taken and France is beaten so long as Germany does
not take French territory as distinct from the colonies.
From the material point of view such a proposal is unacceptable,
for France, without further territory in Europe being taken from
her, could be so crushed as to lose her position as a Great
Power, and become subordinate to German policy.
Altogether, apart from that, it would be a disgrace for us to
make this bargain with Germany at the expense of France, a
disgrace from which the good name of this country would never
recover.
The Chancellor also in effect asks us to bargain away whatever
obligation or interest we have as regards the neutrality of
Belgium. We could not entertain that bargain either.
Having said so much, it is unnecessary to examine whether the
prospect of a future general neutrality agreement between
England and Germany offered positive advantages sufficient to
compensate us for tying our hands now. We must preserve our full
freedom to act as circumstances may seem to us to require in any
such unfavourable and regrettable development of the present
crisis as the Chancellor contemplates.
You should speak to the Chancellor in the above sense, and add
most earnestly that the only way of maintaining the good
relations between England and Germany is that they should
continue to work together to preserve the peace of Europe; if we
succeed in this object, the mutual relations of Germany and
England will, I believe, be =ipso facto= improved and
strengthened. For that object His Majesty's Government will work
in that way with all sincerity and good-will.
And I will say this: if the peace of Europe can be preserved,
and the present crisis safely passed, my own endeavour will be
to promote some arrangement to which Germany will be a party, by
which she could be assured that no aggressive or hostile policy
would be pursued against her or her allies by France, Russia,
and ourselves, jointly or separately. I have desired this and
worked for it, as far as I could, through the last Balkan
crisis, and, Germany having a corresponding object, our
relations sensibly improved. The idea has hitherto been too
Utopian to form the subject of definite proposals, but if this
present crisis, so much more acute than any that Europe has gone
through for generations, be safely passed, I am hopeful that the
relief and reaction which will follow may make possible some
more definite rapprochement between the Powers than has been
possible hitherto.
The British Government could not take a more dignified stand and express
their indignation at the infamous proposal in stronger and more noble
terms.
Let us now read the indignant protest of Mr. Asquith, the British Prime
Minister, against the outrageous German proposition, addressed to the
House of Commons, where it raised a storm of applause, proclaiming to
the World the dogged determination of England to wage war rather than
agree to the dishonourable German proposal:--
What does that amount to? Let me just ask the House. I do so,
not with the object of inflaming passion, certainly not with the
object of exciting feeling against Germany, but I do so to
vindicate and make clear the position of the British Government
in this matter. What did that proposal amount to? In the first
place, it meant this: That behind the back of France--they were
not made a party to these communications--we should have given,
if we had assented to that, a free license to Germany to annex,
in the event of a successful war, the whole of the extra
European dominions and possessions of France. What did it mean
as regards Belgium? When she addressed, as she has addressed in
the last few days, her moving appeal to us to fulfil our solemn
guarantee of her neutrality, what reply should we have given?
What reply should we have given to that Belgian appeal? We
should have been obliged to say that without her knowledge we
had bartered away to the Power threatening her our obligation to
keep our plighted word. The House has read, and the country has
read, of course, in the last few hours, the most pathetic appeal
addressed by the King of Belgium, and I do not envy the man who
can read that appeal with an unmoved heart. Belgians are
fighting and losing their lives. What would have been the
position of Great Britain to-day in the face of that spectacle
if we had assented to this infamous proposal? Yes, and what are
we to get in return for the betrayal of our friends and the
dishonour of our obligations? What are we to get in return? A
promise--nothing more; a promise as to what Germany would do in
certain eventualities; a promise, be it observed--I am sorry to
say it, but it must be put upon record--given by a Power which
was at that very moment announcing its intention to violate its
own treaty, and inviting us to do the same. I can only say, if
we had dallied or temporized, we, as a Government, should have
covered ourselves with dishonour, and we should have betrayed
the interests of this country, of which we are trustees.
After quoting and eulogizing the telegraphic despatch of Sir Edward Grey
to Sir E. Goschen, dated July 30, 1914, Mr. Asquith proceeded as
follows:--
That document, in my opinion, states clearly, in temperate and
convincing language, the attitude of this Government. Can any
one who reads it fail to appreciate the tone of obvious
sincerity and earnestness which underlies it; can any one
honestly doubt that the Government of this country in spite of
great provocation--and I regard the proposals made to us as
proposals which we might have thrown aside without consideration
and almost without answer--can any one doubt that in spite of
great provocation the right hon. gentleman, who had already
earned the title--and no one ever more deserved it--of Peace
Maker of Europe, persisted to the very last moment of the last
hour in that beneficent but unhappily frustrated purpose. I am
entitled to say, and I do so on behalf of this country--I speak
not for a party, I speak for the country as a whole--that we
made every effort any Government could possibly make for peace.
But this war has been forced upon us. What is it we are
fighting for? Every one knows, and no one knows better than the
Government the terrible incalculable suffering, economic,
social, personal and political, which war, and especially a war
between the Great Powers of the world must entail. There is no
man amongst us sitting upon this bench in these trying
days--more trying perhaps than any body of statesmen for a
hundred years have had to pass through, there is not a man
amongst us who has not, during the whole of that time, had
clearly before his vision the almost unequalled suffering which
war, even in just cause, must bring about, not only to the
peoples who are for the moment living in this country and in the
other countries of the world, but to posterity and to the whole
prospects of European civilization. Every step we took with that
vision before our eyes, and with a sense of responsibility which
it is impossible to describe. Unhappily, if in spite of all our
efforts to keep the peace, and with that full and overpowering
consciousness of the result, if the issue be decided in favour
of war, we have, nevertheless, thought it to be the duty as well
as the interest of this country to go to war, the House may be
well assured it was because we believe, and I am certain the
Country will believe, we are unsheathing our sword in a just
cause.
If I am asked what we are fighting for I reply in two sentences.
In the first place to fulfil a solemn international obligation,
an obligation which, if it had been entered into between private
persons in the ordinary concerns of life, would have been
regarded as an obligation not only of law but of honour, which
no self-respecting man could possibly have repudiated. I say,
secondly, we are fighting to vindicate the principle which, in
these days when force, material force, sometimes seems to be the
dominant influence and factor in the development of mankind, we
are fighting to vindicate the principle that small nationalities
are not to be crushed, in defiance of international good faith,
by the military will of a strong and overmastering Power. I do
not believe any nation ever entered into a great
controversy--and this is one of the greatest history will ever
know--with a clearer conscience and stronger conviction that it
is fighting, not for aggression, not for the maintenance even of
its own selfish interest, but that it is fighting in defence of
principles, the maintenance of which is vital to the
civilisation of the world. With a full conviction, not only of
the wisdom and justice, but of the obligations which lay upon us
to challenge this great issue, we are entering into the
struggle.
The German Government refusing to order their army to retire from the
Belgian territory it had violated, at midnight, 4th to 5th August, 1914,
the whole British Empire was at war with the whole German Empire.
Surely, there is not the slightest necessity to argue any more that in
the terrific war raging for the last four years, Justice and Right are
on the side of England and her Allies. No war was ever more just, waged
with equal honour for the triumph of Liberty and Civilization, for the
protection of Humanity against the onslaught of barbarism developed to
the cruelty of the darkest ages of History.
CHAPTER III.
THE CALL TO DUTY IN CANADA.
Every one knows how the news of the State of War between the British and
German Empires were received in our great Canadian Dominion, after the
days of anxious waiting which culminated in the rallying of England to
the defence of the cause of Freedom and Civilization. When the call for
duty was sounded in the Capital of the British Empire, it rolled over
the mighty Atlantic, spreading over the length and breadth of Canada,
being re-echoed with force in our Province of Quebec.
At once called to prepare for the emergency, the Canadian Parliament met
and unanimously decided that the Dominion would, of her own free will
and patriotic decision, participate in the Great War. The course of
events in Canada, for the last four years, is well known by all. It is
recent history.
My special object in condensing in this book the defence which I
considered it my duty to make of the just and sacred cause of the
British Empire, and her Allies, in the great war still raging with
undiminished fury, being to show how I did, to the best of my ability,
try to persuade my French Canadian Countrymen where was the true path
of duty, and how false and disloyal were the unscrupulous theories of
"Nationalism", I must first review the successive movements of public
opinion in the Province of Quebec.
In the preceding sentence, I have intently affirmed that the cause of
the Allies was that of the whole British Empire. Surely, it should not
be necessary to say so, as no truly loyal British subject would for a
moment hesitate to come to that patriotic conclusion. Still, however
incredible it is, the duty of the British colonies to rally to the flag
to defend the Empire and participate in the deadly struggle between
Civilization and barbarism, was challenged by the leaders of the
"Nationalist school" in the Province of Quebec. Of course, that school
never represented more than a small minority of thought and numbers.
But, sad to admit, a fanatical minority, in days of trying sacrifices,
can do a great deal of injury to a people by inflaming national and
religious prejudices. We, French Canadians, have had much to suffer from
the unpatriotic efforts of a few to bring our countrymen to take an
erroneous view of the situation.
At the opening of the war, the general opinion in the Province of Quebec
was without doubt strongly in favor of Canada's participation in the
struggle. Any student of the working of our constitutional system knows
how the strength of public opinion is ascertained, outside of a general
election, in all cases, and more specially with regard to measures of
paramount importance when the country has to deal with a national
emergency.
The Parliament of Canada is the authorized representative of the
Country. Called in a special session, at the very outbreak of the
hostilities, they voted unanimously that it was our duty to participate
in the war. All the representatives of the Province of Quebec heartily
joined with those of all the other Provinces to vote this unanimous
decision.
In the light of events ever since, who can now reasonably pretend that
the patriotic decision of the Parliament of Canada was not entirely,
even enthusiastically, approved by the Canadian people? The press, even
in the Province of Quebec, with only one exception of any consequence,
was unanimous in its approval of the action of Parliament.
The heads of our Church, the Archbishops and Bishops of the
Ecclesiastical Provinces of Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa, in their very
important Pastoral Letter on the duties of the Catholics in the present
war, positively said:--
"_We must acknowledge it--(nous ne saurions nous le dissimuler--): that
conflict, one of the most terrific the world has yet seen, cannot but
have its repercussion in our country. England is engaged into it, and
who does not see that the fate of all the component parts of the Empire
is bound with the fate of her arms. She relies upon our support, and
that support, we are happy to say, has been generously offered to her
both in men and money._"
No representative of public opinion, of any weight, outside of
Parliament, professional men, leaders of finance, commerce and industry,
in the Province of Quebec, raised a word of disapproval at the
Parliamentary call to arms.
Not one meeting was called, not one resolution was moved, to oppose the
decision of the Canadian Parliament.
Not one petition was addressed to the two Houses in Ottawa against
Canada's participation in the war.
Every one in the Province of Quebec knew that participating in the war
would entail heavy financial sacrifices, and that the taxation of the
country would have to be largely increased to meet the new obligations
we had freely decided to incur for the salvation of the Empire and of
Civilization.
The Government of the day proposed the financial measures they
considered necessary to raise the public revenue which the circumstances
required. Those measures were unanimously approved by Parliament. The
taxpayers of the country, those of the Province of Quebec like all the
others, willingly and patriotically accepted and paid without complaint
the new taxes into the public treasury. During more than the three first
years of the war, I visited a good part of the Province of Quebec, and
addressed several large public meetings. Everywhere my attention was
forcibly struck by the prompt willingness of my French Canadian
countrymen to bear their share of the financial sacrifices Canada was
called upon to make for the triumph of the cause of the Allies.
CHAPTER IV.
RECRUITING BY VOLUNTARY SERVICE.
No stronger evidence could be given of the determination of the country
as a whole, and over all its component parts, to support Great Britain
and her Allies to final success, than the truly wonderful record of the
voluntary enlistment of more than four hundred thousand men, of all
walks in life, to rush to the front.
Recruiting in the Province of Quebec indeed started very well. Several
thousands of French Canadian youth rallied to the colors. I hope and
trust that, sooner or later, it will be possible to make a more
satisfactory statistical record of the number of French Canadians who
enlisted. I am fully convinced that the total is somewhat much larger
than the figures usually quoted. It would surely be conducive to a
better understanding of the case, if such statistical information was
carefully prepared and made public. It is easily conceivable that the
pressure of the work of maintaining the splendid Canadian army renders
it perhaps difficult to attend actually to the details of that
compilation. So we can afford to wait for the redress of figures which
may constitute a wrong to the race second in numbers but equal to any in
patriotism in Canada.
Pending my remarks upon certain causes which have contributed to check
recruiting amongst the French element in the Province of Quebec, I
consider it important to mention those which were easy to ascertain and
comprehend.
It is a well known fact that early marriages are a rule in the Province
of Quebec much more than in the other Provinces of the Dominion. As a
natural consequence, the available number of young unmarried men for
recruiting purposes was proportionately less. I myself have known
parishes in our Province where half a dozen of unmarried young men from
twenty years of age and upwards could not be found.
It was easily to foresee that a comparison would be made between the
number of Canadian-born volunteers in the English-speaking Provinces and
that from the Province of Quebec. The degree of enthusiasm for
enlistment in the other Provinces between the foreign born and the
Canadian born has also been noticed. It has generally been admitted that
most naturally the young men recently arrived in Canada were more
strongly appealed to by all the sacred ties still binding them to their
mother land. When generations have, for more than a century, enjoyed all
the blessings of peace and lived far away from the turmoil of warlike
preparations and military conflicts, is it to be much wondered at that
the entire population is not at once permeated with the feeling of the
dangers ahead, and do not rise rapidly to the full sense of the duty she
is suddenly called upon to perform.
My daily personal intercourse with hundreds of my French Canadian
compatriots allowed me to realize that many of them, even amongst the
leading classes, were over-confident that the Allies representing at the
beginning the united effort of England, France and Russia, soon to be
reinforced by Italy, breaking away from the Central Powers, would
certainly be equal to the task of being victorious over German
militarism. Repeatedly, before public meetings and in very numerous
private conversations, I urgently implored my hearers not to be so
deluded, doing my best to convince them that it would be a fatal error
to shut our eyes from the truth, that the military power of Central
Europe, comprising the two great Empires of Germany and Austria,
Bulgaria, with the help of Asiatic Turkey, and the undisguised support
of baneful teutonic influences and intrigues at the courts of Petrograd
and Athens, was gigantic, and that the terrible conflict would surely
develop into a struggle for life and death between human freedom and
barbarism.
This feeling of over-confidence was passing away, when it became evident
that to triumph over the modern huns and their associates was no easy
task; that the goal of freeing humanity from the threatening universal
domination would require the most determined effort of the nations who
had heroically undertaken to reach it.
CHAPTER V.
INTERVENTION OF NATIONALISM.
The great struggle being waged with increased intensity, it was daily
becoming more and more evident that the Allied nations were bound to
muster all their courage, perseverance and resources to successfully
fight their determined foe. It was just at the thick of this critical
situation, calling forth the devotion and patriotism of all, that the
"Nationalist" campaign of false theories and principles was launched
with renewed activity in the Province of Quebec.
Mr. Henri Bourassa, ex-member of Labelle in the House of Commons, was,
and still is, the recognized leader of the "Nationalist School" in our
Province, and wherever it finds adherents. His personal organ, "_Le
Devoir_," is daily expounding the doctrines of that School.
In October, 1915, Mr. Bourassa issued a pamphlet of over four hundred
pages entitled:--"_What do we owe England?_"--in French:--"_Que
devons-nous a l'Angleterre?_"
In the long overdrawn and farfetched argumentation of this volume, the
author's effort is to try and prove that Canada owes nothing to England,
that all those who favour the Canadian participation in the war are
"revolutionists," that we are unduly paying a large tribute to the
Empire.
In 1916, Mr. Bourassa supplemented his first book with a second
pamphlet, entitled:--"_Yesterday, To-day, To-morrow_," in
French:--"_Hier, Aujourd'hui, Demain_," in which he amplified the views
expressed in the preceding volume.
I undertook to read Mr. Bourassa's works, and I must say that I was
astonished at what I found therein. I felt very strongly that his
erroneous views--without questioning their sincerity--were bound to
pervert the opinion of my French compatriots, to enflame their
prejudices, and to do a great deal of harm in promoting the ever
dangerous conflict of race fanaticism. Over forty years of experience of
public life had taught me how easy it is to introduce a prejudice in a
man's mind, but how difficult it is to destroy it when once it has taken
root.
CHAPTER VI.
WHAT DO WE OWE ENGLAND?
To this question raised by Mr. Bourassa, and argued at length by himself
in the negative, I answered by a chapter of my book:--"_L'Angleterre, le
Canada et la Grand Guerre_"--"_England, Canada and the Great War_."
Great Britain, ever since she came to the conclusion that the days of
the old colonial policy were passed, and agreed that we should freely
govern ourselves, with ministerial responsibility, within the powers set
forth in our constitutional charter, has scrupulously respected our
political liberty. We have administered our own affairs at our own free
will. The Imperial Government never attempted to interfere with the
development of our federal politics. They would surely have declined
such interference, if it had been asked for.
As long as we form part of the British Empire, it is evident that we owe
to England that loyalty which every colony owes to her mother-country.
Granted by the Sovereign Power ruling Canada the freest institutions,
having the best of reasons to be fully satisfied with our relations with
Great Britain, we are in duty bound to be loyal to her flag. We must be
true to our allegiance.
We have freely decided to incur the sacrifices we are making for the
war. We have so decided because we considered it of the greatest
importance, for the future of Humanity, that the German ambition for
universal domination be foiled; that the British Empire be maintained;
that France should continue a first class Power, as expressed by Mr.
Asquith; that before all, and above all, the eternal principles of
Right, Justice and Civilization, shall not be trampled upon by the
terrific assault of teutonic barbarism. Moreover, we are also in duty
bound to judge with fairness England's part in the great society of
nations, and, especially, that she plays in the great events of the
present crisis. Beyond doubt, a truly loyal Canadian must refrain from
poisoning foreign opinion and that of his fellow British subjects
against Great Britain in attributing her course to selfish interests,
wilfully taking no account of her broad and admirable foreign policy,
ever inspired by the steady desire to maintain peace.
In the first mentioned work, Mr. Bourassa lays great stress on the fact
that for nearly a century and a half, previous to the South African War,
Canada did not participate in the wars of the Empire. He extensively
quotes from the documents and the discussions between Canada's
representatives and the Imperial Government, respecting the defence of
our country, and that of the Empire herself. He concludes by pretending
that the result of all these negotiations and conventions was the
agreement that Canada would have only to attend to her own defence, and
that Great Britain was always obliged to protect us against all outside
attacks. From these pretensions he draws the startling conclusion that
all those who do not stand by the conventions he did his best to
emphasize are doing revolutionary work.
The answer to such extravagant notions is rather plain and easy. There
was not the slightest necessity for the Nationalist leader to multiply
lengthy quotations to prove what mere common sense settles at first
thought:--
First:--That any country, whether it be independent or a colony, must
defend itself when attacked by an enemy.
Second:--That a Sovereign State is bound to defend all the territory
under its authority and covered by its flag.
But all this has nothing whatever to do with the very different question
of Canada's participation, outside her own territory, in a war in which
Great Britain is engaged, which participation Canada has freely,
deliberately approved and ordered. Such was the case in 1914. The
Parliament and the people of Canada at once realized that in the
gigantic conflict into which Germany had drawn all the Great Powers of
Europe, our future destiny as much as that of England herself was at
stake. Without the slightest hesitation, unasked and unsolicited by the
Mother Country, we decided that we were in duty bound to do our share
to defend the great Empire of which we are a very important component
part, and to help saving the world from tyrannical domination.
Much too often giving to words a meaning which they positively cannot
convey, Mr. Bourassa argued at length to prove that the agreements,
conventions, and understandings arrived at between the Imperial and
Canadian Governments, at different dates, were a _solemn treaty_.
How false and untenable such a pretention is, surely needs no lengthy
argument. International Law knows no treaties but those made between
Sovereign States. It is most absurd to pretend that a Sovereign State
can make a treaty between herself and its own colony. Where is the man
with the slightest notion of Constitutional Government who would
pretend, for instance, that the British North American Act is a treaty
between Great Britain and Canada. It is an Act passed by the Legislative
authority of the Sovereign State to which we belong, enacting the
conditions under which Canada would enjoy the rights and privileges of
constitutional self-government, participating in the exercise of
Sovereignty within the limits of the powers enumerated in the Act
creating the Dominion. It was precisely because we knew we were acting
within the limits of those powers, that we decided to join with England
and her Allies in the great war.
CHAPTER VII.
CANADA IS NOT A SOVEREIGN STATE.
As long as Canada will remain under the flag of Great Britain--and for
one I hope it will yet be for many long years,--it is evident that it
will not be a "_Sovereign State_" in the full sense of the word.
One can hardly believe that the Nationalist leader, at page 17 of his
pamphlet--"_Hier, Aujourd'hui, Demain_"--"_Yesterday, To-day,
To-morrow_," opens a chapter with the title: "_Les Colonies autonomes
sont des Etats Souverains._"--"_The autonomous colonies are Sovereign
States._"
Mr. Bourassa was evidently led to the grievous error contained in the
preceding title by a complete misapprehension of the true meaning of the
word "_autonomous_." He took "_autonomy_" for "_Sovereignty_," being
under the delusion that the two are synonymous.
Any student of History knows, or ought to know, that after the war which
culminated in the independence of the United States, England adopted an
entirely new colonial policy. She was the first Sovereign Power, and has
ever since remained the only one, to realize that the old system was
doomed to failure, that it was worn out. Her leading statesmen, who
always ranked amongst the most eminent the world over, were more and
more convinced that the only safe colonial policy was that which would
grant "_self-government_" to the colonies, trained to its harmonious
working, for their interior management. The true meaning of this new
policy was that several of the colonies were, by acts of the Imperial
Parliament, called to the exercise of a share of the Sovereignty, well
defined in their respective constitutional charters. Canada was one of
the first British colonies to enjoy the advantages of such a large part
of the Sovereign rights.
Such "_autonomous colonies_" as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, Newfoundland, have been, and are to the present day, do not
transform them into "_Sovereign States_," enjoying full "Sovereign
powers." They are not "_Independent States_" in the full sense of the
word.
That Canada is not a Sovereign State is proved beyond doubt by the very
fact that she could not amend or change her constitutional charter by
her own power and without a new Imperial law. If the Nationalist
leader's pretention was sound, any member of the House of Commons, or of
the Senate, in Ottawa, could propose a bill to repeal the British North
America Act, 1867, and to replace it by another constitutional charter.
The very supposition is absurd. Can it be imagined that His Excellency
the Governor-General could be advised by his responsible Ministers to
sanction, in the name of His Majesty the Sovereign of Great Britain, a
bill repealing an Act of the Imperial Parliament? Still it is exactly
what Mr. Bourassa's theory amounts to.
Our constitutional charter does not only provide what is called our
Federal,--or National--autonomy, but also the Provincial autonomy. The
powers of both are well defined in the Imperial Act. The Provinces of
the Dominion also exercise that share of the Sovereign rights delegated
to them by the Imperial Parliament. Would the Nationalist leader draw
the extravagant conclusion that the territory of any one of the
Provinces cannot be declared in the "State of War" with a Foreign Power,
by His Majesty the King, without the assent of the Ministers of that
Province? Still that absurd proposition would not be more so than that
affirming the necessity of the assent of the Canadian Cabinet, to a
declaration of War involving Canada in an Imperial struggle.
The Sovereign right of declaring war to, and of making peace with,
another independent State, is vested in the King of Great Britain,
acting upon the advice of his responsible Ministers in the United
Kingdom. To the Imperial Parliament belongs the constitutional authority
to deal with the Imperial Foreign Affairs.
It is plain that when Great Britain is at War with another Sovereign
State the whole territory of the British Empire is in the "State of War"
with that Nation.
It is inconceivable that Mr. Bourassa has seriously pretended that
Canada was not at war with the German Empire the very moment the British
Empire was so in consequence of the violation by Germany of Belgian
neutrality. One can hardly believe that he has propounded the fallacious
constitutional doctrine that His Majesty "_the King of England hath not
the right to declare Canada in the State of War without the assent of
the Canadian Cabinet_."
Where and when has the Nationalist leader discovered that the Canadian
Ministers have the right to advise His Majesty upon all the questions
pertaining to the Imperial Foreign Affairs? Any one conversant with the
constitutional status of Canada knows that the Canadian Ministers have
the right to advise the representative of the Sovereign only upon
matters as defined by the British North America Act, 1867, and its
amendments.
I was indeed very much surprised at the attempt of Mr. Bourassa to use
the authority of Sir Erskine May in support of his erroneous pretension
that the autonomous colonies of Great Britain were Sovereign States.
To all the students of the Constitutional History of England, Sir
Erskine May is a very well known and appreciated writer. I have read his
works several times over for many years. I was certain that he had never
written anything to justify the Nationalist leader in quoting him as he
did.
Here follows the paragraph of May's Constitutional History quoted by Mr.
Bourassa in support of his own views:--
Parliament has recently pronounced it to be just that the
Colonies which enjoy self-government, should undertake the
responsibility and cost of their own military defence. To carry
this policy into effect must be the work of time. But whenever
it may be effected, the last material bond of connection with
the Colonies will have been severed, and colonial states,
acknowledging the honorary sovereignty of England, and fully
armed for self-defence, as well against herself as others, will
have grown out of the dependencies of the British Empire.
I must say that I am absolutely unable to detect one single word in the
above quotation to authorize Mr. Bourassa to affirm that Sir Erskine May
was of opinion that "_the autonomous colonies were Sovereign States_."
The true meaning of the above extract is surely very plain. What does it
say? It declares, what was a fact, that the British _Parliament has
recently pronounced it to be just that the Colonies which enjoy
self-government should undertake the responsibility and cost of their
own military defence_.
Would the British Parliament have deemed it necessary to express such an
opinion, if the Colonies had, then, been Sovereign States, consequently
obliged, in duty bound, to defend themselves _alone_ against any
possible enemy. Surely not, for the obvious reason that Great Britain
would have had no more responsibility for the defence of territories no
longer covered by her flag and under her Sovereignty.
The very fact that the British Parliament thought proper, _under the
then circumstances_, to say that the Colonies enjoying self-government
should undertake to defend themselves, is the convincing proof that they
were not Sovereign States.
The following sentence of May's quotation says:--_To carry this policy
into effect must be the work of time_.
It is clear that the _policy_ requiring the work of time to be carried
into effect was not actually existent at the time Sir Erskine May was
writing.
The extract quoted by Mr. Bourassa concludes by declaring that when such
a policy _has_ been finally adopted, the Colonies will have developed
into Colonial States having _grown out of the dependencies of the
British Empire_.
Evidently, when the Dominions of Canada, Australia, South Africa, New
Zealand, will have grown out of the dependencies of the British Empire,
they will no longer be Colonies of Great Britain. But when will that
very important event take place? Surely, Sir Erskine May could not
foresee. Even to-day Mr. Bourassa cannot say more than any one else.
Pending that unforeseen outcome, the Dominions will remain parts of the
British Empire under her Sovereignty.
The above quotation was taken by Mr. Bourassa from the edition of Sir
Erskine May's "Constitutional History" published in 1912. But they were
first edited by the author in 1863. When has the Imperial Parliament
adopted the above mentioned "_Resolution_"? It was voted in 1862--the
4th of March--more than fifty-six years ago. Quoted as it has been by
Mr. Bourassa, it appears to have been only very recently adopted. The
fact that it is more than half a century old, and was carried before the
Federal Union of the Provinces, is a convincing proof that it has no
bearing whatever upon the conditions of Canada's present colonial
status. By the aforesaid "_Resolution_," the British House of Commons
was only expressing the opinion that the time had come for the Colonies
to undertake the responsibility and the cost of their defence. The
"Resolution" does not say that Great Britain would no longer be called,
in the exercise of the rights and duties of her Sovereignty, to defend
her Colonial Empire.
By what reasoning can a mere expression of opinion by the English House
of Commons be interpreted as at once transforming the Colonies into
independent Sovereign States?
Any one somewhat conversant with the political events that led to the
Federal Union of the Provinces knows that in applying to the British
Parliament for the new Constitutional Charter, the Legislature of United
Canada had a twofold object:--first, the settlement of the
constitutional difficulties then pending between Upper and Lower Canada;
secondly, a broader development of Canada and also of the British
Empire. Such was the purpose of the coalition government formed in 1864.
All the members of that Cabinet were strongly in favour of the
maintenance of Canada's union with Great Britain. I have heard them
expounding their views on what the future of Canada ought to be. I am
positive that neither Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Georges Cartier, the
honorable Georges Brown, nor any of their colleagues, of both political
parties, ever said a word which could be construed as expressing the
opinion that the proposed Federal Union would make of Canada an
independent Sovereign State. It is incredible that Mr. Bourassa should
have so erroneously understood their real views so as to pretend that
they favoured Confederation for that very purpose.
As a proof of his pretension, he quoted the following words of Sir John
A. Macdonald, in the Legislative Assembly of old United Canada:--
"_With us the Sovereign, or, in this country the representative of the
Sovereign, can act only on the advice of His Ministers, those Ministers
being responsible to the people through Parliament._"
Mr. Bourassa used the foregoing sentence in support of his contention
that the King of England could not declare war without the assent of the
Canadian Cabinet. It is impossible to understand how such a notion can
be seriously held and expressed. His Majesty cannot ask nor accept such
an advice, if it was tendered, for the very reason that the Canadian
Cabinet has not the constitutional right to advise the King respecting
the international relations of the Empire. And why? Precisely because
the Canadian Ministers would not be responsible for their advice to the
Imperial Parliament and to the electorate of the United Kingdom.
The true meaning of the above quoted sentence of Sir John A. Macdonald
is very plain. Ministerial responsibility was the fundamental principle
of the old Constitution, as it is of the Federal Charter. Sir John A.
Macdonald was perfectly right in affirming that "_in Canada, as in
England, the Sovereign could act only on the advice of His Ministers,"
that is to say on the advice of His responsible Ministers within the
constitutional powers of our Parliament on all matters respecting which
they had the constitutional right to advise His Majesty_.
Sir John A. Macdonald never said--he could not possibly say--that as
Prime Minister of Canada, under the new Constitution, he would have the
right to advise the Sovereign on all matters within the exclusive
constitutional jurisdiction of the Imperial Parliament, for instance
respecting the exercise of the Royal prerogative of declaring war
against, or of making peace with, a foreign independent State. He has
never propounded such an utterly false constitutional doctrine.
Mr. Bourassa went still further. He quoted the following sentence from
Sir John A. Macdonald:--"_We stand with regard to the people of Canada
precisely in the same position as the House of Commons in England stands
with regard to the people of England_."
I was indeed most astonished to read Mr. Bourassa's inference from those
words that Sir John A. Macdonald _had affirmed the absolute equality of
powers of the Imperial and the Canadian Parliaments_.
If the opinion expressed by Sir John A. Macdonald could be so
interpreted, he would have affirmed--what was radically wrong--that
under the new Constitution, the Canadian Parliament would have,
_concurrently with the Imperial Parliament_, absolutely the same powers.
What did that mean? It meant that the Canadian Parliament, just as the
Imperial Parliament, would have the right to edict laws establishing
Home Rule in Ireland, regulating the government of India and the Crown
Colonies, granting constitutional charters for the good government of
the Australian and South African Dominions, &c., &c.
Surely it is not necessary to argue at any length to prove that Sir John
A. Macdonald never for a moment entertained such an opinion. What he
really said, in the above quoted words, was that within their
constitutional jurisdiction, within the limits of their respective
powers, the two Parliaments stood in the same position, _respectively_,
with regard to the people of England and to the people of Canada. It was
equivalent to saying--what was positively true--that the British
Ministers and the British Parliament were responsible to the people of
England, and that the Canadian Ministers and the Canadian Parliament
were responsible to the people of Canada,--both of them within the
limits of their respective constitutional powers.
If the Canadian Legislature had enjoyed all the constitutional powers of
the British Parliament, she would not have been obliged to pass
addresses asking the latter to enact a new charter creating the Federal
Union of the Provinces. She could have repealed her then existing
constitution and enacted the new one by her own authority. But that she
could not do. She could not repeal the old, nor enact the new charter.
But the most extraordinary is that Mr. Bourassa went so far as to
declare that Canada should have participated in the present war only as
a "_Nation_," meaning, of course, as an independent Sovereign State.
On reading such a preposterous proposition, at once it strikes one's
mind most forcibly that if Canada had really had the power to intervene
in the world's struggle as a "Nation," she would have had the equal
right to the choice of three alternatives.
First:--Declare war against Germany and in favor of the Allies.
Second:--Remain neutral.
Third:--Declare war against Great Britain and fight for Germany.
For it is obvious that all the Sovereign States--and Canada like them
all if she had been one of them--had the Sovereign Right to fight for or
against Great Britain, or to remain neutral. Of course, I am merely
explaining in its entirety the Right of a Sovereign State. I surely do
not mean to say that Canada, had she really been such a State, would in
any way have been justifiable in joining with Germany in her dastardly
attempt to crush Civilization in the barbarous throes of her domination.
What would His Excellency the Governor-General have answered his Prime
Minister advising him to declare war against England, he who represents
His Majesty at Ottawa? Would he not have told him at once that the
Canadian Prime Minister had no right whatever to give him such an
advice; that Canada, being a British Colony, could not declare war
against her Sovereign State; that for the Canadian people to take up
arms against England would be treasonable revolt?
It is absolutely incredible that a public man, aspiring to the
leadership of his countrymen, can have been so completely lost to the
sense of the Canadian constitutional situation as to boldly attempt to
pervert their mind with such fallacious notions. He might as well
pretend that the State of New York, for instance, has the Sovereign
Right to declare war against the Government of the United States.
I, for one, cannot help wondering that any one can seriously think that
a colony, always pretending to remain loyally so, can wage war against
her Sovereign State. I feel sure that all sensible men do share my views
on that point.
CHAPTER VIII.
GERMAN ILLUSIONS.
When Germany threw the gauntlet to the Powers of the "Entente," she
labored under the delusion that the war would most surely break down the
British Empire. She was determined to do her utmost to that end. But she
utterly failed in her criminal efforts.
Strongly bound by ties of affection and constitutional freedom, the
great autonomous Dominions and Colonies at once rallied with courage and
patriotism to the defence of the Empire, of Justice, of Right and
Civilization. India,--that great Indian Empire--to the utter
disappointment of Germany, has stood admirably by Great Britain ever
since the outbreak of the War, by her noble contributions of man-power
and her munificent generosity of very large sums of money, in one
instance amounting to $500,000,000.
The Crown Colonies have also done their share of duty with great
devotion.
The admirable result which for the last four years has been shining
bright and glorious all over the world, is that, contrary to teutonic
expectations, the war, far from breaking asunder the British Empire, has
wonderfully solidified her mighty edifice, by an intensity of loyalty to
her free institutions, to her glorious flag, which the enjoyment of the
blessings of peace would not have proved so easily possible.
CHAPTER IX.
THE NATIONALIST ERROR.
The leaders of our Nationalist School have for years strenuously
laboured to pervert the mind of our French-Canadian compatriots by the
false pretensions that we were, in some mysterious way, coerced to
participate in the European War. Even previous to the days of the South
African conflict, they boldly took the stand that Canada should, on no
account, and under no circumstances whatever, participate in what they
called the Wars of the Empire--_les guerres de l'Empire_. Canada, they
affirmed, had only to defend her own territory if attacked.
Fully appreciating how insidious and dangerous such theories were, I
endeavoured to show, as forcibly as I could, that there had been no
attempt by England at coercion of this Dominion to help her in the
struggle against Germany. Of course, as previously explained, Great
Britain being at war with the German Empire, the whole British Empire
was at war. But no one in England ever intended to propose to force the
colonies to engage actively into the fight. The Imperial Parliament
would certainly not have taken into consideration any such proposition.
But is it not plain and beyond discussion that we, _ourselves_, had the
undoubted right to intervene in the war to the extent that we would
consider it our bounden duty to do so?
Evidently we could not remain neutral in the great conflict. At the very
moment that Great Britain was at war with Germany, Canada, a British
Colony, was part and parcel of the belligerent Sovereign State, the
British Empire. By an incredible misconception, the Nationalist leaders
confounded _neutrality_ with _non-participation_ in the war, if we had
so decided.
To be, or not to be, neutral, was not within our constitutional rights.
If Germany, either by land or by sea, had attacked our territory, as she
had the undoubted belligerent right to do, would it have availed us an
iota to implore her mercy by affirming that we were neutral? Could we
have pretended that she was violating neutral territory?
No one with the least notion of International Law would for a moment
hesitate to give the true answers to those questions.
But the very different question to participate, or not, in the war, was
for us alone to decide according to our constitutional charter. We have
freely, deliberately, decided to do our share in the great war. We
continue and persevere in our noble task, freely and deliberately.
It is admitted by all that under the actual constitutional organization
of the Empire, the Imperial Parliament could not require the autonomous
colonies to participate in the war. But no one can assuredly deny to
that Parliament the right, in the case of an imminent peril, to
formulate the desire that the autonomous colonies would help Great
Britain to conjure the threatened calamity.
But, in the present case, the Imperial Parliament has not even been
under the necessity of expressing such a legitimate wish, for the
obvious reason that the colonies at once took their patriotic stand in
favor of the cause of England and her Allies. If the colonies had not so
decided, of their own free will, it is most likely that the Imperial
Parliament would not have expressed the wish for the assistance of the
Dominions overseas.
The hearty support granted by the colonies to Great Britain, to develop
its full value, had to be spontaneous, enthusiastic. Such it was, such
it is, and such it will be to the last day of the conflict which
victorious conclusion we are so strongly determined to achieve.
CHAPTER X.
HAD CANADA THE RIGHT TO HELP ENGLAND?
Not satisfied to do the best it could to persuade our French-Canadian
countrymen that they had been coerced into the war by England, our
"Nationalist School" extensively used the argument that Canada had not
the right to intervene into the European struggle. I refuted this
erroneous pretension by the following propositions, the very essence of
our constitutional rights and liberties:--
1.--The Canadian Cabinet had the undoubted constitutional right to
advise His Excellency the Governor-General to approve the measures to be
taken to give effect to their decision to participate in the war,
decision and measures for which they were responsible to the Canadian
Parliament and to the Canadian Electorate.
2.--The Canadian Parliament had the undoubted constitutional right to
approve or disapprove the decision and the measures of the Cabinet.
Parliament approved that decision and those measures, acting within
their constitutional right.
3.--Even at the time I was writing, it could evidently be affirmed that
the Canadian Electorate had approved the stand taken by both the
Canadian Cabinet and the Canadian Parliament according to well known and
defined constitutional usages.
Was it not proved beyond reasonable controversy, that the Canadian
people heartily approved the decision of their Parliament to help in the
great war?
Let me summarize the evidence as follows:--
1.--The war policy of the Cabinet, at the special session called in
August, 1914, for that very purpose, was unanimously approved by
Parliament, no Senator and no Member of the House of Commons moving to
censure the responsible ministers for their decision to have Canada to
participate in the war. The two great political parties have solemnly
sanctioned that decision.
2.--Public opinion was also very strongly proved by the almost unanimity
of the public press patriotically supporting the stand taken by
Parliament. The exceptions were so few, that, as usual, they contributed
to emphasize the soundness of the general rule.
3.--During the three years following the decision of the Canadian
Parliament, a great number of large public meetings were held throughout
Canada, and addressed by many leading and influential citizens all
approving the action of Parliament. The meetings enthusiastically
concurred in the powerful indorsation of the war policy of the speakers.
In a few public gatherings some disapproval was expressed, but not one
meeting would go to the length of passing "Resolutions" censuring the
Cabinet and the Parliament of Canada, or declaring that our Dominion
should not have interfered into the war.
4.--Not one petition against the Canadian intervention into the war was
addressed to Parliament.
5.--Leading Clergymen, of all denominations; leaders of political
associations almost of all shades of opinion; financial, industrial,
commercial leaders, all of them approved the patriotic interference of
Canada into the war.
6.--The evident general approval of the unanimous decision, taken in
1916, to extend the Parliamentary term.
7.--The wonderful success of the public loans raised for war purposes.
8.--The enlightened and generous patriotism with which the country has
accepted and paid war taxation.
9.--But, above all, the voluntary recruiting of four hundred thousand
men of all social conditions who have rallied to the flag of the Empire
for the defence of her existence and for the triumph of Civilization and
Justice.
I, therefore, drew the undeniable conclusion that, contrary to the
"Nationalist" pretension, Canada was participating in the war in the
most regular constitutional way, without even the shadow of a breach of
our Canadian autonomy, of our constitutional rights and liberties.
CHAPTER XI.
THE DUTY OF CANADA.
Having affirmed that Canada had no right to interfere in the war, the
"Nationalist" leaders at once concluded that she was not in duty bound
to do so. That most discreditable inference was, of course, the natural
sequence of the wrong principle aforesaid. They further drew the
conclusion that it was no part of the duty of Canadians to join the
Colors to help winning the war.
It was in flat contradiction of those erroneous notions that I
positively declared, in my letter dedicating my book to my French
Canadian compatriots, that "_in defending with the most sincere
conviction the sacred cause of the Allies, I am doing my duty as a free
subject of the British Empire, as a citizen of Canada and of the
Province of Quebec, as a son of France, as a devoted servant of Justice
and Right_."
Very narrow minded indeed is the man who has no higher conception of his
duty than the one limiting him to the observance of positive and
negative laws enacted by the legitimate authority to protect society and
every one of its members.
When England, together with the other leading nations, was brutally
challenged by Germany, and threatened in her very national existence,
it is beyond comprehension that Canada, and all the British colonial
possessions overseas, could so mistake their bounden duty as to refuse
rushing to help the Mother Country in such a trying occurrence.
Moreover, have we not, merely as men, duties to perform to protect
Civilization against the deadly attack of barbarism, to have Justice and
Right triumphant in international relations?
It is a matter of deep wonder to me that any one could have been so
blind as not to perceive that in joining with Great Britain to defend
the cause of the Allies, we were surely defending our own territory, our
own soil, our own homes. How incredible was the "Nationalist" contention
that we should have waited for the actual German attack of our land
before mustering our resources of resistance. Who could not see, at a
glance, that if Germany had, as it fully expected, easily triumphed over
the combined forces of France, England and Russia, it would have been
sheer madness to attempt resisting the victorious onslaught of a few
hundred thousands of her veteran soldiers, whose valour would have been
doubled by the enthusiasm of their European conquest.
After mature consideration of the possible results of the disastrous
defeat of the combined efforts of the Allies, both on land and sea, the
conclusion was forced upon my mind that Germany, ferociously elated by
such a wonderful success, would no doubt have exacted from England the
cession of Canada to her Empire. So that without even firing a gun
against our territory, our wide Dominion would have been instantly
transferred from the British to the German Sovereignty. I shuddered at
such a vision, and still more deeply realized how much we, Canadians,
were all in duty bound to help the Allies in crushing Prussian
militarism.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SOUDANESE AND SOUTH AFRICAN WARS.
In the two previously mentioned pamphlets, Mr. Bourassa argued at length
to prove that Canada had been led to intervene in the great European war
as a consequence of her intervention in the South African War. It is
well known throughout the Dominion that the South African conflict was
the occasion chosen by the "Nationalist" leader to proclaim his doctrine
that the autonomous colonies should have nothing to do with the wars of
the Empire--LES GUERRES DE L'EMPIRE. He then strongly opposed Canadian
support of Great Britain in her struggle in South Africa.
In one of his pamphlets, Mr. Bourassa affirmed that the Government of
Sir John A. Macdonald had, in 1884, refused the request of the Imperial
Government to interfere in its favour in the Soudanese war. Well aware
of the events of this struggle, I positively knew that the "Nationalist"
leader's assertion was not borne out by the facts, and was historically
false. I considered it my duty, in a special chapter, to explain fully
the circumstances of the case to my French Canadian countrymen.
It should be well remembered that England was brought into the Soudanese
conflict on account of her relations with Egypt, which she had delivered
from the Turkish yoke.
Mr. Bourassa prefaced his above mentioned affirmation by recalling the
fact that it was in consideration of the Soudanese difficulties that
"_for the first time in the history of the Colonial Empire of Great
Britain, offers of armed support were made by the autonomous colonies_."
Is it not evident that if--as was true--such offers were made
spontaneously by the Colonies, it cannot be pretended that the proffered
armed support was asked by England. If England did not solicit such
support, it is plain that Sir John A. Macdonald and his Cabinet could
not refuse what was never applied for.
What are the true historical facts?
In November 1884, General Laurie, who has represented one of the
electoral divisions of Nova Scotia at Ottawa, who has also held a seat
in the British House of Commons, took the initiative to propose to raise
a Canadian regiment for the campaign in the Soudan. In the regular
official way, General Laurie's offer was addressed to the Secretary of
State for the Colonies, Lord Derby. The Imperial Government declined the
offer.
On the 7th of February, 1885, on hearing the news of the disaster of
Khartoum, which caused great excitement in England, and naturally
created a strong public feeling to avenge the outrage, General Laurie,
always enthusiastic, tendered anew his services. He was not the only
Canadian officer wishing to go and fight the cruel Soudaneses. A member
of the Canadian Parliament, Colonel Williams, commanding the 46th
volunteer battalion of Durham-East, also desired to take part in the
African campaign with his regiment. On the 9th of February, 1885, he
tendered his proposition to Sir Charles Tupper, then High Commissioner
in London, who sent it to the Colonial Office.
On the 10th of February, His Excellency the Governor General, Lord
Lansdowne, cabled to the Colonial Secretary that the offers of military
service were very numerous. This spontaneous movement, so rapidly
spreading, was the forerunner of those of 1899 and 1914. Thirty years
ago, and long before, there were brave men in Canada. There always have
been and ever will be.
These news were no doubt very encouraging for the Imperial authorities.
Lord Derby, thanking Lord Lansdowne, begged him to say "_Whether they_
(the offers of service) _are sanctioned and recommended by the Dominion
Government_."
On the 12th of February, Lord Lansdowne answered Lord Derby that the
Dominion Government was ready to approve recruiting in Canada for
service in Egypt or elsewhere, provided that the men would be enlisted
under the authority of the Imperial Army Discipline Act, and the expense
paid by the Imperial Treasury.
It consequently follows from the above despatches that the Soudanese
campaign offered to many officers of our volunteer Militia the long
wished for opportunity to freely tender their services to the Imperial
Government; that the British authorities never applied to the Canadian
Government, then presided by Sir John A. Macdonald, for armed support in
Soudanese Africa; that, on being officially informed of the offers of
service received by His Excellency the Governor General, the Colonial
Secretary, before accepting or declining them, enquired if the Canadian
Government sanctioned and recommended them; that the Governor General
answered him in the affirmative, the recruiting to be made according to
the Imperial Military Act at the expense of the Imperial exchequer.
On the 16th of February, the War Minister, then the Marquis of
Hartington, informed the Colonial Secretary that he had come to the
conclusion to decline with thanks the offers of service from Canada, for
the reason that it would have taken too long a time to recruit and
organize the regiments offered by General Laurie and Colonel Williams.
Was I not right, when I refuted Mr. Bourassa's assertion, in saying that
if a _refusal_ was _then_ given, it was by the British Government who
had received the freely tendered services, and not by the Canadian
Government, to whom no demand of armed support had been made by Great
Britain?
If it is indeed very astonishing that Mr. Bourassa should have taken the
responsibility to affirm that the Government of Sir John A. Macdonald
had refused to help Great Britain in the Soudanese campaign, it is easy
to understand his object in so doing. His purpose was to convince his
French Canadian readers that the political leaders at the head of the
Government, in 1899 and 1914, together with the Canadian Parliament,
had, in a revolutionary way, reversed the traditional policy of Canada
of non-intervention in the "wars of the Empire"--_les guerres de
l'empire_. And to achieve his end, so detrimental to the best interests
of the Dominion, he did not hesitate to draw an absolutely erroneous
conclusion from undeniable historical facts.
The "Nationalist" leader was very anxious to charge the chieftains of
the two great political parties with an equal responsibility for what he
terms a "Revolution" in our relations with the Mother Country. With this
object constantly in view, he pretended that the intervention of Canada
in the South African War created the precedent which brought about the
Dominion participation in the European war, in 1914. In order to stir up
to the utmost the prejudices of the French Canadians, he boldly
qualified the South African conflict as an _infamous crime_ on the part
of England.
Unfortunately, the true history of the difficulties which culminated in
the Boer War of 1899, was at the time little known throughout Canada,
and even less particularly in the Province of Quebec. At the outbreak of
the struggle, wishing to form a sound opinion of the causes of which it
was the direct outcome, I made an exhaustive study of the South African
question, beginning at the very inception of the Dutch settlement dating
as far back as 1652, the year during which the Dutch East India Company
occupied Table Bay. Six years later, in 1658, French Huguenots reached
South Africa, joining with the Dutch Reformists, who rather
energetically did all they could to assimilate them. Still later on,
besides some few German immigrants, a third group of Europeans settled
on the African coast. They were Englishmen.
All the Europeans, on landing in South Africa, few in numbers, had at
once to contend with the black race numbering many millions. The history
of the long struggle between European civilization, represented by the
English and Dutch immigrants, and African barbarity, is indeed very
interesting. Carefully read and studied in all its bearings, it strongly
impressed upon my mind the conviction that had it not been for the
timely armed protection they often solicited and received from England,
the Dutch Boers would certainly have been annihilated by the tribes of
the black race. They could not hope to successfully resist the
onslaughts to which they were repeatedly submitted. They were saved from
utter destruction by the strong arm of Great Britain, occupying an
important strategical position by her Cape Colony. The British
Government had favoured the settlement of the sons of England in South
Africa, for the purpose of assuring, by a powerful naval station, the
freedom of communication with the great regions soon to develop into her
vast Indian Empire.
How, and under what circumstances, was British Sovereignty established
in South Africa? I considered this question the most important to
ascertain, in order to judge fairly the history of the last century in
those regions. It was settled by the Peace Congress of Vienna, in 1815.
All the European nations represented at that congress, have sanctioned
British Sovereignty in South Africa upon the condition of the payment by
England to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, of which Holland was then a
part, of the sum of $30,000,000. Consequently the Sovereign Rights of
Great Britain in South Africa were henceforth undeniable.
In my French book, I somewhat extensively summarized the development of
the British and Dutch groups of settlers in South Africa. It is well
known that the Boers are of Dutch origin. That a rivalry did develop
between the two national elements, is not to be wondered at by any one
having some knowledge of the history of the world.
I do not consider it necessary to go at any length in relating the
vicissitudes of the conflict between the aspirations of the Boer element
and the undoubted rights of British suzerainty. As a rule they are
sufficiently well known by my English readers.
But I wish to emphasize the two undeniable facts: first, that throughout
this protracted contest, England did perseveringly try to favour South
Africa with the largest possible measure of political liberty. Second,
that the crisis was finally brought about by the persistent
determination of the Government of Pretoria to refuse justice to the
Uitlanders and to the British capitalists who, at the urgent request of
President Kruger, had invested many millions in the development of the
very valuable mines recently discovered in the Transvaal territory.
Though England had agreed to the establishment of the two Republics of
the Transvaal and Orange, she had maintained her suzerainty on those
territories, which suzerainty the Government of Pretoria had again
recognized by the Convention of 1884.
The most convincing proof that England did not intend any unfair design
against the South African Republics, is the fact that she did not
prepare to resist the armed attack of the Government of Pretoria which
could be easily foreseen by the intense organization they were evidently
making to impose Boer supremacy in South Africa.
In his very unjust appreciation of the policy of Great Britain in South
Africa, Mr. Bourassa kept no account whatever of the very important
fact that war was declared against England by the South African
Republic. How could Great Britain have been guilty of a hideous crime in
not bowing to the dictate of President Kruger and his Government, as the
"Nationalist" leader said, is beyond comprehension.
England was absolutely within her right in accepting the challenge of
the Government of Pretoria, and fighting to maintain her flag and her
Sovereignty in South Africa.
Fortunately, the South African War, characterized by deeds of heroism on
both sides, has had the most satisfactory conclusion. It is to be hoped
that for many long years the future of that great country is settled
with all the blessings that political liberty and free institutions will
surely confer on that important part of the British Empire. The Boers
themselves have fully recognized that their own national development
cannot be better guaranteed and safeguarded than by the powerful
Sovereignty pledged to their protection, on the only condition of their
loyal allegiance to the flag waving on the fair land where they can
multiply in peace, prosperity and happiness. The enthusiasm and the
admirable courage with which they have rallied to the support of Great
Britain and her Allies in the present war, is the best evidence how much
they appreciate the advantages of their new conditions in the great
South African Dominion destined to such a grand future.
I most sincerely deplore the persistent efforts of the "Nationalist"
leader to pervert more and more the mind of my French Canadian
countrymen by his so very unfair appreciation of the nature of the South
African conflict. It was with the hope of counteracting them that I
introduced a special chapter in my French edition explaining, as fully
as I could, though in a condensed form, the South African question.
The assertion that the participation of Canada in the present European
war was the sequence of the precedent of our intervention in the South
African struggle, is also most injustifiable and untenable. Had Canada
taken no part whatever in the South African War, it would not have made
the least difference with regard to the decision of the Canadian people
to support Great Britain and the Allies in their gigantic effort to put
an end to Prussian terrorism. The assertion which I most emphatically
contradict could have no other object but to prejudice the public mind
against Canadian intervention in any of the wars of the Empire--_les
guerres de l'empire_.
CHAPTER XIII.
BRITISH AND GERMAN ASPIRATIONS COMPARED.
In the attempt to justify his opposition to the Canadian armed support
of the Allies' cause, Mr. Bourassa repeatedly asserted that Great
Britain was as much as Germany aspiring to rule the whole world. He
pretends that there is no difference between Anglo-Saxonism and
Germanism.
How unjust and dangerous is such a doctrine is evident to any fair
minded man. It was no doubt calculated to prejudice the French Canadians
against Great Britain, by telling them that the sacrifices they were
called upon to make were imposed upon them only to favour the British
determination to reach the goal of her ambition:--universal domination.
I strongly repudiated such assertions and vindicated England's course
and policy.
To accuse Great Britain to aspire to universal domination is a most
unwarranted charge, contradicted by the whole history of the last
century during which she was the most determined supporter of peace.
Though one of the great Powers of the world, England never undertook to
organize a large standing army. How could she aspire to the world's
domination without a complete military organization comprising many
millions of men, is what I am unable to understand.
Mr. Bourassa's argument to prove his assertion is based on the efforts
of England to maintain and develop her naval forces so as to guarantee
her supremacy on the high seas of the world. How he failed to realize
that Great Britain, on account of her insular position, close to the
European continent, is by nature itself bound, of sheer necessity, to
protect herself by the strength of her military naval power, is beyond
comprehension. Supremacy on the seas is for the Mother Country a mere
question of national existence,--to be or not to be. But supremacy on
the seas cannot, and will never, permit England to attain anything like
universal domination. And why? For the obvious reason that Great Britain
is not, and never can become, a continental Power, in the exact sense of
the word.
I explained, conclusively, I believe, that the case would be very
different if Germany succeeded in her efforts to supplant England's
supremacy on the seas. When the Berlin Government undertook to build a
huge military fleet, Germany was the greatest continental military
Power. What were her expectations when she adopted that threatening
naval policy? The Berlin authorities were very confident that when they
would decide to bring on the great war for which they had been
strenuously preparing for half a century, they would in a few months
have continental Europe at their feet and under their sway. Triumphant
over Europe they would have at once dominated Asia and a great part of
Africa. The next surest way for the German Empire to reach universal
domination was to break England's power on the seas. What is impossible
for England to accomplish, on account of her insular position, Germany,
being a continental Empire, could achieve if she became mistress of the
seas.
The present war is the proof evident that the mighty power of England on
the seas has been the salvation of her national existence and, almost
equally, that of France and Italy. It kept the oceans open for the trade
of all the Allied and neutral nations. He is willingly blind,
intellectually, the man who does not see that deprived of the matchless
protection of her naval forces, Great Britain could be starved and
subdued in a few months by an enemy ruling the waves against her.
Is it possible to suppose that any man aspiring to help moulding the
public opinion of his countrymen, ignores that with the relatively small
extent of the territory it can devote to agricultural production, Great
Britain can never feed her actual population of over forty-five
millions, most likely to reach sixty millions in the not very distant
future. Consequently how unjust, how extravagant, is it to accuse
England of any aspiration to dominate the world by means of the
sacrifices she is absolutely bound to make for the only sake of her
self-defence, her self-protection.
If he does not know, I will no doubt cordially oblige the "Nationalist"
leader by informing him that Great Britain, usually importing food
products to the amount of seven to eight hundred millions of dollars,
for many years past, required as much as a billion dollars worth of them
in the war year of 1915. It is so easy to foresee that the continual
increase of the population of the United Kingdom, by the new large
developments which will surely follow the war in all industrial,
commercial and financial pursuits, will cause a relative increase in the
importations of food products likely to reach, and even exceed before
long, an average total annual value of a billion and a quarter dollars.
None of the European continental Powers has the same imperious reasons
as England to take the proper means to guarantee her control of the
seas. How is it then that Germany is the only Power to object to
England's policy, if it is not for the ultimate object to attain
universal domination by the overthrow of Great Britain's ascendency on
the wide oceans, which would permit her to realize her long cherished
aim by the combined powerful effort of her gigantic military forces both
on land and sea.
With regard to England's naval supremacy, the "Nationalist" leader is
also committed to other opinions which I strongly contradicted. He
entirely forgets that beyond the sea coast limits, well defined by
International Law, no Sovereign rights can be claimed on the high seas.
The navigation of the ocean is free to all nations by nature itself. Has
any Government ever entertained the foolish idea that the broad Atlantic
could, for instance, be divided into so many parts as the European,
Asiatic, or American continents, over which several States could
exercise Sovereign powers? No Chinese Wall can be built on the seas.
My own view of the case, which I believe to be the correct one, is that
England's naval supremacy means nothing more nor less than the police of
the seas, and the protection of the flags of all the Nations navigating
them, besides being, of course and necessarily, the guarantee of her
National existence.
Blind also, intellectually, is the British subject not sufficiently
inspired by the true sense of the duties of Loyalty, who does not
understand that once Great Britain's maritime power would be crushed and
the United Kingdom either conquered or obliged to an humiliating peace
which would ruin all her future prospects, the Colonial Empire would
equally be at the mercy of the victorious enemy of the Mother Country.
With the most earnest conviction, I have tried, to the best of my
ability, to persuade my French-Canadian compatriots of the inevitable
dangers ahead if the false views which were so persistingly impressed
upon their minds were ever to prevail, and the aim they undoubtedly
favour to be realized.
Another argument widely used by our "Nationalist" School to influence
the opinion of the French Canadians against Canada's participation in
the war, was that Great Britain herself was not doing what she ought to
win the victory. I have personally heard this false objection repeated
by many--unconsciously of course--who were influenced in so saying by
the "Nationalist" press.
No more unfair charge could have been made against England. I could not
help being indignant at reading it, knowing as I did, by daily acquired
information what an immense effort the United Kingdom had been making,
from the very beginning of the hostilities, to play its powerful part in
the great war into which it had nobly decided to enter to avenge its
honour, to defend the Empire and the whole world against German
barbarous militarism.
I have already commented on the immense service guaranteed to the Allied
nations by the British fleet. To illustrate the wonderful and admirable
military effort of Great Britain, I will quote some very important
figures from the most interesting Report of the British War Cabinet, for
the year 1917, presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty.
Under the title "_Construction and Supply_" the Report says:--
During the past year the Naval Service has undergone continual
expansion in order to enable it to meet every demand made upon
it, not only in the seas surrounding these islands, but in the
Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Arctic Ocean,
the Pacific, and the Atlantic, where it has co-operated with the
Naval forces of the Allies. The displacement tonnage of the
Royal Navy in 1914 was 2,400,000 tons. To-day it has increased
by 75 per cent.--=(making a total of 4,200,000 tons--)=. The
ships and vessels of all kinds employed in the Naval Service in
September, 1914, after the whole of the mobilisation had been
completed, had a tonnage of just over 4 million; now the figure
is well over 6 million. Transports, fleet attendants and
overseas oilers and similar auxiliary vessels at the outbreak of
war numbered 23; the Admiralty to-day control nearly 700 such
craft. The strength of the personnel, which was 145,000, has
been increased to 420,000.
From these brief particulars regarding the ships and their
manning, an estimate can be formed of the expansions that have
been made in the auxiliary services, such as guns, torpedoes,
munitions, and stores of all kinds, anti-submarine apparatus,
mines, &c., and some idea is gained of the demands that have
been made upon the great army of workers on shore, the men in
the Royal dockyards and arsenals, in the shipyards, the engine
shops, and the factories, without whose help the Fleet could not
be maintained as a fighting force.
As regards warship and auxiliary ship construction, the output
during the last 12 months has been between three and four times
the average annual output for the few years preceding the war.
The Admiralty now control all the dry docks in the
country,...--250 merchant ships are being repaired each week,
either in dry dock or afloat.
Since the beginning of the war, 31,470 British war vessels have
been placed in dock or on the slips =(--as many as 225 being
repaired in one week--)=.... These figures do not include repair
work carried out to the vessels of our Allies....
The Transport Service is of the highest importance in carrying on the
war. What has been the achievement of England on that score? Under the
title:--"_Transportation_" the War Cabinet Report proves its immensity
as follows:--
The record of what has been done by the transport services for
the Armies of the Allies shows a stupendous amount of work
accomplished, which constitutes one of the brilliant
achievements of the war. There had been transported overseas up
till the end of August, 1917, the last date for which complete
statistics are available--some:--13 million human
beings--combatants, wounded, medical personnel, refugees,
prisoners, &c.; 2 million horses and mules; 1/2 million vehicles;
25 million tons of explosive and supplies for the armies; ... 51
million tons of coal and oil fuel for the use of our Fleets, our
Armies, and to meet the needs of our Allies.
The operations of the seas are on such a large scale that it is
difficult to realize all that is involved in sea transportation;
for example, over 7,000 personnel are transported, and more than
30,000 tons of stores and supplies have to be imported daily
into France for the maintenance of our own army. About 567
steamers, of approximately 1-3/4 million tons, are continually
employed in the service of carrying troops and stores to the
Armies in France and to the forces in various theatres of war in
the East.
We all know that the Berlin Government expected that the submarine
campaign would result in an early final victory for the Central Empires.
Herr von Bethmann Hollweg, then the Imperial Chancellor, said:--"_The
Blockade must succeed within a limited number of weeks, within which
America cannot effectively participate in the operations_."
How he was mistaken, and extravagant were his expectations, events have
proved. This sentence is also proof evident that he realized how
effective the United States effort would become, if the submarine
campaign did not succeed within a few weeks.
The iniquitous submarine campaign, re-opened early in the year 1917,
"_added materially to the responsibilities of the Navy. To meet this new
and serious menace drastic steps had to be taken to supplement those
adopted in the previous December and January_."
The Report adds:--
A large number of new destroyers have been built and at the same
time auxiliary patrol services have been expanded enormously so
as to deal with the nefarious submarine and minelaying methods
of the enemy. Before the outbreak of the war there were under 20
vessels employed as minesweepers and on auxiliary patrol duties.
To-day the number of craft used for these purposes at home and
abroad is about 3,400, and is constantly increasing.
* * * * *
A new feature of the means adopted for the protection of trade
against submarines has been a return to the convoy system as
practised in bygone wars. It has been markedly effective in
reducing the losses. During the last few months over 90 per
cent. of all vessels sailing in all the Atlantic trades were
convoyed....
The Royal Naval Air Service at the outbreak of war possessed a
personnel of under 800; at the present moment the numbers
approach 46,000 and are continually increasing.... Mention must
also be made of the great value of the air services in combating
the submarine menace round our coasts.... Illustrating their
extent it may be stated that in one week the aircraft patrol
round the British coasts alone flies 30,000 miles.
The general result of the German attack, therefore, though
serious enough, is far from unprecedented. In the two years
after Trafalgar, when our command of the sea was unquestioned,
we still lost 1,045 merchant ships by capture, and in the whole
period from 1794 to 1875 we lost over 10,000 merchant ships.
Nor should we lose sight of the very heavy losses sustained by
the enemy in the present war. At the commencement of
hostilities, Germany had 915 merchant ships abroad, of which
only 158 got home safely; the remainder within a few days were
cleared from the oceans, either captured or driven to shelter in
neutral ports. In the aggregate the German Mercantile Marine
consisted of over 5 million tons of shipping; at the present
time nearly half of this has been sunk or captured by ourselves
or our Allies, while the bulk of the rest is lying useless in
harbour.
Let me now refer to the military effort of Great Britain. Under the
title:--"_Strength of the Army," &c._, the War Cabinet Report gives the
following most inspiring figures.
The effort which the British nations have made under the one
item of "Provision of Men for the Armed Forces of the Crown"
amounts to not less than 7,500,000 men, and of these 60.4 per
cent. have been contributed by England, 8.3 per cent. by
Scotland, 3.7 per cent. by Wales, 2.3 per cent. by Ireland, 1.2
per cent. by the Dominions and the Colonies, while the
remainder, 13.3 per cent., composed of native fighting troops,
labour corps, carriers, &c., represent the splendid contribution
made by India and our various African and other Dependencies.
* * * * *
=Royal Artillery.=--The personnel of the Royal Artillery
increased 17.6 per cent., between August, 1916, and August,
1917.
In the first nine months of 1917 the supply of modern
anti-aircraft guns in the field increased 44 per cent., that of
field guns 17 per cent., of field-howitzers 26 per cent., of
heavy guns 40 per cent., of medium howitzers 104 per cent., of
heavy howitzers 16 per cent., and of heavy-guns on railway
mountings 100 per cent.; these last have an increased range of
about 35 per cent.... We have also supplied large numbers of
heavy guns and trench mortars to our Allies in different
theatres of war.
* * * * *
The Medical Service has continued to expand with the growth of
the Army and its strength is now largely in excess of our whole
original Expeditionary Force.... More than 17,000 women are
employed as nurses and over 28,000 others are engaged in
military hospitals on various forms of work.... Hospitals in the
United Kingdom now number more than 2,000.
* * * * *
The health of the troops in the United Kingdom is actually
better than the peace rate; the same is the case in France,
excluding admissions to hospital by reason of wounds.
The above quoted figures prove that out of a total of 7,500,000 men for
the Armed Forces of the British Crown, Great Britain--the United
Kingdom--had contributed, at the end of last year, 5,625,000, out of
which number the shore of England and Wales amounted to 4,800,000. The
British Colonial Empire's contribution had been 1,875,000.
At the date of the current year--August, 1918--I am writing, I can
safely calculate that the number of men for the Armed Forces of the
British Crown--using the words of the Official Report above quoted--has
reached, at least, _the grand and magnificent total of 8,000,000_. The
percentage of respective contributions of the United Kingdom and the
Colonial Empire no doubt remaining the same, the relative number of each
of them is,--for the United Kingdom 6,000,000; for the Colonies
2,000,000.
I consider the War Cabinet Report of 1917 so interesting, so
encouraging, that my readers will, I am confident, kindly bear with me
in a few more very important quotations, the full Report itself having
had only a very limited circulation in Canada.
TRANSPORT.
In addition to the prodigious Naval effort of England, both military and
mercantile, previously illustrated, Great Britain has most powerfully
contributed to the fighting operations on land by an immense improvement
in transportation facilities by railway construction in all British
theatres of war.
The Report says:--
In all these theatres railways have come to play a more and more
important part. In France a vast light railway system has been
created, involving the supply during the present year of
approximately 1,700 miles of track and the whole of the
equipment.... Exclusive of these light railway systems, the
total amount of permanent railway track supplied complete to all
theatres of war is about 3,600 miles. In Egypt the railway
crossing the desert from the Suez Canal has now reached and
passed Gaza. In Mesopotamia the rapid and successful movements
of our troops have only been made possible by the construction
of a whole series of lines since the beginning of 1917. The
development of road-building has been on a similar scale, and
the shipments of material, equipment and stores for these two
purposes during the last nine months have averaged 200,000 tons
a month. Much labour has also been spent in the organisation of
an Overland Line of Communication through France and Italy to
the Mediterranean in order to save shipping. This line was
opened for personnel traffic in June, 1917, and for goods
traffic early in August.
* * * * *
In France the conveyance of supplies of all kinds to our armies
along the French rivers and canals is performed by a large fleet
of tugs, barges, and self-propelled barges. The fleet thus
employed in France consists of over 700 vessels, and the tonnage
carried by it averages over 50,000 tons per week.
THE AIR SERVICE.
In a recital indicating generally what steps have been taken in matters
of administration and control, the Report says:--
From the point of view of defence, the new arm presented
problems pregnant with at least equal importance. The proud and
ancient inviolability of these islands was being challenged in a
new and startling fashion, and the seriousness of the problem
was added to by the fact that the geographical position of the
capital of the Empire rendered it particularly inviting to
attack from the air.
Respecting the supply of Aircraft, the Report says that:--
In endeavoring to describe the measures taken to meet the
aircraft needs of the Navy and Army, the writer is at once
confronted by the fact that the information desired by the
country is precisely the information desired by the enemy. What
the country wants to know is what has been the expansion in our
Air Services; whether we have met and are meeting all the
demands of the Navy and of the Army, both for replacement of
obsolete machines by the most modern types, and for the increase
of our fighting strength in the air; what proportion of the
national resources in men, material and factories is being
devoted to aviation; what the expansion is likely to be in the
future. These are precisely the facts which we should like to
know with regard to the German air service, and for that reason
it would be inadmissible for us to supply Germany with
corresponding information about ourselves by publishing a
statement on the subject.
It can be said that the expansion of our Air Services is keeping
pace generally with the growing needs of the Navy and the Army.
In Chapter VIII, under the heading:--"_The Ministry of Munitions in
1917_," the following is read:--
The number of persons engaged in the production of munitions in
October, 1917, was 2,022,000 men and 704,000 women, as compared
with 1,921,000 men and 535,000 women in January. They have thus
been increased during the past six months at the rate of 11,000
men and 19,000 women per month. These numbers include those
employed in Government and in private establishments, in the
principal munition industries, chemical and explosive trades,
engineering and munition plants, furnaces and foundries, in
shipbuilding and in mining other than coal-mining. The total
represents approximately two-thirds of the total labour occupied
on Government work in industry.
The preceding official statistics prove most conclusively that actually,
and ever since the beginning of the third year of the war, more than
_twelve millions_ of men and women--more than the fourth of the total
population of the United Kingdom--have been either in the Armed Forces
of the British Crown--Navy and Army--or in the shipbuilding yards, in
munitions factories, in transportation on land and sea, in the Medical
Service, in the Air Service, &c., employed for the success of the cause
of the Allies.
THE FINANCIAL EFFORT OF GREAT BRITAIN.
The gigantic military effort of Great Britain, in all the branches of
its wonderfully developed organization, as above illustrated, was only
rendered possible by a corresponding financial contribution.
During the financial year preceding the outbreak of the war, the total
expenditure of the Government of Great Britain was $987,464,845. The
hostilities have imposed upon the United Kingdom vast expenditures. "For
that period"--again quoting the War Cabinet Report--"from the 1st April,
1917, to the 1st December, 1917, the total Exchequer issues for
expenditure (including Consolidated Fund Service and Supply Services)
were L1,799,223,000,--($8,796,115,000) representing a daily average for
that period of L7,344,000 ($36,720,000)."
At this rate of expenditure, the total for the year equals at least
$13,500,000,000. But the financial charges entailed by the war being
constantly on the increase, they can be calculated at a daily average of
no less than $40,000,000 until the close of the conflict.
England has not only incurred very heavy financial obligations, met both
by an enormously increased taxation and the issue of large National
loans, to pay the cost of her own war expenditure, but she has also
generously helped her friends whose financial resources were not so
abundant as her own. To the 1st December, 1917, she had made advances to
the Allies amounting to no less than $5,930,000,000. In addition to this
large amount, the advances she had made to the Dominions for the same
period summed up $875,000,000.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF DOMINION, COLONIAL AND INDIAN TROOPS.
Under the above title, the War Cabinet Report concludes a general review
of the past year's effort by paying high tribute to the value of the
services rendered by the whole British Colonial Empire, in the following
elogious terms:--
In the above sketch of military operations during the past year,
it has not been possible to distinguish between the particular
services rendered by the various nations and nationalities of
the Empire. But it must not be forgotten that during the war the
forces of the Crown have become welded into a true Imperial
army, representative of every part of the world-wide British
Commonwealth, and a brief note may be included as to the special
services of the various overseas forces.
The share of the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South
African and Newfoundland contingents in the successes of the
1917 campaign are well known. The capture of Vimy Ridge in
April, the prolonged and bitter fighting around Lens during the
whole summer and autumn, and the capture of Passchendaele were
carried out by the Canadian Corps, which has thus proved itself
as excellent in offensive as its splendid defence of Ypres in
1915 had shown it to be in defensive fighting. The New Zealand
and Australian contingents have corresponding achievements to
their credit in their share of the battle of Messines and in the
long sustained and bitterly contested fights in the Ypres
salient from July to November. The South African brigade
sustained the brilliant reputation which it won last year at
Delville Wood by the devoted services it rendered on the
battlefields of Arras and Ypres. Finally, the Newfoundland
Regiment took a glorious and costly part in the same two
battles. The troops of all the Dominions have shown themselves
throughout the campaign of 1917 to have maintained the historic
standards of the British Army and have been worthy rivals of the
United Kingdom troops in every military effort and achievement.
This testimony to the services rendered by the Dominions would
not be complete without some reference to the part played by
South Africa in German East Africa, where her troops have borne,
under the brilliant leadership of General Van Deventer, a
conspicuous share in a peculiarly arduous campaign.
The smaller Colonies and Protectorates have naturally been
unable to play so great and conspicuous a part in the World War,
but in their own spheres they have contributed their full share
to the military effort of the Empire. Labour and fighting troops
were freely drawn upon for the Mesopotamian and East African
theatres. West Africa, British East Africa, Uganda, Nyasaland
and Rhodesia have all sent contingents to fight in German East
Africa. 16,000 men from the West Indies have been sent across
the Atlantic; and labour corps from the Eastern Colonies have
been sent to the Mesopotamian and East African fronts, and,
despite unfavourable conditions, to the Western theatre. A large
number of individuals from overseas possessions, such as the
Malay States and Hong Kong, have also joined the Imperial
forces.
Finally, India's contribution, both in man-power, material and
money, has steadily increased throughout the year. India has
taken a very important share in the victorious campaign in
Mesopotamia. The great majority of the troops in this theatre of
war are Indian. They have fully sustained the high reputation of
the Indian Army for gallantry and endurance. India has been
responsible for much of the supply, medical and transportation
system by water and on land. Indian forces have also rendered
conspicuous service in France, Egypt and East Africa. The
question of the supply of officers, especially medical officers,
has been solved; commissions have been granted to Indians, and a
voluntary Indian Defence Force is now being organised and
trained. Special mention should be made of the loyal and
effective assistance of the Indian ruling princes and chiefs,
from the smallest to the greatest.
The Indian Government has moreover generously contributed $500,000,000
towards the cost of the war.
The foregoing quotations of official figures, of facts undeniable, of
achievements really most extraordinary, constitute the unanswerable
refutation, complete and crushing, of the Nationalist charge that
England, while not doing her own duty with regard to the war, was using
undue influence to coerce the British Colonies to participate in the
conflict far beyond the fair proportionate effort to be expected on
their part; that an illegitimate pressure of Great Britain's Government
on her Colonies was being practised, as insidiously alleged, to promote
her Imperialist ambition of the World's ascendency.
Unfortunately, those false and most unjust notions had taken deeper root
in many minds, even in some who should have been much above such an
unfair misconception, than was at first supposed. Hence the importance
of setting the matter right, and the necessity of proving that England's
war achievements, in every branch of the Military Service, were far
exceeding what had, at first, been expected of her, and was ever
considered possible. British pluck and manliness were equal to the
direst emergency that ever called them forth. Patriotism, courage,
determination, perseverance, rising superior to any increased
difficulties, have truly worked miracles of manly efforts and
self-sacrifices inspired by the noble cause which brought Great Britain
in the World's struggle.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE VERITABLE AIMS OF THE ALLIES.
After doing their utmost to persuade the French Canadians that the
Allies, more especially England and Russia, were equally responsible for
the war, together with Germany and Austria, our "Nationalist" leaders
moreover asserted that they were hostile to a just and lasting peace on
account of their unfair claims. In support of their pretension, they
repeatedly affirmed that the Allies were pledged to the complete
destruction of the German Empire. No more unfounded charge could be made
against the Nations suddenly challenged to a gigantic struggle for life
or death.
It was very important to protect my French Canadian countrymen against
views which, if not proved to be absolutely wrong, were calculated to
bias their mind against the Allies. With this patriotic object strongly
impressed upon my mind, I fully explained what were the veritable aims
of Great Britain, France, Russia and Italy, in fighting their deadly
enemy. When I issued my French book, the United States had not then
entered the contest. Their declaration of war against Germany, in the
spring of 1917, after the outrage of the sinking of the Lusitania, and
the numerous criminal provocations of the submarine campaign, clearly
emphasized, once more, what the Allies had been strenuously struggling
for from the outbreak of the hostilities. They had taken up the gauntlet
savagely thrown to them, declaring to the world that they would battle
to the last to put an end to German militarism, always threatening
general peace, to protect the small nations, notably Belgium and Servia,
against the onslaught of mighty and tyrannical conquerors, to save
Humanity, Civilization and Freedom from the crushing ascendency of
autocratic rule. The great American Republic rallied with them to the
defence of this most sacred cause. Need I refer to the numerous and
eloquent messages of President Wilson, to the writings of the American
press, and to the declarations of all the leading public men of the
United States, in both Houses of Congress, or before public meetings, in
support of the contention which was proved beyond controversy for all
fair minded men.
Mr. Bourassa, whether from sheer misconception, or blindly carried away
by incomprehensible German sympathies, having their root in his
prejudiced hostility to England, could see no difference between a war
policy aiming at putting an end to Prussian militarism, and one having
for its object the dismemberment of the German Empire. Nor could he
conceive that fighting for human liberty was a nobler purpose than
struggling for autocratic tyranny. Though ever posing as the champion
of the small nationalities, he would not utter a word of sympathy for
martyred Belgium, barbarously conquered Servia, oppressed Poland, since
the beginning of the war.
The great conflict once begun under so terrific conditions, every one
somewhat posted with the immense resources of the belligerents, their
respective warlike spirit and enduring qualities, could easily foresee
that, unfortunately, it was most likely to last for several years, the
contending parties being so far apart in their respective aspirations.
Elated beyond all reason by her triumph over France, in 1870, which had
for its first very important result the final creation of the German
Empire, proclaimed to the world from Versailles,--the bleeding heart of
her vanquished foe,--the new great Power, dominating Central Europe,
lost no time in setting all its energies to the task of perfecting the
most gigantic military organization ever seen. To all clear sighted men,
Germany could not be supposed to accept the heavy sacrifices required
for such an end with the sole purpose of maintaining peace. Further
conquests were evidently her inspiring aim.
Who can forget how Humanity was staggered by the rapidity of the
onslaught of the Teutonic hordes let loose against nations whose
greatest wish was to keep the peace of the world? In a sudden rush, the
waves of the torrent overran Belgium and Northern France dashing direct
towards Paris.
The wonderful plan of campaign, so scientifically conceived and matured,
could then be understood as it was boldly and powerfully developed. The
Berlin military staff, knowing that France was not sufficiently prepared
for the struggle, that England, if forced to intervene in honour bound,
by the criminal violation of Belgium's neutrality, would require a
couple of years to organize an army of millions of men, decided to
strike the first blow with such an overpowering strength as to conquer
Belgium in a victorious run and crush France out of the fight. A couple
of months were to be sufficient to that most coveted end. Meantime
Austria was to face and resist the Russian attack, to allow Germany the
necessary time to settle victoriously the western part of the campaign,
so cleverly planned and successfully carried out, before transferring
her glorious legions to the Eastern theatre of the war. Russia was not
supposed to be able to properly organize her armies in less than many
months, when it could no longer expect to triumph over the enthusiastic
Huns.
In the depressing darkness of those anxious days, the great Marne
victory came like the brilliant sun piercing the heavy clouds, pledging
final success as the reward of the persevering courage and heroism to be
long displayed to deserve it. Germany's first dream of conquering
universal domination by military operations even overshadowing those of
the illustrious Napoleonic Era, and of Caesar's marvellously laid deep
foundations of Roman grandeur, was shattered to pieces.
Before the Teutonic armies could be reorganized for another great
offensive, England's forces and those of her Colonies would be in a
position to enter the struggle; France's resources would be brought to
bear with all their strength; Italy would break away from the Central
Empires and heartily join the Allies.
Then the conflict turned to that weary trench fighting which to the
sadness of its trials added new evidence of the inevitable lengthening
of the war. No wonder that the longing for peace was intensified under
the pressure of conditions becoming more and more trying. Without doubt
all true friends of human prosperity and happiness, in their limited
possible worldly measure, were fervently praying to God in favour of the
restoration of harmony between the warring Nations. But they saw with
undeniable clearness that there were two essential--sine qua
non--conditions to the peace of the future. To be of any value it must
be _Just_ and _Durable_. If it could become permanent, much more the
better.
Unfortunately, outside the legions of the true friends of an honourable
peace, there were found, in the Allied countries, faint hearted men
getting tired of the worries and sacrifices consequent upon the
prolonged struggle. The moment they began to show their hands, was the
signal for the ultra Revolutionists of Russia, finally organized into
the disastrous bolshevikism, for the paid traitors of France, for the
disloyal elements of the British Empire, to rally around them to set in
motion, with accrued force, a current of opinion clamouring for peace
almost at any price. To quiet this unpatriotic longing of the
disheartened, the political leaders of the Allies publicly explained
their war aims, positively affirming that their objective was that _Just
and Durable_ peace to which alone they could and would agree.
Canada had also her _pacifist_ element. So far as the French Canadians
were concerned, it was, though small in numbers, almost entirely
recruited in the ranks of the supporters of "_Nationalism_." I feel I
must explain that our "_Nationalism_," as it has been repeatedly
propounded, does not in the least represent the sound views of the very
large majority of my French Canadian countrymen.
As was to be expected, Mr. Bourassa was again the outspoken organ of our
French Canadian _pacifists_. He laid great stress on what he gave out as
a fact: that if peace negotiations were not at once entered upon and
brought to a successful conclusion, it was on account of the Allies'
unreasonable claims, pointing especially to England's determination not
to surrender her supremacy on the high seas, to develop more and more
what he termed her _imperialism_ for the purpose of dominating the world
_economically_.
In my French work, I strongly took issue with the views of our
_pacifists_ as expressed by their leader and their press. Addressing my
French Canadian countrymen on the bounden duties of all loyal British
subjects, it was my ardent purpose to tell them the plain truth.
Writing, as I did, in 1916, I was then, as I had been from the very
beginning, firmly convinced that the conflict would be of long duration,
that it was very wrong--even criminal if disloyally inspired--for any
one to delude them by vain hopes, or deceive them by false charges.
Having some knowledge of military strategy and tactics, I saw with the
clear light of noon day that, despite the gigantic efforts put forth by
the Allies, and the admirable heroism of their armies--our Canadian
force brilliantly playing its part--final victory would be attained only
by indomitable perseverance, both of the millions of fighting men and of
the whole Allied nations backing them to the last with their moral and
material support. That profound conviction of mine I was very anxious to
strongly impress on the minds of my French-Canadian readers, imploring
them not to be carried away by the "Nationalist" erroneous pretentions
that peace could easily be obtained, if the Allies would only agree to
negotiate. I told them plainly, what was absolutely true, that the war
aims of Germany were so well known and inadmissible that there was not
the least shadow of hope that peace negotiations could lead to a
reasonable understanding realizing the two imperious conditions of
_Justice and Durability_ in a settlement to which all the Allies were
in honour pledged. I explained to them that it was no use whatever to be
deluded by expectations, however tempting they might appear, because
under the then conditions of the military situation--time and events
have since brought no favourable change but quite the reverse--there was
not the slightest chance of an opening for a successful consideration of
the questions to be debated and settled before the complete cessation of
the conflict. There was only one conclusion to be drawn from the
circumstances of the case, and, however sad to acknowledge, it was that
the fight must be carried on to a final victorious issue, any weakening
of determination and purpose being sure to bring about humiliating
defeat.
THE ONLY POSSIBLE PEACE CONDITIONS.
Whenever representatives of the belligerents shall meet to negotiate for
peace, there will of course be many questions of first class importance
to consider and discuss. But the one which must overshadow any other and
of necessity carry the day, is that peace must be restored under
conditions that will, if not forever, at least for many long years,
protect Humanity and Civilization against a recurrence of such a
calamity as ambitious and cruel Germany has criminally imposed upon the
world. I urged my French Canadian readers to consider seriously how
peace due to a compromise, accepted out of sheer discouragement, would
soon develop into a still more trying ordeal than the one Canada had
willingly and deliberately undertaken to fight out with the Allies. I
forcibly explained to them that if the present war did not result in an
international agreement to put an end to the extravagant and ruinous
militarism which, under Prussian terrorism, was proving to be the curse
of almost the whole universe, all the sacrifices of so many millions of
lives, heroically given, of untold sufferings, of so much treasures,
would have been made in vain if Germany was allowed to continue a
permanent menace to general tranquillity.
It was a wonder to me that any one could fail to understand that an
armed peace would be only a truce during which militarism would be
spreading with increased vigour and strength. It was evident--and still
daily becoming more and more so--that Germany would only consent to it
with the determination to renew, on a still much larger scale, her
military organization with the purpose of a more gigantic effort at
universal domination.
Then was it not plain that labouring under the inevitable necessity of
such an international situation, the Allied nations,--the British Empire
as much as France, the United States and Italy--would by force be
obliged to make the sacrifices required to maintain their military
systems in such a state of efficiency as to be always ready to face
their ambitious foe with good prospects of success. Such being the
undeniable case, I affirmed--I am sure with the best of reasons--that
Great Britain could not return to her ante-war policy of the enlistment
of only a small standing territorial army, trusting as formerly to her
Naval strength for her defence and the safe maintenance of her prestige
and power. Like all the continental nations, England would have to incur
the very heavy cost of keeping millions of men always fully armed.
I firmly told my French Canadian countrymen that it was no use deluding
themselves with the "Nationalist" notion that peace being restored under
the above mentioned circumstances, the British Colonies would not be
called upon to share, with England, the burdens of the extensive
military preparations necessitated for their own safety as well as for
that of Great Britain and the whole Empire. The very reasons which had
prompted Canada and all her sister Dominions to intervene in the present
war, would surely induce them to cooperate with the Mother Country to
maintain a highly and costly state of military preparedness in order to
be ever ready for any critical emergency.
Could it be believed that after the sad experience of the actual
conflict, the Allied nations--Great Britain perhaps more than any
other--would blindly once again run the risk of being caught napping and
deceived by an unscrupulous and hypocritical enemy, unsufficiently
prepared to at once rise in their might to fight for their very
national existence and the safety of Mankind against tyrannical
absolutism. If such abominable pages of History as those that for the
last four years are written with the blood of millions of heroes
defending Human Freedom were, by fear of new sacrifices, allowed to be
repeated, shame would be on the supposed civilized world having fallen
so low as to bow to the dictates of barbarism. Let all truly hearted men
hope and pray that no such dark days shall again be the fearful lot of
Humanity. Let them all resolve that if the world can at last emerge free
from the present hurricane, they will not permit, out of weakness and
despondency, the sweeping waves of teutonism to submerge Civilization
and destroy the monuments of the work of centuries of the Christian Art.
After showing the dark side of the picture, and what would be the
fearful consequences of a German victory, or of an armed peace pending
the renewal, with still much increased vigour and resources, of the
conflict only suspended, I explained to my French Canadian readers the
great advantages to be derived by all, Germany included, from the
restoration of peace carrying with it the untold benefits to be derived
from the cessation of extravagant military organization, yearly
destroying the capital created by hard work and the saving of the
millions of the working populations. If an international agreement could
be arrived at by which militarism would be reduced to the requirements
of the maintenance of interior order and the safeguarding of
conventional peace amongst the Powers, then many long years of material
prosperity, in all its diversity of beneficial development, would surely
follow. Canada, like the other British Colonies, would not have to incur
any very large expenditure for military purposes, devoting all her
energies to the intelligent building of the grand future which her
immense territorial resources would certainly make, not only possible,
but sure.
How much could material development be conducive to intellectual, moral
and religious progress, if the Nations of the Earth would only sincerely
and permanently abide by the Divine teachings of Christianity.
Considering all the conditions of the military situation, at the end of
the summer of 1916, I clearly perceived the imperious necessity of the
Allies--Canada as well as all her associates--to fight to a finish. That
duty I did my best to impress on the minds of the French Canadians.
Events have since developed in many ways, but they all tend to
strengthen the conviction that ultimate victory will only be the price
of unshaken perseverance, of undaunted courage, of more patriotic
sacrifices.
CHAPTER XV.
JUST AND UNJUST WARS.
In one of his pamphlets Mr. Bourassa favoured his readers with his views
on the justice and injustice of war. He affirmed that a Government could
rightly declare war only for the three following objects:--
1.--For the defence of their own country.
2.--To fulfill the obligations to which they are
in honour bound towards other nations.
3.--To defend a weak nation unjustly attacked.
I have no hesitation to acknowledge the soundness of those principles,
as theoretically laid down. I took the "Nationalist" leader at his own
word, wondering more than ever how he could refuse to admit the justice
of the cause of the Allies.
Looking at the case from the British standpoint, was it not clear as the
brightest shining of the sun that England had gone to war against
Germany for the three reasons assigned by Mr. Bourassa as those which
alone can justify a Government entering a military struggle.
Great Britain was by solemn treaties in honour bound to the defence of
Belgium whose territory had been violated by Germany, the other party
to those treaties which she threw to the winds contemptuously calling
them "_scraps of paper_."
Even outside of all treaty obligations, it was England's duty, according
to the third principle enunciated by Mr. Bourassa as authorizing a just
declaration of war, to rush to the defense of Belgium, a _"weak nation"
most dastardly attacked by the then strongest military Power on earth_.
The British Government, being responsible for the safety of the British
Empire, would have been recreant to their most sacred duty, had they
failed to see that if the German armies were freely allowed to overrun
Belgium, to crush France and vanquish Russia, Great Britain and her
Colonies, unprepared for any effective resistance as they would have
been, had they remained the passive onlookers of the teutonic conquest
of continental Europe, would have been the easy prey of the barbarous
conquerors. Consequently, in accepting the bold challenge of the Berlin
Government, that of England also did their duty for the defence of Great
Britain and the British Empire.
But the whole British Empire being at war with Germany for the three
above enumerated causes combined, were the free autonomous Colonies of
England not also in duty bound to help her in vindicating her honour and
theirs, and to do their utmost to support the Mother Country in her
efforts to oblige the Berlin Authorities to respect their treaty
obligations! Were they not also in duty bound to participate with
England in the defence of invaded weak, but heroic, Belgium! Were they
not in duty bound to at once organize for their own defence, sending
their heroic sons to fight their enemy on the soil of France, instead of
waiting the direct attack upon their own territories!
The British Parliament dealing exclusively with the Foreign Affairs of
the Empire, the international treaties which they ratify are binding on
the whole Empire. If such a treaty is violated by the other party or
parties who signed it, violently obliging England to stand by her
obligations, are not the Colonies also bound to uphold the Mother land
in the vindication of her treaty rights?!
Looking at the same question, in the full light of the sound principles
of the justice of any war, from the German standpoint, what are the only
true conclusions to be drawn? To satisfy Austria's unjust demands and
maintain peace, Servia had, in 1914, at the urgent request of England,
France and Russia, gone as far as any independent nation could go
without dishonour. Not only backed, but no doubt inspired, by the Berlin
Government, Austria would not consent to reduce by an iota her unfair
pretentions against Servia.
It was plainly a case of a great Power unjustly threatening a weak
nation. Consequently, according to the "Nationalist" leader's
principle, Russia was right and doing her duty in intervening to
protect the menaced weak State. Instead of hypocritically resenting
Russia's intervention in favour of Servia, it was equally Germany's duty
to join with her to save this weak nation from Austrian unjust
challenge. Had it done so, Austria would certainly have refrained from
exacting from Servia concessions to which she could not agree without
sacrificing her independent Sovereignty. The Vienna Authorities backing
down from their unjust stand, there would have been no war. And Germany,
together with Russia, would have deserved the gratitude of the world for
their timely intervention, prompted by a clear sense of their duty and a
sound conception of their international right.
It is well known how the very opposite took place. Russia, to be ready
for the emergency of the declaration of war by Austria against Servia,
ordered the mobilization of that part of her army bordering on the
Austrian frontier, answering to the Berlin request for explanations that
she had no inimical intention whatever against the German Empire, that
her only object was to protect weak Servia against Austria's most unjust
attack. The Kaiser's government replied by requesting Russia to cancel
her order for the mobilization of part of her army. And in the very
thick of this diplomatic exchange of despatches, whilst England and
France were sparing no effort, by day and night, to maintain peace and
protect Mankind from the threatening calamity, Germany suddenly threw
the gauntlet and declared war against Russia.
Foreseeing clearly that France was consequently in honour bound to
support Russia, in accordance with her international obligations towards
that great Eastern Power--in strict conformity with the second principle
enunciated by Mr. Bourassa and previously quoted--, Germany took the
initiative of a second unjust declaration of war, and this one against
France.
The military operations against France being very difficult, and
certainly to be very costly in a fearful loss of man-power, before the
strongly fortified French frontier could be successfully overrun,
Germany, after a most shameful attempt to bribe England into neutrality,
decided to take the easy route and ordered her army to invade Belgium's
neutral territory, in violation of her solemn treaty obligations. That
treacherous act filled the cup of teutonic infamy, and brought Great
Britain, and the whole British Empire, into the conflict.
So Germany was guilty of the most outrageous violation of the three
sound principles laid down by the "Nationalist" leader qualifying a just
war against an iniquitous one, whilst England and France won the
admiration of the world by their noble determination to stand by them at
all cost.
Still Mr. Bourassa, by an incomprehensible perversion of mind in judging
the application of his own loudly proclaimed principles, has not to
this day uttered one word openly condemning Germany's war policy and
eulogizing that of England and France. On the contrary, he has tried to
persuade his readers that both groups of belligerents were equally
responsible for the war, more especially giving vent to his, at the
least, very strange hostility to England and scarcely dissimulating his
teutonic evident sympathies. He never positively expressed his
disapproval of Austria's unjust attack against Servia, but condemned
Russia for her intervention to protect that weak country, concluding
that the Petrograd Government was the real guilty party which had thrown
the world into the vortex of the most deadly conflict of all times.
One of the most damaging and unfair arguments of Mr. Bourassa was that
in intervening in the struggle, England was not actuated by a real
sentiment of justice, honour and duty, but was merely using France as a
shield for her own selfish protection. And when he deliberately
expressed such astounding views, he knew, or ought to have known, that
by her so commendable decision to avenge outraged weak Belgium, Great
Britain had at once, by her command of the seas, guaranteed France
against the superior strength of the German fleet, kept widely opened
the great commercial avenues of oceanic trade, the closing of which by
the combined sea power of the Central Empires, would have infallibly
caused the crushing defeat of France by cutting off all the supplies
she absolutely required to meet the terrible onslaught of her cruel
enemy. He knew, or ought to have known, that the navigation of the seas
being closed to her rivals by Germany, Russia would have been very
easily put out of the fight, her only available ocean ports,
Vladivostock and Arkhangel, through which supplies of many kinds,
especially munitions, could reach her eastern coast, at once becoming of
no service to her.
He knew, or ought to have known, that if Great Britain had remained
neutral, Japan, Italy, Portugal, would not have declared war against
either Germany or Austria.
As such consequences of British neutrality were as sure as the daily
rising of the sun, was I not right when I drew the conclusion that if a
shield there was, it was rather that of Great Britain covering France,
all her allies and even the neutral nations, with the protection of her
mighty sea power. With such a conviction, the soundness of which I felt
sure, I told my French Canadian countrymen that, for one, I would, to my
last day, be heartily grateful to England to have saved France from the
crushing defeat which once more would have been her lot, had she been
left alone to fight the Central Empires. Heroic, without doubt France
would have been. But with deficient supplies, with much curtailed
resources, with no helpful friends, heroism alone, however admirable and
prolonged, was sure to be of no avail against an unmatched materially
organized power, used to its most efficiency by the severest military
discipline, by national fanaticism worked to fury, and by soldierly
enthusiasm carried to wildness.
In a single handed struggle with Germany, in 1914, France would have
been in a far worse position than in 1870. The extraordinary development
of the new German Empire--the outcome of the great war so disastrous to
France--in population, in commerce, in manufacturing industry, in
financial resources, in military organization, made her fighting power
still more disproportionate. To her wonderful territorial army, she
added her recently built military fleet, then much superior, in the
number of vessels carrying thousands and thousands of skilled seamen, to
the French one. Moreover Austria, with another fifty millions of people,
Bulgaria and Turkey, with more than thirty millions, were backing
Germany, whilst, in 1870, France had only Prussia to contend with.
All those facts staring him like any one else, how could Mr. Bourassa
reasonably charge Great Britain with using France merely as a tool for
her own safety. Under the circumstances of the case, such a preposterous
assertion is beyond human comprehension. I, for one, cannot understand
how he failed to see that, had England been actuated by the selfish and
unworthy motives to which he ascribes her intervention in the war, she
could have then, and at least for several years, wrought from Germany
almost all the concessions she would have wished for. Could it not, by
an alliance with the Central Empires, have attained the goal of that
dominating ambition which the "Nationalist" leader asserts to be her
most cherished aim.
But such a dishonourable policy England would not consider for a single
moment. She indignantly refused Germany's outrageous proposals, stood by
her treaty obligations, and resolutely threw all the immense resources
of her power in the conflict which, at the very beginning, developed
into a struggle for life and death between human freedom and absolutist
tyranny.
I am sure, and I do not hesitate to vouch for them, all the truly loyal
French-Canadians--they are almost unanimously so--are like myself
profoundly grateful to Great Britain for her noble decision to rush to
the defense of Belgium and France in their hour of need. Comparing what
took place with what might have been, moved by all the ties of affection
that will ever bind them to the great and illustrious nation from which
they sprung, they fully appreciate the inestimable value of the support
given by their second mother-country to that of their national origin.
They ardently pray that both of them will emerge victorious from the
great conflict to remain, for the good of Mankind, indissolubly united
in peace as they are in war.
A "NATIONALIST" ILLOGICAL CHARGE AGAINST ENGLAND.
Our Nationalists, after charging England with using France merely as a
shield against Germany, have been illogical to the point of reproaching
her for not having intervened in favour of her close neighbour, in 1870.
It is most likely that, had she done so, they would have pretended that
she would have been actuated by the same selfish sentiment that prompted
her, for the only sake of her own protection, to enter into the present
conflict.
How is it that Mr. Bourassa, so fond of charging England with ambitious
views of constant self-agrandizement, of worldly domination, can
suddenly turn about and accuse her of having shamefully sacrificed
France, in 1870, to the overpowering German blow?
The circumstances of the two cases--1870 and 1914--were very different.
The conflict of 1870 had, apparently at least, a dynastic cause. The
House of Hohenzollern had been intriguing to have a Prussian prince of
her own elevated to the Spanish Throne. The Imperial Government of
Napoleon III strongly objected to such a policy. The diplomatic
correspondence which ensued did not settle the difficulty. France
declared war against Prussia. Many years later it was discovered that by
a falsified diplomatic despatch, Bismark had succeeded in his satanic
design to bring the government of Napoleon III to attack Prussia, thus
shamefully throwing upon France the responsibility of the war.
In 1870, England was at peace with all the European Powers, as she had
ever been since 1815, with the only exception of the Crimean War. During
the diplomatic correspondence that led to the hostilities, what reason
would have justified England to break her neutrality? What would the
present critics of her course have said if she had sided with Prussia?
Would they have pretended that she would have used Prussia as a shield
against France?
I personally remember very well the tragic events of the terrible year,
1870. The crushing military power of Prussia as proved by the triumphant
march of her victorious armies, was a revelation for all, for France
still more than for others. True Prussia had beaten Austria in the short
campaign ended at Sadowa. The Prussia France was then fighting was not
the giant Empire against which she is battling with such heroism for the
last four years. France was at the time the leading continental Power.
The general opinion was, when war was suddenly declared, that France
would easily triumph over her enemy.
It must not be forgotten that, in 1870, England was even less ready than
in 1914 to engage in a continental conflict. Her standing army was not
large, and then partly garrisoned in the colonies. Some of her best
regiments were stationed in Canada. She could have been a really
important ally of France only as a strong support of another continental
power joining with her against Prussia, for instance Russia or Austria,
or both of them.
If England had been able to send 500,000 men in a few days to the very
heart of France, incessantly followed by another half million, it is
almost certain that the Prussian army would not have entered Paris. But
England had not that million of trained men. It would have taken at
least a year to organize such a large army.
I will speak my mind openly. After Sedan, any attempt at saving France
by force would have been vain and useless. Even Russia and Austria were
unprepared for such a task. Their intervention, coming too late, would
most likely have given Prussia a chance to win a much greater victory.
France out of the struggle, Prussia would then have had the opportunity
to achieve, as early as 1870, what she has ever since prepared for, and
tried to accomplish by the war she has brought on in 1914.
What then becomes of the "Nationalist" pretention that Great Britain has
ever been aiming at dominating the world, when it is so easy to
understand that without a very large territorial army, which she
persistingly refused to organize, she was unable to take an important
part in any continental war. The days were passed, after the
extraordinary development of Prussian militarism, when she could
brilliantly hold her own on the continent with a small standing army
backed by generous subsidies to the European powers. The present war is
surely proof evident of it, since England, instead of the two hundred
thousand men she was expected to send over to France, as her man-power
contribution, has had to raise a total army, with all the auxiliary
services, of 6,000,000 officers and men, exclusive of the 2,000,000
contributed by the whole British Colonial Empire.
The Nationalists accusing England to have abandoned France to her sad
fate, in 1870, was only another instance of their campaign to arouse the
feelings of the French Canadians against Great Britain.
OTHER "NATIONALIST" ERRONEOUS ASSERTIONS.
Mr. Bourassa has had his own peculiar way of explaining the real
determining cause of the war. Some men are--by nature it is to be
supposed--always disposed to judge great historical events from
considerations inspired by the lowest sentiments of the human heart. In
the "Nationalist" leader's view, the great war was brought about by the
treacherous alliance of British and German capitalists speculating
together, in actual partnership or otherwise, in the production of war
material: cannons, rifles, munitions, war shipbuilding, &c.
In my humble opinion, such views are lowering to a very vulgar and
lamentably repulsive cause--if it could be true--events of immense
significance, the result, on the one side, of criminal aspirations
which, however guilty they may be, have not yet been degraded to the
profound depth of abjection they suppose; on the other, by the most
noble sentiments which can inspire nations to make the greatest
sacrifices to avenge outraged Justice and Right.
Autocratic German ambition, such as it has proved to be, is bad enough.
Still the cause of the war, such as asserted by Mr. Bourassa, would have
been far worse. National aspirations, however wrongly diverted from
their legitimate conception, will never be as contemptible as the nasty
greed of individual speculators treacherously sucking the very life
blood of their countrymen for the sake of squeezing millions of dollars
at the cost of their country's honour and future.
Unfortunately, illegitimate "profiteering" has taken place in the course
of every war. Of course it must be severely condemned and firmly
prevented, to the utmost, by governmental authority strongly supported
by public opinion which must, however, be cautious not to be unduly
influenced and carried away by the wild charges of some who denounce
others with so much apparent indignation for the only reason that they
themselves are not succeeding as they would like to do in their
speculative attempts.
Illegitimate "profiteering" is one of the deplorable effects of a war;
it is never its real cause.
What are the true causes, humanly speaking, of the cataclysm so
violently shaking the world? They were of two kinds. The first was the
disordered ambition of a nation having reached, by prodigious efforts,
such a power that she fatally determined to dominate everywhere,
militarily and politically. To this first cause was added that of
secular race rivalry.
The two causes of the first kind--which can properly be called
_offensive_, were followed by the noble one of the resistance to
oppression, of the defence of the honour of threatened nations, of the
energetic determination to avenge violated international treaties, and
to save the civilized world from a new barbarous invasion.
If the Allies had humbly bowed to the odious German claims, there would
have been no war.
Consequently, the two evident causes of the war are, on the one hand,
German ambition to universal domination; on the other, the absolute
necessity on the part of the Allies to prevent by all possible means the
success of such a tyrannical enterprise.
However much guilty they have been in bringing on the most terrible war
of all times, it is still injurious for the Berlin Government to suppose
that in assuming this weighty responsibility, they were playing the part
of an unconscious instrument of the most diabolical thirst of money
making by shameless "profiteers."
But such a charge is absolutely inexplicable when one accuses France,
England and Belgium to be, in their admirable and heroic campaign for
the world's deliverance and freedom, the pliant tools of contemptible
speculators in the production of war materials.
Governments and nations are, as a rule, far from having dropped to such
a low state of incurable corruption. For many of them, there yet exists
bright summits, shining with the clear light of Justice, Right and
Honour, which in those times of sufferings and burning tears, are the
pledge of better days and the promise of the world's resurrection.
INCREDIBLE "NATIONALIST" NOTIONS.
Can it be possibly believed that the "Nationalist" leader has asserted
that when the British capitalists and bankers invested the savings
entrusted to their safe keeping, they were principally actuated by the
desire to create in Canada a financial influence which would, in due
course, assist with force in dragging the Dominion to
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