last and one of the greatest of them, a native of my own Province, passed away a few weeks ago in the person of Sir Charles Tupper. He lived to see the bounds of the Dominion extended on the west to the Pacific and on the north to the Pole. His belief in Canada's material resources was so great as to expose him thirty years ago to reproach and derision; but long before his death results had amply justified his most optimistic prophecy.

Let me give an illustration. In the three Provinces of Canada which lie between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains there is to-day a population of about 1,750,000 of whom little more than 1,000,000 constitute the rural population. During the present year these three Provinces produced about 350,000,000 bushels of wheat, nearly 400,000,000 bushels of oats and about 50,000,000 bushels of other grains. It was an unusual harvest, but one which indicates the possibilities of that remarkable country, only a small portion of which has yet been brought under cultivation. A yield of eighty bushels of wheat to the acre has been occasionally reported and fifty or even sixty bushels has not been unusual. One farmer whose wheat was partly destroyed by hail collected his percentage of insurance and concluded, after some doubt, that the crop was worth harvesting. It yielded forty bushels to the acre. Among those who have benefited by the bountiful harvest just garnered in the three prairie Provinces are many worthy citizens who came to us from your Western States and whom we have warmly welcomed as an admirable element in the population to whom the development of our western heritage is intrusted.

But a nation lives not by bread alone; its permanence and its influence depend upon the character of its people and upon the institutions which they upbuild and maintain. For three-quarters of a century Canada has been governed by Ministers responsible to the elected representatives of the people. There has been a gradual assumption of absolute and full control over internal affairs and of growing control over matters of external concern, especially those

which touch our relations with this kindred nation. Our system of cabinet government and parliamentary control has developed upon almost precisely the same lines as in the United Kingdom.

During the past quarter century the opening up of our western Provinces and the world-wide realization of their fertility and importance, the industrial growth of the eastern Provinces and the general development of Canada's varied resources brought about a remarkable increase of material prosperity in our Dominion. To the Canadian people thus immersed in the pursuit of material development there came little more than a year ago a call and a test which searched and tried the spirit of the nation. Until then Canada had known little of the actualities of war for a century. The course which she should pursue was entirely within the judgment and disposition of her parliament and people. From the first there was not the slightest hesitation.

Recalled hurriedly to Ottawa on the first day of August, 1914, I took the responsibility, in the absence of my colleagues, of sending to the British Government a message which expressed our most earnest hope that a peaceful solution of international difficulties might be achieved and our strong desire to coöperate in every possible way for that purpose; but which conveyed also to that Government the firm assurance that if unhappily war should ensue the Canadian people would be united in a common resolve to put forth every effort and to make every sacrifice necessary to insure the integrity and maintain the honor of our Empire.

The pledge thus given has been most fully redeemed by the Canadian people.

cause.

I do not propose to argue or affirm the justice of our The great controlling facts have been firmly established and they are widely known. Upon these facts the people of the neutral nations must found their own conclusions. The Canadian people are impressed with the most earnest and intense conviction that our cause is just and that

it will prevail. Undoubtedly it concerns the power, influ-
ence and destiny of our Empire. But we are convinced
beyond all question that this conflict is of vastly wider
significance and that its determination must exercise a pro-
found influence upon the world's future. We are apt to
consider that, because our civilization has been built up
slowly and gradually, it is of an absolutely permanent
character. We may remember that there were men of
bygone civilizations who held
with regard to their own.

precisely the same idea Mankind has never been

so grievously oppressed by the "peine forte et dure" of
militarism and armaments as during the past half cen-
tury. This is not an inspiring record after all the aspira-
tion, the effort and the sacrifices of a thousand years. All
the lives sacrificed and all the treasure expended in this
struggle will have been in vain if humanity must still endure
so intolerable a restraint added to the staggering burden
which this conflict will itself entail upon all the warring
nations. Such, however, would be the result of an incon-
clusive peace.
The people of the British Dominions are
animated by a stern resolve that there shall be no such out-
come. It is for the future peace of the world that we fight
to the end. The chief insignia of a civilized nation are
orderly government and respect for the law. A world-
civilization which cannot establish and maintain an equally
high international standard will assuredly crumble. If it
founds itself upon the jungle creed, to the jungle it will
return.

A Canadian medical officer who was taken prisoner by the Germans told me that one of the first questions asked by his captors was this: "What did the English say to induce Canadians to fight for them?" I have heard the same idea in the British Islands when gratitude was expressed to Canada for assistance to Great Britain in this war. This is by no means the viewpoint of Canadians. We take part in this struggle because the destiny of the world-wide British Commonwealth is our destiny, because as one of its great

nations we are determined to preserve its power and its influence; and because we conceive that, as one of those nations, there is for us the highest opportunity to advance the cause of humanity and civilization, to do our part worthily in the world's work.

The student of government finds in the organization of the British Empire an astonishing confusion of varied systems. To govern such an empire at all is as great an undertaking as history has ever known. In administering the affairs of this great republic vast and complex problems continually make themselves manifest. May I ask a moment's consideration of those involved in the governance of the British Dominions? A territory more than three times greater than that of the United States, scattered over all the continents and through all the oceans; a total population four times greater than yours; a white population little more than one-half your own of which three-fourths reside within the relatively inconsiderable area of the British Islands; an almost infinite variety and divergence of race and creed; discordant ideals and social conditions; conflicting economic interests; four self-governing nations, one in the northern and three in the southern hemisphere all rapidly developing in power and influence; a great dependency with a population of 300,000,000 embracing a dozen races with a bewildering divergence of creed, caste, tradition, custom and language; protectorates involving responsibility for the development of great territories and the protection and welfare of large populations; a score of fiscal systems under which each unit of the Empire levies customs duties against the remainder; the safeguarding of territories which in some part of the world touch those of every other great power; the protection of the ocean pathways without which necessary intercommunication could not be assured; the necessity of considering all these varied and sometimes conflicting interests and conditions in determining questions touching foreign relations; a varied and seemingly confused medley of statutes, charters, orders

in council, conventions, traditions and understandings for the governance of all these widespread possessions; consider this very imperfect summary of the conditions and problems which meet those called upon to administer the affairs of our vast Commonwealth. A hasty judgment would determine that any structure so apparently unstable must crumble at the first great shock.

It shall be to the honor of the British race as long as this war is remembered that the principle upon which is founded the governance of our Empire bound together all its far-flung dominions and all its people of varied and divergent race, language, creed and ideal by ties which proved even stronger in war than in peace. It is founded upon the principle of liberty and upon the theory and practice of autonomous government applied wherever conditions permit and to the most generous extent that experience can possibly sanction. For this supreme reason the Empire is strong in the day of trial, and it will prove stronger yet as the test makes the full effort of its strength even more necessary than at present.

The outbreak of war found Great Britain utterly unprepared for military operations upon the tremendous scale which has been found necessary. Communication between our scattered possessions is essential to their unity and continued national existence. Thus the fighting power of the Empire is concentrated almost wholly in the navy, established with no aggressive intention, and maintained solely for self-protection and self-preservation. Attempted aggression against any great military nation under such conditions was utterly inconceivable, for our military power was relatively insignificant. Apart from every other consideration the absolute lack of adequate military preparation for this war speaks for itself and unanswerably proclaims that the dominions which owe allegiance to the British Crown followed the paths of peace and earnestly desired to avoid war.

Such indeed was the ideal of the Canadian nation; but in common with all the Empire the spirit of our people when