CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.
THE American correspondent of the Times sends to Monday's papa a telegram describing the dinner given in New York last Saturday to the Governor-General of Canada which is almost lyrical in its enthusiasm. In spite, however, of this lyric note, we do not think that he in any way exaggerates the significance of the event, or overestimates the meaning bfi the utterances of Mr. Root, the American secretary of State, or of Lord Grey. The, importance of Mr. Root's speech lies in the fact that a man who is not merely one of the ablest and most cautious of American statesmen,but also responsible for the conduct of the foreign affairs of his country and the right-hand man of the President, declares that in fact, if not in name, the United States and Britain may be regarded as allies. Here are Mr. Root's actual words :—" The traditional policy of the United States forbids alliances with other countries, but every lawyer knows, every man of affairs knows, that the signature and seal upon a contract are of little value unless the character and the purpose of the contractors are sincere. And with a sincere and genuine contract of purpose, if not of paper, our relations are sealed as effectively as they might be by a formal agreement." If they stood alone, these words would be significant, but their importance is very greatly increased by the context in which they are embedded. Mr. Root finds, we are sure, the true basis of this virtual alliance in the fact that English and American ideals are the same, and that the two nations stand for the same things in the public life of the world. That is, both stand for freedom and independence, and for that type of government which, while democratic in spirit, will tolerate " the lawless crowd " as little as " the lawless crown." Instinctively the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon race are coming to realise that they must necessarily stand together for ideals in which they believe so profoundly,—ideals which are directly menaced by the great military autocracies of the world. The principles on which military autocracy rests, the dynastic principle—which, even when it allows a modicum of freedom, allows it by grace and favour and not by right—and the principle of divine inheritance are a perpetual challenge to the principles upon which the Anglo-Saxon race has based its polity in the past and means to base it in the future. The negation of militarism, autocracy, and dynasticism makes Britain and the United States natural allies, and would draw us together even if a common tongue, common ties of blood, and common ideals, moral, social, and literary, had not already brought us so close. In Mr. Frederic Myers's phrase, the " Imperial force of Fate has linked our race in high emprise." • Mr. Root's speech would have been important 'wherever uttered, but the fact that it was uttered at a public function intended to do special honour to Canada through the chief representative of the Dominion, the Governor-General, greatly enhances its effect. Pessimists in regard to good feeling between Britain and the United States have always pointed to Canada. as the insuperable obstacle to a complete understanding. "What is the use," they have been wont to say, " of talking about an alliance with America while the Canadian Dominion is part of the British Empire ? The Americans mean, and very possibly, from their point of view, rightly mean, to absorb the whole of tlie North American Con- tinent. On the other hand, the British people, as long as the Canadians are loyal to the Imperial tie, will burn their last cartridge to prevent such forcible absorption. Unless, then, the Canadians—which is unthinkable—ask to be relieved of the Imperial tie, the British people mean never to consent to the gratification of an essential American ambition." In other words, the existence of Canada was held to forbid the banns of alliance. We were told, in effect, that it was impossible to be friends in the truest and most intimate sense with the United States as long as we retained our special relationship with 'Canada. We must choose between the Canadians and the people of the great Republic. We ourselves never believed in this political dilemma, but, at the same time, we were forced to admit that a certain traditional attitude of the Americans towards their neighbour to the north might at any time create friction and difficulty which would postpone the fruition of our hopes of a permanent good understanding with the United States.
Mr. Root's speech and the rest of the utterances of the speakers at the Pilgrims' dinner make it clear that the old grudging feeling in regard to the inclusion of Canada in the British Empire has practically passed away, and that not merely the men who guide American policy, but the better public opinion of the United States, are perfectly content that Canada should choose her own destiny. They recognise that in deciding to remain part of the British Empire Canada is doing nothing which need estrange her from the eighty millions of English-speaking people who live to the south of her btundary-line. There was no doubt a time when Lord Grey's proud, but not too proud, boast would have been resented in the United States :—" If the nineteenth century belonged to the United States, the twentieth century belongs to Canada. Yes, gentlemen, this is the stimulating faith of the people whom I represent. Any idea of the possible annexation of Canada by the United States is scouted by us as an impossibility, as great as you would regard the annexation of the United States by Canada." As it was, these words did not merely cause no resentment. but were cheered with genuine enthusiasm by those who heard them. With the strength and solidarity of the Union, and with the sense of the possession of wealth, numbers, and prestige possessed in the same degree by no other country in the world, has come also that tolerance and fair- mindedness which belong to those who are not only great, but know and understand their greatness. While America was still raw and young she had in her a certain jealousy and intolerance of other peoples which sometimes seemed to make her resent their strength and patriotism as if they were things injurious to herself. Nature never gives the young, either in individuals or communities, the supreme touch of kindliness,—the complete respect for the rights of others. In the exulting splendour of youth there is too often a flourish of insolence. Since, however, the Union fought the greatest civil war of all time and tempered the steel of her manhood in the blood of her patriot sons, she has gradually acquired the benignity and the wisdom which belong to maturity. As her greatness and her responsibilities have increased she has come to under- stand that the world is big enough to hold others beside herself, and that it is a moral, and not a merely material, equality that makes nations respect each other. No one in the United States now desires to treat Canada as a " one-horse " nation, or to sneer at her because her wealth and her population seem so small compared with those of her great neighbour. America may, no doubt, quarrel with Canada in the future, as in the past, over boundary and other questions, and there may again be " a plentiful lack "-of good feeling on either side. bBut we believe that the tone of contempt once entertained in America for Canada, and necessarily reciprocated by the Canadians, has gone for ever. Americans used to complain of Canadian insolence, but they were apt to forget that the remedy for this evil, if it existed, lay in their own hands. The bigger a man or a nation is, the more necessary is it to offer precedence in the battle of courtesy.
There are many forces at work to-day *witch, we believe, will tend to keep the relations of Canada and the United States on true lines. Of no small importance among these is the making of the Panama Canal, which, whatever may be the momentary difficulties that are being encountered, is certain to be completed by the United States. Its creation as an American enterprise, a,nd the development of American interests in Cuba and in the Philippines, will turn the attention of Americans south rather than north, and help to give a southward outlet for their more restless spirits. Destiny has decreed that for the next two or three genera- tions, at any rate, America shall fix her gaze southward. Again, there is a growing feeling among thoughtful men in America—and thoughtful men influence the policy of America far more than might be supposed by those who judge of American politics by sensational debates in the' House of Representatives or in the Senate—that monopoly is good neither for men nor communities, and that the existence of a neighbour-State, which, though intensely democratic, is organised on very different lines from those of the Union, is good, not bad, for the American people. In Canada America may discover warnings and examples which may be of great use to her in shaping her own policy. The European nations find it useful to learn from their neighbours in regard to many of the details of administration. If America, absorbed the whole continent from the tropic to the pole, she would possess a monopoly that would leave her without that useful and generous dompetition in the arts of government which is good for every nation. She cannot expect to learn much from the Spanish-American Republics, for there her work must be thtt of a, teacher rather than a learner. Europe, on the other hand, is too remote, and the physical conditions are too different, to encourage the competition we have described. What one wants Canadiank to say of America, and Americans to say of Canada, when either has got hold of. a good and effective instrument in the detail of government, is : " If they can do this, why cannot we'? " By remaining distinct and apart, but yet friendly States, and bound by special ties, America and Canada may do each other good service. Instead of keeping apart the mother and the daughter Empires, Canada may help to maintain them in ties of alliance which will preserve for the world the highest ideals of freedom and good government.
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