Last Sunday the Dominion of Canada celebrated the fortieth year
of her existence as a Federation. Seldom has the progress of a country justified in shorter space the hopes of its founders. The returns for the past year show an increase in immi- gration of twenty-five per cent., and the increase is mainly from Britain, while the yield of the land has grown so fast that it is estimated that within five years the great corn- lands of the North-West will grow enough wheat to feed the British Isles. This immense advance in material prosperity has been accompanied by a genuine political development. Canada has at all times shown herself alive to the duties and the rights involved in the ideal of Empire. It is not so long ago that many persons both here and in Canada were inclined to advocate annexation by the United States ; now, as Lord Grey said in a recent speech, the proposal is as unthinkable as that of the annexation of the States by Canada.
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