At a banquet given by the Montreal Board of Trade
on Friday week in honour of the delegates to the Congress of Chambers of Commerce a most important speech was delivered by Sir Wil- frid Laurier. Dealing with the preferential trade question, the Canadian Premier discussed the various schemes put forward to establish closer relations between the Mother-country and her dependencies. Canada, he continued, was intensely desirous to have a preferential market for her food products in Great Britain; but "we think the first step would come better from Britain than ourselves, and we do not want to force our views on our brothers. If such an arrangement would not be satisfactory to them, for my part I do not want to have such an arrangement." Finally, Sir Wilfrid Laurier emphatically, proclaimed his dissent from the suggestion which he attributed to the Duke of Devonshire,—who, as we think, was only stating a hypothetical case favour- able to Sir Wilfrid Laurier's own position,—viz., that the Colonies might be called on to give up some of their independence and freedom of action in fiscal, com- mercial, and industrial legislation. Concessions purchased at the cost of political rights would be purchased too dearly. "Canada values too highly the system which made her what she is to consent willingly to part with any portion of it for whatever consideration, and, even for the maintenance of the British Empire, I think it would be a most evil thing if any of our Colonies were to consent to part with any of their legisla- tive independence." The whole tone of the speech was that of one who deprecated the raising of the question of Colonial preference, and was deeply impressed by the difficulties in the way of its realisation.
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