On Friday week Mr. Fisher, the Canadian Minister of Agriculture,
made a speech at Montreal on Canada's relation to the Preferential policy which deserves the atten- tion of all Imperialists. He described as a " calumny " the suggestion that unless Canadian products were granted pre- ference in the English market, she would be liable to break away from the Empire. He spoke in a special sense for the Canadian farmers, and he knew that they had made no such demand. England already took everything they sent her, and took it at profitable prices, and they did not ask the British people to burden themselves for the sake of Canada or any other part of the Empire. The recent elections had shown England's decision, and he considered it a right one. Pre- ference in England would mean the dislocation of her whole trade system, and a radical change for the worse. Any elaborate organisation of Empire was impossible, and the only real way to strengthen it was to give freedom to every com- ponent part. "As Free-trade is England's economic neces-
sity, so freedom from militarism is ours As we wish our ties within the Empire to be lasting and strong, make them elastic and loose, so that they may not snap as straightened cord is bound to do." It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of Mr. Fisher's speech. He speaks for Canadian agriculture, hitherto claimed as the mainstay of Preference, and he repudiates the proposal on the highest grounds of Imperial policy.
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