Part 8 (2/2)

Moreover, parliament was not in session, and British precedent required the consent of parliaiven on the 3rd of October, a week before the war broke out, Sir Wilfrid denied a report that the Governent, and stated that it could not do so without parliament's consent On the sa thanks for individual offers of service, and stating that four units of one hundred and twenty-five ladly be accepted, to be equipped and sent to Africa at their own or Canada's cost, and thereafter to be maintained by the Imperial Government {190} Ten days later, three days after the declaration of war, the Govern for a contingent of one thousand men[2]

The decision oncethe contingent On the 30th of October the troops sailed froent

Already it was beco clear that there would be no 'Christ, Kied, and the British were retiring in Natal Six weeks passed before the British Government accepted This tiiment of Mounted Rifles and three batteries of artillery Later a battalion of infantry was raised to garrison Halifax and thus release the Leinster regiment for the front, {191} while Lord Strathcona provided the funds to send the Strathcona Horse

In the last year of the war five regiments of Mounted Rifles and a Constabulary Force, which saw active service, were recruited All told, over seven thousand Canadians went to South Africa

The course of the as folloith intense interest in Canada

Alike in the anxious days of Deceela, and in the joyful reaction of the relief of Ki and the victory of Paardeberg, Canadians felt the scene Perhaps the part taken by their own small force was seen out of perspective; but with all due discount for the patriotic exaggeration of Canadian newspaper correspondents and for the generosity of Lord Roberts's high-flown praise, the people of Canada believed that they had good reason to feel more than proud of their representatives on the veldts of Africa

After Zand River and Doornkop, Paardeberg and Mafeking, it was plain that the Canadian soldier could hold his own on the field of battle

In the words of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, replying to an attack made by Mr Bourassa:

When we heard that our volunteers had justified fully the confidence placed in theed like veterans, that their conduct was heroic and had won for them the encomiums of the Commander-in-Chief and the unstinted admiration of their comrades, who had faced death upon a hundred battlefields in all parts of the world, is there a man whose bosom did not sith pride, the noblest of all pride, that pride of pure patriotisth, the pride of the consciousness that on that day it had been revealed to the world that a neer had arisen in the west?

Nor is that all The work of union and harmony between the chief races of this country is not yet co as the bond created by coers faced in co the two branches of the Canadian fa side by side for the honour of Canada

Already so to the country the last full measure of devotion Their rerave, there to lie to the end of time in that last fraternal embrace Can we not hope, I ask rave shall be buried the last vestiges of our foronise that hope, if we can believe that in that grave shall be buried our contentions, the sending of the contingent will be the greatest service ever rendered Canada since Confederation

Meanwhile another war, much less honourable than that on the plains of Africa, was {193} being waged against the Governeneral elections of 1900 gave countless opportunities for the unscrupulous and reckless appeals to racial prejudice and for the charges of disloyalty which have unfortunately marked so many Canadian political contests Sir Wilfrid Laurier had to face the attacks of extremists in both Quebec and Ontario In Ontario he was denounced for hesitating to send the first contingent, and particularly for retaining in his Cabinet Mr Tarte, as reported to have made anti-imperial speeches in Paris Blissfully unaware that before the next general election they would be lauding the same Tarte to the skies, the chiefs of the Opposition made their war-cry for Ontario, 'Shall Tarte rule?'

Concurrently in Quebec the prient at all, both by Conservatives and by one of the ablest of his former followers, Henri Bourassa, who had broken with his leader on this issue and on other rounds Even the veteran leader of the Opposition, Sir Charles Tupper, played a double role 'Sir Wilfrid Laurier is too English for ainst the prime minister, whom he characterized as {194} an advocate of imperialism But at Toronto, some time later, he strove to explain away these words and to convince his hearers that Sir Wilfrid was 'not half British enough'

Nevertheless, when polling day caed ained in the maritime provinces, while Quebec still further increased its overwhelent of Liberals in the House of Commons The country as a whole evidently approved the Govern-sought prosperity which was coorous adhty, but still aggressive and full of enthusiasive up the leadershi+p of the Conservative party He was succeeded by a fellow Nova Scotian, Mr Robert Laird Borden of Halifax The new leader had been only four years in parliahtforwardness had won instant recognition Few changes had occurred in the ranks of the 'Ministry of all the Talents' of 1896 Sir Oliver Mowat and Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere had retired to lieutenant-governorshi+ps, and their places had been taken respectively {195} by Mr David Mills and Mr M E

Bernier The per contrast to the incessant changes which had marked the last Liberal Cabinet, that of 1873-78

[Illustration: SIR ROBERT BORDEN Froraph by Montminy, Quebec]

The questions of imperial relationshi+p raised by the Boer War lent especial interest to the Colonial Conference of 1902 Again the for the representatives of the Dominions to Great Britain was a royal ceremony Good Queen Victoria had died in 1901, and the coronation of Edward the Seventh was to take place in June

The sudden illness of the king postponed the festivities, but the ed

The United Kingdom was represented by Mr Chamberlain, Lord Selborne, and Mr Brodrick Sir Edmund Barton and Sir John Forrest represented Australia, now a single Commonwealth To speak for the smaller colonies appeared their respective prime g for Cape Colony, Sir Albert Hime for Natal, and Sir Robert Bond for Newfoundland Sir Wilfrid Laurier represented Canada He was acco, Sir Frederick Borden, Sir William Mulock, and Mr Paterson The sessions were more formal than on previous occasions Only the prime ministers of the Do the special department of one of the other ministers The earlier conferences had been in a sense preparatory, and the issues raised had not been pressed Now the draerness of Mr Chas a lish imperialists were intensely interested and intensely hopeful

'I cannot conceal fro address, 'that very great anticipations have been for' The enthusiasm of Canadian and Australian and New Zealander for the cause of the mother country in the war had led reat stride toward the centralization of the Empire The policy of autono to the new imperialism, the control of the Empire should be centralized, should be vested in the British Govern at London, in which nu force of environive Great Britain unquestioned dominance Mr Chamberlain himself shared these hopes and these limitations He was, indeed, more popular in the colonies than any other British statesnized th and the value of their support Yet he, too, laboured under the delusion that Australia and Canada were siland beyond the seas He not only looked at ilishman first and last, but expected to find Australians and Canadians doing the same

These expectations were destined to be rudely shattered The new iive scope for the aspirations of the Donize that if the war had stimulated imperial sentiment in the Dominions it had also stimulated national consciousness The spectacular entry upon the world's stage involved in sending troops half-way across the globe, the bravery and the steadfastness the troops had displayed, had sent a thrill of pride through every Dominion The achievement {198} of federation in Australia and the new-found prosperity of Canada gave added i And, as a cross-current, opposed alike to the rising nationalism and to any kind of imperialism, there was still the old colonialislisharded the colonies as 'our possessions' and colonials acquiesced These three currents, colonialis in Australian and Canadian life, and none of thearded A free imperialism, consonant with and allied to national ambitions, the Dominions would have, had indeed already, but the idea of Mr Chamberlain and his followers, which contravened both the new nationalism and the old colonialism, could not prevail

As before, the chief subjects dealt with by the Conference fell into three fields--political relations, co the Conference Mr Chamberlain declared that the problem of future political relations had been simplified by the federation of the Australian colonies and the co closer union of South Africa The next step would be the federation of the Empire, which he believed ithin the li colonial representatives to the existing House of Commons at Westminster, but perhaps a more practical proposal would be the creation of a real Council of the Eht be merely advisory but in tiislative powers Elsewhere Mr Chamberlain had made more clear the extent of the pohich he hoped this central council would in tie powers of taxation and legislation over countries separated by thousands of miles'

The appeal met with little response The prime ministers seemed in no haste to abandon the policy by which they had already acquired powers so many and so wide No resolution was ed Instead, a step was taken towardsthat it shouldfour years The vital difference between the Conference and the Imperial Council which Mr Chaed should be an independent govern direct control over all parts of the E representation frodoovern, with no power to bind any Doe of information and opinion

As to defence, a determined attempt was made to induce the colonies to contribute to the support of the British ar that the United Kingdom spent annually for military and naval purposes 29s 3d per head--while Canada spent 2s, New Zealand 3s 4d, and Australia 4s--and urged that it was inconsistent with the dignity of nationhood that the Dominions should thus leave the mother country to bear the whole or almost the whole cost of defence