The same man also said:—

One of the last interviews I enjoyed strengthened the impression of the

“Cardinal.” On the day on which he started to Winnipeg for that

triumphal tour which raised such high hope before his defeat in 1917, I

had an hour with him in his home. He received me in his study on the

second floor. He had just been taking a nap to prepare himself for the

fatigues of the journey. He had on a dressing gown of which I remember

that the predominating color was a decorative figure in dull red.

The “Cardinal” received me with his customary graciousness, and for an

hour we reviewed the chances of the campaign. When I was leaving him he

followed me to the top of the stairs, and as he shook hands he said,

with that peculiar serenity that was one of his outstanding

characteristics in his later days:

“I may be defeated, but I will not be dishonoured.”

* * * * *

On one occasion Sir Wilfrid spoke in the pavilion of the Horticultural

Gardens. During his address hisses came from the audience when he

mentioned a paper that had taken issue with him. Sir Wilfrid exclaimed,

rebukingly, “How dare any man hiss when another has the courage of his

convictions? I do not find fault with the paper because it does not

agree with me. We Liberals have our differences, but that fact does not

justify hisses.”

* * * * *

Mention has been made of a certain similarity of viewpoint between

Laurier and Gladstone. It is true that the great English Liberal was

born to large opportunity. His magnificent intellectual gifts were

enhanced by all that wealth and culture could do to polish and prepare

perhaps the largest mind ever devoted to the service of the State since

Parliamentary government began. From his earliest years he had consorted

with world-figures—with men who were playing a great part on the great

stage of the world. He was admirably trained and equipped at all points

to play the part of the public man.

With Sir Wilfrid Laurier it was otherwise. He lacked the adventitious

aids of fortune and station which smoothed the path of Gladstone as,

until the last ten years, they have smoothed the path of every British

Premier, with the solitary exception of Disraeli. The two great Liberal

leaders were akin in spirit—and it is the things of the spirit that

really matter. It is possible that there was in Sir Wilfrid Laurier, as

certainly to the last there was in Gladstone, a certain strain of

conservatism, using that word in no narrow party sense. Both belonged to

the old school which valued fine manners, and, in the case of both,

their fine manners were the outward and visible sign of minds that were

rarely fine. But, in spite of this strain of conservatism, both were men

imbued through and through with the spirit of genuine Liberalism. The

life of each, to his last and latest moment, was a life of growth.

It is as impossible to set bounds to the growth of Liberalism as it is

to set bounds to the aspirations of a nation. Those who would seek to

reduce Liberal doctrines to formulae, to compress them into a creed, and

who would say: “This is the Liberal faith, the whole Liberal faith, and

nothing but this is the Liberal faith,” have small conception of the

inherent function of Liberalism. That function is to keep abreast of the

times, to be in harmony with the spirit of the times, and to be prepared

to face the problems of the times with high heart and high hopes, with

unconquerable courage and unfaltering faith. Liberal beliefs are no

effete and petrified dogmas. They are a living, energizing, vitalizing

force. They are that—or they are nothing.

It was Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s distinction, as it was Gladstone’s to take

this view of Liberalism. It is true that he belonged, as he himself

often said, to the school of Gladstone and Bright. But he did not hold

that the tenets of that school must necessarily comprehend all truth. He

realized that it is the spirit in which political problems are

approached that constitutes the great difference between Liberalism and

its opposite. Even he approached those problems in a spirit of sympathy

with the aim and ideals of the common people. His ears had caught the

tramp of the marching feet of the New Democracy, and to his heart the

sound brought not fear but lofty hope. Old in years, but young in heart,

he had an unquestionable faith in the honesty of this New Democracy and

in its ability to solve its own problems in its own way. Not long ago,

speaking of the fuller life for the people which might be expected as

one of the outcomes of the war, he said that the England of the future

would not be so picturesque or so dignified as the old England, but that

it would be a far happier England for the masses of the people. It was

the welfare of the masses which was ever nearest his own heart. He saw

that all over the world the People’s Day was dawning. He saw it and was

glad.

That Sir Wilfrid Laurier was a great, and will prove to have been a

lasting, dynamic force in Canadian public life seems to us

unquestionable. On the many years of material prosperity that Canada

enjoyed while his hand guided the helm of State; on his great

achievement in the realm alike of legislation and of administration it

is beside our present purpose to dwell. These things are a part, an

imperishable part, of the history of our country. But he did much,

infinitely much, to give Canadians a sense of national unity and a sense

of the dignity of nationhood. His efforts were often frustrated by the

schemes of smaller men, with their appeals to racial prejudice and

religious intolerance. But he himself steadily strove to weld the

Canadian people into one harmonius whole. He certainly did not live to

see the consummation of his work in this regard. But there will come a

day when the people for whom he laboured will surely remember it and not

with ingratitude.

Whoever he may be, the successor to Laurier must take no smaller view

than this. Appeals to classes, to interests, and to sections—whether to

farmers, to labour, to the manufacturers, or what not—are not the

appeals that Liberalism makes. For that appeal is to all good citizens.

It is to the civic sense of the whole country.

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier has not had an approach of an equal during the last

generation. It is not easy to exactly define in what his personality

consisted. Facial charm was certainly one of his greatest endowments. He

had a remarkably fine and open countenance, with a finely chiselled and

expressive mouth, and with a classic brow that was one of the gifts of

the gods. No one ever forgot Sir Wilfrid who had the privilege of seeing

or hearing him once. The late Sir George Ross once referred to him as “a

picture gallery all in himself.” His voice was also one of his great

endowments, and his gestures of hands and body were in perfect sympathy

with the thoughts he had to express. Behind all this was a finely

cultured intellect, and behind this again was a burning French-Canadian

soul that added warmth to all his words, gave action and gesture and

fire, and made him from a purely speaking standpoint one of the greatest

and most finished orators of his time. But there was more even than

this. No man can hold followers simply by words alone. Sir Wilfrid had a

wonderfully sympathetic heart, a keen appreciation of the human

qualities in man, and coupled with his own personal magnetism, there was

a winsomeness that bound his followers to him as with hoops of steel.

* * * * *

He did not ignore the material side of nation-building. He realized the

importance of the country’s natural resources and the necessity for

industrial development; but it was of the very nature of the man that he

should think most of the happiness of the people. He saw in Canada the

opportunity for a wonderful experiment in nation-making. He realized

that wealth and prosperity and national glory are not everything. His

ideal of a great nation was that of a free, contented, united and

intelligent people, living at peace with each other and with the world.

He sought to break down the barriers of prejudice and bigotry and

ignorance that those of different races and creeds and parties might

live together on terms of harmony and good will. His love was for people

rather than for material things, and he attracted the love of people in

return. No man in Canada ever attracted a more generous or more genuine

measure of love. This was shown by the spontaneous display of personal

feeling which his death called forth. And he was loved by the people,

not for any great thing he had done, but rather because of what he was.

It was Laurier’s desire, too, that Canada should have an opportunity to

develop according to the genius of her own people, free from

entanglements with old-world feuds and passions. The nations of Europe

were the victims of European history and tradition. They lived in an

atmosphere of war and strife. So far as it was possible he would have

saved Canada from the influence of this old-world spirit. He hesitated

about participation in the early days of the South African war. He was

thinking of Canada and the Canadian people. When the present war broke

out he saw that it was a struggle to the death between civilization and

barbarism, and he did not hesitate for a moment as to Canada’s duty. But

he was not prepared to go to the length of supporting conscription. To

him conscription meant militarism, and he dreaded militarism as he hated

it.

* * * * *

The Canadian nation stood grief-stricken around that august bier. The

hero of so many a gallant fight had succumbed to Death, the last great

enemy of all—and even that enemy came to him like a friend.

“When a great man dies,

For years beyond our ken,

The light he leaves behind him lies

Along the paths of men.”

So it will be with Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Intrinsically and essentially he

was a great man—great in natural gifts, great in vision, great in

heart, great in soul, and “as the greatest only are, in his simplicity

sublime.” Great men, it has been well said, are like great mountains.

One cannot fully judge of their real grandeur at close range. So it may

well be that we shall have to interpose some distance of time between

Sir Wilfrid Laurier and ourselves before we can gauge, with anything

approximating to adequacy, how much a bigger man he was than any of his

contemporaries.

To the end he was “the greatest fighter of them all.” Forty odd years of

strenuous public life brought no slackening in the vigour of mind or

energy, nor any discouragement as to the ultimate triumph of the

principle for which he always stood. There is an elixir of perpetual

youth in a good cause and in a good fight.

“I have endeavoured to meet success without elation and reverse without

discouragement,” he said to his followers in Parliament in May, 1914, in

acknowledging their testimonial to him on the completion of forty years

of continuous membership in the House of Commons. The “father of

Parliament,” in point of length of service as in point of ripe judgment,

oratorical graces and public experience, he remained, in Opposition as

in power, an optimist and an unflagging worker. During the fifteen years

of his Premiership Sir Wilfrid Laurier, with the exception of his

Imperial Conference trips and his western tour of 1910, and during

election campaigns, was scarcely ever away from his post at the Capital.

As leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition he was daily in his office

attending to a large correspondence, looking after the details of party

organization, receiving many callers who sought advice or assistance,

and keeping abreast, through books and periodicals, of all national

problems and world movements.

For half a century Wilfrid Laurier fought the battles of Canadian

democracy—for responsible government, for social justice, for equality

of opportunity, for freedom for the common people—the ordinary,

everyday folk—in the age-long fight between entrenched and aggressive

self-interest and altruistic common interest.

“The happiness of the masses of the people is the underlying

consideration of government,” he said to the students of the University

of Toronto, in an address in December, 1913.

And in the policies which he advocated there was proof of his sincere

belief in the ideal of government he thus stated. He led the fight for

the revision of the tariff downward, so that greedy men might be

prevented from taking undue tolls from their fellow-men, so that

combines and corporations should be curbed when they attempted “to fix

prices one way to the producer and another way to the consumer.”

Addressing a great gathering of new foreign settlers in western Canada

as Premier, in welcoming them and bidding them partake of the advantages

of British citizenship, he feelingly and significantly alluded to this

step in his career.

“I live myself in this land,” said he, “as an example of the breadth and

freedom of British institutions. It is an illustration of that thing

upon which the British system is based. I am not of English blood. My

ancestors were of the French race. Yet I am acknowledged as the leader

of the Parliament of Canada, irrespective of the blood in my veins.

Twenty-two years ago I took the leadership of the Liberal party. Friends

came to me after Mr. Blake’s retirement and offered me the leadership. I

hesitated. I told them that I thought it was not fitting that I, coming

from the race of the minority, worshipping with the minority, should

accept it. In reply they told me that the Liberal party knew neither

race nor creed. They said: ‘Whoever is worthy of our land is worthy of

our leadership.’ And I accepted.

“The race is open to all. Any man may come to this land who is willing

to work. It matters not who his father was or from what land he came, or

at what altar he bows, he can aspire to the best and the highest this

land has to offer. Whatever a Briton-born can claim he may claim.

British institutions know no difference whatever.”

* * * * *

He had great differences to reconcile, and he had more especially to

meet and overcome the presumptions which would naturally bar the way to

leadership and popularity in the case of a public man whose native

tongue was French, but who aspired to rule a community predominantly

English in blood and speech.

It is a tribute to the greatness of his character and to his memory to

reflect that even in Opposition he was the great outstanding figure in

the political life of the country. He did not need office to clothe

himself with the dignity that came to a public man. And he was equally a

political force in or out of office. There was a glamor that hung over

him that attracted men to him. He was the very incarnation of the

political aspirations of thousands of men and women, who never saw him

in the flesh. To his own immediate followers and political friends he

was the proverbial guide, philosopher and friend.

* * * * *

It was with great misgivings that Sir Wilfrid accepted the leadership of

the Liberal Party, when Edward Blake gave it up. He realized that for a

young man of French-Canadian extraction and a Roman Catholic in

religion, the road would be difficult for him to traverse. And truth to

say, not a few of the Liberals felt dismayed at the prospect. But Sir

Wilfrid was not long in showing the people of Canada that they had in

him a leader who was guided solely by a desire to do his best for his

country no matter who would suffer.

When he took office in 1896, Canada was in a state of business

stagnation. Factories were closed, thousands of men were walking the

streets for lack of work, and thousands more were fleeing to the United

States as from a pestilence. Soup kitchens were kept busy doling out

food to those who could pay for none, and it is a fact that idle men in

some cities, had to stay in the house for fear of being arrested as

vagrants. This was the condition of affairs when Sir Wilfrid took the

reins of office.

The change that came over the country was magical. People took new

heart. Factories began to fire up. Men got back to work. The waste

places of the Dominion became settled with thousands of families from

the old lands, a home market was procured and the foreign market was

again established. An impetus to the forging of the chains of empire was

given when Sir Wilfrid in 1897, and again in 1900, granted the British

preference. It is now a matter of history how his pilgrimages to England

lifted Canada out of the darkness into the light, how this picturesque

Canadian figure dazzled the British people and how under his guidance

this Canada became a nation in the eyes of the world.

Sir Wilfrid was an optimist. In victory or defeat he never lost sight of

his goal, and he never gave up. However, his opponents professed to

doubt his loyalty, they had no reason to doubt it. Much

misrepresentation of Sir Wilfrid Laurier arose over his action in

connection with the Boer war. Yet it is to be remembered that he was the

first Canadian Premier to send a Canadian contingent abroad to help the

mother country against a common enemy. On this occasion the London Times

said: Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the French Roman Catholic Premier, of a

self-governing federation, in which British Protestants are in the

majority, has expressed more faithfully and more truly than any

statesman who has spoken yet, the temper of the new imperial patriotism

fostered into self-consciousness by the South African war.

* * * * *

A Conservative who always recognised the worth of Laurier as a Canadian,

requests the republication of some words of the Liberal chieftain during

his last appearance in London, stating that in his opinion they take

rank with some of the utterances of Lincoln and Gladstone:

“As for you who stand to-day on the threshold of life. . . . I shall

remind you that many problems rise before you: problems of race

division, problems of creed differences, problems of economic conflict,

problems of national duty and national aspirations. Let me tell you that

for the solution of these problems you have a safe guide, an unfailing

light, if you remember that faith is better than doubt and love is

better than hate. . . . Banish doubt and hate from your life. Let your

souls be ever open to the strong promptings of faith and the gentle

influence of brotherly love. Be adamant against the haughty; be gentle

and kind to the weak. Let your aim and your purpose, in good report or

in ill, in victory or in defeat, be so to live, so to strive, so to

serve as to do your part to raise the standard of life to higher and

better spheres.”

These are not the words of a politician. They arise transcendent above

the ordinary dogmas of strife and intolerance. They breathe moderation

and kindness and therefore a perfect index of the character of their

author.

* * * * *

“In the thirty years that I have led the Liberal party, my platform has

always been Canada first. Whether on one side or another, on this

question or that, my guiding star has always been my Canadian country.

There is a crisis, and we must fight on as fought the pioneers of the

early days in Canada, the strong, stern men who kept in sight their goal

of Canada’s best interests against all difficulties and obstacles. Let

our motto be the same as theirs—‘Fortitude in Distress.’ There are

breakers ahead, but we shall reach the shore if we fight on. We can

bring to pass in Canada what was prophesied by a distinguished American

once—that the twentieth century would be the century of Canada.”—Sir

Wilfrid Laurier at Winnipeg, December, 1917.

* * * * *

The coronation of King Edward in 1902 was taken advantage of to hold

another imperial conference, when the question of imperial defence came

up. Prior to leaving England Sir Wilfrid discussed the invitation in the

House. “If it is intended simply to discuss what part Canada is prepared

to take in her own defence,” he said, “what share of the burden must

fall upon us as being responsible for the safety of our own land,

certainly we are always prepared to discuss that subject. But there is a

school abroad, there is a school in England and in Canada, a school

which is perhaps represented on the floor of this parliament, which

wants to bring Canada into the vortex of militarism, which is the curse

and blight of Europe, I am not prepared to endorse any such policy.”

This was the traditional attitude of Sir John A. Macdonald and that of

Sir Charles Tupper in the speech made at Quebec in 1900. Sir Wilfrid

stood by it at the conference, and was supported by Australia.

* * * * *

Many eloquent tributes have been paid to him since his death, but none

have surpassed the beautiful tribute which Sir Wilfrid paid to the late

Sir John Macdonald, when he passed away twenty-eight years ago. Speaking

from his place in Parliament on that occasion, he said:

“The place of Sir John Macdonald in this country was so large and so

absorbing that it is almost impossible to conceive that the political

life of this country, the fate of this country, can continue without

him. His loss overwhelms us. For my part, I say, with all truth, that

his loss overwhelms me, and it also overwhelms this Parliament, as if

indeed one of the institutions of the land had given way. Sir John now

belongs to the ages, and it can be said with certainty that the career

which has just closed is one of the most remarkable careers of this

century. It would be premature at this time to attempt to fix or

anticipate what will be the final judgment of history upon him; but

there were in his career and in his life features so prominent and so

conspicuous that already they shine with a glow which time cannot alter,

which, even now appear before the eye, such as they will appear to the

end of history. I think it can be asserted that for the supreme act of

governing men Sir John Macdonald was gifted as few men in any land or in

any age were gifted—gifted with the highest of all qualities, qualities

which would have made him famous wherever exercised, and which would

have shone all the more conspicuously the larger the theatre. The fact

that he would congregate together elements the most heterogeneous and

blend them into one compact party, and to the end of his life keep them

steadily under his hand, is perhaps altogether unprecedented. The fact

that during all those years he retained unimpaired not only the

confidence but the devotion—the ardent devotion—and affection of his

party, is evidence that besides those higher qualities of statesmanship

to which we were daily witnesses, he was also endowed with those inner,

subtle, undefinable graces of the soul which win and keep the hearts of

men.”

It will be generally admitted that Sir Wilfrid’s graceful words, spoken

in reference to the great Conservative leader, are singularly applicable

to his own case.

* * * * *

“If there is anything to which I have devoted my political life, it is

to try to promote unity, harmony and amity between the diverse elements

of this country. My friends can desert me, they can remove their

confidence from me, they can withdraw the trust they have placed in my

hands, but never shall I deviate from that line of policy. Whatever may

be the consequences, whether loss of prestige, loss of popularity, or

loss of power, I feel that I am in the right, and I know that a time

will come when every man will render me full justice on that

score.”—March 18th., 1900.

“I claim this for the Liberal Government, that we have endeavoured to

carry on the policy of this country so as to make Canada a nation—a

nation within the British Empire—A nation great in the eyes of the

world. For my part, I want to see her lands occupied, her mines

developed, her forests cleared, her fisheries exploited, her cities

growing, her population increasing, but above all, I want to see our

people united.

“I do not know whether my political career or my natural life shall be

short or long, but whether short or long, I cherish the hope that I

shall have so lived that when deposited in my grave, every Canadian, be

he friend or foe, be he English-speaking, or French-speaking Protestant

or Catholic, will have to say:

“There rests a man who has given the best of his life of his soul, of

his heart to make us an united people.” Bowmanville, October, 1899.

* * * * *

“Even those who on principle do not believe in war, admit that this was

a just war and that it had to be fought. That union of hearts which

exists in the United Kingdom exists also in Canada, in Australia, in New

Zealand, yea, even in South Africa—South Africa rent by war less than

twenty years ago, but now united under the blessing of British

institutions, with all, British and Dutch together, standing ready to

shed their blood for the common cause. Sir, there is in this the

inspiration and the hope that from this painful war the British Empire

may emerge with a new bond of union, the pride of all its citizens, and

a living light to all other nations.” August 19th., 1914.

* * * * *

“I am a Liberal of the English school. I believe in that school, which

has all along claimed that it is the privilege of all subjects, whether

high or low, whether rich or poor, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, to

participate in the administration of public affairs, to discuss, to

influence, to persuade, to convince—but which has always denied even to

the highest the right to dictate even to the lowest, but Protestants as

well, and I must give an account of my stewardship to all classes. Here

am I, a Roman Catholic of French extraction, entrusted by the confidence

of the men who sit around me with great and important duties under our

constitutional system of government. I am here the acknowledged leader

of a great party composed of Roman Catholics and Protestants as well, in

which Protestants are in the majority, as Protestants must be in the

majority in every party in Canada. Am I to be told, in occupying such a

position, that I am to be dictated to as to the course I am to take in

this House, by reasons that can appeal to the consciences of my fellow

Catholic members, but which do not appeal as well to the consciences of

my Protestant colleagues? No. So long as I have a seat in this House, so

long as I occupy the position I do now, whenever it shall become my duty

to take a stand upon any question whatever, that stand I will take not

upon grounds of Roman Catholicism, not upon grounds of Protestantism,

but upon grounds which can appeal to the consciences of all men,

irrespective of their particular faith, upon grounds which can be

occupied by all men who love justice, freedom and toleration.” Hansard,

March 3rd., 1896.

* * * * *

“If, upon my death bed, I could say, that thanks to my efforts, one

solitary error had disappeared, a single prejudice had been eradicated,

that by my sheer exertion race hatred had been caused to disappear from

Canada’s soil—I should, indeed, die happily with the conviction and

assurance that my life had not been lived in vain.”

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier was a true Canadian, a great British citizen. If he

had one aim in life which stood high above all others it was to contrive

a happy, a United Canada. “You are aware,” he said, in that superb

speech delivered at Quebec in 1894, “that in the eleventh century

certain men started out from Normandy, Anjou, Brittany, and Angouleme to

capture England. Duke William of Normandy was their leader, and our

present sovereign is the last scion of a royal race that dates back to

William the Conqueror. In the sixteenth century men started from the

same province of Normandy, Anjou, Brittany and Angouleme to colonize the

fertile lands on the banks of the St. Lawrence. In the next century the

men of both races met here and you know what happened. Well, is it not

permissible to hope that a day will come, when, instead of facing each

other on hostile purpose intent, the men of the two countries, the

descendants of the Britons, Angevins and Normans, who invaded England in

the eleventh century, and the descendants of the Angevins, Normans, and

Britons, who peopled Canada in the sixteenth, will meet together, not to

fight, but to hold the grand assizes of peace and commerce? I may not

live long enough to see that day, but if my career should be

sufficiently extended to allow me to take part in these assizes, it will

be a happy day to me. I shall attend them bearing with me my Canadian

nationality, and I believe that I shall continue the work of Mr.

Lafontaine and Sir George Etienne Cartier, and that the result will be

all to the advantage of French Canada. Gentlemen, our situation as a

country is full of difficulties, and those difficulties are no doubt

immense. Still, there is nothing desperate about them. What this country

needs above all else is peace, concord, and union between all the

elements composing its population. Let us show the world that if we

reverence the past, we also have a regard for the future. Let us show to

the world that union does not mean absorption, and that autonomy does

not mean antagonism. Victor Hugo, recalling his double origin, used

these fine words:

‘Fidèle au double sang qu’on verse dans ma veine,

Mon pere, vieux soldat, ma mere, Vendeenne.’

(“True to the double blood that was poured into my veins by my father,

an old soldier, and my mother, a Vendean.”)

“Let us also be true to our double origin, true to the memory and the

reverence of the great nation from which we have sprung, and true also

to the great nation which has given us freedom. And in all the

difficulties, all the pains, and all the vicissitudes of our situation,

let us always remember that love is better than hatred, and faith better

than doubt, and let hope in our future destinies be the pillar of fire

to guide us in our career.”

* * * * *

England expects every man to do his duty! I am going to do my duty, not

only by Canada, but by the Empire. Britain, thank God, does not require

help from anybody, but if ever the occasion should arise when Britain is

summoned to stand against the whole world in arms, she can depend upon

the loyal support of Canada and the Canadian people. The Canadian people

are free and loyal; loyal because they are free.

The “Old Chief” as he was familiarly, and lovingly called by his

followers, occupied a very large place in the affections of the British

people. There was something romantic about this French-Canadian Prime

Minister, who took the premier place at Imperial Conferences, and who

argued that formal treaties, and hard and fast agreements were not

necessary to bind the Empire together.

* * * * *

“What do you think of the English people?” Sir Wilfrid was once asked.

“The English are all right; they are good sports, good losers, and on

the whole I have no reason to complain of their treatment during my long

term of public life.”

“Are they not somewhat arrogant?”

“All strong people are somewhat arrogant, but they are fair to a great

degree,” he replied.

“I was born a Catholic,” he declared, “and I will die, of course, in

that faith,” and when I replied that he had had a pretty hard row to hoe

in his lifetime with certain priests and prelates, he replied: “Yes,

that is true, but others of the same cloth have shown me much kindness

that it sweetens the bitterness of the pill which a few of them have

administered. Here,” he added, in the most earnest tones and expression,

“is the whole situation. Without taking as gospel everything that a curé

may say, or even a bishop, I firmly believe in the principles of the

Roman Catholic Church, and, as I have stated, I will die in the faith.

In reply to your remark as to the difficulties which have from time to

time beset me during the past thirty-five years, I may say that there

are a good many people who have tried to drive me out of the Catholic

Church, and the means which they have used have not at all times been

fair and above board, but, thank God, they have not succeeded up to the

present time, and they will have quite as little success in the future

as in the past.”

* * * * *

“I have no hesitation in saying that if the day should come when the

supremacy of Britain on the high seas should be challenged it will be

the duty of all the daughter nations to close around the old Motherland,

and to make a rampart about her to ward off any attack. I hope that day

will never come, but should it come, I would deem it my duty to devote

what might be left of my life and energy to stump the country and

endeavor to impress upon my fellow-countrymen, especially my compatriots

in the Province of Quebec, the conviction that the salvation of England

is the salvation of our own country, and therein lies the guaranty of

our civil and religious freedom and everything we value in life. These

are the sentiments which animate the Government on this occasion.”

“This session has been called for the purpose of giving the authority of

Parliament and the sanction of law to such measures as have already been

taken by the Government, and any further measures that may be needed, to

insure the defence of Canada and to give what aid may be in our power to

the Mother Country in the stupendous struggle which now confronts us.

Speaking for those who sit around me, speaking for the wide constituency

which we represent in this House, I hasten to say that to all these

measures we are prepared to give immediate assent. If in what has been

done or in what remains to be done there may be anything which in our

judgment should not be done or should be differently done, we raise no

question, we take no exception, we offer no criticism, and we shall

offer no criticism so long as there is danger at the front. It is our

duty, more pressing upon us than all other duties, at once, on this

first day of this extraordinary session of the Canadian Parliament, to

let Great Britain know, and to let the friends and foes of Great Britain

know, that there is in Canada but one mind and one heart, and that all

Canadians stand behind the Mother Country, conscious and proud that she

has engaged in this war, not from any selfish motive, for any purpose of

aggrandizement, but to maintain untarnished the honour of her name, to

fulfil her obligation to her Allies, to maintain her treaty obligations

and to save civilization from the unbridled lust of conquest and power.

“We are British subjects, and to-day we are face to face with the

consequences which are involved in that proud fact. Long have we enjoyed

the benefit of our British citizenship; to-day it is our duty to accept

its responsibilities and its sacrifices.

“If my word can be heard beyond the walls of this House in the Province

from which I come; among the men whose blood flows in my own veins, I

should like them to remember that in taking their place to-day in the

ranks of the Canadian army to fight for the cause of the Allied nations,

a double honour rests upon them. The very cause for which they are

called upon to fight is to them doubly sacred.”

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier was one of the chief speakers at the great musical

festival given by the American residents of Toronto under the auspices

of the American Aid Society, on Thursday, September 10th., 1914. The

concert was held in the Arena, and the entire receipts were donated to

the Canadian Patriotic Fund. The Liberal leader said:

“Some few weeks ago Canada deliberated upon the situation, the

stupendous struggle in which Britain is engaged, and the part which

Canada bears. All vestiges of political differences were eliminated. We

found in comparing our views that we stood exactly upon the same

platform. Without a dissenting voice it was the unanimous opinion of the

Canadian Parliament that the war in which England is engaged to-day is a

sacred war, and that Canada must help to its last man and its last

dollar.

“We must face the situation as it is, and as Lord Kitchener told us some

few days ago, we must have more men. There is a difference between the

British nation and the nations of the continent. The nations of the

continent get their soldiers by law; by conscription, and the

enforcement of authority; the British nation get their soldiers not by

law, but by appealing to the patriotism of men. Lord Kitchener tells us

he wants more soldiers. If he wants more soldiers from Canada let him

say the word and we will respond to meet him. We are behind the Mother

Country, and let us send them a message that this war must be fought to

a finish, and that arms must not be laid down until the principle which

it has been fought for is vindicated, and until the day has come when

right takes the place of might.”

* * * * *

From Laurier’s great speech in the Academy of Music, Quebec, June 26,

1877, in which he declared himself a Liberal of the English school, and

an opponent of clerical intimidation:

“The constitution of the country rests on the freely expressed wish of

each election. It intends that each elector shall cast his vote freely

and willingly as he deems best. If the greatest number of the electors

of a country are actually of an opinion, and that, owing to the

influence exercised upon them by one or more men, or owing to words they

have heard or writings they have read, their opinion changes, there is

nothing in the circumstance but what is perfectly legitimate. Although

the opinion they express is different from the one they have expressed

without such intervention, still it is the one they desire to express

conscientiously, and the constitution meets with the entire application.

If, however, notwithstanding all reasoning, the opinion of the electors

remains the same, but that, by intimidation or fraud, they are forced to

vote differently, the opinion which they express is not their opinion,

and the constitution is violated. As I have already said, the

constitution intends that each one’s opinion shall be freely expressed

as he understands it at the moment of expression, and the collective

reunion of the individual opinions freely expressed, forms the

government of the country.

“I am amongst you to-day, not as a politician, but only as a Canadian,

and, I may add, as a French-Canadian, as a Canadian of my race, and when

I go to the English Provinces I am quite as proud to call myself as

such. I am here to tell you all that we owe to England and to France.

What we want before everything is equal rights for everyone, the rights

for which England and France have fought, the respect of minorities and

the respect of justice and loyalty, so shamefully outraged by Germany.

“Do not forget that the fact that Britain was at war constituted for

Canada a new condition of things, which imposed new duties upon the

Government, upon the Opposition and upon the whole Canadian people. The

moment that Great Britain was at war, Canada was at war. This is a truth

which, while we were in office, we had not only to proclaim, but for

which we had to provide in a manner consonant with the new condition, a

new situation created by the development of Canada, not as a colony, but

as a nation within the British Empire.

“These truths were not accepted by all. It was the occasion of a great

deal of misrepresentation; it contributed very much towards the defeat

which we suffered in 1911, but for my part let me say here that I have

no regrets. Better be it ten times over and more that we should stand

here defeated for having had the courage of presenting to the Canadian

people new duties which have had effects, rather than to still be in

office by having shirked the duty which was incumbent upon the

administration.

“But at that time it was easy to appeal to prejudices, but the truth

that when Britain is at war, Canada is at war also, came in only too

concrete a manner, for, after the declaration of war, right here in the

city of Montreal you had your harbour full of ships loaded with the

produce of the land ready to take to the sea, still remaining here owing

to the war, because if they had taken to the sea they would have been

liable to seizure by the enemy. They did not and could not take to the

seas until the ocean had been swept by the British Navy, and until the

British Navy was ready to escort them, until the duty was forthcoming by

the British Navy, which, in my conviction, it behooved the Canadian

people to do themselves.

“We are a free people, absolutely free. The charter under which we live

has put it in our power to say whether we should take part in such a war

or not. It is for the Canadian people, the Canadian Parliament and the

Canadian Government alone to decide. This freedom is at once the glory

and honour of Britain, which granted it, and of Canada, which used it to

assist Britain. Freedom is the keynote of all British institutions.

There is no compulsion upon those dependencies of Great Britain which

have reached the stature of Dominions such as Canada, Australia, New

Zealand, South Africa and such Crown Dependencies as India. They are all

free to take part or not as they think best. That is the British freedom

which much to the surprise of the world, and greatly to the dismay of

the German Emperor, German professors, and German diplomats caused the

rush from all parts of the British Empire to assist the Mother Country

in this stupendous struggle. Freedom breeds loyalty. Coercion always was

the mother of rebellion.

“I was asked by someone why should I support the Government in their

policy of sending men to the front. Why should not the Liberal party

have remained quiet and passive and let all the worries be left to the

Government? My answer was, ‘I have no particular love for the

Government, but I love my country, I love the land of my ancestors,

France. I love the land of liberty, above all, England, and rather than

that I in my position of leader of the Liberal party, should remain

passive and quiescent, I would rather go out of public life, and life

altogether.’

“When the Prime Minister announced his intention of placing all

available forces at the disposal of the British Government, what was the

policy of the Liberal party? There were three currents of opinion at the

time. There was first of all the Imperialist who would have Canada take

part in all the wars of the Empire. There was the Nationalist who would

not have Canada take part in any war of the Empire at all, and there was

the Liberal position. What was our position? We stood for Canadian

autonomy. We upheld the sovereignty of Canada. I have several times on

the floor of the House sustained that position. I claimed for the

Parliament of Canada, the right which John Bright claimed in the

Imperial Parliament in the Crimean War. Time has shown that he was

right. It has been established that the Crimean War was without result

and had no cause. So I claimed for the Parliament of Canada the same

right that John Bright claimed for the Imperial Parliament. And I should

add that by doing so I scandalized both the Imperialists and the

Nationalists.

“Neither of them challenged the position. No one denied that the

Canadian Parliament had the right of pronouncement on the question of

participation or non-participation. But the Imperialist wanted

Parliament to close its eyes and to fight in any war. The Nationalist

wanted Parliament to close its eyes and to fight in no wars. We Liberals

asked for nothing more than the liberty which had been guaranteed to us.

“If I state our position now, it is not because I wish to raise a

discussion on these questions. So long as the war continues, so long as

the soil of Belgium is occupied, so long as the last German has not been

kicked out of France, so long is this not the time to discuss these

questions. All our attention should be directed to the prosecution of

the war and to the bringing about of that final victory which we hope to

secure. But when the war is over we shall have to take up these

questions again. And the people of Canada will be called upon to decide

between the opposing parties. If I mention the questions now it is

merely because I wish to indicate the motives of our actions.

“I have given you the reasons which made me take the attitude I took in

this war, and though I am free to admit that I preferred to fight rather

than support the Government in a case of this kind all other

considerations should disappear. To complete my thoughts, so that no one

may misunderstand me, I will declare that had I been in power I should

have followed the same policy myself, though in details of

administration I should have tried to do better. Had we been in power we

should not be reproached with faults, errors and the friends which now

hang everywhere. But I will not talk of that in this discussion. I did

not come here to-night for that reason. It is not the time to discuss

these questions; they will be discussed later, do not fear.

“What are the rights and duties of the Liberal party? In my opinion, the

party should stand for one thing alone, for public good and general

interest; its spirit should be such that it can approve or condemn

accordingly as the public good and general interest demand condemnation

or approbation.

“We maintained that spirit in power, and we maintain it now. When we

lost, we were beaten, but we were not subdued.”

* * * * *

From a speech before the Quadrennial Conference of the Methodist Church

of Canada, at Ottawa, Sept. 23, 1914:

“The sword will not be put back in the scabbard,” he said, “until this

Imperial bully has been taught that this ‘scrap of paper’ is a solemn

obligation, and that solemn obligations between nations, as between

individuals must be observed. There can be no peace until heroic Belgium

has had her rights and her lands restored, and her wrongs repaired.

There can be no peace until the world knows that it is to be governed,

not by brute force, but by truth, liberty and justice, for which the

British flag stands.”

* * * * *

As for his own record as statesman, British and Canadian, he remarked

only a few weeks before his death:

“Well, I think that when all facts are reviewed in their right

perspective, history will not deal unkindly with me, I am content to

leave my record to the judgment of men’s thoughts, and to future

generations of Canadians.”

* * * * *

Fifty-five years ago he graduated at law, and on that occasion said:

“Two races share to-day the soil of Canada. The French and English races

have not always been friends; but I hasten to say it, and I say it to

our glory, that race hatreds are finished on Canadian soil. It matters

not the language the people speak or the altars at which they kneel.”

The advice he gave the young men of a Liberal Club in Montreal reveals

his philosophic temperament: “Let me give you a word of good counsel.

During your career you will have to suffer many things which will appear

to you as supreme injustice. Let me say to you that you should never

allow your religious convictions to be affected by anything which

appears to you an injustice. Let me ask of you never to allow your

religious convictions to be affected by the acts of men. Your

convictions are immortal; your convictions are not only immortal, but

their base is eternal. Let your convictions be always calm, serene, and

superior to the inevitable trials of life, and show to the world that

Catholicism is compatible with the exercise of liberty in its highest

acceptation.”

In a speech which he delivered in Quebec in 1894, he gave expression to

his religious ideals in the following passage:

“In religion I belong to the school of Montalembert and Lacordaire, of

the men who were the greatest perhaps of their age in loftiness of

character and ability of thought. I know of no grander spectacle than

that of Montalembert and Lacordaire, two adolescents, two children

almost, undertaking to conquer in France freedom of education, and

succeeding in their object after many years of struggle. I know of no

finer spectacle than that furnished by Montalembert confronting the

French bourgeoisie, impregnated, as they were, with that dissolving

materialism, the Voltairean skepticism of the eighteenth century, and

exclaiming: ‘We are the sons of the Crusaders and shall not retreat

before the sons of Voltaire.’ I know of no greater or more beautiful

spectacle than that of Lacordaire proclaiming from the pulpit of Notre

Dame the truths of Christianity to the incredulous crowd, and teaching

them that life is a sacrifice and is only rendered worthy by duty

accomplished.”

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s last appearance in London was at the Imperial

Conference in 1911, and it was at this gathering that he made the

notable statement,

“I represent a country which has no grievances.”

* * * * *

All his hopes and aspirations are contained in his inspiring message to

the Acadians of Nova Scotia:

“Thank Providence,” he said, “that we live in a country of absolute

freedom and liberty. Let us always bear in mind our duties, for duty is

always inherent in right. Our fathers had to labour to secure these

rights. Now let us fulfil our part. Three years ago, when visiting

England at the Queen’s Jubilee, I had the privilege of visiting one of

the marvels of Gothic architecture which the hand of genius, guided by

an unerring faith, had made a harmonious whole, in which granite,

marble, oak and other materials were blended. This cathedral is an image

of the nations I hope to see Canada become. As long as I live, as long

as I have the power to labour in the service of my country, I shall

always repel the idea of changing the nature of its different elements.

I want the marble to remain the marble; I want the granite to remain the

granite; I want the oak to remain the oak; I want the sturdy Scotchman

to remain the Scotchman; I want the brainy Englishman to remain the

Englishman; I want the warm-hearted Irishman to remain the Irishman; I

want to take all these elements and build a nation that will be foremost

among the great powers of the world.”

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s message to the students of the University of

Toronto in 1913 is recalled as one of the most inspiring utterances of

his long career. On that occasion he said:

“My young friends, go out into the world to service. Make the highest

thought of service your inspiration. Problems there are—big problems.

To-morrow and the day after to-morrow, it will be your turn to grapple

with them. Serve God and your country. Be firm in the right, as God

gives you to see the right. You may not always succeed. Progress is

often punctuated with reverses. You may meet reverse—but the following

day stand up again and renew the conflict for truth and justice shall

triumph in the end.”

* * * * *

When a man becomes satisfied he becomes a Tory. The life of a Liberal is

one of unceasing effort towards progress and encouraging development in

all that makes for the betterment of mankind. It is easy to read

articles of appreciation upon a man when he is gone, but if anyone is so

poor in reflection as to overlook the fact that Laurier worked hard all

his life he does an injustice to himself and to the record of Sir

Wilfrid. Before he became leader of the Liberal Party about 32 years

ago, Sir Wilfrid had visited many portions of the Dominion in support of

his leaders, Mackenzie and Blake, upon all occasions advocating the

Liberal cause, not only in Quebec, but in the Maritime Provinces and in

Ontario. His first election as leader was in 1891, and he all but

carried the country, for in the previous three years he addressed many

meetings. In 1893, after the National Liberal Convention he toured

Ontario for months. In 1894 he took a series of meetings in Ontario

before going West right through to the Pacific Coast, addressing over 60

meetings and taking part in numerous smaller gatherings. The effect of

this tour was that whereas he had but one supporter in 1894 west of the

Great Lakes, he in 1896 carried the West by a majority of three. In the

fall of 1895 Laurier spent nearly two months in Ontario, and addressed

56 large gatherings besides taking part in smaller assemblies and

receptions. The effect of all this was that in the session of 1896

Laurier had a commanding knowledge of the conditions of the country, and

the people not only admired him but trusted him. In 1896 he carried 48

seats in Ontario, and the average number of seats he carried in 1896,

1900, 1904 and 1908 was 40. As the years stole over him he could not

carry on with his former vigour, but he had to carry on without the

support that should have been accorded him by those who sat in Cabinet

with him. In 1910 Laurier took a grand tour of the four Western

Provinces, and in all general elections never spared himself. The

efforts in this regard in 1917 were the wonder and admiration of

supporters and opponents alike.

In 1918-19 he took up the task of supervising the Liberal reorganization

in Ontario and of urging the Liberals in all the other provinces also to

get together. He died in the midst of this work.

These outward manifestations of Laurier in action are mentioned to

remind each and all who may desire a place in the galaxy of Liberal

leaders that they cannot lead merely by praising the dead and wishing to

be hailed as being born to something for which they never laboured to

qualify. Volumes will be written on Laurier’s mental and other

qualifications, but the author should not forget to record his struggle

to give to the people the benefit of his endowment enlarged by practical

application and consultation with them.

* * * * *

The first and most wise step was the selection by Sir Wilfrid Laurier of

the strongest possible colleagues to form his Cabinet. No abler body of

men ever presided over the destinies of Canada—a fact admitted, even by

opponents. It was truly a great combination which instilled much needed

confidence in the people. To form it Sir Wilfrid had to go outside the

ranks of the men who had fought the battles of the party in Opposition

in the Dominion House, and who no doubt expected preferment. But the

wisdom of his choice has never been questioned, and the record of his

Government is the most ample justification of it.

The Customs tariff was properly the first problem to be tackled, as it

is the hub of the wheels of industry and commerce. The Liberal party had

taken office upon a declared policy, to substitute for the Conservative

tariff, a sound, fiscal policy, which, while not doing injustice to any

class, would promote domestic and foreign trade and hasten the return of

prosperity. They had also declared that the tariff should be reduced to

the needs of honest, economical and efficient Government, that it should

be so adjusted as to make free or bear as lightly as possible upon the

necessaries of life and should be so arranged as to permit freer trade

with the whole world, particularly with Great Britain and the United

States.

The first step taken by the Government was the eminently practical one

of appointing a committee of its members to ascertain with exactitude

the precise situation of all classes and sections of the country and

their actual needs. No hole and corner methods were adopted by the

committee, and there were no private meetings between Ministers and

manufacturers in the Windsor Hotel at Montreal. Everybody was invited to

give expression to his views. To meet the convenience of the public,

meetings were held in most of the principal cities and towns.

The result of the labours of the committee, and subsequent daily

meetings of the Cabinet for months, was the promulgation of a tariff,

which judged by the best possible test, actual results, created a

revolution in the industrial life and activities of the country. Briefly

stated the new tariff.

1. Materially reduced the duties on many necessities and staple

commodities used by consumers generally.

2. Placed on the free list certain articles of prime necessity to the

farmer, the miner, fisherman and manufacturer.

3. Reduced the duties on iron and steel which constitute the staple raw

materials for many industries; duties on other raw materials were also

lowered.

4. Simplified the classification of articles for duty purposes and

thereby assured more uniform administration.

5. And, by no means least, gave a substantial preference to the products

and manufactures of Great Britain over the rest of the world.

6. Obtain a Reciprocity Agreement Act with Canada and the United States,

but which the people of Canada refused to accept.

The Liberal tariff was the first serious attempt made in Canada towards

equality of treatment and reconciliation of conflicting interests. No

class or interest was singled out for undue favouritism. The needs of

all were considered. Herein lies the difference between the Conservative

and Liberal attitudes on the tariff. The formula of the Conservatives

for tariff making always has been the simple one of giving protection to

the manufacturer without reference to the rest of the community. The

Liberals on the other hand believe in being fair all round and in

distributing the burdens of taxation as much as possible. Consider the

situation for a moment. We have five great sources of national wealth.

The farm, forest, fisheries, mines and manufacturing industries, on the

income of which we keep our national house. It will be obvious that the

interests and needs of these various producing branches are not

identical. They conflict in some instances very strongly. The farmer for

instance has to pay higher prices for his articles of necessity and

comfort by reason of customs duties imposed thereon, whereas the prices

for his produce are largely determined in the markets of the world. The

miner, too, could buy most of his supplies and machinery cheaper if they

were free from duty. The fishermen, who are chiefly located in the

provinces forming the extreme boundaries of the Dominion, are unable to

supply the markets in our principal centres of population by reason of

the great distance separating them therefrom, and are consequently

obliged to export the bulk of their catch to foreign markets easier to

reach, but where they have to encounter stiff competition. The lumberman

also is affected by the tariff on his commodities. Manufacturing

industries are of immense benefit to the country, but not more so than

the agricultural industries, indeed if we take the population engaged

and the capital invested in farming and ranching the agricultural

interests bulk greater in the national wealth. Everybody recognizes that

manufacturing institutions are necessary to build up a great nation and

acknowledges that it would be undesirable to devote our attention purely

to pastoral pursuits.

The Liberal Government recognizing all these salient factors endeavoured

to strike a fair balance and thereby promote the utmost development in

all industrial pursuits. The principal thought in their minds was to

provide the maximum of profitable labour for the people in all spheres

of activity which surely is the truest and highest duty of

statesmanship.

The extent of the reduction in taxation brought about by the tariff can

be best arrived at by taking the average rate of customs duty imposed by

the Conservatives during the last years they were in office, and

applying it to the imports under the Liberal rule. In 1896, which was

the last year of Conservative administration, $18.28 was on the average

collected on every $100 worth of goods imported into the country. If the

same rate had been collected during the time the Liberals were in

office, instead of collecting duty to the amount of $605,000,000 they

would have collected $685,000,000, so that there was an actual reduction

of $80,000,000 in fifteen years. This is at the rate of about $5,500,000

per annum. In addition to this saving one has to consider the reduced

price of Canadian manufacturers to the consumer by reason of the

reduction in protection, because undoubtedly as a general rule, although

not in every case, the selling prices of Canadian manufacturers are

based upon the amount of protection they enjoy.

Again there is the indirect saving to the people in reduced prices on

foreign exports to Canada, by reason of the operation of a British

Preferential tariff. The United States exporters to Canada, for

instance, had to reduce their price to Canadian buyers to off-set the

reduction in duties in favour of British goods. This is an undoubted

fact.

Another way of arriving at the extent of the reduction in taxation

brought about by the Liberal Government, is to take the average rate of

duty imposed by Conservatives during the eighteen years they were in

office, which was $19.10 on every $100 worth of goods imported into the

country. If the same rate had been applied to the imports during the

fifteen years from 1896 to 1911, the additional taxation which would

have been imposed would have amounted to $110,000,000, so that there was

a saving to that extent to the people of the country under Liberal rule.

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the new tariff was the adoption

of a preference in favour of British goods, and it was probably the most

popular step ever taken by any Government in Canada. Judged by results,

it has been highly beneficial alike to Canada, Great Britain and the

Empire. This preference at first consisted of a reduction of 1-8 from

the general tariff rates. A year or so afterwards the reduction was

increased from 1-8 to 1-4 and later to 1-3. Subsequently the flat

reduction of 1-3 was abandoned and a specific preferential rate provided

for each item or article in the tariff. Such specific rate, however, on

the whole averages a reduction of 1-3. The benefits of the preference

were given not only to Great Britain but by successive steps to nearly

all the British colonies.

The preference granted by the Liberal Government was exactly the tonic

that was necessary to stimulate British trade. From the moment it became

law the trade started to boom and it has steadily and rapidly increased

ever since. But the increase in British trade was not the only

beneficial result. The preference substantially reduced duties to the

Canadian consumer on the most important staple commodities, and thereby

further implemented the pledge of the Liberal party to reduce taxation.

Having dealt with the preference feature of the tariff we will now

resume the consideration of the general subject. Well as they believe

they had wrought in the creation of their tariff, the Liberal Government

were not content. They knew that a great deal more was needed to bring

about a betterment of conditions. They felt that the most vigorous and

progressive measures were necessary to put Canada in its proper place on

the map of the industrial world, and to afford scope for the exercise of

the natural ambition of its people. They realized that the farmer could

not be benefitted much by protective duties on his produce, but they saw

that they could benefit him by enlarging the means, and cheapening the

cost, of transportation, and they devoted their best energies towards

improving and extending transportation facilities all over the country.

They saw also that the manufacturer could be benefitted by enlarging the

home market, and they instituted an aggressive immigration policy which

developed the great North West in a marvellous way. Step by step in the

most vigorous manner and without let-up the great work of building

surely and strongly was undertaken, and concurrent with it the country

grew more prosperous.

* * * * *

The finances were so handled as to show a substantial surplus each year

instead of the era of deficits in Conservative days.

The great canal system of the country was rushed to completion.

The Crows Nest Pass Railway was built, thereby facilitating the

development of the immense mineral resources of interior British

Columbia—in the Kootenay District.

The Intercolonial Railway which had its Western terminus in what was

then a comparatively small town, namely Levis, was badly handicapped in

securing traffic from the West, and was extended to Montreal, the

commercial metropolis of the country.

Later on the construction of the Transcontinental Railway was entered

upon and was well on towards completion, when the Liberals went out of

office in 1911.

By means of Government guarantees and subsidies a third Transcontinental

Railway, the Canadian Northern Railway was made possible.

Immigrants to the number of nearly 2,000,000 were brought into the

country in fifteen years, a large number of whom went on the land

resulting in a magnificent development of the West and North-West.

Free land grants to railways were discontinued and the public lands were

reserved for the actual settlers.

Ocean ports, harbours and rivers were vastly improved. A 30-foot clear

channel was provided in the St. Lawrence from Montreal to Quebec.

Postal rates were reduced substantially, and the Money Order system

simplified and extended.

Free Rural mail delivery was established.

Canal and steam boat duties were abolished in the interest of promoting

cheap transportation by water.

A Railway Commission was appointed which admittedly was one of the best

pieces of constructive legislation ever adopted in Canada. That

Commission became practically the master of the railways.

A Labour Department was created which has done splendid work in averting

and settling strikes.

Agriculture was aided in a hundred and one ways.

Cold storage facilities of an excellent character were provided for the

products of the farm and fisheries.

Commercial agents were appointed in the principal countries of the

world.

A Canadian Mint was established.

The resources of the country were splendidly exhibited at every

Exposition held throughout the world.

From time to time the tariff was modified to meet changed conditions,

and in 1907 a complete revision was made, again by a committee of the

Ministers, after consulting with the people.

The French Treaty was extended so as to comprise our principal

productions instead of as formerly only a few articles of comparatively

trifling importance.

A treaty was entered into with Japan whereby we got most favoured nation

treatment in that country.

As a result of our institution of preferential trade we got a preference

in New Zealand. As a direct benefit from this the British Columbia

fishermen captured the import trade of that country.

An intermediate tariff was established as a standing invitation to other

countries to reciprocate in trade, and Holland, Belgium and Italy were

admitted to the benefits of that tariff for corresponding advantages

given to us.

Through the efforts of the Liberal Minister of Agriculture the vexatious

quarantine regulations that existed for some years between the United

States and Canada were abolished.

A sur-tax was imposed upon Germany by way of retaliation for Canadian

products being placed on the maximum tariff of Germany.

To prevent the slaughtering of manufactured goods in the Canadian market

a law known as the Anti-Dumping Act was passed, which effectively

operates against such unfair trade warfare.

A Commission of Conservation was appointed, the object being to conserve

our natural resources and to disseminate full information in regard to

them.

Dominion Government securities were placed on the favoured trustee list

of Great Britain.

An Assay office was established at Vancouver which materially aided in

retaining our Yukon trade.

Substantial financial assistance was given towards the construction of a

Pacific cable, Canada bearing its full share of this expenditure.

Throughout the career of the Liberal Government the revenues were

buoyant, notwithstanding considerable decreased taxation and the

financial situation was always of the best.

* * * * *

In a word, the men at the helm knew their business and attended to it,

in a thoroughly workmanlike manner. Their successive acts of genuine,

constructive statesmanship along practical lines filled the people with

hope, and made them gird up their loins for supreme individual efforts

in industrial life. The wisdom of their legislation and administration

and its accompanying prosperity of the people attracted the attention of

the whole world, particularly the Mother Country, and started a flow of

much needed capital to develop our great natural resources, a flow which

went on unceasingly throughout the Liberal regime, increasing and

increasing all the time as our needs were made manifest. Canada was then

the favourite investment field of the Empire.

Under Sir Wilfrid Laurier a new Canada arose. The country found itself

and for the first time realized its immense possibilities. It was an era

of the full dinner pail, the first golden age in Canada’s history. Every

legitimate industry from the Atlantic to the Pacific, speaking

generally, prospered. Manufacturing institutions were enlarged and

enlarged again and again to meet the demands. The farmers shared in the

prosperity probably better than any others. The price of farm products

increased materially and the home and foreign markets were greatly

extended, the results being seen in the increase in farm land values and

a more rapid payment in full of farm mortgages than ever before. The

much deplored exodus under the Tory regime was practically stopped. The

young Canadian found Canada quite good enough for him.

* * * * *

When the Laurier Government took office Canada had not yet “found

herself.” For years progress had been slow and there appeared to be an

almost entire absence of the snap and vigorous aggressiveness which soon

after became the characteristic of Canadians. Deficits were annually

recorded in the national finances; foreign trade was practically

stationary; manufacturers were making little or no headway; the great

Northwest was undeveloped; immigrants came in comparatively few numbers,

and, what was worse, the country seemed unable to retain her own people.

The situation which confronted the new Prime Minister was one calculated

to discourage a man whose Canadianism was less confident and sure, whose

vision was less clear and whose zeal for service was less imperative.

On the evening of the day upon which the Earl of Aberdeen, then

Governor-General, summoned Wilfrid Laurier and entrusted him with the

task of forming an Administration—even before the personnel of his

Government was announced—he was called upon to make his first public

utterance as Prime Minister. It was on the evening of July 8, 1896, at

Montreal, and the occasion was, by strange significance, the Canadian

reception to the officers of the British warships “Intrepid” and

“Tartar.”

“I appreciate to-day,” was the first word of the new Prime Minister, “in

the presence of the representatives of the naval forces of our Empire,

and occupying the position I do, having just been called a few minutes

previously by his Excellency the Governor-General to assume the duties

of First Citizen of the Dominion—I appreciate to-day more than ever the

strength and significance of that order by Britain’s greatest Admiral on

the day of the battle of Trafalgar: ‘England expects every man to do his

duty.’ I am going to do my duty, not only by Canada, but by the Empire.

Britain, thank God, does not require help from anybody, but if ever the

occasion should arise when Britain is summoned to stand against the

whole world in arms, she can depend upon the loyal support of Canada and

the Canadian people. The Canadian people are free and loyal, loyal

because they are free.”

With this pledge Wilfrid Laurier took office as Canada’s Premier. The

boy of St. Lin was still preaching his growing conception of Canada and

her place in the Empire.

The task of this first French-Canadian Premier was not an easy one. Had

he been merely a son of his race, had he been merely a convert to the

English-speaking conception, had he been merely the champion of a cause

or the balance-wheel of politics, his influence might have maimed the

national progress of the Dominion for a century. As it was, he conceived

for himself the rôle of a Canadian. He felt that the great need of

Canada for Canada—and for the Empire, too—was Canadians. There were

plenty of French Nationalists—he had known them in his youth; he found

them again in his maturity. There were plenty of Anglo-Saxon

ultra-imperialists—he had already become familiar with fire-brand

jingoism. There were plenty of indifferent materialists—he realized the

danger of their disease to a young and growing country. But Canadians

could unify, Canadians could build, Canadians could become great and

strong. A Canada of Canadians “free and loyal; loyal because they are

free”—was to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the most potent Imperial asset the

Dominion could provide for the motherland. He had studied his history.

He knew the fate of empires bound by bonds of brittle iron. He dreaded a

crumbling Imperium. He dreaded, too, the idea of a hobbled “sub-nation.”

But he had a strong and enduring faith in the assured permanency of an

Empire of “free and loyal” daughter Dominions knit together by ties of

common interest, common endeavour and common devotion to the cause of

democracy and the advancement of Christianity and civilization.

* * * * *

The Liberalism or the Conservatism that continues to be founded on the

accident and the prejudice of birth, that believes in “my party and my

father’s party, right or wrong,” is the real cause of the discouraging

inertia of public opinion that often allows the self-interested few to

practically control elections and governments, that prevents or retards

reform and makes of a free democracy a bureaucratic tyranny. Liberalism

is a positive reasoned belief and every Liberal should be able, apart

from opinions as to the Government or the issues of the day, to justify

his faith according to cardinal principles of good government.

What are the fundamental distinctions between Liberalism and

Conservatism? The words themselves embody the respective historical

attitudes of the two parties toward the main function of government.

Liberalism is in essence the problem of realizing liberty. It seeks the

setting free of the mass of the people in regard to self-government,

trade, religion, education, industry, in all the manifold ramifications

of society. Conservatism, on the other hand, means at bottom

restriction. It means the conserving of vested rights, the

centralization of government in the “governing classes,” setting the

balance on social progress.

The function of government is to define the rights of the individual in

terms of the common good and to think of the common good in terms of the

welfare of the individual. In the case of Liberalism the emphasis has

usually been on the “common good.” In the case of Conservatism the

emphasis is usually on the “individual.” Historically the particular

“individuals” have belonged to the authoritative or vested interest

classes. That motto has been “what we have we hold.” Liberalism has

found its main support in the masses. The natural result has been that

legislation with each party, has been mainly for the classes their

leaders represent.

Liberalism recognizes that the teaching of history shows that progress

is more continuous and secure when men are content to deal with great

reforms piecemeal than when they seek to destroy root and branch in

order to erect a complete new system which has captured the idealistic

imagination. But its grappling with reforms is continuous. Conservatism,

while believing in “the good of things as they are,” has usually

grappled with reforms under the stimulus of an increasingly feared and

potent democracy. Liberalism has had to wrench from Conservatism

responsible government by the people, manhood suffrage, equal taxation,

the right of like opportunity for all classes of the community.

Conservatism has clung to precedent, the established order, the old

authoritarian basis of government, and has yielded but slowly and as a

rule only on compulsion.

Liberalism is ordained of the common people and sprang from a common

resistance to the oppression of arbitrary and self-centred rule.

Conservatism had its birth in the doctrine of the divine right of kings.

The “governing classes” were ordained of God because they themselves

arranged the ordination. Liberalism has its principles embodied in the

human heart. Conservatism finds its well-springs in its own pockets.

The main battlements of privilege and vested authority have been won by

Liberalism through centuries of struggle. The fight of democracy for

freedom, for equality of opportunity and for substantial justice, to all

individuals of the commonwealth still goes on. There are still

inequalities of taxation to be righted, the oppression of vested

interests in trade and industry to be overcome, monopolies and trusts to

be regulated, the rights of society as a whole to be asserted to the

wealth that depends on its own collective enterprise. The increase of

the well-being of the masses does not appear to be by any means

proportionate to the general growth of wealth. In the sphere of economic

legislation, Liberalism still has perhaps its greatest work to do. The

welfare of the common man at the common task is its first consideration.

Government of the people, for the people, and by the people is the

essence of Liberalism.

The application of these principles to the problems of Canadian politics

in relation to provincial, national, imperial and world-wide interests

is the work of the Liberal party in Canada.

On the evening of Tuesday, January 14th, 1919, Sir Wilfrid Laurier

delivered his last public address. The occasion was the formation of the

Eastern Ontario Liberal Association for about twenty ridings in Eastern

Ontario. It has been stated that the resolutions adopted upon that

occasion and the speech of Sir Wilfrid Laurier clearly set forth the

Liberal policy to date.

* * * * *

A report of the proceedings of that eventful day has been published and

Sir Wilfrid’s speech in endorsement of the resolutions adopted may be

summarized as follows: Fair treatment of soldiers and sailors, generous

care for dependents of the fallen, maintenance of British preferences

restored and unimpaired, reciprocity between Canada and the United

States in foodstuffs, gradual progress toward freer trade,

democratization of labor, abolition of Government by order-in-council,

abolition of press censorship, repeal of the War Times Election Act, and

for a League of Nations.

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid’s acceptance of a Knighthood in 1897, came as a big surprise

to all his followers, because his views had been clearly defined on the

subject; and it was common talk that he had been offered a knighthood on

attaining the Premiership. In the first year of his ministry as such, he

went to England to attend the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The reception

accorded him by the British people was remarkable for its warmth. The

handsome, distinguished young French-Canadian statesman took London by

storm; the press and public acclaiming his talents, and Queen Victoria

bestowing upon him particular attention and respect. One evening the

Queen gave a dinner for the overseas Prime Ministers. When the young

Canadian Premier, who was again honored by being seated next to Her

Majesty, took his seat at the banquet table, he found a card upon which

Queen Victoria herself had written, “Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier.”

There was no way out of such a situation. The aged Queen had taken this

means of honoring him, and Sir Wilfrid’s chivalry and gallantry, as well

as his genuine affection for the great good monarch, triumphed over his

democratic views.

* * * * *

At the time of his death a Canadian poet wrote, “When I was a boy at

Woodstock College, I heard a phrase that floated upon the air, like the

magic carpet of the Arabians. It contained the simple news that ‘Laurier

is coming.’ He came, we heard him, and in my boyish heart that night was

born a new Canada. I was no longer a Conservative or a Liberal. I only

knew a white light had passed that I must follow. I had exchanged my

knight of arms in history for a crusader in life. The years that poured

the first strength of youth into my heart came to the crusader with her

gift of silver. One day I walked the streets of London with an unsold

story in my pocket, and a four days’ yearning for bread in my soul.

Suddenly the white light shone. Laurier had passed me in his carriage

upon Piccadilly. I forgot my hunger and cheered, and the multitude,

seeing not the light in its brightness, wondered over my joy.”

* * * * *

“Big John Canadien,” Canada’s most famous guide, made this following

curious prediction:—

“When I die you shall be frightened,” he said to Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

The death of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and of Big John at one day’s interval

brings to mind a scene witnessed in 1884. They were preparing to

celebrate the national holiday, St. Jean Baptiste Day, and the late Mr.

A. Corriveau, one of the most zealous organizers of the great national

celebration, was conversing with Wilfrid Laurier on Notre Dame Street,

near Place D’Armes in Montreal.

When big John arrived with a band of his braves, M. Corriveau, who was

acquainted with “Big John,” introduced him to his friends. After a few

words of conversation, Sir Wilfrid Laurier asked the Indian how old he

was.

“I am 43 years old,” he replied.

“We are almost of the same age,” said Mr. Laurier, “I will be 43 at my

next birthday.”

“Well,” replied Big John, “when I die, you shall be frightened.”

Everybody nearby had a good laugh on hearing the Indian’s words, and Big

John went away.

Big John died on Sunday, February 23rd., and Sir Wilfrid on Monday,

February 24th.

* * * * *

Some years ago a retired Baptist minister told the following story:

“When I was a young man I lived in a small town in Eastern Canada, and

about the only well educated men in the place were a lawyer and a

doctor, both Roman Catholics. We used to meet almost every afternoon in

the lawyer’s office and discuss the affairs of the nation, and almost

every subject from religion to politics. One day the young lawyer made a

certain statement, when the doctor asked: ‘Where did you get that idea?’

and the lawyer replied (pulling open a drawer in his desk and bringing

forth a well-worn Bible), ‘Why, from this Book.’ The doctor said, ‘Why,

you don’t read that Book, do you?’ ‘Yes,’ replied the lawyer, ‘I have

had this with me since I left home. I promised my mother to read it

every day, and I have never broken my word, because, no matter where I

am, I have read a portion of this good Book every day of my life since I

gave that promise.’” Mr. Richardson asked me who I thought the young

lawyer was, but I could not tell, so he said, “It was Sir Wilfrid

Laurier, and we have been close friends ever since, although he is a

Roman Catholic and I am a Baptist minister. Does this not in some manner

account for Sir Wilfrid’s broad-mindedness in matters of religion?”

A gentleman brought a friend in to lunch at the Reform Club. On that

particular day Sir Wilfrid happened to be there, lunching. The friend’s

name was Mr. Lambe and he expressed a desire to be introduced to Sir

Wilfrid, so, after luncheon in the clubroom, he was presented. When

shaking hands with the “Chief” he started to explain that he was not a

supporter of the Liberal party. Sir Wilfrid continued shaking hands

during the short explanation, and then reached over with his left hand,

and, placing it on Mr. Lambe’s shoulder, said:

“Well, never mind, Mr. Lambe, you know there is more rejoicing in Heaven

over the return of one lost sheep,” etc.

* * * * *

In 1906, when Sir Wilfrid was returned to power, the Liberals gave him a

reception at the old Horticultural Gardens. The “Chief” arrived,

accompanied by quite a party, and, as a prominent supporter was about to

shake hands with him, a little man who had been imbibing, pushed him

aside, held out his hand, and said in a loud voice:

“Welcome to ‘Taranta,’ Mr. ‘Larier’.”

This was momentarily embarrassing to those assembled, but the “Chief”

shook hands heartily with him and asked his name. The little man gave

his name as Lynch, whereupon the “Chief” exclaimed:

“A good Irish name, and a good Irish welcome,” and thus passed off

lightly what might have proved embarrassing.

* * * * *

A very illuminating incident occurred at the Union Station on one of Sir

Wilfrid’s last visits to Toronto which reveals the manner of his appeal

to his people. Two young ladies spied the old statesman walking up and

down the platform by his private car. One of them insisted that it was

Sir Wilfrid, the other that it was not. A newspaper reporter overheard

the argument and settled it by answering them that it was, indeed, the

dean of the House of Commons.

“I wonder if we could shake hands with him?” enquired the girls,

excitedly.

The reporter approached Sir Wilfrid and said:

“There are two young ladies who would esteem it an honor to shake your

hand. May I bring them to you, Sir Wilfrid?”

“You may NOT, my young friend!” said Sir Wilfrid, “But you may take me

to them.”

Which he did, and so gracefully added to his legions.

Much has been said of his affection for children, another expression

after all, of that same kindness and dignity. A Toronto newspaper editor

when a boy of fourteen, wrote a long letter to Sir Wilfrid from the

boy’s point of view, referring to politics and to Sir Wilfrid’s stand on

prohibition and other reforms. Deep as he was in the work of Parliament

at the time, Sir Wilfrid did not neglect to reply promptly, and in a

fine, courteous letter, said that he would be glad to discuss the

questions at greater length when he should happen to visit the lad’s

home-town. And when Sir Wilfrid passed through that way, the lad was

invited to dinner with him. The politically “kind” man couldn’t do that.

It required Sir Wilfrid’s genuine emotions towards the young.

While humor did not abound in Sir Wilfrid’s speeches and debates, he had

a shrewd wit, equal to all occasions. In a debate twitting Sir Charles

Tupper on Sir Charles’s reminiscences of his political services, Sir

Wilfrid said that between Sir Charles and Sir John A. Macdonald they had

sailed the ship of state pretty successfully, Sir John supplying the

brains and Sir Charles supplying the wind to fill the sails.

* * * * *

Campaigning through the country Sir Wilfrid was always master of the

situation. There was withal, something of the “grand seigneur” about

him. He had a keen sense of dramatic values. While he yielded to the

worship of those who crowded his car to shake his hand, he did not show

himself to the public one moment before it was necessary. Sometimes the

clamor of admirers forced him from his bed at midnight. With all the

love for applause, characteristic of his race, and of the dramatic

temperament, his common sense never deserted him. During his last tour

of Nova Scotia, one morning his boat barely landed when an enthusiastic

young woman crossed the gang plank and handed him an armful of flowers.

Such is to be expected as part of every meeting, but there on the bare

deck of a steamer the chieftain was nonplussed. As he laid the gift on

the hatch he turned and said over his shoulder: “Is a man ever so

helpless as he is with a bouquet?”

* * * * *

On one occasion an excited supporter telegraphed:

“Report in circulation here, that your antagonism to religion is so

strong, that you have never had any of your children baptized. Very

damaging to party. Telegraph me if untrue.”

Sir Wilfrid’s reply was characteristic:

“Statement is unfortunately quite true. I have never had a child to

baptize.”

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s ability to remember faces which had presented

themselves to his view, perhaps, years previously, was something to

marvel at. Many men possess this power but few have ever held it in

greater proportion than did the late statesman.

A Brockville man relates that on being introduced to Sir Wilfrid, not

long ago, the “old chief” looked at him intently for a moment and then

said: “Just a minute, let me think where I have seen you before.” He

thought for a brief period and then exclaimed: “I have it. You are one

of —— ——’s bad little boys and you sat in the front row at my

meeting in Cornwall in 1912.” Such had been the case.

* * * * *

His first appearance in public life revealed the qualities that were to

make him famous. His début in the Legislature is said by those whose

memories go back to that time, to have produced a sensation, not more by

the finished grace of his oratorical abilities than by the boldness and

authority with which he handled the deepest political problems. The

effect of his fluent, cultivated and charming discourse is described by

Frechette, the poet, as magical. On the following day, he writes, the

name of Laurier was on every lip, and all who then heard it will

remember how those two syllables rang out true and clear, their tone

that of a coin of gold, pure from all alloy, and bearing the impress of

sterling worth.

* * * * *

The Royal tour of 1901 at times put the serenity of Sir Wilfrid to a

severe test. He was a man who enjoyed manifestations of popular

good-will as well as anybody; and as a politician was not oblivious to

the necessity of avoiding offence to any well-meaning supporter. He

accompanied the Heir-Apparent and the future Queen across the continent,

and was sometimes embarrassed by the efforts of coteries in remote

settlements to play the political game by making him the hero of the

occasion. On one occasion, a Liberal association, learning that the

Royal train was to lie on a railway siding for half an hour, sought to

improve the occasion by presenting him with an address. The annoyance of

Sir Wilfrid at so notorious a breach of etiquette, was undoubtedly

great, but he managed to send the deputation home without ruffling their

feelings, though preserving the decorum of his position as an official

host of the future occupant of the throne.

* * * * *

Political leaders receive a great deal of honor, particularly while they

are the custodians of power, but they have also much to put up with from

indiscreet followers. In such cases, they have to display an unfailing

tact, for they never know but that the gad-fly may have sufficient

influence in his bailiwick to swing an entire township to the opposite

party, if affronted. Twenty years ago, in the old station dining room at

Palmerston, Ont., one saw Sir Wilfrid deal with such importunities. It

was at a time when there was a great hullabaloo about the supposed

attitude of the late Mr. Tarte toward the South African War. The room

was thronged with spectators anxious to see whether a Prime Minister

really ate like ordinary mortals; and a local Liberal magnate undertook

to inform Sir Wilfrid that the “boys around here” did not like Tarte,

and asked what he was going to do with the then Minister of Public

Works. Sir Wilfrid first ignored the question and tried to change the

subject, but the henchman did not take the hint. The Premier’s secretary

was beside himself with rage at the bad taste of the interlocutor, but

the leader himself betrayed no annoyance. “Oh, you don’t understand Mr.

Tarte,” he said, genially, and suddenly bethought himself of a funny

story illustrating misunderstandings. Nevertheless, he was a very

relieved chieftain when the whistle blew and the brakeman cried “All

aboard.”

* * * * *

Another tribute to Sir Wilfrid Laurier has been paid by L.-Col. Johnson

Paudash, now in Lindsay, who served for some time overseas with a

Central Ontario battalion. The late Premier, it is stated, presented

Col. Paudash with a service of silver, and also wrote to him several

times while he was on active service in France. Col. Paudash had

interviewed Sir Wilfrid several times, while he was Premier, on behalf

of the different Indian tribes, and states that he at all times found

him courteous and kind, and a good friend of the Indian. He and others

of his tribe sincerely mourn the passing of the great “White Chief,” as

they affectionately called the late Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

* * * * *

Sir Wilfrid Laurier maintained his pride and interest in Ottawa to the

last. It is understood that a clause in his will dedicates to the

Capital City all the tokens of honor bestowed on him during his

distinguished public career.

Many of these are almost of priceless value. They include the

testimonials conveying the freedom of cities in the United Kingdom. The

casket containing the freedom of the city of Edinburgh, one of the most

beautiful of the collection, is solidly encrusted with diamonds.

The intention is that these souvenirs shall find a place in the war

memorial building which will doubtless be erected in Ottawa before long.

* * * * *

In his early days, at a campaign meeting, a Mr. Mousseau, a man of

gigantic bulk, accused the Ministers of the Government of fattening on

the sweat of the people. Sir Wilfrid, tall, slender, and frail, rose,

pointed to his huge and bulky accuser and asked: “Who is fattening on

the people?”

* * * * *

His hold on the hearts of his countrymen in Quebec was tremendous, and

is best illustrated in the famous yarn of the old habitant, who on

hearing that Queen Victoria had died and the Prince of Wales was now to

become King, said:

“By gar, dat Prince of Wale must have a good pull wit’ Laurier!”

* * * * *

His visit to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897, was greeted with a reception

that was almost regal. He was made a member of the Privy Council,

appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St.

George, and received in audiences by the Queen. The Universities of

Oxford and Cambridge conferred honorary degrees upon him, and the Cobden

Club admitted him to honorary membership, and awarded him its gold

medal, in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished services to

the cause of international and free exchange. The new departure in

Imperial policy, the Preferential Tariff, which Sir Wilfrid was able to

arrange during this visit, caused the London Times to say: “Laurier’s

name must live in the annals of the British Empire.”

A few years later, 1902, he again visited Great Britain to be present at

the ceremonies in connection with the crowning of His late Majesty King

Edward VII., the Sovereign of the British Empire and British Dominions

beyond the Seas. Again in 1907, Sir Wilfrid attended with a number of

Ministers upon the invitation of the Imperial Government, a Conference

of all the Premiers in His Majesty’s possessions. In 1911 he attended

the ceremonies in connection with the crowning of King George V. Upon

this, as upon other occasions, he was admirably received by the press

and people wherever he went throughout Great Britain. In 1904, the

London Daily News of September 14th., of that year, remarked that “Sir

Wilfrid Laurier is easily the first statesman of Greater Britain.”

The following are some of the Press comments on Sir Wilfrid during the

Imperial Conference of 1907:—The Daily News of London in a review of

“The Race Question in Canada,” declared “Sir Wilfrid Laurier has won his

title to be considered as a true statesman because, although always a

faithful Catholic, he has declined to be dominated by the forces of

Ultramontanism. The hope of the fusion of the races, Sir Wilfrid Laurier

once declared, into a single one is Utopian. It is an impossibility. The

distinctions of nature will exist always. But he went on to say, if we

remember rightly, that the two races would none the less form a great

nation under the British Flag, and it is, of course, the supreme

achievement of Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s political career that he has

devoted himself to the attainment of this ideal.”

The Western Daily Press of Bristol, England, stated:—“Sir Wilfrid

Laurier is in himself an excellent illustration of the success of the

British plan of making various great parts of the Empire responsible for

the control of their own affairs. There was a time when the race problem

in Canada was one affording cause for gravest anxiety; that belongs to

the past; and the world is familiar with the fact that Sir Wilfrid, the

first French-Canadian who has been Premier of the Dominion, is a man

probably without a rival in the confidence felt in him in this country.”

The London Times of April 15th., 1907, editorially stated:—Sir Wilfrid

Laurier, whom we welcome as probably the best known of all Canadian

statesmen, comes of French-Canadian stock, but he has shown by his

career that this is no disqualification for doing valued service to the

Empire.

The Tribune of London, referring to Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s stirring

speech at the Guildhall in 1907, characterized the Canadian Premier’s

deliverance on that occasion as:—A speech that will certainly find a

place in future histories of the British Empire.

The Daily News of London stated:—The destinies of Canada were not

settled by the war which made England instead of France supreme in North

America. There came the second crisis, and if that second crisis had not

been faced with the courage, genius, and imagination of Liberalism,

there would have been no men of Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s race and blood at

yesterday’s lunch, and the Colony which is proud to count in its

ancestry the heroism of a Montcalm as well as the heroism of a Wolfe

would have sent no representative to the capital. For the distinction of

the British Empire consists not in the conquests of its arms, but in the

reconciliation of its statesmanship, in the generous wisdom which has

shown that the British flag can shelter and respect the traditions, the

sympathies, and the consciences of races that are not British by blood

or history. This is what was in Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s mind when he

pointed with pride to the great British act of the present government.

(The Great British Act was the Constitution granted to South Africa, or

the Transvaal.)

A few days after the coronation of their Majesties King George V. and

Queen Mary, a thanksgiving service was held in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The

high place which Sir Wilfrid Laurier occupies in the esteem of the

British people of all classes is indicated by the manner in which he was

greeted on his way to the cathedral and received there. The cable

message reproduced below from the Montreal Star (Conservative), of June

29th., 1911, gives a brief summary of this grand cordiality:—

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, as he passed through the crowded streets from the

Palace to the Cathedral (St. Paul’s), had, perhaps, the greatest

reception of his entire visit. In his full levee uniform and cocked hat,

he sat alone in the first of the State carriages, looking every inch of

him a great personage.

Upon the box of the carriage were two magnificently attired Royal

servants, whose brilliant scarlet coats flashed all down the line of

route, and as the prancing steeds drew the carriage along the broad

centres, between strictly kept lines of police and soldiers, the London

populace, who crowded the sidewalks, cheered again and again.

“That’s Laurier,” they cried. “That’s Canada. Give them a cheer,” and

they did it right heartily.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier was obviously delighted. He kept his hand moving up

and down to and from his cocked hat, thus giving a military salute of

the Royal pattern and not raising his hat as lesser mortals might do.

When Sir Wilfrid reached the Cathedral, another honour awaited him. The

Lord Mayor of London and other dignitaries, no matter how gorgeous their

attire, were sent around to the smaller north or south doors; but Sir

Wilfrid’s carriage was directed by the police to none other than the

Royal and crimson carpeted entrance at the main west door, where the

Bishop of Ripon received him on behalf of the Anglican Church. As he

passed up the steps into the Cathedral, his uniform, slashed with the

blue band of a Knight of the Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George,

came into full view, and made him a most notable figure.

Some of the notable expressions regarding Sir Wilfrid’s achievements in

1907, in Great Britain were penned by the late Sir Charles Tupper,

ex-Premier of the Dominion of Canada and formerly for some years High

Commissioner at London, England. Writing in the Nineteenth Century, May,

1907, Sir Charles expressed himself as follows:—“My distinguished

successor in the Prime Ministership of Canada has during these past few

memorable days asserted with a persuasiveness all his own that the

British Empire ‘rests upon foundations firmer than the rock and as

endurable as the ages.’”

* * * * *

A noted English writer has said: “I have seen and heard many colonial

public men, but Sir Wilfrid is the only one who would have become a

national figure had he been transplanted to Westminster. I have never

seen him in the Canadian Parliament without wishing that instead he was

at Westminster, for then it would be easy to decide as to the leadership

of the Liberal party.”

* * * * *

In office or out of office, he is the most considerable figure in

Greater Britain. Such was the estimate of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, made by

one of the premier political observers of England, Mr. John L. Garvin.

* * * * *

On the occasion of Sir Wilfrid’s sixty-sixth birthday the London Morning

Post said: “No other statesman could have accomplished so much in the

short space of a life-time as the great French-Canadian who combines an

imaginative eloquence unsurpassed in British history with the charm and

courtesy of a cultivated Frenchman.”

The above writer enumerated some of the outstanding measures of the

Laurier administration and added: “Measures wherein a business capacity

was not less necessary than imagination and courage.”

Moreover, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the French Roman Catholic Premier of a

self-governing federation in which British Protestants are in the

majority, has expressed more faithfully and more truly than any

statesman who has spoken yet, the temper of the new imperial patriotism

fostered into self-consciousness by the South African war.

* * * * *

His visit to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897, was greeted with a reception

that was almost regal. He was made a member of the Privy Council,

appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St.

George, and received in audience by the Queen. The Universities of

Oxford and Cambridge conferred honorary degrees upon him, and the Cobden

Club admitted him to honorary membership, and awarded him its gold

medal, in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished services to

the cause of international and free exchange. The new departure in

Imperial policy, which Sir Wilfrid was able to arrange during this

visit, caused the London Times to say: Laurier’s name must live in the

annals of the British Empire.

The Tribune:—Among Canadian statesmen of our day Sir Wilfrid Laurier

ranked first. The Canada of the present is in a large measure his work.

His horizon was spacious. His loyalty to his own race, religion and

section did not prevent him from pursuing a broad national policy.

The Sun:—Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s public life of nearly half a century,

covers the development of Canada from a colony into something very like

an independent nation. The 15 years in which he served as Premier saw

the greatest growth of the Dominion in railroads, trade and agriculture

for any period in its marvelous history. It has often been the subject

of comment that Sir Wilfrid being French by race and Catholic by

religion, should have been able to remain so long the dominant figure in

Canadian politics, but his qualities enabled him at all times to rise

superior to matters of personal preference.

The World:—His name is one of the greatest in the history of the sister

republic.

The New York Times:—Sir Wilfrid’s culminant hour abroad was at the

Diamond Jubilee of 1897, or at the coronations of Edward VII., and

George V. No other colonial statesman so impressed the English. This

French-Canadian, this first French-Canadian Premier, this bilingual

orator, this personage of authority, suavity, dignity, and distinction,

has not left his like behind. Resourceful, subtle, a master of debate,

the unmatchable leader of the Liberals, he seemed to belong to the

generation of Disraeli and Palmerston and Gladstone. If on conscription

he was opposed to prevailing public sentiment, so he had been on

reciprocity; and he should have the credit of honesty of opinion on the

one as on the other policy. In 1896 he fought the Quebec bishops on the

question of Separate Public Schools in Manitoba. He had almost too much

talent. He always had courage enough. And he earnestly supported the

Entente in the war.

To most in Ottawa the end had come with dramatic suddenness because his

distinguished figure, striking face and debonair smile were familiar to

all residents. Never for a moment did he relinquish his keen interest in

life, in people, and in all the various events which make up the life of

the Capital, and so he was to be seen regularly at meetings of the

Canadian Club and gatherings of various associations which made Ottawa

their headquarters. In public he displayed no sign that time had yet

weakened his physical edifice, and public men to-day say that in private

conversation up to near the end he displayed the same acumen, charm and

ready wit which had always distinguished him. Very near friends,

however, say that he realized the end could not be delayed many years,

chiefly because of the growing weakness and lassitude which he felt on

rising in the mornings. During the day it always wore off, and he fought

courageously against the weakness, rising always at his regular hour,

day after day getting the better of his weakness, and never under any

circumstance showing anything but a cheerful countenance.

On Sunday morning when he had his first fainting attack of some minutes’

duration he himself felt it to be the realization of the premonition

which he had experienced and occasionally mentioned to close friends.

For the moment, entirely oblivious to all but the attack, he said

quietly to Lady Laurier: “It is the end.” Later, however, when he had

partially recovered and was able to talk he did not speak as though he

expected the end so soon. He seemed to think that, after all, he had

weathered the attack, for when the gong rang for luncheon he rose with

the intention of appearing at the table. His courageous habit of always

combatting weakness, in this case was his undoing, as it brought on a

second stroke, or the first one, if the fainting fit in the morning is

not regarded as the result of a slight stroke.

* * * * *

“Every farm house and every village within twenty miles is empty

to-day,” said one who knows Ottawa well, on the morning of the funeral

of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Although the dead Leader was buried with all the

civil pomp of a State funeral and all the high ceremonial of an ancient

Church, the plain people also bore their part. If you are a day laborer,

there were just such workmen as you showing their respect and mourning;

if you are a farmer, there were just such farmers as you standing with

uncovered heads when the hearse went by. No matter who you are or what

your station in life—high or lowly, rich or poor, proud or humble—you

were truly represented at the funeral of this man who, because he was so

chivalrous and so human, belonged to all classes and to all the people.

Before Ottawa was stirring, the city was already being filled with the

gathering crowd. To the ordinary passenger accommodation of the railways

many special trains had been added to bring visitors from other cities

and distant provinces. While the gathering crowd was pouring in from the

stations, the streets approaching the city were filled with people

coming in all manner of vehicles, and even with thousands coming afoot.

By the time the Capital was awake it was already in the possession of

what was perhaps the greatest crowd it has ever known. As the day was

mild—a grey day, frosty but kindly, with snow under foot and the sun

shining through a thick haze—the visitors were able to stand about in

the streets without discomfort. The route of the funeral procession

having been announced, every available point of observation was crowded

long before the proceedings began. All was orderly, as was to be

expected, but the prevailing air was one of cheerfulness. Their hero had

lived to the fullness of time, and they had come to show their respect,

rather than to mourn. Everywhere groups were engaged in low-voiced

conversation, and at times even hushed laughter might be heard. This

would be when someone told a treasured story about the dead Chieftain.

But as all the stories told illustrated the other world and other time

courtliness of manner, which often made him appear in startling contrast

with crude surroundings, there was no disrespect in telling or

appreciating them at such a time. Those who told them and those who

heard them only loved him the more for graces they admired but could not

emulate.

Those who had been favored by the Government with invitations to the

State funeral began to assemble early at the Museum, where the body lay

in state in the room that is now being used by the Commons. Every walk

of Canadian public activity was represented. Besides the high officials

of the State, men eminent in the Church, education and social life of

the country were represented. Mingling with these, who were mostly young

or still in the full vigor of life, were many grey-haired veterans,

colleagues of the dead statesman in early campaigns, whose faces were

once familiar in the Capital. By 10 o’clock the corridors were crowded.

There was much handshaking, and introductions back and forth, while they

waited to take their part in the formal farewell to the dead.

Presently officials began to call out instructions, now in English, now

in French, and the procession began to form. Following the hearse was a

display that would have amazed anyone who thinks of Canada as a land of

ice and snow. Half a score of sleighs bearing huge terraced floats that

had been built for the occasion were piled high with the floral

offerings that had been sent from all parts of Canada or ordered by

cable and telegraph from all parts of the world. Banked against a

background of flowing purple and funereal black, these many-colored

flowers made summer in the midst of winter and brought the seasons in

mourning behind that sable hearse. Slowly and with fitting majesty the

long procession wound through the white streets with their unbroken

guard of citizens. At no place between the Museum and the Basilica,

where High Mass was celebrated, was there a spot where anyone could

stand or crowd in that was not occupied. As the hearse passed, bearing

what was mortal of him who had put on immortality, the watchers

uncovered their heads, and their eyes were dimmed by a sudden gust of

tears.

In the Basilica, which was draped in black, purple, and gold for this

Imperial mourning, the coffin was placed in a golden catafalque crowned

with lighted tapers. High overhead was suspended a huge crown with

streamers of black and purple looped away into the dim distances of the

pillared cathedral. High dignitaries chanted the Mass, while the choir

responded to the full music of the great organ. Nothing was lacking to

add state and awe to the passing of this simple citizen, who in life

needed nothing beyond his native dignity to make him first among the

peers.

When the funeral service was over and we passed out of the dim aisles of

the Basilica I looked up and saw with sudden exaltation that the sun had

broken through the mists and clouds and was shining down as if mourning

had been turned to rejoicing. So it seemed, and so I shall believe it to

be. I, who had come in from the fields and the open spaces, felt that a

great work was ended and that a greater had begun. I felt that all that

had raised this man above his fellows and apart from them was now put

away. The last ceremonial was ended. Now that his body had been laid in

death with the Kings and counsellors of the earth, the spirit of Sir

Wilfrid Laurier, a man of the people, had passed into the wide spaces,

golden sunshine and open air of the land he loved, to be an inspiration

to all Canadians as long as chivalry, courtesy and high achievements are

prized among men.