me much food for thought, and has enabled me to see some things
more clearly than ever before. I cannot tell you of all the
impressions New York brought, and has left upon me. I have never
quite managed to shake off the attitude of mind of a student, and
I find myself constantly weaving my experiences in New York into
my philosophy of life. The two events which seem to stand out
most clearly are the visit to the _Art Museum_, and the concert
at the _Metropolitan_. That was a glorious day, for it showed
how men in the rush and flurry of business life have at hand
the means of soul purifying and refreshment in art and music,
two great agencies which bring men's minds back from semblances
to truth. Will you ever forget the music we heard? The singing
of Rossini's _Stabat Mater_ was to me like wandering through a
sea of dreams, beautiful yet sad. Greatest of all, I thought,
was Nordica's _Inflammatus_, a soul-stirring song, splendidly
set off by the orchestra and chorus, and which stirred the vast
audience to its depths. It was the great victory of the evening.
How strong must be the satisfaction of the possession of so
magnificent a voice, both in the capacity to interpret such
beautiful music, and in the ability to thrill and purge the human
soul. For is it not the case that great music ever does this? I
know little of the _technique_ of music, but for years I have
felt its influence upon me for good.
"Every hour of my visit was profitable, and I need not say
that it would have been a blind, stupid ramble without your
assistance. I know what it meant in sacrifice of time and
hard-earned money to you. I would have liked to have controlled
your generosity. However, I know the spirit which moved you, and
I am deeply grateful to you.
"And now, my dear brother Will, I trust that this New Year which
ushers in a new century, will bring to you true happiness, and
the accomplishment of your most worthy ambitions.
"Your affectionate brother,
"BERT."
It is not surprising to find in a remote corner of the diary of a man
whose feelings were so genuine, and sympathies so sincere, such mention
as the following, of an evening spent with "The Woodcutters," a society
he had helped to organize the year after he left the university, and
the purposes of which will be sufficiently clear from the reference:
"We went to old Thomas Mahoney's where we worked hard from about
8:30 to 11:00 P. M., sawing and splitting wood. The family
consisted of Mrs. Mahoney, an old woman of about sixty or
sixty-five, and her daughter. The daughter, who is half-witted,
goes out washing and scrubbing, while the old lady has to saw
and split all the wood necessary to keep their hovel warm, it
being situated in an exposed place on the edge of the common.
The interior does not betoken wealth, but the old woman and her
daughter seem to be not unhappy, this probably because of their
having come from the Emerald Isle. I shall try and follow up the
acquaintance with a view to discovering to what causes their
poverty is due. This institution is a good one, for besides the
hard work, it affords undoubtedly a good way of helping the
deserving poor, and gives one a splendid chance for economic
study."
Nor is the following entry less surprising, written, as it was, in
part justification of himself, lest he should have erred in having
aided financially, and in other ways, a deaf-mute boy who came to him
for assistance, but into whose circumstances he had not, at the time,
had opportunity of making a personal inquiry. A file of correspondence
with the Charity Organizations officer, and the superintendent of
_The Institute for the Deaf and Dumb_, reveals the care with which he
subsequently satisfied his conscience in this particular case of one
who belonged to "the dependent and neglected poor."
"Whatever may be held regarding the unwisdom of a paternal system
with regard to society generally,--and while my own best judgment
inclines me to be individualistic,--I have a strong sympathy with
those who are robbed of the use of their senses, to whom so much
of the beauty of God's world is as a sealed book. I felt this
strongly as I dictated the letters which he could not hear. The
bright intelligence on his face as he learned my intention, and
indicated his approval of some of my suggestions, was beautiful
to see. I trust that he will not prove a disappointment, and that
I shall not be deceived."
Harper had the faith which led him at times to cast his bread upon the
waters. Had he been asked why he did so, he would have replied, because
he loved to. If questioned further, he would, with Tennyson, have said:
"That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroy'd,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete."
_SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS_
Few men of his years have thought as deeply as Harper did, or had
clearer perceptions, concerning conditions and forces which make
for happiness and progress in social life, and the development of
national greatness. Had he been spared he would have been an earnest
and practical reformer; silent as his voice is now, the words he once
uttered are not without their value to our day and generation. He was a
true patriot in sentiment and aspiration.
Harper loved his country and its people, and in all that he undertook,
which was of a public nature, he was animated by an enthusiasm for
the common good. Of the self-imposed tasks he had undertaken in
addition to his regular duties at the department of labour, and in
each of which he had made some progress, were treatises on "Labour
Legislation in Canada," and the "Outlines of an Industrial History of
the Dominion." Among his contributions to publications other than the
_Labour Gazette_, was a short essay on _Colleges and Citizenship_ in
a Christmas number of the _Acta Victoriana_ of Victoria College, one
or two articles in _The Commonwealth_ on _Canada's Attitude Towards
Labour_, and an uncompleted monograph, intended for publication, on
_The Study of Political Economy in the High Schools_. He was president
of the Ottawa Social Science Club, secretary-treasurer of the Ottawa
section of the University of Toronto Alumni Association, and an active
member of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society. He was at the
same time promoting the organization of a University Club, a plan of
which he had carefully prepared, and the object of which was to bring
the university men of the city into closer touch with each other, and
make their influence more widely felt in the civic and social life of
the community.
The background of all Harper's thinking on social and political
problems was coloured by his belief in a moral order; in the forefront
was ever the individual proclaiming this order, and seeking to realize
it in his own life. Institutions of whatever kind, whether national
or religious, were to him of human creation. Their usefulness was in
proportion to the degree to which they helped to give expression to the
unseen purpose in the universe. Nature and man, alone, were divine. It
followed logically from this that man's work among his fellows in the
world was to discover the moral order, reveal and maintain it, so far
as within him the power lay. Harmony with this order meant happiness,
want of harmony, whether by the individual or the state, unhappiness.
In this view, the individual is vastly superior to any institution he
and his fellows may construct, superior as an end, and as a means to an
end. If a set of conditions exist which are counter to the moral order,
or obstruct its fulfillment in the lives of men, these conditions
should be changed, the individual should not be sacrificed to them.
On the other hand, change may be, and ought to be accomplished more by
men than by institutions, and can only be accomplished in the degree to
which beliefs become active, potent factors in individual lives.
It is true that human knowledge is limited, and that the purpose of
God is infinite, and so there may rightly be among men differences
of opinion as to what, under any circumstances, are the ends to be
sought, and the best means to attain those ends; and humility may well
characterize all expressions of belief relative thereto; but, to the
extent of knowledge gained, the ground underfoot is firm, and humility
will not excuse the want of assertion, where right reason is set at
naught by wrongful conduct. Moreover, there is much on which men can be
agreed, broken arcs visible to all, though the perfect round is seen
by none. There are right and wrong, truth and falsehood, honesty and
dishonesty, love and hate, purity and vice, honour and dishonour, and
the difference between them is as apparent and real as the difference
'twixt day and night, albeit, now and again, a twilight of uncertainty
may render doubtful the confines of separation. Harper's exclusive
insistence was only upon what in this way was acceptable to all; and
knowing that it was acceptable, he was sure the appeal would find a
response in those to whom it was addressed. Whatever men might be in
seeking privately their own selfish ends, their belief in a moral order
was apparent once action became collective; the public had a conscience
to which it was generally true, though men at times might seem to
betray their better selves; and public opinion might be expected to
guard for society as a whole a right for which individuals sometimes
lost respect. How great, therefore, was the responsibility upon those
who had the capacity, or opportunity, to see that public opinion was
rightly formed and directed, and that, in social and political affairs,
truth and right should be made to prevail!
This insistence upon the recognition of responsibility in those
favoured by educational training or opportunity, is well brought out
in a paragraph or two in the short essay on _Colleges and Citizenship_.
Referring to a quotation from Sir Alfred Milner's life of Arnold
Toynbee, in which "the estrangement of the men of thought from the
leaders of the people" is referred to as having constituted, in
Toynbee's mind, the great danger of the democratic upheaval of the
time, Harper writes:
"People in Canada to-day are doubtless not so anxious about
democratic upheaval. Fortunately the aggravated conditions of an
old world metropolis have not yet been developed. The task is
easier; the duty none the less imperative. It is more possible to
secure the confidence of men who are not embittered by the pangs
of slumdom. But because conditions here are not as distressing as
they have been and are elsewhere, it is surely no less desirable,
with a view to promoting industrial peace and healthy national
development, that the men who have opportunity and capacity for
the serious study of social and economic problems, should not
allow themselves to become fenced off by a wall of indifference
of their own creation from those to whom the mass of the people
look for direction, inspiration and suggestion. It is reasonable
to expect that he who claims to be engaged in the pursuit of
truth should not give countenance to what makes for social
disorder and national decay.
"Men are as much open to reason, as liable to accept truth,
when they have been convinced of it, as when Arnold Toynbee
studied, lectured and wrote. They are as prone to prefer what is
genuine to what is pretense and dissimulation. Surely a peculiar
obligation to see that men think rightly and act sanely, devolves
upon those whose vantage ground should enable them to distinguish
what is genuine. Sir Alfred Milner, having in mind the earnest
friend of his undergraduate days, said six years ago to the
members of Toynbee Hall: 'I do not go so far as to say that what
Oxford thinks to-day England will do to-morrow, but certainly any
new movement of thought at the universities in these days rapidly
finds its echo in the press and in public opinion.' Indeed, is
there not fair ground for the belief that much of the virtue
which has marked the conduct of Great Britain's High Commissioner
at Cape Town, throughout the South African crisis is due to
association with the high-minded student, who, in the congenial
atmosphere of Oxford, did not forget that he was a citizen?"
It was his belief in the importance of men recognizing their duties as
citizens, and being able to discharge these duties with intelligence
and for the common good, which led Harper to prepare a scheme for the
teaching of Political Economy in the high schools. The merits of this
plan he had summarized as follows:
"Such a study would tend to remedy the great evil of democratic
institutions, the susceptibility of the masses to the influence
of demagogues, and their liability to misconstrue the relations
of cause and effect because of ignorance. It would tend to
promote mental development, especially in the direction of
individual thought. It would tend to raise the standard of such
studies in the universities, and this in time would react upon
the high schools in the way of more competent teachers, and,
in the end, create great possibilities for the prosecution
of research in this all important branch of knowledge in our
country. It would tend to remedy social evils by giving the
philanthropist and the public generally, something like an
accurate idea of the true state of society. It would react
beneficially upon the government, which, with a more critical
observation, would be more careful in its actions."
He modestly concludes,
"I simply put forward a proposal which, I think, if carried
out, would tend to modify the evils fostered by ignorance. I
have to a great extent taken it as an axiom that whatever tends
to disseminate knowledge, to advance truth, and to develop the
intellect, cannot be wrong, and should be accepted by all liberal
minded men; and this, I think, would be the result of the study
of Political Economy in our high schools."
From the notes he had made, and from what is contained in the body of
the article, it would appear that he had in mind a course on _Civic
Ethics_, quite as much as on the _Elements of Economics_, and that he
would have liked, if possible, to have had a beginning made in the
public schools.
Scattered throughout his diary are such observations as the following:
"I am becoming more and more convinced that the true rulers of
the nation are outside of our parliaments and our law courts,
and that the safety of society lies in informing those who form
public opinion."
* * * * *
"I feel more and more the necessity of emphasizing the importance
of the scientific study of economic and political problems in a
country in which every man has the franchise, and is supposed to
be in a position to express an intelligent opinion upon public
questions, and particularly at a time when labour and kindred
problems are prominent in the public mind."
* * * * *
"A man who truly loves his country should be disposed to do his
utmost to see it rightly governed."
* * * * *
"The poor downtrodden have more to hope for from men who, having
a specialized training in the operation of social forces, apply
themselves to the proper remedy, than from all the windy,
ultra-radical demagogues."
"It is the alienation--partly, no doubt, due to indolence--of
the men of thought from those from whom the mass of the people
habitually receive their inspiration, which accounts for much of
the crass ignorance and purposeless passion of the people and
their demagogues."
* * * * *
"For myself, I have long deplored the foolish worship of this or
that set of political machinery by apparently well intentioned
men. In Matthew Arnold's _Culture and Anarchy_, there is a
solution for much of our distressing bluster and blunder. With
confidence in the possibilities of man and a resolute endeavour
to strive towards perfection, to allow our best consciousness
to play about our stock notions and our painful conditions of
society, we should be able to see the real value of things, and
ultimately to approach more nearly to right and truth. If our
well-intentioned, but perhaps 'over-Hebraized' ultra-socialists
and ultra-individualists would have perfection more prominently
in mind than the pet panacea they have ever before them, and
would allow their best consciousness to play about their notions
of society and its evils, there would be less of viciousness and
ignorance in their propaganda."
"The fallacy of political panaceas! And the vital importance of
improving the individual morally, and encouraging him to elevate
his ideals! What a splendid thing it would be if every labour
agitator, every demagogue, every member of parliament, every
professor, teacher and minister, and, in fact, every one who
exerts an influence upon the public mind, could realize and act
upon the truth which came to Alton Locke after his life of bitter
trial: 'My only ground was now the bare realities of life and
duty. The problem of society--self-sacrifice, the one solution.'"
* * * * *
"We are too apt to regard social phenomena as if they are
entities in themselves, instead of incidents in the development
of society, a fact which a man who is amidst the strife of
existing social and economic conditions should not lose sight of."
* * * * *
"I am continually impressed with the wisdom of keeping a mind
open to suggestion and impressions from the men one meets in
the ordinary course of life, in fine, the importance of keeping
an open mind. If one can accomplish this, even the din of
'the world's most crowded streets' becomes interesting and
instructive, even beautiful, because of the opportunities of
seeing truth and discovering the remedy for evils."
* * * * *
"Justice and truth must prevail over tyranny and ignorance."
* * * * *
The true mind is revealed in its unconscious moments, and it is,
therefore, from passages like these, casually expressed, and constantly
recurring in much that he wrote, which was of a private nature, that
his real views and beliefs are to be gathered. One or two other
passages in a similar vein will disclose these views more fully.
During Christmas week of 1900 he visited New York for the first time.
Of the many impressions made upon his mind, the contrasts of wealth and
poverty, and all that they implied, were to him more real than aught
else.
"What was particularly irritating to me," he writes in his
journal, after returning from this trip, "was the constant
evidence of the power of money rule in that throbbing metropolis.
The story is written, even on the store signs on Broadway, that
this, the greatest commercial city in America, is practically
owned by monied persons, whose tastes and ambitions strike one as
being essentially low, mean and vulgar. I felt strongly a growing
pride in British institutions and British character compared with
what I saw about me. The ground taken by Mr. Mulock, on behalf
of labour, came strongly before me. I felt that selfishness must
be reckoned with in the solution of social problems. What is to
be hoped is that strong men may be brought to see that right
legislation is good politics, that they may thus be persuaded
to lend their aid to those who hope to avoid the growth in
Canada of a corrupt system by which the power is in the hands
of the octopus who owns the money bags, and who fattens on the
blood of the people whom he crowds under him. There is luxury
and magnificence on Fifth Avenue, but I envied not the proud
possessors of those costly mansions. I want naught but what my
own ability and effort will bring me. I believe in making one's
surroundings as beautiful as may be, but I feel that there is
much waste and vulgar display in the way in which wealthy New
York arrays herself. Her luxury is ponderous and heavy and dull,
when one remembers that much of it rests on the necks of the
hundreds of thousands of toilers who gasp for breath in the
narrow streets, from whom are withheld God's free gifts, the
sunlight and the pure air."
Elsewhere, he writes after a walk through the city streets:
"On the way home I turned over in my mind the question as to
how wealthy men come to be so much appreciated in spite of the
fact that it is only the lovable in man which is truly loved--by
right-minded men at all events, and I am satisfied that,
consciously or unconsciously, men come to compromise with their
own sense of justice in their estimate of men, until a habit of
thought and regard is fixed. What goes forward is something like
this: we do not love the man with the big house, but we would
love to be the man with the big house. And since the man with the
big house often has it in his power to get a bigger house than
we have, we come to appreciate him. Many men do this until it
comes to be usual to appreciate the man with the big house, and
he comes to be a large figure in the eyes of the world, however
little we may love him and his methods. This is particularly
the case in a young nation like the United States which has, as
yet, scarcely come to realize the really valuable things, an
appreciation of which comes from genuine culture.
"Again, whilst there is no great sin _per se_ in being rich, I
can see the truth in the old scriptural saying, 'It is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God.' When it is so hard for an earnest
student to keep his mind rivetted upon the eternal realities of
life, through which character building and true happiness come,
how much harder must it be for the man whose circumstances make
the existing order, if not sufficient, yet comfortable, who has
his vanity flattered by the things which he has been pursuing,
and who has a vast web of houses and other possessions to shut
him off from even an occasional view of the realities. These
facts, of course, only hold in their general application and
tendencies. There have been, doubtless, splendid rich men. When
these reach that state when, of their own free will, and of
deliberate choice, they are prepared to go, sell all that they
have, and give to the poor, then they have reached an attitude
of mind and heart which enables them to distinguish between
semblances and realities, to deliberately select the latter, and
so realize the greatest happiness, the Kingdom of Heaven."
His fine spirit is no less clearly revealed in the views which he
held of the duties of the department of labour, and of the ideals he
believed should govern and direct its work. The following extracts from
letters to the one with whom he was associated, may serve to show with
what purpose and to what end he had given himself to the work. The
letters were written during the summer of 1901, while he was in charge
of the department:
"As I lay in a hammock last night at Kingsmere, and gazed into
the deep blue moonlit vault of heaven, and ran over in my mind
the progress already made by the department, and taxed my
imagination to see its future, the one formidable obstacle which
I saw ever before us was the difficulty of keeping firm to one's
convictions in the face of growing clamours for things which one
cannot approve, yet which are uttered by people whom one cannot
ignore. Nevertheless, I am convinced that all will be well in
the end. We will have the good will of the decent, fair-minded
people, and that is all one should be much concerned about, after
one has satisfied one's own sense of right and justice. I feel a
deep sense of the gravity of our position, and I am determined
that you shall command my best effort in your endeavours to make
the work of the department effective, and to defeat unworthy
attacks. I do not think that I am lacking either in faith in
human nature or in the ultimate triumph of right, but I am coming
to realize more, day by day, that it is a great man's work which
we are called upon to perform. I have every confidence in our
ability to weather the storms which we will undoubtedly be called
upon to meet, and you can be assured that you will find me ready
to do my share. It behooves us both to steadfastly keep before us
those things which are true, and, if we do, Nature, as Carlyle
says, will be on our side.
"The work on the _Labour Gazette_ allows opportunity for a
careful and searching analysis of the industrial and social life
of the Dominion. Already I can see the practical usefulness of
the work. In addition to the obvious recognition of the claims
of labour involved in the creation of the department, we have it
in our power to publish information which should lead to a better
understanding all round, as well as to further such movements as
arbitration and conciliation which tend to promote industrial
peace.
"With the added responsibility there has come to me an increasing
sense of the usefulness of the work which we are doing. I
believe we can do much towards determining the direction of
social progress. With a knowledge of fact, an absence of
sectarian prejudice, some understanding of the progress of human
institutions, and of the motives which influence men, we should,
if we can keep control of ourselves, and maintain high ideals as
inspiration for the development of the best that is in us, be
able to render a lasting service to this country."