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[Chapter numbering is as in the original publication, omitting chapter
numbers XXV and XXVI. (note of etext transcriber.)]
ENGLAND, CANADA AND THE GREAT WAR
BY
Lieutenant-Colonel L.-G. DESJARDINS
Ex-member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec
and of the House of Commons of Canada.
QUEBEC
Chronicle Print.
October 1st, 1918
PREFACE.
Even since the issue, last year, of my book:--"_L'Angleterre, Le Canada
et la Grande Guerre_"--"_England, Canada and the Great War_"--a second
edition of which I had to publish, a few weeks later, to meet the
pressing demand of numerous readers--I have been repeatedly asked by
influential citizens to publish an English edition of my work.
A delegate from Quebec to the National Unity--or
Win-the-War--Convention, in Montreal, I had the pleasure of meeting a
great many of the delegates from Toronto and all over the Dominion. Many
of them insisted upon the publication of an English edition.
Having written that book for the express and patriotic purpose of
proving the justice of the cause of the Allies in the Great War, and
refuting Mr. Bourassa's false and dangerous theories, I realized that
the citizens of Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, who strongly
advised an English edition to be circulated in all the Provinces,
appreciated the good it could make.
I consider it is my imperious duty to dedicate to my English speaking
countrymen this volume containing all the substance matter of my French
book, and the defense a truly loyal French Canadian has made of the
sacred cause of Civilization and Liberty for the triumph of which the
glorious Allied Nations have been so heroically fighting for the last
four eventful years.
As I say, in the Introduction to this work, I first intended to write
only an English resume of my French book. But once at work writing down,
the questions to consider were so important, and the replies to the
Nationalist leader's inconceivable theories so numerous, that I had to
double and more the pages I had thought would be sufficient for my
purpose. I realized that many points, to be fully explained, required
more comments and argumentation that I had at first supposed necessary.
Moreover, since writing my French book, most important events have taken
place. To have the present English volume up to date, I had to consider
recent history in its very latest developments, and reply to the
Nationalist leader's last errors, which by no means were not the least.
When once a man has run off the path of reason and sound public sense,
he is sure to rush to most dangerous extremes, unless he has the moral
courage to acknowledge that he was sadly mistaken.
I trust that the English speaking readers of this book, will not, for a
single moment, suppose that I am actuated by the least ill-feeling
against Mr. Bourassa personally, in the severe but just denunciation it
was my plain duty to make of his deplorable Nationalist campaign.
For many years past, I have ever been delighted in welcoming promising
young men to the responsibilities of public life. I remember with a
mixed feeling of pleasure and regret the occasion I first heard Mr.
Bourassa, then a youth, addressing a very large public meeting held on
the nomination day of the candidates to a pending bye-election for the
House of Commons of Canada: Pleasure at the recollection of what I
considered a fairly successful beginning of a political career; deep
regret at the failure to justify the hopes of his compatriots and his
friends through an uncontrollable ambition always sure to deter, even
the best gifted, from the safe line of duty, well understood, and
firmly, but modestly, performed.
Passion, aspiring and unbridled, is always a dangerous counsellor. Mr.
Bourassa could have had a useful political life, if he had realized that
public good cannot be well served by constant appeals to race
prejudices, and by persevering efforts to achieve success by stirring up
fanaticism.
The result of the unpatriotic course he has followed, against the advice
of his best friends, has been to sow in our great and happy Dominion the
seed of discord, of hatred, of racial conflicts.
Unfortunately, for the country, for his French Canadian compatriots, and
for himself, he was deluded to the point of believing that the war would
be his grand opportunity.
Instead of using his influence to promote the national unity so
essential under the trying circumstances with which Canada and the whole
British Empire was suddenly confronted, he exerted himself to the utmost
to prevail on his French Canadian countrymen to assume a decisive
hostile stand to the noble cause which Britain had to fight for, in
order to avenge the crime of the violation of Belgium's territory, to
protect France from German cruel invasion, and to prevent Autocratic
power from enslaving Humanity.
Such a misconception of a truly loyal man's part was most detrimental to
the good of Canada's future, to the destinies of the French Canadians,
and to the political standing of the publicist who was its willing
victim.
And to-day he finds himself in this position that he has no other choice
but that of pursuing, at all hazards, his unwholesome campaign against
all things British, or, boldly retracing his steps, to go back on all he
has said and written to support inadmissible views, vain ideas, and
passionate prejudices.
The latter course would certainly be the best to follow in the interest
of his country, of his French Canadian countrymen, and of his usefulness
as a public man. But, however much to be regretted, he seems utterly
unable to overcome the prejudices which have taken such deep root in his
heart and mind.
Prejudice, constantly cultured, soon develops into blind fanaticism,
closing the intellect to the light of sound logic, to the call of duty,
to the clear comprehension of what is best to do to promote the public
good.
However seriously guilty he may be, the public man, so swayed by a
fanatical passion, is sure not to rally to the defense of the superior
interests of his countrymen when they are threatened by a great
misfortune.
I cannot help deploring that after giving good hopes of a life
patriotically devoted to the increasing welfare of Canada, by doing his
share in promoting the best feelings among his countrymen of all races,
classes and creeds, one of my kin, really gifted to play a much better
part, has been so sadly mistaken as to exhaust his activities in forcing
his way to the leadership of a group of malcontents unable to overcome
their racial antipathies and listen to reason, even when their country
and the Empire to which they have sworn allegiance are destructively
menaced.
He has nobody else to blame but himself for the failure of his political
career, due to his misguided efforts in thwarting the happiness and
prosperity which our great Dominion would certainly derive from the
persevering union of all the citizens enjoying the blessings of her free
British institutions, to work out her brilliant destinies by their
intelligent labours, their hearted patriotism in peace times, and with
their undaunted courage and their self-sacrificing devotion in war
days.
After a somewhat prolonged spectacular display in the House of Commons,
as member for the electoral division of Labelle, he felt instinctively
that he had exhausted what he considered his usefulness, and was doomed
to a dismal failure. He retired from the Dominion political arena, to
try his luck in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec. No
wiser a man by experience, he challenged the Leader of the parliamentary
majority to a truly duellist struggle on the floor of the House. He
thrusted at his opponent with the vigour of a combatant certain to
conquer. All those who witnessed this encounter, must remember how
completely overbearing confidence, proudly asserted, was overcome by
calm and superior argumentative power, sound and clear political sense.
True parliamentary eloquence easily brought to reason pedantic and
bombastic oratory. The first throw--_le debut_--went decidedly against
the Nationalist leader. A beaten fighter from this very first day, he
met with as complete a failure in the provincial political arena as he
had done in the federal one. Wisely indeed, he retired from
parliamentary life, after realizing that debating power cannot be
acquired by demagogic speaking.
The Nationalist leader next limited his efforts to the tribune, to the
public platform. All remember the time when he was periodically calling
great popular meetings held in _Le Monument National_, Montreal, where
he preached his Nationalist gospel with vehement talking. This new
experiment could not last. It soon subsided. And the Nationalist leader
is since addicted to pamphleteering of the worst kind as I will show in
this book.
Deeply moved by the dangers of a most mischievous campaign, I considered
it my bounded duty to do my utmost efforts to prove how utterly wrong
were the views which those pursuing it with passionate energy wanted to
prevail, and to show the sad consequences it was sure to produce.
Having first addressed myself to my French Canadian compatriots to
persuade them how much detrimental to their best future the Nationalist
campaign was sure to be, I am to-day laying the case before my English
speaking countrymen, at the urgent request of many of them, in order to
fully acquaint them with the refutation I have made, to the best of my
ability, of Mr. Bourassa's erroneous theories and wild charges against
England and all those who patriotically support our mother country in
the great struggle she has had to wage after doing all she possibly
could to maintain the peace of the world.
I ardently desire that the reading of the following pages, will
contribute to the restoration of harmony and good will, for a while
endangered by the Nationalist campaign, in our wide Dominion, to whose
happiness, prosperity and grandeur we, of both English and French
origins, must devote our best energies and all the resources of our
unwavering patriotism.
L. G. DESJARDINS.
Quebec, October 1st, 1918.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
--INTRODUCTION 1
I --WHO ARE THE GUILTY PARTIES? 25
II --THE PERSISTENT EFFORTS OF ENGLAND
IN FAVOUR OF PEACE 29
III --THE CALL TO DUTY IN CANADA 40
IV --RECRUITING BY VOLUNTARY SERVICE 46
V --INTERVENTION OF NATIONALISM 49
VI --WHAT DO WE OWE ENGLAND? 51
VII --CANADA IS NOT A SOVEREIGN STATE 55
VIII --GERMAN ILLUSIONS 67
IX --THE NATIONALIST ERROR 68
X --HAD CANADA THE RIGHT TO HELP ENGLAND? 71
XI --THE DUTY OF CANADA 74
XII --THE SOUDANESE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN
WARS 77
XIII --BRITISH AND GERMAN ASPIRATIONS
COMPARED 87
SUB-TITLE--CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLY 93
" --TRANSPORT 97
" --THE AIR SERVICE 98
" --THE FINANCIAL EFFORT OF
GREAT BRITAIN 100
" --ACHIEVEMENTS OF DOMINION,
COLONIAL AND INDIAN
TROOPS 101
XIV --THE VERITABLE AIMS OF THE ALLIES 104
SUB-TITLE--THE ONLY POSSIBLE PEACE
CONDITIONS 111
XV --JUST AND UNJUST WARS 116
SUB-TITLE--A "NATIONALIST" ILLOGICAL
CHARGE AGAINST ENGLAND 125
" --OTHER "NATIONALIST" ERRONEOUS
ASSERTIONS 128
" --INCREDIBLE "NATIONALIST"
NOTIONS 131
" --CANADIAN FINANCIAL OPERATIONS
IN THE UNITED STATES 134
XVI --"NATIONALIST" VIEWS CONDENSED 139
XVII --LOYAL PRINCIPLES PROPOUNDED 143
SUB-TITLE--UNJUST "NATIONALIST"
GRIEVANCES AGAINST ENGLAND 150
XVIII --IMPERIALISM 164
XIX --AMERICAN IMPERIALISM 177
XX --BRITISH IMPERIALISM 189
XXI --THE SITUATIONS OF 1865 AND 1900-14
COMPARED 194
XXII --BRITISH IMPERIALISM NATURALLY
PACIFIST 198
XXIII --BRITISH IMPERIALISM AND POLITICAL
LIBERTY 207
XXIV --IMPERIAL FEDERATION AND "BOURASSISM" 216
SUB-TITLE--CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
OF INDIA 227
XXVII --THE FUTURE CONSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS
OF THE EMPIRE 231
SUB-TITLE--NO TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION 235
" --COLONIAL REPRESENTATION 236
" --THE FAR OFF FUTURE 247
" --A MACHIAVELLIAN PROPOSITION 251
" --A TREASONABLE PROPOSAL 259
XXVIII --OUTRAGES ARE NO REASONS 267
XXIX --HOW MR. BOURASSA PAID HIS COMPLIMENTS
TO THE CANADIAN ARMY 277
XXX --RASH DENUNCIATION OF PUBLIC
MEN 288
XXXI --MR. BOURASSA'S DANGEROUS PACIFISM 302
XXXII --A MOST REPREHENSIBLE ABUSE OF
SACRED APPEALS TO THE BELLIGERENT
NATIONS 307
XXXIII --A CASE FOR TRUE STATESMANSHIP 321
XXXIV --AFTER-THE-WAR MILITARY PROBLEM 324
XXXV --THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED
STATES IN THE WAR 334
XXXVI --THE ALLIES--RUSSIA--JAPAN 348
XXXVII --THE LAST PEACE PROPOSALS 357
XXXVIII --NECESSARY PEACE CONDITIONS 372
XXXIX --CONCLUSION 383
APPENDIX--A 411
APPENDIX--B 421
England, Canada and the Great War
INTRODUCTION.
Canada, as one of the most important component parts of the British
Empire, is going through the crucial ordeal of the great crisis which
will determine her destinies jointly with those of the whole world.
Instantly put under the strain, four years ago, by the outrageous
challenge of Germany to human civilization with the criminal purpose of
universal domination, she was fully equal to her unbounded duty.
Conscious of her sacred rights, she at once realized that the
constitutional liberties which she enjoyed in the freest Empire of all
times, could not be more patriotically exercised than for the defence of
the sacred cause which united in a gigantic effort England, France and
Russia, soon to receive the support of Italy. By an almost unanimous and
enthusiastic decision she rallied to the flag around which all the
Dependencies of the Empire gathered from the five continents. Never a
more inspiring array of loyal subjects, owing allegiance to a
Sovereignty, was witnessed in the wide world.
Through the trying days of four full years of the greatest war which
ever saddened the life of the human race, Canada has nobly, gloriously,
done her duty. Several hundred thousands of her devoted sons have rushed
to the front to fight the battle of Liberty, of Right, of Civilization.
Thousands of them have heroically given their lives for the triumph of
the cause which, if finally triumphant, will brighten with freedom,
prosperity, human happiness and undying glory, the destinies of many
generations.
The struggle is not over. The battle is not yet won. Victory is in sight
but unfortunately still so far distant, that it is still calling forth
the undaunted exertions of all those who have pledged their faith to
rescue the world from the cruel thraldom of German militarism.
Two years ago, at the critical period which culminated in the undecided
military operations which, though rendered illustrious by the glorious
defence of Verdun, made it plain to the Allies that success would only
be the reward of a much more prolonged effort of untold sacrifices, I
undertook to write the book entitled in French: "_L'Angleterre, le
Canada et la Grande Guerre_."
Several of the most influential and widely circulated News-papers of
Montreal, Toronto and Quebec, have kindly published highly appreciative
Reviews of the French Edition of my book, concluding with the request of
the publication of an English Edition, which, they affirmed, would be
conducive to the public good. I have received many letters and verbal
demands to the same purpose.
It is my duty to answer to a call daily becoming more pressing.
I now offer to the English reading public a condensed edition of my
work, with the title "_England, Canada and the Great War_." I concluded
not to issue a complete English Edition of the French volume. Instead of
translating my book, I considered it more advisable to write an English
synopsis of its contents. Undertaking such a work, I realized more than
ever how important it is for the Citizens of Canada to be able to speak
and write the languages of the two great races of the Dominion. Knowing
well my own deficiency in this regard, I hoped, however, to write the
following pages with enough clearness to have my views well understood,
trusting to the kindness of my readers to excuse the inadequacy of my
command of English.
A few words explaining the reasons that prompted me to write the French
book will, I am confident, be kindly appreciated by my readers. A close
observer of the daily impressions which the events developed by the war
were creating in Canada, I felt more and more deeply grieved at the
persistent and unpatriotic efforts of the leaders of the Nationalist
school of the Province of Quebec, and their henchmen, to sway my
French-Canadian countrymen from the clear path of duty. I undertook
earnestly to do my best to stem the threatening wave of disloyal
sentiments and racial conflict they were stirring up throughout the
land. "_England, Canada and the Great War_" was the result of the very
careful study of the numerous questions therein considered and of the
patriotic impulse which led me to publish it.
I dedicated the volume to my French-Canadian countrymen by a letter from
which I translate the following:
"It would surely be vain to conceal how serious was the situation
imposed upon our country by the sudden outbreak, in August, 1914, of the
greatest war of all times. It was dominated by the supreme fact that
Canada was a component part of one of the most powerful Empires whose
destinies were to be determined, for good or ill, for many long years,
by the terrible conflict suddenly opened, but, for a prolonged period,
prepared by those who dreamt of conquering the world."
"Great Britain, our Sovereign Metropolis, had done her utmost to protect
Humanity against the misfortunes which endangered her future, for the
maintenance of peace. She had failed in her noble efforts. At the very
moment when, against all the most critical appearances, she was still
hopeful, she had, all of a sudden, to face the terrible alternative,
either to submit to national dishonour by complying with the violation
of solemn treaties which bound her as much as Germany, or to unite with
France and Russia to avenge Justice outrageously violated, sworn
international Faith, Civilization perilously threatened."
"Could she hesitate for one single moment?"
"Our Mother Country has done that which her most imperious duty
commanded her to do. She accepted the challenge of Germany with the
patriotic determination inspired by the most sacred cause. All the loyal
subjects of the British Crown have applauded her decision to rush to the
defence of invaded Belgium and France, to reclaim their national honour
and her own, and to protect her Empire against the German armies."
"With the most inspiring unanimity and admirable courage, all the
British Colonies have rallied around the flag of their Sovereign
Metropolis to share the glory of the triumph of Right and Justice. At
the very front rank, Canada has nobly done her duty. Her decision was
most spontaneous and decisive. She was not deterred by fallacious
subtilties, deducted from pretended conventions, out of age and
opportunity, to hinder her laudable and patriotic course. Throughout the
length and breadth of her vast territory, all minds shared the same
view, all hearts were united and beating with the same powerful
sentiment."
"The decision of Canada to participate in the present war was taken by
the constitutional government of the country, sanctioned by Parliament,
approved by public opinion, glorified by the hundreds of thousands of
brave volunteers who courageously answered the call of duty."
"Views with which I cannot concur have been expressed and given full
publicity. They challenge discussion. It is my undoubted right to
criticize them."
"Since the beginning of the present war, Mr. Henri Bourassa, in addition
to the daily publicity of his journal "_Le Devoir_", has developed, in
two principal pamphlets, the theories of his "_Nationalism_". They are
respectively entitled: "_Que devons-nous a l'Angleterre?_" "_What do we
owe England?_" and: "_Hier, Aujourd'hui, Demain_" "_Yesterday, To-day,
To-morrow_"."
"In earnestly searching out the real causes of the war, the
responsibilities of the belligerent nations, their respective
aspirations, the duty imposed by the irresistable course of events upon
the British Empire and consequently upon Canada, I was incessantly
called upon to consider the very strange propositions contained in those
pamphlets."
"It was with great surprise that I read, for instance, as the heading of
one of the chapters, the utterly false proposition that: "_The
Autonomous Colonies are Sovereign States._"
"And these most extraordinary affirmations that the _King of England has
not the right to declare the State of war for Canada, without the assent
of the Canadian Cabinet; that Canada could have participated in the
present war as a Nation_."
"It is my bounden duty to affirm that almost all the propositions
contained in the two above mentioned pamphlets are wrong according to
international law and to constitutional law, erroneous in their
historical bearings, contrary to the true teachings of the past."
"Mr. Bourassa persistingly trying to convince his readers that the
precedents of the Soudanese and the South-African wars have forced the
British Colonies to participate in the present one, I considered it my
duty to make, in two separate chapters, a special study of those
military campaigns which, in both cases, were so felicitously terminated
for all parties concerned."
"I cannot close this letter without expressing my profound regret that
Mr. Bourassa has thought proper to use most injurious language adding
outrage to the falsity of his opinions. At page 121 of his pamphlet:
"_Yesterday, To-day, To-morrow_", any one can read, no doubt with
astonishment, that Mr. Bourassa charges our countrymen of the British
races with being _ignorant, assuming, arrogant, dominating and rotten
with mercantilism_."
"Such ridiculous and insulting words to the address of our countrymen of
the three British races are surely not calculated to increase Canadian
harmony."
"This book, written for the express purpose of assisting you to form for
yourselves a sound opinion about the terrible events so rapidly
developing, was inspired by my loyalty to the Empire whose faithful
subject I glory to be, by my devotion to Canada and to my countrymen, by
the affectionate recollection of France I will cherish to my last day.
"During the last fifty years, either as a private or as an officer of
the Canadian Militia--my service as such having lasted more than forty
years--as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of
Quebec, and as a member of the House of Commons of Canada, I have often
taken the oath of allegiance to the Sovereign of Great Britain. From my
early youth, I had learned that under the aegis of the British Crown, the
citizen of the Empire could be true to his oath, and enjoy the precious
liberty of expressing his opinion. But I had also soon realized that
during the lifetime of a Sovereign State, days of peril might occur. I
had easily come to the conclusion that in those trying moments the loyal
duty could be very happily reconciled with the most sincere love of
political liberty.
"In defending with the most sincere conviction the sacred cause of the
Allies, I am doing my duty as a free subject of the British Empire, as a
citizen of Canada and of the Province of Quebec, as a son of France, as
a devoted servant of Justice and Right. I am true to my oath."
I desire to call the special attention of my readers to the complete
sense of the last paragraph just quoted. I most decidedly wish its
meaning to be fully understood by all, as I intended to convey it to my
French Canadian compatriots. I have never concurred in the subtle
distinction so often made between the several notions entertained by
many respecting their duty towards the Empire and Canada separately.
Having witnessed, for the last fifty years, the admirable evolution and
natural growth of the British constitutional system over a fourth of the
globe, developing into the freest Empire that ever existed, my mind was
more and more impressed with the conviction that loyalty to the
Sovereignty presiding over such a magnificent national heritage could
not be of two different kinds. A free British subject, whether living in
the United Kingdom, or in any one of the Dependencies of the Crown,
cannot be at once loyal to the Empire at large and disloyal to any of
its component parts; or, _vice versa_, loyal to the particular section
of the State where he is living and at the same disloyal to the Empire.
Such a false conception of the duties of loyalty, if it could be spread
successfully throughout the Empire, would undoubtedly lead to its rapid
dissolution and complete destruction. Genuine loyalty cannot agree with
exclusive and rampant sectionalism, with local, racial or religious
prejudices and fanaticism.
The few lines of the preceding closing paragraph of my letter dedicating
the French edition of my book as aforesaid, express my own conception of
the true loyalty of a faithful subject of the British Sovereignty, who
has the clear vision of the meaning of his oath of allegiance. In
consequence, first, I affirm my duty as a subject of the British Empire;
second, as a citizen of Canada; third, as a citizen of my own Province
of Quebec. And then, taking a wider range of the duty of any man towards
his ancestors' lineage, I declare that under the cruel circumstances of
the case, I also consider it is my duty to defend France against her
deadly enemy. Further enlarging the vision of duty to its fullest
extent, I say that I am bound to defend the cause of the Allies by
proving that I am a loyal servant of Justice and Right.
Surely I could not emphasize in terms more pregnant my loyalty to the
cause of the British Empire, of France, and their Allies, of Liberty and
Civilization. I confidently hope they will persuade my readers that this
book was written with the most sincere and patriotic desire to help
rallying my French Canadian compatriots to the defence of the British,
French and Canadian flags, which must together emerge triumphant from
the gigantic fight against the most threatening wave of barbarism the
world has ever had to contend with at the cost of so great and heroic
sacrifices.
When the first French edition of this book was issued, in January of
last year, matters respecting the prosecution of the war had not yet
required the serious consideration by Parliament and the country of the
question of conscription to maintain to their proper efficiency the
Canadian divisions on the firing line. Consequently, I was not then
called upon to consider that most important subject. When I had to
decide about publishing a second French edition--the first being
entirely exhausted--I at first thought of adding to my work a few
chapters respecting the most notable events developed by the gigantic
struggle shaking the world to its very basic foundation. Foremost
amongst them were the Russian sudden Revolution, the solemn entrance of
the United States into the great fight, the imperious necessity of the
military effort of the Allies far beyond that which had been foreseen,
in order to achieve the final victory which will be the only adequate
reward of their undaunted determination not to sheathe the sword before
Germany will agree to restore peace upon the only possible conditions
which will efficiently protect humanity from any other attempt at brutal
universal domination. The question of conscription in Canada was the
natural outcome of the progress of the deadly conflict between
Civilization and barbarism, constitutional Freedom and despotism,
democratic institutions and autocracy.
I soon realized that I could not properly do justice to such grave
subjects in a few pages added to my first book. After mature
consideration, I considered it was my duty to undertake to write a
second volume. I have so informed the public in the _Advertisement_
which prefaces the second French edition of the first. This second
volume I will soon issue, also intending to publish an English synopsis
of it, if that of the first volume meets the kind appreciation I hope of
my English speaking countrymen.
However, pending the publication of the second volume, I think it is my
duty to express now my views, in a summary way, on that much discussed
question of obligatory military service. Let me preface by saying that
they are not new, having originated in my mind more than thirty years
ago. The military necessities of the present war have, of course, given
them more precision and clearness.
Deeply conscious of the sacred duty of all truly loyal British subjects
through the present prolonged world crisis for the life or death of
human Liberty, I had to consider conscription from the double
stand-point of a free citizen of Canada and of my military experience
acquired in the course of a service of over forty years.
Most strongly and convincingly opposed to the militarism of the
atrocious German type--the curse of Humanity--I have always
believed--and do still more and more believe--imbued, I hope, with the
true sense and principles of democratic institutions, that the greatest
boon that could be granted the world would be that the admirable
Christian law of peace and good-will amongst men would prevail for all
times, and save the nations from the cruel obligation of keeping
themselves constantly fully armed at the great cost of the best years of
manhood, and of their accumulated treasures. But unfortunately it has
not yet been the good luck of man to reach the goal of this most noble
ambition. Instead of a steady advance in the right direction, he has,
for the last fifty years, experienced a most dangerous set back by the
predominating influence of German militarism, developed and mastered by
the most autocratic power to the point of threatening the liberties of
the whole world.
Need I say that, as a purely philosophical question of principle, I most
sincerely deplore that the political state of the world has been and is
such that national safety cannot be, in too many cases, properly assured
without the law of the land calling upon the manhood of a country to
make the sacrifice of part of the best years of enthusiastic youth, and
requiring from the nation, as a collective body, the expenditure, to an
untold amount, for the purposes of defence, of the accumulated savings
of hard work and intelligent thrift.
Fortunately, the two continents of America, so abundantly blessed by
Providence, had, until the present war, been able to pursue their
prosperous and dignified course free from the entanglements of European
Militarism.
Even England, in all the majesty of her Imperial power, her flag
gloriously waving over so many millions of free men, protected as she
was by the waves which she ruled with grandeur and grace, had succeeded
in avoiding the curse of continental conscriptionism.
Between permanent conscription, despotically imposed upon a nation under
autocratic rule, and temporary military compulsion freely accepted by a
noble people for the very purpose of saving Humanity from military
absolutism, there is, every one must admit, a wide difference. I have
been, I am, and will be, to my last day, the uncompromising opponent of
autocratic conscription, which I consider as a permanent crime against
Christian Civilization, and the ready instrument of barbarous
domination. To temporary compulsion I can agree, as a matter of
patriotic and national duty, if the circumstances of the case are such
that without its timely use, my country which has the first and
undoubted right to my most patriotic devotion, at the cost of all I may
own and even of my life, for her defence, would fall the prey to
despotism which would bleed her to death to sway the world.
Such is the ordeal through which Canada, the British Empire, in fact
much the greater part of the universe, are passing with torrents of
blood shed to rescue Mankind from the domination of German militarism.
If Germany could have her course free; if she could reach the goal of
her criminal ambition, nearly the whole world would be, for many long
years, in the throes of the most abominable conscriptionism.
If after the enthusiasm of voluntary military service has exhausted
itself from the very successful result of its patriotic effort, is it
not a duty for all loyal citizens to accept temporary compulsion, to
save their country from the horrors of defeat at the hands of the most
cruel enemy which has ever shamed the light of the sun since it shines
over the Human race blessed with Christian principles and moral
teachings.
To the present generation of young men, strong, healthy, brave, let us
say: be worthy of the times you live in, be equal to the great task
imposed upon you, accepting with patriotism the sacrifices you are
called upon to make, never forgetting that temporary compulsion for you
means freedom from permanent conscription for your children and
children's children in years to come.
It is from the very height of such lofty considerations that I have made
up my mind about this much vexed question which will, we must all
earnestly hope, be more and more well understood and eventually settled
to the everlasting good of the country once for all delivered from the
exasperating menace of German despotism.
I must reserve for the second volume of this work, the fuller expression
of my views of what should be the military system to be maintained in
Canada, after the very wide experience we will have derived from the
present great war. All I will add now is that ever since the early
eighties of the last century, after many years of voluntary service in
the Canadian Militia, I had fully realized that it is no more possible
to make a real soldier by a few days yearly training, for three years,
than you can make a competent lawyer of a young man studying law for a
fortnight in the course of three consecutive years.
Since the federal Union of the Provinces we had spent much more than a
hundred million of dollars for the training of our militia, with the
appalling result that when came the day of getting ready for the fray,
we had not two thousand men to send at once to the firing line. The
first thirty thousands of the brave men who enthusiastically volunteered
to go to the front had to be trained, at Valcartier and in England,
several months before being sent to face the enemy whose waves of
permanent divisions of armed men had overrun, like a torrent, Belgium
and northern France. Of course, our boys fought and died like heroes,
but nevertheless we at last learned, at our great cost, that soldiers no
more than lawyers, doctors, merchants, transportation managers, bankers,
business men of all callings, farmers, sailors, etc., can be qualified
in a day.
When the time shall come to consider what will be the requirements of
our military organization, after this terrible struggle is over, I hope
none will forget that war is a great science, an awful and very
difficult art, so that we shall not deceive ourselves any longer by the
illusion that an army can be drawn from the earth in twenty four hours.
Our most efficient military commander cannot entertain the foolish
delusion of Pompey, so crushingly beaten by Caesar, at Pharsalia, that he
can raise legions by striking the ground with his foot.
If our future national circumstances turn out to be such, after the
restoration of peace, that we will not be called upon to make heavy
sacrifices for defence--let Providence so bless our dear country--it
will then be much more rational to save our money than to squander it on
a military system which cannot produce military efficiency.
The future can be trusted to settle favourably its own difficulties. For
us of the present generation, we have to attend to the imperative and
sacred duty of the hour. Let no one shirk his responsibilities, waver in
the heavy task, falter before the sacrifices to be patriotically and
heroically accepted. To deserve the everlasting gratitude of future
generations, we must secure to them the blessings of permanent peace in
a renovated world freed from the tyranny of autocratic despotism.
Surely, I will be permitted to say that, undertaking to write _England,
Canada and the Great War_, I fully realized my bounden duty to study all
the questions raised by the terrible struggle, unreservedly, absolutely,
outside of all party considerations, of all racial prejudices. A party
man, in the only true and patriotic sense of the word, during the
twenty-five years of my active political life, as a journalist and a
member of the Quebec Legislature and of the Parliament of Canada, it
became my lot in the official position which I was asked to accept and
which I loyally filled, to all intents and purposes, for many years, to
train my mind more and more to judge public questions solely from the
point of view of the public good. I do not mean to say that partyism,
well understood and patriotically practiced, is not productive of good
to a country blessed with free institutions. But certainly in the course
of a progressive, intelligent and eventful national life, ennobled by
Freedom happily enjoyed, times occur when it behooves every one to rise
superior to all other considerations, however important they may be, to
serve the only one worthy of all sacrifices: the salvation of the
country. Never was this principle so true, so imperative, than on the
day when the world was so audaciously challenged by Germany to the
deadly conflict still raging with undiminished fury.
That most important question of military obligatory service, brought up
by the pressure of the imperious necessities of military operations,
lengthening and intensifying to unforeseen proportions, was for many
weeks considered by Parliament. Surely, no one for a single moment
entertained the idea that, however desirable and imperative it was for
the representatives of the people to be of only one mind so far as the
prosecution of Canada's share in the war was concerned, constant
unanimity of opinion was possible respecting the various measures to be
adopted to that end. Parliament sitting in the performance of its
constitutional functions, with all its undoubted privileges, could not
be expected not to exercise its right to debate all the matters
constitutionally proposed for its concurrence and approval. I must
certainly and wisely refrain from any comment whatsoever upon the
lengthy discussion of the Military Service Act in both Houses in Ottawa.
Having received the Royal Assent, the Bill is now the law of the land.
All will patriotically rejoice to see that without waiving their right
to pronounce upon the deeds and the views of those who are responsible
to them, the free citizens of Canada will cheerfully accept the new
sacrifices imposed by the obligation of carrying the war to a successful
issue, praying to God to bless their patriotic efforts, and even with
the true Christian spirit, to forgive guilty Germany if she will only
repent for her crimes, and agree to repair a reasonable part of the
immense damages she has wrought upon trodden and martyred nations.
I hope,--and most ardently wish--that all my readers will agree with me
that next to the necessity of winning the war--and, may I say, even as
of almost equal importance for the future grandeur of our beloved
country--range that of promoting by all lawful means harmony and good
will amongst all our countrymen, whatever may be their racial origin,
their religious faith, their particular aspirations not conflicting with
their devotion to Canada as a whole, nor with their loyalty to the
British Empire, whose greatness and prestige they want to firmly help to
uphold with the inspiring confidence that more and more they will be the
unconquerable bulwark of Freedom, Justice, Civilization and Right.
After having so fully expressed my profound conviction of what I
consider to be my sacred duty as a loyal British subject, I feel sure I
will be allowed to ask my English-speaking countrymen not to judge my
French compatriots by the sayings and deeds of persons, too well gifted
and too prone to injure their future and that of the whole country
itself, but utterly disqualified and impotent to do them any good.
Need I affirm that my French Canadian compatriots are loyal at heart, a
liberty loving and peaceful people, law-abiding citizens, fairly minded,
intelligent, hard working, industrious. They have done, they are doing,
and will do, their fair share for the progress and the future greatness
of our wide and mighty Dominion. To all those who desire to appreciate
their course in all fairness and Christian Justice, I will say: do not
fail to take into account that like all other national groups they are
liable, in overtrying circumstances, to be in a certain measure wrongly
influenced by deficiencies of leadership, but depend that they cannot
be, for any length of time, carried away by unscrupulous players on
their feelings. Some of them were deceived by persistent efforts to
persuade them that England was, as much as Germany, guilty of having
precipitated the great war which has been the curse of almost the whole
world for the last four years. The accumulated remembrance of their
staunch loyalty and patriotism during more than a century and a half
will do much to favour the harmonious relations of all Canadians of good
will who, I have no doubt, comprise millions of well wishers of the
glorious destiny of our country.
May I be allowed to conclude by saying that my most earnest desire is to
do all in my power, in the rank and file of the great army of free men,
to reach the goal which ought to be the most persevering and patriotic
ambition of loyal Canadians of all origins and creeds.
And I repeat, wishing my words to be reechoed throughout the length and
breadth of the land I so heartily cherish:--I have always been, I am and
will ever be, to my last breath, true to my oath of allegiance to my
Sovereign and to my country.
CHAPTER I.
WHO ARE THE GUILTY PARTIES?
Any one sincerely wishing to arrive at a sound opinion on the great war
raging for the last four years, must necessarily make a serious study of
the causes which led to the terrific struggle so horribly straining the
energies of the civilized world to escape tyrannical domination. The
case having been so fully discussed, and the responsibilities of the
assailant belligerents so completely proved, I surely need not show at
length that the German Emperor, his military party, the group of the
German population called JUNKERS, are to the highest degree, the guilty
parties of all the woful wrongs imposed upon Mankind and of the
bloodshed unprecedented in all the ages.
The German Empire had for many years decided that it would not alone
attempt to dominate the world. It wanted a partner to share the
responsibility of the crime it was ready to commit at the first
favourable opportunity, but a docile partner which she could direct at
will, command with imperious orders, and crush without mercy at the
first move of resistance. That plying tool was found in the complicity
of Austria-Hungary, for years under the sway of Berlin diplomacy.
No sane man, if he is sincere, if he is honest, can now, for a single
moment, hesitate to proclaim that between Germany and Austria-Hungary,
and the group of nations henceforth bearing the glorious name of THE
ALLIES, Right and Justice are on the side of England, of France, of the
United States, of Belgium, of Italy, of Canada.
Where is the man with a sound mind, with a strong heart, beating with
the noble impulses of righteousness, with a soul dignified by lofty
aspirations, who ignores to-day that for fifty years previous to the
declaration of war, in August 1914, Germany had been perfecting her
military organization for a grand effort at universal domination?
All my life a close student of History, I was much impressed by the
constant Policy of England to maintain Peace during the last century.
When the World emerged from the great wars of the Napoleonic Era, she
firmly took her stand in favour of peaceful relations between the
nations, trusting more and more for the future prosperity of them all to
the advantages to be derived from the permanency of friendly
intercourse, from the ever increasing development of international
trade, prompted by the freest possible exchanges of the products of all
the countries blessed by Providence with large and varied resources. Her
statesmen, so many of them truly worthy of this name, however divided
they may have been with regard to questions of domestic government and
internal reforms, were most united about the course to be followed
respecting foreign relations. Perhaps more than all others having a say
in the management of the world's affairs at large, they fully realized
that no nation could prosper and successfully work out her destinies by
systematically trying to injure her neighbours. No independent country
can become wealthier, happier, and greater, by spreading ruin and
devastation around her frontiers.
The most convincing evidence that England was constantly favourable to
the maintenance of peace amongst the great Powers of the World, for the
last hundred years, is found in her permanent determination not to be
drawn into the vortex of European continental militarism, so powerfully
developed by Prussianism. She could have organized a standing army of
millions of men. She would not. True, during the few years which
preceded the present hurricane, some of the most eminent of England's
military officers, notably, foremost amongst them, Lord Roberts, seeing,
with their eyes wide open, the aggravated dangers accumulating on the
darkening horizon, warned their countrymen about the threatening waves
which menaced the future of the world. But British public opinion, as a
whole, would not depart from her almost traditional policy of
"_non-intervention_". For nearly a century, Great Britain maintained her
"_splendid isolation_", trusting to the sound sense which should always
govern the world to protect Mankind against the horrors of a general
war. Never was this great national policy better exemplified than during
the long and glorious reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. For more than
fifty years, she graced one of the most illustrious Thrones that ever
presided over the destinies of a great Empire, with sovereign dignity,
with womanly virtues, with motherly devotion, with patriotic respect of
the constitutional liberties of her free subjects. When she departed for
a better world, she was succeeded by the great King and Emperor--Edward
VII.--who, during the few years of his memorable reign, proved himself
so much the friendly supporter of harmony and good will amongst the
nations that he deserved to be called "THE KING OF THE PEACE OF THE
WORLD."