DISSOLUTION OF THE IMPERIAL FEDERATION LEAGUE IN ENGLAND
On the 30th January, 1891, Sir Leonard Tilley, of New Brunswick,
was appointed President of the League in Canada in place of D'Alton
McCarthy, mainly through the instrumentality of Principal Grant, who
was of the opinion that the course taken by Mr. McCarthy in opposition
to the Jesuit Estates Act and his movement in favour of Equal Rights
were so unsatisfactory to the French Canadians that the prospect of
the League obtaining their support would be hopeless while he remained
President. Sir Leonard Tilley was one of the Fathers of Confederation,
and at the time Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.
A meeting of the Council of the League in Canada was held on the 18th
September, 1891, Sir Leonard Tilley, President, in the chair, when
after careful discussion they passed a resolution asking the League
in England to help the Canadian Government to secure the denunciation
of the German and Belgian treaties, and a second one urging once more
the importance of a preferential trade arrangement between the Mother
Country and the Colonies.
On the 30th of the same month, both Houses of the Canadian Parliament
passed unanimously an address to the Imperial Government, asking
them to denounce the German and Belgian treaties which prevented
preferential trade arrangements between the various parts of the
British Empire.
The Seventh Annual General Meeting of the League in Canada was held in
the Tower Room, House of Commons, Ottawa, on the 1st March, 1892, Mr.
Alexander McNeill in the chair. A still further advance in the policy
of the Canadian League was made in a resolution moved by Lt.-Col. W.
Hamilton Merritt and carried as follows:
That in the event of preferential inter Imperial trade relations being
adopted in the British Empire, it is the opinion of this League that
Canada will be found ready and willing to bear her share in a just and
reasonable proportion of Imperial responsibilities.
On the 28th April, 1892, Mr. McNeill moved in the House of Commons:
That if and when the Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland admits
Canadian products to the markets of the United Kingdom upon more
favourable terms than it accords to the products of foreign countries,
the Parliament of Canada will be prepared to accord corresponding
advantages by a substantial reduction in the duties it imposes upon
British manufactured goods.
This was carried by ninety-eight votes to sixty-four.
All this was very gratifying to our League, and proved to us that
the campaign we had been waging in Canada for nearly five years had
convinced the majority of the people of the soundness of our policy.
We had our Parliament with us both on the question of the German and
Belgian treaties and preferential tariffs. In Great Britain, however,
our progress had been slow; with the exception of Sir Howard Vincent no
prominent British politician had accepted the principle of preferential
tariffs. Lord Salisbury had spoken tentatively at the Guildhall on the
9th November, 1890, and at Hastings on the 18th May, 1892, but he was,
while in a sense favourable, very cautious in his remarks, as he felt
public opinion in Great Britain was quite averse to any such policy on
account of their obstinate adherence to the principle of Free Trade.
The majority of the Imperial Federation League in England were not at
all favourable to the views of the Canadian League, and the Journal of
the League showed its bias in all its articles on the subject, while
Lord Knutsford on behalf of the Imperial Government in his dispatch on
the 2nd April, 1892, in answer to the joint address of the Canadian
Houses of Parliament declared, that for reasons given, "Her Majesty's
Government have felt themselves unable to advise Her Majesty to
comply with the prayer of the address which you have transmitted for
submission to Her Majesty."
The Eighth Annual General Meeting of the League in Canada was held
in Montreal on the 13th February, 1893, Mr. Alexander McNeill,
Vice-President, in the chair, and a resolution was carried, asking
the Government to request the Imperial Government to summon an
Imperial Conference. Sir Leonard Tilley wrote to the meeting asking
to be relieved of the duties of President, and advising the election
of Mr. Alexander McNeill in his place. In my absence, through Mr.
McNeill's efforts, I was elected President of the League. I accepted
the position, and on examination of its affairs I found that from a
business point of view it was in a very bad condition. The work of the
Secretary was behindhand, the League was without funds and considerably
in debt. I soon succeeded in placing it in a much better position. A
large amount of arrears of fees was collected, and with the assistance
of Mr. Herbert Mason and the late C. J. Campbell we soon secured
subscriptions from a number of friends of the cause, whose names I feel
should be recorded as they aided the movement for many years. The list
of subscribers was as follows: George T. Denison, J. Herbert Mason,
George Gooderham, A. R. Creelman, John T. Small, A. B. Lee, D'Alton
McCarthy, Sir Sandford Fleming, Sir Frank Smith, Alfred Gooderham,
T. G. Blackstock, D. R. Wilkie, Larratt W. Smith, E. B. Osler, A. M.
Cosby, George R. R. Cockburn, Hugh Blain, Albert E. Gooderham, W. G.
Gooderham, and W. H. Beatty. The debts were paid, and a balance on hand
and the future expenses for some years secured. A new secretary was
appointed, and everything was in good working order.
I had barely succeeded in this when I received from the secretary of
the League in England a communication marked "Strictly private and
confidential," informing me that there was a proposal to dissolve the
League, and close its business.
I was much astonished and alarmed at this information, and much
embarrassed by the strict secrecy imposed on me, but a day or two
afterwards I found by the cable dispatches in the Toronto papers
that the matter had come before the Council in England and that the
motion had been adjourned for six months. I concluded that the six
months' hoist meant the end of it. So I preserved the strict request
for secrecy which had been made to me. I had before written privately
in reply to the Secretary, Mr. A. H. Loring, protesting against the
proposition to dissolve the League. And I happened to mention that I
personally would feel inclined to keep up the struggle. I thought the
postponement had settled the matter, but as Mr. John T. Small, the Hon.
Treasurer, was going to England that summer, and as he was a member
of the Executive Committee of the League in England and entitled to
know what was being done, I urged him very particularly to go to the
head office in London, and inquire carefully as what was going on.
When he returned he told me that he had twice tried to see Mr. Loring
but failed, that he had asked for his address, which the clerk said he
could not give him as he was away on his holidays, and Mr. Small was
assured by the clerk that there was nothing going on, and that there
was no information that he knew of to give him.
All this lulled me into a feeling of security. Suddenly on 25th
November, 1893, the news came by cable to the Press that on the
previous day a meeting had been held in London, and that the League
had been dissolved. The meeting was called by a circular dated 17th
November, so that there was no possibility for the Canadian members of
the Council in England to have attended, even if notices had been sent
to them, which was not done.
In the Journal for the 1st December, 1893 (the last issue of that
publication), it is stated that discussion had been taking place in the
meetings of the Executive Committee during the previous six months,
to decide upon the course of action to be adopted by the League in
the immediate future; and it shows that a special committee had been
appointed to consider the matter. The report of this committee was
signed by the Rt. Hon. Edward Stanhope, M.P., President, Lord Brassey,
Sir John Colomb, R. Munro-Ferguson, M.P., H. O. Arnold-Forster, M.P.,
S. Vaughan Morgan, the Lord Reay, and J. G. Rhodes. This committee
reported "a recommendation, that the operations of the League should be
brought to a close."
"This report was discussed at several meetings of the Executive
Committee, and alternative proposals were carefully considered during
the autumn," and on the 24th November, 1893, the report was adopted
by a vote of 18 to 17, Mr. Loring saying he had been assured that the
Canadian League would continue as heretofore.
In spite of all these discussions mentioned, Mr. Small was assured
there was nothing going on, and the Canadian League were kept in
ignorance of the movement until it was accomplished.
This dissolution of the League at a council meeting to which none of
the thirty-five Canadian members representing the Canadian Branch
were either invited or notified, caused a considerable feeling of
dissatisfaction among our members, and was a severe and disheartening
blow to all friends of the cause in Canada, the concealment and secrecy
of the whole movement being very unsatisfactory to everyone.
I called a meeting of our Executive Committee at once for the 27th
November when the matter was considered. A resolution was moved and
unanimously carried that the Secretary should notify the Secretary
of the Imperial Federation League to stop the paper at the end of
this year, and if the journal should be continued that they should
communicate direct with the Canadian subscribers.
The following resolution was also, after careful consideration, carried
unanimously:
Moved by G. R. R. Cockburn, Esq., M.P., seconded by H. J. Wickham:
1. That the Executive Committee having had brought to its notice
telegrams from England published during the past week in the daily
papers stating that the Council of the League in England contemplated
carrying resolutions tending towards its dissolution, would ask (as it
conceives it has the right to do) to be advised at once of any steps
proposed to be taken in that direction.
2. The Canadian Branch of the League was formed at a meeting held in
Montreal on the 9th May, 1885. At that meeting the resolutions passed
at the Conference held in London on the 29th July, 1884, and at the
inaugural meeting of the League held on the 18th November, 1884, were
accepted, and a resolution was then carried forming a Canadian Branch
of the League, to be called the Imperial Federation League in Canada.
3. Among the resolutions of the League in England so accepted were the
following:--
(1) That the object of the League be to secure by federation the
permanent unity of the Empire.
(2) That British subjects throughout the Empire be invited to become
members and to form and organise branches of the League which may
place their representatives on the general committee.
4. Canada then was, and is to-day, face to face with momentous
questions involving its whole political future. The Earl of Rosebery
then and until recently President of the League, in a speech at
Edinburgh on the 31st October, 1888, quoted from a speech delivered in
the American Senate by Senator Sherman these words:
"I am anxious to bring about a public policy that will make more
intimate our relations with the Dominion of Canada. Anything that
will tend to the union of Canada with the United States will meet with
my most hearty support. I want Canada to be part of the United States.
Within ten years from this time (and I ask your particular attention
to this), within ten years from this time the Dominion of Canada will,
in my judgment, be represented either in the Imperial Parliament of
Great Britain, or in the Congress of the United States." Such language
he thought worthy of attention, and then Lord Rosebery went on to say:
"My plan is this: to endeavour so to influence public opinion at home
and in the Colonies that there shall come an imperious demand from the
people of this country, both at home and abroad, that this federation
should be brought about."
5. To bring about a solution of the questions above indicated on the
lines laid down by Lord Rosebery has been, since the formation of the
Canadian Branch and up to this time, its constant and anxious care,
and many of its members have, at great personal sacrifice, devoted
themselves to securing the permanent unity of the Empire, with Canada
as an integral part.
6. Much work has been done, but much more remains to be done. The most
enthusiastic of our members would be unable to say that the objects of
the League have been accomplished, or that the question above referred
to especially affecting Canada has as yet been solved.
7. The dissolution of the League in England would therefore be nothing
less than the desertion of the Canadian Branch at a critical period
in its history, and would further appear necessarily to involve the
destruction of the Leagues branches both in Canada and elsewhere. To
those at least who are unfriendly to our aims, it will seem that the
great cause, of which this branch may without exaggeration be said to
be the representative in Canada, has received a heavy blow indeed at
the hands of its friends.
8. Under these circumstances the Council of the League in England
will, this committee is convinced, appreciate the necessity and
propriety of consulting the Canadian Branch of the League, and of duly
notifying the members resident in Canada, of the Executive Committee
and of the Council of the League in England, before taking any such
step as that above referred to, a step to which this committee has
seen the first and only reference in the public Press.
Not long afterwards we learned that a small faction, principally those
who had managed to destroy the League, had formed a new organisation,
had taken over the office, appropriated the records, lists of members,
subscription list, &c., and adopted the same trade mark or title cover
used for pamphlets. They also assumed the name "Imperial Federation
(Defence) Committee," and began circulating literature, pamphlets,
fly-sheets, &c., all pointing out the shortcomings of the Colonies, and
demanding cash contributions to the Army and Navy. This was done in a
spirit that aroused a good deal of hostile feeling in Canada, and did
much more harm than good to the cause they seemed to advocate. Had they
desired to destroy the movement in Canada, they could not have taken
more effective steps to secure that result.
This intrigue has been the most puzzling circumstance connected with
the history of the Imperial Federation movement. I have never been
able, even after the most careful inquiry, to reach with confidence
the real cause of such peculiar conduct. At one time I thought that as
Lord Rosebery had become Premier the existence of the League might have
become embarrassing to him, and that he had been in favour of doing
away with it, but Dr. Parkin assured me that this could not be, as Lord
Rosebery referred to the question some years after when Dr. Parkin was
his guest at Mentmore, and asked him why the League was dissolved, and
Lord Rosebery said that he regretted its dissolution very much and
could never understand it.
My own impression, although it is, of course, not capable of proof,
has always been that a few free traders on the committee were alarmed
at the progress the Canadian members were making in spreading views in
favour of preferential tariffs, and in reference to which Sir Charles
Tupper had been rather aggressive.
The destruction of the League would have been useless unless steps
were taken to prevent its revival, and to destroy, if possible, the
League in Canada. Hence the adoption of the name, address, trade mark,
etc., under which to flood Canada with publications tending to arouse
great hostility among our people. This was the condition in which I
found affairs only about ten months after I had been elected President.
The outlook was most discouraging, and caused a great deal of anxious
discussion among the stalwarts in Toronto. We decided to summon a
meeting of our most influential men to consider the situation, and
decide whether we also should dissolve, or whether we would continue
the struggle.
The meeting was held on the 3rd January, 1894, and after full
discussion it was decided to fight on, and with the assistance of
Sir John Lubbock, who had sent a communication to us asking us to
co-operate with him, to endeavour to resuscitate the League in England.
The ninth annual meeting of the Imperial Federation League in Canada
was held in the Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, on the 29th May, 1894,
and in the notices of motion printed in the circular calling the
meeting was one by Lt.-Col. Wm. O'Brien, M.P., as follows:
Resolved, that the first step towards arriving at a system of
preferential trade within the Empire should be for the Government of
Canada to lower the customs duties now imposed upon goods imported
from the United Kingdom.
And another to the same effect by Rev. Principal George M. Grant:
Resolved, that this League is of opinion that as a first step towards
arriving at a system of preferential trade within the Empire, the
Government of Canada should lower the Customs duties now imposed on
goods manufactured in and imported from Great Britain.
These notices exactly foreshadowed the policy adopted by Sir Wilfrid
Laurier's Government in 1897.
Another resolution was carried to the effect that a delegation should
be elected by the Executive Committee to confer personally with the
City of London Branch and similar organisations, and agree upon a
common course of future action. Accordingly on the 6th June, 1894, the
Executive Committee appointed "Colonel G. T. Denison President, Larratt
W. Smith, Esq., Q.C., LL.D., President Toronto Branch, George E. Evans,
Esq., Hon. Secretary of the League in Canada, John T. Small, Esq., Hon.
Treasurer, H. J. Wickham, Esq., Chairman of the Organising Committee,
J. L. Hughes, Esq., J. M. Clark, Esq., and Professor Weldon, M.P., to
be the delegation, with power to add to their number." Messrs. Clark,
Small, and Weldon were unable to act, and Sir Charles Tupper, then
High Commissioner, Lord Strathcona, and Lt.-Col. Septimus Denison,
Secretary and Treasurer of the London Ontario Branch, were added to the
delegation.
This was the turning point of the movement, and led to the organisation
of the British Empire League and the continuance of the struggle for
Imperial consolidation. The account of this mission, its work in
England, and the subsequent proceedings of the new League, and the
progress of the movement for Imperial Unity during the succeeding
years, will be dealt with in the following chapters.