Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-11-04
CANADIAN IDENTIFICATION.

The French and English Cannot Tuscan
ncxatlon to the Great Republic the
True Solution.
New York sun.
For American observers there is much
political significance in the events which
are now exciting the Canadian Dominion
Something more serious than transient
disagreement and disturbance is Implied
in the clamorous demands of French Can
adams for the Communication Of the death
sentence of Riel, and in the bitterness
with which they resent the imputation
that the ravagcs Of smallpox at Mon
treal are traceable to neg
lcct of sanitary precautions. 1t may not
concern us to discuss whether the rebel
lion nstigatcd for second time by the
half-hrced agitator is an offensc desery-
ing of capital punishment, or whether the
outbreak of n destructive epidemic has
been correctly charged to unclcanly hab-
its and an irrational prejudice against
vaccination. But it really interests us to
learn that these phenomena are but symp-
toms of the invcteratc antagonism be-
tween the French and English elements
of the Dominion's population, and proofs
that the hopes OF fusion built on the con-
federation experiment are irreparably
shattered.
That these events will bear no other
construction is distinctly asserted by Mr..
Goodwin Smith, whose insight and fore
sight are now much more generally appre-
ciated in Canada than they were twelve
years ago, as Is shown by the surprising
change in the attitude of the Toronto
Globe toward the advocates of independ.
cncc or Of annexation. What Mr.. Smith
says in the last number of the Week can
not fail to arouse attention on both sides
of the great lakes. Admitting the fugitive
character OF the occasion for the recent
outbreak of traditional cnmity, he in
sists that the conflict of interest and
sentiment between the French and En-.
glish citizens of the Dominion is ire
pressible. "Riel, " he says, "will pass off
the scene, the smallpox will be subdued,
but the feeling Of race will remain. New
France is separate nation from British
Canada; the fact is becoming daily more
evident" "Fuslon is out of the cues
ton; it becomes more hopeless every
hour" 'For us British Canadans)
confederation means, and is likely more
and more to mean, subsection to the
solid vote of Quebec
Similar convictions have been ex-
pressed with equal candor and supported
by an impressive array Of evidence i'm two
remarkable letters from Ottawa which
have been published in the Sun. Not
only are the French peculiar
people, proud of their social isolation
and determined tc preserve 1t, but our
correspondent shows how, under the
working of the Dominion government,
they tend to become the masters of their
British fellow-citi2ens, with whom they
repudiate any sympathy or common inter.
est He declares that by their votes i'm the
Canadian house Of commons "the
French to large extent hold the central
power In thrallN In other words.
"French ideas are not merely dominant
In the lower province, they are intreuched
in the very center of our whole political
system, and more or less control all the
movements of the governmental
machiue.n 1t Is for this reason that
the Dominion experiment (only accepted
with the utmost reluctance by the mara.
time provinces, and to this day rejected
by Newfoundland is coming to be
recognized rs failure even In the
province of Onta,io Upper Canada
which invented and imposed It.
But, admitting the miscarriage of the
confederation scheme, considered as an
agency OF fusion, TO what eXpedieut will
the Canadians recur? suppose that the
dominion is resolved into its elements.
will these fall back into the status of
distinct and rival colonies, whose iuxta
position would be source of constant
friction, and whose local lcgiSlatfons
would be so many Centers Of feryid
iealousies and cnmiticsy That EXPERT
ment has been tried and condemned by
results so miscellaneous that even the
questionable project OF confederation was
~ FIRST hailed as relief win a solu
ton of the problem be sought
In a declaration OF Canadian mdepend-
cnceI Such step could hardly mend
matters, ior French and English would
be LETT Ia the old dilemma, confronted by
the question whether their independence
was Ia be collective or distinctive.
union OF componcnts essentially unfusible
under conditions OF perfect independence
would be clearly moro impracticable
than the present mechanical combination
under the exterior pressure of the.Btitish
crown. As for the alternative hypoth-
esls, that French republic OF Quebec
and British republic OF Ontario might
coeNist in peace and amity this has
never been mootod by the mos, opu-
mistc student OF the situation.
For the domnlon's troubles there Is
just one rcmedy--namely That each
member Of The Canadian confederation
should apply for admission to the AmeIi.
can unionin the capacity OF a state. 70
that conviction all Intelligent Canadians
must ultimately come, and they VIII ar
rive att the sooner because on this side
Of the border, while we might welcome,
we would mot lift a tlngcr To accelerate
the impulse toward annexation. II would
have 70 he a love match, and the utmost
toihe hoped for from The people Of this
country would be thar they would not
forbid the haaus.