The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-08-29
CANADA's DEVELOPMENT AND DEs-

TINY.
Whatever may be said as to the time
illness of the proposal to summon a colon
ial Conferences proposal of which the
British Prime Minister prefers to leave
the responsibility to the Imperial FEEDER
alton League, the sympathies of colon
lists are due to the latter body for cham
pioning their cause in the old country. |
Certainly, in the somewhat bitter con- |
troversy that has lately been raging be-
tween certain writers and the League,
much as we differ from some of the
Leagues conclusions, we cannot help
giving it the preference over the advo-
Gates of disintegration and the abandon
ment of the colonies. 1t is only fair to
remember that the League has always
been our friend, has maintained the prin-
ciple of the equality of the colonies with
the mother land as integral and impor-
tant portions of the Empire, and has
kept English statesmen awake to duties
which they have sometimes been wont
to forget. 1t is impossible to ignore the
fact that the greater attention which has
been given to colonial interests for years
past has been largely owing to the
Leagues efforts. That it is virtually for
hidden to any English public man to sug-
gest the surrender of any part of Eng
lands great domain beyond the sea-a
surrender which was once openly put
forward as a matter of course-we may,
to a considerable extent, thank the I'm
perial Federation League and the Royal
Colonial Institute. This last society was,
indeed, expressly organized (as its name
implies) to put the colonies on proper
footing in the United Kingdom, and to
promote intercourse between colonists
and home-born subjects of the Queen.
Both in Parliament and in the press col
onial affairs receive share of respect
full discussion which some years ago 1t
was not deemed necessary to allot to
them. The foremost periodicals take
them up from month to month as sub
jects on which the public should be in,
formed, and it is only simple justice to-
acknowledge that for this prominence
accorded to questions in which we are
specially concerned, the organizations
already mentioned are entitled to some
thankful recognition.
Nor has Canada gained least in the dis
trlbution of these favors. During the
last ten years or so the British press has
ton which IS not merely flattering. Our
own very real progress during that per-
iod must, of course, be taken into &C
count in seeking the reason for it, The
distinguished services of our High Com
missioner must also be borne in mind.
The more frequent intercourse between
Canada and the mother country, espec-
tally since the opening of the Canadian
Pacific railway, is also deserving of men
ton among the determining causes. To
whatever it be due, the fact is one on
which we may congratulate ourselves
that in the daily and periodical press of
Great Britain, Canada is theme on
which many writers find much to say,
and the public evidently likes to be in
structed. =
The opening article in the last Quarter
IN ReUielU treats of Canada ; its Devel-
opment and Destiny" On the former
of these topics we need not dwell fur
Their than to say that the reviewer has
studied it with the utmost care. AT a
time when so many have given them
selves up to theories and all sorts of
schemes are being preached for the dis
posal of this great Dominion, the writer
thinks it not unreasonable to lay few
facts before the public as proof of what
Canada has achieved under the actual
dispensation. So he takes the reader
across the continent, describing en- route
the peculiar resources of each region
traversed, its agriculture, its mineral
wealth, its forests, its fisheries, its man
ufactures, its educational system, its as
pirations, needs and prospects. He backs
his general survey of the progress of re-
cent years by statistics from the last pub.
ished blue books. He shows what parts
of Canada are best adapted for immi-
grants, and what class of immigrants
would best suit the country. He touches
on the social and political life of Cana
da its strivings in art and literature );
its scientific work the growth of ma
tional spirit the patriotism of its ma.
tive-born population, about four-ffths OF
the whole the conflict of races, and the
causes that intensity it the antagon
ism to annexation on the part of the
great mass of the people. Then the
Quarterly Reviewer takes up the question
of Imperial federation. Though the ad
vocates of it have made some Roadway
of late, the question has not as yet crossed
the pale of theory. On certain points,
however, Canadians, as a whole, may be
said to have made up their minds. No
scheme would be acceptable that would
weaken their present independence both
federal and provincial Canadians would
decline to entrust their fiscal policy to
any parliamentary body in which their
representation would be necessarily
small and their influence corresponding
ly weak. The French Canadian element
some million and quarter of people
look with suspicion on any scheme that
might curtail their privileges or jeopar-
die their interests. At the same time
it may be said of Canadians in general,
that they are true to the Imperial tie, as
they are true-however they may differ
on political, social or religious questions
to their common north-land, with its
lakes, fertile valleys, its rich mines, its
precious fisheries, it's noble scenery and
grand traditions. While these senti-
ments of loyalty to Canada and to the
Empire endure, there is no reason to de-
SPAR of the prospects of the Dominion,
whatever destiny may have in store for
it. The article, (Which we understand
is from the pen of DR.. j. G. Bourinot)
may be read with interest and advantage
by all who would have fair statement
of the present condition, aspirations and
tendencies of the Northumberland
Goeoffo