New-York tribune., 1891-05-24
UNDER WHICH FLAGi
GoLpwN SMITHS DISCUSSION OF THE
CANADIAN PROBLEM
CANADA AND THE CANADIAN QUESTION B.
Goodwin Smith, ID. c. L. With map. London ant
New-York. Macmillan & Co.

CANADA AND THE CANADIAN QUESTION; BY BS
Goodwin Smith, D.: G. L. With map. Lonuoh anu
New-York; Macmillan & Co.
Canada is now going through an experience
which, in the essential lesson it enforces. is not
unlike that encountered by the American COLO
nies Just after the Revolutionary War. 1t has
convinced the Canadians practically without ex-
ception. that their present form OF governmen'
however great and useful the purposes IL mas
served is not that under which they can reaiize
the prestige and prosperity to which their cnarac-
ter asa people and their natural resources warrant
them in aspiring 1t Is also clear that they are
now within hailing distance OF, perhaps close
upon the time when they must make the choice
which will decide the ultimate destiny Of their
Dominion. If there was lately any doubt of these
facts certainly it was disposed of by the character
of the canvass leading to the March elections.
eAll possible effort was made by the politicians
en- every side to obscure the real issue and to set
nm their immediate plans instead as the object
of public interest Neither party was frank.
Neither had the courage to face the actual point
at which the public mind was directed. III was
not possible however, wholly to divert the
people They were bent. at least upon discussion.
and the campaign had not fairly started before
the official issues 20 to speak were buried and the
prime question-Under which flag ?-came squarely
to the front.
II it was the fact as everybody except inter-
ested politicians admits. that the present situation
Is one that cannot possibly endure because in no
sense adapted for the solution of the great prob
lens of free government in an American COM
munity, it follows that any popular verdict which
simply continues that situation must be accepted
as expressive of the publics unwilingness at once
to decide so grave a question The Canadian
public did not decide it. They merely lad
il on the table. BY small but sufhcl-
ent majority they returned the Government OF
Sir John Macdonald. That this was a personal
victory for the remarkable politician who has so
long dominated Canadian affairs cannot be denied.
He and his parisians Of course. allege that it was
much more that Sir John. the Confederation as
IL stands the national policy and the British tie
were all vindicated. approved and permanently
re-eStablished To believe such claims is to be-
lieve vast number of absurdties and impossible
tiles, and to refuse to believe the plain evidence
of ones senses II is not appropriate here to
undertake an analysis of the result of the election,
nor is it necessary in order to Justify the assump
ton that it decided nothing that it left every i'm
portant subject of controversy to be fought over
again and that the contribution to the discussion
. furnished by Professor Smith in the volume at
hand comes at a timely moment.
Professor Smith is always controversialist.
He loves to argue. He is pugnacious, restless.
often grim and sometimes relentless. He never
omits to say clever thing lest it disturb some
bodys equanimity, harsh thing lest 1t
bring down on his own head reproaches and blows.
1t is hardly necessary TO add that he is q man OF
rare culture. thoroughly educated by all those
laborious but efectual processes which in the end
80 surely enable to see great and true prin-
eples through whatever clouds of falsehood. self
ishness and folly they may have been Obscured.
His style as writer is brilliant. nervous and eX-
ceedngly animated He uses good English. He
avoids phrases He succeeds with rare skill in
conveying Just that shade of meaning which he
intends TO convey. He possesses in the full
that sense of the ridiculous which in the hands of
q sure and pitiless logician is such cruel wea-
pom. The subject he considers here has re-
ceived many years of his best and closest study
and has been examined in every possible aspect.
1t is a subject he enjoys. His heart and his hopes
are bent upon the task of impreSsing its con-
scientious study upon every Christian mind. He
has written then, not only advocate, but as
philosopher. He never did more entertaining
piece of work or one more likely to be Successful
in the accomplishment Of his purposes Nobody
who reads il can fail to do great deal Of thinking,
not only while he reads but long after he has laid
the book aside. There are statements and argu-
ments in it which are not to be forgotten.
III Is unat part OF tne D0OK that Is pure discus
sion 10 which the readers chief interest attaches
All that goes before, however, is Of vital import
anoe to the just appreciation of the discussion
The main question is approached in a most orderly
manner. 1t is first pointed out that the political
map of Canada, which shows one great and united
country stretching from ocean to ocean, differs
radically and vitally from the natural map which
shows four countries divided by barriers that for
all practical social and commercial purposes are
impossible. 1t is shown that between the mari
time provinces-comprising New Brunswick Nova
Scotia and Prince Edward Island-and old Canada
comprising Quebec and Ontario-there is a vast
and uninhabitable wilderness stretching north and
south, and east and west for many hundreds of
miles 1t is shown that between the same maritime
provinces and the New-England States there is
none other than an artificial barrier indicated to
those who search for it by the boundary posts.
II is shown that between old Canada and the
newly opened country of Manitoba and the North
west there is another wilderness greater than
the first in extent and in desolatiOn. But between
Lower Canada and the American States of New.
York and Pennsylvania there is continuity They
are one soil. 1t is shown that between Manitoba
and British Columbia there is third wilderness
wilderness of monster mountains and vast arid
plateaus, but Manitoba and Dakota and Mime
sofa are one and the same plain, just British
Columbia and the new State of Washington are
one stretch of coast. 1t is in this physical situa-
ton that the Canadian question resides and
briefly expressed the question is, How many OF
these four Northern countries, each unlike the
others in the character of its population, in the
nature of it's resources and of their pursuits sepa
rated BY desert wids realize their best political
destiny and their utmost material prosperity?
Before providing an answer Professor Smith oc
cupies himself with a historical narrative, in
which he sets forth the past and the present o
each Of the Canadian provinces. At the start l.,
is confronted with the anomaly Of a Latin nation
governed by clerical party, preserving the Latir