The morning call., 1893-05-18

HuuuIeG VIII pTOuL Dy tQem. Inc WDOl6
police trouble arises from the fact that
laws are enacted which subordinate
force may enforce or not at their pleasure.
GOVERN0R-GENERAL ABERDEEN.
Lord Aberdeen, the new Govern or
General of Canada, is man who has
made his mark already, and who will
probably be heard of again before he dies.
He is the grandson of the Earl of Aber-
deem who began the Crimean war, and
whose famous dispatch to Lord Raglan, beg
ging him to take care of 'Dowb,'" mean
ing a young relative named Dowbiggin,
created so much amusement at the time.
The son of that Earl cut no figure in his
day; but his son, the present Earl, has been
active in politics as follower of Glad
stone, and served short term in 1886 as
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Though a
Scotch Presbyterian, he endeared himself
to the Irish Catholics by his conciliatory
policies, and when he left. be was given an
ovation which was almost unexampled.
He and his wife have been indefatigable
travellers, both on this continent and in
Australia. Lady Aberdeen is now at
Chicago, where she has taken charge of
the Irish village; she is well remembered
here, having spent some time in this city,
and formed the acquaintance of some of
our leading people. One of her sons or
nephews is now said to be engaged to
San Francisco girl, who possesses the
double charm of beauty and fortune. The
Earl has the advantage over his prede-
cessors of some apprenticeship for his new
duties. Some two or three years ago, he
was Informed by Mr.. Gladstone that, in
the event of the return of the Liberals TO
power. he would succeed Lord Stanley as
Governor of Canada, and the unexpected
death of Lord Derby has enabled the Lib
eral chief to keep his promise sooner than
he anticipated. The Office is worth
$4,000 a year. which is an object to
poor peer like Aberdeen; and as he is in
the prime of life-being only forty-six-
he will have an opportunity of showing
his caliber.
The Governor-General of Canada is not
a satrap, or even pioconsul of the old
Roman type. bis power is negative. being
confined to vetoing in the name of the
Queen measures passed by the Dominion
Legislature. But he may do much in the
way of suggestion, and Canada needs wise
suggestions. The Canadians have never
shaken off the effects of long course of
political decentralization under Sir John
Macdonald. Under his guidance they
subordinated a wise concern for their own
interests to their devotion to the main
tenance of the British connection. Thus,
when he passed away, they divided into
two camps; party which clamored for
Immediate annexation to the United States
without inquiry whether annexation was
desired Oh this side of the line, and a party
which CARRIED opposition to annexation to
such an extleEe that it found vent in fool
tsh animosity to this country. Lord Aber-
deem VIII find opportunities of usefulness
in educating the colonial people to the duty
OF studying their own future intelligently,
and In admOnishing them that whether
they join their deStinies with ours or pur-
sue separate path of their own, they
have nothing to gain by ageravating the
mischief which the Canadian Tories did
during the War of the Rebellion.
That CANADA cannot forever remain a
province goes without saying. Some day
1t must be nation or part OF the United
States. Whether it will embark in a
national career under bright auspices or the
reverse depends great deal on the course
which its Government now pursues. Ithas
been too prone in the past to waste its
energies on visionary projects which never
have yielded, and never can yield. return
commensurate with their cost. There was
no call for a Canadian Pacific Railroad
through wilderness, the bulk of which
will never be inhabited. Still less need was
there for line of steamers to Asia, with
which Canada has nothing, and never will
have anything. to exchange. These enter
prises were undertaken for glory, and per-
haps to promote the strategic interest of
Great Britain; but the Canadians paid for
them in large part, though they are not an
opulent people. To jefray their cost a
debt of some $3.50, O0O. 900 has been incurred,
from which may be deducted certain assets
in the shape of railroads: but the charge
per head of the Canadian people after de-
ducting these is SAT, against q charge OF
about $50 per head Of the American people
Tor the Federal and all the State debts.
Lord Aberdeen will find opportunity for
usefulness II he tries to teach the Canadians
that it is unwise to spend money on schemes
which will yield no return, and if they
have surplus funds to invest they had bet
ter be applied to the development of those
provinces which have a future-Ontario
and Quebec.