The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-22
CANADA's RESENTMENT.
An Analysis of the Causes of Bad
Feeling Toward This Country.
Montreal Herald.

montreal Herald.
There is more irritation and resentment
in the attitude of the Canadian people
toward the United States than we can re-
member to have existed for a score of
years. "A number of causes have combined
to bring about this feeling. 1t must be
traced without doubt principally to the pol
icy of retaliation which has been followed
for a score of years on both sides OF the
line. For the origin of this policy We may
look to protectionism. The United States
opened the legislative war when it put up
it's tariff barriers after the civil war We
met them on their own ground in 1878,
when we decided that, as we could not get
reciprocity Of trade we would give. them
reciprocity of tariffs. Thus the policy Of
retaliation, open and avOwed, was entered
upon. And through nearly all the legisla-
ton which has since been passed by the
Legislature of either country affecting the
other note of retaliation has run. There
have been periods, of course, when friend
ly exchanges have been made, when the
governments have been able to make some
more or less important step together Mu-
tual good WILL for example was strong
enough to have appointed quite recently
joint commission on deep waterways, al
though it is far from being strong enough
to bring any practical result from that
The first fruit of the tariff was an alien
labor law. The Workipgmen of the United
States saw that while the manufacturers
were shielded from competition and pro-
tected in their profits, the labor market
was left unprotected, and cheap foreign Ia
Dor was being brought from continental
countries by the benefcent manufacturers.
They raised an uproar, and as sop to
their discomfort the alien labor law was
passed. Out of it irritation and bad feel
ing have sprung. In addition, skirmish-
ing fight has been kept up all along the line
of every self-seelIing interest and sectional
ill will which wished to swell its pocket
book or vent it's spleen at the expense Of
the people across the line.
In all this unfortunate business we in
Canada may fairly congratulate ourselves
that we have not led the way, but have
ever shown a desire to live upon quite
other relations with our neighbors than
such terms of enmity as now exist Not
that we have not done something In re-
taliatory or discriminatory way ourselves,
as INSTANCE our quite recent tar1ff prefer prefer
but finally-enacted alien labor law, our
discriminatory duty on tea, our petty fruit
basket regulations, our ill-humored boom
chain bluff, our log export duties and our
discriminatory canal tolls; the list might
be enlarged In some of these matters, 1T
is true, we were in the right; in some 9TH
ers. although we were not out of our light,
strictly speaking, yet we were showing the
same temper which we deprecate and con-
denim in our neighbOrS.
And yet we are not prepared to say that
in what we have done we have gone far
Their than human nature, under our provo
cation, might be expected to go. We do
not believe it would tend to good neighbour
shp that we should be slow to resent an
injustice or hestant in enforcing our rights.
We should know the United States people
too well to fall into this error, even if the
races from which we come do not save us
from sucn Danger. but tnlS we snould
do, and there is in it no diminution of self
respect Let us take care that we do not
magnify the provocation-that we do not
mistake the bullying Dragging, insulting
language of such papers as the New York
Journal for more than it is. The especially
offensive attitude of a section of the United
States press may be the back-swinging of
the pendulum, which during the past two
or three months has been swinging over
to the pro-Briush side; while on the other
hand, it is not just possible that we our
selves just at this time may be feeling the
effect of the jubilee eXaltations; may we
not be feeding the flames with some of
the imperial fires which were lighted at
London during the jubilee week and which
are now blazing around the world?