Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-05
INDEPENDENT CANADA
THE DoMINIoN'S TREND Is IN
THAT DIRECTION.
Canadians Resident in England Uncon-
sciously Misrepresent Sentiment
of Their Countrymen.

Ottawa Correspondence Of the Boston Transcript.
How do Canadians regard England? When
the butler Of Theophrastus Such was asked
the cause of the tides he replied: Some
says one thing, and some says another, but
If l was to give my opinion 1t 'ud be diff
ferent." Mr.. Chamberlain has been telling
Englanders to rely on the expressions of
prominent Canadians resident in London.
Those expressions are merrily read by many
In Canada. who understand. as Americans
do of compatriots abroad. that each consti-
tutes himself a diplomatist of the school
which holds that diplomatists are sent
abroad to tell taradiddies for the good of
their country Are prominent and nice
Englanders resident in Boston, New York
or Chicago taken as examples of English
opinion, when they talk for publication?
Any English who happen to read this COM
munfcation will know what is meant. De-
cency and courtesy require uitlanders-at
least in powerful country that can't be
raided-to say aloud only what is pleasing
to the circumjacent
Canadians in England.
If the testimony-for publication-of
prominent Canadians resident in London
were to be taken without a grain of salt
this dominion contains about six million
people, including Indians. all competing for
the loyalty prize; all praying for the king
morning, noon and night with their faces
turned to the Mecca of Windsor Castle; all
blessing Mr.. Chamberlain as the one true
prophet; all eager to give J. B. prefer
ence in trade over everybody else, including
themselves. 1t is magnificent, and it may
be peace, but when one goes poking round
in Canada for such loyalstS he sees no
more of them than ThOreau could of the
horse and the hawk and the hound that
n ttciy t.. l,1ra
to England in Canada? There is. Immen-
sites of it. On the whole honest sane
trustworthy. 1t is generally of the same
quality as the loyalty that the Englishman
who never was out of Kent feels toward
the Canadian at Calgary, or the Australian
at Bendiso 1t says in its heart two things
Thou art my brother and Thou shalt
want ere l want" Aye, and a third: Thou
shalt be backed by me against anybody
else-whenever feel like it, This is sat
isfactory three-fold political cord for beard
ed men, though Canadians temporarily ex-
ceeding sentimentalities in London may
think 1t heartlessly described.
Change of Mind
Mark Twain the Wise once remarked on
the foolishness of protesting thorough
knowledge of the American mind There
are many millions of it, he said, in effect
Nobody can know It, or guess what it will
do in strange circumstances. Which of us
flaming Richmond in April. 1865. could have
conceived of the American northern mind
as paSSVely watching the slow revival of
negro slavery? Circumstances change and
nations are reformed by them. If there
can be no accurate diagnosis of the mind
of the comparatively homogeneous repub-
lie how postulate anything of the senti-
ment of heterogeneous Canada? There are
two main races and two main creeds here;
fifty other races, and 140 other creeds The
units are scattered over half a continent;
they ali have votes; they are all Canadians
alike, and all alike to be reckoned with in
estimating Canadian sentiment. The eff
fusve sentimentalists in London appear
unconscious of this when they represent
Canadians entertaining sentiments ito
order and made up for the deectation Of
that English society element that holds the
Chamberlainite cult.
AS to the degree in which the English
automatic spirit moves Canadians toward
separation or complete independence, the
inquirer may get more enlightenment from
young Canadians than from the older gen.
Grafton Politicians utter opinions that
won't be likely to cost them any votes. and
men of business cautious in talking for
publication lest they offend clients or Gus
toners. Thus small minorities often mod
ify public declarations. Children and stu
dents tell frankly what they have at heart,
partly what they have caught from their
parents talking incautiously at home, and
partly what they catch from one another
and their environment.
Lie Nldple hcdl
Students of Toronto University say that
the studentry there is not British so much
as Canadian. From students at Upper
Canada College, which the governing. body
deliberately attempted to make extremely
British and imperialistic through the late
headmaster, DR.. Parkin, one receives the
same report. 1t appears true of McGil
University at Montreal and is certainly
so of Laval and the French colleges gener-
ally. That the younger schoolboyS are as
Canadian in their sentiments Yankee
schoolboys Yankee in theirs is patent
to anyone who has the privilege of familiar
converse with them. The maple leaf is
. the cherished emblem of the young all
over the dominion; you see it in stick-pns,
brooches and decorative buttons galore
An intense patriotism is the mark of young
Canada. Being shared by both it promises
to affiliate the two main races of the coun-
try. 1t is not ASSOCIATED from affection for
Great Britain, but is in no degree favorable
to any degree of continued subordination to
the old country 1t appears perfectly con-
sistent with loyalty to the crown, this be-
ing more less consciously regarded SYM
boil of Canadian, rather than of British
government. There is very little republi-
can sentiment, and none for annexation to
the states, though American stories, songs,
dress, jokes and ways seem as If by
natural, rather than deliberate prefer
ence, acceptable as American money.
That the future Canada will be less Brit
ish, more American, and altogether Cana
dian would seem clear. The trend seems
toward the position of an independency
which could be attained under the crown,
by the slight change involved in emitting
the monarch king of Canada, and abolish
ing the reference of Canadian affairs to the
kfng-incouncil with British ministers Then
Canada would be independent of Eng
land England of Canada. Under the
common crown a peace league would neces-
sarily exist between them; and neither
could be dragged into war by the opera tons
of the other
AN ALLY FOR SPELLING REFORM.