Evening star., 1911-08-25
Reciprocity Viewed by Some
as Step Toward Annexation.
WARNED AGAINST AMERICA
Moneyed Interests and Trusts Used
as Bugaboo by Opponents.
INITIATION OF CORRUPTION
Newspapers Fighting Ratification of
Pact Hint That American Money
May Be Used to Get Votes.
,ecial From n STAFF Correspondent.

Special From Staf Correspondent.
MONTREAL, Quebec, August 25.-As
| Col. Roosevelt would say: This is a
| bully town" You get into a low-necked
hack, and for two bits you can be car
ried anywhere within reason. You only
| have to have a few French phrases When
| l arrived l was told that all that was
needed was ''votre a sante' and ''apres
vous" and "merci beaucoup," with a
''oui' or two. but ! found that one had
to be added, which was ia meme chose"
You can figure these things out for your
self
1t is bully city; so far as you per-
| sonally are concerned. But when it
| comes to politics it is quite another mat
ter They will take you to the club. get
out their cars and ride you around over
Mount Royal, and you are a good fellow
we'll met until it comes to politics.
Then change comes over the spirit of
their dreams. They are friendly to Mr..
Yankee. personally. but they do not like
what they consider to be Mr. Yankees
political aims. They certainly do take
politics seriously on this side of the line
Over our way it is largely joke. Uncle
Joe" Cannon and Champ Clark will sit
down together and have good time.
But over here 1t is quite different. When
1T comes to politics they glare at each
other. and you would think that they
were about to fight.
AS go along find that the specter of
annexation is still visible. OF course, it is
being worked as political asset. but
aside from that and back of that is the
undoubted fact that great many serious
| minded people over here believe that we
are trying to reach out and grab their
empire. They do not understand our
careless and jovial way of looking at
things. They cannot appreciate the fact
that We are a great big. broad minded,
easy-going country. that we have had our
fill of imperialism, with our experiment in
the Philippines. and that we do not want
any more.
Every summer lot Of our people come
over here, spend their Yankee dollars,
catch the Canadian hsh and try to ex-
tend the spirit OF good fellowship. That
Is all right SO far as 1t goes. We are
welcomed, taken In, put up at the clubs.
invited to the homes. meet the family
and all that sort of thing, but as soon
as you begin to talk politics it is quite
different. AS a matter of fact. the Cana
dians want to be let alone. They feel
that they are a people Of only 5000, 600 and
we are people OF 10000, 600 They think
that they are on the defensive, and that
we are aggressive. A better example of
the Canadian thought could not be given
than is represented In a frOnt-page. edi-
torial in the Montreal Star, which fol-
lows:
Calls Reciprocity a Plot.
"Is it plot to hide plot?
rs 1t only the simple truth that there
has been grave apprehension in the anti
reciprocity ranks from the first lest a
food Of American money should be pour
| ed into Canada to buy the success Of the
Taft reciprocity conspiracy. The Ameri
can interests which favor reciprocity
are Overwhelmingly superior in numbers,
power and wealth to those which have
Intellectually opposed 1t. An obvious
proof of this patent fact is the big ma
| jority which SO easily and surely OBJ
| tanned for it in the Senate, the legfsla-
| tive organ of the interests.
Some of these interests support the
agreement for what it contains, but the
| large majority Of them support 1t for what
| 1t promises. If 1t came to a fight, they
could readily put up hundred dollars
| for every dollar that the opponents of the
takes no account of the political side of
| the question. A nation which had the
| relations to the Panama revolution and
| the capture of the isthmus that the Ameri-
| can nation had would not hesitate to
spend money to bring about the addition
| of Canada to the American domain
However. apart from that the big
| moneyed interests OF the United States
| stand to gain enormously by reciprocity
| and its aftermath, and they must be
| Sorely tempted to try to buy up little
! Canada now that the entire fate of the
! plot hangs upon the vote of our people
| next month.
This being SO. il is exceedingly dis
quieting to find the paid reciprocity press
| raising systematic and determined
| cry intended to create the impression in
| the public mind that anti-reciprocity has
| relations with American trusts
"Cry" Absurd, But Useful.
| 1.-THE improbability of the insinuation
counts for nothing. The utter absurdity
of some of the evidence advanced, does
not detract from the usefulness of the
| cry for the purpose which may be easily
| in view. That purpose may possibly be
a knowledge that these American inter
ests' have shipped, or intend to ship,
money into Canada to help the reciproci-
ty campaign, and a fear that this fact
| NAV be discovered before polling day.
I Then the paid press will be in position
| to shout that this genuine discovery is
| only an effort to offset their previous
| charges, and they may hope in this way
to convince the excited electors that 1t is
/ no more than a case OF two political
parties accusing each other of corruption.
II will be seen at once that such
strategic maneuver would nave been cum
| ningly conceived. II would break the
| forca NJ the shocking discovery when II