The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-23
The pomin,on of c,anda


 The Dominion of Canada
 "The majority of citizens of the United States who had followed the course of the reciprocity discussions in Washington be- came convinced, perhaps, that the treaty would be a good thing for this coun- try and not a bad thing for Canada, said an old democrat. swhen Canada s parliamentary campaign started I was inclined 10 believe that Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the able and highly esteemed premier, would triumph in his advocacy of reciprocity. Sir Wffrid has been premier 15 years and he was a mem Der of the Canadian parliament long be- fore he became the actual head of the government. He has proved himself to be a great statesman a1d a practical politician and he was sincere and earnest in championing the reciprocity policy But after the campaign had got well under way I could see that the conservatives, often spoken of as tories, were headed for victory. Champ Clark. speaker of the House of Representatives at Washington made serious break when, at ban quet some months ago, he referred to the proposed reciprocity treaty as being step toward annexation. In his remarks he showed that he believed in annexa- tion and was looking forward to the time when the authority of the United States would extend over the Dominion of Canada. Tory orators and newspa- pers rung the changes on MT. Clark s words. Annexation is a bogy, and ap- peal to patriotic sentiment combined with our speakers slip helped the con servatixes, led by Robert l.. Borden, to carry the day hands down.
 His Royal IIighness the Duke of Con- neught, King Georges uncle who will succeed Earl Grey as governor general of Canada next month, will have probably the privilege of participating in the for nation of the new government If he is installed as governor general in time he will receive the great seal from Sir VII frid Laurier and will ask Mir Borden to become prime minister, and as such to accept the seal of office. Lord Grey has from all accounts, made most accept able representative of the crown and am sure the Duke of Connaught will at once become a favorite in Canada. He has never been in this country, but when l was in England few years ago l met friends who knew the duke personally we'll The entire British public has all ways shown high regard for his royal highness The duke is soldier by train ing and profession and in the last i've years he has had experience also in dip- lomatic work He was the youngest son of the late Queen Victoria, and accord ing to hearsay he was the only one who never got into a scandal and whose mor- als were unimpeachable. He has always been a consistent churchman.
 q used to think that Canada would he annexed to the United States in my life time. The late Goldwin Smith, na- tive Englishman, but during a large part of his life a citizen of Toronto, was an active agitator for annexation. His ag1- tation. however, was of the quiet kind, through the medium of the press. He wrote vigorously for Canadian papers and magazines and for the New York Sun in favor of annexation. But now l have come to the conclusion that no one living will see Canada politically joined to our country The British empire is more firmly united than ever, and Canada is more like an independent nation than ever. It is developing along large indus trial and commercial lines, and It's de- velopment might have become more rapid had the Canadians voted for the reel procity treaty.