The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-12
Sir WiIfrid Laurier Prime Minister of Canada on
 Reciprocity
Interview Given to Henry
 Mann in May Number of the Columbian Magazine

Wishes to see great peace centen-
 nial celebration by the United
 States, Great Britain and Canada
 in 1914.
 1914 will witness a fitting celebration in honor of the one hundred years of peace between Great Britain, Can ada and the United States. and trust and believe that tho friendly relations now existing will never be disturbed" ]"
 Such were the parting words of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Premier of Cana da, 10 the writer, after cordial in which Canada's greatest statesman had given some interesting views on the relations between the ciprocity treaty. Sir Wflfrid Laurier is a man of charming personality. The fact that even his most aggres- sive political opponents like him and admire him-and in Canada political feeling is more bitter than in the commanding magnetism and charm. Purely of French ancestry, he repre- sents the highest type of French statesmanship, leavened and toned by the influence of Anglo-Saxon assocfa- tion and compatriatton. In his sev-
  energy, the power of intellectual ap- plication which we are apt to look for ip a man of fifty or thereaboutS. Dignif1ed in manner, there Is an en- tire absence of that aura of chill and aloofness with which some Br1tons- and Canadians. too-clothe them selves. as with garment. On meet ing men of the Laurter type the type the thought readily presents it. self that the Anglo-Saxon element in Canada was fortunate in having the of French genius, abil- of Canadian nationality and the de- velopment of Canadian resources; and in that no battle of Hastings was needed. as in the mother country, to engraft that genius with a. battle nx on the stoIid Saxon character.
 Sir Wilfrid was educated for the le- gal profession. In 1871 he was elected cial Assembly. There his eloquence and ability at once brought, him to the front. In 1874 he was elected to the Federal Parliament, and his high personal character his undoubt- ed loyalty and attachment to the con- ain, together with his great orator ical powers which have earned for him the title of "Silver-tongued Laurier." soon gave him high rank in the Liberal party. From the first he advocated policy of free trade of the. country would allow; and al- though a Catholic, his determined re- sistance to attempted dictatfon by the church in regard to the Manitoba schools question showed that he was independent of such influences in po- Mir. Edward Blake in 1891 he was chosen leader of the Liberal party, and at g. general election in 1896 he led his followers to a notable vic- tory, becoming Premier of the Do- minion.
 For fifteen years Sir wilfrid Lau- rier has been Prime Minister, and vir- tually the ruler of Canada, and is recognized everywhere as one of the worlds most eminent statesmen. His tariff legislation in 1897. giving Great Britain the benefit of preferential thusiasm both in the Dominion and in Great Britain, and Sir Wilfrid was warmly welcomed when he visited London to attend the Jubilee festivf- ties He was tken appointed a mem Der of the Privy Council. The re- cent negotiation by Sir Wflfrid' s Government of a reciprocity agree ment with the United States, subject to approval by the American Con- gress, has attracted worldwide atten- tion and aroused active controversy in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.
 In the United States, the reciproc- ity agreement was approved by the House of Representatives of the late Congress, and failed of action in the Senate. It is therefore now before the special session of the Sixty-sec- ond Congress, summoned by Presi- dent Taft to consider it. In the De- minion the majority of the Opposi- tion, that is, of the Conservative or Tory party, is resisting the adoption of the greement by the Parliament at Ottawa, and is also denouncing it ip some of the provincial legislatures, although this attitude on the part of the Conservatives is not by any means unanimous, many prominent members of that party, especially in Western Canada declared themselves favorable to the proposed partial let ting down of tariff bars between their country and, the United States.
 clear an explanation is necessary as to the methods of the Dominion Par liament. Technically the reciprocity agreement is not yet before Parlia- ment, although in effect it has been under discussion for several weeks. The Canadians follow the British rule of first considering and acting upon resolutions in favor of a measure be- fore the measure itself is introduced. The Dominion Parliament is now con sidering the resolutions. There is no closure A member can talk as long and as often as he likes; but this is tempered by rule forbidding the reading of speeches. The rule does not seem to be strictly enforced, ref erence to notes being frequent, and the req ding of quotations being, of course, permissible. There is no "leave to print'' When constitu- ents receive a members speech in print they know that it was actually delivered After resolutions have been adopted, the passage of a bill in pursuance of the resolutions has gen. eralIy been a matter of form. A bill is as much subject to debate, how ever as resolutions, and there is a possibility ,or even a probability, that the Opposition may filibuster against the reciprocity bill even after the adoption of the resolutions. That resolutions and bill will pass is cer- tain, Sir 'Wilfrid Laurier having been sustained on a test vote by practi- cally the usual Government major ity. That majority in the House has been forty-three. On the vote which defeated. a. motion to postpone the resolutions, the majority was for ty.
 "Of the objections which we have heard to this agreement" said Sir Wilfrid, "some there are which seem to sme to lack singular1y in force for others on the contrary, are worthy of consideration, not from