The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-01
DOMINION DAY


 brated throughout Canada today as the forty-ninth anniversary of the confederation of the British North American provinces. is almost unique among national patriotic festivals. It marks the birthday of nation, and not that of monarch, as do the great celebrations of most European countries; and 1t commentaries the launching of a constructive policy in stead of the beginning of revolution such as is commemmorated by France, the United States and most of the American republics. Between the methods of the observance of the First or July by the Canadians and the Fourth of July by their neighbors tn-.l. was formerly a vI'la difference, but the "safe and sane fourth move ment in the United Sta:es has result ed ill a nearer appro ach to the Cana dian otyle of celebration.
 Eo such dramatic incident as the Dacit ration of Independence or the fall oi the Bastille Is connected with DrE' nion Day. v1hen Canadians honor the memory of those fathers of con- federation who brought to suc- cessful issue the long considered plan for a union of the provinces. Wien the Dominion was instituted on July 1, 1867, it consisted of only four prov irces-Ontario, Quebec. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1870 Mani toba entered the Dominion, and in the following year British! Columbia followed its example. L'ftle Frince Edward Island held aloof until 1873, when it joined the siste:hood. It was not until 1905 that further addi. tions were r ade to the n, rnbcr of provinces '.y The admission If Alberta and Saskatchewan,
 While the war has interfered with the plans for the celebration of the semi-centenary of the Dominion next year, Canadians hope that the war may be brought to a successful issue in time for a great peace celebration in connection with the nations fif- tieth birthday. In the great struggle now being waged in Europe Canada has demonstrated as never before its unfaltering royalty to the empire. The Dominion has drawn unsparingly upon her great resources to supply the sinews of war to the Allies, and thou sands of her sons have sailed away to take their places in the trenches of France and Flanders.
 That the confederation of the prov inces has been of inestilnable value there is no room to doubt. "In union there is strength" is as true of Can ada sas of the United States. From the very day that the confederation act went into effect Canada received great impetus toward progress and prosperity. Under the new form of the great West was quickly wrested from the Indian and the trapper and transformed into a vastly productive agricultural coun- try.
 The principle of union, for which Canada supplied the precedent has been adopted with equal success in other parts of the Empire. The Com monwealth of Australia, instituted in 1901 and comprising the six original Australian colonies, worked immedi- ate and continuous benefit to the Aus tralians Even more important to the empire, in view of the present war, was the federation of Cape Colony. Natal, the Transvaal and Orange Free State in the Union of South Africa six years ago. Tho far-sighted states manship which brought about this un- ion insured the loyalty of the Boers in the present war, so that now the strange SpeCIdCle IS pTeSoDleu OI bTl- tain's recent foes now leading Bri- tain's armies in the war against the Germans in Africa.
 Canadas present population of more than eight millions is more than double that of 1867. In 1871, four years after confederation. the four original provinces had a population of only 3,485,761. and the addition of Prince Edward Island, Manitoba. and British Columbia scarcely brought the number to a half the present mark. That the Canada of half a century hence will support a population vastly greater than that of tfie present is equally certain, for the natural resources of the Dominion are still capable of great develop Inent