New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-15
Men of the Highland Brigade.

has been FESTIVE in British harness. She boasts
that she is as free as the winds in her maple
trees, and Halifax business man told me IN
so many words that if England should ever
try to tax her Halifax would stage in her own
barbor a duplicate of the Boston Tea Party"
At times, the Canadians hint, the English have
failed to appreciate this state Of mind, and
with characteristic John Bull bluntness have
iostled Canadian feelings 81 think it is be-
cause the English do not understand u.s. a
Canadian explained to me. "You people In
the States understand US much better. Your
problems and ours are so much alike you do 1t
instinctively. But the English are different"
Consequently, Canada has had her own opin-
ion about it, and like all young and full-blooded
peoples she is very human in wanting to be un-
derstood. This feeling had been brooding in
the Dominion for years, when suddenly, one
August morning, England was plunged into
war. In one year from that August morning
Canada had put into the field an army fully
equipped and had lost half of her first 10000
on the front in Flanders.
"You tell me Canada does not like England
| said to Canadian prominent in Dominion
affairs. "This being SO, how do you explain
an army of 100000 men and war debt of
100000 and your dead and crippled?'
81 can answer that best in your Abraham
Lincoln way, by speaking in a parable" ne
replied "The old gentleman has his sons scat
tered all over the world Our country is one
of them. The boys have settled down and are
doing we'll The old gentleman stays at home
for the most part, but occasionally he has
strolled off and got into trouble, but the Toys
know his weaknesses and have not worried
about the fist fights. He has taken care OF
himself in most of them. But this time it was
different. Two big ruffians went after him
unprovoked, and the old gentleman had his
back against the wall. 1t wasn't his fault and
he was in bad trouble. So. seeing that 1t was
a family matter, the boys jumped in to help
the old man out, and there we are. Blood,
YOUR saving goes, is thicker than water"
This swift sketch of the situation was
homely way of describing something that goes
deep into the very heart and nerves OF the
Canadian people. The boys fighting for
something more than the old gentleman's per-
son. Their battle is for what the old man rep
resents This is the Empire
NV Canadian friend--a wealthy business
man-continued: England has been careless
Mt times and tactless with us, but we are tight
ing for a stake so big that it eclipses every
thing else in sight. This may be hard for an
American from the States to understand, but
TO the Canadian heart and mind the imperial
idea is strong and vivid. We realized IN
stinctively that once England became involved
in life and death struggle we could not stay
out. Our fortunes in this fight are England's,
and if England had been overwhelmed the
Empire would have been crushed stone by
stone. Then we should have had to fight for
our existence perhaps on our own from
tiers Our problem was simple one and the
solution merely matter of stern logic"
Canada decided without a moments hesita-
ton. Officers tell me that men came up to
military headquarters in Toronto and Montreal
begging to enlist and carrying in their hands
the extras that had given them the news
of England's going in. They hadn't even gone
home TO tell about it,
At first the food Of recruits was too sudden
and tempestuous TO be bridged or channeed.
Training camps were hastily improvised, and,
forming on the militia, the volunteers were
hammered into soldiers and shipped overseas