New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-07-15
glands Colonies Are Stirred Over Draft and Politics

the bonds of sympathy will be needed in the
immediate future; but above all there is
need of a commonwealth ideal, TO the realiza-
tion of which the spiritual forces of the
commonwealth; its intellectual life and its
material resources should be devoted"
THE Canadian CONSUMPTION crisis is not
Il yet past. As matter of fact, the sit
uation is tenser than ever. Labor troubles
and civil strife are forecast by some, while
others Indignantly demand the CONSUMPTION
cf wealth along with lives. Thus 1.-The
Manitoba Free Press" writes:
"The principle and point of view which have
received their extreme embodiment in the
brutal German reference 20 men as food for
cannon cannot be too severely condemned. It
is the same principle which permits the
wealthy classes of the community to enjoy all
the Injuries money can buy, while the depend
cnts widows and orphans of the men at the
front are doled out less than is sufficient to
maintain them in ordinary decency
Democratic practice demands that sacrifice
for the common cause shall be as nearly as
possible equal. Absolute equality cannot be
obtained, while some can give only their lives,
limbs and health, and others only their money.
The trouble is that so far as this country is
concerned there has as yet been no serious
attempt TO secure the approximation Of equal
ity in sacrifice. Wealth still goes scot-free,
while lives are daily offered and women and
children at home struggle with high prices
and insufficient allowances. War has its vic
Tins at home as we'll as in the field indigns-
ton as strong as that aroused by reports such
as those concerning the Dardanelles and the
Mesopotamian campaigns ought TO be aroused
by the hardships actually being experienced
by some of the soldiers dependents.
"If ever there were justification for indig-
nation it lies in the fact that practically moth
ing is being done to exact proportionate con-
trbutions from the wealthy in order to re-
leve the necessities of the 'rankers' wives
and children"
Henri Bourassa, leader Of the French.
Canadian Nationalist, prepared for "The
New York Evening POST statement on
the CONSUMPTION crisis in his country
pointing out some grave possibilities.
Parts Of the statement follow:
Transcription is sure to bring serious trou-
bic in the labor circles. Indiscriminate enlist
ment has already disorganized labor condi-
tons. Rightly or wrongly, labor leaders ap
prehend that CONSUMPTION is sought for not
so much for military purposes as with the
object of controlling wages and work The
enforcement of conscription will certainly
be resisted by the organized labor of Canada.
There is also in Canada large foreign
element to which conscription is distasteful
to the extreme. Most of these foreigners
were invited to come. The government paid
premiums to secure them. They were as
sured that Canada was free from military
service. They have therefore against con-
scription a case much stronger than that of
the so-called 'hyphenated' American.
an short, apart from the menace to the
economic equilibrium of the country, the in
evitable outcome of CONSUMPTION and of any
overstrained effort for the war in Europe is
threefold % Labor troubles and class
hatred, (2) racial strife, (3) deep cleavage
between East and West. If wise counsels do
rot prevail, il may mean within very short
period a second Mexico north of the 46th
and 49th parallels.
Opposition to CONSUMPTION and to war
madness in Canada is not anti-patriotic; IT is
essentially patriotic and clear-siGhted"
THE little understood conflict between
l. Quebec and British Canada is very
lucidly interpreted by c. f. Fryer, in "The
New Republic:
French Canada is a complex phenomenon.
In spirit it seems never to have been an in
tegral part of the empire, but rather distinct
nationality, enduring British rule under jeal-