Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-12-19

The answer Of the CAnadsanc I ths pacafisn i casar
and conclusive. b . clear majority Of - Or more in :
house Of So members. the Undoniss win control the
house Of commons, which, under te Canadian system.
stves them absolute control Of an legislation Of every
kind. @ t
But this docs not tel, the whole story, rhe dominant
sentiment in the province Of Quebec is neither truly
French, British nor Canadiaa. In that province there
has been pronounced opposition, not merely to copscrip-
ton. but to Canadian participation In the wal. itself. That
opposition was shown in the early days Of the war IN the
lack Of voluntary enlistmemts from Quebec, and more re-
Gently In actve, and in some cases violent oppoeition*to
the draft Quebec now sends to parliament nearly :
solid deaegntion-<2 out Of Is of Bo-called Liberals.
who are elected as opponents to the CONSUMPTION law
and as actual opponents to the war Leaving tho Prov
ince Of Quebec OCT Of oonstderatiou, - pactfist, dislo1alL
or whatever term msy BE- selected 70 describe it. and the
situation in the rest Of tho country, is that there have
been elected not teB than 49, Uniontst members who are
in favor Of prosecuting tbs war to a s~secessful issue, re-
gardkess OF time or cos, against IS who arc committed to
the opposite policy. g.
This result 10 IN TIE more rsrnarkahae when We re-
member that the leader Of the opposition was Sir wl1fred
L4aurier. fer years premier Of the Dominion, and easily
the most brilliant naa in Canadian public life since Sir
John A. Macdonald. Laurier had made . fine record
during his hong career. He had shown the traits of con-
structive ststesnnanship. He was an eloquent and i'm
pressive public speaker. He was q man Of charming per-
sonality and fine scholarship. Regardless Of political diff
ferences he had warm friends b. the thousand. And yet
this leader, outside Of the single province in which pecu-
liar conditions had capitalized sentiment entirely apart
from his leadership. was able to command a following of
less than three dozen in the entire territory from the At
lantic to the Pacific. $s
There could not be a more emphatic answer to the
statement that the Canadians are "tired Of the war;"
They are tired Of 1t, but not in the sense In which the
term is used. They are tired Of tho causes which pro-
duced the war. They are tired Of the outrages which
these conditions have imposed on peaceful people. They
are 50 weary of these things that they are determined to
end the war and the conditions out Of which it grew,
and to keep up the fight until the war is won. ~.
Citizens Of the United States have a special interest
in the vote cast in the western provinces. Thousands of
Americans have entered those provinces in recent years
to take advantage Of the opportunities which abundance
of cheap land placed before them, They have become
citizens Of the country in which they have made their
homes. and by their votes they have assisted in sending
to parliament practically a solid delegation from the prai-
RE provinces OF men thoroughly committed to the vigor-
Gus prosecution of the war until its successful close, and
to the making of whatever sacrifices may be necessary to
accomplish. that purpose. We who are here have good
cause to take pride in the. attitude Of those Of our fellows
who have crossed the border, and who have become 10y
al citizens OF the country which shelters them, and have
shown not only a willingness but a strong desire to as
sumo their share of the. obligations which citizenship en-
tails, and to perform their full share Of the duties which
must be performed If nations are to live and homes are
to be secure. ~