Evening star., 1932-03-13

repeal Of certain laws prohibiting the
granting Of titles to Canadians succeeds.
There is only mere handful Of titled
folk left in the Dominion, but If the
movement for the restoration of titles
keeps gaining the way 1t has in recent years.
American industrialists looking for titled
husbands for their daughters will not have to
journey to Europe They will have a field
much closer to home.
A ban on the granting of titles was put into
force by the Canadian Parliament In 1919. The
Dominica of Canada conveyed this fact to King
George w. ma jority vote Of the Parliament
passed that ruling. There had been too many
titles conferred during the war years. 1t was
necessary in a country of democratic ideals to
do away with bought honorariums, was the
consensus Of opinion. Yet so strong is the urge
to hold coveted letters patent granting a
knighthood that the question of titles has been
before Parliament ever since, and the
supporters for the restoration of such honors
have been growing.
The latest proponent Of the title question is
Armand Lavergne French Canadian Conser-
vative from the electoral riding of Montmagny,
Quebec. He is Deputy Speaker of the House of
Commons. He is strong for the restoration of
titles with reservations In fact he even would
have Canada become the Kingdom of Canada
instead Of her present status among the nations
as the Dominion of Canada. He has a resolu-
tion to this effect to come up before Parlia-
ment
The Kingdom of Canada sounds very monar-
chical. In fact, SO much so that when Canada
became a unified country from coast to coast,
those who signed the confederation Of the
various British colonies north of the United
States boundary felt it would place Canada on
an equal footing with Great Britain. In those
days that was unthought Of. Today Canada
has that equality by the Westminster bill,
passed recently in the British House of Parlia-
ment. And for another reason the unifers of
IN ~ Cnnn Lf,,o
dom. That was as a courtesy to the United
States, a republic. Whether a kingdom will
come into being north of the international
boundary is a matter that will bear watching.
THE last attempt to restore the granting of
titles in Canada before Armand Iavergne
took up the cudgels was by the present
Canadian secretary of state, c. H. Cahan,
widely known Montreal lawyer, who already
bears after his name the coveted initials K. c.,
which stand for Kings Counsel. He came out
with the subject In 1928 1t occupied quite an
amount Of time early in the 1929 parliamentary
session And when it came to a vote, the
majority still favored doing without more sirs
and ladies, for vote Of nearly two to one sent
the resolution into the discard
But still the battle wages, with the latest
strides in its favor coming from the prime
minister, Richard Bedford Bennett. He took on
himself the responsibility for allowing the
grand priory of the knights of st. John of
Jerusalem to grant titles in the order to
Canadians on the centenary celebrating the
return Of the priory to England. This organi-
sation Of which the King is the patron, is best
known IN Canada as an organization teaching
nrst AID to the injured and supplying uni
formed ambulance men at large public gather
lngs Premier Bennett allowed the granting
OF two knighthoods in this order and a number
of other officers despite the fact that the
Canadian department of justice had ruled
previously that the order could not confer
titles on Canadians.
prominent Toronto Kings Counsel. F. 3
Fetherstonhaugh, has circularized ON expen-
sive vellum-embossed paper members of the
Canadian Parliament on the question He has
been answered by a four-to-one majority in
favor of restoration of titles through his
suggested title commission for granting non
hereditary titles.
BY the latest figures there are only seven
Canadian barons, seven baronets, "a members
OF Well-known British orders, which include the