Evening star., 1938-07-03
BY RICHARD H. HIPPELHEUSER,
Associated Press Stan Writer.

BY RICHARD H. HIPPELHEUSER,
Associated Press Stan Writer.
TOMORROW will be Independence
Day in the States" And it is q
safe guess that much Of the ora
tory will be devoted to centraliza-
tion of power in the hands Of the Federal
Government and whether the founding
fathers intended this to be So
Friday was the corresponding day in
this neighbor country. 1t was Confedera-
ton Day commemorating Canadas birth
wealth. And the all-consuming question Of
the day was: How far did the fathers Of
confederation" intend to 60 in giving au-
thority to the Dominion government?
Substitute provincial rights" for States
rights: delete the clause ito provide for
the general welfare" from the American
Constitution and put in the words provide
for the peace, order and good government; +;
change Washington to Ottawa; picture a
Federal Government whose sovereignty,
even. is contested, and which possesses
about as much undisputed national au-
the War Of Secession-and you will have
some idea Of the nature of the present po-
litical controversy in Canada.
Akin TO Geneva.
The establishment of Washington as the
seat of a central government with sweeping
authority over the national life and econ
omy Is today q recognized and accom-
plished fact. whether you approve of it, or
whether you don't. This was many, many
years in the making. albeit the centralizing
process was accelerated in the past few
years. Furthermore, it took four years of
war. brother against brother, to make the
Union, in the words Of Webster "one and
inseparable"
Ottawa, however, Is more akin to a
Geneva in the midst Of q group Of foreign
states. Its authority has dwindled since
confederation: its rule is disputed; and, in
the powerful province Of Quebec, there has
even been talk Of secession by responsible
persons.
This position has been forced upon the
capital Of the Dominion by the interpreta-
tions placed upon the British North Amer
lea act by the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council of Great Britain, Canada's
court of last resort
The British North America act. enacted
by the Imperial Parliament in London. is
Canada's Constitution. 1t became effective
July l, 1867.
Once Four Provinces.
At that time there were four provinces:
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. Lower Can
ada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (On-
tario). The rest was crown land, out Of
which have been created since the prov
inces OF Prince Edward Island Manitoba,
Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Colum-
bia
The war Of secession held everyone's at
tention as the representatives of the four
provinces, meeting in Quebec, debated the
question Of confederation and most con-
stitutional writer's in Canada today seem
Joined in the belief the fathers Of con-
federation were, most Of all, determined
to build a strong central government and
avoid what they considered the mistakes
made in the United States.
Those who hold this belief point to the
statement Of Sir John Macdonald, first
prime minister after confederation, who
said at Quebec:
Ever since the (American) Union was
formed, the difficulty of what Is called
State rights has existed, and this has
had much to do in bringing on the present
unhappy war in the United States. They
commenced, in fact at the wrong end
They declared by their Constitution that
each State was a sovereignty in itself, and
that all the powers incident to a SOW
ereignty belonged to each State, except
those powers which, by the Constitution,
were conferred upon the general Govern
ment and Congress.
Have Different System.
Here we have adopted different sys-
tenn. We have strengthened the general
government. We have given the general
legislature all the great subjects of legis-
lation. We have conferred on them, not
only specifically and in detail, all the
powers which are incident to sovereignty,
but We have expressly declared that all
subjects Of general interest not distinctly
and exclusively conferred upon the local
governments and local legislatures shall
be conferred upon the general government
We have thus avoided that great source
of weakness which has been the cause
of the disruption in the United States"
Thus in Canadian contrast with the
United States-the Dominion, and not the
provinces. was given all the residual powers.
The provinces were to have only the powers
specifically conferred upon them, no more.
TO make the central government pos
sessed Of even more authority, 1t was given
the power Of disallowance-the same power
which, in the American Constitutional As
sembly, James Madison sought in vain to
give to the Warrington Government. Under
this power, the Dominion government was
given the right. to disallow any legislation
passed in the provincial parliaments which
It felt was inimical to the interests and
welfare Of al the Dominion.
In view Of all this. there Is the temptation
to ask: Why, then, is there constitutional
crisis today?
One Of the powers specifically given to
the provinces was control over civil and
ufoperty riRhts" Constitrtional authorf.