Evening star., 1939-06-11

Inc Tree people OF the western World
are united in common ideal in which all
traditional differences are 'transcended-
the defense Of the cherished institution
OF human liberty against the greatest
threats ever made against it.
Events of the past two years have
forged strong bonds between them
bonds with strength which would have
been almost unbelievable even a decade
ago when the institution did not seem
seriously menaced.
This is the great revelation which
tired man and woman, the King and
Queen of Great Britain, will carry
back across the Atlantic with them
after what is probably the most
enthusiastic reception ever given reign
ing monarch anywhere outside his own
capital.
Their visit to both the United States
and Canada was not purely social No.
body supposed it was SO intended. Nor
was 1t job of salesmanship which some
alleged it to be. 1t was an effort to test.
first in the British Empire itself and then
in closely related sister nation, the
strength of the bonds of democracy as
evidenced in spontaneous popular dem
onstratlons. That, at least, is the way
1t has turned out, even if the intention
was not entirely clear to the royal party
itself at the outset.
Their Expectations Eclipsed.
They will return to England SUI
premely satisfied. From the very dav
they stepped on North American soil, as
one looks back on it now, the outcome of
the visit might have been apparent
French Canada gave them more than
was expected, and every point they have
visited has given them the same phe-
nomenal welcome far eclpsing the an
ticipations.
lradltlonally the population of Canada
consists OF two racial elements-the
French of Quebec and the Scotch of
Ontario and the remainder of the prov
lnceS. Both these elements have pre-
served the traditions and folkwavs of
their home lands. The French-Cana-
dams have preserved their own language
their distinctive system of agriculture
and OF education. The Scotch have made
parts OF the Dominion more Scotch than
Scotland. There has been in recent
generations little mixture between the
two groups. Great barriers of blood and
religion have been raised between them
They have got along very we'll together
by respecting these barriers. These two
elements, with scattering of Indians
and EskimoS, supposedly have constituted
the people of Canada.
The loyalty of both groups to the
empire went through the supreme test
of the World War, as the monuments
covered with names of the dead in every
Canadian village bear witness. The
Scotch, of course, have been supremely
and belllgerently loyal. This devotion
to the crown has been part of the pattern
OF lie they have set up to preserve their
racial Integrity on the expanding from
tier. There never has been an instant's
been rather passively loyal. They have
done we'll enough in emergencies. But
in the back of their minds has ALWAYS
fingered the memory that they once were
the masters of the land and the thought
that they are 'Subje S'-however great
the liberties allowed them-of a nation
predominantly of different tongue and
a different faith. But they long since
have adjusted themselves to the situa-
ton. They realize that independence
OF the remainder of the Dominion would
be economically disastrous for them and
that they probably are better off in the
present pattern than in any other system
which could be devised. There might
be some question how great a strain
their loyalty would stand, but by and
large there is little occasion for the
empire to worry about them.
Pattern Broken Up Now.
If these two groups were all. Canada
would constitute relatively simple prob
lem. But it is no longer so simple as
all that. During the past half century,
and particularly during the 20 years that
have elapsed since the World War, the
traditional pattern has been so broken
up in many places that it is hardly rec
ognizable. Peoples from all the coun-
tries and racial groups in Europe have
settled in the Dominion. The Canadian
population has taken on something of
the polyglot pattern of the people of
the United States. The exploitation of
the great western wheat lands and the
constant pushing of the frontiers of
civilization northward has required hui
man sweat and brains, and Europe as
whole has been called upon to supply
them. There have been introduced as
ethnic elements large bodies of Dutch.
Belglans Swedes, Norwegians, Danes,
Poles. Ukrainians, Russians, Firms. Ger
mans. There are towns even outside
the French zone where English is hardly
the dominant language any longer.
Tending to settle at first in groups, the
new elements are diffusing through the
population as whole. new Canada
is emerging.
Are these peoples entering into the
British Empire scheme of things? 1t
is the old question so often asked about
the various ethnic elements in the United
States. Are they being fused into a
loyal Canadian people, to be depended
upon in an emergency, or are they still
at heart UkrainianS, Poles, Germans and
Swedes with their major loyalties still
devoted to the lands of their fathers. In
showdown between the British and
German empires, for instance, would
the German-speaking Canadians, only
generation removed from the Reich, be
British or German in their sympathies.