Evening star., 1940-08-18

I and suspicion. While small in number,
this group controls a considerable sec
| ton of the press and makes its opinions
| widely heard
In the middle are the majority OF
Canadians, who feel that the govern
ment has done about as well as possible
| under the circumstances. BY speaking
softly and approaching controversial
| questions indirectly If at all, Prime Min
| lister Mackenzie King has held Canada
together under the stress of war, in
the view of this group. For middle-of-
| the-roaders Mackenzie King corresponds
| somewhat to President Roosevelt, a
| Roosevelt minus charm and minus the
New Deal. That is to say, an astute
politician who is determined not to get
ahead of public opinion If he can pos
sibly help himself.
French Canadians Fear Registration.
At the other extreme are the French
Canadians, who put loyalty to Canada,
and particularly to the Province of
Quebec, before loyalty to the British
Empire. Bitterly opposed t6 conscription
in any form, they insist that even so
relatively innocuous an act as national
registration violates the pledges of the
election of last March. Mayor Houde, in
his ''seditious'' statement, reminded the
Liberal politicians of their election
pledges. Among French Canadians
there is the fear that national registra-
ton is only a beginning and that eventu-
q1lV there will ho for
overseas. The latter is the ghost that
is omnipresent in the background of
Canadian politics.
Since the fall of France the character
of Canadas war effort has radically
changed. At the outset Canadian lead
ers, along with almost every one else in
the world, went on the comfortable as
sumption that the Maginot Line would
hold the Germans until a long and
thorough job of air preparation could
be carried out. Canada was assigned a
part in the British commonwealth air
training scheme, under which aero
dromes were to be constructed and pilots
and bombers trained by instructors sent
from Britain. The peak output of pilots
would come at the end of three years,
on the assumption of long war to be
won finally by British air and sea su-
premacy.
Great Britain was to supply the
engines for planes which were to be
manufactured in part in Canada. The
air training agreement with Britain was
signed in December of 1899. The esti-
mated cost of the three-year plan was
$600000000, of which Canada's share
was to be s350,o0OOOO, including the en-
tire cost of the initial training and
elementary flying schools.
Thousands Go Overseas.
Then came the crushing series OF
German victories that ended with the
fall of France. Immediately the whole
picture was changed. Britain recalled
flying instructors and asked the
Dominion government for all Canadian
pilots who could be spared. Canada
was informed that Britain could not
manufacture engines for planes to be
used by Canadian flyers. OF necessity,
the entire program was revised and
every effort was made to accelerate the
tempo. Three new ministries were Gre
ated. The national registration act
was adopted. The military budget was
revised upward. New taxes were added
everywhere. And in ministerial speeches
a new stress on the defense of Canada,
the homeland, was evident.
Criticism of the government for fall
ing to send masses of men abroad is
largely pointless. 1t was not man power
that the Allies lacked Just how many
men have gone overseas is military
secret. A common estimate is between
$4,000 and 4O0O0-that is, two divisions
plus scattered units More troops, part
of Canada's Active Service Force, are
being sent abroad during this month,
their departure and their destination
a carefully guarded secret. BY autumn
it is expected that two more divisions
will be serving somewhere in Great
Britain.
When the Prime Minister'S associates
and admirers discuss Canadas war
effort, they do not apologize for Mr..
Mackenzie King. He has done the best
that any man could do, given the COM
plex situation existing in this sprawling
nation of two languages and two peoples,
they repeat.
Above all, and whether for good or
for bad, one has sense of this coun-
try's calm. The people are confident that
England will hold out. They refuse to
become frightened or hysterical.