Evening star., 1940-10-27
Canada Resenfs Talk
OF Union With j. s.;
Is Proud Of Heritdqe
Her People Are Quick
To Recall They Fought
To Stoy British
BY WADE WERNER,


Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
OTTAWA, Oct. 26.-Canada s in
visible border''-that far-f1ung, un-
defended line separating her from
the United States-is like a thin
wire stretched across a road-easy
to trip over.
That is what makes the Canadian
United States joint defense project
a delicate problem in neighborly
relations as well as a technical
matter of guns, tanks, destroyers,
planes and machinery.
The psychological difficulty lies in
the fact that the United States has
been living alone and liking it for
a long time, while Canada is very
much attached to her family-the
British family of nations
More than one prominent Ameri-
can in past years has unintention-
ally curdled the milk of Canadian
United States relations by suggest
ing, or seeming to suggest, that it
was high time Canada cut loose
from the family and eloped with her
blSY llCISllUOl.
How 1t Looks in Ottawa.
Therefore, whenever Uncle Sam
becomes particularly interested in
cooperating with Canada it be-
comes the task of diplomacy to
avoid creating any suspicion that an
abduction is intended.
To many an American living south
Of the undefended frontier such
Canadian sensitivness seems odd,
especially in view of the fact the
United States has no desire to alb
sorb Canada.
But up here the situation looks
different because American history
and customs take on different
aspect when viewed from the north.
Britain, for instance, always has
been Canada's bulwark against for
eign imperialism. In 1914-18 that
meant German imperialism; that is
also what it means now.
Canadians now have fought against
German troops in two wars, but
never against German troops in
vading Canada. Twice, hoWever-in
the War of the Revolution and in
the War Of l8l2-they struggled
against invading American armies.
and barely missed being over
Whelmed.
Canada Proud of Its Fight.
That was long, long time ago, of
course. There has been no war
between the United States and
Canada for more than a century.
But neither has there been any
war between the United States and
Britain in the last 100 years. Yet
patriots in the United States point
with pride to the terrific fight their
ancestors waged. against heavy odds.
to win their independence from
Britain.
Canadians are just as proud of
the blood and tears and hardships
it cost their ancestors to remain
British.
While the Revolutionary Colon
lists of 1776-1783 were striking off
the shackles of foreign rule count
less Loyalists were suffering the
usual fate of conservatives who op-
pose violent and successful pop
ular upheaval, many were thrown
into concentration camps, many
whipped, tarred and feathered,
dragged through horseponds and
carried about the town with tory
on their breasts; tens of thousands
lost their homes through confsca-
ton, including most of the Loyalist
property holders of New York; about
100000 were driven into exile.
Many Settled in Canada.
Many of these exile settled in
Canada, where the hardships they
endured while establishing new
homes in an inhospitable climate
increased their bitterness. AS one
Canadian historian puts it:
The fierce anger with which
they had resented the indignities of
war gave place to a deep and acrid
hatred, which pervaded every aspect
of their lives and constituted one of
the strongest influences in moIding
the outlook of their children"
1t was the sons and grandsons of
these refugees from revolution who
were the backbone of Canadian
resistance to invading American
troops in l8l2-14. Americans ac-
customed to thinking of the war of
1872 as a naval war-Which it also
was-naturally remember the sem
satlonal naval engagements which
put the United States on the map as
a sea power.
But Canadian historians empha-
size the land battles, the desperate
struggle which to Canadians was
"a fight for liberty, against sub
mersion in the American Union;
defensive war against a foreign in
vader.'
Only II .3O0. 900 in Canada,