Evening star., 1942-12-04
Our Pact With Canada


The agreement arrived at in princi-
pie between the Governments of Can
ada and the United States by an ex-
change Of notes last Monday between
our Secretary of State and the Ca
madam Minister at Washington is
not merely important but in one
noteworthy respect is unique in char
acter. 1t Is concerned, not with the
wartime emergency, but with the
postwar period. It aims at placing
the future peacetime economic re-
lationS Of the two nations on an en-
during basis in accordance with the
principles of mutual advantage and
enlightened cooperation. Further
more. this is to be done in no re-
strictive spirit. One of the objec-
tives Is ito furnish the world with
concrete example of how two
friendly, economically interdepend-
ent countries, convinced that recip-
rocally beneficial relations of the sort
prevailing between them must form
part OF general system, may pro-
mote by agreed action their mutual
interests, to the benefit of them
selves and other countries" And
the signatories mutually agree to
work with "all other countries of
like mind" to develop a postwar
economic settlement world wide in
scope.
Here Is concrete application of
the general principles announced in
the Atlantic Charter and proclaimed
by political and economic spokes-
men in the United States, the Brit
ish Commonwealth, and other men,
bers of the United Nations. There
was no need for negotiating about
wartime economic relations between
the United States and Canada, be-
cause these have already been put
on a thoroughly satisfactory basis
by series of agreements dating
back to the early days Of the war,
when the United States still was
technically neutral. The pact thus
is eminently forward looking, since
it is focused on the postwar future.
No two countries are better fitted
to inaugurate such a worldwide
trend than Canada and the United
States, because they stand so closely
related to each other in almost every
respect. Their enduring friendship
and mutual understanding are
proven by almost 1870 years Of un-
broken peace across more than 5000
miles of absolutely undefended from
tier. Intellectual, cultural, and per-
sonal contacts and exchanges are
as harmonious as they are intimate
and widespread. Only on the eco
nomic side has mutual cooperation
been less pronounced. Until recent
years, that undefended frontier has
conceded with tariff wall high
enough to prevent the commercial
exchanges indicated by geography
and the similarity of the two peoples.
The present war emergency made
imperative a pooling of natural re-
sources, industry and technical proc
esses for the common cause that has
resulted in a large measure of eco
nomic integration. Although tech
nically these have been temporary
wartime measures, the economic
links thereby forged can no more be
summarily broken than the eggs in
an omelette can be unscrambled.
Canada and the United States must
emerge from this war much more
closely associated economically than
they ever have been before. The
present agreement frankly recognizes
this fact and seeks to implement
the process equitably and construc-
lively for the benefit, not merely of
the United States and Canada, but
for the world as we'll.
This is craftsmanship touched with
vision. To be sure, the agreement
Just drafted is merely a blueprint.
The working model must be fash
ioned by subsequent negotiations.
But the idea and the technique al
ready are established. With those
basic matters settled, it is safe to
leave the details to time and expe-
rience