AMERICANISED CANADA.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17112, 6 April 1921, Page 10

AMERICANISED CANADA.

BECOMING U.S. "VASSAL."

(FROU OUt OTTX CORRESPOKDENT.)

VANCOUVER, February 15.

That Canada has fallen info a condition of spiritual subjection to tho United States is tho amazing indictment formulated by Dr. Archibald MacMeelmn, Professor of English Literaturo at Dalhousie University, Halifax, one of Canada's prominent men of letters.

Li the current issue of the Canadian Historical .Review, the Canadian professor describes "Canada as a vassal State," not to England, hut to the United States of America, and proceeds to develop his thesis' with an abundance of illustrations, which have come as a violent shock to Canadians themselves. Subjoined are somo sani* pies:— Journalism: The Canadian newspaper is built on American lines, and is crammed with American boiler-plate, American pictures, American comics, American magazines flood our bookstalls. Movies: All our alius practically are desigued for American audiences;»wo originate none. Capital and Labour: A notorious case. Self-aetcrmination is a joke. The price of our steel is fixed in New York, and our Nova Scotia miners obey the ordors of a Venmgericht in Indianapolis. Much of our industrial prosperity is due to the invasion of our field by the branch factories of American business, not to.the initiative, of our own business men. Our business methods 'are all American, 'with the exception of our great banking system. Universities: Organisation and curriculum, textbooks, methods, oversight, credits, are borrowed from- the United States. Greek letter societies, class organisations, class and college yells—everything down to the big initial on the football sweater, aro borrowed directly from American colleges, Sport: Our own native game of la« crosse is dead; cricket is exotic. Baseball is everywhere. Habits and Customs: "Teddy Bears'' became as popular here as in the United States. We have adopted the chew-ing-gum habit, and the chewing-gum machine, "that monument of progressive civilisation." Our dealers go to New York to get the latest styles in knobbly shoulders and semidetached trousers with permanent cuffs. All our slang is brought in by American shows. No Canadian over invents a new slang term. "Wo have imported Thanksgiving.Day, "a heathen festival of autumn," Labour Day, Arbor Day, Mother's Day. As soon as our cousins decide to celebrate .Great Grandmother's Day we will uncritically "Udopt it, too. Our children caH cents "pennies," and our pretty five cents silver pieces "nickels""after their ugly. American equivalent. Our police badges and clubs are American, our patriotic buttons—an American idea—are madß in Newark, New Jersey, In the foregoing indictment Dr. MacMeehan scores some bullseyes, and at other times is wide of the mark. In sports, for example, there is.precious little connexion, despite a Vide popularity of baseball, between Canadian and American sport. It is a lamentation like this which makes an Englishman think that Canada is doomed to drop into the spacious lap of Uncle Sam. And by the same token it is also apt to be misleading Jp "Uncle Sam" himBelf. It is'a fact, however, that a good many of the Canadian newspapers copy the American poster style or emblazoning their news on the front page, and play tip wild descriptions of American baseball games, often two or three thousand miles away from the home readers, when actually hockey is the real national winter pastime of Canadians, <fith curling on the ice rinks a good second. The average Canadian does not im"bibe his political and national aspirations from the movie screen. Nor does' he hanker after "the. American system of justice because he adopts a style in overcoats that may be popular on Fifth avenue, any more than Canada's women imbibe French Republicanism when they admire and buy French lace. Dh MacMeehan, Canadian critics assert, mistakes superficialities for the soul of the nation. The wonder is .that the Canadian type has been maintained and developed as it has. Some few years ago Americans fancied they would shortly "annex" the Dominion of Canada, but a party of patriotic Canadians retorted quickly that it was rather a question whether Canada would not annex the United States, and Dr. MacMeehan approaches closely this subject in a sense when he points out: "Our domains inarch together.for -three thousand miles. The same speech, the same jaws, the same religions prevail on both sides of the border. A standard guage and common courtesy Jrave made the continent one country for purposes of railway transportation. Canadian Pacific Railway cars-may be seen in Texas, nnd Omaha, and bant Fe in Cape Breton. Traffic between Canada and the United States is far easier than hetween the separate colonies of the Australian Commonwealth. Then our neighbours are many and rich; we are few in the land, and until lately were very poor. Hundreds of, thousands of Canadians have been drawn across the border because of the better opportunities of making a living and making money Under the Stars and Stripes. All these things aro inevitable and tend to make of Canada nine more States not i yet brought formally under control of Washington." Aside from all this, it is a positive fact that Canadian national feeling is much more Virile and widespread today than ever it was, and just why Professor 'MacMeehan reverts to annexation as an implied possibility'is not clear. . * '

Commenting on Canada being a historical by-product of the United States, the Toronto "Telegram" says that sentiment for political union with the United States m Canada 'to-day is as dead, as the I'haroahs, and this is what the average man in the street believes strongly, for sentimental affection for maintaining the bonds of the Uriti;:h Empire wore never more manifest than to-day. This is the prevailing testimony, in spite of the invasion of the West by thousands of American farmers, and of the industrial East by hundreds of big American concerns, in spite of the facts that Canada's trade with the United States exceeds that with all the rest of the world, and that American capital loaned in Canada has reached impressive proportions, and since exchange rates have boon favourable <o the American themselves to an alarming extent, reaching us high as 20 i>er cent, rcceutiy.

It is only by bringing trade balances in the vicinity of eqmUi-y thai Canada expects to _bring exchange to parity, and members oi : the Canadian Ministtry are frequently to be found in NewYork and Chicago endeavouring to improve relations of friendliness, and combat the vile propaganda disseminated by William Randolph Hearst in his syndicate of newspapers throughout the united States. The prospects of Uncle Sam© imposing a new tariff on imported goods adverse to the interests of the Dominion of Canada is being closely watched by Ottawa, but Canadians believe,' through their "close environment to tne big republic, some favourable solution of the difficulty will he obtained, and Canada's trade with Uncle Sam cultivated. An appeal for practical- neighbourliness between the United States and Canada has just been made by tliat veteran Canadian diplomatist, Sir George Foster, Canadian Minister' of Trad© and Commerce, and one of Canada's delegates to- the Assembly of tho League of Nations. Speaking at an influential gathering assembled in tho Hotel Astor, in New York,. Sir George

said: "We aro pretty sood neighbour* to vou. Wo came over from V" 1 ? • in i 921) and bought 921.000,000 dollars worth of stuff from 'you m the I nitea States. This means that every man, woman, and child -in Canada spent on an average 115 dollars m purchasing from the United States last year. '•Tho United States by the «U"« statistics, came into Canada and bought - 560.000,000 dollars' worth enly, cx« actlv u dollars for every man. woman, and" child in the United Suites. Le» us bo neighbours, buy as much from us as we do from you. and when we com* down here with our goodwill security--Canadian dollars—be above offering '» any desire to meddle witfl public affairs in tho n \V^, btat l!i' "r George referred to tbe lorduey Lmorgenev Tariff Bill, then beiore tho Senate, as a measure that would provwit ••us from sending down our eattlo anrt sheep, and agricultural products m • order that we may pay you. . "Well, there are but two things tor us to do," continued the Mmrt£ r--One is not to buy the «itr» >00,000,; 000 dollars' worth from tho people w the United State?. . That .is my appeal to the commercial portion of rt» United States. It- may be a good tiling to think of these things bekue we legislate too far. '

V question which has often been di»ciwsoA is the subject of a article in tho "Now Wk Times, ami is started as follows: Is it a handicap to bVborn rich? Has the boy who » compelled to make his own way in Mo a bettor chance than tho heir to million.-. Do happiness and attainment rowan! tho bov disciplined in tho hard school ol ambition, while they flco beyond tho irrasp of thoso bom amid abundance!' in firing a million dollars to ino Hoover Fund for tho relief of tho lrongrv children of Middle Europe. John'D. Kockcfcller, jnnr., voiced Ins answer to these questions a low dnv* ago. Somewhat wistfully ho said of his father: "Ho had to mako his own way in the world and I liave never known what that was." America is'a country whero this question might well bo discussed, and manv interest ing pros nod com arc advanced. Tho summiag-np of many good opinions seemed to ho that while wealth is an luidoubtcd advantage in providing education and opportunities, it depends on tho individual whether he becomes a luxurious parasite on his own means, or develops the wealth well and wisely .to tho bonefits of many employees and the world lat largo. It is simply a question of nrdividualhrn apparently.