CANADIAN POLICY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1394, 21 March 1912, Page 7

CANADIAN POLICY.

FLEET AND THE EMPIRE.

fll Teleijraph—Press Assort.ition-Oopyt'ghi Oitawa, March 19. In tlio Canadian Jlousti of Commons Mr. K. L. Borden, tlio Prime Minister, made a statement regarding Canada's naviil policy. The cxi.-ting establishment must, In? said, be kept up. Tlio Government intended (o embark on a scheme fnr the adequate protection of the Domiuioii's coasts, anil nlsn for helping in Die defend' of the Empire.

Mr. .1. D. Hazen, Minister for Marino and Fisheries, declared that the contribution from Canada to the Empire must be grounded on a basis agreeable to Canada as a self-respecting part of the Empire. The navy must ho undivided, and work together as a whole. All parts of tlio L'mpire would bo at war if a single part, was attacked. The Laurier policy in this respect had been thrown overboard.

Mr. Borden pleaded for a greater voice ill tlio Empire's councils.

A policy was ultimately fixed on. 1 It ivill be presented to the whole Dominion for the people's decision.

LAURIER SCHEME ABANDONED,

CANADA'S NEW POSITION. The crux of the difficulty of the Canadian Ministry with regard to its naval policy lies in the fact that in the province of Quebec the decisive vote of the electorate in the election of la--t September can be interpreted as having been given against any form of direct naval contribution from Canada to the defence loi'ces of the Empire at large. Sir. Bourassa, who may be spoken of as the leader of tho Trench-Canadian Nationalists, and three of whose political associates arc now ir. the Dominion Cabinet— namely, the Hon. F. D. Sl'onk. Minister for Public Works; the Hon. D. Nantel, Jlinister for Inland Revenue, and the Hon. L. P. Pelletier, Postmaster-General— has declared the Nationalist position in most decisive fashion, lie says that until tho question is decided otherwise by tho Canadian people (that is to say, presumably by the Referendum), Canada's most efficient wav of helping in the general defence of the Empire is by fortifying Canadian ports on the shores of both oceans and by making tho militia an efficient force of defence. French Nationalist Views, Sir. Boura-ssa, however, goes on to make the important declaration that if the people of Canada shoulu decide to come frankly into the system of Imperial military and naval organisation "it must of necessity follow that they should be given an adequate proportion of authority and oli'ootive control" in the administration of Imperial affairs; and ho adds:

"Since such control and authority are now wholly centred in the hands of the British authorities, while it is claimed at tho same time that it is the British people who want our help, it «:ems rational tint before the self-governing colonies arc called upon to take any step in that direction the authorities of tho United Kingdom should express clearly what they want from the colonies in the way of help and what they are prepared to givo them in tho way of control and authority."

The declaration may be taken to indicate the probable attitude of Canadian Ministers when they come into conference with Mr. Winston Churchill and his colleagues. The Laurior "Baby Navy" proposal, alternatively called the "Tinpot" Navy scheme, is dead beyond recall. The majority of Canadians unhesitatingly declare it to bo useless as any help'to tho Mother Country in times of difficulty, and wasteful and politically objectionable from the purely Canadian point of viow.

It may be further asserted (says the London "Observer") that recent events havo greatly strengthened the position of those in Canada, both within the Ministry, and outside it, who refuse to contemplate any half-hearted support from Canada in the .ritical position to which rival .European armaments havo brought the defences of the British Empire. Especially would ihe Conservative- party of Ontario, whose Imperialism did so much to defeat tho reciprocity agreement and to place Mr. Borden in power, deeply resent any dem md on the pert of the new Ministry to burke this obvious duty.

"Call Us to Your Councils." Sir Wilfrid Laurier, it will be remembered, on n memorable occasion, declared that if Canada was to bo asked to contribute towards Imperial defence she must reply, "Gall us to your councils"; anil Mr. C. H. Cahan, K.C., writing from Montreal, with exceptional opportunities of knowing the French-Canadian mind, declares that "Three-fourths of the voters of Canada between the ages of 21 and 50 are determined to insist that Canada shall in somo measure, even in our own time, participate on a representative basis in Imperial Councils." Ho pointed out that "the practical abolition of the House of Lords, which : n the imagination of Cana dians of French descent was as firmly rooted in the traditions of the nast as the Throne of England itself, has forced this question of representation- upon FrenchCanadian thought, for it is now clear that the supreme authority in Imperial affairs is vested not in the Imperial Parliament, consisting of its two Houses, but in an executive committee of the House of Commons, namely, the Cabinet, representing exclusively tho electors of the United Kingdom. If, as seems evident from tho recent utterances of Sir Edward Grey and Mr.Asquith, there is no prospect, of any carlv change in this concentration of power in'the hands of the British Cabinet, it is useless to expect any such Canadian Parliamentary share in Imperial control, as Mr. Bourassa and many English Parliamentarians would seem of late to havo contemplated.