THE IMPERIAL TIE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 58, 6 September 1926, Page 15

THE IMPERIAL TIE

IS CANADA BREAKING AWAY?

RESULT OF AMERICANISATION.

"Is Canada becoming Americanised to a degree inimical to the Imperial tie? Is Undo Sam carrying tho old .German policy of peaceful penetration to lengths that threaten Empiro soli'darityt" Thus Mr. B. S. Somervillo. in the "Empiro Eeview," introduces a quostion not without interest to Australia. Canada herself is becoming very 'concerned, and lively discussions ara taking place in the Canadian Press. Tha evidence for tho affirmative seems to be strong and varied. Geographically it is easier for Canadian trade to floir north and south across tho border than 'east and west. The Dominion consists of three settled areas divided by wide, unproductive belts. The eastern provinces find their natural market in Boston; Regina and Winnipeg in Central Canada are nearer to Chicago and St. Paul than to' Toronto and Montreal; (Vancouver finds transit cheaper to Seattle than across tho Rockies to Calgary and tho central provinces. The 'American tariff and the Canadian sentiment for unity, which has built three 'transcontinental lines, two of them losing very heavily, have countered this 'tendency, and the policy of Imperial preference begun in 1897 has done more. But neighbourhood is very close. The ,bulk of Canadian settlement lies within 200 miles of the border. Even more serious is the attraction of American "big business" to enterprising and ambitious young Canadians. But the most obvious processes of "AmericaniBation" are those which may be described loosely—very loosely—as "cultural." Seven million dollars a year are spent in Canada on American magazines. Press cable messages appear as they are coloured for purely United States consumption, though since the inauguration of the Canadian Press Service Canada has been able to converse ■internationally in her own voice as it were. But "the comic strips, the fullpage illustrations dealing with sex problems and domestic triangles, the silly fiction stories, and even the crossword puzzles, are all of American manufacture." _\inety-nino per cent, of every hundred theatrical attractions seen in Canada are American in personnel and sentiment. Practically only "made in the United States" films are shown. Now the development of radio has brought down on Canada a further deluge of Americanism in the form of jazz programmes and grandiose postprandial oratory of the Independence Day type. ■ Almost all of the moving pictures north of the border are either owned or controlled by Israelitish groupß in New York, which are also supreme in the production end at Hollywood. The same coteries dominate the .vaudeville and legitimate fields as well. - . . The result is that Canadian public taste has become saturated with 'American ideas. . . Canadians who patronise the "movies" have to submit to seeing their country depicted all over the world as a land of ice and snow, of gumaen, cattle thieves, whisky runaers, Indians, and a species of Royal Mounted Police removed as far as possible from the real specimen. They lave also become accustomed to the British aristocrat being branded as a card-sharper or a fortune hunter, with a mental equipment which contrasts Btrongly wi.h the intellectual brilliance of the great American hero. Truly it is a weird mental pabulum for a proud but helpless people. This has an immense influence on Canadian taste. "Canadians are gradually losing their inherited British r_ticence and dignity. They are learning to copy the Americans in their love for the spectacular, the donning of bizarre uniforms on special occasions, their unrestrained joy in gaudy parades, and their craz6 for organisations. Canadians have caught the craze for professiona; baseball, they applaud American' actors, ride in American automobiles, idolise American movie queens, and under the compulsion of courtesy witness_ unprotestingly the American flag being tarried through Canadian cities on every conceivable occasion. .The nation which annexed the word America', for its very own is nothing 'if not aggressive.'' Mr. Somerville proceeds to analyse Canadian opinion. Complete independence is not regarded as feasible, but there is a strong current of nationalist sentiment which favours tho separate negotiation of treaties, distinct representation at Geneva, and upholds Canada s right tq refuse to participate in a European war. Annexation to the .United States is favoured only by a few intellectuals, who see in this step a convenient solution of the problem .of the _ National Debt, which, they ; think, is growing too large to be car--ned by a population of 9,000,000 people. ..They cast envious eyes at the unparalleled prosperity of the United States. But the people of British descent are solid for the maintenance of the Imperial connection, the thousands of families connected with the war feel a strong attachment to the Empire and ao love at all for the United States. . . -jove and admiration for the Motherland are inbred deeply and not to be cast out lightly. If a plebiscite were taken it appears certain that Canadians would vote overwhelming^ _ n favour of remaining a partner in the greatest group of sister nations tho world has ever seen. It is a restless and changing era we live-in, but lovo founded on esteem endures."