Britain abandoned. The action of the United States in approach-
ing Canada with a desire to make such an agreement, after de-
clining on so many occasions to consider the question when asked
to do so by Canada, was looked upon with suspicion, and it was
suggested that the balance of advantage would remain with the
United States, the speeches of some of her most prominent
public men being freely quoted in support of this view notably
one by Mr. Champ Clark in Congress, and another by President
Taft himself. It was held that the impelling cause was the desire
of the United States to have access to the abundant natural
resources of Canada, her own reserves of wood, coal and other
minerals, and much of her farm land, having shown signs of
exhaustion. It was thought the better plan was to conserve
Canadian resources for Canadian use. A further objection to the
proposals was that, while they would change the whole current of
Canadian industries, and be likely to dislocate the national
development, the new markets proposed would be so entirely
unstable and insecure that, after having had the benefit of them
for a few years, they might be withdrawn, causing a reversion to
the position of 25 years earlier, and necessitating the rebuilding of
home industries and re-making their reputation in markets which
in the meantime had been entirely occupied by old competitors.
Great importance was attached to the restriction on legislation
which it was alleged this agreement would cause, as no trade
aggrieved under it could obtain redress without the arrangement
as a whole being upset. It was also urged that under it con-
cessions in the tariff would have to be made, in accordance with
existing treaties, to countries from which no equivalent advan-
tages could be obtained; and it was declared that if this Rec-
iprocity policy was pursued the ties of Empire would eventually
be cut, for it would lead to complete commercial union and in the
end the political domination of the United States, to which
Canada would simply be an annexe.
The debates in connexion with the matter lasted for almost the remainder of the session; but on Feb. 22 1911, on the motion of Mr. F. D. Monk, the House adopted unanimously the follow- ing as an amendment to the motion for going into Committee of Ways and Means: " But, before resuming the discussion of the terms of the agreement concluded between the Government of Canada and the President of the United States, and with a view to dispel the feeling of unrest created in Canada by com- ments made in both countries as to the political consequence of the agreement, the House wishes to affirm emphatically its determination to preserve intact the bonds which unite Canada to the British Empire and the full liberty of Canada to control her fiscal policy and internal autonomy."
A bill to give effect to this Reciprocity Agreement on the part of the United States was introduced in the American Congress on Jan. 29, and in due course passed the Senate on July 22, it being enacted that its provisions should become operative as soon as the necessary counterpart legislation had been passed by the Cana- dian Parliament. Discussion continued in the Canadian House of Commons, but no progress was made towards the adoption of the proposals, and on July 29 1911 the Government decided to recom- mend the dissolution of Parliament and to submit the matter to the judgment of the people at a general election. The defeat of the Government followed, the result being greatly influenced by the strong opposition to Reciprocity which was shown by such well-known Liberals as Mr. Clifford Sifton (b. 1861; formerly Minister of the Interior in the Laurier Cabinet), Mr. Lloyd Harris and Mr. Wm. German, and by the steps taken by a body of prominent Liberals of Toronto, assisted by Sir Edmund Walker, president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce.
Sir W. Laurier' s Naval Policy. An outcome of the Imperial Conference of 1909 had been the determination of the Canadian Government to establish a naval service; and on Jan. 12 1910 a bill for this purpose was introduced into the House of Commons, and became law on May 4 1910. It provided for the creation of a Naval Department, and transferred to it from the department of Marine and Fisheries the wireless telegraph, fisheries' protection, hydrographic and tidal survey branches. It empowered the Government to appoint a Naval Board to advise the minister,
and to organize and maintain permanent, reserve and volunteer forces, and to place at the disposal of His Majesty, for general service in the Royal Navy, ships or men of the Canadian naval service. Provision was also made for a naval college. During the debate on the bill Sir Wilfrid Laurier announced that it was the intention of the Government to construct, in Canada if possible, four cruisers of the improved " Bristol " class, and six destroyers of the improved " River " class. At conferences with the British Admiralty it was agreed that the naval stations for Canada should be two one on the Atlantic, to include the waters of 3oN. lat. and west of the meridian of 40 W. ; and one on the Pacific, to include the waters north of 30 N. lat. and east of the meridian of 180. Halifax dockyard was taken over from the Imperial authorities on Jan. i 1906, and the dockyard at Esquimalt on Nov. 9 1910. On Aug. 28 1911 it was announced that the King had approved of the naval forces of Canada receiving the style of " The Royal Canadian Navy," and of the ships-of-war of that navy being designated as " His Majesty's Canadian Ships-." On Dec. 16 the following regulations were published with regard to the flag and pennants to be flown by the Royal Canadian Navy : " All ships and vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy shall fly at the stern the white ensign as the symbol of the authority of the Crown, and at the jack-staff the distinctive flag of the Dominion of Canada, such distinctive flag being the blue ensign with the Arms of the Dominion inset in the fly. The white pennant will be flown at the masthead."
In pursuance of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's naval policy, H.M. cruis- ers " Niobe " and " Rainbow" were purchased and taken over in the autumn of 1910. On July 29 1911, however, H.M.C.S. " Niobe " sustained damage by grounding on the coast off Cape Sable; her repairs were undertaken at Halifax and took 15 months to complete. The building of the proposed new cruisers and destroyers had, however, not been commenced at the time of the resignation of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Government.
Mr. Borden's Naval Policy. The naval policy of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Government was that of a Canadian-built and Canadian- controlled navy, but this was criticised by the Opposition as involving a large expenditure, a disunited Imperial navy, and the construction of obsolete types of ships. Upon Mr. Borden's acceptance of office, the naval question became one of renewed interest. Mr. Borden stated that in his view the question of permanent cooperation between the Dominion and the rest of the Empire ought to be fully debated and that the Canadian people should be given an opportunity of pronouncing upon it; pains would be taken to ascertain in the meantime what were the real conditions confronting the Empire. In pursuance of this object, Mr. Borden, with several of his colleagues, visited London in July 1912, and were cordially welcomed by Mr. Asquith's Government, who enabled them, at meetings of the Imperial Defence Com- mittee and otherwise, to obtain all the information available as to the problems of British foreign policy and the naval situation as it presented itself to the British Admiralty. The proposals which the Canadian Government founded on the understanding thus arrived at were left, however, to be made public first in the Dominion Parliament after it met in November.
Mr. Borden's speech on Dec. 51912 must always be historic in the relationship between Canada and the mother-country. It was notable for announcing two steps forward in a common Imperial policy. In the first place his " Bill to authorize Measures for increasing the effective Naval Forces of the Empire " pro- posed to contribute 7,000,000 ($35,000,000) for the construction and equipment of three first-class battleships, to be under the control of the British Admiralty as part of the Royal Navy, sub- ject to arrangements for their being at the disposal of the Cana- dian Government if ever a separate Canadian navy were estab- lished. And in the second place, by the agreement of the Im- perial Government to include a Canadian minister as one of the permanent members of the Committee of Imperial Defence, the principle was recognized that, if the dominions took their share in Imperial defence, they must also have a share in determining Imperial policy. The proposal for an " emergency contribution " of three battleships to the British navy was founded on a memo-
