These loans were for the following purposes:
To purchase land $44,463,951
To remove encumbrances 2,213,897
For permanent improvements 9,408,394
For stock and equipment 25,268,706
$81,354,948
The Dominion Government also appropriated the sum of $25,000,- ooo for housing in. Canada. The object of the Government was to provide houses for working-men, particularly returned soldiers, at the actual cost of building and land acquired at a fair value, thus eliminating the profits of the speculator.
After the War. One result of the war was that Canada, along with other dominions, acquired a substantially new status in the Empire. Sir Robert Borden, as Canadian Prime Minister, was a member of the Imperial War Cabinet. Members of the Canadian Government attended the Peace Conferences, signed the Peace Treaties, and were members and participated in the deliberations of the League of Nations. Finally it was decided that Canada should be represented at Washington by a Canadian ambassador, distinct from, and with responsibilities quite apart from those of, the British ambassador.
During the war a general election had taken place on Dec. 17 1917, the Unionist Government under Sir R. Borden being op- posed by the Laurier Liberals, the result being the return of 150 Unionists and 80 Opposition members. After the signing of the Armistice a certain number of the Liberals elected as Unionists to support the Government returned to the Liberal side of the House in Opposition. As the result of by-elections, representatives of the Farmers' party were also elected and sat upon the cross- benches, which included several former Liberals from the Middle West. At the close of the 1920 session of Parliament the Unionist party by that name ceased to exist, and there was formed the National Liberal and Conservative party, with a policy strongly protective in principle. In Aug. 1919, as the result of the death of Sir W. Laurier (Feb. 17 1919), a huge convention of Liberals was held at Ottawa to select a leader in succession to him, and to frame a platform. After an exciting contest of several days the Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King was elected, and a fiscal policy was approved in favour of free imports of all foodstuffs and implements of production.
On March 21 1921, Sir Robert Borden having resigned the premiership, Mr. Arthur Meighen (b. 1874), as his successor in the Conservative leadership, was called upon to form a govern- ment. It included Sir George E. Foster as Minister for Trade and Commerce. Mr. Meighen subsequently attended the Im- perial Conference in London in July 1921. But he and his party, standing on a high tariff platform, were heavily defeated at the general elections on Dec. 6. For the first time in Canada, women exercised the vote. The Liberal party, under Mr. King, were returned 121 strong, the Conservatives numbering only 51, the Progressives (under Mr. T. A. Crerar) 60, and Independ- ents 2. The result was a victory for the Liberal policy of a tariff for revenue only, with British preference, but with reci- procity as regards the United States. Mr. Mackenzie King (b. 1874), who had been Minister for Labour for eight years under Laurier, thus found himself at the head of a clear majority over all other parties.
Lord Jellicoe and the Canadian Navy. In pursuance of in- structions from the Lords of the Admiralty to advise the Domin- ion in respect of a scheme of naval defence, Lord Jellicoe visited Canada in 1919 and his report was issued early in 1920. On June 14 1920 the Hon. C. C. Ballantyne made an official statement of policy in the Canadian House of Commons. He stated that the Government had not yet decided on a permanent programme, and would not so decide until after the matter had been discussed by an Imperial Conference and a decision had been arrived at by Great Britain on an Imperial naval policy. In the meantime the Canadian navy would be maintained on pre-war lines. The offer by the Imperial Government of one light cruiser and two torpedo- boat destroyers to take the place of the obsolete training ships, the " Niobe " and the " Rainbow," had been accepted. To make way for reorganization, it had been decided to demobilize all officers and naval ratings, discontinue certain civilian help at
headquarters .and at the naval dockyards at Esquimalt and Halifax, to recall all officers with the Imperial fleet and place them in the Canadian service, and to continue the Naval College.
Prince of Wales' Visit, iQig. The year 1919 was made notable by the visit of the Prince of Wales. King Edward VII., as Prince of Wales, had visited Canada in 1860, and King George V., in the same capacity, in 1901. This tour of the Prince of Wales in 1919, however, was the most extensive ever made by any member of the royal family. He arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland, on Aug. 12, and from Aug. 15 to his departure for England from Halifax on Nov. 25 he visited every part of Canada accessible by railway communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific, being welcomed with the greatest enthusiasm everywhere; and in the course of his visit the Prince laid the corner-stone of the tower of the new Parliament Buildings at Ottawa.
Prohibition. After the commencement of the World War all the Canadian provinces took steps toward the prohibition of intoxicants or the severe restriction of their use, as a war meas- ure, to be effective during the period of the war. In British Columbia this was brought about by the submission of a referen- dum in the form of a statute. In other provinces prohibition measures were the results of direct action by the Legislatures. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward I. had been . largely " dry " before the war under the local option provisions of the Canada Temperance Act, but these, too, tightened up the existing law by provincial measures. In nearly every instance the purchase of liquors, with the exception of very light beer, where the sale of this was permitted, was possible only through medical prescription, and liquors were only available at drug- stores or Government shops. In Quebec a bill introduced in 1918 provided for total prohibition on May i 1919. A subsequent bill of 1919 retained all the clauses of the Act of 1918, except in re- spect of the sale and use of beer and light wines, which were subject to a referendum, the result of which was: in favour, 178,112; against, 48,433. In the four western provinces much complaint was made by prohibitionists of the laxity of enforce- ment, which was admitted in official quarters to be a matter of great difficulty, and a discussion arose in all the provinces as to the advisability of restrictive measures of the nature then in force. On the prohibitionist side it was urged that more stringent laws should be enacted and better machinery provided for enforce- ment. On the other, the " moderation " side, Government con- trol was advocated. An appeal was made to the Dominion authori- ties to prevent manufacture and the export and import as among provinces. Two provinces, British Columbia and Quebec, de- clared for Government control, and in both that system became effective. The Government of Canada endeavoured through the House of Commons to restrict the manufacture, transportation and importation of liquors during the war and for 12 monthi. thereafter, but the measure was defeated _in the Senate and abandoned. A subsequent law was enacted leaving the matter in the hands of the various provinces, as the result of referenda.
By statute assented to on Nov. 10 1919 provision was made for taking, at the request of any provincial legislature by resolution, a vote in the province upon the question whether the importation of intoxicating liquor therein should be prohibited, and the machinery for such votes, previously defective, was improved in 1920 by another statute, assented to on July i 1920. Proclama- tions were at once issued directing votes to be taken on Oct. 25 following in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. These votes resulted as follows:
For Against
Nova Scotia . . 83,422 23,874
Manitoba . . . 68,831 55,056
Alberta . . . 63,012 44,321
Saskatchewan . 86,949 55,259
Ontario . . . 54,773 373,93 8
The Yukon territory in June 1921 carried a referendum in favour of sale of intoxicants under Government control. It had previously been " dry."
Viceroys. As governor-general of Canada Earl Grey had been succeeded in 1911 by the Duke of Connaught, who in turn was
