railway never been built, Canada's trade would have followed its natural direction of north to south; the building of the line forced it east and west, and made it follow a national instead of a geographical channel. The results to Canada and the Empire are very great: without it the middle west would have become a commercial dependency of Buffalo, Chicago, and Minneapolis; and we can believe that the position would have been insecure without going to the length of assuming that political union would have followed commercial connection.
The McKinley tariff of 1890 was followed in 1896 by the definite adoption by Canada of Protection. For the same reason a market in Europe had become a necessity, and she naturally turned to Great Britain. Hence the preference granted in 1897 and 1898—a preference which was increased, it should be noticed, after the enactment of the Dingley tariff in 1897. In granting this preference Canadian statesmen were actuated by Imperial motives, but it is of the greatest importance to realize that it was also a necessary step in the country's economic development. Sir Wilfrid Laurier said in an election speech last year: 'We gave the British preference because we wanted British trade. Great Britain is our best market. This makes it our duty to develop our trade in that direction, and our exports are growing greatly. But to secure low freight rates on your products it is necessary that the ships carrying them should bring back cargoes of English goods; that is the vindication of our preference policy.'
And now we are to witness the last chapter of the story, Canada has been driven, unconsciously, perhaps, at first, to make herself independent of the States, and to seek commercial union with Great Britain. But her independence to-day is not complete. Fifty years ago, when the Grand Trunk Railway was built, reciprocity with the States existed, and it was thought perfectly natural that the Atlantic terminus of the line should be Portland, Maine. But thirty years later, when it became
