4 - LAURIER AND THE LARGER CANADA SUPPLEMENT [HE ERA OF FULFILLMENT, 11 YEARS A Glance at the Big Things Which Have Been Accomplished Under Laurier. \CTION HAS REPLACED TALK rn \s Ilustrated by British Prefer- ence, Filling Up the West and Many Reforms. sete fas It 1s a characteristia of the last welve years, the years of Liberal ad- Mnistration, that things have been One which were formerly talked about Promised. Take the question of the tish preference For many years his was talked about. Everybody sald it would be a fitting thing to show Ome friendship for Great Britain in MF tariff legislation, to admit British nufactures at a lower rate than the roduct orf foreign countries, But no- Ing was done. Fifteen years ago, Mr. vies, then a prominent member of he Liberal Opposition, now a judge of he Bupremes Court, moved a resolution D the effect that the tariff ought to be DP framed as to give a preference to mports from Great Britain. The Con- tives met the resolution with an lendment to the effect that Canada puld give a preference to Great Bri- n "if and when" Great Britain gave Preference to Canada. The amend- ont was carried, and the result was hat both countries marked time, and pthing was done Action Replaced Talk. Vhen the Laurier Government as. med office, the policy of marking ime, the policy of "if and when," was scarded, and a bold, step a8 taken. A Bri preference was pt merely talked about, but placed on ® statute book I'he legislation at- ted the attention anid caught the {nation of the British people, and was one of ti leading subjects of scussion in the English ring the Jubilee celebration of 1897 n of them sized up the situation hen it sald the Laurier Government by the horns." In decisive newspapers d "taken the bu our total trade with Great Britain, ports and exports, was less than one ndred millions, In 1807 it was more an. two hundred millions. The effect to increase the volume, not only British imports Into Canada, but of hnadian imports Into Great Britain. e Immense extension of the British for Canadian grain, cheese, is a direct result of the granted by the arket itish prefefence elding tariff of 180 But Industry Prospered. 'hen the Fielding tariff was intro. hs Charles Tupper said that he ard "the wall, the sorrowful wall, the manufacturers of Canada, la- enting tl coming downfall of thelr This is what Industrial -day: "During the past enjoyed expanding wen have been paid received big produce from AV osperity Wo Il, and farmers have ices for r grain and here has yeen no complaint her that clothing costs a few cents year more than if there were no in. stries here, or that thelr implements househol were a fraction her in price e price of farm pro- cts has increased decidedly more an that of any manufactured article a resu.t of the presence f tk fac ries they have wherewith to pay the fce, and the savings banks of the untry amply how that they have mewhat more The N.P. was Intto- ced with many prosper- , and for country I prosper the long run, as @ census « ed, the results e manufactur- before enjoyed have done dur- f Liperal Admin- th of i due to » growth nt t n stry, d the w 1 « ry. e whole It p AY nadian Indu t th lid re Its show i Liberal ears of ful- 'raent. The West Went Ahead For manv y Canada as in| fixed Its | UNDER LIBERALS ational expansion end pros. n the West. Both parties arnest in their de. i untry peopled and f we give credit to George s persistent and unwearied of the addition of the West give credit also | * Government of ; | a century ago for its bold. {ne 8 in 1 ing forward the bullding | | | hoped of erty Ral.way. Yet 1y years the re. | Did Not Begin Until Laurier and a Business Administration Came Into Power. The marvelous growth of the West {in the last twelve years is one of the stubborn facts which confront the Con- servative campalgners. It is easy to | say that the prosperity of the West is {due to the fertility of its soll But | why, with its extraordinary natural re- | sources, did the West remain for so | many years unpeopled, and of little | practical benefit to Canada or to the | worl? Why, In a short time after the { Liberal Government came into power, {d1a the stream of immigration begin [to flow in a volume commensurate | with the resources of the country? The | | | figures « immig of homestead | sntries, of population pt Western of wheat and othe ps. have | been repeatedly given, and they tell a wonderful story But it is not neces- sary to prove the prosperity and growth of the West by statistics Anyone who visited the West in 1808 and again In 1908 will tell you that } districts, few and far betwee T SIR WILFRID'S ' SUNNY SMILE." = The Story of the Golden West suits were disappointing, and that in his 'celebrated letter of 181, the Hon. Edward Blake spoke of "a North-West empty still." Of the present immi. grant population of the three Western Provinces only 4650 had arrived in Ca da prior to 1891; 76.380 arrived be. tween 1891 and 1801; and 233.457 came in the five years between 1901 and 1906 when the 'immigration policy of the present Government was in full swing. {It is not a mere accident that the Can- ladian West under Conservative rule was a land of the hope deferred that | maketh the heart sick, while to-day it {1s a land of fulfillment. The Railway Commission talked of ier the previous Administration be- | ca a fact under the Laurier Admin- | {stration. Civil service reform has been removed from the realm of dreams into the realm of action. |saw virtually two countries. In 18%6 | there was one Province, and a great stretch of unorganized territory, thin- ly peopled and cultivated in little day there are three Provinces, vieing with each other in population, settle- ment, and cultivation. and each with splendid prospects. The Calgary and Edmonton of 1908 are hardly to be compared with the Calgary and Ed- monton of 1896 There are thriving towns In Saskatchewan which had not jeven a name twelve years ago. There was on transcontinenta lway in the West in 1896. There are three to- day, eagerly seeking for the privilege of sharing In the business of ¢ arrying the Western grain. And still the cry Is for more railways The Calgary Herald, a Conservative paper, is carry- {Ing on a campaign for more railways [in Alberta. to act as feeders for the three transcontinentals. While the | Provinces are progressing at tl mendous pace, Manitoba ging behind. The Winnipeg is an object lesson teachin he f Manitoba If the appeal 1s to be made to his- jtory, it can easily be shown that George | Brown, the leader of the Liberal party, was the one public man who for twen- | splendid perity {ty years upheld the advantages of the | Administration. If the and urged its union with Can- |had failed in the West, no excuse would It can be shown that he did this | have saved it from public condemna- | | West | da {In the face of coldness and discourage- It can be shown that up to the » of Confederation Sir John Mac- | | | | | all fair-n | { than in the administration of the pre- WISE PROGRESS | DEMOCRACY | AND LIBERTY The Principles That Have Guided | and Now Guide the Lib- i eral Party. | EXPLANATION OF SUCCESS ------ en Policy of Opposition Little More Than Ome of Negation { and Abuse. If the Liberal party were merely a political faction, standing only for of- fice or spolls, or even if its claim for support wére simply the record of past achievements and traditions of honor and usefulness, there might be reason for challenging its request for & further lease of power. When, how- ever, it comes before the people as the exponent of sound principles, and the active agency promoting and guiding successful national development actu- ally going on, there becomes manifest the absurdity of the proposal to re- place it by another party whose policy is little more than negation and abuse. The progressive political virility of this new country demands a leader- ship of men who can be relied upon to do things. What does the other party propose in the way of national de- velopment, except to continue the great undertakings which they have ecriti- cized and opposed? No one takes ser- fously Mr. Foster's talk about a tun- nel under the Straits of Northumber- land. What else does his party re- present, except the recollection of Sir John A. Macdonald's performances, The Liberal party has always stood Pu® 'LovIoowap ong} 'ssesdoxd esim 103 personal liberty. To an earnest de- sire for the development and applica- tion of these great principles it owes its origin and success. Its history in Canada, as well as in Great Britain, is a history of effective opposition to every repressive, oppressive, and | unsocial attempt to subvert the wel- fare and advancement of the commun- ity, in the Interests of privileged classes. Nowhere have those great principles found fuller exemplification sent Dominion Government, Hence it is, that in our Parliament to-day, we find no Socialist faction, no element representing discontent with our form of government, no represen- tatives of any sections of the commun- ity that consider themselves treated with injustice. What a contrast in this respect is the Parliament of Can- ada to the Legislature of nearly every other country in which constitutional government prevails, This is because Canadians are well governed, prosperous, and satisfied with the prudent guidance of their young country's rapid development. It is largely because of that large-vision- ed guidance that the Dominion is now 80 attractive to the best and most intelligent im- migrants from other lands. To it, we owe the filling up of new territory with a population of the finest char- acter, that will maintain the ambi- tions which impel them and the condi- tions that attract them. The worthy representative and well qualified leader of this great Liberal national life is the statesman who now asks the electors of Canada to pass judgment upon his record and his propbsals. donald was Indifferent to the value of the West, except from the point of view of military defence. It can be | shown that the bringing in of the West | ank in the platform of a Lib- 'ntion held in Toronto in 1857, | neither in 1857 nor in 1882, | but in 1908 We are dealing with the present. and with the work done in the development of the West in the last twelve years, uhder the present Government tion. As it has succeeded beyond all | expectation, it will receive credit from | Inded men, --_ % \ ~x es NN] - THE VOYAGEVR ( A 3 ¢ THE TRAPPER. | | | | Oppos What There is to Show for It Where Increases in Expenditures Have Taken Place and the Returns Obtained Therefrom. Expenditures on the public se under the Laurier Government. This, in varying forms, is one of the chief charges preferred by the ition against the Administration of the day. The fact is admitted. Ex the ordinary runnin has been spent, also, 03 permanent public works. : But have the people been burdened by the taxation imposed ? - ~~ Has the future of the country been darkened by the pilingonofa rvices of the country have been increased penditures have grown. The amouflt spent on g services is larger than it was twelve years ago; more on what is called "capital account' --i.e., the construction load of debt ? Are there returns to show for the money spent ? > These are the questions in which the country is chiefly interested. These are the questions to which answers are herewith submitted. THE ORDINARY SERVICES Let us take first a few of the ordinary services of the country and see THE POSTAL SERVICE. The expenditure on the postal service in the nine months ending with March, 1907, was $300,000 greater than for the whole year of 1896. But this does not mean an added burden for the people. The do- mestic rate on letters has actually been re- duced in the interval from three to two cents, and a letter éan be sent from Vancouver to Lon- don to-day for two- thirds the charge im- posed for sending from Toronto to Richmond Hill in 1896. IMMIGRATION. The expenditure on immigration in 1896 was $120,000. In 1906 it was $842,000. Large- ly as a result of the greater outlay the number of farms in Western Canada in- creased from 64,000 in 1901 to 120,000 in 1906. why increases in cost have taken place in these. SUBSIDIES TO PRO- VINCES. The sum of $4,235,000 was transferred in the form of subsidies from the Dominion treasury to the treasuries of the various Provinces in 1896. In the short year pf 1907 (nine months) the sum so transferred was $6,745,000. Part of the increase was due to the creation of two new Provinces. Part of it followed upon an in- crease in the subsidies to the older Provinces. A portion of the surplus of which Mr. Whitney boasts comes from this source. AGRICULTURE. The outlay by the Agricultural D e part- ment was $210,000 for the full year of 1896. In the nine months forming the short fiscal year of 1907 no less than $625,000 was spent by the same depart- ment. But in the same time, and partly as the result of the increased spending, the value of farm exports increased by $41,000,000. ' LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE. On lighthouse and coastal service $466,000 was spent in 1896. In the nine months ending with March, 1907, $2. 000,000 was expended. As a résult of the in- creased outlay in light- ing, coupled with the deepening and improve- ment in our waterways, the St. Lawrence route is capturing trade which formerly went via New York and Boston. More grain passed through Montreal in the last three months than through the combined rival American ports in the same time. MORE FOR QUARAN. TINE SERVICE. The cost of the na. tional quarantine ser vice has grown from $95,000 in 1896 to $624,000 in 1906. Could money be better spent than in guarding against the invasion of disease from abroad ? The close of the fiscal year of the Dominion was changed in 1907 from June to March. Thus the state- ment of expenditure for the last year for which of- ficial figures are available covers nine months only. THE LARGE EXPENDITURES The chief explanation of the inerease in the total disbursements of the country is found in the outlay on great public works--works which will be of lasting benefit to the country. PUBLICLY-OWNED RAILWAYS. Between 1896 and the end of the fiscal year of 1907 over $27,000,000 was expended on con- struction account of the Intercolonial and econ- nected railways. Up to the end of the same year over $8,000,- 000 had been spent on the portion of the Transcontinental own- ed by the people. The spending of this money has not only ad- ded to the country's transportation facilities, and so helped general trade; it has also in- creased the value of publicly-owned rev- enue-producing proper- ties. AID TO PRIVATE RAILWAYS, In addition to the sums spent on publicly- owned railways, over $18,000,000 has been ex- pended in the form of subsidies/to private rail- ways. Some of these roads are providing transportation facilities for territory which oth- erwise would still be unoccupied. As a con- sequence of the liberal policy pursued by the Government, the length of all the railways in Canada has increased from 16,270 miles in 1896 to 22,452 in 1907, and the total of the capital invested in rail- ways from $890,000,000 to $1,285.000,000, . CANAL EXPENDI- TURE. Over $20,000,000 was spent in the ten years ending with 1906 on the St. Lawrence, Wil- liamsburg, Welland, Trent, and Soulanges canals--an expenditure which, with the im. proved lighting service, is helping to make our waterways the great commercial artery of North America. About two-thirds of the capi- tal expenditure on the Soulanges Canal, which has made it navigable for heavy freighters, has taken place under the present Govern. ment. WITHOUT ADDED BURDENS And, in accomplishing all this, only a trifle over five million dollars has been added to the public debt. In the previous eleven years over sixty - two millions was added to the national obligations. While, too, more money has been spent, the rate of taxation has actu- ally been lessened. In 1896 the average rate of Customs taxation on dutiable imports was nearly 30 per cent.; in 1907 it was 26 1-3 per cent. More money has been collected, but with less burden upon the taxpayers. A parallel case would be afforded by a growing town which, while actually lowering the rate on the dollar, increased its total revenue as a result of additions to the number of taxpayers and taxable property. ~~ The money has been spent, but the country has obtained returns for the spending and the public burdens have beep lessened rather than increased. ' - --_-- =e? THE SURVEYOR THE ow fre, THE PROSPECTOR. THE MINER THE LUMBERMAN CONQUERING OF WESTERN CANADA NO. 2--THE SCOUTS. Mr. C. W. Jeffreys, representing the Conquest of Canada for civilization and the me n who are engaged in It 260000900000000°00C5 C8900