of our constitution." In the second place Sir Robert issued a public statement (May 9) in which he dealt with the purposes and achievements of these weeks:

The importance of the step taken has hardly been realized. For the first time in our history representatives of all the self-governing nations of the Empire sat around the Council board tendering advice to the Crown upon matters of common Imperial concern. That such a development was possible was due to three considerations: (1) Stress of great events brushed aside precedent; (2) the flexibility of British conditions and the British practical instinct for meeting a need as it arises; (3) the great power and authority with which the Prime Minister is invested under the British constitution.

On May 14 the Premier arrived at Quebec with his colleagues and told the press that: "The summoning of the Imperial War Cabinet is regarded as an event of the highest significance and there is reason to anticipate that the practice thus established will develop into recognized usage." To Parliament on May 18 he submitted a detailed and elaborate report upon the public issues of this visit. The Imperial War Cabinet was reviewed constitutionally and Sir Robert pointed out one important development which had sprung up as a necessity and without design: "On days when the Imperial War Cabinet did not sit the War did not wait; therefore it was necessary that the British Cabinet itself should sit on those days to deal with questions arising out of the War. This result, therefore very early obtained: that the Imperial War Cabinet was differentiated from the British War Cabinet; that the Imperial War Cabinet sat for the purpose of dealing with matters of common concern to the whole Empire, and the British War Cabinet sat for the purpose of dealing with those matters which chiefly concerned the United Kingdom. There were, for the first time in London, two Cabinets advising the Crown."

This practice and the ideal back of it so impressed itself upon the people of the United Kingdom, and upon their statesmen, that at the very last meeting of the Imperial War Cabinet a definite offer was made to the Overseas Dominions that this experiment should be continued in the future; that it should develop into a usage and into a convention; and that_annually at least, and, if necessity should arise, oftener, there should assemble in London an Imperial Cabinet to deal with matters of common concern to the Empire. The future of this proposal will be a Cabinet of Governments rather than of Ministers. Having regard to the declarations of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his colleagues, the proposal will carry with it much of advantage to the Overseas Dominions. I say that for this reason: It is not proposed that the Government of the United Kingdom shall, in foreign affairs, act first and consult us afterwards. The principle has been definitely and finally laid down that in these matters the Dominions shall be consulted before the Empire is committed to any policy which might involve the issues of peace or war. As to the rest Sir Robert declared that the experience of sitting in this Empire Cabinet had given a clearer and wider view of war conditions, duties and responsibilities than would have been otherwise possible: "The day I examined the correspondence of the War Cabinet, I suppose there were at least 200 telegrams dealing with every conceivable subject, with matters arising in almost every country, neutral, allied, or enemy, in the world." He quoted the Resolutions moved at the War Conference and recorded elsewhere, and stated that the Special Imperial Conference to be called after

the War "for considering constitutional readjustment" should include representatives of the recognized political parties in all the Dominions of the Empire. The Premier then dealt with the development of Empire resources, declared that before the War "Germany had a better knowledge and conception of the natural resources of the Dominions of this Empire than was to be found in the United Kingdom," and urged better and cheaper facilities of communication as an essential element in development. He declined to urge a change of Fiscal policy upon the people of Great Britain. As to Naval Defence "it will be necessary for the United Kingdom and the Overseas Dominions to take up the question in co-operation and with a view to concerted action" and for this purpose the Admiralty would prepare, after the War, a scheme for consideration.

During the Parliamentary Session the Premier took his usual position of careful leadership and courteous conduct of controversial affairs and, in the main, dealt with the larger issues of war administration. On Feb. 1 he introduced the Resolutions for a $500,000,000 National War Loan and stated the War expenditure to date as $448,850,053; on the 2nd he replied to F. B. Carvell and dealt at length with the Ross Rifle question. He referred to the fact that the rifle was good in some respects and inferior in others but that supplies in 1914-15 were badly needed with a year required in which to change a factory from one kind to another and, in this case, a year's notice, also, in which to abrogate the contract with the Company; that defective ammunition had something to do with the original trouble while the fault of jamming was not confined to the Ross alone; that no one at first thought of trench warfare as a permanent thing and that this had proved the most trying test to which the rifle could be put; that changes in construction were made in accordance with British advice and that when the troops lost confidence in the rifle it was withdrawn and the LeeEnfield substituted. His summary was as follows: "The rifle had been approved by the late Government in the form in which we found it when war broke out. The Minister of Militia believed it to be a good rifle. We had no evidence before us that it was not a good rifle until experience in actual warfare, under conditions of the utmost severity, demonstrated, in the opinion of the military authorities at the Front, that it ought to be put aside and the LeeEnfield substituted for it. They made that suggestion to us, and we acquiesced in it."

The question of Demobilization was discussed on Feb. 5 and the Medical Service in England and Dr. Bruce's report on the 6th. After the Premier's return from Great Britain the question of Woman Suffrage was brought up, on May 16, and Sir Robert expressed the view (1) that it should not be granted because of women's war services but when given it should be done as a fundamental right; that (2) there was an irresistible impulse in democratic countries to recognize this right and that the time was coming for it to be given in "all the Parliaments of the nation and the Empire"; that (3) in the words of his amendment to a Resolution presented

by D. Sutherland, declaring that the question should engage the attention of the Government at the present session, it should rather "engage the attention of Parliament before an appeal to the people is made."* The Military Service Act was presented by the Premier on June 11 and will be dealt with separately; so with the Extension of Parliament Bill moved as an Address to the King on July 17. Speaking on Aug. 14 to the 2nd reading of the Bill for acquisition of the Canadian Northern Railway, he said:

I do not for one moment repudiate the responsibility which the present Administration has in this matter. We had before us just two alternatives: One was to let these roads go to the wall, to injure the credit of this country beyond measure, to bring about grave detriment to the public interest, to discourage the public sentiment of Canada, to make it appear to the world that all this development in this country rested on no sure foundation, and to put Canada back a quarter of a century. That was one alternative. The other alternative was to go forward. I believe that the proposals which we now submit to Parliament are thoroughly in the interest of the people of this country, and that, in the years to come, when that assured development which awaits Canada shall have had its fulfilment, the C.N.R. system, acquired by the people of Canada under these proposals, will be one of the greatest assets in the ownership of our people.

On Aug. 29 he continued the discussion of this question and of three alternatives-liquidation, acquisition by the C.P.R., or by the Government of Canada-stood firmly for the latter. In dealing with the argument as to taking over the physical assets and not the balance of the common stock he was emphatic. Under the latter method the credit of the country was maintained, justice secured to the Company through a recognized tribunal, the corporate entity, organization, efficiency and service of the Railway not interfered with. The following important statement was made: "I am convinced it will be necessary for the Railway companies and the Government to get together in the immediate future, and establish a system of co-operative management of all the railways in Canada. There has been effective and efficient cooperative management of railways in England; we can surely carry out something of the same kind in this country. One result would be that we would save every year $15,000,000 or $20,000,000 in the operation of these roads." The Premier dealt with the War-Time Elections Act on Sept. 10. In all these and other speeches clear thinking and debating skill of the most approved Parliamentary kind were shown; Sir Robert maintained in fact his undisputed leadership of the House.

National Fin-
ance and Sir

Thomas
White; War
Loans and
Taxation.

The financial administration of affairs continued during 1917 to be a pivot upon which national action turned and the personality and policy of Sir Thomas White remained high in public esteem-despite the difficulty of pleasing everyone in days of high taxation and higher expenditures. In one respect the Minister had a satisfactory basis for his operations; the resources of the country were great, their development was substantial and national credit stood high. The expansion in agriculture, industry

*NOTE. The debate was adjourned and not renewed during the Session.

and business was steady though, of course, the high and evergrowing prices inflated the statistical figures to some extent.

Still, with all allowances, the progress and prosperity of the country were remarkable. The exports of domestic produce between the year ending Feb. 28, 1915, and that of Feb. 28, 1917, increased from $391,000,905 to $1,117,374,693, or 154 per cent.*; the value of field crops rose from $825,270,600 in 1915 to 1,144,000,000 in 1917; industrial production rose in value from $1,392,000,000 in 1915 to an estimated total of $2,000,000,000; in the years 191516, inclusive, British and Allied orders for shells, munitions, food supplies and ships had totalled $1,095,000,000 and by the end of 1917 the total was in excess of $1,500,000,000; immigration, though reduced in number, improved in quality and from Mar. 31, 1915, to Mar. 31, 1917, totalled 268,720, of whom 137,000 were from the States; the values of Canadian Live-stock in 1917 were $1,102,261,000, or an increase of $200,000,000 in the year; Bank clearings grew from $7,797,430,800 in 1915 to $12,469,426,435 in 1915; between Dec. 31, 1914, and Dec. 31, 1917, the Deposits in Canadian Banks had increased from $1,012,739,990 to $1,565,419,884.

As against this condition of obvious prosperity was the undercurrent of doubt and the waves of depression and pessimism which a world-war made inevitable, the dangers which were ever present to shipping and products, to individuals and nations, to all financial calculations and conditions, to markets and stocks and basic values. The first war shock had been well met by Sir Thomas White in the latter months of 1914 and in succeeding years, as conditions of confidence returned, production steadily increased and the financial demands of war attained enormous dimensions, the Minister had to adjust his policy to ever-changing problems of revenue, taxation and debt. Canada had been, essentially, a borrowing nation and now its British market for loans, and for a time the American market, were closed, or partially so, and a debtor nation changed into a creditor. In 1914 Canada had sold bonds in Great Britain totalling $200,000,000; in 1916 none were sold there, $170,000,000 in the United States, and $99,000,000 within Canada; in 1917 the United States absorbed $186,000,000 and Canadians took $772,000,000†. Meanwhile the Public Debt had grown from $335,996,850 on Mar. 31, 1914, before the War, to $976,428,504 on Dec. 31, 1917. The following list of Government issues and War Loans indicates the detailed borrowing for which Sir Thomas White's policy, and war requirements, were jointly responsible:

November, 1915 Canada
March, 1916.... New York.

25,000,000

$745,000,000

The increase in the Public Debt was accompanied, fortunately,

*NOTE.-At the same date in 1918 it was $1,562,588,114.

Yearly statistics issued by E. R. Wood, President, Central Canada Loan and Savings Co., and an acknowledged authority.

by increased revenues and production but, on the other hand, Canadian securities of various kinds showed clear depreciation in values and the leading stocks were all, during 1917, upon lower levels than in 1916-the total depreciation in 128 securities being estimated by the Montreal Financial Times at $210,000,000. The chief illustration was the C.P.R., which began the year at the high price of 1671⁄2 and closed at 139, or a depreciation of $74,000,000. As was to be expected Building permits or operations continued to decrease, registering in Montreal $4,387,000, in Toronto $7,630,000 in Vancouver $768,000 and in Winnipeg $2,212,000, compared with a total for the four cities in 1913 of $83,000,000.

There still was a heavy consumption and importation of luxuries. Despite the appeals and advice of the Finance Minister Canadians, in the year ending Mar. 31, 1917, imported $19,000,000 worth of fruits and nuts; $8,550,000 worth of motor-cars, with $7,200,000 of auto-parts and, in the preceding three years a total of $16,000,000 worth; $3,500,000 worth of gasoline, of which at least one-half was for pleasure purposes; $669,000 worth of perfumery and $1,717,000 of precious stones, $12,943,000 of silks and manufactures of silks, $4,000,000 worth of spirits, wines and ales. Of other such items there might be mentioned ribbons, confectionery, jewelry, musical instruments and paintings, totalling over $7,000,000. Working people lived better than they had ever done before; so did many newly-rich persons benefiting by the profits of war. On the other hand large numbers of thinking, patriotic people denied themselves everything except necessities and they more than balanced the unthinking and selfish.

Meanwhile, Sir Thomas White was doing his best to control the problem of national finance which underlay all other problems. Speaking to the Toronto Board of Trade on Jan. 3 he was explicit in his advice: "The people of Canada should practice economy, which results in greater national saving. Every man over 21 understands how to economize, and every man can carry it out if he wants to carry it out. Let us economize. Let us make our savings serve the purpose of war. Let the people of the Dominion, by thrift and economy, make their dollars fight the Huns." He criticized increased business dividends, slackness in labour, selfindulgence of any kind. The cause was worth some sacrifice and, as he pointed out to the New York Canadian Club on Jan. 29: "What man, what people, would not feel a noble pride in the citizenship of the glorious British Empire? We stand for Canada, but Canada within the Empire, one and indissoluble. We are fighting for the ideals of the Empire, the ideals of liberty, freedom, equality before the law." It was estimated in March that during two years the people of Canada had saved by thrift and economy about $500,000,000.

The Budget speech was delivered on Apr. 24 and was brief beyond all precedent. For the fiscal year of Mar. 31 the revenue was stated as $232,000,000 or $100,000,000 over the first fiscal year of war (1914-15). The total current and capital expenditureapart from distinctively war items but including war interest,