a foreign country. The Maritime Provinces below, comparatively small and insignificant, could never hope to occupy a position of influence or importance except in connection with their larger sister Canada. The past history of that province has exhibited the most striking evidence on that point.

My hon. friend who has just addressed you denounced on the floor of our own Parliament the Reciprocity Treaty between British America and the United States, on the ground that, while it disposed of our most important commercial interests and ceded away the valuable fisheries of Nova Scotia, the Government of that province had not even the opportunity afforded them of expressing an opinion on a matter so vitally affecting their interests during the negotiation of that treaty. We have seen the credit of our bonds in the London market impaired by a struggle for power in the legislature of Canada, where we had neither voice nor influence. If, therefore, we were in our state of isolation powerless to protect our most material interests, which were disposed of without our being able to offer an opinion thereon, I ask my hon. friend if he does not think it desirable that the views and feelings of our province should be presented in the Parliament of a United British America?

No man can look at the geographical position of Nova Scotia without feeling that Providence intended that we should form the great highway of communication between not only the sister colonies behind us, but also a large portion of the Western States and the European world. Yet my hon. friend knows that after he had laboured with great ability for a quarter of a century to accomplish the construction of an Intercolonial Railway, every effort had failed, as it had become perfectly apparent that that great work could only be accomplished by the union of the two Canadas and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick under one Government. Not only has this great boon been secured for our province, but by the construction of the

Western extension, from St. John to Bangor, already in progress, Nova Scotia must soon become the direct line of communication between London and New York.

It is impossible to examine the geological characteristics of Nova Scotia without seeing that Providence has given us all the elements of a great manufacturing industry. To say nothing of our valuable gold mines as a means of attracting population, a great portion of our province is enriched with vast deposits of iron, coal, and limestone, the minerals which have made England the emporium of manufactures for the world. Yet, with all this mineral wealth, it was obvious that without a union which would throw down the barriers to our manufacturing industry and open up commercial interest with our fellow colonists we must be content largely to forgo the great material advantages which nature had bestowed. Union has now given us a population of 4,000,000 instead of 400,000.

My hon. friend has spoken eloquently of the great importance of immigration as the true source of advancement for a country like ours, but it must be apparent to all that United British North America will be in a position to attract population, capital, and skill to a far greater extent than would be possible were we separate and isolated communities.

He has also described in glowing but not extravagant terms the immense value of the fisheries of Nova Scotia, yet I ask him, if United British America is unequal to the task of protecting that valuable public domain, how isolation was likely to accomplish such an object.

As regards the extension of our commerce, it is well known that the ablest politicians in all these colonies exhausted their best efforts in a vain effort to extend commercial intercourse between the different provinces. They failed because free trade involved the principle of union under one Government, which alone could secure a common tariff. If we wish to estimate what free trade with each other will do for us, we have only to look at its effects in

(JANUARY, 1914)

other countries. When the thirteen American States obtained their independence their territory was no greater than ours; they had a smaller trade, revenue, and population than British America has to-day. Their first act was to strike down the hostile tariffs which separated the provinces and open their country to unrestricted commercial intercourse from Maine to Mexico. The result was that their commerce developed with the utmost rapidity, until they soon became one of the most important commercial countries in the world.

Interprovincial union is no untried experiment. Contrast the condition of the two Canadas before and after the union. When separated by hostile tariffs and legislating against each other, the trade, revenue and credit of both Canadas were paralysed, but from the date of the union all was changed, and the country expanded with the most remarkable rapidity, until it obtained its present advanced position.

I have referred to the effect of union upon the progress and material interests of British America, but I admit frankly that there was one question that far transcended even those interests in importance, and that was the question of defence. The abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, notwithstanding the evidence which existed to show that it had been more beneficial to the United States than ourselves, indicated a wish to obstruct our trade with a view to induce a desire in these provinces for a political connection with that country. The Fenian raids upon the provinces also led to the belief that material aid might be found in British America by those who desired to change our allegiance to the Crown. To insure the most advantageous commercial intercourse with our American neighbours and protection from the harassing annoyance and expenditure connected with the mad designs of the Fenians, no better means could be adopted than to show the world that these hitherto isolated provinces were determined to stand shoulder to shoulder in the maintenance of our