FOREWORD BY SIR JOHN S. WILLISON, LL.D., F.R.S.C. THE Empire Club of Canada, at Toronto, rendered a conspicuous service to the whole Dominion by the arrangements made for the session which opened soon after the outbreak of war. These addresses give a wide survey of Canadian conditions, and express many phases of Canadian opinion. It is significant of the relation of Canada to the Empire that men so widely separated in political thought, and representing so many pursuits and interests, could appear so naturally before an imperial organisation. Among the speakers were the Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal party in Ontario; Rev. Dr. Herridge, Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, and Dr. McCrimmon, Chancellor of McMaster (Baptist) University; Sir George Foster, who although he now lives in Ontario, had an early, long, and honourable political connection with the Eastern Provinces; Hon. Arthur Meighen, a virile spokesman for the Western Prairies; and Hon. C. J. Doherty, who represents a Quebec constituency in the House of Commons, and belongs to the religious minority. The address of Mr. Doherty asserts in unequivocal language the right of Canadians to equal citizenship within the Empire, and foreshadows an Imperial federation. In this he only expresses opinions which have been proclaimed alike in Canada and in Great Britain by the Prime Minister. Both doubtless express the settled if not wholly articulate feeling of the Dominion. In all these addresses there is a common assertion of devotion to the common Empire and zeal for free institutions. There is as strong an assertion of the duty of Canada to sacrifice to the utmost in order to maintain the integrity and authority of the Empire, and to ensure that British ideals of freedom and justice shall flourish in enduring vigour over all the great spaces of earth which acknowledge the King's sovereignty. INAUGURAL DEMONSTRATION THE outbreak of the Great European War, in the Autumn of 1914, profoundly influenced the Winter Session of the Empire Club, as will be seen in the brilliant series of Patriotic Addresses which follow. Nothing could be the same as in quieter times. In furtherance of that noble philanthropy, the Red Cross work, to which the Empire Club made the initial contribution in the Dominion, the Executive arranged for a popular Patriotic Demonstration. On Tuesday evening, November 3, a great and representative concourse of citizens assembled in the Massey Hall to hear a lecture by H. B. Ames, Esq., M.P. (now Sir Herbert Ames), of Montreal, on "The British Navy," illustrated by a magnificent series of lantern slides. The public imagination was touched, and a deepened sense of security under the aegis of the Imperial Fleet was imparted. The National Chorus, under the baton of Dr. Albert Ham, rendered a selection of national songs, which aroused the enthusiasm of the assembly to unexampled fervour. In addition to Mr. Ames' facile and illuminative treatment of his great theme, the other addresses were of the highest order. Hon. W. H. Hearst, Prime Minister of Ontario; and Hon. Rudolphe Lemieux, a former Post-Master General of Canada, spoke eloquently on the Empire's cause; and Ven. Archdeacon Cody sounded forth a lofty challenge to duty. Not only were the function and value of the Empire Club exhibited in this memorable celebration, but a great session was successfully inaugurated, and a further substantial sum was added to the Red Cross Fund. EDITOR. |