British statesmen met the problem in the broadest and most liberal way by instituting the, Dominion in 1867, with a Viceroy and a free parliament. The result has emphatically justified the experiment, from both the British and the Canadian point of v It is true that Canada has. built up its industries by heavy tariffs against British goods, and that there have been moments when the Dominion has seemed likely to seek fiscal union with the United States, instead of the Mother Country. But the fact that there was no restraint upon the colonial policy has prevented any. lasting irritation against the Free Trade obstinacy of Great Britain. And for the last few years Canada has taken the lead. in the advocacy of fiscal union, as the only real means of establishing Imperial Federation. That policy was, endorsed by-the. Congress of Chambers of Commerce last years it has received the approval of perhaps the most \g personality amongst Imperial states-wen; and it is not unlikely that it will be carried some steps further towards practical realisation in the present Diamond Jubilee year.. Under self-government, the material progress of Canada has been extraordinary In agriculture, -as in industry, its developments will compare with those of the United States. The government has shown the utmost readiness to encourage immigration from the, mother-countiy...At the moment, the gold mining discoveries in British Columbia, "Western: Ontatio, and other districts promise a marked accession of prosperity to the Dominion.
t is, indeed, the point of commercial value which represents practically the only contentious question between Britain and her colonies. So far as political difficulties are concerned, they were settled long since
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.