in the American Press that it was a token of independence and would soon result in the disruption of the Empire. But the Hon. N. W. Rowell, who had much to do with the securing of the position for the Dominions, has put the case well:

Article I of the Covenant of the League provides "Any full self-governing State, Dominion or Colony may become a member of the League." This provision appears to have been overlooked by those who think that membership of the Dominions in the League is a step towards separation. It is just the reverse. Membership on the conditions named means that the other nations have recognized the unique character of the Britannic Commonwealth and have admitted, the Dominions to the family of nations without involving separation or even the idea of separation from the parent State1.

Nor was this participation by the Dominions a formal matter. Canada sided with the United States in the discussion of Article X, one of the most contested of all, reserving for herself the right to have her Parliament pronounce on the advisability of the Dominion taking part in any external conflict. Was she not in this giving expression to the common North American point-of-view? She also asserted successfully the new principle in taking her place at the Disarmament Conference at Washington, though she had received no invitation from the United States, inasmuch as the Senate, not having become a party to

1 The British Empire and World Peace, p. 179.

the League, had not formally acknowledged the claim of the Dominions.

A further noteworthy change was made by the Canadian Government in concluding a Halibut Fisheries Treaty with the United States in 1923. This settled a question which arose out of the treaty of 1818. The Senate of the United States had placed almost prohibitive duties on Canadian halibut and other fresh fish, even on fish caught by Americans and shipped in bond through Canadian territory. The Canadian government replied by prohibiting the selling of bait to American fishermen in Canadian waters unless they delivered their catches in Canadian ports. Our present interest in the treaty, however, lies in the fact that it was signed at Washington by the Canadian Minister of Marine and Fisheries and not by the Ambassador of Great Britain to the United States. The Canadian government urged that it was a domestic affair, and after due exchange of views the words "Great Britain" were deliberately omitted from the treaty, which runs "Convention for the Regulation of Halibut Fisheries on the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States." The American Senate accepted the signature of the Canadian representative on the understanding that it would bind all British subjects and so be applicable not merely to Canada but, as former British treaties, to the whole Empire. In consequence, this policy has

been formulated: Any Dominion government may advise the King directly to issue full powers to its representative in negotiating such treaties as relate solely to its domestic affairs, which he will do after consulting his Ministers in Great Britain, but the Dominion that intends to negotiate must notify the associated governments so that they may decide whether any of their interests are sufficiently involved to require their presence at the negotiations. By such action Canada exercises one of the chief prerogatives of a nation as far as her own interests are concerned, and the United States has made no objection to this direct negotiation, though of course neither government can overlook the fact that the King before issuing such powers to Canada has taken the advice of his Imperial government.

All this leads up to another position which has been prepared for but not yet occupied, the appointment of a Canadian representative at Washington. For years the greatest portion of the British Ambassador's duties have concerned the Dominion of Canada, but owing to the procedure there have been frequent delays and misunderstandings. As far back as 1888 Sir Charles Tupper wrote to Sir John Macdonald that if he had his way he would get the British Government to send Macdonald as Minister to Washington "to show us in the most striking manner the fixed determination to make our interests the paramount

consideration'." Though this idea was different from that which may soon be acted upon, it was prompted by the same underlying cause.

The British Commonwealth has been rapidly assuming a new character, and it is not strange that the Americans should wonder what its constitution is and with whom they are dealing. The government of Britain they have known. Though they often distrusted her diplomacy they accepted an agreement with her diplomats as final. But what status have these erstwhile Canadian provincials in the enforcement of any treaty that they may negotiate in the King's name? Will the Imperial Parliament stand behind it, giving it the prestige of an Imperial engagement? The situation is novel and there are inconsistencies in theory and action, but doubtless President Lowell speaks for thoughtful Americans in these words:

It is inconceivable that any branch of the United States government should seek intentionally to exert an influence, direct or indirect, on the organization of the British Empire, or the relation of each other to its component parts; still less that it should strive to prevent a relaxation in the guardianship of Great Britain over Canada2.

Canada has travelled a long distance since the view prevailed in the United States that she was in thral

dom to Britain and that annexation would soon bring her deliverance. It cannot be truly said that annexation was ever a live issue in Canadian politics, even at the period when "Unrestricted reciprocity" was taken up by Liberals. There have been sporadic suggestions that the domestic difficulties between the English and the French might issue in this result. Lord Durham said long ago in his Report that the antipathy between the two races was so strong in the lower province that the British minority rather than be ruled by the French would join the United States. The suggestion flared up again at the time of the Jesuits' Estates Agitation in 1889, but it was a flash due to disappointed vehemence rather than to the permanent heat of racial friction, and the relations between the French and the English are better at present than they have ever been.

In the United States also little is heard to-day of Canada's manifest destiny, for most people are much less certain than they were that it is so manifest. When President Harding visited British Columbia, a few days before his death, he was the first American president to pay an official visit to the Dominion, and he was received, as the press said, with a welcome that no other ruler than King George himself would have been given, as the representative of a people with virtually the same ideals and institutions. His speech, I See p. 151.