His audience, however, were plainly not in the vein for
compliment. The same voice from the anteroom inquired
ironically, "That so?" and the speaker felt advised to
turn to more immediate considerations.
He said he had had the great pleasure on his arrival in
this country to find a political party, the party in
power, their Canadian Liberal party, taking initiative
in a cause which he was sure they all had at heart--the
strengthening of the bonds between the colonies and the
mother country. He congratulated the Liberal party warmly
upon having shown themselves capable of this great function
--a point at which he was again interrupted; and he
recapitulated some of the familiar arguments about the
desirability of closer union from the point of view of
the army, of the Admiralty, and from one which would come
home, he knew, to all of them, the necessity of a dependable
food supply for the mother country in time of war. Here
he quoted a noble lord. He said that he believed no
definite proposals had been made, and he did not understand
how any definite proposals could be made; for his part,
if the new arrangement was to be in the nature of a
bargain, he would prefer to have nothing to do with it.
"England," he said, loftily, "has no wish to buy the
loyalty of her colonies, nor, I hope, has any colony the
desire to offer her allegiance at the price of preference
in British markets.
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