what we had to contend with, I venture to think that
the condition of affairs to-day is one upon which we
should rather congratulate ourselves than otherwise.
I have no fear for the future, although the struggle
may be a long one and may entail sacrifices which
we did not anticipate at first. I think I may bring
to you from the people of Canada this message,
that in whatever is necessary to bring this war to an
honourable and triumphal conclusion, Canada is
prepared to take her part. And I am sure that is
true of every Dominion of the Empire.  Last
autumn, in speaking before a Canadian club in the
west of Canada, I said that if this war should con-
tinue for a year it was reasonably probable that the
oversea Dominions would have in the field 250,000
men. I venture to think that to-day, if you estimate
what Australia has done and is doing, what New
Zealand has done and is doing, what South
Africa has done and is doing, and what Canada has
done and is doing, the oversea Dominions of this
Empire have, either in the field, or in training as
organised troops, no less than 350,000 men.
  Mr. Bonar Law has spoken of the courage and
resourcefulness of the Canadian troops. They went
to the front as men taken from civil avocations of
life, with no prolonged military training, but with
the habit of overcoming obstacles, with a certain
resourcefulness, with all the traditions of the great
races from which they spring, and in such a manner
as made us sure that their record would be worthy
of the great Dominion which they represented. I
would not speak the truth if I did not confess to
you that I am proud, very proud indeed, of the
part which they have played. I am equally proud
 

autocratic system of government. But, as the years
rolled on, there came to the people the right to
govern themselves. Orderly government, individual
liberty, equal rights before the people-upon these
secure foundations the fabric of the national life
was erected, and in these later days has come the
not less noble ideal of a democracy founded upon
equality of opportunity for all the people before
the conditions of modern life.
   In the Dominions beyond the seas, the same ideals
of liberty and of justice have led inevitably to the
establishment of self-governing institutions. Their
development there has been very much the same as
within your own islands, and those short-sighted
ones who believed that the right to govern them-
selves would drive the far-flung nations of our
Empire asunder, have found that that very circum-
stance, and that free development, have united them
by ties stronger than would be possible under any
system of autocratic government.
   I have listened with the deepest possible appre-
ciation to the words which have been spoken of the
action of Canada in this war. That action was due
to no Government, to no statesman or group of
statesmen. It was due to the spirit of the Canadian
people, a spirit which will make the cause for which
we are contending victorious, and which will per-
vade the Dominions to the end. I do not need to
tell you of the part that Canada has played and the
part she proposes to play.  But it might not be
amiss for a moment to allude to the remarkable
circumstance that four great Overseas Dominions,
self-governing Dominions of the Empire, have been
actuated by a common impulse at this juncture-
         

fronting the power of a military autocracy more
highly organised, and more formidable, perhaps than
was ever nation before in history. I am sure that
the military strength which has been developed by
our chief antagonists, has surprised the whole world;
and I think that this war will bring to us a very
vital question as to the future of democratic institu-
tions. We have always cherished in these islands,
and in the Oversea Dominions as well, the ideal
of orderly government coupled with that of ind-
ividual liberty.  It remains to be seen, as the War
proceeds, whether individual liberty, within the
British Isles and the Overseas Dominions, is coupled
with so strong a sense of duty and of service to the
tate-whether in peace or in war-as to make it
possible for us to withstand the onslaught of so
formidable a foe.
  For myself, I have no doubt as to the issue, be-
cause I remember that, if we take the British Empire
alone, our resources are infinitely greater than those
of Germany; and, if we consider the question of
population, that of the British Isles and of the Over-
seas Dominions is almost equal to that of Germany.
It is true that we were not prepared, as Germany
was prepared, for war on this scale; but I believe
the time for preparation is not past, and I feel also
that we have every reason to congratulate ourselves
 upon the splendid preparation which has been made,
not only in these islands, but in the Dominions.
Yet I would impress upon the people of the Empire
that all for which our fathers fought and bled, all
our liberties and institutions, all the influences for
good which have been sent forth by the activities
of the Empire throughout the world, hang in the 
         

balance to-day, and therefore we cannot, because
we must not, fall in this war.
   During the past week I visited France, and I
have seen some of our forces at the front. It is a
very inspiring thing to see a nation under arms.
The manhood of France, except those engaged in
industrial pursuits, is at the front to-day; and yet
I have seen the whole country up to the lines of
the trenches, bearing bountiful harvests. The soil
was prepared, the seed was planted, and the harvest
is now being reaped by old men and women and
children.  It is my intense conviction that a nation
so inspired can never perish or be subdued; and I
am glad to remember this great Allied nation is of
our own kin, because you in the British Isles look
back to Celtic and Norman, as well as to Saxon
ancestors; and if this be true of you in Britain it is
still more true of us in Canada.
   Last week I looked into the keen, intent faces, of
10,000  Canadian soldiers, within sound and range
of the German guns. Three days ago I looked into
the undaunted eyes of 1,000 Canadian con-
valescents returned from the valley of the shadow
of death.  In the eyes, and in the faces of those
men, I read only one message - that of resolute
and unflinching determination to make our cause
triumphant to preserve our institutions and our
liberties to maintain the unity of our Empire and its
influence through the world. That message, which
I bring to you from those soldiers, I bring you also
from the great Dominion which has sent those men
across the sea.
   While the awful shadow of this war overhangs
our Empire, I shall not pause to speak of what may
         

be evolved in its constitutional relations.  Upon
what has been built in the past it is possible, in my
judgment, that an even nobler and more enduring
fabric may be erected. That structure must embody
the autonomy of the self-governing Dominions and
of the British Isles as well, but it must also embody
the majesty and power of an Empire united by ties
such as those of which I have spoken, and more
thoroughly and effectively organised for the purpose
of preserving its own existence. Those who shall be
the architects of this monument will have a great
part to play, and I do not doubt that they will play
it worthily. To those who shall be called to design
so splendid a fabric, crowning the labours of the
past and embodying all the hopes of the future, we
all of us bid God speed in their great task.

         
  Considering all the events of the year, there are
indeed some matters on which we have the right and
privilege to-night of congratulating ourselves to the
full. Was the unity of this Empire ever so strikingly
made manifest before? Was it ever more clearly
demonstrated that the race which inhabits these
islands and the Overseas Dominions is not a de-
cadent race? what has been the result of the call
of duty to this Empire?  You in these islands
debated years ago, and not so long ago for that
         

matter, as to whether in case of necessity you could
send abroad an Expeditionary Force of 80,000 or
120,000 or 160,000 men, and if I am not mistaken
the most optimistic among you believed that 160,000
men was the limit. What has been the result of the
call? You have in part organised, and you are now
organising, armies from ten to twenty times greater
than those which were the limit you set for yourselves
in the past. That is not an indication of a decadent
race, and I am glad indeed to know that we in the
Overseas Dominions as well are doing our part as
best we can.
   Indeed, in Canada, and I believe the same is true
in all the Overseas Dominions, the difficulty has been
with armament and equipment-all that is neces-
sary for the organisation of a great modern army,
and not with the provision of men, for the men came
faster than we were able to organise the armour to
equip them. And so it has been in India as well. I
remember having, in the early months of the war, the
privilege of reading a debate which took place in the
Council of India, a great debate which was worthy of
the Mother of Parliaments herself; a debate couched
in language of the most intense patriotism; and in
that debate the demand of India was that she should
be permitted to do her part in this war. The same
is true of Egypt and all the Crown Colonies. From
East to West, from North to South, throughout the
Empire, the response on all hands has been more
than we could have ventured to anticipate.
   Mr. Balfour has referred in the most eloquent and
appropriate terms to the work of the great Navy
which is under his direction, and which has accom-
plished its task so wonderfully ever since the war
         
         

broke out. We of the Overseas Dominions realise
as much as you realise, that the pathways of the seas
are the veins and arteries of this Empire through
which its lifeblood must flow. If these are once
stopped or interfered with in any way the Empire
cannot continue to exist. We are as conscious as
you are conscious of the wonderful vigil in the North
Sea and of the patience, endurance, and fortitude of
officers and men. We are grateful, as you are grate-
ful, with the most intense appreciation of all they
have done for us, and, more than all, the fact
that they have rid the seas of the marauders by
which our commerce was troubled has enabled us
to keep in close contact with you, and keep up
that intercourse which is so absolutely necessary
for you and for us, not only in war but in peace as
well.
  I have no military knowledge nor experience-I
am going to say a word with regard to military affairs
in a moment-but before doing that I would like to
express my own appreciation, and I think of all the
people in the Dominion which I have the honour to
represent, of the splendid work which has been done
by the Royal Flying Corps in this war. Knowing
the great efforts that have been made by other
nations in this particular branch of the military and
naval services, we were rather inclined to anticipate
and expect that it might not be up to the highest
standard of the great nations of the world. I have
good reason to know, because I have had some
intimate accounts of what has transpired at the front
-I have good reason to know that the work of our
aeroplane service has been equal to the best, and
that in initiative, courage, resourcefulness, and forti-
         

tude our men have held their place with the best,
ever since the outbreak of this war.
   It is not necessary to dwell on the valour of our
troops, to which eloquent reference has been made
by Lord Crewe and Mr. Balfour. I do not believe
that in all the splendid traditions of the British Army
for centuries past, a more splendid record can be
shown than that displayed in the retreat from Mons.
I believe that no retirement was ever conducted
successfully under greater difficulties and against
more overwhelming odds, and the conduct of officers
and men adds glory to the British Army that will not
be forgotten as long as our race endures.  I may,
perhaps, be permitted to say that those who were sent
across the sea to France and to the Dardanelles, from
Australia, from New Zealand, from Canada, have
proved that the old traditions of our race are not for-
gotten overseas, and that the men there are prepared
in any danger, in any peril, to stand side by side with
their comrades of these islands. A splendid force
has been raised in South Africa, and I associate
myself with what has been so well said as to the
valour of the troops from India, who have fought by
the side of our men in France and Belgium.
   Mr. Balfour has spoken of our Allies, and with
what he has said I may be permitted to associate
myself. One cannot forget the courage, the patience,
the fortitude of France. We know that the soul of
Russia is unconquered and unconquerable.  The
devotion and heroism of Belgium and Serbia have
moved the admiration of the world. The fine valour
of Italy is now in the fighting line with the Allies,
and she is doing her appointed task as we expected
she would do it. She stands ready, I imagine, for

         

further services in case the emergencies of this war
should demand them.  I have said before that this
is not like the wars of a hundred or two hundred
years ago.
  This is a war of nations, and not of armies alone.
But it is more than that.  It is a war of material
resources to an extreme degree. The industrial re-
sources of the nations are being organised; all that
the knowledge and science of the nations can devise
is being brought into play. The command of the
forces of nature which in the past centuries, and
especially in the past 100 years, we have learned has
been brought to bear, and for that reason I have
every confidence in the outcome of this struggle,
because we have within this Empire resources almost
limitless-resources infinitely greater than those of
Germany and Austria-Hungary combined, and it
merely depends upon our self-denial, and organised
capacity and patriotism, as to whether we can and
shall organise those resources to the end that our
cause shall triumph.
  I do not believe that we shall fail in that. Our
race has never failed in time of crisis. Why should
it fail now? To fail in doing that would be
accounted to us, in the years to come, as dishonour
We will not fail. All that men can do, our men have
done at the front, and they will continue to do in
the future.
  In Canada, we began, as early as possible. to
organise our industrial resources for the production
of munitions of war. We made our first effort as far
back as August 21st.  Munitions of war have been
the great and growing need of our men at the front.
Because it is apparent to us that, so far as it is in the
         

power of this Empire to strain every effort for the
purposes of the war, we must not attempt to do with
men alone what our enemies are doing with muni
tions and guns.
   As to what we have done in the past, whether in
Canada or in these islands or elsewhere, let the dead
bury its dead.  This is not the time to speak
of the past, but to look at the future. What con-
cerns us, whether in these islands or in any of the
Overseas Dominions, is to see that, so far as the
future is concerned, there shall be no failure; and I
beieve there will be no failure.
   It may be said that in some respects the twelve
months' war has not been all that we anticipated.
I believe I am entirely within the bounds of truth
when I state that if there is any disappointment with
us, the disappointment of Germany is tenfold
greater; and if there has been any disappointment,
of if there should be any reverse in the future, that
should merely inspire us with a higher resolve and
a more inflexible determination to do our duty, and
to see that that which concerns the cause of civilisa-
tion and humanity shall be carried to the issue which
we all desire.
   For a hundred years we have not had any wars
which threatened the existence of our Empire, and
for more than fifty years we have not been involved
in any war which might perhaps be called a great
one.   Under the conditions of modern democracies,
here and elsewhere in the Empire, considerations of
material prosperity have been urged, and this is
especially a danger in a new country like Australia
or Canada. The call of the market-place has been
sometimes clamorous and insistent, and in days such
         
         

as these the SOul of a nation is more truly tried than
it is in war days, for the highest character of an
Empire is sometimes formed then~and not in the
days of stress and trial-through the consequences
of duty and self-sacrifice.
  I rejoice greatly that in these islands, and in tile
Overseas Dominions, men have realised most fully
that there is something greater than material pros-
perity, something greater than life itself. This war
cannot fail to influence most profoundly the whole
future of the world and of civilisation. It has
already most profoundly influenced the people of
this Empire. There were great strivings for wealth,
everywhere, but no one could deny that the material
advancement and prosperity of the Empire has not
in itself been a good thing. The standards of life
for the people have been raised and comfort in-
creased. It is not the wealth we should rail at.
Rome fell, I know, at a time of wealth but it was
because she made wealth her god.
  In the early days of the war we were much com-
forted by the fact that men and women were ready
to make sacrifices for this, the greatest cause of all
In Canada, and I am sure elsewhere throughout the
Empire, there has been manifest a spirit of co-opera-
tion, of mutual helpfulness, of a desire to assist, of
self-sacrifice which is most comforting to those who
have at heart the welfare of our Empire in years to
come. So I am sure it will be in the future. The
influence of a spirit of helpfulness and self-sacrifice~
which we see everywhere throughout the world, and
within our Empire, is one for which I give thanks
and am most grateful.
  I have come far across this ocean to see our men
         

within these islands and at the front, and our men
in hospital who are wounded.  To see them, whether
at the front, where they stand almost within the
valley of the shadow of death, or wounded in the
hospitals, is an inspiration in itself. I am glad to
say that in visiting the hospitals I have had the
opportunity of speaking to many soldiers, officers
and men, from these islands, and with them I have
found, as among our Canadians, just one spirit-a
wonderful spirit of heroism and of patience, a spirit
of consecration to the cause we all have at heart.
We who come from overseas are touched by all this,
perhaps more than you can imagine.
   Last night I walked down the Embankment. At
my right was the great Abbey, at my left the great
Cathedral.  The historic river was at my feet
Here came in bygone centuries the Celt, the Saxon,
the Dane, the Norman, each in turn, finally all in co-
operation, lending their influence to our national life.
And how splendid a structure they built; what an
influence for good it has carried throughout the
world!
   Standing thus on what seems to us hallowed
ground, we of the Overseas Dominions meditate per-
haps more than you do on the wonderful memories
of the past, and the great events to which the life of
our Empire has moved. Let us never for one
moment forget that of all the mighty events in our
history, none are greater than those through which
we are passing to-day. Is an Empire like ours
worth living for? Yes, and worth dying for, too.
And it is something greater than it was a year ago.
Indeed, it can never be quite the same again. The
old order has in some measure passed away. Once
 

for all it has been borne in upon the minds and souls
of all of us that the great policies, which touch and
control the issues of peace and war, concern more
than the peoples of these islands.
   And more than that, we shall so bear ourselves
in this war, and in the mighty events to which it
must lead, that whether in these islands or in the
Overseas Dominions, citizenship of this Empire
shall he a still greater and more noble possession
in the years to come than it has been even in the
glorious past. I have spoken to you frankly on some
matters of great moment If I had not done so I
should have been unworthy of my position. And
now, before I close, let me bring to you this latest
message from Canada :-
  For those who have fallen in this struggle we
shall not cease to mourn; for the cause which they
have consecrated their lives we shall not cease to
strive. We are supremely confident that that cause
will assuredly triumph and for that great purpose
we are inspired with an inflexible determination to
do our part.

         
  The fail of Warsaw has been foreshadowed for
some time, and it is useless for us to deny the
Germans have achieved a success-which they in-
tended to achieve six or nine months ago.
 This fall will mean that all will put forth greater
efforts and determination. In the early months of
the war we failed to estimate the enormous military
         

power of a nation highly disciplined and thoroughly
organised for war as well as for peace. The idea
of the people of these islands was to send across
the Channel an expeditionary force not exceeding
160,000 men.
   Do any of you, who have not had the respon-
sibilities of office, realise what it means to provide
guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment for a force
ten times as great-with, perhaps, another force in
reserve of equal number?  I know something of
those responsibilities.  We in Canada have our
difficulties not in finding men ready to fight for the
cause, but because we find it difficult to provide the
guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment.
   When you increase your proposed expeditionary
force by ten or twenty times, you must realise that
for that purpose it is necessary that the whole power
of the nation shall be concentrated on the task.
   I hold this profound conviction-that, regiment
for regiment and man for man, our forces can hold
their own, and more than hold their own, with the
best and most efficient troops of the enemy.
   If we speak of the disappointments we had at the
start of the war, let us never forget to realise that
the disappointments of the enemy must be ten
times greater. And if we are discouraged from time
to time, let us remember we have accomplished one
great work which outweighs a thousandfold that,
and that is the clearness and security of the pathways
of the seas. The clearance of the seas means as
much to the Allies as to ourselves.