The Present Challenge to Canada

To you from falling hands we throw The torch; be your's to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders' fields.

The same challenge, Gentlemen, comes to us in Canada again today and as we answer it by personal service, by contribution, by high enthusiasm and resolution, so shall we pass on the torch to those who shall come after us.

Can I give you in closing a better message than that which Rudyard Kipling gave us in the last Great War?

No easy hope or lies Shall bring us to our goal, But iron sacrifice

There is but one task for allOne life for each to give.

What stands if Freedom fall? Who dies if England live?

That is again the challenge. It is no easy task, and Italy's advent makes the task still harder. But surely, there afresh, is evoked the contribution that Canada's sons and daughters can give for freedom, for justice, for mercy, for a human civilization, for the right of the little nations to live, for the sacredness of the pledged word. These are sacred. They are, verily, the reflection of the character of God himself, so that with all reverence, as our King said, we commit our cause to Almighty God and devote ourselves with hand and heart and will to winning a victory for that which is right and true. (Applause.)

DR. F. A. GARY: We thank most heartily Dr. Cody for the stirring message that he has given us at this moment, in this trying hour.

I have no further message to give you at the present moment, but I am expecting one every minute as to the location of the Honourable Mr. Rogers. We understand that the Honourable Mr. Rogers will land within about two minutes. Now, the word we have got doesn't say whether he will land at the Island Airport or at the Malton Airport. I expect it will be the Island Airport. In the meantime, we have here a copy of his address. Now, if it is your wish we will ask Colonel Mess to read this to you.

The following manuscript, as prepared by the Honourable Norman McLeod Rogers, Minister of National Defence, was read by Colonel James Mess

"When I was in London a little more than a month ago I received invitations from the officers of the Canadian Club and the Empire Club to speak at meetings in Toronto. It was suggested by cable that I might address a joint meeting rather than two meetings in view of the difficulty of making engagements during the time Parliament was in Session. That was about the end of April, and our common intention was that I should speak of my visit to England and France, and give you my impression of the soldiers and airmen of Canada who were completing their training in England.

Events have moved so rapidly since then that much of what would have been appropriate a month ago has already lost its interest. It has not lost its significance, nor its value for history, but rarely in the course of world affairs has there been such an extraordinary upheaval as has occurred since the 10th of May-just a month ago today. Perhaps it will be more fitting, therefore, if the general character of my remarks is not quite as was originally intended, and if I place more emphasis on the present challenge to Canada, rather than on the preparation for a climax which has come with a sudden intensity that was not foreseen by many, even as late as April of this year.

There are some events, however, which I cannot pass over. I want to tell you about the Toronto Scottish Regiment and the 48th Highlanders of Canada. Shortly after my arrival in England I was invited to dinner with the officers of the detachment of the Toronto Scottish which was supplying the guard for Buckingham Palace at the time. They had just relieved the Royal 22nd Regiment who had the previous tour of duty. I enjoyed an evening with our own Canadians from Toronto, men who had been selected to carry out the most important of all the duties, short of active service, for which trained men may be called upon. And the next day when I passed by the Palace gate and saw the men standing rigidly at attention, or walking smartly to and fro on their beat, I was conscious of a very deep sense of pride as I realized that these men of Canada were standing guard over the King and the Royal Family at the heart of the Empire.

Later on in my visit I had the privilege of seeing the 48th Highlanders. They were being reviewed at Aldershot by the Earl of Athlone and the Princess Alice, whom we hope to welcome to Ottawa in the near future. There was a formal inspection and march past, which reflected the highest credit on the officers and men of this famous Regiment. There is no doubt that the 48th Highlanders will maintain in this war its already great and historic traditions.

Another unit in which you will all be interested is No. 110 (City of Toronto) Army Co-Operation Squadron, R.C.A.F., in which there are men from every province in Canada. It is peculiarly fitting that this squadron should be the first of a Canadian Air Force to be overseas in this or any war. The last words these men said as I left them after seeing their quarters and training ground was that they wanted above all else to serve with Canadian troops in the field. I assured them, as I do you, that everything possible will be done to carry out that wish. Since then, as you know, No. 112 Squadron has also proceeded overseas.

There is another unit of which I have a vivid memory. While it is not a part of the Canadian Army, all of its officers and most of the men in its ranks are Canadians. I am speaking of No. 242 Squadron of the Royal Air Force which I visited just before embarking on my return voyage. The officers and men in that squadron are young Canadians who left this country prior to the war to join the British Air Force. On the outbreak of war, the Government of the United Kingdom decided to bring together into one squadron many of the Canadians who were at that time posted to different squadrons. This became No. 242 Fighter Squadron. They are equipped with fighter and pursuit planes and when I saw them they were completely ready for action. They gave a display which showed .the almost incredible speed with which they were able to get their machines off the ground and into action after the alarm was given. I am not able to say whether these men have seen active service since then, but I do know that they were expecting to receive orders at any time to move to the front.

But I must not dwell too long on memories, inspiring though they may be. I think you will understand me when I say that in view of what has happened in the last month it was a matter of consideration whether I should be able to come here today or not. Being here, however, I should like to put before you as simply as possible, the position in which we find ourselves and the efforts that are being made to mobilize the resources of this country in the earnest and vigorous prosecution of the war. Last September, together with Great Britain and France, we observed the progress of the Polish campaign. It was carried out and completed almost exactly in accordance with German plans. How far those plans were disarranged by Russia's action in Eastern Poland is a matter of no consequence at present. Various explanations were given of Poland's inability to offer more extended resistance. We were told that Poland relied too much on cavalry; that the expected rains did not occur; that the Poles were not a united people.

The average person was of the opinion, however, that things would be different when it came to an attack on the Maginot Line. And in expressing that faith the average person consciously or otherwise, ranged himself on the side of some very eminent and highly trained military officers. We had read or had been told of the mighty Maginot Line. The Germans obviously thought it was formidable and they built the West Wall. The Dutch planned a system of flooding and the Belgians built extensive boundary fortifications and secondary water defences. A further defence line was prepared on the Franco-Belgian border. The general feeling was that, slow to start as the democracies might be, the French, British and Belgians could probably hold their lines and hold them long enough to complete the necessary preparations behind their protection. No doubt there were some far-seeing men who believed and stated their belief that the Germans would break through. The number of such persons is perhaps not as great as the number of those who now say that they were not of that mind last Autumn. It was considered, not by ourselves alone, that we should plan, not on throwing our maximum effective strength into battle at the outset, but that we should gear our machinery to reach its highest pitch at a time when it would do the greatest good, having in mind the general military situation.

Since then, however, we have seen the German army advance across Holland and Belgium and deep into France. Italy is threatening on the other side. The critical period has been advanced, and with it has come the necessity of advancing our own speed. The First Division and ancillary troops have been at the disposal of the United Kingdom for some time. Major-General McNaughton, as you know, with members of his staff, were at Calais and Dunkerque giving valuable aid to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy are operating in the battle area with the British Navy. The training and departure of the Second Division are being hastened. A Third Division is being mobilized and the infantry units of a Fourth Division have been named and are being organized. The ancillary units of a Canadian Corps are being mobilized. The Veterans Home Guards are being recruited and plans are under way for the establishment of reserve Veterans Companies to be attached to the Non-Permanent Active Militia units. Equipment orders are being rushed to completion. Valuable stocks of war material have been sent to the United Kingdom and have arrived there. Canadian soldiers have been sent to the West Indies under the escort of units of the Royal Canadian Navy. The importance of that duty cannot be over-emphasized when you recall the amount of oil that is being shipped through the Caribbean Sea every twenty-four hours. Manufacturers of war equipment and supplies are putting on extra shifts to rush to completion the orders that are pending. New orders are being given at a more rapid rate than ever before. Citizens and associations of citizens are coming forward with suggestions, many of which are of the greatest assistance. Organized labour has responded wholeheartedly to the call.

This is not our final answer. No answer can be said to be final until we have exhausted every possibility of increasing the aid which we may give. No nation, and perhaps least of all our own, is capable of saying what its ultimate effort will be until that point of exhaustion has been reached. But as a nation, we are pledged, to give our utmost and that we will certainly do.

There is one development of some importance on which I would like to say a few words. There was a variety of causes for the successful conquest of Norway, which includes the audacity and skill of the German staff, the almost appalling disregard of their commanders for loss of life among their own troops, a long and carefully planned programme of treachery and the use of parachute troops. The same features have marked the succeeding campaign in the Low Countries and Northern France, with the addition of a specialized form of assault by divisions of heavily armoured tanks and motor vehicles. It would not be possible to deal at any length with all these factors. I have no fear that French and British staff work will not be a match for the German. It is more than a truism that there is a defence for any form of attack. There is no doubt that the British withdrawal across the channel was accompanied by less loss of life than the crossing of the German troopships over the Skagerrak to Norway, in spite of the vastly different odds. England and France will develop, if they have not already clone so, an adequate defence against parachute troops and night landings by aeroplanes.

But the final factor is the one which comes most nearly home to us today. I refer, of course, to the so-called fifth column activities. There can be no tolerance whatever for the alien who has come to Canada and who remains actively sympathetic toward Germany and the German Government. Internment of such people is a very mild form of punishment, for they are traitors to the land of their adoption. They must not be allowed at large. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were sufficiently ready that on the outbreak of war all those who professed such active sympathy were at once interned. The same stricture applies to the alien who is admitted to Canadian citizenship and takes out naturalization papers with mental reservations as to the support he will offer this country in a time of emergency. His good faith must be unquestioned and unquestionable if lie is to continue to enjoy the privileges that are afforded to him here. Action has already been taken against certain Canadians, fortunately few in numbers, who, would set themselves up as Leaders of Fascist or Communist groups and would cast aside forever all the essentials of democratic freedom.

We are all aware that German methods reach farther than that. We know that there may be German sympathizers among the naturalized Canadians. We know that Germany will not hesitate to make use of those whose weakness or greed will allow themselves to be suborned to treachery. And we know that confusion in our own ranks is exactly what the enemy likes to see. I intend to be just as specific as I can be, because I am impressed by the particularity of the proposals that have been made by individuals and associations in this country. It has been suggested that the present emergency requires the internment of all naturalized Canadians of enemy alien origin. We shall never, I believe, subscribe to that policy of total proscription. There are thousands of naturalized Canadian citizens who are here among us because they have seen and experienced the horrors that accompany oppressive government in other lands. They expected freedom of thought and action when they came here and so far as it lies within us they should receive what they expected to secure. But they must not cross the line that divides loyalty from treason in this country. If they do, they forfeit the rights they have acquired, and will be dealt with accordingly.

There is another menace against which we must also stand on guard. I refer 'to the well-meaning citizen who spreads rumours without facts, whose imagination pictures trouble where there is no trouble, and who frightens his neighbour with fabulous stories of the Nazi meeting-house just around the corner in a cellar.

That Canadian citizen, loyal to his very finger tips, will be indignant when I say that he is Hitler's best friend; but that is nothing more nor less than the truth. Let me make my meaning perfectly clear. If there is a weekly meeting of Nazi sympathizers, we want to know. They will be dealt with if we give the proper authorities the facts, and they will be dealt with as they deserve. It is true that it is not always easy to get facts, but if you have reasonable grounds for suspicion, please tell us, quickly. In many cases, you will find that the persons you suspect are already being watched by competent authorities.

There is need for increasing vigilance and caution. There is no need for undue alarm. The immediate demand is to hasten the help that we can bring to our allies. The fewer detours there are the better. The people of France are suffering actual, not apprehended, destruction of their lives and property. France stands with her back to the wall. England faces the possibility of invasion, which if it comes will mean vicious destruction of property. We must never forget our own needs. Measures are being taken and will continue to be carried out to afford protection to our own country. But our contribution of men and equipment and material must go on, and must be available for use when it is most needed.

You will feel, perhaps, that I have not brought you good news today. The seriousness of the situation does not warrant the expression of optimistic platitudes. It is better to face grim realities with courage and resolution. But let us never lose for a moment our supreme confidence in final victory. Our clearest light at this time is the undying conviction that the forces of tyranny and oppression cannot prevail. History can show us blacker periods of depression. There have been times when the oppressor's might has held almost the whole world in subjection and when the outlook of those who loved freedom must have been filled with despair. But, that which is wrong can ever become right by virtue of conquest and force of arms is wholly unbelievable. Whether it is this month or this year, next year or later, so long as we hold fast to the faith that is in us and labour unceasingly for the ideals that are dear to us, sooner or later the world of reason and humanity will be restored. In this faith we will fight on, will endure and we will win. (Applause.)

DR. F. A. GARY: We exceedingly regret that we have no word at the present moment of the Honourable Mr. Rogers. I may say, the first information we had that the Trans-Canada was grounded was some ten minutes after eleven this morning, and it was too late to get any word to our membership of the delay. I immediately got in touch with Mr. Rogers and he said he would at that moment take a plane, which he did, and he expected to get here about a quarter past one. They must have met with unfortunate circumstances that have delayed him in getting here at this time.

We must thank Colonel Mess for the way in which he has delivered the address of the Honourable Mr. Rogers. I don't know that we can wait any longer, or whether you would desire to wait any longer for the arrival of the Honourable Mr. Rogers. I am sure he is doing everything he possibly can to be here. The latest word was that he was within two minutes of the airport, whether Malton or the Island I cannot say.

This is a joint meeting of the Empire and the Canadian Clubs. Maybe Mr. Courtice, the President of the Canadian Club, would like to say a few words.

MR. A. R. COIIRTICE: Gentlemen, I think there is nothing further I can say, other than that the meeting is adjourned.