Views on the General Situation in Great Britain

Mr. President and Gentlemen,--I cannot tell you how I feel when I come back to Canada. I never forget the land where I was born. (Hear, hear) If one wanted inspiration to speak, one could get it from

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Rt. Hon. Sir Gilbert Parker, Bart., P.C., D.C.L., D. Litt., Poet, Novelist, and Legislator, is a graduate in Arts of Trinity University, Toronto. For eighteen years he was an active member of the British House of Commons, and chair man of a number of its important committees. He initiated and organized the first Imperial University Conference in London, 1903, and was chairman of the Imperial South African Association for nine years. He has written poems, plays, books of travel, and more than a score of successful novels.

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the reception I have just had. I do not like speaking. I never have, although I have spoken a good deal. I have just finished a series of lectures in the United States. You may ask me why I went to the United States to deliver those lectures instead of coming to Canada. You don't need them. (Laughter) I came with three lectures; and let this be said for the United States; I delivered twenty there, and in every place with the exception of San Francisco, and that was a woman's club, (laughter) they wanted me to talk on International affairs. The United States is interested in International affairs. (Hear, hear) I said before I came that I would not come unless I could speak my mind. The reply was, "Speak your mind; the American people can stand a punch." Well, I gave them the punch. (Laughter) But let me say this: I find that the American people are tremendously interested in Foreign affairs. (I am going to speak presently about the settlement of the British debt). The best audience I had in the United States was in Milwaukee, (laughter) for this reason, just as strong as the antipathetic movement was so is the sympathetic movement against it.

Now, may I say a word or two about the change of Government in England. I want to say it. Bonar Law was born in this country, in New Brunswick. (Applause) He is the sanest, straightest, truest man that Canada ever produced. (Applause) Wholly without affectation, wholly without self-pride, he lives for one thing alone, and that is the British Empire. (Applause) England trusts him. (Applause) Before Lloyd George resigned, two days before, at Michigan University I said, "I hope Lloyd George will resign; for three years there has not been Parliamentary Government in England." All legitimate opposition died. Yet, let this be said for Lloyd George, and I have said it and always will say it, that Lloyd George in time of war was the greatest Prime Minister that England has had since the days of Pitt. (Loud applause) But this must not be forgotten. In January, 1914, looking out on Europe he said, "Things were never brighter in Europe than today." Three Ministers resigned. He did not, but he was the last to consent to the intervention of England. He was always opposed to Naval and Military developments, always, and yet when the responsibility was placed upon him, and he realized what that responsibility meant, he played the game. (Loud applause)

Let me ask you this: what has happened since the war? Two things of the greatest consequence have happened, the Naval Conference at Washington, and the settlement of the British debt. Lloyd George alienated every Nation in Europe. I say this with the greatest admiration for the man's political genius. Lord Curzon made his reputation on foreign affairs. It was announced later that Lord Curzon was ill. I think he was, but he got better very soon when Bonar Law came in to power. Why? Because his powers were restored to him. The Cabinet Secretariat which Lloyd George established was abolished by Bonar Law, your man, my man, England's man. (Applause) I say this, because I want to make it clear if I can my own viewpoint, and it does not matter whether you agree or not. I want to tell the truth as I feel it to my fellow countrymen. I said Lloyd George alienated every country in Europe. Look at Greece. Who induced the Greeks with Franc to go to Smyrna, to Asia-minor and then abandoned the Greeks. A man wrote to me the other day from London, a very distinguished man. He said, "Don't you think it is a tremendous change in the opinion of the British people regarding the late Prime Minister when he has only got fifty-seven followers in the House of Commons out of six hundred and twenty?" Mr. Asquith has sixty. The legitimate opposition today in the British Parliament is not the Liberal Party; it is the Labour Party with Ramsey McDonald at its head. When Austin Chamberlain said, (the son of a very clever man) when he said, "I am going to support Lloyd George in not resigning because of the Labour Party," I said, and I say it now, "England is a Democratic Country; the United States is a Democratic Country; Canada is a Democratic Country, and if the people of England and the people of Canada want a Labour Government let them have it." Anything else to my mind is cowardice. But that is what is the matter with Austin Chamberlain and you supported him as against Bonar Law.

I have said that two of the greatest things were the Naval Conference and the settlement of the British debt. Now, I always disliked the alliance of Great Britain with an Oriental country, always, but let this be said for Japan, (I was in Parliament in England for eighteen years and I know how hard it was to get funds for the Navy of England and what opposition there was to all increases of Naval expenditure) let this be said that Great Britain could not have concentrated her fleet in the North Sea under Lord Fisher if it had not been for Japan. In other words, through the intervention of Japan in freeing the ships from the Western Pacific and gathering them in the North Sea we were able to save the World. What do I mean by that? Through Japan's help the British Navy swept the Seas of every German armed merchant men, and every cruiser. You remember the exploits of the Emden; you remember the little fleet that went down and defeated the Germans at the Falkland Islands, and swept the Seas and bottled up the German fleet in the North Sea. French, Joffre and the British Navy saved the World. (Loud applause)

Now, what I have to say about the Naval Conference at Washington is this, that both the United States and Great Britain have reduced their Army and Navies, and ShanTung has been returned and the open door exists in China today and Armaments have been reduced. (Applause)

Now, as to the British debt. It is a very big one but it has been settled, sixty-two years is the time fixed, and the rate of interest three per cent. for ten years and seven and a half percent after that. I will tell you what sixty-two years agreement means, apart from other things, it will make England and the United States friends for sixty-two years. (Laughter) She does not want to injure England. If she did want to she would pause. More than that, the settlement of the British debt is the biggest thing that has been done since the war. (Hear, hear) I never believed in the cancellation of debts. I have had money owing to me. (Laughter) I have cancelled the debt but that has not made me a friend of the man whose debts I cancelled; cancellation of debts destroys personal independence, personal energy and personal enterprise.

Speaking of taxes, do you know what rates and taxes I pay in England? I pay 8 percent to the American Government for every book I publish there. I would like to point out to the American people and to you that they won their justified independence by revolting against the principles of taxation without representation. There is no escape for me. They collect from my publishers and my film producers. In England, my rates and taxes amount to 70 percent of my income. That includes super-tax. Believe me if there is another war England will be bankrupt. She is within thirty percent of bankruptcy now. That is not the only reason why I have opposed and will always oppose the idea of France going into the Ruhr. God knows I sympathise with France. I have seen her devastated towns and cities and her industries destroyed by a destructive agency, Germany. Of course, I sympathise with France, but even a martyr can sometimes be a fool. And that is the position of France now. What does she expect to get out of the Ruhr? It is costing her four hundred and ninety dollars for every ton of coal she has already got, and coal in Paris today is twenty dollars a ton. It cost her eighteen million dollars last year for her troops in the Ruhr But let me say this, that to the last penny Germany ought to pay. (Hear, hear) At the same time I do not think that France is going the right way about it in her endeavour to secure reparations. It cannot be done that way. It means you are crushing every nation upon the earth. Every poor man makes his neighbour poorer. Every bankrupt does harm to the community.

There is no unemployment in the United States; there are two millions unempoyed in England living on doles, and it has got to be done. Look at the class of men that are living on doles in England. But I am sure of this, the British workmen will never become Bolshevik. (Applause) If you question that, let me ask you: what did he do in the war? The majority of the British soldiers were working men. That is what they did. There will never be are industrial revolution in England, never. But things are pretty bad over there. Do not imagine because the hotels are full, and the theatres are full in a cosmopolitan city like London, that things are not shockingly bad. I am going into one or two personal explanations because they show how it bears on the larger things. When I first came to the United States after the war and saw the butter that was used, I gasped. Do you know what amount of butter we were allowed in England during the war? In my household, consisting of eight people, we were allowed a pound and a quarter a week. That is not all. I said to my Doctor, "Doctor, there is something wrong with me; I am not feeling well; I do not know why I get so easily fatigued." He said, "I am younger than you are; I am only thirty-five, but I am fatigued too." The reason was that we did not have enough fats to eat during the war and that has continued since. Living in England is as dear today as in the United States, except in the matter of rent. As for houses, I am going to give you a personal example. I live in No. 20 Carleton House Terrace. It has a forty-five years lease to run. I pay eighty-four pounds ground rent and the Government commandeered it when I left. I put it up for auction and did not get a single bid for it. I sold it the other day for $17,500. That shows you what is the matter. There is not a square in England; there is not a street in England where there are not houses for sale. You do not see that in the United States, and I do not think you see it here. What I say is this: that England is suffering but England will pay her debts to the last penny. (Applause)

My time is nearly up, but there are one or two things more that I want to say. I do not know whether you are in need of mechanics here or not. If you do, for God's sake let your Government and the British Government help our mechanics to come to this country. It is impossible for them and their families to come out without assistance; they have been out of work so long they have not got the money. They cannot go on the farm because they have no money. I said to the people in the United States, "You need mechanics; will you give the British mechanic a chance here?" and the reply was favourable.

When the war broke out in 1914 I said that Canada would send two hundred and fifty thousand men. I was laughed at Canada sent four hundred and fifty thousand odd, and six hundred thousand were under arms. Why? England has no more control over Canada than she has, in one sense, over Peru. You need not have sent a man or a dollar, but before you were asked to do so you did so; you sent an offer through Sir Robert Borden of your men and your dollars. Do you know, I think the greatest fight that was made in the war was at Vimy Ridge? (Loud applause) You did that; you did not fight for the British people. Many of you had no regard for the British people. You did not fight for King or Queen-you fought for the Crown, and all that the Crown stands for. There is only one legal power that the King of England has now, in the British Privy Council. In Australia there is no appeal to the Privy Council except by the consent of the Supreme Court of Australia. The Crown is the indissoluble link and it was that for which you fought and nought else. And you would do it again if the trouble came again. (Loud applause) I said two years ago that if Canada appointed her own Governor-General, then goodbye to the British Empire. I repeat it now. The Governor-General is appointed by the King. Take away that appointment of the Governor-General of Canada by the King and how long do you think the British Empire will hold together. Whom would you appoint? You have a splendid Governor-General; and let me say this, no Governor-General is appointed to Canada without first consulting your Government. Take away that power and you take away the last vestige of the old constitutional power that the King of England has. I said then and I repeat it now, I probably have no influence here, but I would stump this country before I would see that prerogative abolished. If you leave the British Empire not a shot will be fired by a British troop-ship to prevent it. You contribute nothing to the Navy. I do not blame you. I do not blame you for not contributing to that in which you had no voice in the expenditure. While I never believed in an imperial Parliament, I do believe in what we had in Great Britain during the war, representation from over-seas, responsible Dominion Government direct. What I say is this; if you were free you would be depending upon the United States for protection, I am only saying this to you: suppose you were depending upon the United States for the protection of your trade overseas, would you like it? (No, no) Of course you would not like it. For this reason if the United States, she does not mean it, she could have taken Canada easily during the war if she had so desired it, though she did not take it in 1812, but if you were under her protection you would be placing a mortgage on the future. I think you would rather be under the protection of the British Fleet. (Applause)

Before I close, I want to say this: I have talked very frankly to you today, my fellow-countrymen. Believe me, what I have said has come not only from the head, but from the heart and from common sense. That is the kind of Prime Minister you have got in England today,--a common sense Prime Minister, with none of the genius of the late Prime Minister, but something that will last, a most loyal and devoted servant of the British Empire. You were the first and I do not believe you will be the last in the British Empire. (Loud applause)

SIR JOHN WILLISON in proposing a vote of thanks to Sir Gilbert Parker, said that he had followed the speaker's career with the greatest sympathy and admiration, and he was sure that they were rejoiced to welcome him back to Toronto, and regretted that he came so seldom. Sir Gilbert Parker was a Journalist and then he became a Novelist, and then got into Politics so that all his life he had been consistently devoted to fiction. (Laughter) In the olden times in the old world when people were not ready to go to Heaven they went to Paris; (laughter) in the new world they went to Los Angeles, and that is where he thought that Gilbert Parker was qualified to go. It was a curious thing that so many of the better living people in Toronto go so often to Los Angeles for stimulating and spiritual refreshments. They were glad to have their distinguished guest back with them but sorry that his stay was so short. They had got a very stimulating, frank, courageous and straightforward expression of his opinions, however much some of them might have disagreed with them. He wished Sir Gilbert Parker many years of further success and continuous prosperity. (Loud applause)