Читать книгу The Message of the Carillon And Other Addresses - William Lyon Mackenzie King - Страница 10
ОглавлениеAt the Dinner Given by the Government of Canada, The Houses of Parliament, Ottawa
2nd August, 1927
The British North America Act, which brought our Dominion into being, was accomplished through the co-operation of the British Crown, the British Parliament, and the representatives of four of the provinces of British North America. Sixty years ago, Ministers from Canada crossed the Atlantic to join in London in conference with British Ministers in the framing of this Act. Having passed the British Parliament and having received the Royal Assent, it became the written portion of the Constitution of our Dominion. How singularly appropriate that in commemoration of this event, in this year of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation, Canada should be honoured by the presence in the halls of our Houses of Parliament of a representative of the Crown, in the person of His Royal Highness, the Heir to the British Throne, and of the Parliament of Great Britain, in the person of its distinguished Prime Minister.
This is the first occasion on which, during his term of office, a Prime Minister of Great Britain has visited Canada; the first time, in fact, that a British Prime Minister while in office has found it possible to visit any of the self-governing Dominions. I cannot express too sincerely how deeply gratified we all feel that Mr. Baldwin should have thus honoured our Dominion and thereby afforded the Canadian people the opportunity to extend greetings to a British Prime Minister on Canadian soil. Upon several occasions it has been the privilege of Prime Ministers of Canada to enjoy the hospitality of the British Government, especially when attending the Conferences of the Empire. To-day a new precedent has been established in intra-imperial relations, one vastly significant of the change that has come with time in the status of the self-governing parts of the Empire and significant, as well, of the reciprocal attachment which exists between our country and the motherland.
May I be permitted to say what a pleasure it is to me personally to have the privilege of welcoming Mr. Baldwin to our country, and, this evening, to our Houses of Parliament! On two occasions, once in 1923, and again in 1926, I had the honour, as one of the representatives of Canada at the Imperial Conference, to receive his welcome to England and to No. 10 Downing Street. As a member of the two Conferences, I shared the privilege of being present at the gatherings over which, on each occasion, Mr. Baldwin presided, and thus became acquainted, in the intimacies of public and private discussion, with those qualities of modesty, of patience, of sincerity, and I might add of rare impartiality and sound common sense, which the world has come to recognize as outstanding in the present Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Members of the Conference saw Mr. Baldwin at times of great strain. In considerable part, the Conferences were held while the British Parliament was in session. On the first occasion, Mr. Baldwin had only shortly before taken office as Prime Minister. Dissolution of the British Parliament actually took place on the very day of the conclusion of the Conference of 1923. On the second occasion, Mr. Baldwin and his Government had just come through the General Strike, and had enjoyed thereafter little or no respite from parliamentary duties. The position of Prime Minister at any time is not an easy position. It has, however, become increasingly difficult with the problems which the War bequeathed. The position is even more difficult in Great Britain than anywhere else in the world. I should say it was at the peak of its complications with an Imperial Conference and Parliament simultaneously in session, to say nothing of a pending election. Such a time made it possible to witness the calmness, moderation, and endurance which have made Mr. Baldwin’s character a recognized expression of British character at its best. Even his political opponents will, I think, agree that few Prime Ministers of England have had to govern in more difficult times, or have had more worrying situations to meet; and he would be a bitter partisan indeed who was not prepared to express to Mr. Baldwin both admiration and gratitude for the part he has played.
In connection with this year’s celebrations, there have been many interesting features, but to Mr. Baldwin we are indebted for a coincidence that is unique. To-morrow is, I believe, Mr. Baldwin’s birthday. He has seen to it that we should have the enjoyment of celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of his birthday at the same time as our country is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee. May I take occasion, on behalf of all present, to extend to Mr. Baldwin, our best wishes for many happy returns of the day.
I have mentioned that when the British North America Act was drafted, there was set forth in its preamble, and is preserved there, an expression of the desire of the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to be federally united under the British Crown. There was expressed the further desire that they should have a constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom. If, as I believe, the Crown is a bond of union and the symbol of unity in our federal system, and, likewise, a bond of union and the symbol of unity of the several parts of the British Empire, equally, I believe, is it true that the British Constitution is, under our federal system, the charter of our freedom, and the enduring foundation of the community of British Nations which surround and uphold the Throne. What impressed me most at the Imperial Conferences was the ease with which it was possible, because of this, to confer on most questions with representatives of other parts of the British Empire. There was, for the most part, a ready understanding of each other’s problems. This was due to the similarity of our political constitutions and of the parliamentary institutions based thereon. In this respect the British Empire is vastly different from the League of Nations, which, in some particulars, it resembles. In the League of Nations the varieties of constitutions are almost as numerous as the principal countries represented; in the British Commonwealth of Nations, political constitutions in all essentials are the same. In other words, we of the British Empire speak a common political language, and a common language of any kind is a bond of understanding and unity. I venture to say that what, more than anything else, will impress Mr. Baldwin as he visits our country, and what would impress him even more were he able to visit the legislatures of our Provinces, would be his instant familiarity everywhere with procedure and practice, and the similarity in all essentials of our law-making bodies to his own Parliament at Westminster.
In Canada, as in the other self-governing Dominions of the British Empire, the corner stone of the constitution is responsible self-government. It was in Canada that the evolution from a colonial dependency to a self-governing nation was worked out before it was worked out elsewhere in the British Dominions. It was the development of responsible government in Canada that made Confederation possible, and made possible the subsequent growth and expansion of the Dominion. During the period of our constitutional growth since Confederation, the Parliament of Canada has assumed from time to time powers which were formerly exercised on our behalf by the Parliament of Great Britain. We are proud to proclaim that in all that pertains to our domestic and external relations our Parliament now enjoys a freedom comparable to that of the Parliament at Westminster. With this increase of authority and responsibility has come a closer bond of sympathy and union with the free Parliaments of the Empire, and more cordial co-operation in the common concerns of government under the British Crown.
It is the maintenance of responsible government in each of the several parts of the Empire that makes possible effective consultation and co-operation between them. Responsible self-government, in a word, is the secret of liberty within the Empire. Knowing and believing this as we do, well may we, in the affairs of Empire, give to the petition of our forefathers a wider application than was possible in their day, and pray for the Empire as a whole, as for each of the self-governing parts, that He who doeth all things well, will establish in righteousness the Throne of our Monarch, setting wise and able counsellors around him.
May I say to Mr. Baldwin, in conclusion, that our one and only regret is that the time at his disposal during his present visit will not permit him and the members of his party to traverse Canada from coast to coast. We cannot acknowledge too sincerely his courtesy in giving up to travel and to public appearances so much of the time which it was hoped might afford him a respite from the responsibilities and cares of his great office, the unremitting duties of which, over a number of years, he has filled with such fidelity. We trust, however, that, despite its exacting engagements, the Prime Minister of Great Britain will enjoy to the full his all too brief stay in Canada, and that on his return home he will convey to the Parliament and people of Great Britain our cordial greetings and warm appreciation of the evidence of their affectionate regard for our country which his visit so completely affords.
