Canada
And Canadian Defence

Chapter I

National defence as a subject—The Imperial Conference of 1909 and its outcome—Relations of Canada to Great Britain and the Empire—Her past contributions to Imperial defence—Two main objects of her land forces—Some advantages of a Canadian Navy—Its sphere of action—Danger from political party pressure—The present a fitting moment to consider Canadian defence—Proposed method of doing so—Duke of Wellington on the sine quâ non of success in war on the frontier of Canada.

Although to any nation upon the near prospect of war the subject of its defence becomes all-absorbing, especially if invasion is to be dreaded, it is difficult—at all events, throughout the British Empire—to arouse serious interest in it in time of peace. This is probably partly because some defensive details require a professional training to understand them; but, nevertheless, defensive questions, in their broader aspect, are mere common-sense questions, which can be perfectly grasped in their main and important principles by every educated citizen of a civilized State.

It is for this reason to be regretted that proposals liar national defence, even when officially brought forward, are so commonly approached by the majority of the public in the attitude often un­wisely adopted towards those for the insurance of life or property in general—viz., that they are to be some day looked into, but in the meantime put aside, and that the premium to be paid seemed most unattractive. Were they to be more con­stantly in the thoughts of the people of a nation, the hands of those who are responsible for national defence would be greatly strengthened.

It is, therefore, a matter for serious congratulation that a few months ago the naval aspirations of a Continental Power drew—for the moment, at all events—an exceptional degree of attention towards Imperial defence; and it became recognized from one end of the British Empire to the other that the whole question in both its naval and military aspects must be frankly faced by the Mother-Country and her dominions beyond the seas, for the security of their mutual interests and respective territories.

With regard to Canada, this feeling developed into a resolution, passed by the Dominion House of Commons on March 29, 1909, recognizing "the duty of Canada, as the country increased in numbers and wealth, to assume in a larger measure the responsibilities of national defence, and approv­ing of any necessary expenditure designed to pro­mote the speedy organization of a Canadian Naval Service in cooperation with, and in close relation to, the Imperial Navy."¹

The Canadian Government further suggested that its Defence Ministers should come to London, in order to confer with the Imperial naval and military authorities upon various, technical matters.

As the result of this, as well as of communica­tions received from other self-governing dominions of the Crown, the Imperial Defence Conference was subsequently convened, and sat in London in July and August, 1909.

At this Conference it was pointed out that the ideal upon which the military organization of the Empire should be based involved acceptance of the following principles:

"1. That without superiority at sea the Empire cannot be maintained."

"2. That it is the duty of each self-governing portion of the Empire to provide, as far as possible, for its own territorial security."

"3. That schemes of mutual assistance in time of need should be prepared upon a definite system."

Finally, the result of the Conference may be summed up in the words of its President, Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister,¹ that the outcome had been this:

With respect to naval matters, an agreement that any fleet to be built up by one of the dominions "must be of a certain size, in order to offer a permanent career to the officers and men engaged in the service; the personnel² to be trained and disciplined under regulations similar to those established in the Royal Navy, in order to allow of both interchange and union between the British and Dominion services; and that, with the same object, the standard of vessels and armaments should be uniform."

With respect to army matters, a plan for "organizing the forces of the Crown (wherever they are) so that, while preserving the complete autonomy of each dominion—should the dominions desire to assist in the defence of the Empire in a real emergency—their forces could be rapidly com­bined into one homogeneous Imperial Army."

The recommendations of the Imperial Defence Conference are now being translated into action. Canada has determined to commence the formation of a navy of her own, instead of contributing in money or in ships (as New Zealand preferred) to the strength of the British fleet; and although some have questioned the wisdom of this particular decision, there has been apparently a consensus of agreement in this—that the issue of the Conference will have an important bearing upon the growth of the Dominion to the stature of a nation, much more powerful than of yore in her naval and military resources, and in the patriotism of a people not only free, but trained to arms and prepared for war.

In the recommendations of the Conference lies the assurance that between Great Britain and Canada there is at last an open and mutual recognition of two far-reaching principles. The first is that, while the Dominion is to have the entire control of her own forces, these, in their organization, armament, and training, are to be capable of immediately taking their place as portions of one Imperial sea and land force.

The second, embodied not in so many words but in spirit, is that the Mother-Country and Canada, among the other oversea dominions, are mutually dependent—at all events, for the greatness of their future—upon their union.

The steps which, under expert advice, are being taken towards the creation and development of a Canadian Navy—to be the nucleus, it is hoped, of a more powerful one in the future—will no doubt be modified from time to time, as experience suggests. It is enough to say here that a certain number of war-vessels¹ will be built, or acquired, manned, and armed at the Dominion expense, and, as far as may be possible, in Canada and by Canadians. These vessels will probably be stationed on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, for the protection in war of the coast and commercial routes leading to it, and to police the seas in time of peace.

The double seaboard of Canada, on the Atlantic and Pacific, renders the provision of a fleet unit of the same kind as that of Australia unsuitable at this moment. Adequate dockyards and shipyards will be constructed whenever necessary. Not only Halifax and Esquimalt,² as at present, but later on Quebec, Montreal, St. John¹ (New Brunswick), Sydney, Prince Rupert on the Pacific, and points upon the great lakes, may become, in varying degrees of importance, Canadian naval stations. Training-ships will be acquired, or have already been so, a naval college established, and it is hoped a due provision of naval materiél of war accumu­lated at secure points.²

The personnel to man these vessels is to be looked for eventually in the creation, by voluntary enlistment, of a naval force for a term of years, and a naval volunteer force, with a reserve.³

In the land forces⁴ the standard or patterns of arms, equipment, stores, and transport, especially for the units of first-line transport, are to be those of the home regular army, of which the field-service regulations and training manuals are to be adopted as the basis of the organization, administration, and training of the troops.

The above, with the establishment of a local Canadian section of the Imperial General Staff, the interchange between the home and Dominion services of officers, men, and units, with the training together of those services to the extent which may be found practicable, complete the important points aimed at by the Imperial Defence Conference of 1909 in respect of Canadian defence.¹

The second principle which is embodied in spirit in the recommendations of the Conference—viz., that the Mother-Country and Canada, among the other oversea dominions, are mutually dependent for their future greatness upon their union—has been expressed by Lord Charles Beresford in the following Words:

"Whether we like it or not, we stand or fall together. You cannot hurt one of the dominions without hurting the Imperial whole; you cannot hurt the Mother-Country without knocking the heart out of the Imperial whole."²

This community of interests, however, wants to he more widely understood than it is; and as it has a bearing upon the strength and security of Canada, it is not departing from the subject of Canadian defence to refer further to it.

Let us first consider the importance of Canada to England.

In conversation, after the rebellion in Canada of 1837–38, the Duke of Wellington said:

"If you lose Upper Canada, you lose all your Colonies in that country; and if you lose them, you may as well lose London." Sir Archibald Alison also writes in 1843:

"According as these [the North American] Provinces¹ remain attached by durable cords to the parent State or are severed from it, they must ultimately become either an unbounded source of its strength or the immediate cause of its ruin."

What is meant by this, it may be assumed, is not that Great Britain, even though deprived of her possessions in the Western world or compelled to ransom her capital from an enemy, could not continue an important Power, but that her position as the head of a world-wide Empire, with its prestige and influence for good, would have passed away—certainly temporarily, and probably for all time.

It required exceptional foresight to see seventy years ago the value of Canada to the Mother-Country to-day. Then the shortest route from Great Britain to China and Japan did not lie, as now, across Canadian territory. Then the granaries of Western Canada did not exist, nor was their future possibility even dreamt of. Then the antici­pated difficulty of the Mother-Country—the food of her people in war, which these granaries can almost entirely supply—was not urgent. Then Sea-power on the Pacific, and the Pacific ports of Canada, had not the same meaning for Great Britain which the growth of Australia and New Zealand and the rise of Japan have now given to them. Then the increasing power and prosperity of the United States of America, of United Germany, and of United Canada herself, had not illustrated the value of Union as they have within the last generation.

To-day all is more clear, and the principle in­volved has been recently still more forcibly put in these words: "If Canada is to be abandoned, we might just as well abandon England. If we care for the Empire, the one is as essential and important to us as the other."¹ It has become increasingly evident that, with Canada in the hands of a hostile Power, the interests of Great Britain must most materially suffer.

The policy of a generation or two ago, which in elect said to Canada and other Colonies, "Go or stay: it makes no difference to us," had this good effect—that it forced forward local defence; but in other respects it was a mistaken policy, and did not embody either the truth, or the views of the greater minds of England.

One can better realize the influence which the Canadian Dominion may possibly have upon the future destinies of the Empire from the fact that it has been estimated that her population, at the present rate of its increase, would, before the close of this century, number 100,000,000—i.e., more than double what is now that of the United Kingdom.² Moreover, her resources in mineral and agricultural wealth are being developed to a degree heretofore unprecedented.

If, on the other hand, we turn to the importance to Canada of British connection, and to the probable future of Canada, how could that future be either so secure or so brilliant beyond the pale of Empire as within it?

Lord Milner has thus depicted what that position is now, and may become, as one of the partner nations of the Empire:¹

"I have said that Canada is not unique in being a great country, but she is unique in being one of a group of countries which have a strong foothold in every corner of the world. That group only needs to hold together and to be properly organized in order to command, with a comparatively small cost to its individual members, all the credit and all the respect, and therefore all the power and all the security, which credit and respect alone can give a nation among the nations of the world.

"Without any loss of individuality, without any excessive strain upon her resources, it is within her power to enjoy all the glory and all the benefits of that great position, not only on this continent, but throughout the world. . . . Canada would be greater, far greater, as a member—perhaps in time the leading member—of that group of powerful, though pacific, nations than she ever could be in isolation."

Canada also, if within the Empire, possesses a position as a sea-power which she cannot hold if outside of it. This has been recently alluded to by Captain Phillimore, R.N., in his expressed view s that she seemed some day destined to form the " body of that huge octopus, British Sea-Power."¹

Placed between the Atlantic and Pacific as naval partner, not only with Great Britain, but also with Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, she may become this, and—to use the words of Lord Milner—even be "the leading member of the group," but necessarily not in isolation.

If outside the British Empire, what, from her geographical position, must seemingly be Canada's future? Apparently, either to be protected by, allied with, or absorbed by, the United States, or to become what is termed an "independent" nation.

The last alternative is the only one which we need dwell on here. "Protection" (whether s through the Monroe Doctrine or in any other shape) or "absorption" represent at present the aspirations of no portion of Canada, and are never likely to do so, unless a mistaken commercial policy changes in time the current of existing feeling.

But "independence" is is an ideal of another character, and, within due limits, admirable so long as the substance, and not the shadow only, of it is grasped.

The growth of a self-reliant, independent feeling, in either men or nations, is not to be discouraged to any advantage if they are to become great, and in a this sense it is not to be regretted that Canada should control her own forces, and retain, as she has done {with the complete assent of the Mother-Country) the power to decide, according to circum­stances, whether her navy and army are to be employed or not employed beyond her own borders. Her history shows that she will stand by the Empire; and the fact that it is left to her voluntary decision as to the extent to which Canadian forces are to be used, except for Canadian defence and in a Canadian quarrel, at all events removes all ground for an assertion—which has been at times made—that within the Empire she cannot be truly independent, because she is liable to have to fight for a cause of which she may disapprove.

In the present position of Canada within the Empire there is already, in fact as well as theory, complete and real "independence." Voluntary part­nership is not dependence; the free preference by a free people for a Constitutional Monarchy, instead of any other form of government, is not dependence; sharing in common with others the expense of an Imperial policeman—in other words, of her naval and military defence—though an excellent business bargain, is not dependence.

More complete freedom could not be found in any "alliance" as compared with the "partnership" of Empire, for alliances in all cases invoke mutual obligations and mutual ties. When made with a nation under another flag, they are never based upon the principle of giving something for nothing; and it may be added that occasionally, though they may be on the whole a source of strength, one of the parties to them has to pay heavily for them.

It is well to remember that the position, wealth, and resources of Canada, although the latter are as yet but partially developed, are such that they may possibly be coveted by other Great Powers less fortunately dowered; and that, were she not in possession of such sea and land forces as would rally around her if within the Empire, her safety from invasion must rest more or less upon the forbearance of rivals—an insecure foundation. "Communities which want, and cannot have except by force, will take by force, unless they are restrained by force."¹

The more the close connection between Great Britain and Canada is considered, the more it will appear that, from the standpoint of each nation, neither can, in its material interests alone, afford to separate from the other.

Before the late Conference was convened Canada had not consented to move in the direction of monetary contributions towards naval defence, or proposed the formation of a Canadian fleet; but it must be conceded that she has within the last fifty years most effectively contributed to Imperial defence generally by the construction of railways from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which give British troops a shorter line to the East (to which we shall later on allude); by the cutting of canals and deepening of water com­munication between the sea and the great lakes; by attention to her local land forces, which have furnished contingents in recent British campaigns; by the establishment of the Kingston Military College, which has turned out excellent British officers; by the encouragement of rifle-shooting; and last, but not least, by taking over from the Home Government the maintenance and defence of the important posts of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and Esquimalt, on the Pacific.

What has been agreed to, as the result of the Conference, is in addition to the above.

Occasionally it has been said that no special credit is due to Canada, in the sense of a contribu­tion to military defence, for the construction of railways¹ from ocean to ocean, because these were commercial undertakings for commercial purposes, but the facts remain that their strategic importance had been clearly foreseen. Sir John Macdonald, in proposing the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, said:

"I recommend this great undertaking, not on financial grounds—though I believe its future financial success is assured—but for high reasons of State policy, because the railway, when com­pleted, will join together the west and the east of the Dominion of Canada, will secure a predominant share of the trade with China and Japan, and will provide a safe passage for British troops should the Mediterranean route ever become blocked by the enemies of Great Britain."²

Probably in no other way could the money, from a military point of view, have been as profitably expended; and, owing to the commercial prosperity and emigration to Canada which have followed upon the measure, the defensive resources of the Dominion have been materially increased.

In any case, it cannot be otherwise than a subject of congratulation to-day, from a military stand­point, that it was decided to devote the money to this purpose, instead of to the construction of battleships, which would probably be now on the scrap-heap, or fortifications in Canada, which time would have since rendered partially obsolete.

The main objects for which the sea and land forces of Canada exist may be said to be two:

One is to maintain the unity of the Empire, for which the United Empire Loyalists, the first settlers of Upper Canada, fought in 1775–83.

The other is to secure the Canadian frontier from aggression, so that Canadian soil may never be occupied by an enemy, the lives of the Canadian people protected, and Canadian property preserved from spoliation.

In the Imperial co-partnership each of these objects is of extreme importance bath to Great Britain and Canada, but it is desirable to keep them distinct in the mind; for the fact that there is, and must be, a distinction between them, occasionally overlooked, has been in the past at the root of some divergent views between the Mother-Country and the Dominion as to what is requisite for Canadian defence.

To secure, if possible, the second object as well as the first is of much consequence to Canada, for upon her and her people must fall the brunt of any hostile occupation of her territory. In one sense, indeed, it appeals more widely—i.e., to all classes and shades of opinion—than the first; for there are in Canada, as in England, some to whom ideas of Empire have little attraction, while to all the advantage of security for life and property is apparent.

It is true, and has been proved true, that Canada might be, in parts and temporarily, overrun and occupied in war, her richest districts harried, her cities and towns, if they opposed the invaders, destroyed; and yet that, through the final triumph of the Imperial arms, she would be preserved to the Empire. Still, it is but human nature that those tax-payers living in Canada, by whom is meant not only French and British Canadians, but immigrant settlers from the British Isles, from the continent of Europe, and also from the United States of America {of whom there are very many thousands),¹ will look coldly at defensive proposals which, although they may make it more difficult to permanently conquer Canada, include nothing approaching to a guarantee against the successful invasion of her frontier.

This the Dominion Government and Dominion politicians must take into account.

It is to be received with satisfaction upon many grounds that Canada has determined to commence the formation of her own navy, and retain in her hands its control, with the appropriation of the moneys voted by the Dominion Government for naval defence.

The Dominion of New Zealand may have been wise in adopting a different course, but New Zealand is not Canada, and there is no analogy between their situations.

It has been objected that the vessels now build­ing as the nucleus of a Canadian Navy would be at the mercy of any first-class battleship or cruiser, and no doubt for some time to come Canada must be dependent upon the battleships of the British fleet for her protection against the more powerful ships of war of any hostile nation; but there must be a beginning to everything.

This dependence, however, exists, and points fairly to its being reasonable, as many in Canada have urged, that the Dominion, until she has first-class battleships of her own, should, in addition to forming a Canadian Navy, assist to some extent the heavily-burdened taxpayer of the United Kingdom to pay for the British fleet.

The Hon. G. E. Foster, Member for North Toronto in the Dominion House of Commons, thus spoke in the debate upon naval defence¹ with regard to the preference, felt by himself and others, for the building up of a Canadian Navy, over a "contribution"—meaning by this a contribution in other forms.

"The interest that we take in a contribution is not the interest that I desire for Canada. I want to see something grafted on the soil of Canada's nationhood, which takes root, and grows, and develops, until it incites the spirit of defence in this country. . . . The first Canadian-owned vessel built and equipped in Great Britain¹ and sent out to defend our coasts, would become the nucleus and the training-ground of Canadian stokers, Canadian sailors, and Canadian officers, and by-and-by perhaps of a Canadian Admiral on the Canadian coast."

Lord Charles Beresford, in speaking before the Imperial Press Conference, and alluding to the self-governing dominions, says (June 26, 1909):

"I believe the right plan would be for you to begin by having your own fleets, under your own control, and under your own management, as long as there is a standardization in every ship you have in the whole of the five nations."

And in a leading article upon a "Navy for Canada" on April 16, 1909, the Standard of Empire, published in London, has the following remarks:

"The Canadian battleships and cruisers will not be capable of being put down, without deduction, to the credit side of the British Admiralty accounts, and that seems to us a particular advantage. A British Prime Minister will not be able to sub­stitute a Canadian or Australian unit for one which would have to come out of the British taxpayers' pocket. We shall not rely upon these oversea ships to defend the shores of Britain, for they will not be always immediately available. But they will constitute a number of allied navies prepared to come to the assistance of the in the home waters, to aid her in guarding the great trade routes, and to set free part of the force she keeps in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans. There will not be one British Navy, but three or four, and the enemies of the Empire will have to reckon with them all."

Thus, in favour of the creation of a Canadian Navy there are solid arguments.

It is to be noted¹ that it was one of the principles laid down at the Conference as the basis of the defence organization of the Empire that it was the duty of each self-governing nation to provide, as far as possible, for its own territorial security. Primarily, the sphere of action of the Canadian Navy must be its own waters and bordering seas; but, nevertheless, it is not to be tied to that sphere, which would greatly reduce its power and its usefulness. How the Canadian Navy or Army would in any particular case be employed upon the outbreak of war must depend upon the character of that war, and must he decided at the time between the Home and Canadian Governments; but it may be anticipated that for the first few days or even weeks of war the security of the Canadian frontier must necessarily depend upon the readiness of the Canadian sea and land forces to maintain it.

One important provision of the Bill creating the Canadian Navy is that, in the case of emergency, the Dominion Government may, by an Order in Council,¹ place the fleet at the disposal of His Majesty the King (in whom the command-in-chief is vested) for general service with the Royal Navy; and the Prime Minister for Canada, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, when asked whether "emergency" meant war in Canada or abroad, is stated² to have thus replied:

"War anywhere. If Great Britain is at war with any nation of the world, then Canada is liable to invasion, and Canada is at war."

The value of the future Canadian fleet to the Empire, and for the security of the Dominion frontier, must naturally and mainly depend upon whether, when created, it is kept up, in spite of all political pressure, in full efficiency as regards personnel, armament, equipment, and stores, and prepared for instant war; to secure which, skilled and impartial inspection is absolutely essential, and will, it is assumed, be arranged for.

It probably is not so much the conviction that any threatening war-clouds are about to burst before the Canadian Navy has come into being that has made some prefer to its creation a money con­tribution or the gift of a battleship. It is rather the fear that even pride in a national fleet may not be sufficient in Canada, as at times it has not been so in England, to prevent political exigencies or political patronage from interfering with its efficiency.

If French and British together will alike concur in putting the Dominion Navy beyond the sphere of party, and placing it, where it should be, "in the front rank of the navies of the dominions of their great Empire,"¹ then it may be anticipated that it will not only take, but hold, that rank, and become a pillar of Imperial strength. If it becomes the plaything of politics, it naturally can never do so.

The present moment appears an opportune one² to examine into what is essential to the security of the Canadian frontier; and this, it is thought, can be done in no more effective way than by—

First, describing the character of that frontier; then dwelling upon the lessons which the most recent attempt to conquer Canada in 1812–14 has taught; and, finally, by considering the changes affecting defence which have taken place in Canada since 1814, with how far the experience of the past can, under different conditions, be usefully applied to Canadian defence to-day.

Very much is to be learnt from the War of 1812–14, but in the interval—nearly a century—which has elapsed since that period both Canada and the science of war have made rapid strides. The communications throughout the Dominion both by land and by water have greatly altered; a far larger area of territory may now become the theatre of conflict than was the case in that war; the interests Canada has to defend are wider; her resources, as well as those of her possible enemies, are greater; her cities richer, and a more valuable prize to an invader; while she is also a party now to a Convention with a friendly Power which had not then come into force.

We do not propose to enter into unnecessary technicalities, or into details of organization or composition and strength of forces, or the character of defensive works.

Although these details intimately relate to defence, they form a large subject in themselves, and are to be more advisedly dealt with by those possessed of that confidential information and knowledge of what is really practicable, as viewed from all points, which official position alone gives.¹ Our object here is confined to discussing broadly what relates to Canadian defence, both in the hope of assisting to widen interest in the question and of securing to those who have to take up the above details a more general and complete support. The opinions expressed, though no doubt all may not agree in them, are based, whenever possible, on facts contained in published documents and papers, or which can otherwise be readily verified.