Strategic Canada.

Geography gave the Americans half a continent in which to expand—an almost self-contained land. The States were fairly sure to remain a free-trade unit provided that they remained a political unit; and Abraham Lincoln saw to that. Result—high tariffed U.S.A. has a no-tariff home market of about 140 million people! But Geography gave Britain a far-flung Empire totally without territorial continuity, and mostly allowed to grow up in the atmosphere of its own several tariffs. If the Empire now can be brought together on a basis of low tariff—counter-balancing that great no-tariff internal market of the United States—history will contain no more picturesque page. Canada is geographically part of the American land-mass. She has felt the pull of her great U.S.A. neighbour and of the Empire. And in Canada this epochal Empire Conference is significantly to be held.