MR. CAINE, M.P., IN CANADA.*
OF the making of books of travel by those whom the Americans call " globe-trotters," there is no end. It might, then, be sup- posed that Mr. Caine's latest addition to the hosts of " Trips Round the World," could not possibly contain anything new or noteworthy. The supposition, however, if entertained, would be entirely erroneous. In spite of the fact that the ground has been covered a hundred times before, Mr. Caine has made a thoroughly readable book, and filled his pages with comments and descriptions which will interest even the most fastidious travel-book-wearied of readers. The reason is, perhaps, not far to seek. Most travellers have no qualification for writing a book except the fact that they have covered so many thousand miles of sea and land. Mr. Caine, on the other hand—as all who know the Member for Barrow, personally or politically, are well aware—has a very considerable power of expressing himself in telling and forcible language, a strong interest in all he sees or hears, a fund of general knowledge on all commercial and political subjects, and last, but not least, a keen sense of humour. Besides these, Mr. Caine also possesses a qualification which is generally entirely absent in ordinary travellers. He is in- tensely anxious in each place which he visits, to discover the facts in regard to several important social and moral questions. In all new places, he wants to find out all he can, first, on the temperance question, and, secondly, in regard to missionary and other social work. These objects, and especially the desire to investigate the temperance problem wherever possible, give to his work a coherence and a central interest which are wanting in the ordinary book of travel. Mere impressions of scenery and peoples, though doubtless pleasant enough to write, are apt to be tedious reading. Mr. Caine's work is, however, saved from being such a collection of impressions, and whether we agree or disagree with the opinions he holds in regard to the temperance question, it is impossible not to feel that their presence in his book greatly increases its interest for the ordinary reader.
Perhaps the most remarkable portion of Mr. Caine's book is his description of his journey across the North American Continent by the Canadian Pacific Railway. During his stay at Montreal, Mr. Caine had brought to his notice some of the curiosities of Protection. In spite of the fact that Canada, in order to protect the local manufacturer, has a tariff which raises the prices of articles of clothing by 50 per cent., she cannot keep out English goods. In " the largest retail drapery store in Canada, containing every kind of textile fabrics for both sexes," the owner admitted to Mr. Caine " that he had not in his store, from cellar to attic, five-shillings'-worth of Canadian manufactures." In the same way, though fishing is the national sport of Canada, Mr. Caine found that, notwithstanding a 30 per cent. duty, it was quite
John Pedder, the Author, and others. London : Itoutledge and Bons. 1 • A Trip Round the World in 188743. By W. S. Caine, 1&P. Illustrated by
impossible to purchase a Canadian-made fishing-rod. They were all of English manufacture. During his journey west- ward, Mr. Caine stopped at Calgary, the centre of the ranching country, and the capital of the province of Alberta,—a territory lying under and to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Here the sale of intoxicating liquors is absolutely prohibited. The place naturally interested Mr. Caine. His description of the town, which is only two years old, but already contains two thousand people, is very curious. Last year it was incorporated, and a Mayor and Corporation duly elected. Owing to some in- formality in the election, however, the town decided to choose another set of municipal officers. The first elected objected to this, refused to resign, and both proceeded to govern the town, till a lawsuit finally put an end to the dispute. We must quote Mr. Caine's own words as to the effects of temperance on Calgary :—
"The great feature of Calgary society is the overwhelming pre- dominance of the male sex. Hardly a woman is to be seen in the streets. The men have not yet had time to think about matri- mony; that will follow in a year or two, when the many adven- turers settle down to whatever they are fit for. Neither did I see any old men. The whole population appeared to be under thirty years of age, and almost entirely English. The hotel at which we stayed was full to overflowing, many sleeping two in a bed, and all young men ; my daughter was the only lady in the house. If the Leland Hotel had possessed a liquor bar it would have been im- possible for decent, quiet people to stay there, and a similar town to Calgary across the frontier, in Idaho, Montana, or Dakota, would have been one long avenue of liquor saloons and low dancing and music halls. The same class of population frequent Calgary —cowboys, farmers, idlers waiting their chance, swarm every- where—yet the town is as quiet as an English country village. The popular amusement is the Salvation Army, conducted by a captain and three comely young women, who were treated every- where with marked respect. We went to their meeting in the evening. They marched round the town in their usual fashion, passing through crowds of cowboys and similar young fellows, without encountering a jeer or a coarse word. When they entered their barracks, all the men in the place swarmed in after them, to the tune of 500 or 600, took their seats quietly, joined heartily in the choruses of the hymns, which they seemed to know by heart, and evidently enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The Salvation Army young ladies were cordially welcomed with clapping of hands. The meetings seemed to have been successful, for there were arranged in a row on the platform a dozen young fellows of the cowboy pattern, who had been converted at previous meetings, and who gave their experience in simple and sometimes very touching sentences. One of them was received by the whole audience with several rounds of warm applause, and cries of Bravo, Ted !' I was informed that Ted was the champion rowdy of Calgary, and the population were evidently much pleased that he had got religion, and was going right ahead into better ways,' as my next neighbour said to me Calgary has a fine volunteer fire brigade, and needs it, for a fire to windward in a gale would lay it in ashes in about an hour. There is no gas in the town, and the streets are pitch-dark at night, but in a week or two the electric light will change all that. It is a curious sign of the entire newness of the line of country opened up by the Canadian Pacific Railway that there are many towns in which gas never has been and never will be known, and where the first illu- minant used in the public streets has been electricity. Calgary will be a big town very soon, the centre of that great cattle, horse, and sheep trade that is rapidly taking up all the suitable land in the district. There are now about 120,000 head of cattle and 12,000 horses breeding upon the ranches, and there is every reason to believe that this number will be more than doubled during the next eight or ten years. I left Calgary with regret, for I should have liked to stay on and see more of the striking characteristics of a region that will eventually become one of the wealthiest and most prosperous provinces of the Dominion of Canada. I would like to note that every soul in Calgary is Free-trader to the back- bone, for duty, sea, and land freight, and the profits thereon, make the cost of everything sold in the stores fully double that of English stores."
Did space allow, we would gladly dwell upon Mr. Caine's description of the Canadian National Park. The Banff Valley, in the Rocky Mountains and an adjoining moun- tain district, in all some 100,000 acres in extent, has been set apart as a national park, and £16,000 has been voted in order to make roads and footpaths. A ranger has also been appointed, whose business it is to preserve the natural beauties of the park, to prevent the wild animals and fish from being destroyed, and to acclimatise trees not indigenous to the soil. The forethought of the Dominion Government cannot be too much praised. Some day their park, with its engirdling mountains 10,000 ft. to 11,000 ft. high, its clear streams and lakes, and its woodland glades and prairies, roamed over by the blue elk and the red deer, the antelope, and the great wild sheep—the chamois of the Rocky Mountains—will be one of the most beautiful and delightful places in the world. It is interesting to see that popular government can preserve the natural beauties of a
country as well as the chase-loving monarchs of the Middle Age.
Mr. Caine concludes his account of Canada with a very interesting chapter on temperance legislation in the Dominion. At the present moment, the sale of in- toxicating liquors is absolutely forbidden in the whole of the North-West Territory, including the provinces of Assineboine, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca, under an Act of the Central Government. In the rest of British North America, what is known as the Scott Act is in force, under the provisions of which any city or county may prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors within its bound- aries. A very large part of the Dominion has adopted the Scott Act, and with the result of making the consump- tion of liquor in Canada one gallon per head, compared with ten gallons in England. Mr. Caine, of course, considers this fact a sure sign of moral improvement. Those, however, who do not think with him that the mere consumption of liquor is an evil, and object not to the drinking of alcohol, but to intemperance, would have been more moved if he could have shown that those provinces which have most largely adopted the Scott Act are also the most prosperous, the least criminal, and the most advanced in civilisation. We do not, of course, mean for a moment to argue that they are not ; but we should like to see what statistics have to say in regard to the policy of the Act. Mr. Caine, however, confines himself to pointing out that the people are clearly in favour of maintaining it. We give his own words :—
" The general opinion is that wherever the Scott Act has been fairly and rigorously enforced it has been a great blessing to the community, and no demand is ever made for its repeal. That where it is badly enforced, it has at any rate destroyed the charm and attractions of the liquor saloon, and has put an end to the system of treating,' which was so common all through Canada. The sobriety of Canada, as compared with England, is shown by the amount of liquor consumed. Canada consumes one gallon of intoxicating liquor per head, compared with ten in England. I have not gone into any details concerning the working of the Act. It is enough for the purpose of this chapter to set forth the facts I have enumerated, and I think every temperance reformer in England will agree with my conclusions, which are that it is clear that the people of Canada who have adopted prohibition like it too well to part with it, and that the whole of the Canadian people, speaking through their elected representatives, have no intention of repealing the Act. The people themselves are the best judges of what is good for them in a matter so closely affecting their interests as this. The temperance party in Canada look upon the Scott Act as only a stepping-stone to prohibition. I have come to the deliberate opinion that it is only a question of time, and not a very long time either, for Canada to adopt a universal prohibitory liquor law, such as exists in Maine. Public opinion is being educated at great speed by the experiences of the Scott Act, and I find everywhere and in all sections of society an inclination towards prohibition that is very encouraging to the hopes and aspirations of Canadian temperance reformers."
We have preferred, in our notice of Mr. Caine's book, to deal chiefly with that part which relates to Canada. His account of his visits both to Japan and India is full of interest, but strikes us, owing, no doubt, to the number of books already published describing those parts of the world, as less worthy
of note. Mr. Caine ends his book by a chapter on " Social Problems in India." Though his remarks, as might be expected, are for the most part sensible and reasonable, it is evident that some of that sentimental feeling which has induced many Englishmen to support that most mischievous of shams, the Indian National Congress, has also affected him. Mr. Caine tells us, however, that his next holiday is to be spent in India, and that he shall continue to study the whole problem. Let us hope, then, that he will hear both sides of native opinion, and in particular that he will not fail to get into communi- cation with the Rajah of Bhinga, whose very remarkable pamphlet we reviewed a short time ago. No doubt it is best, as Mr. Caine says, to hear the native side in India rather than the Anglo-Indian side, which can be heard at home. Let him not forget, however, that the native side is by no means properly represented by the followers of Mr. Lalmohun Ghose or Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji.
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