s best interest, he will rank high among
the makers of the Empire.

Fortunately the visit of the Prince of Wales came at a time when the
Dominion badly needed royal encouragement. Arriving in the late summer
of 1919, he was enthusiastically received. As the Quebec Bridge had
just been completed he formally opened it for traffic, and later on, as
a good Mason, laid the foundation stone of the tower of the new
Parliament Buildings at Ottawa. Becoming enamoured with the
possibilities of the two new provinces in the Northwest, he purchased a
ranch of 1,600 acres in Alberta, under the foothills of the Rocky
Mountains, proceeded to stock it with horses and cattle of the best
English pedigree, and engaged a number of ex-Service men to manage the
property. If there had been any doubt in the minds of the western
settlers about His Royal {473} Highness, this removed it. To-day east
and west vie in acclaiming the present Heir-Apparent to the British
throne with an affection as genuine as it is evident.

When the Dominion Government, owing to the exigencies of war, began to
impose restriction on the manufacture, importation and sale of
intoxicating liquors in Canada, the old question of Prohibition came to
the fore again. It was remembered that a plebiscite in favour of it
had been carried on September 29, 1898, but never taken advantage of by
the Federal authorities; Temperance organizations throughout the
country took it up, and in order to meet the popular clamour the
various provincial Assemblies passed some form of legislation which
resulted in the country going "dry." Quebec, however, has only agreed
to an amendment of the Canada Temperance Act by which the Dominion
Government can prohibit the importation of intoxicants, but cannot
prevent the province from making and selling under Government control
such wine, spirits or beer as the people may desire. British Columbia
afterwards voted for Government control in October, 1920.

In July, 1920, after nine years of power laden with some of the
heaviest responsibilities ever imposed upon a Canadian statesman, Sir
Robert Borden was compelled to resign the premiership through ill
health. His efforts for the autonomy of the Dominion, consistent with
Empire unity, culminating in her inclusion as a separate and equal
nation at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919, and the right to appoint
her own Minister at Washington {474} will make for him a prominent
place in the history