of
earlier days. Her international horizon, too, had widened; the United
States was no longer the sole foreign power with which she had to deal,
though still the most important. Yet this friendlier feeling did not
lead to a general desire for freer trade relations. Quite the
contrary; confident in her own newly realized resources and in the
possibility of finding markets elsewhere, dominated by protectionist
sentiment and by the growing cities, Canada became on the whole
indifferent to what had once appeared an essential goal. In Sir
Wilfrid Laurier's phrase, the pilgrimages from Ottawa to Washington had
ceased: {258} the pilgrimages must come, if at all, from Washington to
Ottawa.

Washington did come to Ottawa. Notable was the visit of Secretary Root
in 1907, to discuss outstanding issues. Notable too, in another
direction, was the increased interest of the British ambassador at
Washington in Canadian affairs. This was particularly true of Mr
Bryce, who made it a point to visit Ottawa every year of his term, and
declared that he was really more the Canadian than the British
ambassador. His skilful diplomacy and his intimate knowledge of
American politics served Canada in good stead, and quieted the demand
which had frequently been voiced for a separate Canadian representative
at Washington.

Among the fruits of the new friendliness and the more direct diplomatic
discussion was the settlement of two long-standing fishery disputes.
The much discussed Convention of 1818, in respect to the Atlantic
fisheries, was referred to the Hague Tribunal in 1910, where it was
finally set at rest. The controversy as to fur-sealing on the Pacific
was settled by international agreement in 1911. Less success was met
in dealing with the fisheries of the Great Lakes. A comprehensive
treaty {259} for the protection and development of these fisheries,
drawn up in 1908, was not ratified because of the opposition of some
private interests in the United States.

The most significant achievement of these years, however, was a broad
provision for the settlement of all disputes as to boundary waters.
The pressure for the use of boundary rivers for the development of
power, with all the difficult questions arising as to division of the
power or obstruction to navigation, made necessary such a provision.
In accordance with a suggestion from the United States a temporary
Waterways Commission was set up (1905); and in 1910 a treaty was