constructive attempts. One is safe,
to be sure, and sane; and the other is distinctively rash and
dangerous; but of rashness and danger is valor made. "I know thy
works," said the Voice to the Laodiceans, "that thou art neither hot
nor cold: I would thou wert hot or cold . . . because thou art
lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

And the Voice is the verdict of destiny to every nation that has taken
its place at the world's council board.

CHAPTER XVI

DEFENSE

Having spent a hundred years working out a system of government almost
perfect in its democracy, and having spent fifty more years working out
a system of trade and transportation that gives Canada sixth rank in
the gross foreign trade of the world nations--one would think the
Dominion entitled to lie back resting on her laurels reaping the reward
that is undoubtedly hers.

But nations can no more rest in their development than men. To stop
means to go back. To rest means to rust, and Canada to-day must face
one of the most serious problems in her national history. What is
worth having is worth holding, and what is worth holding must always be
defended. The strong man does not go out challenging a fight. The
very fact that he is strong prevents other men challenging him to a
fight, and Canada must face the need of national defense.

So remote did the need of national defense seem to Canada that as late
as May of 1913 the Senate rejected Premier Borden's plan for Canada to
contribute her quota in cost to the British navy. The Laurier
government had proposed building a small navy for the Dominion. This
was hooted by the French Nationalists, and when the Borden government
came into power, the policy was modified from building a small navy to
bearing a quota of the cost of a navy built and equipped by Imperial
power. In the rejection of this policy, the composition of the Senate
and Commons should be observed. The Commons were Conservative, or
supporters of Premier Borden, and the Government Navy Bill passed the
Commons by one hundred and one to sixty-eight. The Nationalists voted
with the opposition or the Liberals. The Nationalists are the small
French party pledged against Canada's intervention in European affairs.
Laurier having been in power for almost two decades, the Senate was, of
course, tinged with the Liberal policy. They could not completely
reject a naval policy without repudiating Laurier's