Lögberg - 21.08.1930, Blaðsíða 2

Lögberg - 21.08.1930, Blaðsíða 2
BIs. 2 LÖGBEKG, FIMTUDAGINN 21. ÁGÚST 1930. CANADA Address delivered by J. T. Thor- son, K.C., J.D., at Hnausa, Man., August 4, 1930. marches ahead of law. He as-^whether appeals should lie to Verdun and the immortal words, serts, and with him I a!gree, that the Privy Council. We have settledl “they s'hall not pass”, and kept there| ernment means in Canada exactly 1 what it means in Great Britain, Canada is a nation. Prior to Confederation were several British Colonies in British North America, each with'that in the last resort responsibil- a measure of self-government;'ity for political policies and con- each having its own separate duct shall be to the electors them- economic and political entity. Their attitude of mind was pro- vincial and colonial and any idea selves. In the enjoyment of con- stitutional ri'ghts Canada has equality with Great Britain, and Ladies and gentlemen.—It gives rne very great pleasure to be here this afternoon and to meet so many friends whom I have not met sion it would be a pleasant task of distinct nationality was indeed now the, Impenal Conference has to speak in honor of Iceland, that’ remot€- Yet there were men in, duefined that ,eq"ahtJ U8 small island in the arctic seas,|those day« who could see visions, that was gradually being recog- regarding which we have heard’ of the future' Macdoanld, Cartier,, so much in recent years. The 'f'uPPer an(f McGee nation that lives in that island is small in point of size but great in the wealth of its traditions. It has just celebrated the thous- andth anniversary of the estab- lishment of its parliament, a ! nized by practice. Great Britain to mention'has impliedly agreed not to exer- only a few of the Fathers of Con-]cise the rights of sovereignty federation, were statesmen. They(which she legally possesses ex- had the image of a united Canada^ cept with the concurrence or upon before them and they were not the request of Canada. The door afraid to hope for the future. is open for an increase of Cana- Their dreams of yesterday are be-úian autonomy. Canada has only thousand years of love of liberty comin* realities* of They!to m*ke the request and the re- which was the cause of its forma- sowed the seed of Canadian qU&St WlH h° granted; °Ver * tion and has been its sustaining nationality. ' year ago I had the pleasure of force throughout the centuries That seed has *rown with mar-^eanng a great Canadian orator, that have gone by. When Harold velous raPidity for if fel1 on fer-. SÍr Ge°rge F°Ster’ SPeak the Fairhair won the battle of tile soih Time does not Permit SUbjeCt °f <*“?a- ®e °Utllned Hafursfjord, he defeated the last me to more than merely outline mUch m°re ablyuthan 1 could hoPe of the Norse chieftains who had the sta*es of that »rowth' UP°n,to do some of the stages.of devel; refused to submit voluntarily to the granting of responsible govern-l opment that I have mentioned and his efforts to unite Norway under ment there was a oomPleto chanSe, he made one stntement that; 1 his rule. That meant the begin- in the attitude of Creat Britain to,should llke to tonday: No ning of the colonization of Ice- Canada; government from Down- nation m the world of the size of land and those who loved liberty in* Street is a thin* of the Pnst-!Canad^ can Point to as *reat an above all else determined that Confederation conferred upon us achievement as Canada has ac- they would set up a new nation in a lar«e mensure of self govern-^ complished m the short space of this far-off island, of which they ment’ the checks on federal legis-, half / ,century- . The Pulse of had had news, rather than submit lation have been rarely exercisedj Canada is quickenmg; natioha to the rule of Harold. The home and there has been a comPlete «- consciousness is becom.ng a real for all time that responsible gov-| the German troops out of Paris; the spirit that held the Canadians fast in that hell of poison 'gas at* the battle of Ypres and saved the' civilization of the world. Is the spirit that enables men to do these things, that keeps a nation intact, steadfast and strohg, lightly to be cast aside as a thing of little value? Yet t'here are many in 1 his land of ours who would stifle cur further growth towards na- tionhood. We have accomplished much in the past and we have done so in1 the face of great difficultiesj I greater than those that most nations have enqountered. Yetj our pathway is still beset with many obstacles, economic as welll as racial. How shall we overcome these obstacles? How' shall we( solve the problems that confront us? . which they established in the far cognition of our autonomy in the^ factor in the public life of Can- off island which we now call Ice- sPheres of jurisdiction respective- ada. Our growth towards nation- land, attracted many others and ^ nssiKned to the provincial legis- the Icelandic nation was born. latures and the federal Pnrlinment- It lived through its golden age of We have been encouraKed to solve saga and romance. It left its our own Problems in our own waY imprint upon the literature of the and our Politlcal independence in world. It lived through the dark seif-&°vernment has developed the forbidding centures of the middle Pride that comes from eeif-respect. ages harrassed by famine, pague, Economic progress has also played volcanic eruption and the lavages its Part in our national «rowth- of foreign pirates, but it l.as sur- We are heSinninS to feel that in vived its period of depression and this Canada of ours we have a emerges again in this century herita^e of value> that our eountry with its free institutions of Iiberty.jis not a barren waste of ice and Our forefathers created a great snow> nation from the point of view of Promise- its character and we, their descen-1 W68^1"11 dents, are doing our part in the'as worthless> the exploitation of creating of a new nation in this our mines and forests and the de’ new land. That is our task, and vel°Pment of our water Power but a land of wealth and The cultivation of our prairies, once regarded it is of the Canadian nation that I wish to speak to-day. If we can do as well in the task of nation builþing in Canada as our fore- fathers did in the small island in the arctic seas, we shall have been worthy of them and shall have done well. In budlding a new nation in Canada, we are charged with a great responsibility. In discharging that responsibility we have two functions to perform. As architects we must draw the plans for a noble edifice and as 1 have made us feel that we are not paupers but can take our place with the other nations of the world and stand solidly upon our own feet. We face the future v>ith cptimism and confidence. Prior | to the war another factor contri- I buted to our national develop- ment. I refer to our participation in the Imperial Conferences. The Dominions were called into the Councils of the Empire as part- ners on terms of equality. At these I conferences Canadian premiers builders we must carry out thesel from Sir Wilfrid Laurier onward> ! regardless of their political affili- I ations, have constantly maintain- I ed an independent attutude and plans so that the building may endure. Moreover, we must use the materials that we have on hand. stoutly insisted upon the right of the Canadian Parliament to deter- mine for Canada what the course shall be, and British statesmen have freely recognized origins,1 the justice of the position that courageous and aggressive, and we have tremendous natural re- sources, fertile fields and vast What materials are there in Canada with which to build a na-! of Qana(ja tion? We have sound men and women of various racial hood has been steady and rapid. Should this growth cease? These are questions which I leave with you for your consideration. You may well ask—why should we concern ourselves with the de- velopment of a national conscious- ness in Canada? If we have self- government and material pros- perity, what more do we want? What is the value of national consciousness, a sense of nation ality distinctly Canadian? May I turn to the lessons of history? But before doing so perhaps I should endeavor to explain what I mean by the term. I am not using it in its original sense, for that implies community of racial origin and that we do not possess. Nor am I using it in a purely legal sense implying solely community of allegiance, for that we possess in common with India and the Gold Coast. I use the term in a special sense. I mean that spirit that holds the inhabitants of a country together, places that country in which they live first in their af- fections, carries them through ad- versity to success, makes them a united force ready to defend their Just as people came to Iceland in the days of its colonization from many lands, from the rocky. fjords of Norway, from the misty Western islands, from the north- western shores of Scotland and the east coast of Ireland after the defeat of Olaf the White, and all played their part in the formation of the Icelandic nation, borne in love of liberty, so we in Canada are forming a new nation out of many elements coming to us from different lands with differing in-' stitutions and varying traditions,' but all desirous of taking advan- tage of the opportunities and pri- vileges presented by this new land. How are we to weld these people together into a Cenadian nation? Those who came from other lands to this new land pur- posely severed the ties that bound them to their old land. They pulled their roots from the soil of their native lands and planted them in Canada. They came here in order that their sons and daughters might enjoyi opportuni- ties in this new land that had been denied. to them in the old. Each group of newcomers will have its contribution to make to this new Canadian nation and we in Canada will have to accept the contribution whéther it be good or bad, for the groups of new- comers are here and will leave their impress upon this land and upon us who live here, but surely we can determine the qaulity of the contribution that each group will make by our attitude towards the newcomers. Let us keep con- stantly before us the plans that we have drawn for our new nation. The plans are those of a great democracy and true democracy is tic seas. To us of Icelandic origin this statue has a special signific- ance for it symbolizes the recovery of the nation of our forefathers and their acqusition again of free institutions of government, but perhaps the statue has a wider significance, and I like to think of it in that light. It symbolizes the presence in our midst of the des- cendents of the foreign born who came to Canada that their sons and daughters might enjoy the freedom and the opportunities of this great new land. In the centre Queen Victoria sits on her throne of bronze, a constant reminder of our unbreakable Anglo-Saxon ties. And near Osborne Street there is a monument to our fallen soldiers, erected by their next of kin. Upon that monument are engraved the names of Canadian heroes of French, British and non-British origin. United they fought in war against a common foe and gallantly they gave their lives for Canada and for Liberty. Equal they lie in the fields of France and Flanders, equal in the Fraternity of Death. What contribution can we make to this new Canadian nation of which I speak? ■ Our Fathers came very rich in the traditions of the Old Land and possessed of thé characteristics that sustained its people throughout the centuries, love of liberty and love of country, strong in body and in mind asser- tive of their rights and proud of their traditions. If we can bring as part of our contribution to this new land the qualities that made our forefathers great, — courage, fortitude and tenacity — then, we shall have made a contribution to this new Iand worthy of the stock from which we came, a contribu- tion which this country should be proud to receive. This nat.ibn has wealth, which the nation of our forefathers has not. This nation will be large in numbers and that of our forafathers will always be small, but if we in this new land make a nation as great in character as the nation of the Old Land, we shall have completed the building according to our plans and the 'Canadian nation will truly be a great one amongst the nations of the world. John Masefield lárviðarskáld Breta. Englendingar hafa lengi haft ■þann sið, að eitt af skáldum þeirra hefir opinberlega verið skipað “lárviðarskáld” og hefir notið launa úr ríkissjóði. Þetta skáld hefir ort kvæði við ýms meiriháttar opinber tækifæri, en annars verið frjáls verka sinna og hefir það þótt heiður að vera skipaður lárviðarskáld. En oft hafa staðið deilur um skipunina, en það er forsætisi’áðherra, sem ræður henni. Á síðari árum hafa sumir vilja láta afnema þetta embætti og bent á, að oft hafi verið gengið fram hjá beztu mðnn- unum. Nú er nýlega útnefnt nýtt lár- viðarskáld (eftir Bridges)i og hefir John Masefield orðið fyrir valinu. Hann er fæddur 1875 í Liverpool, var um skeið sjómaður í æsku og vann lengi fyrir sér með ýmsri erfiðisvinnu í Ameríku og svalt þá stundum. Hann hef- ir ort kvæði, leikrit og sögur. Með- al kvæðasafna hans má helzt nefna Saltwater Ballads (1902), Reynald the Fox (1919) ágæta ljóðsögu, og af sögum hans má helzt nefna Multitude and Soli- tude. Masefield er lítið sem ekk- ert kunnur hér á landi, en er merkur höfundur, frískur, hisp- urslaus og oft áhrifamikill. — FRÁ ÍSLANDI. Undanfarna daga hefir mikil síld veiðst fyrir Norðurlandi og Austfirðingáf halfa einníig veitt talsvert fyrir Austurlandi. Búið er að salta 36 þús. tn. á Siglufirði og af því eru 11 þús. tn. sendar út. Síldarbræðslustöð ríkisins hefir starfað síðastliðna viku, en ekki getað gengið með fullum krafti, því ólag hefir verið á vélunum. Krossanesverksmiðjan byrjaði að bræða síld um miðja vikuna; er síldarverðið 6 kr. málið. Einkasal- an hefir samið um sölu á 15 þus. tn. af saltaðri síld til Rússlands, en um verð er ekki kunnugt. — Mgbl. 27. júlí. country and give their lives if founded upon the eternal principles | our leaders have so uniformly adopted. During the war the , kernel of Canadian nationality forests, rich mines and waters ripened stiJ1 further_ No nation teeming with fish; our industries| in the world played . are expanding; we have devised heroic part than Canada and built great systems of trans- portation and distribution. Of all these assets we are justly proud, but they alone cannot make a more in that terrible drama that began m 1914. Canada emerged from that war with a new status in the eyes of the world. She signed the 8 nation’ B”cks alone d0 not Peace Treaty recognized by Great be Britain and the powers of the world as a nation. Canada has make a building; they must truly laid upon a firm foundation and they must be securely bound together. So also with a nation. Upon what foundation shall we build in Canada? How shall we bind together the materials for nation building that we so plenti- fully possess? These are the questions which I wish to dis- cuss with you to-day. It has been said that the in- habitants of a country are a na- tion when they believe themselves to be a nation. Have we, as yet, developed any such consciousness af nationality ? There are two distinct schools of thought as to taken her seat in the Councils of the League of Nations and proudly holds her place in the ranks of those nations who are undertak- ing the arduous march towards the goal of world peace. Since the war still further progress has been made. We are thinking more in terms of Canada than ever be- fore. ‘The Canadian clubs have taken a new lease of life. On every hand we see such organizations as the Native Sons of Canada springing into life. Groups of thinking men are being formed from coast to coast for the pur- the nationality of Canada. There pose of studying Canadian prob- is that of the narrow legalist who lems and promoting good will and denies that Canada is a nation^ mutual understanding. Canada and points to legal argument now negotiates her own treaties and the language of statutes in with other nations. There is a proof of his contention. On the' growing demand that Canada other 'hand there is the constitu- should have the right of deter- tionalist who realizes that consti- mining whether her judicial sys- need be in order that its honour may be preserved and that it may continue free and prosperous. It is the same spirit that held the people of Iceland in the land which they regarded as home. One of the most stirring incidents in the history of Icelnnd took place during the 18th century The population of the island had dwindled to only a little over 30,000 people as a result of the hardships thiey had undergone through famine, plague and vol- canic eruptions, and it was pro posed at a meeting of the Althing that Iceland should be abandoned and that the inhabitants should settle themselves on the plains of Jutland where life promised to be kinder and easier than in the dismal land that was theirs. The motion failed. The great Ice- landic characteristic of tenacity asserted itself and the view was held that their fathers had chosen this land as home and home it would remain whatever the con- sequences might be. It was the spirit of Icelandic nationality that sustained the inhabitants of Iceland in those dark days to re- main in that poverty stricken land because it was home to them. It is the same spirit that moved Leonidas and his noble band of Spartans to lay down their lives at Thermopylae that the Persian hordes might not overrun Greece; the spirit that moved Drake with his tiny Ejnglish fleet to attacki the Invincible Armada, drive it from the seas and so save England from the maw of Spain; the spirit that held the British squares in- tact at Waterloo and saved Europe from Napoleon; the spirit that tutional progress and development tem should be self-contained or, inspired the Frencíh defence of of liberty, equality and fraternity. These are to constitute the founda- tion upon which we shall build the Canadian Nation. Liberty of self development. Equality of íeligious thought and opinion, Equality of rights before the law and the Fraternity that unites them all shall be a common .love of Canada. It is upon such prin- ciples as these that all great na- tions must be built if they are to endure. These are the principles that sustained the old nation from which we came, and they must be the principles to sustain the nation which we are helping to create. In front of the Parliament Build- ings at Winnipeg there is a pic- ture of Canada consisting of four statues, representing, as I like to think, the constituent elements of our new nation. Upon the statue nearest Kennedy Street there is this inscription: “May the new province of Manitoba al- ways speak to the inhabitants of the north west the language of reason, truth and justice.” What a noble sentence! Manitoba has not always spoken that language, but Manitoba and each section of Canada must speak that language to every other section if Canada is to be the great nation that we plan it to be. Those words were spoken by Cartier, a French Can- adian Father of Confederation on the occasion of the formation of Manitoa in 1870. It is his statue that stands near Kennedy Street, the statue af a French Cánadian. Next we come to a statue presented by the Kingdom of Icelanud to the Province of Manitoba. It is that of Jon Sigurdson, an Icelandic patriot, who battled for political freedom in the island of the arc- K0MIÐ í VEG FYRIR GERAUÐN SKÓGA Þér getið komið í veg fyrir skógarelda Skógarnir í Can- ada auka árlega fimm hundruð mil- jónum dollara við þjóðar auðinn. Þeir eru í stór hættu vegna skógareld- anna, sem beinlínis eða óbeinlínis er þröskuldur á vegi hvers einasta borg- ara þegar um fram- farir þjóðarinnar er að rœða. Hver einasti Can- ada-maður œtti að fara varl ega með eld í skógunum. V erndið SKOGANA Miljónir eiga framtíð sína undir þeim FOREST SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

x

Lögberg

Beinir tenglar

Ef þú vilt tengja á þennan titil, vinsamlegast notaðu þessa tengla:

Tengja á þennan titil: Lögberg
https://timarit.is/publication/132

Tengja á þetta tölublað:

Tengja á þessa síðu:

Tengja á þessa grein:

Vinsamlegast ekki tengja beint á myndir eða PDF skjöl á Tímarit.is þar sem slíkar slóðir geta breyst án fyrirvara. Notið slóðirnar hér fyrir ofan til að tengja á vefinn.