340 VENEZUELA AND AFTER 



between Canada and the United States. An 

 agreement was reached with astonishing ease, 

 considering the peremptory rejection of earlier 

 proposals, and a very far-reaching reduction 

 of rates was scheduled, subject to the approval 

 of the respective legislatures. At Washington 

 this approval was readily secured; at Ottawa 

 it was opposed with vehemence, and on appeal 

 to the constituencies the government met with 

 an overwhelming defeat. Canada thus rejected 

 with something of contempt an arrangement 

 that would have brought her enormous economic 

 benefits an arrangement that she had often 

 sought with almost humble diligence from the 

 United States. 



The decisive factor in bringing about this 

 abrupt reversal of Canadian policy was the 

 spirit of nationality. Inept comments by prom 

 inent American statesmen on the situation dur 

 ing the electoral campaign were diligently inter 

 preted in Canada to mean that the ready assent 

 to reciprocity was a first deliberate step towards 

 annexation. Again, as in 1891, the Canadian 

 people declared for political independence in 

 preference to economic ease, as they conceived 

 that alternative to be placed before them. 

 Nor did it lie in the mouths of the Americans 



