Any man sincerely desirous to form for himself an enlightened opinion on the question of Imperial defence, must first admit that two national and general situations, totally different, create widely different duties. Let us compare for a moment, 1865 and 1900-14--_yesterday and to-day_--as the "Nationalist" leader says. Fifty years ago, the German Empire was non-existent. Nothing pointed to the early birth of this terrible child destined to grow so rapidly to such colossal proportions. The French Empire was the leading continental Power; Great Britain, then as now, the leading naval Power, both military and mercantile. Those two nations, without a formal alliance, had been united ever since the days when Lord Palmerston favoured the advent of Napoleon III. The Union of England and France was doing much to maintain the peace of the world. The United States were just emerging from the trials of their great Civil War. They had to solve the very difficult problem of their national reconstruction. Their population did not exceed thirty-five millions. How different was the situation of 1900-14! The German Empire had become formidable with her population of 68,000,000, her soldiers numbering more than 7,000,000, with 1,000,000 of men permanently under arms, ever ready for an offensive campaign, with her fleet much enlarged yearly at the cost of enormous financial sacrifices; allied to Austria-Hungary, with her population of 50,000,000, to Italy, with her 36,000,000--then being one of the Triple Alliance--supported by Turkey and Bulgaria,--in all a combined strength of 150,000,000 bodies and souls; with the Germans exalted to the utmost by persistent appeals to their feelings and to their ambitious dreams. The American Republic grown to the rank of a first class Power, with a population of 100,000,000 and a magnificent military fleet. Was it even sensible to pretend that such altered worldly conditions did not make the revision of the understanding arrived at in 1865 an imperious necessity. They are living in an imaginary world those of us who assert that Canada could remain a British Colony under a permanent agreement--never to be amended--by which the Mother Country would be bound to defend her, at all costs and all hazards, whenever and by whomsoever attacked, Canada in the meantime refusing, whatever the perils of England might be, to spend a dollar and to send one man for her defence. There could be but one issue to the consideration of such propositions: the dissolution of the British Empire. I regret to say that Mr. Bourassa has audaciously declared that such has been the objective of his oppositionist campaign to the Canadian participation in Imperial wars.