Back of all that material and visible result is the astonishing story of the thought and action of strong men which is difficult to put down on paper. There have been master minds as well as courageous hearts and willing hands at work during all these years, thinking, planning and executing daring things for the expansion and extension of this vast enterprise. It has been my privilege to know many of these men in almost all branches of the service. My judgment is that, on the whole, these men were singularly free from any desire for personal gain. They had the far mightier stimulus of being engaged in a world business for the development of hitherto unrealized natural resources in many lands, and, subconsciously perhaps, they felt that the main object of their endeavours was the ultimate advantage of all mankind. In that frame of mind giants toiled in the early days, and there is no reason to think that their type is not reproduced in the men of to-day. CHAPTER XVI War Service The Canadian Pacific Railway was and is a triumph of constructive endeavour in the days of peace. We have spoken of the army of men at work, from the turning of the first sod, all through the grading, the tracklaying and the operation of the road, as a peaceful mobile army which moved with tireless tread in the march of civilization. It was the business of these men to build and not to destroy, to gather together and not to scatter abroad, to conserve and not to dissipate the natural assets of Canada. In doing this work the Railway would be performing a great task in relation to the stability of human society and would send coursing through the arteries of commerce that national and international trade which has so much to do with the calm health of the world. But, alas! there are times when the peace of the earth is rudely interrupted by some megalomaniac who kicks the anthill of the world’s population and sends the inhabitants into wild confusion. In such times it becomes necessary to resist and subdue the disturber, if need be, by force. Pacifism is a high ideal if all would seek to work it out together; but, changing to another figure of speech, we all know that it is useless to reason with a mad dog running amuck on the world’s thoroughfare. Hence there are occasions, unhappily, when the peaceful have not only to stand on the defensive but to carry war into the enemy’s country, so as to compel the inciter to war to remember that other people have a right to life and liberty and happiness on this round globe. On such occasions the machinery of traffic has to be temporarily diverted, in some degree, from its accustomed employment and swung into the conflict for ultimate peace.