CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES. 359

counteracting the effects of geographical proximity.
It, therefore, seems probable that nothing but an
absolutely prohibitory tariff against the United
States will enable Britain to compete with them
in certain lines. And it cannot be too strongly
emphasised that any attempt to induce Canada to
adopt sucha policy would be a course fraught with
danger, A deliberate attempt such as this to
debar Canada from buying in the best and most
advantageous market would inevitably result in
pecuniary loss for which the sufferers would have
every reason for attacking those Imperial claims
which caused it. In a desperate attempt to better
our trade with Canada by a few millions we may
lose the colony of which we are so proud.
It may perhaps be asked how it is, with such
close ties uniting these two nations of the North
American continent, that they have never fused or
shown serious signs of doing so. The answer must
be that it is the attitude of the United States that
has prevented it. Not since the days of the Civil
War has the latter shown any consideration to
Canada or made serious attempts to win her friendship.
 In the days previous to the war there
existed a reciprocity treaty between Canada and
the States, which was to Canada a successor to
the preferential treaties that existed between the
colonies and Great Britain before the establishment
 of Free Trade. But Canadian sympathy
for the Confederates during the Civil War caused
fierce feeling and resulted in the rupture of the