2110-8-7-8

Personal

3rd July, 1937

The Rt. Honble W.L. Mackenzie King, M.P. Laurier House, Ottawa.

This is a line to greet you on your arrival home. You must have had a wonderful time in Europe, and I shall look forward enormously to hearing the story of your German visit. I am most grateful to you for your messages, and especially for taking time to visit my family at Peebles. You are the most thoughtful of friends. I cannot tell you how much I valued your kindness in sending me news of my family. I hear from everybody at home that you are looking very well, so I hope you have had something of a holiday. As for your official work, I feel that you have made a great contribution to sound Imperial policy.

I have had a busy month, for I have had a desperate amount of speaking to do. I spoke at the Canadian Medical Association in Ottawa and at the Jubliee dinner of the Engineering Institute at Montreal. The luncheon of the American-Canadian Conference at Kingston, where Owen Young and I spoke, was very interesting, and I think may be very fruitful. I was impressed by the gathering of Presbyterian ministers at Montreal, to whom I made a long harangue. On Dominion Day President Roosevelt broadcast a message to Canada, and I replied

In your absence I got Dandurand to approve what I said. I suppose

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nothing of the kind ever happened before. It was as if the King were to braodcast to the United States on Thanksgiving Day!

During my time in Quebec I have been giving a great deal of attention to the French people. I have seen the Cardinal repeatedly and have had long talks with him; and I have also seen something of duplessis. The chief event here has been the French Congress. Its purpose was wholly literary and cultural, but there was some fear that an attempt would be made by some of the extremists to turn it into a political demonstration. That attempt was made, but I think it failed. Last Tuesday, the second session, with an audience of about 5,000. I spoke in French at some length on the value of the Frech literary and linguistic tradition in Canada, not only for the French people but for the Canadian nation. Rather to my surprise I got an extraordinarily good reception.

The addresses were unexceptional, except that of the Abbe Croulx, who spoke for one hour and twenty minutes, and kept us sitting there until, half an hour after midnight: I am very glad to have heard him, for he is said to be the intellectual influence behind the extreme French nationalists. Now I know that it is an influence which we need not trouble our heads about. His speech was simply a string of rhetorical perorations - well received, of course, for he had a big claque of his followers in the audience. I thought there was very little harm in the stuff he spoke, for it was so viewy and fantastic that the cardinal was furious, and I

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think the audience was much more bored than impressed. The next night at the dinner Duplessis made a very courageous speech against any suggestion of separatism. I think the affair has done a lot of good, because it has brought the extremists into the open and exposed the nakedness of the soil.

Altogether I feel that things are going much better here. There is a real core of sanity among the French people, and the antics of Mr. Hepburn in Ontario seem to have produced a wholesome reaction. Angus Macdonald won a magnificent victory in Nova Scotia, which I think we may take as a good omen. I long to have a talk with you about the future, and the chances of revising the Constitution.

I always feel some regret in leaving Quebec, for the French are curiously ebullient, and I think they like having us here. I feel that I have got closer to them on this visit than ever before.

This afternoon we leave for the West. I am spending a day at Kenora and a day at Winnipeg, and then we go to the Calgary Stampede. After that I am making two short tours in Alberta in the Drumheller mining district and in the Red Deer area. The crop prospects in the Prairies, on the whole, are much better than last year, but I am afraid Southern Saskatechewan is in as bad a state as ever. I see no hope there except to let a good deal of the land go back to ranch.

About July 20th I leave for the north with the Redferns, while Susie and Alastair go down to stay with the Hambers at Victoria.

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We have three weeks journey in the Hudson's Bay boat to Quebec, and then I hope to fly to Herschel Island to meet the Eskimos from the north. We then propose to fly back by way of the northern mines, and to join Susie at Edmonton about August 12th. During all my Arctic trip I shall be in touch, by wireless, with the outer world.

When I rejoin Susie we go to Burns Lake on the Prince Rupert line, and then make a twelve-days' tour through the Tweedsmuir Reserve to Bella Coola. If the weather is good it should be most interesting. I pay a visit to Fort William and Fort Arthur on my return, and I hope to be back in Ottawa by September 6th. The Titchfields and coming to stay with us then, and after them the Walter Elliots.

I feel that this journey of mine to the north may be valuable, for I am more and more impressed with the importance of the north in Canadian development. Incidentally it makes a link with all Canada, for the north is a common interest.

My health is enormously better than last year, and I hope it will further improve during my tour, for travel in the wilds has always suited me.

My Augustus (remember it is dedicated to you.) will probably be out in November. It is no small job correcting proofs when one is far away from books.

I hope you will have a quiet and restful time at Kingsmere when you return. We all send our love.