Robert Laird Borden's Political Career

Sir Robert Laird Borden (65438+June 26th, 0854-65438+June 60th, 0937) was the eighth Canadian Prime Minister. 1911On September 25th, Robert Laird Borden, as the leader of the Conservative Party who won the general election, ascended the throne of the Canadian Federal Prime Minister. This descendant of Scottish immigrants from Nova Scotia taught in a middle school in Nova Scotia in his early years. 1878 entered the bar, 1896 was elected as a member of the national assembly. After serving as the leader of the Conservative Party 19 1 1 year, he tried to implement some reform policies to restore the vitality of the Party, but the results were minimal. In the general election of 19 1 1, he joined forces with various factions and successfully organized an anti-Wilfrid Laurier front, thus ending the rule of the Liberal Party 15 years.

However, after the new government took office, it faced a difficult situation that was difficult to adjust. Quebec nationalists who supported Boden in the general election are two completely different political forces from those in other regions. The former is deeply afraid of assuming obligations in Great Britain and hates laurier's naval service law; The latter is worried about control from the United States and uneasy about reciprocal trade agreements with this tendency. Some sensitive issues that once destroyed Lauriere have now become a test of the conservative regime. Boden lacks laurier's agility and sophistication, but he has firm belief and tenacious will. Like laurier, Boden took a compromise and a middle course. This can be seen from the composition of Boden's new government.

Thomas white from Toronto Financial Group was appointed as Finance Minister. White is one of the "Eighteen Rebels" of the Toronto Liberal Party, which parted ways with laurier, and is closely related to the Mackenzie-Mann consortium. Arthur Mien has a similar background and served as deputy attorney general.

In addition to Boden, the Conservative Party has four representatives in the Cabinet. Robert Rogers from Manitoba is the Minister of the Interior; George e foster is the minister of trade and commerce; Sam Hughes served as Minister of Militia; Dr reed is the minister of customs.

Boden also cautiously invited representatives from Quebec to join the cabinet. Henry Brasa personally dismissed this, but said that if Boden agreed to hold a referendum on the naval issue, relax the immigration policy and appease the ethnic minorities in the west, he could recommend F·D· Mon and other Quebec people to the cabinet. These conditions are not a problem for Borden. In this way, several Quebec nationalists joined the new government, including Meng, Minister of Public Works, Bruno Nantier, Minister of Internal Taxation, C·J· Dougherty, Minister of Justice, and George Polly, Minister without portfolio.

The Conservative Party holds a majority in the House of Representatives, but the Senate has a group of senators appointed by the Liberal Party for life, which indicates that Boden will not have a smooth road to implementing the new policy. In internal affairs, Boden basically followed the path taken by laurier. National policy is naturally the cornerstone of government administration. Boden has neither promised nor planned to make any great achievements. The failure of reciprocal trade agreement solved the tariff problem that businessmen were worried about; The continuous increase of immigrants ensured the smooth progress of western colonization; The railway development plan is still in full swing.

However, due to the development law of capitalism itself and the influence of the international environment, the economic situation of Canada's Conservative government after taking office is not as happy as originally envisaged. Lauriere's prosperity showed signs of fading in 19 13. The decrease of wheat price leads to the decrease of farmers' income; The reduction of foreign investment has slowed down the speed of economic construction; Western colonization is coming to an end, and the elastic factors in Canadian structure are disappearing. However, the Boden government is helpless in solving domestic economic problems. The innate nationalist enthusiasm of the new government naturally involved Canada in the whirlpool of international disputes.

When the Boden government came to power, the international situation became increasingly tense. In Europe, the rapid rise of Germany poses a serious threat to British maritime hegemony. Germany has surpassed Britain in both warship production capacity and naval development speed. Prompted the British government to make up its mind to resort to World War I. ..

Once Britain is involved in the world war, Canada, as an important member of the British Empire, will find it difficult to live a clean life. Boden hopes that Canada can play an active role in the empire, not only participating in the war, but also having a say in the foreign policy of the same country. In the debate on the naval bill in 19 10, Boden put forward: "I firmly believe that the national defense commission composed of the British two parties and the imperial self-government should control the imperial national defense organizationally. ..... If we participate in the lasting defense of the empire, we must have some control and say over these things. " Therefore, the centralized British Empire should be transformed into a cooperative Commonwealth in the future. In order to achieve this goal, Boden faced a double dilemma: persuading the British authorities to let Canada share the rights, and at the same time let Canadians understand the necessity of undertaking imperial obligations. 19 12 In the summer, Boden went to England by boat. Through talks with British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and Secretary of the Navy Winston Churchill, Boden realized that Canada must take action to prepare for an imminent war. After returning to China, Boden submitted a naval aid bill to Parliament in June 19 12+ 10/4, suggesting that Parliament provide an emergency appropriation of 35 million Canadian dollars to build and equip three battleships in Britain.

Boden's proposal met with considerable resistance in the cabinet and parliament. F.D. Monk explicitly opposed the idea of joint action in imperial defense and offered to resign. Meng's attitude represents the position of French Canadians such as Brasa. Brass insisted on canceling the Boden naval plan. He skillfully quoted Sir Edward Grey's statement1912,65438+on June 29th, asking other countries not to interfere in the adventures of the Empire and opposing Canadian intervention in the affairs of the British Empire. He concluded: "If our politicians ignore the British people and waste their time on efforts to replace British state activists and save the British fleet and the motherland, they will suddenly wake up from the dream of imperialism and face the serious problems caused by neglecting to defend Canada's economic security and national unity." In addition to strong resistance from Quebec, Boden's plan was also restricted by the opposition Liberal Party. Laurier stressed in Quebec that if Britain is really in danger, he and other French Canadians will lend a helping hand in various ways, but he is opposed to contributing anything to any "imaginary crisis".

191212 In February, Boden's naval plan was passed in the House of Representatives, but it was rejected by the Senate with the majority of the Liberal Party on the grounds that it was not recognized by the Canadian people. The two parties formed a mutual restraint on the issue of imperial defense. By the time Britain declared war on Germany on August 4th, 19 14, Boden's grand blueprint had not made any progress. He failed to persuade the Canadian people to undertake imperial obligations, nor did he win the right to speak in imperial diplomacy for Canada.