He was past hints of that kind.
"And that," he went on to say, "is, on the surface, a very satisfactory state of things.

No doubt a bargain between the Americans and ourselves could be devised which would be a very good bargain on both sides.

In the absence of certain pressing family affairs, it might be as well worth our consideration as we used to think it before we were invited to the family council.

But if anyone imagines that any degree of reciprocity with the United States could be entered upon without killing the idea of British preference trade for all time, let him consider what Canada's attitude toward that idea would be today if the Americans had consented to our proposals twenty-five years ago, and we were invited to make an imperial sacrifice of the American trade that had prospered, as it would have prospered, for a quarter of a century! I doubt whether the proposition would even be made to us...
"But the alternative before Canada is not a mere choice of markets; we are confronted with a much graver issue.

In this matter of dealing with our neighbour our very existence is involved.