The Militia foundation of the new organization is the Militia Act of 1904, and as this constitutes the legal authority by virtue of which the land forces of Canada exist, it may be noticed at some length. During the Great War it has been modified in some re spects, partly by statutes and partly by regula tions enacted under the authority of the War Measure Act. The command in chief is vested in His Majesty the King, with the gov ernor-general as his representative. The ad ministration of the force is entrusted to the Minister of Militia and Defense; he is a mem ber of the Dominion Cabinet, he must be a member of Parliament and he can be held to account by that body. In the summer of 1916 a parliamentary was appointed to assist the Minister in administering the de partment; early in 1918 this office was discon tinued. Following recent British example, the Minister is assisted by a militia council, com posed of four military and two civil members. The military members are the chief of the gen eral staff, the adjutant-general, the quarter master-general and the master-general of the ordnance. The civil members are the deputy minister and the paymaster-general. Each of these officers presides over a branch of the de partment, and the business of administering the force is distributed among these branches. The Minister presides over the meetings of the council and acts affecting the administration of the militia technically issue from the Minister in council; in practice the decision lies with the Minister. Outside of the militia council stand two inspectors-general, officers of rank, who report upon the quality of the training, etc., of the troops. The country is divided into 11 military districts, each under a district officer commanding, who is either a colonel or a gen eral officer; in the interests of decentralization considerable powers of administration are en trusted to these officers.
All the male inhabitants of Canada from 18 to 60 years of age are liable to military service. To this general rule there are some exceptions, such as judges, clergymen and pro fessors in colleges. In cases of great emer gency a "Levee en may be ordered, when all male inhabitants capable of bearing arms can be summoned. Those ordinarily lia ble to service are divided into four classes: (1) Those 18 years of age to 30, unmarried, or widowers without children; (2) 30 years of age to 45, unmarried, or widowers without children; (3) 18 to 45 who are married, or widowers with children; (4) 45 and upwards, but under 60. The principle of substitution is recognized. It is in this order that the Militia Act of 1904 contemplated the summoning of the male population to the colors. When in the stress of the Great European War resort was had to compulsion for overseas the foregoing classification was rearranged, and the principle of substitution disappeared. The Militia Act limited compulsory service in the field to 18 months at most; this limitation disappeared. The militia may be sent on active service "anywhere in Canada and also beyond Canada for the de fense thereof." When in time of war the "militia is called out for active service to serve conjointly with His Majesty's regular forces, His Majesty may place in command thereof a senior general officer of his regular army." In
the census year of 1911 the number of males in Canada between 18 and 45 was 1,720000; of these 1,109,000 were native-born, 306,000 were British born and 304,000 were foreign-born.
Later During the period 1902 to 1914 the professional soldiers of Great Britain once more influenced the military pol icy of Canada, but this time in a manner con sistent with the autonomy attained by the Do minion in the British empire. During the greater portion of this period the sailors and soldiers of the empire were preparing, as far as political policy allowed, for the great war which they foresaw, and which came in 1914. The general policy pursued was for the United Kingdom to prepare its forces to meet the first shock of the conflict, and for the Dominions Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa — so to organize their citizen forces as to enable them in the event of war rapidly to raise forces which would fit into the general British military system. This implied (1) common establishments; it was understood, for example, that if Canada raised a division for war service, it would be identical as to number of battalions, proportion of artillery, details of staff, etc., with the divisions of the British army. (2) A considerable amount of staff work, in the shape of mobilization arrange ments, plans of organization, etc. (3) The provision of arms, stores, equipment, etc., for a force of the size which Canada might reason ably be expected to raise. Such plans were prepared and carried out to a certain extent in Canada. The foundations of them are to be found in a series of agreements made at the Imperial Conferences of 1907,1909 and 1911 and set forth in blue-books published in those years; these agreements were concluded between the statesmen of the mother country and the Do minions, assisted by soldiers and sailors rep resenting the several parts of the empire con cerned. The details were worked out by a number of staff officers, in part supplied from the British army, in part belonging to the Canadian establishment. The organization of the Canadian forces was stimulated by two visits of inspection paid by distinguished of ficers, by Sir John French in 1910, and by Sir Ian Hamilton in 1912; their advice proved of great value. The general Canadian organiza tion was based on the theory that the militia was to provide the framework of corps, offi cers, arms, training establishments, etc., of an army to resist invasion; the first line was to be 125,000 strong and behind was to be a sec ond line of reinforcing units, also 125,000 strong. The country east of Lake Superior was divided into six areas, each of which was to provide a self-contained division of all arms. In the region west of Lake Superior were a considerable number of mounted units and a number of infantry corps, which it was planned ultimately would form a Seventh Di vision. Provision also was made for a num ber of mounted brigades. Theoretically this organization faced southward; in point of fact, the real danger apprehended was across the Atlantic.