The truce that Laurier declared between the Liberals and the Conservatives in the initial days of the war was still being implemented into the second week of the war. ‘Right thinking’ Canadians recognized that this was not the time for party divisions or fighting. This truce between the parties was to be observed by the public and newspapers alike. It was proclaimed that true patriotism was to “do nothing to rouse political strife when there is need of a united front and united action.” Canadian leaders and the Canadian people understood that their duty was “prompt, wholehearted action” for the empire, which could only occur if they were unified.
(“Canada and the empire,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, 11 August 1914, “Canada and the empire,” Waterloo Chronicle Telegraph, 11 August 1914; “Canada in a State of War,” Elmira Signet, 13 August 1914; “United in War,” Elmira Signet, 13 August 1914, “We Stand as One,” Hespeler Herald, 13 August 1914; Visual: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Borden_and_Laurier.jpg/424px-Borden_and_Laurier.jpg)
Robert Laird Borden (left) and Wilfrid Laurier (right) circa 1910