K.., THE 
 
 
 oming Struggle 
 
 BN THE 
 
 United States and Canada 
 
 AND ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 By PATER PATRONUCUS. 
 
 IT is now iiiaiiy years since the ureat historian and statesman, the 
 late Lord ^lacaulay, predicted seiions times in the United 
 States when its cities bec-ame popoulons and the poor cried for 
 bread. Such conditions in any country in this year of civilization are 
 certainly serious. There is that in oui- advanced civilization in 
 Amei'ica, "however, that supiiests to the hai(lwoikini>- intelligent man, 
 as well as to the more hiiihly educated, a social and economic con- 
 dition that cannot bear the search-liiiht of truth and equity or 
 harmonise with the teachiiii^s of the meek and lowly Nazarene. 
 
 The comini;' stru<'iiie that is now slowly and t^radually steali.ig' 
 upon us, and apparently almost unnoticed and certainly unheeded^ 
 may be best defined as a mental conflict at pi'csent between laboui". 
 intellij-^ence and intellect on the one hand and capital and officialism 
 on the other. \ 
 
 ' • To the intollii;ent man boi'ne down with the difficult, and per- 
 haps futile sti'Uii'^h^ for the bare necessaries of life, and with even n 
 rudimentai-y idea that laboi', in which his own is included, C \the 
 foundation of all wealth, — it will not, T api)reherul, be difficult: for 
 such a man to be moved to angi-y demonstrations, yes, demonstrations 
 that will be an intimation to the capitalist and official that something- 
 
2 'I'HK ("()MI.\(; 8TRl'(iGLE. 
 
 niiist he doiH' to iiiiti^7iro the condition of not only the indnsti'ini 
 (dasscs hut ;iil otlidN doju'ndiniL;' njioii tiicm for hwiul : incdudinii' 
 ti'.idcrs, coinnioi'*!.'!! .ind professional men of all kinds: in short as! 
 ii.ivc hf'foic sl,it<'d. I lie stni,i:i;lo will 1)0. and is hotwoon laboi', intcdii- 
 HciR'C. and int(d]('('( on the one sid(> and tlie niillionaii'cs nnd ofHcials 
 who a^\' ill .syin]>ntli\ w ith rli<Mn on tho othoi'. A\'ill iOind or niatt(?i' 
 siii'vivc liie coiitliid : will int(dl('(d, inipoi'ial, I'O.nal Ood-liko int(dlect 
 oi- l)]-ulal woalth, too often dishonestly ci('(|uii'ed, be the victor. 
 Will lahorions. intolle(dual deniocracv, strenj^tliened j-efincd and 
 j)urilii'-d by its closealliances, synipathic^s and affiinities with the .yreat 
 minds of the past, as w(dlasthe present, assert itself , or will the coarse 
 and In'iital natni'es jjnt back the (dock of time once more and lea\e the 
 world moi'e brutal, more animal and more ci'iminal than evei*. It is 
 i)i' America 1 am speakini;', for it was to America that many of our 
 ancestoi's weic di'iven by a civilization in some respects (piite as bad 
 as the one bein^' i;radnally forced upon us by our present social and 
 oconomic laws. It is in America that the last battle foi- intellect as 
 opposed to s(dfish,yreed and crimewilj take place, — God defend the right. 
 Had our ancestors who tied from the barbarously refined civilizations of 
 the old world, pi'eferring- even tiie associations of the savage in the 
 new, 1 say, had they considered that a centui'y or two would bring" 
 about a somewliat similai" social and economic condition to theii' 
 dese^endants, surely the liardshijvs and vicissitudes of tlie new life iri 
 the new world would not have been so easily, so patiently and so 
 j)hilosophically i)orne. 
 
 Little did the educated and refined men and women who crossed 
 the angry Atlantic for America, two hundred yeai's and more ago, to 
 escape from the tyranny of a Charles I. oi' James tin; II, I'ealize that be- 
 fore the third ccMitury had commenced in Amei'ica, in free America, 
 the hmd of the \'i'oo and the home of the descendants of the brave, a 
 tyrant would ai'ise quite as exacting, (piite as bj-utal and even more 
 dangerous than the most infamous of the Stuart kings,— -The Tyi'ant 
 (Capital." 
 
 If we read history aright, and in the light of the i)ast civilizations 
 for several centuri(\s in Ih'itain and Amei'ica, there has been no period 
 wlien tJK^ mind w as less disturbed l)y the ine(iuitable and unjust condi- 
 
'I'liK coMixi; yi'Krctii.i:. :•. 
 
 tions iin])()S(Ml l)y ryiviiniy .-iiid woaltli tluiii the period in AiiKMic.i 
 procedin.i;' a liiiiidi'cd ycai's — the Ainei'lcar. licNolulidii of ITTC). In 
 1()7() and for ahoiit lifly xcars hofor*' and lifr>- yoais after the old 
 colonial davs in IMassaeimsetts, ("oinieeiient and ntlier eoloiiics in 
 Amci'iea woi'o decidedly nfoi)ian coniiiai'ed with the last thii'ty-five 
 years. The revolntion of 17T() seenie<l to streniithen the ties of 
 huin.iii brotherhood, and the war of isli^ hi.th in the I'nited Statesaiid 
 Canada had a similar effect, for fear is the fonndation of society, and 
 r may add that the ])nrity and solidarity of society depend npon the 
 stren<;th and quality of the spirit of hnmaii l>rothei-hoo(l amoii,i;' its 
 members. The last Amer'ran I'evolntion or civil war being broni:ht 
 about by causes quite dissimilar from the first, when it (dosed ir 
 would appear that all of the worst feelings eiiiiendeixMl dnrini;' the con- 
 flict were perpetuated and cariied into social, bnsin(\ss and i)oli(ical 
 life. The spirit of human brotherhood that once solved the Just and 
 equitable distribution of the fruits of labor in America has bi'en 
 gradually dying' out, and greed, selfishness, cunning and all of the very 
 worst characteristics of the race, dominate. Men arc still slowly 
 murdering their brothers without even the ])retext of war. 
 
 • 
 
 With the introduction of railways, telegraphs, electrical and 
 
 scientific appliances of every kind, the American age in an etliical 
 
 sense, has been retrograding, — and as the poet Goldsmith wrote more 
 
 than a century and a half ago, — as wealth increases men decay. 
 
 When we consider the condition of the humaji race at different 
 epochs of the worlds, — history, and when the naturally improving and 
 evolutionary conditions at successive periods be taken into account w(^ 
 should have cause foi' hope, still the bi'av<'st beconu' jiessimists in 
 speculating as to the future of AnuM'ica : even, w itli the ad\antagcs of 
 a knowledge of the past to guide us, we are by no means reassured. — 
 for the chief causes leading to our present condition wereuid<nown 
 until Avithin the hist thirty years. Politicians, statesmen, histoiians, 
 philosophers, Avits, poets, warriors, authors and others, each in their 
 turn and in their own way, have spoken, written, or sung of social and 
 economic wrongs as ages have passed by, and two daring novelists 
 Bellamy and Donnelley have by a c(^ntury's stretch taken ns into the 
 futui'e for a solution. 
 
4 TUK COMING STRUCiGLE. 
 
 Aftor these .ncnonil observations my aim now will be to treat of 
 our pi-eseiit eondilioii in Amei'iea, eliiefly in Canada, in Ontario, but 
 more j>;irticulai'ly as to liow tliese conditions liave been brougiit almut. 
 As facts and fi,niir(\s are not as a rule specially invitiiii;- 1 shall erideavor 
 to .•ii)itioacii them .gradually,— for it is, of what might be termed the 
 .Mi'ithiiietic of lite, and the g-reat corduroy roads ui)on Avhich the inasscs 
 h.ive always been travellini;-, and upon which they are now travelling, 
 Mud of the masses and their condition to which I desire moi'e especi- 
 jiily to direct yottr attention and the attention of the I'ulers of the 
 country. Ou(^ thinj;- is certain, that all now agree, that it is "man's in- 
 Innnanity to man makes countless millions mourn" — we think it might 
 be very pertinently added just here, that it is the (countless millions of 
 (hdlars of the few acquired by man's inhumanity and dishonesty to 
 man that makes countless millions hungry starving and mourning. 
 No man or woman who was born, has been cradled and always lived 
 in luxury, can for a moment '-ealize the eft'ects produced upon the 
 mind as well as the body by hardships and poverty; in fact the man, 
 or woman, who has been uniformly successful in pursuit of either 
 wealth or happiness, or both, can in the broadest sense of the term be 
 considered only halt educated ; it is the journeys on the great 
 corduroys of life that are the greatest although the most severe 
 educators. The philanthropist may look upon, pity and assist the poor 
 but there are often cii'cumstances surrounding and incident to poverty 
 that none but the i)oor can undei'stnnd, or perhaps T might more 
 l)roperly say — feel. 
 
 The intelligent, honest man well informed u]jon economic problems, 
 and knowing and feeling that his condition has in quite a considerable 
 degree been made worse, possibly very much worse by the dishonesty 
 «»r i)olitici;Mis and the ruling classes, and feeling and knowing at the 
 same tim(^ that if they had l)een as upright and lionest as himself they 
 would br^ in no better position, financially or orherwise. 1 say no man 
 not similarly situated and with similar feelings can understand the 
 t(^(diiigs of millions in the United States and Canada in this year of 
 grace. What will the outcome be V As long as poverty was confined 
 almo>t altog(^ther to the improvident, intemperate and ignorant, and 
 i-arely found in the homes of tlu^ industrious, economical and educated, 
 no one had anything to fear for no sj)ecial wrong h^id been done ; but, 
 now, when tlu' sober and industrious laborer and artisan without work 
 and without any faultof their own being prevented from carrying out the 
 
'nil-: roMiNc sTiiro(;Li:. 6 
 
 Divine ('omiih'iiul. The business and professional man, in I'acl wiien 
 nearly everyone, except the millionaires and ollieials, more or less, feel 
 tlie ])ineh nf [)overty, all with one aeeoixl heiiin to inipiire into the causes. 
 Thei-e are few so innntelli,i;ent as not to know tliat there is just as nuich 
 capital in the country now a.^; at any former })eriod. Is it not, tliiM-c- 
 fore, oui- duty to en(|uire whei'c that cai)ital is, and how, and why, it 
 has been taken from proi)ei' legitimate, industrial and commercial 
 pursuits: in otlu'r woi'ds, why it has been taken from the people and 
 givcMi to the few without any (Mjuivalent in I'ctui'n to the i>eoj)|('. 
 Certainly we oui'selves n)ust have been dcM'elict in oui' duties in not 
 makini;' a sti'on.uer i)i'otest Ix'fore ; for it is well known that for man\' 
 years the whole treiul of Iciiislation both in the United states and 
 Canada has been in the intei'cst of the wealth v and official cdass(>s. 
 Representatives or deputations waiting' upon the governments citluM'at 
 Washiiiiiton, Toronto or Ottawa, in the interests of railways, loanin.a, 
 bankinii' or other corporate wealthy institutions and millionairos have 
 always found a willini;' eai', yes, sometijues (piite suspiciously willinii-. 
 thouii'h in the majority of cases the subv(Mitions asked for b\' th(>se 
 institutions ai'(Mliametrically oi)))ose(l to the interests of tlu^ masi;es. 
 Subsidies i;iven to these institutions and millionaires must come irom 
 the people in th(^ lon.u' run. I have never yi^t know n, (Mther atToi'onto 
 or Ottawa, a subsidy ui'anted to a i-ailway company imless in the 
 directorate of the comi)any, th(^re were ju'isonal and political friends 
 of the .n'overnment i;rantin,ii' the subsidy; thus it is that millions of 
 dollars have been i;rante(l to I'ailway com])anies upon personal and 
 politic;al, not upon broad public iirounds and in the interest of th(! 
 people as a whole. 
 
 Whilst public men, the public purse, the masses, some millio!iaires 
 and corporations, stand in this relation to each othei' in Canada and 
 the United States, be it said to the credit of British statesmen that they 
 liave vei'v notablv and wiselv been leiiislatinu', for the last fiftv veai's 
 and more, for the pooi- and those in modei'ate ciicumstances. In 
 Britain the load is beiiiii' .lii'adually shifted from the shouldei's of the 
 weak to the shoulders of the strouii', whilst in the United States and 
 Canada the very reverse has been takinii' i)lace. The iiritish states- 
 man accepts without question the theci'y that capitalists are(piit(^ able 
 to take care of themselves without the intcM'vention or assistanc e of 
 g'ovei iiments or corporations or any special le,iiislation : hence it is 
 that the well informr'd Bi'iton and British statesmen look upon the 
 majority of Canadian politicians with little less than disgust and 
 aversion. In the days of Robin Ifood the Eniilish hii;hwaymen robl)ed 
 the rich and pive a portion to the poor, but evei'y readinii' int(dli,ii('nt 
 man on cither side of the Atlantic knows that our ))oor )>erfidious 
 

 
 'iiiK COM IN ; sri{r<;(;Li:. 
 
 ,,1;,,.,' liiiiitiii;;- i.olilici.iiis, in Canada and ilicriiitcd Sratvs only lliink- 
 iiiu' ot thcmsclvos and |)artn('is i]i |.olitical portidy, liavo boon 
 sysroniatically plundorin^- tlic masses and -ivin- flic plundor to tlio 
 r'icli nntil now tlio masses aiv no lon.<:('i- uoi-ili })liindejin,n'; in fact the 
 condition of tlio masses, in many lai-o cities of America, is (|iiite 
 anala^ous to the condition Df llie poor ill liritain fifty and a linndrcd 
 years^ano. and ont )f which Biiti>h statesmen have Ik^oii i;i'adnally 
 ic;idin,ii"tiiem thr<^ni;h a loii.u' and drcnry wilderness into ^Tcen i)astni'es. 
 Knowiiin' of tlie disli'css and poveriy in many of tlio cities of Amciica 
 where all, or comparalively all, slionld liavo i)lenly I cannot j-effain 
 tVom sayin.n' that the niosi niii)arall(ded dishonesty and jierfidy mnsi 
 have peiineated i)oli(ical life in Ameiica. In nearly eyeiy pai't of 
 Xoi-th AiiKM-ica the condition of vci-y many of the peoi)le in nearly all 
 walks of life is snch tliat all .-ood and wise men deeply dei)lore, thon.^li 
 the millionaires and ofliciMls cry on with the dance le! Joy he nncon- 
 lined. The Nerocs are liddlin.u' while i{<»mc is hurnini;' 1 
 
 Not wishin-' to he misnnderstood, or to i)laco myself in a |)osition 
 lo he accused n[' exrivnie socialistic views, this may he the pro])er 
 place [\)V me to state that my li.uht is with those who dishonestly and 
 improperly ac(inir(> wealth, eitluM- ity individnal acts of dishonesty, 
 oi- who. l)y winks, connivinizs. oi- niidci-standini;s with politicians or 
 officials, I'ol) liu^ jjnhlic eithei- dii'cctly oj- indirectly. 
 
 I have no (|uarrel with the man who hy his own nnaided 
 exertions, or hy ,i;ift, inheritance, oi- in any lionest manner accpiires a 
 fortune. I have no (piarrel with the man who like a tiaie l^jriton only 
 asks, for a fair field and no favor, for no subventions, that tend to dis- 
 l)lace economic forces unjustly. I may he permitted, however, to 
 observe in passin.n' that if in the ^ureat economy of nature, and nature's 
 (Jod, every man did his duty to his fellow-man, as one of the parts of 
 the .ureat ori;anisin of life, there would be no millionaires in any country 
 and conseipiently no paupers, and other things being- eiiual^ that 
 country that has'the fewest millionaires, in pro])ortion to population, is 
 certainly the best inoverned. 
 
 If the cii'cumstances connected with tiie ac(iuisition of millions by 
 any one individual, either in \\w United States or Canada, be (doscly 
 enquired into, we oftener find than otherwise, that it has been done 
 throuy-h conniviniis and understandin.iis with fiovernments or corpora- 
 tions and officials connected with liovernnients and corporations. 
 
 The Iari;est, most atrocious, and most diabolical plunderini;' of the 
 people in the United States and Canada has been done in the granting 
 
'I'HH C().Mi.N(; s'l'ia (i(;Li:. 7 
 
 of casli .-iiul l.iiid siihsidios to r;iil\v.-iy corpoi-.-itioiis, and upon close in- 
 vcstiii'.'irioii it is found t\\i\t, in nonrly ovcjy instance, some of the mesl 
 promiiHMit i;()V(Miini(MU officials ( onnected witii tiiese fransaclions liavi' 
 been lariioly i'(MM)upod for their assislanco and nianipnlations. 
 
 In propoi'tion to llie poi)ulalion, \v(\illii and de\'eloped I'esoiii'ces 
 of Canada, in'stoi-y, eitliei- ancient oi- niodei-n, atfoi-ds no i)reccd(Md: in 
 any conntry in tlio world to coinpai'o with the ina.uiiitii(l(> of the trans- 
 action wiien tile i;ovornnient of Canada, willi tiie assistance of a. venal 
 niajoi'ity in ])ai'lianient and witiioiit a mandate from the people; voted 
 to a syndi<'ato comiiosed of some six oi' seven of their [x'rsonaj and 
 political friends an area of as fertile land as thei'(^ is in America .'in d 
 lar.ii'er by thirty |)er cent than the whole arai)le lands of th(^ Province 
 of Ontario, with sixty-three millions of dellars, several luindrid niih^s 
 of completed railway, and many special subventions, amoiirdiiiL:,' 
 alto,i;ether to not less than one hundred and fifty milllions of" dollars, 
 (^uite correctly s])(>akinij," th(^ government of Sir John Macdonald taxed 
 the ])eoi)le of Canada to build the Canadian Pacific Hallway and made 
 a present of it to some six oi* s(>ven of their i)ersonal and jiolifical 
 friends. In return for tlu^ twenty-ffve millions of the ])eop!(^'s iK^rita^e^ 
 and many nnllions of the people's money, thus <;iven away to ,i;ovei'ii- 
 ment favorites, what hav<^ w(^ in i-eturn— prosjuMity— no, but \]u) very 
 opposite, poverty and disti-ess and the natural sequence, suicide, crime 
 and murdei' multiplyini^'. IMany farmers and bnsin(>ss-men all ovei* 
 the Dominion becomini;' alarmed at Ihe boldness and audacity of tlu^ 
 .^Governments, i^ivinii- away the i)eoplc's possessions with apparent 
 impimity, have left the country, and so.u'reat has been the haste. to fly 
 from such conditions that thousands of farms have been placedupon 
 the mark(*t, and th(^ supply has been so much p,reater than tliedeniand, 
 that farm lands have shiamk in value to the amount of not less than 
 four hundred millions of dollars. In Ontario the shrinkai;e has' been 
 two hundred and fifty millions. 
 
 As the P'ovince of Ontario is (Essentially an aiiricultural i)rovinc{v 
 and as its i)rosperity and the prosperity of the villa.iies, towns aiul cities 
 depends upon the ])rospcrity of the farmers, let me ask whatcan be the 
 condition of many of the denizens of the villaiics, towns ;iiid cities. Ts it 
 not well known that in the once prosperous city of Toronto there are 
 very many hundreds of laborers artisans, merchants and jiiofcssional 
 men livin.i;' in a manner that a few years aiio would have been 
 characterized as ])overty stricken. How many thousands in •Canada 
 in nearly all walks of life, able and williui;' to work, wbo .an find 
 notliini;' to do — and why V Be(.*ause a lariie proi)oi'tion of the capital of 
 the countrv, bv the most dislionest and venal leiiislatioti and methods 
 
•nii: coMiNii sTurcdi-K. 
 
 tli.it liMVC ONcr (lisuiviccd tlio records oi' statiil(>s of, -my coimli\' in ilie 
 world, cx('('|)t the J'liitcil States, hns IxMMi l('i;islat(Ml into tlio liaiids of 
 uof many more than a tlious.ind, tlms practically withdrawn from 
 <-ircnl iJion IVotn rlic d<'\ ('iopcnicnt ol' the coiintr\', lienco I'roni the 
 laltourcr and artisan, and all others (|('|»cndini;' npon them, and who are 
 no! ex 'C|»t the tract ioiial nnmhi'r for whose heiietlt, it would a|)pear, 
 all the others a''e now made to sntfer — and this is (\anadian statesman- 
 ship!!! 
 
 I( is no! the money uiNcn away to railway maiAiiates and otticials 
 that is entirely resi)onsil)le I'oi' this condition for have we not foi' 
 eii;hl('('n y(\irs had a so-called protective polic-y hy th" operations of 
 which a few hnndred millions moi'c have been leiiisIatcHJ from the 
 people and ,i;i\.en to the few w ho from yriw to year, in many cases, 
 ai"e w ilhdrawin.i;- it from circulati')n and, therefore, from the (leveloi)e- 
 nicnt of llie conntry and the lal)or<M' and artisan. I may he allowed 
 to state th d cipital on,i;a';ed in in innf .ctiirin,:;' niidera hi.uii })rotective 
 lariliC does infiinlel\' more injnry. to the ) ';ople in the aii'^j'e^-ate, than it 
 can jxtssihly do <4()o(| for it IxM-omes 'ir ■:;ivi\t coerci\'e factor in the 
 iintMpjal, nnjnst and dishonest di^trihntii »ftlic wealtJi of the conntry, 
 and la.hor the foundation of all wealth 's, ihe i;'reaiest sufferer in the 
 lon.ii' run. 'riiou.uh the i)rotectionist and capitalist at times aitoct^reat 
 soli(dtud(^ for the laborer 1 am incdined to the view of tlio,i;reat Russian 
 Count, Tolstoi, w ho says that the capitalist will do evcrytliiii^' for the 
 laborer but ,i;-et olf his back. Any operation by which toll is taken 
 from Ihousands and .uiven by co(?rcion to one individual aiul that with- 
 out any eqiuvalent in return by that individual is unjust and dishonest 
 and, therefore, opposed to God's <;reat ethical and economic laws. 
 Any lef;islatii)n that tends to make a few wealthy at the expense of 
 the masses, as a j^reat deal of the le.iiishition in Canada has done, and 
 without any eiiuivalent to the masses to pi'eserve the ecpiilibriuni of 
 <M()nomic forces, will in time brinj;' disaster to any eouirtry the people 
 of which have tlu^ same chai'acteristics as the Anjulo-Saxon. The con- 
 dition of the masses in Kn.ii land for fifty years before i'we trade was 
 adopted, and their condition now fifty years after, is a complete 
 answer to all th(^ specious reasoniniis and sophistries of the iriteiested 
 ])rote( iionist. 'Mie coercive i)rinciple of protection is. rnd the results 
 of its application are, both in an ethical and economic senses always 
 subslaidially tla^ same. It has now been on trial in Canada for ei.ch- 
 teen years and, notw ithstandin;"' the jirotestations of the protectionists 
 and nnllionaires to the contrai'y, every well informed man in the Do- 
 minion InUows that the disti'css and poverty ai'c somethiiiJLi' alarming", 
 and to |)rotection as nuich as to any othei- agency vnu it be attributed. 
 I am quite within the mark in stating- that in less than twenty yc^ai's, 
 
TIIK (OMINci >TKl(;«ilJ:. » 
 
 hy (»ur |U()i('ctiv(', I'.'iilwiiy .iiid iiiillioii.iii'c iiictliods (d" uc'VcriiiiuMit, 
 foiii" Iiiiii(Ii'(mI millions of dollai's liavc Imm'ii iciiislaled oiil ol'llKniaiids of 
 Hv(^ inillioiis of |)(()j)lo int<» (lie swollen iiocKctsot' nol inaii\' nior(^ tlian 
 a tiionsand, and flio dislioncsly and poitidy ('(.nnocfcd Avirli the oju'ra 
 tions iiavo so di^stioycd coiitidcnc-o in iiio t'ului'o of tlio country tiiaf 
 tlio value of file assets, of the |)(<)|do, iiavo been less(>ned a ,uood deal 
 more than four hundred millions. The peonN' of Canada hax'e. there- 
 foi'e, been plundered, directly and indiicctly, i)y theii' |:olitical leaders 
 to more than ei,i;ht hundred millions of dollars. Dnrin.n' this most 
 extraordinarily eventful poi'iod in ('aiiadian history mor;- than a million 
 ('anadians ha\'e left the country as they could s<'e no hojx' undei' such 
 rulers, and at a very low estimate this would mean a drain of toui' 
 hundred millions of dollars. Altoi:ether within the last twenty ye.rs 
 there has been a teai'iiii;' to i)ieces of our economic inleicsis and a dis- 
 |)lacemeiit of economic forces to the extent of more than lw(dve 
 hundred millions of dollars ; and this is one of the residts of (ana<lian 
 statesmanshij). Durin.i;' this bloodless, oi- rathei- semi-bloodless, 
 nn'olution it is (piite Ix'yond the powei's of miin to deju'ct in any 
 lan.iiuai^'e even a p.irt of the misery, want and sufferin.u' thus entailed 
 ui)on a once ])i'os})ei'ous and hai)i)y j^eople by their riders. From 
 peace, |)rospoiity and contentment in less than twenty years we hav(^ 
 now all the dcMiioralization, want and misei'y incident to many of the 
 most uncivilized countries of the old world. Notwithstandiii!:', this 
 almost unpi'ecedented condition of thecounti\v, there are a (dassof men 
 amoiii;- us who have the brazen ettVontery, in the vei-y face of facts, to 
 toll us that Canada is prosperous. As a matter of fact theic are no 
 live million people in any En.iilish speakini;' country in the world 
 where the condition of tlu^ i)eo])le is more critical 'ind alarnnni;'. The 
 masses in ('anada are too well educated and intcdliiicnt not to know 
 and analyse the causes which have led to oiii' present condition and 
 they find as 1 do that where there should i)e jieace and plenty we 
 have misei'y and want, yes, misery and want broui^iit about almost 
 wholly by the iireed, venality and i)erfidy of our rulers, millionaires 
 and official classes. Restore to the i)eople of Canada e\'en one-half of 
 the many millions of which they have been plundered, by the 
 l)oliticians, millionaires and officials, and in less than one iiionth we 
 would have contentment, peace and plenty on all hands and woe, 
 lamentation and mourniiii;' would be seen no more upon the streets. 
 
 There is a class of what is known as the jiniio jioliticlans in Canada 
 who are continually pointing- the Hni;er of scorn at the dishonest 
 methods of American politicians closiu^i;' their eyes and ears to tlu^ 
 fact that the most infamous methods of American i)oliticians have been 
 most clos(dy copied and followed by Canadian politicians tin.' only 
 
10 'I'KE COM IXC M'IH(i(;LK. 
 
 ai)i);ir('iit (IKfcrciicc i)iMii,<i' rliat w lion tlie Aii]eric;iii political or 
 iminic'ip.il ciiiuinal is found out he is imprisoned, a^ loast : in Canada, 
 iCtiiostcil has boon lai'iic cnon^li. Iio is .generally reconimondod for 
 and jvccivos a kiii,i;}itliood, and sometimes placed in some hii^li official 
 position that he may he, T ])resume, a soi't of ohje(d lesson to other 
 asj)ii'aiits for jxjiitical ti.um. Tims, it is that for twenty years, the 
 piii)lic mind and i)nhlic, morals of the electoi'at(^ and politicians of 
 Canada have been exposed to a test that the political conscdence could 
 not sustain ; we, too, freipiently find p(diticians iiow-a-days Avho only a 
 shoi'l time a.^() would hav(^ looked with hori'oi' upon cei'tain venal ,'ind 
 dishonest nu^thods, now api)arently only too willini;- to endorse them 
 under the <dian,i;ed conditions of political ])arties, — ''seen too oft 
 familiar with its face we fii'st endure, then pity, then embi'ace." 
 AVhat will the outcome i)oV Veidly as wealth has inci'eased in the 
 hands of a few in Canada men have decayed. It is too well known 
 that there are UKMi occupyini;- lii<;ii ofticial and political positions in 
 ('anada now on account of their wealth solely, and without the 
 slightest I'e.na rd to theii- fitness or capabilities, and who forty oi" fifty 
 years a.j^o woidd have been excluded from political life as non-entities 
 unworthy of reco,i;iiition by the electoi'ate. 
 
 There are men in the senate of Canada, (juitei'eccnta])pointments, 
 who foi'ty yeai's a.^o would not have dared to as])ire to a higher posi- 
 tion than that of town councillor o]* city aldei'man and, in some 
 instances it is the very plimder taken from the people that appar- 
 (nitly is their only recommendation. I have never yet known a 
 Canadian millionaire who had, or has, any of the ciiaracteristics 
 of a statesman. I have in my mind just now a Canadian senator 
 whose only .i^enei-osity to tlic pool* throu,i;h life consisted in his spend- 
 ini;- several hundred dollars in coi-ruptini;' them tVom election to elec- 
 tion, and hence the senatorship. Consideidnii' the character of men 
 we have had playin,:;' at statesmanship in Canada can it be wondered at 
 that we are in tliis deplorable condition. Thii'ty, forty, fifty and even 
 sixty years aiio. when the population was not half of Avhat'it is now, 
 we had in rpi)er and l.ower Canada as rulers, the Baldwin's, 
 Lafontaines, llobinsons, Hlakes, Calts, Ihown, Uorion and other 
 men. who, from their acknowledi:ed inte,i;rity, abilities and positions 
 were by common consent the acknowledived leaders in the country 
 and statesmen and patriots as well. The (doctorate at that time were 
 not neaidy as mu(di concei'ned about the size of a ])oliticians bank, 
 balances as they were about the size of his head and heart. Oh, what 
 a falliui;' off my countrymen since the days of the old leaders ! Surely 
 as wealth has im-reased in the liands of a few in Canada men have 
 very nnu h decaved. 
 
THE COMlNd sTUrccLi:. II 
 
 Ev(Mi with llio eiilariicd si)licro of polirical .•ictioii since Coiifodoi'n- 
 rioii, what has rlio last (luartor of a coiitury hrouj^ht forth : With tho 
 exooptioii of Bhiko, Cartwrii;lit, [.auriei', McCartiiy, Thompson, 
 Mereditli, Tarte, Davies and Mills, who anion.u' tiiose who havo l)oon 
 in any sense oni' rnloi-s, arc worthy of the name of statesmen: Of 
 potty' i)lac'emen, ofHce-seekei's and office-holders, we have a su])cr- 
 al)und;nic(; : Of men who have Ikhmi willin.ii" to violate and cast aside 
 the pi'ofessod principles of theii' eai'liei' lives, and mak(> Ihcir i)i'incii)les 
 a simple (piestion of i-evenue, we have scoi'cs, — they ai'c always with 
 us—wiio amon.u- tiie i)()liricians in Canada for the last tw(>nty years 
 with an eye sin<;-le to the i;ood of the people, can we name? Snrely 
 not the men who hav(^ l»een chiefly instrnmental in hmdin.n' ns in oni" 
 present deploi-able condition ; nor the men who have in order to secni-e 
 or i-etain office and its (Mnohiments cons])ire(l with now-titled sjhhmi- 
 lators ro iiand over the possessions of ihe people to tiu^se speculators 
 or moi-e correctly speakin.ii" who hav(^ conspired to make millionaires 
 of a few and ])anp(>rs of many — certainly not thes(\ Then, who have 
 we except the ones 1 have named alon-' the whole line of Politicians 
 for the last twenty years, at least, whod(^s(M've the name of Statesman. 
 That certain leadei'S havebecMi in jiower or oftice for many years is no 
 proof of ti'ue statesmanshi]) when we considei' that in tJiis Dominion 
 and in the i)reinier province of Ontario, political jjowei- has been at- 
 tained, and held by the l(\-td(>rs brin-iiiii' into re([nisition the most de 
 strnctive and disi-eputable forces, and in the centralization of ])olitical 
 power in the hands of capitalists and politicians to the very serious 
 injury of the i)eoi)Ie : in fact, these are the kind of politicians who have 
 been the ruin of, our once inviting and prosperous coimtry. Tn 
 P>ritain, for the last seventy-five yeai's no paiMy has been in power foi- 
 longer than eight years at a time and oidy twice for even eight years 
 during the scveiity-five. The British electorate sc^em to have 
 pi-oi)crly gauged the strain political virtue will stand. Not so in 
 Canada^ or it' inay be that liritish statesmen object to the methods of 
 some Canadian politicians, who have the ai't of remaining in power, 
 year after year, and decade after decade, by living and thriving on 
 the very corruption and dishonesty they themselves oi'iginate and 
 (Miiicnder. Withal I believe it to be easier to i)ut a (Canadian politican 
 out of office thairto change his natiu'e. 
 
 Is it any wonder that Canada's truly great son many years ago, 
 realising the effect that such a Carnival of Coi'riii)tion that was then 
 obtaining, would have u])on the public mind and public ])urse, was out 
 of the fulness and bitterness of his lieart led to exclaim, ''Ood heli> 
 poor Canada." To-day every well-informed man, who is not living upon 
 the spoils takeji from the i)cople oi- an official who is obliged to bend 
 
12 TJii: coMiN(; stru(;(;lk. 
 
 the UiKH! to tlio |)oliti('Ml oi- niillion.iii'e liaal.s in oidci-ro i-etniii liis place, 
 may well cxclaiiii w ilii the Hon. I'khvai'd l^lake, ''(lod lielp poor Canada." 
 Any yomi- coinitry ('ontainin*;- only fivo millions of poople whose 
 ceonomic condition has Ixn^n sodisi'ui)tcd and overtnrned as Canada's 
 by political and nn'llionairc s])oilsmcn, tliat a few h'nidi'e<l millionaires 
 cons|)irin,n' w ith ])oIiticians have taken to themselves at least one- 
 third of the nett wealth of tlic connti'y. I say, any yonng conntry 
 thus envii'oned l)y s|)oiIsmen, I teai' i'e(|nii-cs a stroniicr arm to pi'otcct 
 it, than tlie imijolent ai-m of the Canadian politician of the last twenty 
 years. It sec^ns to me that tlie jx'ople of Canada have been very much 
 at fault in not layin<;' theif i;i'iovances by petition befoi'e the British 
 Government many y(\ars a,i;o and befoi'e tlu^ counti-y had I)een reduced 
 to a condition hardly woi'th contendin:;' for as a home for a self-respect- 
 in.i;' |)"()pl(\ It is not by any means too much to say that lei;islation 
 and i;()vej'nment in Canada foi- many yeai's have been little less than 
 a conspiracy amon.n' i)oliticians^ millionaires and ofticials to (lesi)oil the 
 people and enrich themselves, and the success of th(^ conspiracy has 
 cei'lainly btHMi unpreccchMited. Whilst the lai'i;er tields and lariiei' 
 possessions controlled i)y Dominion politicians have i^iven i;'reater 
 sco]);^ to th(». i;i'eedy, luiscrupulous spoilsmen connected with the late 
 I);)minion novernmiMit, what intelliiicnl, indei)endent, honest Liberal 
 in the Provinc(^ of Ontai'io, who lias watched the ti'end of political, life 
 in his own Fi'ovince can point the finiicr of scorn at Ids political op- 
 |)oiient, in discussin*;- the pui'ity oi- venality of the jjolitical life of 
 <'itliei" ])ai'ty in this Province. 
 
 For about forty years after the I'ebellion of 1.^37 all of the ;nreat 
 constitutional princiides which go to make responsible jiovernment, 
 and all of which were conceded not loni;' after the rebellion, were 
 from year to year, and decade to decade, defended, guarded and 
 j)ej'peluated by the old heroes of libei'alism in Ui!i:er Canada, and for 
 a few years in Ontario. The .MacKenzies, I'^aldwins, Brown, the 
 Blake's and othei' old liberals guarded their principles with an heroic 
 vigilance ar.d persistence worthy ot the men and the cause. The 
 s|)oilsmen cut no ligure with the old heroes of liberalism in this 
 country. 
 
 How has it been for the last twenty years under the hvidei'ship 
 of Sir Olivei' ]\Iowaty Un]iai)pily is it not well known that every one 
 of tlu' pi'inciph^s advocated in the press, on the ])latfoim and in 
 pai'liament, for neai'ly forty years after the rebellion, have been froni 
 time to time violated and cast aside by the new bi'ood of liberals in 
 Ontario of which Sir Oliver Mowat, until recently and forever twenty- 
 three yeai-s, was the leader and chief incid)ator. All constitutional 
 
THK C()M1N(; STHl'G(;ij:. 18 
 
 writers agree in substance in statinj;- that tin,' independence of pailia- 
 ment is tlie very gi'oiind woik to ])nie and safe lc;:i.sI;ition. ]\Ien lii<e 
 the Hon. Edwar(i Rhike, the late Hon. Geo. liroun and otjieis of 
 tlie old liberal school considered it as vital in carryin,*;- out coucstitu- 
 tional government in the i)i'ovinces. The new brood of liberals, how- 
 ever, have violated this principle hundi'eds of times, most notably, by 
 the appointing membei's of parliament to i)0>iiions in ihe piftofthe 
 government. Every sheriff, registi'ar oi- clerk so aj)pointcd is a dii'ect 
 blow to responsible gover-miient. In this utilitarian age I ask, is a 
 member of parliament likely to vote against any measuiv, howcn'or 
 bad, if introduced by the government from whom he is expecting a 
 life appointment to alucrativ(». l)ositi()n. Foi* twenty yeai's the office 
 in sight has been made a standing l)iibe foj- suf)))ort by the Mowat 
 government. What greater or moie complete violation of the inde- 
 pendence of parliament could there be? The man who aftirms to the 
 contrai-y is certainly not less, although he may lie a good deal moi'e 
 than a political hypocrite. 
 
 Have the true Liberals of this Piovince with the lives of the 
 great exemplars of Lib(>ralism, Baldwin, lii'ownand lilake before them, 
 so soon forgotten that the most disgi'accful and inexcusable act of 
 Nepotism ever i)i'ac.jsed in Ontai'io, was only a few years ago, when 
 the government of (Ontario and Sii" Olivei' Mowat the Piemier of that 
 government, appointed Sir Oliver's son to the .Shi'ievalty of Toronto, 
 and thus by Sir Oliver's example leaving the door wide open for every 
 other member of the government, and every member of parliament 
 supporting the government, secui'ing important positions for their 
 relatives, howevei* incompetent and undeseivin; . No wonder Sii- 
 Oliver is so immensely populai' with the sjioilsmrMi, after establishing 
 such a ])recedent. How can the member's of a Legislatures and minis- 
 ters of the Orown, upon whom all State mattM's depend, be expected to 
 bo, or bo mon ca)):ible of discharging imj)oj'tant duties and trusts under 
 Rosponsibh; (Joverument, if the two most iinporfant of its supports be 
 by them cast aside, and a dc^sii-efoi' office and the spoils of office, made 
 the mainspring and motive of political action. 
 
 This new brood of Libei'als have been guilty of no^ only violating 
 the ind(^pendence of Parliament hundreds of times and pr.icli-ing 
 Nepotism as long as even on(^ i-elativc was left unpr-ovided for out of 
 the i)ublic funds, but have they not within tlie hist few years more 
 than once endeavored to supi)i'(vss Fj'ee Speeeji, which is certainly a 
 very imi)ortant suppo)*t to Responsible (Jovernment. In short, have 
 they not within the last ten years c-ast aside every support to Respon- 
 sible (Jovernment until now it is apparently eonsidered by them, but 
 
14 Till-: co.MiNc s'i'i{i(;(;i.r:. 
 
 little iiioiv lliaii a |»ai'liain('iitaiy i)hi'aso. 
 
 The triitli of tli;' iiialU'i' is, tliat tlic violation of Liboi'al pi'iiiciplcs 
 luis bi'cii cari'iod to that extent by tiie ^lowat ( Jovenniieiit of Ontaiio. 
 and tiic electorate iiave Ix'eoine .so aceiislonied to it, yes, so iiardeiied 
 to it and coi" iii)led by it. tliat it ikjw liaivliy excites comment. Twenty- 
 fi\'c, ihii'iy, foi'ty or tifty years a.i;o, iiad a Liberal Lead(}r in Ontai'io 
 violated i.ibei-al i)rinciples as Sir Oliver Mowat has done, he would 
 \ui\() found himself without a followin.u' in Parliament within twenty- 
 foui' iioins. and within one week would have been denounced as a 
 traitoi- to his i>ai'ty and his counti-y from every concession line and 
 cv(M'y side line in every township, and in every vi]Ia*;e, town and city 
 in Ihe province, and dj-iven from j)ublic life in ii;nominy and disgrace 
 for ever. One of the worst and most painful featur(\s connected with 
 the demoralized condition of tln^ electorate in Ontario is to be found in 
 the fact that the once considered saci-ed rii;hts of Christianity, have so 
 tosp(^ak, been Iwouii'ht into requisition and ])rostitute(l to the basest pur- 
 poses of a i)olitical time-server to maintain his political ascendency in 
 defiance of the best and noblest instincts and traditions of the Liberal 
 
 party and this is what is termed statesmanship by the Ontario 
 
 [jiberals. 
 
 If the reader nMpiire any further pi'oof of the venality and dis- 
 honesty of the Leaders of Ontaj-io Lil)eralism let him cast his eyes over 
 the public accounts of the province, and add up the thousands and 
 hundreds of thousands expended every year in rewarding the ])olitical 
 heeku's who have become a part and parcel of tin; party oi-ganization, 
 at the public expense. Can it not Ik^ fitly said tliat this government 
 has been living and thriving on the veiy corruption and dishonesty 
 th(\v themselv(^s have originated and engendered. 
 
 Ls it any wonder that the Hon. Edwai'd Blake exclaimed 'MJod 
 help i)oor Canada," knowing as he did the nature and character of the 
 men dominating i^olitical life in the Dominion and premier province of 
 Ontario : and is ii any wonder that this able and high-minded Cana- 
 dian left this carnival of sickening corrui)tion and venality, and sought 
 the associations of the high-minded and honoi-able men who dominate 
 all political i)arties in (ii'eat Hi'itain. 
 
 You ask. Dear Reader, what has this to do with the '^COMrNO 
 STRUOOLE." My iv\)\y is that it is one of the kind of politicians I 
 have b(*en describing and their perfidious acts that have 'irought the 
 struggle upon us. After what I have said in denunciation of corrui)t 
 and venal methods and the effects of which have so long polluted politi- 
 
THE COMLNHJ STRUcaiLK. 15 
 
 cal life, .iiid parnlyzi'd our iiiosi imporrMiir iiitor(\srs. I would cousidor luy 
 uttorancos as jiioi'c or less ''ovoici or' })oiiir w civ I to l)riii.<'' tliom to a close 
 wif!ioiir tui-iiiii,ii' my airoiitioii to our uow i-ulcrs at Ottawa, and askiui;- 
 wlicfo tlioy will ho found ill the ui'cat .strii,u',i:lo hctwcM')! lahoi', intolli- 
 i;-oiK:e and intolioct on rlio one side, aiul riic niiilionaircs and ot'ticials 
 who arc in synipatiiy with riicni on tiio othoi". Aftof ail. this is the 
 real issue, howevei- much the cunnin.ii- politicians and miIlionaii'(>s may 
 see fit to ohscure and disi>uisc it. The i»(M)ple. the masses, in Canada 
 as well as in the United States, jiave been l(>,iiislated into this attitude 
 by the politicians and millionaifcs. It is not their choosini;- : it lias 
 been fofced upon them. As I have befoiv stated both in the United 
 States and (■anada the whole ti'cnd of le<iislation has l)ccn in the inter- 
 ests of the wealthy and official classes. 
 
 Foi- neai'ly a (|uartei' of a centui-y, the sordid, selfish, cori'upt and 
 brutal side of Canadians has appealed to. on all occasions, and in this 
 manner has tlie public mind been educat(>d.— The results we know and 
 deplore.— Honesty and purity in political life has been trified witli, 
 and sjiecred at by the machine politicians, until now we are broui'ht 
 face to face with a condition, that none ])ut tlie most superficial can 
 contemplate without alarm. 
 
 Although our forms and principles of government differ in many 
 respects from the America ns, the methods of the politicians and mili- 
 ionaires and the combinations formed by them are precisely the same : 
 In fact, the two most noted public robbers who have ever been given 
 an opportunity by the politicians to despoil the people of Canada, had 
 their first lessons from that notorious railway highwayman, ^'Jim Hill" 
 of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the plunder they have taken from the 
 poople of Canada dining the last sixteen years is a pretty good evidence 
 that they were apt pupils in American methods. 
 
 Tlie tyrant capital has been a hard master to tlie Canadian iieoj»lc generally. 
 How very diffei-ent it might have been liad our rulers been true to tlieir countr\- and 
 true to the people whose guardians they were, instead of a population of live niillions 
 of discontented and imi)overislied people, and the discredit tliat now attaclies to tlie 
 Canadian politician, we miglit liave jiad a i»opulation of at least ten millions", of 
 prosperous jieojile, and statesmen respected in eveiy European capital. Tlie civiii/a- 
 tion. that ha,s been forced upon us, is one unwortiiy of a fre(>, peopl(> and liettei' 
 suited to the subjects of a Despot or the j.easancs of a con(|uered nation tlian tlie 
 (lesGeuilantsoftho.se who foiiglit against the tyrant Stuarts of England and the 
 Bourbons of France. 
 
 Will our present Kulers knowing our condition, and the catises that liave led'to 
 it, rise eiiuai to the great emergency now staring them in the face, or will the tyrant 
 capital be allowed to perch himself higher and higher in the legislative and senatorial 
 halls of our countiy until all that is best and noblest in the land lie either crushed or 
 driven awav. 
 
f 
 
 s 
 
 IH • ^ THE COMING STRUGC^J.E. 
 
 No rulers have over Ween calletl upon to deal with a K'U'Ver crisis than is now 
 presante I to the psopieof Canada, ami the United States, and their Riders. When 
 the late Lord Ms caulay j>redicted serious times in the United States, wlien its cities- 
 became jiopulous and the j)Oor cried for hread. the fact of Canada s contignity 
 to the United States and the relations that such continuity would hrinj^ sihout between 
 paople suffering; uud(M' similar conditioMs in either rounti-y m;iy have escaped him ; 
 in fact at the time the pi'eJictions were made lie causes that have bred, intensified 
 and eml>ittered our present conditiois whicli are woise for obvious reasons, than 
 those predicted by Macauhiy, had not arisen. Tlie jilunderint;' of the people by their 
 politicians, j^overnmeiits and oHicials was unknown — theic were no millionaires in 
 Canada forty-tive years a^o and only an occasional one in tlie United States. By 
 the new methods of makin<; millionaires l)y pul)lic plunder in both countries more has 
 been accomplished in a short twenty years, by many millionaires in (yamida, in- 
 dividually. thv.n several centuries have accomplished, by peiseverance. licnes-t work, 
 and >i:reat intellectual i)0wer, all combined in other comjtries ; in this regard the 
 millionaires in the United States and Canada occupy an tin ique position. The con- 
 dition of the people is also unique, for tbereare no countries, or country in the world, 
 except the United States and Canada, whose people have been reduced from plenty to 
 poverty in twenty years, by tlie perfidy of their rulers. Cause and effect are 
 easily seen here. The plunderer and tlie i)lundered seem almost to meet in the acts, 
 which make them millionaires and paupers respectively. It require^ but little pene- 
 tration, and no gift of prophecy to see that any great vipheaval in the TJnited States 
 will be more fatal to Canada than to the United States. How, I ask will the small 
 population of Canada protect themselves against the starving millions of American 
 (Citizens, (with many former Canadians among them), who have been made houseless 
 and homeless by the sordid, greedy and brutal millionaires of both countries. 
 
 There are now five millions of idle men in the United States from abont the same 
 causes that there are three lumdred tliousand in Canada; when this mtmber douhles, 
 as it will in a very few years, wdiat then ? 
 
 Surely, the politicians, millionaires, and oflHcials in the excitement of plundering 
 the people, could hardly have anticipated the awful conse*iuences. Is it not high 
 time that predictions founded on much stroncer groundsthan Macaulay's were taken 
 into very serious consideration. Do the millionaires and ofKcials still ciy. on with 
 the dance? Are the Neroes still fiddling ' The politicians, millionaires and 
 spoilsmen of every kind in both countries, .lave been pursuing the same Godless 
 methods, which for heartlessness. quite ou. strip the methods that for nearly two 
 thousand years have been condemned by every truly Christian Church and every 
 ti-uly Christian man and woman the world over, and all others wlio are not deaf to 
 the message of the ^leek and Lowly Nazarene, to "bear one anothei's burden's." 
 The voice of the people which is the voice of God when crying for bread, even for a 
 drink of cold water to satisfy the thirst of hunger has been mocked. Those, and 
 the descendants of those who have borne^ the front and the brunt of the battle in 
 America liave been plundered and robV)ed of their homes ; have l)een in hundreds of 
 thousands of instances slowly murdered by the spoilsmen and millionaires. The 
 tyrant capital of America is nevei- satisfied. History, however, teaclies us. that the 
 oppressor or tyrant can only have one end. Let the millionaire and ofHcial cry, 
 '• On with the dance," for even now we are on the eve of tlie Waterloo of America. 
 
 MAY GOD DEFEND THE JUST. 
 
 Toronto. (Canada). 1897. . . . 
 
 N.B.— Upon receii»t of 10 cents, a coi^y post-])aid, will be nniiled to a)iy address 
 in Canada, the United States, or Great Britain. Address, PUBLISHER, 105 Church 
 St.. Toronto, Canada. •. . « r- -'•'• 
 
 J. JOHNSTON, Stiitioiicr Hiid riiiit(!r. 105 Cliurcl) St . 'IV.roiito. . •