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 1 2 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
/ 
 
 
 Hr 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 FIGURES AND FACTS. 
 
 : o 
 
 MERCIER PJ)OMISES-THEIR NON-FULFILMENT. 
 
 : o 
 
 COIVSERTATITE SVATISTICS— THEIR TRUTH 
 
 UNUENIED. 
 
 : o : 
 
 ,1 , H 
 
 Time presses ; a few pointers must suffice. " drant]*^ 
 begins at home : " it is the duty of each elector to study, 
 firstly, Jiis own interests, that of his family, and that of 
 the community to which he belongs. L saving aside all 
 petty questions of nationality, religion, or even political 
 colors, let 'each one ask himself honestl f the question : 
 Which party has been the most economcal ? which has 
 fulfilled its promises and redeemed its pledges the most 
 faithfully? which has sought the interests of the Pro- 
 vince, and which worked for the pers >nal views of its 
 individual members despite the confide ace of the j^eople, 
 which it forgo fc to recognize once elevated to power ? One 
 party sacrificed itself and each member of its body for the 
 good of the people that they were elected to represent ; 
 tho other made use of the popular vote, stimulated by 
 numberless promises to gain power, — and immediately, 
 on reaching the elevation sought for, forgot their pro- 
 mises, and acted in direct contradiction to their pledges. 
 Before the election, after it, and ever since, the Conserva- 
 tive party has been consistent. Before the election, tha 
 
/ 
 
 ■ 
 
 National party filled the air of the Province with number- 
 less promises ; once in power and the dangers of a mena- 
 cing political contest over, they forgot completely to fulfil 
 even one of those pledges given to the public. Read the 
 Facts, reflect upon them, and act accordingly. 
 
 THE TWO REGIMES COMPARED. 
 
 Truth needc no set phrase of speech ; figures are more 
 eloquent than words ! The following comparative 
 tableau will give an idea of the manner in which the 
 Q-overnment, so-called National, has practised economy :— - 
 
 conservative: riSgime. 
 
 1884-85. 1885-86. 
 
 Legi8lali(^n $185,217.98 $181,987.75 
 
 Civil Government - 187,874.1 2 183,675.41 
 
 Adminiatration of Justice 356,646 48 363,746.48 
 
 Police 14,090.00 14,090.00 
 
 _itorie8,etc 55,000.00 70,000.00 
 
 Inspection (jf PuMic Offices 6,838.97 6,337.33 
 
 Arts and Manufac\uK>3- 6,000.00 9,000.00 
 
 Public Works and gildings 68,928.81 ,^2,584.40 
 
 We will now Hance at the table of expenses under the 
 Liberal (or National) Regime during an equal space of 
 time 
 
 LIBERAL REGIME. 
 
 1887-88. 1888-89. 
 
 Legislation 1..^ $213,065.32 $190,850.00 
 
 Civil Government \ 207,958.67 219,776.00 
 
 Adminii^ration of Jus. (ce 438,168.95 385,170.00 
 
 Police k 19,090.00 17,316.00 
 
 Reformatories, etc ... 1 90,452.00 84,452.00 
 
 Inspection of Public Offices 7,600.00 9,000.00 
 
 Arts and Manufactories 9,500.00 15,000.00 
 
 PubHc Works and Buildings 145,522.61 97,300.76 
 
 Let the intelligent elector compare these two tables. 
 For 1889, the current year, we have but the estimates ; 
 but we can easily presume that they will be» exceeded, 
 as last year the existing government has expended $180,- 
 AAQ nQ VjTT <3»-jjif»iol ■waf raTifo. over and above the estimatss 
 
 :ti.X 
 
(. 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 voted for that year ; and even as the figures are, they 
 exceed the sums expended under the Conservative regime. 
 It is not surprising that such a Liberal as Mr. Q-eo. W. 
 Stephens, should have addressed to the Gazette of Mont- 
 real, a letter dated, July 19th, 1888, in which he said 
 that he desired to convey the idea, " that if the* policy of 
 economy ai^d reform professed by the Liberals, in opposi- 
 tion had been carried out, the revenue from ordinary 
 sources v/ould have sufficed for the needs of the Govern- 
 ment." Mark especially the items for administration of 
 justice and public works in the above tables. Eead, and 
 then ask yourselves, — Where is the vaunted economy 
 that Mr. Mercier so loudly proclaimed " from the house- 
 tops," from the beginning to the close of the election ? 
 It has all vanished, "like the baseless fabric of a dream." 
 Mercier iu Opposition and Mercier in Power are two 
 different persons. The Liberal (now National) Party 
 before an election, and the same party, with contr^^Vof 
 the treasury, are completely distinct. But, we will go 
 further ! Examine a few of their pledges, and mark how 
 they have never been fulfilled ! Mark the inconsistency 
 of the First Minister of our Province! In 1882, when 
 the Conservative Government proposed to reduce the 
 number of Cabinet Ministers from seven to six, Mr. 
 Mercier, then in opposition, said, (see Hansard) : '* I regret 
 that the number has not been fixed at five. It is not 
 necessary that we should have a Commissioner of Bail- 
 roads, when we have no railways to operate. The Prov- 
 ince of Ontario finds five Ministers enough, and I think 
 we could get along with the same number. We should 
 content ourselves with Jive Ministers, awaiting the crea- 
 tion of a Minister of Education, as has lately been done 
 in the sister Province." Once in power, the same Mr. 
 M^ercier not only refuses to reduce the number of Ministers 
 from six to five, but, for the sake of petty party influence, 
 he did not reduce that number, but he creates a seventh 
 portfolio, and names Col. Rhodes Minister of Afirriculture. 
 
 
4/ 
 
 The one who, in opposition, v^ished, lor the sake of 
 economy, to reduce the number of Ministers, now that he 
 is in power, builds up a new office, adds one more Minis- 
 ter to the already too numerous six, chooses Col. Rhodes 
 as that Minister, and selects Megantic as the constituency 
 to help him in his object. Let Megantic be the catspaw. 
 Col. Rhodes the instrument, and the advocate of economy 
 and five Ministers becomes the recognized and honored 
 political spendthrift, with a Cabinet of seven. Let 
 Megantic pay for ic, if Megantic is willing ! 
 
 Mr. Mercier promised, should he ever gain the position 
 that he sought, to reduce the fearful expense imposed 
 upon the province by the employment of sessional em- 
 ployees. Let us refer again to figures. 
 
 SESSION OF 1885— CONSERVATIVE. 
 42 Sessional Clerks employed, daily salary being $78 00 
 
 ^ SESSION OF 1886— CONSERVATIVE. 
 68 Sessional Clerks employed, daily outlay being $123 00 
 
 SESSION OF 1887- WITH MR. MERCIER'S REGIME OF 
 ECONOMY IN FULL BLAST. 
 
 141 Sessional Clerks employed, daily salary being $224 00 
 
 It will be thus seen that Mr. Mercier, the advocate and 
 promissor of economy, spent $100 per day more in ses- 
 sional expenses than the Conservative aovernment in 
 1886, and $146 more than his predecessors. Between the 
 increase in messengers and other branches, the session of 
 188t cost $31,000.00 more than the year previous. 
 
 Mr. Mercier, in opposition, told us that the Legislative 
 Council was useless and dangerous ; but Mr. Mercier as 
 first minister stated to the Legislative Assembly, in 1887, 
 that he gave up the idea of wiping out the Legislative 
 Council. : Not only so but he even went as far as to name 
 new members in an assembly that was once obnoxious to 
 him. Useless to allude to the traffic of seats in that Coun- 
 cil : for example, the questionable manner in which Mr. 
 
 r'> 
 
•"'> 
 
 Webb gave up his seat, and Uis reward. " Consistency 
 thou are a jewel " ; but Mr. Mercier has no room for thee 
 in his casket. On coming into power he began by the 
 act of a bully ; he directly insulted all those who had 
 opposed him. Unaccustomed to authority, he imagined 
 that tyranical conduct was the best evidence of political 
 sagacity. He attacked his opponents, pointed out to them 
 the greatness of their fall, and finally he undertook to 
 " boom " our province by an inter-provincial conference 
 in which secession was admitted to have a voice, and Nova 
 Scotia's voice of dismemberment was heard ; which con- 
 ference resulted in a fiasco ; the whole costing |10,000, 
 despite that Mr. Mercier said it would not cost a cent. He 
 sought to raise our credit by negociations of a loan, in 
 New York, which permitted the Americans to ridicule and 
 laugh at us, he groped around in tL 3 tangles of his own 
 unravelled policy, to find something sensational that 
 might attract the sympathies of the people. In the mazes 
 of his confusion he struck upon the Jesuit question ! Here, 
 he imagined that he had a two-edged sword ; and so it 
 was ! To the Jesuit Fathers and the Catholic clergy he 
 posed as the one whose influence and exerHons had se- 
 cured for them the 1400,000 : to the Protesiant electors, 
 (for example in the Eastern Townships), he excused him- 
 self by saying, that the Conservative policy had forced 
 him into this groove. 
 
 And yet, La Verity, one of the Castor organs, one of Mr. 
 Mercier's mouth-pieces, tell us, only the other day, that the 
 Jesuits could expect nothing from the Conservatives. A 
 liberal reward to any one who can explain such flagrant 
 contradictions. 
 
 Again a fresh contradiction. Last year, in the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly, Mr. Mercier insulted directly the Rev. 
 Cure Labelle, accusing him of being a political intriguer, 
 and in less than one year after, he took him as deputy 
 Minister of Agriculture. He blamed Cure Labelle for ex- 
 ercising his influence in politics, and to-day he makes use 
 
 I 
 
 \1 
 
6 
 
 of him, all through the province, for the advancement of 
 his own political prestige. Mr. Mercier may have a square 
 head upon his shoulders ; but there is a face on every side 
 of the square. No matter what the instruments may be, 
 he 18 prepared to use them. Power he wants and he cares' 
 not how that power is tr be obtained. Promises broken, 
 pledges unfulfilled, increased expenditure, augmented 
 taxation, religious duplicity, national prejudices,— all, all 
 are the same to him, provided the object of his ambition 
 can be attained. A worthy follower he has found in Col. 
 Rhodes ; and to-day, the premier, with his unfulfilled pro- 
 mises and broken pledges ; the candidate, with his record 
 of past injustices to Megantic, come before you and solicit 
 your sufira^es. Judge between the stranger and the man of 
 your county; between the one v^rho formerly betrayed 
 you for his own aggrandizement, and the man who has 
 a stake and an interest in your constituency; judge 
 0>t}tween Mercior, his false promises, demagogic appeals, 
 Rielite platform, and the man vrho desires to have the 
 true, real and honest interests of Megantic fostered and 
 protected. Vote for Col. Rhodes, that he may buy some 
 new railway terminus and cast you aside when his con- 
 tract is signed ; vote for Mercier, who has raised creed 
 and national prejudices throughout the whole Province, 
 or— vote for Mr. Johnson, a son cf your soil, one capable 
 of representing Megantic with dignity and with honor. 
 Choose between them, and if you bow to Mercier's big^ 
 otry, Rhodes' avaricious and grasping ambition, and that 
 you again find your county laughed at and scoffed at by 
 a rejection on the part^of that man, you will have but to 
 strike your own breasts and say, " Through my fault." 
 
 The warning note is given ! Megantic, beware ! Vote 
 for your own candidate and crush out, once and forever, 
 all religious, national and political prejudices in your 
 good community. 
 
 CANADA Sr. 
 
Read the following letter, which appeared in 
 Montreal Daily Star of the 15th inst. :— 
 
 COL. RHODES. 
 
 the 
 
 Who Has Selected the Rbpeesentative of the Engush Speaking Peoplb 
 
 IN THE Local Cabinet? 
 
 Sir: 
 
 It now appears that Col. Rhodes, of Quebec, ha^ been 
 
 aken m as a member of the Local Cabinet to represent 
 
 the English-speaking people. Many are anxious to know 
 
 who chose him. Was it the English-speaking people of 
 
 the Province or of the County of Megantic. or was It the 
 
 National element in the Cabinet ? 
 
 The lact local elections gave Mr. Mercier power and 
 no doubt the main factor in doing this wa^ the Riel 
 question. 
 
 Dr. Cameron, who did not fall in with the Riel more- 
 ment, was returned, and has given his allegiance and 
 support to Mr Mercier ever since. Why has he not been 
 called to the Cabinet ? 
 
 Again, there was an election in Missisquoi, an English- 
 speaking county. Mr. McCorkill, a young man of tflent 
 and certainly acceptable, had been defeated by Mr' 
 Spencer, but succeeded in having the election voided and 
 ran again. Why did not Mr. Mercier take him as a mem- 
 
 .f f 1 , ^^^'""^^ ^""^ ^^* ^'"^ ^^ *^« representative of 
 tne iinghsh-speaking people ? 
 
 There was further ar election in Shefford, and Mr 
 Noyes, a man of ability, and who would have been 
 acceptable to the English, offered himself. This was a 
 Liberal county. Did Mr. Mercier take up Mr. Noyes and 
 
 l^Zu'^^.^r'"'^'''!'' ^""^ ''^^ *« *^ ^""Slish Minister? 
 No. the National " element in the Cabinet would not 
 nave him. 
 
 Still yet, the electors of Megantic met and decided on 
 ur. Ihompson as thei^ candidntp Woc, i,^ i_j i.„ 
 
$ 
 
 Mr. Mercier ? No, Dr. Thompson wa.^ brought to Quebec 
 last week and made to resign in favour of Col. Rhodes. 
 "Why then has Col. Rhodes been chosen, and by whom 1 
 
 Let us see what the organ of the Government, La 
 Justice, says of him : — 
 
 " As for us we, are very happy over the entry of Col. 
 Rhodes into the Ministry, and the National element may 
 congratulate itself upon the choice which has been made. 
 Col. Rhodes is one of those Englishmen, who, at the 
 time of the Riel affair, took an attitude which recom- 
 mended them to the sympathies of the 'French Canadian 
 people. He took part in the general meetings held for 
 the purpose of protesting against the crime which had 
 been perpetrated at Regina, he even presided over an 
 assembly at Sillery, and did not shrink from censuring 
 the Federal Government in that matter." 
 
 Col. Rhodes is then chosen, not by the English- 
 .speaking people, but by the Nationalist element in the 
 Cabinet, and his qualification is that he was the only 
 English-speaking person in the whole Province who got 
 up on a public platform and denounced the execution of 
 Riel. 
 
 Are the English-speaking people of this Province or 
 Megantic going to accept this candidate ? 
 
 Certainly, he has not been accepted by the English- 
 speaking electors of Megantic. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Several Electors of Megantic. 
 
 '\ 
 
 [From the Daily Witness of the 15th Dec.] 
 
 COLONEL RHODES AND RIELISM. 
 To the Editor of tlie Witness. 
 Sir: 
 
 In your issue of Dec. 11th you pay a just tribute to the 
 " unquestionable business ability " of Col. Rhodes, the 
 new Minister of Agriculture in Mr. Mercier's Cabinet. 
 
Jl 
 
 No one doubts his ability for the office, bat can he find a 
 seat? He is distasteful to a large majority of the 
 Protestants of the Province by hie endorwement of Mr. 
 Mercier's Biol platform. With the example jet by such 
 staunch men as the Hon. A. G. Joly, Dr. Cameron of 
 Huntingdon, and many other good and true men, on that 
 unfortunate question, I venture to predict his defeat in 
 Megantic by a rousing majority. If Col. Rhodes expects 
 to get elected in a Protestant constituency in this Pro- 
 vince (and such seats are scarce) he will have to let poor 
 Riel peacefully sleep in his prairie tomb, and not keep 
 rattling his bones every time he mounts the hustings. 
 Col. Rhodes should remember the fate of George Wash- 
 ington Stephens, ex-M.P.P. for Montreal West. If Mr. 
 Mercier is as anxious about Protestant representation as 
 he pretends to be, he will have to give us a true Liberal — 
 one who will represent the Protestant majority— and that 
 majority, it is well known, is opposed to that -rotten^ 
 plank, which he takes pains to make the most of 
 " Rielism." 
 
 J C P 
 
 Sherbrooke, Que., Dec. 12, 1888. 
 
 Sir 
 
 WANTS A LOGIL MAN. 
 To the Editor of the Witness. 
 
 Col Rhodes may be a member of the Mercier Cabinet, 
 but I assure you it will not be as member for Megantic. 
 The Liberals of Megantic have already chosen Dr. Thomp- 
 son as their man ; one who is a native of the county, and 
 one who has an interest in it, and a man capablo in every 
 respect, — and I do not know what upon earth would 
 induce them to throw him overboard for an old Quebec 
 politician who has no interest in the county whatever. 
 Quebec has already three representatives in the House, 
 and it is not likely we are going to givr them another. 
 
 If th(3 IflftdnrR nf fho rkorfTT f-ViJnV fV.»^ ».A .~^j~^ i.. 11 J.I.. 
 
electorate of Megantic round their fingers in any way they 
 think fit, they are miserably mistaken. If Ool. Bhodes 
 comes to Megantic, he will make plain and easy sailing 
 for Mr. Johnston, the opposition candidate, as the most of 
 the old country Liberals will either vote for him or 
 refrain from voting altogether. 
 
 A Leeds Liberal. 
 
 What Mr. James McShane, lately a member of the 
 Mercier Government, thinks of him : — 
 
 COLONEL RHODES IN MEGANTIC. 
 
 Montreal, Dec. 12. — UElecteur, of Quebec, would do 
 well, while the Liberal organ has its hand in, to inter- 
 view Hon. James McShane regarding the mighty wisdom 
 displayed by Mr. Mercier in calling Col. Rhodes to the 
 Department of Agriculture. The late Minister is a keen 
 observer of men, and when asked by the Empire corre- 
 spondent this morning : 
 
 "Do you think Col. Rhodes will be elected?" he 
 replied : 
 
 " It looks as if he would be licked out of his boots, and 
 he deserves it. The Orangemen will vote against him, 
 and the 180 Irish Catholics will do the same." 
 
 " Your people, I presume, will oppose him because of 
 that speech in which it was said that it was not safe to 
 put arms into the hands of the Irish ?" 
 
 -" Certainly. Do you think I would take the stump for 
 a man like that ? Talk about him representing the Eng- 
 lish Protestants ! The idea is ridiculous in the extreme." 
 
 K. 
 
 Read what Col. Rhodes thought of this country ten 
 years ago. Compare his opinions then with his utter- 
 ances to-day to the electors of Megantic. Now he wants 
 their votes, then he wanted to leave the country : — 
 
11 
 
 *» 
 
 THE PARTING SHOT. 
 To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle. 
 Sir: 
 
 As T Jeave to-night for California, I cannot remain any 
 longer to help these poor Quebjec people to battle for their 
 rights, and I may also add their British liberties. To me 
 personally it does not make much difference where I live, 
 so long as I reside under a free constitution, which I am 
 afraid the Province of Quebec is rapidly losing under the 
 present G-overnment. The future of Quebec certainly 
 looks " blue !" with every prospect of a French domina- 
 tion, with a French cure. We all know what this means, 
 "Dragonades " on one side^ "Revolutions " on the other. 
 The quicker and more thorough we exclude the English 
 element from our G-overnment, the more rapid shall we 
 pave the way for the families of the extremists, but let no 
 British subject be afraid of our old motto, " Dieu et 
 Droit." I have been looking amongst my old pape 
 the North Shore Railway, and I find in a " supplemen- 
 tary report of the engineer-in-chief upon the value of the 
 land grant to the company, dated 30th November, 1872," 
 illustrated by a map showing a through line traced to 
 Ste. Theresa, and a branch line via Bout de I'lsle to 
 Montreal, it is stated : 
 
 Block A, containing 1,827,000 acres of land, was valued 
 by Mr. A. J. Russel, the Crown Timber Agent, Ottawa, 
 at $2.80 per acre, 
 
 This block of land was granted by the Legislature to 
 the North Shore and to the Montreal Northern Coloniza- 
 tion Railway Companies. 
 
 The sht-re of this grant belonging to the 
 North Shore Railway Company was, 
 in round numbers, 1,200,000 acres, 
 which at $2.80 gave $3,360,000 
 
 The municipal debentures of the city of 
 
 Quebec valued at 1,000,000 
 
 $4,360,000 
 
1^ 
 
 / 
 
 fl- 
 
 These values the North Shore Railway handed over to 
 the Provincial Government, who contracted to have the 
 railway for $4,t82,387, consequently Quebec may say she 
 furnished nearly the whole values for the construction of 
 the present road, and her interests ought to be perma- 
 nent. This right we now know we are being jockeyed 
 out of, and to benefit no Quebec interests, except that of 
 a party who have got possession, for a brief period, of the 
 reins of Government, and who are sacrificing the city to 
 benefit themselves. Let every man look into his own 
 family to read the history of the future ; what does mine 
 teach me ? I have five sons, men who were not afraid 
 to go into the workshops of the land and learn the use of 
 their hands as well as of their heads ; they have all gone 
 from the Province of Quebec, and I am left to vegetate 
 and grow flowers to decorate the graves of the dying 
 C ,.^becers, or travel west, like the old Indian in search of 
 
 n.-'appy hunting grounds. 
 
 The great misiake of my life was settling in Quebec, 
 but this I am not repeating in the second generation, as a 
 man may pay too dear for beautiful scenery ; but when 
 almost every man is so reduced that he is not ashamed 
 to borrow money, it surely is time to make one last efibrt 
 to save the city from losing her share of the western 
 trade, so I advise Quebec to battle along the whole line 
 and not allow herself this time to be cheated out of her 
 legitimate rights and her just expectations. 
 
 I am, sir, 
 Your obedient servant. 
 
 Quebec, 16th February, 1878. 
 
 W. Rhodes. 
 
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