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Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mOthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ""coeonr nsoumoH mi chait (ANSI ood ISO TESr CHART No, 2| |2J 12.2 1 2.0 1.8 liM ill! u APPLIED IM43E Inc (716) *a2 - 0300 - Phon, (716) 288- 5989 - Fo, THE PROBLEM OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT.* BY W. U LESUEUK, LL.D. THERE are many distinct problems of popular povernment, but the one great and comprehensive problem which it presents is : how the best results may be obtained from it — how it may be made »o work for the highest good of the community in which it is established. Popular Government, or Democracy, is now an almost universal datum throughout the western world, in which, of course, we include western Europe. Early in the last century, as we must now designate the nine- teenth, the philosophical De Tocqueville somewhat sadly proclaimed its coming, bidding the world prepare for a regime under which privilege, precedent, personal authority, the sagacity of the statesman, the wisdom of the philosopher, and the erudition of the scholar would alike be swept out of sight by one vast wave of popular domination. He mentions in his correspondence that, in America, he had found manners and ideas uniformly commonplace; and what he feared was that Democracy every- where would simply mean the reign of commonplace. To a refined and sensitive spirit the prospect was not encouraging ; but a robustcr phil- osophy might, perhaps, Jiuve enabled him to feel that there was still hope for the world — that, howe/er mediocrity might assert itself for a time, the finer fruits of the human spirit would flourish again in due season. Seme, however, of Dc Tocqucville's contemporaries were not disposed to acquiesce in the opinion that the universal triumph of democracy was inevitable. They saw the foe advancing, and armed themselves to give him battle. Our own annals afford a conspicuous example of this political temper in the person of Sir Francis Hond Head, who, sixty-three years ago, was administering in this city the govern- ment of the Province of Upper Canada. "The British Constitution,' he says in one of his despatches to the Colonial Office, "has nothing t^ dread from its low-bred antagonist (democracy) in America if His Majesty's Governm?nt will not avert from us its support." He was greatly scandalized to hear that instructions had been given to the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick to endeavour to place in his Council "gentlemen representing the various interests which exist in the Province, and possessing at the same time the confidence of the people at large." It seemed to him, and he said as much to the Colonial Secretary (Lord Glenelg), that this was neither mere nor less than giving the highest official countenance to anarchy. He speaks in another despatch of "the repeated repulses which the American people have met with whenever they have attempted to invade Canada for the purpose of forcing upon us their loathsome institutions." That Sir Francis was * A l«ctare delivered ia the Cbemicat Building, Univenity of Toronto, February 23rd, f~' *'r!",'>'-""*""*~"~-*-«-... I::- - ■•<1»,> 1 ,'»? **■*«'•"■■»«■&; ■' a hi^h-miiij^ man — a much mure hi^h-mimicfi man th.'Mi some of the Rcforrtiers with whom he had to contend— no impartial reader of his '■ Narrative" can doubt : but lie was on the losing; side. He was a man of great force of character, and he liail in fact rallied a large portion of tlie I'rovince to his views: but the Colonial Office clearly saw that a cause whicli depended on personal force of character could not be per- manently sustained. He was infoimed that " His Majesty's Govcinn)cnt looks to no transient results or temporary triumphs." Finally, as you are aware, he .sacrificed his office rather than obey the instructions he had received to restore a certain person to office whom he had tliought it proper to remove. I do not know whether the conflict between the two irreconcilable ideas of personal goveriuiient and popular government can be better studied than in the volume to which 1 have been referring. It is almost impossible not to sympathize with the champion of the dying cause ; and yet the very heroism which he throws into the fight gives foreboding of failure. His opponents did not require to be heroic, nor yet uncom- monly straightforward. They only needed to unite on a policy, and pursue it with persistence. What they wanted above all things was control of the patronage; and that they got through the establishment of what was called " responsible government." At the time that Sir Francis was waging his hopeless contest in this Province the Reform Hill (1832) had already been passed in England. That bill, as it proved, contained in germ the whole democratic system of government ; but this was not perceived at the tune by its authors, nor even, for the most part, by its opponents. It contained the principle of Democracy in this respect, tliat it gave siibsUtnlial representation to the masses of the people ; the play of party politics did the rest. So long as there is an untouched reservoir of political power anywhere, so long will it attract the covetous glances of the party most likely to profit by tapping it. It is difficult for the practical politician to pass by a mass of possible votes irretortis oculis. At the same time many were the declarations made that there as no intention, or even thought, of democratizing the Constitution of i.^ngland. Lord John Russell declared in 1837 th.a, so far as he was concerned, the settlement of 1832 was final. " Having," he said, " only five years ago reformed the represen- tation, having placed it on a new basis, it would be a most unwise and unsound experiment now to begin the process again. . . . I say, at least for myself, that I can take no share in such an experiment." As we all know, however, that indefatigable statesman did in later years take part in several such experiments. In 1854, and again in 1859, he made unsuccessful attempts to carry further measures of reform. On the latter occasion he is recorded to h-'.vc said : " I wish to disclaim entirely any intention to frame a new f institution. I disclaim such a project for two reasons. One is that I nave no wish to alter the Constitution of this House; the other is that, if any such alteration were sought, I should feel totally unable to propose anything that would stand in the place of the- ^.ncicnt .ind (jlorious Constitution o' il,c country." This sentiment was echoci and reinforce! by Mr. Uisraeii on the other M.le of the House. "We thnikV he .said, " that the Kn(,Mi.sh Const.tution is not a me-e |)hras|e. We believe that we hve un.ier a monarchy, modified in Its action by tlic autliority of estates of the realm. . Under a democracy we i ours were m-eiletl now To stem the torrent of descending time." But no reasonable man will oppose himself to that which he sees to be inevitable. Rather, perceiving it to be inevitable, he will seek out the causes and conditions which, in making it so, make it also best suited on the whole to the age in which it has appeared. How much obloquy has been heaped upon popular government if would weary you to tell. Those of you who have read Sir Henry Maine's work entitled " Popular Government " know with what dignified irony he treats the hopes which. Democracy has inspired in its champions and advocates. Those of you again who have read Mr. Lecky's volumes have not failed to recognize his evident desire to place popular govern- ment in the worst possible light. No doubt both these eminent writers say many things that are true ; they point out real flaws and weaknesses in popular government ; but they do not attempt to show how the ten- dency of the times in the direction of Democracy is to be reversed. I cannot help agreeing with the verdict of Mr. John Morley, on the first of these writers. " Sir Henry Maine," he says, " is a bureaucrat who cannot bear to think that Democracy will win. . . . His tone is that of a political valetudinarian, watching with uneasy eye the ways of rude health." Mr. Leckey, too, is a writer who, as his later writings have particularly shown, and, I may add, as he is exhibited to us by no mean judge of character, " Punch," is more or less disgusted with life, and con- sequently with Democracy. No despondent man, however, can be a safe guide. The men to trust are those who, if they have to recognize evil. think at once of the rt-maiics that can be applied, or look lievi-ntl llic evil tu the yuod that may eventually he evolved from it. Say what we will of Ucmocracy it means political life of ■< certain kind lor everybody except those who turn aside from ih boon because they are obliged to share it \\'\*\i so many quite plain people. Let us admit that Ucmocracy i> open to much criticism, that its ways arc not the ways of the philosopher or the saint, that there is a terrible flavour of average liumanily. and soractinies of inferi(jr humanity, about its doings; all that does not prove that it is not in theory, or that it is not destined to become in practice, the best foiin of human government. When a child is learning to walk we do not feel like deriding its hesitation and timidit)-, or exulting over its falls. Popular government, to my mind, is very much in the pos'ition of a child learning to walk. The child is born unable to walk, but it tiiHst learn to walk ; its whole future development depends on the actjuisition of that accom- plishment. Human societies, in like manner, arc born unfit for self- government ; but their complete development depends on thcii becoming fit for it. That seems to me to be the case in a nutshell. The stage of imperfect attempts, marked by many lapses and many more or less ungainly movements, has to be passed through. We are yet in that stage, and clever writers, if they are so mmded, can find much to satirize in our performances. Hut, looking at '.he main question, who can deny that a community in which each individual contributed some grain of wisdom or moral force to the general direction of affairs, would constitute a hij.'' political type than one in which a few ruled and the rest subrr. .j to their dictation, however benevolent that dictation might be. The problem of popular government is precisely the problem how to make each individual a helpful, not a retarding or an opposing, iifluence in the work of good government. The historian Grote has well auI that " No system of government, even supposing it to be very niii' h b«-ttcr and more faultless than the Athenian oemocracy, can ever pr< ;i(t to accomplish its legitimate end apart from the personal charactt of th* people, or to . upersede the necessity of individual virtue and vigour.' Democracy comes to the individual citizen without respect to soci.il rank and says, " The time has come for you to assume a share in influencing ind directing the government of your country. You n-iy not at pre-^r lave all the qualifications required for that duty, but you cannot beg earlier ; and it is necessary that you, a citizen, should acquire the educ- tion of a citizen. Therefore begin now, follow your best jucgnient, ti > to rise superior to purely selfish interests, and in due time you will find yourself doing fairly well." Unfortunately this is not the prevalent conception of the meaning of Democracy or ' i the nature of its appeal. The idea that the power once possessed by one, or by a limited class, is now divided amongst the whole people "s familiar enough ; but the idea that each man should try himself by the i-ule which he applies to the monarchs and oligarchs of the past is not a familiar one. We condemn the rulers of the past because th.y best suit his private cil.ls. It was for a precisely similar misu^ ol power that some monarchs have lost their hea.ls in mes pasl. That a mar, s vote is not absolutely hi, own to ur of a government with a stron- majority In this respect it can hardly be claimed that the wealthier classes show an example of sintjular virtue to their humbler fellow-citizens, I,ook at this port y gentleman, dressed in irreprrjachablc Iin«li,h tweed, with a decided dash of social culture, who comes forward to address an audience of electors in a mminB town. Heing the person of the most weight in the community, he has been elected chairman of the meetin- ; neverthe- less he ventures an opin! „, of his own, " Cientlemen," he says, "as ch-.irman I have not much to say to you on this occasion. I shall iust sa, this, however, that the question you have to consider is, In mv opinion, a very simple one; namrly, whether the party in power or the party out of power is likely to do most for the business interests of this locality We need not wander beyond that." Here was the keynote struck by a man possessins; all the advantages of education, social position and necuniary independence, which go to make up a typical specimen of what u.sed to be called the " ruling classes." A discussion follovvs, and some very plain citizens seem to think that certain other questions, more remote from their own local interests, might properly be taken mto consideration. The great man, however, speaks again, and makes it clear that he looks with great disfavour on all such divagations 1 da.e say many of you have witnessed scenes very similar to this \Iv ^"Jf 7r i! "T ^'T '"'''•*"'' " '==■"' '° ■"<■■ '° "»' a somewhat doubtful light on the influence exerted by those so-called higher classes who, hfty years ago or so, were thought to be the only safe depositaries of political power Is Democracy, it may b- asked, having a fair trial when men of wealth and influei..-c are doing their utmost to hold it down to the most inferior conceptions and practices .' There is worse than this, however ; there is the fierce contempt which men conducting larce enterprises sometimes show for political issues of all kind.s, and their avowed willingness to throw ull their influence on the side of any Govern- ment whatever with which they can make an advantageous deal " h-veryone remembers Montesquieu's dictum about the difil-rent forms ol government and their respective fundamental principles. Absolute governments must repose on fear, monarchies on honour, aristocracies on moilcratioii, i.ml ripublici on virtu.-. To Mimcoiic wli.i cilcil the rcm.irk nt t.i rupubhr. to Altx iiultr II..milt"ii. tin- l.itt.T nplii-il th.it. in liin opmiofi, vvii.it republics inu.t dciicridcl on «-.i^ c .rriip! .M(.iiti.-^.|uifu, huvvcvcr. W.1-, pcrk'ctiy ,'lit in p..- Maine speaks with ^;reat sevcritv of the abject flattery a ninistercil to the multitude by those who woulil win its favour. To lm, however, is this mainly a reproach ? It is indeed to be regretted .at the populace shoiiM not have a m..re delicate taste in this matter than the moiiarchs and other great ones of the past bef.irc whom men of mtellcct used to debase themselves ; but what arc we to think of the more or less e.lui tc.l gentlemen wli.) purvey the stuff? If the people would take a f measure of themselves they would be aided by referring to a boi liat never flatters, and that knows nothing of party views. They woul.l there find such utterances as these : " Why do . , . the people imagine a vain thing ? " • • • " Where no counsel is, the people fail." • • • " Where there is no vision, the people perish." • • • " The people that know their good shall be stron" " • • • " The people that do not understand shall fall " • • • I do not imagine that in relation to the problems of to-day " the people " of today enjoy any advantage over " the people ' of the times of Daniel or Hosca. In simpler times there were simpler problems; the problems of our time tax the wisdom of the wisest ; so that now, as ever, the people need to take heed against imagining vain things and against acting without counsel or vision. To believ" in their own ir, dlibility is a sure way of falling into hurtful errors. Vet something like this state of mind 8 docs exist there is reason to fear, in democratic communities. " No ot),crver of American politics," says a very able writer, Mr E L Oodl'' -"^™' --^P-' 'o persons and with a As regards legislation an important point to notice the altered pos.t,on of the legislator as compared with that which he o pL u^der ■w? fin'j' Ph'' 'f 'S-'^i 'f '■" ^° ''^'^ =* "«l- °-" «"•-• h".,rd "ears thin ,r, K^ , ' T'' '"^■"bers lo act upon a very enlarged view of fh ngs, we shall at length infallibly degrade our national repfesen alon nto a ccufusedand scuffln.g hustle of local agency!' Burke »a" tJd a rt':ndletd'rt'th"^ P"^,"' '° ^""''' "P^^"^'-' «: troaching court , and he d.d not think Parliament could be strong if its members were reduced to the rank of mere delegates-echoes no volcS It s Zg:rtL:t"pa'r '' T'^ "."" '"■^ f°'"'S'" -hen'he speTs of he Se oM^^r ™"'."'?y degenerate into "a confused and scuffling which »i ^^Tf ' """'' ""= «°^ds describe something with ,^ I'lT 1 "°' "'''°"y unacquainted in this country, and which exists moflin P.='-f^<^'i™/"°»s our border. I must, howeve , quote a few words rinTtn ,h "'^ K"*f"f,"^ ''"^^ ■"™"'=d ^i"<^'= Burke's time Re7er- sav! iVT^ ''!'"'' u'"^'' in 'egard to the troubles in Ireland he t.T A '?"'^™^'' '° 'he instructions of truth and nature and mLin! Umed your interest against your opinions with a constancy hat beTame Tarn x^TT^T'l ^'"'"'y °f y"" °"Sht to be a person of stabiiUy m?st hive fii". '°, ^°'" °Pt'"'°"^' ""' *° ="^h opinions as you and dav I kn? 'ir/'^"^ ''™'^- ^ '™' "°' '° '"o"' '° 'h« fla=h of the day. I knew that you chose me with others to be a pillar of the state and Tr^Jvt'^"?'\°'' "'^ '°P °f ""= edifice, exaUed for my levity' and versatdity^' In a former speech he had said : " Your represen alve of s" vTn" vou if h"'"''^^ °"'^' ""' '"'^ J"dKment, and he b'fays ins' ad 01 serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion. . . . Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile inte;ests wh.I^ '"t"''"^"^? ^^f^bly of one nation, with one interest that of the vnn h=?r L ^ I- ■ .• •• ^°" "Choose a member indeed, but when Parliament ■°''" "' " "°' " '"'"''" °^ ^"^'°'' *"" ^ "-ember of in,t,I^"^?'c" or more later, when the Reform Bill of 1832 was beine "S'stand "?his"H '"elis. the member for Oxford, ^took' a vTrf the States ren„ If uT'J'^ ^^'f' "'' '■■°' ^ collection of deputies as the btates General of Holland, and as the assemblies in some other I consttuents^'ThdrTc::"' IT t'- '^ '""' '° ^'^1'^^-" "'= ideas of our trprotecr their ™,er,fi„'i^V'''''' ■""["'''?"' P"^"^-«<^^ "'<^ ""= bou.d t,"f„°',uV.',t^'\"='^'"'"ests we are bound to consult at all times °he fame s^ke"" ' W '""' '^ ''""'"'S'^ "" "■""""'"= ''-'-'.tion "f r™.|tcons:^tH:\s^s^:?^^rc:u^;tJt^ and ?t is then onWhlt f^^!"""^"' '"l!, ^"^ ^S^'" »'"- before them f„,,.. V u ^ """ "^ '^ accountabe to them." We mav mm, be thoroulhl i,,hl\ ^P^'■;f'""'""■>' ■•«P'-«';"tation may be said to The effe^? o?Z °f '"?",'" '-'^'-^^ °^ -to distrust of wiS^er vie f to-dav each mlmh» f 1 V T""""' '° conviction. As things are with Ls elecTn " =,n I ' ''°""'^/° ''''■'■y °"' '■''^ understanding he had rtrophv o th^H.^rh ";PP°r' '"^ P^'y >"= undertook to support. An set fn ^ Ho V far fviM ' f""«'°" °f representative bodies has thus reduced o remains o beTe"'''' H^" "'"'' 1"°^^" Parliaments will be have a dis° net usL of L L„ ^' ^I * P"'"'"' '"'"""^'^ '"'^'x^"' *» observe n "he case of ,h ^^ "c"^"^" complete atrophy we may the United States ArmrH-"f^f.°'^^'°-'^"'='' Presidential Electors in exercise a real choice of 1"^ '° """ Constitution these electors were to an oSon An /ntr • "^ ""''" P^""''"^ P"™^^ f°^ ^° affectfonate to °sma L the marhw'^"""^ newspaper was proposing some time ago thrii K ' • *^'*' "l*' ""' y" t^^"^" accomplished. The fact is that SffraTe'^^rthe ^" "'T'"":!^ '"^^^^^^^ accompaniment of m,Lrsa suffrage m the present condition of society. It'^is a kind of primary school of politics, an institution in which raw, untutored minds get their first introduction to political ideas and methods. If there were any possibility of getting into a blue book a represe.itative selection of the correspondence of the local machines throughout the country, with a few- samples of the higher epistolary style of the Provincial and Dominion staff officers, I think the country would start back at the revelation. It would not want to hug either the machine or itself It is wonderful how ugly a little daylight makes some things look. At the same time good comes out even of this seething mass of evil. The primary school does not give a finished education, but it educates up to a certain point those who have any capacity to learn. The member of tiie local committee is trained to a certain sense of responsibility. He learns what can be done and what cannot be done. He finds out that men are not always gov- erned by their lowest motives. He finds his more disreputable proceed- ings encountering the reprobation of the decent part of the community. He gets disgusted with the unmitigated self-seeking of some of those with whom he has to deal, and possibly h?i some useful fits of reflection on his own doings. If his party is in opposition he may learn some lessons of disinterestedness. We may further say this for the machine, that it is a contrivance for getting work done that would not otherwise be done. After its own fashion it keeps alive an interest in politics ; it greatly helps to " bring out the vote " in a general election. It is a somewhat singular thing that the framers of the Constitution of the United States do not seem to have any prevision of the difficulty there would be in getting the people as a whole to act in political matters. The explanation may, perhaps, be found in the fact that they had been accustomed chiefly to town meetings, in which, the subjects discussed being of local interest, decisions were easily arrived at. The Constitution, however, had not been long in operation before there was found to be a missing link — a device for getting the people interested and bringing them to the polls. It was to meet this need that the machine may be said to have been invented. As an impelling and con- trolling force it has since been brought to great perfection ; and yet it cannot be said that the machine itself has either a clear insight into large political questions or any great interest in them. It does not, in fact, look upon great questions with favour. Its sawb .re not adapted to cut such lumber. It does not argue the question of the tariff, or of grants to higher education, or of Imperial federation, nor yet of prohibition ; it approaches the elector with personal solicitation, and wit!" arguments addressed more or less directly to his self-interest. The highest note it ever strikes is local interest : it sometimes reaches that. It does not make the issues that are presented to the country. These are hammered out in the press and, to a much .^ss extent, in Parliament ; but it gives many a shrewd hint to the party leaders as to what questions should tiot be allowed to grow into issues The instinct of the party politician is to fight shy of all large questions ; he always sees in them more of danger than of safety, more chances of loss than of gain. 13 We strike here an ugly feature of the party system. Why do practical politicians shrink so much from dealing with large questio.ns ? Simply because they know that unfair means will be tried to embarrass them in carrying such measures through. To bring forward some large measure of legislation is to deploy in the open before an entrenched enemy. The theoretical justification of a parliamentary Opposition is that the acts and measures of every Government require criticism. True, but criticism does not imply deliberate misconstruction and misrepresentation. What should V,: think of a literarj' critic who, sitting down to the examination of a book, professedly allowed himself to be dominated by a desire to create as much odium as po.ssible in the mind of the public against the writer ? And yet we all know that this is precisely the line an Oppo- sition in Parliament and in the press usually takes in regard to the measures of the Government of the day. The thing is done by each side in turn, so that it is difficult for either side to feel any very genuine indignation when their own methods are retorted on them. What a common thing it is to see this or that casual and really harmless remark of some public man converted by party malice into a studied insult to some sect or class in the community ! What a ready recourse there is to charges of want of patriotism ! What sad use has been made in more than one emergency of the appeal to national and religious prejudice! It is impossible to associate much with politicians without being struck by their extraordinary and, as it .seems to me, morbid sensitiveness to what they call public opinion. What they are really afraid of i.s less public opinion than public sillines,s. If the public only knew how little common sense they are credited with by the very men who, on the hustings, load them with every kind of flattery, they would feel far from complimented. The common idea among politicians is that the people can be stampeded by a word, a phrase, some unguarded expression or trifling act which in any way touches, or might be so misinterpreted and twisted as to appear to touch, a popular prejudice. It is, of course, taken for granted, and rightly as things go, that opponents will do their utmost to make mischief out of the word, phrase or act ; but where is that con- fidence in the superior judgment and sterling common sense of the masses of the people of which we hear so much on certain occasions? Can the voters be at once so wise as we are told, and also so strongly resemble a herd of buffaloes with th snouts in the air ready for a whirl- wind dash at the faintest scent of ger? I do not readily reconcile the two conceptions. There was a politician once, a true man of the people, who did not believe in the buffalo herd theory. That man was Abraham Lincoln. Of him James Russell Lowell, in his celebrated essay, has said : " This was a true Democrat, who grounded himself on the assumption that a democracy can think. ' Come, let us reason together about this matter,' has been the tone of all his addresses to the people. . . He put himself on a level with those he addressed, not by going down to them, but only by taking for granted that they had brains, and would come up- 14 to a common ground of reason. And accordinsly," adds Mr Lowell speakm;; for the people of the United States, 'SvehL never had a chief mag,strate who so won to himself the love and at the same ti.ne he judgment of h,s country n,en. To us that simple confidence of h iin he nght-mmdedness of his feilowmen is very touching, and its succes is as strong an argum.-u as we have ever seen in favour of he thecrv that men can govern themselves." ^ '"*' wrhJen^anrt';; H '' ""«>'-*'f °' 'hirty-seven years since that essay was ma be ^ht ,h ^ ^" "i'r^ '■,'"" .^'"''"^ ""^ ""^ ^P'"' °' democracy ; it may be that there is a " faclis .Icscensus" for self-governing as wel as (or au ocratica y-governed communities ; but, for my own part I shouH be mclmed s ,11 to have faith in Lincoln's method. ^One, rweverTi o rri,rand's.o""H"^ ^°°''"^'" T'" '° ''''"' Lincoln's "taf^iy: sincerity and .strong hciman sympathy. Of him it may be said that he Wh t"a're Z "■ °' 'k '^"^''', ''"'' f'^'" ""= P™P'« ><"">' '"'^ ">ice. troversie, ,nd H " "'^' P«°Pl<=."rdinarily hear in the political con- troversies and discussions of our time? Broadly speaking, are not all the voices merely repetitions o.<- one voice-the voice of Codlin strenu ously warning us that /« is the friend, not Short.' In Codh we must put our trust if all our interests are not to be wrecked. lU at our own tha Z iTJ7 ^f'"^' r)r^^°"- "^'-^ ereat trouble with CoS n s that he IS not d.sm erested. If he is in power he wants to stav there ■ f „m \l°"y Pu"'"^ "=>"'' '° S"' "'"'=• ' do not say, and I am fa; from thinking that there is no disinterestedness amongst public men ohli, f '"^ " P'"'"u" "'^"^''^ ^'■^ ""' disinterested.^ Their primary' object IS power, not the good of the country. To ge. power they w U do many things that are not for the good of the people; to reta n powe ikewise. In saymg this one merely repeats the unceasing cri? cisms o the parties on one another. But is it reallv possible, one may ask "or a tlTe oVooW 'it^"" T "'"" P°r^ "y ^"^ '^^' ""= "°' for tL good of the people ? I is not necessary for my present purpose to maintain that t« possible; It IS enough to say that political parties //«>,T t po s We sometimes, and act accordingly. But as I am not here to flat?er any Tr^L^^uwZ^rV^'^'"''^""'''}^ contribution to the discuss on of a great subject, I will venture to go farther, and say that parties «« climb into power on false issues, and may retain it for a time by speci/us bit reallv hurtful legislation. This is but another way of say ng that th^ SarLr^he'v c "". t '""'°"'t "'°"- ''"'■ ^ ^^-h"" Lincoln remarked they cannot be imposed upon "all the time" tai' "^^."Ju T!1^ b^^g'-eat thing if some one from a position of advan- polhics It snof "r *°. P-^OPI-; about the actual facts of current wi h rtl/ "°' °'-n«'« phrases that are wanted, but honest grappling Monle H , ^"Ju ''"?•"?". '^°"''' ^ P« '■^'■'ly »"d squarely to thf people: How far they think it is right for any man to hive pecuniary motives of a personal kind for supporting this or that candidate'^or part,^ t^Z/ '"^^"- °t ^"l '^°"" "°'" '^ punishable by law ; butTha moral difference is there between bribery of this kind and briben, bj^the '5 promise of petty offices unci the thousand and one advanta-cs which a party n. power can deal out, and does deal out, to its suppor"ers ' It is an accepted principle of politics that constituencies rettirinn" Govern- ment supporters shall be more favoured than those returnin;,. meml,e,s of the Uppos.t.on ■■ If I had a son," I once heard a memb<."r of l>ar lia' rnent say ; that cheeked me, do you think 1 should feel like doint; any- thms; for h,m .' I rather think not. Well, neither should a GovcrUent do anything for constituencies that go against it." This was several years a^o ; but rnuch more recently a bright young man, a political worker in one ol the newer parts of the country, remarked to m'e hat a new constituency should always side with the Government of the day as otherwise Its growing interests would be in danger of being overlooked Is It not time that sowe one should .say to the people of Canada ■ '■Come' It not? What do you understand by a free suffrage .=■ Vou mean do you not, that every citizen is at perfect liberty to vote according to his views and convictions of public duty.= But can a man be .said to be a perfect liberty to vote m that way if certain very material disadvantages attach to his exercismg the suffrage in opposition to the Govcrnn.ent''of the day? Vou know, of cour.se,' such a speaker would add "that no nian who has voted against a Government candidate has the remotest chance of any public employment unless he recants his political opinions and promi.ses to reverse his vote on the next occasion. Is this freedom ' .1 ^m' '.''u ' "'°''''' y°" "nrfcrstand by restraint.' You have heard of pulls, have you not ? The way to get a " pull " is to " swing " votes- that IS the up-to date exp ession. The more votes you can swins: the stronger your pull. By means of a pull a man can exert a deflecting mfluence on Government action. A Government left to itself will ..en"- erally want to do the right thing. The head of a public departi^ent H?,?,!,hir/' 'u " ""'■^■,«"d devises many things for the public good. But what dees the man with the pull care about the public good ' What are laws and regulations, or the rights of individuals: or the efficiency of the public service to him ? Such deas are foreign to all his ways of thmking. All he knows is that h iid his work, and that he wlntrhis on'^hf , y°" complain sometimes that the public service is not what it ought to be ; but under such a system how can it be what it ought to ^Ja- I '■ " J"""" ^"^"i'^ ; " is your money that goes to maintain it • and in whose interest should it be run but in yours ? Whv should any man ?nt?rest ."' '""'" '° ""'" """ '° ^ ''""^ "''■<='' '^ "°' '" V""" An earnest appeal to the public on these lines could hardly fail of producing some good effect. There are other points of view which might be taken Surely it is somewhat undemocratic that in each locality there shou^d be a boss who more or less co.imands the avenues of approach be morTrTf " • '^' L' '"PuP°'^'' '° -" ■=' f°^ ^"- Why should one man DoT/nor il^ '^"*'' •" '■}>r ^"°' '" "P°" * -"^"^ °f P"b'ic business? Do we not all pay taxes alike.' 'Vhy should one man have to go and |6 put himself under obligation to another, whom the businrss in hand doc* not in the least concern, and with whom he may, perhaps, strongly object to come into ,.-ontact .' It is for the people to remedy this evil. It is for the people to seize the idea that ihe present system deprives theni of a free suffrage, and that it tends to corrupt the suffrage by giving men all kinds of mercenary motives for supporling one party rather than another. In the jargon of party politics those who vote against the party to which we belong are spoken of as " our enemies." Why " our enemies ? " Is it not a hateful thought that we must make an enemy of a man who differs from us on some question of public policy, or in his appre- ciation of certain public men ? Under the present system a Government is supposed to be greatly beholden to its supporters. The understanding is, " Put us in office, or keep us in office, and we will show you special favour. We want office and you want favours; let us do business on that basis." Well, the basis is not a good one, and it says something for human nature and inspires a certain amount of confidence in the larger currents of influence that make for good in the general economy of things, that, upon such a basis, government should be as well carried on as it is. . . ■ The fact is that there is a higher public opinion abroad in the country with which politicians have to reckon ; and it is this higher opinion which forms the strongest support of the public man who desires to do his duty to the whole country. The machine even feels its force at times, as we .sec by some of the men it brings forward. A " strong man is wanted to contest a certain constituency, and the strength of the strong man sometimes— not unfrequently — lies in the fact that he is a good man— a man with a reputation for honesty and fair dealing, for kindliness of nature and public spirit. The sense of public duty grows rapidly upon such men; and, when they come into contact with the administrative system of the country, they perceive the iniquity of trying to twist it out of shape in order to serve their own private purposes. They recognize that " business is business" in a sense far different from that in which the phrase has sometimes been used. If patronage is forced upon them — and in a certain position a man cannot escape it — they exercise it with moderation, and, as far as possible, with an eye to the public good- But as to patronage in general, they sympathize with the feeling Sir Robert Peel had on the subject when, in a letter to Cobden, he spoke about " the odious power of patronage. ' Men of this character are not those whom the machine likes best to deal with. There are meannesses to which they will not stoop ; there are vengeances they will not perpetrate ; there are enmities they will not recognize. When men of superior character are forced, as they sometimes are, out of public life, it is this that breaks their spirit, the everlasting cropping up in their correspondence of paltry suggestions and impossible, if not iniquitous, demands. The lesson I draw from these facts is that more trust should be reposed in the people, and that the people should put more trust in themselves. «7 A recent writer ha« spoken of a certain course of education as tendinc to substitute for those warm, wholesome sympathies which are the safest guides in understanding our fellows and regulating our conduct towards tliem, a cold, critical demeanour of superiority." I trust that such an education is not imparted by any institution of learning in this country. There is something, however, even worse than the 'cold critical demeanour of superiority," and that is a cold, calculating inten- tion to exploit our fellow-men for our own personal advantage. This is a feeling which, I fear, is not unknown among the rising generation of to-day. It IS a very serious question at every epoch : What arc the young men thinking of.' Or to put it more precisely : What are their plans for the future and with what eyes do they look on the world in which they are shortly to play their part? Is each resolving to play solely for his own hand, or are some of them wondering how they can best serve their fellow-men .' Surely in a civilization the religion of which IS founded on the idea of self-,sacrifice, there should not be wantinc some volunteers for the cause of public righteousness. If any word of mine could influence those who are entering on life and who may look forward to a public career, I would say: Let disinterested and high- minded regard for the progress and honour of the country which has nourished you be the basis of all your action. Refuse to believe those who tell you that guile and finesse are the chief resources of the states- man, for nothing can be less true ; they are the resources of the man who IS too weak, too deficient in courage and in large views of public policy, to be a statesman in the best sense. Over three hundred years ago the greatest of English poets summed up the political wisdom which he imagined to have come to the mighty Wolsey from his long conver- sance with affairs, and also from his later misfortunes, in these memorable lines : — •• Love thywif l««t, chcriah tlioae hetrta tli»t haM thn ; Corruption wina not mora than honeaty. Stlllin thy "Rht hand carry gentle peace To ailence envioua tonguea. Be juat and fear not. Let all the enda thou aim'at at be t' y oountrv'a. Thy Uod'a .md truth'!." ' It requires courage, it requires faith, it requires enthusiasm, to lay out one s life on this plan ; but are these qualities dead in this Canada of ours ? u u'-'ll^' "" '""""y ^°' "*" '"^° *'" *PP'y themselves to politics wiih the high purpose, not of leading a party to victory, and sharing in the spoils of party tnumph, but of raising the public life of the country to a higher plane, and quickening throughout the land the sense of public duty. An excellent writer, the late Sir Henry Taylor, has said that a statesman should have such a disposition that " he may sun ml all the good in men's natures." Here is a much better clue to the true nature of statesmanship than any that a cynical philosophy can afford. There IS also a saying of Burke's that 1 greatly admire : " We have no other materials to work with than those out of which God has been pleased to form the inhabitants of this island." This means that we should not 18 wait for millennium to take our «t«n