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 ,OSE?H POPS . '''^^/^ 
 
 
 
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 ELECTION BY LOT 
 
 THE ONLY REMEDY 
 
 FOR 
 
 POLITICAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 Civil knowledge, is, of all others, the most immersed 
 in matter and the hardliest reduced to axioms." 
 
 Bacon. 
 
 " A jest's prosperity 
 " Lies in the ear of him that hears it, 
 " Never in the tongue of him thai tnakes it" 
 
 •*• »',•'•,.• J c ^ » '^ Shakespeare. 
 
 ;•••••••• , . ... •, ■■-- 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 DAWSON BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1884. 
 
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ELECTION BY LOT. 
 
 ** It is the will of Providence," says Hallarn, 
 * that the highest and surest wisdom even in 
 " matters of policy should never be unconnected 
 " with virtue. " ^ 
 
 " A state that makes distinction between public 
 " and private morality, " says Henry Morley, 
 " supposing that high politics have nothing to 
 " do with vulgar estimates of right and wrong, 
 " will fall, as the Italian cities fell." 
 
 The following is from one of our few inde- 
 pendent journals : 
 
 " The independent journals of this Dominion 
 — which, by the way, are happily growing both 
 in numbers and importance — are beginning to 
 point out with something like befitting earnest- 
 ness the positive danger which threatens our 
 
country from the growing callousness of the 
 people towards corruption in politics. That 
 many of our national departments and institutions 
 are hotbeds of intrigue and dishonesty— that the 
 Senate is a sickening sham, whose only effectual 
 function is to enforce the truth that age is not 
 necessarily honourable —that political life gene- 
 rally is actuated by the spirit of brigandage rather 
 than patriotism — and, worst of all — that the 
 Canadian people as a whole are content to know 
 all this and accept it as inevitable — these are con- 
 siderations well fitted to alarm the hearts of true 
 Canadians. The party papers cannot be expected 
 to cry out against it, — even if they did, their 
 warnings would carry no weight with the public. 
 The political partizans in Parliament and the 
 country are in the same position. It therefore 
 becomes the one present duty of the independent 
 press to raise a warning cry, and to persist in it 
 If Canada means to be anything but a by-word 
 and reproach amongst the nations, let her lose 
 no time in clearing her skirts of the corruption 
 which at present she apparently enjoys. " 
 
 If we take these three quotations together, add 
 them up, and examine the sum total, the result is 
 not encouraging to any man who takes an interest 
 in the future of Canada, and, as the laws of history 
 
are not likely to be suspended for the special 
 benefit of the Dominion, it is evident ihat we 
 must either mend our ways or prepare to take 
 our punishment when it comes. 
 
 And yet in Canada we find, if any where, the 
 government of the people, by the people and for 
 the people. Where then is the weak spot ? 
 
 Is it not true that it is equally dangerous to 
 trust either one man or one class with unlimited 
 political power ; and that the government of one 
 class only, and that the least educated and least 
 intelligent, means the government of the profes- 
 sional politician and wire-puller, and that the 
 government of the wire-puller means corruption ? 
 
 Is it not true that a wholesome public opinion 
 is brought about bv the friction of class with 
 class and that when political power drifts into 
 the hands of one class only, public opinion ceases 
 to exist ? 
 
 Is it not true that the public press in this 
 country, instead of instructing and enlightening 
 the people, has become the slave and hireling of 
 the professional politician and wire-puller ? 
 
 Could any greater incentive to corruption be 
 found than to permit the taxes to be voted by 
 one class and paid by another ? Hume referring 
 to the times of the Stuarts, ventured to assert 
 
that the people were not so badly governed, and 
 that they were happy enough so long as they paid 
 their taxes and let politics atone (i). For this he 
 was unmercifully castigated by the Edinburgh 
 Review, nevertheless it very lairly describes the 
 position of the respectable middle class in the 
 British Colonies ; that class which is the real 
 back-bone of the country, but which is not wealthy 
 enough to buy the wire-puller and is too honest 
 to be bought by him. Whatever may be the 
 cause, however, certain it is that in Canada we 
 
 (i) " It is difficult to name a limit beyond which taxes 
 " will not be borne without impatience, when they appear 
 " to be called for by necessity and faithfully applied. But 
 " the sting of taxation is wastefulness. What high-spirited 
 " man could see without indignation the earnings of his 
 " labour, yielded ungrudgingly to the public defence, become 
 " the spoil of parasites and peculators } It is this that morti- 
 " fies the liberal hand of public spirit ; and those statesmen 
 " who deem the security of government to depend, not on 
 " laws and armies, but on the moral sympathies and pre- 
 " judicies of the people, will vigilantly guard against even the 
 " suspicion of prodigality. " Hallam. In this Canada of 
 to-day, however, the parasites and peculators would appear 
 to have it all their own way, as the tax-paying class are too 
 weak to remonstrate ! The sums daily voted away by the 
 various legislatures in Canada are fearful to contemplate and 
 yet the voice of indignation can scarcely be said to be heard. 
 
find the politician and wire-puller everywhere^ 
 buying and being bought, bribing and being 
 bribed. Men, with much to gain and nothing to 
 lose, go in for politics as a profession, looking 
 forward to a government appointment as the 
 ultimate reward of their services. The young 
 lawyer who hopes to become a judge, knows that 
 the best course he can pursue is to throw his 
 law-books aside and work for his party. He 
 knows that if he does this, there is every prob- 
 ability of his being promoted over the heads of 
 better men and that it will be quite time enough 
 to study law when he has attained to his seat on 
 the bench. The man actively engaged in business 
 will, if he is prudent, make a point of keeping on 
 terms with the neighbouring politicians and be 
 prepared " to assist " when called upon, otherwise 
 he may find himself left behind. Private enter- 
 prises have been so often cut to pieces by gov- 
 ernment opposition, in the way of railways and 
 other public works, that it is hardly prudent to 
 enter on large undertakings unless backed up by 
 " the government " with its attendant gang of 
 wire-pullers. When the popular politician gets 
 on the stump, his hearers always expect to be told 
 that something is going to be done for them, and 
 if he expects to succeed he must be lavish in his 
 
promises (i). " The government will build a 
 branch railway for you ; " " The government will 
 put up a bridge for you ; " " The government 
 will build workshops in your city; " " The gov- 
 ernment will improve your harbour;" "The 
 government will make a new road for you. " If 
 in opposition, he points out that the government 
 has promised everything and done nothing, and 
 that it has actually left the electors alone, under 
 the impression that they might perhaps be 
 capable of doing something for themselves " Is 
 it not too bad ! " said a farmer to me once, when 
 I remonstrated with him for the shocking state 
 of the roads in his township. " Is it not too bad t 
 We all voted for the government at the last elec- 
 tion and they have done nothing for us ! " The 
 government, in fact, like the Spanish barber, is 
 expected to be everywhere at once " Figaro la^ 
 
 (i) When the people are themselves corrupt it is of little 
 practical use making laws against bribery. Take the state 
 of Rome for instance, at the time when the Republic was 
 dying from corruption. " There were laws whicii, under 
 " a heavy penalty, forbade bribing the electors, and their 
 " severity had been repeatedly increased, but it was never- 
 " thaless a well-known fact that every candidate, with the 
 ** exception of Cicero, spent enormous sums on his election, 
 " for which they always contrived afterwards to indemnify 
 " themselves during the time of their office. " Niebuhr. 
 
Figaro qua, Figaro ! Figaro ! Figaro ! Figaro ! " 
 and this growing dependence of the people on 
 their corrupt rulers, is one of the worst signs of 
 the times. When that spirit of self-reliance and 
 love of individual freedom which has made 
 England and Englishmen what they are, and 
 which is tiie very essence of true liberty, com- 
 mences to die out, free institutions are very apt 
 to disappear along with them and the road towards 
 anarchy and tyranny is being slowly, but surely, 
 opened up. There is no exaggeration in this. 
 Canada would not be the first free country that 
 has abused its liberty and lost it. The Lombards 
 were one of the bravest, most intelligent and 
 most liberty-loving of the races of Europe, and 
 yet, as Mr. Morley points out, " they made dis- 
 tinction between public and private morality, 
 supposing that high politics had nothing to do 
 with vulgar estimates of right and wrong. " They 
 fell more and more under the influence of the 
 corrupt wire-puller and politician, and what was 
 the result ? " Every danger appeared trivial in the 
 " eyes of exasperated factions when compared 
 " with the ascendancy of their adversaries. Weary 
 " of unceasing and useless contest, liberty with- 
 " drew from a people who disgraced her name 
 " and the tumultuous, the brave, the intractable 
 
10 
 
 " Lombards became eager to submit themselves 
 " to a master, and patient under the heaviest op- 
 " pression. Before the middle of the fourteenth 
 " century all those cities which had spurned at 
 " the faintest mark of submission to the Emperors, 
 " lost even the recollection of self-government 
 " and were bequeathed like an undoubted pa- 
 " trimony among the children of their new lords. 
 " Such is the progress of usurpation, and suck 
 " the vengeance that Heaven reserves for those who 
 " waste in license a7id faction its first of social 
 " blessings. Liberty.'' 
 
 If we are running the same course as the 
 Lombards, why should we not reach the 
 same goal ? Our neighbours in the States 
 have already been visited by the most awful 
 civil war of modern times (i) and at a recent 
 presidential election party spirit ran so high and 
 the wide spread political corruption disclosed 
 
 (i) It has often been asserted that slavery was the cause 
 of the civil war in America, but it is at least equally true 
 to assert that it was a war between two bitterly opposed 
 factions which might easily have been avoided had the men 
 in power been decently honest and displayed a moderate 
 degree of foresight. Political foresight, however, is not the 
 strong point of republics and they usually arrive at the truth 
 by the exhaustion of error. 
 
11 
 
 was of so shocking a nature that, if the recol- 
 lection of the last war had not been fresh in 
 men's minds, there would surely have been 
 another. If Canada were similarly punished it 
 should surprise nobody, though I may be censured 
 for even suggesting it. 
 
 " If we wish to find a parallel to the British co- 
 lonies," says Sir Erskine May, " we must go back 
 to the Greek colonies. " If the comparison be 
 cor/ect it is not very encouraging Most of the 
 Greek colonies started, like ourselves, with full- 
 blown democratic institutions (i) ; they attained 
 great material prosperity, were eaten up by faction, 
 and then, like the over-grown political weeds 
 which they were, they disappeared as rapidly as 
 they grew, leaving little behind them that history 
 cares to mention. References to ancient history 
 are not much in fashion at the present day, but 
 
 (i) The Cumaeans were to some extent an exception. 
 " The Cumaeans lived, like the Chalcidian Cities generally 
 in Italy and Sicily, in conformity with the laws which Cha- 
 rondas of Catana had established, under a constitution 
 democratic but modified by a high qualification^ which placed 
 power in the hands of a council of members selected from 
 the wealthiest men, a constitution which proved lasting and 
 kept these cities free, upon the whole, from the tyranny alike 
 of usurpers and of the mob. " Mommsen. 
 
12 
 
 there is really no such thing as ancient history, 
 for our trustworthy records do not date further 
 back than some two to three thousand years. To 
 compare the Athenian of the time of Pericles 
 with the average Canadian elector of to-day, 
 would be doing a gross injustice to the Greek, 
 and Pericles himself, if he could come back 
 to us, would display quite as much political 
 sagacity and govern us quite as well, if not 
 very much better than Sir John Macdonald, 
 after he had learnt how to use the tele- 
 graph and travel by rail. " The world, " says 
 Mahaify, " has not been progressing with even 
 and steady step but has gained from time to time 
 great vantage ground and has again been thrown 
 back by the tide of circumstances (i). Thus we 
 are in some respects unly coming up to the level 
 attained by the Greeks. " With regard to what 
 might be called " experimental politics " they 
 
 (i) " The extraordinary difference in the degree of quick- 
 ness with which life moves onwards, which at certain times 
 rushes on with immense rapidity, while at others it proceeds 
 with almost imperceptible slowness, so that generations pass 
 away without any remarkable changes, is one of the charac- 
 teristics of history in different periods. " Niebuhr. There 
 can be little doubt that we of the present day are living during 
 one of the '* rushing " periods. 
 
13 
 
 went far beyond us, for they tried everything. 
 Solon gave the Athenians an excellent constitu- 
 tion based on the conviction that while the 
 people ought to possess the right of electing their 
 governors, it was the middle and upper classes 
 who ought to govern, and he did all that was 
 possible to strengthen the position of the 
 middle classes (i). This constitution had to be 
 " reformed " as a matter of course, so Kleisthenes 
 set to work upon it and " took the people into 
 partnership. " The result of this partnership was 
 that the wire-puller at once began to make his 
 power felt. Many of us in these days are inclined 
 to think that the wire-puller and caucus-man is a 
 modern invention but, in point of fact, he is as old 
 as history. He was at any rate familiar to Kleis- 
 thenes who tried to put a curb on him by intro- 
 ducing the election by lot. 
 
 " We know from Aristotle, " says Schomann, 
 " that the lot had been introduced, among other 
 
 (i) And similarly at Rome — " From the time of the Tar- 
 quins down to those of the Gracchi the cry of the party 
 of progress in Rome was not for the limitation of the power 
 of the state but for the limitation of the power of the 
 magistrate ; nor was the truth ever forgotten that the people 
 ought not to govern but ought^ on the contrary^ to be governed. " 
 
 MoMMSEN. 
 
14 
 
 " purposes, with the intention of putting an end 
 " to electioneering intrigues. This was the case 
 " at Her^a because the elections had before 
 " always resulted in favour of the wire-pullers. 
 " Such intrigues Kleisthenes thought it his duty 
 " to provide afjainst. Therefore he abolished 
 " popular elections and introduced selection by 
 " lot for a great part of the offices, believing that 
 " this would secure appointments in most cases 
 " no worse and in many much better than those 
 " made by the votes of a populace misled by 
 " faction and intrigue. *' " I should have thought," 
 adds Schomann, " that even in England there 
 " had been enough opportunity to judge of the 
 " value of this kind of popular election. At least 
 " here in Germany, we have had experience 
 " which would justify us in concluding thai it 
 " was impossible to make worse appointments by 
 " the chance of the lot than by the votes of the 
 " masses guided by demagogues and popular 
 " leaders." 
 
 That an intelligent people like the Greeks 
 should have been reduced to the alternative of 
 trying election by lot with a view to diminishing 
 the corrupt influence of the wire-puller is an 
 awful satire on popular government, but anybody 
 who contemplates the present position of Canada 
 
f 
 
 16 
 
 will quite agree with Mr. Schomann that the 
 system might give us better men and could not 
 give us worse. The Ontario government is now 
 busily employed in washing its dirty linen in 
 public, and it Is a notorious fact that the linen of 
 the other legislatures is probably much dirtier, as 
 it is never washed at all. Our public press pours 
 forth every day a style of literature which is 
 enough to demoralize the whole country, if it 
 were not already utterly demoralized, and we 
 might fairly exclaim with King John : 
 
 " The present time's so sick 
 " That present medicine must be ministered 
 " Or overthrow incurable ensues. " 
 
 Then why should we not, like Kleisthenes, try 
 the effect of election by lot ? It is the only ultra- 
 democratic institution which still remains untried, 
 and it is quite in accordance with the spirit of 
 the age, as it assumes not only that one man is 
 as good as another, but that one man is as good 
 a statesman as another. 
 
 That many better remedies might be suggested 
 is undoubted, but are they in any degree more 
 practicable than the one we advocate ? 
 
 We might occupy much space in endeavouring 
 to prove that Solon was right when he placed 
 
16 
 
 the elective power in the hands of the people, and 
 the governing power in the hands of the middle 
 and upper classes, and we might prove to our 
 own entire satisfaction that when the nations 
 of the past achieved that true greatness which 
 the historian takes pleasure in recording, it was 
 when the balance of power was evenly maintained 
 as between the various classes of society. We 
 might quote Mr. Pitt's description of what a con- 
 stitution should be : 
 
 " The constitution of this country is its glory : but 
 " in what a nice adjustment does its excellence 
 " consist ! Equally free from the distractions of 
 " democracy and the tyranny of monarchy, its 
 " happiness is to be found in its mixture of parts. 
 " It was this mixed government which the prud- 
 " ence of our ancestors devised, and which it will 
 " be our wisdom to support. They experienced all 
 " the vicissitudes and distractions of a republic ; 
 " they felt all the vassalage and despotism of a 
 " simple monarchy. 7'hey abandoned both, and, 
 " by blending each together^ extracted a system 
 " which has been the envy aud admiration of the 
 " world. " 
 
 Or we might go back to what is called ancient 
 history and take the following quotation from 
 Aristotle, who, after pointing out that " above 
 
17 
 
 " all, in every state, it is necessary, both by the 
 " laws and every other method, that matters be 
 " so ordered as to shut out vnality from state 
 " offices, " goes on to say : 
 
 " There is one method of blending together an 
 " aristocracy with a democracy at the same time, if 
 " any one should choose to form such a state, for 
 " it would be possible t() admit both the rich and 
 " the poor to enjoy what they want. For to admit 
 " all to a share in the government is democratical, 
 " but to reserve offices for the rich is aristocratical. 
 " This will be done by allowing no public em- 
 " ployment whatsoever to be attended with any 
 " emolument, for the poor will not desire to be 
 " in office when they can gain nothing by it, but 
 " had rather attend to their own affairs ; the rich 
 '^ however will choose it, as they want nothing 
 " which belongs to the community. Thus the 
 " poor would increase their fortunes by being 
 " wholly employed in their own concerns, and 
 " the principal part of the people will not be 
 " governed by the lower sort. " 
 
 Quotations of this description from the thought- 
 ful spirits of the past might easily be multiplied, 
 and, if we allowed ourselves to be carried away 
 by them, we might fairly ask : " Why should we 
 not take back the power from the class which 
 
18 
 
 has abused its trust and handed over the govern- 
 ment of their country to men who have proved 
 utterly unworthy of the confidence bestowed 
 upon them ? Why should we not make some 
 effort to restore the balance of power as between 
 the various classes of society, and restore some 
 degree of influence to that middle class which is 
 the real back-bone of the nation ? " To these 
 questions, however, De Tocqueville gives a very 
 clear and decisive answer. " Democracy cries: 
 Give ! Give ! but it never gives back / " ( i ). And 
 if we asked these questions seriously we would 
 merely be placing ourselves in the category of 
 those dreamy reformers *' qui ont pris les sou- 
 venirs pour les esperances. " 
 
 What we have to face in this country is the 
 fact that political power is in the hands of one 
 class only and that that class delegates its 
 power to the wire-puller (2). Our one class 
 
 (i) " Every political institution appears to rest on too con- 
 fined a basis, to those whose point of view is from beneath. " 
 Hallam. 
 
 (2) An educated and intelligent aristocracy such as En- 
 gland still possesses might no doubt act as some check on 
 the wire-puller. Here, however, we have no aristocracy but 
 that of wealth, accumulated in the hands of Jay Goulds and 
 Vanderbilts who are the politician's best paymaster. The 
 
19 
 
 government has brought us in fact into the 
 exact position described by Aristotle when he 
 says : " Too great one-ness will destroy the very 
 essence of a state, as harmony would be destroyed 
 if all sounds were reduced to a single note." Here 
 our political music is reduced to one note, and 
 that a sad one. It is the shrill scream of the wire- 
 puller asking for " More money," " More money !" 
 This unpleasant bird is then the creature to be 
 attacked, and the only way to attack him is by 
 adopting the tactics of Kleisthenes and trying 
 the election by lot. Why should we not make 
 the experiment ? 
 
 We might commence by applying selection by 
 lot to that innumerable horde of office-seekers 
 who swarm in the corridors of every Legislative 
 Chamber and City Hall in the Dominion and 
 who look upon their country very much as a 
 maggot may be supposed to look upon the cheese 
 in which it was bred ; and we might then go on 
 and apply the system to all legal appointments 
 
 colonist who visits England is very apt lo feel a severe chill 
 when he comes into contact with the true British aristocrat, 
 but if he takes a look at his own wire-puller, who rules him, 
 robs him, and despises him, a little calm reflection will 
 probably lead him to think that honesty and arrogance are 
 preferable to utter depravity. 
 
20 
 
 from the smallest office up to the Supreme Court 
 itself. There can be no doubt that this would 
 work a change for the better, as Canada to-day is 
 one of the most lawyer-ridden countries in the 
 world (i) and the army of wire-pullers is largely 
 recruited from their ranks. The young aspirant 
 for political honours who has just picked up 
 enough of that objectionable sort of law which 
 enables him to manipulate a caucus-meeting 
 would probably devote himself to more useful 
 work if he found that when legal rewards came 
 to be distributed he had to take his chance with 
 the honester man who had applied himself to 
 working for his clients' interest instead of for his 
 own. If the experiment were commenced in this 
 way it would, in all probability, be found to work 
 so well that the system would soon be extended 
 and the evil influence of the wire-puller and 
 caucus-man might be gradually diminished to the 
 very great advantage of the country. 
 
 There is another point materially affecting the 
 
 (i> It is a singular fact that the Florentines should have 
 excluded lawyers from the supreme magistracy, and that in 
 the reign of Edward III of England lawyers were excluded 
 from Parliament ! What a fearful gap it would make in the 
 ranks of our legislators if the same law were adopted here ! 
 And yet the country might possibly survive it ! 
 
21 
 
 political future of this continent which it is quite 
 worth our while to consider, and that is the con- 
 stantly increasing influence of the Celtic as com- 
 pared with the old Teutonic stock. " No race," 
 says Green, speaking of the Celts, •' has ever 
 " shown a greater power of absorbing all the 
 " nobler characteristics of the peoples with whom 
 " they came into contact, or of infusing their 
 " own energy into them." But we might go much 
 further than this and assert that they not only 
 absorb the "nobler characteristics" but also the 
 very people themselves. What has become of the 
 Teutons who conquered France and all Europe 
 to the south of it ? What has become of the 
 Saxons who conquered Ireland ? Have they not 
 become Hibemis Hibernior? The Teuton may 
 conquer the Celt over and over again, but there 
 is no getting over the fact that when they settle 
 down side by side in the same country it is the 
 Celt who ultimately absorbs the Teuton, and not 
 the Teuton the Celt. Whether it is owing to 
 the greater force and vigour of their character, or 
 to their greater reproductiveness, may be open to 
 question, but the fact is the same, and anybody 
 who takes the trouble to look into the matter 
 may see the absorbing process going on rapidly 
 all over the American continent. As the Celtic 
 
00 
 
 race then is certain to be the dominant race of 
 the future, it may be as well to examine some of 
 its principal characteristics as described by 
 Mommsen. 
 
 " The Celtic, Gallic, or Galatian nation re- 
 " ceived from the common mother endowments 
 " different from those of its Italian, Germanic and 
 " Hellenic sisters. With many solid qualities 
 " and still more that were brilliant, it was deficient 
 " in those deeper moral and political qualifica- 
 " tions which lie at the root of all that is- good 
 •' and great in human development. Attachment 
 " to their native soil, such as characterizes the 
 " Italians and Germans, was wanting in the 
 " Celts ; while on the other hand they delighted 
 " to congregate in towns and villages which ac- 
 " cordingly grew and acquired importance among 
 ' the Celts earlier apparendy than in Italy. Their 
 " political constitution was imperfect. Not only 
 " was their national unity recognized but feebly, 
 " as a connecting bond, but the individual com- 
 " munities were deficient in unity of purpose and 
 " steady control, in earnest public spirit and con- 
 " sistency of aim. The only organization to which 
 " they were suited was the military, in which the 
 " bonds of discipline relieved the individual from 
 " the troublesome necessity of self-control, " 
 
28 
 
 Mommsen then quotes from Thierry as follows: 
 " The prominent characteristics of the Celtic 
 '" race were personal bravery in which they ex- 
 " celled all nations ; an open impetuous tempera- 
 •' ment open to all impressions; much intelligence 
 " associated with extreme volatility ; want of per- 
 " severance, aversion to discipline and order, 
 " ostentation and perpetual discord, tJu result of 
 " boundless vanity. " 
 
 The German historian then continues : " Such 
 " qualities, those of good soldiers but bad citizens, 
 " explain the historical fact that the Celts have 
 " shaken all st'^.tes and founded none They led, 
 " whether under their own banner or a foreign 
 " one, a restless soldier life; constantly employed 
 " in fighting, and in their so-called feats of 
 " heroism they were dispersed from Ireland and 
 ' Spain to Asia Minor. But all their enterprises 
 '• faded away like snow in spring and they no- 
 " where founded a great state or developed a 
 '* distinctive culture of their own." 
 
 If, as iMommsen asserts, it is a historical fact 
 that " the Celts have shaken all states and founded 
 none, " prudent men may be forgiven for looking 
 forward with some degree of misgiving to their 
 increasing influence. That they still " delight to 
 'Congregate in towns " is proved by the present 
 
24 
 
 state of the city of New York where the govern- 
 ment is entirely in their hands, and a very pretty 
 government it is ! There is nothing to be gained, 
 however, by dwelling on the weaknesses of the 
 Celt and it cannot be gainsaid that " he possesses 
 many solid qualities and still more that are bril- 
 liant, " but there can be no harm in pointing out 
 that the modern system of popular elections gives 
 him an immense advantage over his Teutonic 
 brother. When a new electoral campaign is 
 inaugurated the excitable Celt rushes forth to 
 the fray with all the lively delight of a school boy 
 out for a holiday. The whole thing is to him a 
 sort of continuous Donnybrook fair with coat- 
 tails to tread on in all directions and nobody to 
 say him nay. It is much better fun than a wake, 
 with the additional attraction of dollars to be 
 picked up if matters are well managed. The 
 more stolid and home-loving Teuton, on the con- 
 trary, is very apt to become disgusted with the 
 whole business and retire from the contest, 
 leaving the game in the hands of his volatile but 
 more energetic competitor. 
 
 If this be a fair statement of the case, is it not 
 desirable that some system should be adopted 
 which might again bring into play " the deeper 
 moral and political qualifications " of the Teuton. 
 
25 
 
 That the adoption of the election by lot would 
 have a strong tendency in this direction cannot 
 be denied. An election by lot would be a very 
 dull and solemn affair as compared with a lively 
 canvass and its very solemnity would probably 
 prove a great attraction to the Teuton. The 
 Celt would miss the fun, and although he could 
 never give up politics, he would get only his fair 
 share of influence. A vast number of men who 
 now have no visible means of support would be 
 driven into earning an honest livelihood and all 
 parties would be vastly better for the change. That 
 it would destroy party government is a delusion, 
 as we have no parties in Canada worthy of the 
 name, the whole principle of party government 
 being reduced to " bte-toi que je my mette " (i). 
 Then why not make the experiment ? The 
 
 (i) "A faction is a party consisting of men who unite 
 for their own interest and their own individuality^ 
 Parties, on the other hand, exist where the divisions, which 
 neither can nor ought to be wanting in a state for the pre- 
 servation of its vitality, exist for the purpose of supporting 
 certain opinions and hereditary institutions. Parties can 
 very well exist without the bitterness peculiar to factions, 
 but what ought to be a party too often becomes a faction. '^ 
 NiEBUHR. If Niebuhr's definition is correct we are quite 
 justified in asserting that there are no " parties " in Canada^ 
 butmerely " factions ". 
 
26 
 
 Athenians would have tried it, if only for the sake 
 of a change, and why should not we ? 
 
 Sir John Macdonald is the first and the greatest 
 of the statesmen of Canada, and by all appear- 
 ances, he is likely to be the last. He is a states- 
 man of the true Periclean stamp and it cannot be 
 denied that he has made the best of the sorry 
 tools that the country has given him to work 
 with. He must see that if Lord Lansdowne had 
 the right to appoint his own ministers, cind that, 
 if the citizens selected their representatives by 
 putting a number of names into a hat and taking 
 the first that came, the country would not only 
 be much better governed but much more fairly 
 represented. Then why should he not crown 
 his brilliarxt political career by giving us this 
 salutary and much needed reform ? — a reform 
 which would prove fatal to the wire-puller and 
 which might save the country from the fate which 
 threatens it — death from political trichiniasis !