IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

'./ 'i^ #? ^ //A

/^ >^J

f/-

1.0

1.25

|5fr

IIIM

12.0

1.4

- 6"

1.6

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.

L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Las details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtra uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger una
modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage
sont indiqu6s ci-dessous.

D
D

n
□

□

Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagee

Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e

Cover title missing/

Le titre de couverture manque

Coloured maps/

Cartes g^ographiques en couleur

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other mi erial/
Retie avec d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intdrieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6X6 film6es.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppldmentaires;

□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur

Q /Pages damaged/
Pages endommag^es

I I Pages restored and/or laminated/

Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculees

Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d^colorSes, tachet^es ou piquees

n Pages detached/
Pages detachees

r~j/Showthrough/
I 1 Transparence

I I Quality of print varies/

D
D
D

Quality inegale de I'impression

Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du materiel supplementaire

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de facon d
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est i\\m6 au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous.

10X

14X

18X

22X

26X

30X

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:

National Library of Canada

L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la
g6n6rosit6 de:

Bibliothdque nationale du Canada

The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Les images suivantes ont 6x6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tbiiu de la condition et
de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire film^, et en
conformity avoc les conditions du contrat de
filmage.

Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprim^e sont filmds en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont film^s en commenpant par la
premidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol —^' (meaning "CON-
TINUED "}, or the symbol V (meaning 'END "),
whichever applies.

Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbole --^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbole V signifie "FIN".

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent §tre
filmds d des taux de reduction diff^rents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour etre
reproduit on un seui cliche, il est film6 d partir
de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le ''ombre
d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mdthode.

DAMON AND PYTHIAS

t \

A DRAMA

Quebec Liberalism

JOHlSr UlSTDERHILL.

1891

imiiiiiii

I- - V

> 1 I

DAMON Ai^D PYTHIAS.

A DRAMA OK

QUEBEC LIBERALISM

— BY-

JOHN UNDERHILL.

DRA:MATIS PEPvSONiE.

Damon
Pythias

A'albt

Hon. Count Mercier.
Hon. Wilfrid Laurkr.
J'Jmed I'acavd.

Scenes — in Quebec Legislature and Ottaii;a House of Commons.
Theatre — situated in the City of Montreal.

" It is easier not to give a man the means of liaring influence than
to prevent Ids abuse of it." — Madame Roland.

PROLOaUE.

For a long time, in the eyes of the people, Mr. Mercier
and Mr. Laurier passed current as disinterested and " very
honorable men." We find that " for pure love of country "
the Provincial Premier is about to step into the arena of
Dominion politics, and the leader of the Dominion Oppo-
sition is to accept Lis services — of course for some^patriotic
consideration. It will be necessary to firstly discover
vs'^hat that consideration is, and whatjMr. Laurier could

or would give Mr. Mercier for the latter's interference.
If Mr. Mercier's motives for uniting with Mr. Laurier are
to secure money from the Dominion for the payment of
his debts and those of his confederates, most assuredly
we must conclude that he, at least, is not " an honorable
man." We must learn how far Mr. Mercier sought to
trade upon Mr. Laurier's fair name, and how far Mr.
Laurier was willing to lend that name as a cloak to hide
the deformity of Mr. Mercier's motives. Then we must
discover whether Mr. Laurier is really "an honorable
man," or whether he is not a more accomplished hypo-
crite than Mr. Mercier ; but one playing his game in
another sphere. Finally the catastrophe of this little
drama must be the unmasking of Mr. Laurier. There is
a subordinate character, the Valet — Mr. E. Pacaud, — who
is like the hyphen of flesh connecting the Siamese twins
of Canadian Liberalism. He is the villain of the play,
possessing the entire confidence of his two masters. In
order to make our characters speak — and condemn them-
selves in their own words — we will quote from their own
special organs, their own editorials, their own letters,
telegrams, interviews and speeches. Ver}"" little comment
will be required. We will commence in 188*7, when Mr.
Mercier came into power, when Mr. Laurier became a
leader, and follow them down to August, 1891.

One more word of preface, and then let us dash into
" the midst of things." VElecteur of Quebec is Mr; Lau-
rier's Quebec organ, Mr. Mercier's especially adopted
mouth-piece, and Mr. Pacaud's own paper, of which he
is editor and director. La Patrie of Montreal is the
acknowledged French-Canadian organ of the Liberal
party in the Province of Quebec. Tlie Herald is the
accepted English organ of the same party in Lower Can-
ada. Once for all, our quotations shall be from one or
the other of these newspapers, so that the reader may
accept as entirely orthodox Liberalism what follows —
whenever it is between quotation marks.

ACT I. 188Y.

It will be remembered that as soou as Mr. Meroier o-ot
into power he conceived the idea of an Interproviucial
Conference, which had for object the "raising of the
wind " to swell the sails of his hark as he mountod the
political waves and steered for the port of Fortune. Mr.
Laurier accepted these resolutions, and agreed to put
them into force should he ever get into power in the
Dominion. It was, therefore, to Mr. Mercier's interest
and that of his pocket, and the pockets of his hangers-on,
to see that no stone was left unturned to lift Mr. Laurier
into power.

L'Electeur, 19th March, 1887.—" The way to i-eadjust the ])i'o-
vincial subsidies, and to decree that in future that way can no
longer be changed for the benefit of one province to the detrimenl;
of the others, is one of the objects of the Interprovincial Confer-
ence, and we must admit it is a worthy one."

Mark the following :

L'Electeur, 10th November, 1S87. — " Of the specific allotment
announced in the Act of 1867, the increase for the Province of
Quebec would be $140,000 per year, according to the basis ori-
ginally proposed to the conference, and the one definitively
accepted for Ontario, but our Government insisted that we should
obtain annually $10,000 more, giving as its reason the necessity
in which we find oui selves of printing our public documents in
both languages. That demand was granted, so that instead of
receiving, like Ontario, three times the amount originally fixed
by the Federal Act — that is to sav, three times $10,000 or
§210,000, augmentation of Sl40,000--we shall receive $220,000,
or an augmentation of $150,000 per year."

As we shall see, this clause of the resolutions alone
would furnish enough from the Dominion treasury to
pay Pacaud his salary and to give Mercier a yearly trip
to France. But we will reserve comment, and let these
gentlemen themselves tell the effects of these resolutions
and how they knit odd bed-fellows together.

L'Electeur, 'l*lth July, 1887. — "Mr. Boivin, secretary to the
Prime Minister, wrote Messrs. Doucet and Ouellette, the secre-
taries of the reception committee, that Mr. Mercier desired to be

mtmmm

present at Soiuorsot on the 2nd August, to HHsist at the grand de-
raonHl ration in honor of Mr. Lauricr."

L'Elecicui-, '^rd August, 1S87. — " Messrs, Laurier and Mercicr
j-eceivcd a glorious ovation. ... As soon as Mi'. Lauricr
ceased speaking, Mr. Mercior was presented with an address of
weleonio, in reply to which he delivered one of those vigojous
harangues, the secret of which he knows so well."

L'Elecfeur, 4th August, 1887 : — Eeportof Mr. Laurier's s])eech ;
he said that " lie formulated the hope that the Jnterprovincial
Conference, organized by Mi*. Mercier, would contribute enor-
mously to put an end to ditlerent provincial raisfoi'tunes."

The address presented to Mr. Laurier is signed by Mr.
Ernest Pacaud en lete.

L' Elect eur, vith August, 1S87. — Report of Mr. Laurier's speech
continued: " I go farther," said Mr. Laurier, " I liesitate not to
say that I am an admirer of the constitution. Doubtless, it is not
perfect ; it contains important faults, which my friend, Mr. Mer-
cier, shall be called upon to correct veiy soon, in his Interpro-
vincial Conference."

L'Electeur, dth August, 1887. — The same report continued :
"However," said Mr. Laurier, " there is a question on which the
conference will have to ])ronounce ; it is the question of provincial
subsidies. On that question I think I agree, as, moreover, I always
entirely agree with Mr. Mercier on whatever course he takes."

L'Electeur, Sth August, 1887. — Eeport of Mr. Mercier's speech
at Somerset, 2nd August, 1887 : " When we saw Mr. Blake dis-
appear, we saluted with pleasure the election of our friend Mr.
Lau'ier to that high post of contidence. It is not for me to here
pronounce his panygeric — it is in every mouth — but, gentle-
men, they who heard the magnificent speech that he has just
made, the}' who could understand his elevation of thought, the
loftiness of his views, the spirit of justice that animates him, the
vast scope of liis declarations, they should be satisfied and assured
that Hon. Wilfred Laurier is in a position to direct with a steady

hand the destinies of our cause at Ottawa."

"The Province of Quebec does not want to be treated differently
from the other provinces, but she wants to be treated with the
same justice." ..." Hon. Mr. Laitrier was good
enough to "'' '^ my project of an Inter-provincial conference,
which I am . osition to announce will open during the first,

fifteen days of n«y" ^September in the capital of the Province of
Quebec. The ohy , of that conference is to find remedies for the
present evils, and i^ devise a way to conserve th£»t federal system
which Mr. Laurier says is so go a; and in which, as in all^ I agree
with him."

L'Electeur, I6th September, 188Y.— "Hon. Mr. MoiriordooH not
count upon corruption to govern. Ho wIhIigh to strike the mind
and the heart of the ])eoplo by the development of his politkul
work. Public ^latitude will do the rest."

O ! Tempora ! O ! Mores ! How the spirit of his dream
has since changed I

L'Electeur, 1th October, 188".—" Mr. l.auriei-'H opponents find-
ing him invulnerable, attack Mr. Mercier and hold Mr. Laurier
reHponsible for the acts of Quebec's fir.st Minister."

They are doing so, and with greater reason to-day.
Follow onr chain, the links will lead us to the staple be-
fore long,

L'Electeur, 8th November, 1887. — Mr. Mercier's grand reception
at the Club Letellier, ]\Iontroal. After his speech, Mr. Laurier
I'ose and said : " For twenty years I have known Mr. Murcier, and
my admiration for him is as great to-day as it has ever been since *
I first knew him. 1 need not pronounce his eulogy, but I must
say that he made one omission in his speech, for ho spoke about
everything but Mr. Mercier himself. I say frankly and without
any reserve that Mr. Mercier is the greatest Canadian we have
had since the days of Papineau." "Had the Mer-
cier Government done nothing other than to have convoked the
Interprovincial Conference, that should suffice to render it worthy
of the confidence and admiration of the public. Mr. Mercier
stated that it was not for him to say what reasons Sir John had
for not accepting the invitation extended to his Government.
But I know them. It is because he felt that a most terrible blow
was about to fall upon his insidious and centralizing govern-
ment."

This is the same Mr. Laurier who called a confederate
and centralizing system so good, and with whom Mr.
Mercier agreed on that point, as upon all others.

Before dropping the curtain on 188*7, it would be w^ell
to remark that while the Interprovincial Conference was
in full blast Mr. Erastus Wiman came to' , ,ec at Mr.
Mercier's invitation (iiistigated by M' Laurier), and
delivered his first lecture upon Comme- \\ Union in the
skating rink of that city. Tb"> night of cie 26th October
saw the members of the Interprovincial Conference

betaking- themselves to the skating rink and there im-
bibing the first lessons that the future Unrestricted Reci-
procity man taught to Canadians, A small annexationist
group in anticipation I It was very opportune that Mr.
AVimau should preach the possibility of realizing Mr.
Laurier's boyhood dream of ultimate American union, and
that Mr. Mercier should have such a distinguished
audience assembled to hear him. But, perhaps, Mr.
Laurier will say that he knew nothing of all this !

Well, the Conference took place — passed its resolutions,
and Mr, Mercier saw visions of the Laurier Government
paying off his debts and securing the credit of the prov-
ince to a degree that he might be enabled to borrow upon
the European markets. But these were " Castles in the
air," To-day Mr. Laurier would like to rise out of Mercier
and Pacaud ; but his wings are clipped. He would like
the country to believe that he has had no intimate connec-
tion with these men and that he has not been privy to all
their actions. Let his own words and actions refute him.

ACT 11—1880-1800,

The following letter is addressed to Mr. Pacaud, the
editor of the Mercier-Laurier organ. It comes from Mr,
Laurier's home ; if not penned by himself it has been in-
spired by him. It is only too obvious that the writer seeks
therein to hide his identity ; but that identity presses out
from behind the curtain when he tries to fold it too tightly
around him. He opens the letter by addressing Pacaud
in the second person ; then he supposes himself answer-
ing one of Pacaud's enemies, and he speaks of Pacaud in
the third persori (which gives him the chance of using
the name of Laurier) — then he falls back into the original
style and speaks to him again in the second person. The
letter is cleverly written. We will take a few extracts
to show Laurier's great friendship for and faith in Pacaud,

•MM

to show Piicaud's fitandiiis; evon two yoarfs aiyo, in the
•Ktimationof the public aiid to (;ast a littl»* light upon the
importame of this valct-de-chamhre to the two great
leaders in the Liberal array :

LEUcteur. 2^th October, 188!> :

"Artiiatjask/vvili.e, 13th Oct.. 1S8;»,

My Dear Friend, — 1 read owQvy day in the Opposition papers,
which come into my hands, ho many infamous thing* aU>at you
that I am overcome with vexation. I really do not andf-r«itand
how yoa can Hteer your way ho calmly through !<o many trooblei.
Yoar paper does not tiiko up the hundredth part of the perfidies
that your enemies shovvoi- upon you. . . . . L' Electeur

m not the <iue8tiou — it is a quoHtion of party, 'ait it \% preci-iely
for that reason you should refrain from fhiiing, through an
irrational silence, into inditferentism ; not uo much on a'-^'".T»nt of
yoarrtelf us on account of the cause ?/'' /e deiendin,- i»>gether.

. . . . . I have, myself, long 1 esitated t tfiii« up mypen,
La', i see wi*h sorrow that calumnies, by dini ■ ' ref>etit(on.s, ar^
making their ,vay even into our own rankr.; yes, even amongst
our own friends there are some who will wind up by f^elieving ill

of you ]iy constantly seeing th<- name of

Pacand, of L'Electeur, running the gauntlet of La M-a..: -i, Le
MohiU and La Presse, stuck to every c(pecie.s of compromising
ai<frcoant, by dint of hearing all kinds of craxy storie-? about your
•frxtravagant way of living in Quebec, of your intima<:ifcs with the
ininti§ter8, of the increasing prosperity of your paper, by dint of
hearing your name dragged into all public di>cussioa>, and your
ca.% unfolded in every county, one bhould not be surpri-^eJ that
fcoiii reports about you find so many echoes."

Here the writer speaks of Pacaud in the third person,
for tht^' purpose of being able to bring in the name Dmrier
without attracting suspicion.

•'■He was twice a candidate at his own expense — (that isPataud).
He edited three papers that rendered immense i^ervicen — Le
.P/wmal, of Arthabaska; La Concorde, of Three Biver.^, and
L'Electeur, of Quebec. He founded the first with Mr. Lanrier,
pay for it out of their own pockets, filled it with his writings,
and scattered it gratis amongst his friends. It was a pap>er that
wa-i bom in sacrifice and lived in struggle." . . , ,

Now the writer changes back to the original way of
addressing hira ^v the second person.

BliiSli".''*

" You were wrong, my dear friend ; the party might have lost
its ordy organ in Quebec 'istrict had you accepted a better place,
but, at least, to-day you would not bo insulted, nor called a para-
site, a pawn-broker, a boodler, etc. But since you have other-
wise regulated your course of life, and have not ceased to conse-
crate it to our cause, pay no attention to such outcries ; walk with
head erect past the men who are jealous of the position you hold
to-day, but who never dreamed of envying you the sacrifices of
iortune and time it cost you. Cofltinue your work ; perhaps our
people are on the eve of finding out that they have much to learn
in the line of gratitude from other i-aces." — Ua Ancien — or it
should be W. Laurier.

So much for Pacaud, his past record and his early and
continued association with Mr. Laurier. Let us turn to
what his own organ has to say from time to time I

L'Electeur, dth May, 1880. — Interview with Mr. Laurier. Ho
says : " Mr. Mercier has made an alliance in order to get into
powei'. Now that he is there he must keep it."

So there was really some species of agreement, and Mr.
Mercier having obtained portion of what he wanted,
namely, the getting into power, should fulfil his part of
the contract, which must have been to help Laurier into
the Premiership. Of course these are but the preliminary
steps necessary to attain the real objects in view, namely,
Laurier to furnish money for Quebec, and Quebec to re-
turn the compliment by securing means to contest Do-
minion Conservative elections in case Mr. Laurier missed
his leap towards the Treasury benches. A neat little
programme and well followed out.

L'Electeur, Wi Januarj/, 1889. — "To work citizens! Maybe
what wo are going to add will stimulate the zeal of our citizens.
"Whilst we were penning this article we I'cceived the following
despatches " : —

So Pacaud is the we who pens the article.

" Artiiabaskaville, 4th January, ISSlt.

" Ernest Pacaud, Esq., Quebec :

" Put my name on the list for five shares in the new hotel.

" W. Laurier."

Hj » ; i Mi

" Ernest Pacaud, Quebec :

" Montreal, 5th January.

'' I wish success to the Grand Hotel project, for which I sub-
scribe some shares.

" HoNORfi Mercier."

As in all other monetary undertakings, wherein Laurier
and Mercier seem to have had any interest, so in this one,
Pacaud was the medium. Of course, no person should
for a moment suspect Mr. Laurier — the great man of
purity— of having any knowledge of Pacaud's character
or his actions. No matter whether they were companions
from school days, Mr, Laurier must for the moment be
supposed ignorant of all Mr. Merciers and Mr. Pacaud's
designs.

La Patrie, 13th June, 1890.— ''If Mr. Mercier and his friends
are at the helm of affairs since 1887, it is to the strong Liberal
party that they owe it, to that party of which Mr. Wilfred
Laurier is the grand chief, not only in our Province, but in the
whole Dominion."

So far so good I The Liberal organ is right ' Mr. Laurier
and his party put Mr. Mercier into i^ower.

L'Electeur, 3rd June, 18'J0.— "Mr. L:iurier'r> itinerary for the
week."— a list of all the places in which he was to speak for Mr.
Mercier. That day's editorial is headed, "The intervention of
Hon. Mr. Laurier." It says : " Le Ganadien of yestei'day puii-
lishes a long article to show that Mr. Laurier partakes absolutely
of the same- ideas as Mr. Mercier in this campaign on the ques-
tion of provincial autonomy, and yet it r.-proaches Mr. Lauriei'
with intervening in provincial politics. A little more and the
blue organ will create a great scandal out of this intervention.
But, we ask, what is there to prevent Mr. Laurier from interfer-
ing actively in the present struggle ? He is chief of the Opposi-
tion at Ottawa, chief of the Canadian Liberal party

Moreover, is he not the chief of the Liberal electoi-s, who, on the
17th June, will vote for Mr. Mercier ? i3y this title it is not only,
his right, but his duty to take part in this struggle."

This is the election in which Mr. Mercier is to depend
upon Mr. Laurier for help ; and in return for which Mr.

"p^

Laurier will depend upon Mr. Mercier, wlien the Domi-
nion light comes off.

L'ElecUur, Gth June, 1890. — Report of a meeting at Saint
Sauveur : " The cause ! It is the National cause, and all wish to
see it ti'iumph ! The party ! but all are of the same party ; it is
a union of friends!" Mr. Laurier's Speech: "My politics are
Mr. ]\Iercier'8 ! 1 am of the old school of English Liberals. Mr.
Mercier is the chief of the National party, but who was ever
more Liberal than he is, in hisi-elations with the workmen ?" . .
" I come here topreacli union and concord. 1 come here to work
with you that the cause of Mr. Mercier may triumph in the com-
ing elections — it is what you all want."

"I hope you are convinced that what Mr. Mercier wants is the
triumph of the labour cause. But, mark one thing. 1 am as
much as you area partisan of that labour cause, though I am not
a labourer myself. I liave at heart as much as you have the cause
you cherisli ; but I tell i/ou, in all sincerity, Hove the National cause
still more than I do the labour cause."

Yet Mr. Laurier does not sing his National song when
in face of other events and other audiences. It matters
little what he may call himself or his party, it is a combi-
nation of Mercier and Laurier, aided in minor details by
Pacaud.

La Patric, ith July, 18!t0.— "The Two Parties Liberal and
National." " Alreadj' the Gazette made the remark yesterday,
Mr. Mercier spoke at the reception of the National party, and the
successes that crowned its efforts. Mr. Laurier, on the contrary,
did not say a word about the National party ; but he expatiated
at lengtli on the past, the future aspirations and hopes of the
Liberal party. Is there a difference of opinion between the two
chiefs, as the Gazette would have it understood ? We think
not." .... "Mr. Mercier, our common chief in a struggle
undertaken for a particular object in our province, could not speak
in the name of one of the great parties of the country without
running the risk of wounding some of the troops that support
him." . . . . " Sucli is the only reason why Mr. Mercier
used, the other evening, the word National, whilst Mr. Laurier
exclusively used the name Liberal."

So Mr. Laurier is a lover of the National cause in St.
Sau.veur, where his speech was intended merely for the
ears of his own electors and Mr. Mercier's friends ; but he
forgets the National and merely speaks of the Liberal cause

when he is in a place where his words might militate
agamst his prospects as leader throughout the Dominion
And in Toronto he has nothing at all to do with the
National cause. Quebec can read his sincerity, Ontario
can study his political honesty, and the whole Dominion
can perceive his motives. A Nationalist in Quebec, he
leaves Nationalism to Mr. Mercier in Montreal, and he is
merely a Liberal himself, and, in Toronto, he is a„ti-
National, a very Briton— an " old school English Liberal'
He thus speaks to Ontario :

La Patrie'ird October, 1889.-- It is .aid it mav be all very
fine for me to talk as u Canadian in Ontario, but "that I advi/e
the people o Quebec to establish an independent French-Canadian
state on the banks of the St. Lawrence. As to myself personalv
gentlemen, I resent the odious imputation, and spurn {he accusal
oZCl" ""^ one language for Ontario and another for
'c^ueDec. . If there are any amongst my fellow-

countrymen of French origin who would dream of establishino- a
Prench colony on the banks of the St. Lawrence. I am not one^>f
them I am not of them, and let friends and opponents be well
penetrated with the fact." . . . . " i ^q farther -xJlZ It
would be the direst ingratitude, after seekfng tie prote^ti^^!;-
Jingland in order to become gi-eat, to strike the friendly hand and
to refuse to take oui' common share with our other fellow-
Citizens.

When Dr. Montague quoted from the Quebec speech in
the House on the Tth July last, the following dialogue will
show how Mr. Laurier tried to back down, aud°iiiiallv
was sil(>nced before the whole House of Commons.
Hansard, vol. i, 18!)1, July Vth, pages 1975-1976.

Mr Montague— on the Budget^.iuotes Laurier's speech as
published in the 67oie-" We will have freedom of tSde we
will sweep away these i-estrictious ; we will sweep away the
custom-houses between these (wo countries.'' This is in the
Province of Quebec.

.Kf^^^'^'^'V^^u! \^^ Jion. gentleman allow me to tell him
that the speech to which ho refers was delivered in French and
tliat there was not a Fi-ench reporter present "

Some hon. members — "Oh, oh!"

Mr. Laurier-'' I am quite willing to say that the report in
substance gives the sense of my remarks, but is not verbatim^

Mr. Montague-" We\l, sir, this extract has been printed in

•>"<«i

newspaper after newspaper ; it has been before the country for
months; and my hon. friend has never until now made a public
declaration that the report is incorrect. It shows that hon. gen-
tlemen opposite are in a very bad condition when they have to
rise in the House and repudiate the reports of their speeches as
printed in their own organs. Now, 1 ask the hon. gentleman
whether or not he ever delivered any such speech as that ?"

Ml'. Laurler — " I have just told you."

Mr. Montague — " You said nothing, then, about the custom-
houses ?"

Mr. Laurier — " 1 have told the hon. gentleman that the speech
was delivered impromptu, and that there is no verbatim report of
it. The hon. gentleman docs not expect me to say that 1 said
this word or that word. 1 have just said that the report gives
the substance of my remarks, but not ray verbatim remarks."

Mr. Montague — " The hon. gentleman does not remember it.
I do not ask him to remember it, but the reporter was ti.ere and
took it down."

Mr. Laurier — "1 say that I spoke in French, and that there
was not a French reporter there."

And thus did Mr. Laurier, when cornered, strive to
cover his tracks. It was not so much the quoted para-
graph that frightened him as the fact that some other
person might discover how compromisiugly contradictory
his different speeches and attitudes were.

In closing this act, and before opening the third, last
and most important one — the climax of our little drama —
it would be well to recall to the reader's mind that we
are only using Mr. Laurier's own words or else those of
Mr. Mercier or Mr. Pacaud. Our object is to show that
those men have been more than politically, that they have
been interestedly and amicably allied. We must now
follow our chain until we have proven that Mr. Laurier
ilung all his personal magnetism into the Quebec elec-
tions in favor of Mr. Mercier ; that Mr. Mercier recipro-
cated by using his Quebec power to aid Mr. Laurier in
the Dominion struggle ; that Mr. Mercier originated the
Interprovincial Conference for his own ends ; that Mr.
Laurier subscribed to its resolutions ; that Sir John saw
the danger to the Dominion in its principles ; that its
ultimate object was to saddle the Dominion with Mr.

' Mf l jlW I— I

Mercier's political and other liabilities ; that Mr. Mercier
promised fifteen of a majority to Mr. Laurier ; that Mr.
Laurier promised, if he got into power, to settle the Que-
bec accounts ; that Pacaud was in every case a " go-
between" the Government and all boodlers and con-
tractors ; that one of the Langeliers was Mercier's right
bower ; that another was Laurier's trump card, and that
a third was a paid spy of Mercier's party ; that Mercier
dictated to Pacaud and paid him ; that Mercier traded on
Laurier's political purity, while Laurier kept up his " old
school English Liberalism " as a mask to hide his real
motives ; in Kne, that Laurier not getting into power as
he expected to do, the Mercier gang had to go to Europe
to borrow^, and the Dominion Conservative elections were
contested on the strength of Dominion moneys that were
to replace the ^100,000 that Pacaud made away with so
neatly ; and, finally, that Laurier knew every move made
or in contemplation upon the chess-board of Quebec pol-
itics. We will go farther.

To illustrate, by one example, the Langelier connection,
we vv^ill refer to the well-know^n fact that on the week
intervening between the day of nomination and the day
of election, that is to say, from the 26th February and
5th March, 1891, Mr. Achille Carriere, local member for
Graspe in the Quebec House, and one of Mercier's right
hand men, left Quebec with election funds, gold and
bills, and all along the line from Levis to Dalhousie dis-
tributed the " boodle " to the Liberal agents who met him
at the different stations. Previous to Mr. Oarriere's pas-
sage of" beneficence, agents from New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, and even Ontario came to Quebec and applied to
Mercier, Pacaud & Company for funds. The election
took place on the Thursday, the 6th of March. The re-
sults could not be known until Friday, the 6th, and on
the next day Mr. Fran9ois Langelier and Ernest Pacaud
landed in Halifax. Mr. "Weldon, ex-M.P., under directions
from Mr. Laurier, met these gentlemen, who had the

funds nocossary to buy up any members who might be
for sale. They met on Sunday, the 8th, at Mr. Jones'
house, and there in secret conclave with Mr. Fielding,
Senator Power and Mr. Longley, concocted the plan best
calculated to do effective work with these funds. Not
succeeding in corrupting any of the elected Conservatives
they put up $11,000 to contest eleven constituencies —
amongst others Halifax county, and, the elections of the
Minister of Justice and the Minister of Marine, and in the
case of the last mentioned they did not (>ontest his col-
league's election. Evidently this was done to annoy the
Government, in the hope of shaking the weaker members
by the committee revelations that they anticipated hav-
ing a sweeping effect. As far as New Brunswick is con-
cerned these Quebec agents were not entrusted with the
cash, but a cheque payable to the order of Mr. Blair, the
Attorney-Greneral, was sent to Mr. Weldon — the Premier
could not seemingly be trusted with it. When it reached
the political agent he found the payee of the cheque was
away up the St. John River, either on a stumping excur-
sion, or some other equally unimportant expedition. Thoy
could not get their money until they found the Attorney-
General, and the three or four days* chase after that gen-
tleman sufficed to let their plans and motives leak out.
In fine the connection of Messrs. Laurier, Mercier, Pacaud,
Langelier, Carriere, Fielding, Power, Longley, Jones,
Blair, AYeldon, and all the leading Liberals is undeniable,
and just as undeniable is the fact that the funds Mr.
Pacaud had in charge formed the bond of union between
them all ; and that bond of union consisted of Dominion
of Canada money. Not only this, but in Quebec alone
$13,000 of that fund were used as deposits in the thirteen
contestations of Conservative seats in that province.

ACT III— 1891.

Montreal Herald, Janudry 28t/i, IS'.tl.— "The Club National
banquet, held at the Windsor Hotel last night, must he

»*«■

mmm

gather! !!<;•

voted a success. The attendance was large, the
thoroughly repre-sentativo and well-sustained enthusiasm
j)revailed. The speaking, also, was of high order. The
sentiments enunciated had a substantial ring about them that
appealed to the intelligence, as well as to the sentiment, of the
audience. All scored good points, but Hon. Mr. Mercier made an
effective hit when he announced that if Sir John Macdonald
brought on the elections immediately he would put oft' his trip to
Europe in order to bo at his post alongside the Liberal chieftain
Hon. Ml-. Laurier." '

The Herald's Report of the Banquet. — Mr. Laurier spoke shortly,
saying he wished to economize his voice in case of a general
election. Mr. Mercier gave a detailed account of how the Prov-
incial treasury stood— of the union between the Libei-als and
National Conservatives— proclaimed himself the head of a National
government, and closed with saying : " My duty and my place
are known ; I should be at the side of my esteemed chief, the
Hon. W. Laurier, should he so desire it, and I will be there what-
ever may happen, if God permits."

L'Blecieur, 2Sth January, ]8!»1.— "But this is not all. The
presence at Mr. Morcier's side of Mr. Laurier, leader of the
Canadian Liberal party, he whom our adversaries surnamed the
knight without fear and without reproach, unfolds for us other
and vaster horizons."

There is no doubt of it, and away beyond the rim of
those horizons are burning volcanos that the eye cannot
yet detect, but which, with time, will loom into sight.

L'Electeur_ 29fA January, 189L— -'The same sentiments gushed
out in all the speeches at the banquet, Hon. W. Laurier gave
eejio to the sentiments of Mr. Mercier ; Mr. Mercier gave force
and significance extraordinary to the same sentiments when he
said, amidst thunders of applause, that he would, if the election
rumors were realized, put off his trip to Europe, that he would
even hasten back from Paris, if necessary; tha't his place in the
h(ur of battle was beside his venerated chief, Hon. Wilfred
Laurier."

^ LLlecteur, SOth January, 1891. —Despatch from New York :
Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Laurier, Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Longley, and
Mr. and Mis. Ernest Pacaud i-eached here this morning and are
at the Brunswick Hotel. Mr. Laurier speaks to-night at the
Board of Trade Banquet at the Delmonico."

So Mr. Laurier flies, fresh from this banquot-hall
whore Mr. Mercier promised to stand by him, to New
York, to the land of "Wiman, Butterworth and Hitt ; and
his travelling companion, his fides achates, his valot-do-
chambrc, is the same Mr. Ernest Pacaud, with whom Mr.
Laurier seems to have so little to do, the moment there is
a cloud on Mr. Pacaud's name, and that his "evil associa-
tion" might corrupt the liberal leader's "good manners."
The scenes are becoming more interesting as we draw
towards the crisis.

Montreal Herald, 4th February, 1891 : " Sir John Macdonald's
attempt to surprise the country and obtain a snatch verdict be-
fore the people would be able to grasp the new phases of the
political situation, had led Mr. Mercier and his colleagues, who
had arranged to go to Eurojie and the United States on important
public business, to cancel their trips for the present and remain
to assist Hon. Mr. Laurier and the Liberals in the campaign now
opening."'

Montreal Herald, oth February, 1891 : "Conservative politicians
are considerably disturbed by the announcement that Premier
Mercier and moml ors of his cabinet have put ott' their contem-
plated business trips in order to be able to aid Hon. Mr. Laurier
and his liberal friends in the .Dominion elections. They had fair
warning of his intentions and have no right to complain. Besides
Premier Mercier would be more than human, if he did not resent,
in the most effective and practical manner, the underhand as-
saults made upon him and his government by Federal Cabinet
Ministers and conservative politicians. It is Mr, Mercier's turn,
now, and he can be depended upon to make his power felt on
behalf of Liberalism and good government, in Dominion, just as
he has done in Provincial politics."

It is lucky for the Dominion that he, Pacaud and
company have not as yet had a chance, through Premier
Laurier, to act in Dominion affairs as they have done in
Provincial matters.

Montreal Herald, 10th February, 1891 : Eeport of the Bonso-
cours Market meeting of the 9th. Extracts from Mr. Mercier's
speech : " My duty and my place are known : I must be at the
side of my esteemed leader, Hon. Wilfred Laurier, Jt" he wishes
it, and with the help of God I shall be there, no matter what
happens. God has permitted it, Mr. Laurier wishes it, and 1 am

'»

ttK-^tt

7ie7'e at his side, fighting for the triumph of'tljo cuuho which is ho
(lejir to us all." . ..." I and my colleagnos have placed
ourselves entirely at Mr. Lauriers disposal, aud lie can rely upon
us in the interesting and hopeful struggle in which he is about

to engage." "Hon. Mr. Ijiiuricr has accepted

the resolutions of the Interprovincial Conference of 1887, and
promised to give effect to them if he comes into powei'. It is
our duty to make him triumph."

So far we have both these honorable gentlemen care-
fully fulfilling their mutual pledges and sticking to each
other, or rather both sticking to Pacaud, who is the neck-
yoke that unites them.

La Patrie, 4th February, 1S91. — ''Bonne Nonvelle I Ah! Mr.
Chapleau, you l)0asted yesterday in the Witness that Mr. Mercier
would not help Mr. Laurier ! Vou had already forgotten that
Mr. Mercier, at the Club National banquet, had several times
called Mr. Laurier his chief, and that he had promised solemnly
to be at his side if you or your colleagues underiook to play us
one of those fox tricks at which your old chief is such an adept.
To put a little courage into the stomachs of your partisans you
hastened to tell them that it would be to Mr. Mercier's interest
to stay quietly at home."

There is no doubt to-day that it would have been very
much to both Mercier's and Laurier's interest had the
former followed Mr. Chapleau's advice.

La Patrie, 5th February, 1891. — "Not only Mr. 3Icrcier has
put otf his European trip until after the elections, but he has
recalled his colleagues, Messrs. Chas. Langelier and Robidoux,
from New York, and he is busy organizing."

La Patrie, 6th Febi-uary, 1801. — Speaking of Mr. Chapleau
" He looks well to come and kick up a dust because Mr. Mercier
and all our friends in the local Cabinet of Quebec declared they
were going to rush into the fight to help Mr. Laurier."

La Patrie, 10th February, 1891. — From Mr. Mercier's Bonse-
coiirs Market speech : " As to the financial relations between the
Provinces and the Dominion, the execution of the decision of the
Interprovincial Conference would give to each province the
means of developing its resources, favoring its education, instruc-
tion aud colonization."

Which means to give Mr. Mercier all the means he
needed from the Dominion treasury to pay his provincial
debts and to keep up Messrs. Pacaud, Langelier & Co.

( I

L'EI.ecteur, h)th Febnianj, 18'J1, — " Our advorsarios understand
now that, with Mr. Morcior at hi^iHido, .Nfr. liaui-ior in invinoibk'
in Quebec. Mr. .\fercier cares little for 'Tory scruples."

We should think that his regard for any species of
scruples, Tory or otherwise, is very slim. At least the
last four years of his erratic career would seem to indicate
that he kept little account of either scruples or dramms.

VElecteur of the 11th and 12th February contain col-
umns upon columns uniting Mr. Laurier and Mr. Mercier
as the IJamon and Pythias of Quebec Liberalism. These
articles would be too long- to cite, howsoever interesting
they may be ; still, for our present purpose, and due con-
sideration for our space being had, we must leave them
to the gleaners of political information who are sufficiently
interested to look up the files.

VElecleur, 11th February, 1891, gives a translation of
an interview had by a Star reporter with Mr. Mercier, in
which the latter says :

"We will give Mr. Luui'ier fifteen of a majority in this pro-
vince. I have come to place mysolf at the disposal of the Mont-
real ilistrict commitlee, and I will remain in harness until the
end of tlie campaign. I shall have with me Mr. liobidoux, the
Attorney-General, and Mi'. Duhamel, the Commissioner of Crown
Lands. At Quebec, Mr. Shohyn, the Treasurer, Mr. Koss, the
President of the Council, and Mr. (rarneau, the Commissioner of
Public Works, will be in charge, with the same committee that
we had at the last provincial general elections in ,Iune. The
organization will be the same in all the province, and the result
will probably be better."

There is no back-door business about that. The full
weight and influence of the Quebec Cabinet were cer-
tainly cast into the balance for Mr. Laurier. In the same
number of that organ Mr. Pacaud writes : " Mr. Mercier
has bound himself by a solemn engagement to g-ive at least
a majority of fifteen votes to Mr. Laurier ; that is to say,
to put him into power." This engagement, the alliance
of which Mr. Laurier speaks, the compact of which Mr.
Pacaud writes, must surely be a bond of union between
the leaders.

I/Electriir, Idth Fehruary, ISOl. — Mr. Mercier's speech nt St.
Ainbroiso, ( 'ounty of (^uelioc. " At the ro(|UOHt of my chief, IIoii.
W. Laurior, I come here to respectfully but firmly demand that
you support the Opposition candidate in this struggle.
I am your friend ; you are my friendn ; stand together ; stand
united, and work for the victory of our chief — Wilfred Laurier."

LElecteur, 2:ir<l Fehruary, 1891. — Speaking ol" Mr. Franr.-ois
Langelier. "A man who in Quebec is Mr. Mercier's right arm,
whom the latter honors with hisgi-eatest friendship, and to whom
he does not hesitate to confide most important mis ions, charging
him to go to the Supremo Court to repi'esent .ae Province of
Quebec. We need not say that Mr. Mercier clings in a particular
manner to the idea of Mr. Langeliors re-election."

There is no wonder at that. Mr. Pacaud might have
added that Mr. Mercier paid Mr. Langelier $3,000 for
going to Ottawa and rising in court and only saying that
he was the attorney of the Quebec Government. Perhaps
at that rate Mr. Langelier will be able to make a hole in
Mr. Mercier's borrowed millions when he sends in his
bill for defending his own brother and the Count before
the Committee of the Senate.

Jj'Electeur, 2bth Fehruary, 1891. — "So great is the cry of Sir
John's partisans in the West against Mr. Laurier that they say
Mr. Mercier's close friendship compromises him."

Indeed events have proven that those Western people
were right, for most undoubtedly Mr. Mercier's close
friendship is at this moment compromising Mr. Laurier
in a manner that should shock the high political morality
of the leader of the Opposition and make him shiver at
the thought of himself.

L'Electcur, 6th March, 1891.— "In the Province of Quebec Mr.
Mercier has right royally kept his word. He promised Mr.
Laurier fifteen votes of a majority ; he will give him twenty-five
when all is counted up."

Quite extravagant is Mr. Pacaud becoming, but then it
is natural for him to be a spendthrift, whether in matters
of money, notes or promises !

LElertntr, '[2th March^ 1S91. — Tn an interview with Mr. Mor-
cior by u Star roporlor, uitci- Mr. Morcior spoko of how ho hud
|{oj)t IiIh promise to Mr. Luurier, he concluded hy Huyini;: " /
hdvc no (loulif tlmt if Hon. Mr. Laurier htwomes First Minister of
the Dominion the Pnnnnre will (jet whatever it ash."

That is to say, Mr. Morcier would got whatever /<e liked
out of tk 1 Dominion, and would rule the roost in Quebec
iit the expense of all the other people of Canada.

Mr. Laurier, fortunately for CUinada, did not l)ecome
Premier of the Dominion, and Mr. Mereier was obliged
to go Oil' to Europe and prosecute his original plan of
raising a few millions upon the credit of his impoverished
Province, which few millions h(^ seems not to be able to
secure, without considerables unlooked-for trouble. Mr.
Pacaud is trying his hand over there ; — will he suc-
ceed where Mercier's great blow-out seems to have
failed Y The Dominion Parliament was called for de-
spatch of business, Mr. Laurier came to Ottawa again,
as leader of a very dissatisUed Opposition. The fearful
raid, in the way of committee investigations, was made
upon the Government. Strange to say, Mr. Laurier kept
religiously aloof from all the committee investigations
and left the scandal hunting to Messrs. Tarte, Davies,
Mullock, Sommerville and other subordinates. Mr. Laurier
was wise in his course, for none better than he knew
what a fearful boomerang all these proceedings might
prove to be. Conscious of his own danger, he kept out of
the way, and trusted to his star to save him from exposure.
But he was not thus to escape. In the midst of their " hue
and cry " a meteor shot up, athwart the darkness of the
sphere, and it threatened to burst over the Liberal camp iu
Quebec. The now notorious Baie des Chaleurs Eailway
scandal was brought up in the Senate Committee of
Privileges and Elections. Messrs. Armstrong, Charles
and John C. Langelier, the Hon. Count Mercier and Mr.
Ernest Pacaud, as well as several others, became at once
compromised in the most scandalous transaction that ever

t.JUSW"

ditglftf ed Caiiadiiin annals. Barefaced publir rohl>«-ry, in
which th« AH Babl)a was Count Morcier, and his «hiet"
lieutenant was Jilrncst I'acaud. It is not for na here to
examine into tho details ot that aboniiiiable and ^ham»'lfss
d»;ai ; oar object is to show that the leudfr of th** <^>pposi-
tionat Ottawa, the Hon. Wilfred Lauricr, th«' bf>soiu friend,
political ehief and general associate of Mr. }tlfrc'h-T. the
w^hool-fellow. partner, patron and travelling ronipanion
of Mr. Pacaud, not only had a share in the transaction.
but that he has been privy to the Ilesrira of Paraud, and
ha«» always had full kuowled«^t' of the state of Mr.
Mercier's affairs. We hav«; traced their intimacy in a
hurried and superlicial manner ever since Mr. I.^iurierha.*'
had h'. ■ eye on the premiership and sinre Mr. Mercier had
his e) on the Dominion colters. Let us take up, then,
the last move in the closinp; a('t of our peculiiir little
drama and behold the mask of hypo -risy fall from the
fare of that great h'ader who has so long wrapp^-d himself
in his cloak of dignity.

Before entering upon this final consideration. I would
draw especial attention to the peculiar fa<.t that when
Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Blake led the Liberals they were
r»>ally the chieftains, each in his turn, of the party ; but
Mr. Laurier, like a minor or a quasi-interdicted person,
cannot act without his advisory committee, from which
all his instructions seem to come. His party may < on-
sider him an elegant figure-head, but a very unreliable
head. He does not lead, nor is his will law ; they — the
.satellites — lead, and he follows their dictation. They
could not even trust him with a say in the scandal
investigations ; Cartwright, Mills, Davies and Charleton.
and the minor characters like Mullock, Lister, Sommer-
rille and McMuUen, and a few still more que.stionable
personages like Tarte, Amyot and Langelier, has each a
duty to perform, but Laurier is kept in the back ground.
Does he feel the sting ? or is he indifferent to or power-
less against the humiliating slight ?

•<Rafi

|Piffff'S«%Jl«;'3iil*il^^Jlf ■

" The wise man of old," says the True Witness, " who
oh'd that his enemy would write a book would have
been happy in having Mr. Mercier's chief newspaper
organ in the ranks of those he hated. VElecteur has
not exactly written a book; but it has written an
article, and when the Liberals at Ottawa read it they
wall have fresh reason to curse the day they helped
to make Mr. Mercier premier of the unfortunate pro-
vince. Brieily stated, LElecteur says a portion of the
money its director blackmailed out of Mr. Armstrong was
used in payment of notes made to raise money for the
Liberal party to use in Federal politics. Mr. Laurier and
the other chiefs at Ottawa are expecting political benefit
from the proceeds of these notorious securities, made more
disreputable by the manner in which they were dis-
charged." The tale is best told in LElecteur's own words,
and here they are :

L'Electeur, 2i)th August, 1891 — Editorial.

THE OFFICIAL DEFENCE.

'The Conservative press is making a great noise over certain
notes bearing the signatures (if Messrs. Mercier, P. Langelier, C.
P. A. Pelletier, Charles Langelier and Tarte, which have been
paid by Mi-. Pacaud. Let us see if there is anything wrong
about them. We say, first, that the date of these notes estab-
lishes the fact that they were made after the general elections for
the Commons long before there was any question of the settle-
ment of the Bale des Chaleurs railway matter. From this there
is established clearly two facts incontestably : Our f'rientls have
not used this money for the elections, because they were over,
and, in the second place, it did not come from Mr. Armstrong,
seeing that his affair had not been settled, and that it was not in
question.

RAISING OF A FUND.

'Here is the explanation of these notes. The general elec-
tions were over. Our adversaries were contesting all the elec-
tions of the candidates who had been elected to su])port Mr. Lau-
rier. The principal party men at Quebec, Mr. Mercier at the
head, resolved to raise a fund for the purpose of contesting the
election of the Conservative candidates. Now, everyone knows
that a deposit of $1,000 in each contestation is a part of the
expenses. Messrs. Mercier, Pelletier and Langelier signed the
notes, which were discounted, and, with the proceeds, the de-
posits were made in a large number of contested elections. They

w*miim

were the means of protecting our friends. As the contestations
are settled one way or another the deposits will be retired and
used to redeem the notes thus discounted. Here is the history
of these notes.

HOW THE FUND MAKERS WERE INDEMNIPrEP.

'But it will be said, and we will be charged, that Mr. Pacaud
paid them with the money obtained from Armstrong. That Mr.
Pacaud should be blamed for having obtained money from Mr.
Armstrong is open to argument; but what harm is there in
Messrs. Mercier, Pelletier and Langelier having signed notes
destined to bo paid later by deposits coming from the settlement
ot contested elections ? It has not been established, and they
are powerless to do so, that Mr. Pacaud consulted any of these
gentlemen before paying these notes. jNIr. Pacaud received some
money from Armstrong ; it is his property and with this money
he paid these notes, waiting for repayment until the deposits are
remitted. An important detail is that these deposits are made
personally in the name of Mr. Pacaud. We propose the question
to all sensible men : Was there anything reprehensible in the
signing of these notes ? 'No, without a doubt. They did nothing
but to repeat what they have done before to assure the success of
their party, and it owes them their profound thanks.'

" There wt s never a straighter case of corruptiou admit-
ted even in the annals of the Canadian Liberal party.
L'Electenr'x article would be remarkable anywhere out-
side of Quebec. It is an admission, without the slightest
apology or regret, that Pacaud got the $100,000 from
Armstrong. That money it has been shown, was wruug
from a claimant on the treasury w^ho was put under
the fear that if he did not pay it he would get noth-
ing at all. Part of it was used for party campaign pur-
pose r, in the interest of thd Liberal party at Ottawa. All
this was done and is told of as a matter of course. The
chief recognized exponent of Liberal ideas in the Province
of Quebec sees nothing wrong in it. Nothing could bet-
tcT illustrate the utter debasement of public opinion
among those who here claim to be called by the honored
name of Liberals."

Hon. Mr. Laurier wrote a letter to the Ottawa Citizen,
dated 14th August, 1891. The report of the proceedings
in the Senate committee had stated that Pacaud got per-
mission from Mercier and Laurier to go to Europe, just

i«M

at the moment when his presence was required in Ottawa ;
that Pacaud had heen threatenin*^ for a long time to go
to Europe, but was watching to see whether this boodle
scandal would be unearthed or not. As soon as it burst
upon the political sky Pacaud shot across the Atlantic.
After quoting the report of what Senator Tasse said in
the committee, Mr. Laurier does not hesitate to place his
name upon record in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, pub-
lished in the edition of the 16th August, 181*1. It must
have been a very close call that could induce the leader
of a great party to descend to the risk of a newspaper con-
troversy over his own signature. But probably the
advisory council dictated the letter, or forced him to do
what his better judgment should have forbidden. In
that letter he says, referring to LElecteur of the 12th
August :

"The impression is hero conveyed that on 3Ionday, the 10th
instant, after the investigation on the Baie des Cbaleurs Railway
Bill had commenced before the Railway Committee of the Sen-
ate, I was consulted by JVlr. l^ieaud as to whether he should or
should not go to Europe. The insinuation is absolutely contrary
to facts. Ml'. Pacaud is the chief editor of the newspaper Ij'EIcc-
teur. I have been in frequent communication with him as Lo the
conduct of the paper. On Tuesday, the 4th instant, and not on
Monday, the 10th instant, he wrote to me to ask me if I would
object to his going to Europe during the session, and I answered
him at once, on the receipt of his letter, that I had no objection.
At that time 1 had never heard that Mr. Pacaud's presence would
be required before the Railway Committee of the Senate. If at
that time he had been summoned as a witness to appear before
the committee, I was not aware of it, and, as far as my know-
ledge goes, he had not been summoned, nor had his name been
mentioned in any connection whatever with the Baie des Chaleurs
Railway Bill.

" Yours truly,

"Wilfrid Laurier."
"Ottawa, 14th."

Let us now see what LElecteur of the 12th August,
1891, says :

"For several months past Mr. Eriiest Pacaud, director of this
paper, proposed to take a month's vacation that he would spend

in visiting' Europe. This trip his physician pi-escrihed for him,
but htul to be put off from month to month on account of the
multitude of his business affairs. Monday of last week he wrote
to Hon. Mr. Laurier to submit to him his holiday plan, and the
next day he wrote to Mr. Merciei- in a similar sense. One and
the other having accjuiesced, Mr. Pucaud was enabled to execute
his plan and to go to Now York to take this week's steamer.
He has taken a return ticket by the ' Parisian,' which will leave
Liverpool the 17th September next."

Now the dates little sigaify. We "won't quibble about
the 4th or the 10th. The facts are these : that Pacaud
had to get permission from Laurier aud Mercier before
going to Europe ; that he only wanted to go for one
month ; that he should go before the close oi an excep-
tional session ; that, even as important as he must be to
his masters, he should leave when his party was passing
through a severe crisis, and when a business with which
he is the most deeply connected was becoming thi^ sub-
ject of public investigation. Mr. Laurier claims that he
did not know that Pacaud's name was connected with
the Baie des Chaleurs Railway affair, nor that Pacaud
had been summoned to attend. Too transparent I He
had been told of it previous to writing Pacaud by one of
his own party — one who bears the cognomen of Aananias.
Perhaps Mr. Laurier did not believe him. In any case a
lawyer of Mr. Laurier's acumen and experience could not
but know that Pacatid would be summoned as the prin-
cipal witness ; a politician of Mr. Laurier's foresight,
knowledge of detail, auv'. past connection with Mercier
and Pacaud, could not but know that his protege, Pacaud,
was the paid agent of his own political twin brother,
Mercier. The experience of the investigations in the
Commons' Committees alone should teach him, apart
from his professional experience, that the inquisition
turned upon Pacaud's evidence — the very statement of
the charges made it clear to everyone. His intimacy with
Mercier, and his control of Pacaud, rendered it absolutely
impossible that he should be ignorant of how Pacaud got

f V

his money ; also of what he did for it and with it, and of the
fact that the investigation imperatively demanded Pacaud's
presence. He knew the investigation had commiuced,
and yet he examined Pacaud's plans and granted him a
permit to place the Atlantic, for a month, between him-
self and the Senate. If Mr. Laurier pretends he did not
know all these things, he cannot have read the Liberal
press of the last three or four years ; he must have for-
gotten every transaction as quickly as it occurred ; in
fact, he must be devoid of all ordinary intelligence and is
unfit not only to lead, but even to follow in the ranks of
any party. If he did know all this, what are we to think
of his veracity, honor, straightforwardness and loudly -
vaunted political purity ? Mr. Laurier is either a blind
simpleton, imposed upon by Pacaud and lead by the nose
by Mercier, or else he is a knowing knave and an accom-
plished hypocrite. In either case he is not fit to be
trusted with the affairs of a country like Canada. It
might suit Mercier and his boodle-gang to see Laurier at
the head of the Dominion Government, but it would be a
sad day for the country.

EPILOaUE.

What are we to conclude from all the scenes in this
little charade f Are we to believe that Mr. Laurier is
dishonest personally ? Are we to imagiae that he is one
of the Quebec boodlers ? Not at all ! Far be it from us
to even insinuate that Mr. Laurier ever had or dreamed of
having any pecuniary share in the deals so recently
brought to light. But what we must conclude, and what
inevitably Hows from these premises, is that Mr. Laurier
has been so intimately connected with the other charac-
ters in this drama that he knew all about their actions
and motives, and that for purposes other and higher than
the mere grasping of some few dollars he has been willing
to aid and abet them in their programme of plunder.

»v

Mr. Laurier has high-soaring ambition — it is his all-
absorbing passion ; Mr. Mercier has extreme vanity, com-
bined with an over-weening love of power — and he recks
little what the means are, provided they help him
towards the gratification of these inclinations ; Mr.
Pacaud has a love for notoriety and an all-absorbing
cupidity, and for these he will follow through every
maze, no matter how dark or intricate, provid«^d they are
satiated. , Laurier, to attain the goal of his ambition,
re < red Mercier's help, and Mercier could not render
him much assistance without the aid of Pacaud, their
mutual confidential man. Pacaud gives all his energies
and talents to their cause, in the hopes of securing high
prices for his services ; Mercier casts his powers into the
balance in order to secure for himself the means of
satisfying his personal vanity and the cupidity of his
friends ; Laurier lends his assistance in the same struggle
in order to keep Mercier and Pacaud on hand, as rungs
in the ladder of his ambition. Let Laurier get into power
and he will have reaped all the reward that he craves ;
but then he will have to keep his compact with Mercier,
and the latter will have attained the object of his intrigues;
but then he will have to support Pacaud out of the
ill-gotten gains, so that the latter will have his avaricious-
ness satisfied, and all this will be done at the expense of
the Dominion of Canada. It is for these reasons that
Mercier plays Damon to Laurier's Pythias and Pacaud
plays Valet to both. So, then, Pacaud and his crew are
bound to the compact by the link of their unscrupulous
cupidity ; Mercier is bound by the link of his vain-glori-
ous love of notoriety and wealth ; and Laurier is bound
by the link of his more-than-Napoleonic ambition. The
motives are different, the objects to be attained are diver-
sified, but the means to be used are the same, and the
malign effects upon the country are identical. Judged
by their motives, Mr. Laurier stands away aloof from
the other conspirators ; judged by their actual deeds, and

wKmmi'umm^mwiiaiBgmrmi'

the efFcets thereof, he is as deeply iu the mesh as either
or all of the others. The worst and best that can be said
of him is, that Hon. Wilfred Laurier " does not love Can-
ada less but Laurier more ; " that he would sacrifice his
country's name, fame and future, at the shrine of his own
ambition, and he scruples not what means he uses, pro-
vided the goal of his life is reached, — the Premiership of
Canada. In fact, to sum up Mr. Laurier's political char-
acter, motives, ideas, actions and all, we could not more fit-
tingly close than by using his ominous words : " We must
make use of questionable means very often in political
life, the instrument is of little consequence compared to
the results that we can produce with it.^' That gentle-
man hns given ample evidence of his belief in, and prac-
tice of, this Machiavelian doctrine. What with playing
one part in Ontario, another in Quebec, and audaciously
denying both in the House ; with preparing, reading, and
correcting the proofs of a Quebec speech, and then pro-
claiming that he was wrongly reported ; with repudia-
ting, on the floor of Parliament, what he boasted of before
the electors ; with knowingly and deliberately misquot-
ing paragraphs and pamphlets before Parliament, and
attributing the authorship to Conservatives, when he
knew who wrote, corrected, and was paid from Liberal
funds for publishing the same ; with denials of connec-
tions, compacts, agreements, or even sympathies with
Mercier, Pacaud and their junto, and actually dictating
to them all the while — what, with all these things, can
we do other than admit, howsoever reluctantly, that the
Leader of the Opposition is no better than his political
associates. It is hard to feel that such an idol should be
hurled from its pedestal, but the lover of his country —
like the Catechumens of old — must become iconolast for
the sake of thj fame, honor, and well-being of the land
ho loves, and must tear away the veil from the shrine of
t'he Delphic deity, if we wish to see the great principle
of Political Truth prevail. Future politicians may learn

from Laurier that, if unrestrained ambition can raise a man
from the lowest position, it can also prostrate him from
the highest ; and from Mercier they may learn that there
is no point so elevated to which the unscrupulous may
not aspire, and there is no depth so profound into which
their machinations may not precipitate them. It matters
little that for a while their audacity would seem to pros-
per, that success panted after their unfolded standard,
and that the eyes of the people were dazzled and capti-
vated by the very splendors of their aberrations ; it could
only be for a time — the deception could not endure — and
to-day, in the very banquet of their triumph, the Mane,
IheckeL Phares of a new political dispensation blaze upon
the walls, and the cup of anticipated triumph is dashed
from these lips of the revellers !

MMnw