declared it a disgrace, an infamy, that a contest had to be fought at all and described the Referendum as a vote by the men who did not want to go to the Front as to whether or not they should be compelled to go! At Vancouver on the 7th he made a slashing attack upon F. C. Wade and other Laurier supporters. At another meeting (Dec. 11) he denounced Bourassa as "steeped to the lips in treason." On the 12th he charged Sir W. Laurier with trying "to open the portals of office with a bloody key." The Hon. Martin Burrell made a number of speeches in the Province-notably at Victoria, Oct. 31, and Vancouver, Dec. 6; Hon. Mr. Calder also spoke in these centres. Hon Mr. Meighen was at Vancouver on Dec. 16 and made this eloquent reference:

What of Britain! Incomparable Britain! The mainstay, the forefront of embattled democracy. Groaning under a burden that might stagger half the world, she borrows $5,000,000 more and sends it to bind the wounds and restore the homes of your sister city (Halifax), smitten in the holocaust of war. Britain, the hope, the reliance, of the Entente, faithful to the last to every ally. United around Britain they will win and they all know that come what may, though the world may crash, Britain will stand true, undismayed, unconquerable.

The Laurier

a Whole;

The followers of Sir Wilfrid Laurier had a difficult

Campaign as fight to wage in this campaign. Outside of Quebec, Issues in On- where practically the whole press was theirs-except tario, Quebec two daily papers-they had a united press against and the West. them with the London Advertiser, Edmonton Bulletin and Calgary News-Telegram as the chief exceptions. All the Provincial Premiers were for Union Government except Sir Lomer Gouin, though the Western Liberal Governments were somewhat divided in their allegiance. The soldier vote was a strong Unionist probability. On the other hand the French-Canadian vote in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta was relied upon for support and a still considerable foreign vote which naturally resented the War-times Franchise Act. There were a good many LabourLiberal candidates who were expected to show good results and there was a restlessness East and West as to the Conscription of farmers which was hopeful. The chief issues raised were the cost of living and alleged power of the profiteers; past political patronage and charges of corruption against Hon. R. Rogers and the Borden Government; faulty Militia administration, the Ross Rifle and alleged failure to educate and interest Quebec in a recruiting sense; the alleged autocratic, anti-Liberal, anti-Canadian, anti-British plan of Conscription. In Quebec the whole issue was Conscription and the personality of Sir W. Laurier. The Publicity element was poor in comparison with that of the Unionists-in a few of the papers of British Columbia and Alberta, chiefly, advertisements appeared describing the whole issue as one of "The People vs. The Big Interests" with the Flavelle matter as the basic principle of attack and the C.N.R. policy as a secondary one; the changes also were rung upon an alleged Memorandum prepared by Hon. J. A. Calder in July, which reviewed the sins and weaknesses of the Borden Administration as he saw them at that time; Sir C. Sifton was freely denounced as a capitalistic leader of the Union forces.

In Ontario H. H. Dewart, K.C., M.L.A., for one of the Toronto seats, was a leader in the Provincial fight; Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King was a candidate in North York but took little outside part; Sir Allen Aylesworth made a number of speeches for his old-time Leader at Ottawa; Hon. Charles Murphy kept largely to his constituency. The Hon. G. P. Graham supported Conscription but proclaimed himself an out-and-out admirer of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the combination caused his supporters in South Renfrew to give the nomination to a straight Laurier, anti-Conscription candidate, and prevented, also, his receipt of a Unionist nomination. At a Conference called by Sir Wilfrid in Ottawa on Oct. 20 Eastern Ontario Liberals, including Mr. Graham, pledged themselves (1) to support "every effort needed to sustain Canada's part in the War" and (2) recorded "admiration of the life and work of the greatest of all Canadians, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and desire to express the hope that he will long continue as leader of the great Liberal party." On Oct. 24 Mr. Graham was in conferences with Sir Wilfrid, Mr. Lemieux and others at Montreal. On Nov. 2 he telegraphed regret at not being able to attend the Hamilton meeting of Unionist Liberals: "I do not recede one iota from the position I took up in the House of Commons. The platform of the new Government shows the infusion of Liberal principle; if that programme is adhered to I will support it. Our boys at the front have to be supported and the quickest and the fairest way to accomplish this is by Compulsory service." During the ensuing Elections he supported Dr. Rankin, Laurier candidate, at Stratford (Nov. 29) and declared that Union Government should have been formed in 1914; at Ingersoll (Nov. 30) he said that: "Union Government should not be forced down the throats of the people, but formed after the people have expressed themselves at the polls"; in Toronto (Dec. 4) he spoke for A. J. Young, a Laurier candidate, and described himself as a Conscriptionist follower of Sir W. Laurier; at Dundas on Dec. 10 he denounced the War-times Franchise Act and stated that he had refused to join the Union Government because it was intended to stifle the voice and wishes of the people, and should not be formed till after the Elections. He made other strong Liberal speeches during the

contest.

Mr. Dewart's view as presented at various places in the Province centred in this statement at Toronto (Oct. 18): "The issue is one between the people and the monopolies. There never has been a time in the history of Canada when the real issue between the Liberal party and whatever party it may have to face was so apparent. The question to be decided at the coming Election is whether the people shall rule or whether the vested interests and moneyed people shall continue to lead the Government. The man who goes into this Union Government puts himself in line with the corporate interests and against the interests of the people." At a Montreal Liberal function on Nov. 28 he declared that "the Liberal party of Ontario stands behind Quebec, because we believe Quebec will do her part." To a Toronto audience (Dec. 3) he stated that: "The Liberal party of to-day is just as truly fighting the battle of

democracy in Canada as are the Allied armies on the fields of Europe. The struggle in Canada is between autocratic and self-constituted power and the authority of the people." At Beaverton (Dec. 5) he declared that Unionist advertising prevented the press from publishing honest statements; at Brockville and elsewhere he denounced the C.N.R. agreement as a betrayal of the public treasury and interests. Sir Allen Aylesworth-whose only son was on active service proclaimed Liberal loyalty to the War. In Toronto on Nov. 13 he declared "a politician who changed his political creed to be on the same plane as a man who forsook his religious beliefs— he was an apostate and a renegade." He denounced the Union Government as made up of hypocrisy and sham, declared Conscription not an issue as the 100,000 men would soon be Overseas, and freely condemned the Franchise Act. He spoke at Beaverton, Aylmer and other places. Mr. Mackenzie King, at Stouffville (Nov. 23) and other places, described Union Government as a fraud intended to win Elections and not the War: "Conscription might turn Canada into another Ireland."

The candidacy of A. J. Young against Sir George Foster in North Toronto attracted some attention. He had been forced to resign the Laurier candidacy in Nipissing because, though he pledged his support to Sir Wilfrid, he would not promise to support a Referendum or repeal of Conscription. In his appeal to the Toronto riding he declared the new Government and that of Sir R. Borden as the same and opposed it vigorously though saying little as to his own policy; on Dec. 4 he proclaimed himself a supporter of the Military Service Act and its enforcement. The popular personality of Sir Wilfrid Laurier was everywhere used by his friends and eulogized by many of his opponents; undoubtedly it was a factor in Ontario as elsewhere. As Hon. Mr. Murphy was reported to have said at Vars (Oct. 29), so said others: "War or no war, I will not desert Sir Wilfrid Laurier, no matter what policy he pursues. I am a supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier through thick and thin, although all others may desert him." Outside of the cities the influence of the Ontario United Farmers' organization was not asserted except through its organ the Weekly Sun. This journal was an offshoot of the late Goldwin Smith's influence and support and inherited his views upon many subjects-with Gordon Waldron, W. D. Gregory and W. L. Smith as from time to time in control of its policy. The two former were Laurier candidates in the campaign while James McEwing, ex-M.L.A., a leader of the organized farmers and a believer in Free-trade, etc., was also in the field-though unlike those of the West he supported the Opposition. To the Sun "the validity and legality of the so-called Union Government" (Oct. 17) was a matter for consideration-it would be a "government by usurpers for two or three months"; "the appeals and denunciations of the Laurier manifesto, we should think, put the claims of Union Government aside and elevate the preservation of popular government in this country to first place among the issues of the coming election" (Nov. 7); there was "no mistaking the temper of the farmers, who march in procession and pass resolutions protesting

against the taking of their help." Some meetings of farmers were held to protest against Conscription of their sons-notably at Perth where 500 paraded and met on Nov. 15 but, upon the whole, they did not take fire from either side. The Bracebridge Gazette of Nov. 12 made this appeal to them:

Every man taken from a Canadian farm destroys the power of Canada to feed the men at the Front.

Every man taken from a Canadian farm makes more terrible the cry of starving women and children for whom our men are fighting.

Your neighbour did not send your man to war. Will you force your neighbour's man to go to war?

Your man had his choice of what branch of war work he wished to do. Conscription gives no choice. Conscripts must use rifle, bomb, and bayonet.

Your man went forth in honour. Your neighbour honoured him. Will you force your neighbour's man to go in dishonour as a Conscript?

Italy has been over-run by Germany because Italy stripped her fields of men for the Front and left too few men on the farms to feed them.

Conscription and the Union Government is a conspiracy of the rich and powerful against the lowly.

Do you wish to enslave Canada's manhood to help the titled aristocrats? Mr. Waldron went further and charged (Toronto, Dec. 3) that the Canadian casualties were excessive and that the conduct of the Army should be inquired into; The Sun had already declared (Nov. 28) that "many will maintain that these losses must not continue"; on Sept. 26 it asserted that "we cannot hope to exert our full strength in the War, if the soldiers are not assured that they will be ably led." Upon the whole, however, the Liberal campaign in Ontario was a personal one without such press or platform aid as the party was accustomed to. The best of a difficult situation was made with the candidacy of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in Ottawa, G. S. Gibbons as Liberal-Labour candidate in London, A. C. Hardy in Leeds against Sir Thomas White, as amongst the more interesting contests.

The Liberal campaign in Quebec was an easy one. Sympathetic and enthusiastic crowds, admiration and respect for the Leader, belief in his cause and advocacy, made the lot of speakers and candidates politically pleasant. The Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, formerly Postmaster-General, was Sir Wilfrid's chief lieutenant and he had stated his personal view to the Canadian Club, New York, on Jan. 27 as follows: "There is one question which in my judgment is paramount-it is the great war now raging beyond the seas; it is the participation of Canada in that stupendous struggle-it is, above all, the determination we share in common that our Empire and her gallant Allies shall ultimately triumph." During the elections he stood upon Sir W. Laurier's platform, claimed that there were 25,000 French-Canadians abroad, pointed with pride to the gallant record of these troops, and keenly resented the term of "slacker" as applied to his people in campaign speeches elsewhere. As he put it at Longueuil on Oct. 22: "I am pleased to see my only son take up arms to fight for ideals of justice but I would have regretted to see the hand of a sergeant laid on the boy to compel him to fight." He dealt largely in this speech, as in others, with the personality of the Liberal leader: "Laurier is a Liberal, a Canadian patriot; above all, he is Laurier." He stated that he bore a message from Sir

Wilfrid asking all to obey the Military Service Act. As to the rest he "believed Conscription to be a camouflage, under which Rule Britannia could be sung and Quebec insulted as a Province of shirkers and slackers." At Nicolet on Oct. 28 he declared that the FrenchCanadian did not differ greatly from the English-Canadian in his opinion of Conscription, except that he was more outspoken. Noted in past years as a vigorous exponent and admirer of British connection he now expressed resentment at the action of: "Those supporters of Imperialism who direct the policy of the Government and wish to substitute compulsory for voluntary service. That means to renounce our traditions, to return to colonialism. As a Canadian and a Liberal I rise in revolt against this violation of our rights." As the campaign developed this view was amplified and at Maisonneuve on Nov. 10 he labelled Milner, Northcliffe, Atholstan, Beaverbrook and Flavelle as Imperialistic conspirators who must be dealt with by ballots, compared the Jingoes of London and Canada with the Junkers of Prussia, and declared that Sir W. Laurier had once refused a Peerage. Mr. Lemieux had the Montreal district as his special charge and, speaking at Hochelaga (Nov. 22),* was quoted in the press throughout Canada as follows: "Why have the Tories imposed Conscription upon Canada? To create a precedent, in order that Canada may become for England a reservoir of men for the wars of the future. That is the basis of Imperialism. I say that before doing more-and we have already done enoughwe ought to wait until the United States has furnished at least 1,500,000 men."

The Provincial Premier made several speeches in support of his Federal leader. At Quebec on Nov. 9 he vigorously denounced Conscription and declared that: "The year 1911 was the end of an era of happiness in Canada. "Through the aid of Sir Clifford Sifton the Government have been able to get control of the newspapers and chloroform the journalists from the Atlantic to the Pacific.' As to the rest: "There is no power here, there is no power in the world, that is able to impose Conscription on the Canadian people against their will. There is no man strong enough to impose this measure upon us if we do not want it." He did not fear the threat of isolation for Quebec: "We are on this land by right of discovery, the right of first settlers, of courage, of constancy, of a special decree of Providence, and we will remain on it." Sir Lomer Gouin also addressed a Montreal mass-meeting on Dec. 7 with Mr. Lemieux, Hon. W. G. Mitchell, Provincial Treasurer, and Hon. S. A. Fisher, with Mayor Martin in the chair. In speaking, the Premier described the work which had been accomplished "by every city, town and village in the Province in subscribing to the Victory Loan, the Red Cross, the Sailors' Fund and many other funds, the object of which was to succour the war-worn heroes in Flanders and in France especially the Belgians, those glorious martyrs." He denounced the C.N.R. purchase and, as to Conscription, claimed that food, not men, was the vital need of the moment; he severely criticized the Food Controller and Sir Joseph Flavelle. "Our

* Le Canada report afterwards quoted by Le Devoir.