New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-06
THE CANADIAN POLITICAL CRISIS


surprise. Press dispatches from Ottawa ana
Toronto have reflected the prevailing impress
sion in Canada that Sir John would sustain
himself. The early divisions in Parliament
gave the Ministry u large majority; ana wneh
the Premier made his great speech ilsI NUN
day night the Opposition were despohuen''
The Opposition organs next morning ap-
peared to concede the case, saying tiat Chc
| Ministry might now succeed, but III was ieau-
ing its party to destruction. Yet IN uiVlS-
ion ON n motion TO censure the Ministry, the
Onposition would have probably carried the
House. Anticipating this apparent conclnsion'
Sir John A. Macdonald has resigned; his Cab
met is dissolved, and MIR. Mackenzie, the OPP
position leader, has been appointed Premier.
The victory is rs complete as 1t Is unexpected
The causes which led to the downfall of the
Macdonald Ministry lie far back i'll the history
of Canadian politics. The annexation OF Brit
ish Columbia was the irst in series OF Min
isterial projects which aroused the iiercest oD-
position of the "Grit" party, as the Liberals
are called. This scheme was carried and the
defeat of a bill to better protect the purity OF
the ballot, an Opposition measure, was the
next Ministerial victory. Out of these two
important events may be said to have Issued
the contest which has finally terminated III
the defeat of the Tory Cabinet so long IN
power. The building of the Canadian Pacific
Railroad was one OF the conditions on
which British Columbia was absorbed into
the Dominion; and the defeat of the
reformed election lawn made it posi-
BILE still longer for political contestants
to corrupt the ballot; and 10 this corruption
the Ministry finally found It's ruin. Mr.. Hunt
ington made his charges against the Macdon-
aid Cabinet as long ago as last April. lie
declared that in the disposition OF the Cana
dian Pacific Railroad contract and franchises
the Government had been actuatcd by UNI
patriotic and corrupt motives. The distinct
specifications were that the Ministry had
favored Americans in this business, and that
money had been received FOR Ministerial fla
yors. The revelations made in the cores
pondence of Mr. George w. McMuIen mate
rally substantiatcd these allegations, though
each item was stoutly denied during the in
yestigation made by the Royal Commission.
| Still, the moral effect of the charges seems to
have been very great; Mr.. Huntington, in
his speech last Monday night, declared
that he originally made them without any
knowledge of the documentary evidence sub
sequcntly published by McMullen. The tcs-
timony collected by the Royal Commission
was laid before Parliament without comment.
The Opposition had ignored the whole pro-
ceedrng, and Mr.. Huntington had declined to
appear IN a case which, it was claimed, was
practically controlled by the Government.
When Parliament assembled, after few pre-
liminary sl,irmishes, in which the Ministry
were uniformly successful, the Issue was
plainly made on these two propositions: The
Opposition moved an amendment to the adj
dress to the throne. attaching the censure Of
the House to the Ministerial management of
Pacific Railroad affairs; the Ministerial party,
after admitting with regret the expenditure
of money in elections by all political parties"
moved vote of confidence in the Cabinet.
The result, as above noted, was a moral de-
feat of the Ministry.
Thie conclusion will be greeted by all friends
of good government IA victory for right
principles. II was never denied that the
Canadian Cabinet received enormous sums Of
money from the Canadian Pacific Railroad con-
tractors; that this money was spent in tho
election canvass is admitted. The only de
Tense put forth is that embodied in the able
and ingenious speech of Sir John A. Mac
donald and in the proposed "vote of conf
"dence" in the House. it is that the general
management of public affairs by the Ministry
has been prosperous to the country, and that
the lavish use of money in elections has not
been confined to the Canadian Tories and is
sanctioned by British precedent. On this
ground the Macdonald Ministry stood on this
they have been defeated. Public opinion in
Canada, like that in the United States, sets
its seal of disapprobation on public men who
Danish morals from politics and the manage
ment of governmental affairs. The lesson is
worth much to the world.