The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-10-01
The Impending Change OF Ministry
in Canada.

''from grave to gay, from lively to severe"
and contained perhaps as much wit as Wis
dom-His Lordship expressed doubt
whether the success Of our constitution Is
not more due to the fortitude, good sense
and moderation of the generations which
followed its adoption than to the political
sagacity Of its trainers. Our own statesmen
have always held different opinion, and
few Americans will doubt that on this
point Lord Dufferin is mistaken. It is
chiefly owing to the original excellence Of
the federal constitution that the political
degeneracy of succeeding times has not
ruined the Republic But when Lord
Dufferin had set himself the task Of main
tanning the superiority Of the Dominion
government he felt obliged to ascribe the
great success of our institutions to some
other cause than their intrinsic excellence.
He even goes SO far as to assert that our in
telligent classes have turtive preference
for the Canadian constitution. "Certain
am" says His Lordship in his pleasant
vein, "that there is not thinking Ameri-
can, however proud he may be of his coun-
try, that does not cast o Sleeps eye
Oaughter)--across the border at our more
fortunate condition" This sportive meta
phor makes our Republic a bashful
maiden who snever told her love"
but cannot quite conceal it, and who casts
sidelong chances at the object of her admi-
ration. This talk about casting sleeps
eyes is pretty and sentimental, and we
infer from it that in the large intercourse Of
hospitality between Earl Dufferin and
Americans some of our citizens have proved
quite his match in the exchange of after
dinner compliments.
We do not really ''cast sleeps eyes" at
Canada but many Of our. citizens take an
open and intelligent interest in her gov
eminent and people, and recognize the
Asct that her politics are measurably free
from some Of the evils that affiict and
debase our own. But party spirit
runs quite as high on the other
the United States, and its party press is
quite as venomous and abusive, although
the prizes scrambled for are not nearly SO
important. Canada has no regular army,
no navy, no foreign intercourse, and its
other sources OF patronage are compare
lively small. Our vast fiscal system, under
which we collect and disburse an immense
annual revenue, creates temptations which
are sore trial to public virtue. If the
Canadian government dispensed as great a
patronage and handled rs colossal reve-
nue. we see nothing in the working Of its
! political system to justify supposition
that its affairs would be better managed
than ours On the two points singled
out by Lord Duferin as topics of
warning the superiority of Canada
is not very manifest. One of these topics
of warning is our elective judiciary, and
the other our unstable civil service. On
the first head it may be replied that our fed
eral judiciary is not elective, all the federal
judges, not only of the Supreme Court, but
of the circuit courts and the numerous
district courts, being appointed for life and
quite independent of the mutations OF
party politics. The same thing is true Of
| quite a number Of our State judiciaries,
including all those of New England, the
State of New Jersey and some other States.
The elective system has not vet led to any
very marked abuses in n majority of the
States that have adopted it, and in New York,
where the judges are elected for the long
period of fourteen years, our courts arc rs
pure and independent as those of New Eng
land although there have been some ex-
ceptions in this city. As to the other point,
the civil service, it cannot be disputed that
there is an urgent necessity for reform (; but
this necessity is nearly as great in Canada
as in the United States. The question
which is most agitated just now in the press
of the Dominion is whether Mr.. Mackenzie
may make appointments previous to his
resignation. Those who take the affirm
alive call up the example of Sir John Mac
donald previous to his forced retirement in
1874, when he filled offices by Wholesale
before yielding up his authority. 1t is re-
Joined that Mr.. Mackenzie condemned
and denounced the action of his
predecessor in that respect and that
sense of consistency should there
fore preclude him from initiating the
example. In point Of fact there is at pres
ent host of applicants for offices now in
Ottawa. the capital, besieging Mr.. Macken-
zie for places previous to his resignation,
all of which shows that politicians act after
their kind in the Dominion as well as in the
United States.
The politics Of Canada are we'll worth OBJ
servation in this conjuncture. What takes
place on q change of administration is an
interesting point of comparison in the
working of the new governments. Our own
system does not leave an open door for the
kind of discussions which now engross at
tention in Canada. The consequences of
a decisive election are never with
us q matter of doubt or debate. If
we had a period of violent agita-
ton after the last Presidential election
IA xuna nnlv hncnnse the result nf tho election