Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-09-25
Conservative Triumph In Canada.

The quinquennial election in the New
Dominion of Canada for members OF the
lower house of Misunderstanding of two
hundred and five members--took place last
week. (The upper house, or Senate, is COM
posed of seventy-eight members, named by the
Governor.General, who have life tenures.)
After one of the most vehement and holly
contested campaigns ever known, the con-
servatives come out victorious, by major
ity of nearly two to one. The present gov.
eminent being thus pointedly condemned,
the tariff will be changed at once from one
for revenue TO one for protection, and trade
with the United States will probably for
time at least be great lessened in conse-
quence.
Perhaps never before in the history of our
neighbors across the border has political con.
test been fought so exclusively upon business
and industrial grounds. Long before the cam
paign had opened the conservatives raised the
cry of dull times, stagnation and depression,
and laid the blame for such state of things
at the door of the present government un-
der the premiership of Mr.. Mackenzie. All
the "outs," all the dissatisfied, disconnected
and FESTIVE took up the cry and echoed it
from one end of the Dominion to the other 1t
was charged that the policy of the admins
tration in sustaining a tariff for revenue
only was working disaster to all manufac-
tories and greatly embarrassing every in
dustry. The slogan Of the conservatives
was protection versus free trade. There
were personal and other issues of minor i'm
portance, but the tariff question was the
controlling one, aud on that question Sir
John Macdonald is again called from his re-
tirement to power.
While the conservative journals are wild
with rejoicing, leading liberal paper takes
the opposite view. 1t says The opposi-
ton has carried majority of the seats in
the House of Commons, and the new Par
Lament will take its tone from this consti-
tutional declaration of public will. We
shall not affect indifference to this event.
We cannot regard it otherwise than with
deepest regret, as a serious blow to the pros
perity of the Dominion. The issue on which
the electoral contest mainly turned was the
promise of Sir John A. Macdonald and his
supporters, if elected, to enforce system of
thorough protection for home manufactures,
by the imposition of increased duties, and
to retaliate upon the United States by the
;,a,,aeit;op tba,,, &c T.
itory customs duties they now levy. That
policy so short-sighted and injurious
should have been endorsed by the Ca
madam people at the polls is national mis-
fortune. The causes that contributed to
the startling change of public sentiment are
not difficult to discover. The commercial
depression still existing over the North
American continent, and the restless desire
for some underlined change that would bring
about better times, had no doubt much to
do with it. The seductive delusion held out
to the weaker sort of acquiring wealth
quickly by shutting out foreign commodi-
ties and increasing largely the consumption
and price of home manufactures, drew many
victims after it, and the thorough party or.
ganization of the Tory party for propagat-
ing their sentiments and bringing out their
men did the rest"
Time will tell how much virtue there is
in Sir John Macdonalds panacea for reviv-
ing business. Building a wall of protection
to shut out the United States may not work
as well as has been promised. Indeed, it is
charged that Macdonald raised the standard
of protection more as demagogue than as
a statesman, and that in heart he has very
little faith in it as a means of improving
business. But as means of restoring Sir
John to power it has been most effective,
and that is what more directly concerns him
just now.