New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-02
THE CANADIAN SCANDALS.
POLITICAL FRAUD THE ONLY PROSPEROUS
OCCUPATION IN THE DOMINION.

THE ONE HAND AND BRIBEp ON THE OTHER
RECENT INVESTIGATIONS HAVE ONLY
TOUCHED THE BORDERS OF COR
RUPTIoN INFERENcEs FROM
THE LOSSES SHOWN IN
THE CENSUS.
FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE Tribune
ottawa oct las predicted in fermer letter. tIe
Tory Government has oont4ved TO stagger through Ie
session Parliament met on April ~, fresh from the
.reI .ec,,on and for five months done little else
than investigate scandals The first OF the batch was
that relating to the Public Works Department. Inc
Abyssinian savage travellers say. cuts MS ualy ro
from the back OF the OK which carries him. sr 'o"i
Macdonald was an economist Of the same school-'"V
g. he believed in making the people themselves supply
the money employed in bribng them III 1917 o
robp Sir George Carter and Sir Hector Iangevln Cd
tancd 81 o. 900 from Sir Hugh Allan, who at the time
was seeking the contract for building the Canadah
Pacific Railway. The fund was spent In the general
elections OF that year. Mr. Abbott, the PrcsenV
Premier OF the Dominion, was mixed up IN te ah'n'
acting as paymaser for Sir Hugh. and IN MS tes'oy
before a commission OF inquiry made 1t clear 'nat
,up,s+er. had calculated upon allowing Sir Hugh TO
cosp his losses at the expense Of the Dominion Treas
urx This system was reintroduced by Sir John Mac
donald when he came back to power IN 1870, anu aP
pears 10 have been adopted in all the spending oepV
ments The Public, Works scandal cost the taxpayers
several hundred thousand dollars. Certain Govern
ment contractors furnished Sir Hector VINO was Vie
head OF the bureau, with campaign Doodle TO large
amonnt He had what was called reptile fund ana
s1ev kent II repenshed besides contributing 10 HIS
newspapers and lending money to his son. VINO acteu
as superintendent Of one OF the contracts III nVuin
tbey were allowed to commit frauds. the various
enterprises which they executed at quebec anu
r,souImalt B. c. for the Crown cost S2,2OO,ooo, ana
their gains from this outlay to within fraction OF
81 600 900. Besides supplying Sir Hector they goo
att the chief engineer Of the Department ana NJ seVer
minor officials The Government and its followers have
whitewashed Sir Hector, though their majority III 'o
House dropped to fifteen in the process, but are Ill
favor of prosecuting the subordinaes the contractors
aDd Mr. McCyreevv NJ p who was Sir HectOr's agent
&C well as agent for the contractors in the series OF
swndles.
A case OF a precisely similar kind has been sup
messed by the Government. Mr.. Lister LIBERAL
saked his seat and reputation on his ability TO prove
that Sir John Macdonald had exploited Caiaulah
Pacific contract for campaign funds and that MI
Uaggart. the present Postmaster-General, had been
interested in the contract while member OF the House.
That is known as the Section b scandal. section
was a portion OF the Canadian Pacific Line between
Port Arthur and Winnipeg which was constructed oy
the Dominion Government prior to the formation OF te
Canadian Pacific Company. Haggart swore some tHe
ago that he had no interest whatever in the work. Duu
undertook
bsh that tie contractors had contributed large
sums to Sir John Macdonald's election fund
and had been allowed to reimburse them
selves by fraudulent contrivances. The Ministers
were afraid to grant probing eommttee ana
voted Lister down. but in all likelihood the matter VIII
come up next session, If this Administration should DO
In office third scandal illustrative Of the Abysslnan
method is known as the Langevin block scandal Sir
Hector. as Minister Of Public Works has been super
visnC the erection Of a Department building Inc
contract was let to Mr.. Charleeos. Charebois, Ike
the rest of Them kept the Minister going with election
money while the Minister repaid him with usurlous In
terest by allowing him to steal The block. which is
not completed yet has cost about 100000, but the
bona hde cost is not more than S460,ooo fourth
scandal affecting Sir Hector has been unearhed In the
construction of a craving dock at Kingston, ont
The contract let by him to one Andrew G. Bancroft
Bancroft wrote several letters TO the Department and
appeared there and signed the papers In u1pncate
along with Sir Hector himself 1t has been shown that
Bancroft really person named Hughes, the fore
man for two OF the contractors implicated in the
Esqulmalt and Quebec frauds. The dock was to have
cost 5000 OOO but will cost S460,000 before it is fin
ished.
Another Minister, Mr.. ]. A. Chaplain, Secretary
of State is In the tolls He has charge of the Govern
ment Printing Bureau. The superintendent, Mrt
SENEGAL who fed from the inquiry, obtained sbout
$50 600 by exactng commissions pots as the
bureau, chiefly from the agents OF Tpefounders.
senecas operations reported to other Minister'S
but nothing done until Mr.. Lister cast his dragnet
On one OCCASION when the bureau was buying presses
from certain American firms, Dansereau, worker
for Chapleau saw them and warned them not to pay
pot-de win to SENEGAL But" said Dansereau, You
can contribute to the Tory campaign fund, you like"
and so these good Yankees put their hands in their
pockets and supplied Sir John Macdonald with bribery
money for the maintenance Of the Old Flag and British
connection, of which he claimed to be the mainstay.
Of course if the pressmakers could afford to contribute
to the election fund.- they could have afforded TO
charge the bureau Just that much less for the machines
so that here again the Canadian taxpayer had in the
last analysis to pay for the bbing OF himself But Mr.
Chapleau made strike on his own account Like most
French Canadian politicians he keeps newspaper
organ, La Pesse," Of Montreal La PreSse" was In
debt 10 American paper company. Mr.. Lister has
shown BY the evidence Of the agent of the company, in
civil action tried at Montreal that the company agreed
to apply share of the profits it made from the sale
of goods to the Printing Bureau TO the payment of
certain notes OF hand signed by Chaplain, which 1t
held OIL account of the debt referred TO- This has put
Mr.. Chapeau in a bad box, and lie will probably be
removed from the Cabinet. Sir Hector has already
been removed, and Haggart must go, too.
1t will be observed tlat French Canadians figure
in these scandals. The educated French
Canadian does not to emigrate TO the states.
difference In language is a bar TO his advancement.
He has only four eallings open TO him at home
the priesthood, which is overcrowded the medical
and legal and notaral professions, ditto and politics
including Journalism. But, he is poor In purse he
has to make politics support him, which means that
he is always in the way of temptation. There
French Canadians above reproach Mr.. Laurier, the
Liberal leader in Dominion affairs is Of spot
less character. So is Mr.. jolly another Liberal and
Mr.. Mason, prominent Bleu or Tory. On the
whole, however, for the reason Just given, the
In
more corrupt than those in the other Provinces. The
mass Of the voters in French Canada are unquesonably
moro debased than the rest Of the Canadian electorate
Parliamentary institutions were established there long