The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-30

that there was any dinerence between ~.
"cheek" Of an undutiful son and the adbnr'
ence OF constituency to nm independent lin.
| OF political opinion and action. Yot. outwardIu
| no was n most prcscntable man. and educ
| tionaly good average. to say the least. ava,
among membors OF Parliament. Lot no ors
| imagine there was the slightest tinge of humas
| in this mans declarations. lIo was In doas
| earnest. very argumentative ana spfemn. AVA
was talking to q high public functlonary. wbo
| he assumed. fully agreed with his views. To suoh
| n man corruption is an utterly mcaninr,os.
term. Possibly IL practised BY opponents h.,
might think 1t had some unfavoratle coppo,n.
| ton: but the probability is rather that such
man would quickly range himself on the sid.
| from which the money came. and would iooI
| that he was merely acknowledging tho sw..
| Of kind OF political law of gravta'ion. Con.
| sidering how long and how sedulously 81,
| John Macdonald had labored TO undermine all
| political principle in the true sense. woutor I,
| not that widespread political demoralisatio,
| should have ensued. but that anything solid
In the political life OF the people was lett stanL.
| ing. Just how much there is that is solids,
question that might be difficult to determine
When MIR. Abbott took up the reins Of Gov.
| eminent he probably did not quite forcsee Tn.
| role that would be forced upon him. Whatb
undertook to do In the first place was to lead
| tnO SOnSeTNdtlNe parry uS SuCttSSbT 10
| John Macdonald: but Just as the T.auroyn
| case began to look blacker and blacker. aud n,
| other scandals began to darken the horizon
| the only position he could assume was that II,
| at least. had no responsibility for thess
| abuses. and that he did not intend to tolerate
| anything Of tho kind for tho future. Bcir,
thus forced to gather in his own skirts, So that
| they might not be splashed with mud from ths
| Langcvin investigation or soiled by contact
| with the SENEGAL frauds. Mr. Abbott wa, in.
| Voluntarily led to pose somewhat more do.
| cdedly as political purist than perhaps hs
| would have cared to do under ordinary cir.
cumstances or than tho country was entirely
| prepared for. Be this as it may. the POSITIONS
now taken. and Mr.. Abbott is tho Moses VIII,
is going to lead us from the Egypt of political
disgrace to the promised land of purity and
honor. During the session. as we liavn seen
he made some strong statements as to what
he proposed to do with those who had heen
concerned in frauds upon the Government or
had made illegitimate profit out of their
official positions.
He also gave tho country to understand that
after the session he would reconstruct. and. in
| reconstructins. considerably improve. the Cab.
met he had inherited from Sir John Maclvn.
aid A decent show at least has been made oi
fulfilling the first pledge. Several important
dismissed. one or two were reduced in
rank. n considerable number were made t,
forfeit q months pay on account OF
having obtained payment irregularly and
illegally for extra work. and finally
criminal prosecutions have been instituted not
only against some OF the dismissed men. hut
against certain contractors and one ex-nem.
Der of Parliament for variously specified form.
of fraud The work has not been done thor.
oughly enough nor pushed vigorously enough
to satisfy the opposition. who maintain that
there are Just as good grounds for prosecuting
Sir Hector Langevin. the ex- Minister OF Public
Works. and the Hon. j. A. Chapleau. the present
Secretary Of state. as there are for prosecuting
Mr.. Arnold of the department OF the former.
or Mr.. Senecal OF the department OF the latter:
but. however this may be. it is undoubtedly
the case that Mr.. Abbott and his Minister .,
Justice. Sir John Thompson. have made things
very uncomfortable for q number Of wrong.
doors.
The reconstruction Of the Cabinet Is proceed.
! iDG slowly. The Dominion Cabinet consists
properly OF thirteen members. four Of whom
usually are assigned to Ontario. three or four
to Quebec. two to New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia respectively leaving portfolio or two.
according to circumstances. to the less popu.
lous provinces. Sir John Macdonald's death
left tho Ontario contingent very weak. and the
forced resignation Of Sir Hector Langevin left
the Quebec contingent In q similar plight.
The Ontario men were Bowel. Minister o.
Customs: Hnggart. Postmaster General. and
CARING. Minister Of Agriculture-the first an
Industrious worker. a relentless collector o!
revenue and man personally pure: the see.
ond man Of but little experience in office. but
reputed to be possessed OF considerable busi.
ness capacity the third a respecta Bile nonenty.
hat hrnn ~, II
had seats in tho House OF Commons. Mr..
CARING having been defeated in the general
election of last March and forced to take ref.
uge in the Senate. the members of which.
under our system. are nominated by the Gov.
eminent OF the day. AS neither Mr.. Bowel
nor MIR. Haggart is possessed Of any oratorira
talent or any gift Of leadership. while both
have faults OF temper and manner which
impair their popularity. the great province
OF Ontario was not. it is evident. very
happily represented on tho Treasury
benches. Tho province OF Quebec WAS in
perhaps worse position. Its representa-.
tives In the Government were Mr.. Abbott,
who sits In the Senate: Sir Hector Langsvn.
who dropped out in disgrace before the
session was over: Mr.. Chapleau. whose ro.
litical character might DO geographically
expressed by line of interrogation
marks. whose bosom friend SENEGAL was
proved to DO quite as great rascal Sir
Hector's bosom friend McGreevy and. finally.
Sir Adolphe Caron. Against the latter No. dis.
honesty or corruption has ever been proved.
nor until quite lately. has any been arcol.
but politically he has not heretofore carried
much weight.
What Mr.. Abbott had to do then was 10
strengthen his Cabinet by reorganHin- thu
Ontario and Quebec sections. The only change
he has seen his way to making ms yet. so far ~
the Ontario section is concerned. is to m.,vs
Mr. Haggart from tho Post Office to tho ~.
partment OF Railways and Canals. tho mo
over which Sir John Macdonald had presided
for some time before his DEATH Who is t" ra-
place Mr.. Haggart in tho Post Office pcrart.
ment or who tho unknown" is who is to
complete the Ontario contingent. is matter for
conjecture. 1t was openly stated months a-D
that Mr.. W. r. Meredith of London. Dat.
Mt present tho Conservative leader n
tn" Provincial Legislature OF ontagt.
was to have the vacant place. and
as he is man OF eminent responsibility aui
superior talents hsaccession would have brrr
regarded as pledge that the Premier WAS
bent on giving the country really good CIV.
eminent. Mr. Meredith however. has not been