The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-21

view to tie gOOQ Oh tine people as a yhola
considering that to act otherwise would IA =
gross and shameful abuse OF his high po.,.
ton. and practically treason to the coun,r,,
do not suppose any ono expects the leader a,
the Government to take this position. but VIII,
should he not 7 It would be in line with sou.
professions he has made: II would be commo,
sense and common honesty. and IL would "a
fresh tho hearts Of honest men everywhere
1t would give some OF us reason to hopo ana
believe that Canada may yet shake herssl,
free from the corruption that has So deen,v
stained her politics, and take an honorable
position In the family of free communities.
There never was a country moro sadly At
loss for a commercial policy than this Canada
Of ours Mt the present moment. With you thers
is protcctionist party and there is revenus
tariff party but owing to Canada's pccu.a,
position the question is far from being equally
simple here. Tho manufacturers. Of COURSE
want all the protection they can get acainsi
all the world. and would willingly strangleths
country to mako their profits. The Liberal
party. as you know. have lately been adyocat.
ing what amounts to free trade with the rni,sA
States. while adopting. or perhaps increasing.
the present duties on goods from all vtber
countries Great Britain included. patt,
not fully organized as yet. but which
finds to some extent an organ In
tho NfNf oil tnlS city, would be Glad
to have free trade with England. and tho pre,.
ent tariff or something like it. rs against the
United States and the world generally. This
is the Imperial Federation idea or one form Of
it. Lastly there are beginning to be those
who boldly hoist the banner of FREQ trads with
all the world and direct taxation. This idea
| think. is destined to grow. though II NAV bs
some time before ii becomes factor Of i'm.
portance in our politics.
1t was championcd tho other day in an opes
letter addressed by Mr.. John Crcrar. =. C., Of
Hamilton. ont. to Mr.. Laurier. tho leader Of
tho Liberal party. and 1t has already been
taken up favorably by two or three journals Il
more or less influence. One point which Mr..
Crerar does not deal with is the excise
duties. To abolish them would mean
free whiskey beer. and tobacco. while TO main.
tain them would mean Keeping up Il line OF
Custom Houses mainly for the purpose Of pre-.
venting the introduction OF these things un.
taxed into the country. The bugic Of direct
taxation" says Mr.. Crernr. is tho most
CHASTITY sham that ignorance and crcduty
ever palmed rs Il reality upon crcdulous and
timid public" Our leading comic paper. Gyip,
which Is conducted with ability by an
earnest man. who never makes us laugh with
out teaching a good moral lesson. has been
saying the Same thing for years past. and the
truth. for truth it is. may by this time have
made some Roadway among our people.
1t is in this province. however. and by tho
French Canadian population that the idea OF
direct taxation is held in the greatest abhor.
renee. Each political party in turn has threat
cned Jean Baptiste that the opposite rartywould
Introduce direct taxation, and now things
havo been brought to such pass that no one
sees how direct taxation in some form can be
avoided. What is OF moro general concern.
however. is thcuuestion as tothe course which
the Dominion Government will take upon tho
trade question. Every ono feels that tho no.
tionnl. G.. protective policy Of tho last thir-
teen years has failed to do what was
expected Of it. Our last census. which showed
that tho population OF the Dominion still,
fell short OF five millions. that tho growth
of population for the decennal period
'Sl-D1 had been less than Il per cent. that
during lat period ono million persons must
have lcio this country for the United States.
including large body of immigrants drawn
hither by n liberal expenditure of public
money opened the eyes of the people to the
fact that something more than n high tariff
is ncrde', TO make country prosperous.
The probability is that for the present Mr..
Abbott will take refuge in n mastery inactivi.
ty. II" has n majority Of over fifty in tho
House OF Commons. and cnn take his ease for
session or two watching the course OF
events. Personally he and all the Minis
tors would be inclined to favor policy
that would draw Canada nearer to tho
mother country. At least most of them.
perhaps all of them. are Imperial Fedora
tonists. Tho chief reason why their leanings
in that direction have not been more openly
avowcd is that the idea OF Imperial Federation
has hitherto been intensely unpopular with
the French population Of this province. so
much SO that no ono. however acceptable hs
might otherwise be- could hope to carry any
constituency in which French votes dominated.
If he were known to have tho slightest SYM
pathy with it. What the French especially
object to is the idea of being involved in Great
Britains wars. and having perchanco to take
arms against their kinsmen in Europe: and
rightly or wrongly. they think a closer alliance
with England might involve this. Arart
from this it is felt by many that. however
natural 1t would 10 for n colony of Great
Britain to entor into tho closest commercial
and other relations with the parent State geo.
graphical considerations cannot safely be ig-
nored. and that it would be n serious slap
to place Canada in n position OF avowcd
commercial antaGohism to the United States.
The trade question may be adjourned for q
year or two but it will then press for II scttls-
ment and il tho present Conservative lender
Is still in power it will tax all his resources Of
craftsmanship to carry the country success
fully through tho crisis and give IA dcnivs
direction to its policy. MARCUS