El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-09


TTAWA Canada, Sept. SIN the
Canadian general election TO be
held on September FL the voters
Of the dominion will select men
TO represent them in the house of COM
mons of the federal parliament but will
not be called upon to select any other
officers whatsoever. In the United
States, where presidential or con-
greSSional election always is affected
to some extent by. the selection of other
on the same ballot, it is difficult TO I'M
derstand the clear cut distinctions of
Canadian elections.
No man in Canada in the general
election may vote for more than one
man. He votes for his choice of a MEM
Der of parliament to represent his own
district or riding as it is called The
result of the election depends entirely
upon the rarty allegiance OF the ma.
jority of members elected.
The Two Leaders.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier is the leader of
the Liberal party, and r. L. Borden is
the leader of the Conservative party.
If the Liberals win in this election sir
Wilfrid will be continued in the office
of prime minister; if the Conservat iyes
win Mr. Borden will become premier.
The prime minister in the cabinet Of
the Dominion of Canada yields a vast
the support of majority in the house
of commons, the actual ruler or the
land
Yet in neither party has one word
been said as to making party nomi-
nations for this high office. The ma
da works so SIN oothfy that, without
dissenting voice, every Liberal IN the
dominion recognizes sir Wiifrid Lau-
rier as the leader of his party, and ey-
cry Conservative in Canada owns Mr..
Borden as his political captain. When
the election is over there will be no fac
tional chickering's within the party, and
perhaps the only possible contest VIII
come in the event of a Conservative
victory as sir Wilfrid Laurier has an
nounced that If the Liberals are defeat
ed he will retire from active work and
will not take the leadership Of the OPP
position.
The political history of THE Domin-
ion of Canada falls naturally into two
parts From 1867 the year Of the
federation, until 1896. the Conservative
party was nearly always in power,
and the political affairs of the country
Were dominated by the great Conserva-
tive leader, sir John A Macdonald, and,
after his death, by his indomitable
spirit
Liberals Long In Power.
Since 1896 the Liberal party has been
continuously. in power and IT, IN turn,
has been dominated absolutely by sir
Wilfrid LaurieT, who is now engaged
in his fifth electoral contest as the
leader of a victorious party. In 1896
the Liberals won their first great VIC
tory under the Laurier leadership, the
issue being made up on the tariff cues
ton. The Conservatives had supported
consistently the tariff doctrines of sir
John A Macdonald who, in 1871, pro-
mulgated what was known as the ma
tional policy" Thit was, in fact q pros
tective tariff policy and sir John In
giving 1t the name of national policy
followed in the footsteps of Henry
Clay, who introduced the frankly pro-
tective tariff into the American fiscal
system under the title Of 1.-The Ameri-
can policy" The Liberals had opposed
the national policy, many of them be-
ing academic free traders. 1t remained
for Laurier and his ieutenants to draw
up scheme of tariff reform based on
the doctrine of a tariff for revenue
only with frank recognition of Incl
dental projection In 1896 the Liberals
adopted this scheme and rallied to
the cry of '-Laurier and Free Trad .
One of the principal planks in the Lau-
rier platform of 1896 was a pledge to
attempt to secure reciprocal trade
agreement with the United States that
would permit the free entry of Cana
dian natural products into the markets
of the United States.
Tariff Still the Issue.
In 1900 another general election was
held. with the result that the Liberal