6 KO Y AL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



One of the early stages in the foundation of parties is the definition 

 of policy, principles, or platform. For the purposes of the successful 

 politician, the simpler and more epigrammatic this is the better. A 

 policy or platform condensed into one or two high-sounding words is 

 wonderfully effective. A policy which is lengthy or hard to understand 

 will thereby work its owti defeat. " Protection for our infant indus- 

 tries/' " A National Policy," " No taxation without representation," 

 " The United Empire," are familiar examples. This is but a case of 

 the tendency in all ages of the popular mind to condense its experience 

 or convictions into some pithy saying which ds the wit of one and the 

 wisdom of many. The policy thus represents the fully conscious stage 

 of political life, the jpoint at which the individual elements are not only 

 uniting into a living organism, but the organism is becoming conscious 

 of its own existence and character. 



Another of the early steps in the life of a party is leadership. In 

 revolutionary parties this is naturally military in its character, and may 

 often as the result of mere physical force change the character of the 

 movement which it represents. A good example we have of this in the 

 French Revolution and Napoleon. It began with the widest liberty 

 as its watchword; it ended in the most extreme absolutism. Wash- 

 ington gives us the finest example in history of a leader who never 

 attempted to step aside from the end for which he was called to power. 



But the true constitutional leadership of party is that which aims 

 at victory by intellectual and moral conviction and not by physical 

 force. Such leadership demands a rare combination of natural endow- 

 ments and acquired advantages. Wide knowledge, and strong under- 

 standing, the gift of clear, forcible and persuasive speech, tact in deal- 

 ing with men, all contribute to successful leadership. But probably the 

 moral and social qualifications are even more important than the intel- 

 lectual. Such a man must command public confidence, or even per- 

 gonal affection. To this end the people must have come to know him, 

 and he must have great power of moral or social attraction, a strong 

 personality and personal influence. Eecent years have given us con- 

 spicuous examples of such leadership — Gladstone, Disraeli, Lincoln, 

 Bismarck, Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Oliver Mowat. Such leadership 

 is of immense immediate advantage to the cause of any party. And yet 

 if the persona] influence of the leader causes the people to lose sight of 

 Ihe issue which is the true life of the party, the death of the leader 

 may easily mean the disintegration of the party. In true healthy poli- 

 tical life men should never overshadow the princifvles which they repre- 

 sent. 



The real business of the leader is to make the people understand 

 ihe nature and importance of the principles which he represents and to 



