THE FARMER LOSING HIS POLITICAL PO WER. 1 79 



were once considered best under the control of individ- 

 ual choice, a slavery is established, which, though volun- 

 tary, is none the less real. The consequences are that 

 not only is the scope of individual development and 

 relative influence lessened; but, through such deliver- 

 ance, new opportunities are created for selfish and 

 unscrupulous lobbyists to victimize the masses. 



We have seen the popularity of meddlesome legislation 

 in the United States ; and we have also seen the ease 

 with which Canadian legislators have been able to satisfy 

 their constituents, that in the hands of a paternal gov- 

 ernment they could trust the management of their 

 dearest interests. 



In the United States, at the present time, seventy-five 

 per cent, of the people allow their liberties, in regard to 

 trade, to be sacrificed to satisfy the avarice of a few 

 monopolists and the needs of a ponderous political sys- 

 tem. Yet the fathers of this same people, little more 

 than one hundred years ago, rose in their might and 

 waged war with England to gain perfect commercial 

 freedom. Just now, in Canada, a faction are clamoring 

 for the privilege of having their commercial dealings 

 confined to this continent alone ; though the liberties, 

 and chances for trade, which they are willing to imperil, 

 are valuable beyond compare with those which the colo- 

 nies of America a century ago were ready to fight for in 

 order to secure to their own control. In America, the 

 most burdensome system of taxation that can be devised 

 — taxes on imports — has increased, in the last twenty-five 

 years, many times the increase of population. And still 

 the people sanction a continual increase. Will they 

 eventually cry a halt ? Or will they allow it to go on 

 unchecked, until they are powerless to compel a change ? 



