THE FARMER LOSING HIS POLITICAL POWER. 1 8$ 



Said George William Curtis, a few years ago, before 

 one of the universities of America : " The rural states- 

 men who founded the Republic saw, in a vision, a homo- 

 geneous and intelligent community, the peace and 

 prosperity and intelligence of the state reflected in the 

 virtue and wisdom of the government. But is this our 

 actual America ? Or a gUmpse of Arcadia ? Is this the 

 United States of Plato's Republic ? Or Harrington's 

 Oceana ? Or Sir Thomas More's Utopia ? What are 

 the political maxims of the hour ? In Rome do as 

 Romans do. Fight fire with fire. Beat the devil with 

 his own weapons. Take men as they are ; and don't 

 affect superior goodness. Beware of the politics of the 

 moon ; and of Sunday-school statesmanship. This is 

 our current political wisdom ; and the results are 

 familiar. ' This is a nasty State,' cries the eager parti- 

 san, ' and I hope we have done enough nasty work to 

 carry it ! ' ' The conduct of the opposition,' says another, 

 * was infamous. They resorted to every kind of base and 

 contemptible means, and, thank God ! we have beaten 

 them at their own game.' The majority is overthrown 

 by the political machinery intended to secure its will. 

 The machinery is oiled by corruption, and grinds the 

 honest majority to powder." 



How well all this applies, at this very hour, to the 

 party politics of Canada as well as the United States, all 

 know too well. Either party in each country is ener- 

 getic in its vociferations against the corrupting influences 

 used by the other. Yet from all sides we hear that it is 

 preposterous to think of gaining power without using the 

 same corrupting means. However righteous the cause, 

 however direct its appeals to reason, however great the 

 interest of the people in its triumphs, it is the current 



