1906-7. TRANSACTIONS. 71 



In the same speech Mr. Foster furiously assailed the Govern- 

 ment as a "blatant organized hypocrisy. " And then he appealed 

 to everybody not to be a mere neutral man^ but to join either one 

 party or the other. 



"The purely neutral man (he said) is a menace to society 

 and we ought to have none of them. " 



Now a clear-headed man like Mr. Foster, if he would reflect a 

 little, must acknowledge that he does not hold out very strong 

 inducements to these neutral men; for he admits that the choice 

 which he presents to them is "a blatant organized hypocrisy" 

 on the one hand, and at the best the plain devil of corruption 

 without hypocrisy upon the other. Of course if it were only a 

 question of whether you would choose to be a publican or a pharisee, 

 an avowed or a concealed corruptionist, you would of course enlist 

 with the gentleman without the varnish. But does it not occur to 

 Mr. Foster that there may be people who do not like the devil at 

 all, whether with or without phylacteries or feathers, as a club or 

 party associate? 



It is worthy of note that not long since a body of gentlemen 

 with, I have no doubt, the best intentions in the world, formed a 

 society or union in Manitoba for the purpose of reforming politics 

 and as a protest against the shameful, or rather shameless cor- 

 ruption of both political parties. They did very well, until they 

 undertook to elect one of their number to Parliament, and indeed 

 until having elected him their methods of operation were attacked 

 in the courts, when alas! their member too was unseated upon the 

 old familiar ground of corruption by agents. There is something 

 that is said to stick closer than a brother. Is it corruption to 

 political parties? 



Observe too that there is the same necessity for solidarity in 

 party politics as in war. Discipline and obedience, here also, are 

 prime necessities of success. What your leader says, you must 

 say; or if you differ with him you must at least conceal your 

 opinion. If you don't you will be dubbed traitor, and possibly 

 " read out of the party. " 



Oppositions. — Lord Randolph Churchill was much more 

 frank than moral when he said that " it is the duty of an opposition 

 to oppose. " Let any Government propose anything, I care not 

 what it is, and the opposition at once condemns it, and endeavors 

 to convince the electors that it is not only superlatively bad, but 

 frequently that it is underlaid by some rascally motive. If the 



