autonomy bills in their original form kept faith with this
understanding. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Mr. Fitzpatrick, minister of
justice, contended vehemently that they did. Clifford Sifton, who
was the western representative in the cabinet and the party most
directly interested, held that they did not. Mr. Sifton was absent
in the Southern States when the bill was drafted. He reached Ottawa
on his return the day after Sir Wilfrid had introduced the bills to
parliament. He at once resigned. Fielding, who had also been absent,
was credited with sharing to a considerable extent Sifton's view
that the bill introduced did not embody the policy agreed upon. The
resulting crisis put the government in jeopardy. A considerable
number of members associated themselves with Mr. Sifton and the
government was advised that their support for the measure could only
be secured if clauses were substituted for the provisions in the act
to which objection was taken. To make sure that there would be no
mistake that the substituted provisions should merely continue the
territorial law as it stood, they insisted upon drafting the
alternative clauses themselves. Sir Wilfrid, acutely conscious that
this constituted a challenge to his prestige and authority, used
every artifice and expedient at his command to induce the insurgents
either to accept the original clause or alternatives drafted by Mr.
Fitzpatrick; for the first time the tactical suggestion that
resignation would follow noncompliance was put forward. The
dissentient members stood to their guns; Sir Wilfrid yielded and the
measure thus amended commanded the vote of the entire party with one
Ontario dissentient.

The storm blew over but the wreckage remained. The episode did
Laurier harm in the English provinces. It predisposed the public
mind to suspicion and thus made possible the ne temere and Eucharist