correctness and generosity of his attitude as revealed in the war
session of August, 1914. From a speech in the next session it might
be inferred that he would have gone farther than he did if overtures
had been made to him.

In Canada, as elsewhere, the war spelt opportunity for more than the
patriot and the hero. The schemer, resolute to make the war serve
his ends, appeared everywhere. From the morrow of those first days
of high exaltation the two currents ran side by side in Canada: the
clear tide of valor and self-sacrifice, the muddy stream of
cowardice and self-seeking. There was an influential element in the
dominant party which was determined to exploit the war to the limit
for political and personal interests. The war meant patronage; it
must be placed where it would do the most party good. It meant an
opportunity for artificial and perfectly safe distinction; this must
be employed for increasing the political availability of friends.
Political colonels began to adorn the landscape. It meant a corking
good issue upon which an election could be won; why not take
advantage of it? While the government officially was leading a
united people into action, these scheming political profiteers were
perfecting their plans for appealing to the people on the ground
that the government--a party government which had not invited any
measure of close co-operation from the opposition--must have a
mandate to carry on the war. There is a quite authentic story of a
leading Canadian being cheered up on a train journey by assurances
from a travelling companion, a friend holding high office, that
events were shaping for certain victory; until he learned that the
enemy about to be defeated was the "damn Grits." The battle of Ypres
in April, 1915, saved Canada from an ignoble general election on the
meanest of issues. Though some of the conspirators still pressed for