Sept. 23.
Canada is faced with the prose pect of a new Government as" well jas a new Governor-General. Next month the Federal Elections take place, the seventeenth Federal Parliament having been brought to its appointed end on July 5, when Lord Bessborough prorogued it. The actual date of the expiry of its prescribed term of existence was on August 18. The present administration is Conservative under the leadership of Mr. Richard. Bennett who has led his party since 1927 and. been in office as Prime Minister with the External Affairs and Finance portfolios in his charge since 1930, Mr. Bennett is expected to appeal for the return of his Ministry on the ground that has effectively handled the serious economic depression with-Jout resorting to dangerous. experiments. It will take credit for the Ottawa agreements by which Canadian trade has definitely bene-filed. The Prime Minister's own Province, Alberta (he has sat in the Federal Parliament for Calgary West since 1925) has in its own recent provincial elections given dramatic salute to heterodoxy, 'Mr. William Aberhart, combining the scriptures with' the pseudo-}economic doctrines of Major C. H. Douglas, made a strong appea) to the simple-minded but distressed Albertan farmer and swept the board, although Major" Douglas, called to bear witness to the ex~ cellency of Alberta's version of his creed, played the Balaam role, in reverse gear, and exposed its fal-Jades and absurdities. As complete endorsement of Mr. Aberhart's programme cannot be given without the support of the Federal Government, to whom certain financial functions are reserved, the Alberta "experiment" can be given only a limited scope. Moreover "the factual investment of the new Ministry with the responsibility of administration may bring about the customary revision of electioneering theories.
Nevertheless this election uncomfortable portent, Tt has virtually eliminated" the two established parties from Alberta's Political philosophy and as in other parts of the country the leftward tendency is noticeable, the Conservatives are facing more than the usual swing of the pendulum, The Liberal leader, Mr. Mackenzie King has repudiated any idea of torusing! an alliance with the Conservatives, Dbut the chances of his. winning: enough support to enable a Liberal Ministry to take office. are considered to be small. There is a movement for the creation of a National Party by uniting moderate men of the Conservative and Liberal groups, but although it has received considerable backing, "it does not yet seem to have shaken the official party organizations, A socialist group calling itself the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation has had fifteen members in the House of Commons which is now prorogued. Tt has ambitious plans for the election on a programme of abolishing capitalism, nationalizing the banking and monetary system and extensive public relief. It has behind it the Farmer-Labour alliance, but part of its thunder has been stolen by Mr. Aberhart and, there is another new movement which may weaken its prospects. The strength of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federa= tion lies in British Columbia, but it is believed to have made headway Montreal and to some extent in Quebec, despite the denunciations of the dominant clerical interest there. The new movement which may be expected to draw off recruits from the C.CF. party is led by Mr.
Stevens who, just after the pro reg announced his intention to lead a Reconstruction and Reform Party in a frontal attack on "plutocracy" on non-sodalist lines,
Commerce Minister in the present Government, owing to his strong disagreement with is fiscal policy to which he gave expression in a published pamphlet, thus arousing the wrath of his colleagues.
Mr. Stevens, in launching his new party, the enthusiastic support of the "small man." When /he was in the Ministry he presided over a Committee which, in reporting on industrial conditions, made important revelations of the Jowness of the standard of wages and of the prevalence of sweated labour. This had a damaging effect on the Government's main justifica~ tion for its high tariff policy. Mr, Stevens did not fail to press that point home in making his criticisms of that policy. When he announced his intention to lead his new party in July last, he claimed that he had received 20,000 letters urging him to head a reform movement. He 15 expected to command the votes of a large number of retail dealers who are heartened by his attack on the chain and departmental stores. Although disclaiming socialist aims, Mr, Stevens' programme has many points in common with that of the C.F, It in cludes a public works scheme of relief and it advocates the nationalization of the banking system, Its advocacy of a drastic lowering of the tariffs will lose Mr, Stevens Conservative protectionists, but may strengthen his hold on the rural constituencies. In the urban areas he is reported to have made much headway. Whether, now that the election date is fixed, he can manage in a comparatively short time to acquire substantial 'Support is seriously doubted by competent observers. It is argued, however, that, with the two established parties under a cloud, Mr. Stevens' undoubted possession of a personality denied to Mr. Bennett or Mr. Mackenzie King, may prove to be a valuable asset, The problem before the Conservatives and Liberals seems to be that determining how to retain their, faithful adherents and yet display reasonable amenability to the progressive influences stirring within their ranks, as distinct from the markedly "left" doctrines which fare being exploited by the victorious party in Alberta and by the C.C.F, In the light of the information so far available it seems improbable that any one party will secure a sweeping majority, but this opinion may be subject to review when the election day actually arrives.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.