HE ELUSIVE VOTE

AN UNVARNISHED TALE OF SEPTEMBER 21st, 1911

John Thomas Green did not look like a man on whom great issues might
turn. His was a gentle soul encased in ill-fitting armour. Heavy blue
eyes, teary and sad, gave a wintry droop to his countenance; his nose
showed evidence of much wiping, and the need of more. When he spoke,
which was infrequent, he stammered; when he walked he toed in.

He was a great and glorious argument in favor of woman suffrage; he was
the last word, the _piece de resistance_; he was a living, walking,
yellow banner, which shouted "Votes for Women," for in spite of his
many limitations there was one day when he towered high above the
mightiest woman in the land; one day that the plain John Thomas was
clothed with majesty and power; one day when he emerged from obscurity
and placed an impress on the annals of our country. Once every four
years John Thomas Green came forth (at the earnest solicitation of
friends) and stood before kings.

The Reciprocity fight was on, and nowhere did it rage more hotly than
in Morton, where Tom Brown, the well-beloved and much-hated
Conservative member, fought for his seat with all the intensity of his
Irish blood. Politics were an incident to Tom--the real thing was the
fight! and so fearlessly did he go after his assailants--and they were
many--that every day greater enthusiasm prevailed among his followers,
who felt it a privilege to fight for a man who fought so well for
himself.

The night before the election the Committee sat in the Committee Rooms
and went carefully over the lists. They were hopeful but not hilarious
--there had been disappointments, desertions, lapses!

Billy Weaver, loyal to the cause, but of pessimistic nature, testified
that Sam Cowery had been "talkin' pretty shrewd about reciprocity," by
which Billy did not mean "shrewd" at all, but rather crooked and
adverse. However, there was no mistaking Billy's meaning of the word
when one heard him say it with his inimitable "down-the-Ottaway"
accent. It is only the feeble written word which requires explanation.

George Burns was reported to have said he did not care whether he voted
or not; if it were a wet day he might, but if it were weather for
stacking he'd stack, you bet! This was a gross insult to the President
of the Conservative Association, whose farm he had rented and lived on
for the last five years, during which time there had been two
elections, at both of which