nterdicted--every son of the Church
was forbidden to subscribe to it, sell it, or read it, 'under penalty
of grievous sin and denial of the sacraments.' So the war went on,
until finally a number of Catholic Liberals, in their private capacity,
appealed to Rome, and a papal envoy, Mgr Merry del Val, came to Canada
to look into the matter. This step brought to an end a campaign as
dangerous to the permanent welfare of the Church itself as it was to
political freedom and to national unity.

The other issue which had figured in the general elections was the
tariff. At the approach of power the fiscal policy of the Liberals had
moderated, and it was to moderate still further under the mellowing and
conservative influences of power itself. The Liberal platform of 1893
had declared war to the knife upon protection. In 1896, however, it
was made plain that changes would not be effected hastily or without
regard to established interests. In correspondence with Mr G. H.
Bertram of Toronto, published before the election, Mr Laurier stated
that absolute free trade was out of the question, and that the policy
of his party was a revenue tariff, {174} which would bring stability
and permanence, and would be more satisfactory in the end to all
manufacturers except monopolists. He added prophetically that 'the
advent of the Liberals to power would place political parties in Canada
in the same position as political parties in England, who have no
tariff issue distracting the country every general election.'

The new Government lost no time in grappling with the problem. A
tariff commission was appointed which sat at different centres and
heard the views of representative citizens. Then in April 1897 Mr
Fielding brought down the new tariff. It was at once recognized as a
well-considered measure, an honest and a long first step in redeeming
platform promises. In the revision of the old tariff beneficent
changes were effected, such as abolition of the duties on binder twine,
barbed wire, and Indian corn, substantial reductions on flour and
sugar, the substitution of _ad valorem_ for specific duties, and a
provision for reducing the duty on goods controlled by trusts or
combines. The duties on iron and steel were reduced, but increased
bounties were given on their production in Canada. More important,
however, than such specific changes was the adoption of the principle
of a minimum and maximum tariff. {175} A flat reduction