nces until the transfer of the balance of power from
Quebec to the New West, the party in office had a tendency to play for
the French Catholic vote of Quebec; the party out of office coquetted
with the ultra-Protestant vote of Ontario. This naturally worked toward
the provincial governments being Liberal, when the federal government was
Conservative; and vice versa. The Liberal in provincial politics was
Liberal in federal politics, and the Conservative in federal politics was
Conservative in provincial politics; but the policy has always been for
the Outs first to attack the Ins provincially--to win the outposts before
attacking the entrenched power of the federal government. Before Sir
John Macdonald's Conservative administration was defeated there was a
long series of victories by the Liberals in the provinces, and before Sir
Wilfred Laurier's Liberal government was defeated the Conservatives had
captured the most of the provincial governments. With the Conservatives
professing high tariff as economic salvation and the Liberals regarding
high tariff as economic damnation, it seems almost heresy to set down
that the line of demarkation between the two great parties in practice is
really one of Outs and Ins. The only tariff reductions made by the
Liberals were on British imports, and this did not lower the average on
British imports to the level of the average duty on American imports;
when the high tariff Conservatives came back to power, the duties were
not shoved to higher levels. This, too, has all been by force of
circumstances. When both parties would have grasped eagerly at tariff
reductions from the United States, those concessions could not be
obtained. When the tariff concessions were offered, Canada had already
built up such intrenched interests of her own in factory, mill and
transportation that she was not in a position to accept the offer.
Laurier did not see this, but many of his party did and refused to
support him in reciprocity.

At time of writing, to an outsider, there is in practice no difference
between the two parties; but this can hardly remain a permanent
condition. As long as the war lasts both parties will be a unit in
support of Imperial defense. The day the war is over Canada may have to
consider, not Imperial, but Dominion defense; and this is bound to split
the parties up on entirely new lines. The French Nationalists are for
standing aside from all European entanglements and r