ation Minister should be our leading sociologist. He should
be able to diagnose communities. He might easily begin upon Ottawa.
What a study a cross section of the Smart Set would be, especially upon
the arrival of a new king at Rideau Hall! There's nothing in other
democracies quite like that. Washington has a White House, but the
inmate is merely an elected servant of the State. Rideau Hall is an
endowment, a gift of the gods. The 30,000 people of greater and lesser
degree in Ottawa who normally or abnormally live by the Civil Service
are profoundly affected by the arrival, sojourn and departure of the
Governor-General. They are vitally influenced and entertained by the
Parliamentary restaurant, even without the bar. The social show
provided by Ministers' and members' wives and their visiting friends is
itself a subtle study in the art of getting on in the new world, which
is at the root of all immigration. Bridge for money and dining out
with your friend's wife are within the reach of any ambitious
immigrant. The Smart Set in Ottawa is an exotic colony all by itself.
Montreal and Toronto and Winnipeg can merely copy it. Some of the
farmers have their eye on the Set; no, not to abolish it. Women must
have their share in the Government. Petticoats and politics are
affinities. Farmers are no more necessarily immune from what is said
to have corrupted the Roman Empire than Tories or Grits. Farmers in
fact, as Mr. Calder knows, are not the hope of the world; neither are
lawyers nor manufacturers.

Suppose we ask the Sphinx about this. Listen in imagination to this
once Liberal, as with an astounding burst of candour he says:

"My friend, your description of my make-up may be as right or as
foolish as anybody feels disposed to think. None of it bothers me.
What does bother me is the law of compensation. Agree with me that the
manufacturer had his drastic innings with Canadian governments; that
tariffs and protected industries are the result; that lawyers--yes, I'm
a lawyer--have had a big day in our affairs because they had the talent
for schemes and speeches. Admit that and conclude--that the very human
farmer thinks his turn is coming, and rather soon. But--somebody who
was never educated as a Tory has got to help the
National-Liberal-Conservative Government to get an even chance to
administer this nation after the upheavals of war. Somebody who moves
silently while others are talking their tongues