tor who became for ten years a demigod.
Sometimes before the war when people saw him on the street they paused
to watch him walking as though a black bear had suddenly wandered down
from Muskoka.

"By Jove! Mackenzie's back again."

"And is that William Mackenzie?"

"Did you never see him before?"

"No, sir, I never saw him before."

"Well, take a good look. He's just going to lunch. That man brought
back sixty million dollars this time from Threadneedle Street. A gang
of reporters met him at Montreal to get the good news---more money for
Canada. Great game! He got forty millions a year ago or so."

"Who's that benign man with him?"

"That's a Provincial Premier. His province wants more railways and the
Government has to guarantee more bonds----"

"Oh, then he sells bonds with Provinces for security?"

"That's the big idea. Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Oh, I guess it's all right."

"Of course it is. Railways can't be built out of earnings of lines
built last year. Traffic's too thin; has to be developed. Mackenzie's
building lines for a real population Canada, my boy, is a terrific
country to railroad. The C.P.R. got land and cash grants. Mackenzie
takes Government-guaranteed bonds. The whole country is on the same
road. We import people on to homestead land and we have to borrow
money to set the people up so that they'll become real Canadians----"

"Yes, especially at election time. But tell me--who finally owns these
railroads?"

"Well, you've got me. Nobody has figured that out yet. Everything is
too new. All I know is that Governments are behind Mackenzie, and the
people elect the Governments, and the people want the roads, and if
they don't get 'em the Government probably goes out. Anyhow I take off
my hat to Sir William Mackenzie as a great man."

Nine-tenths of Canada used to think that Mackenzie was a great man.
The more he borrowed in England on Government-guaranteed bonds, and the
more he invested in Mexico and South America, and the greater number of
street railways, power plants, transmission lines, ore mountains, new
towns, smelters, docks, ships, whale fisheries, coal mines and land
companies that he and his able partner Mann were able to octopize, the
greater the country thought both these men were--and especially
Mackenzie.

Toronto Board of Trade once gave a dinner to these men to celebrate the
fact that by the building of the new line to Sudbury at a cost of abou