POLITICAL STALEMATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19195, 8 December 1925, Page 11

POLITICAL STALEMATE.

GENERAL ELECTION IN CANADA. QUEBEC AND ONTARIO. TRADITIONAL ANTAGONISM. LIBERALS' PREDICAMENT, [from our own correspondent.] TORONTO, Nov. 7. The election last week leaves Canada in a condition of stalemate comparable only with that which existed 75 years ago. Then there was no Dominion or Confederation of Canada; there was a union of only two provinces—Lower Canada, as it was known then, now Quebec, and Upper Canada, now Ontario. One was French, the other British. They were continually at daggers drawn. After 25 years of so-called "union" there was evolved the scheme of Confederation, under which the other British provinces of North America were brought into the partnership, in the hope that the chronic deadlock between French and English would be broken. But now, in this year ■ of grace 1925, the old antagonism between ! Ontario and Quebec, never quite dormant, j has broken out in aggravated form. Last week, Quebec elected 61 Liberals ! and 4 Conservatives. Ontario elected (59 Conservatives and 13 Liberals and Progressives. It is a stalemate between the two j great provinces unparalleled since Confederation. Obviously, if the seven other provinces would side with either Ontario or Quebec, the deadlock would be broken. But in this contest they also have developed antagonism. These seven provinces may be classified into two groups—the Maritime group, consisting of the three small Atlantic provinces and British Columbia on the Pacific coast, and the Prairie group, consisting of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Speaking generally, the Maritime group has lined up with Ontario and the Prairie group with Quebec. An Economic Cleavage. It does not appear that tho cleavage whicfi has divided these provinces in the recent contest is based on anything as strong and fundamental as the .perdurable racial and religious animosity that divides Ontario and Quebec. The cleavage between the Maritime group and the Prairie group is to some extent economic. The Prairie group are great producers—Saskatchewan, for example, -is the greatest wheat granary in the world. They must have world markets. They would prefer access to the United States, but being shut off from that outlet by Washington's prohibitive tariffs, they insist on reaching farther removed markets bv tha most direct and cheapest routes. This does not suit the Maritime group, particularly the Atlantic provinces, which have seaport cities, now languishing, and which they believe could be stimulated into great activity if, by adjusted freight rates or other preferential treatment, the foreign trade of the country could be exclusively diverted to them. Moreover, British Columbia has developed a strong protectionist bias. The Prairie provinces want low tariffs. The Prarie provinces are scarcely the natural racial or economic allies of Quebec. Yet they have lined up with Quebec in its antagonism to Ontario. The Atlantic provinces are not natural economic allies of Ontario. They are supposed to be low tariff in sentiment as opposed to Ontario's high protectionism. * But they have lined up with Ontario in protest against the existing Government. Woman Member Ee-elected. The predicted collapse of the Progressive Party has occurred. East of the Great Lakes it elected only two members one of them Miss Agnes McPhail, Canada's only woman M.P. Instead of 65 Progressives in the last jKuse, there will be only about 25 in the new. Yet that number is sufficient to give the group balance of power. The Conservative Party, much below its normal strength in the last House, was bound to improve its position. Outside Quebec, it gained all that was expected. Had it secured the 25 seats it hoped for in Quebec, its total success would have equalled the most sanguine predictions of its organisers. Even as it was, for a day or two after the polling, the part}' hoped it might Jje able to secure a majority over all other groups in the new House. The Conservatives' most striking gains were in Nova Scotia, where from a zero in the last House, they captured this time all but three seats in the province, and in Ontario, where they increased their membership from 35 to 69. The Nova Scotia result followed the landslide in the provincial contest of a few months ago which left the Liberal organisation in a state of demoralisation. The Ontario result shows this province to be overwhelmingly in favour of higher tariffs. In 1911 on reciprocity. Ontario elected 72 Conservatives; this time 69. Mr. Massey's Rejection. Even the strongest Liberal candidates went down before the gale. Majorities in the cities and towns were overwhelming. Dozens of anti-Conservative candidates lost their deposits. Every Cabinet Minister in the province, including the Prime Minister, went down to defeat. The Hon. Vincent Massey* the young capitalistscholar, who joined the Cabinet daring the campaign, had a rough passage. He was bitterly assailed by his former manufacturing associates, including shareholders in the Massey-Harris Company, of which he was president. They insisted that it should not appear that he was speaking for industry and forced him to resign his presidency. He also resigned his other directorships. In his constituency the opposition brought into use every weapon in their arsenal. Mr. Massey lost by 1000 votes, and now finds himself without a seat in Parliament or a director's chair. But ho carried a smile throughout the campaign and his spirit still soars high. All the authorities agree that the general result is so inconclusive that another election will have to be held within a year, perhaps in six months. Mr. King can, of course, only carry on with the support of the Progressive group. He had that support in the last Parliament, but his position is much more precarious now. With the Conservative opposition as strong as it is. any slight defection would bring about his defeat. Conservatives are clamouring for the immediate resignation of the King Government, on the ground that they, with 116 out of 245 members, have the largest group in the House. A Conservative Government would, however, have less chance of being able to carry on than would the present Government. Mr. King may get the support of the Progressive group, but it is hardly possible that Mr. Meigben could get it, unless he abandoned entirely his fiscal proposals.