power as it is for a man to want to live; nor is
there in this anything discreditable. A prime minister is sure that
he desires to retain power in order that he may serve the country as
no rival could conceivably serve it; and even if the desire fades
and is replaced by a lively appreciation of the personal
satisfactions which can be served by the office, no real prime
minister notices the transformation. The ego and the country soon
become interblended in his mind. A prime minister under the party
system as we have had it in Canada is of necessity an egotist and
autocrat. If he comes to office without these characteristics his
environment equips him with them as surely as a diet of royal jelly
transforms a worker into a queen bee.

Laurier saw that an efficient government, harmonious in its policies
and ably led, would afford a contrast to the preceding
administration that must forcibly impress the Canadian people. He,
therefore created a government of all the talents. Anxious for
discreet handling of the difficult fiscal problem he turned to Nova
Scotia for W. S. Fielding. Foreseeing the possibility of grave
constitutional problems arising he put the portfolio of justice into
the hands of the wisest and most venerable of Liberals, Sir Oliver
Mowat. Recognizing that a backward and stagnant west meant failure
for his administration he placed the department of interior, which
had become a veritable circumlocution office, under the direction of
the ablest and most aggressive of western Liberal public men,
Clifford Sifton. The time was to come when other values were to hold
in relation to cabinet appointments; but in the beginning efficiency
was the test, at least in intention. It was thus Laurier proposed in
part to build foundations under his house that it might endure. And
to insure that virtue should not lack its reward he proceeded to
buttress the edifice by a second line of support.

In the general election of 1896 the Liberal strategy had been to
give the party managers in the English provinces an apparent choice
of the best weapons, but with all these advantages the results
showed that they had barely held their own. The majority came from
Quebec where Laurier had apparently to face the heaviest odds. The
natural inference was not lost upon Laurier. If he was to remain in
power he must look to Quebec for his majority. A majority was
necessary and he must get it where it was to be had. This decision
was at first