R JOHN THOMPSON, 1892-94
4. SIR WILFRID LAURIER, 1896-1911
5. SIR JOHN MACDONALD, 1867-73, 1878-91
6. SIR MACKENZIE BOWELL, 1894-96
7. SIR CHARLES TUPPER, 1896
8. SIR ROBERT BORDEN, 1911-]

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These difficulties were, however, not insuperable; and doubtless the
party would have drilled into working cohesion under definitely
acknowledged leaders, had it not been for two more serious sources of
{37} weakness. The first of these was the commercial depression which
fell upon Canada, in common with the rest of the world, in 1873, and
made it possible for an Opposition, itself most courageous in promises,
to hold the Government responsible for all the country's ills. The
other was Mr Mackenzie's high-minded but mistaken idea of his duty.
Somewhat lacking in imagination though he was, Alexander Mackenzie had
in him the stuff out of which party leaders are made. He was a man of
vigour and ability, a hard-hitting debater, a thoroughgoing democrat,
and he had a well-earned reputation for downright frankness and
unswerving honesty which could easily have rallied the country's trust
and affection. But while prime minister he gave to the details of
departmental administration the care and thought and time which should
have gone in part to his other duties as leader in constructive policy
and chieftain of the party. He failed to keep in touch with public
opinion, and so was caught unawares.

In spite of these drawbacks the Mackenzie administration left a notable
record. It passed the law which introduced voting by ballot and
required all elections, in a general contest, to be held on one day.
It brought {38} forth the Scott Act, which proved a useful if not a
final measure of temperance reform. It established the Royal Military
College and the Supreme Court of Canada. It pushed the Pacific Railway
forward steadily, if somewhat slowly, as a government work. Had the
stars been favourable, the Government might well have thought itself
secure on its record of legislative progress and administrative
efficiency.

The questions which roused most debate both in parliament and in the
country were the Riel Amnesty, the National Policy, and, in Quebec, the
perennial issue of the relations of church and state. These may be
noted in turn, particularly in so far as Mr Laurier took part in the
discussions.

For nearly twenty years the Riel question