The election campaign in Canada is being conducted vigorously, and
it is universally recognized that Reciprocity is the most important issue that has been before the country for years. Sir Wilfrid Laurier has been addressing enthusi- astic meetings in the Maritime Provinces. At one of these meetings Mr. Fielding made his first appearance in the con- test. He said, according to the Times, that the Liberal policy was to "reduce taxation and increase trade." Reciprocity used to be a Conservative doctrine as well as a Liberal doctrine, and he believed that in the coming election thousands of Conservatives " would follow the old flag of Sir John Macdonald and not the new flag of eighteen millionaires in Toronto." It seems that the Government expect by win- ning the votes of Conservative farmers and fishermen to make up for any votes which they may lose in the manufacturing districts. A little anxiety is caused to the Government by the bitter attacks made on Sir Wilfrid Laurier by the Nationalist leaders in ,Quebec — Mr. Monk and Mr. Bourassa. Sir Wilfrid Laurier is accused of sacrificing the French habitants to a grandiose militarist policy. The Liberals argue that there is a virtual alliance between the Conservatives and the Nationalists, but the Conservatives deny this. So far as we can judge, the majority of Canadians think that Reciprocity would be to their advantage, as we are, of course, convinced that it would be, and there is a probability of the return of the Liberals with a scarcely decreased, if not actually with an increased, majority.
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