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«i * THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT'S BREAK--UP. ; The Government of Ontario is going to pieces. ; { . ; Every new day brings new signs of Cabinet dis-- j i sensions. These dissensions are the result not ' ® of strength but of weakness. Where strength is | ' c 15 necessary the prevalence of weakness breeds r d 2t more weakness. _ Alréady 'the bolts are drawn j : ' and the bands broken that hold a Cabinet to-- s gother--the bolts of high public interest and the ' : bands of personal integrity and mutual confi-- 1' dence. The Cabinet is going to pieces. } The situation is similar to the situation in the o Dominion Government at the time of "the nest J of traitors" before 1896. Following the regime a of Sir John Macdonald, and immediately after the '-" brief leadership of Sir John Thompson, the Ottawa | C Cabinet broke up because of disintegrating forces working from within. There was no dominating i public purpose, no masterful mind, no supreme ; and unifying motive. The warring elements, 4 each ambitious for its own ends, made the Gov-- JB ernment a public menace. Selfish regard for the f perquisites of office honeycombed the Cabinet and j destroyed the party. It was a case of political suicide. * That ugly history is repeating itself in the ; Government at Toronto. Never in Ontario's ex-- ; 6 perience has there been such a spectacle of Gov-- t ernmental ineptitude, incapacity, and sudden par-- |-- 3 alysis as the Legislature has manifested . during the present session. Sir James Whitney may not f have had the magnetic and compelling personal--| ity of Sir John Macdonald, or any of that old | -- chieftain's statecraft, but he was master of his Cabinet. From the beginning of his Premiership | until within the past year be was the autocrat of bis party in the Legislature. His word was law. He might not inspire his Ministers with even the semblance of statesmanship, but he did hold them ' back from confessions of helplessness, and he did «l surround them with at least the pretence of pub-- lic integrity. C As soon as Sir James Whitney's hold on his Ministers slackened the rifts became plain. From the very beginning there had been division over the electric power policy. Mr. Beck early espoused the policy of Provincial control, and partly because of the shortsighted folly of the private power interests he ultimately secured the ' support in the Cabinet of the Premier. Hon. W. J. Hanna was then and still is the friend of pri-- > vate monopoly., With him stand Dr. Pyne, Dr. Reaume, Mr. Diuff, and very effectively Col. Hen-- % drie. Between Mr. Beck and these colleagues, E > especially Mr. Hanna and Col. Hendrie, there is { unrelenting, almost undisguised, antagonism. * Mr. Foy, as acting Premier, is a complacent but j f not keenly interested observer. Mr. Lucas and ] Mr. Hearst each has his eye on Number One, $ cherishing vague hopes concerning the Premier-- ship when the new choice must be made and the rupture between Mr. Hanna and Mr. Beck brings about the rejection of both. In the meantime there is in Cabinet circles eagerness for a gen-- eral election, with Sir James Whitney's name as a'rallying cry for all cliques and candidates. / And all this time degeneracy is going on in the Government, and the consequent imperiling of Provincial interests. The unprecedented pro-- c§dure of the Government in borrowing several E millions for the sole purposes of current general £ 4 expenditures under an authorization explicitly -- confined to Northern Ontario development is | ? | R matcked in brazenness by the Provincial Treas--. > f urer's defence of that gross misapplication of public funds. _ Never before in the Province's. history was such an unwarranted borrowing and: spending attempted, much less openly and shame-- . lessly defended. ; ' «_ There has been no _ educational leadership' since Hon. Dr. Pyne became Minister. He never' can lead because he does not understand. The' ' $ ignorance of the University and jts needs mani--fs e fested last Friday was hopeless and pitiful. When Sir James was in his place he handled Uni-l ¢