CHAP. Vv] TREATY RELATIONS 1151 
Canadian House of Commons, Mr. Fielding spoke as follows 
with regard to the attitude of his Government and the 
historv of the question — 
Now, we turn to the change of administration in 1896. 
I have already said that in the Liberal platform of 1893 
reciprocity occupied a prominent part, and soon after this 
Government came into power—indeed, if my memory is 
correct, even before Parliament assembled—two members of 
the Government were sent to Washington with the view of 
ascertaining what might be done in the way of reciprocal 
treaty arrangements. They did not find the situation favour- 
able, and they came back to their colleagues and reported 
that they were not able to accomplish anything. There is 
one incident in this history that I have forgotten that is of 
importance, and that is that in the year 1891 the dissolution? 
of Parliament was ordered by the Conservative Government of 
the day upon the ground that they regarded the reciprocity 
question as so important that they required a mandate from 
the people of the Dominion to enable them to proceed to 
Washington and deal with that question. The Liberal party 
of the day also was in favour of reciprocity. Both parties 
declared for reciprocity at that time, and the only question 
was as to which one could get the largest degree of reciprocity. 
So, if we follow it from day to day and from year to year, 
taking the history of the reciprocity treaty of 1854, the early 
years of confederation, the period in connexion with the 
National Policy, and the period since the change in adminis- 
tration down to the Joint High Commission of 1898-9, we 
find that throughout all these years, whatever difference 
there may have been amongst the public men of our 
country on other subjects, there was no difference of 
opinion as to the great importance and desirability of re- 
establishing reciprocal trade relations with the United States 
of America. . . . 
We present the arrangement to you to-day, Sir, not 
as a triumph of one country over the other, but as the result 
of an effort to do justice to both ; we commend this arrange- 
ment, Sir, to the judgement of this Parliament as the 
President of the United States will commend it to the judge- 
ment of the Congress. The one fear I have is that there 
may be people who will say that we have made so good a 
bargain that the Congress should not approve of it. In times 
1 Bitterly resented by Goldwin Smith as a breach of duty and as a proof 
of the impotence of the Governor-General in accepting such advice. 
mn