Produced by Pat Castevans and David Widger
By Winston Churchill
The burden of the valley of vision: woe to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt!Where is he all this time? On the porch of his home in Edmundton, smokingcigars, little heeding the rising of the waters; receiving visits fromthe Honourables Brush Bascom, Nat Billings, and Jacob Botcher, andsigning cheques to the order of these gentlemen for necessary expenses.Be it known that the Honourable Adam was a man of substance in thisworld's goods. To quote from Mr. Crewe's speech at Hull: "TheNortheastern Railroads confer—they do not pay, except in passes. Of lateyears their books may be searched in vain for evidence of the use ofpolitical funds. The man upon whom they choose to confer yourgovernorship is always able to pay the pipers." (Purposely put in theplural.)
Have the pipers warned the Honourable Adam of the rising tide againsthim? Have they asked him to gird up his loins and hire halls and smitethe upstart hip and thigh? They have warned him, yes, that the expensesmay be a little greater than ordinary. But it is not for him to talk, orto bestir himself in any unseemly manner, for the prize which he was tohave was in the nature of a gift. In vain did Mr. Crewe cry out to himfour times a week for his political beliefs, for a statement of what hewould do if he were elected governor. The Honourable Adam's dignifiedanswer was that he had always been a good Republican, and would die one.Following a time-honoured custom, he refused to say anything, but it wasrumoured that he believed in the gold standard.
It is August, and there is rejoicing in—Leith. There is no doubt nowthat the campaign of the people progresses; no need any more for the trueaccounts of the meetings, in large print, although these are stillcontinued. The reform rallies resemble matinees no longer, and two realreporters accompany Mr. Crewe on his tours. Nay, the campaign ofeducation has already borne fruit, which the candidate did not hesitateto mention in his talks Edmundton has more trains, Kingston has moretrains, and more cars. No need now to stand up for twenty miles on a hotday; and more cars are building, and more engines; likewise some rateshave been lowered. And editors who declare that the Northeastern givesthe State a pretty good government have, like the guinea pigs, long beensuppressed.
In these days were many councils at Fairview and in the offices of theHonourable Hilary Vane at Ripton; councils behind closed doors, fromwhich the councillors emerged with smiling faces that men might not knowthe misgivings in their hearts; councils, nevertheless, out of whichleaked rumours of dissension and recrimination conditions hithertounheard of. One post ran to meet another, and one messenger ran to meetanother; and it was even reported—though on doubtful authority—afterthe rally in his town the Honourable Jacob Botcher had made the remarkthat, under certain conditions, he might become a reformer.
None of these upsetting rumours, however, were allowed by Mr. Bascom andother gentlemen close to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt to reach thatcandidate, who continued to smoke in tranquillity on the porch of hishome until the fifteenth day of August. At eight o'clock that morning thepostman brought him a letter marked personal, the handwriting on which herecognized as belonging to the Honourable Hilary Vane. For some reason,as he read, the sensations of the Honourable Adam were disquieting; thecontents of the letter, to say the least, were