When the Dominion Government, owing to the exigencies of war, began to impose restriction on the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating liquors in Canada, the old question of Prohibition came to the fore again. It was remembered that a plebiscite in favour of it had been carried on September 29, 1898, but never taken advantage of by the Federal authorities; Temperance organizations throughout the country took it up, and in order to meet the popular clamour the various provincial Assemblies passed some form of legislation which resulted in the country going "dry." Quebec, however, has only agreed to an amendment of the Canada Temperance Act by which the Dominion Government can prohibit the importation of intoxicants, but cannot prevent the province from making and selling under Government control such wine, spirits or beer as the people may desire. British Columbia afterwards voted for Government control in October, 1920. In July, 1920, after nine years of power laden with some of the heaviest responsibilities ever imposed upon a Canadian statesman, Sir Robert Borden was compelled to resign the premiership through ill health. His efforts for the autonomy of the Dominion, consistent with Empire unity, culminating in her inclusion as a separate and equal nation at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919, and the right to appoint her own Minister at Washington {474} will make for him a prominent place in the history of Canada. The leadership of the Coalition Government which was elected in 1917 passed to the Hon. Arthur Meighen, who was Minister of the Interior in the Borden administration. A year afterwards, having completed the full tenure of office, His Excellency the Governor-General, the Duke of Devonshire, returned to England, and was succeeded by General Lord Byng of Vimy, the hero of the Canadian soldiers in the war. When the Annual Imperial Conference was called in July, 1921, the acting Premier, the Hon. Mr. Meighen, repaired to London to gain some insight into the many intricate problems which came before the Council. On his return home he decided that the political situation demanded a general election. In this, no doubt, he was influenced by the rise of a Progressive Party, or as it is better known, the United Farmers' Organisation.