A political event of far reaching importance took place in 1910 when the Hon. William Fielding and the late Hon. William Patterson on behalf of the Canadian Government signed an agreement with the government of the United States by which certain goods, principally food-stuffs, were to pass from one country to the other free of duty. Since 1866 the United States had steadily refused all offers to negotiate for reciprocal relations, but in the spring of 1910 they veered around and sent plenipotentiaries to Ottawa. The Dominion Government received them courteously and sent Messrs. Fielding and Patterson to Washington to carry on the negotiations, which resulted in what became known as the “Reciprocity Pact.” But in submitting the agreement to the country for ratification in the election of 1911 the government was badly defeated. It should be stated though that the main issue itself throughout the country, and especially in Montreal, had become involved, from a question originally of purely commercial reciprocity, into one also of fear of danger of annexation to the United States. This was sufficient to bring out the latent patriotism of the electors, who gave a very decided answer to those across the line who had any belief in the American slogan that reciprocity was to be but the first step to annexation. The Montreal election returns showed this very strongly, not in the change of representatives, for there was none, but in the comparison of the votes. In the country parts of the Province the Navy Bill of 1910, which was unpopular with the French Canadians, gave an opportunity to the Nationalists, who by joining forces with the opposition were enabled to reduce the Federal Government’s majority sufficiently to cause its downfall. [Illustration: THE STRATHCONA HORSE (From the plaque on the Strathcona Monument, Dominion Square)] The defeat of the Federal Government ended the lengthy premiership of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, one of the Empire’s great statesmen. Sir Wilfrid has many associations with Montreal and many of his triumphs, national as well as political, have taken place in the city. The new government in 1911 introduced a bill into Parliament giving a contribution of $35,000,000 to the British admiralty to represent Canada’s naval contribution to the Empire. The bill passed the Commons but failed in the Senate. It was in connection with this naval contribution that the late Hon. F.D. Monk, the member for the Jacques Cartier division of the city, and one of Montreal’s brightest and most upright minds, resigned from the government, his reason being that a plebiscite of the people should have been made on the naval question. His death following hard upon his departure from politics made the latter the more deplored.