Didactic fiction; Political fiction; Social problems -- Fiction
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,
smoking cigars, little heeding the rising of the waters; receiving
visits from the Honourables Brush Bascom, Nat Billings, and Jacob
Botcher, and signing cheques to the order of these gentlemen for
necessary expenses. Be it known that the Honourable Adam was a man of
substance in this world's goods. To quote from Mr. Crewe's speech at
Hull: “The Northeastern Railroads confer--they do not pay, except in
passes. Of late years their books may be searched in vain for evidence
of the use of political funds. The man upon whom they choose to confer
your governorship is always able to pay the pipers.” (Purposely put in
the plural.)
Have the pipers warned the Honourable Adam of the rising tide against
him? Have they asked him to gird up his loins and hire halls and smite
the upstart hip and thigh? They have warned him, yes, that the expenses
may be a little greater than ordinary. But it is not for him to talk, or
to bestir himself in any unseemly manner, for the prize which he was to
have was in the nature of a gift. In vain did Mr. Crewe cry out to him
four times a week for his political beliefs, for a statement of what he
would do if he were elected governor. The Honourable Adam's dignified
answer 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 was
rumoured that he believed in the gold standard.
It is August, and there is rejoicing in--Leith. There is no doubt now
that the campaign of the people progresses; no need any more for the
true accounts of the meetings, in large print, although these are still
continued. The reform rallies resemble matinees no longer, and two
real reporters accompany Mr. Crewe on his tours. Nay, the campaign of
education has already borne fruit, which the candidate did not hesitate
to mention in his talks Edmundton has more trains, Kingston has more
trains, and more cars. No need now to stand up for twenty miles on a hot
day; and more cars are building, and more engines; likewise some rates
have been lowered. And editors who declare that the Northeastern gives
the State a pretty good government have, like the guinea pigs, long been
suppressed.
In these days were many councils at Fairview and in the offices of the
Honourable Hilary Vane at Ripton; councils behind closed doors, from
which the councillors emerged with smiling faces that men might not know
the misgivings in their hearts; councils, nevertheless, out of which
leaked rumours of dissension and recrimination conditions hitherto
unheard of. One post ran to meet another, and one messenger ran to meet
another; and it was even reported--though on doubtful authority--after
the rally in his town the Honourable Jacob Botcher had made the remark
that, under certain conditions, he might become a reformer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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