“Gilchrist for one, our Member for the Dominion, you know.” “Oh, yes, strong man, I believe. He's a Liberal, of Course.” “Yes,” replied Ross, “he's a Grit all right, hide-bound too--” “Which you are not, I take it,” replied Monteith with a laugh. “Traditionally I am a Conservative,” said Ross, “but last election I voted Liberal. I don't know how you were but I was keen on Reciprocity.” “The contrary with me,” replied Monteith. “Traditionally I am a Liberal, but I voted Conservative.” “You voted against Reciprocity, you a western man voted against a better market for our wheat and stuff, and against cheaper machinery?” “Yes, I knew quite well it would give us a better market for our grain here, and it would give us cheaper machinery too, but--do you really care to know why I switched?” “Sure thing; I'd like awfully to hear if you don't mind. We are not discussing politics, you understand.” “No. Well,” said Monteith, “two things made me change my party. In the first place, to be quite frank, I was afraid of American domination. We are a small people yet. Their immense wealth would overwhelm our manufacturers and flood our markets with cheap stuff, and with trade dominance there would more easily go political dominance. You remember Taft's speech? That settled it for me. That was one thing. The other was the Navy question. I didn't like Laurier's attitude. I am a Canadian, born right here in Alberta, but I am an Imperialist. I am keen about the Empire and that sort of thing. I believe that our destiny is with the Empire and that with the Empire we shall attain to our best. And since the Empire has protected us through all of our history, I believe the time has come when we should make our contribution to its defence. We ought to have a fleet, and that fleet in time of war should automatically be merged with the Imperial Navy. That's how I felt at the last election. This autonomy stuff of Laurier's is all right, but it should not interfere with Imperial unity.”