A Soured Senator
While in the House members on both sides were, as a rule, kindly disposed toward their opponents, the same conditions were not general in the Senate.
Among the Senators was George Alexander from Western Ontario, an old Conservative who left the party for some real or fancied grievance. He had a special antipathy to Sir David Macpherson, who was at one time Speaker of the Senate and at another a member of the Macdonald Cabinet. In the corridors of the Senate Chamber were oil portraits of past Speakers, some living, some no more, and all of a uniform cabinet size. When Sir David Macpherson’s portrait was added to the collection it was a full length picture and about twice the size of the others. Senator Alexander, who everlastingly took me for T. P. Gorman, the Globe correspondent, and was always giving me pointers which the Globe did not print, and giving Gorman fits because they were not printed by the Globe, pointed out to me one day the traits and peculiarities of the statesmen who had been reproduced in oil. All went well until we reached the outstanding full-length portrait of Sir David. “That, that,” he muttered in tones of disgust, “that—why you could cut that picture in two and it wouldn’t make the slightest difference which half you took away.” And the irate old gentleman snorted vindictively and went off as mad as a wet hen.