Excerpt from Annual Report of the American Historical Association: For the Year 1890 In a later session Dr. Bourinot compared the methods of cabi net government in Canada with the system in practice in the United States. The fact that the best features of British polit ical development are incorporated with the institutional life of Canada, Mr. Bourinot said, was proof of the flexibility of the constitution of the Dominion. He maintained that where the American system is strong it followed English lines; where it is weak, it is because of its inherent, rigidity. In opposition to the view of Dr. Freeman Snow, Mr. Bourinot urged that re sponsible government was compatible with a federal system and a written constitution. Senator Hoar rose to the defense of the American Constitution, which he said was designed in part to protect the people against itself. Ours is a truly popu lar government. The Canadian system with its threefold veto and its appointed and limited senate holding for life can hardly be called popular. Professor Cohn, of Harvard, who at one session presented a rapid and brilliant sketch of the formation of the French constitution, also exchanged historical and polit ical compliments with the gentlemen from Canada. Edward Eggleston, the historian of American colonial life, participated in the debate and said that American institutions of govern ment were all historical developments from colonial germs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.