Heir Apparent

Canadians know whom they want for their next Prime Minister, though they don't know when they will get him. In a Gallup poll last week, External Affairs Minister Louis Stephen St. Laurent and Justice Minister James Lorimer Ilsley were tied for first place. Professional politicians quickly ruled out Ilsley; he would be a political liability, they held, because as a wartime Finance Minister he could be blamed for high wartime taxes. Their money was on St. Laurent of Quebec.

The External Affairs Minister has finally put aside his plans to return to private law practice and has decided to stay in politics. To Canadian politicians, that means that St. Laurent knows he is first in line for Mackenzie King's job. A brilliant lawyer and a respected politician, with a full grasp of both French and English, St. Laurent has only one political handicap: his age. He is 65, and cannot be expected to be Prime Minister for more than a few years. For the longer haul, the Liberal Party must find a younger man.

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