Autumn Comeback

On a warm Indian summer afternoon last week, a vigorous, white-haired man, caddying his own golf bag with an aluminum tow cart, strode briskly down the fairways of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Sporting a jaunty white cap, grey flannels and a checked shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent neither looked nor acted his 74 years.

Only two months ago the Prime Minister's health seemed likely to become a critical issue in Canadian politics. Toward the close of the grueling, seven-month parliamentary session, St. Laurent seemed close to exhaustion. His political foes openly predicted that the Liberal chief would soon be forced to retire, and a few panicky members of his own party talked nervously of holding a snap election this autumn to cash in on St. Lau rent's potent vote-getting leadership before it was too late. But top Liberal strategists were more confident; all St. Laurent needed, they said, was a good vacation to be as vigorous as ever.

The optimistic diagnosis was right. During a vacation at his summer home in St. Patrick, Que., St. Laurent golfed almost daily, splashed around so regularly in the family swimming pool that he finally learned to swim (previously he could only float on his back). He went back to Ottawa not only completely restored from last summer's fatigue, but imbued with more political drive than he has shown for several years.

One of his first moves back in the capital was to spike all talk of an autumn election (TIME, Aug. 27). St. Laurent assured the Liberals that he was ready to lead an aggressive campaign next year. "If I feel then as I feel now," he said, "I'll want to go to all parts of Canada." St. Laurent began a new practice of taking a different Cabinet Minister or official home to lunch with him every day, to talk politics and government business over the meal. He also drew up an ambitious schedule of personal appearances for every weekend during the fall and winter, to see and be seen by voters outside Ottawa. He has already paid visits to Sherbrooke and Toronto. Last weekend he went to Montreal and Quebec City.

On his Toronto visit the Prime Minister received a handsome set of matched monogrammed golf clubs as a gift from the city. Less than 24 hours later, Louis St. Laurent was out on the Ottawa course testing his new equipment. He seemed to enjoy the exercise, playing with his daughter Madeleine (Mrs. Hugh O'Donnell). But no one outside the family could say whether the set of championship sticks had any magical effect on Duffer St. Laurent's chronically 100-plus game. As usual, he kept his score a deep secret.

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