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STRATHCONA AND THE 
 MAKING OF CANADA 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 Tine Library of Congress 
 
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STRATHCONA 
 
 AND THE 
 
 MAKING OF CANADA 
 
 BY 
 
 W. T. R. PRESTON 
 
 LATE COMMISSIONER OF EMIGRATION TO GREAT BRITAIN AND COMMISSIONER 
 
 OF TRADE TO SOUTH AFKICA, JAPAN, KOREA, HOLLAND 
 
 AND SCANDINAVIA 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 
 1915 
 

 Printed in Great Britain 
 
 '^ "^. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Arrival in Canada — Rebellion in progress — Journey to Labrador 
 — World's jumping-off place — The little girl passing 
 Ottawa — A strange romance — Authority of chief officials — 
 Military discipline — Foundation of fortune. . . -13 
 
 II 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company's secret — Explorers and rival traders 
 — Suspicion of the Indians — George Brown and the Com- 
 pany's possessions — Statesmanlike treatment of the red 
 race — Domestic relations — Purchase by Canada. . . 22 
 
 III 
 
 Terms of purchase misunderstood — Effect on Company's shares 
 — Panic on the market — Donald A. Smith a purchaser — The 
 Riel rebellion — The first martyr — Lord Wolseley's chance. 37 
 
 IV 
 
 Canadian troops at Fort Garry — Treating with the rebels — The 
 Company and the rebellion — New trading conditions — 
 Competition with a tinker. ...... 47 
 
 V 
 
 Donald A. Smith elected to Parliament — Knowledge of the 
 west — Dream of wealth and power — A great leader — 
 Parliamentary talent — Buying a public franchise — Election 
 subscriptions — Pacific scandal. . . . . -57 
 
 VI 
 
 Reverting to party lines — George Brown's break with the co- 
 alition — Parliament of talents — Interest in Parliament — The 
 early days in Ottawa — Discovery of the Pacific scandal — 
 Investigation by Parliament. ..... 68 
 
vi CONTENTS 
 
 VII 
 
 PAGK 
 
 The situation in Parliament — Partyism and patriotism — Depu- 
 tation to Lord Dufferin — Donald A. Smith's position — A 
 political crisis in sight — Donald A. against his party — 
 Resignation of the Government. ..... 79 
 
 VIII 
 
 New Government in power — Donald A.'s railway purposes — 
 Guarding the nation's heritage — Alexander Mackenzie — 
 Lord Dufferin's speech — Tory hatred of Donald A. — In- 
 triguing for a charter — Meeting with a patriot. . . 89 
 
 IX 
 
 Donald A. and the American railway — The Dutch bondholders 
 — Negotiating with the Official Receiver — Borrowing from 
 the bank — Issuing stock to themselves — In a tight place — 
 Fortune suddenly realized. ...... 100 
 
 X 
 
 Tory insults to Donald A. — Intrigues for Pacific charter — Senate 
 taking revenge — Failure of intrigues — The Government 
 obdurate — Historical scene in House of Commons. . . 107 
 
 XI 
 
 Undiscovered intrigue — Before the elections — Elections post- 
 poned — Effect of chance conversation — The tempter again — 
 Donald A.'s election — Corrupt practices — Loan to the 
 Judge 114 
 
 XII 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald in office again — " So much the worse for 
 British connection " — Unseated by the Supreme Court — 
 The Pacific railway charter in sight — The agreement — 
 Donald A. Smith kept out of sight — Charter hunters' success. 122 
 
 XIII 
 
 Amassing great wealth — The skeleton in the cupboard — Facing 
 sudden ruin — Failure to sell bonds — Applying for assistance 
 — The penalty for deception — The Cabinet refusal. . 133 
 
CONTENTS vii 
 
 XIV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Staggering under the load — An Irishman to the rescue — Frank 
 Smith and his colleagues — Cabinet discussion — George 
 Stephen's remorse — AScotchman's revenge — The bitter cup. 140 
 
 XV 
 
 Demoralization of public life — Members appeal for funds to the 
 syndicate — Fraudulent company subscriptions — A hungry 
 lot — Donald A.'s opinion — The cloak for many offences — 
 A fortune in a night — Demorahzation run riot. . . 149 
 
 XVI 
 
 The American railway deal — Dealing with the Official Receiver 
 — Wants share of the spoils — Thirteen years' lawsuit — The 
 syndicate won in the courts — Profits from American deal, 156 
 
 XVII 
 
 The danger to the state — Loading the dice — Louis Riel still a 
 factor — Blake's resignation — Moments never to be for- 
 gotten — Blake's farewell to Canada . . . . .162 
 
 XVIII 
 
 Muzzling the Press — Donald A.'s fear of criticism — Buying up 
 the Globe shares — Unsuccessful efforts at prostitution of 
 the Press — Personal admission by Lord Strathcona. . . 170 
 
 XIX 
 
 Once more amid old associations — Political predilections — 
 Disallowance on Manitoba's legislation — Driving the golden 
 spike — Fighting against slavery — What Manitoba paid for 
 liberty 174 
 
 XX 
 
 " And Ahab spake unto Naboth " — Looking for another grab — 
 The Intercolonial Railway — An unsatisfactory Prime Min- 
 ister — Sir Mackenzie Bowell — The " nest of traitors " — 
 A successful cabal . . . . . . .184 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 XXI 
 
 satisfactory First Minister — Fishing for forty millions — 
 Sir Donald as High Commissioner — Laurier's political 
 strength — Stirring up religious strife — Hierarchy recog- 
 nized by the State — Laurier successful — The coming 
 Prime Minister. ........ 193 
 
 xxn 
 
 Donald A. changing his politics again — Intriguing against 
 Laurier's colleague — The power of wealth — The monetary 
 kings win — Where the blow fell — Ambitions never realized 
 — Liberals and the hierarchy — An appeal to Rome — Ultra- 
 montane and Orange — A Papal decree. .... 203 
 
 xxni 
 
 Making peace with the new ruler — The threatened Royal Com- 
 mission —Laurier and Sir Donald — A seat with the Peers — 
 Cecil Rhodes and Strathcona. . . . . .213 
 
 XXIV 
 
 Protecting the toilers — Opposition to rival railway lines — 
 Knifing the Government policy — Standing by the combine 
 — What negligence has cost Canada — Taking the farmer's 
 life blood — Departmental neglect. .... 220 
 
 XXV 
 
 Starting new official life — An ancestral mansion — The ghosts 
 in every room — Trouble with Agents-General — Sir Claude 
 Macdonald — Official invitations — Resenting interference. 225 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Personal characteristics — Never lacking in courage — Reputations 
 destroyed — Development of Canada — Solving the emigra- 
 tion problem — Strathcona threatened with arrest in 
 Germany — Lord Salisbury's warning — Posing as the suc- 
 cessful emigration worker — Hon. Clifford Sifton's work — 
 Assistance of British Journalism — The Coronation Arch — 
 Further Imperial honours. ...... 233 
 
CONTENTS ix 
 
 XXVII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Election journey to Canada — Keeping the C.P.R. quiet — Still 
 afraid of investigation — The standard of British politics — 
 Danger to the State. ....... 248 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 Distribution of wealth — The Strathcona Horse — Consternation 
 at a banquet — Visits from the troopers' famihes — A share 
 in the good times — Subscription to British political funds — 
 The All Red Route — The ruling passion — Fear of possible 
 successor — Sir Frederick Borden and Sir Gilbert Parker — 
 A pathetic scene — Conclusion there is no hurry to resign — 
 Lady Strathcona. ....... 254 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Lord Strathcona's will — Cancellation of Canadian loans — 
 Securing friends in high places — Sir George E. Foster — 
 Sir Richard Cartwright ruined by rival company — The 
 great Samson shorn of his strength — Bleeding the Canadian 
 public — Comparison with British procedure — Winnipeg — 
 An unforgiven offence — The unaccepted atonement. . 269 
 
 XXX 
 
 What Donald A. Smith has cost Canada — Kingdom stolen from 
 the public heritage — What might have been if . , . — Public 
 obhgations to be met — What the future will cost — The 
 burden bearers — Strathcona's legacy to the Dominion — 
 Ottawa and Westminster — Hope from Laurier and Borden. 286 
 
 XXXI 
 
 A retrospect — The Hudson's Bay Company retarding Canada — 
 Thirty years too late — Romance of Canadian life — Hope 
 for the future — A fascinating personality — The records of 
 irrevocable history. ....... 297 
 
 Appendix . ......... 302 
 
" You do not know the genius of that man's country, sir," an- 
 swered Rashleigh, " discretion, prudence, and foresight are their 
 leading qualities. These are only moderated by a narrow spirit but 
 yet ardent patriotism, which forms, as it were, the outpost of the 
 concentric bulwarks with which a Scotchman fortifies himself against 
 all the attacks of a generous philanthropical principle. Surmount 
 this mound, you will find an inner and still dearer barrier — the love 
 of his province, his village, or, most probably, his clan ; storm the 
 second obstacle, you have a third — his attachment to his own family 
 — father, mother, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, and cousins to the 
 ninth generation. It is within these limits that a Scotchman's social 
 affection expands itself, never reaching those which are outermost 
 till all the means of discharging itself in the interior circles have 
 been exhausted. It is within these circles that his heart throbs, 
 being fainter and fainter, till, beyond the widest boundary, it is 
 almost unfelt. And, what is worst of all, could you s<urmount all 
 those concentric outworks, you have an inner citadel, deeper, higher, 
 and more efficient than all — a Scotchman's love for himself." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott : Rob Roy. 
 
On the last Monday in January, 1914, the great doors of Westminster 
 Abbey were thrown open for a Service on all that was mortal of 
 Donald Alexander Smith, first Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal. 
 
 The dull misty atmosphere of a winter's day added to the sombre- 
 ness and solemnity within the vast Abbey. 
 
 The memory of ten centuries of England's illustrious dead haunted 
 the scene. Representatives of the Crown, the Peerage, the Commons, 
 the wealth of London, and a great congregation representing the 
 Empire, surrounded the purple pall. 
 
 It was a long journey from the Covenanters' rugged Kirk in a little 
 village in the north of Scotland, fourscore and ten years previously, to 
 this ancient Temple of Peace and Reconciliation — from the Shorter 
 Catechism to the magnificent Ritual of the Established Church. 
 
 Life is but a Book of White, 
 Wherein each one of us must write 
 Until the end — then sudden night. 
 
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 PART I 
 I 
 
 Arrival in Canada — Rebellion in progress — Journey to Labrador — 
 World's jumping-off place — The little girl passing Ottawa — A 
 strange romance — Authority of chief officials — Military disci- 
 pline — Foundation of fortune. 
 
 The most important figure in the public life of Canada 
 since 1870, although not always in the public eye, has 
 undoubtedly been Lord Strathcona. It was not until 
 long after he had become an unseen power that the 
 people began to realize his influence. For forty years 
 his personality stands out in every political crisis in 
 the Dominion. He has had far more to do with the 
 defeat and victory of political parties since Confedera- 
 tion than all other influences combined. The manner 
 in which he moulded the tone and character of the 
 political life of the country, as well as its Parliamentary 
 legislation, is unique. It cannot be said that his object 
 was evident when he first appeared on the scene, 
 although undoubtedly his own mind was clear about 
 
 the end in view. So successfully did he control the 
 
 13 
 
14 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 leaders of political thought, that immense fortunes 
 were accumulated as the direct result of his influence 
 in the Federal and Provincial Legislatures of the 
 country. On many important occasions Parliament, 
 without being aware of the fact, simply registered his 
 decrees. 
 
 Donald A. Smith, when a lad seventeen years of 
 age, landed at the port of Montreal in a supply ship 
 owned by an association of traders known as the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, and took up the duties of a 
 minor clerk in the employment of this Company in the 
 desolation of Labrador. He left his native land a few 
 months after the last of the kings of the Hanoverian 
 dynasty had given place to a young Queen. Behind 
 him was peace and contentment. In the new land a 
 colony was seething with unrest and even open rebellion. 
 Numerous and powerful sections in Canada were up 
 in arms against constituted authority, as represented 
 by officialism and " Family Compacts," the leader of 
 the rebels in the English province of Upper Canada 
 being a fellow-Scotchman. The young immigrant 
 lived to see the demands of the " rebels " to rule the 
 country by popular Government conceded by the 
 Queen, and also saw the leaders of the movement 
 occupying well-deserved positions of honour and trust 
 in the confidence of the Crown and the people. Some 
 of these rebels, under more happy circumstances, 
 became his warmest personal friends. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company was formed in 1670 
 with a charter from Charles H to Prince Rupert and 
 
A LONELY HABITATION 15 
 
 seventeen other noblemen and gentlemen, as the 
 " Governor and Company of Adventurers of England 
 trading into Hudson Bay. To the Company was 
 secured the sole trade and commerce of all those seas, 
 straits, bays, rivers, lakes, creeks and sounds . . . that 
 are not already actually possessed by or granted to 
 any of our subjects, or possessed by the subjects of 
 any Christian state." 
 
 The 1200 mile journey from Montreal to the barren 
 shores of Labrador severely tested Donald A. Smith's 
 willingness to remain with the Company, but there 
 was no possibility of retracing his steps. What it was 
 in 1838 can scarcely be imagined. Even to-day 
 Labrador is the world's jumping-off place. He was 
 going to a place where only once a year would tidings 
 reach him from the outside world. His companions 
 for the greater part would be Indians and wild fowl, 
 the stoicism of the one and the plaintive note of the 
 other emphasizing the almost overwhelming sense of 
 desolation. 
 
 The vast territory controlled by the Company 
 covered an area of more than two million square miles 
 in British North America, and was peopled largely by 
 utterly uncivilized Indians. Early in the seventeenth 
 century the Jesuits had formed the first noble band 
 of devoted self-sacrificing missionaries who pressed 
 their way with the story of the Cross to that distant 
 interior, but they were only partially successful upon 
 a fringe of the roving population. The majority con- 
 tinued their heathen practices until comparatively 
 
16 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 recent times. Into the eastern part of this vast 
 region, " Donald A.," as he subsequently became 
 familiarly known, plunged to seek his fortune. 
 
 The son of poor but industrious parents living at 
 Forres in the north of Scotland, he started off in 1838, 
 and taking with him a small outfit that could be easily 
 looked after, engaged in the service of the Company 
 at j^20 a year. Although quite a lad, he was fairly 
 tall for his years, and straight as an arrow. His features 
 were rather heavy and unattractive, except for the 
 force of character glowing in his clear blue eyes, and 
 his head was crowned with a thick growth of light 
 brown hair. There was nothing, however, about his 
 general appearance foreshadowing the power and in- 
 fluence that he was destined to exert in the new 
 country long before that century should close. 
 
 By a remarkable coincidence just about this time 
 a Hudson's Bay Officer named Hardisty, who had 
 married in the far west, was making his way to 
 Labrador through the waterways between the Georgian 
 Bay and the river St. Lawrence. He marked out the 
 same route that will at no distant date be traversed 
 by the Great Georgian Bay Canal. He was accom- 
 panied by his family and a considerable number of 
 attendants. They travelled in a dozen large birch- 
 bark or Indian canoes, which had to be portaged 
 through the forests to navigable waters when rapids 
 or falls obstructed their passage. This no mean feat 
 occupied a good part of that hazardous journey. In 
 this company was a gentle, interesting little girl of 
 
A LONG CANOE JOURNEY 17 
 
 twelve or fourteen years, whose constant companion 
 was a young wild fowl that had been captured early 
 in the journey, and which she had completely tamed. 
 Perhaps the good fairies were then weaving the threads 
 of the strange romance which entwined her life with 
 the young Scotch lad's, then on his way to carve out a 
 future in the new world. She became his wife by 
 the rites of Labrador, as no recognized legal facilities 
 existed for a marriage ceremony. The formal mar- 
 riage, according to the ritual of the Established Church, 
 took place more than half a century later in the 
 British Embassy in Paris. This was officially an- 
 nounced after Lady Strathcona's death. Seventy 
 years after that long canoe journey, when the little 
 girl had become the centre of a great social circle in 
 London, surrounded with all that wealth and luxury 
 could supply, she still recalled the delight of that 
 early experience in travelling, and had a vivid recol- 
 lection of the rugged grandeur of the great bluffs 
 upon which now stand the Parliament Buildings 
 overlooking the Ottawa river, and the wild beauty 
 of the primeval forests and majestic rivers of the 
 vast country through which she had journeyed as a 
 small child, accompanied by her great white-winged pet. 
 In the various positions that Donald A. Smith 
 filled in the work of the Company, from the bleak 
 and inhospitable coast of Labrador to the Hudson 
 Bay, and then across a vast monotonous stretch of 
 country to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the 
 years moved slowly that witnessed his promotion to 
 
18 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Factor, or Superintendent, over the many forts or 
 trading posts scattered through the western district. 
 In this position he was able to exercise appreciable 
 influence in the territory allotted him, together with 
 a distinct increase in authority over the minor em- 
 ployees of the Company, far beyond that which he 
 had previously wielded. 
 
 While appointment to positions of greater respon- 
 sibility was largely directed by seniority, the final 
 confirmation in all cases had to come from the Board 
 in London, where the record of every ofl&cer was 
 kept with great care. 
 
 To Donald A.'s comparative youth no objection was 
 taken by the head office, as his record in the books of the 
 Company was all that could be possibly desired. The 
 position of Factor was one of considerable responsi- 
 bility. This officer was absolute ruler in his own dis- 
 trict, not only in dealing with his subordinates, but 
 with the native tribes as well. Like the Centurion of 
 old, the Factor's commands must be obeyed. No one 
 could question his control. The isolated situation 
 of the officers naturally fostered autocracy on the 
 part of the chief, there being none of the subduing 
 influences that come from contact with large numbers 
 of one's own caste. This self-assertive tendency was 
 encouraged by the Company rather than otherwise. 
 It brought about a spirit of military discipline that 
 was much desired ; also, it formed a barrier against 
 too intimate relations between superior oflScers and 
 their subordinates, which, if allowed to exist to any 
 
NEVER-FORGOTTEN WRONGS 19 
 
 great extent, might result in the spread of a system of 
 dishonesty in the trading operations of the Company. 
 
 It is not surprising that there were some veritable 
 tyrants among the factors who did not hesitate, when 
 strong personal reasons existed, to send objectionable 
 subordinates on dangerous missions. There are two 
 or three instances on record of these who, instead of 
 going into regions to which they had been ordered, 
 and which were reputed to be veritable death-traps, 
 slipped quietly away to seek employment with a similar 
 association of traders in the United States. Then, 
 twenty or thirty years after their supposed death, 
 they unexpectedly returned, having, meantime, 
 reached official and financial positions enabling them 
 to defy their old tyrants, and prove that neither by 
 time nor absence had official or domestic wrongs been 
 forgotten. 
 
 Opportunities were sometimes taken advantage of 
 by officers to trade on their own account with the 
 Indians, although usually all profits from buying or 
 selling were claimed by the superior officers for the 
 Company. As one of the most prominent in authority, 
 Donald A. Smith secured the confidence of his fellow- 
 officers, and was entrusted by them with their savings 
 for investment. Up to this time the officers had been 
 accustomed to draw their salaries once a year. Donald 
 A. got them to give him authority to draw their 
 cheques every month. This obviously gave him 
 control of large sums of money, and made him an 
 important personage in banking circles. The only 
 
20 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 stipulation his fellow-officers made was that they 
 should receive a small annual interest of three per cent. 
 Donald A.'s duties rendered it necessary that he should 
 frequently visit Montreal for the Company. In the 
 early years, when he had to go to Fort Garry, this 
 necessitated an overland journey of more than one 
 thousand miles before connection could be made with 
 the eastern railway system of the United States, by 
 which the Grand Trunk Railway could be reached. 
 
 During one of these visits to the commercial capital 
 of Canada he was persuaded to invest his savings in 
 the stock of the Bank of Montreal. This stock in a 
 few years largely increased in value. Foreseeing this 
 with his usual shrewdness, he also invested the moneys 
 entrusted to him by his associates. 
 
 In course of time, consequently, his name ranked 
 among the largest shareholders in the Bank of Montreal, 
 and as a natural result he was elected to a directorship. 
 The confidence thus shown, as well as the honour 
 conferred on him, was a fitting recognition of his 
 personal interest in the Bank. His introduction did 
 not prove an inconvenience to the other directors, 
 inasmuch as his frequent and extended absence on the 
 Company's business did not allow him to attend the 
 meetings of the Board with regularity. His active 
 interest in the management developed in later years 
 in a manner which must always remain unique in 
 the history of the great monetary institutions of the 
 country. As one after another of the officers of the 
 Company wanted to withdraw their deposits from his 
 
FAR-REACHING AUTHORITY 21 
 
 care, they were promptly paid out of his private 
 means. Through the savings of his colleagues and 
 his investments in this way, was laid the foundation 
 of his fortune. 
 
 In the Company one promotion followed another, 
 and owing to a chance visit to London, where he 
 created a most favourable impression at the head 
 office of the Company, he was given promotion at 
 an important juncture over several of his seniors in 
 office. Eventually he found himself, at the time the 
 Company's territorial interests passed under the control 
 of the Government of Canada, installed at Fort Garry, 
 the present site of Winnipeg, as Resident-Governor 
 of the Company, exercising absolute sway over that 
 vast tract of land which extended from Hudson Bay 
 to the foot of the Rocky Mountains — an area greater 
 than France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Scandinavia, 
 Holland and Belgium combined. To this important 
 position he was appointed in 1869. 
 
II 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company's secret — Explorers and rival traders — 
 Suspicion of the Indians — George Brown and the Company's 
 possessions — Statesmanlike treatment of the red race — Domestic 
 relations — Purchase by Canada. 
 
 For many years little interest had been taken by Old 
 Canada in the Great Lone Land of Western British 
 North America. In the Canadian schools as late as 
 the decade between i860 and 1870 it was taught that 
 the Hudson's Bay Territory was as uninhabitable as 
 the Sahara Desert, only instead of being barren sand, 
 it was believed to be largely covered with ice and snow. 
 Greenland was, in fact, looked upon as offering a more 
 suitable field for exploration. Nothing was left undone 
 by those charged with the administration of the affairs 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company to confirm this im- 
 pression. Officers of the Company were not allowed 
 to communicate the facts about the natural resources 
 of that boundless territory to their friends. The 
 censorship that was continually exercised over the 
 contents of private and confidential letters was such 
 as would have suited the most extreme military 
 martinet in time of war. There was nothing that was 
 allowed to escape the vigilant eye of the Company in 
 
 the earlier days. The heavier the seal or crest that was 
 
 22 
 
TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS 23 
 
 expected to ensure secrecy, the more did the letter 
 become an object of suspicion, and the more unhkely 
 was it to reach its destination without the contents 
 becoming known. In so far as the civiHzed world 
 was concerned, the Company intended that the North- 
 west of British America should be a sealed book. 
 
 It must not be overlooked that the treatment of 
 the Indians by the Company during the long period 
 that they have held unlimited sway in the Great West 
 is worthy of the best traditions of British statesman- 
 ship. The Indians were recognized as belonging to 
 humanity and having unquestionable rights to life 
 and property. This recognition on the part of the 
 officials of the Company brought about a sense of 
 confidence and trust in the British flag among all the 
 tribes. That the patience and wisdom of the Com- 
 pany's servants was frequently severely tested, the 
 records of the Company prove. The contrast that 
 has ever marked the treatment of the Indians in the 
 United States by the authorities, and that which the 
 tribes received under the British Government can 
 never be forgotten. The one is marked by rapine 
 and massacre — the other by peace and order. 
 
 Bancroft, the American historian, states " that the 
 officers and servants of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 were as much gentlemen by instinct in their treatment 
 of Indians, as in their treatment of civilized men and 
 women. Wherever they had the country entirely to 
 themselves there was little trouble with the natives. 
 Their management of them was perfect. They 
 
U LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 treated them first of all as human creatures, not as 
 wild beasts; they were to them as children, not the 
 enemy of civilization. In their intercourse they were 
 humane, in their dealings honest. Offences were 
 followed by justice, not revenge. ... In this con- 
 nection, however, the Dominion must never forget 
 the great and valuable services rendered by the 
 missionaries of the Roman Catholic and Protestant 
 faiths, and of the beneficial influence exercised by those 
 zealous men over the natives of the former chartered 
 and licensed territories of the Hudson's Bay Company." 
 The domestic relations of the Hudson's Bay officials 
 was the natural consequence of their restricted sur- 
 roundings. This phase of personal experience is not 
 peculiar to the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 It is the history of the human race from the dawn of 
 time. 
 
 " And it came to pass, when men began to 
 multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters 
 were born unto them, that the sons of God saw 
 the daughters of men that they were fair ; and 
 they took them wives of all which they chose." 
 
 Race, colour, or creed has never been an insur- 
 mountable obstacle between the human sexes. From 
 the Elamites to the Romans, from the Csesars to the 
 present day, the same story is told. The march of 
 European civilization is marked by the advent of the 
 Eurasian and the Half-breed. Among the most 
 noticeable have been the English and French mar- 
 
THE ENGLISHMAN'S EGOTISM 25 
 
 riages in India, the Dutch in Java and South Africa, 
 the Spanish in the tropics of North America, the 
 New Zealander with the Maori, the American and 
 the Negro, and the Hudson's Bay Company officials 
 with the Indian tribes of the Great West. 
 
 In his restricted vision the average Englishman 
 endeavours to convince himself that the people of 
 these Islands are the salt of the earth ; forgetful that 
 a certain degree of self-assurance may have not a little 
 to do with the claim, so ill-founded after all, to this 
 nation being the only high moral type in existence. 
 The fact is indisputable that every nation or people 
 has its classes of high and low degree. If courage, 
 diplomacy, ability to govern, and added thereto the 
 inspiration of patriotism for home and race, is the 
 standard by which human greatness be measured, 
 then the difference between the dark-skinned races 
 and the whites is of but slight degree. Nevertheless, 
 the general prejudice against the infusion of coloured 
 blood in the Caucasian family is a factor in human 
 history that can never be entirely overlooked. The 
 fear of reversion to type, whether justified or not, 
 is ever present. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company officials, however, had 
 no special convictions on this point. In fact there 
 was every possible reason why there should be none. 
 They were surrounded by a virile, healthy, sturdy type 
 of humanity. They were isolated from their kindred, 
 and there was no indication that things would ever 
 change. The Company took no steps to emigrate the 
 
26 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 gentler sex from Europe to the distant continent. 
 It was not dreamed that the five months' weary journey- 
 could ever be shortened to five days. The natural 
 consequences, therefore, were inevitable. Half-breeds 
 became a recognized element throughout the territory. 
 But as generation succeeded generation, marrying, as 
 they almost invariably did, with the scattered white 
 population, the evidence of ancestry almost disap- 
 peared in many families. The sons and daughters 
 were educated in the schools provided by the Church, 
 and they became thoroughly Caucasian in thought 
 and custom. 
 
 It should not be forgotten that the character or 
 standing of the North American Indian in the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries, when the greater 
 number of the original marriages between the repre- 
 sentatives of the Company and the daughters of the 
 Indians took place, was entirely different from the 
 Indian of the present time. Then he was a warrior, 
 brave and bold, and not beholden to the bounty of 
 the State for his existence. He disputed the right of 
 the white man to the possession of his heritage. 
 For the sake of his wigwam and his tribe he guarded 
 the Passes of the Alleghanies against the march of 
 the early settlers. He fought side by side with the 
 British forces against the revolting colonists in the 
 War of Independence. He was a diplomatist, entering 
 into treaties with rival tribes, the survival of the 
 fittest being then as now the only recognized authority. 
 He was a hunter, roaming a vast continent, probably 
 
THE PRIDE OF ANCESTRY 27 
 
 living a more highly moral life than his white 
 brother in European centres, and punishing im- 
 morality with a severity that we can only characterize 
 as the acme of cruelty. 
 
 To be a descendant from a race of that character 
 may have its disadvantages, but it furnishes no cause 
 for regret, except that of secret vanity. The demoraliz- 
 ing influences of civilization had not then reached the 
 great prairies of the west. The Caucasian, however, 
 was coming with his superior weapons of offence and 
 defence to assert his supremacy. It is indeed a sad 
 commentary upon a boasted civilization that the 
 degeneration of ancient and noble races has so fre- 
 quently followed this current of events. The Kaffirs 
 who labour in the mines of South Africa carry to 
 their kraals the seeds of moral and physical disability 
 to decimate the race, just as the noble type of North 
 American Indian has given place to a sickly, diseased 
 type of humanity, since coming in contact with the 
 people who succeeded the Hudson's Bay Company in 
 the western prairies. 
 
 The Englishman's prejudice is naturally strong 
 against a fusion of the races, and there are always 
 those on hand to stir up the latent fires. The demand 
 that the Empire shall be reserved for the Englishman 
 if possible, but that it must be held for the white 
 man at all hazards, appeals to the populace. Better 
 to leave great natural resources, that might add 
 enormously to the wealth of the Empire, undeveloped, 
 than allow the work to be done with other than white 
 
28 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 labour, though climatic conditions may be such that 
 the white man cannot exist in such surroundings. 
 Upon this declaration as a nation we are pinning our 
 faith. In how far this prejudice of colour may prove 
 a rock of offence in the pathway of the future of the 
 Empire is a problem for statesmen to solve. At any 
 rate, this prejudice did not appeal to many of the 
 officials of Prince Rupert's company of traders and 
 adventurers, and the world or the Empire seems none 
 the worse. 
 
 Expeditions were undertaken from time to time 
 to explore these vast regions, and companies had been 
 organized to open up trade with the Indian tribes. 
 These companies were encouraged and promoted 
 mostly by merchants in Montreal. For many years 
 the basis of a very profitable business by Montreal 
 traders had been carried on with the Indians of old 
 Canada, but with the opening up of the country, 
 and the continually increased stream of settlement 
 to the old provinces, this trade had gradually declined, 
 so that the merchants were all the more anxious to 
 establish permanent relations with the tribes in the 
 Far West. The Hudson's Bay Company notified all 
 concerned that it was their determination to prevent 
 either trading or exploration by outside parties. It 
 was, therefore, well understood that anything that 
 might be accomplished was at the personal and 
 financial risk of all concerned, and such enterprises 
 might be met with open hostility of fire and sword. 
 
 The new business organizations were soon ruined 
 
NO ROOM FOR TRESPASSERS 29 
 
 by the greater forces of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 The possible competition in trade and exploration that 
 appeared to be looming on the horizon of the Great 
 Lone Land was summarily crushed. But the indi- 
 vidual traders and explorers were more persistent, 
 having no interests to risk other than their own. It 
 was not, however, until many were known to have 
 gone into the vast region, of whom no tidings ever 
 again reached the outer world, that direct efforts to 
 overcome the tyrannical rule of the Company began. 
 The Company claimed that the territory was a special 
 preserve. This, it was asserted, was justified, (i) by 
 the rights conferred under the Imperial Charter 
 issued by Charles II ; and (2) by the alleged fears 
 that competition with other whites would have 
 a tendency to unsettle the habits of the Indians, 
 and might, perhaps, result in their latent fighting 
 instincts being aroused. 
 
 Notwithstanding the efforts put forth by the 
 Company, however, it was realized that, unless the 
 active co-operation of the Indians could be secured, 
 white trespassers would inevitably make inroads into 
 the trade of the Territory. Steps were therefore taken 
 to unite the tribes against all whites not officially 
 connected with the Company. The means adopted 
 were worthy of the object desired, but could only 
 have been the outcome of an extraordinary disregard 
 of the ordinary amenities of life. The Indians were 
 told that these outsiders would rob and cheat them 
 in the barter of their furs ; and that the special object 
 
80 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 of these intruders in coming into the territory was to 
 kidnap the young squaws and sell or use them for 
 immoral purposes. Nothing could have been more 
 untrue. The reputations of the Montreal merchants 
 stood exceedingly high in all their deahngs with the 
 Indians. The intruders could not afford for their 
 own sakes, to be less honest or moral than the officials 
 of the Company. But competition with outsiders 
 meant that much higher prices would soon have to 
 be paid to the Indians for all that they might have 
 to sell. 
 
 Yet the Indians, naturally suspicious, readily ac- 
 cepted the suggestions given by the Company as 
 sufficient justification for treacherously murdering 
 white men who could not prove their connection with 
 the Company. Missionaries tried their hardest to 
 persuade the Indians not to carry out such a pohcy. 
 But they were opposed by the medicine-men of the 
 tribes, who saw, in accentuating the wishes of the 
 Company, a chance to magnify their own importance, 
 and perhaps weaken the adhesion of the christianized 
 Indians to the Church. It is not surprising, therefore, 
 that many whites who ventured into the Territory 
 never returned to their friends, nor that not a few 
 scalps decorated the wigwams of the Indians. 
 
 The poHcy of the Hudson's Bay Company, trading 
 under the authority of a Royal Charter, was altogether 
 different from that adopted by the East India Company 
 and the Chartered Company of South Africa. The 
 Hudson's Bay Company from its inception showed an 
 
LIGHTING UNCONTROLLABLE FIRES 31 
 
 utter disregard of the value of the Hves of outsiders 
 when they affected its pockets, and an equal disregard 
 for honour and truth when these could not be turned 
 into marketable commodities. It seems undeniable 
 that corporate bodies may, with impunity, be guilty 
 of offences that would inevitably bring down upon 
 individuals the most condign punishment. 
 
 No efforts were made to distinguish between traders 
 and explorers. It may be granted that traders were 
 objectionable from the standpoint of possible com- 
 petition with the Company, however little the Com- 
 pany was justified in placing their lives in one scale 
 to be out-weighed by the addition of a few pounds 
 to the revenue of the Company on the other. But 
 explorers belong to a different order ; their work is 
 essentially scientific and educative. The civilized 
 world, looking for new homes, had a right to infor- 
 mation. But all were classed together and doomed 
 by the Company to the same fate. Everything was 
 done, however, to protect the lives of the Indians. 
 
 In the management of the East India Company and 
 the Chartered Company of South Africa there has, 
 probably, been a want of consideration shown in 
 regard to the lives of native races, but whites and 
 Europeans have always been protected with all the 
 authority at the command of the companies. The 
 retribution that was the natural outcome of the 
 policy of the Hudson's Bay Company came later with 
 appalling force. They had lighted fires which they 
 could not control. 
 
82 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 In the meantime, through one source and another, 
 sufficient information reached the public to justify the 
 beHef that vast possibihties existed for the expansion of 
 a great Canadian nationality in the region under the 
 jurisdiction of the Hudson's Bay Company. As early as 
 1 85 1, one of the political leaders of Old Canada, George 
 Brown, commenced an agitation in the columns of 
 the Toronto Globe, the most influential newspaper 
 of Canada at that time, for the early cancellation of 
 the territorial jurisdiction of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, and the acquisition of all the rights of the 
 Company by the Government. George Brown, as his 
 name indicates, was Scotch, a family connection of 
 the Nelsons, publishers in Edinburgh. So that he 
 was only carrying out the family tradition, when on 
 his arrival in Canada in the early 'forties, he established 
 a newspaper in Toronto, then known as " Muddy York." 
 
 George Brown was of commanding appearance, 
 being unusually tall even for one of his race, and 
 his force of character was extraordinary. Having 
 once taken up a public policy his advocacy never 
 ceased until success crowned his efforts. His news- 
 paper had an influence on the populace such as no 
 other had, or probably ever will have, in Canada. 
 Every fibre of his being was touched with patriotism 
 of the highest type. His newspaper breathed his own 
 personality upon all great questions, which is still a 
 living spirit in old Canadian families. Students of 
 the Globe were fired with the loftiest ideals of the 
 duty of citizenship — the public interest gave place 
 
UNCOMPROMISINGLY RIGHT 33 
 
 to every other consideration. This is one of the 
 causes of the purity of pubHc Hfe during that period 
 in the history of Canada. PoKtical opponents sneered 
 at the Globe as being " the Bible of the Grits," as 
 the Liberals of the day were called. Belonging to 
 an advanced Calvinistic school in his early days 
 in Canada, George Brown expressed extreme views in 
 regard to the Catholics of Lower Canada, but in 
 later years his prejudices gave way to ardent admira- 
 tion for their character and institutions. Both in 
 and out of Parliament he exerted a deep influence on 
 the electorate of the country. Politicians have said 
 that his unbending disposition, his lack of a com- 
 promising spirit, made him impossible as a successful 
 political leader. If success is to be judged by length 
 of time in public office, this may be true. But as a 
 patriot, having no object to serve other than the 
 development of his adopted country, making no 
 personal gain from positions that he held in public 
 life, George Brown's political record stands as a fitting 
 example to Colonial statesmen for all time. 
 
 It was from this source that the first clarion was 
 sounded for the right of Canada to hold undisputed 
 sway over the Great Lone Land of the west. The 
 demand for possession by Canada was met by the 
 Company with the publication of statements assuring 
 Canadians that the whole territory was not worth a 
 farthing, except for furs — that the climate was such as 
 made living impossible to others than Indians — and that, 
 at any rate, nothing would grow in that vast territory 
 
84 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 that could be profitable to white labour. These efforts 
 to deceive the public were effective for yet another 
 twenty years. But during this period reliable infor- 
 mation leaked out about the agricultural possibilities 
 of those great prairies, notwithstanding the drastic 
 methods adopted by the Company to prevent intelli- 
 gence reaching those who were anxious for Canadian 
 expansion. The Dominion Government finally re- 
 solved to take definite action. An appeal was made 
 to the Imperial authorities, and the assurance was 
 given that the Charter would be cancelled, unless 
 reasonable terms for the purchase of the rights of 
 the Company by Canada could be arranged. This 
 was very properly taken by the Company as notice 
 to quit. Negotiations finally resulted in the Canadian 
 Government paying the Company one million and a 
 half dollars (^300,000) in cash. They agreed also to 
 set apart tor the Company one square mile and three 
 quarters, 1 1 20 acres, in each township hereafter sur- 
 veyed in the territory, south of the North Saskatche- 
 wan river (about the latitude of Edmonton), and also 
 certain specified areas around the Company's posts. 
 
 In other words the Company was to receive from 
 the Government an extensive area in the wheat- 
 growing belt. The area that the Company is entitled 
 to will eventually aggregate seven million acres or 
 more, probably reaHzing $150,000,000 (^{^3 0,000,000) 
 to the Company. If the actual facts about the 
 fertility of the soil, as well as the climatic conditions, 
 had not been so misrepresented, no such arrangement 
 
SOMETHING HIDDEN 35 
 
 would have been possible. At the very time that the 
 officials of the Company were declaring that the country 
 offered no inducements for settlement, their records 
 show that certain lands in the vicinity of the Company's 
 posts at Battleford, Qu Appelle, Edmonton and Fort 
 Garry, had been under cultivation for more than a 
 century, and that they were then yielding bountiful 
 crops, although the soil had never been artificially 
 fertilized, and was only being cultivated upon the 
 most primitive lines. 
 
 It had long been evident to Canada that, in the 
 negotiations for the possession of this territory, the 
 Canadian Government was hopelessly handicapped by 
 want of information. Not a few explorers had fol- 
 lowed compelling impulses to search the hidden secrets 
 of the west, in the manner so graphically described 
 by Kipling — 
 
 " Something hidden. Go and find it. 
 Go and look behind the Ranges — 
 Something lost behind the Ranges, 
 Lost and waiting for you. Go." 
 
 And they had gone to their doom. Instead of 
 returning to those who anxiously witnessed their 
 departure, they had found lonely graves in the vast 
 sunlit waste of the west. Perhaps it was too much 
 to expect the Company to give its case away while 
 negotiations were inevitable at some not distant day 
 for the sale of its rights to the Dominion of Canada. 
 It was also advisable that not only the Government, 
 but the general public should be unaware of the 
 
36 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 value of the consideration which the Company would 
 demand for the cancellation of its franchise. Com- 
 panies, it may be claimed, have no souls and are 
 therefore not to be held as strictly responsible on 
 points of honour as private individuals ; and it may 
 also be claimed with no less force, that a national 
 trusteeship is a proper object for exploitation. This 
 view has been, apparently, accepted by those who 
 subsequently accumulated wealth through the develop- 
 ments that followed the passing of the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory over to the Dominion of Canada. 
 
Ill 
 
 Terms of purchase misunderstood — Effect on Company's shares — 
 Panic on the market — Donald A. Smith a purchaser — The Riel 
 rebelHon — The first martyr — Lord Wolseley's chance. 
 
 On the announcement that the Dominion Govern- 
 ment had carried the negotiations to a successful 
 conclusion for the possession of the Hudson Bay Terri- 
 tory, the investing public in Great Britain and Canada 
 conceived the erroneous though, perhaps, natural idea 
 that the Company had been forced out of its rights upon 
 very unfavourable terms. A circulation of that rumour 
 was all that was necessary to cause a panic among a 
 large number of the scattered shareholders of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company. Intense anxiety was mani- 
 fested to effect sales on the London market. The 
 holders of many of these shares were widows and 
 orphans of Army and Navy officers of limited means. 
 They had not been ofhcially notified or advised that, 
 under the arrangements which had been effected with 
 Canada, the assets of the Company were likely to 
 become exceedingly valuable, rendering dividends for 
 generations in excess of the most sanguine expectations 
 of the original founders of the Company. 
 
 There was one, at least, who did not find his courage 
 deserting him at this juncture, nor was he in any 
 
 Z1 
 
88 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 doubt as to what to do under the circumstances. 
 This was Donald A. Smith, the then Resident- 
 Governor in Canada of the Company. His purpose 
 was not made known to the pubhc, nor did he feel 
 that he was called upon to take the panic-stricken 
 shareholders into his confidence. If he had faith in 
 the ultimate wealth that would accrue to the Company 
 as the result of the bargain that had been made with 
 the Canadian Government ; and if those whom he 
 represented in the Company's management in Canada 
 had not sufficient confidence in him to ask his advice, 
 the mistake they made in parting with their shares, 
 as well as the consequences of their want of faith in 
 the future of the Company, must be their own. On 
 his side Donald A. Smith could claim that if he had 
 become possessed of information which might be turned 
 to his personal profit, it could scarcely be expected 
 that he would proclaim it from the housetops. 
 
 It is, therefore, not surprising that Donald A. 
 Smith's hand was not seen in the market, but that 
 through trusted agents he secretly purchased all the 
 Hudson's Bay stock that was offered. His confidants 
 served him well. Not a proffered share was missed, and 
 not a hint of the great coup that was being effected got 
 beyond the trusted circle. The prices ran from ^^9 to 
 _£i2 per share. It is interesting to know that by 191 1 
 the shares of the Company were quoted on the Lon- 
 don Stock Exchange at ;fi30, an increase in value of 
 over thirteen hundred per cent. In addition to this, 
 however, between 1872 and 191 1 the entire capital 
 
AN EASY ROAD TO FORTUNE 89 
 
 stock of the Company was repaid to the shareholders 
 in full six times in the form of special bonuses, ex- 
 clusive of ordinary dividends. Others in his position 
 and with his aspirations, perhaps, would have followed 
 exactly the same course. But very many, whose worldly 
 possessions were somewhat Hmited, only learned when 
 it was too late that in parting hastily with their shares 
 they had unconsciously assisted the chief officer of 
 the Company in Canada to realize the ambition of a 
 lifetime. Donald A. Smith found himself after the 
 panic in the market had passed in actual control of 
 the Company. Henceforth he would no longer be 
 the subordinate of a London Directorate. He could 
 elect the members of the Board himself, he would 
 appoint the officers of the Company, he would 
 control its policy, he could also pay off some old 
 scores in the West; and, far more important than 
 any other consideration, he would be the principal 
 participator in the enormous profits that must even- 
 tually accrue to the Company as the result of the 
 favourable terms which had been made with the 
 Dominion of Canada. In conversation once with 
 the writer on the subject of his large holdings in the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, Lord Strathcona intimated 
 that it was the proudest moment of his life when he 
 finally secured control of the majority of the shares 
 of the Company. This possibiHty had always seemed 
 so absolutely remote that he could hardly realize the 
 fact when it was accomplished. 
 The payment of the amount agreed upon, however, 
 
40 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 did not ensure peaceable possession of the territory by 
 Canada. The first evidence of the intention of the 
 Government to assume control was coincident with 
 an outbreak of rebellion of half-breeds under the leader- 
 ship of Louis Kiel. This action of a portion of the 
 native population might possibly be looked upon as the 
 natural outcome of the oft-repeated advice of the Com- 
 pany about the alleged danger to the native races of 
 allowing whites, who were not in the service of the 
 Company, to enter the territory. The half-breeds had 
 everything in common with the full-blooded Indians, 
 although a great many of them had holdings of their 
 own along the banks of the Red River, as well as in the 
 vicinity of the Company's headquarters at Fort Garry. 
 The leader of the rebellion, Louis Riel, was an educated 
 half-breed. All his sympathies, as well as his associa- 
 tions, were with the full-blooded Indians. The Church 
 had educated him hoping to capture him for the 
 priesthood. Unfortunately it had failed. He pre- 
 ferred to be recognized rather as in full sympathy 
 with the Indians, than as a half-breed, and he was 
 looked upon by them as their leader. Everything 
 that might prejudicially affect the tribes was regarded 
 by him as having a bearing on his own life. Louis 
 Riel had imbibed to the fullest extent the teachings 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company as to the undesirability 
 of the presence of white men in the territory who 
 were outside its charmed circle. The chief resident 
 officers of the Company might be forced to change 
 their views on this subject, but the sudden change 
 
REASONS FOR REBELLION 41 
 
 was a sharper corner than Louis Riel and his followers 
 could easily accommodate themselves to. 
 
 Information had reached the outside world that 
 the negotiations between the Government and the 
 Company were likely to be successful, and already 
 a few enterprising and restless spirits from the western 
 States had arrived at Fort Garry. Their presence 
 was regarded by the Indians and half-breeds as 
 ominous of a flood that might soon roll on with resist- 
 less fury, unless the new-comers were dealt with in 
 the most summary manner. The unhappy results 
 of leniency, judged from an Indian standpoint, were 
 only too evident in the events that were taking place 
 in the republic immediately to the south, where the 
 Indians were being slaughtered, rapined and robbed 
 of their ancient heritage without the smallest mercy. 
 The fears so carefully instilled into the minds of the 
 Indians by the Company for generations, until they 
 had become a tradition, became intensified, and this 
 was one of the great forces behind the rebellion. 
 
 During the absence of the local Governor of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company in the east, Louis Riel and 
 his followers got beyond control. Suggestions were 
 made later that local officers of the Company en- 
 couraged Riel in the early stages of the rebellion. 
 At any rate Riel procured all his arms and ammunition 
 from the stores of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 Encouraged by the fact that there was no authority 
 to question his power, Riel caused the arrest of some 
 of the most pronounced opponents to the course 
 
42 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 that he was taking. One Thomas Scott, although 
 he had not been the least offensive to the half-breeds, 
 incurred Kiel's displeasure. After a summary trial by 
 the provisional government which Kiel had formed, 
 Scott was sentenced to death, and secretly buried under 
 cover of night. Those who took part in the grim 
 tragedy allowed no ceremony to sanctify the grave. 
 The spot was not marked, nor was it ever known, though 
 many years afterwards, when Winnipeg was expanding 
 into a city, the solitary skeleton of a man was found 
 where labourers were excavating for the foundations 
 of a great warehouse. 
 
 The murder of Scott seemed to rouse the dormant 
 Indian passions, and a general massacre of the whites 
 was feared. To secure protection they took refuge 
 within the palisade of the Company's fort. Pre- 
 parations were made for an attack, which fortunately 
 did not take place. The Nemesis following the 
 unwise policy that the Company had so determinedly 
 carried out in regard to the presence of whites in the 
 territory seemed imminent. They had fired a mine 
 which threatened appalling results. Fortunately, 
 however, there was a protective power at hand. 
 
 In the meantime the authorities at Ottawa, un- 
 conscious of the serious trend of events at Fort Garry, 
 were constructing the basis of official administration 
 in the newly acquired territory. A member of the 
 Cabinet, Hon. William Macdougal, an exceedingly 
 able administrator, was appointed Lieut. -Governor. 
 He selected his staff and proceeded to Fort Garry 
 
A GOVERNOR WITHOUT AUTHORITY 43 
 
 (Winnipeg) by rail as far as he could go through the 
 United States, and then by overland stages to the 
 Canadian border. Here, however, he was faced by 
 Louis Kiel's provisional government, and threatened 
 with Scott's fate if the party persisted in entering 
 the country. The prospects were not encouraging, 
 as Mr. Macdougal had no military force to assist in 
 his administration of the country. He therefore 
 retraced his steps to eastern Canada — only to make 
 the amazing discovery when he arrived at Ottawa, 
 that owing to carelessness, excitement or worse in 
 official circles, caused probably by the disturbing 
 news that had reached the capital after his departure 
 for the west, the Governor General's Proclama- 
 tion annexing the Hudson's Bay Territory to the 
 Dominion of Canada had not been issued. In point 
 of fact, therefore, the so-called Lieut. -Governor of 
 the Territory who had appeared on the threshold 
 of the west, and had been refused admission by 
 Riel, had really no official standing whatever. The 
 position to which he had been appointed did not, 
 in fact, exist. On his return to Ottawa, Parliament 
 being in session, he resumed his seat, occupying a 
 desk on the Opposition side of the House, from 
 whence he demanded explanations from the Govern- 
 ment ; for when news of Scott's fate reached eastern 
 Canada the whole country became infuriated. With 
 the general condemnation of Riel, there were many 
 who found a palliation for his offence in consequence 
 of the blame attached to the long-continued policy 
 
44 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company officials. They were 
 severely censured for not breaking down the barrier 
 they had erected between the native population and 
 the explorers ; or, at any rate, in making no attempt 
 to allay the fears that they had fostered as to the 
 nature of the new administration. The view was 
 held strongly in official circles that Riel was not 
 altogether at fault, or if so his offence was not too 
 great to be pardoned. Archbishop Tach6 declared 
 that the Government authorized him to promise 
 Riel an amnesty, and under instructions from Sir 
 John Macdonald,^ Donald A. Smith secretly paid Riel 
 $5,000 to leave the country for the time being. 
 
 The promise of an amnesty was afterwards denied 
 by the Government. At any rate, it was unfulfilled. 
 In the end^ Louis Riel, once patriot, leader, the idol 
 of a proud and fiery race, expiated his crime as if he 
 had been merely the commonest murderer. Few 
 tears were shed for his lost glory, except in the province 
 of Quebec, where there are still many who cherish 
 the memory of the misguided patriot of those days. 
 
 Viewing the situation from Ottawa, it was absolutely 
 necessary that a mihtary expedition should be des- 
 patched to Fort Garry for the purpose of quieting the 
 disturbances in the newly acquired possessions. This 
 became more evident when the Lieut.-Governor, who 
 had been appointed to take charge of the new province 
 by the Governor-General, returned to Ottawa. Pre- 
 
 1 Parliamentary Inquiry, 1873. 
 
 2 Xhe second outbreak, 1885, 
 
GETTING A CHANCE 45 
 
 parations were immediately set on foot, so that the 
 expedition should reach the seat of trouble as early 
 as possible. Fortunately an experienced officer was 
 obtained to command the Force. Colonel Wolseley, 
 later Lord Wolseley, was in Canada at this time as 
 Adjutant-General of the Militia ; though when his 
 name was first suggested for the position, it was 
 vetoed on account of his alleged lack of experience. 
 The Governor-General, with characteristic British 
 officialism, wanted to have a high officer from England 
 placed in command of the expedition. But Sir 
 George Cartier, Minister of Militia, insisted upon 
 Colonel Wolseley's appointment, and he was placed 
 in command. This decision was no sooner announced 
 than Wolseley received cables from Lieut. Butler 
 (afterwards Sir William) and Lieut. Buller (afterwards 
 Sir Redvers) asking that they might accompany the 
 expedition. 
 
 Accounts could be given of interesting incidents, 
 belonging to the present generation, in connection 
 with life in Canada, but probably none would be 
 more romantic than the strange part the Riel Rebellion 
 played in the military careers of each of these officers. 
 The Expedition furnished the occasion that mili- 
 tary genius longs for, the prospect of active service. 
 Thirty years from the date of this experience, one 
 of these officers was occupying a seat in the House 
 of Lords as the result of an honoured and successful 
 career, having also become Commander-in-Chief of 
 the British Army. Another paid the penalty so often 
 
46 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 exacted in South African service, only to have his 
 memory more than vindicated after his remains had 
 been consigned to their last resting-place. The last- 
 named commander had the greatest army that ever 
 left the shores of Great Britain on foreign service, 
 and later found an almost insurmountable task am.id 
 the mountains surrounding Ladysmith. All three, 
 however, were enabled to make a decided step upwards 
 in military service by their connection with Louis 
 Kiel's rebellion and the Red River expedition. 
 
IV 
 
 Canadian troops at Fort Garry — Treating with the rebels — The 
 Company and the rebellion — New trading conditions — Compe- 
 tition with a tinker. 
 
 News from the west caused great anxiety to the 
 Canadian public, and they chafed at the delay which 
 was necessary before the preparations for an unexpected 
 campaign could be completed. The proposal was 
 made in the early weeks of the trouble that the forces 
 might perhaps be allowed to pass through the United 
 States, using the American western railway system, thus 
 reaching the objective point much more expeditiously 
 than could be done by the long overland route through 
 the Canadian forests. This, however, was found to be 
 impracticable. The expedition could only go through 
 the United States as private citizens, and not as a 
 military force ; in which case arms and ammunition 
 would have to go as ordinary freight. In the dis- 
 cussion of the proposition difhculties were encountered 
 that could not be overcome. The ill-feeling engen- 
 dered in the United States against Great Britain by 
 the memorable Trent affair ^ had not yet subsided. 
 
 1 The " Trent affair " was the occasion of serious diplomatic 
 compHcations between the United States and Great Britain. It was 
 caused by the government of the Republic arresting Mason and Sliddell, 
 two representatives of the confederacy of the Southern States, during 
 
 47 
 
48 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 At this time, also, the Fenian organization was active 
 in the RepubHc. There had already been two 
 filibustering expeditions from the United States to 
 Canada in recent years, leaving very aggravating 
 memories. It was recognized that the administration 
 at Washington could not afford to take the risk of 
 offending the Irish, and thus probably losing that 
 vote in a Presidential election. And if any further 
 objections were needed to the carrying out of such 
 a proposal, they were furnished by the circulation of 
 the rumour that the Fenian leaders were on their way 
 to the west to offer their services to Louis Riel. 
 
 Under these circumstances there was nothing for the 
 expedition to do but make its passage entirely through 
 Canadian territory. This necessitated a journey of 
 nearly four hundred miles to Sault Ste. Marie by the 
 Great Lakes, where the expedition had to tranship 
 everything to the Canadian side of the river, the only 
 navigable passage connecting the Georgian Bay and 
 Lake Superior being in United States territory. They 
 had to take ship again at the western end of the river 
 and sail four hundred miles further west to Fort William. 
 Here the difficulties of the expedition really com- 
 menced. It was necessary that they should cut their 
 
 the civil war, who were on their way to Europe in a registered 
 British steamship. Great Britain denied the right of the United 
 States to commit the act in question, and eventually presented an 
 ultimatum to the United States Government, demanding the im- 
 mediate delivery of the persons on British territory. The bitterness 
 growing out of that incident continued for many years. 
 
THE REBELS IN CONTROL 49 
 
 way, and build a military road, through nearly six 
 hundred miles of virgin forest, and over a mountainous 
 and well-watered country. This was the task for 
 which Colonel Garnet Wolseley had assumed responsi- 
 bility. It was a work worthy of the best traditions 
 of the British Army. A faint conception of the mag- 
 nitude of the undertaking can be realized by a trip 
 over either of the two great railway lines now running 
 between Wolseley's objective points — Fort William and 
 Winnipeg. Whatever the expedition lacked in actual 
 military glory was amply compensated for by the 
 success attending the stupendous transport arrange- 
 ments through such a country. 
 
 While the expedition was cutting its way through 
 the Canadian forests, nothing was being left undone 
 to secure a peaceable termination of the situation at Fort 
 Garry. Riel had formed his government, and was to 
 all intents and purposes in possession of the territory. 
 Beyond the murder of Scott no overt act had been com- 
 mitted, although the few other Enghsh arrivals did not 
 know how soon they might meet the same fate. The 
 venerable Archbishop of St. Boniface, who was paying 
 an official visit to Rome, was cabled to return, in order 
 that he might assist in persuading Riel and his followers 
 to acknowledge the properly constituted authorities. 
 Leading Protestant missionaries had also hurried to 
 Fort Garry from the interior, to render assistance 
 with the Indians to whom they had been ministering, 
 in case they also should make their way to the storm 
 centre. Donald A. Smith, who was then in Old 
 
50 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Canada, hurried off by rail to the extremity of the 
 United States system, and thence by horses over 
 the western prairies of the United States to Fort 
 Garry, where he arrived long before the military 
 expedition could possibly put in an appearance. 
 Meanwhile the clergy of his own Church had held 
 Kiel in check. 
 
 Immediately upon the arrival of Donald A. Smith, 
 official negotiations were opened with Kiel, and in 
 this the Roman Catholic clergy rendered great 
 assistance. But before this point had been reached an 
 important interview took place between Donald A. 
 and Kiel. The former reached the Stone Fort 
 at Selkirk late at night. Riel heard of his arrival, 
 and immediately went up the river to see him. He 
 was told by the attendant that Mr. Smith had retired 
 for the night, but he insisted that he must see him. 
 While the attendant went to inquire v/hether Mr. 
 Smith would see Riel, the latter walked into the 
 bedroom unannounced. His reception, however, was 
 such that he returned at once, passing out of the 
 gates with a crushed appearance, in strong contrast 
 to the manner that he had been assuming for several 
 weeks in the settlement. The brief interview at the 
 Stone Fort opened his eyes. Certain promises were 
 made to Riel and his followers, in the course of the 
 negotiations, which afterwards had a most disturbing 
 effect in Canadian politics, and in regard to which 
 Donald A. Smith and the clergy seem to have retained 
 most strangely contradictory recollections of the same 
 
FEARFUL OF THE FACTS 51 
 
 events. At any rate, Riel was persuaded to see 
 the error of his ways. He was paid $5,000 (^1,000) 
 by Donald A. Smith under confidential instructions 
 by Sir John Macdonald, who afterwards reimbursed 
 him from the Secret Service Fund placed at the 
 disposal of the Ottawa Government by Parliament. 
 Riel then left the scene of the rebellion to reside 
 in the United States until the promises made to him 
 should be fulfilled. 
 
 Lord Strathcona regarded with much uneasiness 
 fifteen or twenty years ago the frequently-repeated 
 insinuation as to the complicity of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company and his own colleagues in the unfortunate 
 rebellion. Upon one well-known occasion, during the 
 lifetime of the late Archbishop Tache, he visited Winni- 
 peg, and endeavoured to get the approval of that great 
 leader of the Roman Catholic hierarchy to a statement 
 that the officials of the Hudson's Bay Company were 
 absolutely free from complicity in the Louis Riel 
 episode. But the venerable Archbishop quietly in- 
 timated that, if any such statement was made by 
 Lord Strathcona, he would produce documents that 
 would settle that question definitely for all time, 
 upon lines that would create a startling sensation 
 throughout Canada. Consequently negotiations came 
 to a termination somewhat hurriedly. It is no longer 
 a secret that the archives of the Archbishop's Palace 
 at St. Boniface contain important documents bearing 
 upon this subject, and it is equally well known in 
 influential circles that among the papers left by the 
 
52 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 late Governor McTavish, of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, most interesting confirmatory information of 
 the archiepiscopal documents is available. The late 
 Archbishop was credited, however, with stating that 
 unless forced to do so he would allow nothing to be 
 made public during the lifetime of any of the three 
 who had been active participants in this piece of 
 Canadian history. The peculiar thoughts that must 
 have visited Lord Strathcona when he received Her 
 Majesty's Medal for assisting to suppress that re- 
 bellion, with which undefined and vague but very 
 suggestive rumour credited the officials of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company with having had not a little to do, 
 and he on account of his official position not being 
 altogether free from blame, would surely be worth a 
 historian's attention. 
 
 When the expedition arrived at Fort Garry under 
 Colonel Wolseley, the rebellion was at an end, but it 
 was regarded as advisable for the Force to remain in 
 the country during the approaching winter, then fast 
 setting in. 
 
 Outside the commissariat accompanying the expedi- 
 tion, the main source of the supplies required for the 
 troops was the Hudson's Bay Company. In fact up to 
 this time there had been no competition with the Com- 
 pany throughout that vast territory in the way of 
 buying or selling. The Company had been unbridled 
 autocrats there for two hundred years. Not only 
 had they monopolized the trade, but they had assumed 
 authority over human life as well. What was more 
 
FOUNDATION OF A FORTUNE 53 
 
 natural than to believe that the " sceptre had not 
 departed from Israel " ? With the requirements of 
 the troops there came a rude awakening as evidence 
 of the changed situation, the importance of vv^hich the 
 officers of the Company seemed scarcely able to 
 comprehend. A young tinker had wandered to Fort 
 Garry from the western states, drawn thither by the 
 rumours that Canada had assumed the government 
 of the territory. He had reached there about the 
 time that Thomas Scott arrived, and his escape from 
 Scott's fate had hung on little more than a gamble. 
 It was a question with Kiel's government whether 
 Thomas Scott or John Ashdown should be arrested. 
 Ashdown's fate is said to have been decided on the 
 chance drawing of two straws of unequal length. 
 The tinker escaped, only to find himself very soon 
 afterwards in sharp business competition with the 
 Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 Certain heating supplies had been forwarded from 
 the east for the troops, but, with the usual military 
 want of method, lacking a most necessary attachment. 
 This omission necessitated a formal notice appearing 
 at headquarters asking for tenders for a supply of 
 stove-pipes. The Hudson's Bay Company sent in a 
 tender, as did also John Ashdown. The latter quoted 
 a much lower figure, but the Company had not much 
 trouble in convincing the military authorities that the 
 unknown tinker was not in a position to do the work. 
 The contract was, therefore, given to the Company, 
 but they had no tinsmith in their employ. They 
 
64 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 then wanted to engage the services of the practical 
 tenderer, but he declined to work for them, when he 
 learned that the price at which the contract had been 
 secured by them was far in excess of his own modest 
 figure. The Company requested the assistance of 
 the military to make the " culprit " work. No other 
 tinker was known to be within five hundred miles of 
 Fort Garry. Colonel Wolseley cut the dispute short 
 by cancelling the contract with the Company, and 
 giving it to the tinker. 
 
 With the assistance that John Ashdown was able 
 to secure from the ranks of the military the contract 
 was completed within the stipulated time. This was 
 the first intimation that the Hudson's Bay Company 
 received that others had equal rights with them in 
 the trade of the west. The particular interest at- 
 taching to the incident is due to the fact that by this 
 contract was laid the foundation of one of the most 
 extensive business establishments now in western 
 Canada. When the site of Fort Garry became a 
 great city, the successful tenderer of that day was 
 elected to the most prominent positions in the gift 
 of his fellow-citizens. Long before the shadows had 
 begun to lengthen in his life, he had accumulated an 
 immense fortune by legitimate business, and to his 
 credit it may be said, he never used any public position 
 that he occupied for the purpose of advancing his 
 personal or financial interests. 
 
 In other ways, too, old conditions were giving place 
 to new. With the legitimate trader, now admitted 
 
ROBBING THE HALF-BREEDS 55 
 
 to a hitherto closed territory for the first time, had 
 come the restless wandering speculator, whose gambling 
 instinct scents opportunities from afar. He never 
 comes like a thief in the night, but rollicking and 
 daring he soon makes both his presence and his business 
 known, with the natural result that the quiet, silent, 
 shrewd man of business, following the path blazed 
 by the other, reaches the objective point with much 
 greater profit. 
 
 Under the terms of an agreement with the Ottawa 
 Government, the half-breeds were each entitled to a 
 goodly block of land. Their partial rights to pro- 
 prietorship in the west were acknowledged in this form. 
 In this way, also, all cause for the complaints that had 
 been fostered by the rebellion would probably be re- 
 moved. As it was not possible to give titles until the 
 land could be surveyed, the Government issued what is 
 known in the west as Scrip — a form of contract which 
 was to be redeemed by the Government for lands after- 
 wards. Unfortunately for the half-breeds this Scrip 
 was negotiable. The half-breeds were perfectly un- 
 conscious as to the value of the Scrip. To many of 
 them it was only a nicely printed piece of paper, 
 worth, possibly, not much more than any other piece 
 of paper. The speculator was on the look-out. To 
 him the native is always fair game for exploitation. 
 However, but little of the Scrip had reached the 
 speculator's possession before a shrewd man of busi- 
 ness within the walls of Fort Garry and the Lower 
 Fort grasped the possibilities from the possession of 
 
56 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the Government " promise to pay." When it came 
 to a competition between the man on the spot, with 
 whom the half-breeds were accustomed to do business, 
 and the man outside, the latter had small chance. It 
 is not surprising, therefore, that the officers of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company plunged into the ways of the 
 stranger. A well-known resident of Calgary, who was 
 one of the chief clerks in the Government Registry 
 Office in Manitoba in those early days, is the authority 
 for the statement that tens of thousands of acres of these 
 lands passed into the hands of very high-placed officials 
 of the Company, out of which very large fortunes were 
 afterwards realized. The early records of the Registry 
 Office bear witness to the manner in which the guileless 
 natives were done out of their proprietary rights to 
 this Scrip, the greater part of which was handed over 
 for no other consideration than a blanket, a pipe, or a 
 plug of tobacco. 
 
V 
 
 Donald A. Smith elected to Parliament — Knowledge of the west — 
 Dream of wealth and power — A great leader — ParHamentary 
 talent — Buying a public franchise — Election subscriptions — 
 Pacific scandal. 
 
 It was fitting that the first Parliamentary constituency 
 in the newly acquired west should be named Selkirk, 
 in order to perpetuate the memory of that courageous 
 voyager who with his intrepid companions settled along 
 the Red River in the nineteenth century. The Lower 
 Fort, as the settlement around the Stone Fort was 
 called, as distinguished from Fort Garry, sometimes 
 called the Upper Fort, had been the controlling centre 
 of the vast territory ruled by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany for two centuries. The old wooden palisades 
 had given place to stone walls after the Company 
 absorbed its great rival, the North-West Fur Trading 
 Company. 
 
 The erection was commenced in 1831 and completed 
 in 1839, and was the first lime and stone building 
 erected between Lake Superior and the western slopes 
 of the Rocky Mountains. Within the five acres sur- 
 rounded by these loop-holed stone walls and medireval 
 bastions, from which a shot had never been fired, 
 more than half a continent had been peacefully 
 governed. It was the great meeting-place of the 
 
 57 
 
58 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 east, the west and the north. Representatives of 
 the Company from the Arctic Circle to the sunny 
 slopes of the Pacific, from the north of Hudson Bay 
 to country inhabited by the fierce tribes in the more 
 western of the United States, from the Lakes to the 
 heights of the Rockies, gathered once a year around 
 the hospitable board of the Deputy-Governor to 
 exchange long-pent-up confidences. 
 
 Here was the flotilla of boats with supplies for the 
 interior in exchange for furs brought to this point 
 by the trusted servants of the Company. Here, too, 
 would take place that distribution of letters, periodicals 
 and newspapers that told of the changes taking place 
 in the outside world, the coming and going of empires 
 and dynasties long after the events had taken place. 
 Representatives would settle the policy to be carried 
 out for another year in a few hours which it would 
 take statesmen months or years to decide under ordinary 
 red-tape conditions. The fashions in furs to be 
 adopted in Paris would be settled in much the same 
 expeditious manner. In those far-off days the curse 
 of civiHzation and its greed for gold had not blighted 
 their finer susceptibihties. It was the meeting-place 
 of the self-sacrificing and faithful, who, while serving 
 the Company, were holding an empire for unborn 
 generations. Their wants were few, their honesty 
 absolute, their loyalty unquestioned. Here, also, 
 was an outpost of science. While the Jesuit mission- 
 aries were at the same time trying to learn the secrets 
 of Nature controlling seismism and atmospheric 
 cataclysms in the Philippine Islands and throughout 
 
ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT 59 
 
 the Indian Ocean, the officials of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company were collecting in their archives at the 
 mouth of the Red River records of the meteorological 
 and agricultural secrets of the " frozen north." To 
 realize the extent of these researches one must examine 
 the originals, as the writer has had an opportunity of 
 doing. Yet a singular difference in the methods 
 adopted by these two great inquiring agencies is 
 noticeable. The Jesuits lost no time in making their 
 discoveries known to the world, while the Hudson's 
 Bay Company records largely remained a secret until 
 their jurisdiction over the territory ceased. 
 
 The annexation of the Hudson's Bay Territory was 
 immediately followed by representation being accorded 
 to the new country in the Canadian Parliament. It 
 was perfectly natural that the first member to be elected 
 in 1 871 should be the Vice-Governor of the Company, 
 Donald A. Smith. When he took his seat in the 
 House of Commons as a supporter of the Government 
 of the day, which was led by Sir John Macdonald, 
 he was heartily received by both political parties as 
 the representative of the New West. On all sides 
 it was recognized that his presence at Ottawa marked 
 a distinct advance in the aspirations of the young 
 Dominion. The Liberals welcomed Donald A. Smith, 
 not in his personal capacity as a supporter of the 
 administration, but as the representative of the 
 territory, the control of which by the Government 
 of Canada they had long advocated. But neither 
 side guessed in that typical western figure the 
 hidden power which was destined to mould the 
 
60 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 history of the country to his own purposes, nor that 
 so many of their number, whether wilHng or not, 
 should be in his hands as the clay to the potter. 
 From this point may be dated a romantic career, 
 more interesting in all its details, and more far-reaching 
 in its results upon the commercial, social and political 
 life of the Dominion of Canada, than has been fur- 
 nished by any other individual in the history of the 
 British Colonies. 
 
 It has been suggested that a marked similarity exists 
 between the lives and characters of Donald A. Smith 
 and Cecil Rhodes at this point of their Parliamentary 
 careers. A careful survey of the situation, however, 
 shows no resemblance whatever in the early stages of the 
 public life of these two great Colonials. Cecil Rhodes 
 was dreaming of an Empire with no personal advantages 
 to himself, Donald A. Smith was dreaming of the 
 development of an Empire that might be turned to 
 his personal aggrandizement ; and as their dreams 
 developed into experience the ultimate ends each had 
 in view became still wider apart. Cecil Rhodes was a 
 born leader of men in parliamentary government : 
 Donald A. Smith was not, but he had no peer as a 
 shrewd manipulator of political leaders for his own 
 purposes. Cecil Rhodes always stood for the national 
 interests, personal considerations being secondary : 
 Donald A. Smith's personal interests were paramount. 
 The contests of the one were fought out in the 
 noontide glare of a public career : the other dis- 
 comfited his opponents in the evening shadows of 
 secret conferences, and behind carefully-guarded doors. 
 
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WEST 61 
 
 Donald A. Smith had successfully directed an army 
 of officials employed by the Hudson's Bay Company ; 
 he had controlled, as in the hollow of his hand, the 
 uncivilized Indians throughout a vast territory, and 
 had successfully used their labour for the profits of 
 his Company. The shrev^dness sharpened by such 
 experiences was soon to become useful in a wider field. 
 Certain not altogether objectionable characteristics, 
 assimilated by contact with the red man, could be 
 used advantageously among the whites. He had 
 also learned to keep his own counsel. 
 
 Donald A. Smith had an intimate personal acquaint- 
 ance with the wonderful possibilities of that goodly 
 land lying between Fort Garry and the foot-hills of the 
 Rocky Mountains. The faint echoes of information 
 that had reached the outer world told but little of the 
 actual facts. It is safe to say that no living soul, taking 
 any interest whatever in the prospective development 
 of that country, had a tithe of the information that 
 the Canadian Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 possessed. He was equally familiar with the fertility 
 of the great west of the United States. For many 
 years, on his journeyings to eastern Canada, he had 
 traversed the prairies to the south of the Company's 
 jurisdiction. He knew that the northern area was a 
 continuation of the same belt of fertility that was the 
 basis of the accumulating wealth of Chicago and 
 other western cities. Years before, he had heard the 
 muffled thunder of countless herds of buffalo from the 
 United States, forced by the advancing tide of western 
 settlement, wend their way up the valley of the Red 
 
62 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 River to the Hudson's Bay Territory. He had seen 
 them increase and multiply in the area under his 
 control. He knew that as they had prospered in 
 the western states, and even to a greater extent in 
 British North America, so could be measured the 
 respective fertility of the two countries. He was well 
 aware that where buffalo thrive, cattle can feed by 
 the million, so that probably in this country wheat 
 would yield crops such as the world had never seen. 
 He was sufficiently reflective to know that the territory 
 over which he had held jurisdiction for so many years 
 was favoured by Nature with two hours' longer sun- 
 shine, during the wheat-maturing season, than any 
 other wheat-growing area in the world. The value 
 of each one of these considerations had not escaped 
 his shrewd calculations. 
 
 Donald A. Smith had seen railway enterprises in the 
 western states grow to enormous corporations in a 
 decade or two. Native shrewdness and his peculiar 
 knowledge suggested that what others had done in the 
 neighbouring republic he himself might accomplish in 
 Canada. A railway had already been projected and 
 partially constructed towards the Canadian border from 
 Minneapolis, but it had not realized its promoters' ex- 
 pectations, and the managers were discouraged. To 
 have that line completed, with some assistance from 
 personal friends, was now his object. Before this, 
 however, the idea of securing the control of a charter 
 for the construction of a Pacific Railway through 
 Canada had become a definite aim. 
 
 The means to accomplish this became the controlling 
 
INTRIGUING FOR A CHARTER 63 
 
 influence of every action of Donald A. Smith after he 
 had taken his seat in the House of Commons. But while 
 he was dreaming of a continental charter, a far-sighted 
 and enterprising countryman of his own was acting. 
 The general elections of 1872 were about to take 
 place. Sir Hugh Allan was then head of the great 
 steamship line that bore his name. As a young man 
 he had come to Canada long before steam was thought 
 of on the Atlantic. From small beginnings he had 
 expanded his business until his fleet had become a 
 possession that Canada was proud of. Industry and 
 integrity had marked his life in every particular, and 
 success had crowned his efforts. Within an inner 
 circle it was rumoured that he had previous confidential 
 experience in effecting arrangements with Canadian 
 Governments for mail subsidies for his steamship 
 Hne. At any rate he selected an opportune time to 
 enter into secret negotiations with the First Minister 
 for an arrangement to construct the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway. In these conferences Sir Hugh was accom- 
 panied by the late Mr. J. J. C. Abbott as his confi- 
 dential legal adviser. This was subsequently proved 
 by the production of the correspondence between 
 the contracting parties in the ensuing Parliamentary 
 inquiry. Mr. Abbott appeared again on the scene 
 seven years later with other parties in a similar 
 confidential capacity. 
 
 Sir John Macdonald, the Premier, was, as has already 
 been intimated, about to make an appeal to the elec- 
 torate for a renewal of confidence in the Government 
 which had been in oflice since Confederation. He was of 
 
64 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Scotch descent, his parents having arrived in Canada 
 early in the nineteenth century. He was brought up 
 in the humbler walks of life, and after going to the 
 village school, was apprenticed as a clerk to a lawyer. 
 A wealthy merchant at Kingston took a great fancy 
 to the bright young lad, who under his patronage 
 was introduced into politics ; from that period this 
 promising prot^g^ devoted his time untiringly to 
 public affairs. A natural leader of men, he quickly 
 came to the front. Eventually, out-distancing all 
 competitors, he became the leader of his party and 
 the Premier of Canada. In personal appearance and 
 manner he had a strong resemblance to Lord Beacons- 
 field. His ruling passion was power — not office for 
 the mere sake of office, but office for the sake of the 
 power it conferred. To attain power he risked every- 
 thing, with the inevitable result that the record 
 of aspirations and deeds solely in the interest of 
 his country, will not altogether clear his reputation 
 of blemishes. For a long time he was strongly 
 opposed to the Confederation of the provinces, but 
 finally joined in its advocacy, and effected a coalition 
 of the leaders of both political parties to carry it 
 through. Many of the prominent Liberals who 
 joined forces with him for the purpose of seeing that 
 great project carried, and by whose assistance he be- 
 came the first Prime Minister under Confederation, 
 separated themselves from him as soon as the Union 
 became an accomplished fact. 
 
 The House of Commons possessed a highly satis- 
 factory standard of public life at this time. There 
 
PUBLIC LIFE CLEAN 65 
 
 were intellectual giants in the Canadian Parliament 
 in those early days of Confederation. The political 
 stream had not been sluggish in any of the provinces 
 for many years, and, as is always the case in times of 
 political disturbance, strong characters had come into 
 the political arena. 
 
 Better far than the evidence of intellectual power 
 was the fact that up to this time scarcely a reputation 
 had been associated with a minor political scandal, 
 and certainly no hint of personal corruption had been 
 suggested. The cankerworm, which was so soon to 
 eat its way into the body politic, had not as yet made 
 its appearance. No one but a madman would have 
 prophesied that ere ten years had passed, the whole 
 standard of public ethics would have changed. The 
 heat of battle in provincial politics was beginning to 
 be felt at Ottawa. The Federal Opposition (the 
 Liberals) had already captured the most important 
 of the provincial legislatures, and they had grown 
 in strength and influence in the Federal Parliament 
 until they had become a serious menace to Sir John 
 Macdonald's retention of office. 
 
 Sir Hugh Allan knew the Tory Leader's intense love 
 of power, and he also knew that he looked forward with 
 some misgivings to the pending appeal to the electors. 
 He therefore selected this occasion as auspicious to 
 open negotiations for an arrangement about the much 
 coveted Pacific Railway charter, with the avowed 
 object of carrying out the terms of the agreement 
 by which British Columbia had entered the Con- 
 federation — the construction of a railway across the 
 
66 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 continent within ten years. Sir Hugh Allan promised 
 Sir John Macdonald a subscription of $100,000 
 (_^20,ooo) to the party funds, if the Government would 
 give him and his friends the charter for the con- 
 struction of the line. The amount that was held 
 out as a bait to the First Minister was looked upon 
 as a large sum in those days. Sir Hugh pressed for 
 the introduction of the necessary legislation during 
 the last session of Parliament, before the elections. 
 Sir John at first considered this impossible, as it 
 would give the Liberals another subject upon which 
 to appeal to the country against him. He wanted 
 Sir Hugh to accept his assurance that, if successful 
 at the elections, he would enter into a satisfactory 
 arrangement then, introducing the necessary legisla- 
 tion at the first session of the new Parliament. Sir 
 Hugh practically replied, " It is now, or nothing." 
 Both the negotiating parties were Scotch, possessing 
 a full measure of the acumen of the race. Sir John 
 was a politician, and certainly in a matter of this kind 
 a pledge was as good as a bond, providing the elections 
 should be satisfactory. Sir Hugh was a business man 
 accustomed to have everv contract in black and white — 
 he did not care to part with his money without holding 
 security in the usual form. 
 
 After much hesitation Sir John Macdonald agreed 
 to the details of a definite arrangement by legislation 
 — necessarily including (i) the incorporation of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and (2) the ap- 
 proval of Parliament to a contract with the Company 
 
OUTCOME OF SELLING A CHARTER 67 
 
 for the construction and maintenance of the Hne. 
 These Bills were accordingly carried through Parliament 
 in 1872, immediately prior to the general elections, 
 after a strenuous fight against the proposals by the 
 Opposition. Donald A. Smith was one of the charter 
 members of the Company. He was asked to join the 
 Board of Directors because it was a convenience to Sir 
 Hugh Allan, and probably also to insure his support to 
 the measure in the House. In how far Sir Hugh 
 took the charter members of the Company into his 
 confidence about the promised subscription to the 
 election funds remains a mystery. Every precaution 
 was taken by Sir John Macdonald and Sir George 
 Cartier on the one hand, and Sir Hugh on the other, 
 to prevent their mutual confidences becoming known. 
 Nothing probably would ever have been revealed, 
 had not the Opposition developed unexpected strength 
 in the campaign, naturally increasing the anxiety about 
 the possible result, so that Sir John Macdonald and 
 Sir George Cartier, with a complete absence of their 
 usual shrewdness, both by letters and public tele- 
 grams, made several personal appeals to Sir Hugh for 
 further assistance. One of Sir John's telegrams said : 
 " Send another ten thousand. It is the last time of 
 asking." The amounts paid by Sir Hugh totalled 
 $350,000 (^70,000). Sir John carried the country, 
 but the denouement that followed prove that in an 
 endeavour to secure an extension of power, this great 
 Canadian statesman had paid an awful price, leaving 
 a stain on his memory which time can never efface. 
 
VI 
 
 Reverting to party lines — George Brown's break with the coahtion 
 — Parliament of talents — Interest in Parliament — The early days 
 in Ottawa — Discovery of the Pacific scandal — Investigation by 
 Parliament. 
 
 The session of Parliament following the general elec- 
 tions of 1872 was historic in many ways. Party lines, 
 which had been largely obliterated by the action of the 
 leaders on both sides in Upper and Lower Canada in 
 order to bring about Confederation, were again clearly 
 defined. In the preceding session a number of mem- 
 bers, who, in pre-Confederation days, had been associ- 
 ated with the Liberal party, supported the Government 
 of Sir John Macdonald. This temporary truce had thus 
 proved more advantageous to the leader of the Govern- 
 ment than to the Hon. George Brown, the leader of 
 the Liberal party before Confederation. Mr. Brown 
 was the first Canadian statesmen to propose or ad- 
 vocate a Confederation or union of the scattered 
 provinces. He is more entitled to be called " The 
 Father of Confederation " than any of those who 
 afterwards took part in the conferences on this 
 question. " Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he 
 also reap " has not been exemphfied in the popular 
 
 estimation of George Brown on the question of 
 
 68 
 
PARTY LINES DEFINED 69 
 
 Confederation, owing to a careless study of the 
 complicated events of that period. To others has 
 been largely given the credit that really belongs to 
 him. After the Act of Union became law George 
 Brown considered that he was no longer called upon 
 to co-operate with Sir John Macdonald in the admin- 
 istration of the affairs of the country. Their private 
 lives, personal habits and views of government were 
 too different to long permit of intimate association. 
 Brown resumed his old position as a political opponent 
 of Sir John Macdonald's Government, but several of 
 his influential supporters accepted portfolios in the 
 new coahtion Cabinet. Brown was defeated in the 
 elections of 1867 and Alexander Mackenzie became 
 leader of the Liberal party. When the Parliament 
 of 1872 met, the Liberals who joined forces with Sir 
 John in 1867, and who had not in the meantime been 
 shelved by appointments to lieut. -governorships or to 
 the bench, were as staunch supporters of the Prime 
 Minister as his old and trusted followers. 
 
 Nevertheless, the political atmosphere had cleared. 
 Party lines were again distinct. The necessity of 
 party government in the Colonies is as clearly estab- 
 lished as in the mother-country. There probably 
 will be occasions in the history of government in 
 every democratic country when political coalitions 
 become a national necessity, but if such combinations 
 are forced upon Parliament to too great an extent 
 the tendency is more likely to be by concessions to a 
 minority in the ruling body than government by 
 
70 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 majority — administration by intrigue and cabal rather 
 than by clear-cut issues in the open. This was the 
 view taken by George Brown after the crisis that led 
 to Confederation had past. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that in the Canadian Parliament of 1872 
 the Independents could be counted on the fingers 
 of one hand. The most notable of these were Richard 
 J. Cartwright, the promising son of an unbending 
 Tory, who was steadily drifting towards the Liberal 
 party, and Donald A. Smith, who claimed to be an 
 Independent, but whose sympathies were with the 
 Government of the day. There were also one or two 
 from the maritime provinces, where party lines in 
 Dominion politics were not so clearly defined as in 
 Upper and Lower Canada. 
 
 Upon the Treasury Benches there was a galaxy of 
 stars — the greatest aggregation of political talent that 
 any Canadian Parliament has ever seen, with the ex- 
 ception of the Cabinet with which Sir Wilfrid Laurier 
 met Parliament a quarter of a century later. The leader 
 of the Opposition was supported by followers of equal 
 strength. Master minds from all the provinces were 
 gathered at Ottawa, and the two parties faced each 
 other in grim earnest. In the previous Parliament 
 the Opposition had fought a good fight, though handi- 
 capped by the fact that half a dozen former leading 
 associates sat on the right of the Speaker. 
 
 This was the scene that the writer, then scarcely 
 out of his teens, surveyed from the public gallery. 
 What attraction Parliament could have for a lad I must 
 
PERSONAL INTEREST IN POLITICS 71 
 
 allow some one else to explain. And yet for me it had 
 a strange fascination. Residing in Ottawa, then a back- 
 woods town, where were neither theatres nor music- 
 halls, and picture-palaces had not then been conceived, 
 all my spare evenings were spent in listening to the 
 debates. During the sessions the galleries of the 
 Senate and Commons alike were always well filled by 
 the general public. The accommodation was ample, 
 and admission not difficult. During the six sessions 
 which had been held at Ottawa friendly door-keepers 
 had always reserved " a special seat for the lad," 
 and, more frequently than not, failed to ask for my 
 ticket. I seemed to have as much right in the gallery 
 as members to a seat on the floor of the House. There 
 was no senator or member whose name I did not know, 
 or in whom I did not take a personal interest. 
 
 In my boyhood's years the Hill upon which the 
 Parliament Buildings now stand had been the play- 
 ground of my school. I remember the horror with 
 which we discovered hundreds of men at work for the 
 first time digging up the ground for the foundations. 
 I had stood within a few feet of the Prince of Wales 
 when he laid the corner-stone in i860, and about 
 which, in reply to His late Majesty's inquiries, I had 
 the honour of telling him forty-five years later. I had 
 watched with deep interest the magnificent pile grow 
 to completion, so, at last, when Parliament met, I 
 wanted to be the first in the gallery and the last to 
 leave it. 
 
 I had been a witness to the hearty welcome by an 
 
72 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 unanimous House, when, as the representative of the 
 New West, Donald A. Smith had been introduced to 
 the Speaker ; and again, now more accustomed to 
 his surroundings — a famihar and striking figure wearing 
 a grey top-hat only out of his possession in order to 
 conform to the rules of the House. It is no doubt a 
 wise provision of Providence that we are not allowed 
 to look into the future. If we could, perhaps, many- 
 would not care to venture on life's perilous way. 
 Could I have lifted the veil, as I unconsciously turned 
 my attention to Donald A. Smith, I would have read 
 a strange romance. He was beyond middle life, I 
 was beginning. He was a millionaire, I was starting 
 to earn my own living. Within eight years I was 
 drifting into a prominent part of public life in strong 
 opposition to the ruling ambition of his life ; again, 
 five years later, a candidate for the House of Commons 
 in a constituency into which a liberal contribution, 
 to make sure of my defeat, was sent by his syndicate ; 
 as organizer of the Liberal party for many years 
 fighting political forces that were strengthened by 
 huge bulwarks of money from his syndicate, throughout 
 the vast territory extending from the foot of the 
 Rocky Mountains to the banks of the Ottawa river ; 
 and twenty-seven years after this historic session of 
 1872 I would have seen myself sitting in his library 
 in Grosvenor Square, becoming personally acquainted 
 for the first time. Both were occupying positions of 
 responsibility in the Canadian Government service, 
 and we calmly discussed the possible solution of a 
 
KEEPING HIS OWN COUNSEL 73 
 
 problem that Cabinets had vainly tried for twenty 
 years to solve, whereby the stream of British and 
 Continental emigration might be diverted to the 
 western prairies of the Dominion. 
 
 In how far Donald A. Smith had any personal 
 knowledge about the secret agreement between Sir 
 Hugh Allan and the Government, no conclusive 
 evidence is available. He was one of the charter 
 members and also on the Board of Directors. There 
 is little doubt but that he found his place on the 
 Board more nominal than otherwise. The original 
 negotiations were between Sir Hugh and the Govern- 
 ment, the Company was Sir Hugh's, and he was 
 naturally the controlling factor. It is not unlikely 
 that Donald A. Smith had ambitious designs beyond 
 Sir Hugh Allan's charter. If he had, he certainly 
 was keeping his own counsel. His journeyings to 
 Fort Garry had given him an insight into what 
 was being done in the way of railway construction 
 in the western states. He knew what could be done 
 on the great prairies of Canada. No member of the 
 Government of the day, at any rate, had the slightest 
 suspicion of his want of loyalty to Sir Hugh Allan. 
 Donald A. Smith had been elected again as a sup- 
 porter of Sir John Macdonald's Government. When 
 Parliament, in the ordinary course of events, was 
 called together, there was no public indication other 
 than that the session would take the usual course. 
 But the information had already reached a limited 
 circle outside the friends of the contracting parties, 
 
74 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 that an arrangement had been made between Sir 
 Hugh Allan and Sir John Macdonald, whereby the 
 head of the Allan Steamship Company, in considera- 
 tion of the charter that had been granted to his 
 company for the construction of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, had paid large sums of money directly into 
 the hands of Sir John Macdonald during the recent 
 election campaign. 
 
 These payments were known in certain banking 
 circles, so that the information eventually filtered 
 through to parties who were strongly opposed to 
 Sir Hugh Allan's Pacific Railway aspirations, and who 
 were determined to bring about the nullification of 
 the contract. To do so, they were bent upon getting 
 the proof that money had actually passed between the 
 high contracting parties, as well as any communica- 
 tions that might have passed between the Premier 
 and Sir Hugh Allan ; and any other documents in the 
 possession of either party that were likely to furnish 
 evidence in the case should be secured at all costs. 
 
 It was a foregone conclusion that the correspondence, 
 if any, could only be of the most confidential char- 
 acter, and would scarcely be elsewhere than in the 
 personal possession of the most trusted secretaries. 
 The private secretary of Sir John Macdonald was 
 known to be unimpeachable, so that there was no 
 use trying there. Not so, however, were the confi- 
 dential secretaries of the head of the great steamship 
 line. One of them was discovered who was willing 
 to betray his master, if the monetary consideration 
 
POLITICAL EXPLOSION IMMINENT 75 
 
 was made satisfactory. All that was required was 
 promptly forthcoming, and copies of all the corre- 
 spondence, as well as many of the most important 
 original letters and telegrams between members of 
 the Government and Sir Hugh were produced. A 
 cursory glance at these papers very properly led to 
 the conclusion that, with the publication of these 
 documents, the Government would be utterly doomed 
 in the House of Commons so recently elected, and 
 also that the exposure would render it impossible for 
 Sir Hugh Allan to participate in any arrangement 
 whatever, for the construction of the transcontinental 
 railway. Meanwhile, Parliament was preparing to 
 meet, neither political party conscious in the least 
 degree of the mine that was being prepared for an 
 extraordinary political explosion. 
 
 If the matter culminated as might be expected, 
 there should be a chance for others to be in a deal 
 with the Government for the charter. It was, how- 
 ever, absolutely necessary that no suspicion should 
 attach to those who were advancing the money which 
 was required to secure the evidence. Nothing is 
 better understood than that to be party to a plot to 
 secure possession of private and confidential letters, 
 without the knowledge and consent of both the sender 
 and the receiver, carries an everlasting stigma upon 
 all concerned. However, it must be understood 
 that evidence of a corrupt arrangement between Sir 
 John Macdonald and Sir Hugh Allan once becoming 
 public knowledge, it would be taken notice of by 
 
76 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Parliament, in view of its public character. It was 
 admitted that no agreement of such a pernicious 
 character could be allowed to go unnoticed by the 
 highest tribunal in the land. The confidential secre- 
 tary of Sir Hugh Allan, and those associated with him, 
 considered it wiser to deliver everything to a leading 
 member of the Liberal party, Hon. Mr. Huntingdon, 
 who, it was said, cheerfully agreed to assume all 
 responsibility for having possession of them. In this 
 way it was hoped that the ro.eans taken to secure 
 possession of the incriminating documents was not 
 likely ever to become known to the public. The 
 true source of the treachery of Sir Hugh Allan's con- 
 fidants remained a mystery for many years. There is 
 only one person living now who can give personal 
 information about the matter. 
 
 The publication of the correspondence, showing 
 the terms upon which the railway charter had been 
 granted, and the confidential correspondence acknow- 
 ledging that money had been paid to the leader of 
 the Tory party by Sir Hugh Allan, created a tremend- 
 ous sensation in the country. It was the one topic of 
 conversation everywhere. The main facts could not 
 be denied. The House of Commons referred the 
 matter to a Royal Commission,^ the membership of 
 which was selected by the House. Both sides were 
 represented on this tribunal. As the inquiry pro- 
 ceeded, the main point that the First Minister had 
 agreed to give a charter for the construction of the 
 1 Appendix, 2. 
 
PACIFIC RAILWAY SCANDAL 77 
 
 Pacific Railway to Sir Hugh Allan in consideration of 
 the payment of certain moneys to an election fund 
 was clear beyond question. All the links that were 
 required to establish the case were supplied by the 
 oral evidence of Sir Hugh Allan, who was faced in the 
 witness-box with his own handwriting. 
 
 The Government manifested a degree of courage 
 worthy of a better cause. When the first shock of 
 the exposure had subsided, the Tory party largely 
 ranged itself in support of its leader. He threw the 
 glamour of his great personality over his followers, 
 inasmuch as he had long been to them an object of 
 pride and admiration. The action of the Premier 
 was defended on the ground of the advantages likely 
 to accrue to the country by the early construction of 
 the railway, which could be so easily secured with the 
 head of the Allan Steamship Line as the chief financial 
 promoter. 
 
 It was very clear that no money had reached Sir 
 John Macdonald for his personal use. All the money 
 that he had received from Sir Hugh had been expended 
 in order to advance the political fortunes of the party, 
 and this to the average Tory was only one remove 
 from the money having been actually used in promoting 
 the interests of the country. Patriotism with them 
 had but one meaning — partyism. To be faithful to 
 the Tory leader was the highest type of a patriot. 
 In addition, it was well known that a cardinal trait 
 of Sir John Macdonald's character was that he never 
 deserted, a friend under any circumstances whatever. 
 
78 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 This characteristic, on his part, naturally gave rise 
 to corresponding expectations from his friends, and 
 furnished occasion for the circulation of a hon mot 
 from him, " that he had little use for a follower who 
 only supported him when he was right, since even his 
 opponents would vote with him then ; but that he 
 reserved all his admiration for those who would stand 
 by him when he was wrong." If he could weather 
 this storm every devoted follower knew that his 
 reward in some substantial form would come soon. 
 If. on the other hand, the party should be wrecked, 
 he might manage to return again, when the faithful 
 would not be forgotten. 
 
VII 
 
 The situation in Parliament — Partyism and patriotism — Deputation 
 to Lord Dufferin — Donald A. Smith's position — A political crisis 
 in sight — Donald A, against his party — Resignation of the 
 Government. 
 
 The political parties in the House of Commons 
 were not unfairly divided, although, of course, the 
 Government had a working majority. The Opposition 
 was in stronger force than in the previous Parliament. 
 But in those early days of Confederation, party lines 
 were not so clearly defined as they became in later 
 years. Had this incident occurred ten years later, it 
 might scarcely have caused a ripple on the political 
 sea. It even seemed that the Liberals were to make 
 no progress towards the Treasury Benches by this 
 exposure. Apparently the supporters of the Govern- 
 ment remained loyal to their chief. Outside of 
 Parliament, however, it was confidently expected that 
 the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, would not 
 permit such extraordinary conduct on the part of his 
 Ministers to pass without notice. A memorial was 
 presented to His Excellency, signed by all the Liberals 
 in the Senate and the House of Commons, requesting 
 him to cause an official inquiry to be made into the 
 transactions between the Premier and Sir Hugh Allan, 
 
 79 
 
80 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 as set forth by the proceedings of a Royal Com- 
 mission. The memorial contained a statement of the 
 salient points of the evidence. The Governor-General 
 decided, before taking any official part in the contro- 
 versy, to await the decision of the House of Commons 
 on a motion of wsLnt of confidence in his Ministers. 
 
 In the meantime, amid the most strenuous protests 
 
 from the Liberals, before a vote v^as reached on the 
 
 motion of w^ant of confidence, Lord Dufferin decided 
 
 to prorogue Parliament. This v^as done in order that 
 
 further evidence could be taken by the Commission. 
 
 But the promise was publicly given that Parliament 
 
 would meet again within a stated period. When the 
 
 Houses reassembled the guilt of the First Minister in 
 
 trafficking in the sale of a charter to construct the 
 
 Pacific Railway had been proved beyond question. 
 
 It was equally clear that he had received from Sir 
 
 Hugh Allan a large sum of money towards the party 
 
 campaign funds in consideration of the agreement. 
 
 There were one or two minor desertions from the 
 
 ranks of the Government supporters, but the majority 
 
 remained faithful. It was evident that nothing short 
 
 of an unexpected trend of events in the Commons, 
 
 or drastic action on the part of the Governor-General, 
 
 would bring about the defeat of the Government. 
 
 But the unexpected was about to happen. During 
 these months when the country was seething with 
 excitement, there was no suggestion or hint that 
 Donald A., as the Resident Governor of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company was familiarly called, was not in sym- 
 pathy with his leader, or that he was looking at the 
 
ANXIETY ABOUT A VOTE 81 
 
 question with any sinister object in view. It was 
 only suggested long afterwards that he had not shown 
 surprise when the fatal papers were produced. This 
 is not a matter of astonishment, because he was a 
 member of Sir Hugh Allan's Board of Directors. 
 As the debate on the motion of want of confidence in 
 the Government continued from day to day his seat 
 was seldom vacant. It has been said that the Premier 
 became anxious about Donald A. Smith standing by 
 him in the crisis, and that he endeavoured to get him 
 into line by instructions through the Hudson's Bay 
 Company in London. And that with this object in 
 view he had cabled the late Sir John Rose, ex-Finance 
 Minister of Canada, to assist him by enlisting the 
 co-operation of the Directors of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. But Sir John Macdonald was too shrewd 
 a student of human nature to attempt any form of 
 coercion with one possessing the force of character 
 so evident in Donald A. Smith. Of course Sir John 
 Macdonald was not aware at this time that Donald 
 A. Smith had secured a controlling interest in the 
 Company, and that the Board knew full well whose 
 good-will to seek. The inquiry occasionally floated 
 through political circles : " What is Donald A. going to 
 do ? " Sir John had two or three interviews with 
 him. What took place at these conferences after- 
 wards led to bitter words between Donald A. and the 
 First Minister. Sir John said that Donald A. con- 
 sented to support the Government, but this Donald A. 
 denied in toto. 
 One member of the House only was in Donald A. 
 
 F 
 
82 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Smith's confidence, and he was not in close touch 
 with the leaders of either party. Only two or three 
 in the whole country had the faintest conception of 
 the vital interest he had in the confidential documents 
 that had been produced, and which were hanging like 
 a mill-stone around the necks of the doomed Ministers. 
 But no one outside this confidential circle had any 
 idea that Donald A. Smith had aspirations of his 
 own, or that he had decided upon a course that, if 
 successful, would have an important bearing on the 
 future political history of the Dominion. It is not 
 out of place to suggest that at this time the thought 
 of getting possession himself of the charter for the 
 construction of the Pacific Railway was taking definite 
 shape in his mind. Here was laid the permanent 
 foundation of his future. It was evident that unless 
 an unlooked-for catastrophe occurred, the Government 
 would win. The impending change, however, was 
 already there. But the House was serenely uncon- 
 scious of the approaching disaster to the Government 
 which was so soon to be revealed. 
 
 The large galleries were crowded to suffocation on 
 that clear autumn night, of November 5, 1873. There 
 was not even standing room in the space usually 
 allotted to the public. There was a strange lack 
 of order or control. The Government was willing 
 enough, if they were to win, that all the citizens of 
 Ottawa and visitors to the capital should witness 
 their triumph. If they were to lose it mattered little 
 to them who saw it. On both sides of the Speaker's 
 Chair the uninvited public pressed a way, as also at 
 
A MOMENTOUS OCCASION 83 
 
 the four corner entrances of the Chamber. They 
 ranged against the walls behind the members' seats, 
 some even venturing to sit on the arms of members' 
 chairs. Neither members nor officials noted this in- 
 vasion into the sacred precincts of the Chamber, or 
 if they noticed, cared to interfere. 
 
 Apparently the last word had been spoken, and the 
 clear voice of the Speaker, slightly tremulous, was 
 heard : " Are the Members ready for the ques- 
 tion ? " Almost before the echoes of his voice died 
 away, Donald A. Smith rose amid strained and 
 intense stillness. A figure sombrely attractive at the 
 moment, but lacking the air of professional dignity 
 evident in many by whom he was surrounded ; a 
 face upon which lights and shadows seemed to flit, 
 well covered with flowing sandy whiskers, eyebrows 
 uncommonly bushy, the head crowned with golden- 
 brown hair, all presenting an unusually well-preserved 
 appearance for one who had passed his fiftieth mile- 
 stone, although bearing but little resemblance to 
 the dignified octogenarian with whom the present 
 generation became so well acquainted thirty years 
 later. His hearers, perhaps, knew better than he 
 the fates that were dependent upon his views. If 
 he stood by the Government the crisis might be post- 
 poned. To denounce them meant the crushing out 
 of the last hope that Sir John Macdonald might have 
 of weathering the storm. No wonder there was not 
 a vacant chair in the House so soon as the word was 
 passed out that Donald A. was on his feet. He began 
 in a somewhat hesitating and doubtful manner. He 
 
84 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 was not then, or ever, an attractive platform speaker, 
 but belonged to the class that is sympathetically 
 listened to. There was always about his public 
 speaking an earnestness that overshadowed mere 
 rhetoric. As he proceeded every eye in the House 
 was turned towards him, and every ear strained. 
 He expressed his regret that it had been found neces- 
 sary to establish a case against the Government by 
 the aid of the confidential documents which had 
 undoubtedly been purloined from the possession of 
 Sir Hugh Allan. He thought that the sanctity of 
 private correspondence should never have been 
 violated. He believed that nothing could justify a 
 third party in receiving and retaining private and 
 confidential correspondence, without the written 
 consent of the sender and receiver. 
 
 The Tories waited for no more, radiant smiles 
 illumined their faces, they shook hands with one 
 another, and the Opposition was correspondingly 
 silent. The Government benches broke into loud 
 and enthusiastic applause. The Tory Whip excitedly 
 whispered to those behind him to repair to the 
 restaurant of the House. He was quickly followed 
 by a score or more of Members, including three 
 members of the Government, hurling defiant sneers 
 at the front Opposition Benches as they passed. At 
 the restaurant they filled their glasses " To the health 
 of Donald A." For a few minutes the faint echoes 
 of an enthusiastic crowd engaged in opening champagne 
 bottles, mingled with strains of " Rule, Britannia ! " 
 and " God Save the Queen " reached the Chamber. 
 
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE 85 
 
 The Canadian House of Commons has a weakness 
 for public exhibitions of excessive loyalty in times of 
 political excitement. A party vote is taken to signify 
 that " Britons never shall be slaves," and a victory 
 on an important question of public policy finds ex- 
 pression in the National Anthem. The connection 
 between a prayer that God may save the King and the 
 question at issue between the political parties is not 
 always very clear to an impartial observer. But for 
 the moment a strain of anxiety may be removed, so 
 some purpose is served and the way made smoother 
 by a timely exuberance of this nature. Like charity, 
 these outbursts of loyalty offer a cloak for many 
 offences. While Tories found interest in these pro- 
 ceedings in the restaurant, Donald A. Smith continued 
 his speech. His tone suddenly changed. It ceased 
 to be mildly condemnatory of the means by which the 
 present situation had become acute. There was an 
 indication of harshness, and then he reached a phrase 
 beginning with " But." It was evident that he was 
 preparing to convince himself. The matter that 
 followed set the Liberals cheering. Suddenly the 
 noise from the " loyalists " outside ceased. A 
 messenger had reached the restaurant with the 
 alarming intelligence : " Donald A. has gone over to 
 the Grits," a favourite term of derision then applied 
 to the Liberals. There was a hurried return to the 
 Chamber, many glasses of champagne being left un- 
 tasted. The dismay of the returning party, which 
 had left so joyously a few minutes previously, covered 
 them as with a garment. 
 
86 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 With the manner of one thoroughly in earnest, but 
 whose special gift was not oratory, Donald A. Smith 
 proceeded to moralize on the heinous offence of 
 bartering a public charter for political profit. The 
 Canadian Parliament should be kept as pure and clean 
 as the Imperial Parliament. Private interests should 
 never be allowed a place in the legislation of the 
 Dominion. With much more of like import he was 
 repeating exactly what the giants of the Liberal 
 party, MacKenzie, Blake, Cartwright, Dorion, Holton, 
 Huntingdon, Jones and a host of others, had been 
 saying for days. With his strong native accent, his 
 earnestness and sincerity, every word fell like a sledge 
 hammer on the hopes of the administration. 
 
 He was followed by an ardent Government sup- 
 porter, in a vain hope that the tide might be stemmed, 
 but there was a feeling in the air that all talk now 
 was useless. When the Premier moved the adjourn- 
 ment of the House in the early hours of the morning, 
 no vote having been taken, it was well known that 
 before sunset of another day, the resignation of the 
 First Ministry under Confederation would be in the 
 hands of the Governor-General. 
 
 The unbridled imagination of contributors to 
 British periodicals picturing a wild tumult in the 
 House of Commons, with Sir John Macdonald crossing 
 the floor of the House and striking Donald A. Smith, 
 is without the slightest foundation. The scene in 
 the late hours of that historical day was worthy of the 
 highest traditions of the British Parliament. As the 
 Speaker repeated the usual formula, "This House 
 
A POLITICAL CATASTROPHE 87 
 
 stands adjourned until to-morrow at three o'clock," 
 there was an unusual tremor in his voice. The 
 Prime Minister rose quietly and retired by the exit be- 
 hind the Speaker's Chair. The writer stood beside the 
 Speaker's Chair, and is among the few now living who 
 were present on that memorable occasion. Although 
 Sir John's face was flushed with the realization that 
 the hour of his defeat had come he gave no evidence 
 of his humiliation. In all his career he never acted 
 more nobly than when, with apparent calmness, he 
 accepted the unexpected verdict, not even challenging 
 a division of the House. The rhetorical thunders of 
 a week had suddenly given place to a great calm. A 
 pall of silence hung over the Chamber. The leaders 
 of the Opposition sat quietly at their desks. Here 
 and there little knots of Members conversed in under- 
 tones, the larger number gathering around the desk 
 occupied by Donald A. Smith and David Glass, the 
 two Government supporters who had " bolted." The 
 terse demand of the former for an incorruptible Parlia- 
 ment, and his denunciation of a corrupt Ministry, had 
 precipitated the political catastrophe. History had 
 been made since the Members gathered together in 
 that evening session. An almost invincible political 
 leader was going out of office under a terrible cloud. 
 The importance of the hour made it full of solemnity. 
 That there were pent-up feelings of exultation on one 
 side, and seething resentment on the other, there 
 could be no question. But the statesmen of that day 
 were warriors, not hoodlums. 
 
 Both sides withdrew from the House for the night 
 
88 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 amid a more bitter feeling than Canadian politics had 
 ever known, and yet with a singular suppression of 
 outward excitement. Donald A. Smith's speech had 
 undoubtedly hastened the downfall of the pride of the 
 Tory party — for so was Sir John Macdonald regarded. 
 The fall carried with it a cloud upon the reputation 
 of the great chief, which, though Canadian Toryism of 
 to-day would gladly forget, time cannot altogether 
 remove. The Tories of 'seventy-three, however, 
 would have had abundant cause for consolation had 
 they foreseen that this was not the only Government 
 that Donald A. Smith would succeed in wrecking. 
 His recent political associates were bitterly accusing 
 him of want of loyalty to his chief in the hour of his 
 greatest need. They could not understand that any 
 justification was possible for withdrawing confidence 
 in a political leader. To do so was in their opinion 
 the basest treachery. According to the political 
 ethics of the Canadian Parliament, when a leader is 
 wrong is the time that party disloyalty is least per- 
 missible. No loophole is left for the exercise of 
 either conscience or principles. But the rank and 
 file of the Tory party might have been less harsh in 
 their judgment of Donald A. Smith at this particular 
 time had they known that his new political associates 
 would later have even more cause for dissatisfaction 
 with his transient support. The subject of their 
 scorn, however, went his way silently, as he had long 
 since learned to do. He was carving out a path for 
 himself. 
 
VIII 
 
 New Government in power — Donald A.'s railway purposes — Guarding 
 the nation's heritage — Alexander Mackenzie — Lord Dufferin's 
 speech — Tory hatred of Donald A. — Intriguing for a charter — 
 Meeting with a patriot. 
 
 A NEW Government came into power, and another 
 general election was held. Donald A. Smith came 
 back to the House of Commons as one of the most 
 influential supporters of Alexander Mackenzie's 
 administration. During the campaign in Selkirk 
 Donald A. had quite a new experience, extraordinary 
 also in view of the fact that only a few years previously 
 he was the autocratic ruler of that part of the world. 
 Settlers from the east had poured into Winnipeg and 
 Selkirk since his election two years previously. Among 
 them were many warm admirers of the deposed chief- 
 tain. Sir John Macdonald. They bitterly resented 
 Donald A.'s desertion of their idol. At his first 
 public meeting they attended in force, abundantly 
 supplied with eggs of an uncertain age. By the time 
 they got through with their work, none of the occu- 
 pants of the platform were recognizable. These forces 
 were led by a gallant colonel now residing at East- 
 bourne. But more extraordinary than all was the 
 fact that Donald A. had as associate member for the 
 
90 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 West the ex-rebel Louis Riel, who had been elected 
 by his compatriots. Louis Riel came to Ottawa, 
 quietly entered the House, took the oath, signed the 
 Roll of the House of Commons and disappeared before 
 he was generally recognized. A warrant was issued 
 for his arrest. He was assisted by friends to escape to 
 the United States. Had he been granted an amnesty 
 as his friends claimed he was promised, and been 
 allowed to take his seat, the odds are that the horrors 
 of the second North-west Rebellion would never 
 have occurred, and a great deal of racial bitterness in 
 future Canadian public life would have been avoided. 
 Alexander Mackenzie, the newly elected First 
 Minister, as his name indicates, was Scotch. Little 
 more than a quarter of a century had elapsed since 
 he, as a young immigrant, worked at his trade as a 
 stonemason on the fortifications then being erected 
 at the head of the St. Lawrence River. Taking every 
 advantage of the rapid changes incident to the develop- 
 ment of the country, he was quickly able to improve 
 his circumstances and associations. Natural ability, 
 force of character and strict integrity soon pushed him 
 into prominence in the young country, resulting in 
 his election to the old Parliament of Upper and Lower 
 Canada a few years before Confederation became an 
 accompHshed fact. At the first session after the 
 union of the provinces he was elected leader of the 
 Liberal party. This was the man whom the charter- 
 hunters hoped to influence. 
 
 The Pacific Railway Scheme was in the forefront 
 
THE PRIME MINISTER'S ANXIETY 91 
 
 when Alexander Mackenzie took office. It dominated 
 the public life of the day. The recent scandal accentu- 
 ated the situation. Because of the exposure growing 
 out of Sir Hugh Allan's efforts to get possession of the 
 charter for the construction of the railway, the Prime 
 Minister had only too good reason to believe that 
 there were others just as anxious as Sir Hugh to have 
 an interest in it. He, therefore, took charge of the 
 Department of Public Works himself, as a notice to 
 wire-pullers that their efforts to direct the policy of 
 the department would be useless. British Columbia 
 had entered Confederation under an arrangement 
 that the railway should be completed within ten 
 years. The province was clamouring for some sign 
 of the promise being carried out, but the outlook was 
 far from encouraging. The new Government was 
 evidently determined not to be forced into the 
 declaration of a policy without careful consideration. 
 For a while the view was expressed in influential circles 
 outside that there was no way out but for the work to 
 be handed over to a company. Speeches of Ministers 
 failed to give a definite indication of the policy likely 
 to be adopted, except that an exhaustive survey of 
 the routes would be vigorously prosecuted. The 
 country, in fact, impatiently waited an announcement 
 of the Government policy. 
 
 Finally the First Minister intimated the date when 
 the intentions of the Cabinet would be made public. 
 It was to be on the occasion of the annual statement 
 about the progress of the surveys. The importance of 
 
92 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the hour was recognized by a full attendance of 
 Members and the crowded public galleries. The 
 Prime Minister was very practical, and with great 
 earnestness he declared that the policy of his Govern- 
 ment was to construct and maintain the railway as a 
 Government enterprise, and to proceed with the 
 completion of the work as quickly as the resources of 
 the country would allow. In a moment the Members 
 grasped the full meaning of the announcement, and 
 loud and hearty applause rose from both sides of the 
 House. The country received the declaration of the 
 Government policy with enthusiasm. The national 
 pride was aroused with the definite prospect of the great 
 national undertaking. British Columbia, meanwhile, 
 thought that the term " as quickly as the resources of the 
 country would allow " indicated delay, and appealed 
 to the Colonial Office to force the Government to 
 carry out the exacting terms of the arrangement by 
 which it entered the Confederation. The province 
 talked about seceding. 
 
 It was decided that the Governor-General, Lord 
 Dufferin, should visit British Columbia in a diplo- 
 matic capacity in order to pacify that distant Province. 
 He found the public men there very demonstrative in 
 their determination to have the full pound of flesh. 
 " The terms and nothing but the terms " was the 
 cry on all sides. For the moment he forgot his 
 position as the constitutional head of the country, 
 and was stampeded into views inconsistent with the 
 policy of the Government. The province wanted 
 
AN UNPREPARED SPEECH 93 
 
 the railway at once, whether the finances of the country 
 would stand the strain or not. Upon his return to 
 Ottawa Lord Dufferin was met at the railway station 
 and presented with an address of welcome by the 
 mayor and council. In the enthusiasm of the moment 
 he made a speech which was practically a reflection 
 on the Government policy, and this, also, in the 
 presence of members of the Cabinet who had come 
 to bid him welcome after his long journey. The 
 consternation of the moment overshadowed every- 
 thing else, and the opponents of the Government 
 were jubilant. " The Cabinet repudiated by the 
 Governor-General " went through Ottawa like a 
 flash of lightning. Lord Dufferin looked as if he 
 would like to bite his tongue off as he departed for 
 Rideau Hall. 
 
 The only verbatim report of Lord Dufferin's speech 
 was in the hands of Mr. George Holland, of the Daily 
 Citizen, the ablest shorthand reporter in Ottawa. 
 In the course of an hour or so, after Mr. Holland had 
 transcribed his notes, it was represented to him that 
 it might be regarded as discourteous by the Governor- 
 General if he was not shown a copy of the speech 
 before publication. Mr. Holland accordingly went 
 to Government House, had an audience with His 
 Excellency, and gave him a copy of the speech. In 
 the course of conversation Lord Dufferin asked Mr. 
 Holland what system of shorthand he used, and if 
 he had his notes in his pocket, as he (Lord Dufferin) 
 could read shorthand fairly well. Mr. Holland had 
 
94 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 good reason to be proud of his stenographic char- 
 acters, so frankly handed his notes for Lord Dufferin's 
 examination. After compHmenting him on the clear- 
 ness of his style, which His Excellency said he could 
 almost read, Lord Dufferin calmly pocketed both 
 transcript and note-book, and gravely told the obliging 
 journalist that the matter was too important to be 
 hastily settled, but he invited the speechless reporter 
 to lunch on the following day, when between them 
 they would put the speech in order for publication. 
 The journalist pleaded for his note-book, he was 
 willing to wait all night for His Excellency's con- 
 venience. But his lordship was obdurate, he said 
 he was not accustomed to exert himself so soon after 
 a long journey. The speech was never published. 
 The Governor-General and Mr. Holland met the 
 next day at lunch and fixed up a report for publica- 
 tion, and all summaries of an objectionable character 
 were unhesitatingly repudiated. Lord Dufferin had 
 scored, and ever afterwards entertained the most 
 friendly feelings for the journalist whom he had 
 cheated out of his copy. 
 
 The " incident " of the Governor-General's speech, 
 if not forgotten, at least ceased to engage attention, 
 and the policy of the Government remained un- 
 changed. If the financial resources of the country 
 would justify the immediate construction of the 
 railway, it would be done ; but, at any rate, the work 
 would not be proceeded with more expeditiously until 
 the completion of the surveys. British Columbia, 
 
THE DREAM TAKING SHAPE 95 
 
 through its representatives at Ottawa, raged. The 
 Government was conciliatory but firm. The dis- 
 turbed state of the poHtical atmosphere on the question, 
 however, furnished hope for possible changes in the 
 Government policy. Donald A. Smith began to 
 follow out well-laid plans to direct a change in the 
 decision of the First Minister, and bring to fruition 
 the dream of his heart. Now he was not alone. The 
 more influential of his personal and financial associates 
 were taken into his confidence. It was not revealed 
 until long after that these associates had firmly deter- 
 mined to support any government that would comply 
 with their wishes on the question of a charter for the 
 construction of the Pacific Railway ; and, also, that 
 they would do their utmost to wreck every government 
 refusing to give them all they wanted. 
 
 Donald A. Smith was recognized, as he publicly 
 declared himself, as being in cordial sympathy with 
 the Government. In many questions of public 
 policy he was taken into the confidence of members of 
 the Cabinet. At that time none of the Liberals 
 questioned his single-mindedness in deserting his late 
 political leader. How could that be questioned when 
 he condemned the action of his own associates on the 
 Board of Directors of Sir Hugh's company ? But the 
 Tories, whether they believed it or not, did not give 
 him so much credit for purity of motive. His former 
 political allies openly charged him with sinister 
 objects. In the House, both politically and socially, 
 he had everything in common with the administration. 
 
96 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 In point of fact, there was no other place for him. 
 The Tories were more bitter against him for their 
 humihating downfall than toward the actual purloiner 
 of Sir Hugh Allan's letters. The threatenings that Saul 
 breathed out against the disciples at Jerusalem were 
 mild in comparison to the revengeful spirit with which 
 the Tories were animated. Nothing but unrelenting 
 vengeance from them was to be his portion. These 
 mutterings were heard from the chief down to the 
 least important in the ranks of the party. Such 
 personal bitterness had never been shown in Canadian 
 politics, nor has it ever been so signally expressed 
 since. Tories embraced every opportunity of publicly 
 deriding him about his speech on the sanctity of con- 
 fidential correspondence. When he rose to address 
 the Speaker it was a signal for a general exodus from 
 the Tory side of the House. Nothing was left undone 
 to express their personal contempt. And, at the same 
 time, they were circulating rumours of a most offensive 
 character about his connection with the conspiracy to 
 get possession of Sir Hugh Allan's letters. The 
 apparent indifference which he exhibited to all that 
 his former political allies said or did was more than 
 interesting. He had too many more important 
 matters in hand to permit a waste of time or thought 
 over threatened Tory vengeance. Donald A. Smith 
 believed that sufficient unto the day was the evil 
 thereof. Like the well-known quadruped of nursery 
 fame, " Brer Rabbit, he lay low." 
 
 Looking back upon the events of that time one 
 
UNDETERRED BY CIRCUMSTANCES 97 
 
 cannot but be impressed with the caution and shrewd- 
 ness with which Donald A. Smith now entered upon a 
 carefully prepared campaign with the party in power. 
 The Government was strong both in the House and 
 the country. Everywhere the demand was clear that 
 the country should construct and own the transcon- 
 tinental railway. It was regarded as impolitic and un- 
 wise from every standpoint that a corporation should 
 possess that franchise. It would have been a brave 
 act on the part of any man to have given utterance to 
 any other view. Yet, with all these forces arrayed 
 against him, Donald A. Smith pursued the even tenor 
 of his way, with but one thought in his mind. His 
 natural cleverness had not been blunted by the life 
 he had lived for thirty years. The accepted axiom, 
 that as " iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth 
 the countenance of his friend," was abundantly ex- 
 emplified with him. If courageously pursuing an 
 object, regardless of all obstacles, could bring success, 
 he was bound to succeed in some form or another. 
 In accepting confidences and giving none, while 
 appearing to be most unreserved in his manner, he 
 had no peer in British North America. And he was 
 playing for tremendous stakes. 
 
 Notwithstanding the First Minister's declaration of 
 policy, Donald A. Smith lost no time in presenting to 
 Alexander Mackenzie his views about the advisability 
 of the railway being constructed by a company. But 
 the fine old Scotchman who then directed the policy 
 of the administration soon disposed of the specious 
 
98 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 arguments that were presented to him. " I will 
 leave the Pacific Railway as a heritage to my adopted 
 country," was the First Minister's final word, uttered 
 with that rich Gaelic accent that he never lost. In 
 the depths of Donald A.'s heart he must have wished for 
 strength to throw personal and selfish ends to the 
 winds that he, also, might join the magnificent patriot 
 whose native honesty no personal or political interests 
 could ever destroy. It was a character he was bound 
 to admire, though reluctant to follow. Later in life 
 Alexander Mackenzie stigmatized the proposal to 
 hand over the great enterprise to a company as the 
 basest treachery to Canada, and declared that none 
 but traitors could be guilty of it. 
 
 The Premier having proved obdurate, it was 
 evidently not considered wise to press the matter 
 just then. For this reason the tactics of the charter- 
 hunters changed. Strenuous efforts were made to 
 bring the Liberal Members to see the question in the 
 desired light. Donald A. Smith's residence, " The 
 Cottage," became the scene wherein was played a 
 scarcely-perceptible intrigue. It was carried out so 
 carefully that only the faintest suspicion of wire- 
 pulling was ever created, and this was almost immedi- 
 ately dispelled. Two brothers in the House at that 
 time, Lewis and Walter Ross, were almost the only 
 ones who looked upon Donald A.'s actions with 
 vague and undefined fears. The former told the 
 writer in later years that he could not understand how 
 they were all so wanting in judgment at that time, 
 
WORKING THE MEMBERS 99 
 
 and gave the reasons why he and his brother did not 
 like the look of things. Their fears were attributed to 
 their intense loyalty to the Prime Minister, " clannish- 
 ness," as it was termed, good-naturedly, by some of 
 their fellow-members. 
 
 With a lavish hand, hitherto unknown in political 
 life in Canada, Donald A. dispensed hospitality to all 
 the Liberal Members. No Tory would grace his 
 table, or even exchange ordinary courtesies with 
 " the traitor." The loss of office was too recent, 
 and the part that Donald A. had played on that 
 occasion still rankled. To the Tories Donald A. 
 was an outcast, beyond the pale of political redemp- 
 tion. But the enthusiasm with which he was treated 
 by the Liberals amply compensated for the male- 
 dictions of his former allies. The open and avowed 
 hatred of the other side drew the Liberals all the 
 closer to him. 
 
IX 
 
 Donald A. and the American railway — The Dutch bondholders — 
 Negotiating with the Official Receiver — Borrowing from the 
 bank — Issuing stock to themselves — In a tight place — Fortune 
 suddenly realized. 
 
 In the meantime events were transpiring in the 
 western United States fraught with stupendous 
 possibilities to Donald A. Smith. As the Liberal 
 Government at Ottawa seemed wedded to its railway- 
 policy the advisability of making an effort to get 
 possession of a railway line that could be extended 
 from St. Paul and Minneapolis to Manitoba was 
 considered. Donald A. was well acquainted with the 
 details of this from his frequent journeyings to Fort 
 Garry through St. Paul. 
 
 The history of this line is not without interest. 
 In March, 1857, the Congress of the United States 
 granted to Minnesota, then only a territory, but now 
 one of the most populous States of the Union, a vast 
 area of public lands to be used to encourage the 
 building of railroads. During the same month the 
 territorial legislature chartered the Minnesota and 
 Pacific Railway Company. To this corporation was 
 conveyed much of the land granted by Congress, 
 
 subsequently supplemented by further grants. These 
 
 100 
 
A RAILWAY DEAL 101 
 
 consisted of all odd numbered sections (640 acres each) 
 within ten miles on both sides of the railway. In 
 1862 the rights and franchise passed to a new company 
 called the St. Paul and Pacific Railway. Companies 
 succeeded each other in rapid succession. Five 
 separate issues of bonds were unloaded upon Dutch 
 capitalists. The last company in possession of the 
 franchise ceased to pay any interest in 1872. Then 
 the United States District Court stepped in and 
 appointed Jesse P. Farley, of Dubuque, Iowa, Official 
 Receiver to the Company, and authority was secured 
 to complete the line to a certain point up the valley 
 of the Red River and thus earn a clear title to all 
 the available land grant. This Farley succeeded in 
 doing. 
 
 The railroad ran along the Red River towards 
 Manitoba. Farley thus far honestly administered 
 the trust committed to his care. With the opening 
 up of a new locality to immigrants the revenue in- 
 creased, and the surplus was used in improving the 
 road-bed, and purchasing rolling stock. 
 
 With the three years of the Parliamentary term of 
 the Mackenzie Government that had passed, the 
 prospects of a syndicate getting control of the Pacific 
 Railway in Canada faded into mist. Donald A. Smith 
 was convinced of the advisability of making a deal 
 with the Receiver of the Minnesota railway so as to 
 continue it to the borders of Manitoba, and then 
 secure legislation at Ottawa to connect the American 
 line at Pembina with Winnipeg. If this were done 
 
102 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Winnipeg at least would have railway connection with 
 Eastern Canada within two or three years. 
 
 The railroad of which Farley was Receiver, how- 
 ever, was burdened with five bond indebtednesses, 
 all held in Holland. The dates of issue were: 1862, 
 $1,200,000; 1864, $3,000,000; 1865, $2,800,000; 
 1868, $6,000,000; 1871, $15,000,000. The last had 
 been sold in Holland by the banking-house of Lippman, 
 Rosenthal & Co., of Amsterdam, to trusting Dutch- 
 men. The aggregate liability to the bondholders 
 was $28,000,000 or ^5,600,000. It was thought 
 possible, under certain conditions, that Farley might 
 find occasion to point out to the Dutch investors how 
 hopeless the outlook was for them ever to get their 
 money out of the enterprise. 
 
 Several years earlier J. J. Hill, a Scotch Canadian, 
 had settled in Minnesota. For six years previous to 
 this date he had been local agent for Farley's railway. 
 He became acquainted with Donald A. Smith as 
 he passed up and down in his journeyings to Fort 
 Garry. They were fellow-countrymen, mutual con- 
 fidences were natural, and they became fast friends. 
 In the middle 'seventies Donald A. Smith sent for 
 " Jim " Hill to come to " The Cottage " at Ottawa. A 
 plan was settled upon and Hill returned to Minneapolis 
 to sound Farley about selling out the whole concern 
 to a syndicate of four — Donald A. Smith, George 
 Stephen, of Montreal, J. j. Hill and Norman Kittson, 
 the latter being a Canadian who ran steamers up the 
 Red River from the terminus of Farley's railway. 
 
A CONVENIENT RECEIVER 103 
 
 Farley subsequently alleged that the profits were to 
 be divided into fifths ; his share in the meantime, 
 since he was custodian in trust for the Dutch bond- 
 holders, was to be held by one of the other four. 
 Farley regarded it as his clear duty not to give the 
 case away by allowing the bondholders to have too 
 rosy visions as to the ultimate return of the large 
 amounts they had loaned. When the bonds were 
 offered, their security had appeared unquestionable. 
 Much later events proved that their estimation of the 
 value of their bonds was anything but exaggerated. 
 But when that information reached them it was too 
 late. 
 
 It was the intention of the syndicate that J. J. Hill 
 should go to Holland to buy up the bonds at their 
 depressed value. Farley, however, wanted all these 
 negotiations left in his own hands. As the result of 
 his correspondence with Amsterdam, the Dutch bond- 
 holders sent a representative to Minneapolis to see 
 what was going to be done about their money. The 
 encouragement that he received from Farley convinced 
 him, after a controversy extending over several weeks, 
 that $6,000,000 or ^f 1,200,000 for the ^5,600,000 that 
 had been invested, was all that the properties of the 
 Company could ever realize. 
 
 In the back parlour of a little hotel in Minneapolis 
 an agreement was outlined between the Dutch repre- 
 sentative on the one hand, and ]. J. Hill, Donald 
 A. Smith, George Stephen and Norman Kittson on 
 the other, and put into shape by a young man from 
 
104 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Hamilton, Ontario, named Rennie, duly transferring 
 all the bonds on the line for the sum of $6,000,000. 
 The parties afterwards signed a joint note for the 
 amount of the purchase, including an additional 
 $780,000 expenditure necessary for contingencies. 
 The cash was advanced by the Canadian Bank, of which 
 Donald A. Smith and George Stephen were directors, 
 and paid to the Dutchmen at Montreal, where a more 
 elaborate legal document was signed between the 
 parties. Farley, because he was a court trustee, 
 while acting as Receiver, could not be an actual party 
 to the agreement. No writing could be given to him 
 guaranteeing him a fifth share in the enterprise, but 
 the fact that one of the four held a right to two-fifths 
 of the profits was part of the basis of Farley's con- 
 tention in later years that he was entitled to a fifth 
 in the enterprise for the part that he had taken in 
 persuading the Dutchmen to sell their securities. 
 
 The syndicate became incorporated as the St. Paul, 
 Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway, and issued paid-up 
 capital to themselves for $15,000,000 (^3,000,000),^ no 
 trace of any consideration for which ever reached the 
 coffers of the Company. Smith, Hill and Kittson 
 were allotted 28,823 shares, being about one-fifth 
 each, and Stephen's share was 19,216 shares, one- 
 half of which it was subsequently alleged was to be 
 held in trust for some person not mentioned in the 
 agreement. This division of interests subsequently 
 became the subject of extended and costly litigation, 
 and is fully reported in File No. 257 of the Supreme 
 
 ^ Appendix, 3. 
 
MILLIONS OF PROFIT 105 
 
 Court of the United States, 1893. But this is another 
 story. 
 
 The Company as now constructed issued bonds for 
 $16,000,000 (^3,200,000),^ and unsuccessful efforts 
 were made to sell them in New York and London. 
 Rumours had reached these financial centres as to the 
 " deal," and it was feared that the disastrous fate 
 which had overtaken the Dutchmen might be repeated. 
 In the meantime the consequences of withdrawing 
 ^1,200,000 from the Canadian bank had a depressing 
 effect on the stock, which steadily declined from over 
 200 to 126. The one thing that might ease the 
 money-market, and allow the bonds to be dealt with, 
 was an assurance that the railway would be extended to 
 Winnipeg. Donald A. Smith, therefore, introduced 
 a Bill in the House of Commons, known as the Pembina 
 Branch Railway Bill, to authorize the construction 
 of the necessary connection to Winnipeg through 
 Canadian territory, a distance of sixty miles. The 
 Bill passed the House of Commons, and there seemed no 
 reasonable cause why it should not find an easy passage 
 through the Senate. With this prospect the immense 
 possibilities of the railway were only too evident, and a 
 profitable market was found for the bonds. 
 
 Donald A. Smith had succeeded. At last his star was 
 within reach. The indebtedness of the syndicate to 
 the bank, then amounting with interest to $7,000,000 
 (^1,400,000) was paid, leaving about $8,500,000 
 (£1,700,000) profit, or $1,700,000 (£340,000) to each 
 share of one-fifth of the enormous speculation. 
 
 ^ Appendix, 3. 
 
106 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 By this successful coup Donald A. Smith and his 
 associates immediately came into possession of 565 
 miles of a completed and fully equipped railway, with 
 2,580,660 acres of the finest wheat-land in the world 
 running alongside of the line. Upon this property 
 the Company had not expended a penny of their own 
 money — the stock issued to themselves was fully 
 paid up — and the money necessary to manipulate the 
 deal had been borrowed from the Canadian bank. 
 At that time directors of banks in Canada had a 
 perfectly legal right to borrow from funds entrusted 
 to their charge. Owing, however, to this power 
 having been greatly abused, the authority of directors 
 became a subject of Parliamentary discussion in 
 later years, resulting in amendments to the Banking 
 Act which practically prevents such acts as the one 
 under consideration being repeated at the present day. 
 On the face of the transaction there was no risk whatever 
 of the bank funds, and there was a great opportunity for 
 the interested parties coming out of the speculation 
 with enormous profits. The situation of the railway 
 in the west had been presented to the Dutch bond- 
 holders in such a manner that they were willing 
 enough to sell. The children of the Exodus had been 
 commanded to spoil the Egyptians, and therefore 
 why should not this Company spoil the Dutchmen? 
 How thoroughly they were spoiled subsequent events 
 in the United States Courts proved. It was worthy 
 of the Israelites ! 
 
X 
 
 Tory insults to Donald A. — Intrigues for Pacific charter — Senate 
 taking revenge — Failure of intrigues — The Government ob- 
 durate — Historical scene in House of Commons. 
 
 While Donald A. Smith and his associates were 
 
 reaping a colossal fortune from the success of their 
 
 United States railway speculation, matters were 
 
 taking a far from satisfactory course at Ottawa. The 
 
 Pembina Branch Railway Bill was rejected by the 
 
 Senate. It was well known that its passage was 
 
 greatly desired by Donald A. Smith as the one thing 
 
 necessary to make his railway deal a huge success. 
 
 The Tories were in a majority in the Senate. The 
 
 Second Chamber of the Canadian Parliament is an 
 
 integral part of the Constitution, designed, like the 
 
 House of Lords in Great Britain, to protect the public 
 
 against ill-advised or hasty legislation in the popular 
 
 Chamber. The Senators are expected to review Bills 
 
 from the Lower House with judicial calm and free 
 
 from party bias. As individuals, members of the 
 
 Senate, however, are only human. There were many 
 
 there who had not forgotten the " traitor " who had 
 
 hastened the downfall of Sir John A. Macdonald's 
 
 Government in 1873. Some of them burned with a 
 
 desire to carry the Pembina Branch Bill back to the 
 
 House of Commons with a pair of tongs. Within the 
 
 107 
 
108 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Red Chamber the teachings of the Old Testament, 
 " an eye for an eye," are not unknown to have been 
 religiously observed. The Tory Senators contented 
 themselves, however, with refusing to pass the measure 
 for strong Imperial reasons — the inadvisability of per- 
 mitting the trade of the Dominion to be carried over 
 the United States railway system, while the Govern- 
 ment of Canada was hurrying the construction of 
 railway connection through Canadian territory. 
 
 The Parliament was almost at an end, the last 
 session of its existence having been reached. For five 
 long years Donald A. Smith had wined and dined the 
 Liberal Members. At the end of that time, although 
 some were less opposed to the idea of a Company 
 constructing the Pacific Railway, the Prime Minister 
 was immovable, and a still greater obstacle existed in 
 the fact that both Parliament and the country had 
 enthusiastically approved of the Government policy 
 that the railway should be the property of the country. 
 Some thirty milHon dollars (^6,000,000) expenditure 
 had been authorized by Parliament towards the con- 
 struction of the Pacific Hne. Contracts had been 
 awarded for the heavy portions of the route located 
 between the Great Lakes and Winnipeg, the Premier 
 asserting that this would make it impossible that the 
 great highway should ever pass into the hands of a 
 company. To outsiders it seemed that those who 
 were anxious to get control of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway were now completely barred from progressing 
 with their scheme. 
 
A PARLIAMENTARY MOB 109 
 
 But Donald A. Smith and his co-workers were not 
 discouraged. They had far from exhausted the 
 resources at their disposal. The exact course to be 
 taken in the future to bring the Government to time 
 had, perhaps, not been decided upon. Then an 
 incident occurred on the floor of Parliament that, 
 apparently, left Donald A. Smith no other place in 
 public life than in the ranks of the Liberal party. 
 
 The hour for the Prorogation had arrived. The 
 attendance of Members was larger than usual. All 
 around there were evidences of early flitting. The 
 House was patiently waiting for Black Rod. Donald 
 A. Smith entered the Chamber somewhat hastily 
 and had scarcely reached his seat before he began to 
 address the Speaker. In his hand was a carefully 
 folded newspaper. He complained about an uncalled- 
 for and totally unjustifiable reflection upon his per- 
 sonal honour in a speech made by the leader of the 
 Opposition, Sir John Macdonald, the day before, a 
 report of which appeared in the paper which he pro- 
 posed to read to the House. In a moment the Chamber 
 was in a turmoil. Above the general uproar and shouts 
 of " Order, order," could be heard the terms — 
 " Treacherous," " Liar," " Cowardly," " Yankee rail- 
 way," " Dutch Bondholders," and much else that 
 was unparliamentary. The distant booming of the 
 guns announced the arrival of Lord Dufferin at the 
 Senate Chamber, there to await the presence of his 
 " faithful Commons," but His Excellency's " faith- 
 ful Commons " were otherwise engaged. Sir John 
 
110 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Macdonald. Dr. Tupper, Mackenzie Bowell, John 
 Rochester, Dr. Sproule and a host of others were 
 shouting themselves hoarse and gesticulating wildly 
 at the object of their scorn. Donald A. Smith stood 
 calmly watching the turmoil and waiting his chance to 
 continue his remarks. In the five years that had 
 elapsed since he denounced his political chief, grey 
 hairs had appeared. He had less of the western 
 appearance, but his figure was as impressive and 
 fearless as ever. Now he seemed the least disturbed 
 member of all that crowd. The noise of the row 
 reached the lobbies, and a few who had ventured 
 inside the doors, among whom was the writer, were 
 forced nearer the Speaker's Chair by the crush behind. 
 Dr. Tupper (now Sir Charles, the veteran octogenarian) 
 finally got the floor. The uproar increased in in- 
 tensity, as both sides now took part, the Liberal 
 Benches shouting at Tupper. It was a sight to make 
 sluggish blood tingle ! 
 
 The loud raps of Black Rod at the door resounded 
 throughout the Chamber. The Speaker tried in vain 
 to be heard, but the contestants were in for a battle- 
 royal, determined to fight it out. It was now not 
 merely between Donald A. on the one side, and Dr. 
 Tupper on the other, but each side of the House 
 wanted the defence of its representative to be recorded 
 in Hansard. The Speaker resumed his seat. Black 
 Rod impatiently waited outside. Hansard ^ gives some 
 vague idea of the scene, but much that was unparJia- 
 
 ^ Appendix, 4. 
 
WASHING DIRTY LINEN 111 
 
 mentary was unheard or omitted. The washing of 
 dirty linen could not be stopped. Private and con- 
 fidential conversations between ertswhile intimate 
 friends, never intended for the public, were announced 
 from the housetops. Dr. Tupper shouted, " You 
 asked me to get you made a Privy Councillor," and the 
 House was startled into surprised silence for a moment. 
 The general situation proved that if their inner 
 thoughts are exposed great men are very human — 
 only boys grown up. If those taking part in this 
 niHee had been other than Members of Parliament 
 their reputations would have gone for ever, for the 
 record is irrevocable. 
 
 The Serjeant-at-Arms tried to notify the Speaker 
 that a messenger from His Excellency requested ad- 
 mission, but his effort was in vain. Black Rod knocked 
 again and again, but he might as well have knocked 
 at the portals of a tomb. Finally the Speaker motioned 
 towards the door and Black Rod entered. He bowed 
 profusely as usual, and his lips moved, but no sound 
 reached the " faithful Commons." The Speaker 
 stood and evidently made an announcement, which 
 was not heard beyond his immediate vicinity. The 
 speakers, addressing one another, fought on with un- 
 abated fury. With all due dignity the Speaker stepped 
 down from the dais, the Serjeant-at-Arms shouldered 
 the Mace, and preceded by Black Rod, they slowly 
 entered the lobby leading to the Senate. Immediately 
 following came the Members of the Government, among 
 whom was a tall straight figure, with a handsome 
 
112 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 youthful face, carrying with becoming dignity the 
 lately-acquired honours of a portfolio in the Govern- 
 ment, who was destined, ere a quarter of a century 
 could roll by, to occupy the greatest place in the public 
 eye ever reached by a colonial statesman. After the 
 Cabinet followed as excited a mob as ever disgraced 
 the floor of a Parliamentary chamber. With a de- 
 termination to be as near the storm centre as possible, 
 the writer rushed towards Donald A. Smith. As the 
 crowd from both sides of the House met in the passage, 
 angry Tories, with arms uplifted as if to strike, pushed 
 and hustled towards the object of their hatred. There 
 were several others with myself, who, for obvious 
 reasons, had no right to be there, but messengers and 
 doorkeepers had lost their heads as well as the people's 
 representatives. The crowd swayed to and fro, and 
 the writer found himself beside Donald A. Smith just 
 as Tory members reached out to strike his grey top 
 hat, one of whom was my own uncle. In the rush of 
 friends to avert the blow I was thrown against my 
 relative, for whom I had not voted at the last election, 
 and whose regard for me was even less friendly than 
 his opposition to Donald A. It was a shuffling and 
 slightly dishevelled crowd that finally reached the 
 Senate Chamber, but once inside those dignified 
 precincts the frenzied excitement quickly subsided. 
 Thirty years afterwards, sitting in Lord Lytton's 
 library at Knebworth, when Lord Strathcona held the 
 tenancy, we compared our recollections of the events 
 of that hour. He then said that he looked upon that 
 experience as one of the most exciting in his life. 
 
A WITCH OF ENDOR VIEW 113 
 
 It is necessary to read the Parliamentary record to 
 thoroughly understand the bitterness in the political 
 life of the Dominion at that time, and to appreciate 
 the force of the cross-currents that swept around 
 Donald A. Smith at that period. 
 
 It would have both interested and perplexed Donald 
 A. Smith if at this juncture he could have lifted the 
 veil and looked into the future, to see himself within 
 six months secretly taking part in the rejoicings of his 
 political enemies. To see their leader and every one 
 of his followers within two years the unconscious 
 instruments of his plans, and the hearty supporters of 
 the personal project that had become the dream of 
 his life, would have been pleasant ; to see one who 
 was then hurling insults at him from the back benches 
 the object of a treacherous conspiracy on the part of 
 his own selected colleagues, when a word from him 
 would prevent his deposition from the position of 
 Prime Minister, would have entirely satisfied his 
 longing for revenge. And if he could have seen the 
 noisiest of that unruly Parliamentary mob a more 
 subservient instrument and ostentatious admirer for 
 twenty years than all the Canadian politicians who 
 were destined to fall down and worship him, it would 
 have formed a fitting climax to make the vision 
 complete. Perhaps more extraordinary and less satis- 
 factory to contemplate would be the sight of his own 
 hand turned against those who were now giving him 
 their sympathy, as they had given him their unsolicited 
 support upon the question that was the cause of the 
 disturbance then taking place. 
 
XI 
 
 Undiscovered intrigue — Before the elections — Elections postponed — 
 Effect of chance conversation — The tempter again — Donald A.'s 
 election — Corrupt practices — Loan to the Judge. 
 
 Thus closed the first Parliament controlled by the 
 Liberal party since the inauguration of Confederation. 
 It was not until long afterwards that the Tories dis- 
 covered the intrigue which had been quietly developing 
 during the five years that had elapsed since they were 
 driven from office, by a syndicate desirous of securing 
 a charter for the construction of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway. Tory leaders were not even aware that the 
 wire-pulling had proved abortive, and that because 
 of the failure to turn Alexander Mackenzie from his 
 patriotic determination to leave the great transconti- 
 nental highway as a heritage to the Canadian people, 
 tremendous weapons were to be offered to them, 
 which, if discreetly used, would materially assist in 
 returning them to power again. Equally unsuspicious 
 were they that " the arch-traitor," as they continually 
 called Donald A. Smith, was seriously debating in his 
 own mind whether he should not sever his connection 
 with the Liberal party. But the closing scene in the 
 House of Commons made such an announcement 
 impossible. It was years before this information 
 filtered through to the general public. All that was 
 
 114 
 
WASTING THEIR ENERGIES 115 
 
 known was that the charter-hunters, whose sole 
 object was to secure possession of what the Govern- 
 ment of that day declared to be the nation's heritage, 
 had found themselves confronted by an administration 
 which had remained serenely unmoved in spite of every 
 influence they could exercise. With this Ministry in 
 power their efforts were wasted. In order to secure 
 a franchise, which must in the long run make its 
 possessors wealthy at the public expense, it was evident 
 that new tactics must be tried. They measured the 
 possibilities in the other political camp, and decided 
 that nothing should be left undone that would bring 
 about the defeat of the Mackenzie Government. 
 Their influence was widespread, their plan of campaign 
 well laid. No gamblers ever played for higher stakes. 
 The game was to play with loaded dice, and the 
 players' identity remain hidden and secret. 
 
 The general election campaign of 1878 offered 
 unusual opportunities to discredit the Liberal admini- 
 stration. For two or three years the revenue had 
 not equalled the expenditure. This necessitated the 
 strictest economy in the public finances. Canadian 
 politicians, as a class, invariably stand pledged to 
 economy when appealing to the electorate. Yet it is 
 very doubtful whether the electorate in any country 
 really approve of too economical an administration. 
 Since Confederation, no Canadian Government has 
 been defeated at the polls because they had the 
 courage to sanction liberal expenditures ; while more 
 than one Government has been forced out of office 
 
116 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 on account of its studied economy with public moneys. 
 By a certain class of politicians, Alexander Mackenzie's 
 attitude in regard to the finances was considered the 
 greatest offence against the public morals that the 
 administration had been guilty of. 
 
 The Government had also refused to adopt the 
 policy of Protection that was energetically demanded 
 in the interest of the manufacturers. A period of 
 severe financial depression was being experienced in 
 commercial circles, and the Tories strongly advocated 
 an increase in the tariff as a panacea for all public ills. 
 
 The Government had made preparations for a 
 short campaign. In the latter part of April, 1878, the 
 writs were all ready to issue, so that the polling would 
 take place in June. A Member of the Government, Sir 
 Richard Cartwright, happened to mention this to a 
 former Member of the Cabinet, Hon. Edward Blake, 
 the day that the decision had been reached, at a chance 
 meeting at a railway junction. Mr. Blake had with- 
 drawn from the Cabinet for personal reasons, but 
 he immediately pressed on the Premier the advisability 
 of postponing the elections until the autumn, in the 
 hope that a good harvest might prove to the general 
 advantage of the Government. Notwithstanding the 
 persistent advocacy of the earlier date by his colleagues 
 in the Cabinet (and they were practically unanimous 
 on the question), the First Minister decided to take 
 
 the advice of his old colleague and postpone the date 
 of the elections. An election in June would have 
 been practically a walk-over for the Government. 
 This was the opinion of both sides for long afterwards. 
 
CASH FOR THE ELECTIONS 117 
 
 Time was what the Tory leaders wanted. Sir John 
 Macdonald still led the Tory forces, and he nevei 
 showed more ability in directing a popular campaign 
 than on this occasion. He seized this opportunity 
 to carry on an educational propaganda, and also 
 promised in terms which left no room for misunder- 
 standing, unbounded prosperity through an increased 
 tariff. He needed time in which to make the party's 
 financial arrangements. His organization centres were 
 bankrupt. He had educated his party in the Pacific 
 scandal campaign with Sir Hugh Allan's money to see 
 the necessity of having a reasonable amount for 
 " contingencies " in election contests. The trite 
 saying " Once bitten, twice shy " had no terrors for 
 the Tory leader of that day. In the most ostentatious 
 manner the manufacturers were called together, and 
 subscriptions solicited from them to assist in carrying 
 through a policy of Protection, which would probably 
 mean a great deal to them. They were reminded 
 " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out 
 the corn." It needed no special application to drive 
 the scriptural injunction home. The policy of the 
 Tory leaders was to make these people rich. But 
 unhappily at a meeting from which fifty thousand 
 dollars (^10,000) was expected less than five thousand 
 (_^iooo) was actually realized. 
 
 At this moment came most welcome offers of 
 tangible assistance, Mr. Abbott was Sir Hugh Allan's 
 confidential adviser when the subscription to the 
 Tory election funds was made seven years previously, 
 and he now knew the pit-falls to be avoided. It was 
 
118 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 intimated to an influential member of the party, who 
 held no official position, that Mr. Abbott was author- 
 ized to guarantee all the money that might be required 
 in the campaign to secure Sir John Macdonald's 
 return to power, as the result of the pending elections, 
 if a verbal assurance was given that, in the event of 
 Sir John's success, he would consider favourably a 
 proposal on terms that would be submitted later for 
 the construction of the Pacific Railway by a responsible 
 company. Mr. Abbott was one of the few men in 
 Canada whom Sir John could trust impHcitly on any 
 subject of a dehcate or rather compromising nature. 
 Mr. Abbott had been in the old Pacific Scandal deal, 
 many of the details of which had never been revealed. 
 The required assurance of Sir John Macdonald was 
 duly given. He did not ask where the money was 
 coming from. It was sufficient for him to know that 
 it was to be provided on a liberal scale, and that his 
 organizers would not have to make any apologies for 
 sudden requirements towards the end of the campaign, 
 as he had been compelled to do with Sir Hugh Allan 
 seven years previously. 
 
 Under the circumstances it was not surprising that 
 by September the promises of " good times " to be 
 brought on by additional taxation had taken a thorough 
 grasp on the public mind. When the result of the 
 polling was published on the evening of the 17th of 
 September, 1878, it was seen that Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie's Government had been swept out of existence ; 
 and that the party which stood convicted in the 
 public mind five years previously of granting a great 
 
BITTER ELECTION CAMPAIGN 119 
 
 public charter in consideration for an election sub- 
 scription was to be again entrusted with the admini- 
 stration of the affairs of the country. And there were 
 a favoured few within an inner circle who did not see 
 much likelihood of the Pacific Railway long remaining 
 a great national asset. 
 
 Out of the political cataclysm Donald A. Smith 
 emerged as a supporter of the defeated Liberal leader, 
 being again elected for Selkirk.^ The Tories had 
 thrown their strongest forces against him. Into that 
 particular part of Manitoba had gone a consider- 
 able number of settlers from the vicinity of Ottawa, 
 whose admiration for Sir John Macdonald was most 
 intense. To bring about the defeat of the head of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, who had turned " traitor " 
 in 1873 to their political idol, and on the very spot 
 where stood the first stone fort of the Company, the 
 tangible evidence of Donald A.'s former authority, 
 would make life worth living. The extreme bitter- 
 ness of the contest may, therefore, be imagined. 
 Donald A. Smith announced his sympathy with his 
 political associates at Ottawa during the previous five 
 years. Although calling himself a Conservative, he 
 declared his intention of continuing, as heretofore, 
 to support Alexander Mackenzie. In a memorandum 
 written with his own hand, defining his position more 
 clearly, he said — 
 
 " As he has no favour to ask and nothing 
 personal to desire from any Government, he will 
 support only such measures as are conducive to 
 
 1 Appendix, 18. 
 
120 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the advancement of Manitoba and the North- 
 west in the first instance, and the general pros- 
 perity of the Dominion." 
 
 It remained for the future to offer a peculiar com- 
 mentary on this declaration of the principles by which 
 he claimed to be actuated. In the meantime the 
 syndicate of which he was destined to be the most 
 prominent member was secretly pouring money into 
 the campaign coffers of the Tory party. The forces 
 were at work in which he had important interests that 
 were to bring about the defeat of his own friends, and 
 aid in the success of his most bitter political and 
 personal opponents. A petition charging that his 
 election had been secured by bribery and corruption 
 on the part of himself and his agents was filed in 
 the courts. Parliament was summoned to meet in the 
 early part of 1879, too soon after the election for the 
 trial to take place, so that he was able to take his seat 
 in the House as a supporter of the defeated Govern- 
 ment. Election trials against Members of the House 
 of Commons cannot be proceeded with while Parlia- 
 ment is sitting ; therefore, no matter under what 
 circumstances a candidate may be successful, if he 
 can stave off the date of the trial by preliminary objec- 
 tions until Parliament meets, he takes his seat as the 
 representative of the constituency. 
 
 During the Parliamentary recess the Selkirk Election 
 Petition came to trial. As is usual in election cases 
 the evidence was contradictory, running a close race 
 with perjury. The petitioners claimed that, on the 
 
LOANING MONEY TO A JUDGE 121 
 
 evidence placed before the court, they had fully- 
 proved corrupt practices sufficient to void the 
 election. Mr. Justice Betourney decided otherwise, 
 and confirmed Donald A. Smith in the seat. There 
 was great jubilation on the part of Donald A.'s friends 
 in the constituency. Selkirk was literally painted red 
 that night by the victorious party. But the denoue- 
 ment was dramatic. A local journalist discovered 
 that the Judge had borrowed money from the suc- 
 cessful litigant, and was indebted to him for the 
 sum of $4000 (_^8oo), and that a mortgage was 
 registered upon the Judge's property in the name of 
 Donald A. Smith as security for the loan. 
 
 The petitioners promptly appealed to the Supreme 
 Court of Canada against Mr. Justice Betourney's 
 decision. The usual legal delays intervened so that 
 Donald A. was permitted to take his seat again in 
 Parliament in the early part of 1880. He still retained 
 his old relationship with the Liberal party. There 
 was no sign upon the political horizon of the coming 
 events, already beginning to take shape, that were 
 calculated to change his relationship in the near future 
 towards the political parties in the House — a relation- 
 ship fraught with such tremendous import to the 
 history of the country. The Liberal leaders were 
 unconscious of any negotiations, to which he was a 
 party, taking place with the Government, and after 
 the disastrous campaign gave him their unreserved 
 confidence. There were cogent reasons why it should 
 not be known that " wheresoever the carcase is, there 
 will the eagles be gathered together." 
 
XII 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald in office again — " So much the worse for 
 British connection " — Unseated by the Supreme Court — The 
 Pacific Railway charter in sight — The agreement — Donald A. 
 Smith kept out of sight — Charter hunters' success. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald assumed office in November, 
 1878. The new administration was no sooner in- 
 stalled than it was announced that the manufacturers, 
 who had so largely supported the Government in the 
 expectation of a change in the fiscal policy of the 
 country, had no occasion for anxiety — the promise of 
 Protection would be fulfilled in letter and spirit. 
 The Budget revealed a system of Protection to which 
 no objection could be taken by the advocates of a 
 policy which claimed to make the pubhc rich by adding 
 to the taxation of the country. Objection was taken 
 to the tariff that it would be a serious blow to British 
 trade, and the suggestion was made that it might 
 endanger British connection. One of the principal 
 writers at that time on the leading Tory organ, the 
 Toronto Mail, was a brilhant journalist from Nova 
 Scotia, Mr. Martin J. Griffin, who was also a defeated 
 candidate for Parliament in Halifax in 1878. The 
 Mail replied to this expressed fear about the effect of 
 the proposed tariff on British trade, by declaring, 
 
 122 
 
EFFECT ON BRITISH CONNECTION 123 
 
 " then it is so much the worse for British connection," 
 an expression which became a byword in Canadian 
 poHtics for many years afterwards. This taunt was 
 all the more significant because Mr. Griffin had a few 
 years before contributed a remarkable article, over his 
 own signature, to an American periodical, presenting 
 an exceptionally strong case in favour of the annexation 
 of Canada to the United States. But the Canadian 
 manufacturers were naturally looking after their own 
 interests, and were not concerned about the effect of 
 the new tariff upon British trade. They had given 
 the Government their best services in the recent 
 election, and it must be admitted that they were 
 amply repaid. 
 
 During the earlier session of 1880, Sir John Mac- 
 donald intimated to the House that the policy of the 
 administration respecting the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way would probably be announced at the next session 
 of Parliament, which, unless his plans miscarried, would 
 be summoned before the end of the year. Immedi- 
 ately after the Prorogation Sir John Macdonald came 
 to London, accompanied by his more prominent 
 colleagues. It was officially announced that negotia- 
 tions were under way with British capitalists to secure 
 the early completion of the railway. It was even 
 hinted in Canada that as the work would be of great 
 Imperial service in opening a short route to the Far 
 East, the possibility of securing Imperial assistance 
 was not too much to hope for. Sir John and his 
 colleagues were received with marked attention. Lord 
 
124 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Beaconsfield, in office at that time, gave them his 
 countenance. The alleged facial resemblance between 
 the British and Canadian Prime Ministers was current 
 talk in social circles, evidently pleasing to the vanity 
 of both. But the visit to London did not result in 
 the attainment of the alleged desired object. No 
 arrangement was made in London for the construction 
 of the transcontinental railway. Later developments 
 were taken to indicate that the visit to London was 
 not taken with sincere intentions of completing arrange- 
 ments about the Canadian Pacific Railway. To have 
 entered into an arrangement in Canada immediately 
 after the elections might have created suspicion. The 
 episode connected with Sir Hugh Allan was still a 
 bitter recollection, not only to the leader of the 
 Government but to the Canadian people. At any 
 rate the impression created in London by Sir John and 
 his colleagues was far from favourable. A leading 
 London publication said at the time — 
 
 " The Dominion Ministers have grossly mis- 
 managed their mission. They have repelled 
 confidence, where they might have nourished 
 faith. They have created distrust where they 
 ought to have cultivated hope, and they have 
 been mysterious and fussy at the same time. 
 They have flourished about their object, and have 
 inspired communications that have proved to be 
 misleading. The upshot is that, with the best 
 intentions, perhaps, they have cast no credit on 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway." 
 
UNSEATED FOR CORRUPT PRACTICES 125 
 
 The third session of the Parliament was called in 
 the latter part of 1880, after the return of the Govern- 
 ment from London. Donald A. Smith had ceased to 
 be a Member of the House. The Court of Final Appeal 
 for Election Petitions had rendered judgment. At 
 the opening of the session the Speaker of the House of 
 Commons announced that he had received a notice 
 from the Registrar of the Supreme Court that a 
 decision had been rendered by that tribunal in the 
 following terms — 
 
 " And in the Appeal of David Young and 
 Archibald Wright, Appellants, and Donald 
 Alexander Smith, Respondent, in the matter of 
 the Selkirk Election, by which the said appeal 
 was allowed, and the judgment of Mr. Justice 
 Betourney, that the said Election was valid, was 
 reversed, and the Election was declared void." ^ 
 
 A writ was accordingly issued for a new election 
 in Selkirk, and Donald A. Smith's successor took his 
 seat as a supporter of the Government. 
 
 The announcement had been made by the Prime 
 Minister that a contract had been entered into between 
 the Government and a syndicate for the construction 
 of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is putting it 
 mildly to say that the country was startled by the 
 announcement, as the idea that the highway was to 
 be retained as a national asset had been considered 
 settled. Until the official statement by the First 
 Minister the general public had not received the 
 
 ^ Appendix, 5. 
 
126 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 slightest intimation of the important change in public 
 policy that had been unanimously accepted and 
 approved by the recent Parliament. As soon as the 
 formal proceedings connected with the opening of 
 Parliament were disposed of, the contract entered into 
 with the syndicate was placed on the table of the 
 House. When the terms became known, astonishment 
 gave place to dismay throughout the country. 
 
 The agreement provided for a subsidy of $25,000,000 
 (^5,000,000), a land grant of 25,000,000 acres, the 
 completion and possession of all the portions of the 
 railway then under contract to cost $30,000,000 
 (^6,000,000), an absolute railway monopoly in the 
 western territory for twenty years, free right of way 
 through Government lands, exemption from taxation 
 for all time upon their property in the new western 
 municipalities, freedom from taxation for an extended 
 period upon their land grants, the land grant to be 
 selected at the convenience of the Company through- 
 out the fertile belt, and extraordinary authority over 
 passenger and goods rates. Even to the railway 
 promoters in the United States, accustomed to the 
 most liberal terms as the result of corruption and 
 lobbying in the legislative chambers of that country, 
 the lavish terms of this agreement came as a surprise. 
 
 An equally strong syndicate offered to take the 
 contract for much less. But the subject immediately 
 assumed a party aspect, and there was no question but 
 that Parliament would ratify anything the Govern- 
 ment proposed. Regrets were expressed that even 
 
LIGHT HIDDEN UNDER A BUSHEL 127 
 
 the corrupt bargain with Sir Hugh Allan had not 
 been carried out, as in that agreement no such favour- 
 able terms to the contractor had been given, or such 
 sacrifice of Canadian interests been made.^ It was 
 feared that means similar to those connected with the 
 deal in 1872 had been taken to secure the present 
 arrangement, but no encouragement was offered on 
 this occasion, as on the former, for information to 
 leak out leading to scandalous revelations. Some of 
 those interested in this contract knew only too well 
 how Sir Hugh's confidences had been betrayed, and 
 they left no loopholes for a similar disaster in their 
 case. 
 
 Objection could not be taken to the financial 
 standing on the syndicate, as revealed by the contract. 
 From the political standpoint Liberals were well aware 
 that two of the Company had been their own sup- 
 porters in recent elections. This rather gave colour 
 to the impression that means had been found, other 
 than the public might approve, to reconcile the Tory 
 leaders to a deal of such magnitude with their political 
 opponents. It was well known that the Canadian and 
 United States members of the syndicate were all most 
 intimate personal and financial friends of Donald 
 A. Smith. Surprise would not have been expressed 
 at finding him, also, in this great financial deal. 
 
 But the hatred of the Tory leaders towards Donald 
 A. Smith made it apparently impossible that he should 
 be in the syndicate. The Premier gave an assurance 
 
 ^ Appendix, 10. 
 
128 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 to his supporters that Donald A. was not one of the 
 capitalists connected with the agreement. Notwith- 
 standing the denials in private circles, the Opposition 
 declined to believe that Donald A. Smith was not a 
 sleeping partner. Veiled references were made from 
 the Opposition Benches to the possibihty of Donald 
 A. being behind the scenes, and extracts from the 
 Hansard of 1878 were read as a reminder to the 
 Government of the view so recently held by them of 
 the possible personnel of the syndicate. Supporters 
 of the Government in the House were told that Sir 
 John said if Donald A. Smith had anything to do 
 with the agreement he would consign the project to 
 the four winds of heaven. To Sir John Macdonald 
 Donald A. was Anathema Maran-atha. The Govern- 
 ment at that time, judging from later revelations, was 
 not in the position of a free agent. The money had 
 been accepted in the recent campaign upon clearly 
 defined terms. Had it all come from absolutely 
 trustworthy and confidential sources, the secret under- 
 standing might be flouted. But the amounts were too 
 large to be advanced by other than a very wealthy 
 syndicate, and it was in their power to bring dire 
 destruction upon all concerned. Both the syndicate 
 and those in authority knew this. 
 
 The contract finally passed Parliament in the form 
 in which it had been submitted. But before that 
 point was reached some very unpalatable things were 
 said by responsible statesmen,^ and special arrange- 
 
 ^ Appendix, 14. 
 
VIOLENT DENUNCIATION OF CONTRACT 129 
 
 ments had also to be made with the supporters of the 
 Government from the province of Quebec. In the 
 latter case a pledge w^as given that either the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway, or the Government, would purchase 
 from Quebec a railway upon which the province had 
 unwisely expended about $12,000,000 (^2,400,000), 
 In summing up the objections of the Opposition to 
 the contract, the Hon. Edward Blake challenged the 
 Government to appeal to the country upon the 
 proposals before the House, asserting that if it was 
 done the responsible electorate — 
 
 " will take the earliest opportunity to inflict a 
 summary penalty upon those persons, offenders 
 for the second time, who having once betrayed, 
 when entrusted with power, their country's 
 honour, have now taken advantage of the oppor- 
 tunity a too confiding public conferred upon 
 them, to betray in the same transaction her most 
 vital and material interests." 
 
 The charter-hunters had at last found the desires 
 of their hearts fulfilled. They had secured the most 
 stupendous contract ever made under responsible 
 Government in the history of the world. It might 
 be true that the conduct necessary to secure the goal 
 had been such as is not usually adopted in private 
 life. But the hope of the company or syndicate 
 undoubtedly was that in the future they might, like 
 the Greeks, pacify the gods by gifts. 
 
130 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 To attain their end the syndicate had broken 
 poHtical and personal relationships that could never 
 be repaired. Two Governments had been wrecked. 
 They had assisted in discrediting one political leader 
 through their denunciation of the part he had been 
 saddled with in connection with the Pacific scandal. 
 They were now laying the foundation for the utter 
 demoralization of the public life of a great new 
 country, and burdening Parliament with objectionable 
 associations which were to remain after they them- 
 selves had disappeared. They had assisted in re- 
 moving from the highest office in the gift of a demo- 
 cratic people an honourable, high-minded and patriotic 
 statesman because he had declined to allow Parliament 
 to be used for the purpose of creating enormous 
 private fortunes at the public expense. They had 
 stopped at nothing, and they had succeeded. 
 
 George Stephen and Duncan Mclntyre of 
 Montreal ; John S. Kennedy of New York, banker ; 
 Morton, Rose & Co. of London, England, merchants ; 
 Kohn, Reinach & Co., Paris, bankers ; and Richard 
 B. Angus and J. J. Hill of St. Paul, U.S.A., were in- 
 corporated as the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. 
 In the list of the first directors of the Company, 
 Baron de Reinach represented his banking house, and 
 Henry Stafford Northcote and Charles Day Rose the 
 London banking house, the others being the individual 
 names mentioned in the Act of Incorporation. The 
 secrecy about Donald A. Smith's connection with the 
 syndicate was kept until every possible concession had 
 
THE POLITICAL CHAMELEON 131 
 
 been granted. Meanwhile, he was willing to wait for 
 the triumph so sure to come later. 
 
 Donald A. Smith had smarted under the humiliation 
 of the decision of the court which deprived him of 
 his seat in the House of Commons. Now came his 
 secret connection with a project that had become the 
 dream of his life. He knew, unless his plans failed 
 in the next few months, that he would eventually 
 be acknowledged as the master-mind of the enter- 
 prise ; and the announcement of his connection with 
 the great project was not long withheld. At the 
 recent bye-election in Selkirk (1880) he was again a 
 candidate for Parliament. In 1872 he ran as a sup- 
 porter of the Tory party — in 1874 and 1878 he was 
 supporting the Liberals — and in 1880 he professed 
 political independence. But such political vagaries 
 were too much for even the shifting population of 
 the west, and he was defeated by a strong local 
 candidate. 
 
 In the effort to overcome the popularity of the 
 other candidate it had been necessary to have recourse 
 to a banking-account specially opened for the purpose. 
 Money was expended freely. When the result of the 
 polling was declared a few faithful adherents gathered 
 at the committee rooms of the defeated candidate. 
 In explaining to Donald A. that nothing had been left 
 undone to ensure success, the secretary expressed 
 himself in the most forcible and up-to-date western 
 
 style : " Donald A., the voters have taken your 
 
 money and voted against you." All eyes were turned 
 
132 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 to the unsuccessful candidate to see whether he was 
 willing to take this explanation of his defeat, and the 
 quiet reply came, as if he was speaking to himself : 
 " You have properly expressed the situation." Winni- 
 peg was never anything but a bitter memory to Lord 
 Strathcona from that day. 
 
 Some miles out from Winnipeg he had a charming 
 residence, known as Silver Heights. In the years to 
 come, as the construction of the railway progressed, it 
 might be necessary to entertain visitors on a fairly 
 large scale there. But rather than go through Winni- 
 peg to his residence the company constructed a 
 railway siding off the main line, so that his private car 
 could be run to Silver Heights without entering the 
 city. 
 
 Donald A. Smith was as punctilious about paying 
 off personal scores as in paying his debts. He never 
 failed with either. In the future, Winnipeg's action 
 was not to be forgotten ! 
 
XIII 
 
 Amassing great wealth — The skeleton in the cupboard — Facing 
 sudden ruin — Failure to sell bonds — Applying for assistance — 
 The penalty for deception — The Cabinet refusal. 
 
 Meanwhile, the construction of the great railway 
 was being carried on apace. The active membership 
 of the Company, like that of the syndicate, was 
 limited to a chosen few, and Donald A. Smith's 
 connection was no longer kept in the background. 
 He was the great controlling spirit in all the prin- 
 cipal business of the syndicate. Within the charmed 
 circle construction-companies, purchasing-agencies and 
 land-companies were formed. Properties required 
 in the west by the Railway were sold by directors 
 to the great corporation at exorbitant valuations, as 
 a recent departmental inquiry has abundantly proved. 
 From every possible source those in the inner ring 
 never failed to provide for the promotion of their 
 own financial interests. Their wealth soon became 
 proverbial. Each vied with the other in the erection 
 of palatial residences. 
 
 But with all their apparent prosperity, there was 
 a skeleton in the cupboard. The syndicate had 
 apportioned to themselves large blocks of the stock of 
 the Company at a very low rate, and they were 
 
 ^23 
 
134 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 unable to get the investing public in Europe or the 
 United States to accept the stock or bonds of the 
 Company. It was not so much from a want of 
 confidence in the value of the securities as for other 
 reasons. A vivid recollection still existed in the 
 principal financial markets of the incidents connected 
 with the purchase of the Western United States 
 Railway. The Dutch banking-houses which had lost 
 their millions through the sale of their bonds to the 
 Canadian syndicate, warned financial centres against 
 dealing with the Canadian Pacific syndicate, and their 
 efforts were apparently successful.- 
 
 As the principal members of the syndicate were 
 also directors of the great banking institution of 
 Montreal, they had recourse again to the funds under 
 their control. The deal with Jesse P. Farley and the 
 Dutch bondholders, although directly so profitable, 
 had indirectly led to the present situation. The failure 
 to realize on the stock or bonds of the Company made 
 this necessary, notwithstanding the narrow escape 
 from the financial catastrophe that threatened them 
 twelve years previously. Time went on and still the 
 railway securities could not find a favourable market. 
 The stock could only be disposed of at ridiculously 
 low figures. Little did the investing public realize 
 the value of what they were then refusing ! 
 
 More money had to be borrowed from the Bank 
 in order to carry on the work of the Company. The 
 ever-increasing demands of the Construction Com- 
 pany had to be met at all hazards. To suspend 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OR PRISON 135 
 
 payment meant absolute and hopeless ruin. Not 
 only would such a result jeopardize them personally, 
 but it might bring serious consequences upon the 
 bank. By this time an amount far in excess of the 
 paid-up capital had been advanced. The only mem- 
 ber of the syndicate who never became pessimistic, 
 or who never lost his nerve, was Donald A. Smith. 
 The general manager of the bank, although he was 
 an official appointed by the directors, became alarmed 
 for his own safety, and, when a further sum was 
 needed, he refused to allow it to be taken without 
 additional security being lodged in the bank vaults. 
 
 The directors had already given the bank all the 
 securities they possessed. A time came when they 
 had to have $1,000,000 dollars (^200,000) or suspend 
 payment. They dare not go to any other bank for 
 fear of creating uneasiness and probably panic. The 
 risks which had been taken on the previous occasion 
 had not been forgotten. The late Duncan Mclntyre, 
 one of the syndicate, was persuaded to go among his 
 friends and get possession of sufficient collaterals to 
 justify the loan of the amount that was needed. As 
 he laid them on the table at a meeting of the directors, 
 he said, with a trembling voice : " Remember, if these 
 are lost, not only am I ruined, but I shall bring down 
 with me every friend I have." There was nothing 
 to do now but to apply to the Government at Ottawa 
 to come to their assistance. If that should fail there 
 was ruin or worse for everyone connected with the 
 enterprise. As Lord Strathcona, in later years, not 
 
136 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 infrequently referred to the position : " It is to the 
 Government or the Penitentiary." It was decided 
 that one of the original syndicate, accompanied by 
 Sir J. J. C. Abbott, the solicitor of the Company, 
 should go to Ottawa and see what could be done with 
 the Government. 
 
 Sir John Macdonald was still First Minister. He 
 was then secretly preparing to dissolve Parliament 
 before the end of its full term, although only a few 
 trusted friends were aware of his purpose. The 
 syndicate had pushed on the construction of the 
 Railway, so that it was likely to be completed five 
 years earlier than the date stipulated in the contract. 
 They had not failed in responding to the appeals of 
 the Tory party for contributions, and amounts 
 hitherto unheard of in Canadian elections rolled into 
 the campaign coffers. They had turned the whole 
 machinery of the railway and of its contractors into 
 Tory electioneering agencies. They had not hesitated 
 to use every possible form of corrupt influence to 
 drive out of public life every opponent of the syndi- 
 cate, and these were, naturally enough, opposed to 
 the Government of Sir John A. Macdonald. It is 
 no exaggeration to say that Parliament had become 
 the subservient creature of the syndicate, and, a priori, 
 the Government owed to the syndicate its retention 
 of power. 
 
 But the representatives of the syndicate, who were 
 selected to interview the Premier on the vital question 
 at issue, could not forget that a solemn assurance had 
 
UNRELENTING VENGEANCE 137 
 
 been given to Sir John Macdonald, when the original 
 negotiations were in progress, that Donald A. Smith 
 was not interested in the undertaking. They remem- 
 bered his searching inquiries on that point. The 
 little girl, with an imperfect knowledge of the Bible, 
 who said that " lies were an abomination to the Lord," 
 and then added " but a very present help in time of 
 need," expressed the views of this deputation exactly. 
 Sir J. J. C. Abbott and his colleague knew that society 
 will forgive almost every human weakness against 
 public morals, except downright lying. This is 
 recognized nowhere more clearly than amongst poli- 
 ticians, and Sir John Macdonald was no exception to 
 the rule. It was the ghost of that misrepresentation 
 to the Premier that now haunted them on their way to 
 the capital. 
 
 Sir John Macdonald had a reputation for never 
 forgiving one whom he once regarded as having 
 betrayed him. He claimed to have Highland blood 
 in his veins. Every one knew that he had not ceased 
 to express his views with remarkable clearness on the 
 score of Donald A. Smith's desertion in the great crisis 
 of his life in 1873. It was well known now that he 
 had been deceived in the early negotiations, and that 
 Donald A. was not only then actually in the syndicate, 
 but he was the mainspring of its existence. The 
 reception that Stephen and Abbott received from 
 Sir John Macdonald was even worse than they had 
 feared. At the beginning he asked for a full expla- 
 nation. The deputation had to admit that Donald A. 
 
138 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 had been with the syndicate from the beginning. 
 They told the Prime Minister that they were com- 
 pelled to ask for Government assistance to complete 
 their work, explaining how the money market had been 
 against them. At first he emphatically refused to 
 consider their request, alleging that such action on 
 the part of the Government would meet with active 
 opposition in the elections that were soon to take 
 place. They pointed out that the stoppage of the 
 work on the great railway, their own ruin, and the 
 serious consequences in banking circles, would pre- 
 cipitate such a crisis as would bring down the Gov- 
 ernment anyway, all of which might be avoided if 
 Parliament would assist them temporarily ; and they 
 told the Premier that a loan of not less than 
 $30,000,000 (_^6,ooo,ooo) was necessary.^ After much 
 persuasion Sir John would only agree to state the 
 case to the Cabinet that afternoon, promising to 
 abide by the decision of his colleagues. Abbott im- 
 mediately returned to Montreal, while his colleague 
 remained in Ottawa. 
 
 When the Cabinet meeting was concluded that 
 afternoon, George Stephen was in the ante-room of 
 the Privy Council awaiting the decision. As members 
 of the Government came out, the Canadian Pacific 
 magnate knew from their manner that an adverse 
 decision had been reached. He accompanied the 
 Premier to his private office to hear the account of 
 what had taken place. Sir John told him that he 
 ^ Appendix, 11. 
 
AN UNFORGIVEN OFFENCE 139 
 
 had briefly outlined the situation to his colleagues, 
 leaving the matter entirely open to them, without 
 expressing his own views. There was some time 
 spent in considering the merits of the case, and the 
 possibilities to the country of their failure. The 
 principal subject under discussion, though, was Donald 
 A. Smith's connection with the exposure of 1873, and 
 his desertion of the Tory party on that occasion — 
 the withdrawal of his support from the Government, 
 Sir John declared, being prompted by the hope of 
 personal benefit through their downfall. When he failed 
 to accomplish his purpose with the Mackenzie Cabinet, 
 he succeeded in using the present Government as his 
 unconscious tools to attain his object. Sir John told 
 Mr. Stephen that he could hold out no hope whatever 
 of the request for a loan being granted — the desperate 
 condition of the members of the syndicate did not 
 appeal to his colleagues under the circumstances. 
 
XIV 
 
 Staggering under the load — An Irishman to the rescue — Frank Smith 
 and his colleagues — Cabinet discussion — George Stephen's re- 
 morse — A Scotchman's revenge — The bitter cup. 
 
 It was a weary figure, with the face of a man suddenly 
 aged under stress of the most severe mental anguish, 
 who was leaving Ottawa that evening for Montreal. A 
 member of the Cabinet, Hon. Frank Smith, who had 
 evidently hurried to the station to see him, walked up 
 quickly and said, " Is that you, Stephen ? I have 
 been looking for you and I did not recognize you. I 
 am going to help you. You must remain here three 
 days." Stephen replied that nothing would induce 
 him to remain, and that he " would never be seen 
 in Ottawa again." Frank Smith's persuasiveness pre- 
 vailed, and Stephen returned to private quarters 
 where he would be free from the risk of being seen 
 by inquisitive reporters. Smith assured Stephen that 
 he would bring the matter up in the Cabinet at the 
 next meeting, as he hoped that the decision which 
 had been arrived at that day would be reversed. A 
 trusted Canadian Pacific official, Mr. G. H. Campbell, 
 who happened to be at Ottawa at the time, was 
 asked by Frank Smith to stay with Stephen, and not 
 
 to allow anyone to have access to him. Many years 
 
 140 
 
THE PANGS OF ANXIETY 141 
 
 afterwards Mr. Campbell told the writer that these 
 three days were among the most anxious of his whole 
 life. He was the constant companion of a man torn 
 with anguish and remorse, whose heart seemed breaking 
 with compassion for the friends whose downfall he 
 felt himself responsible for, and with fear of the all- 
 too-probable failure of Frank Smith's valiant efforts 
 to save an almost ruined situation. 
 
 George Stephen was Donald A. Smith's cousin. 
 This was the first set-back met with in his long and 
 successful career. He, like Donald A., had risen 
 from the ranks. From small beginnings, by industry 
 and steadfastness, he had become one of the great 
 financial forces in Canadian commercial life. He was 
 wealthy, as wealth was counted in Canada forty years 
 ago, ere he had ventured on that expansive sea of 
 railway speculation with Donald A. Smith and J. J. 
 Hill at the helm. He had profited to the extent of 
 millions with his colleagues in the American railway 
 venture as the outcome of the fifty million gulden 
 which the Dutch bondholders had lost. The only fly 
 in that pot of ointment was the fact that a suit was 
 being threatened in the Minnesota courts by Jesse P. 
 Farley, the Official Receiver of the railway. Farley 
 was knocking at the door for one-fifth of the profits 
 which he claimed the Company held in trust for him, 
 and he claimed that it was in George Stephen's name 
 that the odd one-fifth was placed at the time of the 
 transaction. That there would be serious allegations 
 made by Farley in the courts there was no question, 
 
142 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 although there might be some doubt as to whether he 
 would succeed with his claim. The allegations, how- 
 ever, would be damaging to the reputation of all the 
 persons concerned. But the recollection of anything 
 that might have occurred in the early history of railway 
 speculation gave place to the critical complications of 
 the present moment. Unless the advances the directors 
 had authorized the general manager of the bank to make 
 to the syndicate could be returned by the aid of a 
 Government loan, long and honourable careers might 
 . . . Oh, it was worse than madness to look into the 
 future ! Would the Cabinet relent ? 
 
 Hon. Frank Smith was the representative Roman 
 Catholic in the Dominion. He held a seat in the 
 Cabinet without portfolio. Very large financial inter- 
 ests engrossed his attention, and he had declined to 
 accept the responsibilities attached to a department. 
 He possessed the highest standard of personal honour, 
 and was blessed with that large-hearted Irish char- 
 acteristic of sympathy for friends and foes alike. He 
 could take greater liberty with the Premier than any 
 other of the latter's colleagues. In the Church he 
 exercised an influence with the clergy unequalled by 
 any score of persons in his own province, and the 
 clergy were, rightly or otherwise, credited with having 
 considerable political influence with their parishioners. 
 It was believed by Sir John Macdonald that Frank 
 Smith's influence with his co-religionists was so great 
 that a word from him would bring about great changes 
 in the Catholic vote. He might be charged with 
 
WARM-HEARTED IRISHMAN 143 
 
 holding peculiar political views, because he is known 
 to have subscribed towards the election expenses of 
 a political opponent. This, however, was only when 
 the candidate whom he favoured belonged " to the 
 true Church," or when the one whom he did not 
 want to see elected belonged to that extreme wing 
 of Protestantism known as the Orange Order. He 
 was immensely wealthy, but no part of his wealth had 
 been secured by influences unduly exercised in the 
 responsible positions of confidence or trust which he 
 had occupied in public life. He belonged essentially 
 to the old school of Canadian statesmen. 
 
 Hon. Frank Smith made good the promise that he 
 gave to George Stephen. For three consecutive days 
 he brought up the question in the Cabinet of the 
 Government assisting the Syndicate. Twice he was 
 compelled to return to Stephen with the discouraging 
 news that nothing had been accomplished. After 
 the members of the Government had discussed the 
 proposition on the third day, Smith announced that, 
 unless his colleagues accepted his views and came to 
 the rescue of the Syndicate, he would resign his seat in 
 the Cabinet. He also added that he would not with- 
 draw his opposition to the Government until he had 
 accomplished the defeat of those who were then 
 sitting with him around the Privy Council Board. 
 Before retiring he said that he would wait their 
 decision, and that if they determined to continue in 
 their opposition, he would announce his resignation 
 that evening. The Cabinet knew that with Frank 
 
144 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Smith's influence thrown against them their defeat 
 was more than probable. Shortly after sunset Frank 
 Smith rushed to George Stephen and told him that 
 the cause was won. 
 
 But the rank and file of the Government supporters 
 in Parliament had yet to be pacified. A caucus or 
 meeting of the members and senators was called, 
 where the decision of the Government was announced. 
 The number of those opposed to the proposition was 
 unprecedented upon a question of Government policy. 
 The members were willing to assist the syndicate, 
 " but not Donald A." For long the discussion waxed 
 hot and furious. Speaker after speaker pictured the 
 " treachery of 1873." They declared they would go 
 out of power (and power is dear to the heart of both 
 political parties in Canada) rather than give their 
 consent to any policy that would save Donald A. Smith 
 from the pit which he had so fearlessly dug for himself 
 and his friends. Many of the members of that caucus 
 forgot for the moment that it was the money of the 
 syndicate that had made their campaign successful 
 in 1878, even when Donald A. Smith was contesting 
 a constituency as a supporter of the Government of 
 Alexander Mackenzie ; that at every election since 
 the syndicate had poured out money like water to 
 meet their party demands ; that a number of those 
 present, large enough to give the majority necessary 
 to keep them in power, occupied seats in Parliament 
 solely because the great influence of the Company 
 had been exerted in their favour ; and, more humili- 
 ating from the national standpoint than all other 
 
PAYING THE PIPER 145 
 
 considerations, not a few were sitting there with the 
 money in their pockets that they had " borrowed " 
 in some form or another from members of the syndi- 
 cate, with no thought of returning ; and this magnate 
 whom they were so strenuously denouncing, had 
 contributed a goodly share towards these " loans." 
 However, after blowing off steam, a safety valve for 
 indignation, calmer counsels eventually prevailed, but 
 not until Sir John A. Macdonald had promised that 
 some way would be found to humiliate Donald A. 
 Smith before the final settlement of the question. 
 
 Sir Charles Tupper, the most powerful speaker in 
 the Government, was about to be appointed High 
 Commissioner in London at the beginning of these 
 complications, but he remained in the Cabinet to 
 assist in keeping the recalcitrant Tories in line. His 
 presence in the House was also necessary, where, it 
 was expected, the Opposition would muster in strong 
 force against the Government proposals. The passage 
 of the loan was finally effected, but not until certain 
 members of the House had made their own terms 
 with the syndicate. Largess was distributed with a 
 bountiful hand. Common stock of the Company 
 was placed in trust with friends in the United States 
 for very prominent politicians in Ottawa, a fact which 
 came to light in later years, when Wills had to be 
 probated. A necklace was presented to the wife of 
 the Prime Minister, the Press ostentatiously announcing 
 the cost to be $200,000 (^40,000). Rumours were 
 circulated of large sums of money being found by other 
 members to their credit in their banking accounts, 
 
146 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 with no intimation as to the identity of the donor. 
 Duncan Mclntyre, who retired from the syndicate 
 a few years afterwards, remarked to friends on one 
 occasion, that the loan was an expensive luxury, 
 although it had saved the fortunes of all concerned, 
 and had averted a commercial calamity. 
 
 Previous to the legislation reaching the last stage 
 however. Sir John Macdonald had decided upon the 
 ingredients in the cup of humiliation to be taken by 
 Donald A. Smith. During part of the time which 
 had elapsed since the syndicate secured the charter 
 for the construction of the railway, Donald A. had 
 posed as an Independent Conservative, but really 
 with no pronounced political opinions. He never 
 had the settled convictions on public questions that 
 are regarded as essential under responsible Govern- 
 ment. Political predilections are strong in Great 
 Britain, and nowhere is this more evident than in the 
 Press, but they are much more pronounced in Canada. 
 The political stream there is far from sluggish. In 
 every condition in life — financial, professional, com- 
 mercial, manufacturing, agricultural, labour, and 
 unfortunately too frequently in clerical circles — 
 politics have a powerful hold on the community. 
 " The man in the street " is everywhere. Ninety-nine 
 per cent, of the people are politicians. Donald A. 
 Smith was peculiar even among the remaining one 
 per cent. Perhaps this attitude on public questions 
 and party government was owing to the fact that he 
 only entered the political arena after he had passed 
 middle life. But his attitude remains unique. Of no 
 
A HIGHLANDER'S REVENGE 147 
 
 other public character in Canada can it be said that 
 he supported every Government in power in the 
 Dominion since Confederation. All the intrigues of 
 the syndicate to defeat the Liberal candidates through- 
 out the Dominion grew and waxed strong because 
 the Tory Government was always willing to assist in 
 any legislation they required ; while the Liberal party 
 was opposed to the extensive privileges and powers 
 conferred upon them, and which were being con- 
 stantly augmented by repeated acts of legislation. 
 Above all else the Liberal leader warned the State of 
 the danger of the syndicate becoming too potent a 
 factor in the political life of Canada. 
 
 The syndicate heard with dismay that Sir John 
 Macdonald insisted, as one of the conditions of the 
 loan, that Donald A. Smith should contest a Montreal 
 constituency at a future election, not only as a Govern- 
 ment supporter, but a personal admirer of his own. 
 It was an awful dose. To be asked, or rather com- 
 pelled formally to declare unbounded confidence in 
 the political leader whom he had pubhcly abandoned 
 in 1873, to express his personal admiration for the 
 leader of that Parliamentary mob which had thrown 
 such offensive epithets at him in the House of Com- 
 mons years ago, and who himself had deliberately 
 shouted, " That fellow Smith is the greatest liar I 
 ever met," a complete record of which still exists in 
 the pages of Hansard ^ — was indeed drinking the cup 
 of humiliation to the dregs. He also knew that he 
 must publicly abjure friendship with those who had 
 1 Appendix, 4. 
 
148 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 been his only friends on the occasion of the incident 
 which was really the cause of the suffering he was 
 now doomed to undergo. Sir John A. Macdonald 
 was growing old, although apparently as strong and 
 healthy as ever. He had sweated blood over the 
 humiliation of the Pacific scandal of 1873, perhaps 
 not so much for what he had hastily and carelessly 
 done, as from the subsequent revelations. He had 
 colleagues who in that terrible hour had privately 
 intrigued to get him removed from the high position 
 of leader of the party. To force a certificate of 
 character from Donald A. at the present moment 
 was some satisfaction. There was no way of escape 
 for " the traitor." And Donald A. Smith had the 
 blood of Highlanders in his veins. It was a strange 
 coincidence that ten years later he should erect a 
 summer residence in the Vale of Glencoe, where 
 from his bedroom window of a moonlight night he 
 could see the solemn and lonely pillar commemorating 
 the cruel massacre of the Macdonalds — Scotchmen 
 who had been run in a different mould. 
 
 Only a Scotchman could conceive of making a 
 countryman of his own pay such a price as Sir John 
 demanded from Donald A. Smith. A more abject 
 humiliation was impossible. Donald A. Smith, how- 
 ever, took his medicine like a man, but his friends 
 knew that he would rather have paid a fortune and 
 have had the cup pass from him. 
 
 However, the loan of $30,000,000 (^6,000,000) 
 was secured and the situation effectively saved. 
 
XV 
 
 Demoralization of public life — Members appeal for funds to the 
 syndicate — Fraudulent company subscriptions — A hungry lot — 
 Donald A.'s opinion — The cloak for many offences — A fortune 
 in a night — Demoralization run riot. 
 
 The point has now been reached from which dates 
 
 the open demoraHzation of the Canadian Parhament. 
 
 Year after year the syndicate came back for additional 
 
 legislation. The favours already received showed how 
 
 easily they could clamour for more. Members of 
 
 Parliament were publicly retained in the interests of 
 
 the Company. The corridors of the Senate and the 
 
 House of Commons swarmed with their lobbyists. 
 
 Parliament awakened to the fact that private fortunes 
 
 were being created by the votes in the House. The 
 
 prevalence of that idea in the minds of public men 
 
 could have but one result. If the power which they 
 
 exercised could distribute wealth, or its equivalent, 
 
 in the way of charters that might be sold to the great 
 
 corporation, the natural inquiry was " Where do I 
 
 come in ? " The cankerworm had reached the vitals 
 
 of the body politic. 
 
 To bask in the favour of the local Canadian Pacific 
 
 Railway magnates meant everything. In the purchase 
 
 of supplies, in the awarding of contracts, in options 
 
 149 
 
150 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 on proposed town sites along the line of railway, in 
 obtaining inside information about the prospective 
 route of branch-lines for speculative purposes, in 
 allowing special terms and prices in purchasing 
 railway lands, in the free distribution of paid-up 
 stock of the Company's subsidiary corporations, 
 members of the House of Commons were not for- 
 gotten. For those in professional life there were 
 always vacancies and liberal retaining fees. The 
 banking books and financial statements of members 
 of the syndicate showed demands made upon them 
 by members of Parliament in the form of requests for 
 subscriptions for bogus companies, incorporated for no 
 other purpose than to furnish an excuse for asking 
 these railway magnates to subscribe tens of thousands 
 of dollars, in return for which the subscribers never 
 received anything more than scrip, which was just so 
 much waste paper. 
 
 When telling the writer of some of his extra- 
 ordinary experiences with public men of the country 
 at this particular time. Lord Strathcona asked me if 
 I had any acquaintance with a certain gentleman, now 
 living, a member of the Canadian Legislature at this 
 period and a supporter of Sir John Macdonald. Lord 
 Strathcona went on to say that, upon one occasion, 
 immediately after he had sailed from New York for 
 Liverpool, a cheque was received at his office in 
 Montreal from the member in question, purporting 
 to be an interim dividend for three months on $10,000 
 stock which he (Donald A. Smith) had subscribed and 
 
POLITICAL HIGHWAYMEN 151 
 
 was said to hold in Company, and of which the 
 
 sender was President. The amount of the cheque 
 was $150. Three days afterwards a demand Draft 
 or Bill of Exchange was received at his ofhce for 
 $10,000 as payment for the stock which he " had 
 probably forgotten to remit." The manager of the 
 office paid the draft on presentation. At the end of 
 the year in looking over the accounts Lord Strathcona 
 came across this item. The manager explained. 
 When telling the story to the writer in 1900 Lord 
 Strathcona added : " I said nothing, and even now 
 my manager does not know that the whole business 
 was a carefully prepared fraud." He quietly added, 
 " They were a hungry lot in Ottawa then." 
 
 Among the list of directors mentioned in the 
 charter incorporating the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
 granted by the Canadian Parliament, are names 
 honoured in the history of Great Britain ; names 
 significant of commercial, official and political promi- 
 nence, whose records stand unblemished. In this case, 
 however, they stood as a covert from the storm for the 
 Canadian end of the Company. It has never been 
 suggested for a moment, during the times of the 
 greatest possible interest in this question in Canada, 
 that these co-directors were associated in the remotest 
 degree with the painful and demoralizing events that 
 marked the operations of the syndicate in the Do- 
 minion. Whether any of them participated in the 
 profits that the Canadian directors accumulated or 
 not, does not necessarily form a subject of inquiry. 
 
152 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 That they were kept in the dark about the other 
 matters is accepted without question. That for any 
 consideration whatever, they could become parties to 
 the conduct of business which they would condemn 
 in British politics, is impossible to imagine. 
 
 The mistake made by those in Canada who were 
 opposed to the syndicate was in not appealing to the 
 British and foreign representatives on the board of 
 directors to assist in putting an end to the objection- 
 able methods then in full swing in Canada. Perhaps 
 if this had been done, many of the darkest pages in 
 the political history of the Dominion would never have 
 been written, and the stigma that must ever remain 
 on great names would have been avoided. 
 
 A saturnalia of corruption on other lines also took 
 possession of Parliamentary life. It began at the head 
 and gradually made its way to the rank and file. The 
 fundamental article of faith under the new conditions 
 was that public men should use their representative 
 positions for purposes of personal gain. A state of 
 public morals soon arose that would have been utterly 
 abhorrent to the members of Parliament a decade 
 earlier. No one can think of Draper, Harrison, Howe, 
 the Camerons, the Richards, and a score of others 
 using Parliament as a stepping-stone to personal wealth. 
 Family history in those earlier times gloried in the 
 fact that the patrimony had all been spent in the 
 public service. In every one of the old provinces 
 there may be seen places telling of the ruined fortunes 
 of those who had once served the state. It may not 
 
BUYING POLITICAL SUPPORT 153 
 
 be a matter for congratulation that the state accepts 
 a man's time and fortune and gives nothing in return ; 
 but it is a subject for pride that so many of those 
 representatives, in the first thirty years of responsible 
 Government, strove to raise so high a standard of 
 honesty and integrity in public places. 
 
 The arrangement with the syndicate provided for 
 early completion of the railway across the prairies, 
 and opened the door of unlimited possibilities to those 
 having access to the charmed circle at Ottawa. 
 Colonization companies were granted enormous areas 
 of the public domain within the fertile belt. The 
 personnel having control of these companies must, of 
 course, be persona grata to the Government. That 
 was the open sesame. Interests in these concessions 
 were available to many who were willing to change 
 their political faith for the sure and certain hope of 
 getting rich at the expense of the state. The only 
 wonder is that many more did not fall. The Dominion 
 Government, also, formally took possession of 100,000 
 square miles of the western part of Ontario, about 
 which there was a dispute as to jurisdiction between 
 the province and the Dominion. The decision of the 
 Privy Council subsequently awarded the disputed 
 territory to Ontario. But in the meantime, while the 
 matter was sub judice, extensive areas in the territory 
 were parcelled out among supporters of the Govern- 
 ment. The land was covered with valuable timber 
 limits, for which a ready market was available with 
 the lumber kings in the state of Michigan, where the 
 
154 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 forests were already very much depleted. Scores of 
 members of Parliament were among those to whom 
 these lands were distributed. 
 
 Forests in the new western prairies, where timber 
 was comparatively scarce, were sold to certain members 
 at the nominal figure of $5 (^i) per square mile. One 
 of these concessions was secured by an influential 
 member of the House of Commons, the late John 
 Charles Rykert. He effected a sale to a millionaire 
 named Sands, of Detroit, receiving in payment thereof 
 four short-date promissory notes of $50,000(^10,000) 
 each, which were afterwards paid in full. Depart- 
 mental papers giving the details of this wholesale 
 distribution of the public domain among the supporters 
 of the Government, were brought down to Parliament 
 in the most unblushing manner. 
 
 Ministers of the Crown received subscriptions for 
 campaign purposes from contractors and those seeking 
 favours from their own departments, forgetting or 
 indifferent to the fact that the proof of Sir John A. 
 Macdonald and Sir George Cartier having done so 
 with Sir Hugh Allan in 1872 brought about the 
 downfall of the Government of that day. But things 
 had moved on in Canada since then ! 
 
 Cabinet Ministers secretly held lands in their own 
 names and arranged with confidential officials to 
 unload their holdings on the public, a practice that is 
 in vogue while these notes are being written, but 
 matters have so far improved that the knowledge of 
 this is withheld from Parliament ; as is also the fact 
 
DEMORALIZATION OF PUBLIC LIFE 155 
 
 that in very recent times a Cabinet Minister at the 
 head of one of the great spending departments has 
 personally collected toll from successful tenders before 
 awarding the contracts. In the period covered betvi^een 
 1880 and 1890 the majority in the House of Commons 
 boldly twitted their political opponents with "not 
 being in the swim." But these influences spread to 
 some extent to the other side of the House, where 
 substantial favours from the syndicate were secretly 
 distributed. 
 
 This was the deplorable state of affairs in the Cana- 
 dian Parliaments between 1880 and 1890 — the climax 
 of the demoralization of the public life in the Dominion. 
 It was the direct result of the corrupt means inaugur- 
 ated by a syndicate of capitalists getting possession of 
 the charter for the construction of the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway, as well as the portions of the completed 
 line that a previous Prime Minister had declared he 
 would leave as a heritage to the people of Canada. 
 As the syndicate came back to Parliament year after 
 year, for further concessions in the way of legislation, 
 so in a corresponding manner the circle of political 
 demoralization widened. The wonder is, looking back 
 upon the events of that dismal period in Canadian 
 history, that even a leaven of Liberal Members retained 
 their seats in the House, or made any attempt to stem 
 the tide of evil influences. 
 
XVI 
 
 The American railway deal — Dealing with the Official Receiver — 
 Wants share of the spoils — Thirteen years' lawsuit — The syndicate 
 won in the courts — Profits from American deal. 
 
 It was fully expected, within a year from the time 
 that had now been reached, that the railway across 
 the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean would be 
 completed. Things had also been moving satisfac- 
 torily with the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba 
 Railway, the venture of ten years previously. Since 
 1882 dividends had been regularly received on the 
 $15,000,000 stock that the syndicate had presented to 
 themselves on the incorporation of the Company, the 
 only cost for which had been the account for printing. 
 The railway formed the basis of the extension to which 
 J. J. Hill was giving his attention, and in which the 
 original syndicate, including Donald A. Smith, retained 
 their interest. The much disputed Pembina Branch 
 of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway 
 had been long completed, and Winnipeg was connected 
 by rail with the outer world. An obliging Senate at 
 Ottawa discovered after the defeat of the Mackenzie 
 Government that stronger Imperial reasons existed 
 for the connection being made with the United States 
 railway system than had existed against it two years 
 
 156 
 
EFFECT OF RAILWAY MONOPOLY 157 
 
 previously, and arrangements were made with the 
 syndicate for the construction of the Pembina branch 
 from Winnipeg to the international border as a branch 
 of the Canadian Pacific system. It was argued this 
 railway was now necessary as a means of transport for 
 construction supplies for the prairie end of the 
 Canadian system. 
 
 The query is perfectly natural as to why the syndicate 
 who got possession of the railway connection from 
 Minneapolis to Winnipeg should also want to control 
 the transcontinental line through Canada. This is 
 explained by one of the terms of the agreement be- 
 tween the Canadian Government and the syndicate — 
 the monopoly that was given of the railway system 
 in the Canadian west for twenty years. The Canadian 
 end of the syndicate could depend upon J. J. Hill 
 taking steps in the United States to prevent the 
 construction of any other line to the Canadian border. 
 The same capitalists were in both enterprises. Be- 
 tween them there would be no competition in rates, 
 so that the general public would be at their mercy. 
 And this is how it worked. The " Empire-Builders " 
 had the great farming community of the west between 
 the upper and nether millstones. 
 
 Meanwhile Jesse P. Farley, the former Receiver, 
 clamoured for his share of the spoils. He was the 
 principal factor in doing the Dutchmen out of their in- 
 vestment, and held an assurance from some one, that 
 one-fifth of the profits would fall to his lot. Had he 
 dealt honestly with the Dutchmen who trusted him, 
 
158 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 they would not only have received their interest 
 regularly, but eventually the principal as w^ell, 
 amounting to sixty-five million gulden. Farley found 
 that — 
 
 " The downhill path is easy, 
 
 And there is no turning back." 
 
 He could not undo the wrong he had done, and he 
 had had no share of the good fruit. He was doubly 
 aggrieved. In Montreal and St. Paul princely man- 
 sions had been erected by those who had benefited by 
 his actions. Without him they could have done 
 nothing. His advice and co-operation had been 
 essential and effective. He said he had been promised 
 the one-fifth, but because of his position as Receiver 
 it was necessary that the transaction should not be 
 put into writing, and was to remain a secret agreement. 
 The syndicate had taken possession of the property 
 and then sold the whole concern out to themselves 
 under the name of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
 Manitoba Company. They now boldly declined to 
 recognize his claim and give him the fifth that he 
 alleged he was entitled to under the terms of the 
 original negotiations. 
 
 It is impossible to defend the code of morals that 
 allows a Receiver, who is a court officer, and has definite 
 trust responsibilities, to participate in the profits of 
 any such arrangements as he said had been made. 
 Donald A. Smith, as the one who first broached the 
 question of buying the railway, no doubt accepted 
 this view. To admit Farley's contention was to en- 
 courage dishonesty among trustees, and also to offer 
 
HOW THE DUTCHMEN WERE WORKED 159 
 
 a premium on wrong-doing. Therefore Farley was 
 repudiated lock, stock and barrel. He finally got 
 tired of waiting and entered an action-at-law. For 
 thirteen long weary years the suit dragged its way 
 through the courts of the United States,^ finally 
 reaching the highest judicial tribunal in the Republic 
 in 1893, journeying twic6 in the meantime between 
 Minneapolis and Washington on legal technicalities. 
 
 When the suit came on for trial in the First Court 
 Jesse P. Farley told his story. His allegations were 
 clear and distinct — he had agreed to help the Canadian 
 syndicate to get the road, to force the Dutchmen to 
 sell their bonds, and to use his official position to 
 further the scheme. If he told the truth the trans- 
 action was not merely a scandal. He had made 
 a bargain with the Canadian syndicate altogether 
 incompatible with the most elementary principles of 
 honesty. 
 
 Farley was corroborated by Mr. Fisher, the president 
 of the St. Paul and Duluth Railway. Kittson, who was 
 also expected to confirm Farley's testimony, died before 
 the case came to trial. Alleged conversations with 
 Kittson were, however, given in evidence. On the 
 other side J. J. Hill declared there had been no such 
 agreement as Farley .suggested. In this he was sup- 
 ported by affidavits from Donald A. Smith and George 
 Stephen. The court held that Farley's failure to 
 prove his claim by a written agreement would entitle 
 the defendant to a decision, and, even if there had 
 been an agreement in writing, it would have been 
 ^ Appendix, 19. 
 
160 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 improper and illegal on account of the trusteeship 
 which Farley was then exercising. But long before 
 the final decision of the Supreme Court at Washington 
 was given Jesse P. Farley had gone to that bourne from 
 whence no traveller returns. Donald A. Smith, J. J. 
 Hill, George Stephen, and the heirs of N. W. Kittson 
 (all Canadians) from now on, remained in peaceable 
 possession of the property. 
 
 Donald A. Smith, George Stephen and J. J. Hill 
 continued in intimate business relationship through 
 all these years. The St. Paul, Minneapolis and 
 Manitoba Company became one of the trunk lines of 
 the western states under another name, reaching out 
 its arms to the Canadian west at three or four points. 
 St. Paul and Minneapolis and Winnipeg became great 
 tributaries to this sytem, resulting in an enormous 
 accretion of wealth by the original syndicate which 
 had obtained possession of the rights of the Dutch 
 bondholders. No wonder Jesse P. Farley wanted his 
 share, when he saw, as the years rolled by, the colossal 
 fortunes that he had passed over to the Canadian 
 quartette. In twenty-seven years Donald A. Smith, 
 J. J. Hill and their associates in this venture received 
 $413,000,000 (_£82, 600,000) interest bearing securities, 
 exclusive of annual dividends in the meantime, as the 
 result of the railway speculation that Donald A. Smith 
 outHned to J. J. Hill at " The Cottage " in Ottawa 
 in 1876 — the foundation of these colossal figures being 
 the payment of $6,000,000 (^1,200,000) to Dutch 
 bondholders borrowed from a bank of which Donald 
 A. Smith was a director, and afterwards repaid by a 
 
A RAILWAY ELDORADO 161 
 
 new issue of bonds. And the Dutchmen still have a 
 vivid recollection how in buying those bonds they 
 figuratively had gone down from Jerusalem to Jericho. 
 From a memorandum prepared for the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission at Spokane by Attorney Brooke 
 Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, one of the 
 great fathers of the American Republic, these figures 
 show the amounts of interest-paying securities divided 
 between Donald A. Smith, J. J. Hill and their associates 
 in less than thirty years. 
 
 1879 $15,000,000 
 
 1882 2,000,000 
 
 1883 9,000,000 
 1888 2,000,000 
 1890 4,200,000 
 
 1892 4,125,000 
 
 1893 2,000,000 
 1898 30,000,000 
 
 The last item was issued in the form of Ore certificates ; 
 1,500,000 certificates of $100 each, the market value 
 of each certificate then being $90. 
 
 The syndicate owns a vast area of very high class 
 iron ore in Mesaba county in the state of Minnesota, 
 secured partially by purchase out of the earnings of the 
 railway company, the balance in the land grant that 
 formed part of the security of the Dutch bondholders. 
 The Company has a perpetual contract with the 
 United Steel Corporation for the full run of the ore 
 in these mines, furnishing a source of wealth for 
 generations, by itself an Eldorado. 
 
 1898 
 
 $28,000,000 
 
 1899 
 
 13,500,000 
 
 1899 
 
 6,750,000 
 
 I90I 
 
 30,750,000 
 
 1905 
 
 41,000,000 
 
 1906 
 
 84,000,000 
 
 1906 
 
 135,000,000 
 
XVII 
 
 The danger to the state — Loading the dice — Louis Riel still a factor 
 — Blake's resignation — Moments never to be forgotten — Blake's 
 farewell to Canada. 
 
 In inverse ratio, but to a corresponding degree, just 
 as the friends of the syndicate in Parhament secured 
 the support of this now enormously powerful corpora- 
 tion in the country, so were those opposed to the 
 demands and methods of the syndicate marked out 
 for political extinction. These members of the 
 Commons were followed to their constituencies, and 
 there found themselves opposed by candidates whose 
 election expenses were paid from some outside source, 
 and paid on a most liberal scale. Not a few were 
 unable to overcome such influences among their 
 hitherto faithful constituents. The Opposition was 
 apparently doomed to be as helpless in the country 
 as it was in the House. Many estimable, high-minded 
 and able representatives in the House of Commons 
 were forced out of public life for no other reason than 
 that they had been faithful guardians of the public 
 interests. The Company which had been incorporated 
 by Parliament was fast becoming its master — it had 
 already become a menace to the state. The dragon's 
 teeth so blindly sown in 1880 were bringing forth a 
 
 terrible harvest. 
 
 162 
 
AN ADMISSION BY ONE WHO KNEW 163 
 
 For reasons that need not be particularized, Duncan 
 Mclntyre, one of the original members, withdrew from 
 the syndicate. He was opposed to the persistent 
 interference by the Company with the Government 
 of the country. He had some notion of fighting the 
 question out on the floor of the House of Commons, 
 and made known his wishes to the Liberal leaders. A 
 vacancy occurring in an Ontario constituency at this 
 time offered an opportunity. The writer presented 
 Mr. Mclntyre's name to the Liberal convention, and 
 he was accepted as the candidate. Mr. Mclntyre was 
 in the far west when he received word about his 
 nomination. The Government issued the writ and 
 hurried on the election in a most unusual manner. 
 Mr. Mclntyre, although he engaged a special train to 
 carry him over two thousand miles, only reached the 
 riding the day of the election. All the forces of the 
 syndicate were thrown against him, the constituency 
 was flooded with railway contractors and money, and 
 Mr. Mclntyre was defeated. In a conversation in the 
 local hotel when the disappointing returns came in, 
 Mr. Mclntyre turned to the writer and said : " You 
 will never know the force of the influences you are up 
 against. Canada is paying an awful price for being 
 ruled by my former associates." 
 
 The general election campaign of 1887 was marked 
 with more than usual bitterness. It had in many ways 
 ceased to be political, and had become personal. This 
 particular phase was no doubt due to the necessity of 
 publishing the names of the members of Parliament 
 
164 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 who had been participants in the distribution of the 
 pubhc lands. The new Franchise and Voters' List 
 Act, modelled, it was alleged, after the British Act, 
 passed in the session of 1885, and came into operation. 
 The Revising Officers in all the fighting ridings were 
 extreme partisans. Liberals were heavily handicapped 
 in endeavouring to secure their rights. It is a sordid 
 tiresome story, and but one or two illustrations will 
 suffice. In the constituency represented by Edward 
 Blake, the Liberal leader, the discovery was made a 
 few days before the final revision that 165 Liberal 
 voters had been omitted from the lists. In a neigh- 
 bouring constituency among many flagrant errors was 
 the name " B. C. Church " on the list. Reference to 
 the assessment roll showed the property to be a church 
 belonging to the Bible Christian denomination. The 
 Revising Officer refused to remove the name when the 
 matter was presented to him, because " he " had 
 not been served with a formal notice that application 
 was to be made to remove " his " name from the list. 
 At the election " B. C. Church " subsequently voted. 
 He had not been seen in that district before, nor has 
 he ever been heard of since. 
 
 When the Voters' Lists were received from the 
 Government printing bureau, in many of the con- 
 stituencies it was found that in the doubtful ridings 
 numbers of well-known Liberals had been omitted and 
 were therefore unable to vote. There had been 
 added to several Ontario constituencies under the 
 recent Franchise Act, tribes of Indians as voters. 
 
A NARROW MAJORITY 165 
 
 In one of these ridings which had been represented 
 hy Liberals for many years, the night before the 
 election, what purported to be a Proclamation from 
 Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, was distributed through- 
 out the Indian reserve with a great flourish of trum- 
 pets, commanding the Indians to vote for the Tory 
 candidate. 
 
 In the province of Quebec the Government had no 
 easy time. The execution of Louis Riel for partici- 
 pation in a second North-west rebellion had given 
 rise to a Nationalist party amongst the Government 
 supporters, who professed to believe that Riel was not 
 punished so much for the second rebellion, as to 
 placate the Orangemen for the murder of Thomas 
 Scott in the first outbreak. These candidates for 
 Parliament publicly pledged themselves to vote against 
 the Government on any motion of want of confidence 
 that might be introduced in the first session. With 
 the exception of the western territories, the elections 
 throughout Canada were simultaneous, and the result, 
 counting the Nationalists as against the Government, 
 gave Sir John A. Macdonald a majority less than the 
 double figures — a majority that would soon cease to 
 exist if the Liberals could carry two or three of the 
 Prairie constituencies. 
 
 Mr. Edward Blake was physically exhausted by the 
 labour of the campaign, but otherwise seemed in 
 excellent spirits. The day following the election he 
 told the writer that, if it was to be a very small majority, 
 he preferred that it should be with the Government 
 
166 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 rather than with him, as his success would be the more 
 complete in the near future. Full of hope, a party 
 started for the west to assist in the elections in the 
 territories. When we reached Winnipeg, however, 
 we received the amazing news that Edward Blake, 
 previous to leaving home for a much-needed rest, had 
 publicly announced his resignation as leader of the 
 Liberal party, pending his early withdrawal from the 
 House of Commons. From a party standpoint the 
 immediate effect was staggering. A good fight was 
 put up by the opponents of the Government in the 
 Prairie constituencies, but the Liberal candidates were 
 buried under railway and official influences. Things 
 were done by the Government supporters that would 
 never have been attempted had they known that 
 Edward Blake would be in his accustomed place at the 
 head of the Liberal party in Parliament. They knew 
 that for a brief while, at least, the Opposition forces 
 at Ottawa would be disorganized by Blake's resignation, 
 and they therefore took risks they would not otherwise 
 have indulged in. This was where the first effect of 
 Mr. Blake's resignation was felt by the Liberal party. 
 I saw Mr. Blake on his return home. During 
 several years of very intimate political association he 
 had given me his unreserved confidence. In the 
 strain of the campaign I had taken complete charge 
 of his confidential correspondence. I knew his aspira- 
 tions, his hopes and his determination to model a 
 Government in the Dominion on the lines of the 
 loftiest ideals of British Parliamentary traditions. It 
 
GIVING UP THE FIGHT 167 
 
 was a prospect worth living for. Now the pitcher 
 was broken at the fountain. He was sitting in his 
 Hbrary when I entered. In this room he had often 
 explained to me his hopes for the future of Canada, 
 his fears of the constant struggle for her birthright. 
 He had repeated frequently that, much as he desired 
 it, he would never assume power unless by the free 
 and unpurchased will of the electors. Here, also, I 
 had met Mr. Justin McCarthy, and in discussing the 
 question of Home Rule he more than hinted at the 
 great service Mr. Blake could render the cause if he 
 would consent to enter Westminster. But Mr. Blake's 
 reply invariably was : " My life's work is here." As I 
 grasped his hand on this occasion he simply pointed 
 to a chair. For a moment the silence was intense. 
 Then he said : " I know you are surprised. I came to 
 this decision alone. My life is too valuable and my 
 time is too short to further engage in the useless 
 struggle with the demoralizing influences in the public 
 life of this country which are the direct outcome of 
 the work of the syndicate. You will not live to see 
 the end. It will take two generations of fighting to 
 rid politics of its effect, no matter who is in power. 
 It is beyond me." 
 
 The question of the resignation was beyond argu- 
 ment. There may have been secret regret, but there 
 was no turning back. Nearly thirty years have rolled 
 by since then. Possibly Edward Blake was a pessimist 
 in some things, but he loved his native land with a 
 superlative love. He saw nothing ahead save the 
 
168 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 assertive power of private wealth, accumulated at the 
 cost of the state. And his prediction of " two 
 generations " bids fair to be realized. His withdrawal 
 from the leadership was a crushing blow to his party. 
 In his native province the most trying experience he 
 had to endure was the sudden solicitude by his political 
 opponents for his welfare. The Liberal party, in their 
 bitter resentment at his withdrawal, forgot the twenty 
 years of unwearied and unflinching struggle in the 
 cause of good government that Edward Blake had 
 given to Canada. His self-sacrifice, his fruitless labour, 
 his resignation and its cause, must ever rank as one of the 
 greatest tragedies connected with Canadian politics. 
 
 In an official letter to the people of Canada, Edward 
 Blake thus expressed himself upon the situation at a 
 later date, with lamentation and hope that may well 
 be remembered now— 
 
 " It has left us with lowered standards of public 
 virtue and a death-like apathy in public opinion ; with 
 racial, religious and provincial animosities rather in- 
 flamed than soothed ; with a subservient Parliament, 
 an autocratic executive, debauched constituencies and 
 corrupted and corrupting classes ; with lessened self- 
 reliance and increased dependence on the public chest 
 and on legislative aids, and possessed withal by a 
 boastful jingo spirit far enough removed from true 
 manliness, loudly proclaiming unreal conditions and 
 exaggerated sentiments, while actual facts and genuine 
 opinions are suppressed. 
 
LAMENTATION AND HOPE 169 
 
 " It has left us with our hands tied, our future 
 compromised, and in such a phght that, whether we 
 stand or move, we must run some risks which else we 
 might have either declined or encountered with greater 
 promise of success. 
 
 " Yet let us never despair of our country ! It is a 
 goodly land ; endowed with great recuperative powers 
 and vast resources as yet almost undeveloped ; inhabited 
 by populations moral and religious, sober and indus- 
 trious, virtuous and thrifty, capable and instructed — 
 the descendants of a choice immigration, of men of 
 mark and courage, energy and enterprise, in the breasts 
 of whose children still should glow the sparks of those 
 ancestral fires. 
 
 " Under such conditions all is not lost. ' Though 
 much be taken much abides.' And if we do but wake 
 from our delusive dreams, face the stern facts in time, 
 repair our errors and amend our ways, there may still 
 remain for us, despite the irrevocable past, a future, 
 if not so clear and bright as we might once have hoped, 
 yet fair and honourable, dignified and secure." 
 
XVIII 
 
 Muzzling the Press — Donald A.'s fear of criticism — Buying up the 
 Globe shares — Unsuccessful eflForts at prostitution of the Press — 
 Personal admission by Lord Strathcona. 
 
 Following the loan of $30,000,000 by Parliament to 
 the syndicate, the Liberal Press made an appeal to 
 the corporation, now that the resources of the country 
 were again called upon for assistance, to cease from 
 active participation in the public life of the Dominion. 
 The Toronto Globe, recognized as the leader of Liberal 
 journalism, was particularly insistent in demanding 
 the withdrawal of the Canadian Pacific forces from 
 the political arena. Donald A. Smith and his associates 
 writhed under this criticism, as well as the appeals 
 to the honour of the members of the syndicate. A 
 determination was then arrived at to attack Liberal 
 journalism in some signal and effective manner. 
 
 It had long been evident that any journalist ven- 
 turing to attack the syndicate was duly noted. A 
 " jolly good fellow " was placed in charge of the Press 
 department of the railway. To him was left the 
 responsibility of distributing favours, railway passes, 
 and printing contracts. But if journalism could not 
 be taught the error of its ways by conciliatory methods, 
 then it must be made to feel the iron hand in another 
 
 manner. Donald A. Smith was particularly susceptible 
 
 170 
 
MUZZLING THE PRESS 171 
 
 to newspaper flattery or criticism. In regard to the 
 latter there were many holes in his armour that might 
 be unpleasantly pierced. As his years increased he 
 became even more sensitive on this score. His remark 
 to a prominent Canadian who was receiving a good deal 
 of newspaper attention years later in London, " Your 
 name has no right to be there. It should be mine," 
 was heard too often to be forgotten. The constant 
 criticism of the leading organ of the Liberal party 
 gave rise to the determination to silence it at any cost. 
 The founder of the Globe, George Brown, was dead, 
 the deeply mourned victim of assassination, the 
 work of a madman. The Globe was formed into a 
 company, odd shares being held in different parts of 
 the country. But the dividends were not such as to 
 justify very great anxiety on the part of the holders 
 to retain them as an investment. Secretly Donald 
 A. Smith's agents bought up all the shares that were 
 available. The probate of his Will shows that his 
 estate holds $100,000 (_^20,ooo) worth of the Globe 
 stock. He learned, however, that the controlling 
 interest in the Globe was held by Nelson & Sons, 
 publishers, Edinburgh, as trustees for the widow of 
 the great founder of this journal. Mrs. Brown was a 
 sister of the Nelsons. Donald A. Smith instructed his 
 representative to proceed to Edinburgh and purchase 
 Mrs. Brown's interest at any cost. The sum offered 
 was far in excess of the then value of the shares, but 
 the object of the prospective purchaser was only too 
 evident — to silence one of the oldest and the most 
 influential exponents of public opinion in Canada— to 
 
172 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 prostitute the reputation of a great newspaper that 
 for fifty years had stood in the forefront of the battle 
 for the rights of the people, and was never known 
 either to be silent or to advocate any cause from 
 unworthy motives. 
 
 There could be but one reason why the syndicate 
 wanted to get possession of the Globe — to drag into 
 the dust this organ of public morality for its own 
 interested ends. But again, as in the case of Alexander 
 Mackenzie, the syndicate ran up against a descendant 
 of the old Covenanters. The reply that was received 
 settled the matter for that time. Mrs. Brown, true 
 to the memory of her distinguished husband, sent an 
 account of what was on foot to Canada, suggesting 
 that, to provide for contingencies in the future, it 
 might be advisable that the controlling interest in the 
 Globe should be in the hands of the Liberal party. 
 She suggested what she considered a fair price for her 
 interest, and it was learned afterwards that this was 
 far below the sum that had been offered by the agent 
 of Donald A. Smith. 
 
 When the news of the prospective transaction was 
 received in Toronto, the effect was startling. The 
 party was struggling along, ill-supplied with funds for 
 ordinary organization, but there could be no delay 
 about a matter so vital as this. Sir Richard Cartwright, 
 Hon. A. S. Hardy, Minister of Crown Lands in the 
 Ontario Government, Hon. George A. Cox, all now 
 deceased, Mr. Robert Jaffray, now senator, and the 
 writer discussed the situation. Messrs. Cox and 
 Jaffray offered to subscribe half the amount necessary, 
 
A PLOT THAT FAILED 173 
 
 if the balance could be raised elsewhere. It fell to the 
 lot of the writer to visit Liberals in different parts of 
 the Dominion for the purpose of getting the balance. 
 The purchase was satisfactorily completed, and the 
 newspaper was placed beyond the possibility of falling 
 into the possession of the syndicate during the present 
 generation. 
 
 Thirty years afterwards, in the course of a conver- 
 sation with Lord Strathcona on journalistic work and 
 the influence of the Press, he said to the writer : " Do 
 you know that once I came nearly being a newspaper 
 man myself ? " I replied that I was aware he had 
 tried to get possession of the Globe in the 'eighties. 
 " Ah yes, you know, but I would not have changed 
 its politics, except as regards the Canadian Pacific. 
 It was very abusive then. I wanted it very much. 
 How did your party raise the money to get it ? " 
 I told him about our determination that he should 
 never have it, and my own personal efforts in collecting 
 the money. He added : " So it was you, so it was you. 
 And that I should only know it now ! But I would 
 have had it within a month if you had been much 
 longer. The Globe was very insulting, very personal. 
 It treated us as if we were robbers." The writer will 
 not deny that there was no possibility about the 
 language of that day being misunderstood. The 
 friends of the syndicate blamed us for the bitterness 
 that was expressed. Our justification was that we 
 were fighting against great odds, with no personal 
 ends to serve, and only protecting our country's 
 heritage in the face of all but insuperable difficulties. 
 
XIX 
 
 Once more amid old associations — Political predilections — Disallow- 
 ance on Manitoba's legislation — Driving the golden spike — 
 Fighting against slavery — What Manitoba paid for liberty. 
 
 After the elections of 1887 Donald A. Smith found 
 himself again in the House of Commons. Seven years 
 had elapsed since his forced retirement from Parlia- 
 ment by the decision of the Supreme Court. There 
 were still many Tory members in the House who 
 were present on that memorable occasion in 1878, 
 when he was so shockingly insulted by the Tory party.^ 
 Now he appeared as their associate and the dutiful 
 follower of their leader. In glancing around he could 
 see that not a few of those who sympathized with him 
 on that occasion were no longer in the House, and he 
 could reflect how much of the money of the syndicate 
 had gone, secretly, to ensure their absence. In looking 
 at the supporters of the Government he could recog- 
 nize some who had taken their part in the insulting 
 epithets thrown at him then, and remember that not 
 a little of the money which he controlled had gone 
 to keep them in their seats. The whirligig of time 
 had certainly brought great changes ! Now he was 
 forced to be on terms of intimacy with bitter personal 
 enemies, and to publicly repudiate those who a few 
 years previously were his personal and political friends. 
 
 ^ Appendix, 4. 
 174 
 
COMPLETING THE RAILWAY 175 
 
 Whatever was thought of the reasons which had 
 actuated him in deserting the Tory party in 1873, 
 there was no doubt as to why he was supporting the 
 Tory party in 1887. More than once in the years 
 immediately following 1880 was he reminded of the 
 changed circumstances, as well as of the opinions his 
 present allies had expressed of him on that well- 
 remembered occasion. But to Donald A. Smith's 
 credit be it said he never lost his temper during the 
 nine years he remained in the House, amid the many 
 aggravating and annoying reminders of the past. His 
 philosophical disposition to accept the inevitable never 
 deserted him. His standard of political honour was 
 not high, but it served. To him it was always his first 
 duty to consider his personal interests, and he could 
 comfort himself with the reflection that he was no 
 worse than many who were sitting around him. Not 
 a few were there who had been and were now accept- 
 ing substantial favours from him as a return for the 
 enactment of legislation which the syndicate desired 
 from time to time. 
 
 In November, 1887, four years earlier than the 
 agreement stipulated, the transcontinental railway 
 was completed to the Pacific coast. It had duly 
 passed out of the possession of the Canadian people 
 and into the sole control of a few magnates, none of 
 whose personal wealth had been expended in the 
 construction of the line. Very properly the master 
 mind of the syndicate, the genius who had guided and 
 guarded them through the wilderness of difficulties. 
 
176 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 never losing heart or failing in courage, and had 
 brought them at last to the rainbow's foot, was 
 selected to drive the golden nail in the last rail which 
 connected the east with the glorious west. In after 
 years Lady Strathcona used often to wear, as one of 
 her most treasured possessions, the beautiful diamond- 
 studded spike which the grateful syndicate presented 
 to her on this auspicious occasion. By this act all the 
 members of the syndicate, and those who had become 
 associated with the enterprise, publicly acknowledged 
 Donald A. Smith's chief place in the great organization. 
 
 The prairie section of the railway had only been 
 in operation a short time when the west resounded 
 with the wails of the farmers against the excessive 
 rates that were being charged for carrying their 
 produce to market-centres. By the terms of the 
 original agreement, a loophole was left whereby the 
 Company could do just about as it pleased, and there 
 was no adequate protection for the public. Repre- 
 sentations were made at Ottawa for relief, but the 
 syndicate, like Shylock, pleaded the terms of the bond. 
 
 The Legislature of Manitoba, however, had become 
 an important body, and the Government was forced 
 to pass legislation incorporating companies for con- 
 structing other railways throughout the province. 
 All these Bills were disallowed with commendable 
 promptitude by the Ottawa Government, and the 
 impression took possession of the public mind of the 
 province that the Manitoba Cabinet also was the tool 
 of Donald A. Smith and his associates, and was less 
 
A PROVINCE IN ARMS 177 
 
 willing to protect the struggling agricultural com- 
 munity than to interfere with the schemes of the 
 syndicate. The result was the defeat of the Norquay 
 Cabinet. They were followed by a party openly 
 avowing a policy of constructing railways within the 
 province regardless of disallowance by the Federal 
 administration at Ottawa. The public declared that 
 they would have competitive railways at the cost of 
 secession from eastern Canada, if necessary. The 
 people won. Disallowance ceased. Then a similar 
 agitation took place in the territory outside Manitoba. 
 When the Laurier Government came into power, in 
 order to secure an amicable reduction of freight or 
 goods-rates from the railway, several million dollars 
 additional subsidy was granted to the Company. It was 
 fully realized that the shackles the " Empire-Builders " 
 were forging on the general public could not be borne 
 without entailing conditions of absolute slavery. 
 
 The citizens of Manitoba now resolved to firmly 
 resist any further extortions imposed upon them by 
 Donald A. Smith's railway enterprises. A charter 
 was granted by the legislative assembly of the 
 province to a company to connect with the Northern 
 Pacific Railway of the United States — the rival of 
 J. J. Hill's and Donald A. Smith's American line. It 
 was found necessary to make a level crossing over the 
 syndicate's railroad in order to reach Brandon. The 
 employees of the Canadian Pacific company stood 
 guard over their line. But several hundred farmers 
 and citizens of Winnipeg appeared, armed with rifles, 
 
 M 
 
178 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 rushed the position, tore up the Canadian Pacific rails, 
 and protected the navvies while the diamond crossing 
 was laid. They held the fort for several days, threat- 
 ening violence on any attempt to interfere with the 
 new railroad. The syndicate finally realized, although 
 the courts would doubtless have assisted them, 
 the utter uselessness of engaging in a contest with 
 a province so unanimous in opposing their monopoly. 
 They retired to await developments. 
 
 Waiting was a game at which the syndicate was 
 past-master. 
 
 The astute " Empire-Builders " had another way of 
 " getting even " with the people of Manitoba. They 
 were at least familiar with the spirit of Byron's 
 Mazeppa — 
 
 " For time at last sets all things even — 
 And if we do but watch the hour, 
 There never was yet human power 
 Which could evade, if unforgiven, 
 The patient watch and vigil long 
 Of him who treasures up a wrong." 
 
 The following year the wheat crop of the province 
 was very poor, and much of it was damaged by an 
 early frost. The farmers of the prairies had not then 
 learned, as they afterwards accidentally discovered, 
 that wheat can be sown before the spring frost is out 
 of the ground, and thus secure the maturing of the 
 grain before the early autumn frosts. At this time 
 the Winnipeg grain-dealers could only find a market 
 for the damaged wheat in eastern Canada. The 
 syndicate's time had come ! No lower quotation could 
 
MAKING THE FARMER PAY 179 
 
 be secured from the railway for carrying the grain to 
 the great lakes, from whence cheap transportation 
 could be had by water, than at the rate of twenty-eight 
 cents (ij-. lid.) per bushel, equivalent to about forty- 
 eight cents (is.) per hundredweight. Therefore, the 
 buyers could only pay the farmers thirty-five cents 
 (ij. 6d.) per bushel for their grain. The carrying 
 distance from Winnipeg to the lake port was less 
 than 600 miles over a railway that had cost the Cana- 
 dian Government $30,000,000 (^6,000,000), and which 
 had been passed over to the Pacific Railway syndicate 
 as a free gift by Parhament. At the time the Canadian 
 syndicate was making this charge for carrying Canadian 
 grain, Donald A. Smith's American railroad was carry- 
 ing the product of American farms at less than half 
 the rate for the same distance. 
 
 This fearful bleeding of the life's blood of the toilers 
 of Manitoba continued until Wilfrid Laurier came 
 into power. But before this occurred ten years had 
 elapsed. This was the price that the struggle for 
 liberty, or in fact the right to a fair reward for their 
 hard labour, cost the people of Manitoba. They had 
 ventured to cross the path of the Juggernaut that was 
 rolling across the Canadian prairies. 
 
 Very early in the last session of that Parliament 
 (1896), Donald A. Smith announced his intention of 
 retiring from the House of Commons. The great 
 head of the Tory party for thirty years. Sir John 
 Macdonald, had passed over to the Great Majority 
 amid the universal lamentations of his faithful followers. 
 
180 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 The third reorganization of the party had taken place 
 since Sir John's death. The Premier could not be 
 said to have much in common with the head of the 
 Pacific syndicate. Donald A. Smith was quite willing 
 to use him, as he had used other instruments, but Sir 
 Mackenzie Bowell had never forgiven him for his 
 desertion of the party in 1873. Thus there was more 
 likelihood of the First Minister being in the way than 
 otherwise. This fact was made abundantly evident 
 during the latter part of the session. There was then 
 nothing in either the intellectual calibre, or the social 
 standing of the remnant of the great party that had 
 ruled Canada for eighteen years, to attract Donald A. 
 Smith. He had ceased to take much interest in the 
 proceedings in the House. The announcement, there- 
 fore, that he purposed retiring was looked upon by 
 many as perfectly natural. 
 
 The rank and file of the Tory party heard of his 
 proposed withdrawal from Parliament with mingled 
 feelings. They were not sorry he was leaving, but 
 they wondeied if his withdrawal from the House was 
 indicative of a move in the direction of the rising star 
 of Wilfrid Laurier. It was acknowledged that the 
 political barometer distinctly indicated that but a 
 brief period would elapse before the Liberals would 
 be in power, with Laurier as Premier. And it was 
 equally evident that the Tory party had reached a 
 point when cohesion was impossible. For the time 
 being the public was utterly in the dark as to Donald 
 A. Smith's ultimate intentions. One thing only was 
 
INTRODUCING YANKEE MANAGERS 181 
 
 certain, and that was, whatever course he might 
 adopt, there would be only one paramount con- 
 sideration. But, as in his early Parliamentary career, 
 he was keeping his own counsel. 
 
 In the meantime history was being made. The 
 Canadian Pacific Railway in fifteen years had developed 
 into one of the most stupendous corporations that the 
 world has ever seen. The ramifications of its business 
 extended throughout America, Europe, Asia and 
 Australia. In reality its interests had encircled the 
 globe. The members of the original syndicate had 
 amassed such wealth that their own affairs required 
 undivided attention. The methods of managing the 
 railway, and also of retaining that influence in political 
 circles which they regarded as a necessity, demanded 
 other experts. To meet this situation officials were 
 imported from the great railroads of the United 
 States to take the management of the railway. No 
 one in Canada was regarded as sufficiently competent. 
 Men were required who had experience in extensive 
 railroad control, as well as in the manipulation of 
 American politicians. A Parliamentary humourist, 
 and also one of the warmest friends of the Company 
 in the House, justified the policy of the syndicate by 
 jocularly inquiring " What can a draper accustomed 
 to measure cotton by the yard, or his companion, 
 whose principal calling in life has been to trap musk- 
 rats in the North-west, know about railway manage- 
 ment ? " Practical experience and up-to-date methods 
 were necessary for the most obvious reasons. 
 
182 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 In a half-apologetic manner the syndicate had asked 
 financial men to accept seats on the board of directors. 
 The new officials suggested that, with the presence of 
 Donald A. Smith in the House of Commons again, 
 it was time to make an advance all along the line. It 
 was also opportune that directorships should be given 
 to members of the House of Commons. And instead 
 of treating with the rank and file of either of the 
 political parties in the House, the services of party 
 whips should be engaged as far as possible. By 
 securing their co-operation, more than one object 
 could be attained. It might be possible through 
 their infiuence to prevent the nomination of certain 
 candidates for the House, who, so far, had failed to see 
 eye-to-eye with the syndicate, especially one on the 
 Liberal side of the House, who had been most insistent 
 in declaring that it might be necessary for a Royal 
 Commission to inquire into the political actions of 
 the syndicate. The syndicate had no longer any 
 thought of being a suppliant at the feet of Parliament. 
 Its mastery might now be asserted. 
 
 There was surely no reason why members of the 
 Board should not be secured from among those 
 occupying the highest positions in the gift of the 
 people. With an eye to the future this policy was 
 agreed upon, and in carrying it out excellent results 
 were obtained. Donald A. Smith had the satisfaction 
 of seeing both a Speaker of the House, and a First 
 Minister of the Crown on his board of directors. 
 With such aids it would be surprising if any legislation 
 
LOOKING FOR FURTHER PLUNDER 188 
 
 that might be desired was looked for in vain. With 
 such a public acknowledgment of their influence in 
 the state one would have thought the syndicate might 
 rest on their laurels. They had been given all they 
 demanded, and they had demanded much. But there 
 seemed no satisfying their ever-recurring pangs of 
 hunger. Their appetite was stupendous. So once 
 again they set to consider whether there was not 
 something else in the possession of the people of 
 Canada that they could get their hands on. Among 
 them were those who had no narrow views as to the 
 limits of exploiting public property, provided it could 
 be done with some outward pretence of furthering 
 general public interests, or for which some alleged 
 Imperial necessity could be used as a cloak. 
 
XX 
 
 " And Ahab spake unto Naboth " — Looking for another grab — The 
 Intercolonial railway — An unsatisfactory Prime Minister — Sir 
 Mackenzie Bowell — The " nest of traitors " — A successful cabal, 
 
 " And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me 
 thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden 
 of herbs, because it is near unto my house : 
 and I will give thee a better vineyard than it ; 
 or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the 
 worth of it in money. 
 
 " And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid 
 it, that I should give the inheritance of my 
 fathers unto thee. . . . 
 
 " And Jezebel his wife said unto him, . . . 
 I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the 
 Jezreelite." 
 
 Under the original agreement with the Government 
 
 the Pacific Railway syndicate received a bonus of 
 
 $25,000,000 (^5,000,000), 25,000,000 acres of selected 
 
 lands which will realize the Company $350,000,000 
 
 (^70,000,000), and portions of the main line of the 
 
 Pacific Railway upon which the people of Canada 
 
 had expended nearly $30,000,000 (^6,000,000). In 
 
 addition to all this, Donald A. Smith and his associates 
 
 had borrowed from the Government $30,000,000 
 
 (j^6,ooo,ooo) in 1883, and a further $15,000,000 
 
 (yr3, 000,000) in 1884. If the Canadian pubHc had 
 
 184 
 
PLANS TO STEAL A RAILWAY 185 
 
 not hy this time become so accustomed to the man- 
 oeuvres of the Company as to be too apathetic to 
 resist them, the fact that they were once again looking 
 around for yet another dainty dish to set before their 
 king, might have caused surprise as well as uneasiness. 
 Inasmuch as it did not, shows how completely the 
 people were then under the heel of the Canadian 
 Pacific syndicate. 
 
 The Canadian Government owned a railway, 1500 
 miles long, running from Quebec to two Atlantic 
 ports — St. John and Halifax — the route lying through 
 the Maritime Provinces. This line had cost Canada 
 about $65,000,000 (^13,000,000). In its inception 
 it was looked upon more as a political necessity than 
 as a business investment. In fact the construction 
 of the line was one of the terms of the Confederation 
 of the provinces. It can scarcely be claimed that the 
 management had always been business-like, the result 
 being that it was a constant bill of expense to the 
 people of Canada. Almost every year Parliament was 
 asked to vote large sums of money for maintenance, 
 and of late it had been under the political control of 
 a Minister who was an ardent supporter of everything 
 that the syndicate wanted. As if in preparation for 
 subsequent events, little had been left undone to 
 make the public dissatisfied with Government owner- 
 ship of the line. 
 
 Donald A. Smith's presence in the House of Com- 
 mons again was coincident with influences being 
 brought to bear on the Minister in charge, whereby 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway was given free running 
 
186 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 powers over one-fifth of this line, with full permission 
 to compete with the Government trains for local 
 traffic. Ahab coveting Naboth's vineyard was a 
 righteous desire in comparison with the longing eyes 
 that the syndicate set on this Government railway. 
 Ahab was willing to pay for the land that he wanted, 
 but in this case the great corporation was looking for 
 a political Jezebel to let them have the line as a gift. 
 It was their intention that the Canadian exchequer 
 should not get anything out of the transaction. It 
 might be necessary to give certain politicians practical 
 proof of the value of their services, but that was a 
 detail which could easily be provided for out of the 
 sale of the securities for which the property could be 
 bonded. 
 
 For several reasons, 1894-5 was considered an 
 opportune time to commence an agitation for the 
 disposal of the Intercolonial Railway to the Canadian 
 Pacific Company. The public was told with great 
 seriousness that the railway could never be made to 
 pay under the management of a department of the 
 Government. The annual votes of Parliament were 
 quoted to show the burden of expense that it had 
 already proved. These grants might fairly be taken 
 as an indication of what the future had in store for 
 Canadian taxpayers. 
 
 The newspapers subject to the influences exercised 
 by the Pacific Railway supported the suggestion to 
 get rid of the " incubus." The Maritime Provinces, 
 where the people are more directly interested, were the 
 first to take alarm. But it was suggested that a 
 
MEASURING UP THE PROSPECTS 187 
 
 Canadian Pacific management would bring about 
 many necessary reforms, making the line of greater 
 local service, and they were also assured that it would 
 then be the main line of the great transcontinental 
 system. Apparently the general public were lulled 
 into a sense of false security, and the subject ceased 
 to engage special interest, although the Liberal Press 
 strongly denounced the proposal as inimical to the 
 best interests of the country. 
 
 The unparalleled success with which the syndicate 
 had so far manipulated Canadian politicians, had long 
 since given them the necessary courage to pursue the 
 even tenor of their way, utterly regardless of the views 
 that the Liberal party might entertain on the ques- 
 tion. But they were well aware that there would 
 have to be a change in the personnel of the Govern- 
 ment, before getting their covetous desires realized in 
 respect to the Intercolonial Railway. 
 
 Sir Mackenzie Bowell was First Minister at this 
 time. He succeeded to the Premiership by right of 
 seniority, on the death of Sir John Thompson. He 
 was in no sense regarded as belonging to a brilliant 
 order of statesmen. Yet amid corrupt political 
 associations he preserved a reputation for sterling 
 honesty. It might be truthfully said that he was 
 moulded on exceedingly narrow lines. He was singu- 
 larly intolerant towards every one not attached to the 
 Tory party. This was probably due to his early and 
 continued association with the Orange Order. The 
 Order was a quasi political-religious association, essen- 
 tially Protestant, but far from being essentially religious 
 
188 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 in its character. Its members professed the belief 
 that the Order was the bulwark of Protestantism. But 
 the outlook would have been very discouraging for 
 Protestantism if its future depended upon such a 
 broken reed. Although originally founded to per- 
 petuate the memory of the Battle of the Boyne, and 
 therefore purely northern Irish in its character, in 
 Canada it numbered among its adherents almost every 
 nationality and colour. Even Indians were initiated 
 into the mysteries associated with membership during 
 that brief period when the tribes were allowed to vote 
 for Parliamentary candidates between 1887 and 1896. 
 The Order had long been a force in the Tory party, 
 but for more than forty years it had failed to furnish 
 the party with a single politician above mediocre 
 ability. Nevertheless Sir John Macdonald had always 
 acknowledged the head of the Order for political prefer- 
 ment. For many years the Grand-Master's position 
 was associated with a portfolio in Tory Cabinets. 
 
 Sir Mackenzie Bowell was strong in two extremes 
 of character — admiration and hatred. His admiration 
 for Sir John Macdonald, and the reverence that he 
 entertained for the memory of that great personality 
 was to him a religion. His hatred for the Tupper 
 family, although one was a colleague in his own 
 Cabinet, and the other was his High Commissioner in 
 London, also partook of the nature of religious fervour. 
 Upon Sir John Macdonald's reputation there was one 
 stain, at least — that growing out of the Pacific scandal 
 of 1 873. And it was on this account that Sir Mackenzie 
 Bowell had never allowed himself to forgive the part 
 
DRIVING OUT A PRIME MINISTER 189 
 
 that Donald A. Smith had played in that ex- 
 posure. In his opinion Donald A. should never have 
 been recognized by the party again. This mental 
 attitude certainly formed the foundation of an in- 
 superable barrier to the realization of the Railway 
 syndicate's aspirations to secure the Intercolonial 
 Railway as a free gift. 
 
 So far Sir Mackenzie Bowell had not been wanting 
 in loyalty to the Pacific Railway syndicate as a corpora- 
 tion, but he had been equally emphatic in denouncing 
 the desertion of Donald A. Smith in 1872. That he 
 would be a party to the proposal to present the Inter- 
 colonial Railway as a gift to the syndicate was regarded 
 as beyond the range of possibility. Therefore as 
 First Minister he must be deposed. How this was to 
 be accomplished was a problem. Great care would 
 have to be exercised to prevent such a political crisis 
 as might precipitate the downfall of the whole party. 
 His colleagues were sounded as to the possibility of 
 the chief's retirement, and their report was that he 
 was determined to remain First Minster until after 
 the then-approaching elections. 
 
 Then determined efforts were put forth with the 
 object of driving him out. The proceedings at 
 Cabinet meetings ceased to be secret. His sugges- 
 tions in the Privy Council Chamber regarding the 
 policy of the party and the transaction of business 
 in Parliament, then assembled, were met with insulting 
 laughter and scorn. His recommendations for appoint- 
 ments to vacancies in the service were promptly nega- 
 tived. No Order-in-Council which he introduced was 
 
190 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 passed. For weeks the Executive Council Chamber 
 was Httle better than a comic opera. Every time he 
 called the Cabinet together it was to receive additional 
 humiliation and insult from those whom a stronger 
 man would have dismissed at once. Public business 
 was at a standstill. All shades of politicians realized 
 " that there was something in the wind." Meanwhile, 
 Donald A. Smith was flitting to and fro, looking as 
 imperturbable and unconcerned as on that memorable 
 occasion in 1873 when he first absorbed all the lime- 
 light on the scene. 
 
 Within the inner circle it was well known that 
 the proposed presentation of the Intercolonial Railway 
 to the Pacific Railway was making progress. Like a 
 bolt out of a clear sky, the startling information was 
 given to the public (1896) that seven members of the 
 Cabinet had tendered their resignations to the Premier. 
 It was thought by the political Jezebels that if the 
 First Minister would look upon this act on the part of 
 his colleagues as a hint that he no longer enjoyed the 
 confidence of the party, he might be replaced by a 
 Premier who would see the Intercolonial Railway 
 project through that session. The influence of the 
 syndicate practically dominated both the Senate and 
 the House of Commons at this time. Days were 
 succeeded by weeks, and still the cabal continued. 
 
 Sir Mackenzie Bowell administered the affairs of 
 the Government with less than half a Cabinet. He 
 declined to notify the Governor-General officially of 
 the resignations of his colleagues, although the humili- 
 ating political situation was discussed in both Houses. 
 
THE NEST OF TRAITORS 191 
 
 He sent word to them that if they did not return to 
 their portfolios he would advise the Governor-General 
 to call on Wilfrid Laurier to form a Government. 
 They knew that was an idle boast, and they had only 
 to remind him that such an action would bring down 
 on his head more bitter maledictions from his own 
 party, throughout the country, than had been poured 
 out on the traitors of 1873. They refused to return. 
 They openly boasted that they " would drive the 
 old dog out." At the same time he was referring to 
 them in the most public manner as a " nest of 
 traitors." 
 
 The most influential personality on the Govern- 
 ment side of the House of Commons just then was 
 Donald A. Smith. He may not have been admired 
 by the rank and file of his party for the time being, 
 but they knew his power. One word of encourage- 
 ment or sympathy from him and Bowell's Cabinet 
 would have been reorganized. The " nest of traitors " 
 would have been out, Bowell would have been con- 
 firmed in his position as Premier, and then have gone 
 to the country with a reorganized and probably a 
 fairly strong Cabinet. 
 
 But Donald A. Smith had not forgotten that 
 memorable scene in the House eighteen years previously 
 when his associations were with the opposite poHtical 
 party, and Mackenzie Bowell was one of the most 
 active in hurling insults at him across the floor of the 
 House. And the consideration might also have had 
 some weight, that, if the Bowell Cabinet remained in 
 office, the Intercolonial Railway would continue in 
 
192 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the Government possession. There were many reasons 
 why the cabal should be allowed to succeed. Donald 
 A. Smith was again keeping his own counsel. 
 
 It was evident that the Tory party, which had 
 proved invincible for eighteen long years, largely 
 through the influences of Donald A. Smith and his 
 colleagues, was fast going to pieces. The canker- 
 worm had eaten into the body politic and had com- 
 pletely destroyed the vitality of the greatest political 
 party that Canada had seen up to that date. Sir 
 Charles Tupper, who had been in and out of the 
 position of High Commissioner, as party needs dictated, 
 and whose son was one of the " nest of traitors," was 
 sent for, to see if he could not bring about a better 
 state of affairs. On his arrival he proceeded to act 
 as intermediary between the factions. 
 
 Although Sir Mackenzie Bowell did not hold the 
 High Commissioner blameless in the intrigues to get 
 rid of him, he gracefully accepted the inevitable, and 
 agreed, if the " traitors " would return, to resign the 
 Premiership as soon as the session was concluded. 
 He also promised that he would then advise the 
 Governor-General to send for Sir Charles Tupper to 
 form a Government. The Canadian Pacific magnates 
 had undoubtedly won. A distinct advance had been 
 made in the prospects of the Intercolonial Railway 
 passing out of the possession of the Government. 
 A Prime Minister who might have stood in the way 
 had been deposed. The intriguers knew that some 
 Canadian statesmen could be approached, but Mac- 
 kenzie Bowell was not among the number. 
 
XXI 
 
 A satisfactory First Minister — Fishing for forty millions — Sir Donald 
 as High Commissioner — Laurier's political strength — Stirring up 
 religious strife — Hierarchy recognized by the state — Laurier 
 successful — The coming Prime Minister. 
 
 On the accession of Sir Charles Tupper to the Premier- 
 ship, coincident with the dissolution of Parliament, 
 Sir Donald A. Smith was appointed to the position 
 of High Commissioner for Canada in London. He 
 had previously been knighted on the recommendation 
 of Lord Aberdeen. The announcement that the new 
 knight would take up his residence in London as the 
 official representative of the Dominion, was received 
 with mingled feelings. It was believed that his 
 enormous wealth would be freely expended at the 
 heart of the Empire in bringing Canada to the front, 
 and that he would soon become a not unimportant 
 figure in official circles. But at the same time it 
 was well known that Donald A. Smith had never taken 
 any action in his life that was not the subject of 
 cautious calculation beforehand. The routine of the 
 London office could have no possible attraction for 
 him, nor yet its official character, unless there were 
 other considerations. As to whether there were any, 
 
 the public was left to conjecture. In his connection 
 N 193 
 
194 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 with the politics of Canada Sir Donald A. Smith had 
 always carried his cards up his sleeve. It was known 
 in an inner circle that he was not adopting on this 
 occasion a policy inconsistent with that characteristic. 
 
 The preliminary arrangements for the passing of 
 the Intercolonial Railway over to a syndicate in the 
 interests of the Pacific Railway had advanced to such 
 a point as to justify the London market being sounded 
 on the question of bonding the line. The amount 
 that it was thought might be raised was between 
 thirty and forty million dollars (six or eight million 
 pounds sterling) ; the latter figure was finally decided 
 upon. The report received by the prospective bene- 
 ficiaries in Canada from London was that, with a 
 representative in the office of the High Commissioner 
 in London who was friendly to the project, all the 
 money that was needed could be easily secured. There 
 could be no better selection for the position, in the 
 opinion of those who wanted to see the project go 
 through, than the highly respected original backbone 
 of the syndicate, Sir Donald Smith, and, moreover, he 
 had long been considered the Ahab in the suggested 
 transaction. It was calculated that with forty million 
 dollars in cash or Intercolonial Railway bonds, allowing 
 a reasonable margin for " expenses " of the character 
 that had been necessary in previous Government 
 transactions, there would still be over thirty millions 
 of dollars for their own pockets. 
 
 This particular syndicate had learned through 
 twenty years' association with Canadian politics that 
 
EMBRACING OFFICIAL LIFE 195 
 
 certain opportunities to those who have power seldom 
 come more than once in a lifetime. But when they 
 do, the value of services on the second occasion are 
 higher than on the first. Those having this matter 
 in charge well considered this phase of the question. 
 As was said hy Lord Clive, when he heard his offences 
 enumerated in the House of Lords, that he was amazed 
 at his own moderation ; so certain members of the 
 syndicate had reason to measure not a few Canadian 
 politicians by their previous illuminating experience — 
 expensive lessons, but enduring. They, therefore, 
 intended to exercise every care to make sure of their 
 own haul out of the sale of the bonds, before handing 
 the railroad over to the management of the Canadian 
 Pacific. So satisfied was the clique that the oracle 
 could be worked that a prospectus was printed, and 
 everything arranged to make a public issue. One- 
 half of the bonds were to be taken by the syndicate. 
 
 Sir Donald A. Smith found himself in London as 
 High Commissioner for Canada — the highest position 
 at the disposal of the Dominion Government — the 
 official representative of the country to which he had 
 emigrated as a friendless lad sixty years before. In 
 that western country he had played for heavy stakes, 
 both in the western States and in Canada, and he had 
 won ; but in the game of chance or skill he had not 
 yet won his last trick. He could count upon, as 
 the instruments of his will, many men who had ranked 
 as brilliant statesmen. Perhaps some in the wider 
 field of Imperial politics would have been more careful 
 
196 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 of their own honour, and the permanent interests 
 of their country. And he had met statesmen in the 
 Canadian ParHament whose sense of honour, and love 
 for their adopted country's future, had made it 
 impossible for him to use them for the advancement 
 of his personal interests. 
 
 One wonders whether Sir Donald A. Smith ever 
 reflected if all that he had won was worth what 
 it had cost. He and his colleagues had gone through 
 fire, though not of the sort that purifies. They had 
 fought many battles, and had come forth with colours 
 flying and ranks intact. What mattered it to them, 
 that from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic the country 
 was dotted with the political tombstones of those who, 
 struggling to protect the public interest, determined 
 to hold fast their integrity, never wavering in 
 their patriotic belief in the great future of their 
 country, ever standing firm in opposing the syndicate, 
 had been wiped out of existence ? At this moment 
 a Government was in power which was to a greater 
 extent his individual creation than any of the several 
 with which he had had experience. If this administra- 
 tion could be successful at the pending elections, the 
 Intercolonial Railway stood a good chance of falling 
 into the capacious maw of the great railway syndicate 
 which he had brought into existence. What were the 
 Canadian electors likely to do ? That was the problem 
 that was awaiting solution. Sir Charles Tupper was 
 Premier, and if he was successful at the polls, he 
 would certainly dominate his Cabinet. He would not 
 
EFFORTS TO WORK THE CHURCH 197 
 
 tolerate intriguers as Sir Mackenzie Bowell had done. 
 No Canadian politicians had better cause to under- 
 stand each other than the High Commissioner and the 
 First Minister of Canada. They had exchanged con- 
 fidences in the early 'seventies such as few men give one 
 to the other. They had fought like Kilkenny cats on 
 that memorable occasion in the House of Commons 
 in 1878 until scarcely the tails of personal reputations 
 were left. But Sir Charles Tupper was not Scotch, 
 he had a forgiving nature, and had long since forgiven 
 the " treachery of 1873." Lord Strathcona, although 
 he was Scotch, always pardoned offences if the offender 
 would serve him later. With such charmingly diversi- 
 fied dispositions it would be a pity if they could 
 not agree ! 
 
 Surely the fates were propitious. Wilfrid Laurier 
 was leading the Liberals apparently on a forlorn hope. 
 The clergy in Quebec, Laurier's own province, were 
 believed to be unfriendly, and the Pacific Railway 
 organization set to work systematically to inflame the 
 Catholic electors against him. The managing director 
 of the railway, Mr. (now Sir) Thomas Shaughnessy, 
 recently an American citizen, was an ardent adherent 
 of the Mother-Church. He could prove his de- 
 votion to the Church, if not the earnestness of 
 his religion, by his strenuous opposition to Laurier, 
 the Liberal, and at the same time keep a watchful 
 eye on the interests of the railway. With the 
 railway management, as with the operations of the 
 syndicate, politics and business had run together for 
 
198 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 many years. There was no reason to suppose that a 
 little religion should not prove an equally good running- 
 mate. 
 
 Another reason actuating the Pacific Railway opposi- 
 tion to the Liberal party was the Royal Commission, 
 so strongly threatened by influential Liberals, to 
 inquire into the political expenditures of the company 
 during the preceding fifteen years. But the argument 
 advanced to the Catholics why they should vote against 
 the Liberal candidates was that Laurier had opposed 
 the Remedial Bill which the Government of Sir 
 Mackenzie Bowell, at the request of Archbishop 
 Langevin, had introduced to Parliament. This mea- 
 sure was to re-establish separate Catholic schools 
 in Manitoba, which some years previously had been 
 abolished by the legislature of the province. It 
 seemed probable that, if the passions of the electors 
 could be appealed to successfully on religious grounds, 
 the syndicate might ensure the defeat of the Liberal 
 party, and thus avert the threatened inquiry into the 
 Augean stable of political corruption in which the 
 syndicate had revelled since 1878. It was a sight for 
 the gods — descendants of those who had followed 
 John Knox trying to find a hiding-place behind the 
 soutane of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. 
 
 The contest was a battle-royal. In almost every 
 constituency in Quebec the clergy, moved by common 
 impulse, denounced the Liberal candidates.^ To an 
 outsider the issue must have seemed inevitable, and 
 
 ^ Appendix, 15. 
 
THE POWER OF THE CLERGY 199 
 
 that Laurier could win in the face of such overwhelming 
 odds an impossibility. 
 
 It should be remembered that the French population 
 in Canada is truly religious above everything else. 
 The late Monsignor Stoke-Robinson told the writer 
 many years ago that they are regarded in Rome as 
 amongst the most devout in the entire Catholic world. 
 They have little use for one of their own faith who has 
 too liberal views in religion. Their religious fervour 
 demands entire submission to the teachings of the 
 Church, and they were not encouraged to discriminate 
 between Liberal politics and Liberal Catholicism. 
 
 The Church had been accustomed from time 
 immemorial to take a more or less prominent part 
 in the politics of the country. Under the grand- 
 monarque, Louis XIV, the right of the Church to a 
 seat in the governing council was acknowledged, and 
 the authority of the clergy in the Government of the 
 country was unquestioned in the early days of British 
 rule, as in the treaty ceding Canada to Great Britain 
 their rights were specially recognized. When emis- 
 saries from the American revolutionists in 1775 en- 
 deavoured to seduce the French Canadians from their 
 allegiance, the influence of the clergy, without ex- 
 ception, was exercised in favour of the British Crown ; 
 and on the occasion of the rebellion in 1837, the clergy 
 denounced the action of Louis Papineau, the leader 
 of the malcontents in Lower Canada, and his followers. 
 It was not until the later 'seventies that clerical inter- 
 ference in an isolated election was seriously questioned, 
 
200 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 but in the meantime the breach was slowly widening 
 between Ultramontanism, represented by clerical 
 interference in the political life of the province, and 
 that section of the Church which thought such an 
 attitude on the part of the clergy inconsistent with 
 democratic government. 
 
 However, in spite of all the dust thrown up by 
 local complications and religious difficulty, Laurier's 
 supporters never wavered. The Liberal leader's atti- 
 tude upon the Remedial Bill was boldly justified on 
 the ground that the subject of education was entirely 
 within the rights of the legislatures of the provinces. 
 To admit the claim that the Federal Parliament could 
 force a system upon a province in opposition to the 
 expressed will of the people, was to establish a pre- 
 cedent at Ottawa that might be quoted some day as 
 justification for interference with the autonomy 
 enjoyed by the Catholics of Quebec. There might be 
 a temporary gain by the adoption of the Remedial Bill, 
 but the consequences were fraught with disastrous 
 possibilities in the future from even the Catholic 
 point of view. Laurier's supporters in Quebec pointed 
 out also, to enthusiastic gatherings, that now was a 
 chance to have a French-Canadian and a Catholic 
 as Prime Minister in an English-speaking and largely 
 Protestant Dominion — an opportunity that might 
 never occur again. This appeal to the pride of race 
 proved more powerful than the terrors of excom- 
 munication threatened by so many of the clergy. 
 
 Among other questions of interest, not the least 
 
A DYING POLITICAL PARTY 201 
 
 was the general opposition to the part the syndicate 
 persisted in taking in the elections. While the 
 individual members of the syndicate, largely repre- 
 sented in the public eye by Sir Donald A. Smith and 
 Lord Mount Stephen (formerly George Stephen), both 
 of whom were pronounced Imperialists, the manage- 
 ment of the railway was really in the hands of recently 
 imported citizens of the United States, who had 
 taken the short cut allowed by the Canadian laws to 
 become full-fledged " British subjects." The humilia- 
 tion of having erstwhile American citizens, very recent 
 at that, attempting to direct the politics of the 
 Dominion was rather a noxious dose even for those 
 Imperialists who were not occupying the seats of the 
 mighty. 
 
 The public resentment against this open and un- 
 reserved attitude on the part of the Canadian Pacific 
 undoubtedly helped to throw the balance of power 
 into Laurier's hands in 1896. The Tories were led 
 by Sir Charles Tupper, one of the ablest statesmen 
 Canada has produced. He had been kept in London 
 by the jealousy of mediocrity. He was sent for when 
 it would have been easier to revivify an Egyptian 
 mummy of the time of Pharaoh. The Tory party was 
 afflicted with dry-rot. Nevertheless, he entered the 
 campaign with magnificent courage, and boundless 
 resource. The corporations subsidized by the Govern- 
 ment and an army of officials put up a good fight. 
 Neither the Tory party nor the syndicate could 
 believe other than that a miracle had happened when 
 
202 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Laurier carried a majority in almost every province. 
 The Tories and the Ultramontanes had forced the 
 issue in Quebec, and they were hoist by their own 
 petard. The Liberal candidates swept the province 
 like an avalanche, notwithstanding the action of the 
 clergy, in fact even assisted by it. During the years 
 that the Liberals had been in Opposition a new 
 generation had arisen in public life. Laurier was 
 surrounded by a galaxy of talent such as Parliament 
 had not seen for twenty-five years. The Liberal 
 victory was regarded on all sides as a red-letter day 
 in the history of Canada. The whole country was 
 ripe for a change, and great things were expected from 
 the coming administration. 
 
XXII 
 
 Donald A. changing his politics again — Intriguing against Laurier's 
 colleague — The power of wealth — The monetary kings win — 
 Where the blow fell — Ambitions never realized — Liberals and 
 the hierarchy — An appeal to Rome — Ultramontane and Orange 
 — A Papal decree. 
 
 If the syndicate had lost hy the defeat of the party 
 with which they had been so intimate, the next best 
 thing was to make friends with the new rulers as soon 
 as possible. It did not signify, in their estimation, 
 that, because they had expended enormous sums of 
 money in keeping the Liberals out of power at Ottawa 
 for nearly two decades, they should not make peace 
 with them when they were in. They did not allow 
 any false sense of modesty to stand in the way of 
 approaching Wilfrid Laurier and his followers with 
 the olive branch ; for had not the Liberal leaders 
 threatened that as soon as they came into power they 
 would issue a Royal Commission to inquire into all 
 the political expenditures authorized by the syndicate 
 and the Company ? It was bad enough to have their 
 hopes of securing possession of the Intercolonial Rail- 
 way crushed, as had certainly been done by the defeat 
 of Sir Charles Tupper's Government, without having 
 to face an exposure that would " stagger humanity " 
 
 wherever responsible government was known. 
 
 203 
 
204 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Those who had become honoured and distinguished 
 knew that such an investigation would reveal a more 
 demoralizing state of affairs than the exposure of the 
 former Pacific scandal, which had been so vehemently 
 denounced by Donald A. Smith in 1873. They were 
 prepared to stand the loss of the profits which might 
 have been realized by the Intercolonial Railway project 
 going through ; but none could stand the revelations 
 shown up under the searchlight of a Royal Commission. 
 Therefore, no time must be lost in propitiating the 
 prospective First Minister. They all knew that 
 Laurier's ideals of public life were too high to allow 
 influences, such as they were accustomed to exercise, 
 being brought into operation. However, with finan- 
 ciers of that class the resources of wire-pulling are 
 seldom exhausted. 
 
 The master-minds of the intriguing combination 
 were going to take no risks by placing all their eggs 
 in one basket — that of the good-will which they 
 hoped might be cultivated with the coming First 
 Minister. Wilfrid Laurier's most prominent colleague 
 was Sir Richard Cartwright, who held very pro- 
 nounced views on two particular subjects — the tariff 
 and the political immorality of the Canadian Pacific 
 syndicate. To the latter he attributed the flood of 
 corruption that had swept over Canadian politics 
 since 1880. He was more insistent than any other 
 prominent Liberal, since Edward Blake's retirement, 
 in threatening an investigation under Royal Com- 
 mission. To clip Sir Richard's wings, and perhaps 
 
WIRE-PULLING BY THE SYNDICATE 205 
 
 crush his spirit, was regarded as essential. In early 
 political life Cartwright had been regarded as the 
 rising hope of the Tories, but he afterwards found 
 himself out of sympathy with his leader. With the 
 single exception of Sir Francis Hincks there has been 
 no one in Canada with the peculiar aptitude for 
 Government finance that Cartwright possessed. He 
 had been Finance Minister in Alexander Mackenzie's 
 administration from 1873 to 1878. No one else was 
 thought of, during the long years between 1878 and 
 1896, as head of the Treasury in a prospective Liberal 
 Government. In every suggestion about the pro- 
 spective personnel of the Laurier Cabinet, Sir Richard 
 Cartwright's name appeared as Minister of Finance. 
 It was the accepted view. 
 
 But there were breakers ahead, undreamed of by 
 the rank and file of the party. A Liberal member 
 of the House of Commons and the party whip, Mr. 
 James Sutherland — who was personally unfriendly to 
 Cartwright, and who was known to have very intimate 
 relations with the Pacific syndicate — organized a depu- 
 tation of official representatives from all the Banks for 
 the purpose of protesting to Wilfrid Laurier against 
 the appointment of Sir Richard Cartwright as Finance 
 Minister. The principal reason given was his alleged 
 advocacy of a reduction in the tariff. The deputation 
 claimed that Cartwright's appointment would create 
 uneasiness in manufacturing and financial circles, 
 as indicating drastic changes in the fiscal policy of 
 the country. Laurier defended Cartwright warmly, 
 
206 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 pointing out that the Finance Minister under the 
 present form of Government had no more authority 
 to effect changes in the tariff than any other individual 
 member of the Cabinet, and that the tariff, in what- 
 ever changes might be proposed, would be the policy 
 of the Government as a whole. The bankers, how- 
 ever, had not come to argue, but to act. They 
 finally declared that if Sir Richard was given the 
 portfolio of Finance, they would immediately with- 
 draw all their call loans, amounting to $125,000,000 
 (^25,000,000) and thus bring on a financial crisis. 
 
 Wilfrid Laurier did not realize his power at the 
 moment, and indeed, perhaps, it was not sufficient at 
 that time. In later years he would have certainly 
 treated such an audacious threat with the contempt 
 that it deserved. But he then yielded to the monetary 
 magnates, and regretfully decided to meet their views. 
 He felt he could not afford to have his Government 
 face to face with a commercial crisis on the threshold 
 of its existence. Another might have taken the risk. 
 It is needless to discuss the reply which would be 
 given to a deputation of that kind by a British states- 
 man, or even the possibility of such a deputation being 
 organized in Great Britain. Cartwright did not get 
 the portfolio of Finance, and the ambitions and hopes 
 of eighteen years were blasted. Both the Canadian 
 Pacific and the manufacturers had scored in the first 
 round with the victorious Liberal party. 
 
 Wilfrid Laurier's caution at this critical period was 
 prompted by no want of loyalty to a faithful colleague. 
 
A VICTIM OF INTRIGUE 207 
 
 His esteem for Cartwright amounted almost to affec- 
 tion. He was genuinely anxious to protect Cart- 
 wright from the tide of adverse influences that were 
 being so cleverly engineered. But he was strongly 
 advised to surrender by two very intimate and trusted 
 confidantes. They were both Scotch — one was thor- 
 oughly honest in his fears and the other was not. One 
 was Sir Oliver Mowat, the most timorous and con- 
 scientious of statesmen, and among whose Tory and 
 official social surroundings in Toronto there was no 
 sympathy with Cartwright, the aristocratic Liberal. 
 The other was Mr. James Sutherland, M.P., the 
 organizer of the deputation, whose close intimacy with 
 the syndicate was not so well known then. It was a 
 different Laurier whom a party cabal met twelve 
 years later, when Cartwright had almost ceased to be 
 a political force. Then, when they requested the 
 Prime Minister to replace him with younger blood, his 
 reply was briefly : " No, Cartwright will be my colleague 
 as long as he desires to remain in public life." 
 
 Sir Oliver Mowat was in Montreal when the deputa- 
 tion met Laurier, and wrote to one of his colleagues 
 suggesting that the writer should see Sir Richard at 
 Kingston, inform him of what was going on, and tell 
 him what was likely to be Wilfrid Laurier's decision. 
 Sir Richard was calmly waiting the current of events 
 in his delightful home on the banks of the St. Law- 
 rence, just where the waters of the Great Lakes enter 
 the river. The news of the intrigue was like a bolt 
 out of a clear sky. Nothing of the kind had been 
 
208 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 even dreamed of. The blow was staggering. The 
 writer can never forget that sight of a strong man 
 suddenly crushed. Silently we went out on the lawn 
 down to the water's edge while he tried to recover 
 himself. At last his spirit flamed up and asserted 
 itself as he exclaimed passionately : " This is the 
 syndicate. They are hiding behind the manufac- 
 turers. The Banks dare not carry out their threat ! 
 
 It is a vile plot ! Laurier cannot, cannot " he 
 
 added brokenly. However, subsequent events proved 
 the inevitable. Cartwright accepted the portfolio of 
 Trade and Commerce, but he was never the Cart- 
 wright of old again. For eighteen years he had spared 
 neither time, energy, nor fortune in his party's interest. 
 His private affairs had not received his personal atten- 
 tion. His sacrifices on this point had been immense. 
 He had dreamed dreams of bringing about more 
 intimate political and commercial relations with the 
 Mother-country ; and perhaps, also, for playing a 
 leading part in negotiations for closer ties between 
 Great Britain and the United States — an English- 
 speaking alliance as an influence among the Great 
 Powers. These were aspirations worthy of the highest 
 ideals of Imperial statesmanship. But this ambition 
 was shattered, and became lifeless under the new 
 conditions. A great mind that had seen Imperial 
 visions, narrowed into bitterness, resentment and 
 jealousy. The political python which had crushed 
 the aspirations of scores of prominent Liberals during 
 the preceding sixteen years, whose only offence was 
 
CRISIS IN POLITICAL LIBERTY 209 
 
 their love of country, had found another victim. 
 But far worse was yet to follow. 
 
 After the election, the Liberals, smarting under the 
 clerical denunciations to which they had been sub- 
 jected, resolved upon drastic measures to prevent 
 their recurrence. Truly the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 in organizing the Church campaign against Laurier 
 and in fanning into flame the smouldering embers of 
 religious intolerance, had built up the cause of 
 Canadian political liberty better than they knew. It 
 was realized on all sides that a crisis had been reached, 
 between those in the Church who supported clerical 
 participation in the political affairs of the country, 
 and those who thought the time had come when such 
 a course was inconsistent with democratic govern- 
 ment ; the latter claimed to represent the vast majority 
 of the Catholic electors in Laurier's native province. 
 Shortly after the formation of the Laurier Govern- 
 ment a meeting was called of all the Catholic repre- 
 sentatives of Quebec. The influential character of 
 the conference stands unquestioned — Wilfrid Laurier 
 and his Catholic colleagues of the Federal Cabinet, 
 Senators and Members of the House of Commons, 
 Sir Louis Gouin, Premier of Quebec, and his colleagues, 
 and Members of the Legislative Council and of the 
 Legislative Assembly of the Province. No country 
 over which the successor of the First Bishop of Rome 
 exercises spiritual sway could bring together more 
 devoted adherents of the Church. Among them were 
 statesmen who were destined to stamp their personality 
 
210 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 upon the history of Canada to a degree far exceeding 
 that of any who had gone before, and whose adminis- 
 tration of the pubHc service would bring about a 
 national development heretofore unparalleled in the 
 life of the Dominion. It was resolved to memorialize 
 the Sacred College of the Propaganda at Rome. The 
 signatories were all Catholics fervently devoted to 
 the interests of the Church. They represented the 
 great majority of the Catholic population of the 
 province. They claimed that the right to political 
 liberty was not inconsistent with the spiritual life of 
 the Church. They viewed with alarm the increasing 
 strain that must be inevitable between the parishioners 
 and the clergy by a continuation of the extraordinary 
 political activity of the hierarchy so recently evident 
 throughout the province, and they humbly prayed 
 that the subject might receive the attention of the 
 Holy See.^ 
 
 The Ultramontane wing of the Church was up in 
 arms at the unparalleled audacity of the Liberal party, 
 steps being immediately taken to prevent the official 
 acceptance of the memorial at Rome. And for a time 
 it looked as if they might succeed. ^ But Laurier and 
 his associates had taken the bit in their teeth, and 
 were not going to be turned from their purpose. In 
 fact they were more determined to press the matter. 
 Laurier was no longer the leader of a forlorn hope in 
 a Parliamentary minority. He was a Prime Minister 
 of a great Colony, recently knighted at Queen Victoria's 
 Diamond Jubilee, and had been the social and political 
 
 1 Appendix, l6. ^ Appendix, 17. 
 
AN APPEAL TO ROME 211 
 
 lion of the last London season. His request for a 
 hearing at Rome was not as a voice crying in the 
 wilderness. It was determined to reach the Great 
 Head of the Church himself, Leo XHI, whom the 
 world now recognizes as a great statesman and 
 diplomat, with the memorial. The good offices of 
 Lord Russell of Killowen and other prominent 
 British Catholics were secured, and eventually His 
 Holiness was made aware of the serious position of 
 the Church in that part of the Catholic world where 
 her supremacy had hitherto given no cause for anxiety 
 to the careful watchmen on the towers of Rome. 
 
 To the Protestant world, in which sectarian issues 
 also become sometimes acute, the subsequent events 
 in the province of Quebec are of more than ordinary 
 interest. In the then recent elections in Canada 
 the great bulk of the Catholic clergy had supported 
 the Tory candidates, who in turn were political 
 followers of Sir Mackenzie Bowell, the late Dominion 
 Prime Minister and the acknowledged head of the 
 Orange Order. Not a few had been threatened with 
 excommunication from the Church as the penalty of 
 voting for the Laurier candidates. Lord Londonderry, 
 Sir Edward Carson, or Captain Craig never expressed 
 themselves more fearful of Catholic domination or 
 Rome Rule than had Sir Mackenzie Bowell in his 
 1 2th of July orations. Yet Orange and Ultramontane 
 had walked arm-in-arm to the polls for a quarter of a 
 century. Once again they managed to find common 
 ground upon which to attack Laurier. Both de- 
 nounced his appeal to Rome — Orange alleging that 
 
212 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Laurier, by the memorial of the Liberal Catholics, 
 formally admitted the right of the Holy See to political 
 jurisdiction in Canada ; and Ultramontane alleging 
 Laurier's determination to undermine the authority 
 of the Church in his native province. 
 
 Meanw^hile events were moving at Rome, regardless 
 of influences at work within and without the Sacred 
 College. His Holiness appointed the present Secretary 
 of State at the Vatican, Cardinal Merry Del Val, as 
 Papal Legate to Canada to investigate the whole 
 matter. This representative of the Church was the 
 youngest priest ever sent on such an important mission. 
 It may not be for a Protestant to express any opinion 
 about his fitness for the post to which he was appointed ; 
 but the wisdom of the selection was never questioned 
 in French Canada. Of Spanish descent, educated in 
 England, presenting a most charming personality, he 
 mingled freely with all the different factions in Canada 
 for a year. During his residence there the slightest 
 hint of the trend of his thoughts never reached the 
 leaders on either side. But shortly after his return to 
 Rome a pronunciamento was issued by Leo XHI 
 prohibiting further active participation by the clergy 
 in the political affairs of the country. By this decision 
 the Church gave another illustration of the reasonable- 
 ness of the conclusion arrived at by Lord Macaulay 
 in his review of Ranke's History of the Popes. And this 
 all-important struggle for political liberty in which 
 Laurier gained the hall-mark of Church authority 
 upon his victory, is the most vivid illustration of the 
 " biter bitten " it would be possible to find in any history. 
 
XXIII 
 
 Making peace with the new ruler — The threatened Royal Com- 
 mission — Laurier and Sir Donald — A seat with the Peers — Cecil 
 Rhodes and Strathcona. 
 
 Before Wilfrid Laurier realized what was taking place, 
 immediately following the satisfactory returns from 
 the polls, he found himself burdened with congratula- 
 tory cables and telegrams from many through whose 
 opposition he had suffered for eighteen years. And not 
 the least important were from those connected with the 
 Pacific Railway. Canadian contractors have a reputa- 
 tion for changing their politics as quickly as tho. personnel 
 of Governments. But members of the old syndicate 
 did not wait for the change to take place. They out- 
 distanced the contractors by weeks. Thus, long before 
 Laurier was summoned by the Governor-General to 
 form a Cabinet, leading Liberals were loaded down 
 with the proffered support of erstwhile opponents. 
 
 It became evident to the public from the beginning 
 of the Liberal rigime, that the prospect of the oft- 
 threatened Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 
 political character of the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 taking place was problematical. Wilfrid Laurier was 
 taken in the flush of victory, just at the time when 
 
 one is inclined to be at peace with the world, and 
 
 213 
 
214 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 magnanimity is one of Laurier's strong characteristics. 
 It was only necessary to offer friendship to secure 
 forgiveness. He needed to be more than ordinarily 
 magnanimous to have forgiven so readily, for he had 
 much to forgive, and but few of his party approved 
 of the course he adopted. Had he known the full 
 measure of his strength, and the public conviction 
 behind him which had put him in power, perhaps 
 he would not have been so easily overcome. And if 
 the course had been taken that the circumstances 
 justified, he would have saved Canada from not a few 
 pitfalls in the years to come. 
 
 The High Commissioner in London has always 
 occupied the most confidential relationship with the 
 Cabinet at Ottawa. The position, hitherto, had been 
 filled by a political associate of the Government of 
 the day. Sir Donald A. Smith had only been in the 
 office a few weeks when the Tupper Government 
 which had appointed him was defeated at the polls. 
 Sir Charles Tupper immediately cabled Sir Donald 
 A. Smith, urging him not to tender his resignation, 
 following his cable with a letter strongly suggesting 
 to the High Commissioner to act on his advice. The 
 reasons for this course are fairly obvious. With Sir 
 Donald A. Smith's appointment as High Commissioner 
 confirmed by the new Government, the threatened 
 inquiry into the political relations between the 
 syndicate and the Tory party might be made very 
 difficult, if not impossible. The Tory leader, Sir 
 Charles Tupper, knew that it was most desirable that 
 
HIS ABSENCE DESIRED 215 
 
 such an inquiry should be avoided at all costs. It 
 was only natural to believe that, if the head of the 
 syndicate became an official of the new Government, 
 there would be no inquiry. But Sir Donald A. Smith 
 had a stronger sense of the proprieties of the situation 
 than his political chief, Sir Charles Tupper, and he 
 offered his resignation to the Government. Wilfrid 
 Laurier must have known that there was no more 
 dangerous political power in Canada than Sir Donald 
 A. Smith. He was especially to be feared because he 
 never ventured into the open. All his influence was 
 exerted in the background. Perhaps Laurier thought 
 that by keeping him out of Canada there might be an 
 opportunity of raising the tone of Parliament, which 
 was not possible with the chief member of the syndi- 
 cate continually in evidence. Perhaps the new First 
 Minister may have been anxious to conciliate Sir 
 Donald, knowing that he had been most useful as a 
 supporter of every Government which had existed in 
 the Dominion since Confederation. Certainly no 
 qualms of conscience that Sir Donald was not capable 
 of overcoming would prevent his accepting with 
 commendable grace the advent of a new political 
 party at Ottawa. Laurier may have believed that the 
 influence of the Canadian Pacific would never be 
 turned against his party with Sir Donald as a Govern- 
 ment official, and it was quite certain that the shrewd 
 head of the syndicate could be depended upon to 
 remember the humiliation of his removal from London 
 by a substantial contribution to the Tory party funds. 
 
216 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 The Tories had convinced themselves that Laurier's 
 victory was an accident that would not be repeated. 
 Five years in the life of a party are but as a day, and 
 they thought the elections of 1901 would remedy 
 the catastrophe which had overtaken them. In the 
 meantime steps were taken at Montreal to induce the 
 Liberal leader to allow Sir Donald to remain in London 
 as High Commissioner. He was himself anxious to 
 get into the good graces of the new Cabinet, and, 
 with his growing wealth and influence was becoming 
 personally and officially well known in London. Upon 
 these mutually satisfactory grounds Sir Donald was 
 confirmed in his appointment to the public service of 
 the Dominion Government. 
 
 But the syndicate had won the trick in the new 
 deal of cards. The threatened investigation became 
 impossible. Had it taken place it is inconceivable 
 that some action would not have been taken by 
 Parliament to prevent a continuance of such influences 
 being exercised. 
 
 In the Diamond Jubilee year of Her late Majesty, 
 a peerage was conferred on Sir Donald A. Smith. 
 The journey had been stormy and tempestuous from 
 the bleak shores of Hudson Bay in 1837 to a seat in 
 the Red Chamber of the British aristocracy sixty years 
 later, 1897. The British race has always recognized 
 success, and, if success in life is to be measured by the 
 accumulation of wealth, the subject of this honour 
 was worthily recognized. Charity may cover a 
 multitude of sins, but it must give first place to 
 
HOME-COMING TOO LATE 217 
 
 wealth. The new peer desired to assume the title of 
 Lord Glencoe. But strong protests were received 
 from countrymen of his own who claimed a first 
 interest in that particular title. 
 
 At this time Lord Strathcona secured a lease of a 
 small estate originally belonging to the Macdonalds 
 of Glencoe, including the ancestral home. This 
 property is situated on the west coast of Scotland, 
 near Ballahulish. Hard by stands the memorial pillar 
 that was erected by the remnant of the Macdonald 
 clan, to perpetuate the memory of those who perished 
 in that needless and heart-breaking massacre of the 
 Macdonalds at the end of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Their old homestead had long been in the hands 
 of others. The representative of the clan had been 
 absent in distant lands for many years, seeking his 
 fortune with his star of hope always pointing towards 
 the return to his native land. His dream by day and 
 night was to rescue the home of the clan from strangers, 
 and establish again, within its humble walls, the 
 hospitality of his ancestors. This had been his 
 inspiration as he slowly gathered sufficient money 
 to realize his purpose. But he delayed his home- 
 coming a few weeks too late. The option of the 
 property had passed into the possession of the new 
 peer, followed, shortly before the return of the head 
 of the clan, by the title-deeds, much to the grief and 
 disappointment of the remnant of the Macdonalds. 
 He wanted to buy it from the new owner, but the 
 matter had gone too far for reconsideration. Then 
 
218 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 overlooking the old homestead at the foot of the hill, 
 and beneath the shadow of the famous Glencoe Pap, 
 Lord Strathcona erected a magnificent country seat. 
 
 Lord Strathcona's career is sometimes coupled with 
 that master Empire Builder, Cecil Rhodes. For many 
 reasons it is pardonable to say that there is little to 
 compare, and much to contrast, not only in their 
 early, but also in their later careers. Neither was a 
 native Colonial. The one made South Africa, the 
 other Canada, his adopted country. They both 
 accumulated enormous fortunes in the lands of their 
 adoption ; both entered public life, both had great 
 private interests at stake, both had wonderful capacity 
 in their respective spheres, both were the constant 
 dread of their opponents, neither ever allowed an 
 opponent to cross his path with impunity. 
 
 The one, young in years, ranked as a statesman and 
 a leader of men soon after he entered public life ; his 
 vast wealth was accumulated beyond the influence of 
 legislative enactment ; his personal interests never 
 dominated a public action ; he entered the open lists 
 with his personal or political opponents, with true 
 British manliness ; he projected a great railway from 
 the Cape to Cairo, but not with a suggestion of 
 personal profit thereby. And when an untimely 
 death cut short a brilliant career, he left the Parlia- 
 mentary arena in South Africa, with all its associations, 
 as free from stain and reproach as is the Parliament 
 at Westminster. 
 
 The other entered public life when years of dis- 
 
CONTRAST WITH OTHER COLONIES 219 
 
 cretion had arrived ; he was in no sense a Parliamentary- 
 leader ; his private interests became entangled from 
 the beginning with the politics of the country ; 
 legislation enacted by Parliament added vastly to his 
 wealth and influence, and Parliamentary machinery 
 was deliberately used to attain this end. His personal 
 interests dominated the legislation of his country ; his 
 opponents, either political or personal, or those whom 
 he chose to place in that category, only knew of his 
 antagonism towards them when he had secretly 
 obtained their defeat or ruin. And when he withdrew 
 from public life, he left a Parliamentary atmosphere 
 thoroughly vitiated and corrupt, through the influences 
 of a great corporation which he had brought into 
 existence and of which he had been the controlling 
 influence. 
 
 In South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, by 
 the authority of Parliament, enormous expenditures 
 have been incurred in the construction of railways 
 that are the property of the State. There is no 
 record showing that the public men of those Colonies 
 participated in the profits associated with these under- 
 takings. Consequently, the humiliating contrast, 
 proved by the Parliamentary records, in connection 
 with railway enterprises in Canada, is appalling in 
 the extreme. 
 
XXIV 
 
 Protecting the toilers — Opposition to rival railway lines — Knifing 
 the Government policy — Standing by the combine — What 
 negligence has cost Canada — Taking the farmer's life blood — 
 Departmental neglect. 
 
 The degree of gratitude that the toilers in the western 
 provinces owe Lord Strathcona is not remarkable for 
 its warmth. With his associates he secured the only- 
 channel in the United States through which the 
 products of the prairies could find an outlet for many 
 years. He also obtained control of the Canadian 
 charter, and secured an absolute monopoly of all the 
 carrying trade, outward and inward, of the whole 
 western country. By the terms of the agreement with 
 the Government the syndicate was confirmed in this 
 monopoly for twenty years, extensive concessions 
 relieving the corporation from the payment of taxes 
 and rates while it was practically allowed to charge 
 the most extortionate freight rates — the last-named 
 privilege being exercised to the fullest extent. Lord 
 Strathcona seems not to have troubled himself with 
 this aspect of the case. The management was left 
 to the control of imported officials. Presumably he 
 never heard about the complaints by the western 
 farmers who were indeed earning their bread by the 
 sweat of their brow. Perhaps it was a mistake on 
 
 220 
 
PROTECTING PERSONAL INTERESTS 221 
 
 the part of the victims of the greed of the great 
 corporation that they did not interview him, as both 
 the United States Hnes for many years were acting upon 
 an agreed schedule of rates with the Canadian Pacific. 
 Discussions took place in the Parliament of which he 
 was a member, and very frequent reports of this 
 agitation appeared in the Press, but possibly such 
 complaints escaped his observation. 
 
 During the years that he was High Commissioner 
 questions arose of an equally serious character to the 
 vast body of the toilers in Canada. The grain pro- 
 ducts of the west had increased to such an extent that 
 Parliament was forced to consider the construction 
 of other transcontinental railways. These projects 
 would open new territory, and furnish railway accom- 
 modation in many necessary directions. But they also 
 meant competition with his American and Canadian 
 railways. To favourably consider the means of pro- 
 viding relief to the overburdened worker who was 
 striving against great odds to make a success of his life, 
 when it meant loss, however insignificant to himself 
 or his projects, was probably expecting too much from 
 ordinary human nature. At any rate he had too much 
 to do to give thought to those who amid the loneliness 
 of those boundless prairies were seeking the hard- 
 earned bread of existence. 
 
 Sir William Mackenzie came to London year after 
 year with securities that were gilt-edged, in order to 
 push on the construction of the Canadian Northern 
 Railway. But the financial doors were closed, when 
 
222 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 a word from the " Empire-Builder " who represented 
 Canada as High Commissioner would have made all 
 the difference at that time between failure and success ; 
 although Sir William Mackenzie finally won in spite 
 of the opposition of the High Commissioner's office. 
 The securities he disposed of have long since proved 
 their intrinsic value. In not an instance have the 
 railway projects upon which they were issued failed 
 to meet annual obligations, nor have the guarantors 
 ever been called on for any part of the responsibility 
 they assumed. 
 
 And yet again. The emigration flood and the 
 opening of undeveloped areas convinced the Govern- 
 ment that the third transcontinental railway was re- 
 quired to move the products of the west to the markets 
 of the world. Parliament guaranteed the Grand 
 Trunk Pacific Railway bonds, and they were offered 
 in the London market. All the wealth and responsi- 
 bility of the Dominion stood sponsor for the issue. 
 Consols could offer no better security for investment. 
 But the cold shoulder was given by the High Com- 
 missioner's office, and the bonds only realized 83, 
 entailing a loss of $6,000,000 (_£i, 200,000) which the 
 Canadian taxpayers, by the decision of the courts, 
 had to make good. 
 
 During Lord Strathcona's occupancy of the London 
 office the Canadian Pacific Railway Company estab- 
 lished steamship communication between Liverpool 
 and Montreal. The Company immediately entered 
 into a binding agreement with the J. Pierpont Morgan, 
 
THE STEAMSHIP COMBINE 223 
 
 the Hamburg-American, the North German Lloyds 
 and other foreign companies to increase the passenger 
 rates to North American ports, so as to exact still 
 higher toll from the masses who were emigrating to 
 Canada from Great Britain and the Continent. 
 
 These increases in the emigration rates during the 
 last thirteen years, Lord Strathcona all that time 
 being High Commissioner, have cost the struggling 
 emigrants to the Dominion over and above what was 
 regarded as a fair rate in pre-combine times — 
 
 From the Continent . . $11,500,000 £2,300,000 
 
 From Great Britain . 32,500,000 6,500,000 
 
 Total . $44,000,000 £8,800,000 
 
 These figures represent only the excess above the rates 
 available before the establishment of the combine. 
 The total amount in excess of pre-combine rates paid 
 by poor emigrants from the continent of Europe and 
 Great Britain to Canada and the United States, in the 
 same period, exceeds $90,000,000 (^18,000,000). 
 
 How far this enormous sum might have assisted the 
 emigrants in getting a start in a new country, or what 
 suffering and hardship it might have avoided, may be 
 left to the imagination. 
 
 A steamship agreement has also gone merrily along 
 whereby the freight rates on British goods to Canada 
 have been increased fourfold as an " encouragement " 
 of the commercial relations between the Dominion 
 and the Mother-country. Certain natural products 
 that find a market in this country pay a higher freight 
 
224 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 rate from Canada than the same commodities from 
 United States ports. During the last two years the 
 freight rates on grain and flour from Canada to Liver- 
 pool have been doubled, entailing an additional cost 
 for transportation annually to exporters of Canadian 
 products to Great Britain of $4,750,000 (^950,000). 
 This extra cost must come out of the pockets of the 
 Canadian farmers. 
 
 All these remarkable incidents have taken place 
 during Lord Strathcona's tenure of office as High 
 Commissioner for Canada. One looks in vain in 
 departmental documents for the slightest protest by 
 Lord Strathcona in the interest of the Canadian people 
 against these enormous demands. The cry of the 
 western farmer staggering under the load which demands 
 so large a share of his corn before he can eat his bread — 
 the stolid endurance of the eastern emigrant who, 
 with only hope to cheer him forward, must pay so 
 much of his precious savings into the Combine, before 
 he can reach the Promised Land — these received no 
 consideration from the " Empire-Builder." But when 
 these struggling masses meet on the fertile stretches of 
 Western Canada, perhaps they will find that Nature, 
 at least, is more considerate, giving generously for trust 
 and work and love. 
 
XXV 
 
 Starting new official life — An ancestral mansion — The ghosts in 
 every room — Trouble with Agents-General — Sir Claude Mac- 
 donald — Official invitations — Resenting interference. 
 
 In accepting the responsibilities of the High Com- 
 missioner's office Lord Strathcona set a pace in many 
 ways that other Canadians will be wise in not attempt- 
 ing to follow. He was no stranger in London, having 
 many personal and financial connections outside the 
 Anglo-Canadian colony. As soon as he realized that 
 the Intercolonial deal was off, and that the papers 
 that had been prepared were useless, he adopted a 
 course that was calculated to wipe out the part he 
 had played in the political life of the Dominion for 
 twenty-five years. He evidently proposed, by enter- 
 taining on a scale hitherto beyond the means of his 
 predecessors, to create an entirely new atmosphere 
 around the High Commissioner's office, and, if possible, 
 forget his political experiences. Official business was 
 to give way entirely to the Goddess of Society, who, if 
 at times fickle, can generally be propitiated with gifts. 
 He looked around for a country residence, where 
 during week-ends he might entertain. He finally 
 decided upon leasing that magnificent Elizabethan 
 
 mansion, Knebworth, the ancestral home of the 
 p 225 
 
226 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Lyttons. It is truly a lordly pile. The walls are 
 decorated with family portraits of statesmen whose 
 names stand out in bold relief in the honoured roll of 
 British history. The panoply of war, ancient armour 
 and weapons of defence stand in the stately hall. 
 The banner that flaunted in the breeze when Earl 
 Lytton held the Viceroy's Durbar at Delhi and pro- 
 claimed the assumption of the title of Empress of 
 India by Queen Victoria hangs from the ancient 
 rafters. Within the beautiful grounds there is 
 much to remind visitors of the great author of The 
 Last Days of Pompeii. There are the bedrooms 
 which were occupied by Hampden, Pym and Crom- 
 well when they met in solemn conclave to consider 
 how England could get rid of a tyrant King and a 
 corrupt Parliament. The ghosts and memories of 
 these noble Puritans, clamouring for a Parliament 
 free from all sinister influences, and legislation only for 
 the public good, was strange company for Donald A. 
 Smith fresh from his Canadian experiences. Yet, 
 what a coincidence ! They had made history — so had 
 he. And here for ten years Lord Strathcona enter- 
 tained right royally. Canadian guests rubbed shoulders 
 with Royalty, Peers, and Commoners. The annual 
 gathering became one of the notable events of the 
 Season, and the sight of the kindly, venerable sep- 
 tuagenarian and Lady Strathcona moving graciously 
 among the guests will ever be a delightful memory 
 to all who were favoured with invitations on these 
 occasions. 
 
TOLERATING NO OFFICIAL RIVALS 227 
 
 Lord Strathcona, after he had been in office two or 
 three years, decided to assert his position as the only 
 official representative of Canada in London. This 
 attitude placed him at once in conflict with the 
 Agents-General of the provinces, who up to this time 
 had been also acknowledged. He intimated to them 
 that they were without official standing, as their title 
 was not recognized by legislative enactment ; therefore, 
 in the future they must only expect to be recognized 
 as ordinary persons. The late Mr. Duff-Millar, Agent- 
 General for New Brunswick, said that he would not 
 submit to this dictum. In view of the approaching 
 Season, he ordered an Agent-General's uniform from 
 a court tailor. The tailor, however, with official 
 caution, telephoned to the High Commissioner's 
 office for information about the bona-Jides of his 
 distinguished customer, and was informed that he 
 had no locus standi in official circles. Naturally the 
 paint and feathers were not forthcoming at the 
 appointed time, and the Agent-General had fain to 
 be satisfied with his ordinary evening suit. 
 
 These official pretensions suited Lord Strathcona 
 admirably. It was the chief factor's jurisdiction over 
 again. In the Canadian wilds he could not prevent 
 the Indian from donning his paint and feathers, but 
 he could prevent the presumptuous white man from 
 doing so here. This was the first appearance of a 
 peculiar trait that developed later in a more pro- 
 nounced form — an intensely jealous spirit towards 
 everything that might for the time being overshadow 
 
228 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the High Commissioner's ojEBce. The appearance of 
 a letter in a newspaper from a Canadian official, not 
 under his jurisdiction, would immediately cause a 
 scene. He made more than one trip across the 
 Atlantic for no other reason than to get officials whom 
 he did not like, removed. 
 
 Like all well-appointed Government offices the 
 High Commissioner's was managed upon the most 
 up-to-date red-tape principles. With the appoint- 
 ment of a Canadian to look after the emigration work 
 of the offices, all inquirers about the Dominion were 
 passed on to this official, unless it was made certain 
 that they were not " common folk," in which case 
 they had the doubtful honour ( ?) of an interview with 
 an official of the permanent staff. Upon one occasion 
 a visitor called just as a high-placed official entered 
 the office. The stranger said that he wanted special 
 information about Canada. Before he could say any 
 more, and without turning his head to look at the 
 inquirer, the official called to a messenger, " Take him 
 over to the other office." He was brought to the 
 writer's office with the curt introduction, " Wants 
 information about Canada." The visitor, who was 
 dressed in a plain tweed suit, was offered a chair. He 
 handed the writer his card : " Sir Claude Macdonald, 
 His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to Japan." Sir 
 Claude had just returned from that ever memorable 
 heroic defence of the Embassy at Pekin on the occasion 
 of the Boxer rising, and his name and fame were in 
 every one's mouth. He briefly explained that he was 
 
CURBING SOCIAL ASPIRATIONS 229 
 
 leaving for Tokio via Vancouver, and wanted a private 
 car for the journey across Canada ; that he had been to 
 Cooks', and to the Canadian Pacific Railway, but could 
 get no satisfaction. " From the High Commissioner's 
 office," he laughingly added, " I have been referred 
 to you." The mistake of the official in refusing an 
 interview to " the farmer-like looking chap," as he 
 afterwards humbly explained to Lord Strathcona, 
 was only on a line with the usual procedure of the 
 office. The following day the writer was able to 
 show Sir Claude a cablegram from Sir Wilfrid Laurier 
 conveying the assurance that a Government private 
 car would be at his disposal on his arrival in Canada. 
 When all the arrangements were completed I showed 
 the cablegrams to Lord Strathcona, only to hear his 
 severe comment : " You had no right to do this. Sir 
 Claude Macdonald should have come to me. Cour- 
 tesies of this kind belong to my office." 
 
 The experience that Lord Strathcona gained on 
 the occasion of the coronation of King Edward proved 
 more than useful when King George's turn came. All 
 applications to the Lord Chamberlain for invitations 
 to various functions were transmitted to the official 
 representing the country or colony with which the 
 applicant was connected. Therefore, any visitor 
 from Canada had to run the gauntlet of revision by 
 the High Commissioner. The disappointments were 
 many. Those in favour had the inside track. Among 
 those to whom Lord Strathcona had taken a strange 
 dislike was the manager of the Bank of Montreal, 
 
230 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Threadneedle Street, now Sir Frederick Williams- 
 Taylor, general manager at Montreal. Sir Frederick's 
 name was most persistently struck out of every list 
 for invitations to coronation functions by Lord 
 Strathcona. Inquiries only elicted the reply : " The 
 Lord Chamberlain says that his list is complete." 
 " Commands " were out for a Garden Party at 
 Windsor Castle. Sir Frederick waited impatiently 
 for his. All his aristocratic neighbours were invited. 
 He endeavoured to inquire the reason for the delay 
 from the official secretary of the High Commis- 
 sioner's office, telling the attendant at the 'phone 
 his name and the reason why he wanted to speak to 
 the official. He heard a voice, which he recognized, 
 say : " Tell him I am engaged with Lord Strathcona 
 just now." When the Bank of Montreal finally got 
 into connection there was some plain talk. The result 
 was, however, in Lord Strathcona's opinion, that the 
 office had been " insulted," and Sir Frederick had no 
 longer a chance of any invitation to coronation func- 
 tions through the office of the High Commissioner 
 for Canada. But Sir Frederick had very influential 
 connections outside. His name was placed on another 
 list for everything that was going, Windsor Castle, 
 and, later on, his knighthood. But for having 
 succeeded in getting behind the ordinary official 
 channels he was never forgiven by the London 
 representative of the Canadian Government. 
 
 Any interference with matters that Lord Strathcona 
 regarded as pertaining to his official preserve was most 
 
RESENTING INTERFERENCE 231 
 
 hotly resented. And any effort to get the ear of the 
 Ottawa Government, except through his office, brought 
 down the most disastrous consequences on the innocent 
 offender. The numerous proposals for the erection 
 of an official building in London, unless first submitted 
 to him, were condemned unhesitatingly in official 
 letters. An enthusiastic advocate of one of these 
 Canadian building projects presented an admirable 
 proposal to the Ministers at Ottawa. He was advised 
 to return to London immediately, and explain it to 
 Lord Strathcona before allowing anything to appear 
 in the Press. But in an evil moment he took an 
 Ottawa reporter into his confidence, the news was 
 cabled to London, and when the promoter interviewed 
 Lord Strathcona he was politely informed that as he 
 had gone to Ottawa without consulting the High 
 Commissioner's office, he (Lord Strathcona) could 
 not now entertain it. 
 
 Lord Grey made arrangements with the London 
 County Council for the famous island site on Kings- 
 way without first consulting Lord Strathcona. The 
 usual result followed. To smooth the way for the 
 acceptance of one of these proposals for a Canadian 
 building on a site that the Government was considering, 
 a member of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Cabinet suggested 
 to the High Commissioner that, if it was a good move 
 on the part of the bank with which he was connected 
 to erect commodious offices in Threadneedle Street, 
 why should not Canada do likewise ? Lord Strathcona 
 replied that the experience of the bank furnished the 
 
232 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 strongest possible argument for not following that 
 example : " because," he added, " since we moved 
 into that building the officials have lost their heads. 
 The7 are looking for nothing but social distinction and 
 titles, and are neglecting their duties." 
 
 It is no longer a secret that " the important official 
 communication " that Lord Strathcona insisted in 
 writing, about which inspired paragraphs appeared in 
 the Press a day or two before he passed awsij, was a 
 long letter to Ottawa denouncing in somewhat uncom- 
 promising terms all the proposals that had been sent 
 to Ottawa from time to time through unofficial 
 channels about a Canadian building in London, and 
 strongly advocating the adoption of the recom- 
 mendation that he had submitted, which was that 
 the site of the Westminster Hospital should be pur- 
 chased by the Dominion Government, and that it 
 was the only suitable place for the proposed Canadian 
 building. 
 
XXVI 
 
 Personal characteristics — Never lacking in courage — Reputations 
 destroyed — Development of Canada — Solving the emigration 
 problem — Strathcona threatened with arrest in Germany — Lord 
 Salisbury's warning — Posing as the successful emigration worker 
 — Hon. Clifford Sifton's work — Assistance of British Journalism 
 — The Coronation Arch — Further Imperial honours. 
 
 Amid the most gloomy and discouraging periods in 
 the history of the Pacific Railway, Lord Strathcona 
 never doubted but that a brighter dawn would 
 eventually appear. When all the other members of 
 the syndicate were growing prematurely old under the 
 severe strain of hope and fear, his courage never 
 faltered. Had there been less of that course which 
 can only be condemned, and more of that which 
 was commendable in the internal management, there 
 would have been less occasion for the temporary 
 trouble that overtook the Company. 
 
 The enormous sums that were expended in corrupt- 
 ing the body politic did not by any means represent 
 the actual cost of that policy. Those moneys only 
 represented the direct cost. The indirect expense 
 to the Company and syndicate was much larger. 
 It was not that they had to meet certain conditions 
 in the pohtical life of the country, but they deliberately 
 
 made the conditions themselves. They had gone into 
 
 233 
 
234 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 the whole business with their eyes wide open. Once 
 having entered on a course which cannot be condemned 
 too strongly, the whole management of their business 
 became as questionable as the recent condemnation 
 of the management of the great insurance companies 
 in the United States. It was the knowledge of the 
 corrupt phases of the operations of the Company, in 
 the great financial centres of the world, that caused 
 doubt about the reliability of their securities. The 
 financiers of the world had a clearer estimate of what 
 was going on than the Canadian public. 
 
 The Canadian Pacific syndicate followed exactly 
 the same course at Ottawa that Huntingdon and 
 Ames did with the Southern Pacific Railway in the 
 western States and at Washington. Great concessions 
 of land and money subsidies were secured, and repre- 
 sentatives in Congress became the recipients of railway 
 favours. The day of reckoning arrived in the great 
 republic when an indignant people became roused, 
 and the long-delayed inquiry was instituted. As a 
 result of the investigations, reputations of men high 
 in public estimation tumbled like houses of cards. But 
 not before a state of affairs was revealed that was 
 looked upon as impossible even in the United States. 
 Nothing but the large magnanimity of those whom 
 patriotism and self-protection forced to be the op- 
 ponents of the Canadian syndicate, has prevented the 
 fate that overcame prominent statesmen in the United 
 States, as well as De Lesseps in France, from engulfing 
 a similar class which dominated the politics of the 
 
A GREAT CORPORATION 235 
 
 Dominion for so many years. And the unreserved 
 magnanimity that was shown to them has been taken 
 as evidence of cowardice. 
 
 Lord Strathcona lived to see the enterprise which 
 owes its charter to his poHtical foresight increase 
 beyond his most sanguine anticipations. The Com- 
 pany now owns sixteen thousand miles of railway in 
 active operation ; two great steamship lines traversing 
 the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ; to say nothing about 
 cable and telegraphic properties. The annual revenue 
 of the Company exceeds $150,000,000 (^30,000,000), 
 and upon the stock and bonds of the Company satis- 
 factory dividends are promptly and regularly paid. 
 The capital of the Company is announced as being 
 $485,000,000 (j^97,ooo,ooo). The records of the 
 decade between 1897 and 1907 will be remembered 
 as the great turning-point in the history of Canada. 
 The imports and exports more than doubled — the 
 public revenue almost trebled — the manufacturing 
 industries expanded enormously — notwithstanding a 
 largely increased expenditure surpluses aggregating 
 $200,000,000 (^^40,000,000) accumulated, and portions 
 of the national debt falHng due were paid out of the 
 revenue. No country in modern times has had such 
 a record of permanent development and prosperity. 
 
 Nothing but these extraordinary conditions enabled 
 Canada to withstand the severe strain which was 
 placed upon its financial life by the methods adopted 
 by the Pacific Railway syndicate. The Dominion 
 certainly could not stand further experience of this 
 
236 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 character. The danger still exists that others may 
 look towards the Dominion as the field for another 
 attempt to emulate the actions of the Pacific Railway. 
 Such a course could not but bring disaster in its train. 
 
 It is a singular fact that the permanent advance in 
 the fortunes of the Pacific Railway became particularly 
 evident shortly after the Liberal party assumed power 
 at Ottawa, though to keep this party out of office 
 hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent in cor- 
 rupting the electorate by the syndicate. The 
 enormous increase in the receipts of the Company is 
 due entirely to the great wave of prosperity that has 
 been sweeping over Canada for the last fifteen years. 
 This was brought about by the tide of emigration 
 from all parts of the world being successfully directed 
 to the Dominion as the result of the policy instituted 
 by Hon. Clifford Sifton, to whom must ever be given 
 the honour for this significant turning-point in 
 Canadian history. 
 
 Mr. Clifford Sifton was the representative of the 
 great west in the Laurier Cabinet. He was Attorney- 
 General in the Manitoba Government when Wilfrid 
 Laurier offered him charge of the Department of the 
 Interior. He came from the prairie provinces full 
 of enthusiasm about the possibilities of that vast area 
 between Winnipeg and the Rocky Mountains. For 
 thirty years successive Ministers had endeavoured to 
 solve the immigration problem at Ottawa, each one 
 apparently leaving the question in worse shape than 
 his predecessor. The High Commissioner's office had 
 
CANADA EXPECTING MUCH 237 
 
 been placed in charge of the emigration propaganda 
 in Great Britain and Europe. The results to the 
 Dominion were nil. 
 
 Canadians congratulated themselves when Sir Donald 
 A. Smith became High Commissioner. It was thought 
 that something would be done of a practical character 
 in regard to emigration, but he too settled down to 
 the ordinary official status quo. As the result of 
 correspondence with Sir Donald Smith, Mr. Sifton 
 proposed that a Canadian official should be sent to 
 London to take charge of emigration work. Sir 
 Donald in reply thought that a minor clerk at a small 
 salary would answer the requirements. But the 
 Minister decided that a much more responsible official 
 was necessary. Before this could be accomplished, 
 however, Sir Donald had been High Commissioner for 
 more than two years. 
 
 In the meantime Sir Donald decided to do some- 
 thing. He was impressed with the idea that he 
 should visit the Continent and see what could be done 
 to assist emigration. At Hamburg he issued letters 
 of invitation to fifty or sixty attaches of booking agents, 
 stating that " Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner 
 for Canada " would like to confer with them at his 
 hotel on the question of emigration to Canada. An 
 invitation from an English lord brought a fairly large 
 attendance of a certain class. The High Commissioner 
 addressed them, pointing out the advantages offered 
 to emigrants by Canada, impressed on them the fact 
 that a bonus was paid upon each emigrant to the 
 
238 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Dominion, and asked their cordial co-operation in 
 this work. Fortunately Lord Strathcona did not 
 prolong his stay in Germany beyond that day. 
 
 On his return to London he immediately wrote an 
 extended report about his trip to the Continent in 
 the interest of emigration, addressing a copy to the 
 Prime Minister and also one officially to the Department 
 of the Interior, giving a summary of his address " to 
 a crowded meeting of booking agents." He proposed 
 to show the Ottawa Government that, with such 
 activity on his part, the occasion for sending over a 
 responsible official to take charge of emigration was 
 altogether unnecessary. 
 
 But, alas for this incursion into unfamiliar fields ! 
 Scarcely had this long report of the Hamburg meeting 
 reached the mail-box, than Lord Strathcona received an 
 urgent message from the Right Hon. Joseph Chamber- 
 lain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, saying that he 
 wanted to see him at the earliest possible moment on 
 a matter of grave importance in the Foreign Minister's 
 Department. The Colonial Secretary informed Lord 
 Strathcona that the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, 
 had received an official visit from Count Hatzfeldt, 
 the German Ambassador, who stated that the High 
 Commissioner for Canada had, contrary to the German 
 law, and also in violation of the police regulations of 
 Prussia, addressed a meeting of booking agents in 
 Hamburg, inciting them to emigration work. The 
 Ambassador desired Lord Salisbury to advise Lord 
 Strathcona that, under no circumstances whatever. 
 
THREATENED WITH ARREST 239 
 
 would it be advisable for him to visit any part of 
 Germany, because the police at the frontier had 
 instructions to arrest him without ceremony for his 
 flagrant violation of the law. Lord Salisbury also 
 advised Mr. Chamberlain that it would be well if 
 Lord Strathcona could submit a statement proving 
 that the German authorities were under a misconcep- 
 tion as to the facts of the case. 
 
 The German authorities were quite astray in one 
 particular. The " booking agents " of Hamburg had 
 not responded to the invitation to confer with the 
 English lord. If Lord Strathcona wanted to see them 
 on business, they had decided that he might better 
 call at their business offices. The distinguished 
 company who favoured the Canadian High Commis- 
 sioner with their presence were the street-runners 
 or " tooters " connected with the competitive steam- 
 ship companies. They had rushed to the Hamburger 
 Hof merely to see a real live English lord. 
 
 The High Commissioner returned to his office after 
 his interview with Mr. Joseph Chamberlain deeply 
 crestfallen. For diplomatic reasons, and in order to 
 preserve his standing with the Prime Minister and 
 the Colonial Secretary, he desired to explain away the 
 incident. But there were those letters on the way to 
 Ottawa ! Lord Strathcona, however, took the plunge 
 by cabling to Ottawa an urgent request to regard 
 his correspondence on his continental tour as " con- 
 fidential." He then addressed an official letter to 
 Lord Ampthill, who at that time was private secretary 
 
240 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 to the Colonial Secretary, giving a markedly different 
 account of his incidental meeting with the booking 
 agents at Hamburg than that which he had sent to 
 Ottawa a few days previously. He also expressed the 
 hope that his denial of the charges sent to Berlin by 
 the Hamburg police, that he had incited an emigra- 
 tion propaganda on the occasion of his recent visit to 
 the Continent, would be accepted by the German 
 authorities. 
 
 To all appearance official records of Lord Strath- 
 cona's connection with the matter at issue were out 
 of the way. But punctilious officialism, even in 
 Canada, dearly loves a report, more especially one 
 signed by a lord. To allow such a communication 
 to be anywhere else than on the principal files of the 
 Department would be an unheard-of breach of 
 etiquette. So the report about the visit to Germany 
 on emigration duly reached the correspondence clerks. 
 
 Some years later the correspondence was produced to 
 a Committee of the House of Commons, and the official 
 inconsistencies between the report to Ottawa and the 
 letter to Lord Ampthill became public property. 
 
 This visit to the Continent, carried out with a 
 flourish of trumpets, and which had such humiliating 
 consequences, was Lord Strathcona's first and last 
 personal effort to direct an emigration movement to 
 the Dominion of Canada. He had no more to do 
 with the magnificent work that was done to rouse an 
 interest throughout the emigrating world to the 
 advantages offered by Canada than had the men who 
 
SOLVING THE EMIGRATION PROBLEM 241 
 
 aimlessly haunt the Embankment, parks, or squares 
 of London. The official eulogies of Lord Strathcona 
 published on this phase of his official work have not 
 the slightest foundation in fact. 
 
 The great tide of emigration which has turned 
 towards Canada during the last fourteen years is the 
 direct result of the policy instituted by Hon. Clifford 
 Sifton. He entered the Cabinet determined that the 
 failures of thirty years should be overcome. He 
 believed that the genius of Canadian statesmanship 
 could find a solution for the problem, and to it he gave 
 his undivided attention. He appointed Hon. James A. 
 Smart Deputy-Minister, Mr. Frank Pedley Super- 
 intendent of Immigration, Mr. W. J. White Com- 
 missioner to the United States, and a Commissioner 
 of Emigration to Great Britain and Europe. These 
 officials were assured of the confidence of the Minister, 
 were told that their recommendations would be 
 accepted, and that all the money needed to insure 
 success would be forthcoming. The officials in London 
 connected with the emigration work were removed 
 from the control of the High Commissioner's office, 
 so as to allow the fullest freedom of action. In the 
 work in this country the value of the assistance that 
 was given, without an exception, by the British Press 
 can never be over-estimated. Without this hearty and 
 gratuitous co-operation on the part of British journal- 
 ism no such magnificent results could ever have been 
 obtained. For the first time in the history of Great 
 Britain, under this propaganda, the number of 
 
242 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 British emigrants to Canada far exceeded those going 
 to the United States. To apportion any part of the 
 credit of this marvellous work to Lord Strathcona is 
 to delve into an atmosphere of fiction. In point of 
 fact the success of Mr. Sifton's propaganda by officials 
 outside the control of his office was a subject of con- 
 stant jealousy to Lord Strathcona. He regarded their 
 success as a reflection upon the High Commissioner's 
 office, and he only became reconciled to the situation 
 when Hon. Clifford Sifton had withdrawn from the 
 Government and the successful officials had been 
 removed to other fields of government work. 
 
 The impression must not be created that Lord 
 Strathcona was uninterested in emigration work. 
 On the contrary he was interested for the most 
 obvious reasons ; although when the writer discussed 
 the matter with him for the first time in 1898, he was 
 exceedingly dubious about the possibility of any 
 great movement from this country being directed to 
 Canada, instancing the comparative failure of the 
 emigration work that had been carried on in Great 
 Britain and the Continent under the supervision of 
 his own office, and also by that of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway. These unsuccessful efforts, he feared, did 
 not give a basis for much hope in the future, more 
 especially as he was assured that every possible plan 
 had been tried by the High Commissioner's office 
 to awaken an interest in Canada on this side of the 
 Atlantic. This, in fact, was the generally accepted 
 view everywhere. The late Mr. Moberly Bell, of 
 
THE CORONATION ARCH 243 
 
 The Times, told the writer that he feared it was 
 impossible to induce the British emigrant to go to 
 Canada, or to interest the general public in the 
 Dominion. But at the same time Mr. Bell freely 
 offered the columns of The Times in any manner 
 desired to assist in the official propaganda. 
 
 An unexpected opportunity was afforded Lord 
 Strathcona in the summer of 1902 to be of signal 
 service. Arrangements were then being made to 
 decorate London on the occasion of His late Majesty's 
 coronation. The writer, after consulting the High 
 Commissioner, and with the consent of the Depart- 
 ment at Ottawa, requested permission from the West- 
 minster Council to erect a Canadian Arch in Whitehall. 
 The assurance was given that it would be done on a 
 scale suitable to the occasion, and on the recommen- 
 dation of the Earl of Onslow, who was Chairman of 
 the Council, the permission was granted. The an- 
 nouncement in the Press that Canada intended taking 
 this step caused a sensation. Instructions, however, 
 came by cable from Ottawa that only j^6oo would be 
 authorized by the Department for this purpose. In 
 reply to pressing cables, the Departm^ent finally con- 
 sented to an expenditure not exceeding £1200. 
 
 At this point it may be mentioned that Lord 
 Strathcona, while de facto an official of the Dominion 
 Government and occupying a position to which 
 there was a large salary attached, had persistently 
 declined to accept any salary. This undoubtedly 
 allowed him liberty of action that could not be taken 
 
244 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 with impunity by ordinary officials. On learning of the 
 latest instructions from Ottawa about the proposed 
 arch he inquired what the expenditure was likely to 
 be. When told that it would probably reach £6000, 
 if the plans then being considered were adopted, he 
 said : " Go on with the work, I will see you through, 
 if the Government raises any objection. We cannot 
 afford to stop now." However, when the Minister 
 learned about the instructions that had been cabled 
 by the Department, he unhesitatingly assumed all 
 responsibility for the expenditure. From the begin- 
 ning to the end Lord Strathcona took an intense interest 
 in the progress of the work, and was quite pleased with 
 having decided to over-ride departmental instructions 
 for the time. The cost, as might be expected, ex- 
 ceeded the original estimates. Parliament not only 
 cordially approved of the expenditure, but the Oppo- 
 sition, with unprecedented magnanimity, complimented 
 the London management of the Emigration Depart- 
 ment for taking advantage of the opportunity to 
 make the resources of Canada known throughout the 
 world. 
 
 It is probably not generally known that, except for the 
 first day or two, none but foreigners were engaged in 
 the construction and maintenance. English labourers 
 refused to work either on Saturday afternoons or after 
 regular hours, although offered double rates of wages 
 for overtime. Consequently there was a hurried visit 
 to the foreign settlements in the East End, and Belgians 
 and French were given the profitable employment. 
 
A NEW PACE IN DECORATIONS 245 
 
 Several of the discharged British labourers came to 
 the scene of activity and threatened to set fire to the 
 structure. This alarmed the authorities to such an 
 extent that special fire and police protection was 
 considered necessary. 
 
 As the massive pile of timbers rose, Whitehall became 
 a centre of attraction. Street decorations upon such 
 a scale are unknown in this country, although they are 
 not uncommon in Canada. When the late King visited 
 the Dominion in i860 he saw them in every place. 
 London for the most part confines its extravagance 
 in street decorations to the same old Venetian masts, 
 enthusiastically trotting them out upon every con- 
 ceivable occasion. The extravagance of Canada there- 
 fore created a record. The crimson roses alone that 
 were purchased in Paris and Hamburg to decorate 
 the lower part of the structure, and which only 
 arrived rich in fragrance the night before the corona- 
 tion, cost more than all the other public decorations 
 on Whitehall. In point of publicity Canada received 
 ample return for the expenditure. The arch was the 
 great feature of the coronation decorations. Pictures 
 appeared in tens of thousands of publications through- 
 out the world. Hour after hour as many as one hun- 
 dred and fifty at the same time pointed their kodaks 
 at the structure. The issue of picture postal cards 
 ran into tens of millions. Scores of excursions were 
 run from all parts of England to London with the 
 special attraction of seeing the Canadian Arch. Canada 
 had reason to be satisfied. 
 
246 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 But it came very near to being the occasion of a 
 shocking accident. During the march down Whitehall 
 on Dominion Day of the Canadian contingent that 
 Sir Henry Pellatt brought to London, while Sir 
 Wilfrid and Lady Laurier with a number of friends 
 had taken places on the main balcony of the arch, 
 two or three gentlemen in the lower part of the 
 structure were suddenly attracted by a faint cracking 
 of timber ; and looking up saw with horror that the 
 upper floor was giving way. They quickly rushed 
 with spare timbers that fortunately were near, to 
 support the slowly-sinking platform. The crowd was 
 removed from above, having but a faint knowledge of 
 the serious accident that had been so narrowly averted. 
 
 Upon the recommendation of the Governor-General, 
 acting for the Prime Minister, Donald A. Smith was 
 knighted in 1896. In the distribution of honours on 
 the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee his name was 
 submitted by Sir Wilfrid Laurier for a barony. This, 
 however, was only a life peerage. In 1909 Sir John 
 McNeil informed the writer that Lord Strathcona had 
 been to see him several times in order to get his 
 assistance in having his title arranged so that the re- 
 version would pass to Hon. Mrs. Howard and her heirs. 
 Sir John had mentioned the matter to the Queen, 
 the Prime Minister and the Colonial Secretary, but 
 it was clear that official regulations made it very 
 difficult, if not impossible, to do anything without 
 the concurrence of the authorities in Canada. I had 
 several interviews with Sir John, and finally decided 
 
HOW A TITLE BECAME HEREDITARY 247 
 
 to go to Ottawa, where I found the impression with 
 the Government that Lord Strathcona wished the 
 title to become extinct at his death. However, 
 fortunately, I had Sir John's letters on the subject, 
 and they left no room for doubt. The day following 
 my discussion with Sir Richard Cartwright, he told 
 me that the Premier had seen Lord Minto, the 
 Governor-General, who had immediately communi- 
 cated with the Colonial Office. Sir Richard was 
 anxious that I should tell Lord Strathcona on my 
 return to London what he, Sir Richard, had done. 
 This I fully intended doing, but prefaced my inten- 
 tions with congratulations on the change in the 
 character of his title, full particulars of which had 
 already been published. He replied, before I could 
 say any more : " I do not know how these things are 
 done. The Queen has been pressing this upon me 
 for some time, but I did not feel justified in accepting 
 until now." I was silenced, but enjoyed a good laugh 
 with Sir John McNeil over it later. Shortly after- 
 wards the announcement was made in the Press that 
 Lord Strathcona had purchased an island on the 
 west coast of Scotland from Sir John for ^30,000. 
 
XXVII 
 
 Election journey to Canada — Keeping the C. P. R. quiet — Still afraid 
 of investigation — The standard of British politics — Danger to 
 the State. 
 
 The failure to investigate the well-known Pacific Rail- 
 way methods in Canada emboldened that great cor- 
 poration to continue its peculiar practices on more 
 than one occasion. Four general elections have taken 
 place since Sir Wilfrid Laurier's assumption of office — 
 1900, 1904, 1908 and 191 1. In connection with the 
 first an unexpected development occurred. There 
 was a house party at Glencoe, the writer being among 
 the guests. The campaign in Canada was then in full 
 swing. It was immediately after breakfast that morn- 
 ing telegrams were handed in. Lord Strathcona had 
 the usual number. Calling me into the library he 
 told me that he had to leave for Canada the following 
 day, but he wanted the guests to continue their visit 
 as if nothing had happened. He said that his presence 
 in Canada was imperative, handing me a cable that had 
 just been received. The information, which was not, 
 however, from the Government, was that the Canadian 
 Pacific officials in Montreal were preparing to oppose 
 the Government with their old-time vigour. To 
 prevent this he hurried off to Canada, taking up his 
 
 248 
 
KNIFING CANADIAN PROJECTS 249 
 
 quarters in Montreal, where he stood guard over the 
 officials of the Company until all fear of the threatened 
 participation had passed. The course that he had 
 been willing the original syndicate should take, he 
 was averse in his later years to leave as a legacy to the 
 great corporation that he had founded, or as a justifi- 
 cation for continuing to interfere with the politics of 
 the Dominion. Nevertheless, in 1904, the influence of 
 the company was let loose against the Liberal Govern- 
 ment, the principal reason given for this action being 
 that Laurier favoured the construction of the Grand 
 Trunk Pacific Railway. The annoyance of the Com- 
 pany at being unable to prevent a charter being 
 granted to the Grand Trunk for a line to the Pacific 
 coast, was made the occasion of a declaration by a 
 very prominent Canadian Pacific official that he 
 would prevent the Grand Trunk from getting money 
 in London to build the road. Previous to this the 
 Canadian Pacific influences had endeavoured to pre- 
 vent the Mackenzie and Mann lines from finding money 
 to carry on their railway construction. The Company 
 which has grown out of the original syndicate has 
 since acted as if it owns the country. Its schemes 
 have been successful in Parliament for so many years 
 that such a conclusion seems natural. 
 
 In the elections of 191 1 all reserve was thrown to 
 the winds, and the full army of 75,000 employees was 
 marshalled against the Government. Such conduct 
 on the part of any corporation in Germany, Austria 
 or France, would result in the officials finding them- 
 
250 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 selves in prison with little loss of time. It could not 
 take place in Great Britain, nor could any candidate 
 be found, even with a certainty of election, willing 
 to accept support of that character. Yet the people 
 of Canada pride themselves upon the idea that their 
 Legislature is built on the model of the Mother of 
 Parliaments ! 
 
 The revelation at a recent session of the British 
 House of Commons, that the directors of the London 
 and North-western Railway had subscribed ;^200 to 
 an election fund, was sufficiently startling to both 
 sides of the House to cause the immediate stoppage of 
 legislation then being enacted in the interest of the 
 company, until an apology could be offered, and 
 evidence adduced that the money had been returned 
 to the company by the directors. There is no need 
 to inquire as to what action the British Parliament 
 would take, if evidence was available that a railway 
 corporation had expended half a million pounds 
 sterling, and turned the whole machinery of its 
 organization into corrupting the political life of the 
 country. It may be interesting to ask what kind of an 
 uproar would there be in British politics if, in seeking 
 an extension of the powers of the Chartered Company 
 of South Africa from the British Parliament, Sir 
 Leander Starr Jameson, the President of the Company, 
 should present the wife of the Prime Minister with a 
 necklace of jewels costing ^40,000, loan the Chancellor 
 ^10,000 to ^20,000, deposit to the credit of another 
 Member of the Cabinet from ^50,000 to ^100,000 
 
BALLOT-BOX MUST BE FREE 251 
 
 for his personal use, contribute ^100,000 to the 
 Liberal Whip for party purposes, and scatter the 
 Chartered Company's shares among members on both 
 sides of the House ! And yet this is exactly what was 
 done in the Dominion Parliament to advance the 
 interests of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In regard 
 to the participants, the receivers are " Honourable 
 Gentlemen," and the contributors are " Empire- 
 Builders." There is a healthier element now on both 
 sides of the House, sick and tired of this sinister domi- 
 nation of the public life of the country. The little 
 leaven will yet " leaven the whole lump." And, when 
 that time comes, reputations, both of the living and 
 the dead, will suffer. 
 
 No country can afford to have its public interests 
 overshadowed by the active influence of a great 
 corporation. This is particularly objectionable if 
 such a corporation has developed under bounty drawn 
 from the public exchequer. Corporations have a 
 proper position in every country, but their place, as 
 corporate bodies, is not at the ballot-box. The ballot 
 is a personal possession, not corporate or collective in 
 its character. It is the nation's " pearl of great 
 price." The rich and poor must stand upon a perfect 
 equality with the ballot and at the ballot-box. There 
 is no liberty of action when a powerful corporation, 
 either secretly or openly, attempts to dominate 
 elections. Such corporate monstrosities must be 
 throttled. 
 
 If the genius of statesmanship has not discovered a 
 
252 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 way to enact legislation, punishing with the utmost 
 severity all possible attempts to interfere with the 
 liberty of the subject, the sooner it is done the better. 
 If it is not done now, if will be done later, and then 
 " vested interests " will suffer. The Dominion Legis- 
 lature is a Parliament, possessing full Parliamentary 
 powers. And with public opinion behind it, there is 
 no influence to stand in its way. The solution of this 
 problem has long since been settled in British politics, 
 but it has yet to be solved in the most important 
 colony of the Empire. 
 
 The Canadian people, calmly pursuing their peace- 
 ful avocations, were new to the conditions introduced 
 into Dominion politics in the interest of the syndicate. 
 Officials were imported from the United States, with 
 an intimate knowledge of the methods employed in 
 manipulating public men in railway interests in the 
 west, and were placed in charge of the Canadian Pacific. 
 Under their instructions, the most improved tactics 
 were brought into play to complete the demoralization 
 of Canadian public life, and at the same time to secure 
 the control of the Parliamentary institutions of the 
 country. 
 
 The general public had not time or opportunity, 
 amid the struggles for home and family, to watch too 
 closely the actions of those who so loudly claimed to 
 be patriotic. Canadians as a class are actuated by 
 high principles. This heritage has fallen to them 
 from the noble bands of English, Scotch, Irish and 
 French who emigrated to Canada in its earlier years, 
 
CANADIAN PEOPLE ARE HONEST 253 
 
 and whose self-sacrificing toil laid the foundation of 
 an honest race. The people had every reason to be- 
 lieve that the standards of honour and honesty that 
 prevailed in the ordinary walks of life were finding 
 expression in the administration of government. 
 That the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada should 
 be the medium of creating private wealth is as 
 repugnant to them as it is to the electors of Great 
 Britain. They believed that the British ideal existed 
 in their own manner and form of government. No 
 other conception of public life prevails in the minds 
 of the masses of the Canadian people. The lives of 
 Brown, Mackenzie, Holton and Dorion more properly 
 represent the characteristics of this people than the 
 record of those, living or dead, who have caused other 
 considerations to prevail in high places. 
 
XXVIII 
 
 Distribution of wealth — The Strathcona Horse — Consternation at a 
 banquet — Visits from the troopers' famiHes — A share in the good 
 times — Subscription to British political funds — The All-Red 
 Route — The ruling passion — Fear of possible successor — Sir 
 Frederick Borden and Sir Gilbert Parker — A pathetic scene — 
 Conclusion there is no hurry to resign — Lady Strathcona. 
 
 The romance of Lord Strathcona's life between the 
 western prairies and the House of Lords would be 
 incomplete without a reference to gifts that will 
 cause his name to be remembered. The Queen 
 Victoria Jubilee Hospital at Montreal, in co-operation 
 with another Pacific syndicate magnate, Lord Mount 
 Stephen, was erected at an enormous cost, and in its 
 appointments is one of the best institutions on the 
 continent of America. The King's Hospital Fund, 
 London, in which he was also joined by the nobleman 
 referred to, established a record in subscriptions of 
 that character ; McGill University, Montreal, in the 
 equipment of which Lord Strathcona and Sir William 
 Macdonald expended several millions ; the Strath- 
 cona Horse, a contribution to the Empire during the 
 South African War, has no precedent in the history of 
 any country. 
 
 A propos of the Strathcona Horse, it will be re- 
 membered that on the return of the force from South 
 Africa, the ofhcers and men were much feted in 
 
 London. The amusements provided for the non- 
 254 
 
TOO MANY COMPLIMENTS 255 
 
 commissioned officers and men were on a most 
 extensive scale. The officers enjoyed receptions 
 and banquets galore. So many compliments were 
 dinned into their ears by the beauty and fashion of 
 the day that it is not surprising, if, during the late 
 hours at well-laid-out banquets where everything of 
 a gastronomic character that the heart could desire 
 was generously provided, the compliments assumed en- 
 larged proportions, and a faint idea took possession of 
 some of the officers' minds that the Strathcona Horse 
 had really turned the tide of victory in South Africa. 
 As a final farewell to the gallant Canadian force. Lord 
 Strathcona gave a banquet to the officers at the Hotel 
 Cecil. The guests were among the most notable in 
 the Empire. Heads of the Army and Navy, Field- 
 Marshals and Admirals, Foreign and Colonial officials, 
 in a goodly company, gathered round the festive 
 board. If anything had been left unsaid about the 
 wonderful fighting character of the force, it was 
 amply compensated for on this occasion. There was 
 no longer any doubt about the marvellous achievements 
 of the Strathcona House. Queen Mary would never 
 have lost Calais, Bonaparte might have won Waterloo, 
 and Napoleon would have saved his Empire at Sedan, 
 if the Strathcona Horse had been with the defeated of 
 those days. Lord Strathcona proposed the " Health 
 of the officers of the Strathcona Horse," the title of 
 which he said the guests knew he was not responsible 
 for. He expressed his personal appreciation of their 
 bravery, and of their anxiety to help the Empire in the 
 hour of trouble. After the toast had been properly 
 
256 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 honoured, one of the officers rose to reply. With 
 flashing eyes and in a voice indicating intense earnest- 
 ness, he assured the gathering that he was not a pubhc 
 speaker, but he was a fighter. (Loud applause.) 
 Raising his glass " To the Strathcona Horse," he said : 
 " We are the Boys " (loud applause). " We can lick 
 anything in sight " (applause and laughter). " One 
 of us is worth any five Frenchmen " (consternation), 
 " and we can lick h — out of the Germans." A look 
 of horror appeared on every face. Privy Councillors 
 half rose from their seats. Two prominent guests 
 immediately endeavoured to get the enthusiastic 
 fighter to resume his. But his appetite had been 
 sharpened for the blood of a foreigner. With great 
 difficulty, and amid a rattle of dishes to drown any 
 further references of a similar character, the brave 
 soldier was pushed towards the exit, repeating over 
 and over again, " We can lick," etc., etc. The repre- 
 sentatives of diplomacy were horrified. A feast which 
 promised so much that was pleasant had suddenly 
 turned to ashes. Word was passed down the table that 
 the incident must be regarded as never having taken 
 place. But the ghost of international complications 
 haunted the banqueting-hall for the rest of the evening. 
 As the company dispersed a very prominent diplomat 
 
 was heard to say : " D the Strathcona Horse ! " 
 
 There was another phase of the Strathcona Horse 
 that gave Lord Strathcona not a little anxiety, and 
 which, of course, could not have been foreseen. In 
 anticipation of the return of their husbands, the 
 wives of three or four of the troopers, young and 
 
UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS 257 
 
 bonny, came to London to meet the idols of the nation. 
 The Canadian Press had enlarged on the gratitude of 
 the Empire to the force, and outlined a programme 
 that was being prepared for the troopers on their return 
 from the scene of active operations. Why should not 
 the wives have a share of the good things that were 
 going ? Had they not suffered also ? Some of these 
 anxious spouses anticipated their lords' return by 
 many months. They could not do less than visit the 
 office of the great man whose liberality had provided 
 the means for their husbands to seek glory in South 
 Africa, and it was from him, also, that they were likely 
 to get the most reliable information about the return 
 of the troops. The officials at the High Commis- 
 sioner's office were unusually courteous and atten- 
 tive, and they were also very solicitous that the ladies 
 should not interview Lord Strathcona. But they 
 succeeded in passing the official barriers and intro- 
 duced themselves. The natural inquiries as to how 
 they were getting on without their husbands opened 
 the floodgates, and more information was forthcoming 
 than was wanted. The bread-winners were away 
 fighting to save the Empire. They were having a 
 hard time in looking after themselves. The appeal 
 was irresistible — proper provision was immediately 
 made on a most liberal scale. One or two of these 
 anxious wives learned that their benefactor kept late 
 office hours, and they found fewer officials obstructing 
 their entrance than during the day. So they chose 
 the evenings for their visits to Victoria Street. Visits 
 of that kind were capable of serious misapprehension, 
 
258 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 unjust misconstruction from every possible stand- 
 point, but that possibility never occurred to the sturdy 
 Canadian matrons. One evening when Lady Strath- 
 cona had come down from Grosvenor Square with the 
 object of taking Lord Strathcona home at a more 
 reasonable hour than he was accustomed to leave his 
 office, one of these evening visitors entered. She 
 informed the official in the outer office that she must 
 see Lord Strathcona. The official explained that Lady 
 Strathcona was with him, and, also, he was very busy. 
 But if Lady Strathcona was there it was all the greater 
 incentive, as she was very anxious to meet Lady 
 Strathcona as well. The official, however, was obdurate. 
 The best he could do was to take her card into his 
 Lordship. The visitor's card was therefore laid on 
 Lord Strathcona's desk. After a moment's hesitation 
 Lord Strathcona said : " Tell him that I cannot 
 possibly see him to-night. Come to-morrow morn- 
 ing." But it was no use. The official returned with 
 the message, " He says he really must see your Lord- 
 ship, and he will wait in the library at your con- 
 venience." Evening visitors, after this experience, 
 were barred for a long time at 17 Victoria Street, but 
 Lord Strathcona gave instructions that there must be 
 no difficulties raised by the officials to prevent these 
 people from seeing him during the daytime. 
 
 Lord Strathcona experienced not a little uneasiness 
 at the persistent efforts of several members of the 
 British House of Commons in a certain direction, 
 during the early session of Sir Henry Campbell-Banner- 
 man's administration, to trace a persistent rumour to 
 
LIBERAL POLITICAL SUBSCRIPTION 259 
 
 the effect that the High Commissioner for Canada had 
 contributed ^150,000 to the funds of a pohtical 
 organization that was then carrying on a very costly 
 and extensive propaganda throughout Great Britain. 
 For three or four weeks repeated notices of inquiry to 
 the Government were given to the officials of the 
 House on the subject, but these never appeared on the 
 official records. All kinds of objections were raised by 
 those charged with responsibility about the form and 
 procedure in such cases. Although it was evident to 
 the inquirers who wanted to make the matter public 
 that their intentions were going to be blocked, they 
 led the officers of the House a lively dance, by the 
 various forms in which the subject was presented from 
 time to time. It was believed by those high in 
 authority that it was not in the public interest that 
 Lord Strathcona's practical sympathy with this 
 question, in view of his official position, should be 
 generally known. The fear of having his association 
 with a political policy that was opposed by the Govern- 
 ment to which he was accredited announced to the 
 public, to say nothing about his oft-repeated assurance 
 to friends that he took no interest in British party 
 politics, disturbed Lord Strathcona's equanimity sadly. 
 It was obviously a case where it was advisable that the 
 right hand should not know what the left was doing. 
 One other incident of a public character in con- 
 nection with Lord Strathcona's later life stands out 
 as worthy of note. During the session of the Colonial 
 Conference in 1907 there was much unofficial talk 
 about a line of steamships connecting direct with 
 
260 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 railways through British possessions to the Antipodes, 
 famiharly known as the All-Red Route. The idea 
 had taken a good hold of the public mind, regardless 
 of the vast steamship interests plying between Australia 
 and Europe. 
 
 At any rate Sir Wilfrid Laurier introduced a 
 resolution to the Colonial Conference recommending 
 that imperial and colonial assistance be given to such 
 a project. He announced during the course of his 
 speech that he had discussed the question with Lord 
 Strathcona, who was willing, on the terms proposed, 
 to throw the influence of his great wealth into the 
 scale and make the All-Red Route a success. The 
 minimum terms suggested were on the basis of a 
 subsidy from the governments of Great Britain, 
 Canada, New Zealand and Australia of $5,000,000 
 (^1,000,000) annually, for twenty years, totalling 
 $100,000,000 (^20,000,000), with which to start. 
 With Lord Strathcona's experience of issuing railway 
 bonds to the public, and paid-up ordinary stock to 
 himself, the only cost being the printing account, this 
 proposal certainly opened up magnificent possibilities. 
 Others did not see them at the moment, but he took 
 in the situation at a glance. The project was hanging 
 fire, the early imperialistic enthusiasm having sub- 
 sided about the time that a great newspaper amal- 
 gamation or shuffle was on the cards in London. 
 Money was wanted to carry the rearrangement of the 
 newspaper ownership through. Lord Strathcona was 
 consulted, and he offered to subscribe from ^150,000 
 to j^300,ooo, provided the newspapers concerned in 
 
RUMOURS OF RESIGNATION 261 
 
 the deal should take special interest in advocating the 
 All-Red Route. However, the idea of the so-called 
 Imperial Route, and the amalgamation of the news- 
 paper interests in question died a natural death. 
 
 In connection with the oft-repeated rumours of 
 Lord Strathcona's intended resignation, which never 
 had any foundation, he was particularly disturbed at 
 the suggested appointment of Sir Frederick Borden, 
 or Sir Gilbert Parker, as his successor. He would 
 have left nothing undone to prevent either of these 
 notable gentlemen from being High Commissioner. 
 The truth is that he had no intention of resigning, but 
 the name of a probable successor seemed to indicate 
 that his resignation was desirable. In regard to Sir 
 Frederick, information was given by an official in the 
 High Commissioner's office which formed the foun- 
 dation of an article in a leading periodical in London, 
 which, if based on fact, would have rendered the 
 appointment impossible. Sir Frederick promptly in- 
 stituted proceedings for libel against the writer and 
 the publishers. A full and unqualified apology was 
 given to Sir Frederick, and the charges were acknow- 
 ledged to be without foundation, and a substantial 
 sum was paid into court in mitigation of damages. 
 Respecting Sir Gilbert Parker, Lord Strathcona asked 
 me if I had heard about Sir Gilbert's alleged aspirations 
 to be High Commissioner. As I was well aware of 
 the conversations that had taken place at Ottawa, I 
 ventured the remark that I thought Sir Gilbert 
 Parker could do Canada great service in many ways 
 as High Commissioner, if he (Lord Strathcona) was 
 
262 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 determined to resign. " Utterly useless, utterly use- 
 less ! He would only use the office to get into the 
 House of Lords. That is all he wants it for," was 
 his reply. It was evident that the hour had not 
 then come for his withdrawal. Leading politicians 
 on both sides of the House would gladly have heard 
 of his resignation any time within the last six or 
 seven years of his life. In fact it was confidently 
 looked for. Both sides knew that any suggestion 
 from one would mean an open purse for election 
 purposes at the disposal of the other. Neither party 
 wanted him in Canada, each being fearful of his 
 possible support of the other. 
 
 Finally, in the early months of 191 1, he announced 
 that the Dominion Day dinner would be the last 
 occasion at which he would appear in public as High 
 Commissioner for Canada. He requested Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier to make the official announcement, on the 
 evening of the gathering, that he desired to be relieved 
 from the cares of office. The occasion when Lord 
 Strathcona rose to address the company was exceed- 
 ingly pathetic. The frail figure with snow-white 
 hair, the shoulders drooping with the burden of years 
 far beyond the allotted span, the voice faint and 
 trembling, uttering farewell, sent a thrill of over- 
 powering emotion through the room. It was the 
 passing away of a great character. If wealth, honours 
 and success meant everything, he had nothing left to 
 desire. But he had already grown tired. As the crowd 
 withdrew from the banqueting-hall there was a subdued 
 
PROMISED RESIGNATION WITHHELD 263 
 
 feeling of sympathy and regret. For the moment one 
 wished that history could be rewritten, or blotted out ! 
 
 The resignation was to be delivered to Sir Wilfrid 
 at an early date. The Canadian Prime Minister 
 offered the post to Sir Frederick Borden, one of his 
 most faithful, as well as capable colleagues, who had 
 been Minister of Militia for many years. At Euston 
 Station, on the morning of Sir Wilfrid's departure 
 for Canada, he said to Lord Strathcona in his usual 
 urbane manner : " Allow me to introduce your 
 successor, Lord Strathcona," pointing to Sir Frederick. 
 " I hope you will enjoy life in London, Sir Frederick ; 
 it is a pleasant place to live in," replied the High 
 Commissioner. Farewell courtesies were exchanged 
 and the train was off. 
 
 Lord Strathcona returned to his office. A chance 
 visitor found him in a deep study. He said that he 
 had just been formally introduced to his successor by 
 Sir Wilfrid, and it seemed like breaking all associations 
 with the atmosphere in which he had lived for forty 
 years. Three or four weeks afterwards a cable de- 
 spatch appeared from Ottawa in the London Press 
 that Sir Frederick had not yet been appointed High 
 Commissioner because Lord Strathcona's official 
 resignation had not been received by the Premier. 
 This was shown the same day to Lord Strathcona. 
 His reply was : " There is no hurry, there is no hurry^ 
 is there ? " The resignation was never sent. The 
 same day that the news was confirmed that Sir Wilfrid's 
 Government was going out, he took passage to Ottawa, 
 
264 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 and on arrival naturally paid his respects to the 
 incoming Premier. 
 
 Few men had more personal charm than Lord 
 Strathcona. In his relations with the public and as a 
 host nothing could exceed his grace and courtesy. He 
 might have belonged to the ancient regime. The 
 official position of his later years threw him into 
 association with lifelong opponents, but to the most 
 extreme of these he never lacked politeness and friend- 
 liness. Whatever his feelings might be, and he was 
 only human, his mastery over himself was complete. 
 This was a strong characteristic. Nothing could dis- 
 turb his equanimity. Many who affect this manner 
 of life succumb to nervous exhaustion by suppression 
 of the natural emotions. Lord Strathcona's lengthened 
 years proves his heritage. No one will say that he 
 carried his heart on his sleeve — few men do. Almost 
 everyone has some secret that the world has no right 
 to know. His fine natural manner gave all the im- 
 pression that he was as free and open as the sun. 
 
 " ' Let us be open as the day,' 
 
 Quoth he who doth the deeper hidcc" 
 
 Certainly there was great natural kindness in his 
 character, — his splendid gifts to universities and 
 hospitals prove this. No one could so support insti- 
 tutions for the intellectual and physical betterment 
 of his fellow-men without deep human sympathies. 
 For friends, too, he would do anything, and strangers 
 in need rarely appealed to him in vain. He gave not 
 grudgingly, but bestowed generously. With oppo- 
 
HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN 265 
 
 nents, or those who crossed his will, his method was 
 to try first to win them over without any of the 
 appearance of the mailed fist. Courtesy and gold were 
 pressed into service to make rough places smooth and 
 overcome opposition. But if the subjects of his 
 consideration remained obdurate, then he crushed 
 without delay, taking pains, however, that Strathcona's 
 hand was never seen in the matter. There were always 
 others willing to accept the responsibility. He de- 
 veloped his power in this direction into a science. 
 He never allowed himself to show resentment. So 
 far as possible he avoided arousing thoughts of reprisals 
 in the hearts of his opponents. However the end 
 might justify the means, the reason for the means 
 was not in evidence — his hand was never visible. In 
 fact, he more often than not tempered the wind to the 
 shorn lamb, with an appearance of personal sympathy. 
 Lord Strathcona had great qualities — his foresight 
 and his perseverance amounted to genius. He could 
 have succeeded in any walk of life. He had some 
 bent towards religion, and if circumstances had led 
 him in that direction, in the opinion of the writer, 
 he might have been a great power, leaving a name 
 not less venerated than Wesley or Booth. He might, 
 too, have been a great statesman, history giving him 
 a place with Clive and Rhodes. The opportunity 
 was there for one who had the diviner dreams and 
 larger loves of the altruist for his country. He had 
 the foresight and the splendid daring of genius. But 
 he chose personal power and wealth for Donald A. 
 Smith. That opportunity, also, was there in a large 
 
266 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 degree only possible in the western United States 
 and Canada forty years ago. He took the chance 
 Fortune offered him, played for enormous stakes with 
 the weapons that the circumstances of the time 
 permitted him to forge. And he won. He deserved 
 to win. He gained enormous fortune, immense 
 power, high honours for himself — exceeding in all 
 these particulars any romantic dreams that he might 
 have indulged in. But just in the degree that Lord 
 Strathcona succeeded for himself, it is a question for 
 history to finally decide, whether he did not fail in 
 the larger test — that of true and noble patriotism. 
 
 The story of his life is written upon the public 
 records of the country, so that he who runs may read. 
 
 Those who were favoured with Lady Strathcona's 
 friendship and confidence came to know a candid and 
 kindly nature. Her perfect frankness was her charm. 
 In the old days in Labrador, when the Indians would 
 gather at the post apparently determined to make a 
 quasi permanent stay, diplomatic suggestions from 
 the head of the house that it was time to go had no 
 effect whatever. She, however, took a hand in the 
 dismissal, treating them like the children of Nature 
 that they were, and, as the writer heard her tell the 
 story of her experiences in this particular, she said : 
 " They moved quickly for me, when they would not 
 budge for Donald A." 
 
 In London Lady Strathcona was so overshadowed 
 by the official and personal prominence of her husband, 
 that many who only casually knew her as the social 
 head of the Canadian circle failed to appreciate her 
 
A CHARMING PERSONALITY 267 
 
 diffident and unassuming womanliness. Honesty and 
 candour were ever present in her intercourse with 
 people, but never unkindness. Entering, as Lady 
 Strathcona did, the highest social circles of the Empire 
 when the shadows of life had long lengthened, she 
 never lost herself — there always remained a sweet 
 personality. Those who were admitted to that inti- 
 macy will always have the pleasantest recollections of 
 her charm, her gentle kindness, and her sympathy. 
 
 If sometimes she wished for more of the quietness 
 of family life, and less incessant social demands — the 
 part of life in which Lord Strathcona revelled, it is 
 not a matter of surprise. 
 
 During Lord Strathcona's lease of Knebworth, 
 nothing gave him greater pleasure than to invite friends 
 there for the week-end. Upon one occasion he left 
 word at Grosvenor Square, when he was leaving for 
 the day, that he had invited Sir Charles and Lady 
 Tupper to go to Knebworth with them, and that 
 Sir Charles was to send a message whether he could 
 go or not. Just at the moment that the telephone 
 rang Lady Strathcona happened to be in the hall. 
 The butler, receiving a message, turned to Lady 
 Strathcona, saying, " It is Sir Charles Tupper, your 
 Ladyship. He says that he and Lady Tupper will be 
 glad to go to Knebworth this afternoon." " Oh, bother 
 the Tuppers," said Lady Strathcona, " I don't want 
 them at Knebworth this week." The butler, knowing 
 Lord Strathcona's wishes, did just what any well- 
 trained butler would have done under the circum- 
 stances and replied to Sir Charles with studied 
 
268 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 decorum, " Lady Strathcona is delighted to hear you 
 are going, and will meet you at King's Cross Station 
 at three o'clock." The last shot from Lady Strathcona 
 before the 'phone was hung up was, " You have no 
 right to say that." 
 
 However Sir Charles and Lady Tupper were at the 
 station in time to meet the other guests and take the 
 train for Knebworth. Sir Charles was very quiet. 
 He was far from forgetting what he had heard at the 
 other end of the 'phone, and wondered how he could 
 even up with the little woman with the candid tongue. 
 
 During dinner Sir Charles turned the conversation 
 to the general convenience of the modern telephone. 
 He was sitting a little distance from Lady Strathcona. 
 Suddenly addressing her he said, " But you know, 
 Lady Strathcona, telephones are very dangerous things 
 to have around sometimes." " Are they indeed, Sir 
 Charles ? Do tell me how, because I am very near ours 
 quite often." The company was all attention as Sir 
 Charles leaned over, and with a kindly smile said, 
 " Yes, very dangerous. Lady Strathcona, because I 
 heard every word you said to-day when I 'phoned to 
 Grosvenor Square." Quick as a flash the reply came, 
 " Well, Sir Charles, I meant every word of it." Of 
 course the company insisted upon hearing the story, 
 which was told by Lady Strathcona amid roars of 
 laughter, in which Sir Charles joined most heartily. 
 In conversation after the ladies had retired from the 
 dining-room, Sir Charles said good-humouredly, 
 " Lady Strathcona is too sharp for me, but I do enjoy 
 her candour." 
 
XXIX 
 
 Lord Strathcona's Will — Cancellation |of Canadian loans — Securing 
 friends in high places — Sir George E. Foster — Sir Richard 
 Cartwright ruined by rival company — The great Samson shorn 
 of his strength — Bleeding the Canadian public — Comparison 
 with British procedure — Winnipeg — An unforgiven offence — 
 The unaccepted atonement. 
 
 Under Lord Strathcona's Will, which was probated 
 in New York, he left his Scottish estates and half a 
 million of money to the heirs succeeding to the title. 
 Subject to a number of legacies, Lord Strathcona 
 bequeathed the residue of his estate to his daughter, 
 now Lady Strathcona. Among the legacies are the 
 following : — 
 
 St. John's College, Cambridge (in addition to £ 
 
 ^10,000 given during his lifetime) . . 10,000 
 Royal Victoria College, Montreal (under 
 deduction of any payments made during 
 his lifetime, and in addition to the 
 College buildings and site provided by 
 him at a cost of about £80,000) . . . 200,000 
 Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal . . . 100,000 
 Yale University, Connecticut, U.S.A. . . 100,000 
 University of Aberdeen for Chair of Agri- 
 culture 5,000 
 
 Leanchoil Cottage Hospital, Forres . . . 10,000 
 
 269 
 
270 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Queen Alexandra Extension Home and Hos- 
 pital for Incurables, Streatham . . . ^^2,000 
 National Hospital for Paralysed and Epi- 
 leptics 2,000 
 
 London University College Hospital . . 2,000 
 
 Middlesex Hospital 2,000 
 
 Church of Scotland, Aged and Infirm 
 
 Ministers' Fund 10,000 
 
 Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, 
 
 Extension Fund 20,000 
 
 Principal, Church of Canada Presbyterian 
 
 College, Montreal 12,000 
 
 " ^1,000 to my godson, son of Mrs. Arthur Jameson, 
 of Dorcourt, Red Hill. 
 
 " j^i,ooo to my godson, Baden- Powell. 
 " ^1,000 to Rupert Anson, son of Lord Lichfield. 
 " ^1,000 to Neil McGrigor, younger son of Sir James 
 D. McGrigor, baronet. 
 
 "^1,000 to my god-daughter, the daughter of Sir 
 Peter Stewart Bam. 
 
 "^1,000 to my trusted friend, William Garson, 
 Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh. 
 
 " j^i,ooo to^. G. Colmer, who has given me valuable 
 assistance for many years. 
 
 " ^1,000 to James Garson, Writer to the Signet, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 "^1,000 to JV. L. Grijith, at present secretary to 
 the High Commissioner for Canada. 
 
 "j/^i,ooo to Principal Adam Smith, of Aberdeen 
 University, personally. 
 
REMEMBERING FRIENDS 271 
 
 " 1,000 guineas to Sir Thomas Barlozv, in addition 
 to the legacy of a similar amount left to him in my 
 Will. 
 
 " 500 guineas to Dr. Pasteur, in addition to the 
 legacy of similar amount left to him in my Will. 
 
 " An annuity of £100 during her lifetime to Miss 
 Sydney Stuart. 
 
 " An annuity of ^^120 jointly during their lives and 
 to the survivor to the two daughters of son of my Uncle, 
 Patrick Stuart, at one time Town Major of Belfast. 
 
 "An annuity of ^150 to Margaret McLennan, for 
 many years my late wife's maid and personal help, 
 also a useful attendant of myself. 
 
 " A legacy of ^1,000 to Principal William Peterson, 
 of McGill College, personally. 
 
 " A legacy of ^£300 to Robert Garson, to assist him 
 to complete his studies. 
 
 " A legacy of ;£25o to Christy E. Mackay, Montreal. 
 
 " A legacy of ^250 to Rosa Pitts, at one time trained 
 nurse to my late wife. 
 
 " I specially request my daughter and other trustees 
 to contribute generally as they know I would do for 
 the benefit of all personal servants, including Abraham 
 May, my assistant secretary, and all others who may 
 be in my service at my death, according to length and 
 value of their services. 
 
 " Retired Chief Factor, Roderick MacFarlane, and 
 other retired factors of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 who are now receiving a reduced allowance, each 
 during his lifetime, but in different proportions one 
 
272 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 from the other, to be given out of my estate not 
 exceeding one-half of what each ^ets from the Company, 
 the allowance in each case ceasing on the death of the 
 individual and the highest proportion allowed to any- 
 one individual not to exceed ^50 annually. 
 
 LEGACY AND ESTATE TO HIS STEPSON 
 
 "In trust for James Hardisty Smith, named in my 
 Will, and his children, a sum of _£5,ooo, in addition to 
 the sum of ^^25,000, mentioned in the fifth article of 
 my Will, and subject to the same conditions in all 
 respects." 
 
 BEQUEST TO NIECES 
 
 The trustees are directed to invest ^20,000 and 
 pay the income thereof to " my niece, Margaret M. 
 Smith, of Stuart Lodge, Polworth Terrace, Edinburgh, 
 daughter of my late brother, John Stuart Smith, M.D.," 
 and upon her death to her issue, " whom failing, to 
 her sister Mrs. Eliz.a Jane Grant, of Thornhill, Forres, 
 widow of the late Robert D. Grant, whom failing, to 
 the children of the said Eliza Jane Grant, and the 
 issue of any children who may have predeceased, such 
 taking their parents' share, and the said legacy shall 
 vest when the same becomes payable." 
 
 Also ^20,000 to be invested for the said Eliza Jane 
 Grant, and upon her death to her issue. 
 
 REMISSION OF DEBTS 
 
 " I remit and cancel the debts owing to me by (i) 
 the estate of the late Right Hon. Richard Cartzvright, 
 (2) the estate of the late Lieut.-Colonel William White, 
 
AN ENORMOUS FORTUNE 273 
 
 one time Deputy Postmaster-General of Canada, (3) 
 the Hon. George E. Foster. 
 
 TO MR. BURNS FOR THE LEPERS 
 
 " Further, I give and bequeath to the Right Hon. 
 John Burns the sum of ^5,000 for the purpose of a 
 home and maintenance for a number of some fifty 
 lepers in the United Kingdom, but none of this sum 
 to be expended on or for other lepers who may come 
 into the United Kingdom. 
 
 TO LADY STRATHCONA AND HER CHILDREN 
 
 " I direct my trustees to pay, convey and transfer 
 to Margaret Charlotte Howard, in the event of her 
 surviving me, the whole residue of my means and 
 estate, heritable and movable, real and personal, 
 wherever situated, and in the event of the said Margaret 
 Charlotte Howard predeceasing me, I direct my 
 trustees to hold the said residue until the youngest of 
 her children, who shall survive me, attain the age of 
 twenty-one." 
 
 Lord Strathcona's Will was also rendered for probate 
 at Somerset House, May 26th, 1914. The value of 
 personal estate in the United Kingdom, ^^418,500; 
 personal estate abroad, ^4,232,000 ; total value of 
 personal estate, ^4,651,000. The estate duty payable 
 was ^837,000. 
 
 The principal property consisted of : Great Northern 
 Railway in the United States, $6,606,000 ; Northern 
 Pacific Railway of the United States, $3,380,000 ; 
 
274 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, $4,112,000; Bank of Mon- 
 treal, $645,000 ; Laurentine Company of Quebec, 
 $466,000 ; Dominion Steel Corporation, $400,000 ; 
 Hudson's Bay Company, ^248,000 ; Anglo-Persian 
 Company, ^56,000 ; Barmg Brothers, ^^44,000. 
 
 The statement was made in the House of Commons 
 that Lord Strathcona held ^^i, 000,000 Ordinary Stock 
 in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.^ It was well known 
 that he held various other stocks of considerable value 
 in numerous companies. As no record of them appears 
 in the probate statement, colour is lent to the rumour 
 that was going the rounds a few years ago, that a large 
 part of his estate had been distributed long before his 
 death, when his wealth was placed at a much higher 
 figure than his actual possessions at the time of his death. 
 
 A clause in Lord Strathcona's Will that aroused 
 mingled feeling of surprise and dismay in Canada was 
 the public cancellation of alleged indebtedness to him 
 by the late Sir Richard Cartwright and Sir George 
 Foster, formerly Ministers of Finance in Liberal and 
 Tory Governments. The latter is now Minister of Trade 
 and Commerce, as the former was in the recent 
 Government. Sir George Foster represents Canada 
 on the Imperial Trade Commission. Why the public 
 should have been taken into confidence in these 
 transactions in this manner, when there were others 
 of a similar character, must ever remain a mystery. 
 There were certainly no public reasons why these 
 statesmen should receive exceptional treatment in this 
 
 1 Appendix, 13. 
 
UNLOOKED-FOR PUBLICITY 275 
 
 respect at his hands. The clause in the Will was 
 evidently inserted after the death of Sir Richard. 
 
 Sir George Foster, like many Colonials has had a 
 varied career. He owes his prominence in public life 
 less to personal popularity than to natural ability. 
 Next to Sir Charles Tupper he stood head and shoulders 
 over all the others of his party as a fine public speaker : 
 impressive, brilliant, incisive and extraordinarily critical 
 of political opponents. Formerly Professor of Litera- 
 ture in a New Brunswick college, he soon learned that 
 a man hath no honour in his own country. He went 
 west to Ontario where a Prohibition campaign was in 
 full swing, being received as the guest of the President 
 of the Temperance League, Mr. D. B. Chisholm, a 
 prominent Liberal and wealthy citizen of Hamilton. 
 His host gladly engaged him as a speaker at $io {£2) 
 per meeting. He soon estabHshed a reputation for 
 platform oratory, with the result that he successively 
 entered the political field in his native province as an 
 independent temperance candidate for the House of 
 Commons in 1882. 
 
 Sir John Macdonald, always on the look-out for 
 new talent, in 1885 offered Mr. Foster a seat in the 
 Cabinet, promoting him in 1888 to the responsible 
 position of Finance Minister. He held this office 
 during the successive changes in the Cabinet under 
 Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, and Sir Macken- 
 zie Bowell. In the session of 1896 he joined the cabal 
 within the Cabinet against the Premier. He was one 
 of the six Ministers who tendered their resignations. 
 
276 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 and sat on the cross benches of the House of Commons 
 for several weeks, during which time Government 
 business came to a standstill. 
 
 He was deeply indebted to the First Minister, Sir 
 Mackenzie Bowell, as the latter had used his kind 
 offices with Lady Aberdeen in a matter of deep personal 
 concern to Sir George Foster, but gratitude and 
 loyalty were never Sir George's strong points. The 
 determination to deprive Sir Mackenzie of the leader- 
 ship of the party on the occasion of the resignation 
 of half his Cabinet, is strong evidence of the decadence 
 of the party at that particular period. And the 
 bitterness that existed between the factions may be 
 better understood from the statement, that when the 
 returns were published in the evening of the general 
 election of 1896, announcing the defeat of the 
 Government of which Sir George Foster was a 
 member, the Bowell family joined in the public 
 jubilation of the Liberals. 
 
 Sir George Foster came to London to take part in 
 the Tariff Reform propaganda in 1904, with a chance 
 of permanently remaining in England. Although on 
 the question of Protection he has probably no equal 
 on the platform, his presentation of the case did not 
 meet with general favour. The Tariff Reform Com- 
 mittee vainly offered London newspapers sixpence 
 per line to print a resume of his speeches. The 
 whirligig of time brought its revenge, however, in 
 191 2, on his return to London as a member of 
 Sir R. L. Borden's Cabinet, when he became the 
 
THE INCONVENIENCE OF POVERTY 277 
 
 honoured guest of the Constitutional Club, and had 
 his every utterance chronicled with great eclat. Sir 
 George Foster's financial position was not flourishing 
 during the long period when his party was out of 
 office. It is unfortunate that the personal rancour 
 introduced into Canadian politics in the last thirty 
 years has often followed faithful public services into 
 private life, and not infrequently crippled individual 
 earning-capacity. Poverty is no crime, but extremely 
 inconvenient ; then wealth in the hands of other 
 parties may be a cause of offence. It is as hard to 
 kick against wealth as it was for Saul to kick against 
 the pricks. Borrowing money from Lord Strathcona 
 was, perhaps, natural enough. Lord Strathcona could 
 afford it, and was willing to lend. If the debt had not 
 been cancelled in the Will, a discriminating public need 
 not have been called upon to take an interest in the 
 matter. 
 
 It is a strange coincidence in regard to these trans- 
 actions that Sir Richard Cartwright and Sir George 
 Foster were both ex-Finance Ministers, and during 
 the years they were in opposition, that particular 
 portfolio should have been ear-marked for them 
 both, against the time when fortune should favour 
 their respective parties. The intrigue to keep Cart- 
 wright out of office was because it was feared his 
 official policy would be on a line with his public declara- 
 tions. But there was no wire-pulling necessary to 
 prevent Foster being Finance Minister when Sir R. L. 
 Borden formed his Government. It had recently 
 
278 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 been proved before a Royal Commission that Sir 
 George Foster had negotiated for a secret commission 
 to himself, while manager of the Union Trust Com- 
 pany, in a large financial deal. The editor of the 
 Toronto Globe repeated the charge in a very offensive 
 manner, and Sir George Foster entered an action for 
 libel, but lost the case. Sir George's excessive humilia- 
 tion was all that his most bitter opponents could desire. 
 But he received many expressions of sympathy from 
 prominent Liberals, as no public man worthy of the 
 name could rejoice in any stigma being attached to 
 one who had been prominently in the service of the 
 country. Foster's mistake, which may well be called 
 merely an error of judgment, cost him the portfolio 
 of Finance. Important financial negotiations were 
 pending, and therefore, another was elected for the 
 post who was sans peur et sans reproche. 
 
 The other beneficiary under the Will was Sir Richard 
 Cartwright, once the bulwark of the Liberal party, 
 respected by friend and foe for his dauntless courage 
 and unflinching integrity. From none had come 
 more impassioned denunciations of those in public 
 life who accepted favours from, or placed themselves 
 under the influence of, the Pacific Railway magnates. 
 For many years he was most bitterly hated by the 
 Tory party. He was blamed for the strong language 
 that he used against the evils of the time. His 
 justification was his desire to protect public interests. 
 In his fighting years he was the leader of the Radical 
 and anti-syndicate Liberals. All young Liberalism 
 
EVER WATCHING FOR PREY 279 
 
 had been brought up at the feet of this Gamaliel. 
 Because it would probably ruin Cartwright's holdings 
 in another company, Tory Members were canvassed 
 to vote for certain legislation incorporating a sub- 
 sidiary company in the interest of the syndicate. 
 Dating from the formation of that company Sir 
 Richard was crippled financially. Opportunities had 
 not been wanting in his public life to secure wealth, 
 but he was unimpeachable. 
 
 Shortly after the formation of the Laurier Govern- 
 ment in 1896, to the surprise of his friends, Cartwright 
 became very sympathetic to the Pacific Railway 
 demands. Lord Strathcona was well aware of Cart- 
 wright's financial difficulties, and he had transferred to 
 him a large number of shares, representing a consider- 
 able sum of money, in a company that Cartwright 
 was slightly interested in. The correspondence gives 
 evidence of Strathcona having heard Cartwright say 
 in the presence of friends, that he wished he had a 
 larger holding in a certain company. When Strath- 
 cona returned to London he sent these shares to 
 Cartwright, telling him at the same time that he 
 could pay for them at his convenience. This was 
 apparently done without any prearrangement. It 
 was, therefore, a strictly confidential transaction, as 
 was also Mr. Foster's, and probably for that reason 
 all the more objectionable from a public standpoint. 
 Money as a direct bribe could not have bought either 
 Sir Richard Cartwright or Mr. Foster. But Sir 
 Richard's necessity was Lord Strathcona's opportunity. 
 
280 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 No one could have a stronger sense of gratitude 
 than a high-souled man like Cartwright. This fine 
 phase of his character now proved his weakness. In 
 Strathcona's hands he became as clay to the potter. 
 From this time he was dominated by the man who 
 had come to his rescue in the hour of his need. The 
 Will revealed in this unmistakable manner how deeply 
 the canker had eaten into the body politic, when even 
 the great Samson of Canadian Liberalism was shorn 
 of his power. 
 
 The Department of Trade and Commerce is specially 
 responsible for the Government policy respecting 
 steamship services. The Canadian Pacific has enor- 
 mous dealings with this branch of the public service. 
 There is no denying the fact that since these loans 
 were made the annual subsidy to the syndicate Pacific 
 Ocean service has been largely increased ; the Atlantic 
 service has been treated with even greater generosity ; 
 regulations have brought into force that the preferen- 
 tial tariff of thirty-three per cent, upon British goods 
 shall only be allowed on steamships sailing direct to 
 Canadian ports ; and Atlantic mails, unless specially 
 endorsed, are sent by Canadian steamship lines. The 
 value of these concessions to the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway is simply enormous. 
 
 How completely Lord Strathcona dominated the 
 department as soon as he had Sir Richard Cartwright 
 under compliment, was further illustrated in another 
 phase of departmental policy. In 1904 Sir Richard 
 gave the writer instructions to arrange for commodious 
 
HOW DEPARTMENTS WERE CONTROLLED 281 
 
 offices in London for his department, with a view to 
 encouraging British trade on much the same lines as 
 Chfford Sifton was doing with emigration. It was 
 intended to appoint an official who would not be 
 connected with the office of the High Commissioner ; 
 but Lord Strathcona cabled his objections to a policy 
 whereby any official of that department should be free 
 from responsibility to his office. Negotiations for 
 offices were held up. Sir Richard tried to overcome 
 Strathcona's objections. But arguing with one to 
 whom you are indebted is like getting annoyed with 
 a telephone — utterly useless. Cartwright reluctantly 
 abandoned the project, and told the writer after- 
 wards that he did not carry out his intentions because 
 of Lord Strathcona's opposition. The influences at 
 work to so effectively change departmental policy 
 were inexplicable then, inasmuch as Sir Richard 
 seldom turned back once having set his hand to the 
 plough. Now the reasons are only too self-evident. 
 Through the medium of this Will Lord Strathcona's 
 dead hand has been stretched out to deface the memory 
 of one upon whose shield there had been no stain. 
 
 The full extent of Lord Strathcona's influence with 
 the Department of Trade and Commerce will never 
 be known, but it was vastly more serious than in the 
 matter already referred to. No steps whatever were 
 taken by him to protect the Canadian public against 
 the enormous increase in the freight and emigrant 
 rates of the heavily subsidized Atlantic services con- 
 trolled by the Canadian Pacific syndicate. The 
 
282 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 co-operation of these companies renders the North 
 Atlantic Combine effective, and the direct cost of 
 the Combine to Canada is enormous. The recent 
 doubhng of the freight rates on grain and flour alone 
 takes millions of dollars annually out of the pockets of 
 the hard-working agricultural masses of the Dominion, 
 before these products can reach the British market. 
 
 The debts that were owing to Lord Strathcona by- 
 responsible Ministers of the Crown in the Dominion, 
 which he so calmly provided should be publicly 
 announced in his Will, present a most extraordinarily 
 interesting situation. The sordid significance of the 
 matter, though, is painful. Students of British 
 Parliamentary institutions may well be astounded at 
 these revelations. Comparison in the administration 
 of public affairs between the Colonies and the Mother- 
 country are sometimes made. In the " possessions 
 beyond the seas " there should be as high a conception 
 of the proprieties of political life as at Westminster. 
 In South Africa and the Antipodes it is so. The 
 situation in Canada unfortunately is otherwise. The 
 frank explanations and regrets that were considered 
 necessary following the Marconi transactions will long 
 be remembered. But what would be thought of the 
 First Minister and Secretary of War borrowing 
 money from Kynochs — of the First Lord of the 
 Admiralty obtaining a loan from Armstrong-Whit- 
 worths — or the Postmaster-General from Signor 
 Marconi — or the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 
 the Tobacco Trust on the eve of a budget ? Is it 
 necessary to say that the nation would hang its head 
 
WINNIPEG NEVER FORGIVEN 283 
 
 in shame, honoured names would be buried in oWivion, 
 and neither wealth nor position could protect the 
 participating contractors and trusts from an indignant 
 public. This also was the generally accepted standard 
 of political life in the Dominion previous to the 
 advent of Donald A. Smith into the Parliamentary 
 arena at Ottawa. 
 
 It is perhaps interesting to note that the western 
 prairie city, built on the site of the old headquarters 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, has no mention in 
 Lord Strathcona's Will. There is nothing to mark 
 his association with that great outpost of civilization, 
 from whence the Company exercised such undisputed 
 sway over scattered tribes of uncivilized Indians. 
 The reason why Winnipeg was omitted, notwith- 
 standing its needs for hospital and university extension, 
 is not a secret. Winnipeg as a part of the electoral 
 district of Selkirk, under the widened franchise, 
 declined to elect Donald A. Smith as its representa- 
 tive to the Commons in 1880. Colonel Scott, a rough 
 western diamond, contested the seat against the great 
 railway magnate — and the people chose Scott. ^ The 
 election in question was conducted under severe 
 conditions. The other candidate was popular and a 
 resident, and Donald A. was neither. This is not said 
 in personal disparagement, because he was absent from 
 the west a great deal, and he had other much more 
 important matters in hand than endeavouring to curry 
 favour with the shifting population of the new 
 settlement. 
 
 ^ Appendix, 18. 
 
284 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Nearly thirty years have elapsed since then. Win- 
 nipeg has grown to be a city with a population of 
 125,000. Its citizens are not those of its early days, 
 but the action of a place called Winnipeg was never 
 forgotten. 
 
 As are the needs of Winnipeg, so are they of the 
 western provinces. In the public schools of Winnipeg 
 thirteen different nations or languages are now 
 represented. Into that country people of every 
 kindred, nation and tongue will flock for many years. 
 They will require hospitals and colleges more than 
 the thickly populated east. Perhaps the population 
 in the distant future will read history and execrate 
 the memory of those who opposed Donald A. Smith 
 in 1880. In the meantime, however, the hundreds 
 of thousands who have made their homes there in 
 the last twenty years are witnesses to his munificent 
 bounty in the United States, Britain, and eastern 
 Canada. But the land which had been in truth to 
 Lord Strathcona the Golden West, the land both of 
 promise and of fulfilment, in which he had conceived 
 his inspirations and cradled his ambitions — this land 
 was not by his Will to have any of that stupendous 
 fortune whose deepest foundations it had laid, and 
 the corner-stone set when the rolling prairie laid bare 
 her breast to the golden rivet which forged the last 
 link in the girdle across the concinent. Yet, his wish 
 was that none of the wealth that this wonderful 
 country had so freely poured into his outstretched 
 hands should ever return to help her even in the 
 hour of need. 
 
A DISAPPOINTED DEPUTATION 285 
 
 The Winnipeg of a generation later amply atoned 
 for the severity of its early judgment, and in 1909 
 gave Lord Strathcona a reception worthy of a monarch. 
 An opportunity was afforded him of delivering the 
 speech that was impossible so long as Archbishop 
 Tach6 was alive. Yes, it may be argued, this is 
 all true. But then a deputation interviewed him 
 and pressed for a subscription for $1,000,000(^200,000) 
 towards the Selkirk Exhibition. It took the gloss off 
 the good feeling of the hour. Lord Strathcona 
 received the deputation most affably. He promised 
 to consider their request, and, if convenient, he 
 would let them know his decision on his return from 
 the Rocky Mountains. But the time did not prove 
 convenient — his private car came through Winnipeg 
 at midnight, the hour when all good citizens should 
 be in bed. The deputation that was at the station 
 to see him had not been notified that he was coming, 
 but they had taken their own means to keep informed 
 of the hour of his probable arrival. There was no 
 invitation to enter the darkened car with the closely 
 drawn blinds. The coloured porter " could not 
 possibly allow his Lordship to be disturbed." Perhaps 
 it had begun to dawn on Lord Strathcona's mind that 
 the welcome given to him had some connection with 
 the request for a million dollars. It is quite true that 
 behind the scenes there had been warm discussions as 
 to how much the " Grand Old Man " could be 
 induced to " cough up." 
 
 " Some one had blundered ! " 
 
XXX 
 
 What Donald A. Smith has cost Canada — Kingdom stolen from the 
 public heritage — What might have been if . . . — Public obhga- 
 tions to be met — What the future will cost — The burden bearers 
 — Strathcona's legacy to the Dominion — Ottawa and West- 
 minster — Hope from Laurier and Borden. 
 
 The cost to Canada of the influence that Lord 
 Strathcona was able to exercise with parKaments, 
 governments and statesmen, whereby the railway- 
 across the continent passed from being an asset of the 
 Dominion into the possession of himself and his 
 associates, is incalculable. The cash subsidies paid to 
 the syndicate for the construction of the main line ; 
 special subsidies on branch, subsidiary and other 
 subsidized railways absorbed by the syndicate ; and 
 the cost of the sections constructed by the Government 
 and handed over to the syndicate amounts to more 
 than $75,000,000(^15,000,000). The land grants for 
 the main line, and to other companies absorbed by 
 the syndicate, will realize not less than $400,000,0000 
 (^80,000,000). 
 
 Add to these figures the subventions and subsidies 
 to the other transcontinental railways that had at last 
 to be constructed to compete with the Canadian 
 Pacific, heavily subsidized in cash and guarantees, 
 
 including the cost of the part of the Grand Trunk 
 
 286 
 
WHAT HE COST CANADA 287 
 
 Pacific constructed by the Government, and these 
 items aggregate $600,000,000 (^120,000,000). The 
 value of the land grants to these competing systems 
 runs into $50,000,000 (_^i 0,000,000). 
 
 These items aggregate in cash and land values the 
 enormous sum of $1,125,000,000 (^225,000,000) : 
 more than the entire cost of the Boer War to the 
 tax-payers of Great Britain. In the case of the 
 Boer War Great Britain secured a United South 
 Africa. The Dominion on the other hand has nothing 
 but the satisfaction of knowing that the railways run- 
 ning through the country belong to others. 
 
 To this add the indirect cost to the general public 
 by the imposition of exorbitant freight-rates upon 
 the toiling masses on the prairie lands of the west, 
 and the figures loom up in a haze where language 
 fails to find expression in arithmetical calculations. 
 
 But that is not all. The land-grabbing that followed 
 the adoption of the principle so energetically worked 
 for by the syndicate, opened the door for the wholesale 
 robbery of the public lands only then made possible. 
 Sir J. A. M. Aikens, K.C., M.P., of Winnipeg, in a 
 speech in the House of Commons, in the early part of 
 May 1914, made the astonishing statement that no less 
 than 43,000,000 acres, or 65,000 square miles of land, 
 all in the fertile belt of the prairies, the finest wheat- 
 growing land in the world, had been given away to 
 railways and other corporations in the last thirty years. 
 
 This means that a territory nearly twice the size 
 of Ireland, or an area larger than England and Wales, 
 or greater than Belgium, Holland, Denmark and 
 
288 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 Greece together, has passed out of the possession of 
 the people of Canada for no return whatever to the 
 pubhc treasury. This may seem inconceivable, but 
 it is absolutely true. The fact becomes more evident 
 than ever, that if Donald A. Smith had never suc- 
 ceeded in getting possession of the charter for the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, this shameful sacrifice of 
 an invaluable heritage could never have been made. 
 
 Had the Canadian Government expended the 
 necessary part of the $600,000,000 (^/^ 120,000,000) 
 represented in the form of cash and guarantees, as 
 Alexander Mackenzie and the patriots who supported 
 him loyally decided should be done, the Dominion 
 would own to-day every mile of the three trans- 
 continental lines. This calculation makes no allowance 
 for the value of the land, free grants of which to cor- 
 porations would not have been made, but the proceeds 
 from which would be a national asset. 
 
 A statement of these facts is necessary to a history 
 of the times to which reference is being made. It 
 will be well for the present and future generations to 
 calmly realize the consequences following injudicious, 
 ill-advised, or corrupt handling of a national heritage. 
 The people have not finished with the question yet. 
 Lord Strathcona's syndicate will be the ever-present 
 death's-head at the feast for many years. The account 
 is far from being settled. More than one government 
 will come and go before the bill is finally paid. 
 
 Enormous grants have been made to competitive 
 transcontinental lines. But the wealth of the Canadian 
 Pacific, so generously endowed by the public, gives 
 
GRINDING THE FARMERS 289 
 
 the railway a tremendous advantage over the others. 
 It is well known that this line is able to earn a good 
 dividend for its shareholders upon a schedule of rates 
 which, if generally adopted, might seriously affect 
 the financial position of the others ; even though this 
 is, to a certain extent, compensated for by the much 
 easier grades and the larger train-loads that can be 
 transported by the routes adopted on the later con- 
 structed lines. The general public interest will 
 demand, however, that all invidious distinctions shall 
 not be allowed to continue. 
 
 The Canadian Pacific has reduced its rates only 
 when compelled to do so by Parliament, or by the 
 Railway Commission. In the threatened action of 
 the latter, the attitude of the Company was : " Do it 
 if you will. We can stand it better than the others, 
 and your securities will pay the difference on the 
 London market." 
 
 The public must either pay the penalty in their 
 financial dealings with London, or the farmers must 
 contribute to the inflated rates for the delivery of 
 their products to market-centres. There is no escape 
 from one or other of these hard facts. And sooner 
 or later this extraordinary situation will have to be 
 faced by Parliament. 
 
 To allow present conditions to continue means that 
 the hard-working agriculturists of the country — the 
 class that should be encouraged rather than trodden 
 underfoot — must bear the brunt of the burden. 
 This is one of the great problems the syndicate has 
 bequeathed to future generations in Canada to solve. 
 
290 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 The west, with fifty or sixty members in the House 
 of Commons, will swing the pendulum of political 
 supremacy. No party lines will prevail. The greatest 
 possible measure of relief will be demanded, and the 
 demand will not be as a voice crying in the wilderness. 
 One or two alternatives will have to be faced — to 
 cancel in whole or in part the loans that have been 
 made by the Government of Canada to the trans- 
 continental companies competing with the Canadian 
 Pacific, so as to place them all on a reasonably even 
 footing ; or secure Government control of these 
 railways at an additional cost to the Dominion 
 Treasury of from two to three hundred million 
 dollars. In any case high courage will be demanded 
 in the solution of this problem. 
 
 It may as well be acknowledged from the beginning 
 that the wealthier corporation will not be allowed to 
 absorb or control either of the transcontinental com- 
 peting lines. A deal of such a nature would be 
 disastrous to too many " vested interests." Public 
 patience would then reach the breaking-point. 
 
 The odds are that the situation will be relieved by 
 the abandonment of Government claims for loans or 
 assistance to the new railways, combined with a far- 
 reaching policy of protection to the producers of the 
 country. The question, until it is permanently 
 settled, will dominate Canadian politics more certainly 
 than Irish interests control Westminster. Until it 
 is disposed of the Dominion will be overshadowed 
 by forces which threaten to sap the foundations of 
 the liberty of the people. There is no escape to any 
 
IF PATRIOTISM HAD WON 291 
 
 Government from the penalty of neglecting to face 
 their responsibility in this matter. 
 
 The agricultural classes of the Dominion are the 
 backbone of the country. Without the wealth that 
 is gathered from the soil Canada would be bankrupt. 
 Its hope for greatness is in its agricultural possibilities. 
 But as a class the farmers are the least likely to have 
 their interests considered by Governments and Par- 
 liaments in North America. For some unexplained 
 reason the urban influence predominates. In European 
 countries the agricultural population is looked upon 
 as the bulwark of the state — the source of wealth, 
 strength and future greatness. In every Parliament 
 their requirements receive special consideration ; 
 Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Holland, Den- 
 mark and Scandinavia telling the same story. The 
 farmers are fast reaching the point when they must 
 make themselves masters of the situation at Ottawa. 
 When they do, the electors will have an opportunity 
 of still further realizing the financial obligations that 
 must be met on account of the wealth and privileges 
 that their legislators in 1880 conferred on a remarkable 
 syndicate of presumptuous " Empire-Builders." 
 
 Instead of the situation as it is, what might it have 
 been had Donald A. Smith been thrown into ordinary 
 commercial life in those stirring times that were 
 taking place in Old Canada on his arrival, and in the 
 subsequent years ? Had he mingled with Papineau 
 and Taschereau, Holton and Dorion, Mackenzie and 
 Brown, Gait and Howe, perhaps he would have been 
 moulded like one of them. How different would have 
 
292 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 been the history of the last thirty years ! What a 
 heritage the Dominion would now possess ! If, at 
 times as he went his way, he found the chains galling 
 that bound him to the course he was taking, he could 
 comfort himself with the thought that they were one 
 with the gold which was ever his lodestar. To call 
 Lord Strathcona an " Empire-Builder " is a misnomer. 
 If others follow in his footsteps they will be Empire- 
 Wreckers. 
 
 With the passing of Lord Strathcona, the " last of 
 the Mohicans," members of the original syndicate are 
 not now identified with the railway. Two of the 
 signatories to the agreement are still living, — J. J. Hill 
 and Lord Mount Stephen. It is understood, however, 
 that both long since parted with their shares. The 
 time, therefore, seems opportune for an abandonment 
 of the policy that was inaugurated by Lord Strathcona 
 and his associates, and is still continued, to justify 
 the active participation of the Montreal management 
 in the general politics of the Dominion. 
 
 This legacy to Canada from Lord Strathcona presents 
 serious aspects, the full meaning of which must sooner 
 or later be thoroughly understood by the electorate. 
 For thirty years the Canadian Pacific Railway has 
 been a dominating force in the Parliamentary life of 
 the Dominion. Senators and Members of the House 
 have been publicly retained by this great corporation. 
 Cabinet Ministers have borrowed large sums from 
 individual members of the syndicate, which they were 
 never asked to repay. The acquiesence of Parliaments 
 and Governments to ever-recurrent demands of 
 
THE HONOUR OF PARLIAMENT 293 
 
 railway lobbyists was, therefore, obvious. Directors 
 of the company, having seats in Parliament, with 
 most engaging candour and frankness, are listened to 
 calmly while they argue in favour of, or in opposition 
 to proposed legislation solely from the standpoint as 
 to how the interests of the company will be effected. 
 Compared with representative legislative chambers 
 throughout the world, the situation in Canada has no 
 parallel. It is inconceivable to any student of British 
 Parliamentary institutions, either in Great Britain, 
 New Zealand, Australia or South Africa. Yet Cana- 
 dian statesmen, within the four walls of Parliament, 
 and politicians outside, flatter themselves with the 
 idea that their legislative procedure is modelled on 
 the lines of Westminster. To an impartial observer 
 the contrast is appalling ! The slightest suggestion 
 that a Peer was acting as the representative of any 
 corporation, or that a commoner owed his election 
 to the assistance or influence of a corporation or con- 
 tractor in receipt of grants from the public treasury, 
 or that a Cabinet Minister had borrowed large sums 
 of money from anyone whose personal interests were 
 involved in departmental favours, would ensure drastic 
 action by both sides of the House. Political warfare 
 in English public life is bitter, political aflSliations are 
 powerful, but the honour of Parliamentary represen- 
 tation overshadows every other consideration. The 
 domination or influence of Parliament by corporations 
 or contractors, whether earning public money or 
 not, is regarded as absolutely incompatible with the 
 dignity and purity of British public life. 
 
294 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 If there is one national characteristic more prominent 
 than another which impresses all visitors to Canada 
 it is the ardent loyalty of the people. The opinion 
 finds frequent expression that " Canadians are more 
 loyal than the King." It is not a passing sentiment, 
 but is an integral part of the national life. And, yet, 
 what was said to the rich young man may be repeated 
 to Canada, " One thing thou lackest." In this case 
 it is an appreciation of the dignity and purity of 
 parliamentary life. The Canadian people wish to 
 follow in the footsteps of the Mother-country. With 
 their lips, at least, looking towards Westminster, they 
 repeat what Ruth said to Naomi: "Whither thou 
 goest, I will go. Thy people shall be my people. Thy 
 God shall be my God." But the national conscience 
 has been seared as with a hot iron. This is the result 
 of the sordid influences exercised in Dominion poli- 
 tics from the time the possession of the great trans- 
 continental railway passed from the Government to 
 the Canadian syndicate. 
 
 The immediate hope of freeing parliamentary life 
 from such a legacy is threefold : the leaders of the 
 two political parties, the British and European 
 directorate of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the 
 large accession in recent years to the British-born 
 population of the Dominion. 
 
 There is a slumbering force throughout the Do- 
 minion that will yet insist upon Government con- 
 forming to the loftiest British traditions. Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier and Sir R. L. Borden, in private life and 
 public ideals, represent the highest aspirations of 
 
POLITICAL LEADERS WHO ARE PURE 295 
 
 political purity. They each have many influential 
 followers who would gladly purge Parliament of every 
 influence that is inconsistent with the honour and 
 dignity of a healthy democratic administration. 
 Whether they will co-operate or act independently on 
 this question remains to be seen. 
 
 There may be justifiable disagreement with the 
 political views of both Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir 
 R. L. Borden, but there is none in regard to their 
 political morality. Not a breath of scandal has 
 touched their careers. In view of occasional warped 
 judgment among followers, with whom each has had 
 to associate, the wonder is that the outlook is not less 
 favourable. An atmosphere that has, in a more or 
 less degree, vitiated the political arena for thirty 
 years, cannot be easily purified. It may, perhaps, 
 only be altogether successfully accomplished by leaders 
 yet unknown. But progress is being made in the 
 right direction. Within a few years public opinion 
 will demand the enactment of law, rendering election 
 subscriptions from corporations and contractors in- 
 dictable offences, and interference in parliamentary 
 elections by managers of corporations that have been 
 subsidized by the public treasury punishable with 
 imprisonment. Canada will never have freedom of 
 government until this is done. The Dominion 
 Parliament will yet be free, and the time will come 
 when no political leader will be strong enough to give 
 a portfolio in his Cabinet to any public man who has 
 accepted money from those having dealings with the 
 public service. 
 
296 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 If the British and foreign directors are wise they 
 will not fail to insist that the unwarranted interference 
 of this corporation in the political life of the Dominion 
 shall cease. 
 
 Then, if neither of these influences can be successfully 
 exercised, the hope of the Dominion rests with the 
 one million British immigrants who have settled in 
 Canada during the last fifteen years co-operating with 
 the large leaven of Canadian honesty that has been 
 untouched by corruption. The British immigrants 
 know how untarnished is the parliamentary escutcheon 
 of the Mother-country, and how carefully it has been 
 protected for many generations. That they will 
 desire that the land of their adoption should be 
 marked by the ideals that have been reached through 
 great tribulation in this country there should be no 
 question. 
 
 If it happens that the people of Canada are only to 
 secure a Parliament modelled upon British ideals as 
 the result of public agitation, it may be taken for 
 granted that the $10,000,000 (^2,000,000) that are 
 freely alleged to have been taken from the corporation 
 by the syndicate and those in charge of the management 
 of the railway, to corrupt the public life of Canada, 
 will find its way back to the innocent shareholders ; 
 just as surely as the British Parliament unanimously 
 demanded the personal repayment of the j[^200 by 
 the Directors of the London and North Western Rail- 
 way, which they had subscribed from the company's 
 funds for political purposes. The plea of " vested 
 rights," or the Statute of Limitations, will not avail. 
 
XXXI 
 
 A retrospect — The Hudson's Bay Company retarding Canada — Thirty 
 years too late — Romance of Canadian life — Hope for the future 
 — A fascinating personality — The records of irrevocable history. 
 
 The Winnipeg of 1907 should have been in existence 
 thirty or forty years earher. Before Canada secured 
 possession of the Hudson Bay Territory the national 
 life of the country had been crippled from lack of 
 opportunities for expansion. The farming population 
 of the old provinces had reached the third generation, 
 and they had to look around for new homes. It is 
 the history of agricultural life in Canada, as well as 
 in the United States, that the third generation 
 produces the development of a character that neces- 
 sitates either a larger area for cultivation than is 
 available in the older settlements, or is inclined to 
 go into town life. There was no room for such on 
 the old homesteads, or in the neighbouring towns. 
 To remain at home, and have the family property 
 divided and redivided, meant limiting their capabihty 
 and narrowing their aspirations. They, therefore, 
 were compelled to look elsewhere. Many to whom 
 these conditions applied were descendants of those 
 United Empire Loyahsts, who preferred, after the 
 
 revolution (1775-83), to settle in the wilds of Canada, 
 
 297 
 
298 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 rather than live under the flag of the new Republic ; 
 others were the descendants of the first immigrants 
 from Great Britain ; and Lower Canada also furnished 
 a large quota of restless spirits for whom there was 
 no room around the old firesides. The vast majority 
 of these would rather have settled somewhere under 
 the British flag. But there was no place available. 
 
 That portion of the North American continent 
 under British control, which should have furnished 
 homes for all of them, was then in the unrelenting 
 grasp of the Hudson's Bay Company. They had kept 
 it thirty years too long. An exodus began of the 
 flower of the population from Canada to the United 
 States. Once having started, like all such streams, 
 it grew ever larger and larger, until it assumed pro- 
 portions that were absolutely appalling. The latest 
 official returns from the United States furnish the 
 proof that no less than 1,250,000 native-born Canadians 
 have homes in the Republic. Without question they 
 are lost to the British Empire. They and their families 
 at this moment number more than 6,000,000 souls. 
 
 Had there been no Hudson's Bay Company, or had 
 the company not deliberately prevented the expansion 
 of western Canada for so many decades after it should 
 have been open to the world, the population of 
 Canada would now be nearer twenty than seven 
 millions. If the Stuart dynasty blighted English 
 history, it also cast its evil spell over Canada at the 
 time the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered. For 
 the sake of the private interests of a few friends of 
 
HEROES IN THE BACKGROUND 299 
 
 the monarch who wanted to traffic with a public 
 franchise, an incalculable loss of millions of a sturdy 
 race of people was inflicted on the Empire. 
 
 Canada has had its fair share of difficulties in the 
 past. It has been struggling mostly, until now, with 
 the necessaries of life. Romance and fancy have been 
 largely left out of her category of good things. But 
 these, with the other sides of intellectual life will, in 
 course of time, assert themselves. There have been 
 many men in Canada whose lives would furnish 
 inspiration for poetry and romance. Away in the 
 interior, in the lonely struggles of the early pioneers, 
 there have been great deeds done, and these have left 
 a heritage of good that is moulded into the very fibre 
 of the people. 
 
 The country has not been without its hero-worship. 
 That is inevitable wherever civilization exists. In the 
 early days this was to be found in the memories of 
 General Wolfe and General Brock. The one lost his 
 life in winning a continent for the Empire, the other 
 in saving it from the invaders' grasp half a century 
 later. They were followed by the heroes of the 
 " Family Compact " — a class modestly satisfied with 
 securing for those within their own circle the offices 
 of emolument at the disposal of the Crown, and who 
 guarded the public lands, with an almost religious 
 fervour, as a sacred heritage for those who might 
 come after. Then came the heroes of the rebellion 
 of 1837-39, °^^ ^^ whose great tribulation appeared 
 the dawn of responsible government. The money- 
 
300 LORD STRATHCONA 
 
 making hero is now prominent in Canadian life. The 
 whole community vibrates with earnestness before 
 the shrine of wealth. The charm of success has ap- 
 pealed to these sober people, who know the struggle 
 and toil only too well, and who are everywhere called 
 on to judge the value of the much by their own hard- 
 earned little. 
 
 It was only in the later days that land-grabbers and 
 charter-hunters appeared. No one envies either their 
 positions or their riches, but the time has come when 
 they shall not continue to lay unholy hands on the 
 ark of the covenant — for such is the government of 
 the country. Ever to have introduced methods into 
 a young country tending to lower the standard of 
 political life is a serious offence — to have persisted on 
 that line for a quarter of a century is criminal. A 
 young country, like a youth entering upon the re- 
 sponsibilities of manhood, has nothing equal in value 
 to a true discrimination between right and wrong. 
 Once weaken that moral sense and the responsibility 
 is serious — to continue the destroying influence, and no 
 palliation can be offered for such a crime. Parliaments 
 were created to wrench from Crowns the control of 
 public interests that were being exercised for personal 
 gain. They were never intended as media for the 
 creation of private wealth. 
 
 In Canada, Parliament has been used for the most 
 improper purposes, under the most extraordinarily 
 demoralizing influences that ever became operative 
 among a free people. The Donald A. Smith syndicate 
 
THE PROBLEM TO BE FACED 301 
 
 is entirely responsible for this state of affairs. To 
 rid itself of the accumulated evils in the body politic, 
 resulting from the continual prostitution of a legislative 
 body which had been left without a single blemish by 
 the earlier statesmen of the country, is the problem 
 now to be solved in Canada. 
 
 " How we can only wait till the day, wait and apportion our shame. 
 These are the dykes our fathers left, but we would not look to the 
 
 same. 
 Time and again we were warned of the dykes, time and again we 
 
 delayed, 
 Now it may fall we have slain our sons as our fathers we have 
 
 betrayed. 
 
 Walking along the wreck of the dykes, watching the work of the 
 
 seas, 
 These were the dykes our father made to our great profit and ease. 
 But the peace is gone and the profit is gone, and the old sure day is 
 
 withdrawn . . , 
 That our house shows so strange when we come back in the dawn." 
 
 Kipling: The Dykes. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 1. Committee of the House of Commons, 1874, re 
 North-west Rebelhon. 
 
 2. Resolution proposed by Hon. L. S. Huntingdon, 
 charging Ministers with receiving money from Sir 
 Hugh Allan in consideration of the charter for the 
 Pacific Railway, 1873. Committee of Inquiry by the 
 House of Commons, and Royal Commission issued by 
 the Governor-General. 
 
 3. Steenerson v. Great Northern Railway, 69, Min- 
 nesota, 372, by Judge Canty — 
 
 " Of the lines of railway here in question, 565 
 miles were built and owned by other railroad 
 companies prior to the foreclosure sales of 1879. 
 At one of these sales the promoters of the St. Paul, 
 Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway bid off a part 
 of the property (for $1,500,000 as shown in the 
 court records of St. Paul) and the company itself 
 after it was organized bid in the rest of the said 
 property. These properties, the franchise con- 
 nected with the same, and a large land grant 
 earned and to be earned, were bid off for the 
 aggregate sum of $3,600,000, subject to a prior 
 lien of $486,000. The promoters transferred to 
 the new company the part bid in by them, and 
 the properties were immediately bonded by the 
 new company for $16,000,000, and it issued 
 to the promoters its stock to the amount of 
 $15,000,000." 
 
 302 
 
APPENDIX 303 
 
 4. Extract from the Hansard of the House of 
 Commons, filed in the Library of the Colonial Office, 
 Downing Street — 
 
 House of Commons, Friday, May 10, 1878. 
 The Speaker took the Chair at twenty minutes to 
 three o'clock. 
 
 Prayers 
 Question of Privilege 
 
 Mr. Smith (Selkirk) : I rise to a question of privilege. 
 I notice by one of the public prints of Ottawa that 
 the Right Hon. member for Kingston (Sir John 
 Macdonald) — has spoken of me in this House in a 
 manner which, I think, I can characterize as most 
 unfair and most unjustifiable. I will read what is 
 stated in the Free Press. It is as follows — 
 
 " A brief but violent discussion arose over the 
 action of the Senate with regard to the Pembina 
 Branch. The Premier severely criticized the 
 conduct of the Senate in throwing out this Bill, 
 and was followed by Sir John A. Macdonald, 
 who insinuated that the Bill was merely an 
 arrangement by which the Government could 
 reward a Member of the House for his servile 
 support, and that this member had been com- 
 pelled to admit in the House that he was interested 
 in this monopoly." 
 
 In the first place I say I never did make such an 
 admission in this House to the hon. gentleman, and 
 even had I done so, I think that the hon. gentleman 
 had no right to speak of me as he did on that occasion. 
 Whatever I have done in this respect I have done in 
 the most open manner possible. When it was found 
 that others could do nothing in the way of getting 
 better railway facilities and completing the railway 
 connection with Manitoba, I certainly, as Member 
 
304 APPENDIX 
 
 from that province, did my utmost to effect that. 
 And, as I said on another occasion in this House, for 
 two or three years back I have laboured earnestly to 
 that end in connection with some friends, and no 
 sooner did it become possible to get that which was 
 so much required — indeed an absolute necessity for 
 the country — than the hon. gentleman and his friends 
 put every obstacle in the way of its being carried out. 
 He comes down to this House and says that the 
 Government are actuated by unworthy motives in 
 proposing to make running arrangements with the 
 St. Paul and Pacific Company over the Pembina 
 Branch and that it was their intention to reward me 
 in this way for my servile adherence to them. Now, 
 I would like to ask the hon. gentleman the member 
 for Kingston and any other member of his Govern- 
 ment, if on any occasion they found a disposition on 
 my part to ask or receive any favour from the Govern- 
 ment, either for myself or for that corporation which 
 has been so much spoken of and which I have had the 
 honour of representing — that is the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. I would ask the hon. member if I have 
 received one sixpence of public money or one place, 
 either for myself or any other person connected with 
 me, and if at this moment there is one single person 
 related to myself who receives one sixpence of the 
 public money ; and I would ask the hon. member 
 if this is so with all those who may have claims upon 
 himself. But perhaps it would not be very generous 
 to refer to these matters particularly. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : Refer to what ? 
 
 Mr. Smith : This is 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : What would it be un- 
 generous to refer to ? 
 
 Mr. Smith : I mentioned that there was not one 
 relative of mine who drew one sixpence of the public 
 money, who held any place in the public service, and 
 
APPENDIX 305 
 
 said, perhaps, it might be otherwise with those con- 
 nected with and related to the Right Hon. Gentleman. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. Smith : Not that there would be anything 
 wrong even if it were so, as regards the hon. gentle- 
 man's friends, but I say I always desired to keep myself 
 entirely free and independent with regard to these 
 matters of one government or of the other govern- 
 ment. I would ask the hon. gentlemen on this side 
 of the House if I have desired any favour for myself 
 or anything for any one except for such of my con- 
 stituents as have applied to me for places under the 
 government ; and I ask, further, if, on any one oc- 
 casion, where I have recommended a single individual 
 for any place, or any position, or any appointment, 
 I have done so without the saving clause that it was 
 conditional on his being found in every respect well 
 fitted for it, both as to character and ability. This 
 unwarrantable attack of the Right Hon. gentleman 
 is but a continuation and repetition of what he and 
 his friends have been saying of myself, both inside and 
 outside of this House, for some time back. The hon. 
 gentleman who sits on his left, the hon. member for 
 Cumberland (Dr. Tupper), has not been slow to use 
 my name, as I find by another public print. I find 
 
 that the hon. gentleman says I think it was at 
 
 what is called the Orangeville picnic. I know very 
 little of these picnics, I have not followed them 
 closely, nor indeed have I followed them at all. I 
 was otherwise I trust honestly and more properly 
 occupied in the pursuit of my duties. 
 
 Sir J. A. Macdonald : More profitably engaged, 
 no doubt. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I trust so — more profitably and more 
 properly. I find that the hon. gentleman, the 
 member for Cumberland, says here, speaking of 
 certain names that were given in the Globe of those 
 
306 APPENDIX 
 
 who did not support the Right Hon. gentleman at a 
 critical moment in 1873 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of 
 order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : It will be remembered that — — 
 
 Mr. Speaker : A question of order is raised. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I rise to a question of order, and I 
 put it to you, whether it is not an abuse of the right 
 to read from a newspaper, for the hon. gentleman 
 has had that speech here during the three months 
 that we have been in session, and to speak at the 
 moment when Black Rod is coming to the door, and 
 thus to shelter himself from the answer which he 
 would otherwise get. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : And the punishment he 
 would otherwise get. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I have had no such opportunity. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : A more cowardly thing I have never 
 seen ventured on in this House. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I am not surprised at this from the 
 hon. gentleman. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Anything more cowardly I have never 
 heard of. I am responsible for every word I have 
 uttered on the platform. I have sat here for three 
 months, and no reference had been made to this by 
 the hon. gentleman or anybody else 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Neither the hon. gentleman 
 
 Some Hon. Member? : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Nor any other hon. gentleman 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Has ventured to challenge one word 
 I have uttered during the recess of Parliament. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The charge of being a coward I throw 
 back on the hon. gentleman. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : Let the poor man go on. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. member for Cumberland 
 said — 
 
APPENDIX 307 
 
 " He would give his hearers the names men- 
 tioned by the Globe as having left because of the 
 Pacific scandal. It would be remembered that the 
 Government of that day had a majority of from 
 twenty-five to thirty in 1872, and in order to 
 gain a majority, the Opposition had to take half 
 of them away. How many of them did the 
 Globe mention ? Would his hearers believe it ? 
 Three. But they who did suppose were paraded 
 before the people in that connection ? He would 
 read their names. For what purpose did Mr. 
 Glass, Hon. D. A. Smith, and Colonel Ray, not 
 to mention others — all men who had supported 
 Sir John A. Macdonald in the first session of 
 1873 — desert Sir John but for his conduct in 
 connection with the Pacific scandal ? Then 
 they said Hon. D. A. Smith. Did the Globe 
 suppose the people of Canada had no memories, 
 and they that did not know that Hon. Mr. Smith 
 gave unqualified evidence that the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway had nothing to do with his 
 changed attitude towards Sir John A. Macdonald ? 
 Mr. Smith was a representative of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company and he had been pressing a claim 
 on his Right Hon. friend for public money ; 
 Sir John had been holding back, and Mr. Smith 
 came to the conclusion that it would be just as 
 well to jump the fence if there was to be a change 
 of Government. But Mr. Smith was a canny 
 man ; he held back and sat on the fence and 
 watched the course, certainly not in the interests 
 of his country, because he did not want to jump 
 too soon and find that he had jumped into a 
 ditch. But, when he came to the conclusion that 
 the Government was going out, he made the 
 bolt, and he (Dr. Tupper) had no doubt but that 
 he had had a great deal of reason since for con- 
 gratulating himself on having jumped as he did." 
 
808 APPENDIX 
 
 Mr. Smith : That is the insinuation, the broad 
 assertion, made on the part of the hon. member for 
 Cumberland at his picnic, and reiterated here, and I 
 give it the most positive denial, and say that never 
 was anything received by me or desired by me from 
 the present Government any more than from the 
 former Government. What are the particulars of 
 this affair of 1873, as regards myself ? Does the hon. 
 gentleman not know ? And does not the Right Hon. 
 gentleman know, too, that members of the late 
 Government approached me before the eventful 4th 
 of November, and that they wished to sound me and 
 know how I was going to vote in this matter ; and that, 
 some days in advance of that time, I was requested 
 to meet the hon. member for Charlevoix in the 
 Speaker's room, and did meet him there ? And do 
 they not know that an hon. gentleman from the 
 other House, the Hon. Mr. Campbell, a gentleman 
 for whom I have a very high respect personally, also 
 met me there, and that to both these gentlemen 
 during a long interview, at which was present also 
 another gentleman who was then likewise a member 
 of this House — Mr. Nathan, a personal friend of mine 
 — I declared that I could not vote for the amendment 
 to the amendment that was even offered by Mr. 
 Macdonald of Pictou ? Do they not know I said : 
 " No, I cannot do so ; I cannot possibly do so ; I 
 cannot conscientiously do so." 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Does the hon. gentleman deny 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : That he telegraphed down here 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : That he would be here and support 
 the Government 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : After he knew everything about the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway affair ? Does he deny that ? 
 
APPENDIX 80& 
 
 Mr. Smith : I do deny it. I never telegraphed I 
 would be here and support the Government. Never, 
 never. I know that the Right Hon. gentleman wrote 
 me, asking me to come down, but the lion, gentleman 
 cannot say — dare not say — I ever telegraphed I would 
 support the Government, and no other hon. gentle- 
 man can say so. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : I will tell you what I can 
 say. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : I telegraphed the hon. 
 gentleman. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : He dare not listen to an 
 explanation. 
 
 Mr. Smith : On the occasion referred to in the 
 Speaker's chamber, I said that I could not support 
 the Government, but I offered and proposed that 
 there should be another amendment, and a very 
 different one : that is, the Government should frankly 
 confess their fault to the House, and then, if the 
 country condoned it, and Parliament condoned it, it 
 would be a very different thing. That is what I 
 proposed to the hon. gentleman, and this was 
 reduced to writing at the time. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : That 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Is not what you telegraphed. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. gentleman is altogether in 
 the wrong. I telegraphed simply in courtesy in reply 
 to a letter that I would be in Ottawa by the 23rd 
 October. I saw the Right Hon. gentleman himself 
 in one of the rooms. He sent for me. Mr. Mitchell 
 came and informed me that the hon. member for 
 Kingston desired to see me ; and let me say to Mr. 
 Mitchell's credit, that he has got up in many an 
 
810 APPENDIX 
 
 assembly where I have been and said I was perfectly 
 justified in doing as I did, as Mr. Mitchell knew all 
 the circumstances. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : I am sure he did not. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Will the hon. gentleman name 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : One single meeting where Mr. 
 Mitchell ever made such a statement anywhere, and 
 where the record of it is to be found, except out of 
 the hon. gentleman's own mouth 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I could do so. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : And that goes for a very little in 
 this House or out of it. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I can bring forward a number of 
 gentlemen of high respectability, whose word will be 
 taken all over the country and all over the world. 
 
 Mr. Tupper and Hon. Members : Name, name. 
 Where, where ? 
 
 Mr. Smith : I could mention a dozen. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Name. 
 
 Mr. Smith : A dozen most respectable men in 
 Montreal, and some in Ottawa, too. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Name. 
 
 Mr. Smith : A dozen of them. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I never heard of these meetings and 
 statements. 
 
 Mr. Smith : And if necessary I am prepared to do 
 so at another time. On the occasion spoken of, I did 
 see the hon. gentleman in the room. I think it was 
 No. 6 or 5, and the hon. gentleman then did try to 
 persuade me to vote for him, but the hon. gentleman 
 will not dare to state I said I could support him ; and 
 what did the hon. gentleman say to me then at 
 length 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : He said, " If I am not supported now 
 
APPENDIX 811 
 
 I will appeal to the country." The Right Hon. 
 gentleman during the present session spoke of Selkirk 
 — the constituency I have the honour to represent — 
 as being a rotten borough, an Old Sarum, but in 
 speaking to me as he did on the evening of that 4th 
 November^ he must have counted on the whole of 
 Ontario being one great rotten borough, a veritable 
 Old Sarum, and he said that if he appealed to it he 
 could have Ontario to a man with him. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Hear, hear. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : There is not one single 
 word of truth in that statement — not one single word 
 of truth. The hon. gentleman is now stating what 
 is a falsehood. 
 
 Mr. Rochester : How much did the other side 
 offer you ? 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. gentleman says he did not 
 say so ; certainly, the spirit within him said it ; for 
 the words came out of the hon. gentleman's 
 mouth. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : If he did not say so, the spirit within 
 him did. These words were uttered by the hon. 
 gentleman. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : They were not uttered 
 by me. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : They were not uttered 
 by me. 
 
 Mr. Smith : They were as surely as the hon. 
 gentleman and I are here. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. member for Cumberland 
 the same evening told me that the Right Hon. gen- 
 tleman was not capable of knowing what he said ; 
 and will he deny 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
812 APPENDIX 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. member for Cumberland 
 said next morning 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order, 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of 
 order, and I want to ask you whether it is competent 
 for any hon. gentleman to stand up in this House 
 and detail what he himself admits are private con- 
 versations. Is it competent for a man to detail private 
 conversations while falsifying them ? 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : And his word passes for nothing here 
 or elsewhere. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I have never witnessed such — — 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Cowardly abuse of — — 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Of the privileges of this House, as 
 for an hon. gentleman to be guilty of making a 
 speech when there is no possibility of a reply being 
 made to it. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. gentleman 
 
 Mr. Speaker : The hon. gentleman is defending 
 himself against a very grave charge made against him. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The relating of private conversations 
 may be held to be very improper, but it is not un- 
 parliamentary. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I do not complain of the relating of 
 private conversations ; I complain 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I complain of the hon. gentleman 
 falsifying private conversations and detailing that as a 
 conversation which he knows to be falsified. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I do not look upon them as private 
 conversations and I give the exact truth. I was sent 
 for as a member of the House by the gentleman at 
 that time the head of the Government, and he 
 
APPENDIX 313 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : Endeavoured to get me 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Will the hon. gentleman 
 
 Mr. Rochester : They could not give you enough. 
 Mr. Smith : Will he deny that the next morning 
 
 when I met the hon. gentleman here, who is on the 
 
 other side 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Give 
 
 Mr. Smith : At Mr. Tupper's office when he was 
 Minister of Customs. Will he deny he said to me 
 that as soon as it was possible to make the Right Hon. 
 gentleman to understand right from wrong, or to 
 that effect 
 
 Mr. Tupper : The hon. gentleman has asked if I 
 will make a statement. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I tell him that if he will allow me 
 five minutes 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : Only for an apology. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : I will show that the very first state- 
 ment he commenced with to-day 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : The statement that he never sought 
 a favour from the late Government 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Is as false a statement 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : As ever issued from the mouth of any 
 man, and he has continued 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : With a tissue 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Sir, of as false statements as were ever 
 
 uttered 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 Mr. Tupper : By any man. 
 
814 APPENDIX 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : That is what I will show him. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I never asked, prayed for, desired, or 
 got a favour from the late Government. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Will the hon. gentleman allow me 
 to tell a favour he asked for ? 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : The hon. gentleman begged of me 
 to implore 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : The leader of the Government to 
 make him a member of the Privy Council of Canada. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : That is what he asked for, and he 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Was refused ; and it was the want of 
 that position, and that refusal, which, to a large 
 extent, has placed him where he is to-day. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The hon. gentleman knows that he 
 states what is wholly untrue, and, driven to his wits' 
 end, is now going back to a journey he and I made 
 to the North-west in 1869, and I give the most 
 positive denial to any assertion made by him or any 
 other person, that I asked for or desired any favour 
 from the Government. 
 
 The Serjeant-at-Arms : Mr. Speaker, a message 
 from His Excellency the Governor-General. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : I now 
 
 Mr. Speaker : I have very much pleasure in in- 
 forming the House that it now becomes my duty to 
 receive the messenger. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : He knows 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Coward ! Coward ! Sit down ! 
 
 Mr. Speaker : I 
 
APPENDIX 815 
 
 Mr. Smith : He knows- 
 
 SoME Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Coward ! Coward ! Coward ! 
 
 Mr. Smith : You are the coward. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : Nay, further, there were two gentle- 
 men, members of this House 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Smith : The day after that 4th of November 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Coward ! Coward ! 
 
 Mr. Smith : Who came to me with a proposition 
 to throw over the Right Hon. gentleman and the 
 present member for Charlevoix, if I would consent 
 to give up the position I had deem_ed it my duty to 
 take in the House the evening before, and would 
 support the Government by voting against the 
 amendment of the hon. member for Lambton. 
 
 Some Hon. Members : Order. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Mean, treacherous coward ! 
 
 Mr. Smith : Who is the coward, the House will 
 decide — it is yourself. 
 
 Mr. Tupper : Coward, treacherous 
 
 Mr. Smith : I could not support them. 
 
 Mr. Speaker : Admit the messenger. 
 
 Sir John A. Macdonald : That fellow Smith is the 
 biggest liar I ever met. 
 
 A Message from His Excellency the Governor- 
 General, by the Gentleman Usher of the Black 
 Rod— 
 
 " Mr. Speaker — 
 
 " His Excellency the Governor-General desires 
 the immediate attendance of this Honourable House 
 in the Senate Chamber." 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, with the House, went 
 up to attend His Excellency. 
 
316 APPENDIX 
 
 5. Journals of the House of Commons, December 
 9th, 1880. 
 
 The Dominion Contraverted Elections Jet, 1874. 
 
 Election of a Member of the House of Commons 
 of Canada for the Electoral District of the County of 
 Selkirk in the Province of Manitoba, holden on the 
 19th and 26th days of September, 1878. 
 
 Between — 
 
 David Young and Archibald Wright, 
 (Petitioners), Appellants, 
 and 
 Donald Alexander Smith, 
 (Respondent), Respondent : 
 It appearing from the reading in the above cause 
 transmitted to this Court that the Honourable 
 Mr. Justice Betourney rendered judgment in the 
 said cause on the nth day of October, a.d. 1879, 
 whereby it was adjudged and determined that the said 
 Petitioners had not proved any of the allegations of 
 the said Petition, that the said Election was and is 
 valid, and the said Donald Alexander Smith was duly 
 returned and elected to represent the said Electoral 
 District in the said House of Commons, and the said 
 Appellants having appealed from the said judgment 
 to this Court, which said appeal was by notice given 
 by the said Appellants pursuant to the Statute on 
 that behalf, limited to the following specially defined 
 questions or cases : — 
 
 1. The case of Donald Alexander Smith as briber, 
 
 and John F. Grant as bribee, and numbered 
 13 in the particulars of the allegations con- 
 tained in the Petition herein. 
 
 2. The case of James Penrose as briber and Henry 
 
 King as bribee, as numbered 14 in the par- 
 ticulars of the allegations contained in the 
 Petition herein. 
 
APPENDIX 317 
 
 3. The case of Elias George Cocklin as the person 
 
 hiring teams, and John Henry Mason as the 
 person from whom the said EHas George 
 Cockhn hired the teams as contained in 
 paragraph I in the particulars of the allegations 
 contained in the Petition herein. 
 
 4. The case of Donald Alexander Smith and Henry 
 
 Blanchard bribers, and Jean Baptise Lapointe, 
 Elzear Lafemodiere, Louis Deschambault, 
 L.J. A. Laveque, J.A.N. Provencher, Alexander 
 Begg and A. F. De Gauthieras bribers, and 
 numbered 26 in the particulars of the alle- 
 gations contained in the Petition herein. 
 
 And the said Appeal having come to be heard before 
 this Court on the 12th and 13th days of May, 1880, 
 in the presence of Counsel as well for the Appellants 
 as the Respondent, this Court was pleased to direct 
 that the said Appeal should stand over for Judgment, 
 this Court did order, judge and determine, that the 
 said Appeal should be and the same was allowed with 
 costs to be paid by the said Respondent to the said 
 Appellants. 
 
 And the Court did order, adjudge and determine 
 as follows : — 
 
 1. That the said Donald Alexander Smith was not 
 
 duly returned or elected, and the said Election 
 was void. 
 
 2. That so far as appeared by the said Appeal, 
 
 limited as aforesaid, no corrupt act has been 
 proved to have been committed by or with 
 the knowledge or consent of any candidate at 
 such Election. 
 
 3. That the said Elias George Cocklin, an agent of 
 
 the said Respondent at the said Election, did 
 hire a certain team and vehicle to carry voters 
 
318 APPENDIX 
 
 to the Poll or to the neighbourhood thereof, 
 and did pay one Mason for the hire of such 
 his team for the purpose of conveying to the 
 Poll or the neighbourhood thereof at the said 
 Election, whereby the said Elias George 
 Cocklin offended against the 96th section of 
 the Dominion Election Act, 1874, ^^^ under 
 the 98th section of the said Section 96, which 
 wilful offence is acclaimed to be a corrupt 
 practice within the meaning of the said Act. 
 
 4. That so far as appears by the said Appeal limited 
 
 as aforesaid, corrupt practices were not, nor 
 is there reason to believe that corrupt practices 
 have extensively prevailed in the said Election. 
 
 5. That the sum of one hundred dollars deposited 
 
 by the said Appellants as security for costs 
 of said Appeal be returned to them. 
 
 6. That the original record in the above cause be 
 
 transmitted by the Registrar of this Court to 
 the proper officer of the Court below from 
 whom the same was received. 
 Certified. 
 
 Robert Cassels, 
 
 Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada. 
 
 To the Hon. J. G. Blanchett, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, 
 Ottawa. 
 
 6, 7, 8. Hansard, House of Commons, December 
 1880. 
 
 9. Hansard, House of Commons, p. 107, 1880. 
 
 10. Sir Hugh Allan's charter. Statutes 1872, pro- 
 vided for a grant of $30,000,000 (^6,000,000), and 
 50,000,000 acres of land, to be allotted in alternate 
 blocks along the entire length of the railway from 
 Lake Nipegon to the Pacific coast. The grant in the 
 
APPENDIX 819 
 
 prairie section would have been about 15,000,000 
 acres along the railway line. The Canadian syndicate 
 received in cash and in the completed portions of the 
 railway, $55,000,000 (^11,000,000), and 25,000,000 
 acres of selected land in the fertile belt of the prairies. 
 
 11. Mr. George Stephens, letter to the Prime 
 Minister, January, 1893, Sessional Papers, 223(2, 1883. 
 
 12. No. 879, Interstate Commerce Commission, 
 City of Spokane v. Northern Pacific Railway Company. 
 
 13. Anglo-Persian Oil Company statement in the 
 House of Commons, May 1914, by Mr. Pretyman, 
 M.P., " Lord Strathcona holds ^1,000,000 of the 
 Ordinary Stock of the Company." Extract from 
 letter from Mr. Pretyman, June 20, 1914 : — 
 
 " The sum which Lord Strathcona invested in 
 the Persian Oil Company was ^^50,000. There 
 is really nothing more to tell about his connection 
 with the Persian Oil Company. What I said in 
 the House of Commons pretty well covers the 
 ground." 
 
 14. Hansard^ House of Commons, December 17th, 
 1880. 
 
 Sir Richard Cartwright : We must swallow it 
 whole . . . lest the people of Canada come too soon 
 and too quickly to the conviction that their rights 
 were being trampled on and their property wasted. 
 . . . This Bill, in every important clause, every im- 
 portant feature, appears to have been so drawn to 
 offend every honest instinct, every wholesome preju- 
 dice, of every important class from one end of the 
 Dominion to the other. . . . We see wise and ex- 
 perienced business men asking themselves whether the 
 name of the Minister of Railways, which I see upon 
 the last page of this document, really means the agent 
 of the party of the first part, or the agent of the party 
 of the second part. ... I don't care which of my 
 
820 APPENDIX 
 
 three hypotheses you adopt, whether you say that 
 these honourable gentlemen (the Government) were, 
 as in my first hypothesis, crazy ; or in my second, 
 bought ; or in my third, sold. Possibly there may 
 have been a little of all three. 
 
 15. On the eve of the election in the Province of 
 Quebec the following pledge was demanded from 
 candidates for the House of Commons by Bishops of the 
 Catholic Church — 
 
 " The Laurier-Greenway settlement of the 
 Manitoba Catholic School Act having been 
 judged to be unacceptable on the authority of 
 the Bishops, I solemnly pledge myself, on my 
 faith and on my honour, without restriction 
 whatever, if I am elected member, against the 
 settlement, or against any other which shall not 
 have been accepted by the same religious authority, 
 according to the terms of the constitution of 
 Manitoba, and the judgment of Her Majesty's 
 Privy Council. 
 
 " As a devoted son of the Catholic Church, I 
 pledge myself to absolutely prohibit all who act 
 for me in the present electoral campaign, whether 
 on the hustings or in conversation with the voters, 
 to utter one word in favour of the Laurier-Green- 
 way settlement, because it has not been accepted 
 by religious authority. Therefore I have signed 
 this pledge to the satisfaction of Monseigneur the 
 
 Bishop of , in the presence of Rev. and 
 
 Rev. , who have signed with me." 
 
 16. Memorial from Canadian Liberals to Rome. 
 "To His Holiness, Leo XHL 
 
 " Most Holy Father — 
 
 " We, the undersigned, members of the Senate 
 and House of Commons of Canada, and representing 
 
APPENDIX 321 
 
 therein the Liberal party, present ourselves before 
 Your Holiness as respectful and devoted children of 
 Holy Church, to complain of the existence of a 
 state of things, which if allowed to continue, must 
 be extremely dangerous to the constitutional liberties 
 of this country, as well as to the interests of the 
 Church itself. 
 
 " Your Holiness has already been made aware of 
 the conduct and attitude of certain prelates and of 
 certain members of the secular clergy who, during 
 the general election in this country in the month of 
 June last, intervened in a violent manner in restraint 
 of electoral freedom, taking sides openly for the Con- 
 servative party against the Liberal party, and going 
 so far as to declare guilty of grievous sin those of the 
 electors who would vote for the Liberal party. 
 
 " Sincerely attached to the institutions of our 
 country which ensure to us Catholics the most com- 
 plete liberty, we respectfully represent to Your Holiness 
 that these democratic institutions under which we 
 live and for which Your Holiness has many times 
 expressed sentiments of admiration and confidence, 
 can only exist under perfect electoral freedom. 
 
 " Far be it from us to refuse the clergy the plenitude 
 of civil and political rights. The priest is a citizen, 
 and we would not for a single instant, deprive him of 
 the right of expressing his opinion on any matter 
 submitted to the electorate ; but when the exercise 
 of that right develops into violence, and when violence 
 in the name of religion, goes to the extent of making 
 a grievous sin of a mere political act, there is an abuse 
 of authority of which the consequences cannot but 
 be fatal, not only to constitutional liberty, but to 
 religion itself. 
 
 " If in a country such as ours, where a population 
 consisting of persons of various creeds, and wherein 
 the Protestant denominations are in the majority, 
 
322 APPENDIX 
 
 Catholics did not enjoy, in all matters relating to 
 legislation, the same political freedom as their fellow- 
 countrymen, they would ipso facto be placed in a 
 position of inferiority, which would prevent them from 
 taking the legislative part which they are entitled to take 
 in the government of the country, with the possibility, 
 moreover, of conflicts between the various groups of 
 the population which history shows to be ever fraught 
 with danger. 
 
 " Then again, an active and violent intervention 
 of the clergy in the domain of political questions sub- 
 mitted to the people must, of necessity, produce 
 against the great mass of the Catholic population a 
 degree of criticism, manifestly prejudicial to that 
 respect which religion and its ministers should ever 
 inspire and command. 
 
 " Some twenty years ago His Holiness Pius the IX, 
 Your illustrious and lamented predecessor on the 
 Pontifical Throne, acting through the Sacred College 
 of the Propaganda, deemed it his duty to put a stop 
 to certain abuses of a similar character, and forbade 
 the intervention of the clergy in politics. This 
 prohibition was generally respected so long as His 
 Eminence Cardinal Taschereau was able to guide the 
 Church in Canada ; but since old age and infirmities 
 have paralysed his guiding hand, the abuses to which 
 Your Illustrious predecessor had put a stop, have begun 
 again, and threaten once more to create trouble among 
 us and to compromise, not only Catholic interests in 
 this country, but the peace and harmony which should 
 exist between the various elements of our population. 
 
 " Again affirming our absolute devotion to the faith 
 of our fathers and to the Church of which you are the 
 Supreme Head ; affirming our respect and attachment 
 for the person of Your Holiness ; our attachment to 
 the interests of our country and to the Crown of Great 
 Britain, its aegis and protector, we beg that Your 
 Holiness will renew in our behalf the most wise 
 
APPENDIX 323 
 
 prescriptions and prohibitions of Your Illustrious 
 predecessor ; protect the consciences of the Catholic 
 electorate, and thus secure peace in our country by 
 the union of religion and liberty — a union which Your 
 Holiness has many times extolled in those immortal 
 encyclicals whose precious teachings we desire in all 
 things to follow ; and, lastly, grant to the children of 
 the Church now addressing Your Holiness the Apostolic 
 Benediction. 
 
 " (Signed by Wilfrid Laurier and forty-six members 
 of the Senate and House of Commons.) 
 
 " Ottawa, Canada, 1896." 
 
 17. Hansard, House of Commons, p. 239, March 
 30, 1897. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Tarte (Minister of Public Works) : 
 The First Minister of this country (Hon. Wilfrid 
 Laurier) was accused in Rome to the Papal authority 
 of being a Freemason. Five Bishops went to Rome 
 and several of them accused the Liberal party with 
 being an anti-religious party. But they did some- 
 thing more. They said at the head of affairs was a 
 bad Catholic, while at the head of the Opposition was 
 a very pious man indeed, and of course it was better 
 to replace that very bad Catholic by that most pious 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Casgrain : Do I understand the honourable 
 gentleman to accuse the five Bishops who went to 
 Rome, or any of them, of having said that the First 
 Minister of the Dominion was a Freemason or a bad 
 Catholic ? 
 
 Hon. Mr. Tarte : The Bishop of Chicoutimi was 
 interviewed a few days ago, and in the public Press he 
 stated that he had himself told the Papal authorities 
 that Wilfrid Laurier knew so little about religion that 
 he did not expect anything else from him but neutral 
 
324 APPENDIX 
 
 or godless schools. I say on my responsibility here 
 that some of the Bishops told the Pope himself and 
 the Propaganda that the honourable gentleman who 
 is at the head of affairs to-day is a very bad Roman 
 Catholic. The Papal Delegate is my witness." 
 
 1 8. At the General Elections in September 1878 
 the result of the voting was — 
 
 Donald A. Smith .... 555 
 Hon. A. Morris .... 546 
 
 Maj. for D. A. Smith ... 9 
 
 Through the election having been declared void by 
 the Supreme Court reversing the judgment of the 
 trial judge, a bye-election was held September 10, 
 188O5 resulting as follows — 
 
 Colonel Scott . . . . '735 
 Donald A. Smith .... ^']'] 
 
 Maj. for Col. Scott . . . 158 
 
 19. File 257, 1893, Supreme Court of the United 
 States. 
 
 20. Joint Stock Companies, 191 4, Canadian Pacific 
 Railway — 
 
 Ordinary Stock . . . $260,000,000 
 
 4% Preference . . . £15,173,563 
 
 4% Consolidated Debenture Stock £33,725,385 
 
 Note Certificates . , . $52,000,000 
 
 Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 
 brunswick st., stamford st., s.e., and bungay, suffolk.