It is difficult to remember all the good fellows and their peculiarities at this length of time but I can recall handsome Hon. J. D. Hazen, Mr. C. N. Skinner, Major-General Hugh H. McLean and Hon. John Costigan from New Brunswick, who were popular on both sides of the House. Sir Douglas Hazen was afterwards premier of his native province, and now is ornamenting the bench; Sir Clifford Sifton, who inaugurated the first real immigration policy; Captain J. B. Labelle, from Richelieu, commander of the R. & O. steamer, Montreal, was a social lion and one of the best dressed men in the House. His son is General Labelle, of the Montreal Harbor Commission. Sir Adolphe Chapleau ranked among the most brilliant orators of that day, and Honorable C. C. Colby, of Stanstead, was one of the ablest lawyers in the House and personally was very popular, as was Donald MacMaster, now Sir Donald, a distinguished member of the British House of Commons. Then there were good old Billy Smith from South Ontario, still in the Parliamentary pink; George Guillet, from Northumberland, Ontario; Peter Mitchell, from Northumberland, N.B.; Colonel Tisdale, from South Norfolk; Dr. Ferguson, from Welland; Fred Hale, from Carleton, N.B.; J. A. Mara, James Reid, Thomas Earle, E. Crow Baker, who recently passed away, and the late E. G. Prior, recently Lt.-Gov. of British Columbia, from which Province they all came; Mahlon Cowan, the fighting man from Essex, Ont.; David Henderson of Halton; W. C. Edwards, from Russell, the real old genuine free trader of the house; Uriah Wilson, from Lennox, a member of high standing; Hon. John Haggart and Dr. Montague, he of the silver tongue, who were bosom friends, the latter coming to a tragic end in Winnipeg; George Taylor, the Tory whip from Gananoque; Josiah Wood, from Westmoreland, who owns a railway, was afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick and is father-in-law of Eddie Nichols, the newspaperman, of Winnipeg. A. W. Ross, the real estate boss, and W. F. McCreary from Manitoba; Hon. Tom Daly from Brandon, who, like his father, was a broth of a boy; Senator J. B. Plumb, from Niagara, a royal entertainer when Speaker of the Senate; Hon. John Carling, whose election contests with his brother-in-law in London were as fierce as any in the whole Dominion; big Duncan C. Fraser, the giant from Nova Scotia, who like A. G. Jones, another Nova Scotian member, who was charged with having said, “Haul down the flag” at Confederation, filled the position of Lieutenant-Governor of that Province; John V. Ellis from St. John, one of the ablest members of the House, whose newspaper, the Globe, still flourishes under the management of his son Frank; G. R. R. Cockburn, from Toronto, a fine type of an Old Country gentleman; Hon. Mr. Prefontaine, mayor of Montreal, who died in England; Jacques Bureau, whose life is devoted to politics and mirth and Ernest Lapointe; Billy Northrup, of Hastings, (now clerk of the House) a fighter from ’way back, like Billy Bennett of Simcoe; H. H. Cook—“I bet you Cook”—who claimed a toll of $10,000 was demanded of him to obtain a senatorship, which caused him to retire from his party of which he had previously been a staunch supporter.
Who could ever forget Major Tom Beatty, of London, whose death left a great blank that would be difficult to fill? Or Clarke Wallace, from York, as genial a soul as ever lived, whose successor in the House was his good-natured son, the late Capt. Tom? And there was Senator John Yeo, from Prince Edward Island, who for sixty-two years continuously has been a member either of the Legislature of the Island, or of the Commons or Senate of Canada. Then there was Dr. Platt, of Kingston, who was afterwards warden of the Portsmouth penitentiary, and declared that, owing to his official duties, he was the “closest confined person in the pen.” And Jim Metcalfe, who was a dead game sport of the political kind, came from Kingston too; and what shall I say of Hon. W. S. Fielding, the father of reciprocity, still an active member of the House? Or of Hon. James Domville, a meteoric member, still in active life in the Senate; of Kennedy Burns, of Gloucester, who owned the Caraquet Railway, that runs from Bathurst to Shippegan; of Dr. Reid, from Grenville, now Minister of Railways; of John F. Stairs and Thos. E. Kenny, of Halifax, the latter a West Indian merchant; of Harry Corby, from Belleville, who had no personal enemies; of Senator Billy Gibson from Lincoln; of poor George Moffatt of Restigouche, who at a convivial banquet where everything was Irish—tobacco, pipes, whiskey, potatoes and all—a little affair given by A. W. Ross, M.P. for Selkirk—entrusted me with an envelope to keep for him, in which was a draft for £5,000 sterling—George was always for “Safety first,” and he knew I would keep sober if anybody could; of W. G. Perley, father of Sir George Perley, Canada’s High Commissioner at London; of dear old Alex. McLaren, the Cheese King, and Rufus Stephenson from Kent, of Sir Louis Davies, now Chief Justice of Canada, who made rip-roaring speeches, and Al. Lefurgey and Donald Nicholson and Mr. McLean, from “The Island”, of Col. Owney Talbot from down Quebec way; of Alex. McKay, Adam Brown’s running mate from Hamilton, and wee Johnny Small, Toronto’s pet; of George W. Ganong, the Chocolate King from Charlotte, N.B., who was as sweet as his chocolates; of Henry Cargill and John Tolmie, two dear old friends from Bruce? And we all reverently doff our hats to that able statesman, Sir John Thompson, the only Conservative ever elected in Antigonish, who safely piloted the ship of state through troubled waters, and died a tragic death at Windsor Castle; and to Hon. J. J. C. Abbott, who controlled the destinies of Canada when rare statesmanship was needed. Mr. Abbott was one of the ablest lawyers that ever sat in the House, and to him was entrusted the preparation of the contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., the consummation of which has been of the greatest value to the Dominion.
Memory also recalls the gallant Col. Williams, of Port Hope, who gave up his life on the banks of the Saskatchewan from fever in 1885; Big Rory Maclennan, the contractor, one of the world’s greatest athletes, Darby Bergin of Cornwall, John Moncrieff, of Simcoe, J. D. Edgar, of Toronto, Geo. H. Macdonnell, of Algoma, John White, of East Hastings, who, when fiercely attacked by Edward Blake, floored that gentleman completely by recalling how when the great Liberal leader had arrived at Quebec from an ocean voyage so engrossed was he in his political affairs that he left his poor wife to the tender mercies of his political opponent and that he had to neglect his own business to look after her. He also recalled a pathetic incident of the ocean trip when the Honorable Edward was leaning heavily over the taffrail of the ship, paying his devotions to Neptune, that he, John White, offered consolation and encouragement by timely advising him: “Let her go, my boy, let her go, there’s lots of room.” And base ingratitude was the return for his kindness.
Some Well-known Members.
Although I left the Press Gallery in the early 90’s my connection with it did not entirely cease, and I was frequently a visitor within its sacred precincts, and so, as new members came in, new friends were made. To mention them all would be impossible, but I remember kindly Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, one of the best speakers on the Liberal side; Hon. Hugh Clarke, the inimitable wit from Kincardine, whose Scotch humor was infectious; Ed. Lewis, from Huron, who was eternally initiating new legislation; Clarence Jameson, from Digby, who could imitate Sir Robert Borden better than Sir Robert could himself; Billy Weichel from Kitchener, who was afterwards defeated because he wasn’t German enough for his constituents; A. C. Boyce, the bright boy from the Soo; Sir George Perley, from Argenteuil, who did great service for Canada in London during the war; J. G. Turriff, from Assiniboia, who afterwards became a Senator; Dr. Cash, from Qu’Appelle; Lloyd Harris and W. F. Cockshutt, from Brantford, two very prominent members; Col. Geo. H. Baker, from Brome, who gave up his life in the Great War; John Tolmie, from Bruce; Luggy McCarthy, R. B. Bennett and John Herron, amongst the brightest from the west; John Stanfield, the Government whip from Truro, and now a senator, and F. B. McCurdy, now a member of the Government; Billy Sloan and Herb. Clements, two genial gentlemen from Comox, Alberni; Speaker Rhodes and Hance Logan from Cumberland, N.S.; Theodore Burrows, an old friend from Dauphin, Manitoba; Andy Broder, the David Harum of the House from Dundas; A. B. Ingram and David Marshall from East Elgin, and Tom Crothers, afterwards Minister of Labor, from West Elgin; R. F. Sutherland, now Justice Sutherland, who is an ornament to the bench, and my old friend, Wm. McGregor, both from South Essex; the redoubtable Jim Conmee and his successor, J. J. Carrick, from Thunder Bay; A. B. Crosby, the late Senator, from Halifax, as was the late lamented Senator Dennis; Gus Porter from Hastings. Then there were my old friends Senator John Fisher, who defeated Billy Paterson; Wm. Harty, from Kingston; Fred Pardee, the genial Liberal whip from Lambton; Billy Buchanan, of Lethbridge; Bob McPherson from Vancouver; R. L. Richardson, of Lisgar, and Dr. Rutherford of Macdonald, Manitoba, who is efficient as a railway commissioner and proficient in the art of anecdotal side-splitters in the Scotch vernacular. There was also the fighting Liberal trio from the Maritime Provinces—William Pugsley, Ed. Macdonald and Frank Carvell. Then there was D. A. Macdowell and Tom Davis from Saskatchewan, Walter Scott and W. D. Perley from Assiniboia; Simon Cimon from Charlebois, and Hugh John Macdonald (now Sir Hugh), son of the chieftain, was as popular a member as ever sat in the House.
And who can forget Sam Hughes (now Sir Sam, but the same old Sam) who first came to the House in 1892? He was very vigorous and aggressive, and abuse him as you will, everybody will acknowledge that his feat of sending 33,000 well-equipped stalwart Canadian troops across the sea in two months was something few men could accomplish—and none other did.
For over half-a-century, the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada has existed. It will continue indefinitely, and while there may be carping criticism and factious condemnation of the powers that be, the average thoughtful citizen will credit the great majority of its members with being honestly endeavoring to legislate in what they conscientiously believe to be the best interests of the whole country.
Appointing a Governor.
If Warwick was a King Maker, I couldn’t say that while I didn’t aspire to be his rival, I wasn’t in his class. At any rate, I was the humble means of aiding in appointing Senator John Schultz to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Manitoba. I was in the Ottawa Press Gallery at the time, and in the course of my reportorial duties frequently met the Senator. One day, the question of the Governorship of Manitoba incidentally came up between us. This position had always been held by an eastern man, and of all the names mentioned as a possible appointee, none could be proved to be acceptable to the Manitobans, and this phase of the question arose.