Mr. Young was also one of the original projectors of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway, connecting Montreal and Portland; and was a zealous promoter of the line westward from Montreal to Kingston. When these two schemes became merged in the Grand Trunk Line, he suggested a bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal. He even went so far as to suggest the precise place where it was most advisable that the bridge should be constructed, and at his own expense employed Mr. Thomas C. Keefer to make a plan and survey. The prejudice against the scheme, however, was very great, and Mr. Young was compelled to uphold it by means of numerous pamphlets, newspaper articles, and public speeches, as well as by private influence, with extraordinary zeal and pertinacity. The physical difficulties to be encountered, the financial considerations, and the political complications arising out of the relations between the Grand Trunk and the Government, were all serious obstacles to success, while professional controversies raged hotly over the various points connected with the engineering operations for the completion of such an undertaking. After encountering an amount of opposition which would have discouraged a less persistent man, he succeeded in obtaining favour for his project, and the final result was the construction of the Victoria Bridge, which spans the river at the exact spot which he had first suggested.
Another of his schemes was the construction of a canal connecting Caughnawaga, on the St. Lawrence, with Lake Champlain. This was for a time taken up by the Government with much favour, and several surveys were made by different engineers at great cost to the public. After proceeding thus far, the project was permitted to lapse, though a kindred scheme has since been carried to a successful completion. Several other important schemes of his for developing the resources of the country were characterized by the Government of the day as plausible in theory, but really impracticable.
His entry into political life interfered, for a time, with the realization of some of his favourite projects. He first came conspicuously before the public as a politician at the general election of 1847, when he proposed Mr. Lafontaine as member for Monteal. During the ensuing campaign he threw the whole weight of his influence into the scale on Mr. Lafontaine's behalf, and the latter was returned by a considerable majority. When Mr. Lafontaine and his colleague, Mr. Baldwin, retired from public life in 1851, Mr. Young was invited by Mr. Hincks to enter Parliament and accept a seat in the Cabinet. He accordingly offered himself to the electors of Montreal as Mr. Lafontaine's successor. His candidature was warmly opposed. His Free Trade opinions were objectionable to certain classes in the constituency, and his advocacy of the Caughnawaga Canal scheme, which some held to be inimical to Montreal interests, was another ground of opposition. His well known desire to promote what is now called the Intercolonial Railway also awakened hostility. The contest was close, but he was returned at the head of the poll. In the month of October following he was sworn in as Commissioner of Public Works in the Hincks-Morin Administration, and at the same time became a member of the Board of Railway Commissioners. He soon afterwards proceeded with Mr. Hincks and Mr. Taché to the Maritime Provinces, to promote the construction of the Intercolonial, although he differed with some of his colleagues as to the route to be adopted. He favoured the route over the St. John River to St. John, and thence to Halifax. About the same time, or very shortly afterwards, he recommended the establishment of a line of Atlantic steamers, subsidized by the Government. The construction of lighthouses, the shortening of the passage to and from Europe by the adoption of the route viâ the Straits of Belleisle, and the development of the magnificent water powers of the Ottawa, were all matters that received his attention during his tenure of office. He differed from Mr. Hincks as to the plan on which the Grand Trunk Railway should be constructed, and opposed its construction by a private corporation. Mr. Hincks, however, had his own way about the matter, although, in deference to Mr. Young's views, the subsidy to the Company was reduced £1,000 per mile. After remaining in the Cabinet about eleven months Mr. Young withdrew, owing to a difference of opinion with his colleagues with respect to placing differential tolls on American vessels passing through the Welland Canal. He opposed the imposition of increased duties on foreign shipping as being in his opinion vicious in principle. The question of Free Trade was involved in the dispute, and Mr. Young was not disposed to give way an inch. The single report presented by him to the House during his Commissionership is full of valuable matter, and plainly shows the bias and texture of his mind.
He continued to sit in the House as a private member throughout the then-existing Parliament. At the general election of 1854 he was again returned for the city of Montreal. During the ensuing sessions, though he did not accept office, he was a very serviceable member of committees. In 1856 he was Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, and introduced some important improvements in the method of tabulating items. At the general election of 1858 he declined re-nomination, as his health was far from good, and he was desirous of repose from public life. In 1863 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Montreal West, his successful opponent being the late Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee. Nine years elapsed before he again offered himself as a candidate for Parliamentary honours. In 1872 he once more came out for Montreal West, when he was returned by a majority of more than 800. Two years later he bade a final adieu to political life, in order to give his undivided attention to various commercial and industrial enterprises with which he was connected. He continued, however, to take a keen interest in public affairs, and to do his utmost to promote the interior trade of Canada and the carrying trade of the lakes and St. Lawrence. He never ceased to advocate the establishment of reciprocity between Canada and the United States. In 1875 he was Chairman of a commission appointed to consider the bearing a Baie Verte canal would have on the interests of Canadian commerce; and after a very exhaustive inquiry he prepared a report unfavourable to the project.
In addition to the projects already mentioned in the course of this sketch as having been actively promoted by Mr. Young, he did much to enhance the due representation of Canada at the various International Exhibitions, and the last public appointment filled by him was that of Canadian Commissioner to the International Exhibition at Sydney, Australia, in 1877. He also took an active interest in ocean telegraphy, and in the improvement of the harbours of Canada. After his retirement from Parliament he filled the office of Flour Inspector of the Port of Montreal on behalf of the Government. He continued to identify himself with every local measure of public importance down to the time of his death, which took place at his home in Montreal, on Friday, the 12th of April, 1878. The funeral, which was attended by a great concourse of influential citizens, was on the 15th. The local press did due honour to his memory, and bore unanimous testimony to the fact that Canada, and more especially the city of Montreal, had sustained a grievous loss by his death.
A few additional incidents in Mr. Young's career may as well be added in this place. He was twice sent to Washington as Canada's representative to bring about satisfactory trade relations between this country and the United States. The first of these missions was undertaken in 1849, during the existence of the Baldwin-Lafontaine Administration. The second was fourteen years afterwards, during the tenure of office of the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion Government, in 1863. He also made frequent trips to Great Britain, generally on private business of his own, but sometimes on quasi-diplomatic missions connected with industrial matters. He was twice shipwrecked; once during a passage in the Anglo Saxon, of the Allan Line, on her passage from Liverpool to Quebec; and once during a passage on the Inman steamer City of New York, bound for Liverpool.
It has been seen that he was a Reformer in political and commercial matters. In theology his views were not less liberal. He was brought up a strict Presbyterian, but had scarcely reached manhood ere he discarded many of the tenets of that Body. He embraced Unitarianism, and was largely instrumental in spreading Unitarian doctrines in the city of his adoption. As a writer, his style was homely and unpolished, but terse and vigorous. His writings did much to form public opinion in Canada on matters connected with Free Trade, and on commercial matters generally. In addition to his frequent contributions to the newspaper press he published numerous pamphlets on trade and industrial topics, and contributed the article on Montreal to the eighth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.