Ross, James Gibb (Quebec City), Senator of Canada, was born in Carluke, a village of Lanarkshire, in Scotland, on April 18, 1819. He came out to Canada in 1832, in company with his elder brother, John Ross; and, after attending one of the private schools of Quebec for a year or two, he entered the business office of his uncle, Mr. James Gibb. At this time the firm of James Gibb & Company was one of the largest of the wholesale grocery and provision houses in what has always been known as the Lower Town of Quebec; and there the Scottish lad laid the foundation of his business career, which was eventually to place him among the wealthiest merchants of Canada. In 1843, Mr. Thomas O. Gibb, son of Mr. James Gibb, returned to Quebec, after finishing his school education in Edinburgh; and in the same year a company was formed in which Thomas O. Gibb, John Ross, and James G. Ross were the partners, until the first mentioned of the three died in 1845. Eventually, on Mr. James Gibb’s death, the two Ross brothers took the business name of Ross & Co., and as such continued in active operation up to the year 1868. By this time the firm had amplified its business by other branches of trading; and in 1868 the older of the two members of the firm withdrew to conduct a business of his own, for the most part confined, as it was, to the grocery and provision trade. With him was associated his youngest brother, Frank Ross. At the time of the Senator’s death, in 1888, the firm of Ross & Co. had developed into one of the wealthiest business concerns in the country, having depots for the distribution of their wares in nearly all the larger cities of Canada and the United States. With millions at his command, the sole partner of the firm took an active interest in shipbuilding and railroad construction. Nearly every branch of industry was enhanced by the money advances of the multi-millionaire. The shipping interests, especially, felt the effects of his business acumen, especially when he took in charge for sailing purposes the ships the building of which he had assisted with advances of money, but which, for market reasons could not for a time be sold. The railroads which came in for assistance included the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway and the Quebec Central, both of which may trace their success as paying concerns to the financial foresight of Senator James G. Ross, who thus both directly and indirectly aided the colonization of the country and its trading interests by the assistance he extended to their promoters. Nor was it easy for one so prominent in the commercial interests of the ancient capital to refuse to be nominated as a candidate for parliamentary honors. On two several occasions he was called upon to contest the electoral division of Quebec Centre, once in the Conservative interest in 1872, against Mr. Cauchon, afterwards Governor of Manitoba, and a second time as an Independent, in 1878, against Mr. Malouin. In both instances he was defeated, though afterwards he was considered worthy to succeed the Hon. David Price as Senator, in 1884. He was unmarried; but in the families of his two brothers, John and Frank, he is notably represented to-day by Mr. John Theodore Ross, the only son of the former, and Frank W. Ross, surviving son of the latter, both of whom have evidently in them the desire inherited from their uncle, James G. Ross, to advance the interests of their native city. The Hon. Senator Ross was a prominent citizen other than in business and political circles. He took an interest in school improvements and church advancement. He was for many years President of the Quebec Bank, a Director of the Quebec High School, and an elder in Chalmers Church. As may well be said of his beneficent uncle, James Gibb, Senator James Gibb Ross was a liberal benefactor to the institutions of Quebec, both before his death and after it. He accumulated his millions in Peter Street, and every Protestant institution in the city of his adoption benefited by his wealth in some way or another.
Gouin, The Hon. Sir Jean Lomer, K.C.M.G., LL.B., LL.D., Premier of the Province of Quebec, was born at Brondines, of the County of Portneuf, on March 19, 1861. He comes from a French-Canadian stock whose lineage can be traced as far back as 1662. His father was J. N. Gouin, M.D., who married Miss Victoire Seraphine Fugère in 1852. In his earlier years, their son Lomer became a pupil of Sorel College, thereafter entering as an under-graduate the College of Levis, and afterwards graduating at Laval University. His collegiate honors include the degree of LL.D., received successively from Laval in 1902, from Bishop’s College University in 1913, and from Toronto University in 1915. He was called to the Bar in 1884, after studying law under the late Sir John Abbott and the Hon. B. Laflamme. He had thus been a student under the supervision of a Prime Minister of Canada and of a Minister of Justice. During his partnership with Judge Pagnuello and the Hon. Premier Honore Mercier, whose daughter Eliza he married in 1888, he came into prominence in the law courts of Montreal, being finally elected Batonnier-General in 1910, after having served a term as Alderman of that city, and elected a Member of the Local Legislature. In 1900 he became Commissioner of Public Works in the Parent Administration for four years. Resigning his place in the Parent Cabinet in 1904, he was called to the premiership the year after, holding the portfolio of Attorney-General up to the present time. During the general election of 1916 his administration of public affairs was upheld by a majority never before vouchsafed to a Quebec premier; while the list of honors conferred upon him since his advent to power is perhaps one of the longest on record. He was knighted by the reigning Sovereign of the Empire at the Quebec Tercentenary Celebration of 1908, and was made a K.C.M.G. in the year 1913. Ever animated with a desire to see his native province an advancing factor in the general progress of the Dominion of Canada, as well as of the British Empire, he has been diligent in promoting the public works that have to be fostered within the counties and parishes, as well as in the cities and larger towns, in line with the general advancement of the commonwealth. He has done his best to improve the educational conditions of the communities, not forgetting likewise to improve the highways and the industrial activities all over the province. His zeal in establishing and liberally subsidizing Industrial Schools and Technical Colleges has become a proverb in all the provinces; while, in view of his support of a provincial grant of one million dollars to the Canadian Patriotic Fund during the time of war, his reputation as a broad-minded Canadian citizen has been placed beyond all questioning. Senator David has pronounced a eulogium on Premier Gouin that places him in rank with, if not beyond, those who have preceded him in the Quebec premiership. Within these war-times he has advocated a National War Service in the most fervent terms, illustrating Senator David’s estimate of his statesmanship as that of a highly capable servant of the State, in his impartial judgment, prudence, eloquence, and administrative acumen. His share in the Bonne Entente mission to Ontario in 1917, to plead, with others, for a closer mutual understanding between the two leading races in Canada, has given an éclat to his statesmanship. He would see Canada a unit while aiding the mother lands in Europe by force of arms, and thus uphold the prestige of the British Empire. And the various offices Sir Lomer Gouin has held from the day he entered public life in 1891, indicate the strenuous part he has played as a public-spirited Canadian. In 1891, he was President of the National Club in Montreal, which was virtually “the Executive of the Liberal Party” in the Montreal district. That year he was defeated in his first election contest. Six years after he was elected representative for the St. James Electoral Division of Montreal, and thereafter has been member for his native County of Portneuf. He has continued to be a Member of the Council of Public Instruction since 1898; became President of the American Fish and Game Protection Association in 1910; was Chairman of the Ottawa Inter-provincial Conference in 1906, and afterwards a delegate to a like Conference in 1910. As from one “learned in the law,” his edition of the Municipal Code is a standard work; while no one has so well at his command the details of parliamentary law-and-order as he has, as leader of the House of Assembly. The record of his regime is concisely given in a neat little volume published in 1916, under the title of “Le Gouvernment Gouin et Son Oeuvre.” Another volume referring to the federal subsidies in favor of the provinces was published in 1903, giving the amplified record of an address delivered by Sir Lomer under the heading of “The Actual Question.” These volumes, together with the reports of his speeches from time to time, indicate how Sir Lomer Gouin has ever had in mind the public interest—seeing to the improving of the conditions in his native province, even to the widening out of its area as in the case of the annexation of the District of Ungava, building government works, and highways, and bridges, and never forgetting to urge it to keep pace with its sister provinces in the federacy which includes them all within the Dominion of Canada. In seeing to the advancement of the province he has in charge as premier, he has made fame for himself as a loyal statesman and dignified scholar, duly honored by the King and his country’s seats of learning. He was married to Miss Alice Amos, his second wife, in 1911. By his first wife he has had two sons—Leon, who is practising law in Montreal; and Paul, who is a lieutenant on active service.
Drayton, Sir Henry Lumley, K.C., K.B., Chief Commissioner, Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada, was born in Kingston, Ontario, April 27, 1869. He is the son of Philip Henry Drayton, who came to Canada with the 16th Rifles of England, and Margaret S. (Covernton) Drayton. He was educated in the schools of England and Canada. On September 14, 1892, he married Edith Mary Cawthra, daughter of the late Joseph Cawthra, Toronto, and has three daughters. Sir Henry Drayton was called to the Ontario Bar in 1891 and soon became recognized as one of the leaders in the legal profession. In September 1893, he was appointed Assistant City Solicitor for Toronto, and when he resigned in September, 1900, he was presented with a gold watch in recognition of the valuable services he had rendered to the city in his legal capacity. He immediately (September, 1900), formed partnership with Charles J. Holman, K.C., and in January, 1902, was appointed Counsel to the Railway Committee of the Ontario Legislature by the Chairman, the Hon. John Dryden. The following year he was appointed representative of the Ontario Government for the purpose of adjudicating upon and paying, on behalf of the Government, the claims of workmen of the different Clergue Companies operating at Sault Ste. Marie, and on January 29, 1904, he was appointed County Crown Attorney for the County of York, on the recommendation of the Hon. J. M. Gibson. In 1905 he was appointed Counsel on Civic Bribery Investigation, Toronto, the Civic Investigation Court House in 1906, the Public School Board Investigation, and also the Civic Investigation into the Medical Health Department. January the 20th, 1908, he was created K.C. He resigned his position as County Crown Attorney in 1909, and the following year, April 25, 1910, was appointed Counsel for the Corporation of the City of Toronto. May 11, 1911, he was appointed as representative of the Ontario Government a member of the Toronto Power Commission. When on July 1, 1912, he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada the Toronto City Council presented him with an illuminated album. In July, 1913, he was appointed Commissioner to deal with the question of Control of Ocean Freight Rates. In 1917 Sir Henry Drayton was appointed a member of the Drayton-Smith-Acworth Commission which investigated the Canadian railway situation. When the work of the Commission was completed and their report presented to the Government, he, as his fee for his able services on the Commission, was presented with a cheque for $15,000 by the Dominion Government. He refused to accept payment and returned the cheque. Acknowledging the receipt of the returned cheque the then Minister of Railways and Canals, Hon. Mr. Cochrane, wrote in part as follows: “I can assure you that your very patriotic attitude in this matter is most sincerely appreciated by the Government at a time when every dollar which can be saved is of material importance to the successful prosecution of the war.” In very many other ways since the war commenced in 1914, Sir Henry Drayton has rendered valuable services—financially, as a member of committees and in the direction of transportation, supply and other matters. He is ever to the fore to do all he can to help Canada successfully bear the burdens—financially, commercially and otherwise—that this war has forced her to carry and no one has ever rendered such services more freely and willingly. Sir Henry Drayton is a member of the Toronto, Toronto Hunt, Ontario Jockey, Rideau, Ottawa Royal Golf, Country (Ottawa), Connaught Park Jockey (Ottawa), and the Kaministiquia (Fort William) Clubs. His address is 233 Metcalfe St., Ottawa.
S. R. PARSONS
Toronto