Was the seal of love and truth.”
Writing in the “World,” W. F. Maclean, M.P., said “The late A. W. Wright was an able man who played a leading part in making the destiny of Canada. . . . He had wit, a beaming way, and a radiant kind of sociability.” The “Hamilton Herald” said:—“Few Canadians of the last generation contributed more to the upbuilding of Canada than A. W. Wright. Much of the success of the Workmen’s Compensation Act is due to his sagacity and clear, swift insight. As a newspaper writer Alex. Wright was one of the most forceful of his time. As a platform speaker, when dealing with a subject with which he was familiar, he was unsurpassed. He had bright, incisive style and a talent for keen analysis. He was at his best when heckled. He courted interruption, for no one could get the better of him in a clash of wits.” In a review of his career, “Saturday Night” spoke of him as “a man of remarkable intellectual powers and charming personality,” and of his youth, “he made a hobby of economics and by the time he was thirty was recognized as one of the ablest writers and speakers on such subjects in this country.” When nickel was discovered in Ontario he urged on the government to establish a customs smelter to treat it, to sell at cost to actual users of it in Canada, and to place a heavy export duty on it, thereby giving Canadians a great advantage in manufacturing high-grade machinery of nickel steel, thus greatly stimulating industry here, and assuring Canada millions of dollars annually from export duty on nickel which outsiders must have at any cost. Instead of this a foreign concern was given a practical monopoly to refine Canadian nickel in the U.S. with the right to sell to Germany or any other enemy of Canada and the empire. Both as writer and speaker he was keenly analytical, logical, and constructive in his chosen style, but in dealing with an unfair opponent he was equally at home in using forceful denunciation, bitter irony, scorching sarcasm, or ludicrous burlesque, while in flashing and apt repartee he was unrivalled. He was widely read in prose and poetry, and, possessing a remarkable memory and facile power of expression, was a charming conversationalist, usually the centre of a group of appreciative auditors in any informal gathering. As raconteur he was inimitable. Continual optimism, constant cheerfulness, and unvarying kindliness were his outstanding characteristics, and won for him the friendship of all who knew him.
Roche, Francis James (Toronto, Ont.), Clerk of Assize of the Supreme Court of Ontario, was Conservative candidate for Parliament in West Ontario in 1900, as also for North Toronto 1904, opposing Sir William Mulock, then Postmaster-General. He practised law in Toronto for several years, and served as a member of the Collegiate Institute Board of Trustees of Toronto from 1902 to 1905. He was appointed Official Referee of the Supreme Court in 1914. Mr. Roche was born at Whitby, Ont., October 10, 1865, the son of John R. Richmond Roche, M.A., and Sarah Danford Bryan Roche. He was educated at the Toronto Collegiate Institute and University College, graduating as B.A. in 1886 and as M.A. with honours in Natural Sciences in the following year. He married Lena, daughter of Hon. Theodore Bruere, attorney-at-law, St. Charles, Mo., U.S.A., and State Senator of Missouri, November 28, 1894. Mr. Roche is a Past-President of the United Irish League of Toronto, and is a member of the Canadian Military Institute and Empire Club of Toronto. He joined “K” Company, Queen’s Own Rifles in 1882, and served later in the Cavalry, retiring in 1910 from the Governor-General’s Body Guard with the rank of Major. An Anglican in religion and a Conservative in politics.
Whitney, Edwin Canfield (Ottawa, Ont.), one of the leading capitalists of that city, and especially identified with the Canadian lumbering industry. He was born at Williamsburg, Ont., in the St. Lawrence Valley, on October 29, 1844, the son of Richard Leet and Clarissa Jane (Fairman) Whitney. The Whitney family is of United Empire Loyalist stock and descended from Henry Whitney, who came to New England from Herefordshire, England, in 1640. The late Sir James Whitney, Prime Minister of Ontario from 1905 to 1914 was an elder brother of the subject of this sketch. Edwin Canfield Whitney was educated at the public schools of his district, and subsequently moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where he engaged in the lumbering industry, and in the course of years built up a substantial fortune. He later removed to Ottawa, where he engaged in the lumber business as General Manager of the St. Anthony Lumber Company, Ltd., until 1912, when he retired from active business with the winding up of the company. He is also Vice-President of the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company. He was also one of the directors of the Keewatin Flour Mills Company, Ltd. He is a Director of the Bank of Ottawa and of the Toronto General Trusts Company, Ltd. The philanthropies of Mr. Whitney have been of a most enlightened character. He is one of the Governors of Protestant General Hospital, Ottawa, and in 1905 erected at an expense of $68,000 and presented to the University of Toronto a residence for male students. In the same year he was appointed a Trustee of the University Residence Fund, and in 1906 became one of the Governors of the University proper. Among his other gifts to the institution have been a valuable collection of works on Egypt and its antiquities, now in the University library. In 1911, he made a standing offer of $30,000 toward the erection of a general hospital in Ottawa, if the balance of the required sum could be raised. The good-heartedness and generosity of Mr. Whitney in connection with charities is indeed proverbial with all who know him, and during the great war his gifts to patriotic and other funds were on a generous scale. In association with Mrs. Whitney, he gave $5,000 to Trinity University (of which his brother, Sir James Whitney, was a distinguished graduate), and also a memorial church to the Anglican parish of Williamsburg, Ont., of which he was a member when a boy. Mr. Whitney is an adherent of the Anglican communion, and has on many occasions been a delegate to the Synods of that church. In March, 1879, he married Sarah, widow of the late Glossop McQuire, C.E., and daughter of the late J. P. Chrysler, M.P.P. Mrs. Whitney is also interested in philanthropic effort, and has been especially active in the Ottawa Humane Society. In politics Mr. Whitney is an independent. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Country and Hunt Clubs, Ottawa.
Vaughan, Marshall (Welland, Ont.), is one of the leading business men of the Niagara peninsula, and was born at Elcho, Gainsboro township, Lincoln County, Ont., on March 16, 1884. His father was Wilford Vaughan, and his mother’s maiden name was Orpha Augusta Evans. The Vaughans and the Evans were United Empire Loyalists, who came to Canada from New Jersey and Virginia after the American Revolution, and the names in both cases indicate Welsh descent. The subject of this sketch was educated at Smithville Collegiate Institute, and later commenced his business career in Welland, where his firm deals extensively in wholesale seeds and are growers, re-cleaners and exporters of those commodities. Mr. Vaughan has also taken an active part in the municipal affairs of Welland. He had the honour of being elected Mayor of that municipality for 1917, the year in which it achieved the status of a city, and on July 1, of that year presided over the inauguration proceedings in connection with that happy event. He also filled the office of Mayor for the year 1918, having been re-elected by acclamation. He takes an active part in all movements for the advancement of Canada from every standpoint, and is especially interested in proposals to obtain increased agricultural production. Mr. Vaughan is an Anglican in religion, and a Conservative-Unionist in politics, and during the great war was the representative of the Royal Flying Corps for the promotion of recruiting in his district. He is a member of the Masonic and Orange orders, and also of the Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Welland Club, the Temple Club, the Country Club of Lawrence County, N.Y., and the Buffalo Automobile Club. On December 13, 1911, he married Evelyn Maud, daughter of Albert House, of Ancaster, Ont.
Wylie, Newton (Toronto, Ont.), Journalist and Student of and Lecturer on Social and Political Economy and Affairs, son of John H. Wylie and Mary Jane Bernhardt, was born on September 12, 1892, at Toronto, and received his education at the Orangeville High School, Calgary Normal School, University of Toronto and Harvard University, graduating in 1917. When but a boy in his early student days, he interested himself in public affairs, and early gave evidence of talent both as a writer and a public speaker. Mr. Wylie is noted particularly for his work as a prohibition propagandist. He was the chief instrument in organizing the Ontario Young Manhood Association, which in 1914 presented a petition signed by 10,000 young Conservatives in Ontario to the late Sir James P. Whitney, then Prime Minister of the Province, asking provincial prohibition, and which contested unsuccessfully the constituency of Parkdale in the general election of June in that year. Mr. Wylie is also credited with having originated the Citizens’ Committee of One Hundred, of which he became General Secretary, and organized the six months’ whirlwind campaign throughout Ontario which resulted in the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act in March, 1916. Previous to that he had participated in the provincial prohibition campaign in Alberta in 1915, touring that Province and speaking in all the chief cities, as well as invading some of the mining districts. Mr. Wylie is a close personal friend of “Billy” Sunday, and has spoken on “No Booze” in the noted evangelist’s tabernacles in Trenton, Baltimore, and Boston. For some years he was a member of the staff of the “Globe,” Toronto, and wrote over the pseudonym of “Will Silo.” He has also contributed to several other newspapers and magazines. Twice since the outbreak of the war he offered his services to the army, but each time was rejected on account of injuries received in a serious automobile accident in 1913. He has, however, taken a prominent part in recruiting work, giving his services freely as a speaker and as an organizer in various schemes for raising funds, especially in connection with the 126th, 182nd and 201st Battalions. He is a member of the following clubs:—Canadian Club, Toronto Board of Trade, Walt Whitman, Harvard Union, Toronto Press Club, Toronto Canoe Club, Ontario Young Manhood Association, Citizens’ Committee of One Hundred, Canadian Suffrage Association, National Brotherhood Federation, Social Service Council of Canada, Canadian Red Cross Society, Canadian Patriotic Fund Association, Y.M.C.A., A-R Men’s Association. In religion Mr. Wylie is a Presbyterian, and in politics an independent.