It was only two years afterward, in 1876, that he attained the distinction of a position in the Cabinet, being appointed Minister of the Internal Revenue in the Mackenzie administration. His constituency did not support him in the next general election, but he was returned to Parliament from Quebec East, which constituency has ever since been his political sponsor. When the Mackenzie government was defeated in the elections of 1878, Mr. Laurier, who had by this time become the acknowledged leader of the Liberal party in Quebec, joined his friends in Opposition and waited for eighteen years for his party’s return to power. This came in 1896. Mr. Laurier was then supreme in the House of Commons, and was called upon to organize a new government. Thus it was that he rose to the exalted position of Premier of Canada and found the opportunities which have given him so high a place among the world’s statesmen.
Perhaps the most important policy which he inaugurated upon his rise to power was that of a preferential tariff in favor of Great Britain. It was due to this policy, as well as to his high position in the affairs of Canada, that when he went to England upon the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 he was received with distinguished honor. The Queen made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Oxford and Cambridge Universities conferred upon him honorary degrees. Upon a visit to the Continent of Europe during this trip abroad he was entertained by President Faure of France and was received by the Pope at Rome. When he returned to Canada he was greeted with great enthusiasm by all classes. In the general election of 1904 Sir Wilfrid’s administration gained a triumphant endorsement at the polls.
Lord Strathcona.
One of the foremost of Canada’s great workers is Lord Strathcona, who, as Donald Smith, was born in Scotland in 1820. He received his preliminary education in the common schools. He gave up the law, and became, when he was eighteen, an employee of the Hudson Bay Company on the bleak coast of Labrador.
Here he remained for thirteen years, becoming one of the company’s most valued traders. From Labrador he went, in 1851, into the wilderness of the Northwest, where he rose through the grades of trader, chief trader, factor and chief factor. In 1869 he reached the top rung of the ladder in the Hudson Bay Company, receiving the appointment of resident governor.
He established himself in Montreal, but when the half breeds and Indians under the leadership of Louis Riel rose in rebellion against the project of transferring to the Crown the vast tracts of territory belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, Donald Smith again utilized his remarkable skill and experience in dealing with these children of nature. He went to the seat of the trouble at Red River Settlement, where he was made a prisoner and threatened with death. He obtained his liberty, and through his strong but adroit attitude toward the rebels was able to keep them in check until the arrival of troops. As a reward for this achievement he was elected to the Dominion House of Commons, and became a zealous supporter of the administration of Sir John McDonald.
In the early seventies Donald Smith undertook to raise the very large amount of capital necessary for the new Canadian Pacific railroad across the continent. On more than one occasion the enterprise threatened ruin for those connected with it, but Donald Smith eventually triumphed, and in 1885 the road was completed to the Pacific. The man who had commenced life as an humble trader had become by this time a celebrated and very important man in Canada, and in recognition of his services Queen Victoria bestowed on him in 1886 the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Upon the occasion of the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897, being then Lord High Commissioner of Canada, Sir Donald was raised to the peerage, and became Lord Strathcona. In commemoration of the Jubilee he gave in the same year, jointly with Lord Mount Stephen, the sum of one million dollars to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, and eight hundred thousand dollars more to endow the institution, which, through his generosity, has become one of the best equipped hospitals on the continent. Lord Strathcona has also given at least a million dollars to education in Canada, most of the money going to McGill University. He has also contributed largely to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Women in Montreal. Lord Strathcona’s philanthropy is made the more notable by the fact that while he has large means, he does not possess the immense wealth of some of the American financiers. In addition to his railway and numerous other interests in Canada, he is president of the Bank of Montreal, which is one of the largest banking institutions in the world.
At the outbreak of the war between Great Britain and the Boers Lord Strathcona further increased his usefulness to Canada and the Empire by the organization of a body of mounted troops called “the Strathcona Horse.” These men, many of whom were recruited from the Northwest, and who represented the flower of Canadian horsemanship and valor, went to South Africa, and greatly distinguished themselves in the service of the Queen. Their work at the front was not as important, however, as was their influence in the direction of solidifying the union between the mother country and the colony.
In spite of the fact that he is now eighty-four years old, Lord Strathcona is still a restless and energetic spirit. He has residences in Montreal, Winnipeg, Nova Scotia, Scotland and London, and divides his time between them. In London he is fond of entertaining the leaders in political and commercial life. He spends much of his time in Canada, however, and often makes trips across the continent. In many respects he is Canada’s most remarkable citizen.