Montreal from 1535 to 1914. Vol. 3. Biographical

by William H. Atherton

“The Gazette,” at the time of Mr. Meighen’s death, said in part: “Mr. Meighen was a self-made man and was proud to designate himself as such. From the day he entered business pursuits at Perth, many years ago, down to the time he became a director of the Canadian Pacific Railway, an institution he had championed from its inception, in commerce, in finance and in imperial politics, Robert Meighen was never at home except on the firing line. Although the fact is only perhaps known to the newspaper fraternity and to some of the leaders of tariff reform in England, he advocated closer relations between the mother country and the outlying dependencies of the empire even before Mr. Chamberlain took the platform in England as the champion of such a policy.

“Mr. Meighen was known in eastern Ontario as a clever business man, a follower of Sir John A. Macdonald, and as a man who had ideas and could fearlessly express them on the stump and at the fireside, many years before he came to Montreal. It was ere his removal to this city that he had secured, most successfully, the right of way for the Ontario & Quebec Railway, now the Montreal & Toronto section of the Canadian Pacific, and later on he was entrusted with the promotion of a bill which was of the utmost importance to that railway. Mr. Meighen was not a member of parliament, but he stated his case to the members outside and in the lobbies of the house with such forcefulness, such clarity of view and in so straightforward a manner that few could withstand his cogent arguments. It was a tribute to his power that Sir Richard Cartwright’s denunciation of him was quite as vehement as the thunderbolts which the chief antagonist of the great railway project used to launch against Sir John Macdonald, Sir Charles Tupper and the other parliamentary giants of the day.

“Mr. Meighen believed not only in the Canadian Pacific project itself, but also in the ultimate value of the great tracts of land lying for a thousand miles along to the north of where the line was being run away up to the Saskatchewan, and, if he died a rich man, it was due to abiding faith in the future of Canada’s western domain and in the ultimate development of the Dominion as a whole. It was in reply to a jocular observation from Mr. Choate, the then American ambassador at the court of St. James, who had asked Mr. Meighen when Canada was going to throw in her lot with the United States, that the Montreal imperialist declared that it was customary for the larger unit to absorb the smaller, and no doubt at her pleasure Canada would follow the established precedent.

“A good many shrewd Montreal merchants smiled when Mr. Meighen came from a small Ontario town to this city as the promoter of a great industry, but many months had not passed before they discovered that both in commerce and finance a rival worthy of their keenest steel had taken his place amongst them and ever after, when any important subject was up for discussion on the floors of the Board of Trade, the opinions of the man from Perth, uttered with characteristic Irish eloquence and wit, invariably commanded respect and attention. His fellow members did not always agree with him, but they were always ready to admit that he was sincere and that he spoke the truth as he felt it.

“Returning from England some years ago, when everything spelt unrest in industrial Britain, Mr. Meighen gave an interview to The Gazette which has perhaps been quoted more frequently by politicians on both continents, as well as by Canadian public men of all parties, than any other of his utterances. Mr. Meighen, who was always a great reader, declared that England at that time could only be compared to Athens when Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, went out with his lantern looking, as he said, for a man. He said, however, in the course of that interview, that the man would be found, and sure enough it was not long before Joseph Chamberlain was entering upon his whirlwind campaign in favor of imperial preference and the absolute unity of the British empire. Mr. Meighen was denounced more than once at the Montreal Board of Trade, but a good many of the men who came to scoff remained to pray, to use Mr. Meighen’s own graphic language. Three years ago, when a resolution was to be introduced before the Montreal Board of Trade on the policy of imperial preferential trade, Mr. Meighen was particularly anxious that it should be fathered by a leader in commerce and finance. He prepared the resolution, called upon the late Sir George Drummond, president of the Bank of Montreal and universally admitted to be the first authority on matters of trade and finance in the Dominion, asking him to move it. Sir George Drummond’s answer was characteristic of the man. ‘Mr. Meighen,’ he replied, ‘this resolution meets my views exactly, but the honor of moving it belongs to you and you alone and I will take a second place. You will move the resolution and I will be only too happy to second it.’ Mr. Meighen delivered a masterly address on that occasion and the resolution was carried.

“His greatest energy was centered in the development of the company over which he presided up to the hour of his death, yet he stated not very long ago that he was shaping things in such a manner as would permit younger men to assume the responsibilities of management and that after the million-dollar bond issue had been retired he would then feel that he could take a rest.

“The late president of the Lake of the Woods Company was from the outset an uncompromising opponent of the Washington reciprocity pact and he did not hesitate to state on every offered occasion that the ratification of such a treaty would be a severe blow aimed at the unity of the empire, and a decided mistake in the widest interests.

“He was the confidential friend and associate in various business enterprises of both Lord Mount Stephen and Lord Strathcona. These eminent men had implicit confidence in Mr. Meighen’s business judgment, and as a matter of fact many other men high up in imperial statecraft came to him for advice on both Canadian and British trade matters. Indeed, some of the best speeches delivered on the unionist side during the last two British elections drew their information from, and were in part, inspired by the ideas of this foremost, perhaps, of Canadian tariff reformers.”

The same paper said editorially: “A worthy and widely respected citizen was lost to Montreal by the death yesterday morning of Mr. Robert Meighen. In business he won marked success. He helped in no small way to show the great possibilities of the milling trade of Canada and so profited the country as well as himself and his associates. He judiciously employed the wealth that came to him and greatly increased his store. The largest business enterprises sought his counsel on their directorates and profited by his connection with them. He was a man of ideas in matters outside of commerce, and held and advocated views about the country and the empire with vigor and courage and the broadest loyalty. In private life his sincerity, earnestness and kindliness caused all men to give him their regard. In his capacity as merchant, citizen and man he rose to high stature; and at a ripe old age closed a worthy career, leaving a memory that is a help to what is good and creditable in business life.”