Slow to make a promise or express an opinion, Senator Forget never failed to fulfill a promise and when he gave his opinion it was the expression of his honest conviction and indicated a course which he would follow in a similar position. If he advised an investor it meant that he would not hesitate a moment in investing his own money in the same security. His unquestioned loyalty to his friends covered his entire business career. His recommendation of a security to an investor meant that he would fully support that security and there were instances in his career when even his vast resources were taxed in such support. This was true in connection with the Montreal Stock Exchange in a security where large sums were invested on his recommendation. The implicit confidence that capital had in his judgment enabled him to finance and successfully carry out projects that probably no other man of his time could have handled. His word was as good as his bond. His denial of a rumor killed it immediately just as an admission from him settled all doubt. He could see through a proposition readily and would decide important and extensive matters quickly. His decision was never hasty or ill advised but came as the result of the fact that he had mastered many grave business affairs and with readiness comprehended every phase of a situation that came before him. He was a man of strong personality. His was never the command of the tyrant to go but ever the call of the leader to come. He was never vacillating in his opinions of the best methods to be followed or the manner in which a given work was to be done. He was a most considerate and appreciative man and was always ready to encourage one who was striving upward. He was not a talkative man, that is he talked but comparatively little, yet he talked to the point and with great earnestness and thinking men listened to him with attention. He never laughed aloud, but his smile was one full of humor, enjoyment and good nature. Judging his manner by first appearance might do him an injustice, for a habit of earnest thought had brought a deep furrow in the forehead that might be regarded as a frown. An acquaintance, however, always received the most polite attention from him and his unfailing courtesy of manner showed him to be a perfect gentleman in the highest and best sense of the term.
His interest in benevolent and charitable projects was wide and his support thereof most generous. He became a director of the Notre Dame Hospital and was a governor of both the General Hospital and the Western Hospital. He was a governor of the Art Association and life governor of the Numismatic & Antiquarian Society; also president of the board of governors of Laval University. His political career is an interesting one, for he was not always a supporter of the liberal-conservative party. Although a fellow townsman of Sir Adolphe Chapleau, the Senator had been allied with Sir Henri Gustave Joly de Lotbinière in that leader’s contest with Chapleau, Angers and the rest of the conservative leaders of his time. In federal politics, however, Hon. Mr. Forget declined to follow the free trade policy of Mackenzie and Cartwright, which had been forced against his will upon Rodolphe Laflamme, and from the days of the national policy the Senator worked with the present conservative party. He was appointed to the upper house during the elections of 1896 and was the last conservative senator to enter that branch of the Canadian parliament. Senator Forget seldom addressed the senate, yet his advice in committee was of great value to his fellow members and it was here that the close friendship sprang up between Senator Forget and the ex-prime minister, Sir Mackenzie Bowell. The Senator was a loyal follower of R. L. Borden as leader of the conservative party, both in parliament and in the country. He realized that it was a very difficult matter for any leader to find complete favor in the eyes of all the provinces, but he was confident that Mr. Borden gave his services to the party and to the country in a patriotic manner and consequently deserved the support of a united party in both houses. The Montreal Gazette some years ago termed him “an astute and enterprising man of affairs.” He was more than that. He was a constructionist and builded where others saw no opportunity; he was a patriot without narrow partisanship; a Roman Catholic and stanch churchman without a particle of race prejudice, in evidence of which fact his closest friend in the senate of the Dominion was an ex-grand master of the Orange Grand Lodge of British North America—Sir Mackenzie Bowell. High honors had been accorded him, distinction and notable success had come to him. These things made him an eminent citizen, but, more than that, attractive social qualities and genuine personal worth had gained him the highest regard, confidence, good-will and friendship of his contemporaries and colleagues.
While Senator Forget was a member of a number of clubs, he manifested keenest interest perhaps in the Mount Royal Club, of which he was one of the founders. Among the other clubs to which he belonged were the St. James, of which he had been president; the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club; the Forest and Stream; the Montreal Hunt; the Country Club of Ottawa and the Manhattan Club of New York.
In May, 1876, Senator Forget married Miss Maria Raymond, a daughter of Gustav A. Raymond of Montreal. They were the parents of five children: Loulou, now Mrs. W. W. Skinner; Raymond, who died at the age of four years; Blanche, now Mrs. Guy Boyer; Marguerite; and Pauline. The two younger daughters accompanied their parents abroad and the family was sojourning at Nice when Senator Forget passed away, April 7, 1911.
CHARLES M. BLACK.
Thorough preparatory training and broadening experience well qualify Charles M. Black for the important and responsible duties that devolve upon him as secretary and treasurer of the insurance brokerage firm of R. Howard & Company of Montreal. He has many friends in this city, to whom his life record will prove of interest. He was born in Winnipeg in 1890, a son of William Allan Black and a grandson of Charles R. and Elizabeth (Hall) Black, of Montreal. There is a mingled strain of English and Scotch blood in his veins. The birth of William A. Black occurred in Montreal, November 17, 1862. His education was acquired in the schools of his native city, and for some years he was in the service of the Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific Railway Companies. In 1882 he went to Manitoba and the following year became connected with the Ogilvie Milling Company, one of the foremost enterprises of that character in the country. Gradually in that connection he worked his way upward and in 1902 was appointed general manager of the western division, while in 1910 he was elected one of the directors of the company. Still further promotion has come to him in his election as vice president and managing director of the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company. He is likewise a member of the Winnipeg Board of Trade, a councillor of the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange and a member of the grain survey and grain standard boards. He is likewise a director of the Home Savings & Investment Company, Molson’s Bank and Larose Consolidated Mines and is managing director of the Kaministiquia Power Company and president of the Manitoba Cold Storage Company. He belongs to the Winnipeg and Manitoba Clubs. He was married in 1888 to Mary Campbell, daughter of Alexander McEwan, of Edinburgh, Scotland.
The illustrious example of his father has fired the ambition of Charles M. Black, who was reared in Montreal and Winnipeg. Making good use of time, talents and opportunities, he has steadily progressed and is today a well known factor in insurance brokerage circles of Montreal. The business of the firm of R. Howard & Company was established in 1901 and was organized under the present firm style on the 1st of February, 1913, when Charles M. Black became a member of the firm, of which he has since been secretary and treasurer, with Robert Howard as the president. He had received thorough initial business training in three years’ connection with his father, and he is also secretary and treasurer of the Financial Investment Company. A young man of determination and energy, he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and obstacles and difficulties in his path serve but as an impetus for renewed effort on his part.