Part 2

=Borden, Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Laird, P.C., K.C.M.G., K.C., LL.D.=, Premier of Canada (Ottawa, Ont.), eldest son of Andrew Borden and Eunice Laird, was born at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, on June 26, 1854. He was educated at Acadia Villa Academy, Horton, and for a time a Professor in Glenwood Institute, N.J. His great-great-grandfather went to King’s County, Nova Scotia, with early settlers from New England, in 1760, and upon returning to Massachusetts gave his land in Nova Scotia to his son, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Upon returning to Nova Scotia, Sir Robert studied law and was called to the Bar in 1878. He first practised at Kentville, N.S., and later moved to Halifax, succeeding the late Sir John Thompson, then Prime Minister of Canada, in the firm of Thompson, Graham and Tupper. Before removing to Ottawa he was head of the law firm of Borden, Ritchie & Chisholm, of Halifax, and for ten years was President of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. He was made a Q.C. in 1900; an Honorary LL.D. of Queen’s University in 1903; an Honorary LL.D., St. Francis Xavier University in 1905; an Honorary LL.D. of McGill University in 1913. In 1896 he was elected to the House of Commons from Halifax in the General Elections, and re-elected in 1900, but was an unsuccessful candidate at the General Elections in 1904. Upon the retirement of Edward Kidd, M.P., for Carleton, Ont., he was elected by acclamation in his stead at the by-election held on February 4, 1905, and was re-elected by a large majority at the general elections in 1908, when he was also elected in Halifax, N.S. He later resigned his Carleton seat, preferring to represent Halifax. At the General Elections of 1911, he was again returned for Halifax, and continued to represent that constituency up to the present time (1918). On February 6, 1901, he was chosen leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, and upon the resignation of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his Cabinet on October 6, 1911, following the defeat of the Liberal Government on the question of Reciprocity with the United States, he was sent for by His Excellency Earl Grey and was entrusted with the task of forming a Cabinet. With a very large majority at his disposal, he found the task an easy one, and was successful in gathering around him men who have since carried on the government of the country in one of the most critical periods of its existence. At the time the first Borden government assumed office the world war was unthought of except as a vague speculation, which few students of world finance and world politics believed would ever become a fact, and the new Premier did not foresee that before him lay the most difficult task that had ever confronted a Canadian Government. In the summer of 1914 the conflict which ultimately developed into a war between the Central Empires and most of the other civilized powers, came like a bolt from the blue. On August 4, 1914, there was great curiosity in the chancelleries of Europe as to whether the overseas dominions of the British Empire would stand behind Great Britain. Germany, on the day she started the war, believed that they would not, and it was prophesied in Berlin that Canada would seek separation from the Empire. Sir Robert Borden at once gave the answer by placing the entire resources of the Dominion at the disposal of the Motherland; and on receiving an intimation from the late Lord Kitchener, that men were the first necessity, immediately called Parliament together to vote the necessary money. His government commenced the training and equipment of a first volunteer expeditionary force of 35,000, with provision for its further extension at need. This expeditionary force was partly trained at Valcartier camp, Quebec, and partly at Salisbury Plains, England, and first went into action at the second battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915. In the words of Viscount French, at that time Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in France, it “saved the situation” and barred the way to the Channel Ports from the Germans. In 1915 Sir Robert, who had been honored with the title of G.C.M.G. shortly before the outbreak of the conflict, visited Great Britain and France and, convincing himself that the struggle would be very long and difficult, pledged Canada to provide an aggregate of 500,000 trained men should the need arise. He and his government also made arrangements whereby Canadian manufacturers should engage largely in the production of munitions, the credits for such contracts being financed by the Canadian administration. The same policy was pursued in connection with contracts for food supplies, with the result that throughout the war there was a continued trade expansion and financial opulence that enabled Canada to make sacrifices that would otherwise have been impossible to her. During his visits to the front Sir Robert kept himself fully in touch with the needs of the Canadian army, and resolved to make it a first consideration in all his policies. A trip to Great Britain and France in the early part of 1917 convinced him that, in view of the dark outlook for peace, it would be necessary for Canada to adopt the policy of conscription, which had already been reluctantly adopted in Great Britain by Mr. Asquith, and had become the policy of the United States, which had recently entered the war. It was clear to Sir Robert that this policy could only be effectively imposed by consent of both parties in the House of Commons, and on his return to Canada in May, 1917, he announced conscription as his policy and an abandonment of party government. He was at first stoutly opposed both in the ranks of his own party and by his political opponents. Nevertheless, after long and patient negotiations he was successful in winning practically the entire body of English-speaking Liberals to his way of thinking, and conscription carried in the House of Commons in the latter part of July, 1917, by the greatest majority ever given so momentous a measure. He then proceeded to form a Union Government almost equally representative of Conservatives and Liberals. Early in December of 1917 this government, with Sir Robert as Prime Minister, appealed to the people, and was supported by almost the entire mass of English-speaking constituencies, giving him the largest majority that any political leader has ever enjoyed in this country. As a result of the adoption of conscription, Canada was enabled by the time peace was declared to fulfil her pledge of sending 500,000 men to aid in the war against autocracy—a contribution which has made this country famous throughout the world. Already, on January 1, 1912, Sir Robert had been sworn in as a member of the Imperial Privy Council, the highest office that up to that time had been held in the Motherland by a Canadian. On his arrival in London in June, 1918, he was invited by the Prime Minister, Hon. David Lloyd-George to become a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, a post which he held during the duration of the war. This was followed in November of 1918 by an invitation to become one of Great Britain’s Imperial representatives at the negotiations preliminary to and coincident with the Peace Conference to resolve the disasters of the war and at once proceeded overseas. Sir Robert’s Imperial services have been such, and his legal attainments are so well known that at the time of writing his elevation to the peerage as a colonial representative on the legal committee of the Privy Council, which is the Court of Appeal for the whole Empire, is being strongly advocated in the Motherland. In his private relations Sir Robert is greatly beloved, and though his duties have brought him in contact with all the leading figures of Great Britain, France and the United States, he is a thorough democrat in bearing. His favorite recreation is golf and he has played with many world-famous statesmen, though he does not claim to be a champion. He is an Anglican in religion and a member of many clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. In September of 1889 he married Laura, daughter of the late T. H. Bond, of Halifax, and never fails to acknowledge the great aid and assistance that has been rendered him by Lady Borden in building up his illustrious career. They reside at 201 Wurtemburg St., Ottawa.

[Illustration: THE LATE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR WILFRID LAURIER]

=Laurier, the late Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid, P.C., G.C.M.G., K.C., D.C.L. (Oxon.), LL.D.= (Ottawa, Ont.), son of the late Carolus Laurier, P.L.S., and his wife, Marcelle Martineau; born at St. Lin, Quebec, on November 20, 1841, and educated at mixed schools in his native parish and at L’Assomption College. As a law student he entered the office of the late Hon. R. Laflamme in 1860, and studied at McGill University; received B.C.L. in 1864 and was called to the Bar in the same year; was appointed a Q.C. in 1880, and became head of the law firm of Laurier & Lavergne. In the earlier years of his professional career he edited and contributed to several newspapers. In May 13, 1868, he married Miss Zoe Lafontaine. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Drummond and Arthabaska in 1871, and resigned to contest the same riding for the House of Commons at the general elections in 1874, and was elected; was sworn in a Privy Councillor and appointed Minister of Inland Revenue in the Mackenzie administration, on October 8, 1877, and on going back for re-election, was defeated by D. O. Bourbeau, who obtained a majority of forty. Later he was elected for Quebec East, a seat vacated by I. Thibaudeau, and was re-elected for the same Riding at the general elections of 1878, 1882, 1887, 1891, 1896 and 1900, and also elected for Saskatchewan, N.W.T., at the general elections of 1896; was re-elected to the House of Commons at general elections of 1904 for Quebec East and Wright, and elected to sit for Quebec East; in 1908 was re-elected for Quebec East, and was also returned for the City of Ottawa, and again elected to sit for Quebec East; in 1911 he was elected for both Quebec East and Soulanges; and in 1918 for Quebec East. In October, 1878, he resigned with the Mackenzie Government, and was elected leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons in 1887. He issued a call for a Dominion Liberal Convention in 1893, which was held at Ottawa. Upon the defeat of the Tupper Government at the general elections, June 23, 1896, he was called on by Lord Aberdeen, Governor-General, to form a ministry on July 8, 1896, on which date Sir Charles Tupper resigned office; was sworn in as President of the Privy Council, July 11, 1896, and formed his Ministry, July 13, 1896. He was appointed by a sub-committee of the Privy Council to arrange for the settlement of the Manitoba School Question and an agreement was reached in November of the same year. On the occasion of the celebration of Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee at London, Eng., June, 1897, he represented Canada, and was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George; was received in audience by the Sovereign and accorded the leading place in the great Jubilee State Procession of all the Colonial dignitaries. Oxford and Cambridge Universities conferred upon him the degree of D.C.L. (hon.) during this visit. He was sworn in an Imperial Privy Councillor July 6, 1897; was made an honorary member of the Cobden Club, and received from it a gold medal in recognition of his services in the cause of international free exchange; was presented by the President of France with the Star of a Grand Officer of the legion of Honour, at Havre, July 29, 1897, being the highest but one of that order; was received in audience by His Holiness the Pope, August 12, 1897. While in England he succeeded in securing Her Majesty’s Government’s assent to the denunciation of the commercial treaties with Germany and Belgium, which stood in the way of Canada’s new tariff, extending a preference to the United Kingdom. On his return to Canada he was accorded public receptions at Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, and received from Toronto and Queen’s Universities the honorary degrees of LL.D. In November, 1897, he went to Washington in the interest of better relations between the two countries, and was a member of the Joint Commission which met at Quebec, August 23, 1898, to discuss questions affecting jointly Great Britain, Canada and the United States. He welcomed the present King, then Duke of Cornwall and York, to Canada in September, 1901, and accompanied the Royal Party through the Dominion; was invited, and attended, the Coronation of King Edward VII, in 1902, sailing June 14, arriving in Liverpool June 21, and in London, June 22. The Coronation, fixed for June 26, was postponed on June 24, but took place on August 9. On June 30 he attended a Colonial Conference at London, and on July 26 received the freedom of the City of Edinburgh, and was honored with the degree of LL.D. by the Edinburgh University. He was entertained by the City of Glasgow, July 28, visited the continent, and sailed for Canada on October 7, arriving at Quebec, October 17, and at Ottawa, October 18, receiving a great civic welcome at the City Hall. On New Year’s Day, 1904, he was presented by His Excellency the Governor-General, with the Fenian Raid medal for services as a volunteer in 1866. In 1907 he attended the Imperial Conference at London, Eng., as a representative of Canada, and was accorded the freedom of London, Bristol, Liverpool and other cities; and in 1911 he attended the Imperial Conference in England and represented Canada at the coronation of King George and Queen Mary. Following the defeat of his Party at the polls on September 21, 1911, on October 6 he tendered the resignation of himself and Cabinet to Earl Grey, and advised His Excellency to call upon Mr. R. L. Borden, to form a Cabinet. From that date until his death on Feb. 17, 1919, he continued to lead the Liberal Party, and in 1917 celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. He again led his party in the general election of December, 1917, but was defeated owing to the fact that many followers had parted company with him on the issue of Conscription. Sir Wilfrid’s end came suddenly as a result of an effusion of blood to the brain. He was stricken while preparing to go to church on Sunday, Feb. 16, and passed away the following afternoon. The death of no Canadian had previously evoked such tributes as were printed and uttered, not only in Canada, but throughout the British Empire and the United States. His remains were accorded the honor of a State funeral in Ottawa on Saturday, Feb. 22, 1919, which was the most impressive function of its kind known on any continent since the death of Lincoln.

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=Ames, Sir Herbert B., K.B., LL.D., M.P.= (Montreal, Que.), born June 27, 1863, at Montreal, of which city he has been a life-long resident. He is the only son of the late Evan Fisher Ames (who founded the shoe manufacturing concern of Ames, Holden & Company in 1856), and of Caroline Matilda Brown, his wife, who was a native of New York City. Mr. E. F. Ames came to Canada from Conway, Mass., which district he represented in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1852. He established himself in Montreal, and became one of the leading Canadian manufacturers. Sir Herbert Ames was educated in the schools of Montreal, subsequently entering Amherst College at Amherst, Mass., graduating from there with the degree of B.A. in 1885, and having had conferred on him the further title of LL.D. in 1915. When in college he was a member of the Alpha Phi Fraternity. In August, 1885, after leaving Amherst, he entered the firm of Ames, Holden & Company, at Montreal, remaining in that business until 1893. He next interested himself in municipal reform and became President of an organization of young men known as the Volunteer Electoral League, which body was largely instrumental in bringing about the reformation of the City Council. In 1898 Mr. Ames was elected a member of the Montreal City Council for St. Antoine Ward, and served his constituency for eight years. During that period he was a member of the Police Commission, of the Road Commission and for four years served as Chairman of the Board of Health. In 1895 Mr. Ames was named a member of the Council of Public Instruction of the Province of Quebec, which body supervises the entire school system of the province. Mr. Ames was first elected a member of the House of Commons, Canada, in 1904, having a majority of 650. In 1908 he was again elected by 850 of a majority, and in 1911 elected for the third time by a majority of over 2,000; again re-elected in December, 1917. On the formation of the Borden Government, in 1911, Mr. Ames was appointed to the important position of chairman of the Select Standing Committee on Banking and Commerce, to which all bills pertaining to Banks, Trust and Loan and Insurance Companies are referred for examination and report. In 1903 he was a member of the National Committee to entertain the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, and with them travelled throughout the Dominion. In 1909, as representative of the Montreal Board of Trade, Mr. Ames attended the meeting of the Chambers of Commerce at Sydney, Australia. He has travelled extensively throughout Australia, Japan, Egypt, India, Europe, the United States and West Indies, and has given much time and attention to the discussion of trade questions, tariff and treaties with other countries. In 1896 he wrote and published a monograph entitled “The City Below the Hill,” being a sociological study of the District of the City of Montreal, in which such questions as wages, rents, health conditions, etc., were carefully received. At the request of the Department of Commerce and Labor of the United States Government, Mr. Ames prepared an article on the same subject which appeared in the journals of this department. At the present time Sir Herbert Ames is a Director and Vice-President of the Ames, Holden, McCready Company. He is also one of the three gentlemen composing the Canadian Board of the Gresham Life Insurance Company, and also a Director of the Dominion Guarantee Company. He is a member of the Mount Royal Club, the Montreal Club, the Montreal Curling Club, the University Club of Montreal, the Rideau Club, Ottawa. On May 19, 1890, Mr. Ames was married to Louise Marion Kennedy, daughter of Sir John Kennedy, C.E., of Montreal, and they occupy a residence on the slopes of Mount Royal. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, a Director in the Y.M.C.A., a governor in several benevolent institutions. At the outbreak of the great War, Mr. Ames was asked by His Royal Highness, the Governor-General of Canada, to assume the position of Honorary Secretary of the National Canadian Patriotic Fund, which provides for the wives and dependent relatives of soldiers serving in the armies of the Allies. On behalf of the Fund he has visited all parts of Canada, speaking and organizing, and the marked success to his initiative and effort. Through this great national benefaction there will have been raised and expended during the war period no less a sum than $45,000,000. On June 3, 1915, Mr. Ames had conferred upon him the Honor of Knighthood by His Majesty the King, and in 1916 was made a Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England. On December 1, 1918, the Government of Canada created by Order-in-Council a National War Savings Committee for the encouragement of thrift and the promotion of investment of small savings in government securities. Of this Committee Sir Herbert Ames has been appointed Chairman.

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