Part 65

=Hanna (the late), Hon. William John, K.C., M.P.P.= (Sarnia Ont.), was born in Adelaide township, County of Middlesex, Ont., on October 13, 1862, the son of George and Jane (Murdock) Hanna. The son of a farmer, he was educated at the local schools and soon developed great capacity as a student, and decided to put himself through for the legal profession, graduating from Osgoode Hall, Toronto. He was called to the Bar in 1890, and commenced the practice of law as a barrister at Sarnia, Ont., eventually becoming head of the firm of H. Le Sueur and McKinley of that place, and was created a K.C. in 1908. He soon became active with the Conservative party, and in 1896 became the candidate of that party for the House of Commons in West Lambton against the late Justice Lister, and was defeated. His party still had confidence in him, and in 1900 he was again nominated for the Federal House and again defeated, West Lambton always having been a great Liberal stronghold. Two years later, in 1902, Mr. Whitney, then leader of the Opposition in Ontario, in looking for a strong man to help him in Western Ontario, prevailed upon Mr. Hanna to run for the Provincial Legislature and undertake the work of organizing Western Ontario. He accepted, made an amazing turnover in that portion of the Liberal stamping grounds, was elected, and came to Toronto in 1905. When the Conservative government came into power, Mr. Whitney invited him to become one of his cabinet, and he chose the portfolio of Provincial Secretary, as in this position his duties would neither come in contact or conflict with the position he held as chief legal adviser to the largest oil corporation in Canada. His public life was free from reproach of mixing up private interests and friendships with his public duties, and as a legal practitioner an extraordinary fact is recorded of him: that while representing one of the most important corporations in the country, no case he had to handle ever went into court; he had a singular and commendable theory that it was the duty of a lawyer to keep his clients out of court. He was elected again to the Ontario Legislature in 1908 and 1911, and appointed a member of the Inter-Provincial Conference held at Ottawa in 1910. His desire for a rest and to complete his great work in connection with his pet hobby of prison reform led him to decline a portfolio when the Hearst government was formed, although he remained in the cabinet as minister without portfolio; and in connection with his services as a public servant in Ontario, it may be said that, though not a prohibitionist by conviction, he was the most efficient administrator of the liquor license system that this country has ever known. He created the machinery for the administration of the prohibition law, which has proved as effective as was possible. His natural taste for politics did not die out on his retirement from office, and he became one of Sir Robert Borden’s most trusted private advisers on public policy. He perfected a system of prison reform which, perhaps, is the most sensible and humane prison system in the world; in fact, his ten years or more of service given to the Province of Ontario as administrator of its public charities, its license laws, its prisons, asylums, and other institutions, constitute a record so progressive and enlightened that the full value of his services will long continue to be recognized by sociologists with a habit for research. In 1917, Sir Robert Borden induced him to accept the post of Food Controller of Canada; and Mr. Hanna at once applied himself to the task of organizing that department, making his single aim the increase of production and the conserving of foodstuffs in order to ensure a steady supply to the soldiers in the field and the civilian populations of Britain, France and Italy. He encountered great difficulties owing to the misapprehension of the public, which demanded a reduction of prices, a measure that, by increasing consumption, would have defeated the above-named object. He however, refused to be moved by popular clamor, and in co-operation with Mr. H. H. Hoover rendered great service toward relieving the overseas populations of the danger of starvation. His exertions told on his physique, and early in 1918 he resigned this office, leaving it well organized for his successor. On the retirement of Mr. Walter C. Teagle from the post of President of the Imperial Oil Company to become President of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, Mr. Hanna was elected his successor. In that capacity, he, in December, 1918, introduced the Industrial Relationship plan in all the plants of the Company from coast to coast, and also a series of sickness, death and insurance benefits for workmen. Grief at the death of his only son, Flight-Lieutenant Neil Hanna, who was killed by accident in Italy in November, 1918, a few days after the signing of the armistice, undermined his health, and on March 20, 1919, he died suddenly while on a vacation in Georgia. When he was borne to his last resting-place at Sarnia, his funeral was attended by public men from all parts of Canada and many sections of the United States. The late Mr. Hanna was twice married: first to Jean J. Neil, who died in 1891, leaving one son, the late Neil Hanna; and secondly to Maud McAdams, by whom he had two daughters. In religion he was a Methodist, and a member of many important clubs and philanthropic organizations.

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=Gale, Robert Henry=, one of the leading public men of Vancouver, of which city he has been a resident for nearly a decade, is a native of the city of Quebec. After an excellent business training in the ancient capital of Canada, he went to British Columbia in 1910, and located at Vancouver. He engaged in business as a contractor, and is at present manager of the British Columbia Contractor’s Supply Company, Limited, one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the province. Less than five years ago he entered municipal politics, and was elected alderman for 1916 and 1917. His services during his comparatively brief term on the City Council made him so widely popular that his friends urged him to run for Mayor in 1918. He accepted the nomination, and in January of that year was elected over the retiring mayor, Mr. Malcolm McBeath, who had sought re-election, by a majority of 300, the largest ever given to a mayoralty aspirant in the history of Vancouver. In January, 1919, he was re-elected by acclamation, it being generally conceded that it would be futile for any rival to contest the office with him. In April of 1919, the provincial government of which Hon. John Oliver is the head appointed him to the newly-created office of Public Utilities Commissioner for British Columbia. By the tax-paying public, the appointment was considered an admirable one, because of the high capacity Mr. Gale had revealed as a municipal administrator. The Great War Veterans’ Association, however, made a vigorous protest on the ground that all new offices within the gift of the government should go to returned soldiers. The Oliver administration deemed it necessary to yield to the agitation, and cancelled the appointment of Mr. Gale, accepting the nominee of the G.W.V.A., Lieutenant-Colonel Retallick, a civil engineer by profession, who had rendered excellent service overseas. Under the circumstances, the cancellation of the appointment was in no sense a reflection on the character or capacity of Mr. Gale. In politics the latter is a Liberal, but has never sought election as a political candidate. During the general strike that was started in Vancouver during the early summer of 1919 as an outgrowth of a general strike at Winnipeg and other Western towns, Mr. Gale showed great tact and firmness in handling a very difficult situation, so that the attempt to disorganize municipal government and upset the present economic system was of comparatively brief duration.

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=Elson, John Melbourne= (St. Catharines, Ont.), was born in Byron, Ont., Dec. 25th, 1880. Son of George and Charlotte (Wilkin) Elson. Educated at London, Ont., Collegiate Institute and Western University of that city. He entered journalism in 1903 as a member of the staff of the London “News,” since merged, and thereafter his rise was rapid. Shortly joined the staff of the Montreal “Gazette” and in 1905 during the late Joseph Chamberlain’s Tariff Reform Campaign he went to Great Britain to study political and economic conditions and wrote special articles thereon to Canadian papers. On his return to Canada he became a member of the staff of the Toronto “Globe” and in 1907 was appointed editor of the Toronto “Sunday World.” Subsequently in 1909 he became Assistant Managing Director of the World Publishing Company, and in 1910 purchased the St. Catharines “Evening Journal” which he has ever since conducted. Mr. Elson is a terse and gifted writer, with a wide fund of information. He has travelled considerably on this continent and abroad, and is a gifted public speaker. When acting as a newspaper correspondent he secured the only interview granted by Baron Komura, the Japanese plenipotentiary, who negotiated the peace treaty between Japan and Russia at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, except the official statement given to the Associated Press in the United States. Since becoming a resident of St. Catharines, he has been active in public affairs, and in patriotic objects like the Red Cross and the Canadian Patriotic Fund. He was elected Mayor of St. Catharines, Jan. 1st, 1919, by an unusually large majority. He is a member of the Council of the Board of Trade; and has served as President of the St. Catharines Canadian Club, and was for seven years President of the Lincoln County Liberal Association. He was formerly Vice-President of the Niagara District Hydro Radial Union, and has been an active member of Soldiers’ Aid Commission ever since it was organized in St. Catharines in the early part of war. He is a member of the Masonic Order. In 1911 he published a brochure, “Reciprocity, The Outcome of Evolution” which had a wide circulation in Canada and the United States. For two years he was a member of the Collegiate Institute Board. Was made member of the Advisory Council of the Repatriation Committee of the Dominion of Canada. In religion he is an Anglican and in September, 1907, married Wilhelmina M., daughter of W. M. Faulds of Mount Brydges, Ont., and has two children: a son and a daughter.

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=Gill, Robert=, of Ottawa, a gentleman well known to the seniors of Canadian finance, is one of the best known citizens of the Canadian capital, where he has resided since 1876. He has been especially identified with the history of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, of which institution he was a trusted officer for over forty years. He was born at Dundas, Ont., on September 30, 1851, the son of William and Alison (Sanderson) Gill, both his parents being of Scottish Border origin. He was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and entered the service of the Bank of Commerce at the age of nineteen. This was in 1870, and the Bank was but three years old. In its expansion during the next few years Mr. Gill actively participated; his promotions were rapid, and in 1874 he was appointed manager of the Galt, Ont., branch. In 1876 he was transferred to the Ottawa branch, which was regarded as one of the most important in the Bank of Commerce chain of agencies. In 1880 he was appointed an Inspector of the Bank and retained that position until 1887 when he was appointed Manager of the Ottawa branch, which had attained a very important position in the financial life of the capital. Under his regime it attained a wide expansion of business and he continued to direct its affairs until 1911, when he retired on pension after forty-one years’ service. During his career with the Bank of Commerce he proved himself not only a practical banker with a complete understanding of the needs of the business community, but an able thinker and essayist on financial questions. Among his publications was one on the subject of Post Office Savings Banks reprinted in the “Canadian Banker’s Journal” for the use of the United States Currency Commission. Since his retirement from active business he has lent his services and influence to the promotion of patriotic and other objects of public welfare, and during the late war was Vice-President of the Executive of the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Patriotic Fund. He is also a Life Governor and Vice-President of St. Luke’s Hospital in that city, and in June, 1916, was appointed a member of the Military Hospitals Commission. From 1899 to 1906 he was honorary captain and paymaster of the Governor-General’s Foot Guards. He is a prominent figure in the social life of his chosen city, and in 1914 was elected President of the Rideau Club of Ottawa, a position he still holds at the time of writing. He is also a member of the following other clubs: Country (Ottawa), St. James (Montreal), York (Toronto), Ottawa Golf, R.C.Y.C. (Toronto) and the Constitutional (London, Eng.). He is a Past President of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, member of St. Andrew’s Society (Ottawa), the Royal Canadian Institute and the Archæological Society of America, and a life member of the Royal Colonial Institute (England). His recreations are golf and angling; in religion he is an Anglican and in politics, a Conservative. Mr. Gill was first married on September 20, 1881, to Caroline, daughter of John Gilmour of “Marchmont,” Ottawa, by whom he has one surviving son, Major Allan Gilmour Gill, who during the late war commanded the 45th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, overseas. This lady passed away on April 19, 1884, and Mr. Gill married again on November 20, 1899, Anna Louise, daughter of the late W. R. Thistle, by whom he has three sons, Henry Robert Thistle, Evan William Thistle and Francis Egan Thistle. His permanent residence is at 281 O’Connor Street, Ottawa, and he has a summer residence, “Gillcairn,” at St. Andrew’s, N.B.

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=Wright, Alexander Whyte=, late Vice-Chairman Workmen’s Compensation Commission of Ontario, was born in the township of Markham, York County, Ontario, December 17, 1847, the son of George and Helen (Whyte) Wright, who came to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland, some years previously. He was educated in the public schools of New Hamburg, and after a short time in a drug store, learned the woollen business, later engaging in the woollen manufacturing business at Linwood, Waterloo County, and subsequently in Preston, St. Jacobs and Guelph. At an early age he joined the 29th Battalion, and responded to the call to arms for the Fenian raid. When the first Riel rebellion broke out he joined the Red River Expedition under General Sir Garnet Wolseley (afterwards British Commander-in-Chief Earl Wolseley), serving as a sergeant. On returning he rejoined the 29th Battalion as sergeant-major. In his later teens and early twenties he had quite a local reputation as a fine lacrosse player and fast runner. He had always been a great reader and taken an interest in politics, and in 1873 left the woollen business to become a reporter on the Guelph “Herald,” soon after being engaged as editor of the Orangeville “Sun.” He next edited the Stratford “Herald,” then the Guelph “Herald.” In 1878 he came to Toronto as editor and joint publisher of “The National,” making it an ardent advocate of the national policy, which the late Sir John A. Macdonald had adopted as his platform after having been urgently pressed to do so by a deputation consisting of the late Hon. Isaac Buchannan of Hamilton the late William Wallace, M.P. for Simcoe, the late John Maclean (father of W. F. Maclean, M.P. of the “World”), the late Thomas Cowan of Galt, the late W. H. Fraser and Mr. Wright. During the election campaign, he wrote many articles in the “National” that were extensively quoted by the Conservative press. Shortly after his return to power, Sir John A. Macdonald wrote Mr. Wright a letter in his own hand, in which he said:—“I wish to thank you most sincerely for your splendid work in the campaign which has just ended so satisfactorily. Your speeches and writings did more, I believe, than anything else to convert the people to protection. I only had the good fortune to hear you once—in the amphitheatre—but I was then struck with your wonderful grasp of the question and the extraordinary fund of information you possessed, and no less struck with the admirable way in which you marshalled your facts and presented your arguments. I hope to be able to express my gratitude to you in a more substantial way, and will be delighted if you will give me an opportunity to do so.” Mr. Wright returned to Guelph in 1879 as editor and joint publisher of the “Herald.” The proposed Government agreement for the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway did not meet with Mr. Wright’s approval, and, as the “Herald” had always been a Conservative paper, he gave up his interest in it, and wrote a series of articles published in the “Mercury,” advocating its being built and owned by the Government and paid for by a national currency—not notes or promises to pay, but bills of different denominations, reading “Legal tender for all debts, public and private.” He called a meeting to explain his plan in Guelph city hall, which was packed. At the conclusion of his address he moved a resolution calling on the Government to adopt the plan. On sitting down, the late Mr. Donald Guthrie—father of Hon. Hugh Guthrie, and at that time member of the legislature—arose and said that he had attended for the purpose of opposing the scheme, but Mr. Wright’s explanation had so clearly demonstrated its feasibility and incalculable value that he was converted to it, and had much pleasure in seconding the resolution. On those in favour being asked to raise their hands, the audience, with the exception of one man, rose to their feet and cheered for several minutes. In thanking the audience for their almost unanimous endorsation of this plan, Mr. Wright declared that the one exception was an unlooked-for further compliment. For his independent thought and action the “Mail” undertook to read Mr. Wright “out of the party.” Sir John A. Macdonald wrote Mr. Wright, repudiating its assumed authority, recognized his right to personal opinion, good standing as a Conservative, and assured him of his personal friendship, and continuing said: “I have read a report of your speech at Guelph, and, while I am sorry you saw occasion to make it, I confess I was struck with the plan you outline for the building of the railway. Possibly, under different conditions it might be practicable, but do not think it could be carried out now.” His ideas, however, were over a generation in advance of the people’s desire for public ownership, and, as a consequence private capitalists draw some $40,000,000 in bond interest and dividends yearly, besides adding large sums to reserve, which the people pay; while the people are out a huge land and money bonus, have neither the national railway nor a national currency, but instead a huge octopus of capitalists that dominates our legislation and is an ever-watchful and valiant defender of “vested rights”—whether rightly or wrongly obtained. Mr. Wright was invited to speak at the convention of the U.S. Greenbackers in Chicago in 1880, and accepted, as well as during the subsequent campaign. He returned to Toronto in 1881, and became editorial writer on the “World.” The following year he became Secretary of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, continuing till 1886, when, owing to the lines of cleavage between capital and labor becoming marked, he resigned and established the “Labor Reformer,” the first paper in Canada to advocate public ownership and a workmen’s compensation act. While secretary of the Canadian Manufacturers Association he drafted a factory act which he urged the Dominion Government to pass, providing equal protection and conditions to the workers in all provinces, as well as for manufacturers against unequal labor conditions. This the Government failed to adopt. The draft, however, was made the basis of the Factory Act passed by the Ontario Government shortly after; but this, of course, could give no protection to the Ontario manufacturer (and indirectly to the workers as well) against the longer hours and lower labor conditions obtaining in the Province of Quebec. In 1886, he was appointed Dominion Government agent for the Antwerp and the Indian and Colonial Exhibitions, and acted as one of four commissioners representing Canada in London at the latter. In 1887, he represented Toronto District Assembly at the General Assembly of the Knights of Labor, and was the first Canadian elected member of the General Executive Board, and immediately after was appointed editor of the “Journal of the Knights of Labor,” Philadelphia, official organ of the order, continuing to hold both positions till 1892, when he removed to New York as editor of “The Craftsman.” In 1896, he was appointed by the Laurier Government special commissioner to investigate and report on the sweating system in Canada, and was subsequently asked by that Government to investigate and report on the Japanese difficulties in British Columbia, but was unable to accept. From 1898 to 1904, he was organizer of the Conservative party in Ontario, engaging in three campaigns, being in charge of the campaign that resulted in Sir James Whitney becoming Premier. For a number of years he was president of the Canadian Public Ownership League, which did valuable work in educating the public as to the advantages of the idea now so firmly rooted in the Province of Ontario. He was a candidate for the Ontario Legislature in West Toronto, on the public ownership platform in 1908, but was defeated in the three-cornered contest. In 1910-11, he spent about eight months in Britain writing and speaking in the interest of Imperial preferential trade. On the Ontario Government in 1914 constituting a commission to put in operation the Workmen’s Compensation Act, Mr. Wright was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board, his appointment said to be the last in which Sir James Whitney took any personal interest. The appointment met with the unanimous approval of organized labor. During the recruiting campaign, Mr. Wright took a very

## active and effective part in speaking throughout the city and elsewhere.