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The official lives of the Governors and Lieutenant
Governors of British Columbia embody the political history of fifty years,
and incidentally embrace much else of interest. In colonial days the
Governor was a factor in politics, representing Imperial interests and in a
large measure Imperial politics. His personal influence, too, counted for
much more than it has in the case of latter day Governors, because he had
greater power to enforce his views on his Executive Council, of which he was
one de facto, as well as in name. Before the days of responsible
government in British Columbia, at it was in the old Canadas, the
Legislative Assembly was rather an advisory than a governing body, and as
the real head of the Executive, the Governor possessed an authority which to
assert today would be dangerous.
Responsible government brought with it to the Dominion
and to the Province the complete recognition of the right of the people,
through their representatives elect, to govern. Parliament is supreme, and
the Government or Executive, while by an unwritten code of proxy is
entrusted, as the best modern solution of practical Government, with a large
measure of discretionary powers, its will is, nevertheless, in the final
analysis, but the registered index of the popular will, and the Governor or
Lieutenant Governor simply affixes his seal to the fiat of the court of
public opinion.
The one was the direct representative of the Imperial
Government, with a large measure of control and influence, and the other,
under responsible government, is an indirect representative, whose
authority, except under extraordinary circumstances, is
derived solely from the people over whom he is nominally set to govern.
In the one case, in dealing with the Governors, .we are
dealing with part of the policy which directed public affairs, in the other
we have a series of pegs which may or may not be convenient upon which to
hang current history.
When the colonial Governors assumed office they were
waited upon by delegations and memorialized on public matters and were
authoritative and sometimes mandatory in their replies.
Now representations are sometimes made to the Governor,
but not strictly in matters of State, or if by courtesy this is done, they
are referred to the Executive. His influence is often sought, but, if
exerted, is done so unofficially, and need not necessarily be respected. The
Home Government may seek advice from the Governor of Canada independently
respecting matters of Imperial interest, but as a rule he is simply the
medium of communication between the two Governments. The same thing may
occur in regard to Dominion and provincial affairs, but a similar rule
applies.
Richard Blanshard.
It is usual to regard Sir James Douglas as the first
Governor of British Columbia, but, although he was virtually the first,
nominally he was not. The consideration of Blanshard's place in our history
carries us back to the time of Hudson's Bay Company rule, when that
corporation exercised sovereign control not only over Vancouver Island but
over a vast tract of territory known as Rupert's Land, as well as exclusive
trading rights over another vast area known as the Indian Territory. It may
be said of Blanshard, as has been said of many another good man in a
somewhat different sense, that he was before his time. Space will not permit
of my going into a consideration of all the circumstances connected with his
appointment and the tenure of his office as Governor. Bancroft and other
writers on the Hudson's Bay Company period have dealt with these, nor
indeed, does the importance of his gubernatorial career justify elaborate
treatment. He was appointed simply to satisfy the conditions of the time.
Sir James Douglas would have been the man had it not been felt that (where
the interests of the company and the colonist as such might at times come
into conflict) one independent of the company altogether would be desirable.
Moreover, an independent appointee gave at least a semblance of Imperial
above company control. Under other circumstances, the precaution would have
been a very wise one, but there were practically none other than Hudson's
Bay Company employes to govern, and they owed no allegiance to any power
other than the chief factor, who had neither inclination nor intention to
acknowledge any governor other than the Governor of the Hudson's Bay
Company. A memorial presented to Governor Blanshard, which set out, among
other things, the names of all the persons in the colony not connected
directly with the Company, had fifteen signatures to it, and Blanshard
himself solemnly asserts that there were not more than thirty persons of all
sorts and conditions, that is, white persons, outside of the company's
employ.
From what we know of Blanshard, he was a man of good
parts, and under other circumstances would probably have succeeded in as
great a degree as he failed at that time. In England the post of Governor of
a Colony is regarded as one of honor and emolument, and we can in some
measure judge of his disappointment when he landed in Victoria and fully
realized for the first time the conditions then existing in this country. He
found governing a hollow mockery. Upon his own testimony we learn that his
only duties consisted in settling disputes between members of the company,
or such as would form part of the work of an ordinary justice of the peace,
and we cannot wonder at and can readily forgive the irritation he displayed
and the pessimism of his letters and reports home. Without a- population to
govern, with scant recognition of his office, without official residence or
a stipend and without even the undisputed sway of Alexander Selkirk over the
fowl and the brute, he nevertheless, as he wandered forlornly over his
domain, could doubtless echo to the faintest whisper the sentiment of that
other monarch when he exclaimed:
"O Solitude, where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place."
Coming out to Vancouver Island in January, 1850, he left
again in 1851, his governorship extending over a term of about two years,
and we hear of him again giving evidence before the Select Committee of the
House of Commons in 1857, appointed to enquire into the title and the
conditions of occupancy of land held by the Hudson's Bay Company, an
opportunity that no doubt afforded him much satisfaction for the treatment
he had received, treatment that cannot be described as other than shabby and
undeserved. He was succeeded by James Douglas, then chief factor of the
Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific. Coast. Taking all things into
consideration, Douglas was the only man at that time with any claim to the
position who could have satisfactorily filled it. As already intimated
practically the only interests to be considered were those under his own
care, and from his official standing in the company, he had almost perfect
control of the population, as every person in the colony was directly or
indirectly dependent on the company. He knew the whole country intimately,
had the confidence and respect and a familiar knowledge of the Indians, and
above all was a man born to rule.
Sir James Douglas.
I have referred to him elsewhere as "remarkable," and
when the historian of the future comes to write dispassionately on British
Columbia in a light uncolored by the atmosphere of the day and generation in
which Sir James lived, that estimate of him will be fully sustained. To my
mind the most remarkable feature of his career is the development of a
character and a personality unique in its fullness and moral strength. It
was a character that grew up in and out of a western soil almost barbaric in
the rudeness and primitiveness of its product, and yet so diverse in many
respects that had it not been for its ruggedness and strength might be
termed exotic. As a boy of sixteen out of school launched on a sea of Far
West adventure, entirely removed from the social influences and culture
comforts of his home in Scotland, associating for years with the uncivilized
Indian tribes of the country, and moulded by the stern experience of an
isolated life on -prairie, in forest and on mountain; out of touch with the
civilizing forces of the wonderful century in which he began life; engaged
in an occupation that begat no ambitions or aspirations of a future that
such a man in other walks of life might, reasonably entertain—with such
environments it is remarkable, I contend, that he should not only retain the
accomplishments of his youth throughout life, but increase and perfect them;
acquire a knowledge of many subjects of an academic nature, and particularly
of the principles of political economy and statescraft; develop a strong
literary style of composition and familiarize himself with formalities of
government and parliamentary procedure; nurture the moral and religious
instincts of his youth; observe a becoming temperance and abstemiousness;
cultivate a striking dignity of person; and in the midst of his busy life,
full of practical and unromantic details, keep abreast of the thought of his
day, and that when he was called upon to fill the responsible and dignified
position of Governor of one of Her Majesty's colonies, without any previous
experience or training for such a post, he should do so with the utmost
ability and acceptability. It is true that in many of the qualifications
possessed by James Douglas—education, intelligence, tact, force of
character, physical prowess, bravery, resourcefulness, systematic habits,
dignity, moral rectitude—the Hudson's Bay Company service was a splendid
training school, and it is only fair to say that our hero was but one,
though a conspicuous member, of a long list of pioneers in the nobility of
the fur trade to whom history can never do too much honor. In this respect,
however, Douglas was particularly notable, that while he evinced many if not
all of the better qualities of men of his class, he was singularly free from
the moral defects and excesses, not unnatural in a rough and ready school of
ethics through which all alike graduated, that distinguished some of them.
In his day, Sir James was undoubtedly remarkable among many remarkable men,
and it is not unnatural to conclude that under other conditions of life, and
with a wider opportunity, would have equally distinguished himself as a man
of affairs and as a leader of men. We can, therefore, honor him not only for
what he was in life, but for what he might have been.
James Douglas was born in 1803, in Lanarkshire, Scotland,
and went to school there and in Chester, receiving a good education. His
knowledge of French was acquired (not in the Northwest, as stated by Dr.
Bryce), but from an old French count, who counselled him upon leaving for
America to keep it up as it would always be useful to him. So well was the
advice followed that when Sir James visited France on his journey through
Europe many years afterwards, he was complimented upon his excellent and
courtly use of the language. He was a student until the day of his death,
and his reading embraced a very wide range of subjects.
Upon the formation of the two colonies under Imperial
control in 1859, having severed his connection with the Hudson's Bay
Company, he became governor of both, retiring in 1864 with the honor of
knighthood. He died in 1877, after the problem of confederation and in a
large measure that of railway connection, had been solved, thus living to
behold in his own lifetime, the consummation of what as a pioneer and
founder of a province he had been a factor in achieving. Whatever
differences in opinion there may have been among his contemporaries as to
his policy as a governor or whatever may have been the varying estimates of
his character as a man among men with whom he had personal relations—every
strong man has his enemies and in all politics there is strife—that today he
is by general consensus of opinion regarded as the man representative of his
times, the one about whose individuality must cluster as a nucleus the
materials for the history of the early life of British Columbia, is the
strongest possible testimony to the part he played as a pioneer and
statesman.
After Douglas came three Governors, about whom the
present generation know but little, for while they were within the memory of
many of the older inhabitants, as governors there was nothing special
connected with their administrations to make their tenure of office
memorable. During Sir James Douglas's regime British Columbia was in a
purely formative stage. Permanency depended upon future developments.
Regarding these, hopes had always been high, and prospects, though bright,
were indefinite, and based on a sanguineness characteristic of a strong,
hardy, brave, intelligent and adventurous class of people, who, loving the
freedom of Western life, had an instinctive faith in the country—a faith
that has remained steadfast with them and us, and which is now finding its
justification in many ways. All things come to those who know how to wait,
is the true rendering of the old proverb, and waiting is being amply
rewarded.
Kennedy and Seymour.
When Arthur Edward Kennedy and Frederick Seymour
succeeded Douglas in the colonies of Vancouver Island and (the mainland of)
British Columbia, respectively, the country was settling down to an
organized state of affairs. There were separate political institutions in
the Colonies, separate seats of Government, and a distinct separateness of
feeling, which later crystallized into a sectionalism that had its influence
for many a day afterwards, and is not yet wholly eliminated. After, however,
the early mining excitements had subsided and Cariboo had been exploited,
there was a period of long rest, during which development was slow and
little change was experienced in the outward appearance of things. Political
events were shaped largely upon the main issue of the union of the colonies,
which was favored on the Island, and opposed on the Mainland. Governor
Seymour, who had a fine residence in New Westminster, fought against the
removal of the capital to Victoria, and even after that had been decided
upon, delayed the inevitable as long as possible in the hope that the
Imperial authorities might .be influenced to change their views. The union,
after a hard struggle, was effected in 1866, when Governor Kennedy retired
and-Governor Seymour succeeded as Governor of all British Columbia. The
first session after union was held in Victoria in 1867. One of the strong
levers in bringing about union was the expense of the civil list, which high
even for the united colonies, was burdensome when maintained separately in
colonies with limited population and undeveloped resources. The salary of
the governors alone was $15,000 a year each, and although the salary of
Seymour was increased to $20,000 after the union, the saving was
considerable, and in a similar way the expenditure for civil service was
correspondingly reduced all round.
I am indebted to the Hon. D. W. Higgins, ex-Speaker, for
..impressions of the early governors. Governor Kennedy arrived in Victoria
on Good Friday, 1864, and was received with open arms and salvos of
artillery. He had been a captain in the regular army and had seen service in
India. Retired on captain's half pay, he had mixed in Imperial politics, and
was a fluent and graceful speaker. Handsome in appearance, gray, decidedly
military in his bearing, very suave, amiable, and clever, he was a striking
figure and a man of character as well. While addressing a deputation of
citizens from the steps of the Government buildings on one occasion he used
the memorable expression that it was better to be decidedly wrong than
undecidedly right, a note that was attuned to his own policy. Governor
Kennedy took a strong interest in the affairs of the colony and personally
investigated the resources of the Island as far as was possible with a view
to its betterment. The agitation for union of the colonies began early in
his reign, and his influence was a strong factor in bringing it about. He
had two daughters, one of whom married Lord Gilford, afterwards Governor of
Queensland.
Governor Seymour was a man of different stamp, smaller in
physique and of nervous, active temperament. He was quite bald. He had been
governor of British Honduras, where he had made a good record for himself,
but where his experience probably influenced his views of Colonial policy,
and to some extent his disposition. His advent to office as Governor of the
united colonies was coincident with the completion of the Atlantic cable,
which brought his instructions respecting union, and which as has been seen
he delayed as long as possible before carrying into effect. Seymour
continued in office until June, 1869, in which year his death occurred. He
died on board Her Majesty's ship Sparrowhawk at Bella Coola, whither he had
gone on a trip for his health. After coming to British Columbia he returned
to England and married there.
The principal feature of his Governorship was the
movement for union with Canada, which began almost immediately as soon as
the lesser union had been effected. Seymour used all the influence in his
power in its favor, and as the policy of the Home Government in this matter
was well known, he undoubtedly acted under instructions.
Sir Anthony Musgrave.
Sir Anthony Musgrave succeeded, and by this time
Confederation was the one absorbing issue. Curiously enough, in contrast
with the attitude on the union of the colonies, Confederation was strongly
supported on the Mainland while the principal opposition came from the
Island, although there was a strong party in Victoria in its favor. There
was also an insignificant element advocating annexation with the United
States. Musgrave's instructions were explicit on the subject, and his
mission as Governor had principally that end in view. His efforts, backed up
by Imperial influence, strong even to the point of command, brought the
issue to a head sooner than it otherwise would have been, and in the end
sentiment was unanimous in its favor.
The year 1871 saw Confederation an accomplished fact, and
with it came responsible government. Musgrave's services upon his retirement
were recognized by knighthood. , He is described as a tall, slim, handsome
man, of excellent parts and intellectual attainments. In the West Indies,
where he had written himself into the notice and favor of the Governor of
St. Vincent, he had been a journalist, and with favor came well deserved
preferment. During his residence in British Columbia he had the misfortune,
while riding, to break his leg. His sister, Mrs. Dodgson, still lives in
Victoria, and another sister married Mr. John Trutch, an engineer, formerly
Land Commissioner of the E. & N. Railway, well known to all old Victorians.
Sir Joseph Trutch.
After Confederation, as was proper, the honor of being
the first Lieutenant-Governor fell to the lot of a British Columbian, who
had been long and prominently identified with its affairs as a member of the
Legislative Assembly and as Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and
Surveyor-General—Sir Joseph W. Trutch. He had been one of the three
delegates who went to Ottawa to arrange the terms of Confederation, and
after the successful completion of his mission returned to Victoria with his
commission as governor in his pocket, and was appointed in July, 1871.
During his term of office, responsible government and the initiation of the
work of surveying the C. P. R. line of railway came about. Sir Joseph
acquired considerable wealth, and subsequent to his retirement from office
he went to England to live, but although he had his residence mainly there,
he continued to have large interests in the Province, being one of the heavy
shareholders in the Hall mines and smelter at Nelson, B. C. He died very
recently. Sir Joseph Trutch was a man of more than ordinary ability; but,
although estimable in every respect, had personal qualities which did not
render him popular. He was careful in business matters, exact in the
fulfillment of his official duties, and was at all times concerned that the
dignity of his person or office should not suffer. When he retired, in 1876,
he did so retaining the respect of the citizens generally.
Sir Joseph was the son of an
English solicitor, who was afterwards Clerk of the Peace in St. Thomas,
Jamaica, where he married the daughter of a Judge of the Supreme Court, and
where Sir Joseph was born. The latter was educated at Exeter, England, and
was trained -as a civil engineer. In 1849 ne came out to the Pacific Coast
and practiced engineering in California and Oregon, and was thus a pioneer
of pioneers in mining life on this coast. Afterwards he was assistant
engineer on the Illinois and Michigan canal and on the Illinois River
improvement works. In 1855 ne married a daughter of Mr. Louis Hyde, of New
York. In 1859 he came to Victoria, and up until 1864 was employed on the
construction of public works in British Columbia, notably on the section
through the canon of the Fraser River and the wagon road from Yale to
Cariboo, including the suspension bridge over the Fraser River, built by him
under the terms of a toll charter. He succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Moody, R.
E., as Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and Surveyor-General of the
Province in 1866.
Hon. A. N. Richards.
The Hon, Albert Norton
Richards, Q. C, who succeeded Sir Joseph Trutch, was a man of considerable
prominence in the old Canadas before coming to this province, having sat for
South Leeds, in the Canadian Assembly of Canada from the general elections
of 1863 until January, 1864, and for the same constituency for the House of
Commons from the general election of 1872 to the dissolution in 1874. For a
brief period in 1863-64 he was a member of the Executive Council of Canada
and Solicitor-General of Upper Canada. He was a brother of the late Chief
Justice of Canada. When Hon. William McDougall, C. B., made his memorable
trip to the Northwest in 1869 to be Governor of Manitoba, Mr. Richards
accompanied him as Attorney-General in the provisional government about to
be established in that province.
As is well known, owing to the rebellion headed by Louis
Riel, the proposed arrangements fell through. He was afterwards for several
years legal agent of the Dominion Government in British Columbia. It was
during his term of office here in Government House, and during the latter
part of that of his predecessor, as well as during the early part of that of
his successor in office, that the most notable agitation in the history of
British Columbia took place. I refer to the trouble over the non-fulfillment
of the terms of Con-| federation with reference to the building of the
Canadian Pacific Railway. It is a long chapter, with many incidents,
including the change of the terminus from Esquimalt to Port Moody, the Hon.
Mr. Walkem's mission to England, and Carnarvon Terms, mass meetings and
memorials, the secession cry, Lord Dufferin's celebrated peace mission in
connection herewith, the demand for an Island railway, the Settlement Act,
and many others, which all finally culminated in a full and satisfactory
adjustment of provincial grievances and a new era of development of which we
have already reaped the first fruits.
Governor Richards was a man of character, intellectual
ability, highly developed legal attainments and rugged honesty. He was plain
and unassuming, an effective, but not eloquent pleader, and a sturdy
old-time Reformer, who never swerved in his allegiance to Baldwin
liberalism. Had his party been in power at an earlier period prior to his
death, his services and conspicuous ability would doubtless have been
recognized. Born in 1822, twice married, made a Q. C. in 1863, always a
leader at the bar, and a prominent Provincial Bencher, he died within recent
years. Other men with no greater ability perhaps took a more prominent part
in provincial life than he did, but none have earned a higher place in the
esteem of the people of British Columbia as an able and honorable man.
Cornwall.
Lieutenant-Governor Cornwall
followed. The son of an English clergyman, he was born in 1839 at Ashcroft,
Gloucestershire, England; was educated in and graduated from Trinity
College, Cambridge, as B. A. in 1856; called to the bar in 1862; came to
British Columbia in the same year; was admitted to the bar here in 1865, was
elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1864-65, and was a member of that
body at the time the terms of Confederation were agreed upon; was made a
senator in that year and continued to sit as a supporter of Sir John
Macdonald until his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor in 1881; was
appointed a judge of the County Court of Cariboo in 1889; married in 1871
the daughter of Rev. A. G. Pemberton, rector of Kensal Green, London,
England. His term of office expired in 1886, just after the C. P. R. had
been completed to the coast and was in full operation;
Nelson.
Upon the retirement of
Cornwall, another pioneer of the province came to the front as
Lieutenant-Governor in the person of the Hon. Hugh Nelson, than whom as a
pioneer none was better known or appreciated. He was the son of a linen
manufacturer, Robert Nelson, of Larne, County Antrim, Ireland, and was born
in 1830; came to the province in 1858 by way of California, whither he had
gone in 1854. He settled in Yale as a merchant and was also interested in
the express business under the well known firm name of Dietz & Nelson,
running an express line from Victoria as far as Yale. His business
prospering, he engaged in many other enterprises, notable among which was
his successful venture as a partner in the lumbering firm of Moody, Dietz &
Nelson, Moodyvilie, now opposite the city of Vancouver, where a large
lumbering business was carried on for many years. As might be expected, he
early took an interest in public affairs. He was a member of the famous Yale
Convention, called to further the interests of Confederation, and of the
last Legislative Assembly of the colony of British Columbia. Immediately
after Confederation he was elected to represent New Westminster district in
the House of Commons and continued to do so until the year 1879, when he was
appointed to the Senate. He retired from business altogether in 1882, and
was married in 1885 to Emily, daughter of J. BJ Stanton, of the civil
service of Canada, who survived him.
Hon. E. Dewdney.
Mr. Nelson's successor was
the Hon. Edgar Dewdney, C. E., another prominent pioneer of the province,
who came to British Columbia in 1859. In the early days he was identified
with various mining enterprises in Cariboo and elsewhere, and built the well
known Dewdney Trail, which penetrates the province to its eastern boundary.
He first sat for Kootenay in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in
1868-69, and in the House of Commons from 1872-79, when he was appointed
Indian Commissioner; and again for East Assiniboia from September 12, 1888,
until November, 1892. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest
Territory, 3rd December, 1881, until 3rd July, 1888. He was a member of the
Privy Council, Minister of the Interior and ex-officio
Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, 3rd August, 1888, to 2nd November,
1892, when he became Lieutenant-Governor.
Hon. T. R. McInnes.
In 1896 the defeat of the
Liberal-Conservative administration resulted in the appointment of a Liberal
to the office of Lieutenant-Governor in the person of the Hon. T. R. Mclnnes,
M. D. This was followed soon after by the general elections in the province.
The events which grew out of the appointment of Senator Mclnnes to office
really form a sort of turning point in the political history of British
Columbia, and as they are recent, are within the memory of almost every
person in the province. Political development had reached the point where
there was a parting of the ways between new and old conditions. Many
new-comers, who had begun to take a prominent interest in public affairs had
created an atmosphere wholly different from that of the past. That element
was assisted and materially strengthened by the members of the party that
had been opposed to the administration of the Hon. J. H. Turner, and several
other administrations of which his was the logical successor. There was also
the feeling- of the Mainland as against the Island of Vancouver, which had
long protested against what was alleged to be the undue political influence
and ascendancy of the Island in consideration of its limited area and
population, as compared with those of the Mainland. It is not possible in
limited space to go fully into all the circumstances of the situation at
that time, which was peculiarly of a transitionary character. Mr. Joseph
Martin, only recently come to the province from Manitoba, where he had been
a prominent figure and a political factor of more than ordinary force,
stepped into his natural position of the leader of the new and disturbing
forces, and gave expression in a forcible and rather explosive way to their
views. The history of the remarkable episodes which followed is given
impartially here. Briefly, after the general election of 1898 the result was
very much in doubt, with Cassiar to hear from. In the ordinary way the
Premier of the day would have been permitted to meet the Legislature and
determine his strength on the floor of the House. Lieutenant-Governor
Mclnnes took the extraordinary course of dismissing the Turner Ministry on
the grounds that it had ceased to possess his confidence. He, however, did a
more remarkable thing still, in calling upon Mr. Robert Beaven, who was not
in the Legislature, and had been a defeated candidate at the general
election, to form a government. In fact, at that time Mr. Beaven, though a
skilful parliamentarian and a man of long political experience, had no
political status so far as an existing party was concerned, and had no
following. He was not even allied with the existing recognized opposition,
of which Mr. C. A. Semlin was the acknowledged leader. Mr. Beaven very
naturally failed to get a ministry together and then the Lieutenant-Governor
turned to Mr. Semlin. The latter selected, among others, Mr. Martin, who has
been described as the " stormy petrel " of Canadian politics, as his
Attorney-General, and Mr. F. C. Cotton, editor of the News-Advertiser,
Vancouver, as his Finance Minister, two of the ablest public men of the
province, but temperamentally and in their methods very unlike. It was not
long before they were at cross purposes and in strong antagonism to each
other. It was simply a question of time as to which of the two should remain
in the cabinet to the exclusion of the other, and the rashness and open
indiscretion of the Attorney-General furnished the opportunity for Mr.
Cotton to demand his resignation. As a result of a party caucus, Mr. Martin
stepped out and went into active and effective opposition to the Government.
With a small majority to start with, the Government, at the following
meeting of the Legislature, found itself practically in power by the vote of
the Speaker. It struggled along for a time, but, through the defection of
Mr. Prentice, who afterwards became Finance Minister in the Dunsmuir
Government, Mr. Semlin was defeated upon a vote of want of confidence, by
which a crisis was brought about. Subsequently, however, a compromise was
effected by the Premier with some members of the opposition for their
support, and he was enabled to advise his Honor that he could command the
support of a majority of the members of the House. Contrary to
Constitutional precedent, the Lieutenant-Governor refused to be further
advised by the Semlin Ministry, whose dismissal followed immediately. A
second time the Governor did a remarkable thing. He called in Mr. Martin,
who stood absolutely alone in the House, as Premier. Prorogation under
unusual and somewhat boisterous circumstances, took place, and the Premier
proceeded to form his ministry, which he did by selecting four men as
colleagues who were not in politics, had never had a seat in the
Legislature, and were practically unknown outside of their respective places
of abode. As was remarked on more than one occasion, the procedure followed
was making a travesty of constitutional government. As soon as the voter's
list could be made in readiness, general elections were held. There was a
general uncertainty as to the political lines upon which many
of the members returned, but Mr. Martin could not count more than seven out
of the number. His Honor, having acted upon his own responsibility in
dismissing the Semlin Government and calling into existence a Government to
succeed it, and not having been sustained by the country in the course
pursued, his own retirement was inevitable. In other words, in departing
from well understood constitutional methods, he took his official life in
his hand. His dismissal came almost immediately from Ottawa, whereupon he
became once more plain Dr. Mc-Innes, being neither Lieutenant-Governor nor
Senator. He lived in retire-ment afterwards in Vancouver, and died four
years later.
Dr. Mclnnes, like his predecessors, was a pioneer in the
province, having moved from Dresden, Ontario, in 1874, where he practiced
medicine. While continuing in medicine, he began to take an interest in
public affairs almost immediately after his arrival. He was Mayor of New
Westminster from 1876-78, and elected for the district for the House of
Commons in 1878 as a supporter of Sir John Macdonald. He was called to the
Senate in 1881, in which body he was prominent in debate in all matters
pertaining to British Columbia. He married in 1865, the relict of the late
George M. Webster, Dresden, Ontario, who still survives him. He is succeeded
in public life by his eldest son, Hon. W. W. B. Mclnnes, Commissioner of
Yukon, who has occupied a seat in the Dominion House of Commons, also in the
local Legislature and was for a time a member of the Prior administration.
Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere.
By a somewhat peculiar coincidence, the Hon. Sir Henri
Gustave Joly de Lotbiniere, who had been called upon to form an
administration in Quebec at the time Lieutenant-Governor Letellier had
dismissed the De Boucherville Government in 1878, succeeded Governor Mclnnes
in somewhat similar circumstances. As a statesman to whose career and
personality attaches special interest, I beg to reproduce here a
sketch of Sir Henri's life which appears in Morgan's " Canadian Men and
Women of the Time."
"Hon. Sir Henri Gustave Joly
de Lotbiniere, statesman, is the eldest son of the late Gaspard Pierre
Gustave Joly, a Huguenot native of France, who became Seigneur de Lotbiniere
by his marriage with Julie Christine Chartier de Lotbiniere, granddaughter
of the last Marquis de Lotbiniere, engineer-in-chief of New France. Born in
France, December 5, 1829, he was educated at the Keller School, Paris, in
company with the late Mr. Wad-dington, the French Minister. Coming to
Canada, he devoted himself to the study of law and was called to the Quebec
bar, 1855. He practiced his profession in the city and district of Quebec,
and was created a Q. C. 1878. A" Liberal politically, he was returned in
that interest to the Canadian Assembly, general election, 1861, as the
representative of the county of Lotbiniere. He took a prominent part in the
debates on the Confederation of the provinces, 1865-66, joining Messrs.
Dorion; Holton, Huntington and other Liberal leaders from Lower Canada, in
opposition to that measure. In the first election for the United Provinces,
1867, he was returned to the House of Commons and to the Provincial
Assembly. He remained a member of both these bodies until 1874, when at the
abolition of dual representation he elected to remain in the local
Legislature. He led the opposition in the assembly against the De
Boucherville Government until March, 1878, when, on the dismissal of his
ministers by Lieutenant-Governor Letellier, he (Mr. Joly) was called to the
Premiership. While at the head of the Government, he initiated and carried
out a vigorous policy of retrenchment, as well as of political purity. The
salaries of the ministers and the indemnity of members of the Legislature
were reduced. An effort was made to abolish the Legislative Council and all
unnecessary outlays were cut off. Defeated in the House, 1879, ne resigned,
and from that time up to 1883, was again the leader of the opposition. In
1885, he retired from public life in consequence of his disapproval of the
course of the Liberal parity and on the Riel question. He re-appeared on the
surface, June, 1893, as a delegate to the Reform Convention at Ottawa, and
was then elected vice-chairman of that important gathering. Later, in
February, 1894, he undertook a mission of peace and good-will to the
Province of Ontario, to dispel the prejudice existing there against the
people of the Province of Quebec, and to bring about a better feeling
between the two provinces. In February, 1895, in response to a general call
from his party; he agreed to return to public life, and from that time took
an active part in the agitation which led to Sir Wilfrid Laurier's success
at the polls at the general election, 1896. During the contest he was
returned to the House of Commons for Portneuf. On the formation of the new
administration at Ottawa, he was offered and accepted the office of
Controller of Inland Revenue. He became a Privy Councillor with the title of
Minister of Inland Revenue, June 30, 1897. He is an Honorary D. C. L. of
Lennoxville University (1887), an LL. D. of Queen's University (1894), and
in acknowledgment of his public services received the K. C. M. G. from Her
Majesty, May, 1895. He declined a seat in the Senate in 1874, and again in
1877. In the latter year he also declined a seat, with the office of
Minister of Agriculture, in the Mackenzie administration. Sir Henri is known
all over the continent for his interest in agriculture, horticulture and
forestry, having written and spoken frequently on these subjects.
"During the existence of the Imperial Federation League,
he gave the scheme his entire support, and he is now as warmly inclined
towards the British Empire League. He is also connected with the United
Empire Loyalist Association. In religious belief he is a member of the
Church of England, and has served as a delegate to the diocesan and
provincial synods of the Church. In 1888 he was authorized by the Quebec
Legislature to add de Lotbiniere, his mothers name, to that of Joly. He
married in 1856, Mar-garette Josepha, daughter of the late Hammond Gowen, of
Quebec. Their eldest son, Edmund, adopted the legal profession. His two
other sons are in the British Army, and are now and have been
for some time, employed as officers in India."
Sir Henri, during the term of his office, now coming to a
close, has endeared himself to all classes, and won the respect and esteem
of those with whom he has come into contact. He has taken a keen interest in
everything pertaining to the welfare of the province. |
