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It must not be supposed that during these years he
had been free from criticism. His public career had been by no means
peaceful, and he had aroused personal feelings which at times were
bitterly hostile. The regular routine life of the Hudson Bay trader was
very different from the life of the seventies and eighties. He had had
physical difficulties to meet then, and had shown good mettle. When he
emerged from his life in the wilds of Labrador and Hudson's Bay he brought
with him a body splendidly preserved and developed, a mature character,
and a mind keen and alert. But so far his contests had been with the
forces of nature, with wild beasts and with men of simple habit and
ordinary ability. He had had no trials of strength with men of a different
calibre, trained in active public life and conversant with big concerns.
That kind of testing was to come to him now, and he stood the test well.
His opponents on the floor of the House, or in Council, or in great
commercial schemes, found in him a strong and worthy antagonist. In manner
mild, pleasing and conciliatory, he could on occasion make effective use
of the language of denunciation or scorn. His was a case of the "velvet
glove and the iron hand." And he was not to be put down, or easily changed
from his purpose, for he worked out a course and held himself to it. His
strong, rugged character, his indomitable will, his shrewdness and
sagacity, together with his cheery optimism, won for him public
confidence, so that he was appointed to carry on delicate negotiations and
to occupy positions of great responsibility.
As we have seen, Mr. Smith had not been long in
Montreal as Governor of the Hudson Bay Company before the Dominion
Government completed an arrangement by which it gained possession of the
lands formerly controlled by the Company. The agreement was made in
London, but the actual transfer was not an easy task. In the North-West
the twelve or fifteen thousand people who had made it their home regarded
themselves as directly connected with the home Government, and they
strongly resented the bargaining which severed that honorable connection
and handed them over to the, Dominion of Canada, making them, so to speak,
"a colony of a colony." They not only resented it as a matter of actual
sentiment, but were not unwilling to resist the new dispensation by
physical force. The situation contained possibilities of trouble, and the
Dominion Government was in difficulty, for it was anxious not only to
possess the land, but also to retain the good will of the people living on
it. Some of the things done may be open to criticism, but it was a wise
move when Donald A. Smith was chosen to go to the Red River Settlement to
represent the Government and to pacify the people and allay their fears.
This was his first appearance in the world of diplomacy and affairs of
state importance. In carrying out his commission, it was inevitable that
he should incur criticism and arouse personal animosities. In fact, he had
made enemies in the North-West, and afterwards in Parliament, and later in
the railway world. his connection with the Hudson Bay Company was a
feature that told against him, because it was felt on the one hand, that
the Company had taken an unwarrantable liberty in transferring the people,
as so many cattle, without consulting their wishes, and on the other, that
the Company was in some way interested in fomenting disturbance and
putting obstacles in the way of settlement. Doubt and suspicion prevailed
and the greatest caution was necessary to prevent an outbreak. Nothing in
the career of Mr. Smith reflects greater credit than his discharge of this
difficult and delicate mission. For two months he lived to all intents a
prisoner in Fort Garry, which was the centre of disturbance. There he met,
and worsted Louis Riel, who wielded an extraordinary influence over the
settlers. There he manifested those diplomatic and media tonal talents
which later caused him to be chosen to act in situations even more
critical. He showed a rare skill in handling every weapon of negotiation
and controversy and it is not too much to say that the peaceful
termination of the ominous state of affairs was due to his wise and
judicial conduct of the business which had been entrusted to his keeping.
Louis Rid was displaced from his commanding position and the country was
brought, without conflict, under Canadian administration.
From that time forward, he was to play a prominent
part in public affairs and to become a figure of national importance. He
achieved distinction in the Dominion Parliament and was a participant in
many a strenuous political struggle. He met with strong and determined
opposition. The prejudice which existed with regard to the great Company
of which he was the head, vented itself against him. Those were the days
of Macdonald, Mackenzie, Sir Geo. E. Cartier, Sir Francis Mucks, and
others of equal calibre. Amongst these leading men he easily took his
place. He was not an orator in the accepted sense of that term, but he was
a lucid and convincing speaker. His speeches were models of simple, direct
statement and were full of incontrovertible facts. At the close of one of
his speeches, Sir John A. Macdonald, who had previously described him as
"a mild old gentleman, easily alarmed," is reported to have said, "Smith
is a far better speaker than I gave him credit for. He has coolness and
resource and plausibility, and just that amount of venom when attacked
which a good statesman ought to have." That description sets forth
admirably the character, not only of his speeches, but of himself. Cool,
resourceful, plausible— those were his predominant qualities, and he
needed them in his Parliamentary career. He was the centre of many an
exciting debate, and the object of many a strong attack. His connection
with the Fur Company, with the Reil regime and, later, with great railway
projects, thrust him to the front in many a sharp conflict. And he was
well able to take care of himself. He was not at all pugnacious, had no
love for wordy or any other kind of conflict, but was not to be imposed
upon and which he did enter the lists, his antagonist felt the full
strength of a strong arm. |
