1933:

PAGE TWO ‘rt-IE CHARIJUITETOWN GUARDIAN .. . A . ,

PRINCE EDWARD IsIIKND GONFEDERATION STATESMEM

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“Providence Being Their Cuide T71

ISLAND §§7rHERs OF CONFEDERATION

Biographical Sketches of the Statesman Who -_ Achieved This Pr0vince’s Entry Into the ‘c Dominion of (lanada 60 Years Ago.

tter Than They- Knew Ӥ

. BENCH AND BAR | AT CONFEDERA no

Queen's County and hold a t, ‘ctoni PNWRIB “RIO. Hum J“ Innzworth, renowned for m, “' domandbumanity, crime, ithe brilliant barrister, famed m; i‘ wit and winning Way; Wm, I and Malcolm memos, m, __ ' lurlst, were to complete their y’

at the Bar. Itobert Shaw, ,,

endowed with eloquence and J ary talent, was to pass out or , scene before attaining u", W, o! his powers.

The filth anniversary of Prince Edward Island's entry into Confed- eration renders particularly 015W!- tune the following comments by the I-Ion. J. A. Mathieeon, Chief Justice, to the Grand Jury at the opening oi Trinity Term of the supreme Court iii-Charlottetown on June 2a, 1921'. The occasion of nu Iordshipb remarks was the cele- bration throughout Canada of the Diamond Jubilee of the Dominion.

The following biographical sketch- ls are reproduced from The Guard- ian of June and Jilly. 1927, whcre they appeared in connection with the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Dominion of Canada: wnweeeeeeesneee

his falling lender and shared in his defeat. He did not offer for re- election. For a short time he re- entercd the Provi '1l Assembly, ihun on the resignation of Hon. David Laird in 1876 to accept the Governorship of the Northwest

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Q t’: 8e EMF. IAME U. POP]. PC. a‘:

tit . t? a? it f: a’: *1; i.‘ -“ a.‘ $.- ~7¢ ‘Ii *1: Born at Bccicque, Prince EfllVJlTd Island, in 1826, son of the Hon. Joseph Pope, James Collcdge Pope was one of the Pnulpuny who pur-

wzhased the brig "lfliziin" and :=.~:ied

around the horn to Sun Francisco in 1849, when the gold discoverlcs In California were attracting ud- venturous spirits from all parts of the world.

In early manhood ho cntcrcd upon a mercantile career as mer-

chant, shipbuilder and owner, in

which he achiever! such succcss

"that he was soon Yevofilllflvtl us. one

of the forcmost mun of the Colony He entered political life in i857 11.5

Territories, he was elected by a. large majority to fill the vacant scat. '1‘\vo yours lutcr he was urzain successful at the general olcciinn. when the Mackenzie Government was defeated. On the 19th of Oc- tober, 1878 he was sworn a member of the Privy Council with the port- folio of Minislcr of ltinriuc and Fisheries, which he hcld until 1882, when failing health obliged him to mtire from all political activity. During his long period 0t public scrvlce Mr. Pope proved hlmsclf a. statesman, great alike in concep- tion and performance, with an in- domitnble will thnt often oxierboxe all factions opposition. He also pos- scsscd that even rarer gift of lead- crshll) that drew and ltcpt around lilm a. group of sympathetic and talcntcd men through whose co-

member for Bedeque District in

' the House of Assembly. After hold-. mg ‘ Seat 1n the EX_,,CU,1,_.E Council {through urcat public mcnsurcs that

through two silccnssivc fiililllllhifil-.

tions, he became leader of the. Government in X865. During his! second administration <1870-72J his Government passed the Railway Bill, in consequence of which thcy net defeat.

The Haythome-Leird Govern- ment than came into office. In 1873 they opened negotiations with the Government at Ottawa. for entrance into the Canadian Confr-dcraiivm, and on their return secured s dis- solution of Parliament on the ques- tion of Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation.

Mr. Pope, who hud lung been an ldvocate or Confederation on just terms, opposed solely on the ground that the tsnns offered were insuf- ncient t0 meet the needs of the Island. and to exizihle it to curry on its local afiairs without resorting to direct taxation. He carried the election. proceeded to Ottawa, and secured the "better terms" which he had advocated. PrOmptly the Coniedeiration Rcsiwluiinzis were passed by both lion and on the 1st day of July, 18711, this Island became a Canadian Province. Mr. Pope therefore resigned his posi- tion of lender of illn- Clovemmcnt, to be elected a. member for Prince Oounw in the Dominion Parlia- merit.

When the six newly elected mem- bers arrived in Ottawa. they found the Macclonaid Goim-mncni. on 1hr‘ ‘verge of defeat ovcr the so-cnllcd Pacific Scandal. Mr. Pope stood by

operation he was able to curry

had emigrated to Virginia and had settled ihci-c, but ht the conclusion of thc Ilcvnliliiouury Wur With- (lrcur from llwrc and took refuge in Prince Edward Island where his grandfather had, in consideration

would OHIPYIYiSC have bccu impos-t

SiblE. .‘ llis name will go down in history

as the Island statesman who finally

of distinszuishcd services to King George III, obtained a grant of land.

At an early age John Hamilton

consummated the union of Prince Edward Island with the Dominion, and in Provincial affairs the cou- struction of the Railway, the solu- tion of the Land problem, and the

reform of the coinage with the adoption of the decimal system.

Through the formative pro-Con- fcrlcratlon period his was the dom- inating mind in public affairs. He measured with almost prophetic vision the advantages and disad- vantages that Confederation would bring to the Colony. In the widc, fur view he realized that it was in- evltnble in the interests of national unity, At the same time he, in ad- vance of his contemporaries, saw the necessity for fixture adjust- ments of the terms of union to meet the changing provincial needs which time would bring, and point- ed out. the remedy.

So long as courage. and supremo dcvoiion of great. lulcnts to public service are vnluccl in our land, the name cf James Colledge Pope will be held in honour and grateful re- mcmbrance.

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Colonel John Hamilton Gray was a native of Prince Erlwurd Island,

Gray went to England and entered the British Army, sewing his King and Country as an officer in the 7th Dragoon Guards for the full term of twenty-one years. A large port of this extended term was

spent in India. and in South Africa. His name was honournbly men- tioned for public services in the field, and he won a medal for special services Good Hope besides being highly complimented by his official super- iors on the prudence and good judgment he displayed as president of a Court of Inquiry organized for the purpose of granting compensa- tion to the sufferers in the Border Wars.

at the Cape of

In 1852 he withdrew from the

Army as a Caption on half pay and returned to his native town. Dur- ing the Crimean War he volun- teercd to join the staff of his fath- er-in-law, at lvlaltn, cn route to the Crimea, but before he hall reached the scene of action Sebastapol had cnpitulated and the war was over. Subsequently he arsisted Sir John as nide-dc-cnmp in the formation oi.’ a force of English militia, but soon after he rcturncd to his Island home and entered the political arena.

Sir John Pcnncfether,

In 185E! he was elected a member

of the House of A=scmbly and tool:

he having been born at Charlottc- n leading pert in the discussions of

town 1n the year 1811.

Hg, gather the day. He became leader of the

Where Confederation.‘

Was Born

Room in Legislative Building at Charlottetown, P.E.I., where the first Conference was held.

Left, Tablet commemorative of the event.

INSCRIVIION "Unlty ls Sire-again In the hurts and

mlnds o! the delelzaxes who umunbled in

(h

born the Dominion of Canada.’

is room on September 1st,

‘i866, was

"Providence beln_i_z_thelr guide they

huildcd bener than they knew.’

o!

"Thl-v tablet is enJia on chi erenloq the Muslin anmvcnuy oi the event."

Government in 1862, Hons. Edward Palmer and William Henry Pope. two other Fathers of Confedera- tion, being members of this ad- ministration. The Land 51119511011 was the all-important issue at this time.

Hon. John Hamilton Gray was chosen president of the Conference which was convened at Charlotte- town in 1864 for the purpose of dis- cussing e. union of the three Mari- time Provinces; but which subse- quently developed into a conference on the larger question oi’ the union of the British Colonies in North America. resulting in the more important conference held a little later at Quebec. The Colonel was also a. prominent member of this latter conference.

Colonel Gray was for many years head of the militia force in his native Province. He was a. strict disclpllnerian and punctual almost to a fault. He was three times married, and one daughter, Mrs. Artemas Lord, is still living in Charlottetown.

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Hon. T. Heath Haviland was born at Charlottetown, on the 13th day of November, 1822. His father was the Hon. Thomas H. I-Iaviland, for many years one of the most prom- inent politicians and officials on the Island. The subject of this sketch received part of his education in Brussels, e-nd returning to his nat- ive land he studied law in the law office of the late Judge Peters and was admitted to the Bar on the 1st of July, 1845. In 1846 he was elect- ed e. member of the House of As- sembly for Georgetown, which elec- toral district he continuously rep- resented till 1878. In 1859 he be- came a member oi.’ the Government and sat the Executive Council board until 1862; again in 1865,

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from Sept. 1870 until April, 1on1 While a member of the Executive! Council he held the important office of Colonial Secretary, except that during 1865 he was Solicitor General. In 1562 he was chosen speaker oi’ the House of Assembly, but resigned that office the follow- ing year, He acted as leader of the Opposition from 1877 until the gen- eral elections of 1870.

Having been a member of the Quebec Conference, he continued to be a consistent Unionist and took a leading part in the discus- sion which led to the union of Prince Edward Island with the other Provinces of Canada in 1878, and he was one of the three dele- gates who secured the "better tenns". “When in April, i873, the Liberal-Conservative party returh- ed to power in this Province, Nfr. Havilsnd once more entered the Government in which he held the oflice of Provincial Secretary until 1876. Dual representation not hav- ing then been abolished, he was called to the Canadian Senate upon the admission of the Province into the Union, and continued a Sen- ator until thn, 14th of July, i879, when he resigned to accept the of- fice of Lieutenant Governor of the Province.

Mr. Haviland was n sound con- stitutional lawyer. He was for nine- teen years a member of the law firm of l-Iavlland and Bracken, and his reputation as a lawyer was so well established tin‘. It was the in-

(1) Cdufil HQJOHN HLIILTOI 3L‘ Pliflent Executive Coanfl. P11.

(2) Hen. caoaoa come, use». am.

(S) Hon. EDWARD PALMER, Anorney General. P.E.L

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have made e. place for him upon the Bench of the Supreme Court; but the fall of the Mucdonald Gov- ernment in the autumn of 1873 pre- vented the carrylns Wt °1 m‘! P5” of the programme-

In his youth Mr. Haviland took an active interest in militia mat- ters. and rose in the service step by step until he was alllilfllnteil 1119M‘ errant Colonel of Volunteers. He

power, with Mr. Laird es one ofvite members. Unknown and unclisting- uished outside of his native Island except for the part he took in the negotiations‘ preliminary to Con- federation, so swiftly did the wheel of fortune tum that within two weeks after taking his seat in the House of Comons he was given a portfolio of the newly organized Department of the Interior, charg-

wae keenly alive to the importance of education and along with the Hon. Edward Whelan was chiefly instrumental in the establishing of scholarships in Prince of Wales

College, Upon the death of Henry Beer, Esq, in 1886, he was elected Mayor of Charlottetown, which office he continued to hold until 1893. The dairy interests of the Province were also promoted by him in the most practical way by the importation and breeding of dairy ca ‘tie.

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Born 1n New Glasgow, Prince Ecl- ward Island, in 1833, son of the Hon. Alexander Laird, he first en- texedthe Colonial Legislature as Liberal member for Belfast District in 1871. His ability was s0 quickly recognized that within two years he was selected by his Government as one of the two delesfltes to 011811 negotiations with the Government of Canada for the entrance of the Island Province into Confederation. The terms offered were submitted to the peopls at a general election and the Government was defeated on the sole question‘ of "better terms." Hon. J. C. Pope, who came into power, carried through suc- cessfully negotiations for better fin- ancial terms of union, and on the 1st day of July, 1873, Prince Ed- ward Island became a Province 01

ICanada.

Mr. ‘Laird with his colleague.

ezain from 1866 iv 1867: cud B8B"! lflon. Peter Sinclair, were the first

lmembers of the Dominion Parlia- iment elected for Queens Count?- ,When the six Island members ur- ived in Ottawa they were bound Em no political ties to any Domin- 0n party. The Canadian Govern- tnent was composed of Liberals and onservatives chosen equally from he two great historic parties 0f suede. It was an open question ow the Island member! WORM lign themselves. They were not iven long to decide. Parliament as in turmoil. The Government ed by Sir John Macdonald was in ire peril, facing a resolution of ant of confidence on u. charge of aving accepted political contribu- ions from a group of financiers ho bed in view a. contract with he Government to build a railway connect the railways of Canada. th the Pacific Coast. The situa- ion is named in history "the Pa.- tiflc scandal." 0f the Island members Mr. Laird. lust declared his position in a peach of marked eloquence and power, from the condensed report p! which this short extract is taken: "Upon the decision that is iven on this question,” he said, ‘will depend the future oi the country; its intellectual progress. its political morality, and more than all the integrity oi its states- men." Two days after the delivery of this epoch-making speech the Gov-

ed with the organization and ad- ministration oi.’ the vast territories but recently governed and control- led by the Hudson's Bay Company.

After three years in that depart- ment Mr. Laird was appointed the first Lieutenant Governor and Indian Commissioner over the Northwest Territories, offices which he filled until 1881.

As Lieutenant Governdr he was assisted by a Council appointed by the Crown, with powers equivalent to those conferred upon a Governor of Crown Colonies.

The territory to be administered contained more‘ than twice the area of all the Canadian Provinces com- bined.

The setting up and administra- tion of a new government over a region so vast was e. work of the first magnitude. The s Plement with various Indian tribes was suc- cemfully accomplished throughout all the region then required for colonization. In later years, 1889- 1900, during his second term of of- five of Indian Commissioner, the last of the great treaties with the Indians was concluded. When Mr. Laird's term of office had expired there was established on a. nrm basis peace, order and good gov- ernment throughout the territorie which he had organized and go - erncd throughout eight critical and eventful years.

In 1905, at the celebration in Re- gina of the» establishment of the

Provinces of Alberta and Saskat-

chewan which Mr. Laird attended as a guest of honour, his work was thus summed up in valued: “He well and truly laid the foundations of organized government within the territories. His life and work a model for those who may occupy high places of earthly dominion."

As one of the first in framing the contract of Confederation with Canada, Minister of the Interior and first Governor of the North- west Terrltories, the late Hon. David Laird is entitled to high rank among the builders of Can- ads.

It has not iallen to the lot of any other eon of Prince Edward Island to undertake and success- fully accomplish e. work \of such magnitude and importance}.

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The subject of this sketch was Lieutenant Governor of his native Province from 1884 to 1889, and subsequently held a seat in the Canadian Senate. He was born at Brudenell Point, King's County, P. E. 1., February 14, i829, being the eldest son of Hugh and 05th- erine MacDonald, natives of Inver- nesshire, Scotland. His grandfather Andrew MacDonald. of a highly dutinzuunea Scottish family, came to this Island in 1805, when he Purchased 10,000 acres of land, in- cluding Psnmure Island, at the m- trance to Georgetown Harbour,

Prnment of Sir John Mncdonald resigned, and the new Government

tention of Sir John Macdonald to

led by Alexander Mackenzie was in

Here he located and at once em- lbnrked in mercantile business, ex- wrilns timber and building ships

"when the Supreme Court met m the 24th of June, 1878, we were a self-governing Colony: when it closed we were a. Province of the Dominion. So closely did the Court attend to its own business that I find no mention of the momentous event that had occurred. All tvst the Court records show is that there was an adjournment from Saturday, June- 38, until the fol- lowing Monday.

I have noted down the names of those who presided over the Court, of the members of the Grand Jury, and of all the lawyers who were Present on the trial of the various cases. The Chief Justice was Sir Robert Hodgeon. Associated with him were James H. Peters, Assist- ant Judge nnd Master of Rolls. and Joseph Hensley, Assistant Judge arid Vice Chancellor. The Attorney General was Hon. I". Bxecken; the Solicitor General, Hon. W. W. Sullivan; and the leader of the Government, Hon. J. O. Pope.

It was e strong Bench and e strong Bar. Sir Robert Hodgson was soon to close a. distinguished career as the first native of the Island to hold the office of Lieut- enant Governor. Hon. P. Brecken, the Attorney General, was to enter the Federal Parliament and win further laurels with his wonderful gift of speech. .

Edward Palmer, the retiring At- torney General, former leader of the Government, wee soon to euc- ceed Sir Robert Hodgson as Chief Justice and fill that office with great distinction for twenty-five years. Hon. W. W. Sullivan, the Solicitor General, had before him a 1on8. successful political career in whichhe was to become the leader of the Government and Attorney General, and at its close to succeed to the Chief Justiceehip on the death of Hon. Edwcui Palmer. fully to maintain the high traditions of that office for twenty- eight years. In recognition of his long and faithful public services the Crown was to confer upon him the honour of knighthood.

Edward Jarvis Hodgson, long noted at the Bar, was to succeed

Judgg Peters as Master oi the Rolls_

and Judge of the? Supreme Court. Rowen R. Fitzgerald was to euc- ceed Judge Hensley as Vice-Chen- cellor and Judge of the Supreme Court and to further improve and codify the Equity practice and pro- cedure which Judge Hodgeon bed begun.

George Alley was to become Judge of the County Court of

to be sold in the British market. 1 the where tbs question of Confed tion was first discussed. A

later he served as a. delegate at l Quebec Conference where ll“

terms of Confederation W79 . mulguted, and these with some! modifications formed the bull the constitution of the Domini

His son Hugh, father of the sub- ject of this sketch, inherited the Panmure Island residence and property. He was a prominent man in the public life and affairs of the Province. As soon as Catholic dis- abilities were removed he was elect- ed a member of the Assembly, ap- pointed a Justice of the Peace and Collector of Customs and Excise for the District of Three Rivers. At a later period he held the office of High Sheriff of the Province. He died in November, 1857, leaving s. family of three sons and one daughter.