Part 51

While Donald A. Smith had reached the pinnacle of service in connection with the Hudson’s Bay Company when he came to Montreal, he was destined to gain equal eminence in other directions. In the interests of the Canadian Confederation it was seen that the title to the territory of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Rupert’s Land must pass to the crown and a purchase was arranged whereby the company received a million dollars and large reserves of land, although the transfer was not made without great difficulty and danger, culminating in what has been known as the Red River rebellion, or the first Riel rebellion.

Discontented people of that region had been trying to produce an agitation that would separate their settlement from that of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The rapid growth of population in Assiniboia was imperilling the company’s hold and its rule, hitherto wise and practical, was denounced as arbitrary. A contemporary biographer has written:

“Better representation was demanded and, by dint of much uproar and noise, considerable sympathy was obtained from outside. To understand fully the character of this Red River settlement it must be explained that the population was considerably mixed. In all there were about twelve thousand souls. There were Europeans, Canadians, Americans and French half-breeds. With a mixed population like this it was difficult to deal and when, on November 9, 1869, the deed was signed in London, whereby the company surrendered its interests in the northwest to the crown, with reservations for the company, rebellion broke out. The leader was the famous Louis Riel, a Metis, described as ‘a short, stout man, with a large head, a square cut, massive forehead overhung by a mass of long and thickly clustering hair and marked with well cut eyebrows--altogether a remarkable looking face.’

“The Hon. William McDougall had been appointed lieutenant governor of Rupert’s Land and the Northwest territories in September, 1869, but when he went, by way of the United States, to possess himself of his power he was turned back on the borders of his domain by Louis Riel and his followers, the Metis of the plains, who absolutely refused to recognize his authority on the ground that they had not been consulted in the new arrangement. Mr. McDougall found himself unable to cope with the situation and was compelled to remain at a farm house several miles south of the boundary line for six weeks.

“Meanwhile the armed resistance to authority had attained serious proportions. Riel seized Fort Garry, made the editor of the local paper prisoner and was issuing proclamations to the inhabitants. So matters went on until sixty of Riel’s enemies were confined in Fort Garry and the insurgents’ flag hoisted.

“Meanwhile in his office in Montreal Donald A. Smith was slowly but surely studying the position. Understanding the character of both McDougall and Riel, he saw how hopeless the situation was. Understanding them better than they understood themselves, he realized that what was needed was a man who knew the inner mind of the company well and could clear its character of the imputations cast upon it. He was the man--he felt it and although the journey involved grave personal risk he resolved to go. The government promptly accepted his services and he was appointed special commissioner to proceed at once to Fort Garry.

“With characteristic courage he went unarmed and almost alone. No sooner had he arrived at Fort Garry than he was treated as a prisoner of ‘President’ Riel. That, however, did not check his determination. He had made up his mind to avoid bloodshed and yet to enforce the decision of the government. To quote his own words: ‘The part I had to act was that of a mediator. Not only would one rash or unguarded word have increased the difficulty but even the pointing of a finger might, on more than one occasion, have been sufficient to put the whole country in a flame.’ But the unguarded word was never spoken, the finger was never pointed in a wrong direction and the rebellion ended in a bloodless expedition. Yet before Sir Garnet Wolseley marched to the Red river many a heated discussion was held and probably never before in history has a regularly ordained meeting been held in British territory under such conditions. If the moral atmosphere was warmly excited, the physical atmosphere was depressed enough to chill the fiercest rebels.

“The first meeting was a memorable one. In the open air, with the thermometer twenty degrees below zero, a cruel, biting wind penetrating through the warmest clothing, there they stood, men of all nationalities and ages. On the small, raised platform were the four most concerned in the rebellion--Riel, O’Donoghue, De Salaberry (a man beloved by thousands) and Donald A. Smith. At first the meeting was wholly with Riel, who cleverly got himself appointed French interpreter. But when things were at their worst and men of the opposite sides glared at each other with hate in their eyes, Mr. Smith rose to speak. His facts, his practical wisdom and, above all, his reasonableness had their effect upon the swaying multitude. If he did not gain much that day, at any rate he averted bloodshed.

“In the open air, with the thermometer twenty degrees below zero, in the teeth of a biting blast, this meeting was conducted with a respect for decorum and ancient parliamentary methods worthy of Westminster itself.

“The next day things went better. The proposition that representatives should be chosen from both sides was accepted, and when Riel agreed to disband the men at Fort Garry all classes felt that the worst was over. However, matters were not so easily arranged. Riel broke his word and the murder of a young man named Scott complicated the situation. Nevertheless, the excitement slowly cooled and there is little doubt that but for the tactful courage of Mr. Smith a spark would have been put to the flame of rebellion.

“‘I am as certain as I can be of anything,’ said Dr. O’Donnell, one of the old timers of Winnipeg, who was at Fort Garry in 1869, ‘that Donald A. Smith saved the northwest of Canada. On December 10, 1869, he was appointed a special commissioner to explain to the people of the Red River settlement the principles on which the government of Canada intended to govern the country and to take such steps as he might consider necessary to bring about a peaceable transfer from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Dominion. At that time everything was in confusion; Mr. McDougall had been refused admission, Riel was king, an American element was trying to bring about the annexation of the settlement to the United States and last but not least the Indians were disaffected. When he reached Fort Garry Mr. Smith was virtually made a prisoner, Riel would not allow him to go outside the fort and kept an eye on his correspondence. In January, 1870, a mass meeting was held at Fort Garry and Mr. Smith was allowed to state his case and tell what he wanted the people to do. Riel was present, together with O’Donoghue and other insurrectionaries. It was a critical moment, I assure you; in fact, when Mr. Smith got up to read his commission from Sir John Young most of those present expected to see him arrested or shot on the spot. As it was he had a stormy time, but managed to impress many of the hot-headed with the belief that the interests of the settlement would be properly safeguarded by Canada. Riel was afraid of Mr. Smith’s influence and at once hurried on preparations for having himself made president of a provisional government. Then came the wholesale arrests culminating in the murder of Thomas Scott. Mr. Smith risked his life in an attempt to save Scott. Notwithstanding Riel’s antipathy to him, he went boldly to Riel and pleaded for Scott, even going so far as to warn Riel that if Scott was shot his blood would be upon his head. Riel was intoxicated with power and more than half disposed to shoot others on the loyal side, but Mr. Smith told him to his teeth that such a crime would not go unpunished.

“‘In the discussions that took place over the Bill of Rights to be sent to Ottawa, the chief part was borne by Mr. Smith. His coolness and sagacity undoubtedly prevented the collapse of the negotiations. “This man Smith,” said O’Donoghue at one stage, “knows too much for us, he is too able for us. We must get rid of him or the northwest cannot be made either an independent republic or part of the United States. He is a Hudson’s Bay Company officer and as such a friend of the half-breeds, and will be able to persuade them that union with Canada is to their interest.” It was a wonder all along that Mr. Smith was not shot. He was warned often enough that his life was in danger, but seemed quite willing to risk it in behalf of the cause he represented. A good many English-speaking settlers, while loyal enough, did not at first care to belong to Canada; they thought Rupert’s Land would be better off as a crown colony than as a Canadian province and Mr. Smith had to convince them that they were mistaken. In reality, therefore, he was between two fires--the Riel or disaffected party and the loyalists who did not favor the idea of confederation--whilst, as I have said, there was an American element working for annexation.

“‘At a later period when Governor Archibald came in (September 2, 1870), Mr. Smith rendered services to Canada of the highest moment. The Governor did not receive a very cordial reception, but Mr. Smith, who accompanied him, set about the work of conciliating the French, the old time English-speaking settlers and the new or Canadian settlers, who constituted three distinct factions. Mr. Archibald frequently told me that but for Mr. Smith the little community would have been torn to pieces by intestine strife. He was the one man who brought the northwest into Canada, who, indeed, saved it to the British empire, and we think he should get credit, even at this late day, for so great a work.’

“Many are the anecdotes concerning Mr. Smith’s dangerous mission to Fort Garry during the first Riel rebellion and of the commencement of his political career in the far west.”

With Sir Garnet Wolseley were Captain Buller, afterward General Sir Redvers, and Lieutenant Butler, afterward General Sir William. The tyranny of Riel had become irksome to the people, who received the newcomers joyously, and at the approach of the “red coats” Riel, with his co-conspirators, fled, taking up his position on the shores of St. Boniface. All was now quiet in the settlement, the purchase price of one million, five hundred thousand dollars had been paid and the territory transferred to Canada.

Donald A. Smith was by this time recognized as the most powerful man in the west. The governor general thanked him for his services and in 1870, after the organization of the province of Manitoba, he was returned to the legislature for Winnipeg and St. John. He was also called to the Northwest territorial council and was returned for Selkirk to the house of commons. He supported the conservative government then under direction of Sir John A. Macdonald and the party soon found that in him there was another man fit for leadership. It was found that the builders of the railway from ocean to ocean had trafficked with contractors and taken money for election purposes. This became known as the Pacific Scandal and the intense feeling manifest throughout the country centered in the house of commons. The house divided upon a motion of the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader of the liberal opposition to Sir John Macdonald. Feeling was intense. At one o’clock in the morning of November 5, 1873, Mr. Smith arose and uttered what became an oracular speech, for the people he represented were vitally interested in the building of the railway so necessary to the development of their country. It is said the house became deadly calm; no one knew whether he would adhere to his party’s policies or otherwise. He said: “For the honor of the country no government should exist that has a shadow of suspicion resting upon it, and for that reason I cannot give it my support.” These were his closing words, greeted by frantic cheers by the opposition, and the government was doomed. Feeling ran high and was most intense and bitter, but in later years the two leaders, the great statesman and the great financier, built together the Canadian Pacific Railway. Both were master builders and the executive capacity of the financier was necessary to the constructive genius of the statesman. It was in no idle spirit of laudation that Sir Charles Tupper stated that “had it not been for Mr. Smith’s indomitable pluck, energy and determination the road would never have been constructed.”

Mr. Smith thoroughly understood the fact that colonization could not be carried forward in the west without the building of the railroad. Another has written concerning this:

“It must have been with profound reluctance that he voted for the overthrow of the Macdonald government. He knew that the fall of that administration would set back the construction of the Pacific Railway and of the necessity of that great work to the unity and stability of the confederation he was thoroughly convinced. He was not well satisfied with the slower and less heroic policy of Mackenzie, although it is said he believed the road should be built by the government and ‘not by any company, however honorable or competent.’ He said in 1876, ‘Nothing short of a guarantee from the government of interest on the whole amount of the bonds could induce capitalists to embark on the enterprise.’ He, therefore, well understood the magnitude of the contract into which the syndicate entered in 1880 and the peril to his fortune and reputation involved in the assumption of that gigantic undertaking.

“There is no doubt that the syndicate received great subventions, but Mr. Smith and his courageous associates undertook to build a railway through thousands of miles of unknown and uninhabited country, along the sterile shores of Lake Superior and across the Rocky mountains. They had to go out in advance of settlement. They had to lead the march of civilization across leagues of unsettled prairie. They had to seek a silent port on the Pacific. It was a more daring idea than the Cape to Cairo Railway, which united two great centers of world activity. The Canadian Pacific was a plunge through nothing to nothing. It was a stupendous guess at the future. As we look back we recognize that few human achievements rank higher than the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway across this enormous stretch of territory, its operation during the first ten years of its history and the maintenance of its credit in face of persistent attack, slow growth of population and unpromising national outlook. The whisper goes that when the great enterprise hung on the verge of collapse, Mr. Smith pledged his private fortune to the last dollar in support of its credit, as he held his associates to the scrupulous performance of every detail of their contract with the country.”

One of the initial steps of the work was the purchase of the bankrupt St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, which, extending over Minnesota and Dakota had a branch line to Pembina, Manitoba. Built by Dutch capitalists, it became bankrupt in 1873, yet Messrs. Smith and Hill recognized that with the return of prosperity this would become a profitable undertaking. These two, together with George Stephen, later Lord Mount Stephen, and N. W. Kittson purchased the road.

Sir John Macdonald returned to power in 1878, but he could not secure the cooperation of London financiers in the building of the railroad. When it was seen that it was impossible to carry the project through as a government railroad, in 1880 the four men who had made the old Minnesota railroad a paying investment, undertook the other task. A syndicate was formed, known as the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, ultimately capitalized at seventy-five million dollars, with twenty-five million dollars of land grant bonds, and this company built the railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The task accomplished was a gigantic one. The movement had the support of the conservative government, but was bitterly assailed by the opposition, both in the house and through the press. Again and again the word went out through the papers and through party utterances that the railroad could never be made a paying investment. It was almost impossible to get investors to buy stock. At times the treasury seemed utterly exhausted. It is said that one day Donald A. Smith came late to a directors’ meeting. He looked into the faces of his colleagues and said: “Nobody has any money; let’s adjourn until tomorrow.” The following day he smilingly entered the room. “Has anybody raised any money?” he asked. Everyone replied: “Not a cent.” “I have raised another million,” announced Mr. Smith, “and that will last us until somebody gets more money.” Never for a moment did he lose faith in the ultimate triumph of the venture. He inspired others with much of his own contagious enthusiasm. Again and again when his associates seemed utterly discouraged he inspired them with hope and when he was in Great Britain and the directors wrote him a long letter indicating their utter despair he cabled back one word “Craigellachie,” recalling at once the old Highland clan cry “Stand Fast, Craigellachie,” and once more inspired by their chieftain the men did stand fast and on the 7th of November, 1885, at Craigellachie, British Columbia, Donald A. Smith, then a white haired man, drove a golden spike into the cedar tie upon which the rails met from east to west. The weight of the Herculean task which he had accomplished between 1880 and 1885 had changed the strong, black bearded, sturdy man to a white haired veteran. Before night came on the Marquis of Lansdowne, governor general of Canada, had received a telegram from Queen Victoria congratulating the Canadian people on an event “of greatest importance to the whole British empire.” Speaking of the Canadian Pacific Railway Sir Charles Tupper said:

“The Canadian Pacific Railway would have no existence today, notwithstanding all the government did to support that undertaking, had it not been for the indomitable pluck and energy and determination, both financially and in every other respect, of Sir Donald Smith.” Mr. James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway of the United States, also said that “the one person to whose efforts and to whose confidence in the growth of our country, our success in early railway development is due is Sir Donald A. Smith.”

The splendid work done by Mr. Smith won him imperial honors. He was created a knight commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George by Queen Victoria in 1886 and a decade later received a knight grand cross in the same order, being privately invested by Her Majesty at Windsor Castle. At the time of the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 Queen Victoria bestowed a further mark of royal favor upon Mr. Smith by elevating him to the peerage of the united kingdom as Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal of Glencoe, in the county of Argyll, and of Montreal, in the province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada. In 1908 he was appointed a knight of the grand cross of the Royal Victorian Order and was also elected a fellow of the Royal Society, while in 1910 he became a knight of grace of the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.

In the meantime he had become identified with so many financial interests that it would be impossible to enumerate them. He also remained active in politics, unyielding as ever in all matters where subserviency was demanded by party exigencies. It has been said:

“He was not a legislator; he was not a statesman; he never wanted office; and he seldom spoke. He was forced into the house by his commanding personality and he sat there representing the silent power of the empire builder. But it is not to be supposed that he was not a working member. Probably few men did more valuable parliamentary work, while he remained a member of the house.”

In 1874 Mr. Smith resigned his seat in the Manitoba legislature, but remained a representative of the province at Ottawa, sitting for Selkirk until 1880. In 1887, at the general election, he was returned to the house of commons as member for Montreal West, now St. Antoine division, by a majority of fourteen hundred and fifty, and was reelected in 1891 by a majority of thirty-seven hundred and six, remaining the representative for Montreal West until 1896. In 1892 he was an active participant in the commercial congress held in London and in March, 1896, he served as a delegate to the Manitoba government to aid in deciding the Manitoba school question, his colleagues being Messrs. Dickey and Desjardins. In April of the same year he was sworn of the queen’s privy council of Canada, and he was commissioner to the Pacific cable conference held in London in 1896, in which year he once more attended the commercial congress. During the existence of the Imperial Federation League he was vice president of that organization for Quebec. In April, 1896, ere the conservative administration went out of power, he was appointed Canadian high commissioner in Great Britain, succeeding Sir Charles Tupper, who had filled the office since its creation in 1884. The high commissionership combines all the functions of an ambassador and financial agent but has no diplomatic standing. The appointment as high commissioner is a political one, but when Sir Wilfrid Laurier came into power Lord Strathcona still retained the position as if there had been no change in government. When the conservatives returned to power in 1911 he remained in London, with the approval of all Canada. When the expenses of the high commissioner’s office in London were being discussed in the Dominion house of commons the late Sir Richard Cartwright said:

“I believe that Canada has in very important respects been extremely well served by Lord Strathcona since he has represented us in Great Britain. It is a matter of no small moment to Canada that our representative should be well and favorably known on the London Stock Exchange as a man of the highest honor and probity, and a man whose word is universally admitted to be his bond. I need not tell the house that the emoluments are absolutely naught to Lord Strathcona. I need not tell the house that in all probability, in the exercise of hospitality which he has indulged in during a single London season, he will vastly exceed all that is nominally assigned to him as the representative of Canada. I think every member of the house who has occasion to visit London will testify that, whether or not the office in other respects comes up to all that he desires, Lord Strathcona, at any rate, is worthy of upholding in every possible way the honor and dignity of Canada. I may further add that Lord Strathcona is a man whose advice is eagerly sought and has very great weight, indeed, with the British government and with Englishmen, Scotsmen and Irishmen of every rank and station. As regards his influence in what I may call the diplomatic circle and the ministerial circle and on the Stock Exchange, Canada would find it pretty hard, indeed, to replace Lord Strathcona.”

Lord Strathcona’s name stands high on the roll of those who have figured most prominently in financial circles in the Dominion. He was one of the large shareholders of the Bank of Montreal, became its vice president in 1882 and president in 1887. It was only after many years’ residence in London that he resigned in 1905, whereupon he was immediately elected honorary president for life. He studied banking from every possible standpoint and in all of its relations to other business interests. His first address to the shareholders after he became president was a notable one. He spoke of the bountiful harvests in Canada and in the American northwest and recognized the fact that shipping interests must bring the grain to Montreal and that the bank would benefit thereby. Few men would have considered the question in so wide a scope. Year after year during his presidency Lord Strathcona continued to call attention to the wealth of the nation as provided by the agricultural districts of the northwest and time has proven the wisdom of his judgment in this regard.