| Show THE CANADIAN PREMIER ALL that is mortal of the famous canadian statesman sir john macdonald was today consigned to the cold and silent tomb for forty years yean he be has baa been one of the most striking characters of british america andin a certain sense of the whole north american continent his political iAl career is essentially the history of canada speaking of it as ap a colony or country one of his greatest achievements was that of 1867 when the scattered independent and in some cases hostile provinces province were federated into one great commonwealth to him also must be attributed the credit of successfully cess com fully accomplishing the junction of the atlantic with the pacific by the canadian pacific railroad sir john alexander macdonald was born in 1815 according to some authorities in glascow scotland according to others in canada he was educated at the royal grammar school kingston and admitted to the bar in 1885 during his bis even in his young manhood he inclined to liberal views and was not averse to annexation he first came into public notice by his defense of a freebooter named schultz who with a party of men undertook to revolutionize canada the man was hanged but young macdonald odonald Ma established a reputation for oratory and ability as a pleader among the foremost at the canadian bar he went to parliament from kingston in 1844 1944 as a conservative ever since be has been one of the most active and aggressive gladiators in the political arena of canada whether he can be classed as a statesman in the true acceptation of the term to is open to debate but as far as expediency in statecraft is cono concerned ernd he was certainly y a master to his fertility of resource was added a sagacity and shrewdness of mind that made him almost at once a political prophet and general his main object always seemed to be to keep in power and because of this he was viewed more us as a party politician that as a political philosopher now that he to is removed from the arena his actions may be critically analyzed his federation scheme was something more than party work and to him is universally attributed its accomplishment for purposes of national government he joined the most heterogeneous race elements though he did not weld them or fuse them in the ethnological sense he put down an insurrection in the northwest hanged the leader and yet held his popularity with french canadians he handled handled the controversy relating to the jesuits jesuit estate with such skill and diplomacy that he had bad their property restored to them and yet retained his orange and conservative serva tive following when the excited condition of religious feeling in canada to is considered a similar course would have wrecked any statesman who followed it in britain or in america but the man who accomplished it in fact he made th athla in very case contribute to his f fame a me an and d popularity his national policy as regards th the 1 e united states might be said to commence in 1878 when on its wings he sailed into office this policy he has upheld ever since and was the uncompromising foe of annexation and even of reciprocity in trade although at one time when he found the sentiment for reciprocity was too strong to be put down he took it up but he did it in such a way that he placed his opponents in a false position without compromising himself his successor will have to be a man as phenomenal in politics as was sir john A statesman pure and simple will not do the provincial legislatures are largely liberal yet abre is the anam olous condition of a conservative government in power would sir charles charier tupper sir john thompson or sir hector longevin succeed at the rudder of a ministry as did sir john thatis very doubtful the questions on which macdonald odonald Ma made political capital are am those on which either of the gentlemen mentioned would make a dismal failure sir john was a man of small stature his height was five feet foot seven inches and weight about pounds in facial appearance he closely resembled disraeli and in his political methods some persons also trace a resemblance canada will find it difficult to fill his place and unless a man of resource originality and ana ability to is found for the post it will not be all smooth sailing for conservatives in canada |
