Canada’s Leading Conservative Extols “the Country of the Twentieth
Century.”
THOUGH he lost his fight against Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the
Premiership of Canada in the general election of 1904, Robert Laird
Borden is still one of the Dominion’s important figures.
He is in the prime of life. He has conspicuous ability, remarkable
energy and an indomitable will. What a man with this combination of
qualities sets his mind upon he usually obtains. Mr. Borden freely
acknowledges his ambition to reach the top notch of political success,
and there are a great many Canadians who believe that he will yet be
Premier.
His party, in spite of his defeat, has strong faith in him, and his
opponents, now triumphant, admit that he is formidable—a menace to
their continuing success. They feel that under the scrutiny of Borden,
who is notably quick to detect weak spots in the armor of the enemy,
and to drive home strong thrusts, they must put their best foot front.
Thus, even in defeat, Mr. Borden is a power.
My first impression of him was obtained in Montreal. He was walking
through a hotel rotunda with the long, swift strides that bespeak
much physical energy. His head was bowed and his eyes were knit. He
struck me at the moment as being a personification of determination and
concentration. It was a little later, in his room, that I had my talk
with him. Mr. Borden’s head is large. His brow rises straight up from
heavy brows and eyes which are deep-set and rather small, and twinkle
with shrewdness and good nature. The lower part of his face is heavy,
indicating the strength of will and purpose which have carried him to
the front in Canadian politics.
“I am much interested in success,” he said with a smile. “Indeed, the
air in Canada nowadays is charged with it. We have a feeling that a far
larger part of the success of Canada lies in the future rather than
in the past. While the United States developed more in the nineteenth
century than any other country in the world, we believe that Canada
will show similar industrial advances within the next quarter of a
century. We entertain the idea that ours will prove to be the country
of the twentieth century. It is not yet as widely known as it should
be that we have a somewhat larger area in land than the United States
and that this land is not rendered sterile by the winter reign of the
mythical personage called ‘our lady of the snows,’ but is capable of
remarkable productivity.
“We are looking forward and not backward, and therefore I am not
particularly interested in the unimportant events of long ago; but
if you must know, I will say that I was born in the village of Grand
Pre, in Nova Scotia, in 1854. Some of my ancestors had lived in the
United States. One of them, my great-grandfather, was the law partner
of Pierpont Edwards, in New Haven, Conn. They had one of the largest
practices in that section of the country, but when the Revolutionary
War broke out my forefather remained loyal to King George. He migrated
with his family to Nova Scotia, and there the family has since remained.
“Yes, my village is the one which Longfellow has described in his poem
‘Evangeline’; and yet, taking full advantage of his poetical license,
Longfellow put much in his picture that is purely imaginary. It is,
however, a little community whose inhabitants lead the simple life,
acquire robust physiques, and strong opinions of right and wrong.
“I know of no better environment than one like this for the passing
of the days of early youth. The impressions stamped on the mind of
a boy by such people and surroundings never forsake him. However
different from the simple beliefs of these villagers his standpoint may
eventually become, these first teachings remain what might be called
the oak rafters of his philosophy.
“I feel that not a little of whatever I have achieved is due to
the fact that the years of my boyhood and youth were spent in an
environment of simplicity. I was an industrious student, and when I
was about fourteen I was made a teacher in the Acadia Villa Academy
in my native country. It was in this school that I had obtained my
preliminary education, and I presume I did right in returning to the
institution as teacher the modicum of knowledge I had acquired. When
I was still in my teens I went to the United States and became an
instructor in Glenwood Institute in New Jersey. This proved to be
excellent training for me. I think that an experience of this kind is
one of the best things in the world for a young man, for the reason
that the necessity in it to command others teaches him the more easily
to command himself. It increases his dignity, self-reliance and
self-respect.
“I decided, however, that I did not care to make teaching my life work,
and so I returned to Nova Scotia in 1874 and began the study of law in
the offices in Halifax of the firm of Weatherby & Graham. In 1878 I was
called to the bar and a few months afterwards was offered a partnership
by J. P. Chapman, of Kentville, now a county court judge.
“Together we worked up quite a large practice, but owing to certain
circumstances I entered the firm of Thompson, Graham & Tupper. It
was not long afterward that the senior member of the firm, Sir John
Thompson, became judge of the Supreme Court, and in the course of time
Sir Charles Tupper, one of the other members, was called to the cabinet
of Sir John A. McDonald. Subsequently Mr. Graham, the third member of
the firm, became Judge in Equity for the Province of Quebec.
“I believe that a large part of anything I have achieved has been due
to the fact that I was associated with able men during the impressible
period of young manhood. While I did not realize it at that time, I
have often thought since that one of the most fortunate circumstances
in my life was my close contact with these men. By this means I not
only absorbed a greater knowledge of the law than otherwise would have
been the case, but also became imbued with certain principles that I
have always retained.
“The calling of these gentlemen to high places under the Government
left me to the position of senior partner, and the firm name eventually
became Borden, Ritchie, Parker & Chisholm. We did a large business,
and on the strength of this I was elected and held for several years
the position of president of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society. It
was in 1896 that I first entered politics, representing Halifax as the
Conservative party’s candidate for the Dominion Parliament.”
“To what in particular, Mr. Borden,” I inquired, “do you attribute the
fact that you speedily arose to leadership of your party in Parliament?”
Mr. Borden pondered a moment, and then said:
“I can hardly answer that question, but I will say that perhaps the
influence I have been able to gain in Parliament has been due to the
fact that I have had very strong convictions on all public questions,
and have let slip few opportunities to express them. I am usually able
to maintain the positions I take in argument, for the reason that I am
always careful to fortify myself with facts and with as extensive a
general knowledge of the subject as possible before going into a debate
or going before the House on any particular issue.
“I believe I have the reputation of being a hard worker. However
this may be, I will say that I have always made it a rule to give
painstaking attention to seemingly unimportant details in my legal
cases, and have frequently won them on this account. This habit,
acquired in my youth, of looking after small matters, has made it much
easier for me to take care of the large affairs of my clients and of my
party since I have entered politics. I know of no surer road to both
general and political success than the obvious highway of hard work,
coupled, of course, with common sense.
“While the law is the profession which most naturally leads the young
man into the political arena, I always like to see the farmer in
politics, for the reason that the latter usually has a certain strong
simplicity and a degree of sense that often discounts and renders
weak in comparison the learning and polish of the professional man.
The farmers will be the dominating class in the development of the
Northwest, and I hope to see more and more of them in politics.”
In his contact with his fellow-men Mr. Borden’s manner is marked by a
quiet dignity and cordiality that has won him many friends. While he
has numerous political enemies, there are few men in the Dominion who
are as popular personally. Mr. Borden likes to meet and exchange views
with the average citizen. A little story is told of him in his recent
campaign which is characteristic. It seems that he was on a night
journey on a train and could not sleep. A like wakefulness afflicted
a young man in the same car, and at midnight they found themselves
together in the smoking compartment. Talk began at once, and throughout
the dragging hours these two discussed the great questions of the
day. The young man, who had just returned from the States, did not
recognize his companion, and the next morning in Montreal he remarked
to his friends upon his very interesting fellow-traveler of the night
before. He said that they had chiefly talked politics and that his
acquaintance had been so convincing that he had been won over to the
Conservative party. He described his fellow-passenger, and very much to
his astonishment was informed that the latter was Mr. Borden himself.