One of the foremost of Canada’s great workers is Lord Strathcona,
who, as Donald Smith, was born in Scotland in 1820. He received his
preliminary education in the common schools. He gave up the law, and
became, when he was eighteen, an employee of the Hudson Bay Company on
the bleak coast of Labrador.
Here he remained for thirteen years, becoming one of the company’s most
valued traders. From Labrador he went, in 1851, into the wilderness
of the Northwest, where he rose through the grades of trader, chief
trader, factor and chief factor. In 1869 he reached the top rung of the
ladder in the Hudson Bay Company, receiving the appointment of resident
governor.
He established himself in Montreal, but when the half breeds and
Indians under the leadership of Louis Riel rose in rebellion against
the project of transferring to the Crown the vast tracts of territory
belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, Donald Smith again utilized his
remarkable skill and experience in dealing with these children of
nature. He went to the seat of the trouble at Red River Settlement,
where he was made a prisoner and threatened with death. He obtained his
liberty, and through his strong but adroit attitude toward the rebels
was able to keep them in check until the arrival of troops. As a reward
for this achievement he was elected to the Dominion House of Commons,
and became a zealous supporter of the administration of Sir John
McDonald.
In the early seventies Donald Smith undertook to raise the very
large amount of capital necessary for the new Canadian Pacific
railroad across the continent. On more than one occasion the
enterprise threatened ruin for those connected with it, but Donald
Smith eventually triumphed, and in 1885 the road was completed to
the Pacific. The man who had commenced life as an humble trader had
become by this time a celebrated and very important man in Canada,
and in recognition of his services Queen Victoria bestowed on him
in 1886 the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.
Upon the occasion of the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897, being then Lord
High Commissioner of Canada, Sir Donald was raised to the peerage,
and became Lord Strathcona. In commemoration of the Jubilee he gave
in the same year, jointly with Lord Mount Stephen, the sum of one
million dollars to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, and eight
hundred thousand dollars more to endow the institution, which, through
his generosity, has become one of the best equipped hospitals on the
continent. Lord Strathcona has also given at least a million dollars to
education in Canada, most of the money going to McGill University. He
has also contributed largely to the Royal Victoria Hospital for Women
in Montreal. Lord Strathcona’s philanthropy is made the more notable by
the fact that while he has large means, he does not possess the immense
wealth of some of the American financiers. In addition to his railway
and numerous other interests in Canada, he is president of the Bank of
Montreal, which is one of the largest banking institutions in the world.
At the outbreak of the war between Great Britain and the Boers Lord
Strathcona further increased his usefulness to Canada and the Empire
by the organization of a body of mounted troops called “the Strathcona
Horse.” These men, many of whom were recruited from the Northwest, and
who represented the flower of Canadian horsemanship and valor, went to
South Africa, and greatly distinguished themselves in the service of
the Queen. Their work at the front was not as important, however, as
was their influence in the direction of solidifying the union between
the mother country and the colony.
In spite of the fact that he is now eighty-four years old, Lord
Strathcona is still a restless and energetic spirit. He has residences
in Montreal, Winnipeg, Nova Scotia, Scotland and London, and divides
his time between them. In London he is fond of entertaining the leaders
in political and commercial life. He spends much of his time in Canada,
however, and often makes trips across the continent. In many respects
he is Canada’s most remarkable citizen.