of this sketch was called to the Bar of Lower Canada, and immediately
afterwards entered into partnership with his cousin, the eminent jurist
already mentioned, at Quebec. He attained high rank in his profession,
and subsequently formed partnerships with M.M. William Duval and Jean
Blanchet. He entered political life in 1861, when he was elected to a
seat in the Legislative Assembly for his native county of Beauce. He
continued to represent that constituency until Confederation, when, at
the general election of 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the
House of Commons. During the same year he was appointed a Queen's
Counsel. The following year he was appointed Clerk of the Peace for the
District of Quebec, but resigned that office after holding it only three
days. For some time afterwards he confined his attention to professional
pursuits. On the 12th of January, 1871, he was appointed a Puisné Judge
of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, and held that position
until his forty-second birthday--the 7th of October, 1878--when he was
elevated to his present position--that of a Puisné Judge of the Supreme
Court of the Dominion.
He is the author of several important legal works, the most noteworthy
of which is "The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts of 1869,
32, 33 Vic., for the Dominion of Canada, as amended and in force on the
1st November, 1874, in the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Manitoba, and on 1st June, 1875, in British Columbia;
with Notes, Commentaries, Precedents of Indictments, &c., &c." This
work extends to two volumes, the first of which, containing 796 pages,
was published at Montreal in 1874. The second volume, containing 556
pages, was published at Toronto in 1875. Both volumes display much
erudition, and have been highly commended by competent legal
authorities; among others by Mr. C. S. Greaves, an English Queen's
Counsel, who is one of the most eminent living writers on Criminal
Jurisprudence. In 1876 Judge Taschereau published "Le Code de Procédure
Civile du Bas Canada, with Annotations," which has also received high
commendation from legal critics.
On the 27th of May, 1857, he married Marie Antoinette Harwood, a
daughter of the Hon. R. U. Harwood, a member of the Legislative Council,
and Seigneur of Vaudreuil, near Montreal, by whom he has a family of
five children. Judge Taschereau resides at Ottawa, and is joint
proprietor of the Seigniory of Ste. Marie de la Beauce, which was
conceded to his great-grandfather in the year 1726.
[Illustration: ALFRED GILPIN JONES, signed as A. G. JONES]
THE HON. ALFRED GILPIN JONES.
Mr. Jones, the leader of the Reform Party in the Province of Nova
Scotia, and one of the most prominent citizens and merchants of Halifax,
is descended from an English family, the head of which emigrated from
England to Massachusetts during the early years of the history of that
colony, and settled in Boston. The family resided in New England until
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, when they espoused the royalist
side in the quarrel, and endured their full share of the persecutions of
that memorable period. Stephen Jones, the grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, was a graduate of Harvard College, who accepted a
commission in the King's American Dragoons, and fought in the royal
cause until the proclamation of peace. He then, like many scores of his
compatriots, gathered together what property he could save out of the
wreck, and removed, with his family, to Nova Scotia, where he
thenceforward resided until his death, which took place in 1830. His
son, the father of the subject of this memoir, was named Guy Carleton
Jones, in honour of Lord Dorchester. He was a man of influence and good
social position in the county of Digby, where he held the office of
Registrar of Deeds.
Alfred Gilpin Jones was born at Weymouth, in the county of Digby, Nova
Scotia, in 1824. He received his education at Yarmouth Academy, and
after leaving school embarked in commercial life in Halifax, where, in
course of time, he became a member of the firm of Messrs. Thomas Kinnear
& Sons, West India commission merchants. He subsequently founded the
firm of Messrs. A. G. Jones & Co.--engaged in the same trade--of which
he has long been the senior partner. His commercial ventures were
prosperous, and he became, and now is, one of the most extensive
ship-owners in the Maritime Provinces. He was known as a man of energy
and public spirit, and took a keen interest in all the political
questions which agitated the country for some years prior to the
formation of the Dominion. Like many of his compatriots, he was a
strenuous opponent of the Confederation scheme, and spoke and wrote
against it with much vigour. He regarded the terms upon which Nova
Scotia was admitted into the Union as financially disadvantageous to
that Province; and he disapproved of the plan adopted by the Tupper
Administration to impose those terms upon the people. When Confederation
finally became an accomplished fact, and when further opposition could
be productive of no practical result, he acquiesced in the new order of
things, and gave a loyal support to all measures for advancing the
interests of the new nationality.
He soon afterwards entered public life, for which he has since proved
himself to be in many respects well fitted. At the first general
election after the Union, in 1867, he offered himself as a candidate
for the representation of the city and county of Halifax in the House of
Commons. He was subjected to a well-organized and powerful opposition,
but he was returned at the head of the poll, and continued to represent
the constituency until the general election of 1872. On first taking his
seat he identified himself with the minority led by Messrs. Mackenzie,
Holton, Blake, and Dorion, his commercial experience and independent
character securing for him at once a recognized position in the House of
Commons. He continued to support the Liberal policy there as long as he
remained in Parliament. At the general election of 1872 he was again a
candidate for the representation of Halifax, but on this occasion he was
unsuccessful, and he remained out of Parliament until the general
election of 1874, by which time Mr. Mackenzie's Government had come into
power. At that election no serious attempt at opposition was offered to
his return. His claims as a member of the new House to a seat in the
Privy Council were considered incontestable, but he declined all
invitations to exchange his position as a private member of the House
for the charge of a Department, although frequently solicited to do so.
In the session of 1876 the seats of several members were attacked for
alleged violations of the Independence of Parliament Act. Among the
members whose seats were assailed were Mr. Jones and his relative the
Hon. William Berrian Vail, the representative of the county of Digby in
the House of Commons, who held the portfolio of Minister of Militia and
Defence in the Government of the day. These gentlemen had, in the
interest of their Party, taken shares in a Halifax newspaper and
printing establishment, which had obtained a certain amount of
advertising and printing from the Government. Neither Mr. Jones nor Mr.
Vail had ever derived, or expected to derive, any pecuniary profit from
their connection therewith, but the decisions of the Select Standing
Committee on Privileges and Elections in other cases led to the
conclusion that they must also be held to be disqualified, and,
therefore, subject to the heavy penalties imposed by the statute in that
behalf if they ventured to sit and vote in the House of Commons. They
both accordingly resigned their seats and appealed to their constituents
for reëlection. Mr. Vail was defeated in Digby by Mr. John Chipman Wade,
the Conservative candidate, and at once tendered his resignation as a
member of the Government. Mr. Jones, whose election was still pending,
was prevailed upon to accept the vacant portfolio. He was sworn in
before Sir William O'Grady Haly, as Administrator of the Government of
Canada, at Halifax, on the 23rd of January, 1878. This event stimulated
the opposition to his return which had already been inaugurated by his
political opponents. Mr. Matthew H. Richey, the Mayor of Halifax, a very
popular citizen, was brought out in opposition to him. The conflict was
short, but most exciting, and resulted in Mr. Jones's election by a
majority of 208 votes, six days after his acceptance of office. He at
once entered upon his official duties, and displayed in his new sphere
of action a great capacity for an efficient administration of the public
service. He exhibited a very ready grasp of departmental details, and a
familiarity with Militia organization highly useful and important in
connection with his relations to that branch of the public service.
During the progress of the session he engaged in several active passages
of arms with Dr.--now Sir Charles--Tupper, who made somewhat telling
references to a speech made by Mr. Jones at a meeting in Halifax just
prior to Confederation, and during a period of great political
excitement. This speech afforded Dr. Tupper an opportunity for impugning
the loyalty of the new Minister of Militia, of which the former did not
neglect to avail himself very early in the session. The reply of Mr.
Jones was vigorous, eloquent, and aggressive, and although the subject
was more than once revived at later stages of the discussions it was
felt that Mr. Jones had fully held his own in the wordy warfare. The
latter remained in Mr. Mackenzie's Government as Minister of Militia and
Defence so long as that Government remained in power, and was looked
upon as one of its shrewdest and most capable members. At the general
election held on the 17th of September, 1878, he shared the fate of many
other members of the Party to which he belongs. He was opposed by his
former antagonist, Mr. Matthew H. Richey, who was returned by a
considerable majority. He did not present himself to any other
constituency, and has since remained out of Parliament, though he
continues to take an active part in the direction of the Reform Policy
in Nova Scotia, and will doubtless be heard from at future election
contests.
Mr. Jones is a Governor of the Halifax Protestant Orphans' Home. He is
also a Governor of Dalhousie College; a Director of the Nova Scotia
Marine Insurance Company, and of the Acadia Fire Insurance Company. He
was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st "Halifax" Brigade of Garrison
Artillery for several years. He has been twice married; first, in 1850,
to Miss Margaret Wiseman, daughter of the Hon. W. J. Stairs, who died in
February, 1875; and secondly, in 1877, to Miss Emma Albro, daughter of
Mr. Edward Albro, of Halifax.
THE HON. JOHN NORQUAY,
_PREMIER OF THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA._
Mr. Norquay is a native of the Red River country, and has taken a
conspicuous part in public affairs ever since the admission of the
Province of Manitoba into the Confederation in 1870. He was born a few
miles from Fort Garry, on the 8th of May, 1841. His father, the late Mr.
John Norquay, whose namesake he is, was a farmer, and a man of some
influence in the colony. The future Premier followed in his father's
footsteps, and has devoted the greater part of his life to farming
pursuits, although public affairs have for some years past engrossed
much of his time. He received his education at St. John's Academy, under
the tutelage of Bishop Anderson, and took a scholarship there in 1854.
In June, 1862, he married Miss Elizabeth Setter, the second daughter of
Mr. George Setter Jr., a native of Red River. He entered public life
immediately after the admission of Manitoba to the Union, having been
returned at the general election of 1870 as the representative of the
constituency of High Bluff in the Local Legislature. He continued to sit
for that constituency until the general election of 1874, when he was
returned for St. Andrew's, and he has ever since represented that
constituency in the Local House, having been reëlected by a large
majority in 1878, and having been returned by acclamation at the last
general election for the Province held on the 16th of December, 1879.
Upon the formation of the first Local Government in Manitoba, on the
28th of January, 1871, under the Premiership of the late Hon. James
McKay, Mr. Norquay accepted the portfolio of Minister of Public Works,
to which was subsequently added that of Minister of Agriculture. He held
office until the 8th of July, 1874, when he resigned, with the rest of
his colleagues. Upon the formation of the new Ministry on the 2nd of
December in the same year, under the Hon. R. A. Davis, Mr. Norquay
accepted a seat in it without portfolio. When Mr. Royal resigned the
office of Minister of Public Works, and became Attorney-General of the
Province, in May, 1876, Mr. Norquay succeeded to the vacant portfolio,
and retained it until October, 1878. During the month last named, Mr.
Davis, the Premier, retired from public life, and thereby rendered
necessary a reconstruction of the Government. Mr. Norquay was called
upon to carry out this reconstruction, which, in conjunction with Mr.
Royal, he successfully accomplished, he himself becoming Premier and
Provincial Treasurer. During his tenure of office as Minister of Public
Works, in 1878, he visited Ottawa while the Dominion Parliament was in
session, on business connected with the educational interests of his
native Province, and for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of
certain accounts between the Government of Manitoba and the Governor
and Council of the District of Keewatin.
The Government formed, as above mentioned, in October, 1878, remained
intact until the month of May, 1879, when a difference of opinion arose
between Messrs. Norquay and Royal. The latter, who held the office of
Minister of Public Works, and Mr. Delorme, who was Minister of
Agriculture, both resigned their portfolios, and thus left the
Government with only three members. Overtures were made to several
French members of the House to accept the portfolios thus rendered
vacant, but these overtures were not successful. Mr. Norquay then
addressed a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Cauchon, in which he
requested that his Government might be permitted to retain office, and
that the public business might be proceeded with. It was further
requested that the filling of the vacant offices might be deferred until
after the close of the session. To this application the
Lieutenant-Governor declined to accede, upon the ground that his
compliance would be contrary to the spirit and meaning of the
Constitution, more especially as some of the proposed legislation of the
session was very important, and had not been foreshadowed to the people
at the previous elections. The two vacant offices were accordingly
filled by English members, and a round-robin was signed by all the
English members of the House in which the latter pledged themselves to
support a new line of policy announced by the Government. The session
proceeded; and a Bill was passed redistributing the seats. The House was
dissolved in the following October, and on the 16th of December a
general election was held in the Province. Mr. Norquay was returned by
acclamation by his constituents in St. Andrews, and all the other
members of the Government were elected except Mr. Taylor, one of the new
accessions, who was defeated. His portfolio--that of Minister of
Agriculture--was accordingly offered to the Hon. Maxime Goulet, member
for La Vérandrye, who accepted office, and returned to his constituents
for reëlection, when he was returned by acclamation Mr. Norquay's
Government, being fully sustained, has ever since remained in power. The
lines of party in Manitoba are by no means analogous to those in the
other Provinces, but they are rapidly assimilating, and practically
speaking Mr. Norquay's Government may be said to be a Conservative one.
At the general election for 1872 Mr. Norquay was an unsuccessful
candidate for the representation of Marquette in the House of Commons.
He has not since attempted to obtain a seat in that House, but has
confined his attention solely to Provincial affairs. He is a member of
the Board of Health, and also of the Board of Education for Manitoba. He
is a man of much natural intelligence, and enjoys a large measure of
public confidence and respect. Though not an orator, he is a ready
speaker, both on the platform and in the House, and has hitherto proved
fully equal to the requirements of his position.
THE HON. SIR RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT.
Readers of this work have already made the acquaintance of the
Cartwright family in the sketch of the life of the late Bishop Strachan.
The Hon. Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was a United Empire Loyalist of English descent, who, soon after
the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, emigrated, with his family,
from the Province of New York to the wilderness of what soon afterwards
became Upper Canada. He acted for some time as secretary to Colonel
Butler, of the Queen's Rangers, and after the close of the war settled
at Kingston, where he became a man of mark and influence. He was
possessed of considerable acquirements and mental capacity. Soon after
the division of the Provinces, in 1791, he was appointed to the
important office of a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of
which position he discharged, without any remuneration, for some years,
and in a manner alike honourable to himself and beneficial to the
public. Upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in the Province
he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council, and was
thenceforward most assiduous in his attendance to his Parliamentary
duties. He was also a Colonel of militia, and took an active part in the
promotion of all matters for the advancement of the public interests.
His services to the cause of education have already been touched upon in
the sketch of the life of Bishop Strachan. He died in 1815. His son, the
father of Sir Richard, was the Rev. R. D. Cartwright, who was at one
time Chaplain to the Forces at Kingston. The latter married Miss
Harriett Dobbs, by whom he had four children, the eldest of which is the
immediate subject of this sketch.
Richard John Cartwright was born at Kingston, Upper Canada, on the 4th
of December, 1835. He was educated, first at Kingston, and afterwards at
Trinity College, Dublin. He was brought up to business habits, and has
been connected with various important financial enterprises. He was a
Director, and afterwards President, of the Commercial Bank of Canada;
and was also a Director of the Canada Life Assurance Company. He
displayed great aptitude in dealing with financial matters, on which he
was, and is, regarded as one of the highest authorities in this country.
He also interested himself in matters connected with the militia, and in
1864 published at Kingston, a pamphlet of 46 pages, entitled "Remarks on
the Militia of Canada." In the month of August, 1859, he married Miss
Frances Alexander, eldest daughter of Colonel Alexander Lawe, of
Cheltenham, England, by whom he has a numerous family.
From his earliest youth he took a keen interest in the political
questions before the country, and was a man of great influence on the
Conservative side, to which he was attached by training and early
association. His entry into Parliamentary life dates from the year
1863, when he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly for the
united counties of Lennox and Addington. He took his seat as an
Independent Conservative, and for some years rendered a loyal support to
his leader, the present Sir John A. Macdonald. Throughout the various
coalitions formed for the purpose of carrying out the scheme of
Confederation, no grave differences of opinion seem to have arisen
between Mr. Cartwright and those with whom he acted. Upon the
accomplishment of Confederation Lennox and Addington became separate
constituencies, and at the first general election held under the new
order of things, in 1867, Mr. Cartwright was returned to the House of
Commons as the representative of the county of Lennox. It soon
afterwards began to be whispered that he was not thoroughly in accord
with the Party with which he had always acted, with reference to some
important public questions. Soon after the opening of the session of
1870 the whispers received confirmation from Mr. Cartwright's own lips,
as he formally notified the leader of the Government that while he had
no intention of offering a factious opposition, his support could no
longer be counted upon. On the introduction by Sir Francis Hincks, who
had recently accepted the office of Minister of Finance, of his banking
scheme, Mr. Cartwright gave it his most determined opposition, as
tending in his opinion to undermine the security of the banking
institutions of the country. During the same session he supported Mr.
Dorion's motion deprecating the increase of the public expenditure, and
in 1871 he seconded Sir A. T. Galt's more emphatic declaration to the
same effect. His vote was also recorded in successive divisions against
the terms of union with British Columbia, and in 1872 he supported the
Opposition leaders in their efforts to amend the objectionable
provisions of the Bill providing for the construction of the Canadian
Pacific Railway. The rupture between him and the Government Party was by
this time complete; and it is no slight tribute to the estimation in
which he was held by his constituents that he was able to carry them
with him in his secession. At the general election of 1872 he was
opposed by the Hon. J. Stevenson, the Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly of Ontario under the Sandfield Macdonald _regime_, but defeated
that gentleman by a majority of 711. During the following session Mr.
Cartwright acted uniformly with the Opposition, and towards its close he
delivered a powerful speech on the assumption by the Dominion of the
debt of Ontario and Quebec, in the course of which he reviewed the whole
financial policy of the Government, and criticized it in severe
language.
[Illustration: RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT, signed as R. J. CARTWRIGHT]
Upon the formation of Mr. Mackenzie's Reform Government in November,
1873, after the Pacific Scandal disclosures, and the consequent downfall
of Sir John Macdonald's Government, Mr. Cartwright accepted office as
Minister of Finance, and was sworn of the Privy Council. His acceptance
of office of course compelled him to return to his constituents for
reëlection. He had to encounter a very bitter opposition, but succeeded
in carrying his election by a larger majority than he had ever had
before. At the general election held in the following year he was
returned by acclamation.
At the time of his accession to office as Finance Minister the condition
of the exchequer was such as to require a readjustment of the tariff,
with a view to additional customs duties. Such a task is not a grateful
one for a Minister to undertake, and Mr. Cartwright necessarily came in
for a due share of hostile criticism from the supporters of the recently
deposed Government. In 1874, 1875 and 1876 he visited England on
business connected with the Finances of the Dominion. During the
session of 1878 he introduced and successfully carried through the House
an important measure respecting the auditing of the Public Accounts.
This measure, which was modelled on an English Act, provides for the
appointment of an Auditor-General, removable, not at pleasure, but on an
address by both Houses of Parliament. Its object was to make the
Auditor-General thoroughly independent, and thereby to inspire the
public with entire confidence in the public accounts. The Bill also
provides for the appointment of a Deputy Minister of Finance.