Part 29

The life of the Minister of Inland Revenue has been rather uneventful. His father, the late Mr. James Aikins, emigrated from the county of Monaghan, Ireland, to Philadelphia, in 1816. After a residence of four years in the Quaker City he removed to Upper Canada, and took up a quantity of land in the first concession north of the Dundas Road, in the township of Toronto, about thirteen miles from the town of York. This was sixty years ago, when that township, like nearly every other township in the Province, was sparsely settled. There was no church or place of worship in the neighbourhood, and the itinerant Methodist preachers were for some years the only exponents of the Gospel that were seen there. Mr. Aikins, like most Protestants in the north of Ireland, had been bred to the Presbyterian faith, but soon after settling in Upper Canada he came under the influence of these evangelists, and embraced the doctrines of Methodism. His house became a well-known place of resort for the godly people of the settlement, and services were frequently held there.

The subject of this sketch is the eldest son of the gentleman above named, and was born at the family homestead, in the township of Toronto, on the 30th of March, 1823. He was brought up on his father's farm, and was early inured to the hardships of rural life in Canada in those primitive times. He united with the Methodist Body at an early age, and has ever since been identified with it. He attended the public schools in the neighbourhood of his home, and afterwards spent some time at the Upper Canada Academy at Cobourg, which subsequently developed into Victoria College and University. At the first collegiate examination, which was held on the 17th of April, 1843, he figured as one of the "Merit Students." After completing his education he settled down on a farm in the county of Peel, a few miles from the paternal homestead, and there remained until about eleven years ago, when he removed to Toronto, where he has ever since resided. In 1845, soon after leaving college, he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Jane Somerset, the daughter of a neighbouring yeoman in Peel. He embraced the Reform side in politics, and was for many years identified with the Reform Party. His life was unmarked by any incident of public interest until 1851, when he was nominated as the representative of his native constituency in the Assembly. Not feeling prepared for public life at this period he declined the nomination; but at the general elections held in 1854 he offered himself as a candidate on the Reform side in opposition to the sitting member, Mr. George Wright, of Brampton. His candidature was successful, and he was elected to the Assembly. Upon taking his seat he recorded his first vote against the Hincks-Morin Administration, and thus participated in bringing about the downfall of that Ministry. He took no conspicuous part in the debates of the House, but for some years continued to act steadily with the Party to which he had allied himself. He voted for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, and his voice was occasionally heard in support of measures relating to public improvements. He continued to sit for Peel until the general election of 1861, when, owing to his action on the County Town question, which excited keen sectional opposition, he was defeated by the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron. The following year he was elected a member of the Legislative Council for the "Home" Division, comprising the counties of Peel and Halton. His majority in the county of Peel alone, where he had sustained defeat only a few months before, was over 300. He continued to sit in the Council so long as that Body had an existence. When it was swept away by Confederation he was called to the Senate of the Dominion, of which he still continues to be a member. His political views, it is to be presumed, had meanwhile undergone some modification, as he accepted office, on the 9th of December, 1867, as Secretary of State in the Government of Sir John Macdonald, and has ever since been a follower of that statesman. During his tenure of office the Dominion Lands Bureau was established, for the purpose of managing the lands acquired in the North West, chiefly from the Hudson's Bay Company. The scope of the Bureau has since been extended, and it has become an independent Department of State under the control of the Minister of the Interior. The Public Lands Act of 1872 is another measure which dates from Mr. Aikins's term of office, the measure itself having been in great part prepared by Colonel John Stoughton Dennis, Surveyor-General. The disclosures with reference to the sale of the Pacific Railway Charter resulted, in November, 1873, in the overthrow of the Government. Mr. Aikins participated in its downfall, and resigned office with his colleagues. Upon Sir John Macdonald's return to power in October, 1878, Mr. Aikins again accepted office as Secretary of State, and retained that position until the month of November, 1880, when there was a readjustment of portfolios, and he became Minister of Inland Revenue, which office he now holds. Though he is not an effective speaker, and makes no pretence to being either brilliant or showy, he has a cool judgment, and has administered the affairs of his several departments with efficiency. He is attentive to his duties, is shrewd in selecting his counsellors and assistants, and has considerable aptitude for dealing with matters of detail. These qualities, rather than any profound statesmanship, have placed him in his present high position.

During his residence in the township of Toronto Mr. Aikins held various municipal offices, and is still Major of the Third Battalion of the Peel Militia. He is President of the Manitoba and North West Loan Company, and Vice-President of the National Investment Company. He likewise holds important positions of trust in connection with the Methodist Church.

THE HON. FELIX GEOFFRION, N.P., P.C.

Mr. Geoffrion is the son of Felix Geoffrion. His mother was the late Catherine Brodeur. He was born at Varennes, Province of Quebec, on the 4th of October, 1832. From 1854 to 1863 he was Registrar for Verchères. In the latter year he was elected member of the House of Assembly for that county--a position which he continued to hold until the Confederation of the Provinces in 1867, from which date he has been returned to the House of Commons regularly at every general election. He has held the Presidency of the Montreal, Chambly and Sorel Railway, conducting the duties of his office with more than average executive ability. In 1874 he did signal service to the country by moving, from his place in Parliament, for a Select Committee to inquire into the causes of the difficulties existing in the North-West Territories in 1869-70. He became Chairman of this important Committee, and prepared the report which was afterwards submitted to Parliament--a report which was remarkable for the clear and concise character of its statements, and for its fulness of detail. In politics Mr. Geoffrion is a Liberal, and the warm and active support which he gave to the late Administration induced Mr. Mackenzie to offer him the portfolio of Minister of Inland Revenue, on the elevation of the Hon. Mr. Fournier to the Department of Justice. On the 8th of July, 1874, he was sworn of the Privy Council of Canada, and on returning to his constituents after accepting office he was reëlected by acclamation. Though by no means showy, his administration of affairs was characterized by executive ability of a high order, as well as by much tact and judgment. He brought to bear on the duties of his office well-trained business habits, a cautious reserve, and a talent which almost amounted to genius in departmental government. In 1876 he became seriously ill, and for a while his life was despaired of. He rallied, however, and was convalescing when his physicians advised rest and freedom from the cares and perplexities of office. He was compelled, therefore, to resign his seat in the Ministry, much to the regret of his colleagues, who were warmly attached to him. His resignation took place in December, 1876, and he was succeeded by Mr. Laflamme. He retained his place in Parliament, however, and at the general election in September, 1878, he was again returned for his old constituency, which he has continued to represent uninterruptedly for a period embracing more than seventeen years. Mr. Geoffrion has all the elements of the practical politician, and is by profession a Notary Public in large and lucrative practice.

In October, 1856, he married Miss Almaide Dansereau, of Verchères, the youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Dansereau.

THE HON. JOHN YOUNG.

The late Mr. Young was in every sense of the word a representative man. He was representative of the best and most solid side of the Scottish character, and furnished in his own person a standing answer to the question which has so often been asked--"Why do Scotchmen succeed so well in life?" He succeeded because he was steady, sober, of good abilities, hard-headed, patient, and persevering; and because he did not set up for himself an impossible ideal. Any man similarly equipped for the race of life will be tolerably certain to achieve success; and it is because these characteristics are more commonly found combined among Scotchmen than among the natives of other lands that Scotchmen are more generally successful. John Young began life at the foot of the ladder. He was content to advance step by step, and made no attempt to spring from the lowest to the topmost rung at a single bound. He was content to work for all he won, and his winnings were not greater than his deserts. He left a very decided impress upon the commercial life of his time in his adopted country, and will long be remembered as a useful and public-spirited man. In the industrial history of Montreal he played an important part for forty years, and to him more than to any one else she owes whatever of mercantile preëminence she possesses. His restless enterprise impelled him to conceive large schemes, to the carrying out of which he devoted the best years of his busy life. He would have been no true son of Scotland if he had been altogether unmindful of his own interests, but it may be truly said of him that his own aggrandizement was always subordinated to the public welfare. In the face of strong opposition, he advocated projects which were much better calculated to benefit the public than either to advance his own interests or to conduce to his personal popularity. He was no greedy self-seeker, and despised the avenues whereby many of his contemporaries advanced to wealth and position. There was a "dourness" about his character which would not permit him to bid for popularity. He was independent, self-reliant, and fond of having his own way, as men who have successfully carved their own path in life may be expected to be; but he was always ready to prove that his own way was the right one, and generally succeeded in doing so. He was a theorist, and some of his theories were the result of his own intuition, rather than of any mental training. They were held none the less firmly on that account. People may differ in opinion as to the soundness of some of his views on trade questions, but no one will dispute that his advocacy of them was sincere and disinterested, and that in economical matters he was in many respects in advance of his time. He has left behind him an honourable name, and monuments to his memory are to be found in some of the most stupendous of our public works.

He was born at the seaport town of Ayr, in Scotland, on the 11th of March, 1811. Hugh Allan, who was also destined to be prominently identified with the commerce of Montreal, had been born about six months previously, at Saltcoats, a few miles to the northward, and in the same shire. The parents of John Young were in the humble walks of life, and he was early taught to recognize the fact that it would be necessary for him to make his own way in the world. He was educated at the public school of his native parish, which he attended until he had entered upon his fourteenth year. He was at this time much more mature, both physically and mentally, than most boys of his age, and succeeded, notwithstanding his youth, in obtaining a situation as teacher of the parish school at Coylton, a little village about four miles west of Ayr. Here, for a period of eighteen months, he instructed thirty-five pupils. It would have been safe to predict that a boy of fourteen who could preserve discipline over such a number of scholars, many of whom must have been nearly or quite as old as himself, might safely be trusted to make his way in life. He saved enough money to pay his passage across the Atlantic, and in 1826, soon after completing his fifteenth year, he bade adieu to the associations of his boyhood, and set sail for Canada. He had not been many days in the country ere he obtained a situation in a grocery store, kept by a Mr. Macleod, at Kingston, in the Upper Province. He served his apprenticeship to the grocery business, and then entered the employ of Messrs. John Torrance & Co., wholesale merchants, of Montreal. After remaining as a clerk in this establishment for several years, he, in 1835, formed a partnership with Mr. David Torrance, a son of the senior partner in the firm of John Torrance & Co., and took charge of the Quebec branch of the business, which was carried on under the style of Torrance & Young. He remained in business in Quebec about five years, during the last three of which he carried on business alone, the firm of Torrance & Young having been dissolved in 1837.

In the autumn of 1837, we find him tendering his services to the Government as a volunteer, to aid in the putting down of the rebellion. It appears that he had previously been one of the signatories to a memorial presented to the Earl of Gosford, the Governor-General, pointing out the advisability of adopting some efficient means of defence against the treasonable operations of Mr. Papineau and his adherents. He was enrolled as a Captain in the Quebec Light Infantry on the 27th of November, and did duty with his company during the ensuing winter in keeping night-guard on the citadel. This is the only noteworthy public incident connected with his residence in Quebec. In 1840 he returned to Montreal, and entered into partnership in a wholesale mercantile business with Mr. Harrison Stephens, under the style of Stephens, Young & Co. The business was largely devoted to the Western trade, and Mr. Young thus had his attention prominently directed to the subject of inland navigation. His observations on this and kindred subjects were destined, as will presently be seen, to have important results. His interest, however, was not confined to economic questions. He watched the progress of events with a keen eye, and soon began to be recognized by the citizens of Montreal as an enterprising and public-spirited man. He first came conspicuously before the public of Montreal towards the close of the year 1841. The birth of the Prince of Wales on the 9th of November had given rise to a gushing loyalty on the part of the inhabitants, and a large sum of money was raised to commemorate the event by a costly banquet. Mr. Young's loyalty was undoubted, but his patriotism took a practical and philanthropical shape. At a largely attended public meeting he opposed the expenditure of a large sum in providing a feast which would leave no beneficial traces behind it. He advocated the application of the fund to the purchase of a tract of three hundred acres of land in the neighbourhood of the city, and to the erection thereon of an asylum for the poor. His motion to this effect was carried by a considerable majority, but it was subsequently rescinded, and the money was spent as had first been proposed. It may be mentioned in this connection that when the Prince of Wales visited Montreal nearly nineteen years afterwards, Mr. Young was Chairman of the Reception Committee.

In politics, as well as in commercial matters, Mr. Young entertained liberal views. At the general election of 1844 he was appointed Returning Officer, a position which was far from being a sinecure. The memorable struggle between Sir Charles Metcalfe and his late ministers was then at its height, and was maintained with relentless bitterness on both sides. Party spirit all over the country was of the most pronounced character, and in Montreal it had reached a point bordering on ferocity. Upon Mr. Young devolved the task of preserving peace and order throughout the city, as well as the securing of a fair and free exercise of the franchise. To accomplish these results was a formidable task. It was known that secret and unscrupulous political organizations were at work, and it was not believed possible that the contest could be carried on without rioting and bloodshed. The city was invaded by large bodies of suspicious-looking persons from beyond its limits, some of whom were known to be armed. The aid of the troops was called in, and Mr. Young instituted a rigorous search for secreted weapons. Wherever he found any he took possession of them, without pausing to inquire whether he was acting within the strict letter of the law. His nerve, coolness and resolution stood the city in good stead at that crisis. His arrangements were effective to a marvel. Peace was preserved, and not a single life was lost. His services on this occasion were specially acknowledged by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, as well as by Sir Richard Jackson and Sir James Hope, the officers commanding the forces in Canada.

In 1846, Sir Robert Peel, roused by the addresses of Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and other leaders of the Anti-Corn-Law League, became a convert to the doctrines of Free Trade, and carried the famous measure whereby those doctrines were imported into the law of Great Britain. The tidings of the passing of this measure were received by the bulk of the Canadian population with dissatisfaction. Trade questions were but little understood in Canada by the general public in those times, and a protective policy was commonly regarded as an absolute necessity. On the other hand Mr. Young, the late Luther H. Holton, and others conspicuous in the mercantile world of Montreal, were out-and-out Free Traders, and received the intelligence with much satisfaction. A club known as the Free Trade Association was organized by them in Montreal for the purpose of making Free Trade principles popular. Mr. Young became President of this Association, which included many of the leading thinkers of Montreal. A weekly newspaper, called _The Canadian Economist_, was started under its auspices, for the purpose of disseminating Free Trade views, and educating the people in the doctrines of political economy. To this paper, which was published for about sixteen months, and which exerted a great influence upon public opinion, Mr. Young was a frequent contributor. During the same period he devoted himself vigorously to advocating the deepening of the natural channel of the St. Lawrence, where the river widens itself into Lake St. Peter. By his personal observations and representations he succeeded in inducing the Government to abandon the attempt to construct a new channel, and to deepen and widen the natural one, whereby the largest ocean steamers were enabled to reach the wharfs of Montreal. The accomplishment of all this was a work of some years, but Mr. Young, as Chairman of the Montreal Harbour Commission, never ceased to urge upon the Government the necessity of its completion. He also devoted himself to the carrying out of other public works of importance, some of which were accomplished at the expense of the Government, and others out of his own resources and those of his friends. The public benefits conferred by him upon the city of Montreal, and in a less degree upon the Province at large, were far-reaching and incalculable. When the St. Lawrence Canals were opened for traffic, in 1849, he despatched the propeller _Ireland_ with the first cargo of merchandise over the new route direct to Chicago; and on her return trip she brought the first cargo of grain direct from Chicago to Montreal. His commercial ventures were by this time conducted on a very large scale, and the first American schooner which found its way eastward by means of the new canals was freighted with his merchandise. There was a sudden and tremendous increase in the shipping-trade between the West and Montreal, and there were frequent attempts to prevent the unloading of cargo by artificial means. Mr. Young applied to the Government to interpose, and the result was an organized Water Police which soon put a stop to the ruffianism of the obstructionists.

Mr. Young was also one of the original projectors of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway, connecting Montreal and Portland; and was a zealous promoter of the line westward from Montreal to Kingston. When these two schemes became merged in the Grand Trunk Line, he suggested a bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal. He even went so far as to suggest the precise place where it was most advisable that the bridge should be constructed, and at his own expense employed Mr. Thomas C. Keefer to make a plan and survey. The prejudice against the scheme, however, was very great, and Mr. Young was compelled to uphold it by means of numerous pamphlets, newspaper articles, and public speeches, as well as by private influence, with extraordinary zeal and pertinacity. The physical difficulties to be encountered, the financial considerations, and the political complications arising out of the relations between the Grand Trunk and the Government, were all serious obstacles to success, while professional controversies raged hotly over the various points connected with the engineering operations for the completion of such an undertaking. After encountering an amount of opposition which would have discouraged a less persistent man, he succeeded in obtaining favour for his project, and the final result was the construction of the Victoria Bridge, which spans the river at the exact spot which he had first suggested.

Another of his schemes was the construction of a canal connecting Caughnawaga, on the St. Lawrence, with Lake Champlain. This was for a time taken up by the Government with much favour, and several surveys were made by different engineers at great cost to the public. After proceeding thus far, the project was permitted to lapse, though a kindred scheme has since been carried to a successful completion. Several other important schemes of his for developing the resources of the country were characterized by the Government of the day as plausible in theory, but really impracticable.