LATE LORD STRATHCONA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15514, 22 January 1914, Page 7

LATE LORD STRATHCONA

GREAT CANADIAN VETERAN.

CONSPICUOUS CAREER.

SERVICES TO THE EMPIRE.

TRIBUTE FROM A DUKE.

By Telegraph—Press Association—

(Received January 20, 6 p.m.)

London, January 21. Lord Strathcona, formerly High Commissioner for Canada, died yesterday. He seemed considerably better on Monday, and spent a good night, but in the morning he again weakened and passed away later in the day. He was 94 years of age.

"Lord Strathcona's career," said the Duke of Argyll recently, "has been so conspicuous and noteworthy that it should be brought in its entirety to the knowledge of the public. I do not think there is any other civilian . alive, who has been able to do so much practical good to the Empire before filling an official position. His life should nerve every young man to effort, to work in honesty and hope, and to feel that he also may become a power affecting for good the destinies of peoples." LIFE WORK IN CANADA. What novelist •would have the audacity to create a hero whose youth was an adventure among Indians in the frozen wilderness, whose manhood was that of a railway pioneer and nation-builder, and whose old age was that of a statesman—a. hero who became a millionaire by his own industry and an Imperial force by his wisdom and ■ experience ? - When Donald Smith, age 18, left his home in Morayshire and sailed for Canada, Queen Victoria had. just'been crowned,' and the first steamship was preparing to- cross the Atlantic. It took him six weeks to do a journey which is now accomplished in six days. There was no Dominion of Canada in (hose days. Neither the people nor' the provinces were united. French Canadians, and English-r-peaking people in Upper Canada were disaffected toward Great Britain. The revenues of the country were not worth speaking about. The centre and west were inaccessible, for there was no railway across the continent. Into this wilderness went Donald. Smith in 1838. After 10 years in the St. Lawrence ports, he entered Labrador, where he remained until 1864, and established a reputation as a trader in pelts-and an administrator of the Hudson , Bay Company. His tact and wisdom won the' confidence of the' Indians, and his iron constitution enabled him to -.thrive on the- rigours of j the climate.' Threatened with, snow-blind-ness, the hardy young Scot made a forced march through 500 miles of snow to Montreal, • and, after a successful • operation, returned to. his. post—the sole survivor of that terrible journey. The confidence he. inspired was- manifested * when • a year later ' Lord "Strathcona entered political life as member for Winnipeg in the Provincial Assembly. He had long . realised that if the North-West was to. remain part of the Empire, and if the Eastern Provinces were to be-united with the' West and Canada wag. to become a.nation, thai railway . must .be built ' across . the , ..con-. tinent. .To ..that vast' enterprise '.Lord Strathcona applied -all" his energies and ingenuity. In'" these.' days of'abounding' prosperity -and development it'Hs,-'impos-sible to realise the obstacles that these pioneers had to overcome. Not nature alone had to be vanquished, but man, "for there were then, as now, men who see only failure and disaster. Lord Strathcona lived to reap a great reward in wealth and in gratitude. . After such an undertaking he might well have been content to relax his efforts. But the Imperial spirit summoned Lord Strathcona, at the age of 77, to transfer his energies to a wider field. He came to London as High Commissioner for the Dominion, and for. nearly a generation was one of the strongest bonds between Canada and the United Kingdom. His speeches were few and ephemeral, his deeds many and lasting. Sir Charles Tupper did not exaggerate when he said that "only the pluck, energy and determination of Lord Strathcona carried the Canadian Pacific railway to success." His watchful _ and resolute policy as chief Factor and resident governor of " the Hudson Bay Company saved Western Capada for the Empire. Winnipeg is the enduring monument of his foresight, for by securing the Great Northern railway and refusing the ' enormous bribe- of the United ■ States -magnates he made it the wheat market of the Middle West. History will never record one 'tithe of what Lord Strathcona has done for Canada and the Empire. These things are buried in two/generations of official archives in London and Ottawa.