Party in the House of Commons, and upon the resignation of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his Cabinet on October 6, 1911, following the defeat of the Liberal Government on the question of Reciprocity with the United States, he was sent for by His Excellency Earl Grey and was entrusted with the task of forming a Cabinet. With a very large majority at his disposal, he found the task an easy one, and was successful in gathering around him men who have since carried on the government of the country in one of the most critical periods of its existence. At the time the first Borden government assumed office the world war was unthought of except as a vague speculation, which few students of world finance and world politics believed would ever become a fact, and the new Premier did not foresee that before him lay the most difficult task that had ever confronted a Canadian Government. In the summer of 1914 the conflict which ultimately developed into a war between the Central Empires and most of the other civilized powers, came like a bolt from the blue. On August 4, 1914, there was great curiosity in the chancelleries of Europe as to whether the overseas dominions of the British Empire would stand behind Great Britain. Germany, on the day she started the war, believed that they would not, and it was prophesied in Berlin that Canada would seek separation from the Empire. Sir Robert Borden at once gave the answer by placing the entire resources of the Dominion at the disposal of the Motherland; and on receiving an intimation from the late Lord Kitchener, that men were the first necessity, immediately called Parliament together to vote the necessary money. His government commenced the training and equipment of a first volunteer expeditionary force of 35,000, with provision for its further extension at need. This expeditionary force was partly trained at Valcartier camp, Quebec, and partly at Salisbury Plains, England, and first went into action at the second battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915. In the words of Viscount French, at that time Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in France, it “saved the situation” and barred the way to the Channel Ports from the Germans. In 1915 Sir Robert, who had been honored with the title of G.C.M.G. shortly before the outbreak of the conflict, visited Great Britain and France and, convincing himself that the struggle would be very long and difficult, pledged Canada to provide an aggregate of 500,000 trained men should the need arise. He and his government also made arrangements whereby Canadian manufacturers should engage largely in the production of munitions, the credits for such contracts being financed by the Canadian administration. The same policy was pursued in connection with contracts for food supplies, with the result that throughout the war there was a continued trade expansion and financial opulence that enabled Canada to make sacrifices that would otherwise have been impossible to her. During his visits to the front Sir Robert kept himself fully in touch with the needs of the Canadian army, and resolved to make it a first consideration in all his policies. A trip to Great Britain and France in the early part of 1917 convinced him that, in view of the dark outlook for peace, it would be necessary for Canada to adopt the policy of conscription, which had already been reluctantly adopted in Great Britain by Mr. Asquith, and had become the policy of the United States, which had recently entered the war. It was clear to Sir Robert that this policy could only be effectively imposed by consent of both parties in the House of Commons, and on his return to Canada in May, 1917, he announced conscription as his policy and an abandonment of party government. He was at first stoutly opposed both in the ranks of his own party and by his political opponents. Nevertheless, after long and patient negotiations he was successful in winning practically the entire body of English-speaking Liberals to his way of thinking, and conscription carried in the House of Commons in the latter part of July, 1917, by the greatest majority ever given so momentous a measure. He then proceeded to form a Union Government almost equally representative of Conservatives and Liberals. Early in December of 1917 this government, with Sir Robert as Prime Minister, appealed to the people, and was supported by almost the entire mass of English-speaking constituencies, giving him the largest majority that any political leader has ever enjoyed in this country. As a result of the adoption of conscription, Canada was enabled by the time peace was declared to fulfil her pledge of sending 500,000 men to aid in the war against autocracy—a contribution which has made this country famous throughout the world. Already, on January 1, 1912, Sir Robert had been sworn in as a member of the Imperial Privy Council, the highest office that up to that time had been held in the Motherland by a Canadian. On his arrival in London in June, 1918, he was invited by the Prime Minister, Hon. David Lloyd-George to become a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, a post which he held during the duration of the war. This was followed in November of 1918 by an invitation to become one of Great Britain’s Imperial representatives at the negotiations preliminary to and coincident with the Peace Conference to resolve the disasters of the war and at once proceeded overseas. Sir Robert’s Imperial services have been such, and his legal attainments are so well known that at the time of writing his elevation to the peerage as a colonial representative on the legal committee of the Privy Council, which is the Court of Appeal for the whole Empire, is being strongly advocated in the Motherland. In his private relations Sir Robert is greatly beloved, and though his duties have brought him in contact with all the leading figures of Great Britain, France and the United States, he is a thorough democrat in bearing. His favorite recreation is golf and he has played with many world-famous statesmen, though he does not claim to be a champion. He is an Anglican in religion and a member of many clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. In September of 1889 he married Laura, daughter of the late T. H. Bond, of Halifax, and never fails to acknowledge the great aid and assistance that has been rendered him by Lady Borden in building up his illustrious career. They reside at 201 Wurtemburg St., Ottawa.
THE LATE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR WILFRID LAURIER
Laurier, the late Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid, P.C., G.C.M.G., K.C., D.C.L. (Oxon.), LL.D. (Ottawa, Ont.), son of the late Carolus Laurier, P.L.S., and his wife, Marcelle Martineau; born at St. Lin, Quebec, on November 20, 1841, and educated at mixed schools in his native parish and at L’Assomption College. As a law student he entered the office of the late Hon. R. Laflamme in 1860, and studied at McGill University; received B.C.L. in 1864 and was called to the Bar in the same year; was appointed a Q.C. in 1880, and became head of the law firm of Laurier & Lavergne. In the earlier years of his professional career he edited and contributed to several newspapers. In May 13, 1868, he married Miss Zoe Lafontaine. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Drummond and Arthabaska in 1871, and resigned to contest the same riding for the House of Commons at the general elections in 1874, and was elected; was sworn in a Privy Councillor and appointed Minister of Inland Revenue in the Mackenzie administration, on October 8, 1877, and on going back for re-election, was defeated by D. O. Bourbeau, who obtained a majority of forty. Later he was elected for Quebec East, a seat vacated by I. Thibaudeau, and was re-elected for the same Riding at the general elections of 1878, 1882, 1887, 1891, 1896 and 1900, and also elected for Saskatchewan, N.W.T., at the general elections of 1896; was re-elected to the House of Commons at general elections of 1904 for Quebec East and Wright, and elected to sit for Quebec East; in 1908 was re-elected for Quebec East, and was also returned for the City of Ottawa, and again elected to sit for Quebec East; in 1911 he was elected for both Quebec East and Soulanges; and in 1918 for Quebec East. In October, 1878, he resigned with the Mackenzie Government, and was elected leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons in 1887. He issued a call for a Dominion Liberal Convention in 1893, which was held at Ottawa. Upon the defeat of the Tupper Government at the general elections, June 23, 1896, he was called on by Lord Aberdeen, Governor-General, to form a ministry on July 8, 1896, on which date Sir Charles Tupper resigned office; was sworn in as President of the Privy Council, July 11, 1896, and formed his Ministry, July 13, 1896. He was appointed by a sub-committee of the Privy Council to arrange for the settlement of the Manitoba School Question and an agreement was reached in November of the same year. On the occasion of the celebration of Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee at London, Eng., June, 1897, he represented Canada, and was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George; was received in audience by the Sovereign and accorded the leading place in the great Jubilee State Procession of all the Colonial dignitaries. Oxford and Cambridge Universities conferred upon him the degree of D.C.L. (hon.) during this visit. He was sworn in an Imperial Privy Councillor July 6, 1897; was made an honorary member of the Cobden Club, and received from it a gold medal in recognition of his services in the cause of international
