Perhaps the most important policy which he inaugurated upon his rise to power was that of a preferential tariff in favor of Great Britain. It was due to this policy, as well as to his high position in the affairs of Canada, that when he went to England upon the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 he was received with distinguished honor. The Queen made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Oxford and Cambridge Universities conferred upon him honorary degrees. Upon a visit to the Continent of Europe during this trip abroad he was entertained by President Faure of France and was received by the Pope at Rome. When he returned to Canada he was greeted with great enthusiasm by all classes. In the general election of 1904 Sir Wilfrid’s administration gained a triumphant endorsement at the polls. LORD STRATHCONA. 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.