Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20sHam, George H. (George Henry)
History
Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20s
Ham, George H. (George Henry)
Canada; Ham, George H. (George Henry), 1847-1926; Journalists -- Canada -- Biography
There have been two Thomas Whites in the House, and both of them
distinguished members. It is not of the later meteoric Sir Thomas White,
who did such great work in finance during the war that I am writing, but
Hon. Thomas White, of the Montreal _Gazette_, who represented, as later
did his son, Robert S., the Ontario constituency of Cardwell, now merged
into Dufferin. In 1885, he entered Sir John Macdonald’s Cabinet as
Minister of the Interior, and his excellent administration of the
affairs of that department brought him many friends among staunch
Liberals. He was frank and outspoken in his words, and while he
displeased many westerners by openly telling them that they were
spoon-fed, his honest and courageous course in dealing with intricate
western matters won their admiration. He was a pleasing and convincing
speaker and had always a full grasp of his subject. When he passed away,
Canada lost a great statesman.
It was in July, 1886, that he visited the Pacific Coast, and one day in
Vancouver, he accosted me with, “Oh, George, I am going over to Port
Moody (then the western terminus of the C.P.R.) to meet the mayor and
citizens. Come along.” When we reached Port Moody there was a
goodly-sized crowd who enthusiastically welcomed Mr. White. Mayor Scott,
togged out in his Sunday best, proceeded to read the usual address, and
when he had finished reading it, he turned to Mr. White and remarked,
“Mr. White, you will excuse this short but brief address.”
Of course a lot of us couldn’t help but snicker, but Mr. White, with a
suppressed smile on his beaming countenance, never blinked an eye-lash,
and made a happy reply, which was received with such loud applause that
he had time to laugh all by himself.
A Few Veterans.
Another veteran was Sir Mackenzie Bowell, that grand old man whom
everybody liked. He entered the House in 1867 and continuously sat for
Hastings until he was elevated to the Senate, became Premier, and was in
harness until called away by death at a ripe old age. He was genial and
kindly and had a host of friends, amongst whom he counted many Roman
Catholics, although at one time he was Grand Master of the Orange Lodge
of Canada.
Sir Mackenzie was publisher of the Belleville _Intelligencer_, now
successfully carried on by his son, Charlie. In the early ’90’s, he took
a trip over the Intercolonial in a private car, and I happened to meet
him at Truro, N.S. He complained of the lack of newspapers, and I asked
him if he would like a copy of the _Intelligencer_ of the previous day’s
date. He expressed his great delight at the possibility of getting a
real live newspaper, and with due gravity, I handed out a copy of the
“yesterday” _Intelligencer_—only it had been printed twenty odd years
before. I had found it amongst some old papers that had been sent me,
but Sir Mackenzie read it with great interest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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