“Mr. Shaughnessy, who came next, brought to the Presidency his brilliant business gifts, the experience through which he had passed as Purchasing Agent in the critical days, as well as extraordinary foresight and withal a determination to maintain the financial stability of the road. “Once, when a Winnipeg newspaper man asked him why the Canadian Pacific had not launched out into certain projects of railway building in a new direction, he said: ‘The future is always uncertain, and an executive must always be prepared to meet contingencies that may arise and circumstances that may emerge. The Canadian Pacific is a very large enterprise, and its success is so vital to Canada that we must exercise due caution. The surplus assets and the liquid assets must be kept in a condition to meet all emergencies.’ “Mr. Beatty had come to the Presidency in a new day, when legal as well as financial problems are numerous. Mr. Beatty is an experienced railway lawyer, as well as a keen man of business. He is cool rather than impetuous. He has a personality as suggestive of reserve power as an engine with steam up ready to go when the time comes. But he will make no hasty and premature rushes at anything. He speaks well in private and in public and he is thinking all the time. He has become a leading figure, but he will never become diffuse or aimless in his thinking or speaking. He has his powers harnessed and so under his control that he will not be thrown off the track by outside forces. He will go far in the railway world.” New occasions teach new duties, and the present railway situation in Canada is unprecedented. President Beatty is evidently treading firmly, but cautiously, along a new trail and his self-control and keen study of the situation indicate a remarkable insight and foresight which will make for a great tenure of a tremendously potent position. Biographically it may be noted that Mr. Beatty is the son of a noted steamship operator on the inland seas of Ontario. The future President had good opportunity for education in Thorold and Toronto University, before he entered on the study of law in the office of Adam Creelman, who was counsel in Toronto for the Canadian Pacific. When Mr. Creelman moved to headquarters at Montreal, he took Mr. Beatty with him. Mr. Beatty’s ability and devotion to work made his promotion to the position of Chief Counsel and a Vice-Presidency rapid. He so studied every phase of the Company’s great system that his succession to the Presidency came in natural sequence.