The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-26
SOME NEW BOOKS.
Sir D0nalA smith.

wi ~ 10 Ouly LIN
later years OF his long career. those
curing which he was High Commits.
sioner for Canada and was elevated
TO the pccrage. that the author has
chosen 70 treat with adequate fulness
n clearness. For the earlier years
the span Of life allotted to most men
We must be content with detached
episodes, for Mr.. Wilson makes little
effort 10 lift the mystery from Dom
aid Smiths life and does not deign 10
row any light on how he obtained
his financial start. Yet the story he
a to tell Is one of unfailing inter-
est. that Of II boy who. starting with
nothing. engaged in a romantic bust
ness. grasped the opportunity for for
tune at the right moment. did good
service to his adopted country and
remained active to "a very advanced
age. honored as the Grand cd Man
OF Canada" However great his ret
icence about himself. the facts about
his career were known to others. and
many Of them were of public notoricty.
Donald Alexander Smith was born
In 1890 In Forces in Morayshire and
was brought up in the habits of Scot
fish frugality common to the period
and the people. lie attended school
and worked in n lawyers office till
he was IS, and then after the fashion
OF hts c~ountryMen went out into the
world to sec what he could earn. An
uncle. who had served the Hudson's
Bay Company, CAV him advice and
letters of Introduction. lie sailed for
Canada in 1888 and. after trying for
other openings in Montreal. entered
h company's service. He was sta
toned at posts on the ST. Lawrence
for nine years and then was sent over
land to Hamilton Inlet in Labrador.
where he remained for twenty years.
rising to he chief factor. When -
was 33 he married the daughter Of his
predecessor and lived happily with
her for sixty years. Mr.. Wilson hints
that there was some i~rregularity about
the marriage, "A point that he should
have made clear. For this portion of
Smiths life he draws on letters, which
give life and interest to the somewhat
conventional tale of a Hudson BAY
factors routine life: stories Of the fur
trade. Of the h%ardships and perils of
the Labrador life. Of Smiths remark
able achievements in raising crops and
his careful and successful administra-
ton. lie saved "a great deal from his
earnings and invested il safely. as he
did the savings of some of his assoc
ciatcs. At Is he had done well in his
t,r.faSSin, fln. la-t 80 hiv 1gf, S,p,,,nl
behind him. and he was not To be dis
tinguished from the many other canny
ecotsmcn who had risen in the SER
vice of the lludsun's lay Company.
In the last years Of his tenure Of
the Labrador post Donald smith took
his first vacation ana revisited Eng
land. II was a critical time, for the
provinces were being amalgama,ed
into the Dominion NJ Canada and the
Hudson's Bay Company Was about to
he transformed. Mr.. Wilson has 4
great deal to say about troubles he
tween the "wintering partners" the
chief employees in America. and the
in London, troubles in
Donald Smith shared, standing
put IN later years for the rights Of
" dSS'' as lar as ne
could. Mr.. Wilson seems strongly
in tn" question and pub
fishes in both volumes "A mass Of ma
terial relating To il. which has very
little to do with the subject of his
memoir and leaves the reader in con-
fusion as regards the merits and the
of the conflict. The point
seems to be that the value of the and
Don surpassed that of the fur trad.
on which til" employees had counted.
all events Donald Smith made "A
favorable impression ON the English
and in 1868 was put in charge
Of the head office in Montreal. From
that time, apparently. his relations
with the Iludsun's BAY Company.
though they continued. became subor-
dinate to the financial operations
he entered upon in conjunc-
ton with his cousin. George Stephen,
the Bank of Montreal and Canadian
and American capitalists.
Hardly had Smith entered upon his
duties when he was called upon
by the new Dominion Government to
help it out of its difficulties with the
Red River settlement. The question
involved was the transfer Of the au-
of the Hudson's Bay Com
pany's territories in the Northwest to
Dominion of Canada. According
10 Mr.. Wilson it brought about q
succession Of incredible bunglcs re-
in Louis Ricl's rebellion. There
Is reason to believe hat the resistance
If the company's officers to the new
authority was more criou than he
out; the racial and religious
susceptihilitics of the French speaking
were certainly not consid-
ered and the officials sent out acted
illegally. 1t surely seemed reasonable
o send the highest company's officer
AVAILABLE, who happened to be Donald
to try TO settle matters. and
( hardly Seems probable that Sir John
and his colleagues should
rave been ingnorant of the fact that |
mis- service had been in Labrador ana
hat he had never been in the North |
west before. as MIR. Wilson asserts. |
lie acted with spirit and with dlscre-
ion. and the episode is the most in
,eresting in the book. He also used
his eyes to good purpose, Jaw what
he possibilities of the land were and
determined to connec it with the rest
" canada by railroad as soon as
When the rising was sup
pressed he was elected to the Domin-
on Parliament.
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