The Washington times., 1915-09-13
VAN HORNE'S DEATH
SHOCKS F|NANC|ERS
Sir william Regarded as mira.
Gle Man" in Success Of Ca.
madam Pacific Building.

TIE death of Sir William c. Van
Horne, famous railroad pioneer In Can.
ada, and chairman Of the directors OF
the Canadian Pacific, was a shock ia
many financiers and railroad men in this
country who had come in contact with
his many activities.
Many messages Of coincidence were
sent to members Of his family from men
of prominence here. His achievements
in developing railroads in Canada had
made him a figure of international in.
terest.
Though most Of his years were spent
in Canada, and his interests we're cen.
tered there. he was a native of Illinois.
He started life as a telegraph operator
on the Illinois Central railroad, and held
many many railroad positions IN this country
Mountstephen and strathcona, fought to
complete the gigantic Canadian Pacific
His influence stretched around the
financiers of Europe. helped build rail.
ways in Cuba. and Sydney. Australia.
owes the success of It's steel and iron
industries to his executive genius.
Work of Organization.
He did not work single-handed in
the Canadian Pacific. He could not
have succeeded without the support of
Lord Strathcona's splendid integrity
and Lord Mountstephen's simple fidelity
and invinctble determination. Nor could
they have succeeded without Van
Horne. ~ ...
Theirs was the work Of construction.
his the organisation that found after
the system should subsist. It 10 true
that the Canadian government gave the
company millions Of money and a vast
land subsidy. But the cash was soon
ted. and the lands unsaleable.
The Manitoba boom Of the early
eighties collapsed. There was failure OF
crops and an attenuated stream Of i'm
migration. Prices were low and set
agriculture had been ATTEMPTED. The
settlers from older Canada had no
knowledge of prairie farming.
There were failures through ignorance,
through bad selection Of lands. through
unwise choice of seed. through unfavor-
able seasons. The migration even Of
Canadians was to the Western States.
The immigration from Great Britain
was insiKnificaiit. In Europe Canada
British colony of unacceptable climate
and broken by great barren areas.
Met Political Opposition.
moreover the railways creQlt was
assailed in Europe. 1t was embar-
rassed by the ruthless criticism and
the inveterate hostility OF the Liberal
party under the powerful leadership
Of the Hon. Edward Blake. The en-
terprise had to 60 again and again
to the public treasury for relief.
In the crisis of its history, when
Mountstephen and Strathcona had
pledged their private fortunes to sup
port its credit. Sir John Macdonald
was only induced by desperate and
persistent persuasion to give the aid
necessary to avert certain bank
ruptcy.
It was the policy Of Van Horne
that enabled the company to survive
the hard period OF construction and
the lean years that followed. Upon
its local traffic the line could not
exist. Hence ne set himself with amaz-
ing energy to secure branches in the
older provinces. to organize a fleet of
steamships on the lakes and a service
on the Pacific. This gave the main
line feeders ARA through business.
while the very energy of the manage
ment astonished its rivals and greatly
impressed the country.