Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 28, 1902. The Colonies and the Empire.

Manawatu Herald, 23 October 1902, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 28, 1902. The Colonies and the Empire.

Without doubt the various colonies of the Empire have been a mighty safety-valve for the Mother Country. It has given room for the development of spirits which have been of remarkable service for good, the same spirits which,, if “ cribb’d, cabined, and confined ” in the crowds in the United Kingdom might have been used for evil. There are natures which cannot stand being smothered in a crowd and being denied the chances of soaring upwards, and there are many men who by using the opportunities of enlarged territories and lesser population, have risen to wealth and dignity. We have before us some such examples to illustrate the abovo statements. Some seventy-five years ago two lads, relatives, were born in Scotland, of humble parents, on the borders of the Moray Firth. One named George Stephen passed his youth as a herd boy, and when older was sent to Aberdeen to a draper. Hera the first desire was shown to do better, Aberdeen, though a large and flourishing city, was nob big enough for the lad, and he took himself to London and served in a drapers’ shop in St. Paul’s churchyard. London was too small, and in 1850 George Stephen went over to Canada and became a partner with a relative, and so prospered that he joined in railway enterprises opening up that continent, and was distinguished for the steps he took in connection with the Canadian railway. Tbe’other lad running about the shores of Mon y Firth was Donald Alexander Smith, who found the Old World unsuited for his ambitions so he wandered away to the north of Canada and became a clerk in the Hudson Bay Company. Labrador was tha scene of the young clerk’s first station, a country about four times larger than Great Britain and extending between the 49% to 68% of North latitude. The climate troubled the young man nothing and he passed through every stage of the service until he became the Governor of tha Company. He joined his relative, George Stephen, in making the Canadian Pacific railway. We have thus the sketch of two poor Scotch laddies taking themselves from the land of their birth, and by their indomitable energy and courage pushing themselves upwards until they secured enormous fortunes and political positions which led both to receive high honours from the Throne, one being now known as Lord Mount-Stepben, and tha other as Lord Strathcona. It is interesting to note that these two men from Scotland were drawn together in Canada, and the good works done by them were generally clone in association. To commemorate the late Queen’s Jubilee tha two built a hospital at Montreal at a cost of £200,000, and afterwards gave £160,000 for its maintenance. Aberdeen held a warm place in their hearts, for Lord Strathcona gave £25,000 for tha extension of Marischal College! Rad Lpnl gave ia spii to thi INpi lately

It will be remembered that Lord Stratbcona came forward at the outbreak of the Houth African war and raised the Canadian corps, known as Strathcona’s horse, and paid all the expenses of it, totalling £200,000 !

The last act of these two benevolent millionaires has been the giving of an endowment to King Edward’s Hospital Fund of £16,000 a year, which at 3 per cent equals the value of half a million sterling. Has it not been a great advantage to tbs Old Country and the Empire that these two lads were able to find some place were their energies bad full play ? Have we not all benefitted by the object lesson these men have given us ? The lesson is not so,much the possibilities of making money, but the independence of spirit on the part of lads, who cut themselves adrift from old tics and by energy, thrift and patience, made their way up the ladder upon which they set their foot in the colony. They also show that the love of Home has never been extinguished and the making of money was enjoyed more lor what they could do with it, than from selfish motives. The immense value of the outlying possessions of the Empire to the Mother Country has never had a better illustration than this story of the two Scotch boys.