Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Reminiscences
Sir Richard, to be the Deputy Minister of the Department. I had no political influence, and there were supporters of the Government who deserved the office. Sir Richard never told me of his action, and I never solicited the office. I only knew of the appointment when I received the Order in-council, and naturally I venerate the name of Sir Richard with gratitude and devotion. From 1878 to 1896, although our politics differed, I saw him two or three times each session. Anybody might have listened to our talk: very little was said about Cana dian politics, but a great deal respecting English politics. Of course, as I had to attend at the House of Commons at each Budget Speech I heard each yearly criticism by Sir Richard. Looking back and remembering the composition of the House of Commons, I am more and more struck with the admirable patience with which Sir Richard, in most admirable English, assailed the principles of the Ministry. From 1896 our relations again differed. He was a member of the Government and until 1906 I was still in the Public Service. I saw him frequently at the Treasury Board, but he was not the head of the Finance Depart ment, and while we met frequently our talk was in accord ance with our respective positions. He was becoming infirm, and liked his friends to come to see him. We rarely talked of his old Department; but at times, as he always acted during the absence of the Minister of Finance, I had to consult him, and frequently Mr. Fielding asked me to lay a memorandum before Sir Richard; but. On both sides we were very scrupulous. It was foreign to the nature of Sir Richard to interfere with or to talk about his colleagues. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.