Background
Robert Laird Borden was born in 1854 in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Borden family had immigrated from Headcorn, Kent, England, to New England in the 1600s.
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book
Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marfleet Lectures, University of Toronto, October, 1921 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marflee...)
Excerpt from Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marfleet Lectures, University of Toronto, October, 1921 The following lectures were delivered in the University of Toronto, in October, 1921, under the Mar?eet Foundation. They were designed as introduction to the study of the constitutio development of Canada from 1760 to the time; and they include a short sketch Of the system of government which prevailed during the French régime from 1608 to 1760, as well as a glance at problems confronting democracy in the immediate future. The incidents of constitutional growth that I have endeavoured to describe are of absorb ing interest and immense importance. They cover a period of nearly two centuries, and the attempt to compress them within these narrow limits necessitated many omissions. I am fully conscious that other imperfections, such as lack Of pro portion, will doubtless be Observed in the result of my labours. It is hoped that the lectures, however imperfect, may prove of some assistance to those who desire to make themselves acquainted, in a general way, with the beginnings and gradual de velopment Of our present system of government. TO many friends I am indebted for assistance in the preparation Of the lectures: to the Hon. N. W. Rowell, k.c., who read the manuscript of the first two lectures and made useful suggestions; to Dr. Adam Shortt, Professor George M. Wrong,and Dr. A'. G. Doughty, of the Board of Historical Publications, and Major Gustave Lanctot, of the Canadian Archives, for valuable memoranda and suggestions; to Mr. E. L. New combe, k.c Deputy Minister of Justice, and Mr. W. S. Edwards, k.c., Assistant Deputy Minister Of Justice, for important notes on the legal questions discussed; and to Mr. L. C. Christie, Legal Adviser Of the Department Of External Affairs, and Mr. C. H. A. Armstrong, of the Prime Minister's Office, for valuable notes and memoranda. Mr. Armstrong throughout the pre paration of the lectures has rendered very impor tant assistance, and he has also read the proofs. 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.
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The Question of Oriental Immigration: Speeches (In Part) (Classic Reprint)
(Quality Rather than Quantity. Not only the prairie provin...)
Quality Rather than Quantity. Not only the prairie provinces, but this great province as well affords homes which should be offered as prizes to the best emigrating races of the world. The efforts of the Laurier Government have been directed toward quantity rather than quality. Oriental I nflux. No reasonable or effective effort has been made to bring settlers from European countries to British Columbia. But immigration has poured in from Asia in large volume. It had begun from China before 1896. In the campaign of that year Sir Wilfrid Laurier announced his policy with respect to Chinese immigration in a telegram published as a compaign document. In this he said: The views of the Liberals of the West will prevail with me. Note well the expression; he proposed to be governed not by the will of the people, but by the will of the Liberals of this province. I adhere to the view which I expressed in 1902, that on this great question the views of the people of this great province as a whole should prevail. After the present Government attained power the matter drifted for years until the report of the Commission on I mmigration. That report made by men selected by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, one of whom he has since appointed to a position on the judicial bench, contained the following: That there is probability of a great disturbance to the economic conditions in the province, and grave injury being caused to the working classes by the large influx of laborers from China, as the standard of living of the masses of the people 11 in that country differs so widely from the standard prevailing in the province, thus enabling them to work for a much less wage. That it is in the interests of the Empire that the Pacific Province of the Dominion should be occupied by a large and thoroughly British population rather than by one in which the 11 number of aliens would form a large (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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Robert Laird Borden
Edit ProfileEducation
He was educated at the Acacia Villa Seminary in Horton, Nova Scotia, and in 1874, he began the study of law and was called to the bar in 1878.
Career
From 1868 to 1874, he worked as a teacher in Grand-Pré and Matawan, New Jersey. Seeing no future in teaching, he returned to Nova Scotia in 1874. In 1882, he was asked by Wallace Graham to move to Halifax and join the Conservative law firm headed by Graham and Charles Hibbert Tupper. In the Autumn of 1889, when he was only 35, Borden became the senior partner following the departure of Graham and Tupper for the bench and politics, respectively.
In 1896 Borden was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative member for Halifax.
The party leader, Sir Charles Tupper, was a doughty fighter but old and somewhat discredited in certain quarters, and after his defeat in the general election of 1900 there was a general feeling that his career was over.
Certainly Borden did not envisage that he would be Tupper's successor, and it was with great surprise that he saw the party caucus turn to him.
His first reaction to the offer was negative, but he finally agreed to accept the post for a year.
The issue that finally propelled Borden into power was that of reciprocity with the United States.
Borden's government was not particularly strong.
The outbreak of war in 1914 did not change the mood either.
No one expected a long war, but by the time the first casualty reports began pouring into Ottawa from France in the spring of 1915, few could have doubted that the struggle would be difficult.
Borden's task was formidable.
Above all he had to galvanize the Canadian people, both French and English. This task was not accomplished; in fact, the reverse took place in Quebec.
Few French-Canadian officers received important commands, patronage was rampant, and ethnic prejudice swept the nation.
The whole crisis came to a head in 1917 when Borden decided that conscription was necessary to reinforce Canada's troops at the front.
By October 1917 he had his Union government and his conscription bill, and in December 1917, after a blatantly racist campaign conducted by his party, he had a renewed mandate.
Borden achieved more success in his relations with the British.
He had been appalled to discover that Canada was being treated as a backwater colony, despite the nation's massive war effort.
These were no mean achievements. By the end of the war, Borden was exhausted by his labors, and soon he began to seek release.
In 1920 he passed the mantle of prime minister to Arthur Meighen and entered what he hoped would be a quiet retirement.
Achievements
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As prime minister, Borden led Canada through World War I and its immediate aftermath. His government passed the War Measures Act, created the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and eventually introduced compulsory military service, which sparked the 1917 conscription crisis. On the home front, it dealt with the consequences of the Halifax Explosion, introduced women's suffrage for federal elections, and used the North-West Mounted Police to break up the 1919 Winnipeg general strike.
Works
book
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Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marfleet Lectures, University of Toronto, October, 1921 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marflee...)
-
The Question of Oriental Immigration: Speeches (In Part) (Classic Reprint)
(Quality Rather than Quantity. Not only the prairie provin...)
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Canadian Constitutional Studies: The Marfleet Lectures, University of Toronto, October, 1921 (Classic Reprint)
Politics
Liberal (1867–1891), Conservative (1891–1917, 1922–1937), Unionist (1917–1922)
He called for reform the spheres of the civil service, a more selective immigration policy, free rural mail delivery, and government regulation of telegraphs, telephones, and railways and eventually national ownership of telegraphs and telephones.
Connections
On September 25, 1889, he married Laura Bond (1863–1940), the daughter of a Halifax hardware merchant. They would have no children.
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Born
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Died
June 10, 1937 (aged 82) -
Resting place
Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada -
Nationality
Canadian -
Political Party
Unionist