Читать книгу The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4) - Dent John Charles - Страница 13

Since Confederation the Hon. Mr. Joly has occupied a prominent position in the politics of the Province of Quebec. His high morality, integrity of character, and fine social qualities, have created for him a reputation which it is the lot of few public men to enjoy. He is conspicuous in the history of Quebec as the instrument through whose exertions the Liberal Party were restored to power for the first time since the Union. He is also noteworthy as being the Minister on whom devolved the office of selecting a Government to succeed the De Boucherville Administration, upon its dismissal by Mr. Letellier in the month of March, 1878.

He was born in France on the 5th of December, 1829, and is the son of the late Gaspard Pierre Gustave Joly, Seigneur of Lotbinière, and Julie Christine, daughter of the late Hon. M. E. G. A. Chartier de Lotbinière, who was Speaker of the Quebec Assembly from 1794 until May, 1797, and was afterwards a prominent member of the Legislative Council. Mr. Joly received a liberal education at Paris, and while yet very young removed with his parents to Canada, settling in Lotbinière. Having chosen the law for a profession, he devoted five years to legal studies, and in the month of March, 1855, he was called to the Bar of Lower Canada. He first entered political life in 1861, when he was returned to the Canadian House of Assembly for the county of Lotbinière. This seat he continued to hold until the Union of the Provinces, when at the general elections which followed the formation of the Dominion he was elected by acclamation to both the Commons of Canada and the Assembly of Quebec. He sat in both Houses until 1874, when, on dual representation being abolished, he resigned his seat in the Commons, and directed all his energies to the furtherance of Liberal principles in the Quebec House of Assembly. The same year he was offered a seat in the Senate, but declined to accept that dignity, preferring to fight the battles of Liberalism in the more popular Assembly, in which he had already achieved a high reputation as a statesman and debater, as well as much personal popularity. In January, 1877, he again declined elevation to the Upper House, and refused the portfolio of Dominion Minister of Agriculture which had been tendered him by the Mackenzie Administration. The constituency of Lotbinière has never proved fickle to her trust, but has regularly returned Mr. Joly as her representative to the popular branch of the Legislature. From the Union, he has been the acknowledged head of the Liberal Party in Lower Canada, and the chosen leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly. In March, 1878, the Hon. Luc Letellier de St. Just, Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, dismissed his Ministry under circumstances which have already been detailed at length in these pages; and on the then Premier — Mr. De Boucherville — refusing to nominate a successor, Mr. Joly was sent for and invited to form a Cabinet. He promptly accepted the responsibility, selected his colleagues, and, on being defeated in the Chamber, appealed to the people for a ratification of the principles of his Party. The contest was fought with great vigour and pertinacity on both sides, and the result was a victory, though a slight one, for the Liberal Party. Mr. Joly was opposed in Lotbinière by Mr. Guillaume E. Amyot, an advocate and journalist of Quebec. He was elected by a majority of more than three hundred votes. He became Premier and Minister of Public Works — an office which requires the utmost tact and delicacy in its administration. He set on foot a policy of retrenchment and purity, and contemplated several much-needed reforms which he did not retain office long enough to see brought into operation. Mr. Joly's Administration was based on principles of the closest economy, and every effort was made to check all unnecessary outlay of the public expenditure. The salaries of the Ministers were reduced, an effort was made to abolish the Legislative Council, and the railway policy of the country was developed with caution. Wherever the pruning knife could be advantageously employed, the Premier applied it, and if he was not always successful, the fault was certainly not his own. His personal popularity was sufficiently attested by the fact that although he is a Protestant, with fixed opinions on theological matters, he was Premier of a Province where a large majority of the population are adherents of the Roman Catholic faith. He carried on the affairs of the country with combined spirit and moderation until October, 1879, when, on being defeated in the House, he and his Government resigned their seats in the Executive, and Mr. Chapleau was sent for. Mr. Chapleau succeeded in forming an Administration, which at the time of the present writing still holds the reins of power in the Province of Quebec.

Mr. Joly is a good departmental officer, a graceful speaker, a man of much force of character, and one who has always the courage of his convictions. Whether in power or in Opposition his language and demeanour are marked by conciliation and courtesy. He is a man of many friends, and has few personal enemies, even among those to whom he has been a life-long political opponent. He has devoted a good deal of attention to the study of forestry, and is the author of several important and valuable treatises on that subject. Among other offices which he holds may be mentioned the Presidency of the Society for the rewooding of the Province of Quebec, the first Presidency of the Reform Association, of the Parti Nationale of Quebec, of the Lotbinière Agricultural Society No. 2, and of the Society for the Promotion of Canadian Industry. He is also Vice-President of the Humane Society of British North America, and one of the Council of the Geographical Society of Quebec, of which latter association he was once Vice-President.

Some years ago Mr. Joly married Miss Gowan, a daughter of Mr. Hammond Gowan, of Quebec.