Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

1867 TO 1901 117James Stevenson 1of the Quebec Bank, Thomas Fyshe of theBank of Nova Scotia, and William Curtis Ward of the Bank ofBritish Columbia. The first annual meeting was held onMay 19, 1892, when it was announced that thirty-three bankshad become members, and that exclusive of the thirty-threeexecutive officers of these banks there were 444 associates.The Association was frankly established for the two purposesset forth in Article 4 of its constitution, as follows:"The objects of the Association shall be to carefully watchproposed legislation and decisions of the courts in mattersrelating to banking and to take action thereon; also, to takesuch action as may be deemed advisable in protecting theinterests of the contributories to the Bank CirculationRedemption Fund, and all other matters affecting the interestsof the chartered banks."It shall also be competent for the Association to promotethe efficiency of bank officers by arranging courses of lectureson commercial law and banking, by discussions on bankingquestions, by competitive papers and examinations. Prizesmay be offered for proficiency, under the direction and controlof the Executive Council."It subsequently became evident that at the time of theformation of the Association some bankers had in mind onlythe benefit to the interests of the banks from such co-operationas had taken place during the revision of the Bank Act in 1890,Mames Stevenson (1813-94) was the son of a Scottish merchant, and was born inthe town of Leith.Coming to Canada with his father in 1836, he received the appointmentof under-secretary to Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant-Governor of UpperCanada. He served in the militia during the rebellion of 1837, and in 1839 obtained aposition in the Crown Lands Department, Quebec. Later in the same year he enteredthe service of the Bank of Montreal as manager at Bytown, now Ottawa, and wassubsequently manager of several other branches of that bank. In 1864 he becamecashier, or general manager, of the Quebec Bank and held that position until his death.Several interesting papers from his pen on the early currency history of Canada werepublished during his lifetime in the Transactions of the Literary and Historical Societyof Quebec, of which Society he served for some years as president. In 1893, in recognitionof his ability as a banker, he was elected an honorary president of the CanadianBankers' Association.