Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE CHARTER 15the difficulties of the latter. The Government had borrowedlargely from the Bank of Montreal, and was refused furtheradvances by its London agents; in fact, its financial difficultieswere as great or greater than those of the banks. The failureof the Bank of Upper Canada had involved some lossto theholders of its notes and had thus created a desire for a currencywhich was better secured. The financial straits of the Governmentnow seemed to point to a plan which would permit ofthis, and which would at the same time release the Governmentfrom its most pressing financial difficulties. In addition,the Hon. Mr. Gait had long held that the Government oughtto provide the currency of the country, both paper andmetallic. He had in 1860 brought forward a measure establishinga Provincial Treasury Department with the sole right toissue paper money, but had been forced to withdraw it in theface of the opposition aroused. Now the times seemed morepropitious, and the financial need of the Government wasperhaps greater. On the other hand, the opposition of thebanks, especially in Upper Canada, was unchanged, save inthe case of the Bank of Montreal, which for reasons that willis concerned, is chiefly famous as the first man to see the possibilities of Canadian landsas a field for British investment. He organized the great Canada Land Companyand founded the town of Guelph. He ended his days in Great Britain as a popularauthor.Alexander T. Gait was born in Chelsea, London, and hi 1835 entered the serviceof the British American Land Company, founded by his father a few years beforefor the purpose of settling the vacant lands of the Eastern Townships. His interestswere centered hi the Eastern Townships, and it was one of the grievances of the westernbanks that he took little interest in that part of the country which his father, throughthe Canada Company, had done so much to open up. He was prominent amongthe promoters of railways in the early days of railway construction in Canada, firstwith a view to solvingthe transportation problem of the Eastern Townships, andlater in connection with a larger project, the Grand Trunk Railway.His name alsoappears in the list of applicants for the charter of the Eastern Townships Bank (seeVol. I), which now forms part of The Canadian Bank of Commerce. In 1849 heentered the legislature as member for Sherbrooke, P.Q., and he subsequently served asMinister of Finance in several administrations. He was one of the foremost advocatesof Confederation. In 1880 he became the first High Commissioner for Canada inLondon, but resigned in 1883. One of his nephews, Mr. George F. Gait, is a directorof The Canadian Bank of Commerce.