Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE CHARTER 29Company. It is significant that he received his appointmentas Queen's Counsel at the age of twenty-seven, at a time whenthat title was very charily bestowed. Entering politics hebecame Solicitor-General in the Macdonald-Cartier administrationof 1857 and later held the portfolio of Commissioner ofPublic Works. In 1860, when the Prince of Wales, afterwardsEdward VII, visited Canada, Rose was chosen, because of hisability and fine address, to conduct the tour of the HeirApparent, a task of no small difficulty in those days of indifferenttransportation facilities and strong sectional jealousies.The friendships he made during the Royal visit stood him ingood stead in later years, when he left Canada to take up hisresidence in Great Britain. He was knighted in 1870, and twoyears later a baronetcy was conferred upon him. In 1873 hejoined the Court of Directors of the Bank of British Columbia, 1and in 1886 was made a privy councillor. He died in 1888,having become one of the most noted bankers in London.As has been pointed out, at Confederation the Bank ofMontreal occupied a leading position among the Canadianbanks, and its president, Mr. E. H. King, was zealous tomaintain that pre-eminence. In November, 1867, he cameout emphatically in favour of the banking system which hadbeen tried and found wanting under Mr. Hamilton Merritt'smeasure of 1850. 2 Mr. King favoured the United Statessystem of independent local banks, prohibited from main-He argued that the note issues of the bankstaining branches.should be restricted and also be based entirely on governmentsecurities deposited with the Receiver-General. In additionhe strongly recommended the continued issue of Dominionnotes, as provided by Gait's measure, and that the banksshould be obliged to hold a fixed ratio of reserve in specie andthese notes. When Mr. Rose laid his proposals before theHouse of Commons on May 14, 1869, it was clear that he hadadopted Mr. King's ideas in their entirety.8See Vol. 1, p. 319.'See page 4.Breckenridge, The Canadian Banking System, p. 239; Shortt, Canada and li$Province*, X, 629.