Albert James Smith Case Study
Sir Albert James Smith
Birthplace: Born in Shediac, New Brunswick in the county of Westmoreland on March 12, 1822.
Death: Died at age 62 on June 30, 1883 after a lengthy illness at his residence in Dorchester, New Brunswick.
Education: Reared in relative comfort, Albert James Smith attended the Madras school of the Church of England and continued his education at the new Westmoreland county Grammar School. And upon leaving that institution he became a student at law in the office of the late Edward Barron Chandler. Having completed his studies, he was called to the bar of New Brunswick in February, 1847 and settled down to the practice of his profession.
Career: He was successful with juries and gained a large practice. In politics, …show more content…
Tilley recruited such former opponents as Chandler and Gray as well as discarded colleagues such as Fisher. The exclusion of Smith has never been fully explained. Perhaps he would not have joined. It is more likely that he was not invited because he was so completely opposed to any union scheme as well as to the Intercolonial Railway, which Tilley saw as the prize of negotiations. At any rate, by the time Tilley had returned from the ambulatory conference that had taken him to Charlottetown, Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake), he encountered a hostile New Brunswick being given direction by Albert Smith, “The Douglas of Dorchester . . . the Lion of Westmorland.” Late in November 1864 Smith published a “Letter to the Electors of the County of Westmorland,” which was to become the force behind the anti-confederation blast in New Brunswick. The delegates to the conference, with a mandate to discuss only Maritime union, had acted unconstitutionally, he declared, and had placed the interests of Canada ahead of those of New Brunswick. The dominant Canadians would impose prohibitive taxes on the colony to pay for their past extravagances such as canals and railways. There would also be the cost of two governments rather than one and representation by population would place New Brunswick permanently in a subordinate position. When Tilley called an election early in 1865, Smith was ready for him. He stumped the province with a devastating speech in which he said that confederation had been conjured up in the “oily brains of Canadian politicians” as a solution to their own problems and as a scheme to exploit others. He warned his listeners to examine the two states, “one [Canada] suffering from anarchy and disquiet . . . [the other] New Brunswick . . .
Birthplace: Born in Shediac, New Brunswick in the county of Westmoreland on March 12, 1822.
Death: Died at age 62 on June 30, 1883 after a lengthy illness at his residence in Dorchester, New Brunswick.
Education: Reared in relative comfort, Albert James Smith attended the Madras school of the Church of England and continued his education at the new Westmoreland county Grammar School. And upon leaving that institution he became a student at law in the office of the late Edward Barron Chandler. Having completed his studies, he was called to the bar of New Brunswick in February, 1847 and settled down to the practice of his profession.
Career: He was successful with juries and gained a large practice. In politics, …show more content…
Tilley recruited such former opponents as Chandler and Gray as well as discarded colleagues such as Fisher. The exclusion of Smith has never been fully explained. Perhaps he would not have joined. It is more likely that he was not invited because he was so completely opposed to any union scheme as well as to the Intercolonial Railway, which Tilley saw as the prize of negotiations. At any rate, by the time Tilley had returned from the ambulatory conference that had taken him to Charlottetown, Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake), he encountered a hostile New Brunswick being given direction by Albert Smith, “The Douglas of Dorchester . . . the Lion of Westmorland.” Late in November 1864 Smith published a “Letter to the Electors of the County of Westmorland,” which was to become the force behind the anti-confederation blast in New Brunswick. The delegates to the conference, with a mandate to discuss only Maritime union, had acted unconstitutionally, he declared, and had placed the interests of Canada ahead of those of New Brunswick. The dominant Canadians would impose prohibitive taxes on the colony to pay for their past extravagances such as canals and railways. There would also be the cost of two governments rather than one and representation by population would place New Brunswick permanently in a subordinate position. When Tilley called an election early in 1865, Smith was ready for him. He stumped the province with a devastating speech in which he said that confederation had been conjured up in the “oily brains of Canadian politicians” as a solution to their own problems and as a scheme to exploit others. He warned his listeners to examine the two states, “one [Canada] suffering from anarchy and disquiet . . . [the other] New Brunswick . . .