V~

14o ’ OuR ISLAND STORY

~His devotion to politics had, however, necessitated neglect of

' , his extensive business interests and resulted in heavy personal losses. .Mr. Pope had been one of the leading shipbuilders and

ShipOwners of the Province, and a farmer upon a large scale. As a man of business he. was open—handed and exceedingly enterpris- ing. He gave a distinct impulse to the'growth of the town of Summerside, and he had large interests in Charlottetown, Cas- cumpec and other parts of the Province, as well as at sea His public and private cares Weighed heavily upon his mind and even before his last entrance to the Parliament of Canda he had begun to break down under the distiessing and prolonged nervous dis- order to which he at length, in the Spring of 1885, fell a Victim at

the age of fifty-nine years.

No. VII—-—Hon. Lemuel Cambridge Owen

Mr. Pope was succeeded in the Premiership of the Province

. by the Honorable Lemuel Cambridge Owen. Mr. Owen was the

eldest son of Thomas Owen, Esq., who was for many years before Confederation Postmaster of Prince Edward Island. He was, him-

self, after his father’s death, Postmaster General for about seven. It

years. In the Pope Administration he had been Chairman of the Board of Works; and during the term in which he was Leader of

the Government the readjustments in the AdministratiOn con-

sequent upon the change effected by the Union were satisfactorily made. His talents were? indeed, rather those of a good manof business, than a party politician; and he was universally respected on account of his integrity in the conduct of affairs. It was his duty as Premier of the Province to complete and hand over the Prince Edward Island RailWay and other public works and build- ings which, by the terms of Union, became the property of Canada. Mr. Owen s ability was displayed in the promptitude with which he placed the Government of Canada 1n possession of the new rail-

. \way and the punctuality and smoothness with which the public

business was conducted. His Administration is to be credited

~ with the passage of the important act under which the proprietory ‘

estates were obtained by the Government and the tenants enabled