Meighen, << MEE uhn, >> Arthur (1874-1960), served as prime minister of Canada two times during the 1920’s. He first took office as prime minister in July 1920, succeeding Sir Robert L. Borden. Meighen served as prime minister until December 1921. He held the office again from June to September in 1926. Meighen led the Conservative Party from 1921 to 1926 and in 1941 and 1942.
Meighen accomplished little as prime minister. But he was noted for his bitter and unsuccessful power struggle with Liberal Party chief W. L. Mackenzie King. Meighen failed to lead his party to a parliamentary majority in the elections of 1921, 1925, and 1926. Each time, King became–or remained–prime minister.
Meighen, a lawyer, had a remarkable memory and a gift for eloquent expression. He especially liked to argue and became the most skilled debater in Parliament. A newspaper paid tribute to Meighen’s sharpness with words by calling him “The First Swordsman of Parliament.” Meighen became one of Borden’s chief aides during World War I (1914-1918). During this period, Meighen either developed or defended almost all the government’s most controversial policies.
Some Canadians viewed Meighen as a brilliant, honest, and courageous statesman. But many others regarded him as quarrelsome and unwilling to compromise, and still others disliked his critical comments about King. Meighen himself felt that the public often misunderstood him.
Early life
Arthur Meighen was born on June 16, 1874, on a farm near St. Mary’s, Ont. He was the second of the six children of Joseph Meighen and Mary Bell Meighen. His parents placed a high value on education, and Arthur became a bright and eager student. He was a serious youth and made it clear to the family that he preferred to be called Arthur rather than Art. In 1896, he graduated from the University of Toronto with honors in mathematics.
Soon afterward, Meighen became a high-school teacher in Caledonia, Ont. But he did not like teaching and quit after a year. In 1898, Meighen moved to Winnipeg. He began to study law there as a clerk in a law firm. He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and established a law practice in Portage la Prairie, Man.
In June 1904, Meighen married Isabel Cox (1883-1985), a schoolteacher from Birtle, Man. They had two sons, Theodore and Maxwell, and a daughter, Lillian.
Entry into public life
Meighen began his political career in 1908, when he won election to the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative from Portage la Prairie. He was reelected in 1911. In 1913, Meighen was appointed solicitor general after working out a method to cut off a bitter debate over a naval bill that Prime Minister Borden had introduced in the House of Commons. In 1917, Borden named Meighen secretary of state and minister of mines and, later that year, minister of the interior.
During World War I, Meighen played a key role in the development of several controversial measures. One such bill enabled the government to take possession of some important railroads that had gone into debt. Another established a military draft. These bills made Meighen unpopular in Quebec, where Montreal business executives disliked the railroad take-over and French-speaking Canadians bitterly opposed the draft.
In October 1917, Borden formed a government almost entirely of English-speaking Conservative and Liberal supporters of the draft. This administration became known as the Union Government. Two months later, Borden led the Unionists to victory in a general election. In 1920, he retired because of poor health. Borden’s followers in Parliament chose Meighen to succeed him as their leader and prime minister.
Prime minister
First term.
When Meighen took office as prime minister on July 10, 1920, his government faced serious political problems. Many of its supporters in the West and in rural Ontario had begun to favor the new Progressive Party, organized by dissatisfied farmers, who wanted lower tariffs. Meighen also had little support in Quebec.
Meighen’s most notable achievement as prime minister occurred at a conference of British Empire prime ministers in London in 1921. The conference had been called to consider renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902. Meighen knew the United States disliked the treaty, and he believed Canada and Britain would be served best if it expired. Largely because of Meighen’s arguments, the conference postponed a decision on renewal. This move helped lead to the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-1922. At this conference, Britain, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States reached an agreement on arms limitation (see Arms control ).
By 1921, the wartime union of Conservatives and Liberals had fallen apart. Many Liberals had returned to their old party. Meighen led the Conservatives in the general election that year. But they suffered the worst defeat of any Canadian governing party up to that time. They won only 50 of the 235 seats in the House of Commons and placed third behind the Liberals and the Progressives. Meighen himself lost his seat from Portage la Prairie. W. L. Mackenzie King, the Liberal Party leader, replaced Meighen as prime minister on Dec. 29, 1921.
Opposition leader.
Meighen set out to rebuild the Conservative Party. In 1922, he won election to the House of Commons from Grenville, Ontario, and became leader of the opposition in the House. In the 1925 election, Meighen regained his seat from Portage la Prairie. The Conservatives emerged as the largest group in the House of Commons. But they fell seven seats short of a majority, and King won enough support from the Progressives to remain prime minister.
In 1926, a scandal in the customs department disgraced the King Administration. King asked Lord Byng, Canada’s governor general, to dissolve Parliament so a new election could be held. But Byng refused to do so, and King resigned. Byng believed that Meighen, as leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, should have a chance to form a government.
Second term.
On June 29, 1926, Meighen again became prime minister. But his government soon met defeat in the House of Commons on a motion charging that its ministers were serving illegally. This time Byng dissolved Parliament at Meighen’s request. The Liberals won the election that followed, and King succeeded Meighen as prime minister on September 25.
Meighen, who had also lost his seat, resigned as Conservative leader and retired from public service. By the end of 1926, he was an investment banker in Toronto.
Later years
Meighen began a political comeback in 1932, when Prime Minister Richard B. Bennett appointed him to the Canadian Senate. Bennett had succeeded Meighen as leader of the Conservative Party and had led the party to victory in the 1930 general election. Meighen became government leader in the Senate, and then leader of the opposition in the Senate after King led the Liberals back to power in 1935.
In 1941, the Conservative Party again chose Meighen as its leader. But his political career lasted only a short time longer. Meighen sought election to the House of Commons from York South, in Toronto. However, he was defeated in February 1942 by a socialist who called for social welfare policies. World War II (1939-1945) was underway, and Meighen again came out in favor of the draft. In December, Meighen retired from politics a second time. But before retiring, he arranged for Premier John Bracken of Manitoba to be selected as leader of the newly renamed Progressive Conservative Party. Meighen devoted the rest of his life chiefly to business activities. He died on Aug. 5, 1960.
