The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Page 60

58
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1967
had when you were my student.” These
words strike the very keynote of this
remarkable man. He was a giver, not
a grasper—and the gift that he wanted
to give was the most precious he had
to offer—himself.
Walt Whitman’s words fit him as its
bark fits the tree:
“Behold, I do not give lectures or
a little charity,
When I give I give myself.”
I have said that Skuli Johnson was
the first Canadian of Icelandic origin
whom it was my privilege to know. I
should perhaps qualify that statement.
When I came into the world, my father
was a partner in the legal firm of
Rathwell, Johnson and Stubbs. While
I was still in my cradle, I was intro-
duced to that outstanding Icelandic-
Canadian, Thomas H. Johnson; but.
of course, having then no language bv<
a cry, I could not return his greeting.
During my childhood, I saw him on
several occasions. But I never met hi’"
after arriving at the years of discern
ment. I cannot speak of him presonal-
ly. My father always spoke of him in
terms of the highest praise—and to me
who knew my father as one who never
gave indiscriminate praise—that is
recommendation enough.
Dad came to Canada from the Brit-
ish West Indies in 1902. The next year
he entered the firm of Perdue, Rath-
well and Johnson, as an articled stu-
dent-at-law. Perdue was appointed to
the bench in August, 1903, and Rath-
well and Johnson continued the firm.
When my father was called to the bar
in 1906, they took him into partner-
ship with them.
Johnson was elected to the Manitoba
Legislature for the constituency of
West Winnipeg in the general election
of 1907. My father was his campaign
manager. It was dad’s first taste of
politics and he often spoke to me of
that hard-fought campaign. Sir Rod-
moncl P. Roblin, an unabashed polit-
ical pirate who must be admired be-
cause he never pretended to be any-
thing but what he was, was then
premier of Manitoba. To have defeat-
ed the Roblin political machine in
West Winnipeg was no mean ac-
complishment.
Early in 1908, my father left Win-
nipeg for Birtle, where he took over
the law practise of C. J. Mickle, who
had been appointed County Court
judge for the newly created Northern
Judicial District of Manitoba. His
place in the firm was taken by H. A.
Bergman.
In his interesting book, The Iceland-
ic People in Manitoba, Mr. W.
Kristjanson speaks highly of this great
Icelandic-Canadian. “Within a year of
being called to the Bar,” he writes, “he
appeared before the Supreme Court
of Canada as sole counsel, and won
the case.” I do not know of this case.
But I can speak with a personal know-
ledge of one of Bergman’s great cases.
This case—Stubbs vs. Standard Reli-
ance Mortgage Corporation-concern-
ed the house on Winnipeg Avenue in
which I was born. Standard Reliance
held the mortgage on this property. It
was on a standard mortgage form, then
in general use, which provided for
blended monthly payments, to include
principal, interest and taxes. Dad ask-
ed the mortgage company for a state-
ment. He was given a statement which
did not show what portion of the
monthly payments was being applied
on interest and what on principal. He
thought that the mortgaae did not
meet the requirements of the Dom-
inion Interest Act.
In 1916, with Bergman as his coun-
sel, he sued the mortgage company in