Sir Mackenzie Bowell was the fifth prime minister of Canada. He held
             office for sixteen months, between 1894 and 1896, before a revolt in his
             cabinet forced him to resign. "With considerable force of character but no
             special capacity in administration, he was unable either to command the
             respect of his colleagues or to avoid committing his government to a
             politically dangerous question of public funding for religious schools in
             Manitoba" (Smith, R. 1974. p.145). For most of his time in office, Bowell
             was minister of customs, and as such he put into operation of protective tariff,
             or tax on imports, to aid Canadian manufactures. The tariff was the substance
             of the celebrated National Policy of former prime minister Sir John A.
             Macdonald. The main work of Bowell's forty years in politics was as an
             organizer of the Conservative Party in the province of Ontario.
             Bowell was born in 1823, in Rickinghall, England, the son of a
             carpenter. "The family emigrated to the province of Upper Canada, later
             Ontario, in 1833 and settled in the town of Belleville. There Bowell was
             apprenticed to the printer of the local newspaper" (Harris, C. 1987. p.29) He
             remained in the town, becoming the newspaper's editor and eventually the
             owner. "Bowell joined the Orange Association of British North America, a
             Protestant organization that had originated in Ireland. At the time the order
             was becoming the main popular instrument of the Conservative Party. Bowell
             rose to be grand master of the order and consequently wielded considerable
             political influence (Smith, R. 1974. p.237). He also joined the local militia,
             and served with it against Fenian raids, attacks by Irish nationalists against
             the British colonies, and continued with the organization as a lieutenant
             In 1867, Bowell was elected to the first Canadian House of Commons
             from North Hastings county, Ontario. H...