The Commercial Society
Hon. Pres.: Mr. R. M. Sugars; President: A. H. MacKinnon; Vice-Pres: A. E. D. Tremaine; Treasurer: W. B. Brewer; Secretary: E. F. O’Brien
What is the Commercial Society? Surely this is a foolish question to ask, for everybody in the School of Commerce belongs to it. Perhaps some have not paid their fees, but nevertheless they belong to it. Thanks to several generous donations from outside contributors, the club has always been able to provide the essentials in the way of refreshments at the several meetings.
The Society met at regular intervals throughout the year, and every meeting was not only well attended but appeared to make a marked impression upon the members present. A lecture on the Stock Exchange turned every Commerce student into a would-be broker, while successive meetings at which prominent persons in the industrial world discussed the “Export Trade,” the “C.P.R.” and the “Pulp and Paper Industry” attracted the uncertain ones in a new direction.
Especially noteworthy was the occasion which Dean Laing addressed the Commercial Society as a guest of honour at the memorable annual banquet. This occurred only a few weeks after Dr. Laings’ installation as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and thus the Commercial Society was the first of all the organized undergraduate organizations at McGill to be addressed by the new Dean.
So ends another year in the history of the Commercial Society. Despite its youth it looms very large indeed in the eyes of all students of the School of Commerce.
History of the Class of Commerce ‘23
It was in the bleak fall of 1920 that the future captains of industry gathered together at Montreal to form the illustrious and famed class of Commerce ’23, and to enliven the drooping spirits of the University. Tomorrow’s wizards of finance, future Ponzis, crafty accountants, peanut vendors and a swarm of ambitious bootleggers presented a decided contrast to the more staid and conservative part of the college.
Early in the first term we realized that to be healthy was a great asset in business life and so decided to excel in sport, as we are certain to do in our commercial activities. Without much help from the referees we succeeded. Footballers, basketballers, baseballers, hockeyists, rugged pugilists an demon wrestlers all helped to put us on the top, ahead of all other classes in the matter of athletics.
Then winter came with its cruel cold, its blizzards, and its exams. The crafty accountants managed to fool the professors, the captains of industry bribed them, the bootleggers slipped them something, but the peanut vendors were broke and so left our midst.
After the examinations, indoor sports became popular and many students took up African golf, while others lingered around the Ritz and the Jardin. Time and money were spent all too fast, and April came bringing with it more and still more exams. For two weeks the nightmare lasted and only the strong survived. Then, as if in a different dream altogether, the ranks of the unemployed were swelled by seventy students who darkened not the shadows of the employment agencies. This situation did not last long, for we were anxiously sought by enterprising hotel managers who desired to give a distinctive and highly cultured atmosphere to their summer reports.
After a trying summer, one by one we wandered back to enjoy once more the excellent cuisine of the Northeastern, and to make the freshman wish that they had never passed their matriculation. We renewed old acquaintances, frequented once more the old haunts, sat in the same old lecture room, and gradually fell back into our old habits and decided to start work next week.
During 1922 we have done many important things. We have had the following photographs taken while we smiled sweetly at the photographers assistant. We have dug up our biographies from the country’s various daily newspapers, important magazines, and Who’s Who, and have recorded them in as modest a way as it is possible for great mean to do.
The foregoing sets forth most of the history of our class during the last year and a half. There may be more, but H. G. Wells borrowed our minutes in making his latest book, The Outlines of History, and has not returned them. However, all owners of this book are advised to treasure it through the coming ages, for it contains the stories of the early lives of the men-to-be.
McGill Yearbook: 1923
See original pages: Cover | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
