PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 1.9 ress," and other newspapers throughout many years, and then successively became a member of the editorial staff of the Montreal "Herald," the Cornwall "Ereeholder," the Toronto "Globe," and the "Colonist," of British Columbia . Upon Mr. Laird 's re¬ turn to Charlottetown , after an absence of six years, he resumed the proprietorship and editorship of the "Patriot." But after the fire of 1884, in which the "Patriot'' office was destroyed, a joint stock company was formed for the continued publication of the paper, and Mr. Laird became its managing director and editor. In this capacity he continued until, upon the triumph of the Liberal party in the election of 1896, he was appointed Indian commissioner, with head¬ quarters at . Since then the "Pa^ triot" has been under the management and editorship of Mr. Frederick J. Nash , and continues to be the leading exponent of the views of the Liberals here, as well as an en¬ terprising and popular newspaper. Early in the seventies Rev. Stephen G . Lawson, a Presbyterian minister, entered the field of Prince Edward Island journal¬ ism. For some years he published "The Presbyterian." The name of the paper was afterwards changed to that of "The Prot¬ estant Union." Circumstances prevailed against Mr. Lawson and he was constrained to surrender the paper to the Rev. W. R. Frame , by whom its publication was con¬ tinued and its name again changed to that of "The Guardian." Mr. Frame avoided the extremes in politics into which his pred¬ ecessor fell and strengthened the paper's hold upon the public by his advocacy of tem¬ perance and the enforcement of the Canada Temperance Act . At his death, on the 30th of June, 1888, Mr. John L. McKinnon . an experienced journalist, took charge of the "Guardian" as general manager and editor. This charge he held until the month of June, 1889, when he gave place to Mr. Benjamin D. Higgs . Mr. Higgs was a young and ardent journalist who received his training in the office of the "Patriot" and the "Pioneer," and supplemented it by a course of special study. Seizing a favor¬ able opportunity, when opinion was much di¬ vided on the question of the Canada Temper¬ ance Act , Mr. Higgs on the 27th of January, 1891, changed the issue of the "Guardian" from weekly to daily, making it a morning paper, independent in politics, and taking advanced ground in respect to the prohibi¬ tion by law of the sale of all intoxicating liquors. But the labor thus entailed upon him proved too much for his strength. He fell into long-continued ill health and died on the 16th of November, 1896. Several years previous to this sad event. Mr. J. P. Hood had succeeded to the posi¬ tion of business manager of the "Guardian," and in the interim its editorial chair had been successively filled by Mr. W. D. Taun ¬ ton, subsequently editor of the "Echo," of Halifax, by Mr. M. J. McDonald , an apos¬ tle of the gospel of single tax, and Mr. H. A. Woodworth , a clever young journalist who afterwards made his mark in the United States. In February of the year 1896, Mr. J. E. B. McCready , an experi¬ enced journalist and strong writer, who had been on the staff of the Toronto "Globe" and editor of the St. John "Telegraph," took editorial charge of the "Guardian." Since then Mr. Hood 's judicious management and Mr. McCready 's clever editorship have re¬ sulted in greatly advancing the interests of the third and last daily newspaper now pub¬ lished in this* province. In the year 1890, June 12th, the "Watchman," latest born of Island news¬ papers, was ushered into the world by Mr. A