The New International Encyclopædia/Scott, Richard William

SCOTT, Richard William (1825— ). A Canadian statesman, born in Prescott. Ontario. He was admitted to the bar in 1848, and from 1857 to 1863 sat in the Canadian Assembly. In 1867-73 he was a member of the Ontario Assembly, of which he was elected Speaker in 1871. From 1872 to 1873 he was Commissioner of Crown Lands, and from 1873 to 1878 Secretary of State. He was acting Minister respectively of Finance in 1874, of Inland Revenue in 1875-76, and of Justice iu 1876. He carried through the separate Catholic school law of Ontario Province, and the Canada local option temperance act, generally styled the 'Scott act.' In 1874 he was elected to the Dominion Senate, and in 1896 became Secretary of State.