William Livingstone

WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE

IDENTIFICATION with lake shipping inter- * cits for more than half a century give to William Livingstone a representative position and an experience which fit him most completely for the office of president of the Lake Carriers' Association, which he now holds.

He was born at Dundas, Ontario, Canada, Jan-uary 21, 1844, the son of William and Helen (Stevenson) Livingstone, and is on both sides of Scotch ancestry. He has resided in Detroit, Michigan, from boyhood, and was educated in the city schools, from which he was graduated in 1862. He entered upon work connected with lake transportation soon after leaving school, and has been actively and influentially connected with shipping interests on the Great Lakes for more than fifty years.

He was formerly general manager of the Mich-igan Navigation Company and the Percheron Steam Navigation Company, and is now a director of the Interlake Steamship Company. He has been long known as a leader in measures and movements for the benefit of lake shipping, and particularly for the interests of Detroit as a lake port. He was a prominent and leading advocate for building an independent waterway in lower Detroit River for downbound vessels, and spent a good deal of time and energy in interesting Government engineers in the work and in prevailing upon Congress to appropriate the necessary funds to construct it. In 1906, as a result of his convincing advocacy, Congress made an appropriation for surveys, and when these were made Congress appropriated the funds for the work and recognized Mr. Livingstone's creative share in the project by authorizing the work to be known as "Livingstone Channel." Work upon this channel was begun in 1908 and completed in 1912, the channel being opened to commerce on October 19, 1912. It takes rank with the important engineering achievements of the age.

Mr. Livingstone has been a leading spirit in the building up of the Lake Carriers' Association, which has been the means of cooperative effort for the improvement and success of lake transportation and a leading factor in promoting the expansion of the business. He has for seventeen

years been its president, and a leader in its pro-gressive organizing work. The membership of the Lake Carriers' Association includes all the important firms and corporations engaged in the transportation business on the lakes, and has been the promoter of harbor improvement and other progressive work to aid in the navigation of the Great Lakes and to push to advantage the means of efficiency and safety in the handling of vessels in lake traffic.

In the banking interests of Detroit and the country at large Mr. Livingstone has also attained a prominent place. He is president of the Dime Savings Bank of Detroit, one of the strongest in-stitutions of its kind in the country, and has held that office since 1900, and is also a director of the Security Trust Company. He is a prominent member of the American Bankers' Association, was its president in 1912, and before that was vice-president and a member of the Executive Committee of the Association; is an ex-president and now member of the Executive Council of the Michigan Bankers' Association, and is an ex-pres-ident of the Bankers' Club of Detroit.

He was president and general manager for sev-eral years of the Detroit Journal Company, and is now a member of the Committee on Merchant Marine of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and is ex-president of the Detroit Board of Trade; and is deeply devoted to Detroit's interest.

Mr. Livingstone is a stanch and ardent Republican and an authority or, its record and principles, and is author of "The History of the Republican Party," in two volumes, published in 1900. He has taken a lead in patriotic work in connection with the world war and served as the general chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee for Detroit and Wayne County throughout the five campaigns.

He is a member of the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Country Club, Automobile Country Club, Fellowcraft Athletic Club (ex-president) , Union Club of Cleveland, New York Press Club, Old Colony Club, Old Guard, Detroit Com- mandery No. 1, Knights Templar (Past Eminent Commander), 33d degree Mason, member and ex-president of St. Andrew's Society.