The Canadian Dominion, a Chronicle of our Northern Neighbor
by
Oscar D. Skelton
Part 4 out of 4
political biographies available. G. M. Wrong's "The Earl of
Elgin" (1905), John Lewis's "George Brown" (1906), W. L. Grant's
"The Tribune of Nova Scotia" ("Chronicles of Canada", 1915), J.
Pope's "Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander
Macdonald", 2 vols. (1894), J. Boyd's "Sir George Etienne
Cartier" (1914), and O. D. Skelton's "Life and Times of Sir A. T.
Galt" (1919), cover the political developments from various
angles. A. H. U. Colquhoun's "The Fathers of Confederation"
("Chronicles of Canada", 1916) is a clear and impartial account
of the achievement of Confederation; while M. O. Hammond's
"Canadian Confederation and its Leaders" (1917) records the
service of each of its chief architects.
For the years since Confederation biographies again give the most
accessible record. Sir John S. Willison's "Sir Wilfrid Laurier
and the Liberal Party" (1903) is the best political biography yet
written in Canada. Sir Richard Cartwright's Reminiscences (1912)
reflects that statesman's individual and pungent views of
affairs, while Sir Charles Tupper's "Recollections of Sixty
Years" (1914) and John Castell Hopkins's "Life and Work of Sir
John Thompson" (1895) give a Conservative version of the period.
Sir Joseph Pope's "The Day of Sir John Macdonald" ("Chronicles of
Canada", 1915), and O. D. Skelton's "The Day of Sir Wilfrid
Laurier" ("Chronicles of Canada", 1916) between them cover the
whole period briefly. L. J. Burpee's "Sandford Fleming" (1915) is
one of the few biographies dealing with industrial as distinct
from political leaders. Imperial relations may be studied in G.
R. Parkin's "Imperial Federation, the Problem of National Unity"
(1892) and in L. Curtis's "The Problem of the Commonwealth"
(1916), which advocate imperial federation, and in R. Jebb's "The
Britannic Question; a Survey of Alternatives" (1913), J. S.
Ewart's "The Kingdom Papers" (1912-), and A. B. Keith's "Imperial
Unity and the Dominions" (1916), which criticize that solution
from different standpoints. The "Reports" of the Imperial
Conferences of 1887, 1894, 1897, 1902, 1907, 1911, 1917, are of
much value. Relations with the United States are discussed
judiciously in W. A. Dunning's "The British Empire and the United
States" (1914). Phases of Canada's recent development other than
political are covered best in the volumes of "Canada and its
Provinces", a History of the Canadian people and their
institutions, edited by A. Shortt and A. G. Doughty.
A useful guide to recent books dealing with Canadian history will
be found in the annual "Review of Historical Publications
Relating to Canada", published by the University of Toronto (1896
to date).
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