The imperial significance of the Canadian-American reciprocity proposals of 1911

Historical Journal

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 81-100

  Potter, Simon J ^a  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND   (Ireland)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33646061135     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X03003522     Document Type: Article

References (207)

1. L. E. Ellis, Reciprocity 1911: a study in Canadian-American relations (New Haven, 1939).
2. W. M. Baker, 'A case study of anti-Americanism in English-speaking Canada: the election campaign of 1911', Canadian Historical Review, 51 (1970), pp. 426-49.
3. S. Scheinberg, 'Invitation to empire: tariffs and American economic expansion in Canada', Business History Review, 47 (1973), pp. 218-38.
4. R. E. Hannigan, 'Reciprocity 1911: continentalism and American Wcllpolitik', Diplomatic History, 4 (1980), pp. 1-18.
5. G. T. Stewart, '"A special contiguous country economic regime": an overview- of America's Canadian policy', Diplomatic History, 6 (1982), pp. 339-57.
6. G. T. Stewart,"The American response to Canada since 1776"(East Lansing, MI, 1992),Diplomatic History, 6, pp.339-57,idem.
7. R. A. Shields, 'Imperial policy and Canadian-American reciprocity, 1909-1911', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (JICH), 5 (1977), pp. 151-71.
8. see also Shields, 'Imperial policy and Canadian-American commercial relations, 1880-1911', Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 59 (1986), pp. 108-21.
9. W. R. Louis, 'Introduction', in R. W. Winks, ed., The Oxford history of the British empire, v: Historiography (Oxford, 1999), pp. 5-12, 23-33.
10. For early revisionist studies see G. Martin, The Durham report and British policy: a critical essay (Cambridge, 1972).
11. J. M. Ward, Colonial self-government: the British experience, 1759-1856 (London, 1976).
12. P. G. Wigley, Canada and the transition to Commonwealth: British-Canadian relations, 1917-1926 (Cambridge, 1977).
13. For discussions of national histories see A. G. Hopkins, 'Back to the future: from national history to imperial history', Past and Present, 164 (Aug. 1999), pp. 198-243, at pp. 198, 215-16.
14. A. Curthoys, 'History and identity', in W. Hudson and G. Bolton, eds., Creating Australia: changing Australian history (Sydney, 1997), p. 31.
15. C. Berger, The writing of Canadian history: aspects of English-Canadian historical writing, 1900-1970 (Toronto, 1976), p. 259.
16. S. Macintyre, 'The writing of Australian history', in D. Borchardt, ed., Australians: a guide to sources (Sydney, 1987), p. 28.
17. D. W. Owram, 'Canada and the empire', and S. Macintyre, 'Australia and the empire', both in Winks, ed., The Oxford history of the British empire, v.
18. See for example J. Gallagher, 'The decline, revival and fall of the British empire', in A. Seal, ed., The decline, revival and fall of the British empire: the Ford lectures and other essays (Cambridge, 1982).
19. M. Beloff, Britain's Liberal empire (Basingstoke, 1967), pp. 20-69.
20. D. G. Boyce, Decolonisation and the British empire (London, 1999).
21. See for example N. K. Meaney, 'Britishness and Australian identity: the problem of nationalism in Australian history and historiography', Australian Historical Studies, 32 (2001), pp. 76-90.
22. M. Francis 'Writings on colonial New Zealand: nationalism and intentionality', in A. Sharp and P. McHugh, eds., Histories, power and loss: uses of the past - a New Zealand commentary (Wellington, 2001).
23. A. B. McKillop, 'Who killed Canadian history? A view from the trenches', Canadian Historical Review, 80 (1999), pp.269-99.
24. D. Meredith and B. Dyster, Australia in the global economy: continuity and change (Cambridge, 1999), p. 27.
25. K. Tsokhas, Markets, money and empire: The political economy of the Australian wool industry (Melbourne, 1990).
26. A. Offer, 'Costs and benefits, prosperity and security, 1870-1914', in A. Porter, ed., The Oxford history of the British empire, III: The nineteenth century (Oxford, 1999), pp. 709-10.
27. See for example Curthoys, ' History and identity', and L. Trainor, British imperialism and Australian nationalism: manipulation, conflict and compromise in the late nineteenth century (Cambridge, 1994).
28. P. A. Buckner and C. Bridge, 'Reinventing the British world', Round Table, 92 (2003), pp. 77-88.
29. C. Bridge and K. Fedorowich, eds., The British world: diaspora, culture and identity (London, 2003).
30. D. Cole, 'The problem of "nationalism" and " imperialism" in British settlement colonies', Journal of British Studies, 10 (1971), pp. 160-82.
31. G. Martin, 'Canada from 1815', in Porter, ed., Oxford history of the British empire, III, esp. pp. 522, 537.
32. J. Darwin, 'A third British empire? The Dominion idea in imperial polities', in J. Brown and W. R. Louis, eds., The Oxford history of the British empire, iv: The twentieth century (Oxford, 1999).
33. G. Martin, 'The Irish Free State and the evolution of the Commonwealth, 1921-1949', in R. Hyam and G. Martin, eds., Reappraisals in British imperial history (London, 1975), pp. 219-22.
34. S. Ward, Australia and the British embrace (Melbourne, 2001).
35. For useful surveys see A. S. Thompson, Imperial Britain: The empire in British politics, c. 1880-1932 (Harlow, 2000), pp. 1-8.
36. P.J. Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', JICH, 23 (1995), pp. 379-94.
37. J. M. MacKenzie, Propaganda and empire: the manipulation of British public opinion, 1880-1960 (Manchester, 1984).
38. J. M. MacKenzie, and his edited collection Imperialism and popular culture (Manchester, 1986).
39. For examples of such general works see D. Cannadine, Ornamentalism: how die British saw their empire (London, 2001).
40. C. Hall, Civilising subjects: metropole and colony in the English imagination, 1830-1867 (Cambridge, 2002).
41. E. H. H. Green, The crisis of Conservatism: the politics, economics and ideology of the British Conservative party, 1880-1914 (London and New York, 1995).
42. F. Coctzee, For party or country: nationalism and the dilemmas of popular Conservatism in Edwardian England (Oxford, 1990).
43. L. L. Witherell, Rebel on the right: Henry Page Croft and the crisis of British Conservatism, 1903-1914 (London and Newark, NJ, 1997).
44. J. A. Hutcheson, Leopold Maxse and the National Review, 1893-1914: right-wing politics and journalism in the Edwardian age (New York and London, 1989).
45. J. D. Startt, Journalists for empire: the imperial debate in the Edwardian stately press, 1903-1913 (New York and London, 1991).
46. Thompson, Imperial Britain.
47. On constructive imperialism see P.J. Cain, 'The economic philosophy of constructive imperialism', in C. Navari, ed., British politics and die spirit of the age: political concepts in action (Keele, 1996).
48. E. H. H. Green, 'The political economy of empire, 1880-1914', in Porter, ed., Oxford history of the British empire, vol. 111.
49. A. S. Thompson, 'Tariff reform: an imperial strategy, 1903-1913', Historical Journal, 40 (1997), pp.1033-54.
50. Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', pp. 379-80, 392-3.
51. C. F. M. Bell to G. Parkin, 5 Mar. 1898, London, Times Newspapers Limited Archive (TNLA), MLB17/239.
52. The history of the Times, III: The twentieth century test (London, 1947), p. 447.
53. Bell to F. Cook, 2 Mar. 1898, TNLA, MLB17/221.
54. On Reuters see D. Read, The power of news: the history of Reuters (2nd edn, Oxford, 1999).
55. For a more detailed discussion of these changes see S.J. Potter, News and the British world: the emergence of an imperial press system, 1876-1922 (Oxford, 2003).
56. K. Jones, Fleet Street and Downing Street (London, 1920), p. 146.
57. F. Ware to A. Borthwick, 6 Jan. 1905, Leeds, Brotherton Library, Glenesk-Bathurst papers, MS.Dep.1990/1/2022.
58. Ware to L. Bathurst, 17 Mar. 1909, Brotherton Library, Glenesk-Bathurst papers, ibid., MS.Dep.1990/1/2954.
59. Ware to J. S. Willison, 26 Sept. 1909, Ottawa, National Archives of Canada (NAC), J. S. Willison papers, 47/324/3442G-7.
60. Alfred Deakin was already writing a regular Australian letter for the Morning Post - see J. A. LaNauze, Alfred Deakin: a biography (2 vols., Melbourne, 1965), 11, pp. 347-61.
61. Ware to R. Jebb, 11 Oct. 1905, London, Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICS), Richard Jebb papers, series A.
62. Copy of jebb to Ware, 23 Oct. 1905, ibid. Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICS), Richard Jebb papers.
63. Ware to Glenesk, 4 Sept. 1907, Brotherton Library, Glenesk-Bathurst papers, MS.Dep.1990/1/1578.
64. Copy of Jebb to Atkinson, 13 Oct. 1907, ICS, Jebb papers, series A.
65. Bell to Heaton, 15 July 1907, TNLA, MLB45/613-15.
66. Northcliffe to G. E. Buckle, 12 Mar. 1909, London, British Library (BL), Northcliffe papers, Add. MS 62243.
67. Times, 24 May 1909.
68. on The Times and Canada more generally see C. Girard, Canada - a country divided: The Times of London and Canada, 1908-1923 (Chicoutimi, 2001).
69. Ware to Willison, 27 Dec. 1905, NAC, Willison papers, 47/324/34386.
70. Guynne to Grey, 7 Dec. 1906, Durham, Durham University Archives (DUA), Grey Family papers, 176/5/3.
71. On the changing relationship between the press and the British political system see S. Koss, The rise and fall of the political press in Britain (2 vols., London, 1981-4).
72. J. S. Strachcy to Grey, 26 Oct. 1907, DUA, Grey papers, 176/6/16.
73. Grey to Northclifle, 7 Dec. 1908, TNIA, WDM/2/222.
74. Copy of Grigg to Grey, 1 Apr. 1910, NAC, Willison papers, 40/309/29557.
75. Grigg to Willison, 14 Oct. 1910, NAC, Willison Papers, 40/309/29660-1, ibid.
76. Jebb to Deakin, 19 May 1907, NIA, Deakin papers, 1540/15/1562.
77. L. S. Amery to Deakin, 19 May 1907, NIA, Deakin papers, 1540/1/1675-7, ibid.
78. A. Howe, Free trade and Liberal England, 1846-1946 (Oxford, 1997), p. 222.
79. Thompson, Imperial Britain, p. 92.
80. See for example E. Pulsford, Commerce and Empire (London, 1903), p. 2.
81. K. Norric and D. Owram, A history of the Canadian economy (Toronto, 1991), pp. 290-8.
82. P. T. Marsh, Joseph Chamberlain: entrepreneur in politics (New Haven and London, 1994), pp. 423-5, 539-40, 621-2.
83. for Fielding's views on preference see for example Fielding to Chamberlain, 4 Nov. 1903, Halifax, NS, Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM), W. S. Fielding papers, 508/23.
84. M. Bliss, A living profit: studies in the social history of Canadian business, 1883-1911 (Toronto, 1974), p. 107.
85. See Schcinberg, 'Invitation to empire', p. 227
86. A. Offer, The First World War: an agrarian interpretation (Oxford, 1989), ch. 11.
87. Shields, 'Imperial policy and Canadian-American commercial relations', pp. 118-19.
88. Hobson's letters were collected and reprinted in J. A. Hobson, Canada to-day (London, 1906).
89. Unionist Free Trader journals picked up on the same theme. See for example 'The tragedy of Free Trade', Spectator, 13 Aug. 1910.
90. 'Protection's last ditch', Nation, 26 Nov. 1910.
91. 'Tariff reform in Canada', Nation, 20 Aug. 1910.
92. See for example Tariff Reform "games", Westminster Gazette, 12 Sept. 1910.
93. 'Canada and tariffs', Westminster Gazette, 4 Oct. 1910.
94. 'Is Canada's loyalty for sale? A Canadian's account of the Ottawa demonstration', Westminster Gazelle, 9 Jan. 1911.
95. Marsh, Joseph Chamberlain, pp. 422, 559, 573-4, 622-3.
96. W. A. S. Hewins, The apologia of an imperialist (London, 1929), pp. 273-5.
97. J. L. Garvin to Northcliffe, 23 Dec. 1908, BL, Northcliffe papers, Add. MS 62236A, fo. 121.
98. Gwynne to A.J. Balfour, 28 Oct. 1910, Oxford, Bodleian Library, H. A. Gwynne papers, MS Gwynne Dep.15.
99. Hansard, 5th ser., 21 (1911), pp. 58-9, 371.
100. Hansard, 21 (1911) Ibid., pp. 97-8.
101. L. Harcourt to Grey, 13 Feb. 1911, DUA, Grey papers, 253/28.
102. Northcliffe to J. S. Sandars, 19 Feb. 1911, BL, Northcliffe papers, Add. MS 62153, fo. 119.
103. See for example 'Canada and the empire', Times, 4 May 1911.
104. 'Canadian-U.S.A. reciprocity', Standard of Empire, 3 Feb. 1911.
105. Hansard, 5th ser., 21 (1911), p. 340.
106. E. Kylie, 'Liberalism and empire', Contemporary Review, Jan. 1911.
107. J. A. Macdonald, 'The Canadian elections and after', Contemporary Review, Nov. 1911.
108. on Kylie and the Round Table movement in Canada and in general see J. E. Kendle, The Round Table movement and Imperial Union (Toronto, 1975).
109. Macdonald had in 1910 acted as an intermediary between Taft and Laurier in preliminary negotiations concerning reciprocity. See J. S. Willison, Sir Wilfrid Laurier (London and Toronto, 1926), pp.39-2.
110. J. A. Spender to Laurier, 31 Mar. 1911, Ottawa, NAC, Wilfrid Laurier papers, 674/184096-7.
111. Baker, 'A case study of anti-Americanism', p. 435.
112. R. Harkness, J. E. Atkinson of the Star (Toronto, 1963), p. 95.
113. C. Bruce, News and the Southams (Toronto, 1968), p. 45.
114. Willison, Laurier, pp. 401-6.
115. Copy of H. Graham to W. S. Fielding, 5 Jan. 1911, NAC, Laurier papers, 659/179338.
116. See R. C. Brown, Canada's national policy, 1883-1900: a study in Canadian-American relations (Princeton, 1964).
117. N. Knowles, Inventing die loyalists: Ike Ontario Loyalist tradition and the creation of usable pasts (Toronto, 1997), pp. 139-58.
118. Bliss, A living profit, pp. 95-113.
119. Copy of Sifton to Hawkes, 9 Mar. 1911, Ottawa, NAC, Clifford Sifton papers, 197/156867.
120. Hawkes to Sifton, 10 Mar. 1911, NAC, Clifford Sifton Papers, 197/156868, ibid.
121. Hawkes to Sifton, 13 Mar. 1911, NAC, Clifford Sifton Papers, 197/156909, ibid.
122. Hawkes to Jebb, c. Oct. 1911, ICS, Jebb papers, series A.
123. Sifton to Willison, 27 Mar. 1911, NAC, Willison papers, 37/286/27511.
124. A. Hawkes, 'Sir Clifford Sifton and the reciprocity election of 1911', Manitoba Free Press, 21 Sept. 1929.
125. Hawkes to Sifton, 21 Sept. 1911, NAC, Sifton papers, 197/15698.
126. Hawkes to Sifton, 26 Mar. 1911, NAC, Sifton papers, 197/156870-1, ibid.
127. copy of Sifton to Hawkes, 27 Mar. 1911, NAC, Sifton papers, 197/156872, ibid.
128. Bruce, News and the Southams, p. 45.
129. P. Bilkey, Persons, papers and things (Toronto, 1910), pp. 49, 125.
130. Hawkes, 'Sir Clifford Sifton'.
131. 'Making public opinion', Grain Growers' Guide, 3 May 1911.
132. R. C. Brown, Robert Laird Borden: a biography, 1:1854-1914 (Toronto, 1975), pp. 190-1.
133. Copy of A. E. Dean to W. R. McCurdy, 11 Jan. 1910, London, House of Lords Record Office (HLRO), Beaverbrook papers, BBK/A/183.
134. Copy of W. M. Aitken to R. D. Blumenfeld, n June 1911, House of Lords Record Office (HLRO), Beaverbrook papers, BBK/C/45A, ibid.
135. copy of cable from Aitken to Doble, 26 Oct. 1910, BBK/H/366.
136. 'The protectionist campaign', Grain Growers' Guide, 7 June 1911.
137. Copy of Aitken to I. H. Benn, 27 Feb. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/H/306.
138. A. Hawkes, 'The strength of American enterprise in Canada', Nineteenth Century, July 1910.
139. G. E. Foster, 'Canadian autonomy and American reciprocity: a Canadian view', Nineteenth Century, June 1911.
140. 'Hon. Geo. E. Foster's arguments', Grain Growers' Guide, 14 Dec. 1910.
141. Copy of Aitken to Foster, 4 Mar. [1911], HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBKVA/212.
142. telegram from Gwynne to Goulding, 23 Mar. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/C/148, ibdi.
143. See for example 'Episodes of the month', National Review, Oct. 1911.
144. 'Greater Britain', National Review, July 1911 and Mar. 1911.
145. A. Carman, 'Will Canada be lost?', National Review, June 1911.
146. Maxse to Northcliffc, 15 Feb. 1911, BL, Northcliffc papers, Add. MS 62175, fo. 40.
147. copy of cablegram to Borden, [15 Feb. 1911], BL, Northcliffc papers, Add. MS 62175, ibid., fo. 41.
148. See the following articles from the Standard of Empire: 'Meaning of Canadian-U.S.A. reciprocity' and 'Personal views', 3 Feb. 1911
149. A. W. Wright, 'Canada's fiscal policy', 10 Feb. 1911.
150. 'Reciprocity or preference?', 24 Feb. 1911.
151. 'Canadian opinion on the USA agreement', 3 Mar. 1911.
152. 'Our house' and 'Two great Canadians', 7 Apr. 1911.
153. 'Sir Edmund Walker's views on reciprocity', 14 Apr. 1911.
154. 'The Hon G. E. Foster on reciprocity', 26 May 1911.
155. 'Our house', 2 June 1911.
156. Ware to L. Bathurst, 6 Mar. 1911, Brotherton Library, Glencsk-Bathurst papers, MS.Dep.1990/1/400G.
157. See for example The Times of 28 and 30 Jan. 1911.
158. 'Canadian affairs', Round Table, May 1911.
159. London Times, 4 May 1911.
160. 'Sir W. Van Home on reciprocity', Standard of Empire, 24 Mar. 1911.
161. 'Personal views', Standard of Empire, 3 Feb. 1911.
162. Ware to L. Bathurst, 6 Mar. 1911, Brotherton Library, Glencsk-Bathurst papers, MS.Dep.1990/1/4006.
163. Copy of Aitken to A. A. Davidson, 4 Mar. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/A/229.
164. A.J. P. Taylor, Beaverbrook (London, 1972), pp. 57-68.
165. Copy of Borden to Aitken, 5 Apr. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/C/50.
166. copy of Aitken to Foster, 4 Mar. [1911], HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/A/212, ibid.
167. while Aitken officially remained neutral in the Canadian contest, obeying constitutional conventions, in practice he became heavily involved and covertly funded the Conservatives in Northumberland County. See copy of Aitken to Davidson, 3 July 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook Papers, BBK/A/229, ibid.
168. See for example Standard of Empire, 10 Feb. 1911.
169. copy of Aitken to Northcliffe, 4 Mar. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/C/261.
170. see also copy of Northcliffe to Sandars, 4 Feb. 1911, BL, Northcliffe papers, Add. MS 62153, fo. 118.
171. A. Chisholm and M. Davie, Beaverbrook: a life (London, 1992), pp. 79, 99-107.
172. see also correspondence between Aitken and V. M. Drury, Dec. 1910 to Aug. 1911, HLRO, Beaverbrook papers, BBK/A/233.
173. Copy of cablegram from W. S. Fielding to the high commissioner, n.d. [7 Feb. 1911], NSARM, Fielding papers, 522a/b.
174. W. L. Griffith to Fielding, n.d. [c. 8 Feb. 1911], NSARM, Fielding papers, 522a/b, ibid.
175. Griffith to Fielding, 8 Feb. 1911, NSARM, Fielding papers, 522a/b, ibid., 521/72.
176. copy of Fielding to Griffith, 8 and 18 Feb. 1911, NSARM, Fielding papers, 522a/b, vol. 481, fos. 37 and 269.
177. On Laurier's position in the Canadian naval debate see R. A. Preston, Canada and 'imperial defense'; a study of the origins of the British Commonwealth's defense organization, 1867-1919 (Durham, NC, 1967), especially pp. 414-29.
178. 'Well done! "Canada for the Union": the light and the lesson', Observer, 24 Sept. 1911.
179. 'The hour-and the man?', Observer, 1 Oct. 1911.
180. 'Exit!', Observer, 31 Dec. 1911.
181. 'Canada and the empire', Observer, 7 July 1912.
182. B. Fcrgusson, Rt. Hon. If. 5. Fielding (2 vols., Windsor, Nova Scotia, 1971), 11, pp. 145-7.
183. see also A. Sladen to Grey, 17 Jan. 1913, DUA, Grey papers, 175/5.
184. Laurier to Grey, 10 Feb. 1913, DUA, Grey Papers, 175/5, ibid.
185. Willison to Grigg, 14 Feb. 1913, TISTA, Grigg collection.
186. R.J. Q Adams, Bonar Law (London, 1999), pp. 80-1.
187. Laurier had already advised Bonar Law that Canadian manufacturers would be unlikely to allow Borden to grant British producers a more extensive preference. See Laurier to B. Law, 25 Oct. 1911, London, HLRO, Bonar Law papers, 18/7/201.
188. Borden had indeed previously guaranteed the manufacturers that he would not increase the British tariff preference. See Brown, Borden, p. 100.
189. For Hewins's findings see Thompson, Imperial Britain, p. 95.
190. Law to Borden, 25 Sept. 1911, HLRO, Law papers, 18/8/23.
191. For more details see Potter, News and the British world, pp. 180-3.
192. on Borden's naval policy see Preston, Canada and'imperial defense', pp. 445-53.
193. Extract from W. L. M. King to Grey, n.d. [c. 1912], DUA, Grey papers, 207/4.
194. Hamilton to Willison, 15 Sept. 1921, NAC, Willison papers, 19/140/14326.
195. copy of Stevenson to Sir A. Lawrence, 1 Apr. 1913.
196. Stevenson to Grey, 1 Apr. 1913, DUA, Grey papers, 180/3.
197. Garvin for example was so keen to do so that he broke with Northcliffe, the proprietor of The Observer. See Startt, Journalists for empire, p. 189.
198. Martin, 'Canada from 1815', p. 535.
199. Amcry to Willison, 17 Sept. 1910, NAC, Willison papers, 1/7/251.
200. Grigg to Northcliffe, 20 Feb. 1911, TNLA, WDM/1/33.
201. Hawkes, 'Sir Clifford Sifton'.
202. On coalition building in Canadian politics see D. Chennels, The polities of nationalism in Canada: cultural conflict since 1760 (Toronto, 2001), pp. 116-59.
203. on the South African War see P. Buckner, 'Canada', in D. Omissi and A. S. Thompson, eds., The impact of the South African War (Basingstoke, 2002).
204. Green, 'The political economy of empire', pp. 358-67.
205. Cain, 'The economic philosophy of constructive imperialism', pp. 58-60.
206. J. P. Croal to 26 Nov. 1911, HLRO, Law papers, 18/7/200.
207. Copy of Law to Borden, 25 Sept. 1911, HLRO, Law papers, 18/8/23, ibid.