‘As a Politician He is a Great Enigma’: The Social and Political Ideas of D’Alton McCarthy

J.R. MILLER Politician He is a ß ß Great Emgma':' The Social andPolitical Ideas of D'Alton McCarthy ALTHOUGH D'ALTON MCCARTHY satintheHouseofCommons fortwenty-two years,wasofferedcabinetrank bytwoprime ministers, and tooka major partindebates onquestions essential toCanada's development, heremains largely ariddle,oratbest atwo-dimensional figure,tostudents of Canadian history. 2To a considerable extent,whatinformationwe haveabouthim is Public Archives ofCanada [PAC], SirJ.R.Gowan Papers, ReelM-•899,SirD.L.MacPherson to Gowan,29 Nov. •889 Specialized study ofMcCarthy began withF.Landon, 'D'AltonMcCarthy andthePolitics of theLater'Eighties,' Canadian Historical Association, Annual Report •932,43-5o,alimited analysis based uponrestricted sources thathasbeensuperseded. J.F.O'Sullivan, 'D'Alton McCarthy andtheConservative Party•876-• 896'(unpublished MAthesis, University of Toronto,•949),wasthefirsttoarguesystematically andconvincingly thatMcCarthyis betterunderstood asanEnglish-Canadian nationalist thanananti-French andanti-Catholic bigot.E.J.Noble,'D'AltonMcCarthyandtheElection of •896,'(unpublished MAthesis, University of Guelph,•969),adoptedthesame approach in hismorenarrowlyfocused analysis. Noble's Chapters fourandtenconstitute thebestbriefanalysis available of McCarthy's views onfederalism, French Canada, andcommercial policy. A muchlarger study thatisbased oncar_eful useofafullrangeofsources isL.L.Kulisek, 'D'Alton McCarthy andtheTrueNationalization ofCanada,' (unpublished pI-XD thesis, WayneState University, •973)-Kulisek's analysis ofMcCarthy's roleinconstitutional battles withMowat andtheManitobaschool issue arethestrongest partsof thedissertation. I havealsomade useof M.G.Falls, 'D'AltonMcCarthy, Politician', (unpublished MAresearch paper,UniversityofWindsor ,•966),abriefstudy which adds nothing toanunderstanding ofMcCarthy andisseriously misleading onmanypoints; andW.M. Baker,'The FederalElection of •887 inSimcoe North:D'AltonMcCarthy versus TimothyWarrenAnglin'(unpublished research paper,University ofWestern Ontario,•968),acarefulexamination ofalocalcontest thatis based onanimpressive rangeofsource material.I should liketothankProfessor Kulisekfor makingacopyof theFallspaperavailable, andProfessor Bakerfor providing mewitha copyof hisstudyof the •887contest. With theexception of abriefreferencein theO'Sullivanthesis, noneof theseaccounts deals withMcCarthy's concern about social andeconomic questions orrelates these preoccupations tohisotherideas. Vol. LVIIINo 4 December1977 400 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW misinformation, the productof manydecades of angrycontroversy over theories andprojects thathechampioned. Hisassociation withtheManitoba government in resisting attempts bythe RomanCatholicminorityandthe federalgov. ernmenttoreimpose confessional schools attracted considerable opposition,and the viewsof hisdetractorsin the •89oshaveformed the stapleof historians' assessments. But McCarthywasmore than Clifford Sifton'sassociate or co-conspirator in the Manitobaschoolquestion; he advocated viewsand promotedpolicies in areasotherthanlanguage and creed.He had a livelyinterestin socialand economic questions aswellas federalism andnationalism; andthelatterwereintegrated withandrelated to the former. The basic facts of McCarthy's political careerarefamiliarenough, yetthe man'spersonality anditsinfluence on hispoliticalcareerarenot.Bornin Ulsterin •836, McCarthycameto Canadaasa youngboyandsettledon KempenfeldtBayin (9n•ar;.•.Althoughhisfatherwasa trainedlawyer,in Canada theelderD'AltonMcCarthyattempted afarmingcareer;and,when theruralavocation lostitsattraction, heresumed hislegalcareerinpartnershipwith D'Arcy Boulton.The youngerD'Alton eventuallyfollowedhis father'spathtotheOntariobar,joiningtheBoultonoMcCarthy firmin •858. The sonalsosharedthefather'sleanings totheConservative party,butnot hisinvolvementwith the Loyal Orange Association. After establishing a successful legalcareer- Bencherof the LawSociety of Upper Canadain •87• and Queen'sCounsela yearlater - he expandedhisoperations to Toronto,whichbecame thelocus ofhispractice after •879.Hedidpreserve hisconnections with the Lake Simcoeregion,maintaininga practicein Barbiearidacquiringacountryestate in Simcoe County.After several futile effortstowrestthestaunchly Grit ridingof Simcoe North fromtheLiberal incumbent,he succeeded in enteringthe Commons in a by-election in Cardwell in •876.Hewas finallytorepresent Simcoe Northafterasuccessful campaign in •878,afeathewastoperformfourmoretimes beforehisdeath in •898.s McCarthy's claim,onaccount of ability andservice, wassufficiently great by•884forMacdonald toofferhimtheJustice portfoliotwice, whentheOld Chieftainwasseekinga transfusion of youngerblood for his ministry. McCarthydeclined,pleadingthathislargepersonal debtsrequiredhimto workassiduously athispractice. 4Although McCarthy's unsettling views on 3 H.J.Morgan, ed.,The Canadian Menand Women ofthe Time (Toronto•898),7•9- 2•;andJ.K. Johnson, ed.,TheCanadian Directory ofParliament i867-i967 (Ottawa •968),387 .The Directory ofParliament errsin omitting aNorthSimcoe by-election contest in •874,andin designating McCarthy an'Independent' in •889. 4 D.G.Creighton, Macdonald: TheOldChieftain (Toronto•955),389-9ø THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IDEAS OF McCARTHY 401 language madehimsomething ofanembarrassment tothepartyinthelater •88os,he stillcommanded enoughinfluenceto merit consultation in the springof •89•, whena successor to Macdonaldwassought.The fact that 'McCarthywasfrank enoughto tell me that he wouldnot serveunder me' constituted amajorreasonfor SirJohnThompson's decision nottopress his claimtotheprimeministerial office. 5During theadministrations of Abbott and Thompson, McCarthy gravitated further from the Conservatives, emergingasan Independentin •893 and an ally in all but nameof the Liberalsand Patronsin •896. Thesepoliticalwanderings seemed aboutto concludewith hisentry into Laurier'scabinetin •898, but a fatal riding accidentcut short McCarthy'slife before he couldact upon the Liberal primeminister's offer.6 McCarthy's comparative failureasapolitician wasasmuchattributable to hispublicimageashispoliticalopinions. The publicandprivatemenwere verydifferent.In ParliamentMcCarthywas'highlystrung,sensitive,' giving 'withlightningspeed, blowfor blowwithprecision andpower,'butathome he wasan indulgentfather...