Gringos from the Far North: Essays in the History of Canadian-Latin American Relations, 1866–1968 by J.C.M. Ogelsby (review)

REVIEWS 513 journalsin writingacBctelevision documentary on Montgomerywhichwasairedat aboutthesametimeGillen'sbookwasreleased. Because I havenotseenthejournals, it isdifficultfor me to makeajudgment, but I suspect that withoutthat important sourceof information,the resolutionof the privateand publicL.M. Montgomery cannottakeplace. The title,TheWheel ofThings, istakenfrom Kipling's Kimandrefersto thedaily routinethatpreoccupies andessentially destroys thosewhofail tofind thesecret of freedom.L.M. Montgomerywasoneof the casualties. Her biographerdescribes a womanwho inwardly rebelledagainstthe demandsof a strict upbringingand marriedlifetoamelancholic Presbyterian minister, butwhowaschainedtothewheel ofthings bythesense ofdutyandsocial responsibility whichthatupbringinginstilled. The mostinterestingchaptersdeal with that fatal and insolubleconflictwhichis importantbecause it iscentralnot onlyto Montgomery's life but alsoto Canadian literatureand culture.Mollie Gillen hintsat the complexityof thisconflictbut is somewhat contradictory, or at leastuncertainin her conclusions. In all fairness she mighthavelackedthe informationnecessary to makeconclusive statements about L.M. Montgomeryor speculative statements aboutCanadianculture,but I wishshe had dared. The biographywantsthatcriticaledgeone mighthavehopedfor andtendsto lapseintoeulogyin astylereminiscent of Montgomeryherself.Still,itisasthorough aspossible withoutmorediscussion of thejournals,andcontains a full bibliography andanexcellent index.Mostimportant,TheWheel ofThings isathought-provoking study ofacomplex woman, theperception ofwhose lifeandworkhasbeentoolong obscured bythelegendof L.M. Montgomery. ANN S. COWAN Van½o•tver Gringos fromtheFar North:Essays in theHistory ofCanadian-Latin American Relations, ß866-•968.j.c.M.OCELSB¾. Toronto,Macmillan, •976.Pp.xiv,346,maps. $•7.95. Professor Ogelsby haswrittenahighlysignificant bookwhichplugsarealgap.Asthe only up-to-datebook and mostcompletepieceof literature on Canadian-Latin Americanrelations, it couldwellbecome requiredreadingfor courses in Canadian diplomatic history,Inter-Americanrelations, andCanadian-American relations. The bookisa delighttoreadandtheproductof far-rangingresearch. Frequently humorous,the author comparesCanadian politicianswho have toured Latin Americatomigratorybirdswhoflysouth between OctoberandMay'onlytoreturnto thenorthto geton withmoreimportantbusiness' (•o). He reportsa World War II discovery thatPeru'srealreasonfor wantingtoestablish a diplomatic postin Ottawa wasthat it 'had a surplusof diplomatsasa resultof the closingof legationsand embassies in countriesoccupiedby the Nazis,and Ottawa lookedlike a suitable relocation from someatleast'(•o). Havingexploredthe PublicArchives of Canada, ecclesiastical archivesin Canada,asmanybusiness collections asthe corporations wouldallow,and someLatin-Americanlibraries,he surveys activities of Canadian 514 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW politicians andcivilservants, businessmen, engineers, missionaries, andemigr•s south oftheRioGrande. Thefurtheronereads, themoreoneisimpressed bythe magnitude ofProfessor Ogelsby's study. Theauthor's personal travels tomany ofthe places hementions, andhisability todescribe thedelights oftheChilean LakeDistrict (2•),dusk atLaPaz airport (92),theinterior ofaCartagena bank (••8,n44),evening inChihuahua (•75),weather inSantiago deChile(226), the'highway system' ofCosta Rica(232),andtheBolivian mining townofOruro(245)addtothebook's appeal. The adventures of kidnapped businessman T.G. Mackenzie (•73-6), missionary Marie Cameron(23o-2), andentrepreneurF.S. Pearson(257) makeusawareof someof Canada's heroes, whiletheaccounts of theRoyalBank'sinvolvement with dictators inCosta Rica(•o2)andCuba(•o8-9) serve asreminders ofadifferentkind of record.The activities of SirRobertBordenonbehalfof Canadian investors (94, •6o-7o),bothasprimeminister andafterhisretirement,makesignificant reading. It would, nevertheless, be a rare reviewer who could not find in asbroad a work as thisatleastsome passages whichhewouldhavewrittendifferently. Thisreviewer's listincludes thefollowing: • 'PuertoRicowas indeedinreduced circumstances beingatthetime[2866]oflittle importance totheSpanish Empire'(• 2).DismalasPuertoRicoundoubtedly was,its economy and populationhad expandedasneverbeforefollowingthe successful revolutionson the Spanish-American mainland. Puerto Rico had become,after Cuba,thesecond largest Spanish colony intheWestern Hemisphere, andforthefirst timeincenturies hadbeguntoattractSpanish settlers. 2 'The newscoverage in the variouscapitals duringtheir visit[thevisitof some members oftheTrudeaucabinet toLatinAmericain 2968]was similar tothatgiven to the Howe [•953] and MacKinnon[•94o-• and 2946 ] missions' (34).This was certainly notthecase in Colombia. MacKinnon's •946 visitwarranted frontpage publicity andpictures inatleast threeBogota newspapers, aneditorial inE1Tiempo, andwidespread coverage outside thecapital.In •968, whenJ.J.GreeneandJeanLucP •pinheaded adelegation tothecity,therewas onestoryandonepicture, both burieddeepinsideonpage27of the • November issue ofE1Tiempo, butnothing anywhereelse. 3 The authorhasasomewhat optimistic viewofthe •968mission (34).Hedoes not suggest thattheclosing ofthreeCanadian embassies inLatinAmerica less thanayear later,notnoteduntilpage289,was contrary tothespiritofthe•968mission. 4 Therearescattered references toCanada's reluctance toassume fullmembership inthePanAmerican UnionandtheOrganization ofAmerican States, butthereisno chronological orsystematic essay onthesubject. 5 The SunLife'sfirstColombian representative livedin Barranquilla, notCartagenaasreportedonpage96 . 6 On page97 Ogelsby notesthe delaythat the AndianNationalCorporation encountered whenit attempted togeta pipelineconcession throughColombia. He does notgivethereason forthedelay - thefactthatColombian officials regarded Andianasathinlydisguised uscompany atatimewhenColombia was stillsmarting fromTheodoreRoosevelt's decisive aidtoPanamanian separatists. 7 The 'finalbattles[of the Spanish-American War] hadbeenfoughtduringthe REVIEWS 515 previous July[•898]' (•o6).Thiswastrueof Cuba,whichtheauthorisdiscussing, but hostilities continuedin PuertoRicountilmid-August. 8 'Canadiansdid not find Panamaattractive[for investmentand business purposes ], perhapsbecause the UnitedStates wassoobviously paramountthere'(• •5). Surelytheexplanation ismorecomplex thanthat,for aUnitedStates presence canbe a stimulus to Canadians. On page• •3 Ogelsby notes,'The RoyalBanktookadvantageof the Americanoccupation (•9•5-•934) to open a bank there [in Haiti] in •9...