Wait for the Waggon: The Story of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps by Arnold Warren (review)

76 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW wantsto remindreaders of hispolitical struggles. Yetsomething moreis needed toiustify these threevolumes. His memoirs areuseless ashistorical sources. Thereare quotations fromhis newspaper, fromhisspeeches, andfroma fewprivate letters buttheyhavebeen selected to provehisunchanging liberalism, not to describe eventsor illustrate contemporary views.Thereareno footnotes. His memory is sounreliable that eventhedateof a provincial election iswrong by twoyears(I, 109). Whenhe attributes thedefeatof theTaschereau government, of whichhewasa member, to perverse opposition to itsprogressive legislation (III, 105-9) onlya reviewer reads on. The author's avowedpurpose is to reminda youngergeneration of their politicalheritageby describing his own battlesagainst the obseurantism and social preiudiee of privileged religious andeconomic institutions. Unfortunately, hisownliberalism istoosimple to becredible. Ashedescribes them,hisarethe Victorian virtues of thrift,honesty, hardwork,andloyaltyto familyandfriends, but thispetit ]ils d'un portcurd'eau--aphrasewhichrecursmonotonously in almost everychapterof eachvolume--has little to sayof thesevirtueswhich HoratioAlgerhasnot alreadysaid. Thedescriptions ofhisopponents areequally simple. Theyhadnovirtues. For example, theauthordescribes hisattempts in 1935to reduce theprovincial debt by ending directreliefandby making jobsonpublicworkssounpleasant that workers wouldpreferprivateemployers. Those whocriticized himin spiteofthis proofof his devotion to the publicgoodcouldonlybe personal enemies or malcontents (III, 104). Boutharddoubfiess did initiateadministrative reforms at the municipaland provincial levels but hisaccount of themis notconvincing. He is toorightand hisopponents aretoowrong.In spiteof this,hismemoirs mighthaveinformed usindirectly howelections werefought, howpolitical parties wereorganized and financed, orhowmenbecame political leaders. Unfortunately theauthor hasused pastevents onlyasa framework to display hisliberalvirtues. The events themselves are obscured. H. BL•.IR NE•,TBY University ofBritish Columbia Wait[ortheWaggon: TheStory o[theRoyalCanadian ArmyService Corps. By ARnOLd) W•,mav, N.Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited.1961.Pp.xlii,413. $7.50. TInS IS THE HISTORY Of the Ro al Canadian Arm Service Co s from its ori ins y y rp g oversixty years agotothepresent day It isoneof thever fewCanadian "corps ,, ß y histories whichhavebeenwritten,andassuch represents anattempt to describe theworkofaservice soubiquitous thatit isdifficult toimagine a military situation with whichthe R.C.A.S.C. wasnot vitallyconcerned. If therewere troops to move, thecorps' "movement control" wasonhand. If anattack wasbeing planned, corps' officers, using trucks, trailers, orsometimes horses andwaggons, prepared theammunition dumps. If there wasa riverorcanal tocross, thebridging equipmentorcanvas assault boats weredelivered onthespotby the Service Corps. If the troops brokethrough the enemyfront,R.C.A.S.C.drivers, workingaround the clock,kept the advancing troopssupplied no matterhow far the roads lengthened fromthebase dumps. Thevitalroleplayedby theService Corps hasrarelyreceived thepublici it deserved. Mr. Warrenhasattempted to rectifythisshortcoming, and although the corps hasserved in everytheatreof operations in bothWorld Wars,he has succeeded in presenting a goodgeneral impression of thevarietyof tasks given theR.C.A.S.C. andhowtheyhavebeenfulfilled. As a history,the bookis not withoutits blemishes. Numerous errorsmar the pages of the text.A littleresearch wouldrevealthatthe Crimean War did not endin 1867.GrantedCanada's tankshortage in 1939,thereweremorethanthe twohementions. To writethatin 1914Germantroops crossed the Polishfrontier isstretching things abittosaytheleast, asistosaythat"Overlord" wasthecode namefor the campaign in whichthe Germanarmies weredrivenfromnorthwest Europe.Theseare but a few examples of manysimilarmistakes whichoccur most frequently when theauthor isnotwritingdirectly onhissubiect. Personal accounts areused liberally throughout thetexttogood effect, although manycould beshortened andsharpened by editing. Further, theauthor's failure to citehissources will annoyandinconvenience the militaryhistorian, evenif it will notbothermostreaders. Mr. Warren's penchant for'minutiae aboutthe corps' organization periodically dulls anotherwise readable text. R. H. Ro• VictoriaUniversity TheSt.Lawrence Waterway: A Study inPolitics andDiplomacy. ByWILLIAM R. WILLOUCI-IB¾. Madison:University of Wisconsin Press.1961.Pp. xvi, 381, illus. $6.00. a•IiSis A I-IiGns.¾ COMrV•T•.•T HISTORY Ofthe Canadian-American struggle for agreement onconstruction oftheseaway. Thefive-foot deepcanals, thenine-foot and the fourteen-foot canals were all Canadian-built and Canadian-owned. The steady growthof ocean andlakeships constantly diminished the valueof each canal. In 1905 tolls on federal canals were abandoned: about the same time electric powergeneration fromfallingwaterbecamecompletely practical.For half of thiscentury proposals, suggested treaties, agreements, andlobbies dealt mostly withthedualpurpose proiect. Thevalueofpotential electric powergrew steadilywith increasing industrialization. The only disagreements here were betweenpublicandprivatepower. Theelectrical partoftheproiect could payforitself, butthedeep-sea navigation projecthasbeenmuchmorecontroversial. Representatives of eastcoaststates, coalmines, railroads, andMississippi riverstates always defeated representatives of mid-western states andshipping interests. In the earlyyearsof thiscentury the fourteen-foot canalsby-passing the SaintLawrencerapidshad iust been completed. By the nineteen-twenties and thirtiesnew construction could be contemplated, but Canada wasreluctant. Duringyearsof prosperity therewas somewhat less neecl for a largegovernment proiect: in badtimesfarmers and theunemployed wantedtheproiect...