Harvest of Stones: The German Settlement in Renfrew County by Brenda Lee-Whiting (review)

REVIEWS 459 reformor civicgovernment in Canada.The authorsconclude that civic populism, thenotion that'certain essential services could bemost economically ,efficiently, andhonestly supplied bypublicratherthanprivateundertakings , (192), was more widely accepted inToronto than incomparable North Americancities.A uniquecombination of technological, locational, and political factors came intoplayataparticular timeandinaparticular place to legitimize theidea.Voters embraced civic populism forpractical reasons, not because ofanunderlying commitment tosocialist principles. Theargument is convincing, thoughit mayunderestimate the influence of radicallabour thought in creating a consensus about government ownership or control of utilities. Bytracing thepolitical careers of keydecision-makers, theauthors mighthaveexploredmorefully the ideological rootsof Toronto's civic populism. Alsonoteworthy areessays byNicholas Rogers andGregKealey thatshow an emerging 'bourgeois hegemony' in mid-nineteenth centuryToronto: Kealey illustrates howattempts weremade tocontrol thepolitical roleofthe Orange Lodge, oncean important vehicle for theexpression of popular opinion; andRogers documents thecreation of a professional police force intended todisplace thevoluntary formsof social control onceprevalent. Significantly, thesetwoauthors touchon oneof the book's fundamental weaknesses: a poorlydefinedand ratheruncritical useof the concept of 'consensus.' Whereas Kealey andRogers see consensus asbeing imposed from thetopdown, theeditor andmany ofthecontributors inferthatitdeveloped broadly across class lines. Onetypeisessentially coercive, theothervoluntary. Thefirstraises questions aboutthesecond, andaboutthevolume's dominant theme. In addition, theconsensual thesis maysayless aboutToronto's history thanit doesaboutthe book'srather narrowpoliticaland institutionalfocus. The volume ignores important social andeconomic topics suchascapitallabourrelations , the process by whichnon-Anglo-Saxon immigrants integrated intothedominant community, thehistory ofwomen, andmovements of political dissent, andonewonders if essays aboutthemwouldhavesustained theunderlying argument. Ultimately, Forging a Consensus isdisappointing. Mainlyreworking old themes, it failstobreakfrom theconventional assumptions of morepopular literature, such astheotherfiveworks reviewed her4,ortopush historical writing about Toronto innewdirections, asascholarly volume should. ROBERT A.J. MCDONALD University ofBritish Columbia Harvest ofStones: The German Settlement inRenfrew County. BRENDA LEE-WHITING. Toronto: University ofToronto Press 1985. Pp.xiv,323,illus. $24.95 cloth, $9.95paper Thiscatalogue of thedesign and provenance of surviving artifacts from 460 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Renfrew County'sGerman settlementsuggests the contoursof cultural survival for an identifiableeasternOntariominority.The openingchapters contrast thepooragricultural potentialof inlandRenfrewwiththeclaims of emigration promoters,' and sketchthe reasons whyemigrants left Germany and cameto Renfrew.Six chaptersparade implementsfor clearingland, buildings, cardingimplements,spinningwheels,looms,clothpatterns,quilt designs, furniture,toys, baskets, cradles, andtombstones. There are• •9 pages of photographs. The closingchapters deftly indicatethe dispersal of later generations after •9ooby improvedtransportation, harvestexcursions westward ,metropolitan pulls,intermarriage withnon-Germans, new(andfailing) Germansettlements in northern Ontario, massive land expropriationfor Camp Petawawa, increasinguse of English,fleetinganti-Germanhysteria duringWorld War •, and the forcedclosing of the Deutsch Postin •9•6 by federaldecree. Lee-Whiting's ironicepilogue contrasts present-day mammoth familyreunions andgenealogy projects withdepleting materialevidence of a Germanpresence in RenfrewCounty. The centralstrength andweakness of thisstudyisthatnothesis isargued, apart from Lee-Whiting's contentionthat the povertyof the soil forced Germanemigrants and descendants to maketheir own furniture, clothes, buildings, andimplements - inturnmakingthese agauge ofhowenduringthe cultural baggage oftheemigrants provedtobe.The struggle suggested bythe book's titleisnotsupported bynumerous references tomodest prosperity and theauthor'sclaimthat Renfrewwasoneof onlytwoareasin Canadawhere residents ofGermandescent actually increased innumberuptothe •96os.The evidence amassed hereoffersinsights intoeveryday life,butnosumismadeof thepartsto offer a significant conclusion. The textisnotbeyondreproach. Reference ismadeto exceptional brutalityby Britishshipcrewsto German emigrants, withneitherexamplenorsource given.A fewmisquotes, confused and sometimes contradictory paragraphsappear.UnwarrantedgeneralizationsabouteasternOntarioarebasedon RenfrewCounty.The assertion that smoke-houses wereuniquelycharacteristic ofGermanfarmsseems unlikely.It isdifficulttobelieve thattheopenhostility facedbysome Germanfamilies in WorldWar I wasnotrepeatedduring World War I•. Still,thisworkhasmerit despiteitsbeinglargelypure description, and despite thelackof comparison with otherethnicgroupsin Renfrew.Neither filiopietism norlashings-out atthehostsociety, bothhallmarks of manyethnic studies, marthiswork.References tochainmigrationfromGermany,andlater fromRenfrewto northernOntario;theuniquecustom of doddy-houses and maintenance mortgages for theelderly;andtheGermanpreferencefor black ash in makingfurniture and implementsare all important discoveries. Genealogists will be gratefulfor the appendices listingGermannamesin RenfrewCountycemeteries andWendishsurnames. GLENN J LOCKWOOD University ofOttawa ...