Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Fall 2013
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/5/2013
Attached to the inside of this 9 1/2" x 11 1/2" hardcover book titled "News Cuttings", with its slightly worn pages and cover, is a 5" x 8" letter written by Canada's first Prime Minister and the man behind Canada's Confederation, John A. Macdonald. The letter, beautifully handwritten by Macdonald in black fountain pen, and with no damage whatsoever and with only a very slight smudge at the end of "Macdonald", launched the debate of a free trade agreement with the U.S. Macdonald, born in 1815 and deceased in 1891, served 19 years as Canada's top dog, and was the man who established Canada as a nation and helped connect the huge land with a railway. Classic Auctions is proud to offer this historic letter from the mover and shaker of Confederation. It’s fascinating in its own right, this hardcover book from the latter decades of the 19th century, chock full of newspaper editorials and letters to the editor regarding labor practices, tariffs, and the debated advantages and disadvantages of free trade between Canada and the U.S., all of which predates the modern day agreement by 100 years. But most importantly, of course, is what’s inside the cover, Macdonald’s letter, which reads as: “Private. Earnscliffe, Ottawa. Dear Sir, At the present it is in my opinion necessary that energetic steps should be taken to obtain united action in the maintenance and development of the National Policy. With this view I venture to write you, together with other gentlemen favorable to that policy, to meet me at the Queen’s Hotel , Toronto, on Tuesday, the 1st February, at 2 p.m. Believe me, Yours very truly, John A. Macdonald.” This stunning letter was published in "The Globe" on January 31, 1887, with an original clipping of it glued into page 24 of the wonderful book that very well could have been kept by someone from the Liberal Party over the years. Macdonald clashed with Liberals over the idea of free trade, believing that Canadian industry needed protection to grow. A reciprocity treaty, signed in 1854, allowed the free flow of various products such as agriculture, dairy, metals, and forest products, but the treaty would ultimately be cancelled by the U.S. in 1866 after the Civil War. Thirteen years later, Macdonald's National Policy created its own tariff walls as he sought to shelter fledgling industries in Ontario and Quebec.
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