Private St.
Catharines Ont
16th
Feby 1891
Rt. Hon. Sir Jno A. Macdonald
My Dear Sir – I take the liberty as a follower of yours for
the past thirty years to address to you a few honest words upon the political
situation in the County of Lincoln. For
25 years past I have been editor and co-publisher of the St. Catharines
Journal, and during all that time have espoused the Conservative cause. Two years ago I severed my connection with
that paper, and my late business partner has basely deserted the Conservative
standard and gone over to the enemy at a critical period. The Star newspaper, also published here, (assuredly(?)
conservative) refuses to support Mr. Neelon, and the party is without an organ
or a vehicle through which to sustain Conservative views. The situation is, therefore, somewhat
critical to say the least, and what is a bad feature I do not see how the trouble
can be healed. My friend Dr. Goodman who
has succeeded me as chairman of the Conservative Association of the City of St.
Catharines and also as Mayor, visited you at Ottawa recently and has made known
to myself as well as some others the outcome of his next visit upon which I
need not dwell except to offer some further explanation of the trouble. Mr. Chaplin, a manufacturer here, is at
variance with Capt. Murray, Chm of the Conservative Assn. for the County. He is also out with Mr. Rykert respecting the
management of a libel suit in which he (Chaplin) was engaged against the Journal. Mr. Chaplin is said to control the Star
newspaper, which refuses to espouse or rather support Mr. Neelon, the
Conservative nominee, on the plea that he is championed by Mr. Rykert. So you see that it is a very pretty quarrel
as it stands and may possibly result in the loss of the County.
I have
tried my best during the past year to ?? minimize these discordant elements so
far as Mr. Rykert is concerned and the Star newspaper. I had almost succeeded, when some malign
influence interfered and prevented it.
The
squabbles of a locality of course do not concern you particularly, but when as
in this case the fate of the constituency is jeopardized, it is a different
matter. Could you not suggest some way
out of the trouble? I am Returning
Officer for the County and do not care to meddle – especially as at the last
by-election between Mr. Rykert and Mr. Patterson the Grits charged me with
being too partisan simply because I was seen going into Mr. Rykert’s
office. It is too bad. You will pardon me for troubling you, but the
occasion warrants it.
Yours very
sincerely John E. Cuff
Source: Public
Archives of Canada. Sir John A.
Macdonald Papers, Vol. 496, Numbers 248648-248650.
Notes:
John Charles Rykert was the sitting (Conservative) MP for
Lincoln and Niagara from May 23, 1890 to February 3, 1891.
Sylvester Neelon was a City Council member in
1870-1874. In 1874 he served with J.E.
Cuff. From Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. 12: “In 1875, running as a
Liberal, he was elected for the provincial riding of Lincoln, but was charged
with corrupt electoral practices. Witnesses testified at his trial that he had
paid them as much as $20 each for their votes. Neelon was unseated and he
unsuccessfully contested the subsequent by-election. Finally, in the general
election of 1879, he achieved his goal of becoming the MPP for Lincoln, which
he represented until 1886.” He lost the
federal election of 1891 to William Gibson, a Liberal, according to “History
of Federal Ridings since 1867.” [Online] https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=3952). Accessed March 10, 2019.
