The beginning of the 20th century has given rise to a great number of various concerns. The combination of different unique factors resulted in the triggering of processes which had an outstanding impact on the further evolution of society. This period of time could be characterized by numerous shifts in the social life and mentality of people. Understanding the central tendencies of the epoch, representatives of all layers of society initiated the struggle for their rights, aiming at the improvement of their status and well-being.
However, the workers desire to protect their rights and attain the reconsideration of the pattern according to which they had to work was one of the major concerns of that period. The class of workers became the main force of the industrialized society and it was able to introduce significant changes to the structure of the world and its hierarchy. A number of scientists and authors have sought to determine the role of this very social class and the individual in the change process. It resulted in the appearance of a great number works. David Franks J.B. McLachlan. A Biography belongs to this very sort of books as it provides the precise description of the life and activity of one of the central figures of Canadian workers movement for their rights.
The conditions under which Canadian miners had to perform their job were complicated. The owners of the mines were not interested in the improvement of the working environment as there was no lack of the working force. A miner had to work at least 12 hours a day and the reward was miserable (Frank, 1999). The fatal causality was quite common and a worker was not sure whether he would return home. The scale of the problem was very significant as even child labour was used by masters and their rights were not respected.
The problem was also complicated by the fact that the government did not provide support to workers, protecting the interests of prosperous owners who paid taxes and guaranteed the stable income. Describing the given period of time, various authors traditionally give a great deal of attention to several important concerns, such as the struggle for eight-hour day, improvement of the working conditions and the role which individuals like J.B. McLachlan played in the process of change.
David Frank in his book focuses on the precise analysis of that epoch and events which are almost forgotten by Canadians and workers. The author presents a reader with a social history of the Industrial Cape Breton, province of Nova Scotia, and the Scottish immigrant McLachlan. The given highly industrialized region was characterized by a great number of confrontations between miners, who comprised the majority of the population in the area, and rich owners, who did not want to improve the working conditions. David Frank tends to show the complex of reasons which triggers these processes and provides the detailed description of the McLachlans background, tracing essential steps in the life of the central character of the book. Such a deep investigation allows a reader to obtain the clear image of the main factors which formed McLachlans mentality and approach towards the right of workers.
The Franks book serves as the ground for discussion and reconsideration of the most significant facts. One of the main reasons for the books success is the authors unique perspective and the manner of the presentation of the material. David Frank tends to present the life of miners in Nova Scotia in terms of capitalism and market relations, providing the additional information which could help to realize the most important tendencies of the epoch.
The author has unique reflections on the events of that period of time and he structures the book to share his thoughts in the most inserting way. J.B. McLachlan. A Biography consists of four main parts: book one: to redeem the world, 1869-1916; book two: the economic gospel, 1916-22; book three: crime and punishment, 1923-25; book four education for action, 1925-36 (Frank, 1999). These sections propose precise and detailed information about various periods of McLachlans life and his struggle for workers rights. The suggested structure makes the book more logic and promotes the better understanding of the most topical concerns appeared at the beginning of the 20th century.
One of the main themes that emerge in this very book is McLachlans great involvement in the coal-mining industry and his reflections on the fate of workers. The book opens with the description of Scotland where McLachlan was born and gained his first working experience. David Frank tends to emphasize the fact that born in this region in 1869, the main actor engaged in mining just ten years later.
The conflict between the miners and masters was on the rise and McLachlan had to migrate to Canada. The book explores the main reasons, which motivate him to change the country, and adds some more ideas about the situation in the world. Having arrived in Canada, McLachlan realizes the necessity of change as his migration coincides with the growth of workers dissatisfaction with the existing conditions. David Frank is sure that McLachlans arrival allowed him to participate in the unique change process and contribute to the evolution of the industrial law (Frank, 1999).
A variety of problems peculiar to Cape Breton helps a reader to understand the main factors which resulted in the growth of the workers dissatisfaction and the evolution of minors movement. Frank presents the given epoch in terms of the shift of priorities which led to the appearance of the industrial voluntarism (Frank, 1999). The authors main contribution to readers understanding of the new regime and its evolution is the presentation of the tiniest details of the whole process and the precise and detailed analysis of the most significant concerns.
Revolving around the issue of Minors Union, Frank promotes the better understanding of the role it played in those events and the way in which it obtained new authorities. Cogitating about unions, the author presents radical and socialists perspectives on the role they should play in the life of a common worker. There were several dominant ideas at that period of time. The first one stated that the union had to protect the rights of workers, promoting the significant improvement of working conditions. The second perspective also insisted on the growth of the power of unions to transform the society in accordance with the main principles of socialism (Frank, 1999).
Frank also demonstrates some legal aspects of the given processes and provides the detailed information connected with the laws of the given period. The author raises several concerns, cogitating whether the workers actions could be taken as legal or not in terms of the existing laws. This very concern turns out to be very important as very often workers demonstrations and protests were put down by the owners of the enterprises, who used soldiers for these purposes. This fact evidences that the government was involved in the process and provided support to the masters to preserve stability and guarantee great incomes. Hence, the book raises the question of the legality, emphasizing the fact that the legal framework of the epoch was not able to satisfy the workers claims and the need for the change was obvious. Although, the author emphasizes the McLachlans great contribution to the initiation of these very changes and the risks connected with the activity of this sort.
In the final part of the book, the author introduces some very essential ideas, trying to evaluate McLachlans contribution to the evolution of society and labour movement. Frank provides the facts which show that McLachlan reconsidered his convictions and adhered to more moderate forms of socialism at the end of his life, believing that this sort of relations could guarantee the stable evolution of labour movement and provide the protection of workers rights. However, McLachlan could not be taken as a socialist or communist because the nature of his criticism of the Communists or Socialists evidences that he realized the necessity of the further development and search for the new forms. The book introduces the idea that McLachlan died without the assurance that his struggle was successful as the results of all his actions were uncertain and “the revolution had not arrived” (Frank, 1999, p. 530). However, he managed to trigger a great number of significant process in the society which resulted in the shift of priorities and reconsideration of some traditional approaches.
The given book presents a reader with numerous facts connected with McLachlans activity and the labour movement in Nova Scotia, Canada. David Frank introduces many consequential reflections about the character of the processes peculiar to that period of time and the activity of the leader of Cape Bretons miners. The author integrates various perspectives and aspects of social life, underlining their contribution to the evolution of the labour movement and providing an enormous amount of information. Being one of the main advantages of the book, it could also be taken as its only drawback. The overabundance of the information leads to the decrease of the level of attention and confuses a reader, preventing him/her from understanding the key concepts of the given book and the main stages of the growth of the workers dissatisfaction. David Frank obviously tries to create the detailed image of the epoch and conveys the historical atmosphere of Canada, but he provides too much unnecessary information while describing various union meetings or revolving around unimportant characters.
There is another remarkable aspect connected with the given book. The work tends to present McLachlan as an ideal character who was one of the main heroes of the labour movement and whose input helped to change the nature of the industry and working conditions. Frank omits or does not evaluate some ambivalent McLachlans actions which had the doubtful impact on the above-mentioned processes and which could present the another perspective on the image of this very person. For example, McLachlans negotiations with British Empire Steel Corporation which were opposed by his allies because of some controversial points. However, he insisted on the acceptance of the suggested conditions emphasizing the pragmatic side of the deal (Frank, 1999).
Finally, David Frank manages to introduce his ideas using simple and understandable language. The peculiarities of the authors style and logic result in the greater involvement in the processes described in the book. A reader could easily understand the central idea of the given biography and obtain the clear image of the events which led to the reconsideration of the existing approaches. Revolving around very significant events, the author tends to underline the role of an individual and emphasize the idea that the McLachlans contribution was central to the rise of the labour movement in Canada at that period of time. Analysis of the credible sources provided by the author helps to accept this idea and come over to the author’s side.
However, it is a great example of a biography which helps a reader to obtain the clear vision of the significant concerns appeared in Canada in the previous century. The book could be recommended to a variety of readers who investigate the given sphere of social history or who are just interested in the evolution of the labour movement in Canada and all over the world. David Frank manages to provide a very detailed information about the figure of McLachlan and his contribution to the appearance of shifts in the society. The book enamours a reader, creating the atmosphere of struggle and resistance.
Reference
Frank, D. (1999). J.B. McLachlan. A Biography. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd.