ELLISON, WILLIAM HENRY. A Self-governing Dominion: California, 1849-1860. Pp. xi, 335. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1950. $4.50
| Author | George D. Harmon |
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625127400152 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
225
entry
nearly
every
day,
and
the
result
is
a
very
boring
and
totally
humorless
cat-
alogue
of
petty
business
and-political
deals,
guests
for
luncheon
or
dinner,
and
the
plays
and
operettas
he
attended
(without
even
the
benefit
of
dramatic
criticism).
Later
on,
when
he
cannot
find
time
for
daily
entries,
the
longer
entries
are
better
be-
cause
they
give
some
retrospect.
The
exasperating
feature
of
this
book
is
that
it
rarely
takes
the
reader
behind
the
scenes
to
record
what
either
Dawes
or
his
important
associates
were
talking
or
thinking
about.
Take,
for
example,
this
entry
for
January
1,
1896:
&dquo;Arrived
Co-
lumbus.
Spent
the
morning
with
Governor
McKinley
and
took
my
New
Year’s
dinner
with
the
Governor
and
his
wife
at
their
rooms
at
Neil
House.
Joe
Smith,
the
Governor’s
Secretary,
was
also
present.
Had
a
very
enjoyable
and
confidential
time.
Went
over
the
Governor’s
plans
pretty
fully.
We
are
working
hard
in
Illinois
for
the
Governor,
and
he
fully
appreciates
it.&dquo;
Or
take
this
Journal
entry
of
June
17,
1896,
the
day
before
McKinley
was
nom-
inated
for
President:
&dquo;Was
busy
at
hotel
until
Convention
met.
Our
little
party
sat
together.
Thurston
made
a
magnificent
speech,
although
it
was
short.
We
went
to
second
session.
Dined
at
St.
Nicholas
in
the
evening,
and
went
to
see
the
Mc-
Kinley
parade.
Had
many
conferences
with
Hanna
and
others
during
all
the
week
relative
to
the
Vice
Presidency,
and
de-
voted
much
time
to
matter.
Definitely
ar-
ranged
Illinois
matter.&dquo;
Every
now
and
then
there
is
a
flash
of
interest,
such
as
the
entry
for
September
11,
1896:
&dquo;At
lunch with
Mr.
Hanna
who
handed
me
an
envelope
containing
50
one
thousand
dollar
bills-being
the
contribu-
tion
of
a
railroad
to
the
Republican
cam-
paign
fund.
Deposited
a
check
for
a
similar
amount
from
another
source.&dquo;
But
the
entries,
even
after
McKinley
became
President,
unfortunately
lapse
into
gems
like
this
one
of
January
24,
1899:
&dquo;Was
at
the
White
House
for
nearly
two
hours
with
the
President
in
the
cabinet
room,
as
he
received
visitors.
Talked
over
various
matters
with
him.
This
is
the
anniversary
of
our
marriage,
and
I
took
Caro
a
bunch
of
violets.&dquo;
Why
waste
paper
to
print
such
penetrat-
ing
observations?
The
negative
effect
is
that
McKinley
had
even
less
to
say
or
do
than
Coolidge.
As
noted
above,
the
Journal
improves
as
the
years
proceed.
In
1904,
Dawes
again
had
a
key
spot
in
Republican
Na-
tional
Committee
headquarters,
and
his
re-
marks
are
sharply
revealing.
On
August
30,
1904,
he
noted:
&dquo;The
work
of
the
National
Committee
runs
smoothly.
It
gives
me
daily
comfort
to
know
that
at
last
we
have
a
committee
whose
work
is
untainted
by
fraud
of
any
kind
in
its
busi-
ness
departments....
In
the
past
the
stealing
has
been
done
by
subordinates
and
bureau
chiefs
who
would
take
commissions
for
letting
contracts.
I
can
see
now
that
much
must
have
been
taken
in
this
way
in
the
1896
campaign
in
spite
of
the
checks
Dan
Wing
and
I
provided
to
prevent
it.&dquo;
In
summary,
this
is
a
dull
book
with
occasional
passages
which
make
it
worth
examining.
KENNETH
W.
HECHLER
Washington,
D.
C.
ELLISON,
WILLIAM
HENRY.
A
Self-govern-
ing
Dominion:
California,
1849-1860.
Pp.
xi,
335.
Berkeley
and
Los
Angeles:
University
of
California
Press,
1950.
$4.50.
Professor
Ellison
has
written
an
interest-
ing
book,
composed
of
ten
chapters,
or
ten
essays,
on
the
early
history
of
Cali-
fornia
from
1848
to
1860.
Each
essay
is
so
complete
and
independent
of
the
others
that.
the
reader
could
very
easily
begin
with
the
last
chapter
instead
of
the
first
without
losing
much,
if
any,
of
the
human
interest
or
of
the
historical
significance
of
the
study.
The
first
half
of
the
book
deals
with
the
Mexican
War,
the
conquest
of
California,
the
Treaty
of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo,
the
dis-
covery
of
gold,
the
tremendous
influx
of
people
from
all
parts
of
the
world,
the
steps
leading
toward
self-government,
the
disagreements
in
Washington,
the
calling
of
the
California
Constitutional
Conven-
tion,
the
delegates
to
the
convention
and
their
personalities
and
handicaps,
the
state
constitution
and
its
ratification,
the
elec-
tion of
a
governor,
a
state
legislature,
two
representatives
to
the
United
States
Con-
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