Title: 1918 TLS by Future Prime Minister Arthur Meighen — Proposal for a Canadian Club in New York

Description:
Typed Letter Signed (TLS) by Arthur Meighen, dated December 14, 1918, on Minister of the Interior, Canada letterhead featuring a green-printed Canadian coat of arms at the top. Addressed to Thomas Neelands, Esq., at the Hotel Baltimore in New York, the letter responds to Neelands’ proposal for establishing a Canadian-oriented club in New York, including a Bureau of Information for visiting Canadians. Meighen affirms the value of such an initiative and notes that he has presented the suggestion to the Acting Prime Minister for consideration by the government. His bold signature, “Arthur Meighen,” appears beneath the typed closing. The letter remains well-preserved, with clean text, light toning, and a central horizontal fold.

Full Transcription:

A.S.
Minister of the Interior, Canada

Ottawa, Ontario,
14th December, 1918.

Dear Mr. Neelands,

I am sure the establishment of a Club such as is suggested in your letter would be very much appreciated by Canadians generally who have an opportunity of visiting New York. The question of the establishment of a Bureau of Information within the Club is of course one that should receive the consideration of all the Members of the Government, and I have taken occasion to place the suggestions you make before the Acting Prime Minister, who will no doubt present the matter to his colleagues.

Yours very truly,
(signed) Arthur Meighen

Thomas Neelands, Esq.,
Hotel Baltimore,
43rd St. & Madison Ave.,
New York, U.S.A.

Historical Context:
Arthur Meighen (1874–1960) served as Canada’s ninth Prime Minister, holding office in 1920–1921 and again in 1926. At the time of this letter, Meighen was serving as Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs in Prime Minister Robert Borden’s Unionist government. The letter was written just one month after the armistice ending World War I, during a period when Canada was transitioning from a wartime economy to peacetime society.

The proposal for a Canadian Club in New York, complete with a Bureau of Information, reflects postwar ambitions to strengthen cultural and economic ties with Canadians living or traveling abroad. Meighen’s reference to placing the matter before the “Acting Prime Minister” points to Newton Rowell, who temporarily filled Borden’s role while Borden was engaged in preparations for the Paris Peace Conference.

Meighen’s later political career was marked by his role in shaping postwar policy, navigating the conscription crisis, and guiding Canada through periods of political instability. He is remembered as one of Canada’s most skilled parliamentary debaters and appears today on Canada’s $5 banknote (1954 “Canadian Landscape” series).

Market Rarity:
Typed letters signed by Arthur Meighen are notably scarce in the collectors’ market. In a review of prior sales, we found only one recorded example on eBay, which sold in 2016 for $350 USD. This rarity, combined with the letter’s wartime-to-peacetime transitional content, enhances its desirability for collectors of Canadian political history.

Closing Appeal:
This 1918 letter captures Arthur Meighen’s ministerial leadership in the final days of World War I and his engagement with initiatives to promote Canadian identity abroad. Bearing the signature of a future Prime Minister and written during a pivotal transition in Canadian history, it offers collectors a direct link to the political and social ambitions of postwar Canada — with the added appeal of market rarity, as confirmed by the singular eBay sale record from 2016.