Smith's attention at this period was concentrated on Canada. He revived his publication the Bystander in October of 1889 to give his views an organ. He often wrote to Sir Wilfred Laurier to offer him advice, and he collected information from various correspondents about Manitoba's politics and its school question, Canadian railroads, the export-beef market, and the Jesuit Estates Act. His real estate holdings in Toronto were considerable, and there are interesting letters from his lawyers and from a local alderman about the cost of city government and the system of tax assessment. Smith's book Canada and the Canadian Question was published in 1891, and his speech Aristocracy was delivered and much written about in that year. The fisheries dispute between Great Britain and the United States created waves of ill-feeling in Canada aitd the United States which Smith tried to quiet. He joined a Canadian organization that circulated pamphlets and promoted lectures on behalf of commercial union between the two English- speaking neighbors, and he conferred with Americans who advocated continental union. This brought cries of "Treason!" from the ultra-loyal Canadian press, and charges of conspiracy were made on both sides of the border. The American presidential elections of 1888 and 1892 were the subjects of a number of letters to and from Americans, and the correspondence with Andrew D. White dismissed the lawsuit between the McGraw-Fiske heirs and Cornell University, which Smith continued to visit each year, to see old friends and to deliver a few lectures.