Class, Community and the Labour Movement: Wales and Canada 1850-1930 CLASS, COMMUNITY AND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT: WALES AND CANADA, 1850-1930 EDITED BY Deian R. Hopkin and Gregory S. Kealey with an introduction by David Montgomery LLAFUR / CCLH 1989 First published in 1989 by Llafur/CCLH British ISBN 0 9514580 0 0 Canadian ISBN 0 9692060 6 2 Set in Times Garamond on Lasercomp at Oxford University Computer Service Printed and bound in Wales by Cambrian News (Printers) Ltd. Society for Welsh Labour History and the Canadian Committee on Labour History, 1989. CONDITIONS OF SALE All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans• mitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other• wise, without permission of the publishers. V Contents CONTRIBUTORS MAPS PREFACE DAVID MONTGOMERY Introduction 1 JOHN WILLIAMS The Rise and Decline of the Welsh Economy, 1890-1930 7 ROBERT BABCOCK Labour and Industrial Capitalist Development in the North Atlantic Region, 1880-1920 21 CRAIG HERON The Second Industrial Revolution in Canada, 1890-1930 48 CHRISTOPHER TURNER Conflicts of Faith? Religion and Labour in Wales, 1890-1914 67 DOT JONES Serfdom and Slavery: Women's Work in Wales, 1890-1930 86 MERFYN JONES "Of Men and Stones": Radicalism and Protest in North Wales, 1850-1914 101 BRUNO RAMIREZ Migration and Regional Labour Markets, 1870-1915: The Quebec Case 119 LINDA KEALEY "No Special Protection - No Sympathy". Women's Activism in the Canadian Labour Revolt of 1919 134 ALLEN SEAGER Miners' Struggles in Western Canada, 1890- 1930 160 VARPU LINSTROM-BEST Canadian Mining Towns: A Photo-Montage 199 GREGORY S. KEALEY The Parameters of Class Conflict: Strikes in Canada, 1891-1930 213 DEIAN R. HOPKIN The Great Unrest in Wales, 1910-1913: Questions of Evidence. 249 VI Contributors ROBERT BABCOCK. Professor of History at the University of Maine at Orono, USA CRAIG HERON. Associate Professor of History, York University, Toronto, Ontario. DEIAN R.HOPKIN. Senior Lecturer in History, University College of Wales, Aberstwyth DOT JONES. Research Officer, Department of Economics, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth MERFYN JONES. Senior Lecturer in Modern History, Department of Continuing Education, University of Liverpool. GREGORY S. KEALEY. Professor of History, Memorial University of Newfound• land, St John's, Newfoundland. LINDA KEALEY. Associate Professor of History, Memorial University of New• foundland, St John's, Newfoundland. VARPU LINDSTROM-BEST. Assistant Professor of History, Atkinson College, York University, Toronto, Ontario. DAVID MONTGOMERY. Farnam Professor of History, Yale University, New Haven, USA BRUNO RAMIREZ. Professor of History, Universite de Montreal, Quebec. ALLEN SEAGER. Associate Professor of History, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia. CHRISTOPHER TURNER. Assistant Registrar, Welsh College of Medicine, Uni• versity of Wales. JOHN WILLIAMS. Professor of Economic History, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Vll Maps 1. WESTERN CANADA 2. EASTERN CANADA 3. NORTH WALES 4. SOUTH WALES Note: The placenames indicated in the maps are those which occur most frequently in the text. Vlll WESTERN CANADA XI C5" Xll Preface In April 1987 an unusual conference took place in the beautiful setting of Gregynog Hall near Newtown in Mid-Wales. A group of Welsh and Canadian historians met to discuss the comparative industrial histories of their two countries and to attempt to establish a basis for further study. The choice of countries was the unusual aspect; after all, Canada and Wales differ somewhat in size and location. And yet, there were obvious starting points for the comparison; the issue of bilingualism, the proximity of both countries to larger, expansionary neighbours, and the internal contrasts between intense industrialisation and rurality. Both countries moreover have seen a resurgence in Labour historiography in recent years. Coincidentally, both the Committee for Canadian History and the Society for Welsh Labour History were formed in the same year, 1971, and it was appropriate that 15 years on, the two societies should meet in conference. This volume is the result. Most of the papers given at the Gregynog conference are included in this book, together with introduction by David Montgomery based on his splendid end-of-conference summary. Some valuable contributions are missing: Ian McKay's comprehensive account of the Nova Scotia miners, Bryan Palmer's stimulating exploration of workers' communities in Ontario, Gerry Friesen's trenchant account of the activities and impact of R. B. Russell, the Scottish immigrants who played such a central part in the working class struggles of Winnipeg; from the Welsh side, Dai Smith's characteristically challenging analysis of Anglo-Welsh culture, Paul O'Leary's highly original account of the political role of the Irish in Wales and finally Hywel Francis's fascinating accounts of the contacts between Welsh and Canadian mining leaders, of which his father was so central a figure. All of these are expected to appear elsewhere in due course and will no doubt be enjoyed as much as they were at the conference itself. The papers that are included deal with a range of factors reflecting both the special interests of the historians themselves and the common issues with which all of us are concerned. Naturally, there are gaps and omissions and it may well be concluded that there were more explorations than explanations. Yet, some important methodological issues were confronted, not least the capacity of the historian to recapture the experience of workers and their organisations. In this respect the disparities of size or geography between Wales and Canada were less important than the quality of source material, the techniques of the historian and the nature of historical synthesis. The conference revealed some interesting differences in the historical practice of the two countries, the scope and range and scope of their respective labour historiographies. What, of course, cannot be conveyed in a volume such as this is the quality of the debate and discussion which accompanied the papers, both at the time and in informal gatherings afterwards, or the character of the relationship which quickly developed between the Canadian and Welsh contingents, as well as the other historians who were present, some from as far afield as Australia. Links between Wales and Canada have, in any case, been growing in recent years, largely as the result of the activities and publications of the Canadian Studies in Wales Group, who acted as the intermediaries for the Gregynog conference. The editors, who also organised the conference itself, wish to thank a number of organisations and individuals. The treasurer of CSWG, Denis Balsom was an inspiration in the planning and resourcing of the conference. We are indebted, moreover, to the CSWG itself for direct and generous financial support. For their part, the Canadian participants received valued support from the Social and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from their own institutions. We are also grateful to the Canadian High Commission, and especially to Michael Hellyer and the Academic Relations section, for their usual generosity and encouragement. Thanks are also due to Marc Boucher of Quebec House, London. Special thanks are due to Dr Peter Denley of Westfield College for his expertise and industry in preparing the manuscript for laser production and to Oxford University Computing Service for their promptness and efficiency. Finally, the committees of the two societies are to be congratulated for showing confidence in this project, the first joint production. We hope they will approve of the product. 1 Introduction David Montgomery During the decades that closed the nineteenth century and opened the twentieth, wrote David Landes, the industrial revolution caught its 'second wind'.1 Rapid economic growth and changing structures of economic activity wove the more heavily populated portions of the world into networks of interdependence, while magnifying the global power of the few industrialized countries and the contrast between the life styles of their inhabitants and those of the rest of humanity. The epoch lends itself well to comparative history. Dependency theory in its various guises has served to illuminate common patterns of economic development within the formidable cultural and political diversity of the colonial and semi-colonial world. The question of whether industrialization's 'second wind' also produced a convergence not only of economic activities, but also of urban cultures and popular movements across national boundaries within its heartland has produced some of the most rewarding historical reflection of recent years.2 The essays in this collection contribute to the effort to situate local and regional experiences within an international context by investigating the activities of working men and women in Canada and Wales at the turn of the century. None of the authors have adopted national characteristics as a point of departure; indeed, Robert Babcock explicitly challenges the style of historical analysis that is based on the comparison of national cultures and institutions. Rather than posing the antiquity and compactness of Wales against the youth and vast expanses of Canada, the contributors to this volume have focused their attention on processes and settings found within the two countries during the Second Industrial Revolution, which